A Day in the Life

by Comet Burst

First published 13th of July, 2013

Big Gala, Sugarsnap and Thundercloud are the three prettiest mares in a Ponyville overrun with stallions. How do they deal with that?

Big Gala is a mare of few words. She's a hard worker, helping her brother run the farm as well as cooking and cleaning up after her family.

Sugarsnap is her best friend. She's a shy pony who only gets chatty around Gala and makes a living working at the local sweet shop.

Thundercloud is the third in the group. She's a pegasus who all the stallions admire. However, she does tend to suffer from stage fright.

Three mares, all best friends in a town of stallions. How do they make it through the day?

R63 Big Mac, Caramel and Thunderlane fic, because I want to write one.

Of Big Gala

"Ya don't need ta be doin' that, ya know," came the familiar voice of an old light green pony sitting at the table.

His haggard orange eyes peeked up from behind the newspaper he was reading, fixed on a very familiar sight to his family. At an ancient cast iron stove stood a red pony with a lengthy dark orange mane and tail. She was quite tall, easily towering over the stove and tilting her head to avoid bumping the vent. A large green apple cutie mark sat emblazoned on her flank, right where her rear leg met her main body, which was ironic considering her name involved nothing green. The only part of her body that was green, however, were her tired eyes that now glanced back at the pony sitting at the table.

"Ah know," she spoke in a soft tone before returning her gaze to the stove and the pot sitting on it.

The older pony heaved a huge sigh before rustling the newspaper, bringing it up to avoid watching her cook.

"Ah see the price of cherries may be goin' up agaihn," he mumbled, eyeing the text.

"Eeyup," the red mare responded before taking the pot off of the stove.

The old pony folded the paper into a tight square as the mare trotted over. He offered a smile as he took a deep breath and smelled the wonderful aroma of breakfast.

"Ah think that might be mah favorite, porridge with some of that there corn and pumpkin ya been growin'."

The mare smiled with the pot still in her mouth and nodded before pouring a bit into the bowl seated in front of the older pony. The thick liquid slopped into the bowl, but refused to leave it in favor of the red and white checkered tablecloth. The mare pulled back and trotted back over to the stove as the green pony took a small nibble out of his bowl, his stomach and tongue eager to taste it.

"Be careful, Pappy," the mare spoke up without looking behind her, "That be some mighty hot porridge."

"Gala, let me tell ya somethin'," the green pony spoke in a slightly more serious tone, "Ah've been here for far longer than most o' the ponies in this town. There ain't nothin' here Ah haven't had happen ta me, including eatin' a meal that just came from the stove. Yer Pappy knows how to eat. I may be old, but Ah sure ain't forgetful like them other old ponies."

A small chuckle escaped the red mare.

"Yes, Pappy." she spoke in a more amused tone.

The green pony nodded before looking back at the bowl filled with porridge, along with two more empty ones on the table.

"Ah reckon Applejack and Applebutter should be a comin' in purty soon. They must be hungry by now," Pappy spoke, looking up from the table to the red mare, who was watching a clock on the far side of wall.

"Five, four, three, two..." she counted softly to herself.

As soon as the final number left her mind, the front door crashed open, causing Pappy to jump.

"Ah told ya Ah'd beat ya here!" came the spry young voice of a colt.

"That's 'cause I gave you a head start!" a more mature voice responded.

"Ah whatever!" the colt called back.

"You colts best be gettin' in here!" Pappy shouted to the doorway on the far side of the kitchen, "Yer sister spent a good half hour on this!"

Hoofbeats echoed around the house and soon, two ponies stood in the doorway, each with bright eyes and wide grins. One was an orange stallion with sparkling green eyes and a worn brown hat resting atop his mane of straw yellow. A few freckles had gathered at the base of his eyes, right where the edges of his smile were. His mane was pulled back into a ponytail which wrapped around one side of his neck.

At his hooves was a small colt of the same straw yellow as the bigger ones mane. His blazing orange eyes were fixed upon the red mare, even as his red bandana around his forehead sagged down onto the top of his eyelids. The mare, Gala, smiled at her two brothers as they made their way over to the table, chatting with Pappy about what he read in the paper. With practiced ease, Gala picked up the still hot pot and served the rest of the porridge to her brothers.

