Hopefully This can be a more fun and lighthearted chapter, but it might end up having some interesting points and plot heavy moments as well. We will just have to see I suppose. I also recently started a twitter account for you all to keep up with when I post chapters and even the art I post to Deviant Art if you want. Follow me if you want accurate updates on my works. Also, there may be an implied joke in this chapter but hey, rated T for a reason...I don't make implied jokes often but there are a couple of instances such as now and in the first chapter, and a few others but they are all pretty vague except the first chapter. With all this said, Enjoy.
Night began to panic inside when he found he couldn't find the twins anywhere. He had been so sure he would be a better foal sitter than when he was younger, but apparently it was just as difficult for a teenager as it was for a young colt and his two friends. He rushed around the second floor of the Party supply store and he began to wonder if they had somehow gotten downstairs, though he seriously doubted it since they were earth ponies. They had no magic and no wings so they couldn't cause too much trouble, but these were Pinkie Pie's daughters, and even as infants they were pretty energetic. He stopped suddenly when he heard giggling coming from the kitchen and practically ran to see if they were getting into anything dangerous.
What he was met with was two young foals swinging from the kitchen ceiling fan by their tails. He let out a startled yelp and quickly flew up and tried to catch them, managing to get knocked back due to the spinning motion of the fan. The twins giggled in response to this, clapping with glee as they continued to spin around and around oblivious to how they had just nearly knocked out a fifteen year old. Night shook the hit off after a few seconds and went to turn the fan off before they could get hurt. This only proved more troubling when he realized the fan was already off and it was in fact the twins themselves were propelling the fan into motion. He was in such a panic he didn't even notice the note left on the refrigerator for him from Pinkie Pie.
"Dear Night, please make sure you leave the kitchen fan on or the twins will end up flying from it! Those two are ALWAYS doing that when Cheesy Wheezie watches them when I order the party supplies! Also, the cupcakes are in the pipe organ if they get fussy, it keeps them out of trouble. Love Pinkie Pie! "
Though, even if he had seen it there wasn't really much he could do. He looked around frantically for something, anything he could think of that would make them stop. He flew to the nursery and rummaged through the twins toy bin, managing to find a rather strange set of baby toys Night could only assume Pinkie Pie wanted them to learn to use. There were a few spatulas, about a few dozen foal sized pots and pans as well as mixing bowls and balloons, two miniature party canons and a few smaller more normal toys like teddy bears and building blocks. He grabbed the two most likely candidates to actually distract the young foals, their party canons, and raced back to the kitchen to find them spinning in the opposite direction. He yelped loudly and quickly set the canons down and began flying closer to try and distract them long enough to at the very least get them on the ground.
"Raspberry! Sunrise! Look! Look over here! Wanna play with the party canons?" He squeaked loudly, in a feeble attempt to gain their attention.
The only one that seemed to take immediate notice was Raspberry Tart but even then she just looked at him funny while continuing to spin around with her twin. Sunrise simply ignored him while continuing to laugh with glee, leaving the 15 year old at a loss of what to really do in this situation. He thought about maybe calling somepony for help but then again, he had said he would be able to handle this. Then again, those had been Starlight's thoughts the first time the three of them watched Dark Moon and that hadn't turned out the way they thought and he was just one baby! He was slowly beginning to fall into a panic attack and he landed on the floor so he could think more clearly, more specifically about who exactly to call for help. His mom and aunt were probably checking on how his dad and uncle were doing on the cloud house, his cousin Cloud Runner was off who knew where so asking her was out of the question, and he didn't want to interrupt the girls' spa trip, since they had really needed it, he guessed he could probably call his Uncle Discord and Aunt Fluttershy but then again he would probably find a way to make the situation even more chaotic even with Fluttershy there to keep him in check and Night really didn't want that, so he was nearly out of ideas on who to call.
He was snapped out of his thoughts suddenly when he heard the downstairs bell ring in the Party supply shop, signalling somepony was down there. In his panicked state he could only freeze up and wait and see what they did, if they did anything at all that would indicate he could ask them for assistance.
"What in the name of hay?!" Cheese Sandwich managed to blurt out, walking into the kitchen to see Night trying to urge the foals down from the ceiling fan.
Night couldn't have been more relieved, letting out a relieved sigh as he lowered his sings as a bit of stress left him in that split second, "Oh thank Celestia! I-I don't know what happened! They went down for their nap really easily and then all of a sudden, BAM! I'm watching two earth ponies flying around on a ceiling fan like a couple of pink and yellow puffy haired disco balls!"
"Didn't you know not to leave the kitchen fan off? The twins love swinging from it like monkeys out of a barrel!" Cheese yelped, looking up at his children in worry as they laughed and clapped while they swung around and around.
"Well no! No pony told me!" Night answered, looking equally worried.
"Where are the cupcakes?!" Cheese yelped in a panic.
"How can you think of cupcakes at a time like this?!" Night barked, watching the now panicked party planner tear apart the room looking for seemingly nonexistent sweets.
"Cupcakes calm them down! We hide them wherever we think there will be twin trouble! Pinkie hid them today!" Cheese explained, tossing pots and pans everywhere on the kitchen floor in an attempt to look under the cabinets.
The fifteen year old colt wasn't exactly sure where the logic behind that one was, but he figured questioning the logic of his aunt and uncle would just give him more of a headache at this point and so he simply started looking for the cupcakes alongside his uncle, only managing to find a few cookies. Night decided against looking more when a confetti canon went off in his face while looking through the bookshelves. The two of them attempted to coax them down but only managed to get them to swing around faster and faster, resulting in screams of joy from the two foals oblivious to their chaos. Night decided they needed a more drastic approach if they were going to even attempt to get them down at this point, since neither one of them wanted to call anypony for help, and began looking around them for ideas on what they could do.
"How do you feel about turning the fan on...?" He asked with a nervous chuckle, glancing from the fan to the light switch.
Cheese looked a bit confused, as well as slightly horrified by the idea, "And we would want to do that why?!"
"Well..." Night started a bit nervously, "if we try to get them to come down on their own they think it's a fun 'keep away' game right?"
"Yeah?"
"Well what if instead we turn the fan on and see if they get flung off?" Night suggested with an uneasy grin.
