> Summer Time Beach Time (AU)
>  by Redstargazer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The royal dining hall was oddly quite as the royals ate their respective dinner/breakfast. Because of conflicting schedules during the work week, the only times Celestia, Luna, and Blue Blood managed to spend time together were during the two shifts between night and day. These times were usually put to good use as official business was strictly banned from the dining table where they spent their time telling stories, sharing gossip, or even the occasional food fight. Tonight’s change from day to night, however, seemed to be a more somber affair.

Luna and Blue Blood would stick with focusing on their food in an attempt to ignore the gloomy atmosphere aside from the occasional sharing of worried glances directed at Celestia before looking to each other and going back to their meal. Celestia, normally happy to take advantage of every free moment she had with family, ignored the others in favor of poking at her uneaten cake with a fork while giving the occasional despondent sigh. Blue Blood and 
Luna regarded each other with desperate glances at yet another sigh from the solar diarch as they tried to think of something to say.

Celestia had fallen into a deep depression since the Summer Sun Celebration. She gave up most of her hobbies and interests, started spending her all of her time in her room, and displayed a severely frayed temper not normally shown in court. It didn’t take a mind reader to guess any of the numerous reasons that would have caused it: her son’s many injuries and tragedies, the near war caused by the Dragon Lord’s arrogance, and of course the news of Spike’s nearing rutt cycle stabbing at her maternal instincts with all gentleness of a rusty butter knife.

Luna opened her mouth to ask Blue Blood about the coming opening of the Baltimare hotel only to quickly close her mouth with a snap as she realized bringing up the trip for Spike and the girls may worsen Celestia’s mood. Blue Blood opened his own mouth but closed it quickly for similar reasons as he had planned to share some gossip only to remember all the chatter in Canterlot seemed to be based on the various scandals and uproar from the Celebration. The silence was eventually broken, but not in any way Blue Blood or Luna would have liked.

“Am I a horrible mother?” Celestia asked morosely.

The other two royals gaped in shock at the question before seeming to speak over each other.

“Sister! Why would you even think such a thing!?”

“Auntie, there isn’t a mother alive who could match how much you cherish young Spike or any young one you took under your wing! You are loving, compassionate, and-”

“I can’t stop thinking about what the Dragon Lord said,” Celestia interrupted quietly. “About how I ruined him.”

Luna’s and Blue Blood’s faces exhibited pure shock before the former’s twisted into outrage, “You can’t be serious! You are actually giving weight to the words of that worthless blowhard!? Just look at that petty harlot he raised! He is the absolute last being to talk of child rearing!”

“Dragon scales have been known ignore any physical threats and weapons short of ballistae bolts, yet all it took was a common knife to put him in intensive care. The female wore a mark that seemed to alert male dragons at a mere glance that she was taken, yet he never had a clue or even knew to ask about said mark. Despite being gown, other dragons, Tartarus, even an unhinged unicorn with no combat ability had him at their mercy. His health, his knowledge of the world, and his ability to stand on his own. All of these things are the parent’s responsibility to foster.” Celestia snorted before finishing bitterly, “Who else could be blamed for these failings if not I?”

“Sister, please,” Luna spoke comfortingly. “You couldn’t know-”

“‘Couldn’t know?’” Celestia repeated softly, glaring hard enough at Luna to make the lunar diarch flinch. She slammed her hands down, shaking the table as she stood. Her eyes blazed with magic and her Royal Canterlot Voice threatened to shatter the windows as she yelled in pure fury, “I COULDN’T KNOW!?! I KNOW THAT I AM SURROUNDED BY A LITERAL ARMY OF OFFICERS THAT COULD HAVE TAUGHT HIM BASIC DEFENCE!” Tears of frustration and anguish streamed down from her glowing eyes. “I KNOW THAT I COULD HAVE APPROACHED ANY NUMBER OF DRAGON CLANS OR EVEN SWALLOWED MY OWN DAMNED PRIDE AND GONE TO THE DRAGON LORD TO ASK ABOUT DRAGON CULTURE AND BIOLOGY!! I-” She stood a few moments with her mouth open before her blazing anger snuffed out like a candle. The glow left her eyes and she slumped back into her chair where she buried her face into her hands to sob softly, “I know my son only wanted to find love and have a family. I know it took you everything to convince him to not simply give up and die, Luna. I know that all of this is my fault and there is nothing short of turning back time that can fix this.”

Nothing could be heard in the dining room aside from Celestia’s despondent sobbing. Luna felt frustrated tears sting her own eyes as she tried and failed to think of anything that could comfort her sister. The scene remained until a delicate throat clearing drew the attentions of the two sisters to Blue Blood. “While it might not be time travel, I believe I have something that might be as likely to help,” he hesitated before muttering, “and possibly just as desperate.”

Dead eyes regarded Blue Blood from over her hands before Celestia answered dully, “Go on, nephew.”

Once again, Blue Blood cleared his throat before answering, almost as if delaying before giving unpleasant news. “It was something that came up during one of my talks with our…friend. From Special Research Division?”

“No!” Celestia barked as she slammed her hands back onto the table. “Absolutely not! I do not trust anything that comes from that lunatic!”

“You know, I never did appreciate that term,” Luna said in annoyance. Celestia had the grace to look embarrassed at slipping out that little term for mental issues that caught on some time after Luna’s banishment. Luna took the opening to look back to her nephew. “And who exactly are we talking about? For that matter, what is this Special Research Division?”

“Ah, yes. The S.R.D. was founded fairly recently. It’s an organization that explores new avenues of science, magic, and investigation that offered potentially high reward but came with such risk that it requires constant surveillance and oversight prevention.”

“If you can call one crackpot inventor an organization,” Celestia muttered darkly.

“He’s eccentric, Auntie,” Blue Blood said delicately.

“The entire division is a prison designed to hold him after we learned he invents doomsday weapons for giggles!”

“He only ever invented the one and never planned on using it. Just making a proof of concept model. And he isn’t imprisoned, just placed under protective custody. For his safety and others.”

“Emphasis on others,” Celestia snapped. “And since when does ‘protective custody’ involve a cell designed by the architect of Tartarus? It’s made with fifteen feet-thick walls layered in concrete, mythril, umbra stone, and adamantine!” She hugged herself and shivered violently. “Even then, I don’t think it actually holds him. I think he just hasn’t gotten bored enough to try leaving yet.”

“Can we get to the point please?” Luna asked archly, hoping her cool countenance was successfully hiding how nervous she was at the idea of somepony, some being, that could make Celestia react so badly.

“This friend of mine is a unicorn who possesses a remarkable intellect at the cost of being…slightly off,” Blue Blood explained.

“Translated: he makes Twilight Sparkle look like a dullard and Discord like the model of a healthy mind.”

“Aunite! Will you please let me finish!?” Blue Blood exclaimed, raising his voice to Celestia for what may well have been the first time in his life. In answer, Celestia huffed and placed and elbow on the table and her chin in her hand while motioning carelessly with the other.
After waiting for a few moments to be sure he wouldn’t be interrupted, Blue Blood went on, “We typically call him the professor or doctor. On weekends, I visit him for tea to provide him with some company. More often than not, this involves lending an ear to his latest theories and projects or offering him a new problem to solve. Many of his solutions tend to be…well, I’ll just say unorthodox to the extreme.” This got a snort from Celestia that he pointedly ignored. “Sometimes though, he comes up with a solution that I keep in mind for later in case the need should prove great enough. I remember one time before Spike met,” Blue Blood grimaced at the idea of mentioning the dragoness who started the mess, “her that I jokingly asked him how we could find the perfect mate for Spike.”

“You cannot be serious,” Celestia said flatly.

“I do not know enough about this professor,” Luna began slowly, “nor am I sure that I entirely trust such a pony based on the little information I received. That said,” Luna turned and looked Celestia directly in the eye, “if you had a chance to twist time itself for young Spike, I doubt you would hesitate. If you truly believed this professor was irredeemably dangerous, I doubt you would have settled for a cell, however well-built it is. Can you honestly say the risk this venture offers is too great? Even if we can heal your son and help him find what he wanted?”

Celestia stared back at Luna as she warred within herself. On the one hand, she wanted neither her nor her son to be anywhere near such an unstable mind. Tartarus, some days she thought being on the same planet was too close. On the other, she knew that, despite his obvious insanity, the doctor had become something of a legend amongst the scientific community for achieving the impossible. If anypony could pull something like this off, it would be him.

“…Alright,” Celestia sighed in as she lowered her head in defeat. She turned back to Blue Blood. “So, nephew. What does this miraculous, mad scheme of yours require?” she asked tiredly.

“Well, we’ll need some blood and tissue samples, some from Spike and the other dragons we’ve had visit over the last few days should still be available in the hospital, we may need Cadence to visit before the actual trip, and we’ll need a lab fully equipped with whatever medical technology is available as well. We may also need to link into the Canterlot City magic grid,” Blue Blood scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “and maybe, possibly, the Las Pegasus, Manehattan, and Vanhoover grids also. And maybe Baltimare.”

“Of course,” Celestia groaned exasperatedly. “This wouldn’t truly be one of his experiments if there wasn’t at least enough power to blow a hole in the continent.”

“It’s also likely I’ll need your authorization for some actions that may…um…skirt the boundaries of morality.”

“Hardly surprising,” she huffed and rubbed her face tiredly.

“Also, Autnie Luna?” Blue Blood turned to Luna. “I believe we will be in need of your expertise as well as power for the next few days.”

“……I’m going to regret standing up for you in this aren’t I, nephew?”

“……Quite possibly. I apologize in advance.”


Two weeks later

Spike was leaning against a tree at Sweet Apple Acres as he contently gazed over the serene surface of the lake. It shined with the lights of the moon and stars in the clear sky above. Every once in a while, the lights would flicker as the pond rippled from occasional breeze blew by before reaching him. He lay there in only cotton bottoms borrowed from Big Mac and savored the feeling of the refreshing breeze caressing his warm, bare scales. In the dead of night, he felt something he wasn’t sure he would ever feel again: contentment.

When Amethyst came into his life to break his heart for the third and possibly final time, considering how close to death that encounter turned out for him, he didn’t think he could survive the broken heart, body, and spirit that he suffered that night. It only seemed to go downhill from there as he was tormented by Stargazer and his temp cronies, the second encounter and dismissal from Amethyst, and seemed it would come to an end at the hands of Stargazer in a psychotic rage. Even so, he managed to get through it all, thanks to his mother and especially his friends: the girls, Blue, Big Mac, Cadence and Shining, Princess Luna, even Dizzy who had once been one of Stargazer’s flunkies. One in particular, one who was with him from the very beginning, helped those last few scars to close. She gave him the hope of a future he longed for so long. A gentle squeeze to his left arm and sigh quickly brought his smiling attention down to that one who now rested against the tree beside him with her head on his shoulder.

Moonstone.

Moonstone had been born a wingless dragon like himself. They grew up together, her the brains and him the brawn, first under Celestia’s wing at the school then with Twilight. Spike used to endure no end of grief as she often talked him into all sorts of trouble. Of course, she also made sure she showed up in time to get him out again or, if not out of trouble, she would be there to take the fall with him. She held him through Rarity’s and Sweetie’s rejections when he needed to have a cry in private. She even warned him about Amethyst being suspicious, but he ignored her believing that he was in love. Moonstone didn’t bother with ‘I told you so’s when the horrible truth came out. She just sat beside him at the bed along with all of the other girls as he cried. Moonstone had given him his greatest shock at the hospital after Stargazer’s attack when he confided in her that he feared he would be alone. She smacked his good shoulder, called him stupid, then leaned forward and tenderly kissed him before whispering ‘How could you be alone when I’ve been waiting here the whole time?’ To say he had been shocked would have been an understatement as he had always seen her like a sister. As he looked back to consider their time together in the past, however, he realized that she had been everything he hoped for simply waiting for the time he let the idea sink through his own thick skull. Over the three days he rested, no attempt was made for romance aside from loving touches and chaste kisses as she waited for him to sort things out. Spike had been so sure he had ruined everything after that odd moment with Twilight at the hospital. Once again, however, Moonstone managed to throw him for a loop when he admitted what happened and she answered by smiling sadly and kissing his cheek saying, ‘Yeah, tough guy. I know. Things are complicated there. We’ll work things out later.’

Tonight, she wore only a simple, yet elegant, white sundress that seemed to complement her body’s blue scales. The dress managed to hug her generous curves while still managing to somehow leave something to the imagination. Three semi-transparent fins, a large one in center with smaller ones on either side, draped down the side of her head covering one side of her face like a familiar mane style. Her claws as well as the horns that started from the sides of her forehead to sweep back along her scalp were pearl white and when she looked into his face those eyes, Celestia those eyes! Reptlian eyes with grey iris flecked with white. All of this would have driven him wild before factoring in the source of her namesake. Like the stone, her various colors reflect light, particularly ambient light like that of the moon and stars tonight, creating the effect of a visible aura. The blue scales on her body surrounded the area with a cool glow and her head fins filtered light to give the illusion of a halo about her. Her eyes would shimmer grey with flashes of light from the flecked colors which always gave Spike the impression of two storms churning in the distance with lighting dancing across the surface. Moonstone’s innate magic took this effect a step further by altering it with her mood and projecting those moods outward. Times of agitation or anxiety would cause the auras to emit a harsh glare that could intimidate while moments of peace and quiet, like now, generated a soft glow that seemed to comfort and soothe anyone in its presence.

“Take a picture, tough guy. It’ll last longer,” she spoke softly. Any bite that might have been in the words was drowned in the affectionate tone in her voice and the intensity in her eyes.

Spike chuckled and pulled her back against his chest, “Yeah, sorry. I guess it’s just easy to get lost in that view.”

That got a snigger from Moonstone. “You dork,” she mumbled. “It’s a good thing I love you already, otherwise I might have tossed you in the lake for that one.”

“Well, it must have had some effect,” he said with a smirk. “You’ve tossed me in for less, yet here we are.”

“Don’t push it.”

They both chuckled a moment before sighing and settling back against the trunk. Moonstone stroked her hand against his chest softly and sighed deeply. Oh yeah, thought Spike, Sighs, dumb dialog, touchy feely. A blind pony could see we have it bad. After letting her trace a finger along his body, he gently grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes as her head lifted back up. “So, Moon…Does this mean you’re ready?” Since the confession, neither of them had made a move beyond loving words and caresses.

Moonstone looked deep within his eyes. He could see hints of longing, a smoldering heat and…regret? She smiled sadly and inhaled deeply before letting it all out in one exhale, “More than you know, tough guy. But I need you to do something first.”

Spike lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed it as he looked into her eyes. “Anything,” he promised.

The dragoness closed her eyes and leaned forward until their foreheads touched. A tear trailed down her eye as she whispered lovingly, “Wake up.”

Spike blinked, “Huh?”

Moonstone pulled back to look into his eyes as she cried softly, “Wake up.”

“Moon, you’re not making sense,” Spike said nervously.

“Wake up, Spike!”

**

“Gyah! Whu-huh?”

Twilight leaned back into her bench as Spike jerked awake and started to look around. They were in an oak paneled room of the passenger car on the way to Blue Blood’s hotel in Baltimare. The other girls had rooms with their own loved ones while Twilight and Spike shared this one. Twilight was dressed in a simple white blouse and black capri pants while Spike had gone with jeans and a loose T-shirt.

Twilight waited until Spike woke up enough to direct his groggy regard to her before she shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Spike. I know you could use a little more rest, even as much as you have recovered already, but we’re about thirty minutes from the station and I thought you might want to get ready before then.”

Spike blinked blearily at her before shrugging, propping an arm on the window, and resting his chin in his hand as he watched the passing scenery, “Meh, that’s okay. I’m already packed but it’s probably good to be up by now anyway. Thanks.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad..uh…Yeah, that’s no problem,” She finished a little lamely, sitting back with crossed arms as she started looking around the room to occupy herself. “So, uh, Spike?”

“Hmm?”

