//------------------------------// // { 4 } // Story: My Little Cuties // by Amazing Ups //------------------------------// So I met this girl, right? One night while I was working the concessions, she walked out of her movie, I asked her if she enjoyed it (the same way I ask everybody else), and somehow we struck up a conversation. And somehow, we've got a date this weekend. Before she came by, I told the girls she was a health inspector. I felt a little bad about lying to them, but what could I do? I was that weird guy who lived alone in a rundown movie theatre. Plus the fact that I secretly take care of three ponies. So I decided to seize the opportunity, We watched our movie rather uneventfully. She ate popcorn, I ate popcorn, she laughed, I laughed, and so on. When the credits started rolling, we got up and hung around outside for a while, chatting idly. I tried to break off the conversation and get back inside to the girls. Who knows, they might be trying to make milkshakes again like last week. Not pretty. "Well, I guess it's time for me to close down.." "Do you mind if I come upstairs for a drink?" She asked suddenly. I stood there sort of flabbergasted for a moment. This was the first person who had remotely interested in me for ages. "Well uh, it's a huge mess and I don't think-" "Oh pshaw. I'm sure it's not that bad." "Haha.. no, it's pretty ridiculous up in there. I'll go clean it up." I practically flew up the stairs, going three steps at a time. I slid into the living room, and saw that Scootaloo and Sweetie were feuding over the remote again. "Girls! The health inspector is coming upstairs, and you all need to get to your room. Now." Scootaloo entered whining hyperdrive. "But Daaaad, tonight is the-" "THE SEASON FINALE OF GLEE!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "For the hundredth time Scootaloo, nobody wants to watch stupid Tony Hawk!" I was getting a little impatient. "If you girls don't get up to room ASAP, you won't be watching anything for a month." Apple Bloom bounced off the couch. "It's y'all's problem now," she said rather matter-of-factly. Sweetie Bloom and Scootaloo glared at each other, then walked off to their room in a huff. I sighed in relief, stuck my head out the window and called out "Come on up!" We sat there and talked, and then talked, and talked some more. We talked about current events, politics, music, just about everything. Then the conversation strayed to the internet, and the last place I wanted it to go. "So, you ever heard of My Little Pony?" My blood stopped cold. If I had been drinking some water, I guarantee I would have sprayed it everywhere. "W-what?" "You know, My Little Pony? It's basically been defining our generation lately. You haven't heard of it?" "Uh, I've seen like one episode, but that's it." "I've been watching all the episodes, it's actually a pretty cool show.. but there are all these unnecessary little episodes always dedicated to these stupid three ponies, the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders.'" I involuntarily twitched. What did she say about my girls? "There's this one hilarious part in the newest episode, I've got to show you!" She ran over to my laptop and started letting her hands fly over the keyboard. My mind was reeling. This was just too strange.. and it was getting risky too. "Oh my gosh, it's taking forever to load. But like I said, these three are the most annoying little horses you've ever seen. This is the part where that brat Scootaloo gets her-" "You need to leave. Now." Now, I was mad. "Excuse me?" She turned around, looking baffled. "Please. Leave." I gripped her hand tightly, and escorted her to the door. I pointed a stern finger down the stairwell. She gave me a flustered look. "So what, you're rejecting me?" "GET OUT!" I practically threw her down the stairs. She got up and fixed her hair. "Fine, you bipolar freak!" She stomped off, and knocked down a stack of cups behind the concession counter on her way out. "Seeya later, asshole!" Well. That was an ordeal. I thought to myself. I watched her walk through the parking lot to her car. Then somebody else stepped out of it to greet her. A man, sporting a pair of sunglasses and a suit. She shouted something at him I couldn't quite hear, and he got back in the driver's seat. There was something vaguely familiar about him… "Daddy?" I heard Apple Bloom call out quietly. She was joined by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "What was all that yelling?" She asked with a small voice. I put a hand on my forehead, quelling the small headache that came with my outburst. This would be hard to explain to the girls. Then I heard Sweetie Belle's voice. But there was something different about it, something just not quite the same.. "You did it Scootaloo! You did it! You finally got your Cutie Mark!" My heart dropped to the very bottom of my stomach. I'd forgotten to turn off the computer. All three of the fillies stood in horror, as their cartoon counterparts frolicked and leaped with joy on the computer screen. I watched on as my little girls' worlds were turned upside down. "Dad.." Scootaloo turned to me, desperation in her tone. "This is a joke right?" I was at a loss for words. "Right?" I mustered enough courage to look her in the eye. "Scootaloo, I-" "Did you know about this?" Apple Bloom looked up from comforting Sweetie Belle. There were lines on her face from where the tears had been coming down. "Well, I used to watch the-" I stopped mid-sentence, making eye contact with Scootaloo. She hadn’t cried since Apple Bloom’s accident, but now I saw her eyes, hollow with desperation and denial, fill up with tears. "I HATE YOU!" The words echoed in my mind, bouncing off the back of my brain. It took a moment for me to even register what she had said. I didn't understand. My Little Cuties, who I'd raised from a box off the streets like they were my very own…my Scootaloo, my Apple Bloom, my Sweetie Belle… I HATE YOU No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I brought my hands to my face, terrified. My eyes burned with liquid sorrow. It was like someone had cut on a faucet in my head, and there was no way of turning it off. All the memories of a disturbed childhood, all the lost opportunities of a normal life, all the nights spent crying myself to sleep… They all returned to me in those three words. "You told us we were special…" Apple Bloom said. "Y-you told us we were o-one of a kind…" Sweetie Belle sobbed, in between bouts of tears. Scootaloo, still crying, looked at me contemptuously. "YOU LIED!" I just laid there pathetically, wallowing in a pool of my own tears. "But why??!" Scootaloo's anger gave way to utter confusion. "Oh God, I'm so sorry…" "Why?" "I never wanted to hurt any of you.." "ANSWER HER!" Apple Bloom screamed furiously. I couldn't manage to do anything. All my energy was drained, put to work pouring out my heart and soul of darkness and tears. "I'm so sorry." I crawled towards them, reaching out my hand. "God knows I don't deserve it...but please…forgive me." All three of them looked at me. I could tell they wanted me to comfort them, to hug them and kiss them and love them like a good father was supposed to. But their distrust held them back. So we all sat, listening to the sound of sobbing and crying and tears rolling off cheeks and hitting the floor. It was only so long until one of us cracked. "D-d-d-d-daaaaaaaaaddyyyyyyy!" Sweetie Belle broke out of Apple Bloom's arms, and came running to me to jump into my arms in a sweet embrace. "Oh God Sweetie, I love you. I'm so sorry." Apple Bloom saw the love and affection, the love and affection she wasn't receiving, and followed suite. "Shhh, it's okay Bloom…I love you." Scootaloo stood there before us, more demoralized every second. She walked up slowly to me. She fell to her knees, her head inches from mine. "D-daddy, I'm s-" I raised my finger to her lips. "I’m sorry. I love you Chicken." At hearing her childhood nickname she usually scorned, she hurled herself onto me with the others, bawling her eyes out. We laid there, letting out the explosions of emotion that had pent up inside of us for our entire lives. I felt so much better, now that My Little Cuties were in my arms again. "I'm so sorry girls. I'll never do anything to hurt you ever again…I swear." I remembered a similar promise I'd made to them so many years ago... "Pinkie Pie swear.” ***