Cheese paled a bit upon hearing this, glancing at his two daughters in worry, "Are...you sure that's a wise idea...?"
"No." Night answered honestly, sharing his uncles worry for the two foals, "But um...right now I don't think we have time to think of a better solution."
He motioned to how the two were currently trying to reach for the party cannons, despite the fact that they were still in fact flying in circles above the ground at surprising speed, and Cheese almost immediately gave him a nod of approval out of pure panic and worry, not sure that he'd be able to explain how they had managed to both blow up the house and lose control of two infants in the span of a couple of hours, "Y-Yeah! Okay try it! I-I'll go get the base ball mitt!"
Night nodded and moved the party cannons, making sure that the twins wouldn't be able to reach it by the time Cheese returned with a baseball glove over his right hoof. Night gulped and flew up to the fan, just barely missing getting hit in the face a couple times by the young giggling foals. As soon as Cheese was sure that he and Night both would be able to catch at least one of them he turned the fan on to full power. Immediately the twins squealed in delight as they spun faster and faster around until Sunrise was dislodged from her spot and sent flying towards her father, who dove as quickly as he possibly could just to be able to catch her. The second he did the young foal simply clapped her hooves happily, making babbling giggling noises as Night tried to get Raspberry down as well.
She proved to be the more difficult one since she was a bit lighter than her sister and could hold onto the fan better than expected due to the thickness of her tail, something she more than likely got from Pinkie Pie. But after a minute of her spinning faster and faster she let out a loud "wheeeeeeeeeee!" as she released her grip on the fan and was sent flying through the house, causing Night to fly after her quickly, not wanting her to be hurt of course. He flew around her as quickly as he was able to manage and caught the magenta colored foal just as she was about to plow through a wall, sending the poor teen into a dazed and nearly unconscious state, sliding down the wall with a slight groan. Raspberry giggled and clapped as Cheese walked in carrying Sunrise.
"Again! Again!" The two cheered, causing Night and Cheese to give each other horrified looks, grateful that the fan was once again operational and there was less of a chance of them actually being able to do that again, or at least not while Pinkie and the girls were still at the spa. They managed to get them to sleep again, this time with Cheese Sandwich keeping a closer eye on the door, while Night cleaned up the mess in the kitchen.
It wasn't until afterwards that he noticed Pinkie Pie's note and he almost wanted to hurdle himself into the wall again looking over the note in confusion, "who puts cupcakes in a pipe organ?!"
"Pinkie Pie! Day before yesterday she hid them in the couch cushions!" Cheese called in, still keeping his eyes on the door to the Twins' room so they wouldn't cause anymore chaos of their own.
There was a brief silence between the two and Night finally asked, "How...exactly did you figure that out...?"
He could hear Cheese sigh, even all the way in the kitchen as he was before he heard his uncle answer, "I...sat on them..."
Night couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Cheese Sandwich having a sticky couch cushion shuck to his rump. It was a visual that he honestly wished he had been able to witness.
"You won't be laughing when you have to change diapers when they wake up." He heard Cheese call in, a clear amused smirk in his voice.
He decided against laughing at his uncle any farther but he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't mention it to his family later, They would find it just as funny as he did he was sure. He moved to the pipe organ and started looking in and around it and sure enough he found two cupcakes in each pipe. He was starting to clean the pipe organ, though it was surprisingly cleaner than he expected, when he heard Cheese crying out in surprise when the twins attached themselves to his mane and face when he went in to check on them.
"I should have just gone to help Dad and Uncle Storm..." He found himself muttering under his breath as he went to see if he could help.
Solina and Flutter struggled to carefully lower Zarina to the ground themselves after Night had flown off so quickly. They figured it wouldn't be that difficult since there were two of them and they both had wings. They didn't account for how big Zarina actually was for being only three, and they found themselves more falling slowly than floating downwards gently, they weren't necessarily worried about this, as they weren't really that far from the ground in the first place but that didn't make it much better.
"This would be easier if you used your magic!" Flutter Mint squeaked slightly, struggling to keep from dropping their friend.
"Hey! I can't use magic yet! Cut me some slack I can actually fly at all!" Solina snapped back.
"Um...guys..." Zarina started, glancing at the ground a bit.
"Sorry, Sol...I forgot." Flutter stated quickly.
"Guys...?" Zarina questioned.
"It's fine I guess..." Solina sighed.
"GUYS!"
"What?!" They exclaimed together.
Neither noticed that they were slowly losing their grip on the zebra filly before it was too late and they all three slipped with a yelp and began falling towards the ground quickly, though Solina and Flutter Mint more dove after her and just couldn't correct themselves rather than anything else. They all three let out a scream and waited for impact but blinked when they noticed a purple magic aura surrounding them as they were mere inches from hitting the ground. Shine blinked in surprise as she looked at the three of them in worry, clearly shocked she was able to catch them all as quickly as she did.
"Whoa! That was close!" She exclaimed in surprise, "Are you three alright?"
She lowered the three of them to their hooves and they all three checked for any marks or bruises, they had none.
"Uh...Yeah I think so." Solina sighed in relief, "Thanks."
"Yeah, I guess we were a bit distracted, sorry Zarina." Flutter Mint said with a grin.
"All good!" She beamed, looking no worse for the wear, though she didn't plan on telling her mothers about that when she went home.
"Good, did you guys just come back from visiting Night? Is he like, your adoptive brother or something?" Shine asked curiously.
"Actually, he's my older cousin. I'm Flutter Mint." Flutter answered quickly, "My family and I are all staying here while we finish building
"Oh. Well nice to meet you then!" Shine answered with a kind smile.
"I'm Solina, I'm not related to Night but our families are pretty close. My mom's a singer, actually and my mother is The Princess of Friendship." Solina beamed proudly.
"Oh? You're Princess Twilight's daughter?" Shine questioned, apparently only now noticing the resemblance.
"Yeah, but I'm not into fancy titles or anything. I prefer just being me." Solina shrugged.
"And I'm Zarina, my moms are Zebra witch doctors!" Zarina laughed happily.
"Oh...well nice to meet you I've uh...never seen a Zebra with a horn before." Shine chuckled awkwardly.
"Yeah, I get that a lot." She shrugged.
