The Rainbooms gathered out in the hall that quite a few students were starting to congregate in, which made Fluttershy just a little nervous. Still, Sunset had sent everyone a text, the second part of which froze Fluttershy's blood.

[They finally took down that stupid picture of me! :D Oh, and there's this cute drawing of Adagio Dazzle there now.]

Nearing the Art room's display area, Fluttershy caught sight of the Dazzlings heading in the opposite direction. The angle of Adagio's hair (her long, bulky bangs, that is) hid her face entirely, but she could see Aria looking irritable.

Cold dread dripped through her heart as Fluttershy made her way to her friends, all looking at what was, as she feared, her sketch of Adagio sleeping. Weirdly, with the cute, serene expression on her face immortalized in graphite for all to see, some part of Fluttershy was happy.

The rest was terrified.

Pinkie shook her head ruefully. "Tsk, tsk, getting her picture taken with her eyes closed."

"It's a sketch, Pinkie Pie," said Rarity with a giggle, "though I can see why you might think otherwise."

Rainbow scratched her head. "Why would anyone draw this?"

Shrugging, Applejack answered while still appraising the paper herself. "She was our model in class yesterday, looked just like this when she dozed off."

"Is that even legal? Students posing as drawing material?"

"Mr. Magnet comes up with some funny stuff in the name'a art, Rainbow, but Ah don't think he's ever broken the law."

"That didn't necessarily answer the question..."

Sunset scrutinized the sketch as well. "Going by the detail on Adagio herself, her legs, her hair, even the exact placement of the little triangles on her tights, whoever drew this must have really been looking."

EEP!!

"I mean, the sheer level of almost photo-realistic shading on her legs and the, eh, g-general hip regions is..."

I-I was supposed to draw her ass-IMEAN as accurately as possible, wasn't I?!

Rainbow nodded. "I knew the sirens got this kind of attention all the time, but daaamn!"

PLEASE stop focusing on the-

Pinkie admired the drawing from multiple angles. "A sleepy-head face and curvy body. Who knew she of all people could pull off adora-sexy?"

What?!

Applejack glanced in the direction the sirens had gone. "Didja see her face a minute ago? Don't think Ah ever saw one'a them three blush like that."

And Adagio probably hates it too. Wonderful.

Feeling smaller by the second, Fluttershy tried to hide in her own hair and duck down out of sight, Rarity gently patting her on the back a second later.

"Perhaps we should move along," she urged her friends, "the next class will start soon." The others glanced in her direction and got the hint for the real reason, giving Fluttershy, surrounded by all these people while they all talked about body detail, sympathetic looks. People around her were whispering as the six departed.

"Man, Dazzle looked pissed."
"Somebody gonna get it."
"Nah, I think she was red out of embarrassment, not rage."
"Rumor is she volunteered to be drawn like that."
"I, for one, have a new-found appreciation for Art."
"Totally, and the face she made when she saw it, I just wanted to squeeze 'er!"
"The cute one, well, cuter one, I guess, was actually giggling."
"Either way, I'd hate to be whoever made that sketch."

Lunch opened on an awkward note, with Rainbow's help. "Sorry, Fluttershy," she said with a little frown as they were all seated, "didn't mean to make you uncomfortable back there."

The attention immediately on her, Fluttershy felt her face heating up. "Oh, th-that's, uhm, that's okay, I-I-"

"Yea," added Pinkie with a hint of shame, "we all know you don't like seeing or talking about that stuff." She couldn't help a tiny grin. "But seriously, dat shading!" Fluttershy's squeak and sudden hair-hideyness made her wince. "Sorry. Again." That settled it; she would be getting some apology cupcakes later.

Sunset dismissively waved a hand. "Body-focus aside, did you guys see the detail on her face? Along with not including the eyeliner she's been wearing lately, the way it was drawn was nothing like her usual expressions, and I don't think she's ever made a face like that in school before now." The best word for Sunset's own expression just then was 'concerned.' "I'm not about to complain about one of those three finally getting some good PR, but I'm wondering if someone drew her all peaceful on purpose for some reason."

