“No, no, no, no, NO! That manestyle simply Will. Not. Do!”

I tried to get up from my seat but Rarity, a mare that I had been getting to know very well these past few days, pushed me right back down. Again.

“Just stay still for a few minutes more, Darling. I’m sure to come up with something by seven!”

I tried not to roll my eyes when the young mare started swooning in front of me with her hoof touching her forehead, really I did, but it was almost like they had a mind of their own.

Just smile Cadence, I thought. Rarity’s only trying to help! In fact you should be thankful that she was willing to take the time out of her busy schedule to fix you up for your date tonight…

“I can’t… thank you enough for this, Rarity,” I said, wincing slightly as the mare started untangling my mane for what felt like the hundredth time. “But maybe we don’t need to go so overboard with my mane? I mean Ares and I are just going to a chocolate stor—“

“Forgive me, Princess, but you aren’t just going to some candy shop!” Rarity said dramatically, her hooves pawing at my mane just a little bit more aggressively. “Even after hearing about what you became, your coltfriend, nah, your soulmate, overlooked the monster that could be growing inside of you!”

Though I didn’t bother to look at her I’d bet my crown that that mare was swooning again.

“He decided-- though he must have been terrified for you-- to show that you cared about you no matter what you were or what you’d become! He wanted to show you that his love for you would overcome any obstacle! ANY barrier!” I let out a snort and rolled my eyes again as Miss Rarity sighed dreamily. “Oh it’s just like something out of a storybook Darling…”

Sweet stars above is this mare something, I thought, more exasperated than anything.

If I had known that Miss Rarity was going to be like… this when she had asked how Ares and I got together I might have toned everything down a little. But no, being a mare that liked to tell the truth I told her and the rest of the girls, since they were there and it looked like they wanted to hear about it too, everything about me and my coltfriend. How we met, how I fell in love with him, everything.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said with a slightly forced chuckle. “Ares had said that he had gotten the tickets beforehoof. He probably just wants me to go so the tickets aren’t a complete waste.”

I didn’t believe a word I just said of course. I knew what a real sweetheart Ares was and the lengths that he was willing to go to show me that he loved me with all of his heart (which made me want to hug and hold and kiss that silly man until I was blue in the face) but I’d rather not give Rarity anything else to coo or swoon over. She already had more than enough ammunition thank you very much.

Once again Rarity gasped, nearly falling off the little stool that she had hopped up on. “Nonsense! Though I don’t know Ares as well as I’d like, I can tell that he’s the gentlest of stallions! I’m certain that the second he heard what had happened to you his only thoughts were how to make you smile again an—“

I snorted again, slowly tuning the mare out as she began to ramble on and ramble on and ramble on. I would have felt bad doing it an hour ago but hearing somepony talk about your relationship like it was the stuff of legends for two hours would get tiring for anypony.

Though it hadn’t been storybook-like or glamorous to me, Rarity had loved every little bit of mine and Ares’s story, gushing about how it must have been destiny that the two of us found each other and fell in love and all of that silliness. Twilight had told me that the fashionista enjoyed love stories more than the average mare, but after all of this trouble that she seemed to be going through in helping me I was starting to suspect that Ms. Rarity might read a bit too many romance novels for her own good.

Just remember that all she wants to do is make sure that you look good for your date tonight, Cadence, I reminded myself, letting my body sink into my chair as I closed my eyes and did my best to ignore the insistent tugging at my mane. Miss Rarity knows how to make a mare look good, and she’s going to make you look so good that Ares is going to be blown away when he sees you and it’s going to make your date just that little bit better…

“—In fact, I dare say Ares might be your very own Prince! And I couldn’t be any more happy for you dear, in fact I’m in the process of finding my own—“

Sweet Faust above…

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself, my mind wandering to the date that I was supposed to be going to in a few hours. Rarity might make me a little late if she was going to fuss with my mane like this but I was going none the less.

