//------------------------------//
// Three friends. 
// Story: A loving Family 
// by Lethrael 
//------------------------------//

Three friends. 

Slight followed Lilly slowly through the village and tried to avoid everypony on the way home. Fortunately the filly didn't lead him to the market, but to empty streets instead. The few ponies on the streets watched after them with a smile on the face and tried to speak with them, but he didn't answer and even looked down to his hooves. Slight sighed relived as they finally entered the nearest street to his home and he spotted the small house just a few moments away. 

Only two more mares stood on the street and were looking to them. They were smiling and approached the foals quickly. Slight cuddled up to Lilly and ducked his head behind her, as the mares came closer. Both stopped a few steps away and cocked their heads, as they spotted the smaller colt behind Lilly. 
The mares started to whisper to each other and their smile became much gentler than before. They stepped one step closer and the one cream coloured earthpony opened her mouth. Before she was able to speak, Lilly tried to put a hoof around Slights shoulders, but the colt squeaked. He flinched away with a jump and blushed.
He looked down to his hooves again, as a small gesture caught his attention. Both mares were waving to him and smiled gently. Slight glanced to them head down and looked back to the filly. Lilly answered his insecure look with a smile and raised her hoof slowly. 
“These are friends of my Mum. 
They are really nice, you know and I think they just want to say hello.” 

She waved to them and approached closer. Slight held his horses quite a lot and watched to the mares. He remained directly behind Lilly, but as she looked back and smiled, he took a shivering step further. But as he did, he bit his lips quite nervously and it got even worse, as the unicorn eyed him up. He knew her from somewhere. He recognised her aquamarine coat and her two coloured mane, but from where?   
Her smile wasn't just gentle, but seemed to be strangely inquiring at the same time. He didn't dare to step closer and remained aloof from her. The greeting of the other mare was short, she spoke up very quickly and looked at Slight in an inquisitorial manner. Her hooves thumped loud on the ground and the whole body was getting more and more rigid. 
“Say Lilly. 
Who is this little friend of yours?”
Her voice sounded almost harsh and really raspy, so Slight shied away with a sudden yelp. The mare cocked her head again and the small colt ducked down very quickly. His tremble intensified and his wings rustled on his back. He fluffed them up involuntary, like he was trying to make himself bigger with it. 
“That's Slight Hope, Bonbon. 
He is a good friend  and lives with his daddies in this house.” 
Lilly pointed to he little house and the earthpony turned around. Her eyes softened a lot and she stroke gently over her two coloured mane. 

The unicorn stepped closer in the meantime, a gentle smile on the face. She raised her hoof, but Slight shied one more step away and ducked lower on the ground. 
“Hello there. 
I'm...” 
Her look stayed on his scared face for a while and she cried out then. Her eyes went wider and she flinched away from him. Her look went quickly over the shivering colt and she pressed her ears down on the head. The mare jumped back to her friend and cuddled up to her. She nuzzled her side and tried to wipe away something. Finally her face rested aside her friends face and her flank snuggled against the bigger mare. She whispered something in her ear.   
But the mare didn't listen and spoke with Lilly instead. The harsh tone made Slight shy away one step again. So he bumped into a wall and squeaked surprised. 
“He appears to be a little...well. 
scared and doesn't seem to be settle in right now. 
Do you think...” 
Lilly answered with a low tone and stopped the mare nevertheless.   
“I think we should give him...” 
The filly tried to hug him, but noticed quickly, that Slight wasn't beside her any more. She turned around and smiled encouraging. But the little colt just couldn't move. Well he trembled and stared to the two mares, but didn't go closer, so he didn't move in the usual manner. Lilly looked in his wide eyes and took a deep breath. She turned completely to him and said one sentence to the mares. 
“Please, You've scared him and...maybe you should...” 

Somepony pushed her gently to him and Lilly squeaked surprised. She looked back to the mares and saw a gentle smile on the earthpony's face. The unicorn stayed deeply snuggled into the mares embrace and nuzzled her chest. 
Lilly took another deep breath, approached the colt slowly and smiled. She glanced over his shivering wings, over his wide eyes and looked finally to his shivering and bouncing hooves. He didn't seem to notice her, instead he stared blank to the unicorn. 
“H...Hey Slight. 
Are you...” 
He yelped surprised and jumped into a shivering hug, as Lilly touched his shoulders. She absorbed the hit quite easily and just squeaked, as Slight pressed his face deeply into her pigtails. 
“I...I..want go home, Lilly. 
Please...I...” 
The bigger filly nodded and returned the hug. She caressed over his head and pushed him slowly further. The colt shivered and tried to cover his eyes desperately with the mane of his friend. The mares let the foal pass and without any word and Lilly was able to give both mares an apologetic smile. 