“I just wondered,” she started hesitantly, hoping that she wasn’t making a mistake broaching this subject now. “Um. If you wanted to talk? You know? About…what happened at the hospital before-”

“You really don’t have to,” Spike interrupted quickly as he shrugged uncomfortably while maintaining his gaze out the window. “I’m fine. And we should probably get settled at the hotel first.”

“Right! Yes, settled!” Twilight babbled quickly, latching onto the excuse a bit too quickly. “We’ll get settled, relax, and…talk then. Sure,” she muttered dejectedly towards the end of her agreement and went back to staring at the wall. And the hallway door. And anything else aside from Spike.

Things had gotten awkward between the two after their make out session at the hospital when Spike had been recovering from Stargazer’s attack.  She didn’t hesitate to help in his therapy or listen to him vent, of course, but any free moment they experienced in between therapy and comfort was dominated by averted gazes, fidgeting, and awkward silences. Much like now, in fact.

Unbidden thoughts of their moment at the hospital flooded her mind. Where she had been lying beside Spike in his bed to offer comfort, she now straddled his waist while staring down through half-lidded eyes showing undisguised lust. Moments before she feared for his life, but now her senses eagerly observed all the evidence of his good health: the soft scales her hands touched as they slid up his shirt, the warmth of his body radiating through her clothes and his thin hospital gown, the sensations of her quickly dampening panties as she grinded against his massive, thinly covered bulge sending shivers up her spine. She looked into his eyes and noticed them take on a faint glow as he started to growl hungrily. She could just imagine her number one assistant giving into his hunger and flipping her in the bed, pinning her down with his draconic strength. He would tear her clothes to shreds and ravish her body for his pleasure as she screamed in a mixture of shock and arousal. Nothing could stop him from claiming her before the world as he plunged that massive dragon co- NO! No, bad Twilight!! Heel!! This is not helping!! 
  

Twilight shook her head to dispel those thoughts and bit the bottom of her lip as she tried to think of something useful to say or do to remedy the situation, but all her mind could dredge up were piling doubts. It seemed so right at the hospital but now? Was it just her relief to see him alive? Did she simply feel sorry for him? Did they both have feelings or were they simply catching each other on the rebound? She turned back to Spike hoping she could at least come up with some change in conversation to dispel the tension but paused at what she saw.

Spike no longer stared at the scenery or looked to be in embarrassment anymore. Rather, he seemed to be staring beyond the landscape with an intensity that startled Twilight. She thought back the past few weeks when she noticed this and other odd behaviors: searching through photo albums, staring off into space, sleeping even heavier than normal. In fact, she remembered seeing a rather intense expression on Spike’s face just before she woke him up. A thought occurred. “Spike,” she said reluctantly. “Have you been having those dreams again?” She feared it may have been about her again.

Spike frowned before slowly nodding.

“Oh, Spike,” she sighed, sadly. “I’m so sorry. I know it isn’t easy.” Twilight put a hand on his knee and tried to give a comforting smile. “But don’t worry. You’ll get over…Amethyst,” she spat the name out in disgust before continuing, “Just give it some time.”

“Huh?” Spike turned toward her from the window with a baffled look on his face. “What are you…? Oh, her,” Spike waved a hand dismissively, “Nah. Haven’t actually bothered thinking about her for the last couple of weeks.” He turned back to the window.

“Oh,” Twilight said, taken aback. “That’s…uh, good?”  He didn’t seem to be putting up a front. It would obviously be a good thing, but…Amethyst had broken his heart and left him to die by the violent beating from her mate. That wasn’t something you just got over in a few weeks. Further, if he actually did move on from that ordeal, then what was bothering him so now?

“When was the last time you heard from Moonstone?”

The seemingly random questions startled Twilight from her ruminations. “Who? Oh! Moondancer?”  she clarified. “Well, despite my mistakes, we’ve managed to maintain a habit of writing each other. We even held a nice conversation when we ran into each other at the last Canterlot Arcane Arts Expo-”

“No, not Moondancer,” Spike corrected, “Moonstone.” He looked up to see Twilight’s uncomprehending look and sighed exasperatedly. “You know? Moonstone? Female dragon with blue scales? My age? Lacks wings just like I do?” Twilight’s unchanging look seemed to upset him. “For Mom’s sake! She was hatched in the room across the hall from where you hatched me on the same day! We grew up together in Ponyville with you!”

“Spike, listen carefully,” Twilight said slowly, watching him very worriedly now. “I know for a fact you are the only dragon hatched that day. We’ve never even met another dragon without wings. There is. No. Moonstone.”

“Yes, there is! I remember!” Spike argued. “She got hurt helping me and the CMC getting away from timberwolves. We had that daytrip at Canterlot while you, Rarity, and Applejack tried a sleepover party for the first time. She stayed with me and kept me from panicking all of those times you had to leave me at home during your trips with the girls.”

“Spike, stop it!” Twilight pleaded desperately. She wanted to see him get over his tragedies, but this wouldn’t help. It wasn’t healthy. “None of that ever happened. Your mind is trying to cope with fantasies-”

“SHE’S NOT A FANTASY!!!” Spike bellowed in a first fit of rage. His eyes blazed with light as he glared at Twilight, but the glow quickly faded as his anger gave way to confusion and nervousness as he noticed her expression. Her hands were clasped over her mouth and her eyes were wide as she stared at something to the side. Spike followed her gaze and his own eyes widened in shock. He had smashed his fist into the windowsill hard enough to warp it, crack off flakes of wood from the paneling beneath, and sent cracks spider webbing across the glass pane above. He looked at Twilight, then guiltily turned from the scared expression he saw and went back to staring at what scenery he could past the damaged window. “Sorry, just…never mind,” he sighed sadly.  

Twilight sat frozen with her mouth covered as her mind started working overtime. What happened? Things were awkward enough dealing with his traumas and the possibility of his rutt cycle kicking in. But this? Where did this ‘Moonstone’ character come in? How deeply were these fantasies ingrained if he’s getting this angry over having them called into question? What could she do?

She brought her hands down and crossed her arms beneath her chest as she thought of some possibilities. And then it hit her. Luna! Of course! She knows the mind better than anypony. As soon as she Celestia get to the hotel, I’ll talk to her and see what she thinks.

Her thoughts and Spike’s brooding were interrupted by a loud bam! that drew their attention to the hallway door opening. Dizzy stood in the door way looking less like the dorky stallion he normally was and more like a desperate animal. Bloodshot eyes with heavy bags under them scanned the room wildly. His clothes were rumpled, his yellow mane disheveled, and his fur coat seemed matted and smelled musky like…Well, frankly, it smelled of activities that neither dragon nor mare really wanted to think about at the moment. He quickly slammed the door shut, slid to the floor where he assumed a fetal position and rocked back and forth as he stared ahead.

Twilight took in the strange sight before sharing a look with a bemused Spike who simply shrugged. She turned back to Dizzy. “Umm, Dizzy? Are you…Are you alright?”

The question was answered with silence as the stallion continued to rock back and forth. Twilight wondered if she was ever going to receive an answer before he mumbled, “T-too much…Too much sex. Too much. Gonna die at this rate.”

The fearfully uttered response drew another shared look of confusion between Twilight and Spike. “Wait, hang on,” Spike said with a shake of his head, “Estrus ended over three weeks ago. Why would-”

“Not estrus,” Dizzy whimpered pathetically. “Angry sex. So much angry. Too much. Taking it out on me. Sooo much angry.”

“Huh?” Spike grunted. “Why would Pinkie be-?”

“Party supplies!” Twilight interrupted desperately, “I remember now! Somepony used up some of Pinkie’s party supplies without asking and it put her behind on some parties!”
No such thing happened. Weeks before, Amethyst had shown up during the Summer Sun Celebration and managed to hurt Spike a second time by brushing him off when he had asked if anything she had said to him during their time had been real. What Spike didn’t know was that, after he had left in tears, Twilight and the girls got into a massive brawl with Amethyst in retaliation of her callous actions. Rarity had even broken Pinkie’s party cannon over the dragoness in the fight. Despite being in the heat of the moment, Pinkie had taken it very personally that Rarity hadn’t hesitated to damage something that held so much sentimental value. The pink mare had refused to talk with Rarity since. Twilight and the girls had agreed to try and keep the drama from Spike as they suspected hearing the two friends possibly falling out over an incident involving his problems would have added more grief. They especially didn’t want this to come out during the trip where they were trying to cheer him up.

Thankfully, Spike seemed to buy the last-minute excuse. He winced, “Yeah. That would do it.”  He turned to Dizzy with a sympathetic look one might expect to see from others who heard somepony’s house burned down with all of their savings in the mattress. “Sorry, dude. Maybe she’ll get over it during the trip.”

No response was given as Dizzy simply continued to rock back and forth as his thousand-yard stare looked ahead into the void. He seemed to be experiencing a very special kind of despair reserved for those few chosen by fate to see an end that millions dreamed of having: death by copious amounts of snu-snu. His body and mind were locked between the instinctual fear of inevitable death and the rapturous joy that every sexual fantasy, known and unknown, would be realized. Twilight’s heart went out to the poor stallion, first the horrors of estrus and now this, but she couldn’t help feeling very relieved that he couldn’t answer and dispute her story.

Before any further action or words could be decided by the three, the whole car seemed to shake from a distant slam and a demonic roar. “DIZZY! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!”

The stallion’s eyes widened and, in a display of acrobatic prowess that shocked Twilight and Spike, leaped from his spot on the floor to the overhead storage compartment and slammed the panel shut. Twilight’s and Spike’s dumbfounded faces were drawn from the compartment to the hallway door as it was violently pulled open. Their hearts seemed to stop as one at the sight before them.

Pinkie Pie stood with her hands braced against either side of the door. Her clothes looked as if they were thrown on in a rush. She breathed heavily, her searching eyes showed red pupils, and the curls in her mane flailed about much like a nest of raging serpents. Her bloodshot eyes focused on the room’s two visible occupants. “WHERE IS HE!?!” Pinkie’s normally chipper voice resonated deeply with the unholy wrath normally reserved for those few foolish enough to break a Pinkie Promise.

Deliberately avoiding the overhead compartment, the two terrified friends gave the only answer they could in the form of a shrug and shake of their heads.

This caused Pinkie to groan in annoyance, “Honestly, what is his problem!? Seven or eight times and he’s already trying to call it a day.” Not waiting for an answer, she slammed the door shut with a growl and could be heard stomping toward the other end of the train. “DIZZY!! GET YOUR BALLS OUT OF YOUR PURSE AND GET BACK HERE!! I NEED A GOOD FU-” The rest of her speech was cut off by a slam from the outer door she exited through.  

The room remained silent as its occupants wanted to be sure of the pink demon’s absence before making any unnecessary movements or noises that might draw her attention. Eventually, Spike and Twilight slumped into their chairs with relieved sighs as their fight or flight response released its grip on them. Twilight’s horn lit up and the latch to the overhead compartment was gripped in the same light before being gently pulled to the side. The open panel revealed the shivering form of Dizzy holding a blanket he somehow pulled from the luggage up to his chin. He whimpered, “I see horny ponies.”

Twilight shared a look with Spike that seemed mixed between uncertain and pitying before she turned back to the shivering stallion. “Uh, hey Dizz? Would you like to stay there until we get to the station?”

“…yes, please.”

“Okay then,” Twilight said in forced cheerfulness. “We’ll…uh, see you later. I guess.” The panel was gently shut with a blink of magic. Twilight and Spike shared a last uncomfortable look before going back to their respective activities of worrying and brooding. Well that was a wonderful start to a relaxing vacation, Twilight thought sarcastically. Hopefully, though, things should calm down when we get there. “At least things couldn’t be any crazier than what just happened,” she mumbled quietly to herself.


The hall door slid open once more. This time it slid open gently to reveal a plain looking stallion with brown fur and a black mane. He wore a grey business suit and stared into the cabin through delicate, black rimmed reading glasses. He said nothing choosing only to regard the room’s occupants with a stern glare and frown. A glare that seemed particularly focused on Twilight.
After a few moments nervous fidgeting, Twilight finally chose to break the awkward silence. “Umm. I’m sorry. Can I help you?”

The stallion turned to regard her with his stern glare causing her to squirm. The stallion didn’t seem threatening, per se, rather his gaze seemed to hold an intensity and surety of a soul who had seen into the future and knew it to be a dark, grim thing.  Eventually, the stallion gave way of an answer by taking a card from his suit pocket, proffering it to the baffled princess, then gently sliding the door shut. His departure from the car was marked by the slow, deliberate steps that faded down the hallway.

“Well, that wasn’t weird,” Spike snarked. He turned questioningly to a confused Twilight, “So, what’s on the card?”

“That’s something that makes this even weirder,” she answered disquietly. “There’s nothing on here. At least, nothing besides what I guess is his name.”



Murphy Law

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Attica Hotel bustled with activity. However, it wasn’t showing the typical bedlam that comes with the flood of guests arriving from every walk of life, every region, and even every species as they shared excited chatter over surroundings or plans for the beach. Rather, it flowed with the controlled chaos of workers, bellhops, and construction crews going back and forth. That wasn’t to say that the Attica was messy or half finished. It merely needed a few finishing touches. Only a few select VIP, worker families, target groups were there to try out the facilities before it was opened to the public in a few days. A particular group of VIPs trudged in through the front doors.

Yet, instead of adding an air of excitement as most eager partiers are wont to do, they were dragging their feet as they stared ahead with haunted looks of war survivors. Shining, Cadance, Spike, Twilight, Starlight, the elements and their respective boyfriends all lumbered forward with pallid faces, frayed manes, and twitching eyes. Blueblood seemed to be the only exception as he simply strode forward with a guarded expression.

“Six blocks,” Twilight mumbled as several strands of hair sprung from her mane. “We only traveled six blocks and five ponies jumped in front of the van.”

“Insurance scammers,” Blueblood stated, his distaste only noticeable in the tone of his voice. “One of the many reasons I can’t stand this…city.”

“Don’t forget about that last maniac in the brown van,” Starlight mumbled as Sunburst rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to offer comfort. “He nearly sideswiped us yet got mad at us and threw a cup of coffee straight into our window.”

“Yeah, and that stuff was steaming. Literally! I could see the steam wafting from it!” Rainbow said before turning Blueblood with a mix of disbelief and admiration. “And you didn’t even flinch when it all landed on your face! All you did was light your horn long enough to get a napkin.” She chuckled, “Have to say, Blue boy, I didn’t expect you to be such a tough guy.”

Blueblood shrugged. “Yes, well, I know I used to be quite the ponce. However, a few years and several responsibilities added has a way of adding character.”

“Least that fella didn’t get away with it,” Applejack said with a shake of her head. “Amazin timin’, that tire of his blowin’ up right after. Sent his van off and wrapped around that light pole. That’s what I call a healthy servin’ of Karma.”

“Yes…Karma,” Blueblood quickly glanced left, right, then ahead again. “Yes, that’s exactly what happened.”

Most of the group seemed to accept that, but Applejack, Rarity, and Cadence sent suspicious glares toward Blueblood at how…quickly he answered.

Before the mares could question him, a quiet voice spoke up worriedly, “Oh, I hope that pony wasn’t hurt badly.” She hunched down at the incredulous looks this got her. “W-well, I mean. I know he wasn’t a good pony, b-but I don’t think he deserved to…um…”

“It’s alright, Flutters,” Rainbow said with a careless wave of her hand. “I looked back through the rear window in time to see him reach through his broke window and flip us the bird. If he could do that, then he turned out just fine.”1

Blueblood cursed under his breath, though not low enough to avoid Cadence’s notice. She opened her mouth to press Blueblood for answers but was interrupted by a crash from the other side of the lobby.

“WATCH WHAT YOU ARE DOING!! IGNORANT DUMMKOPF!!!”

