Chapter 9, Auntie Belle
'i can't go to hearts and hooves day without a suit, that would just be rude' Blaze thought as he made his way down the road, the sun was now properly risen and the town was alive with life. Wagons and carts where being pulled in from the farms and homesteads on the outskirts of the region, loaded up with wheat, barley, fruit and vegetables, everything that a pony would want to eat. The carts where pulled by teams of strong farm stallions, their coats all tanned from years of working under the burning sun.
Blaze knew there was only one place he could go to get a suit that wouldn't take years to make. He would have trusted this task to his mother, who was the finest fashion designer he'd ever known, but his mother was likely to become too wrapped up in the project and it would take weeks for it to get done. No, if he wanted a suit in time he would have to go meet his aunt...well, his other aunt. After Rarity had moved in with Nova, her other house had been inherited by her sister Sweetie belle, who by process of law was Blazes aunt.
Blaze usually came by to see auntie belle when he had some free time, his aunt was warm company and always wanted to know how her nephew was doing at school. Blaze was happy to visit his aunt, who always seemed to have an unlimited supply of burnt cookies to give him, Blaze didn't mind the burnt taste, and to him it tasted just right. His split off from the main road and went down a small side alley, over head the building leant so close together they met in the middle, turning the alley into a tunnel. Emerging on the other side Blaze found himself down by the lake, ahead of him a small bridge let across into the park, which was bustling with ponies as usual. Up another path to his left was a small round two storey building that sat serenely surrounded by tall trees, his aunt's house.
Blaze made his way up to the door and knocked, enjoying the noise his hoof made on the thick wood. From the top floor there was a crashing sound, followed by a curse and then the creaking of somepony coming down the stairs. The door opened and Nova was greeted by a stallion roughly two inches taller than him, it was his uncle-in-law Pip. Over the years Pip hadn't really changed from his old self, his coat was still a dusty white and covered with patches of brown. On his flank his cutie mark was a compass and his thick brown hair was surprisingly well groomed, probably at his wifes insistence. "ah, Blaze good to see you, are you here for a suit? Belle said you would be"
"Yeah i am, is she free?"
"i'm afraid she's seeing another client at the moment, with hearts and hooves day coming up it seems everypony wants a new dress or a suit, we're running low on just about everything in stock" 'Pip has a nice accent' blaze thought "but since you're her nephew and all i don't see why you can't come in and help, Belle's been working herself nonstop and she could use some assistance" Pip stood aside and let Blaze enter "i would help her myself, but i never learnt to sow, i still have trouble remembering the million different colours she uses" Pip gestured to the set of spiralling steps and the end of the hall way "she's just upstairs, I'll be in the basement if you need anything"
Blaze nodded his thanks and made his way down the hall and up the stairs, spiralling upward. "Auntie Belle?" he called out as he reached the top "it's me, Blaze" he said, his head peaking over the top of the floor, looking around himself. The top storey of the building was a single huge room, a massive circular space filled with racks of clothes, mannequins, bags of jewels, sowing equipment, desks covered with sketches of half finished dresses and racks of finished clothes. In the centre of the room was a small podium, half surrounded by mirrors. On it stood a mare, who stood with arms out and her legs apart as his auntie Belle took measurements of every inch of her body, measuring her legs, arms, the inside of her legs, her waist, her bust and her back as well for some reason.
Sweetie belle turned at the sound of her name being called out and her face lit up with a smile "I knew he would come" she said to the mare on the podium "I knew there was no way he would miss the chance to see you in your new dress" it was then that Blaze noticed who the mare on the podium was, it was Sweet cream. Blaze let out a squeak and ducked his down into the stair well, Sweet cream squeaked as well and dodged behind a mirror. "oh come on you two" Sweetie belle said, the amusement evident in her voice "it's not like you've never seen each other before" Blaze poked his head out again, Sweet cream peeped out from behind the mirror.
"hi Blaze" she said in her usual quiet voice, barely louder than a whisper "it's good to see you" Blaze felt absurdly happy at the notion.
"It's good to see you too" he said, slowly making his way up the stairs. He felt like a rabbit in the headlights, one wrong move and he would get squashed. "I just came by to see if i could get a suit made for hearts and hooves day" he told his aunt, who smiled knowingly at him.
