Romantic Mischief
by Donnnnn
First published
A bunch of one shots with Jake Taylor and the gang
After Jake, Twilight, and Starlight all got together, they and their friends shared a few...wacky adventures. Here are a few.
Takes place after Romantic Meetings
EDIT: Going on hiatus until Romantic...Other Worlds? is complete
EDIT: It’s back
Quick note to anyone reviewing this: if you review this, please just review the last three chapters
Starlight’s new friend (and Celestia’s obliviousness)
“Are you sure you don’t want me to be there?” I asked. My name is Jake Taylor. Right now, I was with one of my marefriends, Twilight Sparkle, in the dining room, discussing the dinner to be had with Princess Celestia.
“I’m sure, Jake,” Twilight answered, putting a plate down in its “proper place”.
“Why? I get you want Starlight to have some sort of ‘confidence boost’ by bringing her own friend, but I don’t see a reason I can’t be there too.”
Twilight hesitated a moment, trying to think of an answer. “B-Because if you’re there, Starlight might get a little too...distracted. Also, Princess Celestia is...unaware that you’ve returned to Ponyville.”
“Nice try. Luna knows I’m back, so I doubt Princess Celestia doesn’t. Besides, even if she didn’t, we still got along great. I’m sure she would be happy to see me,” I countered.
“Not in every purpose,” Twilight muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.
Before I could respond, Starlight Glimmer, my other marefriend and Twilight’s pupil came running in with a smile stretched across her face. “Twilight, Jake, guess what? I made a new friend!”
Twilight quickly turned her attention to her pupil, trying to hide a nervous blush. “That’s fantastic news.”
I rolled my eyes and smirked at Twilight.
“She’s great!” said Starlight.
“Great!” agreed Twilight.
“She’s powerful!” added Starlight.
“Oddly specific,” I muttered.
“Powerful?” Twilight asked.
“She’s-“ Starlight was cut off.
“Hello...Princess,” said a familiar, prideful voice, one I recognized almost immediately.
Through the doors, walked an azure blue unicorn with a white mane, and eyebrows that just seemed to stick out.
“Trixie?!” said Twilight, shocked.
A few minutes later, after Starlight and Trixie left, Twilight and I were left in the dining room, alone again.
“Well...that was a...surprise, to say the least,” I said, trying to lighten Twilight’s mood. She hid it well in front of Starlight, but I could tell she didn’t approve of Trixie.
“You could’ve been a little more...present, you know,” said Twilight. She was right; I had stayed absolutely silent during the conversation, save for a simple “hello,” to Trixie.
“I know, but since I’m apparently not coming to the dinner, what’s the point?” I countered.
Twilight sighed and rubbed her face with her hoof.
“What’s wrong with Trixie being Starlight’s friend anyhow?” I asked, legitimately curious.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just not sure Trixie would be a good influence on Starlight,” Twilight explained.
“Why? They’ve both been down similar paths. Sure, Trixie didn’t stick around for the friendship lessons, but...let’s just say I know for a fact that Trixie is not the same mare that took over Ponyville that one time,” I said.
“How?” Twilight asked.
“I ran into her during my time on the road. At first, I was a little...spooked, remembering our last interaction, but we got to talking, and I could tell she definitely wanted to get better,” I explained.
“Oh yeah, you never told me what happened to you specifically the last time Trixie was here,” Twilight said.
“Let’s just say it was...uncomfortable and leave it there,” I said, shivering at the memory. For those of you who want to know, when Trixie took charge of Ponyville, she was astounded by my appearance. So much so, that she wanted a...closer inspection, way too close for my liking.
“I-I just don’t know. Trixie just still had that...snarkiness she had before,” Twilight countered.
I rolled my eyes and gave Twilight a little poke. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re jealous of Trixie.”
Twilight shook her head and backed away from me. “Jealous?! Of what?!”
“Since Trixie and Starlight have something really personal in common, I think you’re jealous that Trixie might become a closer friend to Starlight than you are,” I said, giving a smirk to the princess.
Twilight blushed, but still tried to hold her ground. “W-What? That’s insane! Of course I want Starlight to have something in common with a friend, but-“
“Look, you and Starlight are in a herd, remember? She’s not gonna forget about you,” I cut off.
“I guess you right,” Twilight said with a defeated sigh.
“Now back to our other conversation,” I said.
“Seriously?” Twilight deadpanned.
“I just wanna know why you don’t want me to come. It’s not like Princess Celestia and I have never met,” I said.
“I know but-“ Twilight started.
“And besides, the three of us always have dinner together, like a herd. The only difference is that Princess Celestia and Trixie...” I paused, putting two and two together. “Princess Celestia doesn’t know about the herd, does she?”
Twilight’s blush returned.
“And you’re afraid if she found out,” I added.
“What?! No, it’s not that. It’s just...I try to keep the herd out of Starlight’s friendship lessons, so if she finds out now, she’ll wonder why you’re not with us, and it’ll become a whole big thing, and...ugh,” Twilight countered.
I rolled my eyes.
“Please?” Twilight said, giving me the eyes that she always gave me whenever she wanted something...usually cuddles, which I never turned down.
I squinted, trying to look away, but I was glued to the irresistible cuteness that was Twilight Sparkle.
“Fine! I’ll hang out with Spike and the guys...on one condition,” I said.
“Name it,” said Twilight with a triumphant smirk.
“Before she leaves, you have to tell Princess Celestia about the herd, or I’m gonna tell her myself. Deal?” I state, holding out my hand.
Twilight walked up to me and shook my hand with both of her hooves. “Deal.”
I held on as she tried to pull away. “And you owe me extra cuddles tonight too.”
“Well, I can’t say no to that,” Twilight scoffed.
I pulled her close. “My way.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. “Oooookay?”
“So, how do you and Jake know each other?” asked Starlight.
“Well, we met the last time I was in Ponyville, which was rather...interesting, and we ran into each other again in the road. I think it’s safe to say we hit it off,” replied Trixie.
“So...the last time you came to Ponyville was-“ Starlight started.
“I’ll tell you about it another time,” Trixie said through gritted teeth. “Anyhow, how do you and Jake know each other?”
Starlight visibly blushed. “We met when he came back to Ponyville, and we just kinda...became friends! Y-Yeah.”
Trixie rose an eyebrow. “Is that all, or is there something the Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t know?”
Starlight’s blush intensified.
“Come on, we’re friends. You can tell me anything,” Trixie insisted.
“Well...Twilight and I kinda...share him,” starlight muttered.
“I didn’t quite catch that,” Trixie smirked.
“Twilight and I share him,” Starlight repeated.
“Just a little louder,” Trixie pleaded.
Starlight sighed. “Twilight and I share him...romantically.”
Trixie tilted her head. “How does that work?”
Starlight shrugged. “I don’t know; it just kinda...does.”
Trixie paused a minute, making Starlight nervous. Then she smiled. “Okay then.”
“Really? You’re not...put off by that?” Starlight asked.
“Like I said, you can tell the Great and Powerful Trixie anything,” Trixie smirked while Starlight simply giggled.
Later that night, I was simply laying on my bed, reading a book. Spike had fallen asleep early, and the rest of my friends all went to see a magic show. I would’ve gone with them, but I wanted to make sure Twilight told Celestia the truth about us.
This was not shaping up to be a very exciting night.
Deciding it wasn’t gonna get much better, I made my way to the kitchen. I planned to simply grab something to eat, and go back to my room. I didn’t plan on intruding on the dinner.
That is, until I took a wrong turn and came into the dining room. Inside, Princess Celestia sat at a well set up table, bored out of her mind. There was also a half-melted ice statue of her on the table.
“Princess Celestia, nice to see you again,” I said, giving a little bow.
“Oh, Jake Taylor, nice to see you too,” Celestia responded.
“Umm, where are Twilight and Starlight?” I asked.
“Not a clue,” the princess replied.
I awkwardly rubbed my hands together. “So...”
The princess shrugged.
“Should I...join you?” I asked.
“I don’t see why not. I doubt Twilight’s coming back anytime soon,” Celestia replied.
I pulled out a chair and grabbed a plate. “So, how are things back in Canterlot?”
“Same old, same old. Anything new with you?”
“Well...I guess since Twilight isn’t here to tell you, I may as well,” I said.
The princess suddenly became intrigued. “Tell me what?”
I smirked. Twilight was gonna hate me for this...but it’s her fault for not being here.
“Well, you see, Twilight, Starlight, and I are...” I started, pausing to pique the princess’s curiousity.
“Yes?” she asked.
“...in a herd,” I finished.
The rest if the dinner was filled with nothing but laughter, and the princess left before Twilight returned.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
A few things:First, this is just a bunch of one-shots that are in no way connected to each other unless otherwise stated.
Second, this will be updated very rarely, so track at your own risk.
Third, that being said, you can contribute as well. Just type of a small story to fit this universe, and PM me if you want to see it uploaded. My only requirements are that it has to be 1,000+ words, and it has to have something to do with Jake Taylor. It can be an Alt. Version of a canon episode, or just something random. You decide
Super cuddles! Starring: Starlight Glimmer (warning: excess amounts of cute)
I was in the library, looking through an old photo album that Twilight had somehow managed to salvage from the remains of Golden Oaks Library.
Some of these pictures, I could recognize instantly. Others, I had no idea where they came from. Either way, the trip down memory lane was just glorious.
I stopped at a particular picture, where Twilight and I were leaning our backs against each other and crossing our arms, trying to look cool for some reason.
It was too bad Twilight wasn’t actually here with me. She and Spike were off in Canterlot, visiting old friends of theirs. This time definitely would’ve been nicer with her here to reminisce with me. Maybe we could when she got back. Probably.
I flipped the page when I suddenly felt something weighing down on my back and a pair of hooves wrap around me.
“Whatcha lookin’ at?” asked the unmistakable, melodic voice of Starlight Glimmer.
“A few old pictures of me and Twilight, from before she became an alicorn,” I answered.
Starlight slid off my back to sit next me. “Mind if I look with you? I mean, I know I wasn’t there, but it’d still be nice to talk about fun memories.”
I leaned in and gave her a little kiss on her forehead. “Of course.”
We looked at a few pictures, a few of which I explained in detail to Starlight.
“Wow, Twilight was a lot...smaller as a unicorn,” Starlight giggled.
“I know. That difference isn’t huge, but it’s still noticeable,” I agreed.
Starlight suddenly looked at me. “Do you think I’d be any bigger as an alicorn?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re definitely...larger than Twilight was when she was a unicorn...but I guess you could always be bigger. But then you probably wouldn’t be as cute.”
Starlight giggled cutely when I called her cute, and I gave her mane a little rub. In return, she gave my arm a playful nuzzle.
We turned our attention back to the album until we came across a picture I remembered all too well. Twilight and I were in a rather...comfortable embrace, and we both wore uncontrollable smiles. What kind of surprised me was that there was a large heart drawn around the picture.
I chuckled a little, remembering that day. “I guess that was when she fell in love with me.”
Starlight rested her head on my shoulder. “Why would that be? What happened?”
“This was a day after I moved out of Golden Oaks Library. Twilight was sad about the whole thing, said she missed me. So...I came by one day, and gave her...let’s just say, it was a friendly experience.”
Starlight smirked at me. I knew that look; that was the look that meant she wasn’t gonna let me drop something embarrassing.
“What do you mean?” she asked in a voice that sounded innocent at first, but slowly morphed into one of mocking the more I thought about it.
“I showed a few displays of what was then, just platonic affection, but judging by the heart around us here, I’m gonna guess she took it a little more seriously than it was meant to be,” I said, chuckling.
“Displays of platonic affection? Such as?” Starlight asked.
“It just started with a little scratching behind the ear, but I kinda got carried away and started stroking her chin and rubbing her belly like one would a...dog, as well as a few other things. At first, I thought she would be upset, since she’d seen me do the same to Winona, Applejack’s dog, but she said she really enjoyed it and that it was very relaxing,” I explained.
Starlight’s face scrunched up. “Ear scratches and belly rubs? It doesn’t sound that relaxing.”
I looked down at her. “Are you saying that you are resistant to ear scratches and belly rubs?”
She looked up at me and smirked. “What if I am?”
“I’d say you’re in desperate need of my super cuddles,” I said, returning her smirk.
She snorted. “S-Super cuddles?”
“That’s what I called it,” I admitted.
“You are such a doofus,” Starlight said, giving my shoulder a small shove.
“Oh yeah? How about a little wager?” I tempted.
She stopped giggling. “I’m listening.”
“If I give you super cuddles, and you even show the slightest hint that you’re relaxed, you have to...go a whole week without nighttime cuddles from me,” I said.
Her eyes became wide with surprise. “R-Really? A whole w-week?”
I had her right where I wanted her. Every week, for four days, Starlight and Twilight chose two nights to cuddle with me, and Starlight had admitted that she absolutely loved it every single time.
“Yep, a whole week, and Twilight would even get twice the amount of cuddles with me,” I added.
Her face suddenly turned into a smirk. “Fine then. If I feel relaxed by the end of your ‘super cuddles’ I’ll go a week without your regular nighttime cuddles. But if I’m not relaxed by the end, you have to spend every night of the week with me, and let me cuddle you any way I want.”
“I’ll tell you what. You’ve got yourself a deal,” I said.
“Alright then. Start when ready,” she said.
I started by wrapping my arm around her. “This super cuddle stuff isn’t too hard. All it really takes is to be a little playful.” I exaggerated my point by firmly giving her nose a little *boop*. Her muzzle scrunched up adorably, and she gave a cute snort. I repeated the action, and the snort turned into a giggle.
“You think that feels good, you should try...this,” I said, bringing my other hand up to her ear and giving it a light scratch at the base. At first, she tried to resist it, but she slowly leaned into me, her eyes becoming half-lidded...until I leaned back just enough for her to fall onto my lap. She giggled adorably, looking up at me, also adorably, with her hooves curled over her chest.
“This is just too easy,” I humbly bragged as I continued scratching her ear. With the same hand, I rubbed her cheek with my thumb and gave it a little squeeze. It was soft, and quite frankly, squishy. With my other hand, I rubbed her belly in a circular motion, noticing she has a little bulge where her tummy was, probably from eating so many sweets.
Meanwhile, Starlight’s smile was beginning to imitate Twilight’s in the picture, and her eyes were closed. I could tell she was trying to fight it, but it was a battle she would sorely lose. She was undoubtedly enjoying this.
I got an idea and stopped rubbing her belly to softly poke it with my index finger. It sinked in a few inches before I felt any resistance. I was right; she had a cute bit of tummy pudge there. I gave it another poke, squeezing it with my thumb as well. Starlight giggled and hummed in pure content. If she had the ability to purr, I’m sure she would have.
Suddenly, I got an even better idea. I poked her belly again, but this time, much more firmly. Starlight’s mouth tightened as she tried to hold in a giggle. I repeated the action a few times, even getting a few twitches from her forelegs and hind legs as well as another cute snort.
“Gotcha,” I whispered as I stopped poking her belly and squeezing her cheek, much to her dismay. I put my hands on either side of Starlight, who still lay on her back in my lap, and put both my thumbs back on her belly. As soon as she opened her eyes in curiosity, I quickly unleashed my attack. I repeatedly buried my fingers into her sides, and poked my thumbs back into her belly. She was wiggling and kicking her hind legs, all while laughing like a child. I heightened my tickles just a bit, and her laugh became much louder, occasionally turning into squeals of joy. My mind nearly drifted to focusing on how cute she was being, but I had to stay focused.
“Ja-ha-ha-ake, s-stop, i-it’s too much- AH!” she squealed. She shot her hooves up to try to stop me, but that was a big mistake. I shot my hands up, right to where her forelegs met her chest, and continued my assault. She was now screaming in pure joy, and her eyes began to water up.
“You’re just a little filly, aren’t you?” I teased, holding her down with my body.
“P-Please, sto-ha-ha-op, I can’t t-take anymore!” she screamed in reply.
“Say it! Say you’re just a cute, little filly!” I said, starting to laugh myself.
“AH! Never!” she yelled.
I tackled her to the ground and pinned her, doubling my efforts. She tried to get free, but she couldn’t move. “Say you’re just a cute, little filly, and I’ll stop!”
“AH ha, ha! Fi-hine, y-you win! I’m just a cute, little filly!” she screamed in submission.
I let up my tickles, but still held her down. “Yeah, but you’re my cute, little filly, and I love you.” I pushed my head down and held her against the floor with a kiss. I could still feel her giggling under me.
When we broke apart, Starlight had the exact same smile as Twilight did in the picture. “You win, that was great. At least, your cuddles won’t go to waste.”
I rolled onto my back, holding Starlight on top of me. “Hey, I was just kidding. I would never take away your nighttime cuddles. I love them just as much as you.”
“G-Good, because to be honest, I only teased you, so you’d do that with me like you did with Twilight,” Starlight admitted, still giggling from my tickle assault.
I kissed her again. “All you had to do was ask.”
Author's Notes:
Here’s a bit of cute fluff for you guys, since none of you want to contribute. Thanks to ThePinkedWonder (and his new creepy profile pic) for proofreading
A Very Happy Hearths Warming (by Peni Parker)
Hearths Warming Eve had arrived once again. And as usual, Twilight Sparkle had waited until the last minute to decorate the castle.
“Spike!” the alicorn princess yelled from in front of the library, “Spike, where’s that mistletoe?!”
“Coming right up, Twilight,” Spike yelled back as he dashed through the hallway heading towards the library.
Needless to say, Twilight was freaking out. It was her first Hearths Warming with Starlight and Jake, and she wanted everything to be perfect, which of course included having plenty of mistletoe hung throughout the castle.
“Here…you…are,” Spike said in between breaths as he reached the library.
“Perfect, thank you!” Twilight elated as she took the mistletoe from Spike with her magic and hung it over the library’s door.
“Don’t…mention…it.” Spike continued to pant.
Twilight looked down and Spike and, seeing how exhausted he was, decided that maybe it was time for them to take a break. After all, they had been working on the decorations since dawn.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so demanding today, Spike,” Twilight said as she made her way into the library. “It’s just, this is my first Heaths Warming with Jake and Starlight, and I really want to make it special,” She continued as she took a seat on the couch.
“It’s okay, Twilight,” Spike reassured as he took a seat next to Twilight. “I get it. And besides, all this decorating hustle-and-bustle isn’t any worse than last year.”
Twilight gave Spike a quick look that seemed to say ‘Really?’, but she just as quickly broke it and gave a small sigh.
“It’s just, I was kind of hoping we could all put up the decorations together,” Twilight lamented. “But Starlight wanted to spend time with Trixie today and Jake just disappeared saying he had stuff to do. What if they don’t want to spend Hearths Warming together at all?”
A tear began to form in Twilight’s eye as Spike put his claw on Twilight’s shoulder.
“I’m sure that's not true,” he comforted her. “Besides, Starlight said she’d be back before dinner, and Jake’s probably just doing some last minute shopping.”
Spikes words helped put Twilight at ease.
“You’re right, Spike,” she affirmed as she wrapped her wing around the little dragon. “I’m sure this is going to be the best Hearths Warming ever.”
“The best,” Spike reiterated.
Twilight broke the wing hug and stood up from the couch with vigor.
“Come on, let’s get the rest of the decorations up!” she enthusiastically stated as she started heading towards the door. Spike stood up and slowly followed.
“So much for a break,” he whispered to himself.
The rest of the decorating only took a few hours. Twilight and Spike were both resting in the Map Room when Starlight Glimmer returned.
“Hello? I’m back,” Starlight said as she poked her head into the Map room.
“Hi,” Twilight replied in a somewhat tired manner, not even bothering to get up from her seat. “How’s Trixie?”
“She’s fine,” Starlight answered as she made her way into the room. “But what happened to you two?” she inquired, noticing Twilight’s and Spike’s semi-exhausted states.
“We spent the whole day putting up decorations,” Spike stated somewhat dryly.
Starlight just looked at her two friends with a confused expression.
“Wait, why did you wait until Hearths Warming Eve to put up decorations?” she asked.
Twilight didn’t give an answer, she just gave a blank stare. Spike simply rolled his eyes. Rather than make things more awkward than they were already starting to become, Starlight changed the subject.
“So, where’s Jake?” She asked.
“No idea,” Twilight answered with a shrug of her shoulders. “He just left this morning saying that he had some things to take care of.”
The vagueness of Twilight’s answer was concerning to Starlight. On her way back to the castle it had begun to snow and as she looked out the window she noticed it was snowing even harder.
“He didn’t say where he was going or how long he’d be?” she asked for clarification.
“I’m afraid not,” Twilight somberly replied, picking up on Starlight’s concern.
“Jake’s a tough guy,” Spike spoke up. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, safe and sound.”
Just as Spike finished speaking, the sound of the front door opening was heard. Twilight, Starlight and Spike all made their way out to the foyer to see Jake Taylor coming in from the cold, wintery weather with two boxes in his hands.
“Jake!” both mares said as they rushed over to their boyfriend.
“Hey girls, whoa,” he greeted his marefriends as they embraced him in a warm hug. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Everything’s fine,” Starlight said as she tightened her hug. “We’re just glad you’re back safe.”
“Where have you been all day?” Twilight inquired.
“I had some last minute shopping to do,” Jake replied as he put his boxes down and returned the hugs. “Sorry if I made you worry.”
Twilight broke her hug, followed by Starlight doing the same, and started ‘Twilighting’, as her friends put it.
“Worry? No, we weren’t worried, at least I wasn’t worried, where you worried Starlight?” she said as she turned to her pupil.
“I might have been worried a little bit,” Starlight admitted, a light blush crossing her face.
Twilight turned back to Jake and continued her ‘Twilighting’.
“Well I wasn’t worried, I’m just glad your back because…now we can exchange gifts,” she fibbed. “Spike was getting tired of waiting but I told him we weren’t going to start without you, hehe.”
Jake turned to Spike to see him glaring at Twilight for clearly throwing him under the bus rather than admitting she was worried.
“Well, we can exchange gifts now if you want. Just give me a few minutes to get these wrapped,” he said as he picked his boxes up off the floor.
“Yeah, I gotta get my presents from my room,” Starlight said.
“Okay, let’s all meet up in the library in 10 minutes then,” Twilight suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement and went their separate ways, except for Spike who started following Twilight.
“Told ya he was just doing some last minute shopping,” he whispered.
Twilight, Starlight, and Spike were all seated around the fireplace in the library, waiting for Jake.
“Why is it that we keep waiting around for Jake today?” Spike commented.
Both Twilight and Starlight gave Spike a disapproving look just as Jake walked into the library with the two boxes from earlier, and a new third one, now covered in colorful wrapping paper and bows, though not well.
“Sorry for the wait,” Jake apologized as he sat down. “I’m not the best gift wrapper in the world.”
“Clearly,” Spike said softly. “Ow,” he said as Starlight gave him a light jab.
“No worries, Jake,” Twilight said. “But now that you’re here, we can get started. Who wants give out their gifts first?”
“Ooh me, me,” Spike excitedly volunteered.
Starlight playfully rolled her eyes as Twilight let out a small giggle.
“Okay, Spike, you can go first,” Twilight said.
“Sweet,” the little dragon said as he handed out his gifts. “Hope you guys like them.”
Twilight, Starlight, and Jake all opened their gifts at the same time. Twilight got a book about the history of the Greco-Pony Empire, Starlight got a new kite shaped like a dragon egg, and Jake got a Power Ponies comic book. All three of them thanked Spike for the thoughtful gifts.
“I guess I’ll go next,” Starlight stated as she levitated her gifts over to their recipients with her magic.
Once again, everyone opened their gifts at the same time. Twilight got a the new Daring Do book, Spike got a Power Ponies comic book (different for the one he’d given Jake), and Jake got a hoofmade coupon book containing such redeemable coupons as ‘Good for one free hug’ and ‘Good for one free cuddle’.
Twilight and Spike thanked Starlight for the gifts as Jake tore one of the coupons from the book.
“I think I’ll redeem this one now,” he said as he presented Starlight with the ‘Good for one free hug’ coupon.
Starlight giggled as she took the coupon with her magic and gave Jake the biggest hug she could.
“Thanks, Glimmy,” Jake said as he returned the hug.
“You’re welcome, “ Starlight replied softly.
The two broke the hug and Twilight volunteered to go next. She passed out her gifts and, to no pony’s surprise, they were all books. Starlight got a book of advanced spells, Spike got a book about various magical creatures, and Jake got what appeared to be a blank book.
“Uh, Twilight, there’s nothing in this book,” Jake commented.
“That’s because it’s a scrap book,” Twilight enthusiastically explained. “I figured you could put all the pictures from your travels in it.”
‘Leave it to Twilight to turn organization into a gift,’ Jake playfully thought to himself.
“Thanks, Twily, I love it,” he said aloud.
Twilight just smiled as she began to blush.
“I guess that just leave me,” Jake then said, “But before I give out my gifts I have a small request; is it alright if Spike gets his gift first, and then I give Twilight and Starlight their gifts at the same time.”
The two mares and dragon exchanged quizzical looks but didn’t object to the request.
“Okay then,” Jake said as he handed Spike his gift. “Here you go Spike.”
Spike quickly opened it to reveal an assortment of rare gems, causing his eyes to become as wide as dinner plates.
“Whoa, where did you get these?!” Spike said in disbelief.
“They’re from a cave Maud told me she discovered last week,” Jake clarified. “She took all the samples she needed out of it, so when I asked if it’d be alright to take some for you, she said okay.”
Spike could barely contain his gratitude as he leapt from his seat and hugged Jake.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he exclaimed.
“Don’t mention it, buddy,” Jake replied as he gave Spike a few pats on the head.
Twilight and Starlight couldn’t help but giggle at the scene playing out before them.
“Okay, Spike,” Twilight spoke up. “I’m glad you like you like your present, but I believe Jake still has more gifts to give out.”
“Oh, yeah, hehe, sorry,” he said as he broke the hug and returned to his seat.
Jake couldn’t help but chuckle a bit, feeling happy that Spike liked his gift.
“Okay, now for Twilight and Starlight,” he said as he handed his marefriends their gifts.
Both mares opened them at the same time. At first, each mare gave a look of confusion at what they had received, but when they each held them up with their magic and saw what the other had gotten, they were at a loss for words.
Jake had given both of them half of a heart shaped necklace.
Starlight and Twilight could feel tears forming in their eyes as they turned to Jake.
“I wanted to give you both something that symbolized our relationship,” Jake explained. “I know that what we share is unconventional, and sometimes even a bit confusing, but it still means more to me than words can ever describe. Each of you holds a piece of my heart, and when we’re all together my heart is whole. I love you both so much,” he concluded as his emotions started to show.
At this point both Twilight and Starlight were unable to hold back their feelings any longer. They started crying tears of joy as they embraced their boyfriend.
“We love you too, Jake,” Starlight managed to say through her tears.
“So, so much,” Twilight added.
Jake hugged his marefriends back and started to cry himself but kept a better composure.
“So, I take it you like the necklaces?” He asked.