Applejack shook her head. "Nah, that was the real deal, she looked exactly like that in class yesterday." Blink. "Well, 'cept with scary eye make-up."

The dark circles don't make her that scary, thought Fluttershy.

Rarity's attention was piqued. "Ooh, that's two times in the last week someone did something juicy in their sleep!" She got the usual not-on-the-up-and-up looks. "Vinyl Scratch got detention for falling asleep in a classroom last week, having shouted out, err..." Problem with juicy gossip, which Rarity remembered only as she turned scarlet? That which makes it juicy. "S-something a lady shouldn't repeat when she was woken up. From the sound of things, she was in the middle of a very interesting dream..." She was reminded why she typically didn't share this kind of thing with her friends when most of them turned red too. New subject. "So, Applejack, she shares a class with you and Fluttershy, seventh-period? Was that the interesting thing you alluded to this morning?"

Shaking off the Rarity moment, Applejack nodded. "Eyyup. She came in, stretched out on the schmancy couch," she raised her hands in a vaguely menacing fashion for emphasis, "and just kinda looked at people like she was tryin' to paralyze 'em in a snake stare 'till she fell asleep. Then she was all smiles an' sweet dreams, like y'all saw."

Oh, thought Fluttershy, she was giving everyone looks? Not just me? I, I guess that's normal for her...

Chuckling, Rainbow raised an eyebrow in mild disbelief. "Snake stare? Seriously? I-" She remembered they were talking about the queen of scary faces. "Ooh, actually, yea, I buy that. She get you too?"

Applejack crossed her arms and scoffed. "N-no, Ah was just tryin' to draw that crazy 'do of hers. Oh, speakin'a which..." Smiling a little, she reached into her bag, pulling out a long piece of paper, featuring nothing but the outline of Adagio's disembodied head attached to the entirety of her big, fluffy hairstyle in reasonably high detail. "How do ya like that? Ah can draw hair!"

Pausing as the memory of Fluttershy's unusual offer to replace the painting of Sunset resurfaced, all six of them broke into gigglefits.

Over at the Dazzlings' table, things were a little less jubilant.

"So," asked Aria with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow, "you got a creep-o stalker now, or...?"

Adagio shook her head even while propping it up on one arm on the table. "No, or at least, if I do, this has nothing to do with them." How does one answer whether or not they have a stalker? Isn't not knowing about them a key element of the thing? "I was asked to be the central figure in my new station seventh period, but no one said anything about results being hung up the next day." That Sonata started giggling made her hesitate to ask, but she felt it best to get it out of the way. "Something funny, Nata?"

"Pffftheeheeheeheeheehee!" They gave her a minute to gather her thoughts. "Snooze, ya lose, huh, Dagi?"

Aria and Adagio both groaned, the former shaking her head ruefully. "Too freakin' predictable, Nata."

Sonata rolled her eyes. "You are such a joke snob."

"Anyway," Aria gave the technically-willing muse an inquisitive look, "how're you feeling about this?"

There was a tiny smirk. "Oh? You're directly asking about feelings now? Should we be on guard for flying pigs next?" That her friends just held their stares said Adagio wasn't weaseling out of this one. She sighed. "A little embarrassed, alright?" The rest came through her teeth in a low grumble as her face grew warmer. "People are looking at me like I'm a kitten that just rolled over on its back."

Sonata clasped her hands together while making a dreamy little expression. "Awwwww!!" The death-glare from her fluffy-wuffy friend immediately replaced the look with one of shy contrition.

Aria shrugged. "Kinda brought this on yourself, Dagi. If you didn't go around putting yourself in a spotlight all the time, people probably wouldn't care as much, y'know?" She winced as Adagio rested her head on the table and Sonata gave her one of those 'now look what you did' frowns. "Err, I mean, like..." Now she was smiling sheepishly. "H-hey, at least they made you look good, right?"

Trying to help, Sonata chipped in. "Yea! Super high detail from the waist-down, somebody in that class definitely has their eye on you!" This got her two mildly perplexed looks, but at least Adagio wasn't doing that sad, slumpy thing now. "I mean, why else would they draw you all sexy? They even made your tits look a little perkier!" Aria and Adagio both flushed red, which was a rare accomplishment for Sonata.

