I do not own the show My Little Pony. All of the characters are original characters of my design. If they share the name of another pony, it is purely coincidental. My ties to the show are very few, with Hearts & Hooves day being the main one.

Chapter 9

While Lamm Chop skipped practice, Spiff was left on his own devices. Which meant he had a 55% increase of a Holler ambush. He took his sweet time in leaving the locker room. The flaxen-gold earth pony took a single step out of the door; A flying brown ball of fur collided into his shoulder with a mighty screech.

Since he was a few hundred pounds heavier than her she bounced quite a ways off, eventually regaining her footing.

"Ow man. You were supposed to catch me." Holler glowered at him from under her bangs.

"Funny, I thought you were trying to body slam me." Spiff retorted. "A pathetic attempt."

"It would've been more successful if you weren't so smoking hawt." Holler snickered, bucking to give him a hip- bump.

Spiff rolled his eyes and returned the bump. Violently.

The deer barked in alarm as she tailspun several feet away from him. He snorted and picked up the pace.

"Hey, we should be going on our before-dance-date right now." Holler caught up. Her springy way of walking ate up ground faster than any long stride of his.

Spiff ignored her, pushing ahead.

"Where are you going anyway." She hopped in front of him.

He stopped short, ears folding back. "Do you mind? I've just burned more than half the calories I need to stay alive. So sorry for being hangry!"

"Sheesh, why didn't ya just say you were hungry-angry. Made me start to think you hated my guts or something…" She unwillingly stepped aside.

"Thank you." Spiff grumbled, continuing his gait.

"Nice of you to take me to dinner!" Holler followed a few steps to the side of him.

He continued to ignore her, turning to an unevenly paved road. It led to the 'dark side' of town, at least, that's what the higher class ponies called it. Holler seemed to perk up a bit.

"I think I know where you're headed."

"Oh yea?" Spiff blinked. He was genuinely curious on how well she knew this area. Did she live around here?

"Uh huh. Chatty Pony Saloon?" She sped past him not looking back.

"Um…yes. Actually." Spiff slowed slightly. How peculiar.

"Of course I know where it is. Every good-minded pony knows where the gangs-" She halted midsentence. "Never mind. A lot of interesting characters hang out there at night." Her voice lowered an octave.

If he had been closer, he would've seen a flash of regret in her eyes. Spiff almost did pass her as she turned into a nearby alley.

"Yo doofus, shortcut's this way." She snapped, glancing about like a hunted animal.

"Why does it smell like tacos in here?" Spiff grimaced.

"Because…" Her face contorted, large ears flopping to the side. Might as well just spill it. "My dad owns this street."

"Wait what? He's a landlord?" He allowed her to walk beside him.

"N…no. Not really. Each gang member has their own personal scent that they carry with them to 'mark' the streets they own. So if you run into one of them, they can tell where you're from and where you went." Holler went silent for a moment. "Don't go down any road that reeks of cake."

"So the cake scented are your rivals." Spiff concluded.

"Yea, in a way. To be honest, I like them a lot more than the place I'm stuck in." Holler remained dead quiet for the rest of the trek.

He felt a pang of pity for the dejected looking deer. She would've ran right into the door if he hadn't held it open for her.

A hot blast of greasy air smacked him straight in the face. This place was incredibly shabby. Peeling cream wallpaper, cracked grimy windows, and squeaky wooden flooring were all featured here. Dusty shelves behind a massive bar-counter portrayed an impressive variety of liquors. Manning the whole debacle: A purebred Clydesdale mare known as Brute-ish. She easily dwarfed Spiff, outmatched only by her two brothers. Her shaggy pelt sported a dark splotch at the tip of her muzzle, standing out against her mustard-yellow fur which had a chocolate tint in the light. Her black mane ended in a single point, laying low on her shoulders. Somehow she was towing a barrel while changing the menu board and pouring a pitcher of ale at the same time.

She glanced over at the odd pair, a smile slowly creeping across her lips. "Well well! Holler finally brought home a cute lil colt! Hi Spiff hon!" Brute-ish's voice bellowed through the limited space.

"Not exactly." Holler flushed, shooting him an awkward grin.

"Hello ma'am." Spiff acknowledged the Clydesdale before finding his normal window seat.

"The usual Spiffy boy?" Brute-ish had put away the barrel and pulled out several glasses.

"Of course." He tapped his hooves lightly on the table. Holler slid into the seat across from him.

"Coming right up. Hey Holler!" Brute-ish was easily heard over the whine of a blender. "Tell your dad's leader that his order of gunpowder is in. And I have a message but will save it for his 2nd in command when he stops by later. His pick-up lines suck by the way."

Holler snorted slightly. "Sounds like Stitches all right."

Spiff had no idea what they were talking about so he took a sudden interest in the salt shaker.

"I wish you could see the bouncer, but he's only here when it gets dark." Holler seemed to have returned to normal. "So why do you come around here anyway."