The shout quickly drew the group’s attention, as well as that of everypony in the lobby, toward the commotion. It was likely one of the oddest sights to take place in the hotel since it’s construction and possibly the strangest that would be seen. Two earth pony stallions, one grayish with a brown green mane/tail and the other brown with yellow mane/tail, stood nervously holding boxes while a third, this one a red unicorn with silver mane/tail, stood by a dropped box, presumably the source of the crash, with his arms crossed and a bored expression. Further behind the group was a…something. It was shaped vaguely like a pony but stood nine feet tall with four-foot-wide shoulders. The dark, baggy clothing and hood over its head it wore made it impossible to judge its physical features. It might have been an unusually tall minotaur, but the hood confirmed its lack of horns. It lacked wings and had a bit too much clumsy bulk to be a dragon. It carried a long crate big enough to hold a pony in one arm as easily as if holding a box of roses. The source of the furious yelling came from a wizened unicorn stallion wearing a lab coat and sitting in a wheelchair. This one drew even more gazes than the giant. His brown fur seemed to be permanently scorched in some spots despite the apparent protection of his lab coat and his grey mane was untidy. His horn appeared cracked with a couple of wires sticking from it and occasionally sending sparks about in time with his temper. The most disconcerting thing about him was the fact that one of his eyes was twice the size of the other and seemed to constantly swerve around in its socket completely independent of the other.

At the moment, he was waving one of his hands accusingly at the bored stallion while leaning the other on the arm of his wheelchair. “If you spent half as much time focusing on ze task as you did ogling every pretty face zat walked by, zen ve vould have been done hours ago! Und for Faust’s sake, be careful! Ze contents of zese boxes are vorth more zan a zousand beach bums like you!”

“Okay, first off, Geezer,” the younger stallion started off, ignoring the frantic headshaking of the other two stallions, “I’m no beach bum. I’m the beach king. Been one three years running and soon to be four when I win the tournament coming up.”

“Your parents must be zo proud,” the wheelchair bound stallion said flatly before muttering, “assuming such mouz breazers could register such an emotion.”

“And second off,” the young stallion continued as he either ignored or failed to hear the second part, “I’m pretty sure no ponies’ life depends on preventing a few dings and dents to this crap.”

The stallion in the wheelchair regarded the youth’s smug face for a moment before touching the switch on the chair arm bringing him closer. Despite the obvious height difference, the younger stallion’s smugness waned slightly under the intense glare, from both eyes at the moment, from the crippled unicorn.

“Tell me…beach king,” the lab coated stallion muttered softly, not bothering to hide his scorn on the title. “If you stood at ze center of an explosion zat leveled five city blocks, vould you survive?”

“Uhh…no?” the young stallion said with a hint of uncertainty as he finally seemed to realize that this might not be the best time for an attitude.

“Zen I’m pretty sure your life does depend on preventing a few ‘dings and dents’,” he sat there leaving the statement and thinly veiled threat to hang in the air as his left eye went back to swiveling around. He eventually sat back, “Now bring zose boxes to room 523 minus ‘dings and dents’ or I’ll have you all dissected.” Everypony in hearing range shivered, both at the threat and how he casually made it as one might say ‘or else I’ll hold your allowance’ or ‘I’ll slap your hands with a ruler.’  

“Igor!” the wheelchair bound stallion barked.

“I pick things up I put them down,” the giant dutifully answered in a voice so low it seemed impossible to be natural.

“Take your package to room 523 und gently, gently I say, put it down wizin ze room.”

“I pick things up I put them down,” Igor acknowledged with a bow of its head before making its way with heavy steps that seemed to shake the entire lobby.

“Und for Faust’s sake! Use ze stairs! I’d rather not have anozer elevator added to ze budget.”

The lumbering paused for a full minute before continuing in a new direction.
The lab coated stallion shook his head and sighed tiredly before turning his wheelchair and making way to something that seemed to catch his attention far more than the annoyances around him.

“Sentinel, are you crazy!?” the gray stallion holding their boxes asked when the lab coated stallion rolled out of earshot. “It’s bad enough that you signed us up for this insane job! Now you’re picking fights with the equally insane boss?!”

“Aren’t you the one that said we needed the work for some extra money to tide us over till the games, Gravel?” Sentinel asked archly.

“Yeah, but I was thinking something a bit more thought out than signing up for the first lunatic that offered!”

“Meh, money is money and we’re almost done anyway.” Sentinel shrugged. His eyes drifted as he lifted his box up before they landed on a sight that demanded his attention. “Holy shit. Am I seeing things or is that Princess Twilight?!”

“Unless we’re both hallucinating a lavender alicorn, yes,” Gravel answered dryly.

“Hmmm. Didn’t the papers say something about her coltfriend being tossed in prison?” Sentinel asked as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully before smiling. “Hey, maybe I should offer to…cheer her up?”

“Wha-” Gravel stuttered disbelievingly before managing to articulate his shock. “We were just threatened with dissection and the first thing you think of is finding a way to bang one of the princesses!?”

“Oh gods, Sentinel, you’re so frickin cool holy shiiiiit!!” exclaimed the scratchy voice of the brown coated stallion holding the other box. Gravel simply glared at the encouragement thinking, not for the first time, that the moron had taken way too many volts to the head trying to work his free cable scams.

“Thanks for the awkward praise, Shocker,” Sentinel said in passing to his brother before turning back to Gravel, “And you keep your panties from bunching up. We’ll get this job over with and meet with the rest of the crew later to hang out before we start training for the games. Besides,” he turned toward the Princess and her group with a confident grin, “we got all summer for me to tap that.”

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the lobby, Twilight and the rest looked on warily as the stallion that had been yelling minutes ago rolled his way toward them. Once he came to a stop he smiled, waved, and called out in a far friendlier tone than what he had demonstrated with the moving stallions. “Gutten Tag, Princess Cadence, Consort Armor. Und of course Blueblood, old friend!” he nodded as he addressed each pony.

Cadence and Shining responded politely, if somewhat nervously, while Blueblood laughed warmly and stepped forward to grab the other stallion’s hand without hesitation. “Good day to you as well, Doctor. Thank you for taking the time to come.”

“Bah! It’s not like I have anyzing better to do with my free time,” the doctor responded gruffly even as his eyes crinkled with mirth.

“Und you,” the doctor said interestedly as he regarded turned to Twilight. “You vould be Doctor Twilight Sparkle.”

“A, mister? Ah think you’re a mite confused,” Applejack put in slowly. “Twi’s a princess not a doctor.”

“Nein, nien. Zere is no confusion. I simply have no interest vasting time wiz royal titles. You can keep Princess Twilight,” the doctor waved his hands dismissively. He ignored some of the sour looks his disregard for royalty got and turned to Twilight with a crooked smile. “I much prefer Doctor Twilight, ze scholar. Your first doctorate at twelve years old? Impressive. Und zat zesis on the zeories of Magic potential half-life from first surge to maturity? Academia has gone far too long wizout your sort of innovation und passion. I’d vager Celestia spent years beating off universities und research labs in order to keep you as her protégée.”  

Those that didn’t grow up with Twilight reacted with varying reactions of shock, admiration, and wonder. As for Twilight? She simply blinked in surprise as she tried to fight back the blush in her face and deal with the overwhelming sense of pride and joy at the comments. She had become reluctantly accustomed to acknowledgements of her royal status but couldn’t deny being thrilled at somepony finally noting her academic achievements. “W-well, um. Thank you, Doctor…?” She blinked. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”

“Ach! Entschuldigung, fraulein. It seems my manners have abandoned me during my seclusion. My name is Doctor Strangelove.”2

“Emphasis on strange,” Rainbow muttered softly before grunting as Applejack elbowed her.

“W-wait. That’s not possible.” Everypony turned to see Twilight’s eyes wide in shock. “Doctor Strangelove is a myth! That or he’s just a name for several ponies. Or are you claiming to be a direct descendent of Starswirl the Bearded, writer of fifty thesis works that re-shaped the Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns’ standards and most scientific fields and set the highest standard for arcane theory?!”

Strangelove smirked, “Vell, I never claimed to be Starsvirl’s descendent.”   

“I can verify to his identity,” everypony directed a surprised look to Blueblood who shrugged. “We’ve been friends for years and he’s actually here helping with a royal project.” Cadence and Shining nodded in agreement.

Twilight could only stand there shivering at the confirmation. She could feel her whole being held in the grip in the sort of childlike awe and excitement as one might have felt learning that Santa Hooves was real and planned on visiting them to offer every gift they ever wanted and take them on a tour of the North Pole workshop. Her eyes were wide, her pupils shrunk to pinpricks, and she seemed on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Oh. My. Gosh. YOU’RE REAL!!” she knelt down in front of the doctor. “Doctor, this is such an honor. So many of my reports drew from your work! Heck, I’ve memorized each thesis you ever made!”

“Oh, my dear fraulein. I’m afraid zat is quite impossible,” Strangelove chuckled.

“But it’s true!” Twilight said with emphatic nods of her head. “I’ve read all fifty of them! I started out having my mom read them to me in bed when I was little and then-”

“You misunderstand, fraulein,” Strangelove said with a fatherly smile and a hand motioning for her to slow down. “I believe you read zose fifty. Ze problem is zose fifty you read vere only ze ones of my work released to the public.”

Twilight froze and her breath caught in her throat for a moment. “There…there are more?” She whispered in wonder.

“Tventy zat Celestia held back. Some silliness about public safety,” he openly scoffed at such ‘silliness.’ “And zos are just ze ones I bozered putting to parchment. I’ve got a few dozen more,” he tapped on the side of his forehead, “rattling around in here until I get bored enough to jot zem down.” He raised an eyebrow as the gestured to Twilight, “Or until I found anozer scholar vorth sharing zem wiz.”

The revelation and gesture left Twilight openmouthed and staring. “I’m spending my entire summer in this hotel,” she breathed dumbfounded.

The Doctor’s left eye focused on Twilight and the pupil blinked white once before going back to observing everything. A small frown crossed his face as he muttered, “Zat may be truer zan you realize.”

“Hmm?” Twilight hummed in confusion.

“Hey, I think I actually remember you from somewhere,” Rainbow spoke up. “Aren’t you the guy they locked up for making, like, seven doomsday devices?”

“Und always, it comes back to zat!” the Doctor muttered as he rubbed his face in exasperation. He spoke louder, lacking much of the joviality he had when talking with Twilight, “Nein! I vas not locked up! I vas placed in protective custody!” He glared back at Rainbow who stepped closer to Applejack as she realized this might have been one of those times to keep quiet. “Und I did not make seven doomsday devices!” he barked before looking down and frowning almost petulantly. “I only made ze one. Anozer failed ze testing stage and ze ozers never made it past formula.”

“And what did the doomsday device you made do?” Spike couldn’t help asking as his inner comic book fan demanded they hear more about this real-life mad scientist.

“Ze next time you find yourself in private viz Princess Celestia, ask vhy Equis no longer has two moons.”

“Umm. I’m pretty sure we never had two moons,” Starlight put forth nervously. “I mean, wouldn’t somepony remember that?”

The Doctor’s twisted grin caused the mare to shiver as he answered softly, “Ya. Ya you vould zink zat, vouldn’t you?” His amused chuckles caused the mare’s grip to tighten on her coltfriend’s arm.

“Okay, this might be a stupid question,” Rainbow began.

“Vat? Zey all aren’t coming from you?” Strangelove asked in feigned confusion.
Rainbow’s eye twitched and she felt Applejack tense angrily beside her but continued while putting a hand on her marefriend’s elbow. “What happened with that one you said failed testing?”

Strangelove groaned. “Vell, I alvays held a fascination viz Discord’s ability to shift reality und causality viz apparent ease. Ze failed project vas designed to imbue a pony viz zese abilities. I created a conduit connecting zis universe wiz ze chaotic energies in ze void in hopes zat a pony touching said conduit vould develop zese abilities zrough tactile contact. I dropped it off in a quiet area for noticeable results. Zere vere even four subjects zat came in contact.”

“Let me guess,” Rainbow said snidely. “Nothing happened?”

“Oh somzing happened. Just not vat I vanted. One lost the ability for aggression, one became perpetually aggressive, und one lost ability to emote altogezer. Ze last vas most disappointing as she seemed to show promise but had nozing happen aside from a change in coat co-” The doctor cut himself off, blinked, and looked to the side of the group. “Umm. Pardon if zis seems abrupt but…vat is your name, fraulien?”

“Oh, me? I’m Pinkie Pie!” the party pony chirped.

“Pie. Ya, ya. Und does your family come from a quiet profession? Somezing like, oh say, blacksmiz, bakers, or hmmm,” he hummed and tilted his head back and forth lightly as if searching for a term before flatly saying, “a rock farm, perhaps?”

“Yupperoni! The Pie farm is the bestest, and most profitable rock farm in Equestria!”

“Ya, gut, ya ya,” Strangelove nodded absently as he stroked his chin thoughtfully with one hand and tapped the handle of his wheelchair with the other. “Perhaps it vas a success after all.”

As one, the entire group, save Dizzy who may have stuck by due to exhaustion rather than loyalty, took a step away from the pink pony. Twilight simply regarded her pink friend with a blank stare and an eye twitch.

“Now I’m sure you’d love to talk some more,” Cadence said hurriedly hoping to cut off a breakdown from Twilight, “but I believe the good Doctor still has that project to finish?”

“Ya, Princess. Business before pleasure,” the Doctor nodded wearily before turning to Twilight with a friendlier smile. “If you like, fraulien, I’ll be sure to leave a message viz ze front desk ven an opening in ze schedule occurs for a proper discussion.”

“I’m looking forward to it!” Twilight said excitedly with a smile wide enough to rival Pinkie’s best.

“Until zen.” The sounds of whirling of gears and the buzz of electricity trailed after the Doctor as his wheelchair rolled away.

“Well, that was…” Starlight trailed off.

“Yes, it, uh, sure was…” her coltfriend Sunburst agreed.

“Yeah, really…uh,” Rainbow tried.

“AMAZING!!!” the entire group jumped at Twilight’s yell and turned to see her pulling Spike in a massive hug and swinging him back and forth. “Did you see the…?! He was really…! Ohmygosh, this summer is going to be the best!!”

“Uhh, yeah. The best,” Spike mumbled as he tried to fight back that returning feeling of his body heating up in the wake of the torturous bliss of feeling Twilight’s soft chest pressed against him even as she threatened to crush his lungs with her alicorn enhanced hugs. It took the joint effort of pleas from Shining, Starlight, and Rarity as well as brute force from Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Cadence and Blueblood’s magic to pry her off and calm her down. The group, with an embarrassed Twilight gingerly clinging to Spike’s arm, chatted each other about their plans for the summer as they made their way to the elevator. Half way there, the elevator opened for Sentinel and his friends to walk out eager to conclude their day’s work.

Sentinel blinked in surprise as he noticed Twilight with her arm around a purpled dragon. Really?!, he thought, She moved on from a pony to some lizard!? Guess this’ll be easier than I thought.  He cricked his neck, “You know what guys? I think now’s the time. I’m going in.”

“Wait, Sentinel, I really think you should-” Gravel began.

“Oh gods, Sentinel, you’re so frickin cool holy shiiiiit!!” Shocker scratched out over Gravel’s attempted offer of good sense.

Looking forward to hearing that alicorn moan his name, he strolled up to her with a confident grin. “Hey, babe. How about you ditch the gecko for somepony who can really rock your-”

“Not interested,” Twilight said coldly before tightening her grip on Spike’s arm and brushing past Sentinel who froze in shock with that grin plastered on his face. The rest of the group didn’t bother hiding their own smirks and sniggering as they made their way past him to the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, a voice scratched out, “Oh gods, Sentinel, you suck!!”


**

“Sooo anypony know why we’re here?” Rainbow asked peevishly. “Instead of finishing the day off trying that awesome bar lounge the hotel has? You know, the way we should be ending a long day at a luxury hotel?”

“The same thin’ we told ya the last couple dozen times ya asked,” Applejack huffed irritably from beside Rainbow on the couch. “We’re waitin’ fer the Princesses ta meet us on account’a some issues they say need ta be aired out.”