After a quite messy eating competition between Applejack and Applebutter, judged by Pappy, the mare quietly cleaned up the mess as the stallions talked. According to Applejack, it was time to start harvesting the apples on the norhtwestern part of the orchards, a particularly large area. Pappy had some errands to run in town and Applebutter had school, meaning it would be Applejack and Gala who would harvest the apples, not that either of them minded.

Four hours later, Gala silently trotted up to another apple tree ready for harvesting. The juicy red fruits hung from the branches, pulling the boughs down under their combined weight. The red mare slowly chewed on a stalk of hay sticking out of the right side of her mouth, an emotionless expression gracing her face. A new accessory, an old, weather-beaten yoke, hung snugly onto her neck. It looked uncomfortable to wear since it was bigger than her head, but she absolutely loved the yoke the same way her brother loved his hat.

Gala took a couple trips around the tree, noting where the largest clusters of apples were located before setting down two buckets on opposite sides of the tree. Without blinking or even moving her eyes, the mare took a position between the buckets, her back to the tree. She lifted one leg and, without so much as a glance behind her, planted a solid kick squarely in the tree trunk, causing a shiver to run through the branches. As the shiver made its way to the outer twigs, the juicy apples began to fall into the buckets, filling them up well past their tops.

With her same expressionless face, Gala turned to the overflowing buckets and lifted one of them onto her back with practiced ease. The bucket was easily the weight of a full grown stallion, but Gala was much stronger than she looked, a fact many stallions had found out the hard way. When the bucket rested squarely on her back, Gala began to trot off to the carts that were meant to haul the apples back to the barn.

Somewhere in the grove, a couple of familiar voices echoed over to her, causing her right ear to lower slightly. It was evidently Applejack with a couple of his friends, the Elements of Harmony.

"Aw, c'mon AJ!" came the familiar shout of Rainbow Blitz, "I have to have you on my team!"

"Sorry Blitz, but Dusk asked me first," her brother's voice responded.

"Why did you say yes then?! Now I gotta have Butterscotch on my team!"

"What's wrong with 'nother pegasus, then?"

"Have you seen him?! The guy is a total pushover!"

"T-that's not true," came a very timid voice, evidently Butterscotch.

"Oh please!" Blitz answered, "Gimme five bits!"

"Oh, um, I think I have some here..."

A very audible groan and an argument about Butterscotch's self respect later, three ponies emerged from the forest, one cyan blue pegasus sporting a rainbow colored mane, a butter yellow pegasus with the most silly pink mane and an orange stallion carrying a bucket half full of apples. All three stopped and stared as Gala trotted by slowly, carrying her bucket.

"Heya, Gala," Applejack said as he walked towards the carts in the clearing.

"Sup Gala?" came Rainbow Blitz, smoothing back his obnoxiously messy mane, "You're lookin' real nice today."

Gala mentally rolled her eyes at his comment. Blitz was always trying to win over the mares, as few as they were. She had recently become his next target, even though she had only said two words to him the entire time they had known each other. Applejack gave Blitz a scowl, but said nothing.

"Oh, um, hi Gala," Butterscotch spoke softly, almost trying to hide in his mane.

Gala gave him a glance and smiled at the pegasus, causing his cheeks to burn bright red. She knew all of her brother's friends had a crush on her, but they never dared to try anything with her out of fear of Applejack. All except for Blitz, who was always at odds with AJ.

However, Gala's smile didn't go unnoticed by Blitz, who scowled and planted his hoof into Butterscotch's head, who squealed rather loudly.

"Since when did you start talking to mares?" he asked with a hint of an edge in his voice.

"Ow! Ouch! Please stop, Blitz," the yellow pegasus moaned, grimacing.

"Both of ya'll need ta quit it," Applejack spoke up, dumping his apples into the cart, "Mah sister will talk to whoever she whants."

"Eeyup," Gala replied, dumping her bucket as well.

