Blackin walks quietly back towards his home. Rarity had kept him busy most of the afternoon and it wasn't until Sweetie Belle had returned did the fashion mare finally let him leave. Of course, the news the younger mare had brought left Blacklin chuckling. It had seemed that his teasing finally pushed Sweetie to confess her feelings to Evening and that things had gone well.
The news made him happy and he saw the irony in it. After all the teasing Evening had done about how things had progressed between himself and Pinkie not to mention the extra teasing about how long it had taken him to realize just how Roseluck felt. . . Well, it was fitting for the younger stallion to have a taste of it as well.
Actually, it was a slight bit of sweet revenge as well. Evening would never admit it, but Blacklin knew that his friend had a secret thing for both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. It was his nervousness about their age difference that had kept him from doing anything. A moot point, of course, since that by Ponyville standards Sweetie Belle was considered a full and consensual adult now. For all practical purposes, you were considered an adult once you became sixteen. The only thing you weren’t allowed to do at that age was go and get yourself wasted at a bar. That didn’t come until seventeen.
“Well,” the gryphon says to himself softly, “I hope that he’s happy with what he’s got now.”
“Oh have you seen Sweetie Belle around anywhere?” She adds. “Bloom and I wanted to talk to her about something.”
Blacklin grins a bit and then chuckles. When he’s given a look of confusion from Scootaloo, he shakes his head a bit.
“Sorry,” he says, “just that you’re gonna find it hard to talk to her tonight.”
“And why’s that?”
Blacklin’s grin grows wider. “Well, cause she has a date with Evening and Derpy.”
The reaction he gets is more than he was expecting. Scootaloo freezes momentarily in mid wing flap and drops to the ground. Her scooter shooting ahead a few feet before falling over on its side.
“She what?!” Scootaloo exclaims, looking up at Blacklin with a mixture of jealousy and disbelief.
“You heard me,” is Blacklin’s reply. “She told Rarity and myself just a little while ago. You’d think she’d learned to walk on clouds with how happy she was.”
He chuckles softly, remembering how much Sweetie Belle had been bouncing around her sister as she went on about having a date. Scootaloo grumbles a bit to herself and then sighs softly, shaking her head.
“Well, there goes my plans for today,” she says. “Hey, actually, since I have you here now, I got a question for you.”
Blacklin raises a brow and tilts his head quizzically at the young mare. He was curious to what she wanted to know, figuring it may have something to do with Sweetie Belle or Evening Light.
“Could I work with you with deliveries?” she asks, shuffling her forehooves awkwardly and looking away.
“Can you what?” The question leaves Blacklin a tad stunned, wondering what had brought it about in the first place. Never before had Scootaloo shown any interest in delivery before, so to have it brought up now. . . Well, it was odd to say the least.
Her eyes dart between looking at Blacklin and looking at the ground as she shifts her weight.
Evening's mind was a jumble of emotions. Everything happened so fast, it left him wondering just what was going on. One moment he was congratulating Sweetie Belle on getting her cutie mark and the next. . . Well now here he was in a lip lock with the younger unicorn.
Everything around him is a bit of a blur. Questions begin to wrack his brain. What was going on? Why was she doing this? Where did she learn to be such a good kisser? Was that lilacs he was smelling? Was that Dee's jaw that just hit the ground?
Dee! The thought of his mare friend snaps his brain out of its trance and he breaks the kiss with Sweetie, sputtering slightly.
The younger unicorn stumbles back a few feet, her cheeks going a deep red in embarrassment. She doesn't say anything, just looks down at the ground and shuffles her forehooves a bit, a pink orb pulsing as it hovers near her.
Dee stands to the side of them, a look of pure shock and confusion on her face as her gaze shifts from Evening to Sweetie and back to Evening. Her mouth works but no sound comes out.
Evening himself is at a loss for words. Should he apologize, but if so, for what? Not pushing Sweetie away immediately? Probably. It so sudden though, he doesn't know what to say.
The silence doesn't last long as the orb near Sweetie suddenly bursts with activity. Too much for a window to open, but many voices suddenly come from it.
"WHAAAAA?! SWEETIE BELLE! What the hay do you think you're doing?! Kissing your older teacher like that and in front of his marefriend no less? You. Me. We're talking later!"