Just as the vacationers had finished unpacking and agreed on a plan to wrap up their day, hotel staff arrived to announce that the Princesses wished to meet them in one of the conference rooms. Their nerves had already been deeply frayed from the long trip, car ride from Tartarus, and craziness at the lobby without this sudden summons. That was before they actually made it to the room.

Instead of the clean room and elegant furniture reserved for CEOs as like those they glanced through open doors on their way down, it seemed more like a storage room. Wallpaper was left half applied, random objects including a mini fridge, some dishware and glasses they may have considered for the lounge, makeup and prop pieces for floorshows, and a couple of side tables had been hastily pushed to the side, and the remaining furniture left for the girls were mismatched and clearly meant for samples provided to the interior designers to consider from earlier days as the hotel was first furnished. If it hadn’t been for Cadence, Shining, and Blueblood waiting there to assure them, they might have assumed the whole summons had be a ruse.

The group had done their best to make themselves comfortable as they waited for the Princesses to arrive but tensions were rising amongst the friends. Rarity seemed to become more and more a bundle of nerves from the frequent glares Pinkie Pie gave from across the room any time they happened meet gazes. The mismatched and tacky décor, the peeling leopard print couch in particular, tweaking the poor fashionista’s OCD certainly wasn’t helping. Rainbow was handling the circumstances with her usual ‘grace and patience’ leaving Applejack with the tedious job of reigning her in. Twilight couldn’t seem to decide on whether to worry about why they were there, her feelings for Spike, or Spike’s recent fantasies whereas poor Spike was torn between his own worries similar to Twilight’s as well as the tensions among his friends that he noticed but couldn’t pin down. The rest were simply alternating between sitting quietly and making flimsy attempts at conversation as they struggled to weather this hurricane of awkward.

As soon as the doors opened to reveal the Princesses, the group stood and began barraging the two with questions. When the questions didn’t show any sign of letting up, Celestia motioned with a hand for quiet. They eventually complied and quickly sat with embarrassed expressions at their own behavior as the Princesses stepped forward and took the two remaining seats. 

“Firstly, I would like to thank you all for coming,” Celestia said with a small nod of her head. “I realize you would all likely prefer to be ending this day resting, but there is something that I feel I must say.

“Spike,” she said hesitantly as she allowed her political mask to slip long enough to reveal a rare moment of uncertainty before bowing low from her seat. “I…I am so sorry for failing you, my son.” The sheer sorrow in that one sentence stunned the entire group.

“Mom,” Spike said gently after recovering before the others. “You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything-”

“Exactly,” Celestia. She rose from her bow showing the heartbreaking sight of her grief-stricken face with tears flowing freely. “I did nothing. A parent’s greatest responsibility is to see that their child is prepared to fend for themselves. You knew nothing of your race’s ways to avoid trouble nor were you equipped to defend yourself. And before you say anything about our country’s general lack of knowledge on the subject, remember that being a princess meant I possessed enough influence and resources to find something. If nothing else, I could have assigned somepony to train you in self-defense.

“But I did not. I never bothered because I still saw a child to be sheltered or at least safe enough that you did not need to be pushed forward to stand on your own. And you paid the price for that negligence.” Everypony wanted to say something to reassure Celestia, but they could only look down and fidget as they failed to say anything. What could they say to any of that?

After a few more minutes of tense silence Celestia sniffed, drew a shaky breath and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Even with the power to move the sun, I cannot go back to change those poor decisions. I can, however, start making some better ones now: starting with being more open with you.

“The girls have brought you on this trip both to recover from your injuries and to be with you to celebrate your coming birthday. What you don’t realize is that you are entering something called a rutt cycle.”

“Princess, is this really a good-” Twilight began.

“Ignoring these issues has only worsened the situation,” Luna cut off severely. 

Spike glanced around at the shocked and worried faces nervously before speaking up. “What issues? What’s going to happen?”

Celestia turned back to Spike with a sad expression and spoke softly. “It is something akin to a mare’s heat week. The differences being that this will be much more severe and will last several months.” Celestia ignored the group’s shock, none of them knew enough to suspect the rutt would be that bad, and continued, “In moments you become particularly aroused, you will experience blackouts. During these blackouts your body will operate on pure instinct driving you to seek out several females to mate with, willing or not. Worse yet, any female taken in this way may be marked during the mating through your innate dragon magic creating a bond that could force them to remain yours. You would not be able to remove this mark until after the rutt cycle when you are able to maintain conscious thought during intercourse. Even then, kind as you are, you would have to fight your draconic instincts just to let them go.”

The group stared at the Princesses in horror before frantic exclamations filled the air. 

“Dude! Spike’s going to what?!”

“Not our Spikey!”

“He’d never be such a meanie!”

“But what if they’re right? What can we do?”

“How are we supposed to-?”

“ENOUGH!!” Luna bellowed silencing everypony. “Have many of you not saved our world time and again? Has panicking ever aided us? No! My sister said we are addressing the issue, and we are. Calm down and show some faith.”

The ponies in the room had the good sense to look abashed at their actions as a small voice spoke up. “S-so…you’re saying I won’t hurt anypony?”

The fear in Spike’s voice drew near heartbroken looks from most of the room, Celestia in particular. “No son,” she said softly. “Not if I have anything to say about it. Steps have been taken to educate you on your heritage, help you cope with this cycle, and perhaps even help you heal your recent heartache.”

“Umm. What steps would those be?” Twilight asked uncertainly. “And how do you know so much about the rutt cycle now? You didn’t seem to know any more than we did at the hospital.”
“Many of the holes in our knowledge on dragon kind have been filled after consulting an…expert,” Celestia’s mouth twisted in distaste much to the confusion of everyone in the room.

“Does Canterlot actually have experts on dragon’s?” Starlight asked in confusion as she looked to her coltfriend who shrugged.

“I certainly didn’t hear of any when I studied in Canterlot,” Starburst confessed.

“He is an expert on many things…just don’t ask him how he got that way,” Celestia muttered.

“Now now, Celestia. No need to make it sound as if I ver some necromancer,” an accented voice said archly drawing the room’s attention to the hallway door where Doctor Strangelove rolled in accompanied by his massive assistant. “I’ve seen zeir notes and zey are far too sloppy and crude for my tastes.”

Most were too surprised by the expert’s reveal and entrance to speak although Applejack did manage to bring something up. “Woah, now. Jus’ wait one minute,” she said looking suspiciously at the two figures. “I remember that big fella practically shakin’ the whole floor with every step he took. How come you two managed to stroll through the hallway without us even noticing until you made your little entrance?”

“I’ll explain later, Fraulein,” Strangelove assured.3 “In ze mean time, I believe our fair princess was about to make an announcement?”

Celestia glared at the doctor for a time until she sighed and turned back to Spike. “Well, son, you see…I-” she bit her lip in an uncharacteristic show of hesitancy. “That is…to deal with your education, rutt cycle, and his dating issue we…may have…That is we-”

“What sister is trying to say in her spectacularly nervous way,” Luna broke in dryly, “is that we have arranged for Spike to be betrothed.”

The entire room somehow blinked as one in shock confusion at the announcement. 

“Hold on. Isn’t that a bit-?” Starlight began.

“LIKE TARTARUS HE IS!!!” 

The enraged shout drew flabbergasted looks from the room to Twilight whose face was twisted in rage. Cadence’s glance differed as she wore a more thoughtful expression regarding the youngest alicorn in the room. Finally noticing the stares, Twilight’s burst of anger petered out and devolved into embarrassed fidgeting. “I-I mean…um. Isn’t that unfair to Spike?”

“Yeah. We brought Spike on this vacation to relax not hurt his feelings,” Rainbow said, confusing everypony before she spoke to Luna. “Also, Princess, you might want to check up on your slang. It’s just ‘trolled.’ There’s no ‘be’ in there.”

This received facepalms from the rest of the room aside from Igor who stood stoic and the doctor who sent an incredulous look to the multicolored mare and asked, “How do you function?!”

“She said ‘betrothed’ not ‘betrolled’, Rainbow,” Rarity broke in delicately before a fight could start. “It means the Princesses are arranging for Spike to marry someone they chose for him.”

“Oh…Well, that sounds pretty uncool, too,” Rainbow answered offhandedly.

“We are not forcing Spike into this,” Celestia spoke up and turned to Spike imploringly. “This candidate wasn’t just chosen for her knowledge on dragon’s. She was also picked because we believe her to be a girl you could genuinely grow to care for. However, you will have the final say in this and can call it off if you choose. All I ask that you give her a chance. In fact, she should be here now with the doctor present.”

Spike closed his eyes and frowned in thought. He had remained quiet since the announcement. This had understandably upset him, yet, he also understood that his mom was only trying to help. Eventually he sighed and looked back up. “Well, if nothing else, I should at least meet her. I mean, she probably came a pretty long way just to be here, right?”

“Junge, you have no idea,” Strangelove said dryly before clapping his hands twice. At his signal, a feminine figure slowly walked in with her hands folded in front of her. The group of friends showed varying reactions from surprise to distrust.

“Well, I will admit that she pulls off that white sundress quite well,” Rarity put in unsurely.

“Yeah, but is this a good idea?” Rainbow asked with a frown. “No offence kid, but we haven’t actually had much luck with dragonesses or dragons in general lately. I doubt Spike is really going to-”

“That’s not possible.” The group turned at the whispered denial to see Twilight who looked at the newcomer with wide, disbelieving eyes. 

Their confusion grew as Spike simply stood and walked to figure as if in a trance. A few of them gasped as he gently placed his hand on her cheek to which the girl simply answered with a sweet smile and touched his hand with her own blue scaled hand. “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, tough guy.”
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tension first pervading the room had never really had a chance to fade before the Princesses finished talking and it only spiked after the introduction and explanation of Moonstone’s presence.  Spike now sat in one of the couches with his arm curled around Moonstone as he tried to make sense of the swirling sensations he felt within: his vindication at her being real, the joy he felt having her nearby, and the discomfort at her origins. Twilight sat wringing her hands as she warred with her own swirling emotions from shock at the Princesses’ actions as well as being torn between relief at Spike not going crazy and some strange anger she couldn’t quite place. Her inner turmoil left her oblivious to the occasional thoughtful glance from Cadence and worried frown from Shining. The rest of the room simply tried to politely ignore this while dealing with their own confused feelings on the revelations, unintentionally adding to the tense atmosphere with their own silence. Hurricane Awkward had effectively become Perfect Storm Awkward. 

Fortunately, one of the girls held enough guts to speak and save the rest from this terrible awkward silence. Unfortunately, she never learned the importance of matching those guts with discretion. 

“So, what? You plan to help Spike by marrying him to a fake dragon?” Rainbow asked. 

This clearly turned out to be the wrong way to end such silence. Moonstone shrunk in on herself as Spike’s arm tightened around her protectively and he sent a glare Dash’s way. The others turned to Rainbow with disapproving frowns and prepared to admonish her en masse. That is, until a flash of sliver shot by Rainbow’s face cutting off some strands of mane and hitting the wall behind her with a dull thunk. Eyes wide in shock, she slowly turned her face to see a scalpel firmly stuck in the wood wall. She and the rest of the room turned back to where the surgical tool came from to see a livid Doctor glaring in Rainbow’s direction. 

“Bevare of slighting my vork, fraulien, else ze next piece of surgical equipment may fly a few inches furzer to ze left,” Strangelove growled softly.

“Doctor Strangelove!!” Celestia shouted enraged. “Whatever was said, you will not-”

“In deed, he will not,” Luna broke in smoothly before directing a glare to Rainbow that caused her to shiver, “for the next one to speak ill of young Moonestone then, friend or no, there will be drastic consequences delivered by myself before he can do anything.”

The grim promise and frosty tone seemed to force the temperature to drop several degrees. They couldn’t begin to guess at the princess’s connection to the newcomer, but she clearly didn’t react well to perceived insults against her. Eventually, Blueblood coughed politely into his hand, “Right. Perhaps we should have the good doctor explain the situation a bit further before making any hasty judgements or comments?” 

“Ya, I suppose ve could do wiz some elaboration,” Strangelove acceded. “Let’s start wiz some background information, shall ve?

“Zer origins and development actually share much in common with ponies: Ve ver shaped by ancient powers zat manage our vorld and ve each developed several tribes wiz unique attributes.”

“Tribes? The hey are you-?” Rainbow started before Applejack tapped her shoulder for silence.

After starting at the others as if daring them to interrupt, Strangelove huffed and continued. “Ve ver formed by ze powers of Harmony that maintain balance in ze vorld, zey ver formed from ze fierce forces of Primal Magic zat forced ze crude materials zat shaped this vorld together. As our abilities reflect Harmony’s order and gentle guidance, zeir’s reflect the harsh yet life giving and shaping forge of Primal Magic. Like us, zey had several tribes, but ver best recognized by zree main groups. First, ver ze Sky Renders. Zose ve zink of as ‘dragons’ today. Zen ve have ze Magma Wyrms. Zey ver massive, serpentine beings zat tunneled zrough ze crust. Zey didn’t breaze fire, per se, but zeir size und ability to qvickly devour enough molten rock to fill, or form as ze case may be, several large canyons. Und zen ve have,” he paused and smiled as he gestured to Moonstone and Spike, “Aezer Drakes. Vile lacking vings or physical hardiness of ze ozer tribes, zeir ability to tap directly into ze Aezer and manipulate its’ energies more zan make up.”

“Are you serious!?” Sunburst exclaimed. Noticing the confused glances, aside from the Princesses who seemed unfazed and Twilight and Starlight who seemed to share his amazement, he explained, “Aether is the term used to describe the undercurrent of magic that permeates the entire universe. It’s the purest form of magical energy in existence. All creatures in this world display magic in some form or another, but that magic comes from the stable field formed about and through the world after an eons-long event separated a miniscule portion from the rest of the Aether. What we use is a safer, diluted form of the original. In theory, tapping into the Aether would provide power to toy with space, time, or anything else in this plane of reality. The problem is, nothing aside from an alicorn or Discord could hope to access it without dematerializing themselves in an instant.”

The explanation behind the ability of left the group stunned.

Well, most of the group. 

“Uhh, okay,” Rainbow spoke up slowly, “not being an egghead, most of what I got there was ‘Blah blah super magic blah blah safe magic blah blah blah Discord and alicorns blah bad stuff.’ You’re basically saying that every member in Spike’s tribe could have given Discord a run for his bits, right?” At Sunburt’s exasperated sigh and nod, while outright ignoring Strangelove’s annoyed groan, she continued, “If that’s the case, shouldn’t there be some Aether Drakes besides Spike? For that matter, where are these Magma Wyrms at?” 

“Vell, zey vouldn’t be qvite zat powerful today,” the doctor amended. “Zis vould have been during zeir heyday many eons before unification. Or ponykind for zat matter. Just as ponies use zeir Harmony magic to guide ze environment, dragons used zeir Primal magic to give it shape. Sky Renders vould shrug off and shape toxic atmosphere until it formed our current atmosphere and weather systems. Ze Magma Wyrms condensed and shaped the molten minerals zat formed ze vorld’s crust. Und, going back to Herr Sunburts statement,” he said with a nod to the aforementioned unicorn, “ze eons-long event zat formed our magic field vould have been ze vork of ze Aezer Drakes tearing and molding zose energies from ze rest of ze Aezer.

“As for vere zey are? Vell…” He paused and glared at the ground. For the first time since they met him, however, he didn’t glare with contempt or annoyance. Instead, it showed a combination of profound distasted and sorrow. “Zey ver murdered.”

“WHAT!?” the group shouted in horror. 