“They’re wonderful,” Twilight assured him, planting a small kiss on this cheek.
“They’re the perfect gift,” Starlight reassured as she planted a small kiss on Jake’s other cheek.
Jake pulled the two mares in closer as Twilight nuzzled his chest and Starlight nuzzled his shoulder.
“Aw geez, get a room you three,” Spike playfully commented in a choked-up tone.
Jake, Twilight, and Starlight all looked over at Spike, having forgotten that he was still in the room. The baby dragon was trying to hold back tears of his own, obviously having been affected by the powerful displays of affection he’d just witnessed.
Twilight broke the three-way hug first as she tried to compose herself.
“M-maybe we should all call it a night,” she suggested.
Starlight broke the hug next, also trying to get a better hold of her emotions.
“Y-yeah,” she agreed. “It’s been a long day for everypony.”
With that Spike quickly stood up and made his way towards the door.
“Thanks again for the presents, you guys,” he said on his way out.
After Spike had exited the library, Jake felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t his intention to cause such a scene over his gifts, and it certainly wasn’t his intention to make it right in front of Spike.
“I hope he’s okay,” he commented.
Twilight picked up on the distraught emotions behind Jake’s words and put her hoof on his shoulder.
“I’m sure Spike’s fine,” Twilight assured him. “He just got caught up in the state of the room is all.”
“Yeah, you know Spike,” Starlight interjected. “Deep down he’s just a big softie.”
Jake felt a bit better after hearing his marefriends reassuring words.
“Thanks girls.” He said.
Both mares gave Jake a warm smile as they all got up and made their way out of the library.
“Well, since it’s your night with Jake, Twilight, I’ll see you both in the morning,” Starlight said as she made her way back to her room.”
“Starlight, wait!” Jake yelled down the hall before Starlight got too far.
Starlight stopped and turned around to see Jake closing the distance between them.
“I was thinking,” he continued. “Since it’s Hearths Warming Eve, maybe all three of us could share a bed tonight.”
The suggestion caught both mares by surprise. In the time since their relationship with Jake had begun, there had never been a time when all three of them spent the night together. They quickly gave each other a look, but simply smiled.
“I’m okay with it if you are, Twilight,” Starlight said.
“I am, I think it sounds like a great idea,” Twilight affirmed.
Jake smiled back at his two marefriends as they all made their way to Twilight’s bedroom (since Twilight had the largest bed in the castle).
Once there, Jake took a seat on the bed as Twilight and Starlight took a seat on either side of him.
“So, how are we going to do this?” Starlight inquired.
“Well, I guess the simplest way would be for Jake to be in the middle and you and I will each take one side of him,” Twilight suggested.
“Makes sense to me,” Jake said as he laid himself in the middle of the bed.
Starlight moved over to Jake’s right side and Twilight to his left. They both wrapped their forehooves around his chest as he wrapped his arms around them as they began their first ever three-way cuddle session.
“Ah,” Starlight sighed in contentment.
“Hmmm, this feels nice,” Twilight softly whispered.
“Yeah, it really does,” Jake replied as all they all began to fall peacefully to sleep.
As the sun rose on Hearths Warming Day, Jake was the first to awaken, and to an unusual sight. Somehow during the night, Twilight had rolled over to his right side and ended up cuddling with Starlight. Not wanting to disturb them he slowly got up and made his way out into the hall, quietly closing the door behind him.
“I wish I could see the looks on their faces when they wake up,” Jake whispered to himself. “But I could really go for some breakfast right now.”
As he walked into kitchen he was surprised to see Spike already there, making enough toast, pancakes, and cinnamon buns for everypony.
“Morning, Jake,” Spike greeted him as he placed a fresh batch of toast on the table.
“Wow, Spike, how long have you been up making all this?” Jake inquired. It’s wasn’t that unusual for Spike to be up early making breakfast, but for him to make this much had to have taken him a while.
“Just about an hour,” Spike replied.
Jake took a seat at the table as Spike went back to preparing more breakfast.
“Hey Spike, about last night,” Jake started to say. “I’m sorry things got so emotional. I hope we didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
Spike looked over to Jake as he continued preparing more pancakes.
“It’s fine, Jake,” Spike solemnly stated. “I know you, Twilight, and Starlight are in a relationship, and I’m really happy for you guys, but sometimes it’s just difficult being on the outside looking in on that kind of stuff.”
Sensing Spike’s distraught state, Jake got up from the table and put his hands on Spike’s shoulders.
“Spike,” he said as he made the young dragon look him in the eyes. “I understand how you feel, but I don’t want you to ever feel like you aren’t a part of this family. We may not have an intimate relationship, but I still care about you a lot. You’re like a little brother to me, and I know Twilight and Starlight feel the same way.”
Spike simply smiled at Jake’s kind words and gave him a quick hug.
“Thanks, Jake. I care about you a lot too,” he said.
Before the situation could emotional elevate further, both Jake and Spike heard the sound of two mares screaming.
“Well, I guess Twilight and Starlight are up,” Jake said as he returned to his seat.
“Okay, but, why did they just scream?” Spike asked, having a feeling Jake knew something he didn’t.
“Oh, I’m guessing because they realized that at some point during the night they started cuddling with each other,” Jake answered nonchalantly.
Spike couldn’t help but laugh as he pictured Twilight and Starlight cuddling with each other.
It wasn’t more than a minute later that the two mares entered to kitchen.
“Morning,” they both said almost in complete unison, trying to hide the blush on their faces.
“Morning,” Spike reiterated.
“Morning girls, happy Hearths Warming,” Jake replied as he swallowed some toast.
“So, sleep well?” Spike asked in a sly manner.
Twilight and Starlight’s blushes only grew larger as they each took their seats at the breakfast table.
“Oh, yeah, super well,” Starlight said trying to act as normal as possible, and failing.
“Yeah, me too, best nights sleep I ever had,” Twilight said, also trying and failing to act normal.
Jake and Spike simply shared a small laugh.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Jake inquired as he took another bite of toast.
“Well, both of my parents are coming in from Canterlot this afternoon and Starlight’s dad is coming in from Sires Hollow. Until then I don’t think there’s anything else going on.” Twilight answered.
“I didn’t have anything else planned either,” Starlight added.
The two mares started digging into their Hearths warming breakfast as Jake offered a suggestion.
“How about we spend the morning putting my new scrap book together then. I’m dying to tell you guys about some the adventures I had. I know you’ll like my story about the Dragonlands, Spike.”
“Sure, can’t wait to hear it,” Spike said with a mouth full of pancakes.
“Yes!” Twilight said a bit more enthusiastically then she intended. “I mean, sure. I’d love to hear about your travels,” she recovered.
“Sound like a plan,” Starlight said.
Jake smiled as his family continued eating their breakfast, getting ready for what was sure to be the best Hearths Warming ever.
Author's Notes:
Shout-out to Peni Parker for writing this. see, folks, it's that easy. just write a story and PM it to me. Also, I know it’s nowhere near Christmas, but I don’t care.
Finally, I feel the need to point out that not all contributions have to be strictly romance. It can be comedy too, like the fist story was
Meet the parents! Starring: Twilight Sparkle
Twilight and I sat on the train to Canterlot. We were going to do something I had wanted to put off for as long as I could, but Twilight wouldn’t let me get out of it.
I looked out the window to see Canterlot Castle in the distance. I looked back and started tapping my heel on the floor of the train. I also started tapping my finger against the cover of the book I was reading, getting Twilight’s attention.
Twilight looked at me with a concerned expression. “Nervous?”
“Well...yeah,” I responded.
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. “There’s no reason to be. My family’s gonna love you!”
That’s right. Twilight and I were on our way to Canterlot, so we could meet her family, specifically her parents. I had already met her brother, Shining Armor, and her sister-in-law, Cadance, but I had never seen her parents.
“That’s what all girlfriends say before their parents tear their boyfriends to shreds,” I muttered.
“Okay, even if they don’t approve of you, that doesn’t matter. I’m a grown mare, and an alicorn at that, and I can make my own decisions, including who I want to love,” Twilight said, resting her hoof on my hand.
“But you see, where I come from, all girls are little girls to their parents. And those parents usually have a special attitude they like to express to the one who’s...romancing their little girl, especially if they share a bed,” I countered.
Twilight gawked. “Jake, please, we haven’t done anything like that! Or at least, not yet.”
“I know, but that probably won’t matter. Besides, it’s less the fact that we’re in a serious, romantic relationship that I think they’ll disagree about, and more the fact that I’m not a pony,” I explained.
Twilight actually chuckled. “Jake, what does species have to do with this?”
“To me, nothing. But to them, more than you may think,” I told her.
Twilight suddenly wrapped her hooves and wings around me. “Jake, I don’t care whether or not they approve of our relationship. I love you, I always will love you, and an argument with my family will never change that.” She exaggerated her point by giving me a peck on the cheek.
I felt my face melt into a smile and wrapped my arms around her. “How did I ever manage to get a marefriend as amazing as you?”
“By just being you.”
We now stood at the door to her old home, before she went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns...or whatever it was called.
We simply stood there, not moving. The only sounds we could really hear were our heavy breaths.
Suddenly, Twilight shook her head, breaking out of her trance. “We’re here. We should do this.”
I looked down at her and nodded. “Tell me why we’re doing this without Starlight?”
“Because rock crushes scissors,” she said nonchalantly as she knocked on the door.
A few moments later, the door opened, revealing a unicorn mare with a similar appearance to Twilight, but a grey coat and striped mane.
Twilight and the mare joined in a hug. “It’s great to see you, mom.”
“Oh you too, Twilight. You really need to visit more often,” the mare responded.
I simply stood there, completely silent, as the mares finished their hug. Once they did, Twilight looked at me with a blush. “Sorry, Jake. Where are my manners? This is my mother, Twilight Velvet.”
I blinked a few times to shake off my own trance. “N-Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Why, you must be Twilight’s ‘boyfriend’. It’s nice to meet you as well,” Twilight Velvet responded.
We awkwardly shook hands and hooves as a unicorn stallion joined us at the door. He had a simple, blue coat. He wrapped a hoof around Twilight and chuckled. “About time you came ‘round to see us, honey.”
Twilight blushed. “Dad, not in front of Jake.”
The stallion let go of Twilight and faced me. “So, you’re Twilight’s ‘boyfriend’? The name’s Nightlight, pleasure to meet you.”
“Y-You too, sir.”
Nightlight looked back at Twilight. “Come on in. Cadance and Shining Armor are already here.”
“Alright, tell them we’ll be right there,” Twilight said. Once her parents stepped inside, she looked at me again. “See, I told you that you had nothing to worry about.”
I bashfully rubbed the back of my neck. “L-Let’s just see how it goes.”
Twilight turned to the door and motioned for me to follow. I stepped inside, and the front room was more or less what I was expecting. There were a simple couch, a fireplace, and a few cute pictures of a filly Twilight Sparkle and colt Shining Armor.
“In here, Jake,” Twilight called from what I was assuming was the kitchen. I moved toward where her voice came from, and sure enough, it was in fact the kitchen. In the kitchen, there was a table with Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Velvet (wow, that’s confusing), Nightlight, Shining Armor, who I had met once before, his wife Cadance, who I had also met, and a filly...alicorn?
“It’s nice to see you again, Jake,” Cadance greeted.
“Um, y-you too, princess,” I responded.
“Oh please, call me ‘Cadance’,” she giggled.
“By the way, this here’s Flurry Heart,” Twilight said, referring to the filly. I looked at the filly, who gave a cute snort.
“Why don’t you take a seat, dear? Lunch is nearly ready,” Twilight Velvet offered.
I looked at Twilight and saw an empty seat between her and Shining Armor. I quickly took my seat, and noticed I was directly across from Nightlight.
“Jake, nice to see you again,” Shining Armor said to me, offering his hoof.
“Shining Armor, you too,” I said, shaking his hoof.
Twilight Velvet levitated lunch onto the table. There were a few sandwiches, some fruit, and what I’m pretty sure was pasta of some sort.
“Do I need to get anything for Flurry?” Velvet asked Cadance.
“Oh no, I brought some of her food along with me,” Cadance answered, levitating out a jar of what I assume is baby -er, filly food.
Lunch was eaten in moderate silence, save for a few questions from Twilight’s parents concerning how we met. Safe to say it was going a lot better than I thought it would.
After lunch was finished, we all moved into the living room to play a few games. First up was charades. Twilight and I didn’t do too well, but we just laughed it off. Surprisingly, Twilight’s family wasn’t really grilling me about taking care of their daughter/sister like I thought they would. After a while, Flurry Heart fell asleep, so we decided to quiet down and just have a nice little discussion.
“Why, Jake, I must say, you and Twilight make a rather cute couple,” Cadance said matter-of-factly.
Twilight’s parents and brother looked at Cadance with confusion. I suddenly became a little worried.
“Couple? What are you talking about, Cadance?” Shining asked.
Twilight and I made eye contact and came to a silent agreement.
“Sweetie, what does Cadance mean by ‘couple’?” asked Nightlight.
“I said in my letter that I was bringing my boyfriend,” Twilight answered.
“What does that have to do with being a couple?” asked Velvet in a slightly irate tone.
“W-What exactly d-do you think b-boyfriend means?” I stammered.
“We assumed it was a friend who was also a human. What does it really mean?” Nightlight said, becoming slightly angry.
“I-It...um, it m-means,” I stuttered.
Before I could try to continue, Twilight rested her hoof on my hand. I looked at her, and she was looking back at me with a determined expression. I tilted my head as if to ask, “Are you sure?”
She nodded, as if saying, “I’m positive.”
“What. Does. It. Mean?” asked Nightlight through gritted teeth.
Twilight stood up and faced her parents. “Mom, Dad, Shining, Cadance was right. Jake and I are a couple, and we love each other.”
“What? Twilight Sparkle, are you trying to tell us that you’re in love with this...thing?” Velvet asked.
“Yes, mom, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Twilight responded.
Nightlight glared at me. “How could you, precious? We thought we raised you better than that.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.
“We raised you to marry a pony, not some other random creature,” Velvet replied angrily.
I looked over at Shining. Surprisingly, he wasn’t mad. Instead, he was standing in front of Cadance with a worried look on his face. Cadance was holding Flurry close as if to protect her from something.
“What does race have to do with this? Jake and I have been friends for years!” Twilight said, raising her voice.
“Being friends is one thing, being in a relationship is a whole other. Twilight, you don’t actually think you two can have a decent future, do you? Others will look down on you because of this. And besides, you can’t reproduce with him, and we want grandchildren!” Velvet yelled.
“And we certainly don’t want this thing putting its dirty...things on you,” Nightlight added.
“Jake is nothing but a true gentleman, something that isn’t exactly common in stallions nowadays. And besides, you already have a grandchild. My niece, who’s trying to sleep!” Twilight shouted.
I looked worriedly between Twilight and her parents. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen.
“Twilight, honey, we only want what’s best for you, and that can’t possibly be him,” Velvet pleaded.
“Wha-How can you possibly know what’s best for me?! I’m a grown mare, a princess even!” Twilight yelled, seemingly on the verge of tears.
“Speaking of which, how would Princess Celestia take it if she knew about this?” asked Nightlight.
“She does! And she took it just fine! I came here today, hoping you two would do the same! But clearly, I was wrong, and coming here was a mistake,” Twilight said, storming out of the room.
“Twilight Sparkle, you had better not come back here with this man,” warned Nightlight.
Twilight turned around to face her father. “Then I won’t be coming back for a while. I don’t care what you think. I love Jake, and you don’t get a say in that. I just can’t believe my own parents would treat someone I love so much so horribly.” Overwhelmed by emotions, Twilight ran out of her parents’ house in tears.
“I-I should probably go after her,” I managed to stammer out before leaving.
It took me a while, almost the whole day even, to do it, but I eventually found Twilight at the train station, bawling her eyes out.
I knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.
She looked at me with tear-filled eyes. “T-The last train to Ponyville already left. I-I’m so sorry, Jake. You were right.”
I wrapped Twilight in my arms. “You have nothing to apologize for. Thank you for standing up for me. That couldn’t have been easy.”
“O-Out of everypony in Equestria, they were the last ponies I thought would look down on you,” Twilight admitted.
“I’m so sorry about what happened. What do you say we just get a hotel room somewhere?” I offered.
Twilight gave me a small smile. “I-I think I’d like that. S-Sorry for leaving you with...them.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just go find a place to stay for the night.”
A few hours later, Twilight and I sat on the edge of a bed. There were a lot of hotels that were willing to take us in, due to Twilight being a princess, but Twilight insisted we stay in a hotel close to the train station and far away from her parents’ home.
“How you doing?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her.
She leaned into my side. “Better. I still can’t believe my own parents said all of those horrible things about you.”
I slowly stroked up and down her back and planted a kiss on her head. “I know you’re mad at them, but they do still love you. Maybe...you should try to clear the air with them before we leave.”
Twilight shook her head in my embrace. “It wouldn’t do any good. They’re not gonna listen to me unless, for some reason, we break up.”
“Twilight, I don’t like the things they said either, but they’re still your parents. It’s okay to be upset with them for now, but you shouldn’t stay mad at them for too long,” I told her.
“How? They clearly don’t approve of our relationship, and you heard my dad. He said I wouldn’t be welcome as long as we’re together,” Twilight countered.
I cupped Twilight’s cheeks in my hands and looked into her eyes. “Listen, no matter what happens, they will always love you, and there is nothing that can change that, no matter how many fights you guys have. Take it from a guy who lost both of his parents. My advice to you is...cherish your parents while you still have them.”
Before Twilight could respond, there was a knock at the hotel room door. Twilight walked over to answer it.
“Hey, sis. Can we talk for a minute?” asked Shining Armor.
“Not if you’re just gonna act like Mom and Dad and put Jake down for being a human,” Twilight responded with a glare.
“I promise I won’t,” Shining said,
“Let him in,” I told Twilight.
She stepped aside as her brother made his way into the room. “I feel I should start by saying...I have no problem with your relationship, even though you aren’t a pony.”
Twilight was shocked. “Really?!”
“Yeah, hehe. To be honest, I didn’t know how slow dragons grew when you hatched Spike, so I thought you two would be a-“ Shining started.
“Nope, no, uh-uh, no way. I do not think of Spike that way,” Twilight cut off.
Shining chuckled. “Yeah, I know. But, like I said, I have no problems with you not being a pony,” Shining told me.
“T-Thank you,” I said.
“However, I do have doubts about you. Twilight is my little sister, after all, and I don’t want to see her get hurt,” Shining added.
“What are you saying?” Twilight asked, rubbing her face with her hoof.
“All I ask is that...I want to know that Jake is right for you,” Shining answered.
“A-Alright. Here, I’ll show you,” Twilight said. She then walked over to the light switch and turned off the lights. Then she took a seat next to me on the bed. “Watch this.”
Twilight’s horn lit up, and a screen appeared in between us and Shining Armor. On the screen, Twilight and I were in Golden Oaks Library. This was before Twilight ascended to an alicorn, so she didn’t have any wings. She was writing things on a notepad while I was talking and folding papers into miniature paper airplanes. She then looked up at me with sympathy.
This was when Twilight and I first met, and I was telling her about my parents.
The screen switched to another time where I was comforting Twilight after moving out of the library. She had been crying, but I was having none of it. I gave her hugs, ear scratches, and other things.
As I watched the memories play through, I looked at Twilight. She was smiling, and tears were starting to well up in her eyes. I smiled as well, and held her hoof with my hand.
The screen went to a time where I was the one with tears in my eyes. I remembered the day clearly, the 20th anniversary of my parents’ death. Twilight was the one to comfort me as I cried. We weren’t a couple at the time, but her hugs were still more than enough to cheer me up.
The memories moved by a bit faster after Twilight got her wings. We read together, ran together, cleaned the library together, hung out together. During all of this, I looked at my marefriend, thinking only one thing.
How did I never see it before?
After a minute, the screen faded, and Twilight turned the lights on.
Shining Armor was nodding to himself with a smile. “Well, it seems I have nothing to worry about. You make my sister happy, and that’s all I came here to find out.” He suddenly became very serious. “But if you ever do anything to hurt her, we will have a problem.”
“You have my word. I would never do anything to hurt her,” I assured.
“Alright then. I’ll see you around,” he said. With that, he left Twilight and me alone.
I sat back down next to Twilight and simply smiled, saying nothing.
Twilight giggled. “What’s wrong?”
I kept smiling, slightly shaking my head. “Nothing. That long, huh?”
Twilight gave me a little shove. “What are you talking about?”
“You had a crush on me for that long,” I explained.
Twilight suddenly blushed fiercely. “Umm, y-yeah. I-I wanted to say something, b-but I didn’t want to ruin-“
I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers. She melted into me, and that marked our longest and most passionate kiss to date.
I looked into her sparkling, beautiful eyes once again. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to notice you.”
A lone tear rolled down her cheek, and she even gave a cute giggle. “I told you, it’s fine. It...you were worth the wait.”
We kissed again and laced down on the bed. I thought we were about to start an extra cuddle session, but Twilight kept kissing me, instead of snuggling against my side, which she usually did.
I opened my mouth to say something, but she suddenly slipped her tongue into my mouth. My eyes went wide with shock, and my breath hitched. It was so long and...surprisingly soft and sweet.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, and quickly backed off. “A-Are you alright?”
I was breathing heavily. “Y-Yeah, you just usually aren’t so...active during our cuddle sessions.”
She blushed furiously again. “O-Oh, sorry, we can just go back to what we usually do then.”
“Hold on, I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” I countered.
Twilight’s blush somehow got even bigger. “Well, then...I-I was kind of hoping instead of our usual cuddle session, we could try a...make-out session.”
“Sorry, what was that?” I smirked.
“I thought we could try a-“
That was all the invitation I needed. I tackled her onto her back and kissed her furiously. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience kissing, or at least, making out, so I just did what she did before. I pushed my tongue into her mouth, but she pushed back with her own. As our tongues fought for control, Twilight used her wings to caress the sides of my body. I had to fight the urge to laugh because they were soft. I stroked her sides with my hands as well, and she suddenly hummed into my mouth. To make a long story short, we made out until we fell asleep.
The next morning, we were walking with determination back to Twilight’s parents’ house. Or at least, I was walking with determination. Twilight was behind me, trying to think of something to get me to stop.
“Are you sure you want to do this? They’re not gonna change their minds,” Twilight pleaded.
“I know. I just need to say this,” I said, keeping on my journey. No one makes my marefriend cry without answering to me, not even her parents.
We finally got to the front door of her parents’ house, and I knocked on the door furiously.
After a moment, Twilight Velvet opened the door. “What are you doing here?” she growled.
“I love your daughter,” I said.
“I don’t care-“ she started.
“I’m not finished! I love your daughter, and she loves me, and there’s nothing you can say about it. You don’t have to like me, but I don’t really care. You’re not gonna find any creature in this world that loves Twilight more than I do. I don’t know if marriage is in our future or not, but either way, I ask that you get over yourself and make up with your daughter. If not...well, I can guarantee you’re gonna regret it. That’s all I have to say. Have a good day.”
With that, I stormed off toward the train station with Twilight.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
I hope you enjoyed this piece of half drama, half romance. Also, if you’re wanting to submit a chapter for this, here’s a challenge: see if you can write a chapter including Sunset Shimmer. You don’t have to, but I just wanna see if someone can do it. Also, I’ll be back in school tomorrow...yippee
How to prank your herd (by ThePinkedWonder)
“Are you sure about giving them this ‘gift’, Jake?” Spike asked.
“I do, Spike. They might not like it at first, but in an hour or so we will all be laughing about it.”
“Well, okay, if you say so.”
Hey, Jake Taylor here. I have the two greatest, cutest marefriends ever, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, and it is amazing how well we get along. And their kisses and cuddles...I can’t describe how great it feels.
But as wonderful as that all is, and it is so wonderful, my mischievous side felt that it was time to have some fun with them in a different way. Thinking about how much Rainbow Dash loves pranks, I thought that, with Spike’s help, I would prank Starlight and Twilight with a special “gift”.
“So, Twilight and Starlight are on the way, right?” I asked.
“Yeah. Twilight wanted to give Starlight a friendship lesson at noon, and you know how she likes to do things exactly when she plans to do them,” Spike answered.
“Oh yeah, and I will never forget when I learned that the hard way. But it’s another minute to noon, so they should be here in the library at any second.”
But, before Spike could say anything back, Twilight and Starlight came walking into the library through one of the green doors. I don’t know if Twilight Sparkle had ever been even five seconds late when she planned to do something at a certain time unless something was seriously wrong.
“Oh, hey, guys,” Twilight greeted.
“I didn’t expect to see you two here,” Starlight said.
Spike waved a claw in Twilight's and Starlight’s direction. “Hey, Twilight, Starlight, we thought you would be here soon.”
“And I’m glad you two are here because I have a surprise.”
“Really?” Twilight asked with a big smile on her face.
“What is it?!” Starlight asked with an even bigger smile. It hadn’t been too long since Twilight and our other friends befriended Starlight, and soon afterward she met me and became one of my two marefriends. Because she spent many years terrified of making friends and risk them leave her behind, like she thought happened once when she was still a filly, these moments are especially joyful for her.
“Well, you see those two boxes I have wrapped up?”
Twilight pointed a hoof at the two gifts I laid on a purple couch that she and Starlight like using when they are in the library. “You mean those two?”
“Yep! That green one on the right is yours, Twilight, and the one in blue is for you, Starlight.”
“Wow, you didn’t have to do this, Jake!” Twilight exclaimed, though I beg to differ.
“Yeah, what made you do it?”
“The better question is, why wouldn’t I get a gift for the two best marefriends a guy could ever have?”
With huge smiles, Twilight and Starlight ran to me, and I knelt down to give them a hug. I gave them each a kiss, then a *boop* on their muzzles at the same time, and I will never get used to the cute giggle they always give when I “boop” them. This was why I didn’t let them rise on their hind legs to hug me; giving them their dose of “boops” at face-level further adds to the cuteness of their giggles.
“Aw, Jake, you are too good to Starlight and me!”
“I seriously doubt it, Twi. But don’t you two want to open your gifts?”
“Oh, yes, yes, we do! Er, you do want to, right, Twilight?” Starlight asked.
“Of course I do! Your friendship lesson can wait another minute or two.”
“Wow, Twilight. You must be excited to not want to do something at exactly the time you planned to do it,” Spike said.
Twilight rolled her eyes at Spike’s little jab at her. “Oh, ha-ha, Spike.”
“I have an idea. How about you two open your gifts at the same time?” I suggested.
Twilight and Starlight turned their heads to each other, which I always find cute.
“Okay!” Starlight responded.
“So, on three?” Twilight asked.
“On three!”
“One...two...three!” Starlight and Twilight said at the same time.
On the count of three, my marefriends used their magic to pull off the white bow I tied on the boxes, then pulled off the wrapping paper to reveal a brown box. They did it in almost the exact same way.