"Holy heck, Sweetie! Moving a bit fast there, ain't ya filly? Derpy's gonna have a lot to say about that!"
"So, are you three enjoying the awkward silence?"
At least two of the voices sounded familiar, but it was so quick in coming that voices didn't process fully, only the words.
Awkward silence indeed, was Evening's first thought. He makes a move towards Dee, a want to say he was sorry building up in her. She shakes her head, however, and looks towards Sweetie Belle. The younger mare looked close to breaking down, nervously shuffling and looking towards the door.
The stallion sighs softly and takes a step towards Sweetie.
"Songbird?" He calls out softly, worried that he might spook her completely into running, possibly even injuring herself. "Uhm, about what just happened. . ."
"I'M SO SORRY!" the white mare blurts out suddenly, breaking into tears. "I just, I don't know, acted! I don't know why I did that! I mean I do but I don't and with Derpy right there and OH CELESTIA PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!"
The outburst causes Evening to fall back on his rump in surprise. He blinks a few times and gets up, starting to move towards the mare once more. Derpy, however, cuts him off, moving before he can.
The pegasus mare padding over to Sweetie and embracing her in a hug.
"C'mon," she says softly. "Take a few breaths and calm down. Everything's going to be okay. I'm not upset, okay? And neither is Evening. We don't hate you. Just really surprised." She giggles a bit. "Especially Evening. Silly never realized how you felt."
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" The stallion huffs out.
Dee giggles again and looks at him. "I mean that she's been crushing on you for a while now and that you're the only one who hadn't noticed," she states plainly.
She looks at Sweetie Belle and uses a wing to wipe tears from the younger mare's eyes. "I think we have a lot to talk about, don't you?" the pegasus says. "A lot of sorting things out."
Sweetie blinks and looks between Dee and Evening. The stallion nods slowly in agreement with Dee. They did have a lot to talk about. He could still feel the tingling off Sweetie's lips on his own and it, well he wasn't sure what it did to him in honesty. What he did know is that it was going to be a long afternoon.
Sweetie can feel her cheeks burning still as she runs from Carousel Boutique. She cursed silently at Blacklin as she runs, embarrassment coursing through her body. How could he have gone on like that with her? Yeah, okay, maybe some of it had been true, but still! That was no reason to be so merciless!
Slowing down, she looks around and realizes that she had ran almost all the way back to Golden Oaks, the completely opposite direction of where she wanted to go. Her mind lets loose with more silently curses as she stomps her hooves in frustration.
Did she have a crush on Evening Light? Maybe? A little? A lot.
"Argh! So what if I think he's cute!" she mutters to herself, stomping her hoof once more. "Black didn't have to be so. . .so. . ."
So not nearly as harsh as it had seemed, her mind calmly responds.
As she walks, images of how he would react to the news flowed through her mind. He would praise her, no question. Tell her that she was his best student (never mind that she was his only student!) and that he was proud of her. He offers then to take her to lunch, no, not lunch. Dinner! A candlelit dinner in celebration. Just the two of them. . .
The teen mare gives out a light giggle, getting lost in her daydream. Unconsciously, she dances a bit in place before she starts to hum softly as she continues towards Evening's home.
Giddiness flows through her as she finally reaches her teacher's home. She couldn't wait to show him her cutie mark. More and more the excitement from earlier had returned to her. Even with Blacklin's teasing, the day had been just too good for her.
Once more she dances in place a bit before knocking at the door. No answer came and Sweetie starts to worry. Had he left during the time she had gotten turned around? Had Blacklin been teasing her more by saying he was home? She bites her lower lip and knocks again.
There were a few more moments of silence before the door finally opens.
"Evening Light! I did it!" Sweetie exclaims as she tackles the pony who'd opened the door. She's greeted by a yelp of surprise. . .from a mare.
Sweetie blinks a few times in surprise and looks down at the pony she had glomped. Her eyes growing wide when she finds that it wasn't Evening Light who had come to the door, but Derpy.
The gray mare has a dazed look in her eyes as she stares upwards. "That's great," she mutters softly. "I'm proud of all three. . .four of you."
The white mare scrambled quickly of the mailmare, cheeks burning deeply with embarrassment.