"I'm Radiant Shine...though I prefer just plain Shine." Shine introduced herself with a smile, "I just came by to see Night, I thought he was supposed to meet me here."
"You were!" Flutter yelped loudly before she winced and caught herself quickly, "I-I mean, yeah you were...Uh he was supposed to meet you here but something came up!"
"Oh? Shine questioned, now looking a bit skeptical.
"Yeah, he had to go handle some weather emergency or something. He said we should meet you instead!" Solina answered with a smile.
"Oh...well I was kind of looking forward to talking to him more but, ok." Shine said with a slightly confused shrug.
She yelped when the three of them started to pull and push her along the path quickly, all three collectively saying, "Great let's go!"
The poor unicorn blinked in confusion, they were acting pretty strangely and she almost wanted to refuse to even go with them, figuring she would go and see if she could find either Night Flyer or Miss RaRa. But she guessed they were pretty much harmless, since they were all pretty young it seemed, so she figured it would be alright to go along with it. Besides, what harm could three innocent little fillies really do?
"Soooooo...what exactly made you three so eager to meet me?" She laughed awkwardly when they finally allowed her to walk on her own.
"Well...that's kind of a long story and..." Zarina began, glancing at Flutter Mint slightly.
"And it's kind of hard to explain..." Flutter continued awkwardly.
"But...you're honestly the only pony we think can help us at all!" Solina finished proudly, looking up at the teenager curiously for her response.
She was about to question them when she noticed they were heading towards the castle and she nearly instantly began to freak out internally, "Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second! You guys are taking me there?!"
"Well yeah!" Solina answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We can't really talk to you about this in the open!"
"What the hay does that mean...?" Shine questioned, now feeling a bit concerned.
The three fillies didn't answer, simply hurrying her into the hideaway and closing the door behind them. Solina was a bit shaky now, however, and it didn't go unnoticed by both her friends and Shine. The young mare walked over and tilted her head curiously, not knowing what this was about only making her worry.
"What's wrong...?" She asked gently.
Solina sighed and glanced at her friends before looking back at Shine, "We...we know you used to date a pony named Elusive. He's the son of my Mom Twilight's friend Rarity, which I think you already know..."
Shine froze a bit and she chuckled nervously, "Y-yes well um...that was a long time ago and-"
"We also know that you dumped him because he wasn't a 'real' Canterlot noble like you wished." Zarina piped up.
Shine gulped a bit and she moved to sit down with a sigh, "I know it looks bad...but I'm not like that anymore and I would do anything to make things right after what I did. But there's a part of me that thinks it would be very bad if I were to actually meet up with him again."
"Yeah..." Solina began awkwardly, "It'll be worse if you don't..."
Shine looked utterly confused before she shook her head a bit and she asked, "Wait...what does any of this have to do with Night Flyer asking you guys to meet me...?"
Zarina scuffed her hoof a bit, "well...actually we need to talk to you about that too."
Shine blinked, once more confused before Solina spoke up, "Before we go any farther you should know that Night isn't interested in you romantically."
Before Shine could react she continued, "You see, ever since he and my sister, Starlight, were very young he's had a deep feeling of love for her. But my sister is a bit...well she's kind of an airhead in some ways and she doesn't really realize it. She started dating Elusive a while back and while she seems happy...there's a darker reason for Elusive."
"I think I'll need more...information than just that..." Shine told her, her voice a bit quieter after hearing Solina say Night wasn't interested.
"If...we can put it bluntly..." Zarina started.
"You're kind of the reason we're in this mess..." Flutter Mint answered.
"You see after you started to bully him he started thinking he wasn't good enough and wanted to prove you and everypony in Canterlot wrong. When he learned about my sister he saw her as a way to climb to a higher status...a way to get revenge against you by manipulating her emotions." Solina explained, "But the thing is...Night Flyer found out about it and told us about it...so we figured that the best way to stop Elusive from hurting my sister...was to get your help."
"My help?" Shine asked, completely shocked at this news, "what in Equestria could I do to possibly help after what I did to him?"
"Well you dated him." Zarina answered in a somewhat blunt tone.
"Not only that, but you've changed your ways according to Night Flyer. If that's the case then there's a good chance we can figure out something much easier, since you'll be thinking of others rather than yourself." Flutter explained.
"If...if you want to help that is..." Solina added, now a bit worried Shine wouldn't help even after hearing them out, "we know that you like Night...but he wants to just be friends with you...but that doesn't mean that he doesn't care I guess is what I'm trying to say. And maybe...if he cares maybe you will too. I know we're asking a lot...but Night didn't want to hurt you either...so what do you say...?"
Shine seemed a bit distrusting of this, finding the whole thing to be slightly far fetched and a bit sloppy, even though these fillies were in fact smarter than most ponies tended to give them credit for. Still, she thought about it a bit more. Starlight more than likely had no idea about Elusive's past, since from her own experience she knew he wasn't very open due to what she did to him, meaning that she more than likely felt a genuine trust and love for him and that meant that this poor mare was basically a puppet on a string being manipulated and controlled without her even knowing it. As well, Shine knew just how emotionally draining it could be to learn that somepony you care about was simply using you for their own personal gain, and making matters worse everything that was happening, was in fact happening because of the things she did and said to him. It made her feel terrible, it made her realize the severity of the situation as well, causing the teenage mare to take in a slow, deep breath in order to keep herself from falling apart in front of these fillies.
"Ok. Let's figure out something we can do to fix this!" She chimed, though she looked less than certain of herself.
Solina practically threw herself around the teenager happily, "Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! With your help I'm sure we'll be able to fix this huge mess!"
Shine chuckled a bit nervously as she patted the young filly on the back slightly, "Um...no problem? I mean...it is my fault so I should do something to fix it right?"
Flutter Mint nodded, smiling as she joined the hug with Zarina in tow, "I'm sure we can!"
Shine gave them a reassuring smile, though in reality she was unsure of exactly how much she could really do for them. It was one thing for words to cause a problem such as this and heaven only knew that her words and actions both had lead up to this point. She couldn't be sure that words alone would be enough to fix this situation, with how many years had passed as well as the amount of anger and bottled up emotions that he must have had towards not only her but probably mares in general. There were a lot of factors in this situation that made her feel worried she wouldn't be able to help, but no matter what she knew that she needed to do something, anything, to help not only these three fillies who seemed to believe fully in her despite all odds but also the poor mare that didn't deserve this kind of deception.