But when they each opened their box, a bunch of confetti, plastic green snakes flew out and scattered in every direction.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
Screaming, Twilight and Starlight ran out one of the library doors, and Spike and I had ourselves a big laugh at the prank we just pulled on them!
“Ha ha ha! Oh, Jake, that was just too good!”
“Yes, yes, it was, Spike!”
I leaned and extended my arm downward, with my hand in a fist, and Spike raised his claw in a fist. While still chuckling, we “fist-pumped”.
“Oh man, how long do you think they will keep running?” Spike asked.
“Well, I’ll give Twilight another seven seconds, and Starlight another five.”
“Why do you give Twilight more time?”
“Because not only did it scare Twilight, it was something she didn’t expect, and you know how she is about things happening that she didn’t plan for,” I explained.
“Ha, good point. But you better hope they are not mad about that!”
“Well, I was already planning to make it up to them by cuddling Twilight her way tonight, and cuddle Starlight the way she likes it tomorrow night.”
“I hope that will be enough to--”
Rainbow flew into the library with a concerned frown. “Hey, what’s going on?!”
“Oh, hey, Rainbow, and what do you mean?” I asked.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, Twilight and Starlight are outside crying over something, and I thought you two might know what it is.”
“Wait, what?!” Spike shouted with his eyes widened.
“Oh, no, Spike! That prank worked too well, and it scared them more than I thought!”
“Wait, they’re crying over a prank you two did?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah, and I wish I never did it to my marefriends! What have I done?!”
“Well, you two better hurry up and get out there to calm Twilight and Starlight before their tears flood Ponyville!” Rainbow ordered, but not that she needed to!
With Rainbow staying behind, Spike and I ran out of the library as fast as our feet could go. I couldn’t believe that I scared Starlight and Twilight so much with that prank, and I planned to never prank them again!
After Jake Taylor and Spike had left the castle to calm down Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, Rainbow Dash peeked out the door the two worried friends sped out of and said, “Guys, I think it's okay to make yourselves visible again.”
As if out of thin air, Twilight and Starlight reappeared in the library, near the door Jake and Spike sped out of the room from. The three mares then laughed heartily.
“Ha ha ha! Oh, did you two see their faces?!” Rainbow asked.
“Ha ha ha! Yeah, and they looked and sounded so freaked-out!” Starlight answered.
“It’s a good thing we mastered the invisibility spell we used, Starlight, or you and I would have missed Jake’s and Spike’s reaction! And this is your friendship lesson: how to reverse prank your boyfriend.”
“We mean our boyfriend, Twilight. And it’s also a good thing you overheard Jake and Spike talking about that prank, Rainbow, or Twilight and I wouldn’t have known about it, and readied a prank of our own!”
“But, I can’t help but feel a little bad, Starlight. He loves us so much, and hates to think that he might have hurt us,” Twilight admitted in a guilty voice tone.
“Don’t worry, Twi. Knowing Jake, he’ll just be happy that he didn’t actually hurt your and Starlight’s feelings,” Rainbow pointed out.
“And we can make it up to him by you cuddling him the way he likes it tonight, Twilight, and I can cuddle him his way tomorrow night when it’s my turn to cuddle with him,” Starlight explained with a wink.
“That sounds good to me, Starlight,” Twilight replied.
As the three mares continued to chuckle at their reverse prank, they thought about how Twilight and Starlight wanted to make up to Jake by cuddling with him his way, because Jake had the same idea to make up to Twilight and Starlight, but by cuddling with them their way.
Perhaps it was a sign that the three were perfect for each other, and another reason why Jake Taylor couldn’t bring himself to choose just one of them.
Author's Notes:
Thanks to ThePinkedWonder for adding another chapter to this story. Seriously, people, it's not hard. Expect yet another chapter soon from yours truly
Far too early (by Shimmer Code)
Jake Taylor silently entered the room of his lovely marefriend Starlight Glimmer. She was nestled in her sheets, sleeping cutely, breathing soft and calm as her belly lifted in perfect harmony of sweet dreams.
Smiling happily, Jake made his way to the bedroom curtains clutching them tightly in his hands. It was such a shame to wake a such sleeping beauty, yet needed to be done. With a chuckle, he yanked open the curtains, a flood of warm shimmering sunlight bathed over Starlight much like an ocean wave.
“Ahhh!” Starlight flew into the air like a cat, bouncing hard on the bed before flying off to the floor below.
“Wakey-wakey!” Jake proudly yelled, dressed in a pair of summer shorts and a navy blue shirt.
“What the buck is wrong with you!?” Starlight lifted her head over the edge of the bed, heaving wildly from shock and her mane a complete mess of tangles.
“We're going to start an exercise routine!” Jake did a small spin showing off his new clothes.
“No exercise! Must become comatose…” Starlight shuffled adorably back under her sheets with a loud pout.
“Phst! Don't you remember last week!?” Jake yanked the sheets off the mare with force, Starlight gazing up to him with squinted eyes.
The mare let her mind drift back to the past like a calm flowing river. Memories of things once spoken lifting from the haze of forgetfulness. It was an exact week from this uncomfortable morning.
Jake and Starlight sat beside a nice cozy fire in the library, both reading their favorite genres of literature and having a lovely night.
“Oh yeah? We read together and I loved you!” Starlight gave a half-asleep smile.
“Yeaaah. More like…” Jake snorted sarcastically beside the bright glowing window.
Starlight simply couldn't enjoy her book that night, she found herself watching Jake read in complete awe of the moment. The young man was munching on a few nearby snacks on his lap, lost in his tale of the seven seas of Equestria. The mare frowning a bit annoyed, gently closing her book and popping her lips softly.
“You're getting...pudgy?” Starlight narrowed her eyes slowly towards Jake.
Starlight blew a loud raspberry into the air lacklusterly, rolling cutely onto her backside as she placed her hooves delicately upon her soft round belly.
“Wouldn't you rather cuddle?” Starlight giggled with a swish of her tail and a cute, pleading expression.
“Nice try, but I want you out of bed in five minutes!” Jake held his ground with dignity.
Starlight quickly let her smile fade into a disgruntled little frown. Groaning as if someone tossed her off a cliff, the mare slid out of bed, stretching her body in a feminine manner. Smacking her lips, the unicorn glared to Jake with squinted eyes once more.
“I'll meet you in the kitchen…” Starlight grumbled, engulfing her body in warm magic.
The mare vanished from view, teleporting towards the kitchen, yet simply reappeared in her own room just as quickly as she disappeared, running straight into her bedroom wall with a loud thud, falling over on her side pouting up a storm.
“I hate mornings!” She yelled in annoyance and vanished again, this time with more focus.
The kitchen was oddly silent as Starlight daintily sipped on her warm glass of coffee. Both had agreed that no exercise could begin without some proper brew. The unicorn loved her coffee warm with a dash of cream and a pinch of hazelnut. Jake, on the other hoof, was a simple man, one who enjoyed his brew piping hot and black.
Starlight sat at the table with her mug clutched in both hooves. Jake walked to her side taking a deep sip from his steaming hot mug, only to wince in place from the horribly scorching burn of his morning brew.
Starlight batted her long lashes in a deadpan manner, watching Jake take yet another sip from the mug, who winced even harder before letting out a slightly soft moan.
Starlight quirked her thin brow in absolute surprise when her boyfriend didn't bother to let the drink cool. Instead, he took a deep breath and pursed his lips together firmly, only to take another deep sip and moan in pain afterward.
With a roll of her eyes, Starlight shot Jake's mug with a bolt of magical energy. The young man whimpered in shock as the coffee froze into a block of ice around his lips. Jake pulled away only to have the black cube of ice dangle connected to his tongue.
Starlight lifted her hoof over her mouth cutely, soft soprano giggles filling the kitchen.
It wouldn't be until a bit later that both had walked over to the edge of The Everfree Forest, Jake happily stretching in place before the entrance in an attempt to limber up, and Starlight yawning at his side, her once vibrant eyes heavy with sleep.
“Whenever you're ready?” she yawned in slight annoyance.
“I'm ready baby!” Jake excitedly proclaimed to nopony in particular and taking a jumping start into the forest.
Two loud snaps filled the bright morning sky above. Jake screamed in agony as both of his ankles seemed to snap like twigs. Starlight frowned in anger, watching her boyfriend collapse on the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Har-har! Get up and run!” Starlight snorted through her nostrils cutely.
“Argggh! I can't! My ankles snapped!” Jake groaned in pain on the ground as he rolled over onto his backside.
“Both of them!? What are you, made of glass!?” Starlight shook her head softly to the side, placing both hooves atop his chest and focusing.
“What are you doing!?” He grunted.
“I'm teleporting us home!” The unicorn replied with a cute, scrunched muzzle.
“No, too much pain! If I travel through an interdimensional highway, I'll vomit…” Jake gave a loud hiss of pain from below his marefriend.
“What can we do then!?” Starlight asked in utter confusion, her boyfriend flashing a sheepish gaze.
It would be about an hour later that the doors to the castle would open up widely to the world. Twilight worriedly paced around the main hall of her home, wondering where Starlight and Jake vanished to abruptly this morning.
Yet Twilight watched in stunned silence at the farce before her. Jake sat atop Starlight's back joyously as he rode her into the castle for everypony to see. Twilight bit her lower lip, holding back a wave of giggles.
“You're very gentle,” Jake cooed into Starlight's ear, wishing he had a Sugarcube to reward her with.
“What happ..ahahaha!” Twilight simply exploded into a fit of laughter.
Jake joined in with a hearty laugh, this being quite a sight to behold.
With a loud grumble, Starlight bucked her boyfriend off her backside. Jake toppled over onto the floor, quickly joined by Twilight rolling on her back in giggles. With one last huff of annoyance, Starlight began to canter off towards her room.
“I'm going to bed!” She snapped. It was far too early for shenanigans.
Author's Notes:
Shout-out to Shimmer Code for not only writing a chapter but making it a total comedy as well
Jake and the Fiery Unicorn (by Peni Parker)
Jake Taylor was reading in the castle library. It was rare that he had the castle all to himself, so he decided to make the most of the peace and quiet by catching up on some Daring Do books. At the moment, Starlight was on the road with Trixie, Twilight was in Canterlot with Rarity on a friendship mission, and Spike was at another rousing guys night with Big Mac and Discord playing Ogres & Oubliettes (which he was invited to but declined since Discord had magically turned him into an elder lich the previous guys night).
“Ah,” he happily sighed as he adjusted himself on the couch in order to get even comfier. “I love my marefriends more than anything, but I’m glad for the occasional alone time. Being the boyfriend of two mares isn’t always easy.... Why am I talking to myself like this?” he wondered.
Ignoring his own rhetorical question, Jake went back to reading his Daring Do book. He had just gotten to the part where Daring Do snuck into Dr. Caballeron’s camp to retrieve a golden statue when he heard a crashing sound coming from down the hall.
“Hello?” Jake asked as he put his book down, unsure whether he’d actually heard a noise or if his mind was just playing tricks on him.
A few seconds of silence passed before he decided to investigate. As Jake got up from his seat and made his way towards the library doors, he couldn’t help but wonder what the noise could have been.
’Could Twilight, Starlight, or Spike have gotten home early?’ He thought.
As Jake looked out the library’s doors, he turned his head to the right and saw nothing. When he turned his head left, however, he saw what appeared to be an amber colored unicorn with a crimson and yellow mane stumbling out of a room on the other side of the hall.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jake asked as he made his way over to the disoriented pony, wondering who she was and where she came from.
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” the strange unicorn said as she slowly lifted her head. “The portal just threw me out a bit too…AAAAHHHH!”
“AAAAHHHH!” Jake screamed as he fell backwards, startled by the unicorn’s sudden outburst.
The strange unicorn just stared at him with a look of total shock.
“Y-Y-You’re human!” she blurted out.
“Um, yeah, last I checked,” Jake calmly replied as he got back on his feet, sensing the strange unicorn’s distress. “I’m Jake Taylor, and you are?”
“I’m...Sunset Shimmer,” the unicorn introduced herself as she calmed down a bit.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer,” Jake commented as he extended his arm.
Sunset Shimmer extended her right forehoof as Jake took it in his right hand and shook it.
“Y-Yeah, nice to meet you too,” Sunset said back, a hint of confusion in her voice.
Jake couldn’t help but get a strange feeling from Sunset. He was used to ponies freaking out a bit when they saw him for the first time, but this was different. Sunset’s reaction hadn’t been purely because he was a human; after all, she clearly knew he was a human. No, Sunset seemed to be startled by something else.
“So, um, Jake,” Sunset spoke up. “Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
“Uh, no, I guess not,” Jake answered.
“Why are you here? Where did you come from? Were you born in Equestria? If not, how did you get here and how come you didn’t turn into a pony? How long have you…” Sunset began spouting off so quickly Jake couldn’t get a word in edge wise.
As Jake listened to Sunset’s seemingly endless series of questions, he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. The whole situation reminded him of his first encounter with Twilight.
“Um, did I say something funny?” Sunset inquired after slowing down her questioning and picking up on Jake’s amused state.
“No, no, it’s just, you’re reminding me an awful lot of Twilight right now,” he confessed.
“You know Twilight?” Sunset asked with a bit of surprise, before coming to an obvious realization. “Of course you know Twilight, you’re in her castle.”
“Yeah, Twilight and I are in a relationship,” Jake admitted.
“WHAT?!” Sunset inexplicably shouted. “Are you saying you and Twilight are in a…relationship-relationship; like boyfriend and girlfriend?!”
Jake had to take a moment to recompose himself after Sunset’s sudden, and loud, question before he could answer.
“Well, it’s…complicated,” he started to explain. “You see, I am in a relationship with Twilight, but I’m also in a relationship with a pony named Starlight Glimmer.”
“Woah, woah, woah,” Sunset stated as she placed her left forehoof in the air. “You’re telling me that you, Twilight, and this Starlight Glimmer are in a three-way relationship?” she asked in disbelief.
“Sort of. It’s kind of a long story, but the short version is that they both fell in love with me, and I fell in love with both of them, so now we’re in all in a relationship together,” Jake clarified.
Sunset just stared at Jake with a vacant expression as she tried to process what she’d just heard.
“Are you kidding me?” she said so softly it was practically inaudible.
“Sorry, what was that?” Jake asked.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Sunset repeated, once again inexplicably shouting, as she turned around and yelled down the hall with a white-hot fire in her eyes. “TWILIGHT HAS A BOYFRIEND AND A GIRLFRIEND?!”
“W-Well, I-I’m not sure I’d c-call Starlight Twilight’s g-girlfriend…” Jake tried to interject.
“I CAN’T GET A SINGLE DATE BUT TWILIGHT IS IN A THREE-WAY RELATIONSHIP?!” Sunset continued, completely ignoring Jake. “UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!”
Jake didn’t know what to do. Sunset was clearly upset, and he wanted to help her, but he didn’t know how.
“Um, Sunset, maybe you should calm down a little,” he gently suggested.
Sunset turned back around to face Jake. She was breathing heavily from all her yelling and had a frustrated look on her face, and strangely enough, tears in her eyes.
“I-I’m sorry if I what I said upset you,” Jake stated, trying not to sound nervous. “B-But it’s probably best if you just calm down.”
As the tears continued to flow from Sunset’s eyes, her face slowly changed from one of frustration to one of sadness. She fell onto her rump and placed her forehooves over her eyes, trying to cover up her distraught state.
“I-I’m sorry I y-yelled like that,” she tried to say through her tears. “I-It’s just, h-how come Twilight g-gets to have two lovers, but I c-can’t even get one?”
The thought crossed Jake’s mind to once again state that Twilight and Starlight weren’t in an intimate relationship, but he quickly dismissed it. Instead, he approached Sunset, got down on his knees, and embraced the amber unicorn in a warm and supportive hug.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “Just let it all out.”
Sunset lowered her hooves from her face as she returned the hug and placed her head against Jake’s chest. Her tears began to stain Jake’s shirt, but he didn’t care; he just wanted Sunset to feel better.
The two of them sat in the hallway for about five minutes as Sunset cried out her feelings. When Sunset’s tears started to dry up, she broke the hug and stood up on all four hooves, but avoided direct eye contact with Jake.
“T-Thank you, I needed that,” Sunset gratefully, but sullenly, stated as she turned around and started walking towards the room she’d emerged for earlier. “I’ll just be going now, sorry I bothered you.”
“Sunset, wait!” Jake said before she got too far.
Sunset turned around to face Jake but didn’t say anything in response, still trying to avoid eye contact.
“You don’t have to go,” he said as he approached the mare. “I know we just met, but if you want to talk about what’s going on I’m willing to listen. I promise I won’t be judgmental or anything.”
Sunset finally made eye contact with Jake and, upon seeing the sincerity in his eyes, decided that maybe it would be good to talk to him.
“O-Okay,” she said with a slight amount of hesitation.
Jake and Sunset were sitting together in the library. It had been about ten minutes since Sunset had agreed to stay and talk about her recent outburst and breakdown, though so far she hadn’t said a word. Jake contemplated getting the conversation started but figured it would be better for Sunset to make the first move.
“Sorry again for all of that,” Sunset finally spoke up. “It’s just, the whole reason I came here was to ask Twilight for relationship advice, and when you told me about how you, her, and this other mare are all in a relationship together, I got a little…jealous.”
Jake nodded his head in acknowledgment but remained silent.
“I mean, I’ve been trying so hard and for so long to find someone who will love me, and it’s just so frustrating,” Sunset continued as fresh tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. “W-what if there’s something wrong with me? What if…what if I never find someone?”
Sunset closed her eyes in an effort to stop the tears, but they started to flow anyways. She felt embarrassed at crying in front of Jake again, until she opened her eyes to see Jake sitting right in front of her, his hands on her shoulders and a serious look in his eyes.
“Sunset, listen to me,” he sternly said. “There is nothing wrong with you. You just haven’t found the right someone yet is all.”
Sunset felt her tears begin to dry up as the power of Jake’s words rang in her ears.
“And even if you never do find someone, you’ll still have your friends,” Jake continued as a small smile crossed his face. “Friends like me.”
Sunset’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates.
“Y-You consider me a…friend? Even after the way I’ve acted today?” she asked in sheer disbelief.
Jake simply nodded his head as small tears started to form in his own eyes.
“Of course, I do,” he said. “And I hope that you can consider me a friend too.”
Once again, tears formed in Sunset’s eyes, only this time they were tears of joy. She quickly lifted her fore hooves and wrapped them around Jake’s neck in a hug.
“I can see why Twilight likes you,” she softly said. “You’re a really nice guy.”
Jake returned the hug as his own tears of joy started to flow.
“Well, I try,” he jested, happy that his new friend was feeling better.
Twilight Sparkle was just returning home from her friendship mission in Canterlot with Rarity. It had been a long day, and she was eager to see have a relaxing evening with Jake, knowing that Starlight and Spike, in all likelihood, wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
As Twilight opened the front door to the castle, she swore she could hear laughter coming from the library. One of the voices was clearly Jake’s, but the other she couldn’t place. Wondering who else was in the castle, she made her way over to the library.
“Hello, Jake?” Twilight asked as she poked her head into the library.
The sight that Twilight saw filled her with mixed emotions; she saw Jake sitting on the couch with Sunset Shimmer to his left, the two of them looking at what appeared to be the scrap book Twilight had given him for Hearths Warming.
’What is going on here?’ She thought with varying degrees of confusion and apprehension.
“Oh, hey, Twilight,” Jake said as he noticed his marefriend in the doorway.
“Hey, Twilight,” Sunset reiterated.
Twilight forced a smile as to not let her emotions show.
“Sunset, so good to see you!” she said as she approached the two, trying to sound as natural as possible. “I see you’ve met Jake.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sunset affirmed. “I actually came here to talk to you, but it turns out Jake is a really great listener and was able to help me instead.”
“Really? That’s great,” Twilight said through her forced smile as she took a seat to Jake’s right. “So, what are guys doing now?”
“Oh, I was just showing Sunset some of the pictures from my travels,” Jake explained.
“It’s really quite astonishing how many places he’s been,” Sunset commented. “I can’t believe you went to the Dragonlands and came back in one piece.”
“Well, I found that beneath their fiery exterior most dragons are big softies, not unlike a certain fiery unicorn I know,” Jake said as he gave Sunset a small nudge with his elbow.
“Oh stop, you’re embarrassing me,” Sunset retorted with a giggle as a small blush appeared on her face.
“Ahahaha,” Twilight nervously chimed in. “Wow, you two really seem to have become close in such a short time.”
“Hey, like I said, Jake’s a great listener,” Sunset said as she wrapped her hooves around Jake’s arm, causing Jake to now smile and blush as well.
Twilight took notice of just how close Sunset was getting to Jake and wrapped her own hooves around his other arm.
“That he is,” she said as she began to nuzzle his arm as well. “I’m so glad that he’s my boyfriend.”
Sunset gave a coy smile upon hearing Twilight emphasize the word ‘my’.
“From what I understand you already share him with another mare,” she slyly commented. “Maybe he wouldn’t mind having a third girlfriend?”
Sunset’s less-than-tactful suggestion caused Twilight to cease her nuzzling and stare daggers at the mare on the other end of the couch, while Jake’s eyes widened to their limits as he blushed even more.
“Alright, that’s it, come on, Jake,” Twilight authoritatively said as she got up from the couch and used her magic to pull Jake’s hand behind her.
“Wait, where are we going, Twilight?” Jake asked as the two of them crossed the room.
“We’re going to bed, and we’re going to cuddle like we’ve never cuddled before because you are my boyfriend,” Twilight replied.
“But what about Sunset?” Jake asked.
“She knows the way out,” Twilight pointedly stated as she turned around. “Good seeing you again, Sunset!” she half-heartedly shouted at the mare still on the couch.
“Um, uh, goodbye Sunset,” Jake also shouted as he and Twilight exited the room.
Sunset laughed a bit at the scene that had just unfolded in front of her.
“Goodbye, Jake,” she shouted back, unsure if he could actually hear her.
“Be seeing you around,” Sunset continued, much more impishly, as she got up and made her way to the portal room, a coquettish smiling forming on her face as she did so.
Author's Notes:
Huge shout-out to Peni Parker for not only writing another chapter, but for also taking up my Sunset Shimmer challenge. Don’t be surprised if I decide to write a second part to this
Peni Parker: Thanks for reading my chapter, everyone. Writing Sunset Shimmer into Romantic Mischief wasn’t easy, but I had so much fun doing it
Just a liiiiiiiiitle too far, don’t you think?
I don’t know why, but I have been looking forward to this night for a while now...and by a while, I mean one whole day. Nothing really special was going on, I was just about to spend the night cuddling with Twilight as per usual. But something just told me this time was going to be extra special.
Anyhow, I climbed into bed, and Twilight quickly joined me. Ever since the meeting with her parents went...let’s just say ‘south’, we both felt a lot closer, more than ever, in fact.
She eagerly pushed herself against my body, and I wrapped my arm around her. She gave me a small peck on the cheek and settled next to me.
“Goodnight, Jake. I love you,” Twilight whispered.
“Hold on, I wanna talk for a minute,” I said, resting my palm on her cheek.
She looked up at me with those big, violet eyes. “About what?”
“Well, don’t you feel like our cuddle sessions have been...better since I met your parents?” I asked.
“Umm...I guess,” Twilight admitted.
“Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with it. I’ve just been thinking about it for a while,” I said.
She tilted her head in thought. I don’t know why, but I always thought her thinking face was cute.
“I guess it’s because even though my parents don’t approve of you, I love you more than anything, and I would stand up to anypony for you,” she said.
This brought a huge smile to my face, and I could almost feel myself tearing up. “R-Really? You love me that much?”
Twilight simply nodded. “Of course!”
I allowed tears to fall down my cheeks as I rolled over to take Twilight in an even bigger hug. “Oh...I love you too. Even now, I just still can’t believe someone as amazing as you would fall in love with a hunk like me.”
Twilight moved her head up to face mine. Then, she suddenly held her lips against mine as we shared a passionate kiss. It felt like hours, though I’m not complaining, before she pulled away with tears in her eyes as well.
“Jake, don’t you ever think down about yourself. You are an amazing person, friend, and lover. I wouldn’t trade you for anything,” she said, her smile wide as ever.
We shared another passionate kiss...until she literally yawned in the middle of it. I snickered as she blushed with embarrassment.
“Alright, I can tell you’ve had a long day, so let’s settle down and enjoy this moment,” I said as I moved into a position more comfortable for sleeping. She rested her head on my chest, and we both slowly fell to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to a particularly loud snort. I shot my eyes open as Starlight slowly woke herself up.
Now, I’m a huge Jeff Foxworthy fan, so I had memorized a lot of his jokes. So, as Starlight woke herself up, one joke in particular came to mind.
”Fact of life: If you wake yourself up with a snore...the first thing you do is look around to see who’s laughin’ at ya’.”
Sure enough, Starlight darted her gaze every which way, until her eyes rested in me. I, for one, was laughing so hard and so quiet that my head actually felt like it was going to burst.
Starlight blushed furiously, put on one of her trademark nervous smiles, and rested her head back on my chest.
As my laughing became a bit more...audible, I felt the annoyance coming from the unicorn on my chest. I gently rubbed her mane, still laughing. “I love you. I’m sorry.”
Starlight let out a sigh. “It’s fine.”
It took me a minute to calm down before I pulled up Starlight’s chin to make her look at me. “Look, I’m sorry I’m laughing at you...it’s just a small joke where I come from. I would’ve done the same with literally anypony else, even...” I trailed off.
“‘Even’ who?” Starlight asked.
“Twilight.” I then came to a conclusion. “Wasn’t I cuddling with Twilight last night?”
“What? No, you cuddled with her two nights ago for the second night in a row, so she agreed let me cuddle with you for two nights,” Starlight answered.
I rapid-fire blinked in conclusion. “W-What?”
“Oh come on! You were there when we made the deal!” Starlight countered.
She was right. Twilight had cuddled with me for two nights in a row, but there were a few things Starlight was missing. When the deal was made, Twilight convinced Starlight to let her cuddle with me for one more night in return for me getting to cuddle with Starlight for an extra night.
“That was yesterday, and my extra night with Twilight was last night.”
“No, that was two nights ago,” Starlight countered, becoming a little annoyed.
“I-I don’t remember that,” I said.
“Oh, I think I know what’s going on. Yesterday was pretty dull, so you probably don’t remember a whole lot that happened, including last night. Happens to me all the time,” Starlight assured.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, let’s just get up and have a great day, so you can actually remember it,” Starlight said, playfully poking my shoulder.
“A-Alright, I guess,” I said.
With that, we both went to have breakfast.
After breakfast, Jake went over to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Twilight and Starlight alone for a friendship lesson.
“So...” Twilight said, interrupting the lesson. “Did it work?”
Starlight put on a tiny smirk. “You bet. Same thing again?”
“Alright, as long as this doesn’t go too far.”
I lifted the covers, so Starlight could wiggle up next to me. While Twilight enjoyed sleeping at face-level with me, Starlight preferred to wrap her forehooves around my stomach, so I had easy access to pet her mane.