After groaning quite audibly again, Blitz removed his hoof from Butterscotch's crown and crossed his hooves, pouting like a colt while the yellow one rubbed his head slowly. Gala always felt slightly sorry for the scared pegasus and decided to give him a little confidence booster, just because he was cute when he was shy. Before disappearing into the groove of apple trees again, she walked by Butterscotch and whipped her tail in his direction, giving him a smile as Blitz's mouth fell to the ground. The last thing she saw before the endless rows of apple trees was Butterscotch blushing furiously, followed by Blitz attacking him for information about how he was able to charm mares.

Gala chuckled to herself as she kept trotting away farther into the forest. Butterscotch was definitely cute, but in the small puppy kind of way. He definitely wasn't her type, even though he kept trying to strike up a conversation more than four sentences with her. No, he was her brother's friend and an Element of Harmony, an off limits stallion. Her kind of type was a serious and hard working stallion, one who would build a home from the ground up. As the thought of a perfect stallion weaved around her head, the image of the local schoolteacher, Mister Cherry Lee, popped up.

Gala was grateful her coat was red, because she felt a small blush come to her cheeks. Her younger brother, Applebutter, and his friends, Silver Bell and Skater Roo, were determined one Hearts and Hooves Day to find Cherry Lee a mare, regardless of how few there were. Upon finding out Gala didn't have a date for the day either, they promptly hatched a hair-brained scheme to set them up together. The plan was moderately successful, but only after feeding them a love potion. Cherry Lee and Gala wound up nearly marrying each other before the potion wore off, causing quite a stir in Ponyville.

However, Gala had started to wonder since then if she did indeed have some sort of opinion on Mister Cherry Lee. Ever since that day, she was starting to blush every time she thought about him. He was indeed a hard working stallion, saving the local schoolhouse from condemnation and running it alone. Rumor had it that in one of his drawers was a picture of Gala he had saved from that day, something she found rather flattering.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Gala looked around and realized she had passed the tree she was harvesting already. Sighing to herself, she turned around and trotted back to the tree, Whatever her stallion issues were, they didn't matter today. Once she was done with work, she was supposed to meet her best friends, Sugarsnap and Thundercloud, at the local spa.

Author's Notes:

Here's the first chapter. There's one for each of my characters, followed by one big scene with them all together.

Hope you enjoy it!

Of Sugarsnap

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

Sugarsnap groaned loudly, placing her forehead on the counter. This was not the kind of stress she needed today. When she took the job at the local sweets shop, she figured the most annoying thing to deal with would be colts running into the store, ordering nearly everything in the glass case. Apparently, she knew nothing about a certain gray pegasus with an eye condition. When she looked back up, he smiled at her in the most sincere way, as if pleading.

"For the last time, Derp," Sugarsnap spoke, tilting her caramel colored head, "I can't keep giving you a muffin for free. Can-Can gets very upset when I give out the sweets for free."

The pegasus, Derp, lowered his head sadly, eyes staring in two separate directions. He always had a muffin from the store, even when he was on his last few bits. As he slowly turned to walk away, Sugarsnap heard a sniffle come from him. She tried to remain stalwart, but the sad sounds he was making made her heart melt.

As he slowly walked to the door, Sugarsnap groaned again.

"Wait, Derp," she called, pulling a box out from under the counter.

The pegasus spun around, tears forming at the edges of his eyes, to face the mare as she approached him. Sugarsnap knew she would regret this, but she couldn't bare to see him upset. Shoving the box into his hooves, Sugarsnap looked him dead in the eye before speaking.

"Derp, you are going to try and save your bits, right?" she asked.

A huge grin spread across his face as the gray pegasus threw his hooves around the mare. Sugarsnap flinched for a second, but gently returned the hug. After a few seconds, Derp pulled away and looked at her as best as he could, still grinning widely.

"Uh huh!" he spoke enthusiastically, "I gotta save my money! Not just for muffins, but for Dizzy as well!"

"Then go do your job," Sugarsnap responded with a friendly smile, "The mail's got to be delivered."

"Yes, ma'am!" he said, saluting to her before flying out of the door.

Sugarsnap sighed again as she pulled the door shut, trying to suppress the small grin coming to her face. Derp was a nice stallion who had to have a chocolate chip muffin everyday, regardless if he could pay for it. He was a good stallion, working to make sure his son had a good life. Trotting back to the counter, the mare's smile quickly faded when she saw another pony frowning at her from the doorway leading to the back of the shop.