"Oh, Derpy! I'm so sorry," she stammers out, ears flattening against her head. She fidgets nervously, praying and hoping that no one had seen her mistake.
"Hey, Dee, everything okay?" she hears Evening call out. The sound of his voice causes the younger mare to perk up briefly before slumping down. She bit her lip once more and looked up at the sound of Evening entering the living room from the kitchen.
The stallion cocks his head to the side when he sees Sweetie standing next to Dee, a questioning look in his eyes as he glances between the two mares.
Sweetie scuffs her forehoof on the floor.
"I thought she was you when she opened the door. . ." she says softly.
"Well, that would explain the excited yell I heard," he says, padding over to the mare and ruffling her mane with a hoof. "So what was it that you did, Songbird?"
The mare gives a light blush as he says her nickname. She turns and shows off her new cutie mark to him.
"Oh hey! And it's even music based!" he says. "See, told you!" He laughs and ruffles her mane again. "And you didn't believe me."
"Well, it's only kinda music based," she says and explains to him about how she earned it.
She watches nervously as the stallion's expression goes from intrigue to surprise to concern and then to pride as she finishes her explanation. Butterflies take up residence in the pit of her stomach as she waits for him to respond, her mind replaying her earlier daydream in slow motion.
"You did better than I thought you would," he states at length, a smile on his face. "I'm really impressed with you, Songbird."
Sweetie beamed and tackles the stallion in a tight hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She exclaims, tail wagging like a hyper active dog.
Light chuckles and ruffles her mane, returning the hug. "You're welcome, Songbird."
She pulls away slight from Evening, still holding him in a hug, and looks into his eyes. She blinks slowly. Never before had she noticed the yellow tint around his pupils before. Like sunlight glistening off a still pool of blue.
A dark blush spread on her cheeks and she lost herself, body acting before her mind can react. Almost as if she were detached from herself, she watches as her physical body gave Evening a deep kiss on the lips. The sound of Derpy's surprised gasp muffled as if it were coming from underwater.
Deliveries for Blacklin had been hard to accomplish. His mind ended up being too distracted from the memories that Moonlight had dredged up when she had told about the clock tower incident and then simply seeing the clockwork gryphon he had made as a child only added to the pain that had started to well up inside his chest.
He had hoped that working would allow his mind to clear up and for a bit, it had. Talking to Applejack had done wonders to keep his mind pre-occupied. The last week had been, interesting, for them both. A love of apples was something both he and Moonlight shared and his sister had taken immediately to the Apple family.
Of course, the meeting did have its awkward moments. When they met, Moonlight had immediately started looking over Applejack, confusing the poor farm mare.
"Looking to see if my brother had given you a feather as well," she replied with a laugh when finally asked what the scrutiny was for.
That, of course, caused both farm mare and gryphon to turn as red as the apples grown on the farm. It drew laughter from all that had been gathered and, embarrassing as it was, served as a good ice breaker.
Yes, the uncertainty from their talk still hung over Blacklin and Applejack's heads, but both had been able to keep it hidden. Now their talk had been mainly about how to keep Moonlight occupied and out of trouble.
It was a good topic to keep his mind off his worries, but once he was alone again, the hurt came back to him. It was something he had kept hidden outwardly, especially to Rose and Pinkie. He hadn't wanted them to start worrying about him. Plus he simply wasn't ready to bring up his parents with them just yet.
Now, well now he found himself walking towards Carousel Boutique. A genuine smile spreads on his beak as he approaches the building and he shifts the small bag of feathers he carried. It was his last delivery to make and it was personal one from himself to the fashionista.
His ears flick at the sound of lightly jingling bells as he enters the design studio and looks around. Rarity isn't immediately in sight, though the sound of her humming drifted through the air. From the sound of it, Blacklin figures that she is "in the zone" with her work.
A few moments later, Rarity comes padding from a blocked off portion of the main room and smiles brightly when she sees the gryphon.
"Blacklin! What brings you by today?" she asks. "I don't believe I have any packages I'm expecting."
The gryphon chuckles softly and sets the bag he'd been carrying down.
"No, but I'm betting that you won't mind this surprise," he says. "Some of my loose feathers. Moonlight's as well. Thought you could use a different shade of gryphon feathers for once."