“Hey, Starlight, still awake?” I asked gently.
“Mmmm...mhm,” she hummed.
“Have...have you ever considered me meeting your family?” I asked.
She looked up at me. “Are you sure? Twilight told me how much of a disaster meeting her parents was.”
“I know, but don’t you at least want them to know that you’re...dating?”
“I guess *yawn*, but can we talk about this in the morning? I’m exhausted,” Starlight said.
I giggled. Today was a really long day. After meeting up with the Cutie Mark(ed) Crusaders, Starlight and I had the times of our lives.
“Of course. I love you,” I said, planting a kiss on her head.
“Love you too,” she said, closing her eyes.
The next morning, the sun didn’t shine directly into my eye, but it bounced off the wall, and the glint caught my eye. Talk about bad luck.
I groaned and sat up, waking up Twilight.
“Morning, Jake,” she said.
“Morning, Twi. You really need some better...curtains,” I trailed off again.
“Everything alright?”
“Am I going crazy?” I asked sternly.
Twilight snickered. “What are you talking about?”
“I could’ve sworn I went to bed with Starlight last night!” I yelled.
Twilight furrowed her brow and tilted her head in confusion. “What? You two aren’t gonna cuddle ‘till tonight.”
“Wha-That’s exactly what she said!”
“Are you feeling alright, Jake?” Twilight asked with seemingly genuine concern.
“I DON’T KNOW!” I yelled as I stormed out of the room. “Don’t you dare follow me!”
On my way to the library, I ran into Starlight.
“Is everything okay? I heard yelling,” she said.
“Tell me, when did Twilight convince you to let us cuddle for one more night?!” I asked.
Starlight flinched from my volume. “Umm, that was yesterday. We were gonna cuddle tonight...but I guess if you don’t want-“
I cut her off with a groan. “What is going on with you two?! First, I somehow wake up with you, and you say I had a boring day and forgot about it. Then, I wake up with Twilight, and she says that never happened! I swear, if this is some sort of time spell gone wrong!”
Starlight suddenly looked as if she were about to cry. “J-Jake, I-I would never d-do such a thing.”
Seeing her expression made me calm down a little. “Sorry, it’s just...ugh! I’m gonna go clear my head. Is it alright if we postpone our cuddles until tomorrow?”
Starlight blinked a few times before slightly nodding. She still looked a little down, so I gave her a quick hug. Right before I let go, I gave her a quick kiss, just for good measure.
I stood back up and made my way toward my room.
Starlight looked down the hall Jake just went down.
“We’re going just a little too far, don’t you think?” asked Twilight, joining her student.
“Yeah, I think we’ve officially crossed the line,” Starlight agreed.
“Think we should tell him?” Twilight asked.
“Definitely,” Starlight answered. “But I have a good idea for how to do it.”
The day went by rather slow. I was so confused, I only left my room a total of three times. Twice to go to the bathroom, and once to go eat. I tried explaining my dilemma to Spike, but he wasn’t much help.
Surprisingly, I started to tire out pretty early in the day. I’ve never been lazy, and I didn’t exactly do much, but I just felt...tired. Not really caring, I fell asleep.
A few hours later, I woke up on my side. There was something directly in front of me, and something else directly behind me. I blinked a few times and realized I was spooning Starlight, while simultaneously being spooned by Twilight, who was behind me. I had my arms around Starlight, and Twilight had her hooves around me.
That is...until I shot out of bed.
“SERIOUSLY?!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Both of my marefriends caught air out of surprise, and looked directly at me.
“W-What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.
“I know for a FACT that I fell asleep without either of you here!” I bellowed.
Twilight and Starlight looked at me with confusion...until they looked at each other, giggling.
“What the hay is going on here?!” I shouted.
The both broke out laughing and looked at me.
“S-Sorry, Ja-hake. We’ve been messing with you the entire time,” said Twilight.
“We planned the entire thing out,” Starlight added.
I panted a few times. “...WHAT?!”
“Here us out! We came up with the idea a few days ago. When you fell asleep cuddling Twilight, we moved you to my room to make it look like you were cuddling me instead. Then, we did the same thing yesterday and moved you to Twilight’s room. Finally, we decided to break it to you by double cuddling you,” Starlight said, still laughing.
“We made sure everything was the exact same by the time you woke up. What position we were in, the way you were sleeping, down to every wrinkle in the bed sheets,” Twilight added.
I started to calm down a little. “Wha-Bu-but...ho-how did I not wake up when you were moving me?”
“We cast a sleeping spell on you, so you wouldn’t feel a thing,” Twilight explained.
“S-Sorry for making you think you were going crazy,” Starlight added, calming down as well.
“S-So, that whole thing, acting oblivious and almost crying...that was just an act?” I asked.
“Well...being oblivious was an act...but to be honest, the time spell accusation really did strike a nerve,” Starlight answered. “But it’s fine. It was totally worth it!”
I took a minute to process everything they told me. After I went through it a few times, I started to break down and laugh. “Heh, eheh, haha, AHA HA!”
All three of us spent the next couple minutes laughing it off.
“You two...are geniuses,” I said, catching my breath.
“Thanks,” said Twilight.
I sat in between them on the bed. Suddenly, I came up with a way to get back at them.
“So...which one of you came up with this prank?” I asked slyly.
“It was my idea,” Twilight admitted, not realizing her mistake.
I tuned my entire body to face her. I felt Starlight backing away from me.
Twilight looked at me with confusion. “What are you-“
I cut her off by tackling her onto her back and digging my fingers into her sides. She started squealing and squirming adorably.
There was just something about seeing her smile and hearing her laugh that warmed my heart. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. I had to get even.
I continued my assault of tickles on her as she tried to get me off of her. I used one hand to tickle her side, just below her wing, and my other hand to tickle her neck. She tried to scrunch her neck up, but I just switched to the middle.
“JAKE! HAHA! STOP, PLEASE. I’M AHHH! I’M SORRY!” Twilight screamed.
“Not until I say so!” I yelled back.
Twilight continued to squeal and fight me, while Starlight just watched, giggling to herself.
I suddenly got the idea to grab onto one of her hooves and dug my fingers into that. Her eyes widened, and her screams intensified.
“NO FAIR! AHH! IT’S TWO AGAINST ONE!” Twilight yelled.
I looked behind me to see Starlight was holding Twilight’s back hooves and running a feather across them. I turned back to Twilight and focused on her neck.
“Are you ever gonna mess with me again?” I asked.
“N-AH! NO! I’M NEVER GONNA MESS WITH YOU AGAIN!” Twilight squealed.
“Are you gonna be a good little filly?” I asked.
“Wha-AAAAAHHHHH!”
I upped the ante as Starlight tickled her hooves with two feather now.
“Are you gonna be a good little filly?” I repeated.
“AHAH! YE-HES! I”LL BE A GOOD LITTLE FILLY!” she screamed.
“Promise?”
“YES! PLEASE, STOOOOOP!”
“‘Yes’ what?”
“I PROMISE I’LL BE A GOOD LITTLE FILLY!” she screamed.
I let go and got off of her, shooing away Starlight feathers. Twilight simply lay there with her hooves in the air, giggling like an infant.
I looked over to Starlight, who was still giggling as well.
“Oh? Do you want some?” I threatened, poking her sides.
“No! Get away! Not again!” she said, stumbling away from me.
I stood up and ran after her a little, even landing a tickle on her sides before she bolted out the door, screaming.
I went back to Twilight, who still lay on the floor, giggling. To my surprise, she hadn’t wet herself from how much she was laughing. I heaved her up onto the bed and got next to her under the covers.
“Let’s cuddle for real this time,” I said, giving her a kiss which she eagerly, passionately returned. For almost the rest of the day, we lay there in each other’s embrace.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
I’ve had this prank in mind ever since the first chapter. Tell me what you thought in the comments
A Tale of Two Mares (by Peni Parker (again))
Twilight Sparkle was in her bedroom, getting ready to turn in for the night. It was Starlight’s turn to spend the night with Jake, which meant that she’d be sleeping alone tonight. She didn’t mind sleeping alone, of course, but she did love it when she and Jake would cuddle on the nights she had him. The alicorn princess gave a small sigh just as she heard a knock on her door.
“Who is it?” Twilight asked, curious as to who would be knocking on her door at such a late hour.
“It’s Starlight,” came a voice from the other side of the door. “Can we talk, Twilight?”
Part of Twilight wanted to ask Starlight if whatever it was she wanted to talk about could wait until morning, but another part of her didn’t think that would be a good idea. The way Starlight had said, ‘Can we talk’ made Twilight feel that this was something that couldn’t wait.
“Sure, come on in,” she said.
Starlight opened the door and slowly walked inside. She had her head down and had a sad but serious look on her face.
“Is everything alright, Starlight?” Twilight asked out of concern for her friend.
“Y-Yes, but the thing is…” Starlight began to say before pausing to take a deep breath. “We need to talk...about us.”
“Us?” Twilight repeated, confused by what Starlight meant. “What do you mean by ‘us’?”
Starlight took another deep breath before answering.
“I mean us; you and me. More specifically, what you and I are in this relationship with Jake.”
Twilight’s confusion didn’t dissipate much with Starlight’s explanation.
“I’m still not sure I follow,” she said. “I thought we agreed that we were going to share Jake; we’d be his marefriends, and he’d be our boyfriend.”
“Yes, but...what are you and I in relationship to each other?!” Starlight clarified, raising her voice a bit. “I mean, you’re my friend and teacher, obviously, but are you my marefriend now too? Am I your marefriend? What are we, Twilight?” she concluded as small tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
It wasn’t that difficult for Twilight to pick up on how distraught all these questions were making Starlight. She’d sometimes thought about them herself but hadn’t given them any serious consideration. But Starlight, however, seemed almost obsessed with them.
“It’s okay, Starlight,” Twilight reassured her friend as she moved toward her and wrapped her in a wing hug. “Come on, let’s sit down and talk about this.”
Twilight broke the wing hug and led Starlight over to her bed. Both mares took a seat on the plush mattress as Starlight composed herself a bit better before speaking.
“I’m sorry I sprung this on you so late,” Starlight said. “But I’ve been asking myself these questions for a while now, and every time I ask them the need for answers becomes greater and greater. Now it’s to the point that they’re all I think about.”
Twilight placed her hoof on Starlight’s in a sign of support.
“I understand your need for answers, Starlight,” she comforted her friend and pupil. “To be honest, I’ve thought about those questions too, but I’ve never come up with any definitive answers.”
“It’s not just about not knowing the answers,” Starlight continued. “It’s the consequences that the answers could bring.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“I mean, suppose we agree that we are marefriends,” Starlight elucidated. “How will that affect our student-teacher relationship? What will other ponies think of us? W-What will J-Jake think of us? Would he…would he s-stop l-loving us?”
Starlight could no longer fight back against her emotions as she asked her final question. She broke down and started crying like she’d never cried before, tears flowing down her cheeks like rivers as she sobbed at the thought of Jake no longer loving her. Embarrassed, she brought her fore hooves up to her face in an attempt to hide her current state, but to no avail.
Twilight quickly wrapped Starlight in a full hug. Starlight returned the hug and placed her head against Twilight’s chest as cried out her feelings.
“I’m sure Jake would never stop loving us because of that,” Twilight softly whispered.
Neither mare said anything further for about ten minutes. Eventually, Starlight was able to compose herself a bit and broke the hug.
“I-I’m sure you’re right about Jake, b-but it’s just so s-scary to think about.” she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Starlight,” Twilight spoke up as gently as she possible. “Is the reason for all of this because you already do have feelings for me?”
Starlight didn’t answer. She just stared at the floor as she bit her lower lip.
“It’s alright if you do, Starlight,” Twilight reassured her as she placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I promise I won’t think any differently of you.”
Again Starlight said nothing, but she did nod her head up and down as new tears ran down her cheeks.
“Oh, Starlight,” Twilight said as she too started to cry. “I’m so sorry that this has been upsetting you for so long.”
Starlight looked up and made eye contact with Twilight through tear-filled eyes.
“D-Do...do you have feelings for m-me?” she asked.
Twilight quickly broke eye contact as she lowered her head. A million thoughts ran through her head as she contemplated what she was about to say next.
“Starlight,” she started to say as she resumed eye contact. “The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, but...I-I don’t know if I have those kinds of feelings for you.”
Starlight could feel her heart breaking upon hearing Twilight’s words.
“I’m not saying that I for sure don’t like you that way,” Twilight continued. “But right now I just don’t know how I feel. This whole relationship with you and Jake is wonderful, but it’s also confusing at times. I know that I love Jake, but I’m just not sure if I love you in the same way or not.”
Each word only made Starlight feel more heartbroken. She wanted to just run out of the room before she felt even worse, but she couldn’t bring herself to move an inch.
“I want to know though,” Twilight confessed. “I want to explore my relationship with you as much as my relationship with Jake, so...you think you can you give me some time for that?”
Starlight was still feeling a bit heartbroken, but she felt a little better knowing that there was still hope that Twilight might reciprocate her feelings for her one day.
“Y-Yeah, I can do that,” she said with a small smile.
Twilight returned the smile as she and Starlight once again hugged. New tears started to flow from each of them, but now they were tears of friendship and hope.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, though neither mare heard it.
“Hey, Twilight, have you seen Starlight?” Jake Taylor said from the other side of the door.
Starlight and Twilight both immediately broke their hug as they heard the sound of their boyfriend’s voice.
“J-Jake, i-is that you?” Twilight said, trying to sound as composed as possible.
There was a brief moment of silence before Jake spoke up again.
“Twilight, are you alright in here?” Jake asked, a clear hint of concern in his voice.
“W-We’re fine, Jake.” Starlight spoke up.
“Starlight?” Jake said with a mix of confusion and concern. “Okay, I’m coming in.”
“N-No, don’t…” Starlight tried to say just as the door opened.
As soon as Jake walked in the room he stopped dead in his tracks as his heart began to sink. The sight of his marefriends on the bed with tears in their eyes filled him with feeling of dread the likes of which he’d never felt before.
“Oh my gosh,” he anxiously said as he rushed over to the bed and placed a hand on each mare. “Are you two alright? What happened?”
“We’re fine, Jake,” Twilight confirmed. “We were just talking and got a little emotional is all.”
“Actually,” Starlight added. “There’s something I need to tell you, Jake.”
“Of course, Starlight, anything.” Jake replied as he turned his attention to his other marefriend.
“I-I...I have feelings for Twilight,” Starlight nervously confessed. “And I was afraid of what that would do to our relationship. I-I was afraid that you wouldn’t love me anymore if you knew I had feelings for her too.”
Jake wasted no time pulling Starlight into a warm and supportive hug.
“Starlight, I would never stop loving you for having feelings for Twilight,” he confided. “Our whole relationship is about sharing love with one another. If I can love both you and Twilight than of course you can love both me and her.”
Starlight couldn’t help but get emotional again as she heard Jake’s loving words.
“T-Thank you, Jake,” she happily cried. “I needed to hear that.”
Twilight started to get emotional as well as she joined in the hug.
“I don’t know what the future holds for the three of us, but I promise I’ll never stop caring about you both.” She commented.
“Same here,” Jake affirmed.
“S-Same here,” Starlight reiterated.
Author's Notes:
Not that I don't appreciate that you're writing so many great chapters, Peni, I just wish you weren't the only one.
Anyhow, again, don't be surprised if I do a second part to this, like the Sunset Shimmer chapter. Or one of you readers could do it if you wanted
Expansion? ...Maybe?
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
In case you can’t tell by the title of the chapter, this is that second part to Peni Parker’s “Jake and the Fiery Unicorn”. Also, this does maintain continuity with Peni’s “Tale of Two Mares”. I hope you enjoy 😉
For the last couple of days, Starlight’s been kinda down, understandably so. I mean, it’s not like she knew she would develop feelings for Twilight.
Speaking of which, Twilight was having a rather...hard time figuring this all out. I would go into better detail, but I’m not exactly a mind-reader.
I wanted so badly to try to help, but I had absolutely no idea what to do. Starlight confessed, so all that was left to do was for Twilight to figure out how she felt. There was nothing I could do to make it easier, other than provide comfort.
Anyhow, right now, Starlight and I were snuggled up under a blanket in the library, reading a book together. I was doing my best to take Starlight’s mind off of her worries, and as far as I know, I was succeeding. She wasn’t sad or distracted. She seemed really happy.
Starlight had her head rested against my shoulder, warming it up. She also had her hooves around me as I had one arm wrapped around her.
A few hours into reading, there was a loud flash, followed by a crash, from another room. Starlight tightened her hooves around me as we both looked toward the door to the library.
Through the door walked a familiar unicorn with a familiar red and yellow mane and a familiar orange coat.
“Twilight has really gotta either fix the force from the portal or stop putting stuff right in front of it,” the unicorn mumbled.
“Well, I’ll be darned. I didn’t expect to see you here today, Sunset Shimmer,” I said with a small laugh.
Sunset suddenly blushed. “Oh, h-hey, Jake. How’ve you been?”
“Fine, and you?”
“F-Fine,” she stuttered.
Starlight looked at me with a questioning look, clinging to me for dear life.
Sunset looked to Starlight and gasped. “Oh, uh, sorry. You must be...Starlight Glimmer?”
Starlight looked cautiously at Sunset and slowly nodded. “So...somepony wanna catch me up here?”
“Oh, right. I’m Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said, extending her hoof.
Starlight hesitantly shook it. “So...how do you two know each other?”
“Oh, uh, a few days ago, Sunset came, and we had a little chat. Speaking of which, how did it go with that guy you wanted to ask out?” I explained.
Sunset blushed furiously upon hearing my question. “A-Actually, I kinda got over him before I got the chance to ask him out.”
“Oh, well, that kinda sucks. Anyhow, if you’re here to talk to Twilight...” I paused to glance at Starlight, who looked down. “...she’s a little busy right now.”
Sunset’s blush somehow managed to increase as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. “I-I actually came here to talk to you.”
Starlight looked at the unicorn with a shocked expression.
“Me?” I asked.
“Heh, yeah. You see, ever since you talked to me the last time I was here...you’ve just kinda been on my mind a lot-“ Sunset started.
“Woah, woah, woah. Where are you going with this?” Starlight sternly cut off.
“Oh, you’re the other mare. Great,” Sunset muttered to herself.
“‘Other mare’? How much do you know about me?” Starlight asked, getting off the couch to walk towards Sunset.
“Not much...just that you and Twilight share a relationship with Jake,” Sunset said with a sheepish smile.
Starlight eyed Sunset with apprehension. I felt the tension in the room increase threefold.
“Starlight, why don’t we just hear what Sunset has it say? Maybe it’s not exactly what you think it is,” I said, trying to calm Starlight down.
“It’s not that. It’s just, you look familiar,” Starlight told Sunset.
“R-Really?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’ve met before,” Starlight answered.
“Wait a minute, now that I think of it, so do you,” Sunset agreed.
“So you two’ve already met?” I asked.
The two mares ignored my question as they studied each other’s features.
“I know! You were my brother’s best friend back in Sire’s Hollow,” Sunset perked up.
“Your brother’s best friend...oh, now I remember you. You’re the mare who held me down and swatted my flank with a broom...repeatedly,” Starlight deadpanned.
“Well...you wouldn’t get out of my room!” Sunset retorted.
“Sunburst invited me over!” Starlight countered.
“Girls! Calm down! Now, how do you two know each other?” I asked.
Starlight turned to look at me. “Well, remember when I was telling you about my fillyhood friend Sunburst? Well, this is his sister.”
“Oh,” I said with a chuckle. “So, anyhow, what were you saying a minute ago, Sunset?”
Sunset’s blush from before returned with a vengeance. “I-I-I...y-you see, umm...I, uh, think this would be better if we were...alone.”
“Why? Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Starlight,” I replied.
Sunset took a deep breath. “Iwashopingyoucouldextendyourrelationshiptome!”
“O-Okay, a little slower,” I pleaded.
“I...was...hoping...” Sunset began.
“Just say it already!” Starlight begged.
Sunset groaned. “I was hoping you could extend your relationship...t-to me.”
In that moment, I felt as if a ton of bricks hit me right upside the head. Sunset was an undeniably attractive mare...but we hardly even knew each other.
“W-What? Why?” I asked.
“It’s just...when we met, you were just so easy for me to talk to, and you were just so nice to me for no reason. So when I heard about your relationship with Twilight and Starlight, I just thought...I don’t know, why not me too?” Sunset stammered.
“I, uh, but we...we hardly know each other. We only met like...four days ago!” I countered.
“Well, how long did it take you to fall in love with me and Twilight?” Starlight smirked.
“For Twilight, two years. For you, two...days,” I said, realizing her point.
Starlight rolled her eyes.
“Wait, you’re not against this?” Sunset asked.
“Well, to be honest, no. I think this would be great to help get my mind off of...other things,” Starlight answered.
I quickly shook my head. “So you’re actually willing to share me with not only Twilight, but a mare you just met, only you knew since you were kids?”
“When you say it like that, it just sounds weird,” Starlight answered.
“That’s because it is! No offense, Sunset, but I don’t even know you that well! All I know about you is that you and Twilight have some weird history together that she wont talk about! Besides, there’s almost no way Twilight would allow this,” I countered.
Sunset sighed. “I knew it was a long shot.”
“Hold on. Jake, I see how you were looking at her a minute ago. You can’t possibly look me in the eye and tell me you don’t think she’s at least a little hot,” Starlight said smugly.
I felt my face heat up as Sunset looked back at me. “W-Well, I-I’m not gonna lie, you look...kinda hot...but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know you or that we have nothing in common.”
“Oh, we have more in common than you think,” Sunset replied.
“And if you’re worried that you hardly know Sunset, I’m pretty sure that issue can easily be dealt with,” Starlight added.
“How?” I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
“Simple: you two can spend some time together!” Starlight answered.
“That’s a good idea,” Sunset agreed.
I wanted to say something, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate.
“So, you and Jake can spend, say, a week together, and after that, you can tell for sure if you really wanna be part of our herd!” Starlight cheered.
“Herd?” Sunset asked.
“That’s what we call our relationship,” Starlight explained.
“Oh. So, yeah, I think that would work. The only thing is, do we tell Twilight?” Sunset asked.
“Probably a good idea. But like I said, she’s busy right now.” Starlight repeated
“Right. So...should we just start kissing or something-?”
“No! I mean, just like...get to know each other. Anyhow, I’ll leave you two alone, so you can talk,” Starlight said, leaving the library.
Sunset looked back at me. “So...wanna like...cuddle or something?”
I recovered from being left out of the conversation and looked at the amber unicorn, seeing that Starlight had left. “Wait...WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!”
Author’s Note: Since I can’t put an author’s note at the top and bottom, this is the next best thing. Anyhow, whether or not I make Sunset part of the herd will rely solely on your comments. Also, just a quick disclaimer here. The Sunset and Sunburst in my stories are brother and sister.
Herd Therapy (sort of) (by ThePinkedWonder)
“How could you do it, Starlight?!”
“How could you not believe me when I tell you I didn’t do it, Jake?!”
“Because you’re the only one that could have taken and lost it!”
“Even if I did, I wouldn't have ‘taken' it but ‘borrowed’ it, and I didn’t ‘borrow’ anything this morning! And why are you so upset anyway? It’s just a brush, and I can get you another one!”
“It’s not just that you ‘borrowed’ it, but it’s that you’re lying about it!”
Not long ago I woke up and looked for my hairbrush to brush my hair, obviously. But it wasn’t in my pack, where I always keep it, and the only one that could’ve taken/borrowed it was one of my two marefriends, Starlight Glimmer, because last night was her turn to cuddle with me.
Starlight can be impulsive and occasionally acts without thinking things through. She loves using my hairbrush for her coat and has "borrowed" it before. She said it felt “different” compared to Equestrian brushes, and she enjoys the different feel, so I never minded her borrowing it. However, this time she lost it and then claimed that she had nothing to do with it!
Before we could continue our argument, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy all walked through one of the library’s green double-doors, Pinkie Pie hopping in with them. I still have no idea how she creates the springing sound effect from her hops. They all understandably gasped at Starlight’s and my yelling, and Pinkie stopped hopping.
Applejack asked, “Whoa, whoa, what in tarnation is goin’ on in here?!”
“Well, Starlight ‘borrowed’ something from me, lost it, and now she’s saying she didn’t do it!” I yelled and glared at Starlight.
Starlight returned the glare and screamed, “And for the hundredth time, I didn’t ‘borrow’ it!”
“Okay, let us calm down and talk this out,” Rarity suggested.
“Yeah, let’s settle this like grown ponies! Er, adults,” Rainbow chimed in.
“Fine!” Starlight and I both exclaimed.
Starlight and I stomped to and each sit in one of two chairs near one of the library’s bookshelves. We usually sit beside each other on a couch, but this time, we weren’t exactly in the mood to sit on the same couch. The others walked to and formed a semicircle in front of us. The tension in the library was chilling, and it's not something I would want to experience again anytime soon; even if half of the tension did come from me.
Applejack asked, “Okay. First, what was ‘borrowed’?”
I explained, “It’s my hairbrush, and when I looked in my pack, it was gone, and now I can’t find it!”
Pinkie asked, “And why does that mean Starlight borrowed it?”
“Because she’s the only one that was in my room last night, she likes using it to brush her coat, and she’s borrowed my brush before. Twilight never used it and Spike doesn’t have hair or fur, so it couldn’t be one of them.”
“I see. So, Starlight, let’s hear your side of the story,” Fluttershy suggested.
“Gladly! When Jake was still asleep, I left his room to eat breakfast, then came to sit in the library. A minute ago, Jake came in and claimed I ‘borrowed’ and lost his brush because he couldn’t find it!”
“Well, could your brush be anywhere else, Jake?” Rarity asked.
”It can’t be, because I always keep it in my pack when I’m not using it.”
Applejack rested a hoof on her cheek. “Okay, so from what Jake said, his brush is gone and only Starlight could’ve taken, er, borrowed it, right?”
“Yep,” I answered.
Rainbow added, “And from what Starlight said, she left his room to eat breakfast, came into the library and saw her, then he said she borrowed and lost it?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, let us figure this out.” Rarity turned her head to look directly at me. “Jake, is there any other place the brush might be? Where were you the last time you had it that wasn’t your room?”
“Well...that would be here in the library. Last night, I relaxed in here while reading books.”
“Where in the library did you ‘relax’?” Fluttershy asked.
I pointed to a purple couch behind where the others stood. “On that couch, but I already searched the library.”
Right after I answered, Spike walked into the library. “Hey, what’s going on?”
We all turned to Spike and Applejack explained, “Well, Starlight and Jake are fightin’ over some brush that Jake thinks Starlight ‘borrowed’, and--”
Spike interrupted, “Wait, you mean a blue brush?”
I responded, “Yeah?”
Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, well...this is awkward. Last night, I saw that brush on the couch.”
“Really, Spike? Where is it?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, and I wanted to bring it to Jake, but he was in his room with Starlight, and I didn’t think he would want to be...disturbed. So I took it in my room to give to him later.”