Hey everypony, quick update on things. I've gotten my wisdom teeth removed and I'm currently in a LOT of pain, I can't eat I haven't slept well in a while and I basically am living a life of heck right now. Ok so that's an exaggeration, since I can in fact eat now it just still hurts a bit to do so, though I would like to point out I did get my wisdom teeth (and two broken teeth) removed a while ago and had some trouble with focusing and pain management. So like I said in the last chapter things will be going a bit slowly. As well, my father is moving my granddad and uncle down from Virginia and so I will have to keep an eye out for that as well and make sure they're all doing alright. I also very recently lost 6 of my dogs to Parvo virus, and one of my younger cousins to a car wreck. So that could end up taking a bit more time away from writing as well, and has been partially the reason that this chapter took as long as it did. With that being said I can only hope that the upcoming chapters will be worth the wait, and that things start looking up more. Until then!
Lucy and Starlight laughed happily as they both got their manes dried, currently talking about the types of games or activities that they'd want to set up for the party, while the spa workers prepared to give them hooficures as well as allowing Pinkie Pie to take a mud bath. They were debating on a few choices, Duck Duck Mongoose, Musical teacups, and Lucy's personal favorite, guess the gourd. Starlight couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun with her best friend and it made her feel extremely happy. Lucy couldn't help but take notice of her friends' joy and used this as an opportunity to test something out. Ever since Night found out that both he and Elusive were going to be older siblings he'd been acting more and more worried about Starlight. True she didn't find that a bad thing, but she couldn't really understand his reasoning 100%, much less what was going on or if the behaviors were connected in any way. She did know, however, that ever since then she'd been getting some bad vibes around Elusive, and it didn't help that she knew how Night Flyer felt about Starlight. She'd never say anything to Starlight about that though, knowing that it would more than likely cause her to become angry and Lucy figured neither of them needed that.
Besides, she was sure if anything were really wrong she would have caught on by then. She was a pretty good judge of character thanks to the fact that her mother raised her with the knowledge to always keep kindness in mind. Though on the other hoof her father had always told her that Chaos was needed to mix things up every now and again, that it was part of the fun with growing up. She took both to heart, though she would have to admit she didn't fully agree with her father. She couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Night had a reason to be wary of Elusive, but she wasn't really sure how exactly. Still, she would have to keep an eye on her best friends' coltfriend just to be on the safe side.
"So," Starlight chimed, "which do you think? I bet we could do a lot with musical teacups this year!"
"Yeah that sounds great!" Lucy answered with a smile, hardly giving any indication that she had just been lost in her own mind, "hey can I ask you something, off topic?"
"Of course, Luc! You're my best friend you can ask me anything." Starlight replied, wondering what she was curious about this time.
"Do you think that Night and Elusive are as excited about becoming older siblings as you were?" Lucy asked, tilting her head slightly as she made a glass of juice appear for herself.
"Hm...not sure." Starlight answered with a shrug, "maybe. Elusive has been doing more for his mom I know that much. And Night seemed to be pretty excited when he found out didn't he?"
"Yeah," The half pony answered with a shrug, sipping on the glass around he juice happily, "I guess you have a point there."
Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up between them, nearly spattering mud on the two of them with a grin, "ooooh! I bet they're going to be so happy when they get here! Rainbow Dash told me he's been hanging around with his younger cousin to get ready for his new sibling! Isn't that cool?"
Starlight laughed a bit and she said, "That sounds like something Night would do."
"I bet he's going to be sorry when the foal actually arrives." Lucy beamed with a laugh, causing Starlight to chuckle alongside her.
"Yeah, it's not easy." Starlight agreed, "Solina was pretty loud as a foal. Heck, she's loud now!"
"I bet!" Pinkie laughed, moving to clean off the mud from her coat so she could join the two of them in a hooficure, "The twins are really hard to deal with sometimes. They make bigger messes than I do and that's saying something. But then again, I clean up after my parties. They don't really have the ability to do that yet, and chances are they won't be much trouble after the Water melon incident."
The three of them shared a laugh, grateful to have this time to both relax and talk about the party and their lives in a non-stressful environment. It made the fact that Lucy was worried for Starlight a bit easier to handle, and Starlight of course seemed to love spending time with her best friend. It made her want to do things like this more often. I not with Lucy then maybe with her other friends and family, she couldn't even remember the last time she and Night Flyer went racing or the last time she helped her grandparents on her mom Summer's side, her grandmother and aunt with the flower shop, her great grandmother with the tea shop in Canterlot though that was mainly run by her grandfather anyway. She smiled to herself as she thought about it, only snapping out of it when Lucy called out to her.
"Star? Are you listening?" Lucy asked, tapping her friend on the horn with a grin.
"Sorry, I got distracted again." Starlight chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, "What were you saying?"
"I said, we should do something for Night when we get back. He's probably having trouble with the Twins by now, so he could probably use a little something cheery to brighten up the experience." Lucy answered, rolling her reptilian eyes at her friend with a playful grin.
"Like what?" Starlight questioned, letting the spa mare lift the dryer off her head to start styling it.
"Well, the twins probably ate all the cupcakes in the pipe organ by now," Pinkie stated, "Maybe we could make him cupcakes!"
The two friends looked at Pinkie, then at each other before they began laughing hysterically alongside their adoptive aunt, knowing the last time they tried that Starlight ended up glued to the wall with frosting.
"Maybe something a bit less...messy?" Starlight suggested as she managed to calm herself down.
"We could-Haha! We could ask Rainbow Dash and Sorin if he wants anything." Lucy suggested, still laughing herself sane with a grin.
"Kinda sounds like we're planning Harth's warming or his birthday or something, and that could be pretty confusing, trust me." Starlight pointed out.
"What could we do then?" Lucy asked, noting how Pinkie had already been dragged off to get her mane washed as well.
"Hm..." Starlight pondered, chuckling when the spa mare began shining her hooves, "What's something that Night would want...? Or...maybe we should think about something he needs?"
Lucy pondered that herself for a moment, hardly taking notice to the Spa pony having to bring in a power grinder to file her hooves, "Well he works with the weather at night right?"