Ordinarily, Adagio might have protested that if she hadn't been rendered to look gorgeous, the artist would have failed to draw her by default, but right now her mind went elsewhere. She hadn't needed to look at the picture for long to figure out the angle of the sketcher's point of view, which left a slim list of possibilities. If nothing else, this would make for interesting conversation come tomorrow morning.

Aria slowly turned to her with a mostly blank expression. "Eh, yea. Definitely made you look hot. That's a bright side, right?"

"I don't have a problem with the body," answered Adagio, "it's the face they drew me with that's getting all these stupid little grins. The worst part," she uttered with a hint of resignation, "is that this might actually be good for us." Now she was being stared at in surprise. A welcome return to form. "Think about it, the three of us are still feared and hated to some degree by most of the school, if not the population of Canterlot as a whole. Since this morning, people have been smiling at me. If they've got it in their heads that I'm not the threat I used to be-"

"The one none of us have really been since the big show," Aria noted bitterly.

"-right. I most likely have the worst reputation out of any of us outside the local cooking community-"

Sonata scoffed, crossing her arms and looking away indignantly. "One freakin' time."

"-so if they can look at that sketch and think I'm not so bad after all, you two can only look even better by comparison." For just a second, she felt like her old, megalomaniacal self, but tried to keep it in check as her face formed a malevolent smirk. "If we don't fight this at all, students and staff alike might be under a whole new spell, and with it," she felt a lot less villainous saying this next part, "they might finally give us a real chance at the coveted friendship this school is supposedly united by."

Aria shook her head. "Remind me again why we're even bothering with 'Princess' Twilight's fake little philosophy?"

One eyebrow was raised as Adagio gestured between the three of them.

Purple cheeks turned red. "Oh. Right." She shrugged. "Well, easy to miss that with these people, y'know? Sick of gettin' that deer-in-headlights look."

Sonata gave her a sympathetic smile. "You wouldn't get it as often if you didn't glare at people so much."

Unwittingly, Aria glared. "I glare because they give me that look!"

"And the looks they're giving me now," Adagio continued with only a hint of annoyance, "indicate that we have a chance here. If we play this right, don't touch the picture or say anything about it, we may finally find ourselves with more than one friend." The words clicked in her head the instant after she'd said them, but it was too late.

Aria and Sonata both traded confused, wide-eyed looks, going back and forth between herself and each other before settling on her. "Wait," Aria almost pleaded, "you have one friend besides us? Who? Since when?"

At the moment, Adagio's face was that of someone that just made a startling realization, but playing it off as confusion at the question was no challenge. "I... Sunset Shimmer, who else?"

Facepalming, Aria turned red and muttered to herself. "Oh, duh..."

Sonata scratched her head. "Why don't we ever hang out with her anyw-" Memory made her make a sour face. "wait, nevermind."

Adagio nodded once. "That aside; this isn't quite how I'd have orchestrated the situation, but that drawing may still work to our advantage. Give it time, I'll let you know if people are still giving me those looks a week from now and have a plan ready from there. Any questions?"

Chuckling, Aria crossed her arms and smirked. "Great to have you back, boss."

Sonata beamed. "For realzies!"

With a feminine, dismissive hand-wave of faux-modesty, Adagio chuckled. "You're too kind."

The three of them giggled together, but contained themselves before it could reach the loud, scary, mua-ha-ha levels that wouldn't do them any favors right about now.

Closing her bedroom door, Fluttershy gently set her book-bag by a shelf, paced over to her bedside table, picked up the diary and a pencil, and sat on the bed, not quite sure where to begin.

"Well... maybe with...?"

Dear Diary,

Today's Art class was all kinds of frightening. I may have made a little mistake yesterday when I forgot to bring my sketch of Adagio (yes, that one) home, but at the time, I thought, "if I have such a perfect image of her in my head already, I don't need the picture." It made sense, because I know Mr. Magnet likes keeping his students' art, both for what he calls the spirit of creativity and to remember them by. He's a very sweet man, I think. Then Mr. Magnet hung it in the hallway. For everyone to see. And they did. Even Adagio.