"Now why are you so nice to him and not Lyre?" the tan pony said, his dark blue and bright pink locks bouncing as he spoke.

Sugarsnap grimaced a bit at the comment before replying, "He's your friend, sir. I allow him to have anything he wants free of charge, as per your request."

"Yeah, but you don't smile like that when he talks to you," the pony mused, raising an eyebrow.

"Mr. Can-Can," the caramel colored mare responded with a flash from her blue eyes, "With all due respect, I don't like it when he makes a comment about how pretty I am when by back is turned."

The pony, Can-Can, lowered his eyes a little, adverting his gaze from the mare. He knew of the remarks his friend had made to her. Oddly enough, he was quite the defender of Sugarsnap from the prying eyes of the many stallion in Ponyville, often forcing them to leave the store when they sniggered at something she did, like going into the lower shelves. As adamant as he was to others, Lyre was still his best friend.

"I will speak to him about that," Can-Can said monotonously before tucking his head back into the kitchen. Sugarsnap, for her part, spun around and faced the doorway again, her good mood ruined.

The day went rather slowly from then on. Being the second sweet shop in town, customers were slow to come by, many of them opting for Sugarcube Corner. Still, what few customers did come in made Sugarsnap's day. It wasn't until about one o'clock in the afternoon did the day take an interesting turn. The bell on the front door jingled happily, catching Sugarsnap off-guard while she rotated the stock of hoof-sized peanut butter cups filled with caramel, her favorite sweet.

Poking her head up, Sugarsnap smiled widely and said, "Welcome to Can-Can's Sweet Shop!"

As it turned out, two unicorn stallions glanced at her, one with a confident smile and one with a nervous grin. The white one had stunning blue eyes, similar to Sugarsnap's, along with a pristine purple mane. He glanced over to his friend, the purple unicorn sporting a rather messy mane of dark purple with a pink stripe.

"So, you really think that crackpot theory of yours will work?" the white one spoke daintily, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"What?" the aloof purple one responded, tearing his gaze away from Sugarsnap.

The white one chuckled before answering the counter inquiry.

"Ah, nevermind, Dusky. Just watch and learn."

The purple one rolled his eyes and mumbled, "You said that with Princess Blueblood."

Ignoring the comment, the white one strode up smoothly to the counter, never breaking eye contact with the caramel colored mare. Sugarsnap kept her smile, but groaned inside her mind. He was evidently trying to woo her, as some stallions did when not observing her flank.

"Hey there," the white one spoke, voice dripping with overconfidence.

"Welcome to Can-Can's," the mare repeated in the exact same tone she had used before, "What can I get for you?"

The white one sighed heavily, acting as if he was distracted. He was really trying to ham it up to her.

"I'm sorry," he spoke softly, "I didn't catch your name."

"My name is Sugarsnap. Would you like to buy something?"

"Sugarsnap..." he spoke as if in a dreamy tone. He gazed off, as if thinking about her name. Sugarsnap, though, was not impressed as her rehearsed smile dropped into an unhappy frown. She was in no mood to play games with an overly dramatic stallion. Leaning over to her right side, she looked straight at the purple unicorn and smiled to him.

"May I get you something?" she asked sweetly.

The purple unicorn, who she assumed was Dusky, smiled sheepishly back to her. He played with his hooves for a second before the white one burst out in an exasperated tone.

"Hey! I was first!" he yelled.

Sugarsnap's smile became a frown again as she regarded the white unicorn.

"Sir, I'm not here for you to stare at. I'm here to take your order."

"But, but..." he spluttered, as if shocked she had figured out what he was doing, "I was just taking in your ravenous beauty!"

Sugarsnap gave the pony an unimpressed look before responding, "We sell candy and sweets here, not me."

The white unicorn's face went as red as her friend Red Gala's coat before he said anything in response.

"What are you trying to imply?! I'm a good and upstanding stallion! I would never--"

"You just tried and failed," Sugarsnap deadpanned, "Now, are you going to order something or leave?"