“Ya, murdered,” Strangelove reaffirmed. “In ze ages after ze vorld’s formation as zeir power declined, ze tribes turned to zeir own interests. Ze Magma Wyrms ver content to dvell beneath ze earh vere zey continue to affect mineral deposits und ze Aezer Drakes ver content to spend zeir days studying und mediating on ze mysteries of ze Aezer. Ze Sky Renders zough…Zey ver, as zey are now, a proud, ambitious lot who veren’t fond of sharing. Fearing ze Aezer Drakes as potential rivals, zey mustered forces in private before sweeping zrough in a single surprise attack. Ze vermin didn’t even bozer to remember zer victims. Which in hindsight, may be somzing of a blessing in disguise as zat meant dragons today vould only look at a vingless dragon as a defect razer zan a zreat to be actively hunted. Fortunately, dragon eggs are qvite resilient and Aezer eggs only need to be in a magically charged atmosphere to survive long enough until getting a proper charge of mana to hatch. In Spike’s case, his egg likely escaped notice long enough for some explorer or smuggler to find it und sell it to ze School for Gifted Unicorns zinking it vas a stillborn.”

As he finished his explanation Spike’s friends turned toward him with sad and uncertain glances as they watched to see how he would react. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure how to react himself. He swallowed thickly and looked away. He blinked as he felt something rubbing his arm gently and turned to see Moonstone holding his arm in a comforting grip while regarding him sadly. A small warmth spread in his chest and he inhaled before giving a thankful smile to her. “Well, at least some answers were answered,” he said with a weak chuckle before turning back to the Doctor. “But where does Moonstone fit into this?”

“So glad you asked,” Strangelove said with some of his dry attuited seemingly restored as they changed subjects. “First, ze Princesses provided some blood samples retrieved from ze hospital you ver admitted to: some from you to get a partial genetic pattern of your tribe und some from ze visiting dragons to get ze basic patterns zat vould have been shared among zeir tribes. After zat, it vas a simple matter of combining ze proper organic materials und a power source to initialize as vell as speed up her development over ze course of a few weeks.”

“You call that a simple matter!?!” Starlight cried out, seemingly a second later than Sunburst or Twilight meant to. “Firstly, trying to artificially conceive a member of a dead race from samples from one surviving member and some similar species!? That’s like perfectly reconstructing an ancient city after studying the designs from one original building and a few that shared similar traits! And where did you get the power!?! I remember Ember1 telling us that dragons, or at least her type of dragons, use up massive amounts of energy to form the egg and give it some measure of self-sufficiency! The needs for artificially forming a dragon embryo and speeding its formation would be phenomenal!”

“Vell, I vould love to give out ze fascinating details to you and your other scholarly friends, but ve are currently outnumbered by ze ignorant, impatient, und unlearned.”-this got a variety of irritated and annoyed looks- “So ze short version to zose two qvestions? I’m me and since ve vere fresh out of surging unicorn prodigies”-Twilight couldn’t stop an embarrassed blush and cringe at that- “ze pover vas aqvired zrough, ehm, borrowing some from city thaumic grids, incidentally causing some of ze nation-wide brown outs you may have read about from ze paper ze last few weeks.”

The listeners blinked and swallowed at the revelation as even the less…erudite…members knew that that kind of power would have left a nasty mess in Equestria if anything went wrong. Pushing aside her own unease, Twilight cleared her throat. “But…if Moonstone was only born recently…then how does Spike remember growing up with her?”

The others turned surprised and confused glances to Twilight, then Spike who simply nodded an affirmative. 

“That would be my doing,” Luna said quietly. At the others’ shocked stares, she continued, “Having the ability to physically create a bride to be was not enough. We needed someone we knew Spike could get along with.”

“You…you implanted fake memories?” Spike asked softly in hurt.

“No, Spike,” Luna answered quickly. “When Moonstone formed enough to develop a consciousness, I linked her to your sleeping mind. Using your memoires, I created scenarios that played out based on how things would have occurred if you and Moonstone had lived those moments in real life.”

“But how is that any-?” Spike started.

“Cogito ergo sum,” Strangelove interrupted.

“I think therefore I am? The philosophy that we are defined by our thoughts and choices?” Twilight clarified.

“Indeed,” Strangelove answered fondly before turning to Spike, “Zere may be no physical evidence of ze events you remember, but each und every choice ze both of you made ver just as genuine as zey would have been in life. Zey ver not scripted. Zey came from your own hearts und minds. Zerefore, zose memories are as real as you let zem be.”

Spike blinked and frowned in thought. After several tense moments as the rest of the room watched in anticipation, he spoke slowly, “Well…if that’s the case,” Spike started as he turned to regard a nervously fidgeting Moonstone and smiled. “I think you still owe me for that ruby milkshake you snatched up two birthdays ago.”

While everypony else shared confused glances, Moonstone relaxed visibly before snorting and sticking her forked tongue at him as she replied playfully, “Yeah? I’d like to see how well you could make that stick in court.” She puffed herself up and deepened her voice in an imitation of Spike, “‘Your honor! This adult dragoness who was born a few weeks ago owes me for stealing a shake that only existed in my head!’ Afraid to say, ‘cogito ergo sum’ doesn’t work as well for milkshakes, tough guy.”

The rest of the room giggled and laughed at this as the remaining tension seemed to drain from the room. “That’s so romantic,” Rarity sighed from beside her own coltfriend. “You two really do make a cute couple.” Spike and Moonstone blushed at that.

“Yeah! Now, on top of the birthday party, we can have a ‘glad you found your soulmate’ party!” Pinkie called out excitedly causing the young dragon couple’s blushing to deepen. “Although, I might forget inviting a certain somepony during the planning,” she muttered quietly with a glare that caused Rarity to flinch. 

“Be that as it may,” Luna started after subtly frowning at Rarity and Pinkie, “there is still something we need from the rest of you.” Everypony quickly sat straight at the announcement, wondering what the stern-faced Night Princess might want from them. “If you are willing, I wish to use the same technique employed with Spike to synch your memories with his and Moonstone’s as you sleep tonight.” She sighed at the wide-eyed stare she received in answer. She wasn’t surprised by the reaction, but she was hoping that they would hear her out before turning the idea aside altogether. “You need not fear any side effects or serious repercussions. As I told Spike earlier, all those memories were based strictly on what would have occurred in real life. Part of that included strict adherence to your personalities. That means the synch will leave no real effect on your minds and the only significant changes to your memories will be that Moonstone had always been a part of your lives.”

The girls looked at one another uncertainly. Applejack spoke up reluctantly, “Now, Princess, I get what yer trin’ ta do. Really, I do, and Miss Moonstone seems like a nice sort,” she hesitated in guilt at Moonstone’s hurt look, but powered on, “but I can’t say I’m too keen on anyone messin’ with my head. I know you watch over our dreams, but this seems a mite more serious.”

“She’s not asking to ‘mess vith your head’ as you so qvaintly put it,” Strangelove said archly, drawing everypony’s attention. “She’s asking you to do vat you are known for: offer friendship. In zis case, you are doing so retroactively.” 

Strangelove took in the confused looks and sighed. “Zink about it. Ze fashion in how young Moonstone vas born has literally left her wizout a friend in ze vorld. Her only memories of joy und friendship are zese of you. Your choice is to make zese memories your own and accept her…or not.”

“…I say we do it.” Fluttershy’s soft voice drew everypony’s attention to her determined expression. She hesitated at the sudden attention, but Big Mac’s hand tightening around hers in support helped her to keep going. “I-I know how I would feel in her shoes. The idea of waking up one day to learn that my best friends, that all of you,” she gestured to the rest of the room, “didn’t remember me or the times you helped me? The thought that I would have to live my life with all of you looking at me as if I were a stranger? That would-” she stopped herself and shivered as she fought back tears. “T-that would break my heart,” she whimpered. 

The others stared in dismay at the yellow pegasus’ point and looked down. In particular, they seemed to be avoiding looking at Moonstone. They each seemed to go through their own phases of emotion as they processed this: shame, guilt, sadness, and more than a little discomfort. Eventually, each of the girls looked back to one another with determined frowns and nods. They agreed that, despite their initial unease at the situation, none of them could simply turn away this girl in her time of need. Even Twilight, who still internally struggled with her own uncertainties and broiling emotions that seemed to stem from Moonstone’s appearance, couldn’t turn away with a clear conscious.

One by one, they turned to Luna and gave a nod in acceptance. The sight caused Moonstone to exhale violently and lean into Spike. “Thank you. All of you,” she said gratefully, as she released the tension she had been trying to keep hidden from the group. “I know this is asking a lot, and I know you may be a bit mad a mom but thank you for understanding.” 

She continued leaning on Spike with her eyes closed before frowning and looking around to notice that the entire group was staring at her with wide eyes. She was going to ask what was wrong until she was interrupted.

“What…did you say?” Luna asked softly.

Moonstone looked up in confusion at Luna’s carefully blank face. Her own eyes widened and she blanched as she realized that, despite a few times speaking in the dream realm, she never actually addressed the Princess that way face to face. She swallowed nervously, realizing there was no way to take it back, and explained, “W-well, you did shape my mind and help teach me what I needed to get around in Equestria. You also provided a lot of magic to help shape me so…um…I…might see you…as…my mom.”

Luna continued to stare until finally standing and walking slowly toward Moonstone. The entire group gasped as Moonstone was enveloped in a blue aura and flew towards the Princess…
Only cover their ears as Luna glomped on to the little dragoness and spun around as she somehow started squealing in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “HUZZAH!! WE’RE A MOMMY WE’RE A MOMMY!!!”

When Luna finally quieted down after several spins with Moonstone clutched tightly to her chest, Blueblood spoke up, “So, if Aunty Luna is Miss Moonstone’s mother, would that make the Doctor her father?”

Luna's good mood evaporated and her eyes hooded. She turned to Strangelove who answered her flat look with a raised eyebrow. “Vat is zat look for? Expecting child support? Young Moonstone can fend for herself. Besides, I’m fairly certain your bank account is far healzier zan mine.” 

“This is all very heartwarming,” Sunburst broke in hesitantly, “but…even with the Doctor taking precautions against genetic bottleneck in her formation, wouldn’t that make Spike and Moonstone related now? At least by law?”

Luna's eyes widened in horrified understanding. The same happened for the other royalty, the girls, and their boyfriends. Eventually, the silence was broken by Moonstone after shrugging in Luna’s arms, “Well, you know what they say. Incest is wincest.”

That caused Twilight to choke and cover her eyes. “DEAR CELESTIA, GET THESE NEW IMAGES OUT OF MY HEAD!!” she wailed in despair.

“I would love to, my friend, but I would have done that for myself first if I could have,” Celestia answered ruefully as she pinched the bridge of her nose.   

Rainbow Dash, in a fit of her usual tact, reacted by snorting and doubling over in laughter. “You know what? I take back every bad thing I said and every doubt I had,” she said when she finally recovered enough to speak. She looked to Moonstone with a twisted grin. “I think we’ll get along just fine.” 

“Vell enough,” Doctor Strangelove nodded and looked toward Moonstone, “If you or ze junge nee anything, you can find me in my room.” He waited long enough to see her nod in thanks before barking out, “Come along, Igor! Zis vork may be finished, but ve still have much to do!”

“I pick things up, I put them down,” Igor rumbled in agreement before stomping after the Doctor.

“Then it is decided,” Celestia said nodding with a faint smile, which seemed to be a bit relieved at the doctor’s exit, before turning to Spike and Moonstone. “A room has been set aside for the two of you. You can leave ahead of us and get to know one another.” 

Spike blushed and started stammering as images popped into his head at that. Moonstone rolled her eyes and strolled to Spike’s seat where she pulled him up by his arms, “Come on Casanova. Like she said, we’ve got a room with our names on it and it won’t mess itself up.”

“I…didn’t actually say-” Celestia tried to correct Moonstone but she drug Spike out the door before the solar diarch could get a word out. She shrugged, “Well, they’re young. I’m sure things will work out. As for the rest of you,” she turned to everypony with a tired, but warm smile, “I imagine this has only made a long day even more so for you. I advise that we go back to our own rooms and rest up. This looks to be the start of an interesting summer.”

“WAIT!!! I…um,” Twilight called out but trailed off as she received everypony’s attention. She had wanted to object to the young dragons leaving the room but couldn’t for the life of her come up with a logical reason. She still found herself a bit unsettled by both the evening’s revelations and these odd feelings, many of which intensified as she saw Moontstone dragging Spike out the door. After wracking her brain, she finally settled on an excuse for having called their attention, “What about the memory synch? Won’t that take time or some preparation? After all, this is several years’ worth of memories for all of us at once.”

“That has been taken care of,” Luna assured. “As soon as all of you fall asleep, the connection will finalize, and the memories will be incorporated. The only effects any of you are likely to feel will be a slight headache in the morning and a few moments in conversation where you may need sort out a few memories. The former will fade quickly, and the latter can quickly be resolved tomorrow over a leisurely meal. To that end, I have already set a reservation at the four-star restaurant attached to the hotel. You can all head for there at your own pace after sleeping in tomorrow.”

“Now that sounds like a plan ah can get behind,” Applejack said approvingly as she stood and stretched. “In fact, ah think ah’m for movin’ ahead and testin’ out just how relaxin’ those beds are.”   

The rest of the room muttered tired agreement with that and stood to leave. They started for the door before freezing in place as Rarity and Pinkie both shrieked in surprise as they were picked up in a blue aura. 

“Not quite yet, I think, for these two,” Luna stated sternly as she glared at the ponies in question. “We still have some business to discuss. The rest of you may go.”

The others looked at one another unsurely until shrugging, deciding that they really didn’t have any grounds to contradict her and started to make their way out aside from two stallions from the group: Pearl, who wanted to support Rarity as a loyal coltfriend until a nod from Rarity and a particularly stern glare from Luna sent him scurrying off and Dizzy who remained sprawled on a couch as exhaustion kept him from rising.

Luna huffed and turned to the last ponies exiting, “Big Mac, would you be so kind as to carry Dizzy to his room? He likely used any energy he had remaining to make it to this meeting.” Big Mac nodded, made his way to Dizzy, and picked up the exhausted stallion with ease and carried him out.

Once the doors closed, Luna roughly dropped the two mares onto one of the couches before planting her hands on her hips and directing a scathing glare at the two. “I am so very disappointed in the two of you,” she said softly. 

They tried to speak up, Rarity with flowery apologies and Pinkie with outrage, before Luna cut them off she slashed her hand through the air and spoke over them, “BE QUIET!!” She yelled furiously, “I know all about this little fight of yours, and I know you two have done nothing to fix it. Since the two of you have spent weeks not speaking to each other over this, then you can both remain silent and listen as I speak!”

She turned to Rarity who sunk in on herself. “Miss Rarity, you all but declared our nephew, Blueblood, a sworn enemy for the longest time because he ruined one of your creations. You of all ponies should understand how one can value a possession related to their life’s work. Now, granted,” Luna said conceding with a wave of her hand, “it was done to bring justice against a harlot that abused a loved one for her own ends. Even so, your surroundings offered plenty of items to smash over the wretch that you could have used.”

Pinkie sneered and looked like she was about to add a scathing comment, but quickly quailed as Luna turned the scolding to her, “Don’t look so smug Miss Pie. Your own behavior in this matter has been just as deplorable, nay more so, than anything from Miss Rarity. Yes, your party cannon was a possession that held value to you. But that is just what it was: a possession! It can be repaired or replaced. Can you repair your friendships? Replace the smiles lost because of your bitter tantrums!? And that’s not counting your wretched treatment of your coltfriend!”

“Dizzy?” Pinkie asked bewildered. “What does he have to do with-?”

“Even during the weeks of shaping Moonstone’s mind, I could sense young Dizzy’s nightmares. They generated more terror than those from soldiers I’ve guided through PTSD!” Luna shouted scornfully. “When I did a quick scan of him during the meeting just now, he barely seemed to be holding together! We may overlook this sort of thing during heat season, but that is because heat interferes with a Mare’s reasoning and only lasts for a week. You have been extending that behavior simply to find an outlet for anger you chose not to resolve.” By the end of the tirade, Pinkie’s eyes were watering, and her hair had considerably straightened.