That feeling I wrote about yesterday, with everyone seeing something I wished they didn't? That again, but so much worse! So, when Art started today, I was expecting her to do something to humiliate me in front of everyone, but then I realized that I didn't tell her that the drawing was mine. Mr. Magnet, if he knows, was nice enough not to put my name on it, and none of my friends said a word relating it to me, so, if I'm lucky, nobody knows at all yet. I'll have to come clean to Adagio right away tomorrow, because trying to keep it a secret would only lead to her finding out anyway and feeling hurt that I tried to lie to her and not trusting me ever again.

Adagio is very sneaky, and will find things out whether I want her to or not, which is why it's best to be honest.

So, Art class. I went in thinking she was going to do something really embarrassing for me, but since she (probably) doesn't know the sketch is mine, it went about how you'd expect an Art class with Adagio to go. That is to say; I was still shaking and blushing and trying not to look directly at her (which is as difficult as it's ever been, see Wandering Eye poem on page #111) the whole time. She looked at me a few times while I was looking at her. I really hope no one noticed!

We were doing origami today, and at one point, she tapped me on the shoulder (I jumped, but I managed to keep from shrieking and making a scene) and asked me to hand her a pair of scissors in that low, sultry voice of hers. It only took me around ten seconds to fulfill her request, but she just stood there until I did, looking at me with that face she makes whenever I'm nervous, the one that makes me more nervous and she just keeps staring and I just keep fumbling like a fool and I think some other kids were looking when this happened and I was worried Applejack was going to say something and then there'd be this big thing about it, but then I handed her the scissors and she walked away and everything was fine.

I still spent most of Art expecting something mortifying, but just like the time she told me she'd "See you soon, Sweetie" and I spent the whole day panicking about it, nothing really bad happened. I don't think she's going to tell me how she plans to torture me in Art every day, she'll just do something and I'll... I'll let her! <3 That's Adagio, my sneaky, scary, curvy, compassionate, smiling, sensitive sweetheart siren.

Note: Valentine sweethearts are probably a bad idea, for now at least.

Anyway, there was one thing in Art class; a few minutes after I gave her the scissors, Adagio unfolded her paper, but to everyone's surprise, it wasn't anything obscene, just a butterfly, with thin slits cut to resemble a surreal wing pattern. I have a few guesses why she looked at me in particular when showing everyone. Maybe... maybe that was what she was planning to do? I'm still not sure how to interpret it, was she saying that she had me in her hands, that I was just thin paper for her to shred whenever she felt like it, or was it a soft, sweet gesture? Like she was saying she thinks about me sometimes? Am I just getting conceited? It's possible that she just felt like making a butterfly, because the long, crazy cuts in the wings to form the patterns didn't resemble any butterfly I've ever seen. Was it an Equestrian butterfly? Or some kind of message? I have no idea.

I wonder if the sirens, and maybe Sunset too, get homesick.

~~~

Now, about my sketch, Re: Adagio Everyone Seeing It. I was kind of... Well, I knew exactly what I wanted to what I had to draw I knew how to draw her because well, see the last entry. People noticed the level of detail, but I couldn't not draw her right! I don't know how long everyone will be talking about that sketch, but going by the reactions to that scary painting of Sunset? A few weeks, maybe. It wasn't an all-the-time thing then, just something people kinda thought about whenever they walked by the Art room. The scary thing is that I can't decide if I want Mr. Magnet to replace it soon or not. I can't ask him to, because then he would definitely know it was mine. What if he tells someone? If anyone figures out that I drew that sketch, I don't even want to think about it!

Everyone will know I have a crush on Adagio and they'll all point and laugh and draw little chibi versions of our heads together in a heart on chalkboards and I'll never live it down and I have no idea how Adagio would react to all that.

What do I do?

~~~

In more normal news; Mr. Strangle (the big boa at the animal shelter) seems to be getting along with Rainbow now, which is nice. Pinkie Pie surprised me with apology cupcakes a little bit ago, which I've learned it's better to just enjoy with her than to insist they aren't necessary. I think it hurts Pinkie's feelings when people don't accept her sweets. Applejack showed us her sketch from yesterday and it was just Adagio's hair. Everyone at the lunch table giggled! (Context: I Can Draw Hair entry)

There was a brief period in which Fluttershy lay awake that night, one particular sentiment echoing in her mind.