The white unicorn was at a loss for words, stammering and forming half sentences before the purple one walked up and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Elusive, looks like you should let me handle this," he spoke, trying to suppress a laugh.

Elusive scrunched up his face into an angry look before turning around, sticking his nose in the air. He made an indignant noise before trotting off to where the purple one was standing, allowing himself to sulk.

The purple one smiled to Sugarsnap and said, "Sorry about my friend. My name's Dusk Shine. What's yours?"

"Sugarsnap," she replied, still wearing her unimpressed look, "Now do you want something or do you want to try and fail like your friend over there?"

"I heard that!" Elusive shouted over to them.

"You were supposed to," Sugarsnap said, a small grin coming to her cheeks and Dusk chuckled as well.

"You're pretty funny, Sugarsnap," Dusk replied, "What do you recommend for today?"

Sugarsnap grinned a little more as she named off several sweets. If he was actually going to buy something, she could tolerate his small attempts at flirting with her. As she spoke, Elusive stood in the back, still unhappy at Sugarsnap.

"Wow, that's quite a selection," Dusk spoke with a whistle, "I think I'll get... Oh! Those!"

He pointed a hoof at the glass case, where some small cakes lay. However, as soon as he did, the door burst open, revealing a mess of pink poofy hair.

"Hey Dusk, what'cha--" came the familiar voice of Sugarsnap's rival baker, Berry Bubble. The pink stallion froze mid-sentence as he watched all three ponies, his face frozen in shock.

"Dusk!" he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "What in Equestria are you doing to her?!"

Dusk looked back to Sugarsnap, who gave her own confused look, before turning back.

"What are you talking about, Berry?" he asked, confused.

"Why are you pushing a mare?!" Berry shouted back, his blue eyes fixed on the contact Dusk's hoof was having with Sugarsnap's chest.

"Uh, wha-?" Dusk spoke in his aloof tone.

Without warning, Berry jumped up into the air, a very unhappy look on his face, and tackled Dusk away from the counter. The two ponies began fighting, Berry accusing Dusk of being mean to mares and Dusk trying to explain he wasn't touching her. Elusive, the white unicorn, looked over to Sugarsnap, who was at a loss for words, and proceeded to start laughing.

Amid the fight and the laughter, Sugarsnap reburied her forehead into the counter and tried to figure out why stallions were so weird around her. The white one, Elusive, had tried to hit on her, Dusk, the purple one, had just about ordered something before the obnoxious pink one tackled him and started fighting in the store.

As the stallions finally broke apart and started talking, Sugarsnap heaved a huge sigh. At least after work she would be with her best friends, Big Gala and Thundercloud, at the local spa.

Author's Notes:

Slightly shorter, but my first time ever writing Caramel/Sugarsnap.

Enjoy until Thunderlane/Thundercloud comes out!

Of Thundercloud

Thundercloud tucked her wings close as she dove down at the unsuspecting cloud. Her face was locked into a determined smirk as her gold eyes narrowed. She loved the feel of the wind blowing through her mane and stinging her eyes, the slight sense of vertigo and the freedom she felt in the air. The cloud didn't know how lucky it was to be permanently flying, but then again, it didn't know how unlucky it was at the same time. The black coated mare plowed through the soft cloud, the mass of water vapor trailing her as she spread her wings and caught the air, gaining lift. As she flew up, the mare spun slowly with her front hooves outstretched and eyes closed, smiling the whole time. She really loved flying.

However, the sounds of cheering and whistles brought her back down to Equestria. Stopping her ascent, the mare spun around, trying to locate the source of the cheers, pausing when she did so. Flying not too far away were two stallions on the same weather team as her, Cloudbucker and Buzz. The two were twins, both extremely light purplish-blue ponies with platinum blue manes. The two cheered rather loudly, causing Thundercloud's cheeks to redden. As quickly as she could, the mare dove to the ground and flew off, even as the stallions called and apologized for scaring her.

After landing, Thundercloud panted heavily as the other pegasi started to land. Many of them yawned widely and others rubbed their eyes, a clear sign of how early it was. Thundercloud herself started to give a yawn before a pony decided to shout in her face.

"What are you yawning for?!" came a voice that made her flinch.

Thundercloud risked opening an eye to see the angry gaze that Rainbow Blitz bore.

