“Oh my gosh you must hate me… I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash said to Derpy as she cowered in a chair placed in the corner of the room. The pegasus was trembling and her eyes were teary.

“Why would I hate you?” Derpy asked in a patient voice.

“Because I did this. I forced her into the edge of the corner… I was being too compet-”

“I bit you on your backside,” Ripple interrupted. The filly hissed as the nurse pressed the staple gun to her side and shot another staple in.

“Accidents happen,” Derpy said dismissively. “You did the right thing. You got her to the hospital as fast as possible.”

“The sooner we can get the swelling down on a sprained fetlock the better. If the swelling gets out of hoof it prolongs the time needed to heal up,” Nurse Snowheart said as she pressed the stapler against Ripple in a new spot and pressed in. “All that swelling displaces the tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues.”

“There’s no hard feelings… hoo that stings,” Ripple muttered as there was a another click from the stapler.

“I feel bad… a filly got hurt because of me,” Rainbow Dash whimpered, cringing when she saw the stapler pressed against Ripple’s ribs and depressed.

“Hey, I had my own hoof in this thank you very much. I was busy trying to show you up and take you down a peg. I refused to give ground and was determined to fight it out,” Ripple barked in an angry voice.

“Rainbow Dash,” Nurse Redheart said as she entered the room. She smiled at the pegasus. “You were bitten upon the right buttock. It broke the skin. Would you mind getting up out of that chair, turning around, and facing the window?”

“Why?” Rainbow Dash whined.

“Because I am going to stick this into your backside,” Nurse Redheart announced as she pulled a massive syringe from her smock.

“No.. NO… no… we can talk about this right? This is optional? Stay back! I’m married to a princess! I’m warning you!” Rainbow Dash cried as she cowered in her chair.

“Oh don’t be such a foal,” Nurse Redheart grumbled.

“Sorry Dash… really sorry,” Ripple apologised. “This is the cost of competition.”

“Real shame that Sparky took off home,” Berry Punch said as she sat on a blanket in the grass and drinking soft cider. She looked around at the festive celebration and smiled. “Cheerilee is getting a bit of a bulge on her,” she remarked.

“I wonder how many new foals there will be eleven months from now,” Bon Bon said as she lifted her head high and sniffed. “You can smell it. The rutting of the leaves. Get enough earth ponies together in one location and we mess with fertility. This is the reason why there are foals born in the late summer.”

“Hmmm... Bonnie… we’ve had our own roll in the leaves last year,” Lyra remarked as she lifted a mug of hard cider to her lips. “Think Ripple will be okay?”

“She’ll be fine. Our little pegasus filly is made out of sterner stuff,” Bon Bon replied, not sounding the least bit worried. Leaning over, Bon Bon planted a kiss on Berry Punch’s cheek. “We should be getting back to the shop. Poor Helia and Golden Harvest are probably overwhelmed.”

“How is the shop?” Berry asked, looking Berry curious.

“Still losing money… for now. We’re just getting started again though. And paying for two employees. The losses aren’t as bad as they could be though. We should make a profit soon,” Bon Bon replied as she stood up.

“I’m glad that you didn’t go with the golem option,” Berry Punch commented in a low soft voice. “Helia and Golden Harvest needed the work. We have the finances for you to bleed a little money. I might want to borrow them for the brewery though.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. Goldy is probably going to lose her patch of dirt before winter is over,” Lyra responded, looking just a little sad as she spoke.

“We could stop that,” Berry Punch said.

“We can’t save everypony,” Bon Bon replied, shaking her head.

“She grows carrots… ask her if she is willing to grow hops on her farm as well. We need a local grower. I mean, the Apples grow corn, beans, tomatoes, and potatoes. She’s a farmer. Certainly she grows more than carrots,” Berry said as she looked at Bon Bon.

“What are you saying? I mean, so I can make it clear to her,” Bon Bon questioned.

“I’m saying that I personally will become her financial backer if she gives me things I need,” Berry Punch said in reply. She took a long swallow of soft cider. “Ask her if she can grow barley… and maybe sweet potatoes.”

“I’ll do that,” Bon Bon replied, looking very serious.

Not caring that somepony might be watching, Luna gently pushed Barley down into the grass and then pressed her lips gently against his. The kiss made her cheeks feel hot and sent icy tingles down her spine. Barley had aged like fine wine. The old stallion knew his way around a kiss. She felt one of his forelegs wrap around the back of her neck and stroke her along her crest.

After a long passionate moment of being lip locked with Barley, Luna pulled away. She stared down at him and watched how his eyes moved as he looked up at her. “I must say. You must be feeling spry today.”