"Either way, I'd hate to be whoever made that sketch."

"Either way, I'd hate to be whoever made that sketch."

"I'd hate to be whoever made that sketch."

"hate to be whoever made that sketch."

"hate whoever made that sketch."

She tried not to think too hard about it. If she came clean to Adagio first (or second, depending how brave she was feeling at the time) thing tomorrow morning, she'd be forgiven for making her so angry/embarrassed with the sketch. She hoped.

Wednesday morning had arrived. In the hope that it might soften the blow a little, Fluttershy opted to bring orange slices again today, remembering how much Adagio seemed to like them. There were other soft and sweet things she could have gone with, but she (fondly) remembered the little look of delight on Adagio's face when chewing them. She wouldn't mind a repeat, right? Sooner or later, Fluttershy was going to run out of new candy anyway, there were only so many kinds in existence. No, Pinkie's occasional twisted experiments did not count in her mind. She could have gone with fireballs again, but Adagio had specifically asked her to bring something Fluttershy could enjoy too. She was such a sweetheart when you got to know her!

When Adagio showed up, it was hard keeping a perfectly normal smile. "Good morning."

Leisurely reclining on the bench, it seemed Adagio was over her initial reluctance to sit there as she nodded. "Morning, Sweetie."

Fluttershy already had the little bag on her lap, but couldn't decide whether to open with the slices or her apology first. Would one look out of place after the other? If so, which one? She was already getting nervous, would it just look like she was trying to butter her up if she said sorry while Adagio's mouth was full of sugar? Would she take them at all once she knew? The thought of screaming the apology at the top of her lungs while cramming orange slices down her throat wasn't really worth entert-

"It's alright, Sweetie, I know it was you."

"EEK!!"

As ever, Adagio patiently waited through the three-act play that was Fluttershy caught off-guard. Act 1 was already complete with the exclamation of shock, always a crowd-pleaser. She appeared to be going with a wide-eyed stare and incomprehensible stuttering for Act 2, then wrapped up with kicking on the red lights and rapid apologizing for Act 3, even ending in a little bow. It was a slightly unusual assembly this time, but with the delivery was perfect, as always! Adagio, connoisseur of the skittish arts that she was, looked forward to the next show.

"I repeat," she said with a little smile, "it's alright, calm down."

Fluttershy hesitantly met her eyes and started to open her mouth.

"Yes, really." As she'd hoped, this won her an adorably surprised face, which opened the door for her to clarify her thoughts. "I know it was you because by the angle I'm drawn at, there are only a few possible artists who could have done it. Also, the detail was very realistic and your grades in Art have always been nearly perfect." No time was given to dwell on that last part before she moved to the real point. "Seeing myself depicted with that..." she couldn't help turning pink at the memory, "that expression wasn't exactly a proud moment for me, but I'm not angry with you."

"Oh. Um..." Nervous finger-twiddling never seemed to make it into the Startled performances, which was a shame, but she'd take it wherever it guest-starred. "Wh-why not? Wasn't it really embarrassing having everyone t-talk about you like that?"

"Yes, but I'm not angry for three reasons. First, I'm guessing having the whole school see your work wasn't your idea."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, g-goodness, no!"

"And that the idea of anyone learning you were the artist...?"

There wasn't a show this time so much as a singular, horrified squeak as Fluttershy went pale and gave her wide, worried eyes. "Y-you're... you're not g-going to...?"

Frowning, Adagio leaned over and hugged her, in a grope-free kind of way, until she stopped shaking. "I'm starting to get the feeling you don't trust me."

Aaaand shaking was back. "Th-that's not it at all, it's, just, I-I, since I, and, with the, you'd be-"

Well, thought Adagio, so much for a hug making everything better. Plan B. She let go and backed away a little, but not too far to rest a hand on Fluttershy's trembling shoulder. "Sweetie? Breathe. You bring candy to calm your nerves, right? Why don't we try that before picking this up?" That seemed to be working already, Fluttershy beamed!

