"Is there something wrong?"

Amber glanced up towards the princess of the waterfolk as she held out a bottle of water towards her. The two were in the vanguard base, and since it was still early nobody else had shown up yet. Well, if they had they hadn't run into them. This had become a regular thing for them. Meeting up to get some training in.

Maria wasn't a warrior. At least she didn't consider herself one. But she hadn't planned on just being some damsel either, and had made an effort to keep up with her training. Since Astro tended to play around or joke about, she'd talked Amber into helping her out. Astro would still show up and watch, but usually just left them to it.

Today however the prince had been called by his father for some urgent business, so it was just the two of them. And that made Amber feel… odd.

"I'm fine," she said, though not very convincingly.

Maria hummed. "Are you sure? You seem a little off today." She always slowed down her pace to match Maria's when they were sparring, but today she just seemed out of it. Maria had managed to knock her over quite a few times, and while she would have liked to think that was a sign of her improving, she knew that just wasn't the case. Amber was leagues above her combat wise. "If you're not feeling well, we can reschedule."

Amber shook her head. "No, really. I'm alright," she said smiling as she took the bottle of water from her. "I guess I am a little off today, but it's nothing to worry about."

Maria still looked a bit concerned. This wasn't the first time Amber had acted like this around her. It was really only when they were alone. She talked a little less, kept at arm's length, and… she just seemed distant. She had wondered if she had done something to offend the princess somehow, but she couldn't think of anything. And when everyone else was around it seemed fine. What was bothering her?

Amber took a drink from her water and then sighed. "Are you ready to get back to it?" she asked, getting back up.

The waterfolk princess nodded back. "Well, if you're sure you're feeling alright." She picked her trident back up and walked back over towards their makeshift ring, which was just a circle they made on the ground with some tape. Amber followed her, getting into a fighting stance. "Let's go."

Maria stepped forward and lunged at her, but Amber easily stepped to the side and avoided it. She moved in towards her, but Maria spun her trident around, forcing her to step back. Maria got ready to move in again, but suddenly…

"Oh!"

Amber fell back onto the ground, and Maria winced. For a long moment there was nothing but silence. Amber stared up at the ceiling wide eyed. Had she just… had she just tripped over her own tail? She hadn't done that since she was in school. A blush spread across her cheeks as she covered her face and groaned.

"Are you alright?" Maria asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Just… embarrassed…"

Maria walked over and offered her a hand, which she accepted. "Amber, what's going on? You're so spaced out today. Is there some kind of trouble back home? Did you and your mother get into an argument or…?" There had to be some reason. This behavior was just too strange to explain as an off day.

Amber looked down nervously. "No, nothing like that. I just…" She scratched her cheek and sighed, not really knowing how to say this.

"Amber, we're friends. If there's something bothering you that I can help with, or if you just need to get something off of your chest, you don't have to be so worried about it," she said. "What's bothering you?"

The septarian girl nodded slowly. "You... you know that I wouldn't go behind your back and try anything with Astro, don't you?" she asked.

Maria blinked, staring at her for a bit. Then she giggled. "Wait, is that what's had you so worried?" she asked.

Amber blushed. "It's just when I heard about all those rumors back on mewni, and Astro mentioned that you can be… clingy, I was worried that maybe you would have a problem." The rumors really hadn't been helped after her and Astro's little dance at that royal gathering. And honestly she felt a little guilty for enjoying it now…

She considered both Maria and Astro close friends, and she didn't want to make things awkward or drive a wedge between them.

Maria looked amused. "Amber, I'm not really concerned about that," she said, somewhat enjoying how flustered the girl looked. "I admit that I can get a tad jealous when it comes to other girls around Astro, but I know he'd never do something like that to me. If he hasn't by now with all the girls clamoring for him, he never will. And I know you wouldn't do that either."

This explained her behavior she supposed. Whenever she and Astro were there Amber had no reason to worry about things getting misread, and she had probably been nervous about Maria confronting her about this while they were alone.

"Listen, Astro and I have been together for a long time. And I'm not so naive as to think neither of us can find anyone else attractive. Or that nobody else finds either of us attractive. But he's every bit as loyal as you are, so I know that I have no need to worry. And you don't either. Honestly."

Amber looked hesitant, but then smiled. It was nice to know that her friend trusted her so much. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Thanks… sorry for acting so strangely."

"No need to apologize to me. In fact I honestly should be apologizing for giving you that impression," she said. "We princesses need to stick together, don't we? We can't allow some rumors and drama to come between us."

Amber giggled. "No, guess we can't."

Maria nodded. "But just so you know, if you were interested in trying something I think it would be fine so long as I was there to supervise." Amber's eyes widened, and a blush quickly spread across her face. Maria burst out in laughter at her reaction. "Oh dear, I'm sorry! I just couldn't resist!"

Amber pouted. "T-that's not funny!"

Maria clearly disagreed, and wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm sorry, really. Let's get back to sparring, shall we?" Amber nodded and went to go pick up her weapon, and Maria hummed in thought. It had mostly been a joke, but she would be lying if she said the idea of all three of them wasn't a tempting one. And as much as he always tried to dodge the subject, Maria knew that Astro found the girl attractive as well.

Still, she knew Vera had eyes for the girl. Even if she was oblivious to it. So for now it was nothing more than that. A thought… a very tempting thought she'd probably be thinking about later on tonight.

A/N: A little taste of some Maria/Amber, and some setup for some Astro/Maria/Amber stuff later! Tempted to do some more saucy content for them, but I thought I should do something a bit more wholesome first lol. Hope you guys enjoyed!