Zero hour. Bucky stood in the school auditorium. Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich stood nearby, and Bucky wondered how everything would be done so that everything could begin by noon. Noon was the hour in which Princess Celestia wanted to place a crown upon Apple Bloom’s head.

There was a lot of work to be done.

“I suppose the two of you have something planned?” Bucky asked, fearful of the answer.

“Here comes the army now,” Cheese Sandwich replied as a bunch of fillies and colts came into the big room that served as the school’s cafeteria dining room and auditorium.

“Cheese, we need the balloons!” Pinkie cried. “We forgot the balloons!”

Without warning, Pinkie Pie lunged forward, standing bipedal, snatched up Bucky, hoisted him around, pointed his head towards the ceiling, and gave his tail a yank. Bucky felt a peculiar sensation travel through his body, culminating in an odd feeling of pressure in his horn, and there was an explosion of confetti and streamers that shot into the air.

“My unicorn isn’t working,” Pinkie Pie said in a somewhat whiny voice. “I think he’s too grumpy. There should be balloons.”

Bucky, confused, wiggled in the pink pony’s embrace. “Pinkie Pie—”

“Pull harder Pinkie, I think he’s just backed up. You know how stress affects some ponies,” Cheese Sandwich said as he went bouncing off to talk to the fillies and colts coming in to decorate.

“Pinkie, no, wait I don’t think—”

Bucky was cut off by a hard yank on his tail. It wasn’t painful, as much as he worried it might be, it was pleasurable in a very odd way. He felt his whole body tense up for a moment, then relax, and there was a massive feeling of pressure just beneath his horn.

“Uh oh…” Pinkie Pie gasped as she gave Bucky a squeeze. “HIT THE DECK!”

There was a peculiar sensation of sneezing through his horn, in all of Bucky’s life he had never quite experienced anything quite like this. There was a cannon blast from his horn; balloons, streamers, and confetti sprayed out. Loops of crepe paper shot the entire length of the room.

“Thanks Bucky… I was worried… I can’t believe I forgot the balloons!” Pinkie Pie set Bucky down; then she beamed at the confused and startled unicorn.

“How… what… how… what just happened?” Bucky asked.

“If I need more balloons or streamers I’ll let you know,” Pinkie Pie replied.

Standing in front of a mirror, Luna examined herself and checked out her reflection. Her gown was as purple as a midnight snowstorm. It was little frillier than she might have liked, but she could not deny that she looked pretty good.

“Pretty,” Harper said as she too, moved in front of the mirror. “Pretty Luna.”

“Thank you, Harper,” Luna replied. The night blue alicorn extended her leg, wondering if perhaps she might have grown a little bit. She was getting her magic back bit by bit. As soon as she could raise the moon once more, she knew she could grow by leaps and bounds.

“Harpy pretty.” Harper sat down in front of the mirror and began to look at her frizzy orange mane that stuck out in every direction. Her horn was lost in the frizzy mass and she looked very much like an earth pony at the moment.

“Yes, Harper is a very pretty pony.” Luna turned to look at the real Harper beside her. She sniffed, smelling roses, and knew that Cadance had just come into the room.

Strutting, Cadance walked up to the mirror, checking herself out. She wasn’t wearing a diaper now, at least during the day. Cadance’s ethereal mane billowed out around her, spilling out little pink hearts that popped like bubbles when they drifted too far away.

“I am going to ask Barley to marry me. I am so, very, very nervous. What if he says no? What if my sister forbids it? I cannot bear this state of not knowing how this will turn out,” Luna said to Cadance and Harper.

Plopping her backside down upon the floor, Cadance looked at Luna, tilting her head off to one side. “Love.”

“Yes, of course Cadance. It all comes to love, does it not?” Luna heaved a sigh. “Do I love Barley? Does Barley love me? Does my sister love me enough to let me be happy… a million questions and it all comes down to love.”

“Zap.” Just in case her message wasn’t clear, Harper repeated herself: “Zap!”

“No, Harper, that would be wrong. If my sister says no, I do not plan to zap her. I mean, I might be tempted, but I do understand that there are going to be some big consequences if I try to marry Barley. I love him so much that it hurts… more so now than ever. I have duties, obligations, things I have to look after… I am not even certain if it is fair for me to marry Barley. I would not be able to come home to him every night. My schedule would keep us apart. Maybe all of this is a foolish fantasy and I should just give up now before somepony gets hurt.”

Her ears splaying out sideways, Cadance’s face looked like she had been sucking on lemons. She stared at Luna, her tiny muzzle all wrinkled, and her wings flared out from her sides.

“If you keep making faces like that, it might end up staying that way,” Luna said to Cadance.

Hearing Luna’s words, Harper puffed out her cheeks, contorted her lips into a lopsided pucker, and made the most grotesque face she could muster, closing one eye and rolling her other eye back into her head until only the white was showing.

The foal was hideous and disgusting, and there was a strange sense of admiration for Harper that Luna could not explain. “Harper Heartstrings, you amaze and disgust me. I do not know how you do it. Your mother, Lyra, would be very proud of you right now if she could see you, and no doubt, Bucky would be fawning over you.”

Saying nothing, Sukari came through the door, her head held low, and her tail down. She moved through the room, her hooves almost silent, until she reached Luna, Harper and Cadance. The zebra paused to look at herself in the mirror. She cringed, recoiled, and turned away from her own reflection.