"Of course." Starlight answered, questioning her best friend for just a moment.
Suddenly two light bulbs appeared over the two friends' heads, surprising the spa ponies by accident, as they both grinned excitedly at each other as they exclaimed together, "Let's take him to lunch at the Hay Burger down the street!"
"It's perfect!" Starlight beamed.
"It can't go wrong!" Lucy agreed, taking a bite out of her light bulb as Starlight awkwardly used her magic to teleport hers away.
"Oh! Fun! I think that's where Cheese Sandwich proposed to me the first time!" Pinkie exclaimed with a grin.
The two teens, and the spa ponies in general, looked at her in shock before she giggled and continued, "He proposed a couple times. The first time was after we started planning Pound and Pumpkin Cakes' 10th birthday party, it was fun ten bounce houses but that's not the point, anyway I said I wasn't ready yet that time."
"Why?" Lucy asked questioningly.
"Yeah I thought you would have been excited to get engaged Aunt Pinkie." Starlight agreed, giggling a bit when they started buffing her hooves.
"Oh I was!" Pinkie answered simply, "I just didn't think we were ready. Not much else to it I guess, unless you count that afterward we went back to his place and-"
"MOVING ON!" Both girls exclaimed loudly, Lucy conjuring up some ear plugs quickly while Starlight shoved a couple polishing towels in her ears.
"Geeze Aunt Pinkie!" Lucy exclaimed, rather loudly, "And I thought the Author wasn't into that humor!"
"What?!" Starlight asked, practically yelling.
"What?!" Lucy questioned just as loudly, glancing between the giggling pink mare and her best friend.
Pinkie by this point was laughing hysterically as the spa ponies struggled to keep the drier over her mane as she laughed and rolled on the floor. The two teens decided against asking their Aunt anything about that again and just focus on the party planning and going out to lunch later for the remainder of their time at the spa.
MoonStone couldn't help but sit around the Boutique with a bored groan. Her Uncle had taken Elusive up to Canterlot as soon as they had gotten there, and her Aunt Rarity was busying herself with her designs. That left the poor four year old with nothing to really do except for sit around and watch as her Aunt rushed around, maybe occasionally stopping to eat a bit of something here and there. She could understand mostly since she was going to have a foal and she needed to not only be able to afford what they needed for that, though arguably they were reasonably wealthy with both Rarity's store in Canterlot as well as Fancy Pants' business affairs as well as the odd jobs around town that the two of them accumulated over time, MoonStone couldn't help but wonder if there was any point in even being here. Reasonably she knew why she was there with how her mom and dad were both gone for the day picking up Button's new shipment of Video games for the new store, but she wondered why she wasn't able to go and hang out with her friends, especially since they probably needed her help.
Still she guessed there wasn't much to be done about it. She stood up and moved to go and look around the scraps that were scattered all around the boutique and design room. She was surprised to find that a lot of the scraps she found were small oddly shaped gems or beads that didn't quite look right against fabric, or that didn't have a shape that matched anything that was going on the clothing. She found it to be interesting that they would more than likely just be tossed aside for being a little...quirky she would describe it. She gathered up as many as she could and brought them over to a table. She figured since she had nothing else to do, she should see what she could do with these objects, and got to work organizing them and began putting them into different patterns along the table.
"I remember...Mom always said with each good and bad deed there has to be balance...Is that how she put it...?" The young four year old shrugged and continued looking over the shapes and patterns, "It kind of looks like..."
"MoonStone?"
The small filly let out a startled yelp, knocking into the table and scattering the pattern he had thought up, "huh?!"
"Oh my!" Rarity gasped, helping the poor filly up and dusting her off, checking to make sure she wasn't hurt, "I'm so sorry, Darling. I thought you heard me come in."
"I-It's ok Auntie." MoonStone answered with a nervous chuckle, "I guess I was just thinking too hard."
"Ah, I do understand how that goes. There are days I dream of going to the spa for a while again, but I've been so busy lately with the baby on the way and of course Lucy's party coming up." Rarity answered, observing what her niece had done with a careful eye after a moment with a smile, "You've been taking my advice haven't you?"
"Oh, yeah I have. It's kind of helped me here, I haven't been bored in a little while so that's good right?" MoonStone asked, her head tilted a bit as she looked over what she had done, still analyzing patterns in the unique shaped gemstones.
"Certainly. And you've actually made an interesting pattern here," Rarity answered, gently pointing out the way the shapes and colors became similar colors and sizes as they got closer to the center.
MoonStone seemed shocked by the detail but after a moment she gave a grin, "Neat!"
Rarity nodded and smiled at her young niece, "MoonStone, would you mind helping me for a moment? I know things can be a bit boring, but I think you'll like this."
The young four year old thought about it for a moment before she grinned and nodded, "Sure Aunt Rarity."
She went in with her aunt to the sewing room and the expecting unicorn went about helping her niece try on a lovely dress accented with a light brown hemline and a purple laced pattern around the skirt and sleeves. It was a bit dressy for anything that MoonStone was used to wearing but she understood her Aunt could be a bit over the top with her designs and didn't mind letting Rarity use her for a sizing problem or a fitting for something she made just to create. The two made idle chat while they did this and the young filly couldn't help but smile to herself. She was sure if her friends really needed her they would come and get her, or possibly have Spike send a note to her, they did that upon occasion to keep in touch during times of need. Though they were pretty young and didn't usually do things like this she still figure that rule applied.
"Oh dear..." Rarity muttered to herself, looking through a drawer of gems with a somewhat sour look on her face.
"What's wrong?" MoonStone asked curiously.
"Oh...it's really nothing much, Darling. I just ran out of amethyst and chocolate diamonds for the border of the skirt on your dress." Rarity explained, showing her the nearly empty drawer scattered with rubies and emeralds.
"Do you think you can find more?" MoonStone asked innocently.
"Oh well I certainly could, I'm not even showing yet, but there's nowhere for me to watch you in the caves. And I'm not leaving you here alone." Rarity pointed out.
"Well I could just go back to Aunt Twilight's place." MoonStone suggested hopefully.
"But Twilight isn't there I don't think." Rarity stated, thoughtfully, "And I believe Summer is home either, AppleJack mentioned meeting her later this afternoon with Miss Coloratura."