"O-okay!" She opened the little bag in her lap, immediately offering Adagio an orange slice. "Here!"

Adagio smiled too. "Oh, I remember these." Taking the treat as offered, she wondered how much of Fluttershy's enjoyment came from ingesting sugar, and how much came from sharing it with others, resulting in the bright, happy grin she wore as Adagio chewed. Somehow it felt fitting that she couldn't help thinking she was being spoiled in their mornings together, not quite dinner and a show, but definitely an acceptable substitute.

A few minutes later, it looked like Fluttershy was breathing at a normal rate, so she went on. "So, we have that you most certainly didn't want anyone seeing that picture to begin with. The second reason is that despite this initial, awkward phase, I may be able to use this situation to my advantage." She looked out over the soccer field in the hope of suppressing a blush, as she'd done quite a few times before. "Getting that kind of attention wouldn't have been my first choice, but if it means people are more willing to overlook, well, me, then I'll take it. With any luck, some of the good will, for lack of better words, that this generates will rub off on Aria and Sonata as well."

Fluttershy nodded once, not sure she should say anything about the 'overlooking me' part. She knew Adagio was a nice girl when you got to know her, but that people might have trouble seeing that was perfectly understandable. "And, the third reason?" Now she wondered if her first idea was actually such a bad one, because Adagio gave her a truly vicious smirk.

Opening with a low, dark, breathy chuckle, Adagio leaned in close. "Like I said earlier, very realistic depiction, Sweetie." There was a squeak, but Fluttershy had definitely earned this. Briefly tasting her own lips, Adagio's eyes went half-lidded. "The way you drew me, my luscious hair, my slender waist, my not-so-slender hips... my legs? Really, I'm not sure which is my favorite part... or yours." By the sharp increase in the magnitude of Fluttershy's blushing based on timing, she actually had a pretty good guess.

She added a mock pout. "Aww, but I forgot, that's not the, whole picture, is it?" Grinning wickedly, she grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders, eliciting a gasp that didn't sound entirely like fright, and leaned in even closer, her lips nearly touching Fluttershy's ear. "Maybe next time, you'd like to draw me from the back? I'd make sure nothing gets in the way, of course..." And then she let go, giggling with impish glee as her Sweetie fell backwards on the bench in perfectly rigid fashion, gibbering incoherently under the blistering heat of her own head.

Ohh, if not for the foul smell, I'd need a cigarette!

And then guilt started to set in, Fluttershy still lost in her no-doubt delightful little fever dream a full three minutes later. Leaning to fold her arms over the back of the bench and rest her head on them as she did on Monday, Adagio's tone was quiet and sympathetic. "Sweetie? Are you alright?"

The sound roused Fluttershy from her surprisingly long daydream, though she was still red in the face for having allowed her mind to go to such places at all. "Y-yes... I'm okay." She... she couldn't have meant it like...? Oh, no. I'm a pervert. She sat up, frowning. "I'm, s-sorry."

Sitting up straight herself, Adagio blinked once. "What?"

"F-for, uhm," admitting to this was maybe the worst possible time to maintain eye-contact, but she'd feel dishonest if she didn't. "d-drawing you like that, obsessing over your b-b-body, and-" She was silenced with a finger held to her lips, Adagio giving her a thoroughly unamused face.

"Sweetie," she said with a hint of annoyance, "if you're about to apologize for finding me attractive, I'm going to spank you." This won her a scarlet, wide-eyed Fluttershy, but more importantly, silence. She offered a relaxed smile. "The third reason I'm not angry? The drawing was really well-done, and I'm flattered that you could render me so neatly." This seemed to calm Fluttershy down a lot, getting her a warm, happy look. "Think about it: If I didn't like having your undivided attention, would I keep doing things-" quickly grabbing Fluttershy's head and pushing it down to her own lap confirmed that Adagio wasn't the only one that let her guard down in their meetings, "like this?"

Her cheek resting against Adagio's thigh, Fluttershy squeaked, whipping back to an upright position so fast her hair might have hurt someone standing behind her. "The-tha-I-ah-th-ffuablama-!"