“I had a warm body in my bed last night. It kept the chill away from my bones. Woke up not hurting as much,” Barley replied as he stared into Luna’s teal eyes.

“Barley… I love you a great deal… I wish I could be there with you every night. But I have my duties. You deserve a warm mare in your bed,” Luna whispered.

“Are ye about to dump me?” Barley asked point blank.

Blinking rapidly, Luna was taken aback. “No! I would never… I love you… I do… I just worry that I can’t give you the attention that you need. The attention that you deserve. I feel guilty.”

“Well don’t,” Barley grumped. “I keep my guilt to myself, you keep your guilt to yourself.”

“Guilt?” Luna questioned in a low whisper, her lips inches from Barley’s somewhat wrinkled snoot. She knew every line upon his face, every wrinkle, every scar.

“I’m old. One day I’m gonna die. And you’re going to be young and pretty and missing me when I’m gone. And I know that I’m gonna hurt you. Little old me… hurting the War Maiden. I feel bloody awful about it,” Barley confessed in pained whisper. “You ain’t supposed to hurt the one you love.”

“We are returning home. I am taking you to bed. Afterwards, I plan to sleep and not let go of you for as long as I can,” Luna murmured in a soft needy voice, a voice that few ponies ever heard. It was the voice of a lonely mare that just wanted love and affection, same as any other equine female, that had the same needs, wants, and desires.

And she had found them with Barley.

Glass Slipper, feeling just a little bit lonesome, heaved a sigh. Twilight was off being a princess, Rainbow Dash had flown a pony to the hospital, and Flash Sentry was off keeping Ponyville safe, leaving her in the care of others. Feeling a bit abandoned, she moped over to a plum coloured earth pony, sat down, and looked up at the earth pony mare with the most pathetic expression she could muster.

“Aw… don’t look so glum,” Berry Punch said soothingly as she reached out and snatched Glass Slipper. Sitting back upon her haunches, Berry Punch held the small foal to her barrel, wrapping one foreleg around Glass Slipper’s back, and using her other foreleg to support the foal’s little wiggling backside. She could feel the snuffling one little nose against her neck.

“I don’t want to lose my parents again,” Glass Slipper moaned, unable to stop the tears now that they were falling. She wrapped her forelegs around Berry Punch’s neck and squeezed.

“You’re not going to lose your parents. Your parents love you,” Berry Punch promised, now rocking the crystal pony foal back and forth. “You just have very busy parents. Where did Spike and Scootaloo get off to?”

“They left me… said I wasn’t big enough to play with them and they left me,” Glass Slipper mumbled against Berry’s neck.

“It’s hard being little… Piña had the same problem. At least she had me looking after her,” Berry Punch said, tucking her head down and whispering soft words into Glass Slipper’s ear. “Oh you poor little thing. Scootaloo is almost twice your age… you know, there is something you could be learning from all of this,” the earth pony gently suggested.

“What’s that?” Glass Slipper asked in reply as tears continued to slip out.

“One day very soon, you are going to be a big sister. And you are going to know how it feels to be left out, left behind, and neglected. And when you have a little brother or a little sister, are you going to leave them behind?” Berry replied in the form of a question.

“Nooooo… it’s awful,” Glass Slipper sobbed.

“Are you going to look after them?” Berry Punch questioned.

“Yes… I promise,” Glass Slipper swore. She rubbed nose against Berry’s neck and shuddered. “It hurts.”

“Just cry a little more and let it out little one,” Berry soothed in a Berry gentle voice.

“Sentinel?”

Sitting in the grass and squinting his eyes closed against the sun, Sentinel peered over at Diamond Tiara, who was sitting beside him. He perked his ears. He could hear her heart beating. It was a little faster than usual. He sniffed. He wasn’t sure what he was smelling, but his brain said it smelled like trouble.

“Do you like me?” Diamond Tiara asked, her voice only slightly slurry.

“You know I do,” Sentinel grumbled. Trouble indeed.

“Well how come you don’t try kissing me or cuddling with me or doing things that other colts do with fillies?” Diamond Tiara questioned, her left ear drooping down to the side of her face and she wobbled about unsteadily.

“We’ve kissed,” Sentinel whispered, now feeling very nervous.

“We could spend a lot more time snogging,” Diamond Tiara suggested in a soft voice.

Clearing his throat, Sentinel wished the butterflies in his stomach would go away. “I’m eight. Eight years old. I am one very confused eight year old. Very very confused.”

“But you act so much older,” Diamond Tiara whispered as she leaned a little closer.