She stared to their destination, as she was able to ask a question finally. 
“Say, Slight, why do you fear mares and especially unicorns?” 
A surprised sigh escaped her little friend and she stopped. The colt raised his head and gazed at his friend. 
“You...you have noticed? 
But I...I...” 
Lilly nodded and nuzzled his face. She and the colt blushed very quickly and she wanted to let him loose, but Slight still clung to her. So she wasn't able to do, what she did before and couldn't start twisting her pigtails again. She just squeaked a little bit. 
“May I...Could I please tell you this some place else? 
I...I...d....didn't want to...”
The colt sounded almost sobbing, so Lilly, however  deeply she was blushing, couldn't stand it and began to nuzzle his face agaion. She had to shut her eyes close and breathed in an out very deeply to stay calm. But she was able to calm him down a little bit. 
“Well of course, Slight.” 

She almost stumbled over a step and squeaked again. Slight turned around, flinched a few steps away from her and stared to his home a long time. He brushed over his face multiple times and took a few deep breaths. He tried to smile again, licked his lips till he approached her again and hugged her quickly. 
“Th...thanks Lilly. 
I was feeling so..” 
Lilly's eyes softened and she twisted her pigtails with one hoof. Both foal blushed deeply once more and looked away. Slight drew circles on the ground with one hoof and looked down to it, before he cleared his throat and started to whisper again. 
So, I will tell you, why I'm afraid of mares, when you are telling me, why...you are trying to protect me?” 
Lilly turned around quickly, as she blushed even more and raised both hooves to play with her pigtails. She shied one step away and looked down to the ground, but nodded finally. 
Her stomach began to grumble and she blushed a little bit more. Slight giggled and took a deep breath. He raised his hoof and opened the door carefully. A strange smell drifted out of the door and he frowned in disgust. 
“Daddy Gentle, I'm...back...” 
The rest of the sentence faded away, as he saw, that his daddy came out of the kitchen in company with a foal. Gentle smiled gently, but Scootaloo had a worried expression in her face. She wore an apron, her hooves were strangely discoloured and one of them drew circles or more precisely, tried to dig something out of the ground. At least it appeared so. Slight's eyes wandered over her and she blushed a little bit. Gentle began to talk and smiled. 
“Hello Slight, welcome home.” 

“Welcome...uhm...” 
Scootaloo whispered along the last sentence, but the colt jumped forward and hugged her. The filly yelped only as an answer. Slight took both hooves around her neck and snuggled closely to her. 
“Hello Scootaloo. 
I'm so happy, that you're here. 
I...you know... 
Uhm...” 
The colt blushed deeply, as he looked back to Lilly, who had a really disappointed expression on her face. She sniffled once and tried to turn around on the doorstep, but Slight stopped her with one sentence. 
“I...I really don't mean to...” 
But he stayed close to Scootaloo and still hugged her. Lilly sighed and raised a hoof, but Gentle tried to help Slight and stopped her with a gentle hoof on her shoulder. She sobbed quickly and wanted to brush his hoof away with a trembling hoof, but his gentle voice stopped her. 
“He does like Scootaloo. 
But I'm sure he likes her in an other way than you!” 
Gentle whispered into her ears and Slight rushed to them. He nuzzled her very gently and snuggled with his nose over her face. 
“Lilly please. 
I do like you a lot...” 
He stopped and played with his hoof for a while. He looked down to the ground and blushed, but he didn't care and continued. 
“...and I want to tell you, why I...you know.” 
Lilly sighed relieved and snuggled quickly into his hug. Both foal blushed more, but stayed in the warm embrace. Both were nuzzling each other shyly. Gentle pushed them quickly into the house and closed the door. 
“Well, this is getting complicated.” 
He mumbled as low as he could, but Slight's ears twitched and he raised to head to look at him He blushed even more and bit his lips. 
Scootaloo cocked her head and stared confused from both foals to Gentle and back again. She spun the hoof on the ground and pressed her ears against the head. Gentle smiled gently and guided all three foals into the kitchen. 

The lunch was a challenge. Not just because Scootaloo wasn't hungry, or that the stomachs of the other two foals weren't empty at all. But all three pecked at the noodles with the spoons and remained silent. Gentle stood nearby the stove and tried to start a conversation somehow, or that they just  ate at least. 
But rather could he do the one, nor the other. Scootaloo looked from Lilly to Slight and tried to say something, anything, but closed her mouth always shortly after she opened it and pecked at her food again. 
Lilly stared to the noodles and either twisted her pigtails, or played with her spoon, or picked at her noodles in a vain attempt to stay calm. Now an then she glanced to Slight, but looked down deeply blushing on her noodles again, as the colt looked to her. 
Slight was caught between the fillies and looked from one to the other. He surly didn't know what to do or to say. On the one hoof he wanted to say something to Lilly and even tried to find a good start, but the sentences knotted themselves in his head with the ones, who he wanted to say to Scootaloo as he turned his head to her. 
Then his stomach growled and he turned to the noodles, but just couldn't pick up the spoon and took the first bite of it. 
This lasted for a while and the three foals couldn't start with anything. Even Gentle's tries were ineffective at best. 