“Just look at the two of you!” Luna growled at both girls who now stared down at the floor in shame. “Your friendships were forged in adversity and desperation. You managed to work with the others to save me from the taint of Nightmare Moon and continued to save this world time and again. But this? This warranted destroying the friendship between you? This warranted distressing your friends and adding yet more to Spike’s considerable suffering?” she glared at the two mares as if daring them to challenge her points. She scoffed, “Well, you may be willing to give up over something so trivial, but your friends are not. And if you can’t be trusted to resolve this on your own…then it is left to me to do so.”

With that ominous declaration, she pulled a wood box from behind her and slammed it onto the coffee table in the center of the room causing the girls to jump. “In the ancient days,” Luna muttered darkly, “the territory of Stalliongrad was fraught with danger. They knew precious resources and time could not be wasted on petty arguments in their treacherous home, yet they also acknowledged that some slights could not be ignored. In such times, they took both feuding parties and locked them in a room where they were forced to share a powerful concoction until their differences were resolved. This brew was crafted from the blood of frost demons and soothed every form of pain from the physical to the spiritual, even as it threatened to melt their insides.” 

The girls looked on in fear and awe of the story as Luna pulled out a large bottle of clear liquid and slammed it onto the table. “That is, until they ran out of frost demons a few centuries ago. Now, they use a new brew called ‘vodka’ which I have found to be just as effective.”

“Princess, perhaps we should-” Rarity started nervously.

“I don’t think this is a good ide-” Pinkie added at the same times.

“KEEP YOUR OPINIONS AND EXCUSES TO YOURSELVES!!” Luna barked. “You were given a chance to do things your way, so now we shall do them mine.” She waved her hands and every surface in the room was enveloped by the blue glow of her magic. After a moment, the glow began to slide away from the walls, floor, doors, and ceiling towards the bottle on the table. Soon enough, all of the magic had focused on the glass bottle causing it to glow like a beacon before suddenly winking out. The two girls looked about in fearful confusion until their attention was drawn back to Luna speaking. “I’ve cast a barrier that will prevent any but I from leaving or entering this room. The only way it can be removed is by meeting one of two conditions. Either I remove it, which won’t happen until I am satisfied, or until the two of you have downed an equal number of shots to finish this bottle.” 

Ignoring the girls’ frantic attempts to speak, Luna stomped out into the hall and slammed the door shut. She looked back at the door with a thoughtful frown as she considered adding an additional spell to the door but dismissed the idea quickly. Of the two girls, only Pinkie Pie was experienced with picking locks and she would be far too inebriated to work lock picks by the end of that bottle. She hummed happily as she strode down the hall. When she returned, the girls will have long since worked passed their issues.

That, or they would throttle each other.

Either way, the problem would be resolved by the time she came back in a couple of hours to check on them. And best of all, the plan’s simplicity made it all but foolproof. Yes, in no way would this backfire. “Everything will be absolutely perfect,” she chirped.

The Princess’s good mood would likely have plummeted had she noticed a certain business suit wearing stallion in glasses who shook his head exasperatedly at her from the corner of the hotel lobby he sat at. 

****


Spike sat in the loveseat where he had plopped down and settled on wringing his hands nervously since Moonstone dragged him into the suite only to motion for him to wait as she headed to the kitchen. Before he could guess what she planned, she strolled out with a six-pack of his favorite soda and sat beside him as she passed him a couple of cans. “Sorry it’s nothing stronger, but it’s still a little over a day until your birthday,” she said and shrugged from beside him. “I would have snuck something in anyway, but mom knew me well enough to make sure I couldn’t slip out unattended before the meeting. She also arranged to have the good stuff taken from the minibar.” She looked over and winked, “Don’t worry though. We’ll have plenty of chances for a little trouble.” She downed the soda quickly and crushed the empty can against her head before tossing it at a nearby painting and going for another drink.

“WHOAH!! Careful, Moon!” Spike yelped as he stepped over to pick up the can and throw it way. “I know it might be kind of tempting, but this whole room costs more than most of my gem collection combined!” Indeed, it seemed less a hotel room and more like a small penthouse. The ‘kitchen area’ included marble top counters, top of the line cooking appliances, and a fully stocked minibar likely big enough to supply an actual bar had it not been raided. The living room featured comfy furniture that probably cost more than most normal ponies made in a year, tasteless yet likely expensive artwork and most importantly, to Spike’s mind at least, the beautiful piece of technology that was the plasma screen TV big enough to take up three fourths of the wall it was mounted on. He hadn’t seen the bedroom yet, though, if it were anything like the furniture in the living room, it was likely furnished with the finest sheets, decoration, and amenities that bits could buy. This suite was probably meant to be reserved for celebrities, CEOs, and nobles.

“Nah, it’s fine. Bluey wouldn’t have asked me to trash it, otherwise,” Moonstone said casually and waved aside his worrying as she took another long draught from the new can. After noticing a lengthy silence, she glanced over to see Spike’s confused frown before facepalming. “Tch. Duh! Guess I forgot to mention that Blue actually asked for us to cut loose while we’re here. Turns out, he reeeeally didn’t want to set shop here, but the board of investors kind of backed him into a corner. He can’t do much himself, but…” She leaned forward to whisper in an over the top conspiratorial tone, “you and I are technically royalty, yet we hold no direct affiliation to Bluey’s business. Aside from Mom, aunt Luna, and the elements we’re some of the only ones around who could cause some havoc here and nopony could do anything about it.” She paused in thought then shrugged as she added, “Well, except maybe Discord. But he’s probably not interested in any kind of trouble that doesn’t amount to more than frat colt parties.” 

“Oh, heh heh, yea,” Spike laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. He did his very best to hide the warring of fear and shame within. “T-that’s what you meant. With the whole, uh, making a mess thing.”

Moonstone regarded him studiously before a look of comprehension crossed her face. “Ohhh. I see. You thought I hauled you up here to fuck me silly.”

“W-WHAT!?!” Spike squeaked cried out as his face reddened.

“You know, bump uglies,” she stated conversationally, though the one eye not covered by her draped head fin had a raised eyebrow and shown a mischievous glint. She seemed to take his silence as confusion. So, much to his horror, she elaborated, “Do the deed. Test the bedsprings. Make the beast with two backs. Fill Moonstone Cavern. Find and polish the hidden pearl. Plow the moistened fields. Bury the sausage. Spear the tuna. Sheathe your sword in the scabbard. Reveal our shame. Settle your dragon junior in my damp cav-”

“YES!” Spike interrupted desperately as he vainly fought down his blush of embarrassment. “Yes, I get it! Sex. The whole emerald enchilada. But the thing is…well…” he trailed off as he stared at the fine carpet floor. After a fortifying breath, he spoke, “I’m scared, Moon. I’m scared that whatever this rutt does will hurt you. I’m scared that I won’t be good enough. And…” he hesitated before cringing and finishing in a small voice, “I’m scared of what might change from this.”

For a time, Moonstone didn’t bother to answer, and Spike couldn’t tell what she might have been thinking as he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. When she sighed in exasperation, he couldn’t stop a cringe. I knew it, he thought, She probably thinks I’m a loser now. Even with all this ‘made to love me’ stuff, there’s no way an amazing girl like Moonstone would-


SMACK!!!

The sharp pain brought his claws to the back of his head, and he looked up at Moonstone in confusion and shock. She glared as she shook her head back and forth in annoyance and rubbed the soreness in her hand, “Tough guy, in all of these memories of the times we shared, there is one thing about you that got on my nerves: that thick skull of yours.

“Spike, I’m a dragon. I can handle some rough stuff. And up here-” she gestured to her forehead with a single clawed finger “-there’s more than childhood memories: dragon traditions and culture, anatomy, self-defense. Part of the whole reason the Princesses worked with my dad on this crazy project was to make sure you had someone you didn’t have to worry about hurting. I can handle myself just fine until you get a grip on yourself. And don’t waste your time worrying about being ‘good enough.’ Until this rutt cycle ends, or we find a way to make it a bit more manageable, none of us are really going to have a say in the matter when those instincts take over and you start blacking out. That said,” she smiled gently and put an arm around his shoulders, “I know you’ve been raised to be a perfect gentledrake. When we have some more say against these blackouts, I have no doubt you’ll make every effort to make things up with a little more romance later. In fact, pops even installed some info and provided a few…tools that might help us make more of our time during this rutt cycle, if not shorten the cycle altogether. 

“As for things changing? Well…” she sighed and leaned her head on Spike’s nearest shoulder. “There are always changes: some good and some bad. That’s just life. But here’s the thing,” she turned her head up, pushed aside her fin, and gently kissed his forehead. The kiss didn’t tease or show sensuality. It only offered comfort. She leaned back and smiled as she looked into Spike’s eyes and he into hers. “No matter what crazy events brought us together, we’re friends, Spike. As long as we stick together, things will work out fine.”

At hearing those words and looking into that beautiful face surrounded by a soft blue glow, Spike couldn’t have stopped the slow smile spreading across his face if he wanted to. Just like that, all his fears and insecurities melted away. Well, maybe not completely, but certainly enough that they could be pushed aside. He pulled her in for a hug and whispered, “Thanks, Moon. I needed that.”

They stayed like that for a few minutes before finally leaning back and relaxing against the couch. “Well, what do we do now?” Spike asked, somewhat at ease, but still drained from the evening and emotional drama. 

“Well, there is something…naughty we could do,” Moonstone said slyly with a crooked smile.

Spike turned an unsure look to his friend. On the one hand, he understood that she intended on saving anything ‘intense’ for later when they took some time to get comfortable with the craziness of the situation. On the other, he found it difficult to see that smoldering gaze and the sensual weight against him as anything other than the promise of a night of carnal pleasures and lust as he tore that flimsy dress aside, ravishing her-NO! Down, Spike! Heel! Even in his tired state, he had to make an effort to fight back the rush of blood. Was he already that close to one of these blackouts? Surely, he didn’t pick up this train of thought from any of his friends. Well, maybe Rainbow. 

Spike put a stop to such further thoughts. Deciding he was likely overthinking things, he remembered Moonstone did have a mischievous streak to rival the CMC and Rainbow combined, he decided to push on. “Okay, I’ll bite-”

“Maybe not tonight, but I’m certainly looking forward to it later,” Moonstone purred playfully.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Spike growled, hoping his annoyance would mask the embarrassment. 

In answer her smile widened, and she leaned closer. Spike started to wonder if she had changed her mind and planned on heating things up. The consideration was tossed aside with the sound of flicking paper as what seemed to be a coupon was waved in front of his eyes. 

He gently plucked it from her hands and scanned some of the type. “Arrival of the Blood Tide?” Spike read aloud unsurely. His face quickly showed recognition after a moment’s thought and he exclaimed “Oh, yeah! That’s the name of the new DLC expansion for Final Elder Fantasy. It’s supposed to bring in a new story, a ton of new addons, and PvP modes and competitions.” He shrugged. “Well, it will on its release in a year. Guess it will be nice to look forward to redeeming this promotional when it comes ou-”

“Not quite, tough guy,” Moonstone laughed before nodding to the ticket, “take a closer look.”

Spike frowned in confusion and turned back to the ticket. That confusion gradually gave way to astonishment as he read the terms and two codes. “No way,” he breathed. “These…these are beta tester codes!” His face swapped back and forth between the ticket and Moonstone’s smug grin. “This…! There are only a hundred slots for these! Last I heard, they were mainly reserved for production crew, CEOs, and one or two celebrities that helped with ad campaigns. They even offer payment for hours played as a part time job!!” His eyes drunk in the sight of the gamer grail before finally turning to Moonstone’s smug smile. “Just how? When?”

“Well, we both made a name for ourselves on the servers and I got the idea to give us both a little more of an edge,” She paused and blinked in annoyance before rubbing her head as she smiled ruefully. “Yeah. Those years we spent honing our skills before I woke up for the first time a few days ago. That’s still going to take some getting used to.” She shook her head, “Anyway, I remembered the adverts and got the idea to ask around. And since I’m sure you’d never guess which of my many contacts I reached out to, I’ll give you a hint,” she said dryly, then put on a severe expression and put her hands on her hips. She pointed to the sky grandly and declared, “Tell young Spike to use this boon well! For when the PvP battle ensues, we shall lay the…er…what was it? Ah, yes! We shall lay the smackdown on his hamlet!”

Spike blinked as he took in Moonstone’s over the top hero pose for a grand total of three seconds before he doubled over laughing. “Y-you, you know,” he started as he struggled for breath, “S-she doesn’t actually talk like that anymore.”

“Oh, she does all the time when foals are around or she’s goofing off. She might sniff and act oh so prim, but she enjoys being ribbed a little from time to time.

“But enough of that. We’ve got bigger gems to chew on.” She strolled to the big screen, grabbed a couple of controllers, and came back to join Spike on the couch. She offered one of the controllers to Spike as she grinned wickedly, “Like breaking in this bad boy as we prep for kicking mom’s flank in PvP. You in?”

Spike didn’t even hesitate to accept the controller as he shared her grin, “You know it!”

For the next few hours, all thoughts of rutt cycles and awkward moments were purged by the purity of gaming mania as the two friends quested for upgrades and awed at the new DLC features. Eventually, exhaustion won out against excitement of the new game and the both of them fell asleep against one another. Maybe…maybe this summer will work out after all, was Spike’s last thought as sleep took him.


****  


Some hours had passed since Luna had left the two girls to their own devices and she now strolled purposefully back in response to a ping from the spell that signaled the bottle had been finished. She hummed cheerily to herself as she prepared to walk into a scene featuring tearful reconciliation, laughter, or simply find them sleeping off the drink. 

“Well, I hope you girls were able to learn your lesson,” Luna spoke in the warm, motherly voice that was certainly not copied from Tia. Her voice carried effectively enough down the hall that she knew she would be heard even through the locked door. “Whatever our differences and struggles, we must always focus on the strength of our bonds and- oh, no,” Luna cut herself off and the motherly lecture ended in a flat tone of shock as the doors came in sight. One of the doors had been thrown open with such force that it only remained attached to the frame by the top hinge it dangled from and the other had been reduced to splinters. “No. No,no,no,no,no,no-!” Luna repeated to herself like a mantra against what she would discover before only to be left speechless at what she found when she made it to the doorway.

The room was thoroughly trashed. Furniture was torn apart and pieces lay across the floor. The leopard print couch stood as the one piece of furniture in relatively intact aside from wide strips of material torn from it. Makeup kits were strewn along the floor but while there were a good deal of markings along the intact walls, there weren’t enough to explain the mass of empty mascara containers. Chunks of wall had been broken off to reveal some rebar as well as the fact that some rods had been yanked out. What struck Luna as the most bizarre, and possibly worrisome, was the shreds of clothing belonging to both girls now scattered across the room.

In an odd fit of nostalgia, Luna’s mind visited to the days of one of her favorite guard captains. Despite his shorter stature compared to the others, he possessed great skill and strength in battle. The other squads tended to respect and take a liking to him for his gift of stories, amicable nature, and way with words. One of his favorite catch phrases describing times like this came to mind and left her lips.

“Well…shit.”


****


The street a few blocks from the Attica was consumed by pandemonium. And fire. Lots and lots of fire. Tourists and locals alike stared in befuddlement at two bizarre figures that came running and shrieking into the area. Befuddlement quickly gave way to blind panic when a gas station caught fire and burst into a fireball that spread amongst the other buildings. 

One of the figures, presumably the one who started the fire, was a stark-naked pink mare that streaked through the area waving a flaming wad of fish sticks in one hand and an empty bottle in the other. Her mane waved and wiggled in the air like snakes, her eyes were bloodshot, and she roared in a demonic voice. Odd phrases such as “BOOZE OR FISH STICKS!! BOOZE OR FISH STICKS!!” were yelled as she randomly threw weaponized, flaming fish sticks at random targets.

A couple watched all of this from beside one of the fashion stores. “Celestia, what a freak,” said the mare ‘dressed’ in what most might describe as a few frayed strings of yarn rather than a bathing suit, despite the excessive amount that was paid for it. She was also pierced in every conceivable, as well as a few inconceivable, area and applied so much bling that one might be blinded if they made the mistake of looking her way during daylight hours. 