"Sweet creams already told me, so has Twilight. Asking a girl on a date to hearts and hooves day, oh Blaze you're growing up so quickly" Sweetie belle smiled "it seems like only yesterday i was making you your first scarf for new hearths eve, you looked os cute in it"
"It was pink and covered in glitter"
"Exactly" Sweetie belle returned to her work, levitating out a measuring tape "i knew you had something planned for this hearts and hooves day, so i already have a suit made for you" she absently gestured to a suit that was currently being worn by a mannequin "one of my finest pieces, and i do say so myself. I should have Sweet creams here done by the end of today, but the measuring almost over, so you two can have the rest of today together" Sweet cream blushed, Blaze felt his own cheeks flare. Blaze went up to the mannequin and gave the suit a closer look. To be honest he had no clue what he was doing, when it came to making clothing he could stitch and sow like his mother had taught him, but when it came to actually knowing the quality of a piece of clothing he had no clue what he was doing.
"it looks nice" he said, running a hoof over the cloth, it felt very soft.
"Looks nice? I spent a month working on that suit, it better be more then nice!"
"it's perfect, is that better?"
"yep" Sweetie Belle said, her face focused in concentration, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth. "there we go" said, noting down a final measurement on a scrap of paper "that's you done, now you and Blaze can go and spend some time together" she told Sweet cream, whose cheeks turned an even brighter red. "go on now, don't be shy" she said with a wink.
Sweet cream nodded "ok" she said meekly, stepping down off the podium. Feeling equally meek, Blaze went to up to her and together the pair went down the stairs, along the hall and out the front door, stepping out into what was now a bright afternoon. From a window in the top floor Sweetie belle watched them go, her husband came up the stairs and stood beside her.
"reminds me of when you asked me to hearts and hooves day, i'd never seen your face so red" she told him. Pips cheeks turned a bright red and Sweetie belle laughed.
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"so...what do you want to do?" Blaze asked. Sweet cream shrugged.
"anything you want to do is fine" she said, smiling in her shy way, it made Blaze feel happy.
"well we could go to the lakes, or i could get you something from the bakery, they've just made a fresh batch of bread i reckon, if my sense of timing's right"
"do you always think with your stomach?" Sweet cream asked 'she looks so cute when she smiles'
"most of the time, when you live with my mother's cooking it tends to happen" he said, smiling back.
"Well fresh bread sounds wonderful" Cream told him, her blue eyes twinkling. Blaze felt his smile widen and he offered Cream his hoof, which she took, and they made their way to the centre of town. "Have you planned anything for our date?" she asked as they walked down the street.
"Of course, but i'm not going to tell you, that would just spoil the surprise"
"Oh, don't be like that"
"What? It's just like waiting for a birthday present"
"Except my birthday isn't the most romantic day of the year"
"...that's true" they'd reached the town square and crossed it to the bakery. Sweet cream picked a fresh loaf of bread that smelt heavenly, Blaze paid a bit for it and they made their way to one of the benches around the square. Blaze watched Sweet cream as she ate a small piece of bread, marvelling at her profile. Around her neck there lay the necklace he'd bought her, the emeralds set into it twinkling in the sun light.
"What are you looking at?" Sweet cream asked him with a smile, Blaze realised he'd been staring.
"just that i'm lucky to have you" he told her, smiling when she blushed. For a moment they looked into each others eyes, and then they began to lean in. Blazes breath was caught in his throat, this was his first kiss with Sweet cream and he felt his heart beating like a piston in his chest. They where only an inch apart when there was a sudden flash of purple light and they sprang apart, startled.
"Ah Blaze, I've been looking for you all day" the purple flash receded from Blazes vision and he saw miss Sparkle standing in front of him, a broad smile on her face "you're late for our lesson, so come on now, we've got a lot work to do"
"What, wait, no, i was abou-" and then there was another flash and he felt himself land hard in a wooden chair. He shook his head to clear his vision and saw he was sitting at a large desk in the library, on the other side of the desk stood Miss Sparkle, who was smiling warmly "t to...kiss...Swee..." his voice trailed off.
"here you go" Miss sparkle said, levitating a heavy stack of books onto the desk. It was at least five books thick, each book about five hundred pages thick. "by the end of the holidays i'm going to need you to read at least two of these and have written me a thesis paper on ghost waves and their influence with astrology" Blaze gawked at the stack of books. "i'll just be upstairs if you need me" Miss sparkle said, disappearing up the wooden stairs in the side of the wall and into her room.
Blaze stared at the stack of books 'why the hell is this happening to me!' he thought, he groaned and slammed his head against the table.
'well this is shit'