"I must say, Cadance, it was simply delightful for you to make some tea for me this afternoon," Rarity remarked.

The Goddess of Love smiled back to her, taking a gentle sip of her own drink soon afterwards.

"Oh, it was no trouble, Rarity. After all, you and I hardly ever spend time together. It seemed fitting we should try to fix that."

The two sat serenely together atop their cloud, a gentle breeze and bright sun to help them in their pleasant day. Their tea cups were of the finest make, Goddess-forged, and the tea itself was, as one would expect, divine, and far better than anything the mortals might one day taste. They say calmly beside one another, looking down upon the world of those mortals, at all the little things they did as the quiet moments passed by. It was a nice and relaxing moment, though that did not mean the two did not converse from time to time.

"Tell me, Rarity, How is that Coco girl doing?"

Rarity smiled to that.

"Oh, she's doing simply wonderfully, Cadance. Ever since my little intervention the other day, she's been growing in her confidence. Why, you should see some of the fine work she's made."

Cadance smiled in return.

"I'm glad to hear she's doing well."

Afterwards, it was Rarity's turn to look curious.

"And yourself? Are you as preoccupied with romantic difficulties as much as before?"

Cadance sighed, actually looking content over that matter.

"Though Adagio and I have our differences, I can't deny she's kept her word. My being called upon to deal with marriage issues hasn't been this low in a very long time. It's actually why I've had the time to call for this little get-together."

She grimaced.

"If nothing else, at least we won't have to deal with any more of her kids...at least for a while."

The two shared a laugh, but it was soon interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of somebody clearing their throat. And even without looking, they knew from the sound of it that it was being made by a child. As they looked behind themselves, they saw that their instincts had been correct, and Sweetie Belle now stood behind them, hands clasped behind her back. Rarity, naturally, was delighted to see her sister here.

"Sweetie! How good of you to be here! Won't you join us?"

Cadance, nodding to that, raised her hand, palm up, and with a brief use of power, a third cup of tea was formed. Sweetie smiled, walking over and sitting herself down between the two older Goddesses, accepting the cup and giving Cadance a quick bow of her head.

"Thank you, Miss Cadance."

Cadance gave her a quick pat on the head.

"You're quite welcome, Sweetie."

For a time, the three simply sat, content in this moment of peace and quiet. But after a time, Sweetie shifted in her place, looking from one Goddess to another. Cadance, unlike Rarity, could already feel that there was something the girl needed to get off her chest, and so decided to speak first about it.

"You know, Sweetie, there's no shame in simply asking if there's something you wanted to ask about."

Rarity looked to her fellow Goddess with brief confusion, then down to her sister.

"Sweetie?"

The girl blushed, setting down her tea-cup before nervously poking the ends of her fingers together.

"Well...um...I was wondering..."

Slowly, she looked to the Lady of Love.

"Miss Cadance?"

Cadance glanced back down to her.

"Yes, Sweetie?"

The younger Goddess gulped, then finally said what she needed to.

"Could...could I borrow one of your arrows?"

The older Goddesses blinked to her, then Cadance put on a knowing smile, looking to the side and placing a hand upon her currently-unused quiver, which was filled with the arrows in question, each one tipped with an end shaped like a heart.

"Oh? Do you perhaps wish to try your hand at my duties for a day? To help awaken the feelings of love mortals have for one another?"

Sweetie's blush grew, and she looked down to her knees, trying to avoid looking her in the eye.

"Er, no...not exactly."

Rarity, who'd been watching this exchange with interest, suddenly started to realise what was happening, and what her sister was truly asking for. She let out a loud gasp, causing both of the others to look to her, and after setting her cup to one side, she scooted on closer to her sister, taking hold of her and embracing her in a tight hug.

"Oh my goodness! My little sister has someone special! Oh joyous day!"

Sweetie, of course, was practically gagging over how tightly her sister was holding her, and Cadance smiled in amusement over this overzealous display of sisterly bonding. When Rarity finally released her sibling, she almost had stars in her eyes, and eagerly began asking a barrage of questions.

"What's their name? When did you meet? Have you kissed yet? Did you hold hands and stare lovingly into each others' eyes during a beautiful sunset? When's the wedding? Can I make your outfit?"