If this was just like the other silly and wonderful little date that the two of us had gone on then I was sure to forget all of the horse apples that had been going on the last couple of days. In fact, if everything went like I wanted it to, this little date and the… “fun” me and my little human were sure to have after, it would leave me as one of the most stress-free and happy mares in the whole empire!

…Sure, I didn’t know how it was going to be with Luna watching over us the whole time but I just had to have a little faith that my aunt wouldn’t do anything too bad so me and my coltfriend could enjoy our time together as a couple.

“—I’ve been trying to look for a suitable stallion but I swear to Celestia it seems like I’m fighting an uphill battle! All of good ones are either—“

…She’s still talking? Really?

My eyes opened and I couldn’t help but look into the mirror that Miss Rarity had set up. I hardly recognized the mare looking back at me and I did not like that one bit!

Oh sweet stars what did she do to my mane?! I thought, horrified.

The fleeting hope that I was just seeing things vanished when my reflection’s eyes widened along with my own. This was actually reality; I had just sat here for who knows how long and let a crazy pony turn my mane into a warzone. And by warzone I meant a bucking warzone.

My poor, poor mane looked like it had seen the inside of Tartarus. Parts of it were in curlers, other parts of it were all shiny and wavy and smooth, and there was a bit in the back that made it look like I had just been hit by a lightning bolt. Not a single hair was flat or normal looking, in fact if it wasn’t attached to my head I would have had a heck of a time trying to figure out just what I was looking at.

When the hay did this happen?! When I had my bucking eyes open my mane looked fine. But this… what am I going to do with all of this?! How the hay am I even going to begin fixing it?!

With a look of horror still on my face I found myself raising out of my seat and taking every one of the mane “tools” that Rarity had floating in her magic and encasing them in mine. Miss Rarity, noticing that I was no longer sitting and that she no longer was holding her instruments of doom, blinked in surprise and looked over at me.

“Is something the matter dear?” she asked kindly as my eye twitched. “Do you need to go and use the little filly’s room?”

It took a few moments of me collecting my thoughts before I was able to answer the mare without sounding ungrateful or mean or upset. Then it took a few more seconds so that I just didn’t walk over there and smack her with one of the combs now in my magical grasp. I was able to take about two steps before the urge to beat Ms. Rarity over the head with something heavy and preferably metal crossed my mind, which meant that the breathing wasn’t doing all that much to help.

Just breath Cadence… just breath… Rarity was only trying to help… she was only trying to help… You’re a Princess, you can’t go ahead and start beating up ponies… no matter how much you want to…

“Actually, Rarity, I was just wondering where you were going with all of… this?” I waved a hoof around my head. “I might not be a mare that knows all that much about mane styles but I’m having a hard time seeing anything other than a mess in all of this…”

Matching my strained smile with a far more genuine one, Rarity hopped off her little stool and walked over to me. “Well, since we’ve been having such a dreadful time trying to find the perfect mane style for you I decided to try a little bit of everything to see what would be parfait!”

Still smiling, the mare then levitated over a couple of cans of mane dye. “I thought that maybe we could try to… liven up your mane with a few highlights, maybe curl up your entire mane to really make it stand out! What do you say Darling?”

My eye twitched again as I looked down at the positively beaming unicorn. Miss Rarity looked so happy, so content that she was helping me with this date. I recalled that she hadn’t wanted anything in return for this generosity, simply saying that making my day would be enough for her. And that was nice, maybe one of the nicest things I’ve heard anypony say in a long time, but if she knew just how close I was to smacking that smile right off her mane-ruining face she wouldn’t be so—

No, no Cadence! You need to be nice! NICE! You can fix all of this before your date! And don’t you dare go and slug one of Twilight’s friends because she got a little too… eager. You’re better than that!

It took a few deep breaths and managed to calm myself down a little bit, a much more genuine smile making its way onto my face as I looked back at Rarity.

“Well, Rarity, I don’t think that that’s a very good idea,” I said, wrapping a wing around the mare and pulling her close. “I really appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, and I’m sure that Ares would too if he was here and saw what you were doing, but no thank you on highlighting my mane.”