Giggling with evil delight, Adagio leaned over to give her a quick peck on the cheek, ruffled her hair, and stood up. "Just some food for thought, Sweetie. See you again soon!" She closed the statement with a wink, her most adorable friend already having seized up again, and sashayed away, letting those pretty, cyan eyes fall wherever they would on her slowly-retreating figure.

Rooted to the bench, Fluttershy's mind was working a mile a minute, her vision starting to blur. For the sake of not running the risk of blurting out something indecent like she heard Vinyl Scratch had, she opted to do her best to compress this morning's warmer thoughts until she could get to her diary later this afternoon.

The rest of the day passed in a bit of a blur. Fluttershy was pretty sure all the normal things happened; classes, hallways, practicing the walk, lunch, more classes, then the animal shelter for a while, then home. Diary Time at least let her gather and write out her thoughts, but she was hesitant about actually putting them to paper.

It's not dirty, I'm not a freaky pervert, I'm just writing what happened and how I felt about it. That's what a diary is for, right?

Right. She picked up her pencil.

Dear Diary,

ItalkedtoAdagioaboutthesketchandshesaidshe'dbeokaywithmedrawingherfromthebackandIthinkshemeantnakedbutI'mnotsureandshealmostkissedmyearwhichmademewanttochewonhersuntilshemadeanoiseorsomethingbutanywayshesaidthatifIdidn'tsayIthoughtshewasprettythatshe'dspankmebutshedidn'treallysayitthatwaybutI'dgladlytellhershewasprettyeverydaywhethershespankedmeornot!

Stopping, Fluttershy looked down at her shaking hand and took a deep breath.

Dear Diary,

Sorry about that. So, I didn't kiss her yet. It's not that I'm not looking for the moment, but every time it gets close, I think, she does something that makes me lock up, babble like an idiot, or both! Anyway, her, uh... thing she said when I apologized for thinking about her like a piece of meat, gave me an idea.

Okay, two ideas, but I'm only going to talk about one right now.

Have I ever actually told her she was pretty? Out loud? I mean, I guess she'd just be like "Yea, I know," because, look at her! You can't, you're a diary. I should sketch her in you some time. She must hear that all the time and I don't want to bore her by saying boring things, but if the idea of me saying sorry for noticing her... everything... annoys her, then... Maybe just once? Just to see how she responds to it?

But, what would I do after that? How do I respond if she waves it off, or teases me for it, or wants more?! What if she's the kind of girl that can listen to people telling her how beautiful she is all day? I have plenty of material to work with there, but it would almost definitely end up relating to my drawing of her somehow, and then we'd be talking about her body, and then I'd lock up and babble like an idiot again!

She really is pretty, though! ~<3

That in mind, Fluttershy got up to retrieve some blank paper, wanting to get a little practice in before putting the real deal in her diary...

Author's Notes:

For those who have been hoping for something public between the two, I hope this at least addresses the itch a little. Also, I really hope I'm not ruining any kind of candy for anyone. At the same time, if any act of ingestation has become more appealing to you since reading this story, I'm not sure I want to know about it.

Rambly bit incoming!

Narrative tension is a funny thing. So funny in fact, that I'm not sure those are the right words to describe what I'm thinking of.

The Chase: I know that after enough chapters of build-up, things get too heavy and fall down, the wait can be too long for the payoff. I kinda feel like I've been going that way with this story for a while now, but there are things that need to happen before some other things happen, things I really don't think I can skip over. As such, the juicy part I know some of you are waiting for just keeps waving from the distant horizon, probably never feeling like it's getting any closer. Sorry about that, it's not on purpose.

Believe it or not, I don't particularly enjoy tormenting readers. It's for that reason that I'd rather not publish a single chapter of a more... for lack of better words, dramatic work until I've got the whole thing pretty much ready to go, or at least up to the point where what feels like a borderline sadistic secret is unveiled. Hooking people with dramatic tension and mystery and such is all well and good, but if it's all hook and no worm, then sooner or later you're just sitting there with a bunch of hook wounds. Ouch.

All of that said, click the next chapter for a new can of worms!

(...And I mean that in a good way. )