Sweetie fumbled with every question, but luckily for her, Cadance was on-hand, and now tapped Rarity on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"I think we can dial it back, Rarity. Besides, I doubt anything that serious has happened yet."

Her eyes drifted to the still-very-embarrassed Sweetie.

"If things had been as romantic as that, I doubt very much she'd be asking for one of my arrows."

Sweetie looked away, almost ashamed, and Rarity, after taking just a few moments to understand what had been said, gasped, looking to her sister with astonishment.

"Sweetie Belle! You're not trying to get the arrow to make this mysterious crush of yours like you, are you?!"

Sweetie said nothing, just puffing up her cheeks while they blushed. Cadance, who was less flabbergasted by the whole matter, finished off her tea, then gently placed her hand upon Sweetie's shoulder.

"Sweetie, I realise that feelings like these can ben very overwhelming, especially at your age. But I assure you, these..."

She again gestured to her quiver.

"...are not the way."

Sweetie's shoulders slumped.

"I know. I just...I really like him, and..."

"Oooooh, it's a him! That narrows it down!" Rarity interrupted, writing frantically on a suddenly-conjured pad of paper.

The others looked to her with a frown, and once she realised she was being watched, she chuckled nervously.

"Right, sorry. I can speculate later."

Cadance shook her head, then smiled again as she looked to Sweetie.

"Ask yourself an important question, Sweetie. If you like this person, and I mean truly like him, do you really want him to only like you because you made him like you back with my arrow?"

Sweetie paused, thinking hard on that, then cast her eyes downwards, sighing.

"No...no, I wouldn't."

Cadance nodded.

"Good girl. Love takes time and effort. You cannot simply snap your fingers and make it happen because you want the easy way out."

She paused, looking to the side with a disdainful frown.

"Not that Eris hasn't tried."

Another smiled returned to her as she again looked to Sweetie.

"If this connection between you and this boy was meant to be, it will happen. Just let things go naturally."

A look of sadness came to Sweetie.

"But...what if he doesn't like me back?"

Cadance considered that, realising how best to word it to a child.

"If he doesn't...then you will simply have to accept it. It may hurt, but it's better than being in a forced relationship."

Sweetie sat in silence, taking in everything the Goddess of Love had said to her. After a while though, and seeing the encouraging way Cadance was smiling to her, Sweetie too smiled, albeit in a smaller way, and gave a nod in response.

"Okay...I'll wait. It might be better if I did it that way. I mean, I'm not a great shot with arrows anyway. I might have missed."

The three all laughed together, and Rarity embraced her sister once more, though thankfully in a more gentle way.

"Besides, I doubt the arrow would have helped you. They don't force people to love each other, Sweetie. They simply make them realise the love they already have for one another," Rarity explained.

Sweetie pouted.

"So it would have only done something if he already liked me? That's not useful!"

Cadance giggled.

"Believe me, I felt the same way when I was your age. You come to appreciate it over time though. And besides..."

She leaned closer, bringing her face right up to Sweetie's.

"...if you're still having trouble with Spike, maybe I could give you a few tips here and there on how to spend time with him."

The color drained from Sweetie's face, and she wrested herself free from Rarity.

"What?! Spike?! Who said anything about Spike?! I certainly didn't say anything about Spike!"

The two older Goddesses gave each other knowing smiles, complete with winks, before looking back to Sweetie.

"Well, whoever this young gentleman is, I'm sure he's very lucky having you interested in him, sister," Rarity stated, trying to act oblivious about her sister's crush.

Sweetie, though still wracked with an embarrassment-induced blush, nevertheless smiled appreciatively to Rarity, and indeed to Cadance afterwards. But in the silence that followed, a new idea came to the youth, and she appeared to be deep in thought over something.

"Huh...you know...Miss Adagio always manages to get guys to like her. Maybe I should ask her what she does."

Instantly, Rarity and Cadance's heads snapped towards her, their faces ones of utter horror, and their responses given in unison.

"NO!!!"

Next Chapter: There's only room for ONE Nature Goddess! Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 3 Minutes