“Oh…” Rarity mumbled with a crestfallen look. “Forgive me… Your mane wouldn’t even look good with any highlights… I don’t even know what I was thinking! Highlights with your color mane! Bleh!”

As subtly as I could I started to lead the mare toward the door as she continued to mutter nonsense to herself. I managed to lead her for about ten steps before she was looking back up at me with an eager smile.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t try other things!” Rarity tried to stop walking but I shoved her forward with a wing. “I am a mare that is a master in everything beauté! Just give me a few more minutes Darling and—“

“I think that I can take it from here, Rarity,” I interrupted, gently but firmly. “If I just fix myself up a little bit more I’m sure, with everything that you already did for me, that I’ll look better than I’ve ever looked before.”

I think at this moment Rarity knew that I was trying to throw her out of my room since she dug her heels into the carpet. Me, with a big, kind smile glued to my face, continued to push/magically drag the fashionista toward the door.

“But with me here we’re sure to get to that state even faster, Darling!” Rarity cried, quietly grunting as she tried to push herself out from underneath my wing. “I know that I might have been a little… scatterbrained trying to find you a manestyle but I don’t know what to do with such a wonderful head full of hair!”

My smile became slightly strained as I had to force Rarity back to my side with a spell, quickly rewrapping my wing around her to keep her in place as I placed all of the combs and scissors and everything else Rarity had assaulting my hair with onto the table at the far end of the room.

“Oh, your mane is so much more wonderful than mine, Rarity,” I said, trying to switch topics so that the mare would start rambling again. If I got her rambling I was sure that she’d be easier to dra—lead, lead! Toward the door. “Mine’s nothing spec—“

“Nothing special?! Mi Amore, your mane is absolutely perfect! The color goes with your coat and eyes, it can be teased into whatever shape one wants to shape it, and the texture! Sweet stars above it’s nothing like I’ve ever []seen. You have a mane that would put the gods themselves to shame, Princess and—“

“It’s just a mane, Rarity. I wash it once a week, I condition it every three days, and I comb it to make it look half decent in the morning. Trust me, it’s nothing special.”

Still not wanted to appear rude I kind of ignored the fact that Rarity was refusing to let me kick her out of my room, and since Rarity herself was a mare with spectacular manners, she didn’t bring up the fact that I was dragging her to the door. It almost made for a surreal experience; the two of us trying to appear that nothing was wrong while we had this sort of tug of war in the middle of my living room.

A tug of war that I was going to win!

“Oh you’re too humble, darling!” Rarity cried as I really started shoving her toward the door. “Most mares would kill to have a head of hair like that; myself included.”

The only thing that I really had going for me in this little tug of war was the fact that I was bigger and weighed more (but not that much more mind you) than my opponent, which meant that I was able to throw my weight around a bit more than she was. And I used my advantage to its full extent, pushing Ms. Rarity all the way to the door.

“I… don’t know why… you’d want my… mane when you… have such an… amazing one… yourself… Rarity,” I said, sweat starting to drip down my face from all of this physical exertion. “I don’t think… I’ve ever seen… one as nice… as yours…”

Rarity once again tried to wiggle out from underneath my wing, the mare’s horn charging up just as I was about to cast a spell myself. I tried to grab Ms. Rarity magically to get a better grip on her but she batted my magic away, side-stepping away from me and trying to make a break for the chair in the middle of the room.

Quietly cursing I reached for her and missed before saying buck it and leaping for her. Rarity let out the quietest of squeaks when I managed to grab a hold of her tail with my mouth, the surprising strong unicorn dragging me a few feet before I managed to get back to my hooves.

“Oh you… flatter me darling… but believe… me when I say… that you… have a… lovely, lovely… mane…” Rarity said, her hooves leaving marks in the carpet as I dragged her big white butt over to the door.

Throwing open my bedroom door with my magic, I struggled forward in stubborn determination. “Well… I think that… your mane is… better and… that you shouldn’t… sell yourself… short…” I managed to say through a mouthful of tail.