The white mare's blue eyes lit up as she picked the bag up and looked inside of it.
"Oh darling, this is simply perfect!" she exclaims. "I can use these for my newest dress. I must repay you somehow. . ."
Blacklin is about to reply when the door suddenly bursts open and the gryphon finds himself bowled over by Sweetie Belle. The younger mare rushes over to Rarity bounces in place in front of her.
"Rarity! Rarity! Look! I got my cutie mark!"
She turns to show her side off to Rarity, allowing Blacklin to see as well as he gets up. The gryphon blinks a few times at seeing the wave like notes against two purple six pointed stars. He thought the design was a bit odd at first, until he hears Sweetie's explanation.
"Interesting technique," he comments, dusting himself off. "I'm sure Twilight will be thrilled."
Sweetie nods excitedly. "She was," the teen replies. "I, uh, kinda ran into her on the way here." She gives a nervous chuckle at that and it isn't hard for Blacklin to guess that she was being literal when she says 'ran into'. "She actually wants me to come by later to see it in action."
Blacklin chuckles a bit and then gives a slight grin. "And you haven't shown Evening yet?" he teases. "A chance to show off to him and thank him for his help and you haven't capitalized on it yet? I'm shocked!"
Sweetie turns a deep shade of red and looks away. "I was going to see him next," she says. "He's at home right? He didn't have a job in Canterlot or anything today?"
Blacklin chuckles once more. "Yeah, your crush is at home still. Dropped a package off to him earlier. He's just been spending the day with Derpy."
The younger mare's cheeks went even redder at that. She opens her mouth to retaliate but is interrupted by Rarity.
"Oh leave her be, Blacklin," the fashion mare says before turning to Sweetie. "I'm proud of you, Sweetie, and I'm sure mother and father will be too when they get back from Manehatten."
Sweetie closes her mouth and nods, smiling, the blush on her cheeks fading.
"Blacklin does bring up a good point though," Rarity continues on, "you should go and tell Evening Light. He's one of your teachers after all."
The blush returns to Sweetie's cheeks, but she nods a bit in response. "Right!" She gives her sister a hug before rushing out of the boutique.
Blacklin watches her go and laughs. "So how long do you think it'll be before she finally confesses to Light?" he asks, turning to Rarity."
"Oh hush!" is Rarity's reply. "You should keep your beak out of my sister's love life. Even if it is adorable." She starts off back towards a mannequin. "Now if you have no other deliveries today, I'd like your help with something since you are here. . ."
"Wait, what?" the gryphon is given no chance to turn down the offer however as he feels himself get dragged along behind the fashion mare, the worries from earlier forgotten for the time being.
Apple Bloom is pacing back and forth in the CMC's club house. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle watch their fellow teen and look worriedly at each other. Ever since they had snuck into Blacklin's and seen that another version of themselves had gotten their cutie marks, Bloom had been livid.
"It ain't fair!" Bloom yells. "How come all these other versions of us are gettin' their cutie marks so easily like that?!"
She stalks around room some more.
"We've tried everything. Ah don't what to do any more!"
"Well, we could always try-" Scootaloo starts and then quickly stops, tapping her chin with a forehoof. "No, wait, we tried extreme tree farming last week. Pine Scent won't let us near his trees again."
"Or near any chainsaws," Sweetie Belle adds.
Bloom looks at the pair and gives an exasperated sigh.
"Ah know!" She exclaims.
The young mare is about to go into yet another tirade before suddenly being interrupted when a glowing pops into existence between the three. It hovers in place for a moment before circling them.
Apple Bloom looks at it in surprise and confusion. "What the hay?"
The orb moves back between the mares and hovers for a few seconds before opening up into a window showing three very familiar mares.
"Hey!" Exclaims Scootaloo. "It's us! Or I mean, uh, the us from that Vi's world! This is confusing. . ."
(author's note: full conversation sent to them can be found here)
The trio of teenagers stare for a second before they collapse in laughter, despite the seriousness of the situation. “Bwaaaahahahaha! Oh man, Ah plumb forgot what ah was like back when Ah was eager to find out what it was.” Bloom smiles wistfully. “Things seemed a lot simpler then, didn’t it girls?”