"Weather ponies don't yawn!" he shouted again. He meant it to be directed at everypony, but was still towering over Thundercloud when he did it.

"Hey!" came the voice of another pony, "Leave her alone!"

Both Blitz and Thundercloud turned to see who was talking, the stallion to the mare and the mare to another pony. She spun her head around, searching for the voice, but recoiled as Blitz began his shouting again.

"Okay, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that! Good work, everypony! We cleared the sky in twenty eight minutes and forty four seconds, three seconds faster than last time! Weather team, dismissed!"

The rainbow maned stallion seemed to accentuate his last word right into Thundercloud's ear before disappearing in a flash of spectrum colored light. Thundercloud moaned slightly as she rubbed her ringing ears, hoping she wasn't deaf. Around her, stallions gave her concerned looks, but flew off in hopes of getting some more sleep before beginning their day. The black mare slowly opened her eyes, hoping nopony was going to be there, but moaned a bit as Cloudbucker and Buzz gave her concerned looks.

"Hey, are you okay?" Buzz, the one with a red bandana, asked.

Cloudbucker offered a hoof, but Thundercloud rose to her hooves alone. It wasn't easy being the only mare on the weather team and she could ill afford to look weak or dainty in front of them, especially Rainbow Blitz. He wasn't too happy about her joining after she rejected his advances for two weeks straight, so she had to make sure she gave him no reason to kick her off the team. The stallions knew Blitz would never kick her off the team because she was a mare, but Thundercloud wasn't so keen on that.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled to the twins while rubbing her ear, "I just gotta get going and wake Rattle before she misses school."

"Oh, um, we could come with and help you!" Cloudbucker said as the black mare spread her wings, "Buzz makes some killer oats and buckwheat!"

"Uh huh!" Buzz joined in, "I can make other stuff too if you don't like that!"

Flapping her wings twice, Thundercloud went airborne before smiling at the twins.

"Thank you for the offer, but I can manage," she spoke in a sincere tone. Before they could protest further, the mare flapped her wings harder and flew off, straight to the little two bedroom apartment she and her little sister shared.

"Sis? Sister?"

A hoof prodded Thundercloud's side and she moaned loudly before rolling over.

"Five more minutes," she pathetically whined.

The hoof prodded again, followed by the voice.

"Sister, it's time to get up," it spoke, a hint of amusement underscoring the words.

Another moan escaped Thundercloud as she snuggled into her bed more. She was way too comfortable to get up. Instead of a prodding hoof this time, several hooves assaulted her side, causing the mare to yelp as she suddenly struggled around. The hooves kept on poking and rubbing her back, causing her to involuntary move around.

"Rattle!" she almost shouted before her wings started flapping around and feeling a rather small pony at her back. A very distinct giggling came to her and Thundercloud spun around. On her bed was the most adorable little filly, colored light gray with a dark gray mane. Her locks fell across the back of her neck as she giggled uncontrollably, opening one of her purple eyes to look at her older sister.

"I told ya you gotta get up, sis," she said before giggling again.

"Oh yeah?" Thundercloud asked, now fully awake and grinning slightly, "Then how about this?"

The little filly had no time to react as the older sibling began to tickle her. The giggling became full blown laughter as the filly squirmed, unable to stop her sister's onslaught. That lasted for about two minutes before the mare finally let the filly go, each grinning rather widely at each other.

"Are you gunna take me to school, sis?" Rattle asked with wide eyes.

Thundercloud slicked back the filly's disheveled mane and said, "Well, since you got me up..."

"Yay!" Rattle shouted as she wrapped her hooves around Thundercloud's waist. The mare smiled and hugged her back, just as happy as she could be. The filly broke the hug after a bit and tore off out of the room as the mare stretched her legs and trotted out after her. Downstairs, the young pony bounced happily as she waited for her big sister, flapping her tiny wings.

Soon enough, Rattle was in school and Thundercloud was on her own, trotting about aimlessly through town. With the weather team being her main source of income, the mare often goofed off all day or did chores. Today was one of those lucky days where she goofed off, despite the dishes piling up at home. As she walked, Thundercloud just kinda zoned out, not really thinking about anything. It wasn't a good move, however, as a sharp pain poked at her side.