Finally a loud knock on the front door startled all of them and the three foals called out at the same time. 
“I just wanted...” 
“I didn't mean to...”
I'm sorry...” 
The foals felt silent quickly and their stomachs grumbled at the same time. Finally they took the spoons and started with the meal for real. They gorged the noodles and chewed relieved. Gentle smiled and walked out of the room. Lilly started to speak, as he had left. 
“I didn't mean to bicker with you, Slight. Please, I'm sorry.” 
She wiped away a few droplets of sauce from her mouth and sighed. Lilly looked down to her plate and picked at her noodles again. 
Slight looked to her, opened his mouth, but Scootaloo was way much faster. 
“I don't want to be the cause of your fight. 
I like...” 

Slight cleared his throat and stopped Scootaloo's apology. He whispered lower than Lilly, but both fillies piped down and listened to understand him half decent at least. 
“I do like both of you, I think even a lot. I'm sorry. 
But I want to be a friend of both of you. 
Please...”
He stopped and started to tremble. He even sobbed once and wiped away a few tears. Scootaloo and Lilly looked at each other with a appalled expression and stood up very quickly. 
They were galloping to Slight's side in a rush and hugged him from both sides. They were snuggling into him and Slight sighed relieved. Both fillies mumbled apologies and nuzzled him gently. 
“We're sorry, Slight.”
The colt blushed and squeaked. He wanted to scoot away and ducked his head, but both fillies didn't let him go. He sighed again and cuddled up to the hugging fillies. 

“Slight, you know. 
I will stay here for a while, till...” 
Scootaloo stopped and looked down. Slight hugged her and snuggled up to her closely. He laid his nose directly on her ear and whispered. 
“Would you like to...would you be like a sister then? 
Scootaloo felt silent again, shied a step away and opened the mouth. She stared to the colt and remained silent for a long time. 
Lilly on the other hoof nuzzled Slight again, took her hooves away, but still cuddled against him. 
“I...I..I don't know.” 
Scootaloo mumbled and looked away, before Lilly could say something. 
“You know...” 
A shout from the corridor stopped Scootaloo's explanation and all three foals jumped back on the hooves.   

“You should really take better care of what you do. 
We here in Ponyville aren't eager for your kind, especially when you're together with foals. 
You truly understand, that...”   
A nagging voice sounded through the kitchen and Slight ducked his head, but continued to run out of the room at the same time. Scootaloo and Lilly followed him immediately. 
The foals ran to the front door and spotted there a trembling stallion. Gentle took a deep breath and tried to answer the bigger mare on the doorstep. But the pink mare breathed in heavily and glared at the three foals behind him. 
“Why are three of you here?” 
Her voice sounded even colder and she eyed up every foal. Scootaloo and Lilly stared confused back, but Slight looked down and slouched his shoulders. 
“The nerve, to just take two fillies from my school..." 
Somepony cleared his throat behind the angry mare and stopped her accusations.

“Miss Rich, I suppose!” 
The clear voice of Shining Star sounded over them and Slight brought himself to smile. He looked to  his daddy Gentle, but he trembled harder. The stallion shied away from the mare and shut his eyes close. 
The mare in the doorstep turned around to the other stallion and opened her mouth, but Shining continued much faster. 
“I would like to talk about your demeanour here, Miss Rich.” 
Shining's magic closed the door and silenced the answer of the mare. Gentle took hasty breaths and tried to calm himself down. Slight cocked his head and approached him slowly. 
“Daddy Gentle, is everything okay?” 
The stallion turned around with a surprised yelp, wiped over his face with one hoof and smiled. His  smile looked so odd and he even drew circles on the ground nervously . 
“Y...yes, everything is fine, Slight. 
I...just have to...” 

The colt jumped into a hug and nuzzled him closely. Gentle sighed relieved and laid both hooves around the colt. He buried his face in the mane of the little colt and nuzzled him. Lilly smiled to both of them and looked then to Scootaloo. The filly trembled and looked down into a corner. She snivelled once and wiped over her eyes nervously. Lilly tried to hug her, but she shied away and grinned. 
As she did, she looked again to the snuggling ponies and sighed deeply. She buried her head deeply between her shoulders and drew lines on the ground with a shivering hoof. 
Lilly opened the mouth, but a bubble of magic surrounded Scootaloo quickly and pulled her forwards. She was pulled into a group hug with the two other ponies of her household and tried to struggle against it.  
But as she was hugged by two warm hooves, she just closed her eyes and snuggled against them. She even hugged them back and nuzzled the stallion with a deep sigh. Lilly smiled a little bit enviously and started to twist her pigtails again.