Oh, no. I screwed up bad this time. Last night, I was going through the things in my pack and suddenly remembered how late it was, and Starlight would come to my bedroom soon. I picked up my bag in a huge hurry and sped to my room, and the brush must have fallen out as I did. A half-hour later, because of how fast I ran out, I came back to the library to check if anything fell out of my bag. But by that point, Spike must have picked up my brush. Twilight went to bed early and I thought Spike did too, so I didn’t think they saw and picked it up. This is why I suspected Starlight ‘borrowed’ my brush. If I thought Twilight or Spike might have taken it, I wouldn’t have accused Starlight for doing it.
I was screwed. But hoping I could avoid getting an earful from Starlight, I started, “Oh, well that’s a relief! So how about we put this--”
“Jake?” Starlight seethed and glared at me.
“Yes?” I answered sheepishly. So much for hoping to get out of this mess.
“You accused me of borrowing and losing that brush, despite me telling you over and over I didn’t.”
“Yeaaaah, and I was wrong and out of line, and--”
“And not only that, you called me a liar! That really hurt!”
“I-I know, Starlight, and I should have never done it. I’m so sorry.”
“I need some time by myself, and away from you, Jake.”
“Uh, this is probably a dumb question, but I’m not getting any cuddles tonight am I?” I foolishly asked. There are times when I ask dumb questions, and this is one of those times.
Starlight deeply sighed and deadpanned, “What do you think, Jake?”
“I’m not?”
“At least you got something right today!” Starlight shouted, and stormed out of the library.
I just couldn’t believe I could have been so stupid to accuse Starlight of something like that, and I planned to do something big to make it up to her. Trying to hide my shame, with my head down, I covered my face with my hands. “Well, I deserved every bit of that for treating Starlight that bad and I feel horrible.”
But Fluttershy, with a comforting smile, walked to me and sat a hoof on my knee. “It’ll be fine. You made a mistake, but it doesn’t make you a bad guy now.”
Still with my hands on my face, I countered, “Yeah, a ‘mistake’ as in I accused my marefriend of something she didn’t do. Not only that, I refused to listen when she told me she was innocent.”
Applejack said, “But ya realized your mistake and, as Princess Celestia or Twilight might say, ya learned a ‘friendship lesson’ today.”
“Starlight’s mad, but she still loves you and she’ll calm down after a while,” Rainbow explained.
“Yeah, and it’s not like Starlight never makes mistakes, like when she almost destroyed Equestria,” Pinkie pointed out. Though I’d rather that Pinkie would use...other examples to prove that Starlight sometimes makes mistakes.
“And not only that, darling, every couple, or herd in your case, has misunderstandings and arguments sometimes, and yours is no exception. However, when you and Starlight make up, you two will be closer than ever.”
I will admit, I was surprised at what Rarity told me. I uncovered my face and looked directly at Rarity. “Really, Rarity?”
“Really. Fair-weather relationships only last if nothing ever goes wrong. However, relationships which have, and move past, the occasional fights are the ones that grow into the best ones.”
“Hmm, that’s deep, Rarity,” Rainbow admitted. “You know more about relationships than I thought.”
“Yes, well, I do like to think I...wait.” Rarity scowled at Rainbow. “And what does that mean, Rainbow? Is it because I don’t have a special somepony right now? Because I will have you know that--”
But before Rarity and Rainbow could go at it, Applejack interjected, “Calm down, Rarity. We already settled one fight, and we don’t need another one.”
“Well, hopefully, I can become closer to Twilight without fighting with her.”
An angry voice declared, “Well, Jake, I don’t know about the ‘become closer to Twilight’ part, but you might have a fight with her.”
My heart sank and I gasped. We all faced to where the voice came from, and we saw Twilight Sparkle. She was staring daggers in my direction, and I had a feeling why. This was looking to be one of those days I wish I stayed in bed; at least until Spike brought me back my brush.
“Wait, Twilight? What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked. Guess she didn’t figure it out already.
“I just heard that Jake accused Starlight of losing his brush, and she didn’t do it.”
“Uh-oh,” Pinkie muttered, and I’m sure we were all thinking that, save for Twilight.
“Oh, well, yeah, I-I did, but--” I stuttered, hoping to dig out of this hole I buried myself in.
“I can’t believe you! How could you do that to her, Jake?!"
Applejack sighed and facehoofed. “Well, y’all, I guess we got another fight to settle.”
“And even if we do, I wouldn’t count on getting any cuddles from Twilight tomorrow night either, Jake. Let alone any ‘make-out’ sessions,” Spike whispered to me.
“I’d just be happy with not being turned into an orange or something for this.”
Author's Notes:
I feel the need to remind all of you that none of these chapters maintain any continuity with each other, unless otherwise stated
Silent Library (My Flank!) (By Heartland Picker)
Twilight was particularly chipper this morning. “Alright, I’m off to Canterlot. Are you three going to be able to hold down the fort while I’m gone?”
Starlight spoke up first. “Yep, I’m just going to some new materials to make kites. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
Twilight simply nodded in approval. “Sounds good, have fun. Jake, Spike, are you guys sure you can keep the noise down while you’re playing Ogres and Oubliettes this afternoon?”
Spike, despite his habitual need to keep everyone happy, answered this with as realistic of an answer as he could think of. “Twilight, as much as I would like to keep it silent, you know how Discord gets when we get caught up in the action. However, I think we can keep him reeled in given the setting that I have in mind for today’s scenario.”
I, however, could only feign my interest at this point. “Yep, today’s game shouldn’t get terribly out of hand.”
However, I kept his silence about my honest opinion. Especially since I have a good idea of what this game is. I swear, having to hear my little dragon half-cousin harp on about Dungeons and Dragons fanfare like crazy is not something I’m looking forward to. The Renaissance fair was bad enough during high school.
Twilight, who had me read like a book, knew exactly what I meant by that. “Oooookay. I’m hoping that my parents are at least a little calmer after we saw them last.”
Spike just brushed off the comment. “Come on, they're you parents. They can't hate you forever.”
Twilight said, “Thanks Spike. Well, I better not miss the train. I know I can teleport long-distance faster, but I’d rather not stink up their house from my sweating with a spell that drains my energy like that. I’ll see you this evening!”
With that, Twilight took off.
An hour later…..
Spike and I were wrapping clearing up Twilight’s notes from yesterday’s “study marathon” when the sound of thunder came from overhead. I had originally suspected Rainbow Dash of attempting another ill-attempted prank and was ready to give her a bored look.
Spike, however, was smirking, “Captain Wuz has entered the game……a bit early for once.”
The clouds cleared with Discord descending towards the floor.
“Garbunkle, you really know how to spoil my fun with the newcomer. I see that Sir McBiggun is running late. I guess I should fix that.”
With the snap of his lion paw, there was a flash of light near the door that revealed Big Mac in full armor, but he wasn’t alone. He was lip-locked with Sugar Belle and had his eyes shut: the lovebirds oblivious to where they were.
That is, until Discord spoke up again with his usual mischievous grin. “Oh my!”
The lovely couple opened their eyes and froze, thus causing us three stooges to crack up laughing. Big Mac and Sugar Belle broke apart with blushes on their face.
Sugar Belle, however, took the opportunity to take a good look at him in his armor. As she was leaving, she gave him “the look” that drives all men crazy, and further proceeded to sashay out the door.
Big Mac was flustered to the point of shaking. I stepped in and said, “I may not be into this kind of game, but you really should be overjoyed. She clearly likes what she sees now.”
Discord followed up with a jab, “Oh, I bet she tackles you to the floor when you get home, thus I suggest you keep it on when you get home. Hahahaha!”
I suddenly had a look of fiendish delight, and without missing a beat, Discord floated over to him. “I sense a disturbance in the chaos in the vicinity of your skull. Care to enlighten me, oh thief of nerdy hearts?”
I responded, “Hold that thought for a couple minutes.” I ran out of the room with a laugh to only-I-know-where. After five minutes of the guys setting the room up for the first round of Ogres and Oubliettes followed by waiting, I returned with Starlight in tow and the biggest smile she had ever seen on my face.
“Discord, come over here for a second.” The avatar of bedlam came over and joined what was now a huddle. “Okay, since Twilight is supposed to come back later, I say we pull a fast one on her. Now listen carefully….”
Spike and Big Mac, unable to hear the conversation, were getting a little anxious. Their wariness suddenly skyrocketed when they saw the lightbulb appear over Discord’s head, followed by Starlight’s giggling.
Now Discord decided to pipe up, “Listen boys, I know we normally jump straight into the skeleton battles at this point, but Jake has made the perfect recommendation to shake things up a bit for the late hours……..MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
That evening…..
Twilight had just walked in the foyer, when she heard a commotion coming from the one room that should never be the source of any racket. She teleported to the library door, where she found Starlight, struggling to get the knob to turn.
“Starlight, what in Celestia’s sunrise has gotten into those guys!?” she shouted.
The unicorn turned to Twilight and said “I have no idea. Why else would I be trying to get in!?”
At this, the purple princess charged up a spell, blasted the door open with more force than a pack of C4 in the hands of Wile E Coyote, and flew straight into the last thing she would have suspected.
The floor had been turned into a makeshift American football field with Astro Turf and all the yard markings. The boys were playing two on two and were all decked out in professional football gear with copies of Discord serving both as referees and the pep band. It seemed like they had been at this for hours, since there were several books that had fallen to the floor and had the look of being trampled several times. The boys were mid play and tackling each other senselessly.
In short, the library was a wreck, and Twilight went full-blown ape shit.
“WHAT!? I LEAVE FOR A DAY AND YOU GUYS HAVE TURNED THE LIBRARY INTO A CAGEMATCH ARENA!? HOW COULD YOU GUYS EVEN THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I REALLY CAN’T LEAVE YOU ALONE!!! MEN ARE SO DUMB, I SWEAR!!!”
To this, the boys had ceased their antics and the stadium had reverted to normal (compliments of Discord, of course).
After a tense moment silence, the room was filled with the laughter of five voices simultaneously. Twilight turned around to see her herd-mate struggling to stay upright.
“You can’t be serious, Starlight. How do find this remotely funny?” Twilight shot with indigence.
“Oh, Twilight,” the unicorn started with a smirk. “I was in on this prank. Jake talked us into it to get his revenge for the cuddling prank a few weeks ago. To be honest, doing this in the library was brilliant. I couldn’t have staged this better myself! Bahahahahaha!!!”
Twilight had the biggest deadpan look on her face, followed by, “Ugh, I swear I’m going to turn grey faster than my mother did.” She walked out the door in a huff.
Everyone only laughed even harder at this. Then everyone but Big Mac shouted simultaneously, “TOTALLY WORTH IT!”
Author's Notes:
Shout-out to Heartland Picker for this latest chapter. If you haven't already read his story, Starlight's New Drinking Buddy, you totally should. It's hilarious.
Anyhow, I feel I should mention that you readers can still contribute to this story. Just type something up, and PM it to me
I can’t believe you forgot! Starring: Starlight Glimmer
Starlight Glimmer walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water out of the fridge.
“Morning, Starlight,” Twilight Sparkle happily greeted.
Starlight, however, could barely contain herself. She drank up her water and faced her teacher. “Morning.”
Twilight giggled at Starlight’s chipper mood. “You seem in a good mood this morning. Anything going on?”
Starlight was about to respond when she remembered something. ’Does she not remember? I told her...right?’
“Not much, as far as I know,” Starlight replied slowly.
“That’s nice. Oh! I heard Trixie was in town if you wanted to go see her,” Twilight suggested.
Starlight did her best to keep a straight face. “Sure, I think I will.”
Just then, Jake Taylor walked into the room with them. “Morning, girls.”
“Morning, Jake,” Twilight greeted before craning her neck to give him a kiss as he walked past.
“Morning, Jake!” Starlight said, trying not to sound expecting.
“Morning, Starlight,” Jake simply greeted as he just walked past.
Starlight kept up a smile, but felt her eyelid twitch. ’Okay, I may not have told Jake, but not even a ‘good morning kiss’ like he did for Twilight?’
Jake grabbed his own glass of water out of the fridge and sat down next to Twilight, wrapping his arm around her. “Any plans for today?”
Twilight tilted her head in thought. “Nothing comes to mind.”
Starlight felt her heart shatter on the inside. ’They couldn’t have actually forgotten...could they?’
Jake’s face lit up. “Oh that’s right!”
Starlight’s hope arose as her boyfriend began to remember that it was her-
“Why don’t we go antiquing?” Jake suggested.
Starlight grit her teeth so hard she felt one of them crack.
“That sounds like a great idea! Ponyville has some of the best antique shops in Equestria. Every time I go into one of those shops, I always come out with something beautiful and priceless,” Twilight agreed.
“Alright then, antiquing it is. Starlight, you wanna come with?” Jake asked.
Starlight felt the need to go somewhere desolate and explode. “No...thanks,” she said, barely retaining herself.
“Oh, right, you were gonna go hang out with Trixie. Well, you have fun with that,” Twilight said, waving a hoof.
“I think I will,” Starlight said again before she exited the kitchen.
Once outside, Starlight felt her hooves start to wobble, and her head ache with anger.
“I can’t believe they forgot my bucking birthday!” she said to herself.
It was then that Spike had approached the unicorn, though he had not heard her. “Hey, Starlight. What’s up?”
Starlight’s head shot up. ’Maybe Spike remembers’
“Ooh...nothing much, just gonna go hang out with Trixie later...” Starlight said, blatantly hinting at something more.
Spike, however, did not appear to get the hint and walked past her. “Okay then. You have fun with that, and tell Trixie I said ‘hi’.”
As Spike walked into the kitchen, Starlight was barely able to hold herself together. She ran out of the castle as fast as she could without letting tears flow.
Spike quickly and quietly joined Twilight and Jake in the kitchen, making sure Starlight had left the castle. “Guys, I think this was a bad idea. Starlight’s in pretty bad condition.”
Twilight and Jake looked at each other with worry.
“I was afraid this might happen, Jake,” Twilight said.
“I thought it might too, but it’ll be fine. We’ll just have to make the payoff that much better,” Jake countered.
“Umm, speaking of which,” Spike interjected. “We should really get over there. Pinkie Pie’s already here, and she looks like she’s gonna explode if she doesn’t get started soon.”
“Alright, is Starlight out of the castle?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, she just left,” Spike responded.
“Let’s get to work, then,” Jake said.
The trio made their way through the halls into one of the many, large closets within the castle. Inside was a bunch of streamers, an assortment of cakes, a number of neatly wrapped gifts, and a pink pony, who looked like she was, in fact, about to explode.
“She’s gonna blow!” Spike yelled.
Thinking quick, Jake grabbed a nearby pillow and held it up to Pinkie Pie’s muzzle. “Scream into this.”
Pinkie stuffed her muzzle into the pillow and let loose. Jake had trouble keeping the pillow in front of Pinkie, but held firm.
Once Pinkie finished screaming, Jake dropped the now ruined pillow.
“Feel better now?” Twilight asked.
“Yepperooni. Now let’s get to work!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“You three start moving the decorations into the foyer. I’ll round up our friends and make sure Starlight stays out of the castle,” Twilight instructed.
Starlight walked through Ponyville, looking for Trixie’s wagon, but she couldn’t find the cyan unicorn anywhere.
“I still can’t believe they forgot my birthday,” Starlight mumbled to herself.
After a few more hours of searching, Starlight just gave up and went to one of her favorite resting spots. It was a hill just on the edge of Ponyville, overlooking the town on one side and a lake on the other. It also just so happened to be the place where she started to fall in love with Jake.
The thought brought a tiny smile to Starlight’s lips, almost causing her to forget about what was bothering her, but not quite.
“Guess I can’t be too upset. It’s not like I’ve celebrated any of my other birthdays,” she groaned to herself.
She spent a few minutes just looking out at the lake, running happy memories with Jake and Twilight through her head, before getting up and going back through town.
She was halfway through the village when she finally heard the voice she was looking for. “Starlight! I was looking for you everywhere!”
Starlight gasped and looked to where the voice was coming from. “Trixie!”
Trixie ran through the crown of ponies and embraced Starlight with both of her hooves. “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long; my schedule got really out of control.”
“It’s fine. I’m just so happy to see you again,” Starlight replied. When she broke the hug, however, she noticed something was missing from the magician. “Where’s your cloak? And you wagon?”
“Oh, there parked right behind that building over there,” Trixie answered, pointing to the popular store of Quills and Sofas. “Wanna go catch up? I have snacks~”
Starlight giggled at her friend’s playful antics. “Sure, I could use a bite.”
The pair walked around to the back of the store to where Trixie said her wagon was. Once there, Trixie laid out a blanket and got some tea cakes.
“What, are we having a picnic all of the sudden?” Starlight joked.
Trixie chuckled along with her friend. “Sure. Here, try some.”
Starlight took a tea cake in her magic and took a bite. “Delicious!”
“Thanks...Appleoosa, 15 bits for 5,” Trixie responded.
Starlight rolled her eyes and finished her tea cake.
“So, what’s been going on with you?” Trixie asked out of the blue.
Starlight took a breath to say something, but stopped herself. ’Should I really tell her?’
“Something wrong?” Trixie asked with a concerned tone of voice
“I-It’s nothing. There’s nothing going on with me,” Starlight tried to assure Trixie.
The performer, however, rested a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Like I said before: you can tell me anything.”
“Alright, there is something. You see, when I woke up this morning, Twilight and Jake kinda...forgot it was my birthday-“
“Oh my Celestia, it’s your birthday?!” Trixie asked in excitement. “Wait, your herd forgot?!”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Starlight said.
“Starlight, what are you talking about? It’s your birthday; it’s a huge deal!” Trixie countered.
“Well, don’t ponies ever forget your birthday?” Starlight re-countered.
“Well, yeah, but I’m always on the road. You live in a castle! With the Princess of Friendship, no less!” Trixie re-re-countered.
“W-Well...” Starlight tried to re-re-re-counter.
“Are you trying to tell me that you have no problem that your own herd forgot about your birthday?” Trixie cut off.
Starlight actually thought about the question before she answered. “I guess it kinda hurts a little.”
“That’s it. I will be right back, and then we’re gonna go give those two a piece of our minds,” Trixie said before storming off.
“Trixie wait!” Starlight said, but made no attempt to stop the unicorn.
Trixie was walking to Sugarcube Corner with a vengeance.
“The nerve of that Twilight. Even I wouldn’t forget somepony’s birthday like that, let alone my best friend’s,” Trixie said aloud, not caring who heard her.
Once inside Trixie quickly calmed down and walked up to the counter. “Hi, I need five chocolate cupcakes and a candle.”
Mrs. Cake typed the order in on her register. “Okay, dearie, that’ll be six bits.”
Trixie payed Mrs. Cake and hummed a tune while waiting for her order.
Suddenly, there was a bright *flash* accompanied by a loud *pop* of magic. “Trixie!”
Trixie turned her head around to see Twilight Sparkle. “You! How dare you forget Starlight’s birthday?!”
“Trixie, you have to listen to me-“ Twilight tried to say.
“You and I may not get along, but it is completely unacceptable for you to forget your own student’s birthday!” Trixie cut off.
“Trixie, you don’t understand-“
“No, you don’t understand. Just because you may or may not have gone without birthday’s doesn’t-“
“Trixie, of course, I didn’t forget her birthday!” Twilight this time cut off.
Trixie just stared in shocked silence.
“Look, my friends and I have been planning this for weeks. We were going to pretend not to remember, but secretly set up without Starlight knowing. We would’ve let you in on it, but none of us had any idea how to find you,” Twilight explained.
“Ooooooooooohhhhh, that’s genius. Sorry I get mad like that,” Trixie said.
“It’s fine,” Twilight waved off. “But I need you to keep Starlight out of the castle until we’re done setting up.”
“Sure. How long do you think that’ll take?” Trixie asked.
“Anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour. Just keep starlight occupied, and I give you some sort of signal to let you know it’s ready.”
“Can do,” Trixie replied.
A few minutes later, Trixie returned to her wagon with five cupcakes, one of which had a candle.
“Happy birthday to you~” Trixie sang.
Starlight turned a little red at the gesture. “Come on, Trixie. You didn’t have to do this.”
“Hush, I’m not finished,” Trixie responded. “Happy birthday to you~”
Starlight felt both embarrassed and flattered at her friend’s actions.
“Happy birthday dear Starlight~” Trixie continued, pulling forth the cupcake with the candle.
“Happy birthday to you!~” Trixie finished.
Starlight blew out the candle and laughed, Trixie quickly joining in.
“Seriously, you didn’t have to. I really am fine,” Starlight said between laughs.
Trixie calmed down and answered, “Nonsense! You’re my friend, and apparently nopony else remembered.”
Starlight suddenly felt like crying. “Thank you so much, Trixie.”
“Of course,” Trixie replied. She then looked past Starlight and nodded at something.
Starlight looked behind her to see what Trixie was nodding at, but didn’t see anything. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Trixie asked.
“That thing you just nodded at, over there,” Starlight answered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but enough talk! You and I are going straight to that castle. And you’re gonna give that princess a piece of your mind!” Trixie said, basically ignoring the question.
“A piece of my mind? I’m not mad at Twilight and Jake, just a little-“
“I won’t have any of it. Forgetting one’s birthday is unacceptable. Come on, now,” Trixie countered, heading away from the wagon.
Starlight rolled her eyes and groaned. “Castle’s the other way.”
Trixie quickly changed directions without even looking at Starlight. “I knew that.”
The pair of unicorns were now at the front castle doors, Starlight trying to get out of the inevitable confrontation she was about to have with her herd.
“Right inside,” Trixie said, opening the doors.
“For the millionth time, Trixie, it’s not that big a deal!” Starlight tried to say one last time.
Trixie rolled her eyes, walked around to Starlight’s flank, and shoved her inside the castle foyer. Inside, Starlight took a look around. There were streamers all over the place, a few gifts here and there, and a hue banner that read ‘Happy Birthday, Starlight!’.
Before Starlight could say anything to Trixie, all of Starlight’s friends, Sunburst included, jumped out of various hiding spots, and yelled, “Surprise.”
Starlight jumped and nearly teleported herself out of the castle. “W-Wait, you guys didn’t forget?”
“Forget?! Of course not! We were just pretending, so the party would have a bigger effect,” Jake explained.
“Quite frankly, I’m surprised Pinkie Pie didn’t give us away,” Twilight added.
“So...you guys were just acting this morning?” Starlight asked, still not sure what was going on.
“Of course we were. We’ve been planning this for weeks. We’d never really forget your birthday,” Jake assured.
Starlight struggled to hold in a laugh while turning to Trixie. “Were you in on this?”
“Not at first, but then Twilight told me about it, and I just went along,” Trixie answered.
Starlight looked back at all the decorations and started to laugh. By the time she lost it, so did all of her friends.
“Y-You guys are the best. You even got Sunburst to come in from the Crystal Empire?,” Starlight said once she started to calm down.
“Are you kidding? This was my idea!” Sunburst replied.
“Enough chit-chat, let’s party!” Pinkie shouted.
A few hours later, pretty much everypony had gone home. Sunburst got a last minute ticket to take him back to the Crystal Empire, after wishing Starlight a happy birthday for about the tenth time that day. Trixie had gone back to her wagon, taking a cupcake with her.
It was now just Starlight, Twilight, Jake, and Spike. The guys had done most of the cleaning, while Twilight had tended to Rainbow Dash, who had gone way too far with the sweets.
“Thank you, again. This has been, by far, my best birthday ever,” Starlight thanked. She was wearing the silver half-heart necklace Jake have bought her for Hearths Warming. He had gotten in shined and engraved to say: ‘To Starlight, my first love’. She swore to never take it off.
“Don’t mention it. This was a lot of fun to pull off. Sorry if we took it a bit too far with the antiquing thing,” Twilight responded.
“About that. Jake, would you have actually gone antiquing with Twilight on any other day?” Starlight asked.
Jake shook his head. “Nope, I kinda can’t stand it.”
“That makes two of us,” Starlight agreed.
Spike stood up and stretched his arms, giving a yawn in the process. “Well, guys, I’m gonna turn in. I hope you enjoyed your party, Starlight.”
“I did. Goodnight,” Starlight responded.
“Night, Spike,” Jake called out.
“*yawn* I think I’m gonna go to bed too. Goodnight, guys,” Twilight said, getting up to leave. “Oh, and Jake, not too loud,” she added with a wink.
“I’ll try to keep it down,” Jake chuckled.
“Not too loud?” Starlight asked.
“Come on, let’s get to bed first,” Jake said, standing up and offering his hand.
Starlight took it, and the two walked to the unicorn’s room. Once there, Jake got under the covers and patted the bed next to him, inventing Starlight to join him. She eagerly did and laid down to cuddle with him.
“Hoooold on there a second,” Jake said, pulling her up to her haunches.
Starlight was confused, but sat up anyhow.
“I know I’ve said it about a million times today, but happy birthday,” Jake said.
Starlight chuckled. “Thanks. Never gets old, though.”
Jake chuckled as well before he continued. “Look, I know I’ve been spending a lot of time with Twilight lately, and I wanna make up for that.”
“It’s no problem. You and Twilight have way more history between you two,” Starlight responded.
“But still, like your necklace says; you were my first love, and I’m gonna show you just how much I really love you,” Jake countered.
Starlight felt herself go a little red. “What exactly did Twilight mean when she said ‘not too loud’?”
“Oh that? She was talking about my second gift to you,” Jake answered.
Starlight felt her breath hitch and her body begin to shake with excitement and anticipation. “W-Which is?”
Jake, instead of answering, cupped Starlight’s cheeks in his hands and gave a deep, warm, intimate kiss, laying her down on the bed in the process.
“Now’s not the time to ask questions,” Jake said, laying over Starlight, caressing body. “Now’s just to time to enjoy what I have planned.”
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
Let’s give these two lovebirds some privacy, shall we?This story is officially back up and running, so if you guys have any stories you wanna see, PM me with a 1,000+ word story, and watch it become canon in the Taylorverse (yes, I just called it that)
Going to the Gala Part 1: Invitations
Spike and I were in the library, messing around with some pillows that were in the unused rooms in the castle. We had each set up our own walls, using books and tables. We peeked our heads out every so often to try and hit each other with pillows.
“Come on, Spike, you know it’s inevitable,” I taunted, holding my pillow at the ready.
“No way, Jake! You’ve won too many times! No more!” Spike replied.
I laughed a little bit. Despite how mature Spike can act, I can sometimes forget he’s still a child. And, being completely honest, I had a bit of a childish side myself.
I launched my pillow as Spike went to reach for one that was a distance from his fortress. Spike dodged my attack and grabbed the pillow, only to get hit by a second one that I threw. Spike puffed smoke out of his nostrils and threw his pillow at me. I ducked into my bunker as the pillow soared overhead. I peeked out to get hit by another one Spike had thrown.
“You may have hit me this time, but this is far from over!” I declared.
Suddenly, I heard the library doors open. “What are you two doing?”