“You said it, babe,” said the stallion beside her. He was dressed in clothes that seemed to be four sizes too big for him and looked as if they had been left in a pile where something came by and found a way to puke rainbows onto it. The few visible patches of himself visible were inked completely with magi tattoos. Each tattoo seemed to clash with the one next to it and didn’t seem to express anything other than the theory that ‘if something is cool, then lots of somethings are totally cooler. Right?’ “Why can’t ponies show a bit more class?”

The mare opened her mouth, possibly to agree or add more criticism, only to shriek in fright as something whistled by her head to shatter the display window and impale one of the manikins showing off similar styles to what the couple wore. They both tracked the trajectory of the spear back to the source only to stare open mouthed at the appearance of the other figure that had plunged the area in chaos. 

At a distance, it seemed to be a zebra mare wearing a leopard skin bikini and sporting an extra tall, shaggy, purple Mohawk. She glared in the couple’s direction with bloodlust and reached behind her to pull another spear, made with a rebar rod and knife tied at the end, from a crudely made quiver tied to her waist. “You say ‘yolo?’ I say, ‘DEATH TO ALL CRIMES AGAINST FASHION!!’” She cocked her arm back and trilled “ALILILILIIIEEE!!”2 before hurling her spear forward to impale one of the other display manikins sending the couple fleeing.

Unbeknownst to all on the ground, the events were being observed by a single spectator from a window belonging to one of the VIP quest suits of the Attica. Blueblood idly rolled the wineglass in his hand as he savored the sight of bedlam as Pinkie streaked though one fire pit to the next and Rarity danced and chanted around a pyre of burning designer clothes casting harsh shadows on the surrounding buildings. 

“So, the board thought it would be funny to stick me in this cesspit city?” he chuckled darkly. His shadowed silhouette leaning against the widow and the sinister grin that spread on his face made him seem far less a noble prince and more a villain that would have left Tirek feeling a chill down his spine. “Let’s see how long they laugh when the fines hit.”
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Awareness came slowly to Spike as he stretched and twisted from his spot in the couch. He stretched his arm to the side and frowned when he encountered nothing. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and turned to find that Moonstone must have left before he woke but left a note in her seat. 



Went down to the restaurant to meet with the girls while waiting for you to wake up. Figured you might need the extra sleep a bit more than I did. I’ll be sure to order something for when you make it down.
-Moonstone



Spike’s stomach growled at the prospect of food. Looks like she knows me pretty well, he thought as he chuckled. He made a quick change into some fresh clothes and made his way out. 

Spike ignored some of the dirty looks and whispers that seemed to follow him from random ponies he passed on his way to the restaurant. He had long since gotten used to attracting negative attention from being a dragon, especially anytime he wondered around without any of the girls around. He always kept it from the others as he never wanted them to get into trouble on his account.

When he made it to the restaurant, the whispers dropped off for the most part aside from a few that he picked up from his draconic hearing. 

“Hey, is that another dragon?”

“Geeze, we had enough trouble from their kind at that sun celebration. Why don’t they stick in the dragonlands where they belong?”

“Can’t begin to guess why those girls and two princesses would bring one of those animals, let alone two.”

Spike shrugged but showed no reaction beyond that. He’d learned a long time ago that letting others see you respond tended to encourage them. He chose to focus on the table ahead when he spotted the girls. 

They sat around laughing and joking along with their boyfriends. All accept for Rarity and Pinkie who seemed to disregard what was going on about them in favor of leaning on the table with their heads in their hands. Thanks to his good vision, he could tell there were bags under their eyes and noticed their clothes seemed bedraggled. It especially surprised him to see Rarity in such a state as she never started her morning without looking her best. Then he noticed Moonstone. 

Spike’s breath caught and he felt his heart skip a beat. She was dressed in a turquoise tube top and black slim-fit pants that hugged her body, showing off each and every curve. His eyes were drawn to her lithe tail swaying gently back and forth as she causally leaned on the table with one arm. Her laugh, Faust that laugh, echoed and seemed to fill the air with life. 

“Hey, Casanova! How long you gonna stand there staring?” 

Rainbow’s call snapped Spike out of his trance and got the group’s attention, minus Pinkie and Rarity who were still leaned over the table, to Spike. Moonstone gave a crooked smile and waved Spike over to the empty seat beside her. Eventually, he shrugged, “Hey!” he casually, at least he hoped he managed casual, greeted and made his way over to the seat beside her. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Rainbow scoffed with a wave of her hand. “We’re just revisiting the ‘new good old days’ of you two growing up in Ponyville. Gotta say,” Rainbow shook her head as she chuckled, “any aspiring trouble maker would have looked on her years with respect: the pranks, the epic disasters!”

“Rainbow, I could never take the credit,” Moonstone said with false modesty before a twisted grin came to her face, “I had an awesome teacher.”

“You know it!” Rainbow crowed as she and Moonstone bumped fists from across the table getting laughs and eyerolls from the rest of the group.  

“Glad to see everypony’s…er-” he stumbled when Moonstone coughed pointedly reminding him that he wasn’t addressing just ponies for a change “eh…everybody is getting along. Although I notice Starlight and Sunburst aren’t here.”

“Meh,” Rainbow grunted. “They passed on lunch. I vaguely remember Starlight geeking out about something when she dragged Sunburst off.”

****  
Knock knock knock  

Doctor Strangelove blinked as the sound of knocking drew his attention away from his current project. He looked up from his current project, just a bit of tinkering with his prototype portable fusion reactor to pass the time, so he could glare toward the door. “Now who could zat be?” he groused. 

At a second knocking, he considered calling igor to toss the nuisance down one of the stairs. He ultimately dismissed the idea as possibility of paperwork and yelling from Celestia wasn’t worth the minor pleasure he might have gotten. He sighed and wheeled his chair toward the door. 

“YA!! I’m coming, I’m coming! Keep your shirt on!” Strangelove griped at a third knocking as he made to the door. On opening the door, his scowl changed to a genuine smile as he recognized the two faces. “Ah. Fraulein Starlight, Her Sunburst! It’s wonderful to meet you!” And he meant it, too. If he had to be interrupted, at least it was by intelligent minds. “What brings you here?”

“Please have sex with me!” shouted Starlight, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was still in the open or the flinch from her coltfriend. 

Strangelove blinked. The manic look in the mare’s eyes actually left him somewhat unsettled. It proved a novel feeling, being one of the unsettled rather than the unsettler. Eventually, he cleared his throat. “Er, apologies, fraulein. I’m flattered und you are certainly comely but, strange as zis might sound, I truly have no interest in any form of sexual pleasure. Wiz eizer gender. Call me married to my vork, but-”

“Oh, no, no, no. It’s not like that, Doctor,” Starlight waved off. “I just want to have your baby.”

Again, Strangelove could only blink in response. Put off balance twice in one conversation? Definitely a record.

“It’s like this. One of the items on my bucket list is to have a genius foal. Not that I’d would love any foal I had less for not being genius,” She assured quickly. “It’s just kind of this dream of mine to raise a foal who’ll grow up to surpass me make a name changing the world.” 

Starlight nodded to Sunburst, “I don’t doubt we could pull that off between the two of us. But how many times do you meet an academic genius that changed the scientific world?! Here!” she reached into a pack hanging at her side to pull out a folder and offer it to Strangelove. “I’ve even taken the liberty of putting together a genetics chart for myself for you to check.”

Gingerly, the Doctor accepted the folder with a raised the brow of his normal eye before he looked down at the folder. He had to admit he was impressed. Both by the data and Starlight’s work in putting it together (it had to be her as she didn’t have enough time to find somepony professional to set it up). He nodded slightly, “Vell, I can respect zat.” He turned to Sunburst, “Alzough I’m a bit surprised to find you so calm. You are not uncomfortable seeing your marefriend trying to have anozer stallion’s offspring?”

“Oh, believe me, sir, I am very uncomfortable,” Sunburst admitted morosely before shrugging. “However, if I’m being completely honest, I would probably do the same thing if I were in her shoes.”

“Hmmmm,” Strangelove stroked his chin thoughtfully as he considered the two in front of him. “You know, if you truly feel that way, I have an old project zat could help with zat.”

The couple’s reactions could not have been more contrasted. Starlight’s eyes widened as she clasped her hands together, gasping with joy. Sunburst blinked in confusion before his face paled, taking on a sickly pallor. “W-wait…What?!” he muttered worriedly.

****        

“They’re probably doing math, or reading moldy history books, or whatever it is eggheads do to bring excitement to their boring day-to-day,” Rainbow said shrugging while pointedly ignoring the glare from Twilight. 

“And, um, what’s with those two?” Spike uncertainly, motioning to Rarity and Pinkie who remained leaning over the table with their heads in their hands as they had their backs rubbed comfortingly by their coltfriends Pearl and Dizzy.

“We aren’t sure either,” Shining answered as he watched bemusedly from beside his wife. “All we know for sure is something must have happened after they stayed behind to speak with Princess Luna after the meeting last night.”

Further questions were stopped as the television over the bar signaled a news story.


We interrupt today’s programing for a news update on the series of arsons and vandalism that occurred last night on Board Walk Street. Between the gas station explosion, general fire damage, and destroyed designer merchandise, it is estimated that a minimum of one hundred twenty thousand bits worth of property damages has been inflicted. After interviewing several witnesses, authorities have learned this to be the work of two perpetrators. The following likenesses have been rendered by sketch artists based on witness statements describing a rogue zebra plains stalker:

The screen showed the drawn picture of a female zebra wearing a leopard skin bikini. She waved a spear over her head in both hands and a manikin head could be seen impaled on the spearhead. One of the most striking features was the ragged purple mohawk. 


And a pink gorgon wielding pyromancy:

The picture changed to show a demonic pink figure with pink snakes for hair, scarlet eyes, and razor-sharp teeth. It was shown laughing maniacally while holding flames in one hand and an empty booze bottle in the other.  

The Zebrican warrior clans and Tartarus Guard Authorities have declined to comment at this point and time. More on this story as reports are made available. We now return to your regularly scheduled programing.

The group stared intently at the TV where the report just finished, then turned to regard the two hunched over mares. Somehow, the two mares managed to sink in on themselves to look even more miserable than they did before. 

“Gee, seems somepony went wild last night,” Rainbow said with a sly smile.

“No way I would know. Nope. Just spent a quiet night in my room,” Pinkie said quickly.

“Wha-huh?” Dizzy tiredly slurred in confusion. “I…I know I conked out during the meeting, but I don’t remember seeing you in our room when I woke u-OOF!” he grunted at sudden pain to his side caused by Pinkie’s elbow jab hidden by the table. “Oh. Right. Yeah. All night quiet. That was us,” Dizzy corrected himself with a pained smile.

“Well, whatever some folk say, I think this just gives me one more reason ta prefer tha country ta big city life.” Applejack aimed a pseudo innocent look at Rarity. “Ya still think city life an’ sophistication is better? What with all those,” a smarmy grin spread on the farm pony’s face, “dangerous, uncivilized types runnin’ around?”

For the first time, the normally eloquent fashionista chose to forgo pithy comebacks and settle for an irritated growl and bloodshot glare before going back leaning into her hands. 

“Well, I would ask Spike what he thinks,” Moonstone said with a straight expression before a wicked grin crossed her face as she gave him a sideways glance, “but I think he’s been a bit too busy checking out my goods to keep up with the conversation.”

“W-what!?!” Spike squeaked. He flinched, hunching in on himself as he felt the weight of the stares from the rest of the table. “I-I would never. I mean, I might have…um…” His weak denials petered out completely by the time Moonstone interrupted. 

“Spike, you were raised by and grew up around the Elements of Harmony, as I kind of did, so I expect an honest answer.” Moonstone leaned forward as she stared him down intently. “Were you or were you not staring at my chest while thinking dirty thoughts?”

After trying and failing to think of a way to get out of the trouble he was in, he sighed. “Alright. Yes, I…I was,” he admitted in a small voice. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for a slap or punch.

It didn’t come.

Instead, he was surprised by the feeling of a soft peck on his cheek. His eyes shot open in time to see Moonstone leaning back with a soft smile on her face. “Good,” she said warmly. “Otherwise, this little number I’m wearing wouldn’t be doing its job.”

Crack!

The rest of the table turned to Twilight who stared back blankly. “What?” she asked. They looked down and she followed their gazes only to frown in confusion. Her closed fist rested on the table, soaking wet and surrounded by bits of broken glass. She could even feel more pieces being ground to dust in her grip. It took her three seconds longer than she would have cared to admit to realize that she was staring at the remains of her drink. 

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed as she started gathering the bits of broken glass into a napkin. “Wow. It’s, uh, been some time since I lost control of my earth pony strength like that. Crazy, huh?” the youngest alicorn laughed nervously under the weight of bemused, somewhat intense in the case of Cadence, stares she was receiving. “Oh, look at that! The food’s here!” she rattled quickly.   

“Hey, everypony! Food’s ready!” a waitress called out cheerfully. She had a tray in each hand and practically danced around the table as she passed plates out. She never failed to give a quip or greeting to each pony to bring a smile. 

Until the last two plates.

She turned to Moonstone and Spike, her expression soured, and she carelessly dropped the plates in front of them and slammed a large milkshake in front of Moonstone. “There’s your crap,” she snapped before turning and stomping off.

The waitress’s rudeness shocked the whole table. Before they could speak, however, their attention was drawn by a shaky voice. “Uh, Moonstone? I think there’s been a mistake in my order,” Spike said. 

Everypony looked back to ask what he was talking about until they noticed the plate. The group, aside from Blueblood and the Crystal Empire couple, flinched. Each plate featured a bloody rare steak that looked as if the closest they came to being cooked was holding a match underneath.

“Hmmm.” Moonstone frowned, making a show of scrutinizing the plates before looking up with a cheerful smile. “Nope. Two rare filet mignons. Imported from the finest ranches in the griffon empire.”1

“Um, darling,” Rarity spoke delicately. “I’m afraid you don’t understand. Spikey doesn’t eat mea-”

“Yes, he does,” Moonstone cut in sharply.

“Moonstone, nopony’s judging you for eating meat,” Twilight said softly. She and the others had to hide a flinch as whispers from other tables reached them.

“Celestia, they really are eating meat.”

“Animals.”

“Why were those things allowed in here?”

“Well, nopony that matters,” Applejack corrected as she cast dark glares around.

“The point is,” Twilight continued determined to ignore the surroundings, “Spike doesn’t eat meat. He grew up eating gems and he has done just fine.”

“Oh?” Moonstone asked. She picked up the knife beside her plate. “Your claim sounds very certain. Maybe we should test it.” Without another word, she raised the knife and brought it down in one fluid motion. The others cried out, some moving to stop her, but couldn’t do anything to stop the knife finding its mark.

Ping!


The others stared in shock at Moonstone’s fist gripping the knife handle as it rested above her other hand on the table. They turned numbly a few inches to the left where the knife blade bounced to after it snapped like a twig. 

“Without my abilities as an Aether dragon being actively used, I would be more vulnerable than other dragons as I’m not as physically sturdy.

“That said, I’m not made of porcelain. My scales are cut resistant, my bones can take high impacts, and my muscles are dense, compact layers. If a squad of guards fired crossbows at me, I could shrug them off the way you might shrug off paintballs. I could easily weather several monsters bashing on me until I could get away. All said, that’s a pretty average description for a healthy dragon.

“So, what happened to Spike when he has ‘done just fine?’” Moonstone asked acidly. “What made his scales grow soft enough for an untrained pony with a knife to hurt him? What left his muscles so weak and his bones so brittle that a few punks could beat him to near death in the brief time it took for help to arrive? What…malady could cause that?” 

“Malnutrition.” The horrified whisper drew the table’s attention to Fluttershy. Her eyes were wide and watery. “I-Why didn’t I see it? I’ve seen the same thing happen to animals of every species. I…Oh, Celestia. I’m a terrible friend,” she sobbed into her hands as Big Mac put a comforting arm around her. 