“Still eight years old,” Sentinel muttered. His ears detected that Diamond Tiara’s heartbeat was increasing. His whole body jerked and tensed when he felt Diamond Tiara touch him. He held his breath for a moment and felt a rising sense of panic. He felt a foreleg wrapping around his neck and warm breathing against his cheek as he sat there staring straight ahead.

“Am I pretty? Do you notice fillies yet Sentinel? Have you noticed how filled out I am becoming? Things changed for me over the summer. I started on the journey towards being a mare. I have all kinds of strange new feelings… and dreams Sentinel. I have dreams. Did you know that you are in them? I wake up and I feel sticky down between my hind legs after having these dreams about you. Sometimes I wake up shivering,” Diamond Tiara confessed as she wrapped her other foreleg around Sentinel and pressed in close to him. She felt his warmth against her body and it was soothing.

Unable to help himself, Sentinel began sniffing, smelling something that made his nose react. It make every muscle in his body tense. He felt himself begin to drool. The sound of Diamond Tiara’s heavy breathing was thunderous in his ear.

“I just had one of those dreams this morning… I woke up and thought I had wet the bed. I was so sensitive down there. When I moved my legs around I could feel parts of me rubbing against other parts and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out because it felt so good. Sunset Shimmer had to help me into the shower and then she had to go and change my sheets. Afterwards, we had a long talk about the changes I’ve been going though. What it means to be a filly that is blossoming into marehood and slowly reaching maturity,” Diamond Tiara said, her lips brushing against Sentinel’s cheek as she spoke.

“Guh,” Sentinel grunted. When his mouth opened a long string of drool spilled out. He sat there feeling stupid, like an actual drooling idiot. Worst of all, he felt something stirring. The hidden beast had awoken. Sentinel felt an icy stab of panic in his belly.

“She told me to be honest with you… she said that you are the soft sensitive type that would actually appreciate me sharing my feelings with you,” Diamond Tiara murmured as she collapsed against Sentinel completely. She began stretching out her neck. She felt lightheaded and woozy. She couldn’t tell if was her medications or her emotions. She puckered up her lips and extended them outwards, searching for something.

A moment later, she found the corner of Sentinel’s mouth and she pressed her muzzle against it. She pulled herself tighter against Sentinel and she felt his head move towards her. She felt his lips move, and suddenly her mouth was flooded with drool.

For reasons Diamond Tiara could not explain, she did not mind. She parted her lips, applied suction, and pulled in Sentinel’s lower lip. Gently clamping her teeth upon it, she pulled back and gave Sentinel’s lower lip a loving tug.

“Mmmph!” Sentinel moaned in panic as he tried to pull away.

Letting him go, Diamond Tiara realised what the cause of his panic was as her foreleg trailed down Sentinel’s chest and explored down between his front legs, her hoof moving down towards his belly. Something bumped up against her fetlock.

Looking down, Diamond Tiara saw something staring up at her. “Oh my Sentinel…” Not knowing what else to do, Diamond Tiara gently pushed Sentinel over onto his back and then rolled him onto his belly. Feeling stunned, she covered her mouth with her hoof.

“You saw…” Sentinel began.

“...everything,” Diamond Tiara finished.

“I’m sorry,” Sentinel apologised.

“I’m not,” Diamond Tiara whispered. “Since you’re already all excited, would you like to sneak a peek at mine? There’s no harm in just looking… we don’t have to touch. We shouldn’t touch, but there is no harm in looking. Sunset Shimmer said it was natural for foals our age.”

“Oh but you did touch it,” Sentinel moaned in a strained voice.

“I didn’t mean to bump it,” Diamond Tiara whispered. “It’s blue like your wings.”

“Don’t talk about it!” Sentinel protested.

“I’m pink inside and out,” Diamond Tiara breathed as she lay down in the grass beside Sentinel and snuggled up against his side. “So… since I’ve touched it, does this mean I’m your very special somepony?”

“Special,” Sentinel squeaked, his voice rising several octaves and cracking.

Feeling very lightheaded, Diamond Tiara reached out one foreleg, grabbed Sentinel’s tufted ear, squeezed it in her fetlock, tugged gently, and felt it slide free as she pulled, feeling the soft silky texture of his pelt pinched between her own flesh. She saw him relax a little so she did it again, grabbing his ear and dragging it between her folded fetlock. She heard the colt moan softly. Bringing her head closer, she kissed him again, this time a chaste kiss upon the cheek.

“I want to remember this moment forever,” Diamond Tiara whispered. “I wasn’t scared away by what happened and I just want to make you feel better… probably because I love you I think. One day you and I are going to laugh about this… I hope.”

Author's Notes:

Well... that was awkward. A full range of emotions in this chapter.

And a full range fo typos. Just in time for Saturnalia.