"Well yeah, but Solina, Flutter Mint and Zarina should all still be there, and I'm pretty sure Spike is there too." MoonStone offered, trying not to lose hope.
Rarity looked at her a moment and thought, pacing the floor just a bit as the young filly waited patiently and eagerly for her Aunt's response.
I am SO sorry this chapter is so long but...hey I said chapters would take longer because they were going to be longer...so...I'm still sorry! There are a lot of things I had to cover in this chapter and it took me by surprise how long it is ending up being!
Starlight sighed happily as she got a wing massage, Lucy and her aunt Pinkie both chatting happily while they waited for their hoof polish to dry. Starlight felt so at peace she couldn't imagine a disaster like an exploding watermelon could lead to the perfect way to spend time with her best friend and still manage to get at least part of the planning done for Lucy's party. It was exactly what the young princess had needed and it was absolutely worth every second they were there. They had agreed on going to the Cakes' the next day to taste test some cupcake flavors and then head over to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Miss RaRa about the music and stage setup, while that afternoon they decided they'd get back to the Party Supplies Shop and pick up Night Flyer to go to lunch and hang out more.
"Well this has been really relaxing. I feel fresh as a tea leaf!" Starlight sighed happily as she finally stood and stretched slightly.
Pinkie grinned, "Glad to know! It would have taken us all forever to get clean back at the shop!"
"Why?" Starlight asked as Lucy admired her shiny hooves.
"Well there's only one bathroom and three of us," Pinkie explained, "If you count Night that's four! That'd take a long time for us all to have gotten clean, and that's just showers!"
Lucy nodded in agreement as the three of them finally moved to head back, all clean, pampered, and ready to take on the world if they wanted.
Starlight couldn't remember a time she had as much fun as she was having with her aunt and her best friend. She laughed as Lucy conjured up some smoke bombs and tossed them in the air, Starlight lit her horn in attempt to set them off to release the colorful smoke into the air but she miscalculated and ended up blasting a small tree branch which in turn landed on a piece of wood, sending a stray apple from a nearby cart to go flying at the poor teen. She yelped and ducked quickly, causing Lucy to laugh slightly as it went soaring over her head, barely missing getting stuck on her horn.
"I guess I still need to work on my aim huh?" Starlight asked with an embarrassed grin.
"Yep!" Lucy chuckled as she helped her up, "But that's ok! I think it's fun when things go unexpectedly!"
Starlight couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's silly nature, but then again she guessed she wouldn't have expected the daughter of the Lord of Chaos to be anything than what Lucy was...herself.
The three of them chatted a while as they walked, mostly talking about decorations for the party as well as some scheduling times that they'd all have to go over with Miss RaRa before they could start getting the stage and everything arranged. Starlight decided it would be a better idea to do that when they saw her next, maybe even thinking about calling her aunt AppleJack to see when they could meet up, if not the next day. So they just had to go to Sugar Cube Corner the next day and see where that led them, if it led them to Sweet Apple Acres then so be it, but Starlight had a strange feeling they wouldn't get that far, or at least not far enough to actually decide anything about the performance or stage handling.
"Ok, so we have the orchid balloons on back order soooooo...oh! I know! What about turning the castle into a huge bouncy house?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, grinning as she bounced around Lucy and Starlight happily.
"That could be fun." Starlight agreed with a smile.
Lucy nodded, a light bulb appearing above her head, "I have a better idea!" She blinked and picked the light bulb from above her head and started munching away as she explained, "what if I have my dad turn the surrounding forests into rubber? We could all bounce dance at the concert like we did at your cousin Dark Moon's birthday party a couple years ago!"
"Wasn't that where he nearly turned all our manes to Crystal?" Pinkie questioned suddenly.
"Nah!" Lucy grinned, swallowing down the glass and throwing away what was left of the light bulb, "That one was me! But hey, little guy took the blame like a champ!"
Starlight and Lucy both laughed at this, causing their aunt to roll her eyes a bit, "Ah what it's like to be young and filled with cream puffs and sprinkles!"
This caused the two teens to roll their own eyes, knowing fully well that their family, honorary and biological, were still relatively young even for having families as they did. Still they just laughed it off together and continued on their way.
"So, should we hire the Cakes to bring the sweets to the party? Or should we just pick them up?" Starlight asked, wanting to change the subject to food if at all possible, "I bet Pound and Pumpkin Cake would love the extra bits, plus it'll give us an even better excuse to have a cupcake tasting!"
"I think I can arrange that!" Pinkie answered, "Though there never has to be a reason for cupcakes!"
"Oh! I bet they'll need help with it all, my family has some pretty weird tastes!" Lucy grinned, nudging Starlight knowingly.
"Brilliant!" Starlight grinned excitedly, earning a similar look from Pinkie Pie as well.
They walked through the doors to the party supply shop only to be greeted by Night and Cheese laying exhausted and sleeping on opposite chairs, the twins sleeping peacefully in their upside down playpen, and a somewhat larger stain on the far wall that looked like it was a mixture of frosting and confetti. No one really wanted to know what had happened, and it seemed like the twins were no worse for wear, so Starlight and Lucy simply covered Night and Cheese Sandwich with some blankets so they could rest, while Pinkie Pie went about cleaning up the mess on the wall.
"It looks like they had a rough time, huh?" Starlight asked, moving to help clean up with her magic while Lucy went about getting the twins back to their room.
"I guess I should have waited until Cheese got home...well! You live you learn right?" Pinkie answered with a slight shrug.
"Maybe we should wait on that Lunch huh?" Starlight suggested, "Maybe let him rest a while after what he went through...which was apparently enough to warrent tying down the Twins' play pen."
"You have a point. Maybe we should take him with us to Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow? It'll be better than Lunch because of course cupcakes are superior." Lucy suggested, flying back into the room with a grin.
"That's a great idea!" Starlight beamed.
"Oooh! You could all three go together while I handle the decoration and the balloon orders! Plus, I don't think I should let Cheese handle the twins on his own tomorrow." Pinkie offered, finishing up on her end of the wall with a smile.
"That sounds great!" Starlight and Lucy agreed together, giggling a bit at how they both reacted.