Rarity tried everything that she could to get away from me. She tried to wiggle out of my grip, she tried to overpower me and drag me back to the chair, she even tried to go limb and be deadweight so that it would be harder to move her around. But I would not be denied. I knew that the second I went ahead and gave up I’d be back in that chair for eight bucking hours in a state of limbo. So I couldn’t lose; not when I had Ares and that date waiting for me!

“Well… I’m ecstatic that… you think so highly of… me darling…”

It was a battle for every step but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just a few more feet and I’d have my room all to myself.

“You’re a… wonderful mare… Rarity, anypony could… see that… I couldn’t do… anything less… than think highly of… you… In fact, if you…. don’t mind me… saying I think… that Twilight is… lucky to have… you as a… friend…”

Rarity tried to grab the doorframe but I was prepared for that, as I yanked her tail as hard as I could. The mare yelped, losing her hooves and sending the two of us tumbling out into the hallway.

The two of us looked at each other before looking back into my bedroom. Another second or two went by before the two of us scrambled to our hooves, trying to get up before the other. Rarity managed to get to her hooves first but I knocked her down with a spell, hopping over the mare and racing through my door like my tail was on fire.

“Well thank you for… sayingsoPrincessIwould—epp!”

SLAM!

Teleporting a chair over toward me I slammed my bedroom door closed as hard as I could, propping the chair up against it. Scrambling with my magic, I managed to lock the door just as I heard Rarity slamming against the other side of it.

“Are you sure that you don’t need any more help tonight, Princess?” Rarity asked pleadingly, twisting my doorknob so hard that I half expected it to rip off the door. “I’d be more than happy to spend a little more time getting you ready for your prince!”

Sweet Celestia is this mare determined, I thought, oddly amused yet also irritated with all of this as I slumped against my door with a quiet groan.

“Thanks for offering, but like I said I’ll handle it from here, Rarity,” I said, doing my best to catch my breath. “But why don’t you go and ask Luna if she needs any help? I’m sure she’d just jump at the chance to make use of your skills!”

I really didn’t want to throw Luna under the carriage like this but I really needed to fix my trainwreck of a mane ASAP. I’m sure that my aunt won’t be too sore about it during mine and Ares’ date. I could always figure out a way to make it up to her later...

The doorknob stopped wiggling as Rarity thought over what I had said. “…Well, if you’re sure that you don’t need any more of my help, I suppose I could go and see if Princess Luna had need of my skills,” she said, slightly disappointed but sounding more excited with each word. “Oh just think! Rarity Belle helps two Princesses—“

“Oh thank Faust that’s over,” I muttered with a happy sigh, closing my eyes and just taking a moment to have a breather.

Eventually Ms. Rarity stopped trying to talk to me through my door and left, though I could have sworn I felt her trying to wiggle open my door more than once before leaving. Still wary I poked my head out into the hallway (ready to slam the door at a moment’s notice) to see if Rarity had actually left. When I saw that she was actually gone I sighed in relief and readied myself.

Now that that was over I had to actually get ready for my date with my honey-bunny Ares. And, after putting my chair back where it belonged, I did just that.

I had a nice long soak in the tub, I went over to my mirror and fixed up my mane, I put on a little bit of makeup (not too much since we were going to be eating) and I even decided to go the extra mile and put some gloss on my hooves to make them really shine. All of that took about an hour and a half, and I would have had about two more hours of free time if I hadn’t got caught up on whether or not to wear a dress.

We were going to spend the night eating chocolate for star’s sake. Me wearing makeup and styling my mane was already a bit too much for a date like that. But I still kind of wanted to really turn my coltfriend’s head for our date.

The two of us were going to rut like a pair of rabbits when we finally got back to the castle; there was no way in Tartarus that that wasn’t going to happen. I was going to do my best to make sure that my Ares was walking funny for the rest of the week and a couple of days after that. I wanted ponies from Baltimare to hear us!

…Not really but I’m sure you get my point.