"Ouch!" the mare almost shouted, drawing looks from every stallion not observing her body. She looked down to see a small light purple dragon with green spines slowly rubbing her head.

"Oh my, I'm terribly sorry!" came an unfamiliar voice, causing Thundercloud to look away. The voice got louder as an obnoxiously pink pony with a mane that looked like cotton candy appeared out of nowhere.

"Spines!" the pink pony said in a worried tone, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the little dragon groaned as she stood up. Her bright green eyes opened as she looked up to Thundercloud, either annoyed or embarrassed. The pink pony, however, began to look over the mare, as if examining her for something.

"Uh, can I help you?" she asked unsurely.

Instantaneously, the stallion brought his face to the mare's, grinning so widely as to be ridiculous.

"Hi there, Thundercloud!" the stallion shouted into her face, "I'm Berry Bubble, in case you forgot and I would love it if you helped me!"

Thundercloud rubbed her ear again and said, "I, uh, didn't ask for your--"

"That doesn't matter!" Berry shouted, "You asked if you could help me and I'm telling you that you certainly can! You see, I have this cake here--"

He paused mid-sentence to pull a perfectly decorated three tier cake out of nowhere.

"--and it needs to be delivered to Mayor Maynot soon! However, I'm really busy right now and need to be somewhere else, so here you go, thanks again and enjoy your day!" he finished in one breath.

As soon as he stopped talking, Berry Bubble disappeared in a blur of pink as he tore off in the direction of Can-Can's Sweet Shop, leaving the cake in midair and Thundercloud dumbstruck. Before gravity decided to work again, Spines got underneath it and held the cake up, looking expectantly at Thundercloud. The mare offered a sheepish grin and tried to speak, but the little dragon's expectant face turned into a smile.

"Hey, sorry about Berry," she said, "He's not all there, if you know what I mean."

The mare's mouth opened and closed, as if what she was about to say was what Spines had just spoken.

"Tell you what," Spines continued, filling the silence, "I'll help you with this and we forget that I ran into you. Deal?"

The mare stared uncomprehendingly at the little dragon. So much had happened in such a short time that is made Thundercloud's mind spin, but she smiled awkwardly back at the dragon.

"Uh, yeah, that would be nice, I guess..."

The two began to walk away towards the center of town, each keeping quiet. It wasn't until five minutes later did Thundercloud attempt a conversation.

"So, uh, what was up with Berry? Is he always like that?" she asked.

The young dragon huffed before answering, "It's gotten worse in recent months. Ever since he met this mare named Sharp Shear, he's been unusually hyper, even for his normal self."

Thundercloud kinda leaned back at that, but gave no indication that she was fazed by that.

"So, does that mean he has a--?"

"Yup," Spines answered tonelessly. She was glad the mare next to her couldn't see the face she was making underneath the cake.

"Oh wow, that's nice." Thundercloud hazarded to say.

"Yeah well, it's made my life worse," Spines grumbled, "Dusk keeps pestering me about what mares find attractive and his friends have gone haywire trying to find a fillyfriend."

Thundercloud looked over to the dragon, unsure of what to say. At this point, only one thing flitted into her mind.

"Who's Dusk?" she asked.

Before anypony could answer, the two had reached the town square and a tan pony with glasses and a graying mane met them.

"Ah, perfect timing!" he shouted, "Bring it inside please!"

As he walked to the door, Thundercloud groaned to herself.

"What is it with stallions and shouting today?" she whined.

After placing the cake inside and walking out, Thundercloud gave a smile to Spines before talking.

"So, um, thanks for your help!"

The dragon shrugged and said, "Don't mention it. It's not like I had a lot to do today with Dusk trying out his fillykiller techniques."

"Uh huh," Thundercloud responded in a weirded out tone. "Say, why don't we go do something tonight? I'm meeting my friends over at the local spa later today, if you wanna come with."

Spines eyes lit up at the suggestion.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's Thunderlane/cloud's side of the day. Hope you all like it!

P.S. Sharp Shears = Pokey Pierce. Was going to add R63 Blossomforth, but I didn't. Sue me.