"Fun! We have a game plan!" Lucy giggled, helping Starlight on her end so they could get it done.
They all decided to stick closer to the kitchen while everypony was resting, Pinkie Pie knowing from experience that the twins wouldn't cause too much trouble now, since they had seemed to wear themselves out from whatever it was they did while they were gone. Pinkie Pie starting baking after a while, leaving the two friends to talk while they waited for Night to wake up, planning on letting him rest as long as he needed unless it started getting too late. They laughed together as Lucy told Starlight about how Fluttershy had gotten upset with Discord that morning. Though Starlight wasn't really able to keep up with the story her best friend was telling she enjoyed listening to her, her mind was wandering a bit. She wondered about what her mother had said, if balancing friendships and relationships was really as difficult as she had suggested. Sure she admitted that she hung out with her friends a bit less, but she was certain she'd be able to balance things well enough to avoid any confrontations or arguments. After all, her mother was the Princess of Friendship, what could possibly go wrong with that idea when she had her to ask for advice when she needed it? She couldn't think of much of anything, really.
Elusive grumbled to himself as he waited for his father to finish talking with his business partners. This hadn't been how he planned his day to go, he had too many things he needed to get done. It didn't help that he was beginning to think that Night Flyer was attempting to break things off between him and Starlight, and this was something he simply couldn't allow. Granted he was certain that if he tried to do so directly it would result in Starlight becoming angry with Night rather than himself, he didn't want to chance anything like that happening.
"Father, I'm going to go look around the city a bit. It's been too long since I've done so." Elusive stated, moving to head out.
"Well alright, Son but don't forget to meet me at the train station in a few hours, we're taking the early evening train back home." Fancy Pants responded, handing his son his train ticket just in case they didn't directly meet at the train station.
The sixteen year old nodded as he moved to take it with his magic before he left to head to the shopping center of the city. He figured he could look for ideas on how to keep his marefriend wrapped around his hoof while he searched for a gift for Screwloose's birthday, though he honestly detested having to do so. He knew practically nothing about Screwloose and didn't even call her by her nickname because of it. Still, his parents expected him to become friends with these ponies, and so he would attempt to do so for their sake. He was certain he was not "friends" with Night Flyer but this didn't bother him at all. He, in fact, felt joyful for that as it was one more pony he didn't have to worry about emotionally. He didn't see a reason for himself to want to befriend a pony who wouldn't give him leverage over the Canterlot elite, and so he felt that if he could at the least avoid being too buddy buddy with the dark blue pegasus he would be fine.
He would have to make sure that Starlight would eventually drop him from her friend group, but that would be at a later time. He had plenty of time to mold her into the perfect mare, though in his eyes her status alone made her nearly perfect. He still detested her clumsy nature, as well as the fact that she seemed to take no pride in her title as Princess. She was born into royalty, and to him this meant showing off your status as much as you could for any reason. He wasn't sure how he would manage this but he assumed something would eventually come to him so he didn't stress over this detail as much. Once he reached what he believed to be a suitable shop Elusive entered and began looking around for the most suitable gift for both Screwloose and one for Starlight. He didn't intend to put real thought behind whatever he bought for either of them, but enough for him to be able to think up an excuse if Starlight asked him about it.
Elusive searched with a mostly bored expression until he overheard a conversation between a couple of mares not too far away that made him stop in his search and listen in.
"I heard a rumor from my friend in Manehattan that Coloratura and her assistant were staying in Ponyville for some private event." One of them commented, picking up a nice looking broach.
"Isn't that where Princess Twilight and her family live?" the other questioned.
"It is! Wouldn't it be interesting to see what this event is about? No pony I know has any connections though." The first grumbled.
"Well, in any case it isn't like we could get in. I'm surprised somepony like her assistant would be allowed near the Princess of Friendship. I heard she was once one of the most hated fillies in Canterlot before she split town for Manehattan." The second scoffed, shuffling through the pages of a catalog.
Elusive could feel the anger rising inside him, he knew that mare. He knew who they were talking about even if they themselves didn't. Radiant Shine was in Ponyville, how he had missed this he had no idea but one thing was clear in his mind now. He needed to work much faster to mold Starlight into a proper Princess and marefriend, and that was exactly what he intended to do. But as he thought about it, he realized that a simple and petty gift would not work for either of the mares he was shopping for. He then found his way to a much more expensive part of the shopping center, though in Canterlot everything was pretty much expensive, and began searching for the right gifts among the jewels and fossils lined on the shelves and in the display cases.
He didn't know all that much about Screwloose but he knew she was the daughter of Chaos and kindness, two of the most unlikely of loves if anypony asked him personally, so he was trying to think in the mind of that kind of mixed personality but he found that task just as hard as shopping, it was just a huge cycle. Still he didn't give up, walking and examining each gemstone, broach, necklace, statuette, geode, amulet, bracelet and crystal they held in the display case as closely as the glass separating him from them would allow. He grumbled slightly and looked around for somepony who worked there.
"Hello?" Elusive called, slightly loudly in case they were in the back of the shop.
"Be out there in a moment!" A female voice called back, seeming to originate from under the front desk.
Confused the sixteen year old walked closer to the front only to be greeted with a loud sawing sound, causing him to look behind the desk quickly. A buttercream yellow unicorn mare with brown eyes behind purple and silver glasses, her light blue mane pulled up in a high bun with strands of it curling and twisting wildly from her bangs to the bun itself, one lone stick sticking out of the top part of the bun among the wild hairs and a brown paw inside a simple red heart for her Cutie mark. Her appearance brought into question why she was in a jewel and fossil shop, made more apparent by the tiny Timber wolf in her hooves, her light blue magic aura holding a small saw as she was gently sawing away at it's tiny thorn-like claws. It was much smaller than a normal timber wolf or at least the ones his mother warned him about when he was younger, and lighter in branch coloring, consisting mostly of birch and some pine branches rather than the swampy oak-like limbs that he was told of, blue glowing eyes rather than yellow, and no bad breath to be heard or smelled of.
"Sorry," She said suddenly, not looking up, "Scruffy here needed her nails trimmed real fast."
"That...explains little, but alright." Elusive offered slightly stunned.