Anyway, I wanted this to be a really special night for the two of us and I knew that my Ares really liked it when I dressed up in something sexy. So the last two hours I had before Ares picked me up for our little date were spent looking through my closet fretting over every single little dress and every little accessory to that dress.

Eventually I managed to pick out a sleek little black dress that I found in the very back of my closet and I matched it with a little gold necklace. I know that that doesn’t sound all that exciting or incredible but I was darn near ready to wear all of my bucking dresses since I had no idea what the hay somepony’s supposed wear for a chocolate eating date.

With another sigh I tossed my dress onto my bed and just laid my head on top of the covers. “I don’t know how Ares does this every single day,” I said to no one in particular. “This is the worst!”

Looking to the clock on my wall I saw that I didn’t have that much time to put on the dress before Ares came to pick me up. I reached for the little black dress when I stopped, an idea— a naughty idea— made itself known in my mind.

“…Maybe I should wear something underneath the dress?”

Though I was the only one in the room (hopefully Ms. Rarity hadn’t snuck in and hid on the ceiling or something) the faintest of blushes made its way onto my face as I picked my head up and looked over toward the drawer of my nightstand. Not moving, I opened the drawer with my magic, quickly checking to see if anypony was actually in my room in a sudden fit of paranoia, and levitated the items out of the drawer so that I could have a look at them.

About a dozen pairs of… risqué panties greeted me as I looked up at each and every one of them. I hadn’t told Ares about my super-secret sexy lingerie drawer yet, and I’m sure that he’ll make fun of me the second that I show him it, but at that moment I was kind of glad that my human didn’t know. Since he didn’t know about it (...at least I think he didn’t know) he didn’t know that I had an extensive amount of lingerie at my disposal.

...I’d bet that he’d really love if I wore one of these…

I bit my lip, imagining the look on my human’s face when he saw me wearing a little black thong… or maybe those little red frilly panties that were just a little too small so that they really hugged my flank… or maybe—

Buck it I’m wearing something underneath this dress, I thought, rubbing my back legs together as I imagined my little human pulling my panties off with nothing but his teeth and…

Realizing that I was thinking a little too much about this I shook my head and chuckled.

“You need to take it easy girl,” I mumbled with a smile, looking over each of the undergarments carefully. “You don’t want yourself getting too worked up before the date even starts! Ares might think something's off if you just go and jump him the second that he opens the door!”

Though I wasn’t a mare that really dressed up all that much in the bedroom, I did actually have quite the collection of lingerie, which was going to make picking out the perfect pair a little difficult…

...Do I have too many pairs of these? I asked myself, raising an orange g-string up to my face. I’m starting to think that I have way too many of these…

I hummed thoughtfully, stretching the clothing with my magic as I thought over my life decisions.

...Don’t be silly, you can never have too much underwear! Ares has like a million pairs and you don’t think that’s weird! I reasoned, raising an eyebrow when I came across what looked like a pair of crotchless chaps. …Though maybe I should cut down on them just a little… Where the hay did I even get these? Do they even fit me?...

~_~_~_~_~_~_

“Candy? Are you in there Candy Cane?” Ares called through the door after a few polite knocks.

While he didn’t see the point in knocking on his own bedroom door so that he could get the mare that was already his girlfriend, Princess Celestia, Twilight, and that odd little white mare Rarity, had insisted that he do so. He needed to be romantic and he needed to set the mood they had said. He needed to go out of his way to make his mare feel special they had insisted...

What the heck did those three know anyway? He always made Cadence feel special whenever the two of them were out and about having fun!

But if I don’t do what those three little horses say they’re going to bother me about it forever. I just fucking know it, Ares thought with a little smile as he heard shuffling from inside the room.

“Just give me a minute, honey!” Cadence called. “I’m just about ready… oh horse apples…”

“Take your time,” he called back, rocking back and forth on his heels, doing his very best to ignore the banging and crashing coming from the bedroom.