“Spike, time out,” I called as I looked toward the doors. It was Starlight, laughing her head off.
“Just your average pillow war,” Spike said, matter-of-factly.
Starlight blinked a few times, as if she didn’t immediately understand...which made sense the more I thought about it.
“W-W-What?”
I laughed, realizing Starlight had yet to see this side of me. “We used to do this sort of thing all the time at Golden Oaks Library, only now, we have way more pillows.”
“Okay, but ‘pillow war’?” Starlight asked.
“We got carried away with a pillow fight one time, and it’s been getting bigger and bigger ever since,” Spike explained.
Starlight laughed again. “Sounds like fun. Mind if I join in?”
“Sure, but I must warn you, pillow war is not something to be taken lightly,” I joked.
Starlight put on a mischievous grin. “Oh really?” She then picked up a pillow with her magic and launched it straight at me. It hit me with so much force that it actually knocked me down.
“Ready to kick some flank, Spike?” Starlight asked, still wearing the look of mischief.
“Oh no,” I said, realizing that asking Starlight Glimmer to partake in a pillow war may have been a bad idea.
“Let’s do this!” Spike yelled, grabbing as many pillows as he could.
Starlight picked up a bunch of pillows in her magic, and by ‘a bunch’, I mean about fifty.
“Rapid fire!”
I ducked behind my barricade as the assault began. I could feel my wall shake under the force of the pillows being thrown at it. I knew it wasn’t long before it would fall down.
“No fair! It’s two against one!” I yelled.
“All’s fair in pillow war, Jake,” Spike reminded. I grumbled, remembering that I had used that exact same line after I beat Spike.
The pillows kept coming, and I had nowhere to go. There was only one thing to do. I grabbed as many pillows as I could and charged at Spike and Starlight. They paused their attack as I drew closer and closer. It wasn’t long until Starlight started firing again. I took the shots the best I could and kept running. Once I reached their base, I dove with two pillows in hand. As I went down, I unleashed my pillows. They hit straight home, knocking both Starlight and Spike onto the ground.
I crawled from the remains of the fallen base as best I could, but I ran out of energy. The war was officially over.
Then...I heard laughing. I looked up to see Twilight had entered the library in the midst of our pillow war. She was also holding a scroll in her magic.
“What?” I asked as Starlight and Spike stood up as well.
Twilight wiped her brow with a wing as she stopped laughing. “Your pillow wars never get old. Anyhow, we got a letter from Princess Celestia that has to do with all of us.”
Starlight quickly stood the tables back up and placed the books in all of their respective places with her magic. “What’d she say?”
Twilight unrolled the scroll and cleared her throat. “My dearest Twilight, as you know, the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up, so I wanted to give you your tickets personally. My apologies for there only being three tickets with this note; I tried to convince the committee to give a fourth ticket for Jake, but you know how they are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring him as a plus one. Hope to see you there, Princess Celestia.”
I rolled my eyes. I knew how Canterlot ponies could be: stuck up and fake-happy. It reminded me a lot of how people could be from my old world, and was one of the few things I could do without in Equestria. Even so, I never really let that bother me, as I didn’t actually live in Canterlot.
“Well, it’s too bad, Princess Celestia couldn’t get a ticket for Jake,” Spike said.
“It’s fine. I don’t usually take a plus one, so I’ll take him. Is that alright, Jake?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, I guess. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a bit more fun this time,” I answered.
“Trust me, it’s gotten a lot better since you last went,” Twilight told me.
“Alright, but I’ll hold you to that.”
Grand Galloping Gala huh? Sounds like fun
Twilight had let me borrow the journal she uses to communicate with Sunset Shimmer. It had been a while since I’ve seen her, so I wanted to talk to her.
That makes one of us. I just don’t really look forward to something this formal
You’ll be fine. You just gotta ignore everypony else. And besides, you’ll have all of your friends there with you, not to mention Twilight and Starlight
Speaking of which, how’s everyone over there doing? It’s been a while since I’ve seen them
Everyone over here’s doing good. Twilight even got herself a boyfriend
Good for her. Tell her I said ‘congratulations’
I will
Twilight walked into the library and picked up a book she had been reading. “Hey, Jake. How’s Sunset doing?”
“She’s doing good,” I answered. I then got an idea. “Hey, do Starlight or Spike usually take a plus one to the Gala?”
Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Let’s see, Starlight said Sunburst got his own ticket since he’s Flurry Heart’s crystaller, and Spike doesn’t usually take anypony. Why do you ask?”
“You think one of them would be okay with taking Sunset as their plus one?” I asked.
Twilight blinked a few times before sharing her head. “Woah, woah, woah, that’s not a good idea. Sunset left Princess Celesita on terrible terms. If those two get together, things could get really ugly, really fast. Ask Sunset; she’ll tell you the same thing.”
“Oh yeah, she told me about that,” I said rubbing my forehead.
Twilight sighed. “Look, Jake, your heart’s in the right place, and it’s one of the things I love about you. This time, it’s just a better idea to leave it alone.”
I figured Twilight was right...but still shook my head. “Twi, do you know how close exactly Sunset and Princess Celestia were?”
Twilight tilted her head in thought. “Umm...Princess Celestia told me that she considered Sunset a daughter.”
“Do you know if Sunset felt the same?” I asked.
“As far as I know,” Twilight answer.
I rubbed my chin in thought, memories and ideas stirring about in my head. “So, they were like mother and daughter that were separated.”
Twilight blinked a few times. “I-I guess you could say that. Why do you...Jake, please don’t start this.”
“Start what?” I asked.
“I know losing your parents was hard on you and you don’t want that to happen to anypony else, but this isn’t as simple,” Twilight said, raising her voice.
“Twilight, you have no idea how much I hate to see a suffering family,” I responded, my voice raising as well.
“Jake, listen to me. This isn’t something you can fix.”
“Twilight, if this were anyone else, I would leave it alone. But Sunset...I really care about her, just as much as I do you and Starlight. And Princess Celestia? I highly doubt she’s the type to hold this kind of grudge,” I countered.
“Okay, say Sunset agrees to go. What if your wrong? What if Princess Celestia does still hold a grudge?” Twilight asked expectantly.
“Then we won’t go into this blind and just hope for the best,” I answered.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“I’ll...ask Princess Celestia if it’s alright if Sunset comes. That way, we’ll know for sure if it’s a good idea or not,” I reasoned, making it up as I went.
“I don’t know, Jake. I usually try not to medal in my friends’ lives,” Twilight said.
“Then you don’t even have to be there. Princess Celestia doesn’t even have to know you were a part of this,” I responded.
Twilight closed her eyes, trying to come up with a good counter argument.
“Please, Twilight? You know how I feel about this kind of thing.”
Twilight sighed. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
Jake? You still there?
I turned my attention back to the journal.
Yeah, I’m here, Sunset. I have to go do something, talk to you later
Alright, talk to you later
A few minutes later, I was waiting in the foyer of the castle. Spike had sent a letter to Princess Celestia, telling her that I had something I wanted to ask her.
My nerves were starting to tense. ’Maybe Twilight’s right about this, and I should leave it alone’
I shook my head. There was only one way to find out.
A few seconds later, there was a brilliant flash of golden light, and Princess Celestia appeared before me.
“Hello, Jake Taylor. Spike sent a letter saying you wished to speak with me,” she said.
I bowed my head and replied, “Yes, there’s something I wish to talk to you about. I’m sorry if I pulled you away from anything.”
Princess Celestia raised my chin and smiled. “It’s not a problem. With the Gala coming up, there’s nothing to be done for now. Speaking of which, my apologies for not getting a ticket for you.”
“It’s no problem. Twilight agreed to take me as a plus one,” I responded.
“That’s good. Now, what did you wish to speak to me about?”
I took a deep breath and steeled myself for a variety of possible outcomes.
“Well...I’ve recently become...very acquainted with one of your old students...Sunset Shimmer,” I said.
Princess Celestia’s eyes went wide with what I hoped was just shock, and not horror. Her gaze quickly returned to normal and away from me. I closed my eyes, expecting a full-blown outburst.
“I see. How is she?” was all Princess Celestia asked.
“Good,” I responded. “...I-I understand you two parted ways on rather bad terms-“
“That doesn’t even begin to explain it,” she cut off. Then, very much to my surprise, she chuckled. “But...Twilight’s told me she’s changed very much since then. If you don’t mind my asking, how exactly are you two acquainted?”
“Well...she visited one day, that’s how we met. I went to see the world she lives in, and...she kinda joined the herd,” I explained.
“Really? Okay then,” she said.
There was a bit of silence between the two of us. I could tell Princess Celestia was holding back a substantial amount of emotions. I couldn’t tell if it were anger, sadness, regret, joy, or curiosity.
“Twilight told me you two were very close,” I said, piercing the silence.
“Once again, that doesn’t even begin to explain it. She...she was the closest thing I ever had to a daughter. When we had our fight, I...I just couldn’t believe myself. Especially when I had heard she had fought through a few of my guards and fled to another world. It...it broke my heart. And our fight...it was about the dumbest thing.” Princess Celestia’s eyes began to fill with tears, and tears of my own were coming as well. “I-I was pressuring her to make new friends. I should’ve let her do things at her own pace...” Her voice trailed off.
I walked up to her and rested my hand on her shoulder as tears started to flow down my cheeks. “I understand how you feel. When I lost my parents, my entire world was turned upside down.”
Princess Celestia stayed silent, save for a few sobs.
“Do you wish you could see her again?” I asked.
“Of course I do. I would give anything to have her back,” she responded.
“I-I can probably convince her to come over here for the Grand Galloping Gala, i-if that’s okay with you,” I said, glad my request was finally out in the air.
Princess Celestia closed her eyes and attempted to get her emotions under control. When she opened them, she looked directly at me. “Yes, please do,” was all she said.
Princess Celestia had left a few minutes ago. I managed to convince Spike to take Sunset as his plus one, since she wouldn’t have her own ticket. I was sitting alone, in the library, with Twilight’s journal.
Hey, Sunset, you there?
A moment of silence passed by.
Yeah, I’m here, Jake
Something I wanna ask you
What’s up?
I told you the Grand Galloping Gala was coming up. I was wondering of you wanted to come? Spike said he would take you as
I didn’t manage to finish writing before hysteric scribbling appeared under my writing.
No, no, no, no, I can’t, Jake! Princess Celestia always goes to the Grand Galloping Gala. I’m nowhere near ready to see her again. Not after everything I put her through
Sunset, it’s okay. I talked to
Once again, Sunset cut me off.
No, it’s not. She was like a mother to me, and I took her for granted. I yelled at her and called her a hypocrite, and then I ran away through the mirror. I just can’t see her!
Sunset just listen to me!
I paused to see if Sunset would actually hear me out or not. I took the absence of her writing as a sign she would to the former.
I talked to Princess Celestia about it. I wasn’t gonna ask you if I didn’t know for sure. She misses you. She wants to see you again
I don’t know. I just...what if I screw things up again?
Let me ask you something. Do you miss her?
Yes
Do you want to make up with her?
Of course
Then what’s stopping you? Here, I’m gonna tell you something you don’t know about me
What is it?
I didn’t tell you this when I was visiting you before because I didn’t want you or your friends to feel bad for me, but when I was four years old, my parents’ house caught fire. I was fine, but my parents didn’t make it out
Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. But...why did you tell me that now?
Because I can’t stand it when someone as close to me as you are has problems with their family. I would give anything to speak to my parents again, but I can’t. So you should make up or at least apologize to Princess Celestia before you don’t have that chance
I waited a while for Sunset to respond. I didn’t know if she put her journal away and forgot about it or was just thinking it over herself.
Come on, Sunset. Do this for me?
It was dead silent. Time itself seemed to stand still. Until the words finally appeared on the page.
Okay, I’ll do it
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
So, as you can guess, this is gonna have a second part. I don’t know when it’ll come out, but hopefully it won’t be long. As for this chapter, it came out a lot better than I expected in my opinion. Tell me what you thought in the comments
Going to the Gala Part 2: Whispers
Tonight was the night. We were officially headed to the Grand Galloping Gala. Surprisingly, I felt a little excited. I had just finished getting dressed and met Spike out in the hall. He was wearing a tuxedo with a purpling bow tie.
“Looking good,” he said.
“Not too bad yourself,” I replied.
“Yeah, I guess you look pretty good too,” Spike joked.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled. Together, we strutted down the hall to meet Twilight and Starlight in the foyer.
“Hey, by the way, I don’t have to like...dance with Sunset, do I? No offense, I’m just not into her like that,” Spike said to me.
“Nah...not unless she asks you to, which she may or may not,” I replied, smirking down at the little guy.
Spike stopped walking and turned toward me. “Seriously? Come on!”
I stopped walking as well. “What’s the big deal, Spike? I thought you were a gentledrake.”
“Fine,” Spike muttered, followed by some incomprehensible mumbling.
Down at Carousel Boutique, Rarity was busy poking needles into Sunset Shimmer’s mane.
“Ow! Rarity, I appreciate you making this dress for me on such short notice, but-Ow! I feel like you’re getting a little carried away with my mane,” Sunset complained.
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt so much if you would just hold still,” Rarity replied, sticking another needle into Sunset’s mane.
“If it makes ya’ feel any better, Sunset,” Applejack called from one of the dressing rooms. “We all had to go through the same thing.”
“Tell me about it, “ Rainbow Dash added, stepping out of her dressing room, wearing a smooth gown with distinct, fluorescent colors. “She tried to tie my mane into a bun.”
“It would have looked gorgeous!” Rarity replied, taking her attention away from Sunset.
Sunset fixed the neck of her dress with a hoof and stepped off the podium. “You know, I already had to deal with the Rarity back where I live. I’m pretty sure I look fine.”
Fluttershy stepped out of her dressing room as well, wearing a green dress with a flower wreath around her head. “Oh, I think she looks beautiful, Rarity.”
“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Sunset responded.
Rarity took one last look at Sunset before rolling her eyes and levitating her eyeglasses onto the table. “Oh, fine. I do suppose you look rather nice.”
Sunset turned to a mirror and inspected her dress. It was a deep shade of orange with gold accents. It covered half of her hooves, but didn’t run behind like the other dresses Rarity had made. It was more like a mini-skirt.
“How come this one ends so quickly at the back?” Sunset asked.
“Well, one, I only had a day or two to complete your dress,” Rarity answered. “But I also wanted to make a dress that matched your sense of style. Twilight tells us your a bit of a...what did she say? A ‘rebel, but in a good way’ I think.”
Sunset smiled at herself in the mirror.
“Now, if you don’t mind my asking, why exactly were you having such a hard time staying still?” Rarity asked.
Sunset suddenly remembered why she was here. It had slipped her mind a moment ago, but now it was back, and it terrified her.
“Well...it’s not exactly every day I return to my home world and my adoptive mother, who I treated so horribly that I can’t imagine she’d ever want to see me again,” Sunset said, her legs starting to wobble beneath her. “I still can’t believe Jake talked me into this.”
“Jake can be extremely persuasive. You know, he once convinced me to not only sponsor, but also lead a Filly Scout fundraiser. I was already gonna help, but I had no intention of being in charge of it,” Rainbow Dash said, putting a hoof around Sunset’s back.
“Jake just seems to bring out the best in all of us,” Applejack said, walking out of her dressing room, wearing a light red dress with her trademark hat.
Pinkie was the last to bound out of her dressing room with a baby blue, poofy dress. “That’s right! One time, when I was watching the Cake Twins and I thought I was in over my head, Jake told me to slow down and take my time, and it worked!”
Applejack rolled her eyes and looked back at Sunset. “Mah point is, Jake’ll probably be there with you, every step of the way. And Princess Celestia? You’ll be fine with her.”
Sunset smiled. “I’m glad you girls are as easy to get along with as my friends.”
“Well, from our understanding, they’re literally us,” Rarity responded.
“Come on, girls! Let us in!” Jake yelled through the foyer doors.
“Not yet, Jake. Not until Sunset gets here,” Twilight responded.
Twilight and Starlight had the doors locked, so Jake and Spike wouldn’t see them in their dresses until Sunset got to the castle.
“Come on, at least let me in,” Spike pleaded.
“No can do, Spike. Sunset’s your plus one, remember?” Starlight teased.
“Jake said it wasn’t a big deal!” Spike shouted back.
Twilight looked back to the front doors. “What is taking her so long?”
“Well, you know Rarity,” Starlight replied.
Jake banged on the door as hard as he could. “For crying out loud, we’re going to the Grand Galloping Gala, not getting married!”
Starlight turned to face the locked door again. “We know, but it’s still bad luck~”
Jake could be heard groaning on the other side of the door.
Suddenly, the castle doors opened, and Sunset came running through. “Sorry I’m late, Rarity just...Raritied.”
“Not a moment too soon. We’re not sure how much longer we could’ve held Jake and Spike in there,” Twilight said.
Starlight got a good look at Sunset’s dress. “Oh my gosh, Sunset, you look beautiful!”
Sunset blushed and looked at Starlight’s and Twilight’s dresses. Twilight wore a long, silky dress with purple sparkles that ran across it and a small, golden tiara. Starlight wore a shorter, frilly, light blue dress that had shining swirls running down it. “So do you two!”
“I can here Sunset over there! Can we come out now?” Jake yelled.
“Why exactly are you holding Jake and Spike back there?” Sunset asked.
“We wanted to wait until you got here, so he could see all three of us at once,” Twilight answered.
“Alright, Jake, on the count of three. One!” Starlight said.
“Two!” Twilight added.
Both Twilight and Starlight looked at Sunset expectantly.
“Three!” I could hear Sunset yell.
The door quickly opened, and I was struck with awe as I saw my three marefriends. They all looked amazing in their unique dresses.
“Wow, Jake, looking sharp,” Sunset complimented.
I blinked a few times as my senses returned to me. “You three look...a-amazing.”
I looked down at Spike, who seemed to be getting restless.
“Calm down, Spike. The sun hasn’t even gone down yet!” Starlight said.
“Sorry, I’m just really excited,” Spike answered.
“What’s got you all riled up? Last time, you weren’t nearly this excited,” Twilight asked.
Spike suddenly stopped moving. “I don’t know.”
The three mares all shared a giggle.
“Come on, let’s get going. It’s a long trip to Canterlot,” I reminded.
“Right, and the chariots I called for us aren’t gonna wait forever,” Twilight added.
“Wait, you called chariots for us?” Sunset asked.
“Well, I thought the trains would be packed tonight, so I reserved us some chariots,” Twilight answered. There was suddenly a loud whistle outside the castle. “That must be them, so let’s go.”
The five of us walked outside the castle, and, sure enough, there were two golden, close-topped chariots with two pegasi guards in front of each.
Our friends walked up to the castle as well, each in their own dress, staring at the chariots with surprise.
“What’s with these, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Surprise!” Twilight said in response. “Now, I’m pretty sure they can each hold up to five of us?” One of the guards nodded their head. “Right, so you five wanna take that one, and we’ll take this one?”
“Sounds good to me. Just don’t get carried away in there with the romance,” Applejack teased.
I couldn’t help but blush at Applejack’s statement.
“By the way, Rarity, you really out did yourself with these outfits,” Spike complimented.
Rarity simply waved a hoof in response. “Oh, think nothing of it. It’s what I do, after all.”
The five of them boarded their chariot and took off. One of the guards with our chariot gave a grunt. Twilight went to open the door with her magic, but I stopped her by putting my hand on the door first.
“Not so fast,” I said, opening the door myself. “M’ladies.”
The three of them giggled and started to board.
“Thanks, Jake,” Twilight said, giving me a smooch on the cheek as she got on.
“Thanks, Jake,” Starlight said, giving me a smooch on the exact same cheek as she got on.
Sunset rolled her eyes and said, “Thanks, Jake,” giving me, you guessed it, a smooch on the cheek as she got on.
Spike walked up to the chariot and attempted to jump on, but came up a little short.
I chuckled and helped him up.
“Thanks, Jake,” Spike said, but no, he didn’t give me a smooch on the cheek as he got on.
I got into the chariot myself and closed the door. We quickly started moving, throwing us a little off balance. We quickly sat down as to not fall anymore. I looked out the window and noticed we were already pretty high off the ground.
“None of you are afraid of heights, are you?” I asked.
The others looked at each other and shook their heads at me.
I took another look outside. “Wow, we’re moving pretty fast.”
Twilight walked up next to me and looked out the window as well. “You’re right. At this rate, we should be there in just a few minutes.”
I heard what sounded like a whimper coming from behind us. Twilight and I turned our heads to see where it was coming from. Sunset had her front hooves wrapped around her legs, and she looked like she was about to puke.
“You...okay, Sunset?” I asked.
“G-G-G-Great! J-Just...fine!” Sunset squeaked in reply.
I looked at Twilight and Starlight, coming to a silent agreement with the both of them. I went over to Sunset and wrapped an arm around her. Starlight did the same, and Twilight rested a hoof on her chest.
“We know you’re nervous about seeing Princess Celestia again, and we don’t blame you, Sunset,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, you have every right to be. But she’s not going to be mad at you,” Starlight added.
I put my hand under Sunset’s chin and moved her head, so she was now looking at me. “You have nothing to be afraid of. Princess Celestia really misses you. She’s going to be overjoyed to see you.”
Tears started to form in Sunset’s eyes. “But.......I just don’t know what to expect.”
“Don’t expect anything. Walk up to her, say what you want to say, and listen to what she has to say. Just take away whatever you gain from the experience, and don’t assume anything more,” I told her.
“Wow, that’s...really good advice,” Twilight admitted.
I chuckled at Twilight before turning my attention back to Sunset. “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. I’ll even be right by your side if you need me.”
Sunset sniffed. “R-Really?”
I looked at Twilight and Starlight, silently asking for their approval. They both nodded, and I answered, “Of course I will.”
Out of nowhere, Spike cleared his throat. “Not to kill the moment, but...we’re here.”
We all looked toward Spike. Sure enough, he was standing next to an open door. We all separated and walked out the chariot door. As the pegasi took off, however, I could’ve sworn I heard one of them say, “He looks so weird.”
We were quickly joined by our friends. We all walked up to the front doors.
“You guys go on ahead. Sunset and I’ll catch up,” I said.
“Sure thing, Jake. We’ll save you a dance,” Starlight said with a wink.
“And good luck, Sunset,” Twilight added with a sincere tone.
With that, the eight of them walked into the ballroom.
Sunset stood in place, shaking. I could easily tell she was still scared. The sun had just gone down as our friends walked inside.
I knelt down next to Sunset. She had tears still running down her face. “I’m...so scared. I-I...I don’t think I can do this,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“It’s okay to be scared. But you’ll be fine. All you have to do is go in there and see Princess Celestia,” I said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’ll be with you, every step of the way.”
Sunset sniffed again. “Thank you, Jake. You’re a really good boyfriend.”
I wrapped my arms around her in a deep, sincere hug until I felt her calm down. Once we separated, I asked her, “Are you ready to do this?”
Sunset took an extremely deep breath. So much so, that I thought she was gonna pass out. “As...I’ll ever be.”
With that, we finally walked through the looming doors of the ballroom. Inside, Twilight was having a conversation with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She set eyes on us and whispered something to Princess Luna. Then, the two of them went into another room.
Princess Celestia bid them farewell and finally sat eyes on us, and on Sunset.
Hey, guys, bit of an intermission before you get to the big reunion scene. I really hope I did well enough for you guys. I was under so much pressure with this bit. Alright, here we go
Sunset looked at me, I nodded, and we slowly walked forward. Princess Celestia’s gaze remained on us, devoid of any emotion whatsoever.
Once we reached her, Sunset clenched her eyes shut and looked down. She didn’t say anything, but started hyperventilating. I knew I had to do something if this was gonna work.
So, I knelt down a put my hand on her. She looked at me with tears eyes. I looked back at her with a sincere look. “Just say what you gotta say.”
Sunset nodded and turned toward Princess Celestia as I stood back up. “I-I’m so, so, sorry!”
Princess Celestia blinked and looked down at Sunset.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you; I’m sorry I took what you were trying to teach me for granted; I’m sorry for doing forbidden research on the mirror; I’m...I’m sorry for running a-away; I’m s-sorry...f-for e-e-everything...” Sunset trailed off.
I couldn’t help but shed a tear at the scene unfolding before me.
Princess Celestia rested a hoof under Sunset’s chin. Sunset looked up with teary eyes. Princess Celestia began to tear up as well and smiled. “Oh, Sunset, all’s forgiven. I-I’m just glad you’re back.”
To my surprise, Sunset backed away a little. “W-W-What? Y-You...a-aren’t angry o-or upset at me?”
Princess Celestia shook her head. ”Of course not. Twilight’s told me all you’ve accomplished. Quite frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t walk in here with wings.”
“B-But...I was so horrible to you, a-and after everything y-you d-did for me. I-I thought you’d...” Sunset pleaded.
“What? Lock you away? Banish you for eternity? How could I? I’ve missed you, so, so much. W-When Jake told me you were coming, I-I could barely contain myself,” Princess Celestia cut off.
“But...I-I was sure I’d b-broken your...your heart,” Sunset said.
I wasn’t entirely sure why Sunset was trying to argue. Princess Celestia was welcoming her back with open arms. I guess she’d just forgotten my advice in the heat of the moment. I definitely would in her place.
“It’s true, you did, but it was just as much my fault as it was yours. I shouldn’t have tried to force you to make friends. I should have let you do things your way,” Princess Celestia replied.
“B-But I-I-I-“ Sunset started.
“Sunset, it’s okay,” I cut off myself. “She’s long gotten over it. You should do the same.” I knelt down and put a hand on her back. “Don’t expect anything, remember?”
Sunset looked at me and then Princess Celestia. And just like that, Sunset ran to Princess Celestia like a filly to her mother, and the two joined a deep hug, like a mother finally reunited with her long lost daughter.
I had pretty much lost control of my emotions right then. I did my best to hide it from the incoming ponies, but they just gave me puzzled looks.
Princess Celestia raised her head and smiled at me. “Thank you, Jake, for bringing my daughter back to me after so long.”
“N-No problem.” A few more ponies walked past me. “Ponies are starting to arrive. I-I’m gonna go inside.”
Sunset pulled away from the hug. “I-I’ll join you.” She then gave the princess one last hug.
“I’ll be out here for most of the night, but promise you’ll come see me before you leave again?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Of course! I wouldn’t dream of leaving without saying goodbye again,” Sunset replied. With that, she walked up to me, and we made our way inside.
Phew, that was not easy to do. I hope that was satisfactory enough for you guys. Either way, we’re not quite done yet
Sunset and I walked into the main ballroom and joined our friends. Twilight was quick to notice Sunset’s tears. “Did it not go well? I’m so-“
“No, it went...great, a lot better than I thought it would,” Sunset cut off.
“So...you two are good?” Starlight asked.
All Sunset could really do was nod while she tried to wipe the tears off her face.
“That’s great! We told there was nothing to worry about, darling,” Rarity cut in.