"She's a rare sub-species of Timber Wolf from the Crystal Mountains. Orphaned I'd say at about 6 weeks of age, I found her around age four months so we'll say they can be trusting in nature and very tamable. They grow up to be about half the size of Everfree Timbers, a fascinating distinctive difference if you ask me, as well as their differing mannerisms and abilities." She explained, finishing up what she was doing as the young Timber wolf settled in a basket to rest.
"And...you are?" Elusive questioned.
"Oh." She replied with a slight blush of embarrassment, "Terribly sorry about that. I tend to ramble. Dr. Poppy Pawheart, Veterinarian, Doctor, and Mythological/Magical Creature Research Enthusiast." She held out her hoof for him to shake, using her magic to straighten her glasses.
"Charmed," Elusive answered, shaking her hoof slightly, "But why are you two working here if you are indeed all of that? Fossils and Jewels don't seem to fit that criteria."
"Well, I'm taking a break to help out around here for my brother in law and my sister. They had a foal recently and so I'm helping out around here before I head to Ponyville within the next week." She explained, moving around the desk and over to stand behind the display cabinets, "Now what exactly do you need help with?"
"Well it's odd you would mention Ponyville, as I happen to currently live there." Elusive told her, smiling to be polite, "I'm looking for some gemstones so I can create some elegant gifts for two mares."
She looked a bit shocked, "Two?"
"One is my Marefriend and the other is her best friend whom is having a birthday celebration soon, and since I care for both of them I wanted to make them something special." He explained, still trying to smile politely.
"Oh. Okay, let's see what I can do about that." Dr. Pawheart answered with a smile, pulling out a large box from the back room, "What are these two like? Their colorings, their personalities, names?"
"My Marefriend is Princess Starlight Summer Sparkle Princess of the Sunrise, Daughter of The Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle and famous performer Summer Springs Sparkle." He stated proudly with a smile, "Her best friend is Screwloose, the daughter of the Lord of Chaos Discord and the Element of Kindness Fluttershy."
"Hey! I know Lucy!" Pawheart beamed, "I'm her Doctor!"
"I thought you were a Veterinarian?" Elusive questioned.
"Veterinarian, Doctor to Ponies, and a Mythological/Magical Creature Research Enthusiast actually." She answered with a smile, "Lucy is half Pony and half Draconequus, so it's a chance for me to use my knowledge of all three subjects with one patient! Plus um...no other Doctor can figure out what's wrong with her when she's sick it's odd."
Elusive blinked, but decided that was a logical enough explanation and the two began looking through the box of Gems and Crystals, selecting the ones they decided fit each mare, as Elusive knew about Starlight not just through his time with her but from his mother who told him about her over most of his youth. They selected specific Purple, Blue and Pink Gems and Crystals for Starlight, and multiple colors of Yellow gems, Orange crystals, Pink and black gems, though the black gems were much smaller for accents rather than larger decorative gems. Once he was satisfied with how many he had for each mare he paid and Pawheart boxed them up for him.
Before he left she said one last thing to him, "Those mares are lucky!"
Elusive couldn't help but smile as he nodded and waved, heading towards the train station as he thought to himself, "Yes...A lucky pair of friends indeed."
Night Flyer blinked slightly as he began to wake up, looking around at the clean house in slight sleepy shock. He yawned as he stretched his wings and sat up a bit, noticing the blanket slide off him after he did so. He was about to get up to question why everything was so clean and tidy when Starlight walked through the kitchen doorway and she offered a friendly smile.
"Your awake!'" She said happily, "Did you rest well?"
"Oh, you guys got back sooner than we thought." He answered sheepishly, "I slept well but how long was I out?"
"Oh about half an hour or so, or that's from when we got back." Starlight told him with a shrug, "Not sure how long you were out before that."
He nodded a bit embarrassed, but he was grateful he got a nap in anyway, since he worked at night usually and was used to taking naps throughout the day, "Did uncle Cheese Sandwich wake up?"
"Yeah a while ago, but he's in the Twins' bedroom with Aunt Pinkie feeding Sunrise and Raspberry." Starlight told him.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Lucy called back, causing the two of them to chuckle.
"I guess I should get up." Night said finally as he stood up and stretched his wings again.
"Hey, we were wondering if you wanted to come with us tomorrow. We could all three go to Sugar Cube Corner to taste test cupcakes!" Starlight told him, grinning happily.
"It'll give us a chance to hang out and get things ready for my party!" Lucy explained happily, appearing in the doorway with a bowl of what appeared to be noodles made of Ice cream but no pony questioned it.
"That sounds really great actually," He answered with a bright grin himself, "Count me in!"
Starlight jumped up excitedly, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling, and managing to trip over her own tail as she landed, causing her to fall backwards with a laugh, "Whoops! Guess I got a bit carried away. But this'll be so much fun!"
Night smiled as he helped her up and the three of them gathered in the kitchen to plan out what kind of cupcakes they would be trying the next day and he couldn't help but let his mind wander a bit. He felt so happy that Starlight was hanging out with him again. He was happy that all three of them were hanging out again, it was just like before Elusive came into the picture and he couldn't help but enjoy it. He couldn't wait until him, his uncle, little cousin and Solina and her friends and hopefully soon Radiant Shine figured out a way to help Starlight see what type of pony he truly was, and maybe even someday love Night as he loved her. Still, even if she didn't, he wanted to make sure that she was with somepony who truly loved her. One way or another he wanted her to be happy, and he intended on helping to make her happy, even if he wasn't the one she loved in the end. One way or another, he promised himself he would see that happen.
Ok THAT Is the end of the chapter I swear! Sorry it was so LONG but I had to go over quite a few points in this chapter. Besides I said they would be longer, and that they would take longer to write, so I warned you. Hopefully I can get out Chapter 36 a bit sooner than I got this one out but I'm NOT promising anything. Also I realize how similar Dr. Pawheart's design sounds to Dr. Fauna but I honestly didn't make the connection until after I drew out her design and noticed the similarities, but I just rolled with it! Just be patient, if you want updates on chapters, or on pictures I post on Deviant Art please follow me on Twitter and on Deviant Art and don't forget that if you have questions the reviews are a poor place to ask them, as I cannot answer you directly, so please message me on here, DM me on Twitter or send me a Note on Deviant Art and I will answer as many questions as I can. See you in the next Chapter!