The love brigade better not have told Candy to get all dressed up for this fucking date, because I swear to god—

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Cadence said as she threw open the door. “I just noticed that my dress was a little dirty and—”

Whatever else the pink mare said was lost on the human as his eyes roamed her body. Just as he feared Cadence had gone ahead and dressed herself up in this tight stretchy little black dress with a gold string necklace wrapped around her neck.

Oh sweet Christ above I hope that she didn’t spend too long getting ready, Ares thought, his eyes lingering on his marefriend’s rump just a little longer than was appropriate. She looks fucking awesome but I don’t want her getting mad when she gets chocolate on everything…

Seeing that she was being gawked at Cadence giggled, giving her rump a little shake. “Easy there cowcolt,” she purred, walking over and rubbing herself against him. “We haven’t even started our date yet~”

Cadence’s grin grew as Ares, a blush coming to his face, took a few hasty steps backward and she giggled again, looking him over. “I see that someone managed to stay away from Miss Rarity and the others,” she said, pointing out his t-shirt and jeans.

Ares snorted, walking back over and placing his hand on his marefriend’s back. “I wish. Twilight and all of them were trying to make me dress up in a fucking suit for this date.” Looking Cadence over one more time Ares motioned toward their bedroom door. “You don’t have to get all dressed up like that Candy. We’re going on a—“

“I wanted to dress up a bit for my coltfriend,” Cadence interrupted with a smile, “because I know for a fact that he really likes it when I dress up. So, since my honey-bunny is the most wonderful stallion in the world, I decided to put in a little more effort in my appearance!”

Ares snorted and rolled his eyes, though there was a little smile still on his face. “Don’t you dare start calling me shit like honey-bunny or sweetie pie or any of that lovey-dovey garbage. And don’t get all huffy with me sister; I just don’t want you ruining that dress. Remember we’re going to go and eat a whole bunch of melted chocolate.”

“I have a spell to get out any stains if I do spill chocolate or anything else on this,” Cadence smartly replied, closing her eyes and puffing out her little chest, such made Ares roll his eyes again. “And don’t you go telling me what I can and can’t call you! Since I’m your marefriend I have the right to call you honey-bunny or sweetie or anything like that. In fact I’m almost require to!”

Opening her eyes the pink princess narrowed her eyes at her date as if daring him to challenge her. Trying his hardest not to smile Ares narrowed his eyes back at her, a fake scowl coming to his face as he took a “threatening” step forward. The two had this little stare-off for a while before Cadence cracked a smile. The second that she smiled Ares smiled, which in turn made Cadence’s smile just that bit bigger.

“…Alright, but don’t expect me to do happy about it.”

“Whatever you say my snookums,” Cadence chirped before leaning up on her tippy-hooves and puckering her lips. Ares, smiling, leaned down and gave her a little kiss. “Now come on, let’s go and eat some chocolate!”

Shaking his head, the human motioned for his marefriend to follow him before he started walking down that hall. Quickly following him, Cadence was soon walking side-by-side with her coltfriend so closely that they were rubbing against each other with ever few steps.

“So are we supposed to go and get Luna or is she just going to meet up with us?” Ares asked, placing his hand in the middle of Cadence’s back.

“She told me this morning that she’d meet us after we sat down,” Cadence answered as the two of them turned the corner. “Oh, and I want to thank you for not getting upset by what I did the other day.”

Though he made a bit of a face Ares just shrugged. “Hey, Princess Sunny Buns probably wasn’t going to let us go without a chaperone anyway, and there was no way in hell that I wanted to be followed around by a bunch of little horse guards.”

“I’d rather have my family watching over us then some noisy guards,” Cadence agreed with a nod.

“…Yeah.” Scratching his chin Ares looked over at his marefriend. “But do you really think we should be taking Luna with us though? I don’t know about you Candy Cane but I’m kind of a one horse guy, and taking Moon bottom with us might give her the wrong idea…”

“You’re just going to have to trust me on this one, honey,” Cadence said confidently. “I have a plan.”

Ares raised an eyebrow. “…Would you mind letting me in on this little plan of yours?”