“You wouldn’t be the only one,” Rainbow threw in morosely. “I grew up with a predator species in flight camp and we’ve kept talking since we made up. I even remember some of the horror stories Gilda told me about griffons that starved! Damn it!” She punctuated the curse with a frustrated slam of her fist on the table as an equally miserable Applejack placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Everypony looked down in shame as it hit home. Twilight, understandably, took it the worst as caring for Spike was at least partially her responsibility. 

“You aren’t terrible friends. You were just too close to the problem and you couldn’t bring yourself to see something wrong with someone that grew up beside you.” The group looked up to see any annoyance on Moonstone’s face had been replaced with compassion. She took another knife and started cutting the steak in front of her. “The only one of you who could say they grew up living with intelligent beings eating meat is Rainbow and she was only exposed to that fact for a relatively brief time. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that dragons are nearly as tight fisted with info as they are with treasure. 

“But mom said it best last night. Nothing has been solved by ignoring the issue. The best we can do is move forward and decide to do better. For the time being, that will mean exercise, study,” she pushed the plate in front of Spike, “and healthy diet. Healthy diet for a dragon.”
Spike stared down at the plate, studiously ignoring the pained glances from the others. He swallowed nervously as if he was being given his last meal.

“Listen to her, Spike,” everyone looked up at Twilight’s statement to see her regarding Spike with regret. “She clearly knows what she is talking about. It’s,” she bit her lip, “I think it’s long since time you stopped hurting yourself because of our mistakes or us being a little bit queasy.”

“How about this?” Spike looked back at Moonstone’s question to see her spear one of the meat chunks on a fork before holding it up. “I’ll feed you by hand.”

“What!?!” Spike yelped in a strangled voice.

“And on the off chance that being fed by a cute girl isn’t enough,” She raised an eye ridge as if daring him to say something stupid, “I will answer one question about dragons with every bite.” The offer caused some of the others, Twilight especially, to perk up.

After a moment’s hesitation, Spike nodded, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth. After feeling a warm piece, he quickly bit down and started chewing while waiting for nausea to set in. However, his eyes widened at the taste that exploded in his mouth. Juicy, tender, and possibly the most delicious thing he ever tasted outside of gems.

“Pretty good, eh?” Moonstone asked smugly before shrugging. “It shouldn’t be that surprising. Most creatures will always develop tastes that encourage them to pursue whatever fuels their bodies best. Now, how about that question?”

Spike swallowed his bite and blinked as what she said sunk in. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in thought. So many questions he grew up with were about to be answered. But which one should be first? What had that been about Aether dragon abilities earlier? How much of their tribe’s knowledge did she have? What were they like? What would it mean for the two of them when he eventually…mated? 

I wonder why dragonesses even have boobs anyway? the question randomly popped into his head as he tried to sort his thoughts. A round of sniggering knocked drew him from his revere as he looked around in confusion at his friends struggling to hold in laughter. He turned to see Moonstone biting her lips as tears formed in her eyes. 

“Well, I guess we know what’s on your mind,” Moonstone managed to choke out.
Spike started to ask what that meant, but he snapped his mouth shut and blushed as a realization hit. He must have said that last thought aloud. He groaned and facepalmed sending the others into laughter.

“That’s actually a good question.” All laughter stopped at the statement and drew their attention to Fluttershy of all ponies. “Well, think about it. Mammaries are mechanisms developed for feeding young by mammals who give birth to live young. So why would a race of reptiles that lay eggs have them?” she pointed out. That replaced the others’ laughter with thoughtful frowns.

“Well, in a way, they still serve the same purpose,” Moonstone shrugged. “You already know from Spike’s birth and mine that hatching eggs take a lot of energy. The same goes for forming them and providing their own food to provide for them until they hatch. A dragoness may spend days on end eating and not have enough proteins and magic to finish the process.”

“So, your, uh, breasts act as a secondary storage to supplement the gestation period?” Twilight asked.

“Exactly,” Moonstone confirmed, nodding. “The main portion is stored fat with proteins, but the eggs also need magic. That’s why part of our gem consumption goes to forming sort of a crystal mesh layer that forms between the scales and the fat storage. That layer stores magic as well as increase the efficiency in our ability to metabolize magic.”

The explanation got a lot of interested and enlightened looks from the ponies. “Also,” Moonstone continued, “that layer acts as a natural support that negates the need for bras and keeps their shape. Since the crystal never degrades, it also means I’ll always have firm and perfectly shaped breasts whether I’m eighteen or eighteen hundred.”

This little factoid caused the expressions of the other mares to go blank. The stallions studiously looked everywhere but at Moonstone. The mares’ dead gazes turned downward to Moonstone’s not inconsiderable bust. They slowly turned towards their own. They turned back to Moonstone. Unknown to them, every mare in the restaurant had heard this part of the conversation and copied their actions. They were also united by a single thought of pure rage as they stared at the dragoness: Bitch! 

“So, hey! How about another bite and question? I’m sure Spike needs his sustenance and we’d like more questions, huh?” Twilight rattled nervously. Mostly, she wanted to change the subject before somepony remembered that alicorn physiology enjoyed similar perks.

“Right you are, Twi. Alright, tough guy. Next bite,” Moonstone gently proffered the next piece which was accepted with considerably less reluctance this round. Not to mention, he was able to enjoy Moonstone’s earlier offer of feeding him, though he wisely kept quiet on that. “So, who has dibs on the next question?”

“I’m game!” Rainbow called out. “Okay, who would be tougher in a fight, males or females?”

Moonstone’s cheerful smile slipped a bit at the question. The girls began to wonder what might be wrong before her smile returned. “Well, you aren’t likely to see a comparison between the two genders or much fighting from the females. However, that question could be answered either way depending on the variables. Buuuut I guess I’d say females in general.”

“How come?” the athlete asked, clearly unaware of Moonstone’s earlier discomfort at discussing females fighting.

“Well, first off, have any of you ever noticed any overweight, or at least noticeably overweight, dragons?” the dragoness barely waited for headshakes before continuing, “That’s because dragon bodies evolved without the emphasis on body fat. We don’t often need the extra energy in day to day lives, we rarely swim enough to warrant any sort of ballast, and we certainly don’t need insulation for warmth. We do have a little bit extra for emergencies and prolonged fights. It’s typically stored in the tail, hips, and slightly in the stomach. Females can actually fight for longer as they can also draw on what’s stored in their breasts. That’s actually quite a bit extra as it stores a good more than elsewhere on the body.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Rainbow interrupted with barely contained mirth. “You’re saying females would win because…battle boobs?”

“Basically,” Moonstone affirmed, setting off a series of guffaws and giggles.

“Hang on. Wouldn’t drawin’ on that kinda, uh,” Applejack hesitated as she tried find the right words. “Well, ya know?” She held her hands in front of her own chest and made a shrinking motion with her hands which sent Rainbow into another fit of laughter.  

“Yeah. That can happen,” Moonstone concurred sparking more mirth.

“Well, it is nice to see that comes with a few drawbacks,” Rarity muttered.

“True, but it’s easy enough to recover,” the dragoness shrugged carelessly. “Because of our biology, any fat we gain goes straight to those storage areas and the excess gets burned up by our metabolism. That means all we have to do to recover what we lose is sit around and eat. We don’t even have to worry about eating too much. In fact,” she looked down at her chest with a gauging frown before nodding, “I probably have enough room to grow another size. All I have to do is spend the evening here drinking these massive milkshakes.” She punctuated her statement with a noisy draw from her shake. 

BAM! 

Nearly every patron in the restaurant jumped at the noise and turned to a corner of the room. An overturned bowl of unappetizing ‘super food’ goo lay on the floor. Looking back to the source revealed a thin, small-chested mare with her closed fist resting on a now cracked portion of the table. You could hear her teeth grinding throughout the entire restaurant. Her coltfriend fidgeted nervously as if torn between wanting to calm her down and staying still to avoid her rage. 

“Um. Maybe we should change the subject?” Cadence finally spoke up nervously. She, her husband, and the others became more nervous as they finally noticed the growing aggression of the atmosphere. Not to mention she shared Twilight’s worry of this crowd focusing on alicorns because of their perks. 

“You know? I just remembered something else,” Moonstone piped up. “Remember that crystal layer I told you about? That actually runs beneath the entirety of a dragon’s scales. It just happens to run thicker in an Aether Dragons for increased magical ability and thicker still in a female’s breast. But Aether Dragon or other, male or female, every kind of dragon gets the side benefit of that layer providing support to keep their skin tight. We never have to worry about wrinkly, sagging skin as long as we live.”

The sound of breaking glass sent a chill down the collective spines of the group aside from Moonstone. The others slowly turned to see a mare that had stood from her table and was holding a broken bottle as she stared pure hatred toward the group of friends. She wasn’t alone as every female in the restaurant, patrons and workers alike, stalked forward united in their rage. The friends felt positive that none of them would be getting out in one piece despite having two alicorns, a former guard captain, and a trained prince among them. 

“It’s just a shame that might not make us special for much longer,” Moonstone sighed, seemingly oblivious to the imminent death coming for her. “After all, it’s only a matter of time before the public learns that my dad figured out a way to copy all of those effects through surgery.”  

All was silence. The menacing atmosphere that threatened to choke the life out of all things evaporated leaving a near palpable feeling of anticipation. 

“On the bright side, the old stallion never did like going in public or sharing his discoveries easily,” Moonstone’s tone seemed to become lighter at the thought. “Odds are, when he leaves this hotel at the end of the summer, he’ll probably go back into seclusion along with his techniques for the next fifty years. Heck, stubborn as he can be, he might even take the secret to his grave.”

To anyone in that room, it might have seemed that the universe stopped in place and held its breath to see what would happen next. The friends and family at the center watched the crowd for sudden movements. The frenzied females stood with their eyes staring sightlessly ahead as their minds desperately calculated ways to use this new information. The coltfriends were just hoping they wouldn’t have to visit their ladies in prison. The bartender, for the umpteenth time that week, was grumbling about how the pay wasn’t worth it. Every soul in that bar waited to see when the other shoe would drop.

“GAHHHH!! MY HEART!!!” 

Thud!

The shriek had caused everypony in the room to jump and the thud parted the crowd as they glanced back to see a mare lying on the floor clutching her chest. 

“Oh, Celestia, no! My friend!” another mare wailed as she ran to the fallen figure. “Somepony! My friend has pulmonary gastro…er…hemo…exlpo-aitus. Somepony call a doctor!”

The barkeep, clearly not buying it, raised an eyebrow. “If things are that bad we could always call for an ambule-”

“No! That would take too long. My friend needs help now!” the mare shouted. “We need a doctor who is nearby. In the hotel.” She left her sentence to hang there until she glanced sideways to the table at the center of the crowd. She growled through gritted teeth, “And is good at surgery.”

As one, the crowd of mares turned to the dragoness to hear her answer. Moonstone finished her milkshake with a satisfied sigh. When she opened her eyes, they widened in surprise as if finally noticing what was going on. “Hmmm? Oh, a doctor? My dad is one. Last I checked, he was keeping to himself in room 523.” 

The room number had barely left Moonstone’s lips before thunder roared through the room as every mare, as well as the victim who seemed to miraculously recover, stampeded through the exit. The last footsteps quickly faded. The once bustling tourist location now held a silence one might expect in local dives. However, unlike the more somber males in those dives, the males that sat here instead of chasing after their marefriends were staring into space with blissful expressions. 

“Oh, I hope that poor mare doesn’t hurt herself. I’m pretty sure running like that with pulmonary problems could be dangerous,” Moonstone fretted. She blinked as she noticed the others staring at her. “What?” she asked with a cute tilt of her head. Before anyone could comment she gasped. “Oh no! I hope none of those mares were just going for that cosmetic surgery I let slip. That would be bad!”

“…why?” Shining asked suspiciously. 

“Because dad has this really bad habit,” Moonstone admitted. “If outsiders try to solicit him for favors without asking through someone like the Princesses, or Blueblood, or even me? He typically has them sign wavers with convoluted stipulations that make it legal for him to conduct invasive, experimental procedures on them.”  

The blissful looks on the stallion patrons morphed to horror. They jumped from their chairs and headed for the direction of the mare mob.

The others at the table looked at her with wide eyes. “Y…you planned this?” Rainbow asked, her voice a mix of fear and awe.

“Now why would I do something like that on purpose? I suppose it could teach them something about placing too much value on looks,” Moonstone’s eyes narrowed, and she dropped all pretense of innocence. Despite showing little emotion in her expression, the cold fury in her eyes easily shadowed anything that mare mob expressed and sent violent shivers down the backs of those around her. “If nothing else, they may learn not to be so quick to look down on others for being a different species with different needs. Especially looking down on my loved ones.”

A moment of silence took the table until a slow clapping broke it. “Bravo, Miss Moonstone,” Blueblood complimented with a sardonic smile. “One of these days, I should show you around Canterlot. Perhaps we could let your try your hand at politics for a few days?”

“How about no,” Shining said flatly. “I lose enough sleep with one unstable political mastermind lairing in Canterlot.”

“Now that was a bit uncalled for,” he said with a hint of hurt in his cultured voice. “And besides, you live in the Crystal Empire. What does it matter to you what happens in Canterlot?”

“Now, don’t be like that, Bluey. You know your family loves you and everyone here is proud of how you’ve grown as a stallion in the last few years,” Cadence chided gently. “That said, even you have to admit things get scary as Tartarus when you get in one of your moods. In those times, even being in the Crystal Empire isn’t enough to feel safe. And that was before we learned about your mad scientist friend in the basement.”

“Hmmm. Fair enough I suppose,” Blueblood conceded with a casual shrug.

“Probably more than fair,” Rarity muttered. She coughed delicately and turned to Moonstone, “Now, I don’t wish to sound anything like those shallow creatures but…Is it possible that? Ummm-”

“Already talked with dad,” Moonstone interrupted, her smile slightly smug. “He has all of you girls penciled in for slots next week. Minus the experiments.” 

The mares, aside from Twilight and Cadence, sighed contently even as they each sported small blushes of embarrassment. Their coltfriends were wise enough to remain stoic but were mentally fist pumping. 

“Well, this has been fun,” Moonstone said, drawing everypony’s attention as she stood from her chair, “but I have a few errands to run. And before you ask,” she interrupted with a raised hand as a few opened their mouths, “I want to keep it a surprise for now. I’ll just say that most of it has to do with a few ideas for training.” She said the last with a smirk before strolling off. 

The table sat in an awkward silence before Applejack gave a cough. “Well, that aside,” she turned to rest of the table, “Ah know the rest of us had some plans. There was the girls day out…?” She trailed off questioningly in light of recent events.

“Sorry, Darling, but I’m going to have pass for today,” Rarity said tiredly before groaning contently as her coltfriend rubbed her back again.

“Yeah. I think me and Rares are both going to be staying in with our coltfriends today,” Pinkie said in an uncharacteristically flat voice. She turned at movement in her peripherals. “No, Dizzy. I don’t plan on forcing you into sexy times. Just a nap.”

The weary Dizzy exhaled, not bothering to hide his relief.

“Well, you still have me and Rainbow,” Fluttershy added softly. “And I’m sure Twilight-”

“Actually, Twilight has something else,” Cadence broke in quickly drawing surprised looks, not least of which from Twilight. The look increased as Cadence grabbed her arm. “There are a few things we need to talk about.”

“Is something wrong?” Spike asked worriedly. “I can stay too if-”

“NO!” Cadence barked, causing the group to jump. She cleared her throat and continued with a comforting smile, “I mean, that’s not necessary. You just go with the boys and enjoy your night out.”

“Uh, okay?” Spike answered unsurely, before being drug away by Shining, Blueblood, and Big Mac, the first of whom quickly gathered his wife’s mood and the second merely raising an eyebrow before leaving.

As soon as the last one of them left, Cadence turned to Twilight with a stern expression. “Twily, we need to talk.” 

“O-oh?” Twilight answered as she blinked uncertainly. “What abou-?”

“Your feelings for Spike,” Cadence cut in flatly.