"This place gives you a reasonably priced milkshake. Sometimes they're free if I tell a funny enough joke." Spiff shrugged. Not to mention that the Chatty Pony Saloon seemed to house every flavor of ice cream that ever existed.

"Three extra-large frothy vanilla-chocolate milkshakes!" Brute-ish proudly thunked them down on the table. "On the house for the lovebirds." She winked.

Holler groaned and smacked her head off the ancient wood.

"I thought you wanted the whole world to know we were a 'thing'." Spiff unwrapped a few straws.

"Not around here. Word travels too fast." She nodded at Brute-ish's receding form. "She's the greatest double agent this place had ever seen. A good pony normally though." Holler tapped a cloven hoof off one of the cups. A good type. Most customers weren't served with Clydesdale shot glasses. Brute-ish must've held Spiff in high regard.

"I appreciate how she can mix marble milkshakes. Look at the swirl." He had already finished one, and was working on another.

"I guess my chances of getting one of them is outta the question, huh?" She simpered.

"Actually, I was planning on sharing the last one. You need it more than I do." Spiff rolled over to her a straw.

Holler lit up like the sun on steroids. "Aw Spiffy! I knew you liked me deep down inside!" She patted his face. "We have to leave in the next 15 minutes so I can get ready for the dance, 'kay?"

"Don't ever call me Spiffy again. Geez, call me Freethrow if ya have to! And I can take back my offer." Spiff sulked. He hated his original name, but he hated Spiffy more.

"But you won't take it back!" Holler took a pointed sip. Spiff just floundered for a legit reply, but could find none.

…...

Teensie-Meenie dug around in her pizza box, then retreated with a sigh. Procrastinating on her call left her without the time to get a decent dress. Now she had to undertake the perilous task of begging Nebula for something to make ends meet. The little dragon took off, hurriedly flapping out of her dorm and down the halls. Thankfully, his door was slightly ajar already.

Nebula at that point had woken from his clothes coma and now sipped daintily at a tiny tea cup. He seemed relaxed. Perfect timing on her part.

"Nebula?"

The dark appaloosa unicorn jerked to attention, looking around before glancing downward. "Oh, hello there." He placed his cup on a nearby desk. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Erm…I need a dress?" Teensie squeaked hopefully.

Nebula threw back his head and throatily laughed. "Oh dear! I closed shop several hours ago! Elegant Nightmare is off delivering the last of them." He calmed enough to seriously stare at her. "But I'm sure we can do something in this short window of time."

Nebula stood, trotting to a backroom. "Hmm…what color goes well with periwinkle blue?"

Teensie shrugged even though he could no longer see her.

"Well, I have this left. It should suffice." Nebula returned toting a large roll of forest green ribbon. He eyeballed the amount he'd need, using his magic to lift, unroll, and cut the desired length. Very carefully he tied the thick material into an artful bow around her neck.

"Beautiful! A decent fix if I do say so myself." Nebula clapped his hooves utterly pleased.

Teensie investigated the new addition in a nearby mirror. Surprisingly, it did look really good on her. It brought out her large eyes and let her frilly ears seem not so stiff.

"I really like this, thank you Nebula."

Nebula was already back to his chair and tea. "Think nothing of it. I cannot allow a fashion disaster to occur."

Pleased with the service, Teensie returned to her dorm to finish getting ready.

…...

A loud knock reverberated Cinnamon Bun's door. She was busy pinning up her crimpy frizzy mane into an acceptable ponytail.

"Just ah minute!" The paint mare hollered.

The banging paused for a bit, them resumed again.

"Oh mah gawsh. Hold up a while, will ya?" She finished her task, ran a hoof over her dress to fix any wrinkles, and swung open the door.

Smoulderdash went to knock some more but ended up punching Cinnamon Bun on the head.

"There you are. What took so long?" He huffed.

"Ya are twenty minutes early." Cinnamon Bun jabbed him in the chest with an angry hoof.

The Pegasus did a double take. "Dang, you look smokin'."

Indeed she did. Cinnamon Bun wore a frilly sleeveless mermaid-tail dress the shade of overripe plums. Trails of silver randomly glittered as she moved. Her ears were ornamented with silver clip-on teardrop earrings. Even her hairpins were noticeably silver.

"Yah don't look too shabby either." Cinnamon Bun tried not to gawk.

Smoulderdash had gone through the effort to actually trim his beard and wax his mane. The tux was a little plain, but beyond presentable. He sure did clean up nicely for a jock, she admitted grudgingly to herself.

Smoulder yawned and stretched his wings. "I picked up some food from the Hay Burger down the road."

"Wow, fast food. Who said romance was dead?" Cinnamon Bun snickered.

"You don't like me very much anyway, so might as well be stingy."

"That…is actually ah good point." Cinnamon Bun mused. "Come on, let's go eat at tha food court."