“Th-Thanks, guys. I couldn’t have done this without you.” Sunset turned towards me and added, “And thank you, Jake, for convincing me to do this.”
“No problem.” I heard a few other voices and saw the ballroom was starting to fill up. “I think we should get going here.”
“Good idea. I’m gonna go see if the Wonderbolts are here yet. See you guys later,” Rainbow Dash said, flying off.
Everyone said their goodbyes and went off in different directions. It was now just Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, and me.
“So, one of you girls wanna dance?” I asked, reaching out my hand.
“I’m still feeling a little emotional right now, but thanks. Maybe when I’m feeling a bit better,” Sunset said.
“Twilight, why don’t you take the first dance? I’ll stay with Sunset and keep an eye out for Sunburst,” Starlight added.
“Thanks,” Twilight said before turning to me. “So...”
I held out my hand, and Twilight held it with her hoof. Together, we went out to the dance floor.
“I’m not really sure how to do this,” Twilight mumbled.
“Umm, I’ll just-“
Twilight then stood up on her hind legs while holding onto me with her front hooves.
“Uh, sure, that works,” I said. I wrapped my hands around her waist. We took a step forward and a step back. Twilight struggled at first to keep her balance, but we quickly got the hang of it.
“I’m not sure if I’ve told you this yet, but you look beautiful,” I said.
Twilight blushed and looked away. “T-Thanks. You look handsome.”
I ran a hand up and down her back, earning a content hum from Twilight. I caught a whiff of her lavender perfume, and my mind went hazy at the scent.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you too,” Twilight replied.
We spent the next few minutes in silence while the music kept playing. I heard a few whispers around us, but kept my focus on Twilight.
Then, however, I heard one sentence in particular that caught my attention and couldn’t have been about anyone except for me: “He looks so weird.”
I suddenly became aware of what everyone around me was saying.
“I’m not sure it’s safe.”
“I can’t believe Princess Celestia allowed it inside.”
“I don’t know what that thing is, but keep him away from my children.”
“What is Princess Twilight doing dancing with it? I wouldn’t get within twenty feet of that thing.”
I felt thousands of eyes on me. All sound around me became nothing but a high pitched ring. My vision began to blur, and my body began to tremble and burn up.
“Jake, are you okay?” I barely heard Twilight ask.
“I-I...” I trailed off as more and more ponies whispered about me.
“It must be dangerous.”
That was it, the breaking point. I let go of Twilight as tears started to form in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away and said, “I’m s-sorry. I-I-I gotta g-go.”
I turned and walked toward the outside garden, doing my best to ignore the whispers, but I tripped over something. It was a waiter, holding drinks for guests. I had knocked him over too, and spilt the drinks. I could feel the sheer anger and judgement from the ponies watching me.
“I-I-I-I’m s-s-sorry,” I stuttered before finally getting out of there.
I crouched down and let my tears flow. I haven’t felt this way in four years. I felt judged. I felt misplaced.
I felt............unwelcome.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys,
So, how’d you like the reunion scene? I hope I did it justice. Also, what’d you think of the conflict I set up for Jake?Will he ever feel welcome? What will his herd do to cheer him up? Can he even be cheered up? Find out next time on...nope, can’t do it, it’s just too cheesy
Going to the Gala Part 3: Promises
Author's Notes:
Hey, guys
This was way harder to write than I thought. I know some of you may find this to be a bit of a let down after the last chapter, but I’ll explain anything necessary in the comments. I don’t know for sure what my next big project will be, but I’ll think of somethingFor now, though, just enjoy the chapter
P.S. I meant to get this out this morning, but I forgot, so...sorry about that
As Jake ran outside, Twilight was left in confusion. He said he had to go and...left. He did seem to bet distracted by something before he did though, the more she thought about it. The question was, what?
“Twilight, what was that? What’s going on with Jake?” Starlight asked, coming over with Sunset.
“I-I’m not sure. He just...left,” Twilight responded.
Sunset looked to the door Jake had just gone through. “Think we should we go after him?”
Both unicorns looked at Twilight for an answer. “Not quite yet. We should find out what’s wrong first.”
“Good idea,” Starlight agreed.
“So, split up and meet up when we have an answer?” Sunset asked.
“Sounds good,” Twilight said.
With that, the three mares went in different directions.
Starlight walked around the dance floor, looking for Spike. Other than Twilight, Spike knew Jake best, so he would likely know what was going on.
“He just looked so...weird. I can’t believe Princess Twilight was dancing with him,” said a nearby voice that made Starlight pause.
Starlight looked to where the voice was coming from and saw two mare earth ponies conversing.
“I know right. Those...things on his hooves were so dumb,” said the one with the dark blue coat.
“And his mane was so short, I could almost see his scalp,” replied the other one with a light yellow coat and a feathery hat.
Starlight nearly blasted the two to kingdom came, but wisely decided against it. Instead, she slowly, carefully levitated a nearby pepper shaker with her magic, unscrewed the lid, and poured the contents into the mares’ drinks.
The two went to take a sip, but when they tasted their drinks, they instantly spat it out and cried out in disgust.
Starlight walked away with a pretty satisfied smirk on her face.
After about five minutes of looking around, Sunset was getting nowhere. All she had managed to find was a tipped over flower vase, courtesy of her’s truly.
Luckily, after a while, she came across a waiter on the ground, his suit covered in wine.
“Here, let me help you up,” Sunset said, offering a hoof.
The waiter took it and stood up. “Thank you. I have no idea what that thing was, but it certainly needs a crash course in basic etiquette!”
Sunset didn’t quite let go of the water’s hoof. “E-Excuse me?”
“Some kind of animal wasn’t looking where it was going, and knocked me over,” the waiter explained, trying to get Sunset to let go.
“Animal?!” Sunset let go, only to grab onto the waiter’s suit with a scowl. “For your information, that was my boyfriend!”
The waiter tried to respond, but it just came out as shaky mumbling.
Before Sunset could do anything to actually hurt the waiter, she remember where she was. She let go and gave the waiter a shove, and mumbled, “You’re not worth it.”
Sunset walked off with a bit of a scowl.
“Princess Celestia, Jake just ran out of the ballroom in a panic. Do you have any idea why?” Twilight asked as she approached her former mentor.
The aforementioned princess was currently talking with a pegasus noble with a white coat.
“As a matter of fact, Twilight, I think I do. This here is Mist,” Princess Celestia introduced, though she had a small scowl on her face.
“Ah, Princess Twilight, I was hoping to speak to you,” Mist said with a heavy accent.
“Umm, what about?” Twilight asked.
“That...creature you were dancing with. That was highly uncouth of you,” Mist said in an extremely condescending tone.
Twilight, taken highly aback, grit her teeth and asked, “P-Pardon?”
“It looked like a griffon with no wings or feathers. I don’t know anypony who would even entertain the thought of even speaking with such a creature, let alone dance with one.” Mist turned his gaze to Princess Celestia and added, “Or invite one to the Grand Galloping Gala.”
With a deep breath to suppress her anger, Princess Celestia asked, “Does that answer your question, Twilight?”
Twilight, with her eyes closed, nodded. She then walked up to Mist, opened her eyes, and asked, “Say, Mist, what is it you do for a living?”
“Air patrol, obviously,” Mist scoffed.
“So...you do a lot of flying?” Twilight asked, her horn aglow.
“Y-Yes, I do. Why is it you ask?” Mist asked.
Instead of answering verbally, Twilight picked up Mist in her magic, and threw him across the room, into a large cake.
Twilight turned to Princess Celestia and said, “I’m sorry. I should probably go apologize to him before I leave.”
Before Twilight could walk away, Princess Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder. “He is one of the most annoying, condescending nobles in Canterlot. Tell me, Twilight, how good did it feel to do that?”
Twilight, taken by surprise, couldn’t help but blush. “Honestly, really good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Jake.”
“Of course, and tell him he has my sincerest apologies,” Princess Celestia replied as Twilight ran off.
A few minutes later, Twilight, Starlight, and Sunset all ran toward each other as soon as they saw each other.
“I think I know what’s going on,” they all said in unison.
“Wait, one at a time,” Twilight said.
The three of them paused before they all spoke again at once. “Jake feels unwelcome here.”
They all groaned, also in unison.
Starlight looked to Twilight. “Has anything like this ever happened with Jake before?”
“Yeah, you’ve known him the longest,” Sunset added.
“Well...” Twilight replied. “There was this one time, but...”
“What? What happened?” Starlight asked, getting anxious.
“It was almost four years ago, just a little after Jake and I first met. Spike had warmed up to him pretty quick but...” Twilight trailed off.
“But what? Twilight, we need to know what’s going if we’re gonna be able to help Jake,” Sunset said.
“My friends...didn’t exactly trust him right away,” Twilight finally admitted.
“What? I thought you’ve all been friends for years,” Starlight countered.
“And my friends got along with him just fine,” Sunset added.
“Well...Jake himself was really different back then. He was closed off...secluded,” Twilight explained, much to Starlight’s and Sunset’s shock. “Still though, he took it personally. Eventually, my friends, and most of Ponyville for that matter saw he wasn’t much different from them. That was when he started to really become friendly.”
“So when he heard everypony here saying those horrible things about him, they must have made some bad memories resurface,” Sunset concluded.
“Seems like it,” Twilight agreed.
“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go talk to him,” Sunset said, walking toward the door Jake had ran out of.
“Hold on, Sunset. Jake’s...stubborn when it comes to dealing with things,” Twilight said, stepping in front of Sunset.
“Yeah, I remember. He doesn’t like others trying to help him deal with his issues,” Starlight agreed.
“Girls, I’ve been where Jake is now. There’s no way he can work through this on his own,” Sunset countered, trying to get passed Twilight.
“I know, but Jake...” Twilight sighed. “He thinks he’s insignificant.”
“What?!” Sunset nearly shouted. “That’s ridiculous. ‘Insignificant’ is the last thing I’d call him!”
“I know, and I get it. But...how can I put this?” Twilight responded. “Most of the time, Jake thinks too much about others and too little of himself. He puts other in front of him, which is good, but he never thinks about himself.”
“But we can’t just leave him out there,” Sunset pleaded.
“I know, but it’s not like we can do anything. Jake’ll just tell you to forget about him and have a good time without him,” Starlight countered.
“Then what do we do, just let him suffer out there?” Sunset asked. “It’s just not fair. He always does his best to help others around him, but there’s nothing we can do to help him? We have to do something.”
Twilight and Starlight looked at each other, realizing Sunset had a point.
“He’s such a good boyfriend, but we never show him how much we love him,” Twilight admitted.
“He always knows what to say and do to make us feel better when we’re feeling down, but now that he’s feeling down...we don’t know what to do,” Starlight agreed.
The two of them looked back at Sunset.
“You’re completely right, Sunset. We have to do something to help Jake,” Twilight finally said.
I was sitting in Canterlot’s garden. Usually, I’d highly admire it’s natural beauty, but I couldn’t right now.
The things those ponies said...I thought I was finally past this. I thought ponies didn’t mind my appearance. I thought...I was welcome in Equestria.
Then again, it’s not like that was the first time that’s ever happened.
The other kids from my old school:
”Jakey’s an orphan~
Jakey’s an orphan~”
My first few guardians before I went to my first orphanage:
”Oh my God, Jake, I get it; your parents died. But that was five years ago! Get over it already!”
Even here in Equestria a few years back:
”Ah don’t know, Twilight. He’s just gotta be hidin’ somethin’.”
“Yeah, and he eats meat too. Meat, Twilight!”
I don’t know why I was so surprised at those ponies.
I was brought out of my thoughts by a snapping twig. I looked over to where the noise came from and wiped my eyes. Twilight, Starlight, and Sunset were all standing in front of me.
“W-What do you girls want?” I asked, trying my best not to sound rude.
“We heard what those ponies in there said, and we’re sorry,” Twilight said, walking up next to to me.
I scooted away a little and replied, “What are you sorry for. It’s not like you can do anything about it.”
“Because we love you, Jake. And we can’t stand to see you get hurt like that,” Starlight answered.
“And you’re right, we can’t change their minds, but that doesn’t matter to us or your friends,” Sunset added.
Once again, I turned away from the three mares. “Look, don’t worry about me. Just go have fun.”
Starlight and Twilight stayed silent, but Sunset marched in front of me. I tried to turn away again, but she didn’t let me.
“No,” Sunset declared.
“No?” I repeated.
“No, I can’t have fun while you’re out here sulking,” Sunset explained.
I ran a hand down Sunset’s cheek. “Look, Sunset, I appreciate-“
“No! I’m not letting you stay out here like this. I couldn’t call myself your girlfriend if I just dismissed your problems!” Sunset interrupted.
“Sunset, really, it’s okay,” I said.
Sunset put both of her hooves on my shoulders. “No it’s not! You’re always the one who’s there for us! For once in your life, let us help you. You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. I can’t just let you get hurt and do nothing about it. Not after all you’ve done for me!”
“W-What do you mean ‘all I’ve done for you’?” I asked.
“Wha-What do I mean?! How about reuniting me with my surrogate mother?!” Sunset suggested.
“Or being my friend when I thought I wasn’t good enough for that,” Starlight added.
“Or standing up to my parents for me, even after they treated you so horribly,” Twilight added as well.
I felt more tears roll down my face as I looked at my three marefriends. I tried to say something, but I was speechless.
“The truth is, Jake...we don’t deserve you. You’ve always been there for us, and we’ve never been able to make it up to you,” Sunset stated.
“And yet you ask nothing in return, and love us anyway. We don’t care if you look different. If anything, we love that about you too,” Twilight agreed.
“Those ponies in there may not like the way you look, but who cares? You’re nicer, smarter, and way more considerate than any of them combined. We’re lucky to have someone like you as our boyfriend,” Starlight added.
I looked at my herd. There were tears running down their faces as well.
“Please, Jake, let us try to make all of that up to you. Let us make you feel better,” Twilight pleaded.
That was all it took. I embraced the three of them in one, big hug. I let all of my emotions run free as they returned the hug. “You don’t have to.”
Twilight pulled away and looked into my eyes. “Jake, seriously-“
“Because you already have. You think you don’t deserve me? You think you don’t make up in return how much I love you? You do, just by being here. The truth is...you three let me know just how much you love me everyday, just by being with me, and I could never ask you to do anything more,” I lamented.
The three of us embraced once again, and we stayed out in the garden for the rest of the night, crying, laughing, and loving each other.
It was two days later, and we were back at Twilight’s castle.
Sunset had just said her goodbyes to Princess Celestial and was going back to her world today, and I was seeing her off.
“Tell them all I said ‘hi’,” I told her before giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“I will, but before I go, I want you to make me a promise,” Sunset responded.
“Anything,” I said.
Sunset took one of my hands in her hooves and looked my in the eyes. “Promise me that, whenever you feel down, let your friends help you. Don’t tell them they’re above helping you. Let them try to cheer you up. Do it for me, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Sunset kissed me on the cheek and walked through the portal, giving me one last wink before walking through.
“I will, Sunset Shimmer,” I said, doubting she could actually hear me.
I walked out into the hall and found Twilight and Starlight in the library, going through a friendship lesson.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting anything,” I said.
“It’s fine, Jake. What’s going on?” Twilight asked.
“I just wanted to say...thank you, for loving me,” I said.
The two of them smiled.
“I’ll get out of your way now,” I said, leaving the library.
“Jake wait!” Starlight called.
I walked back into the library. “Yeah?”
“We want to give you this,” Twilight said, levitating a necklace toward me with her magic.
I took the necklace in my hands and saw it was actually a locket. I opened it and saw three pictures: one of Twilight, one of Starlight, and one of Sunset. They were all smiling, and I could see their love for me in their eyes.
I felt my emotions getting the best of me again, so I put the locket around my neck, looked at the two mares, and said, “I’ll never take it off.”
Bunch of Big News
Author's Notes:
Alright, I know what you're thinking. However, the news is all in the story, and I just couldn't think of a better title. So just...read on while I crawl back into my lair and plot up more chapters for this story
Twilight and I lay in bed, embracing each other as we caught our breaths. We had just finished a rather...intense make out session, since we’d agreed to save anything...more until after we were married.
Yep, you heard me right. After so much time together since I’d returned from my travels and founding out what she really thought of me, Twilight and I had been growing closer and closer, so much so that I knew it was time to pop the big question.
We hadn’t picked a date yet or had even told anyone, not even Spike or Starlight. Not that we didn’t want them to know, we were just waiting for the right time.
“You know, Jake,” Twilight said.
“Yes, Twilight?” I said, looking down at her with a smile.
“I know we’ve been waiting for the right time to tell everypony that we’re engaged, but I feel bad that I have to keep it a secret so much,” she confessed.
I stroked her mane and kissed her forehead. “You just want to be able to wear the ring I bought you in public, don’t you?”
Twilight’ s face quickly turned a dark shade of red. Ever since I’d proposed to her in that antique shop, she’d been completely mesmerized by the ring I gave her. It was gold with a sizable diamond that matched the color of her eyes. She’d been telling me that the fact that I had been the one to give it to her made it worth more than anything she could ever think of.
“Well...it’s a gift from you,” Twilight reasoned. “What point would there be if I couldn’t show you how grateful I am?”
I had to admit, Twilight had a point. Also, I’d also been getting kind of eager to tell all our friends about the engagement. There was one thing holding me back, however.
“What about Starlight? I feel like telling her would...change what we have. I really don’t want to hurt her.”
Twilight nuzzled my side and tucked herself closer to me. “Neither do I, but... maybe it won’t be as bad as you think. What we have now is amazing to say the least, but I don’t see anything wrong with taking things a step further, and I doubt Starlight will either.”
I was already close enough to agreeing, but Twilight then did something that couldn’t have made me say no in a million years, not even for a million dollars: she nuzzled her muzzle against my neck and used one of her wings to stroke my sides.
“Alright, we can tell them.”
Twilight gave a tiny, cute cheer and started to kiss me again.
Before we got going again though, I held my hand out to back her away a little bit.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Well, this isn’t just some small gossip between friends. This is huge news, that I think we should invite your brother and his wife over to hear, as well as Sunset,” I explained.
Twilight shrugged and tilted her head a little bit. “That’s fair. We can invite them and the rest of our friends over and tell them the news.”
“That’s good.” I quickly grabbed onto Twilight and turned over so I was over her, causing her to giggle. “Now where were we?”
Sunset watched Rainbow Dash and Applejack mash their controller buttons with a pure lack of amazement. Every now and then, their eternal feud could be somewhat entertaining, but it quickly got either boring or annoying.
Sunset looked over to the front door, wishing her other friends would arrive already. They agreed to have a sleepover at her house at seven o’clock, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash and both arrived early.
“You sure you don’t wanna join, Sunset?” Applejack asked.
Sunset shook her head and looked at the two feuding gamers. “No, no I think I’m good.”
“Alright, I’ll just have to kick AJ’s butt again. That never gets boring,” Rainbow Dash said. Applejack glared at her, and they both went back to their furious button mashing.
Sunset groaned just quiet enough to not be heard. Luckily, it wasn’t much longer before the doorbell rang. “I got it!” She wasted no time getting up and rushing to the door, happy to have an excuse to get away.
She opened the door to reveal the rest of her friends, each holding something unique. Rarity, to no one’s surprise, was holding her makeup kit. Fluttershy had some junk food, no doubt having helped Pinkie Pie carry it in. Speaking of which, the party girl was holding...more junk food. Twilight had surprisingly brought something other than a text book. It looked like a few movies to Sunset.
“Come on in, girls. Rainbow and AJ are already here,” Sunset said, stepping out of the way of the door.
“Thanks for inviting us over,” Fluttershy said, walking into the kitchen and dropping...a lot of food on the way.
“I’ll help her!” Pinkie needlessly yelled as she rushed to help her friend.
“Sorry we’re late. How long have...they been here?” Rarity asked as she too walked inside.
“Half an hour,” Sunset answered, doing her best to keep a straight face but unable to hold back an involuntary eye twitch.
Twilight recoiled in understanding. “Here, I brought some movies for us to watch. Maybe it’ll distract them for a while.”
Sunset took the three movies Twilight had and looked at the covers, looking back at Twilight with a look that just said ‘are you serious’.
“What? They’re good movies,” Twilight argued.
Sunset raised an eyebrow and looked back at the movies. “Hidden Figures, Gattaca, and Lorenzo’s Oil.”
Twilight couldn’t do anything but blush as Sunset had called her. Sunset, in turn, just laughed and shook her head. “Never change, Twilight.”
All of the sudden, Sunset’s stomach started to hurt as if she’d just finished spinning in a circle.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, rushing to her friend’s side.
“Yeah, just a little nauseous,” Sunset answered.
“You sure? How long have you felt like this?” Twilight asked as she helped Sunset into the living room.
“I don’t know, a couple of days, I guess,” Sunset answered as she sat down on the couch.
“Who wants nachos?” Pinkie called from the kitchen.
“Nachos? I’m starving!” Sunset said, immediately getting up and walking into the kitchen.
“Sunset, wait. You just said you were nauseous,” Twilight said, trying to hold onto Sunset’s arm.
“Not too nauseous for nachos,” Sunset replied, trying to pull her arm away.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to eat-“ Twilight started to say.
“I said I’m fine,” Sunset said sternly as she forced her arm out of Twilight’s grip.
Twilight just stared on, dumbfounded at what had just happened.
“What’s her problem?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m not sure, but I haven’t seen Sunset act like that since...ya know,” Applejack responded.
“I think I may have a theory,” Twilight whispered to herself.
In the kitchen, Sunset had finished making herself a plate of nachos when she her stomach suddenly started doing somersaults. She covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom. Rarity and Pinkie started to follow her, but the sound of Sunset vomiting immediately got them to walk back into the kitchen.
“What is it, Twi?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, it’s pretty much rock solid at this point, but I need to make sure. When exactly was the last time Jake was here?” Twilight responded.
A few minutes later, Sunset came back into the living room, wiping her mouth with a hand. All of her friends were sitting on the couch, the TV off.
“Oh, you guys didn’t have to wait for me,” Sunset said, going to join them.
“Before we put on a movie,” Twilight said, standing up. “There’s something we need to know. When was the last time you and Jake...hung out?”
“Ummm, random question, but it was just a few days ago,” Sunset answered.
“And is that when you started getting nauseous?” Rarity asked next.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” Sunset answered, confused as to what her friends were hinting at.
“We think we may know what’s going on and why you’re feeling so bad,” Applejack stated.
“Okay, and?” Sunset asked.
“Think about it; random outbursts, hunger, nausea, and it all started when Jake last visited,” Fluttershy pointed out.
“And you were super chill the next day we saw you. Like, you had a smile on your face the whole time. Even my face needs a break from smiling!” Pinkie added.
Sunset suddenly felt very uncomfortable and like she needed to go. “That’s none of your business. And what are you trying to say, anyhow?”
“Come on, Shimmer, connect the dots,” Rainbow said. “Here, if you need us to spell it out for you, Rarity went to the pharmacy while you were in the bathroom.”
She then held a small, rectangular box out to Sunset, who took it and looked at it.
After seeing what it was, she looked back up at her friends with a bit of anger. “Are you girls serious?”
“Take it? For us,” Twilight said.
“Fine,” was all Sunset said before storming off.
The girls sat back down, but didn’t do anything else.
“Anyone else feel a little bad about that intervention?” Rainbow asked, breaking the awkward silence that was starting to form.
“Well, if we’re right, we’d be doing the right thing,” Twilight said in response.
“And if we’re wrong?” Applejack asked.
“Then...we’re terrible friends who violated Sunset’s privacy,” Twilight hesitantly answered.
Rarity shook her head. “We can’t be wrong. It all just adds up.”
“Let’s just hope she forgives us either way,” Fluttershy interjected.
After a few minutes of silence, the bathroom door could be heard opening, and Sunset slowly walked out to join her friends.
Rainbow Dash was the first to stand up. “Well?”
“B-Before you tell us, we just want you to know that we’re really sorry, and-“ Twilight started.
“No, you were right,” Sunset said, causing all of the girls to gasp.
“Y-You mean-“ Rarity said.
“Yep,” Sunset cut off. “I’m pregnant.”
A few hours later, Sunset was curled up in a ball in her bed, crying as she shoved a pillow in her face, hoping to cover the sounds of her cries. Her friends had gone home, but only after telling her that they always had her back and that everything was gonna be okay.
‘How could everything be okay? Nothing is okay. What am I supposed to do? How am I...How am I supposed to tell Jake? He’s been nothing but an amazing boyfriend, and this will ruin his life.’
After a few more minutes of crying and thinking of what she was gonna do, Sunset forced herself to get up and find the journal. Before she could start writing it, however, it glowed.
Hey, Sunset. Sorry to just say something out of the blue, but can you come to Equestria tomorrow? Jake and I have some great news to tell everyone!
Sunset turned away from the page to keep her tear from falling on it. Before she could write anything, however, more writing appeared.
Oh, and out of curiosity have you met my brother Shining Armor and his wife Cadance?
Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle, despite herself. Of course she’d met them, she’d even admittedly tried to flirt with Shining Armor, though she didn’t know he was Twilight’s brother.
Yeah, I’ve met them
Great! So you’ll come?
I don’t know if
What’s wrong? Something bad happen?
Sunset thought about telling Princess Twilight right then, but didn’t.
No, I’ll be there
Great! See you tomorrow
Sunset fell down to the floor and curled back up into a ball. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
“You guys were called here too?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew in the entrance to the castle.
“Yep, except we’ve got no clue as to why. You wouldn’t happen to know, would ya?” Applejack asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Rainbow answered.
Twilight and I were hiding in the room over. Starlight and Spike were on their way to join us. Other than that, we were just waiting on Shining Armor, Cadance, and, as far as I know, Sunset. Twilight could barely contain herself, so much that I nearly had to physically hold her back.
“I get you’re excited, I am too, but calm down,” I said with a huge smile on my face.
“I just can’t help it! I’ve been wanting to tell our friends ever since we got engaged in the first place!” Twilight countered.
We had already planned the way we were gonna tell our friends: we were gonna gather in the foyer, tell everyone the gathering was my idea, and I was gonna propose to Twilight again, right there.
I thought I was gonna have to actually hold Twilight down if it weren’t for a crashing sound in a nearby room.
“Sunset’s here!” Twilight yelled, taking off in the direction of the crash.
I followed her, and sure enough, Sunset Shimmer was lying on the ground in front of the powered down mirror portal.
“Hey, Sunset, glad you could make it,” I said, helping her to her hooves.
“Thanks, Jake, I...one second.” Sunset immediately covered her mouth with one of her forehooves and turned a little pale. She looked around and looked like she was having a panic attack.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked, nearly matching Sunset’s level of distress.
“I need a bathroom or a trash can or a bucket...I’m gonna puke,” Sunset said as she started to heave.
Twilight quickly used her magic to materialize a bucket which Sunset buried her head in and hurled. I couldn’t help but dry heave a little at the sight and sound.
Once she was done, Sunset backed away from Twilight and wiped her mouth with a hoof. “I am so sorry about that.”