Apple Bloom stares at the orb, eye brow beginning to twitch in anger. She grits her teeth and narrows her eyes.
"What the hay is that supposed to mean?!" she yells. "Ain't she the same age as us? Treatin' us like some little filly!"
Scootaloo huffed as and flared out her wings, flapping them slowly. She had her own issues with what was being said by her counterpart. The comments about being a late bloomer were especially demeaning in her eyes. She was the daughter of a respected former Wonderbolt for Celestia's sake! Her wings were fine! She may not be the most graceful of flyers, sure, but she had speed (though to her dismay, not as much as her mother or idol).
Both mares were quick to start complaining between themselves, ignoring the comments and advice their counterparts were giving. Sweetie Belle, however, continues to listen, trying her best to ignore the normal bickering from her companions.
Belle smiles and steps up. “Sweetie Belle? I assume you’re watching right there beside her?” She points to the music notes surrounded by glitters of magic. “I fear my way of talent might be out of reach for you, but if we can find a way to meet you in person I’d be happy to try and pass what I know along. My special talent is bard magic. I know powerful songs that can heal and remove damaging status effects for example.” She stops and sings a few notes and one can feel the power reverberating in each one. “.. and I love singing my heart out to others who need a little cheer in their life. That’s not my only skill though. You’d be wise to try and learn as many different things, even if they’re not what your cutie mark destiny is.. you’re never limited to just one thing.”
Her words hung in Sweetie's ears and the white coated mare wished that she could talk more with her counterpart. She wanted a more one-on-one talk with her. With all of them, actually. There wasn't a way to do so though, or was there.
She closes her eyes in thought and, as she often did while trying to solve a problem, started to softly hum to herself. Her horn lightly glows as she did so and there was a staticy sound coming from the orb.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's complaining comes to an immediate halt as they both look at the orb in surprise. The normal pink glow it emitted had been replaced by a mixture of light pink and very light green. Not only that, but the image had gone staticy. It soon clears up and the trio are treated with a view of the Cutie Mark Heroines fighting a unicorn they had never seen before. It's only a brief showing however and soon vanishes, along with the pink-green glow.
Both mares then look to Sweetie Belle who had given a soft sigh of frustration. She looks to the others in confusion.
Moonlight rubs her face a bit as she pads back inside. Dealing with the teen mares was harder than dealing with little fillies back in Shetlearn in her mind. She wondered how they had even gotten into Blacklin's house in the first place without her knowing.
Still, she didn't mind them too much. They were, or at least Scootaloo was, good friends of her brothers. His judgement in friends was something the hippogriff had learned to trust in, though it didn't surprise her that he'd made fast friends with younger ponies of town. Blacklin always had been pretty decent with kids and teens.
She stretches out her good wing and then frowns and glares at the bandaged one. She gives a quick glance around and then starts to stretch back to start unwrapping it when the pink glowing orb pops up and opens into a window, startling the hippogriff and causing her to give a yelp of surprise.
"Sweet mother of the Seven Lights!" she exclaims. "Don't scare me like that!" She gives a huff and smoothes out her neck feathers before sighing.
"I've been going stir crazy! That's what I've been up to!" she says, starting to pace a bit. "I don't like not having anything to do."
She looks to the door. "Midnight's been trying to help with that, but so far nothing he's found has been something I'm good at." She laughs a bit. "You'd think having earth pony genes, I'd be good at like farming or physical labor stuff, but I'm not. And before anyone asks, yes I did bring up the possibility of helping with his delivery job."
She shakes her head a bit. "It's kind of a no go. Been spending too much time together and working is his break from me, I suppose." She then laughs. "And it's kind of the only time he gets to be with Rose or Pinkie without me hanging around, being a third wheel."
The hippogriff shrugs a bit.
"But don't worry, I'm sure I'll find something to do. Shouldn't be too much longer until my wing's fully healed up and then I'll be able to do more around town!"
She grins a bit as the window closes, but her grin turns to a look of confusion as the orb shudders and then suddenly splits in two. The two orbs shimmer slightly before one suddenly plinks out of existence.
"What the hay?" Moonlight says softly. "Has it ever done that before? I think I better go talk to that Twilight about it. . ."