Sensing the zebra’s sadness, Cadance stretched out her neck and kissed her sister on the cheek, just below the scar that ran from her nostril to the corner of Sukari’s eye. Cadance scooted herself over towards Sukari and placed her wing over the zebra, giving her sister an affectionate hug.

Overcome with pity, Luna did not know how to react. She picked up the brush she had been using, holding it in her fetlock, and hopped over to Sukari on three legs. She sat down beside the zebra and began to brush Sukari’s mane.

Harper, whose face had gone back to normal, looked over at Sukari and smiled.

“Sukari, I do not know how well you can understand me… but I want to tell you, sisters have a way of seeing past your scars… trust me, I know from experience. Please, do not be sad,” Luna said as she pulled the brush through Sukari’s mane.

Apple Bloom’s crown was perfect. Made of apple wood, it was reddish brown in colour with a wavy grain. A small green garnet, carved into the shape of an apple, was embedded in the rise of the crown. It was, without a doubt, fit for a princess. Bucky’s own enchantments were extensive. Apple Bloom would know if a pony was lying to her while she was wearing this. It would allow her to see past most illusions. It would provide light in the darkness.

In just a few hours, this crown, made of apple heart wood, would be resting upon Apple Bloom’s head. Reaching out his talons, Bucky caressed the smooth wood that had a perfect, flawless finish. It was warm to the touch.

Closing the lid to the velvet lined wooden box, Bucky lifted the box in his telekinesis and headed for the door, the hour drawing ever closer.

“Oh my, you’re handsome,” Derpy said to Sentinel, who was wearing his officer’s jacket. “You are going to make hearts melt.” The grey pegasus was stiff and it was difficult for her to move, but move she did. Reaching out a wing, she smoothed back Sentinel’s rusty red mane.

Black, with silver trim, Sentinel’s officer jacket transformed the colt into a dashing figure. There were several medals that hung from his chest, just below his collar. Trembling, Sentinel looked up at his mother.

“Don’t be scared… just trust that everything is going to be okay and try to have a nice time,” Derpy said in a low, reassuring voice to her son.

“What if I have ‘carnivore breath’ and I don’t know it and—”

“Sentinel, just stop. Smile.” Lyra, who held a camera in her telekinesis, made a gesture with her hoof. She waited for Sentinel to give her something of a smile and then she snapped a picture. “Now to go get one of Piña…”

“Piña, you look stunning,” Berry Punch said to Piña Colada.

“Really?” Piña asked in reply.

“Really… green looks good on you.” Berry Punch smiled down at Piña. “You’re gonna be a headturner. Come here, let me work on that mess you call a mane.”

Being obedient, Piña went and stood in front of Berry, who started to get a comb through Piña’s mane. She cringed as the comb began to tug on tangles, but did not whine or protest. Piña wanted to look her best and a few tugs on her tender head were a small price to pay.

“It’s a shame that Dinky isn’t going.” Berry Punch combed the bangs out of Piña’s eyes and tried to sweep all of Piña’s mane down the back of Piña’s neck.

“Dinky has her reasons… she talked to Apple Bloom and Apple Bloom understands. You know, you should talk to Dinky… I think she needs you.” Piña’s ears twitched as a tangle got yanked on and her tail swished around her hind legs.

“I tried to talk to Dinky,” Berry said as she continued to try and comb out the tangles. “She refused to talk to me about it.”

“Well, you need to go pester her and not go away until she spills her guts. This is hurting her,” Piña Colada said to Berry Punch. “I understand her not wanting to go to the dance, but this could turn into her spending life in her room. She’s been moody for almost a week now.”

“Ugh.” Berry Punch slumped at Piña’s words. “I’ll go talk with her.”

“The three of you look smashing,” Bon Bon said in what could only be described as a mother's voice. She looked at Barley, Luna, Sentinel and Piña. As she did so, she felt her barrel swell with pride.

“Guests are already arriving… oh my,” Lyra said as she looked out the front window.

“Barley, I know it feels good to be young, but you behave yourself around Luna,” Bon Bon said in a stern voice. “And you, Luna, the same goes for you. Both of you are adult minds in the bodies of younger foals. Try not to set a bad example, please?”

“Crivens, I’m a colt for a day and already Bon Bon is mothering me to death,” Barley grumbled. “Fine, when I go to nibble on Luna’s neck we’ll sneak off to the bathrooms or something.”

Luna’s eyes went wide, Piña turned four shades pinker, and Sentinel cleared his throat.

“Oh my stars!” Lyra stared at the living room archway, her eyes wide.

Boadicea stood in the arch, wearing a simple but beautiful black gown made by her fellow griffons. She let out a shy peep, ducked her head down, and her wings fluttered by her side.

-THWAP!-

“Sentinel! You struck me!” Luna cried as she staggered away.

“Ach, poor laddie, he’s done got himself a wing boner!”

Unable to do anything else, Piña Colada began to giggle at her brother.

“Well, somepony thinks that Boadicea is a very pretty griffoness,” Yew Wood said. She turned her surviving eye upon Sentinel, who stood with his wings flared out and stiff. “I have my eye on you… if you muss her feathers, I’ll whoop the stuffing out of you, colt. You had better behave.” The pegasus’ face lit up with a teasing smile.

“You think I’m pretty?” Boadicea asked.

Sentinel nodded, gulped, and nodded once more as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his wings and the heat in his body.

“Crivens, there’s gonna be all kinds of wing boners at the school dance,” Barley muttered.

Author's Notes:

They're is know typo.