With a giggle Cadence bumped Ares’ side with her rump, nearly knocking him over. “I’m afraid I can’t do that honey-bunny. You knowing the plan might ruin it.”

Ares made a face. “Of course it would…”

The rest of their walk was silent after that, the only other words being spoken were to a few of the guards as they left the castle and whatever mare or stallion walked up to chat with them in the middle of the street. The walk to this known sweets shop wasn’t a very long one— about a twenty minute walk from the castle if you weren’t in a hurry— but Ares couldn’t help but notice that his marefriend seemed a little… jumpy the moment they stepped out of the castle.

Her head was always swiveling around this way and that as if looking out for an attacker, when they had started coming across crowds of ponies she wrapped a wing protectively around his back, and she just kept rubbing herself against him like a needy little cat while stealing kisses from him at any opportunity. He honestly thought that it was adorable but it was still kind of odd.

If Ares thought that Cadence was acting a little strange the citizens of the Empire looked on in embarrassment, confusion, and amusement. Never before had they seen their princess dote over her human like a mother duckling, but if they had known what really happened these last couple of days not a single one of them would have though Cadence’s actions were odd; in fact they wouldn’t have expected anything less from her. But since they didn’t know (luckily or unluckily for them) most just thought it was adorable and cute and a little hard to watch.

“You alright there Candy?”

Cadence, a happy little smile on her face, lead him around the corner before looking up at him.

“Of course I’m alright, honey. Why wouldn’t I be alright?”

“I don’t know, you look a little nervous to me…” Looking over at the street sign Ares frowned. “Wait, how the heck do you know how to get to this chocolate shop?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you hmm me. We’re going down pearl avenue and we need to—“

“Take a right, I know,” Cadence interrupted, taking said right.

Ares’s eyes narrowed. “And how the hell do you know then? It took me like five hours running around town to find the place! And that was even after I asked a whole bunch of ponies!”

“I had the guard check everything out yesterday,” Cadence said matter-of-factly.

“…Wait, wha—“

“Oh look! There’s the candy shop right down the street!” the pink princess cried excitedly, grabbing her coltfriend’s hand with her mouth and dragging toward the gingerbread-esk establishment.

“FEAR NOT CITIZEN! WE SHALL AID THEE!”

CRASH!

“SOMEPONY HELP ME! IT BURNS, IT BURNS!”

Both Cadence and Ares looked at each other, then they looked at the candy store where all the commotion seemed to be coming from. Pushing her human behind her, Cadence quickly made her way to the establishment's entrance. Clearing her throat the mare politely knocked on the door.

“…Excuse me? Is everything—“

Crash!

Bang!

BOOM!

“IT’S IN MY EYES! THE GUMMY BEARS ARE IN MY EYES!”

Gasping, Cadence reached quickly, turning around and swiftly bucking down the door before turning back around with her horn at the ready. What she saw in that little candy shop made her sit down, her jaw dropping in shock.

“…What in Tartarus happened here?”

It looked like a bomb had gone off in the candy shop. Broken jars that had been filled with sweets were scattered throughout the place, there was chocolate covering the floors, the walls, ponies, the ceiling, there were mares and stallions alike running around with everything from bubblegum to taffy stuck to them, and it looked like a cotton candy machine was on fire. There was screaming, there was smoke bellowing out of the shop, ponies were screaming bloody murder, and in the middle of it all was a flustered Luna-- who was wearing a lovely blue low cut dress that appeared to be still whole and untouched dispute the war zone all around-- who appeared to be trying to extinguish the cotton candy machine with gummy bears and bubblegum.

“WORRY NOT CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE! I SHALL HAVE THIS ALL—“

Luna froze, slowly turning around to see Cadence and a confused Ares behind her. The Princess of the Night looked at the ensuing chaos, then up at the big glass jar of gummy bears held in her magical grasp, then back at her charges.

With an epp she dropped the jar, an embarrassed blush coming to her face. “We—I mean I can explain!” She looked all around again. “…Really, I can! I promise!”

Author's Notes:

I