“It’s fine, the portal must’ve shot you out too slow,” Twilight reasoned.
“Yeah...that’s probably it,” Sunset said as if she were hiding something.
“Is everything okay, Sunset?” I asked, picking up on her secretive tone.
Sunset quickly shook her head and seemed to snap out of whatever funk she was in. “Nothing, nothing. So, what is it you guys wanted to tell me?”
Hearing this, Twilight perked up again and started to hop in place like Pinkie Pie does. “You’ll see. Just...go out in the foyer, and we’ll tell once everypony gets here.”
Slowly but surely, Sunset walked out the door to the foyer.
Once we were alone, I quickly knelt down in front of Twilight. Sure enough, I could see the pure excitement in her eyes and knew it was only a matter of time before she lost it and blurted it to everyone in the foyer.
“Twilight, I need you to calm down. We don’t wanna ruin the surprise before your brother gets here. Just...calm down!” I said, her excitement slowly starting to infect me.
Twilight looked like she was about to explode. The only thing I could think to do was...kiss her. And that’s what I did. All of the excitement I felt in my fiancé just moments ago was all gone and now replaced with lust and passion.
Once we parted, Twilight opened her eyes, and we gazed into each others’, our love and affection surely on full display.
“I love you,” Twilight said, breaking the blissful silence.
“I love you too,” I replied. “And I’m so glad that I’m gonna get to spend the rest of my life with you.”
With that, we joined in a wide and tight embrace that made me question why it had taken me so long to fall in love with Twilight.
Once I broke the hug, much to Twilight’s dismay, I stood up and said, “I’ll go get the ring and meet you in the foyer.”
“O-Okay,” was all Twilight could say in response.
I walked over to the door, but before I went out, I looked back and blew Twilight one last kiss.
Twilight love-drunkenly wandered down the hall toward the foyer, eagerly hoping her brother and sister-in-law had arrived by now. The first time Jake had proposed had just been magical, she would have a hard time replicating it in front of her friends. She would have to act out the shock, the romance, and the acceptance.
After what felt like days of aimless wandering, Twilight eventually came to a door and heard voices on the other side.
“Sunset? Are you okay?” asked the voice of Starlight.
“Yeah, just a little lost is all,” replied the voice of Sunset.
“Did Twilight and Jake ask you to meet in the foyer too?” asked the voice of Spike.
“Yep, but I have no idea why. Do either of you two know?”
Despite herself, Twilight couldn’t help but press her ear up to the door.
“Nope. Jake just told us that he had a, quote ‘huge announcement’ and to go wait in the foyer,” Starlight answered.
“So Jake is the one with the announcement. Yippee,” Sunset said in a dapper tone.
Despite eavesdropping dropping being wrong, especially on friends, Twilight felt a little glad she was listening in on this conversation.
“Is...everything okay?” Spike asked.
“Fine, just...fine,” Sunset replied.
“Come on, we’re your friends. You can tell us,” Starlight pleaded.
There was a moment of silence on the other side of the door, causing Twilight to press her ear up again the door a little harder.
“Alright, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Jake,” Sunset eventually said.
“Cross our hearts, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye,” Spike said.
There was another moment where nothing was said before Sunset whispered something inaudible to Twilight. Ever so curious, Twilight pushed up a little more on the door.
“What do you mean ‘you’re pregnant’?” Starlight suddenly asked aloud.
The second she heard the word pregnant, Twilight pushed against the door in shock, accidentally opening it. She hit the ground with a thud as Sunset wore a terrified look on her face.
“T-Twilight, I-I can explain, I-I swear,” Sunset stuttered.
“Are you kidding? Why would this be bad news?” Twilight asked, much to everyone’s surprise.
“Wait, you’re not mad?” Starlight asked, clearly confused.
“Why would I be?” Twilight asked, forgetting what was going on.
“I thought for you’d want to be the one to have Jake’s first child,” Spike explained.
“Oh, well, yeah but...that’s not important right now. Sunset, did you not plan on telling Jake?” Twilight said, getting the focus off of herself.
“No! Or, not today at least. When you said you had news you wanted to share with everyone, I figured you’d be upset if I had something like this to tell you,” Sunset replied. “And besides, Jake’s gonna flip!”
“What makes you think that?” Starlight asked.
“”Well, has Jake ever said anything about having children to any of you?” Sunset asked, being met with two shaking heads and a shoulder shrug. “See! If he finds out he’s having a kid now, who knows how he’ll react!”
“What exactly do you plan to do then? You realize it’s gonna be pretty hard to hide a child from its father,” Spike explained.
“Wait! Can we discuss this another time? I...Jake has really something important to tell everypony,” Twilight said.
“Alright, that’d be great,” Sunset said, relieved she didn’t have to talk about this any further.
“Seriously, though, you have to tell Jake. It doesn’t have to be now, but you do have to tell him some time,” Twilight said before running out to find Jake. “Meet you in the foyer!”
All Starlight, Spike, and Sunset could do was shrug and make their way to the foyer.
It hadn’t taken me long to find the ring, but I still couldn’t resist practicing in front of the mirror.
“Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?” I said to the mirror before immediately realizing how lame that sounded. I wanted everything I was going to say to come straight from the heart, to let Twilight know how much she’s meant to me, how much she’s always meant to me. One thing was for sure:
It had to be perfect, no questions asked.
“Twilight Sparkle, light of my life...no, that just makes it sound like I’m sucking up to her,” I said aloud.
I took a deep breath and prepared to try again...and then Twilight came into my room.
“Jake, what is taking so long? Everypony’s here!” Twilight told me.
“Sorry, just got a little carried away,” I told her.
“Just...come on!” she responded.
“Alright, alright,” I said, walking beside her toward the foyer. Guess I’ll have to think of a speech on the fly.
Once we arrived, we were greeted by Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
“Glad to see you again. Hopefully there’ll be a bit less arguing this time,” Shining said.
“That’ll be a huge plus. I’m just glad Sunburst agreed to watch Flurry Heart on such short notice,” Cadance added.
“So what did you guys want to tell everypony?” Applejack asked.
Twilight took the opportunity to walk to the center of the room. “Actually, Jake is the one with the announcement.”
Assuming it was my cue, I walked up to Twilight and held one of her hooves. Looking at everyone present, I smiled and told them all, “I’m so glad every one of you could make it. I’m sorry if we pulled you away from something important, but this is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now.”
“Just tell us! We can’t wait much longer!” Rainbow Dash yelled, earning herself a few glares from her friends.
After taking a deep breath, I knelt down, facing Twilight, and held her other hoof.
“Oh my Celestia, this is really happening!” Cadance said in excitement.
“Calm down, sweetie,” Shining said.
I looked at the others in the room and saw they were all glowing with both shock and excitement. Turing back to Twilight, I began my speech.
“Twilight Sparkle, ever since we first met, even after my reaction to first seeing you, you’ve been...nothing but kind and...and accepting of me. When everyone else had turned their back on me, I...I could always count on you. You’re an amazing mare, and an even more amazing friend. Even when I didn’t return or acknowledge your feelings...you still loved me, a creature misplaced in a world that didn’t accept him. I...I just can’t go another day without knowing that...that y-you’ll always...” I trailed off, choking up on my tears of joy. Twilight was doing a good job of acting surprised, as she had began to cry as well.
With nothing more to say, I pulled the box from out of my back pocket and opened it for her to see it. Her reaction was the same when I had first shown her the ring, and it’s a look I will never forget. Her beautiful violet eyes grew wide with shock and excitement, and her breaths hitched on joy.
“J-Jake, I...” she tried to say, but couldn’t get any further.
“Twilight Sparkle, will you make me the happiest man, or creature in all of existence...and marry me?” I finally asked.
“Oh Jake, o-of course. Y-Yes, I’ll marry you!” Twilight cried, leaping into an embrace that brought cheers and congratulations from all of our friends. Even Starlight and Sunset looked excited, which I wasn’t sure to expect.
Before we were inevitably surrounded by our friends, I separated from Twilight to slip the ring over her horn. Sure enough, immediately after, everyone present had gathered around us in a huge group hug.
By now, everyone had given Twilight and me their sincerest congratulations and promises to attend the wedding before going home.
It was just Starlight, Sunset, Spike, Twilight, and me in the library.
“Don’t worry, nothing’s gonna change between-“ I told Starlight and Sunset.
Starlight, to my surprise, cut me off before I could finish. “We know, and quite frankly, we were surprised it had taken you this long to propose to Twilight.”
“Wait, really?” Twilight asked, just as shocked as I was.
“Yeah. We know that you two have the most history together, so we knew it was only a matter of time before one of you proposed,” Sunset answered.
“Huh, well...alright then,” I said with a shrug.
It wasn’t long before Sunset yawned and got up. “Well, I’d better get going.”
“Hold on, are you sure you’re not still a little sick from earlier,” I said, standing up as well.
“I’m fine, Jake. It’s gone away since then,” Sunset replied.
“Jake’s right. The portal may not be too safe for the baby,” Spike said before immediately covering his mouth with his claws.
“Spike!” Starlight half-shouted and half-squeaked, covering Spike’s mouth as well.
“W-What?” I said, turning back toward Twilight, Starlight, and Spike.
“Ummm...” was all Twilight could say.
I turned back toward Sunset and asked, “What baby?”
All Sunset could do was look back at me with worried eyes.
“Whatever it is, just tell me,” I said.
“I-I’m...I’m pregnant,” Sunset told me.
And just like that, all the feeling in my legs left, and all the blood rushed from my head. The last thing I heard before blacking out was Sunset yelling my name.
Author’s Note
Alright, just so you know, I’m not sure when I’m gonna get back on this line of continuity. That being said, don’t expect the next chapter to immediately follow up after this
Bro to Bro Advice
“Hey, Jake? Can I ask you something?” Spike asked, peeking his head into my room.
“Sure, Spike, what is-Ow!” I said, regretting turning my head. There was a huge crick in my neck that kept me from turning my head more than seventy-five degrees to the right.
Spike quickly rushed over to me and hopped up onto my bed. “Are you alright?” he asked, placing a claw on my neck.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just slept a little weird,” I responded. “So what did you want to ask me?”
Spike had a bit of an embarrassed look on his face as he looked down at his claws.
“Come on, you can tell me. We’re like brothers,” I said, giving him a gentle nudge with my elbow.
“I know, it’s just...I-I don’t know who else to turn to,” Spike said, not able to look at me.
“Whatever it is, I swear I won’t judge you in any way, shape or form,” I promised.
Spike still couldn’t look at me and nearly left even, but eventually looked me in the eye and said, “Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up...”
’There you go, buddy’
“...No! I can’t do this!” Spike yelled, running out of my room.
’Nevermind’
I got up, winced a little due to the pain in my neck, and followed him out.
“Spike, wait! Just tell me! It can’t be that bad,” I pleaded.
Spike turned around...and around...and around...until he finally said, “Fine! But can we go back in your room please?”
“Sure, whatever makes this easier for you,” I said, leading Spike back to my room.
Once we were there, I pulled up a chair for Spike to sit on, myself sitting on a different one to face him.
“So? What’s goin’ on, bro?” I asked, hoping to make Spike feel a bit more comfortable.
It he was, he didn’t show it. His face turned a deep shade of red as he bit his lip. After a few second, he quickly yelled, “I have a crush on Rarity!”
My expression didn’t change.
“W-What? Why are you looking at me like that? I just told you that I have a crush on Rarity,” Spike repeated.
“Spike.........I know,” I told him.
“You know?” he reiterated.
“E-Everyone knows. It’s kinda obvious, no offense. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only one who doesn’t know is Rarity.”
Spike sighed. “Sorry for waisting your time,” he said as he started to get up.
“Spike, sit down,” I told him before he got too far. “I know you didn’t just come in here to tell me that you like Rarity. What else is going on? You said something about Hearts and Hooves Day coming up, didn’t you?”
Spike’s face grew hotter and hotter as he struggled to look at me. “Y-Yeah, I-I wanted...I w-wanted...I wanted to ask her out f-for Hearts and Hooves Day...l-like a-as a date.”
“Okay. So why did you come to me?” I asked.
“B-Because you have three marefriends. Well, technically you have two marefriends and a girlfriend, but you know what I mean. I just thought...you’d have some sort of advice you could give me,” Spike admitted.
I couldn’t help but blush a little at Spike’s praise, but there is one thing I should probably tell him.
“Spike, just because I have three marefriends, that doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing.”
Spike’s shoulders drooped a little. “Th-That makes sense. Sorry for bothering-“
“Ep ep ep, that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna help you,” I said.
“R-Really?” Spike asked.
I shrugged. “Yeah. Like I said, you’re like a brother to me. Now, let’s see what we can do to help you. What is stopping you from asking Rarity on a date.”
“Well...I’m not sure how to ask her. A-And I’m afraid she might say no,” Spike stammered.
“Alright, those are fair reasons to worry. For your second problem, you can’t be afraid of being rejected,” I told him.
“B-But what if she says no and thinks it’ll be too weird for us to be friends after?” Spike asked, clearly having thought about this for a while.
I stood up and walked around to the back of Spike. “Well, imagine this. You never ask Rarity out on a date or even tell her how you feel, but you’re always crippled with wondering what would’ve happened if you did. You’d be second guessing everything.”
“I-I guess that makes sense,” Spike admitted.
“Good. Now think about this. You tell Rarity how you feel, but she rejects you. In fact, she doesn’t want to have anything to do with you ever again. You’re devastated...but you now know at least how to admit your feelings to someone you like, and aren’t as afraid of doing it again.”
Spike looked like he wanted to say something doubtful, but I spoke again before he could.
“Now, imagine this,” I said, putting my hands on his shoulders. “You tell Rarity how you feel. She’s a little shocked at first, but she hears you out. She thinks about all the time she’s known you and all the time you’ve spent together, and slowly realizes...she loves you too.”
Even though I couldn’t see his face, I knew Spike was smiling. He clearly liked what he was hearing. I knew he was just thinking about being with Rarity with all the joy in the world.
“How does that sound, buddy?” I asked, rousing him from his daydream.
“G-Good,” he stuttered.
I started applying a little pressure to his shoulders with my hands to start massaging him. “Now, close your eyes and think. Think about why you like-no, why you love Rarity, and tell me.”
I could feel Spike’s head dip a little to the side as I kept massaging him.
“W-Well, what’s not to like? She has an amazing personality, her voice is as sweet as harmony itself...she has the biggest heart in Equestria, she...she’s beautiful...I could go on forever.”
“Alright, now what I want you to do is open your eyes. When you do, you’re going to go over to Carousel Boutique, and tell Rarity everything you just told me. I can’t tell you how she’ll respond, but I promise it’ll be better than keeping it to yourself.”
Spike took a deep breath as I slowly moved my hands away from his shoulders. “You know what? You’re right, Jake. I’m gonna go tell her right now.”
“Now that’s more like it. You go, bro. I’ll be behind you all the way,” I said, patting him on the back.
“Actually, if it’s not too much to ask, I was hoping I could maybe do this...alone,” Spike said, moving away from my hand.
“Alright, that’s fine,” I replied as he left the room. A few seconds after he did, I said to myself, “Yeah, like that’s happening.”
I followed Spike to Carousel Boutique, somehow without him noticing me, and was currently trying to listen in on what he was saying to Rarity. A had my ear propped up to the door, and my hand over the other ear. I knew this was wrong, but I wanted to see if my advice would actually work.
After a few minutes, I heard rapid footsteps coming toward the door. I quickly got out of the way as the door opened, and Spike ran out, a claw over his eyes. I couldn’t really hear anything that was said and thought about going after Spike to help him, but instead went inside to hopefully avoid an outburst.
“Anyhow, Spike, what was it you wanted to ask me?” Rarity asked as she folded up some fabric.
“Umm, Spike just left,” I said.
Rarity snapped her head over to me in surprise. “Jake?! But I was just talking to Spike a moment ago. Where is he?”
“He ummm...he just ran outside,” I replied. “W-What exactly did he say to you?”
Rarity walked up beside me and looked in the direction Spike had just gone. “He just came in and said he had something he wanted to talk about if I were free. I told him I was, and even said I would always have a moment for him, having been one of the best friends I could ask for.”
“Friendzoned, poor little guy,” I said to myself.
“W-What?” Rarity asked.
I mentally slapped myself for having said that out loud. “N-Nothing.”
“No, I heard exactly what you said. I meant, what do you mean by that?” Rarity explained.
“Umm...I feel a little bad saying...” I stopped, coming up with a bit of a plan. “I feel like there’s something you should know.”
Rarity burst into the library, startling Twilight and Starlight.
“Have either of you seen Spike? It’s very important that I speak to him,” Rarity asked.
“No, he’s in his room if anything,” Twilight answered, catching her breath.
“Good, sorry for interrupting,” Rarity said, running toward Spike’s room. On the way, she couldn’t help but wonder how she’d missed everything.
Once she reached the dragon’s room, she composed herself and opened the door. Inside, Spike was on his bed, his face buried in his pillows.
“S-Spike?”
The aforementioned dragon quickly wiped his eyes and face the alabaster unicorn as best he could.
“We need to talk,” Rarity said.
“S-Sure, make yourself comfortable,” Spike replied, making room on his bed for her.
Slowly, Rarity went over to Spike’s bed a sat down. “Why exactly did you come to my boutique?”
Spike’s face immediately turned a deep red as he turned away. “I-I-I...”
Rarity put her hoof on his cheek and moved his face to look at her. “Spike...Jake told me.”
Spike blinked, not showing any clear emotion. “H-He did?”
All Rarity could do was nod and say, “Y-Yes. He told me...everything.”
Spike dejectedly lay back down on his bed. “So you know.”
“I-I do,” was all Rarity could say. Before long though, she used a hoof to roll him over. “Spike, I am so sorry. I don’t know how I missed all the signs, everything you’ve done for me, all the times you looked as if you were distracted when we were together.”
Spike rolled back over and didn’t say anything.
“Please, Spike, listen to me. For so long, I’ve been worried that I would never find love, not knowing it was right in front of me,” Rarity pleaded, moving closer to Spike.
“W-What are you saying?”
“What I’m saying is...I’ve been chasing after all of these stallions who aren’t right for me...and neglecting to look at the one who is really for me,” Rarity said, her muzzle just a few inches from Spike.
Spike looked up just in time for Rarity to plant her soft, white lips onto Spike’s, releasing years and years of desire and heartache within the dragon. Once the kiss broke, Spike found himself wanting more.
“W-Wow,” he said.
“Spike, listen to me. I am so sorry that I haven’t taken the time to consider what you’ve meant to me, and I’m sorry I never bothered to slow down and look in front of me, but I want to make up for that,” Rarity told him.
“W-What do you mean?” Spike asked.
Rarity lay completely down in front of Spike. “I want you to say everything you’ve ever wanted to say to me, all while showing me how much you treasure me, so I can know and fully understand what I’ve been so blind to.”
Just like that, Spike quickly wrapped his arms around Rarity, slowly laying down with her. “I’ve loved you since the day we met, and I’ll love you until the day I die. Your generous heart, your wonderful, gleaming eyes, your wonderful voice, everything about you is beautiful. Any stallion would be beyond lucky to have you, even if they take you for granted. Nopony will ever make me feel the way you make me feel.”
Rarity felt tears forming in her eyes as Spike continued to speak his heart, knowing she felt the same way about him. After Spike had finished, Rarity held him closer and closer in her hooves.
“Oh, Spikey, I...I don’t know what to say,” Rarity said through her tears.
“I do,” Spike responded. When Rarity looked at him, he told her, “I love you.”
“Spike!” Rarity cried, tears flowing without limit. “I love you too! Please, I don’t want to leave you, now or ever. Treasure me like you’ve always treasured me.”
All Spike had to do was wrap his arms further around the mare of his dreams.
The next morning, the crick in my neck had only gotten worse. I tried forcing my head to the right, and while that helped a little, it didn’t quite do the trick.
But all of the sudden, I felt a pairs of hands, or more accurately, claws on the sides of my head and twist it until the crick went away.
“Ow! Thanks, Spike,” I said in pain.
“No problem, bro. And thank you...for your help with Rarity,” Spike replied.
“Don’t mention it. So I take it things went well between you two?” I asked.
Spike’s head turned the same shade of red it did yesterday. “Well? More like great!”
I nodded in approval. “I’m happy for you, bro.”
Author's Notes:
As much as I like Sparlight, she’s taken, so I had to go with the next best thing. After all, I can always settle for a good bit of Sparity every now and then. Though I gotta admit, Rarity’s name is a huge pain in the neck to type over and over.
Anyhow, it’s strange to see no one wanting to write a chapter for this story. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s 1,000+ words and has something to do with Jake Taylor.
A true family
Author's Notes:
Hey guys, this is a sequel to Bunch of Big News. Enjoy!
As Jake fell unconscious, all three mares tried their best to catch him, thankfully succeeding. Without hesitation, they got him onto the couch.
Spike was the first to speak, “I am so sorry, it just...came out.”
“It’s fine, Spike,” Sunset replied. “It’s not like I was gonna have the courage to tell him anytime soon. I...I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Why exactly did you not want to tell Jake? I mean, sure he passed out, but you didn’t know that was gonna happen?” Starlight asked, coming up next to Sunset.
Sunset sighed. “Well...I came here because Twilight said she and Jake had something they wanted to tell me. I just didn’t wanna...like, upstage you or something like that.”
Twilight put her hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “That was very thoughtful of you, but being pregnant...j-just trumps everything.”
“How can you say that?” Sunset asked, stepping away from Twilight. “You and Jake are getting married. For humans, a married man having a baby with another girl...it’s kinda frowned upon.”
“But we’re not human, or...you know what I mean. Jake, I’m sure he’ll be fine. If anything, he’ll be thrilled to have a kid,” Starlight countered.
“Umm, girls? We should probably focus more at the problem at hoof. As in, the unconscious human who just heard he was gonna be a father of Sunset’s...child,” Spike intervened.
“Spike’s right. All we can do right now is wait for Jake to wake up. When he does, we’ll just hear what he has to say,” suggested Twilight.
“You’re right. I’ll stay with him,” Sunset offered. “Whether he’s pissed or excited, he’s gonna want me to know.”
“Alright. Spike’s right though, it’s probably not a good idea to go through the portal right now with the baby,” Starlight replied before walking out of the library.
“Please tell me when he wakes up,” Twilight said.
Sunset nodded and said, “I will.”
With that, Twilight and Spike followed Starlight out of the library.
Sunset looked at Jake, who was still asleep. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
The fiery-maned mare curled up next to him and closed her eyes.
I was in a pitch black void. I couldn’t see anything, hear anything, feel anything. I couldn’t remember anything after I’d proposed to Twilight, but I knew something happened after that.
Let’s see, I proposed to Twilight, all of our friends congratulated us, Shining Armor had given me a stern warning to take care of his sister, Cadance told him to back off, everyone went home except for Sunset...Sunset!
She was pregnant...with my baby...that I had impregnated her with...like the damn moron I was.
I...I didn’t know what to think. On the one hand, I was terrified...but on the other hand, I loved Sunset...but on the first hand, what the hell was she even pregnant with?!
As my thoughts intensified, so did the void around me. I could hear a loud ringing noise around me and feel an intense vibration.
There was no way I was ready for a baby. I don’t have any experience with children, and Twilight...oh God, Twilight! What’s she gonna say? A herd is one thing, but a baby-
“Greetings, Jake Taylor,” said a grand voice that pulled me out of my inner thoughts.
I looked around and saw the environment around me start to change. The black, empty void slowly morphed into the castle library. Sunset was lying next to me on the couch. I reached out to touch her so I could talk to her, but my hand just fell through her mane.
“She cannot hear you. This is a rather lucid, but not too lucid that I cannot enter such,” said the same voice from earlier.
“P-Princess Luna?” I asked.
Before me appeared the princess of the night in all of her glory. “Yes, ‘tis I.”
“W-What are you doing here?”
“It is uncommon for me to detect a dream at such an early hour, so when I sensed yours, I made no haste,” she answered. “Now, may I ask why you are having such a dream?”
“I...I think I passed out,” I answered. “She...she told me she was...and I-I passed out. What kind of boyfriend am I?”
“Please, I would like to help, but I required more detail,” Luna said.
I blinked a few times and realized there was no way I couldn’t tell her. “Have you ever been...attracted to someone? So much that you act on instinct and forget something so important and suddenly you don’t know what to do?”
I paused in case Luna had wanted to say something, but she didn’t.
“I...I got Sunset pregnant!” I finally blurted, even emitting a gasp from Luna.
“I must admit, I know nothing of this sort of event. How do you feel about it?” Luna asked.
“Well, I don’t know. I’ve never even thought about a family! But...I don’t want to leave Sunset on her own like this,” I lamented. “I guess having a family would be great, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about raising a child. And I don’t even know what Sunset’s gonna give birth to! I mean, is it gonna be some sort of half pony half human thing? I guess that wouldn’t really matter, but still...”
“Perhaps this is something you must speak to Sunset about,” Luna informed.
“Yeah, you’re...you’re right. Thanks for letting me vent,” I said.
Luna gave a bow as the world began to crumble around me. “‘Twas my pleasure, Jake Taylor.”
I woke up in the exact same surroundings as in the dream. Sunset still lay next to me, seemingly asleep. I could only imagine what was going through her head. Well, time to find out.
“Sunset, wake up,” I whispered, tapping her back a little bit.
Her turquoise eyes slowly opened and set themselves on me. Immediately, she got off the couch. “Jake, you’re up! I am so sorry about all fo this. I swear, I planned to tell you-“
“Sunset,” I cut off. “Sit down, we need to talk about this.”
Sunset seemed a little shocked. “A-Are you sure?”
I cupped Sunset’s cheeks in my hands and knelt down in front of her. “We need to get everything out in the air now.”
Sunset looked down, then back at me. “Alright.”
As Sunset took a seat on the couch, I turned to face her. “How do you feel about this?”
Sunset looked everywhere in the library but at me. “S-Scared. I don’t know how to raise a kid, I’m not even out of high school yet.”
I put a hand to her cheek and asked, “Do you want to have this child?”
“Do you?” she asked in response.
“That’s not important,” I countered. “What matter is, do you want to go through with this? Because if you don’t, I will support you in absolutely any way I can.”
I could see tears begin to glisten her eyes. “I-I don’t know. This is all just happening so fast.”
I took the opportunity to hold Sunset in a deep hug as she started to cry. “No matter what, you will always have me. I will be there every step of the way, making sure that you are never going through this alone.”
Sunset looked up at me. “R-Really?”
I nodded. “Of course. No matter what you give birth to, human or pony, I will love it just as much as I love you.”
Sunset tucked her head into my chest. “Th-Thank you. I’m still scared of what’s gonna happen...but knowing you’ll be here makes it a little easier.”
I stroked her mane a little bit as tears started to form in my eyes as well.
“So you’re okay with this? With having a baby?” she asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
I nodded. “Yes. I’m more than happy that we’re going to have a baby.”