Several days later…
It was Saturday. Outside the windows of Eventide and Beebee’s home, late morning sunlight could be seen spilling across the trees and landscape, giving the early autumn air a serene and pleasant appearance. It was mildly chilly outside, but inside the home, it was nice and warm. Something like that would, under normal circumstances, help one relax and ease their tensions.
This was hardly any normal day, though. Apple Bloom would be showing up any minute, and the thought of seeing the farm girl again after so long had Beebee pacing back and forth in the living room with an almost manic look on his face. He was still in his normal form, his wings sporadically twitching on his back and his hooves moving stiffly with every step he took.
As he spun around to repeat his route, his eyes were revealed to be glued to the floor, and his teeth were just slightly visible, as his lips had peeled back in an apprehensive grimace. Eventide and Fluttershy were standing off to one side, watching him pace expressions that displayed a mixture of amusement and concern. Buddha, who was comfortably resting on the couch, just looked confused.
After another round of paces, Beebee came to a stop in the middle of the room and stared expectantly at the door. A second ticked by as he waited with bated breath for the dreaded knocking sound. Five seconds. Ten. Thirty.
Just like the last dozen or so times, he had stopped to look, the door did not show any signs of admitting visitors. Disappointed, Beebee let off an impatient huff and went back to pacing, his hooves echoing even louder in the otherwise quiet room.
After another minute or so of this, Eventide must have decided that enough was enough. He stepped forward and placed his foot in Beebee’s path, preventing the little guy from going any further. He blinked at the obstacle, then pouted up at Eventide in confusion. “Dad, what gives?” he whined in a pathetic voice while pawing at his father’s shin.
Eventide rolled his eyes from Beebee’s tone and got down onto one knee in front of him. “Beebee, you need to calm. Down,” he stated matter-of-factly before placing his hand on top of Beebee’s head as if to ruffle his currently non-existent hair. “Nobody’s gonna wanna come see you if you’re all jumpy. Take a deep breath and relax.”
“But I can’t relax, dad!” Beebee protested, pulling his head out from Eventide’s hand and frowning at him. “I’m nervous! I’ve only seen her one time, and she was helping me get home. I’ve never just hung out with someone that isn’t you or Fluttershy before!”
Eventide nodded along in understanding while lifting his hands in a placating gesture. “I know, I understand. But that is exactly why we’re both here,” he responded while gesturing at Fluttershy and himself. “You’re nervous, yes, and you have every right to be. But try to remember that we’re here to help things go smoothly and keep you all out of trouble.”
Beebee looked at Eventide for a moment, then looked over at Fluttershy. She smiled at him and nodded in agreement with Eventide’s assessment. Their auras were both alight with care and confidence, although perhaps a little less with Fluttershy. They believed things would go well, and what reason did Beebee have to doubt them?
Following Eventide’s advice, Beebee sucked in a long, deep breath, and then let it out in a heavy sigh. He let his shoulders loosen up, and gave a nod of his head before looking into Eventide’s eyes again. “Okay… I’ll try-”
A knock came to the door.
Beebee jumped out of his skin. He wasn’t sure if it could be considered literal or not, because as he jumped, he was consumed in a swirl of green fire and turned into his human shape. As the flames parted, he wobbled a bit on his feet before turning to look at the door with a distinctly more uneasy look on his face.
Eventide sighed and shook his head. “So much for relaxing…” he breathed before standing up and heading for the door. “I’m coming!” he called out as he approached. Beebee capitalized on the moment to take one more deep breath and calm his nerves. He watched as Eventide opened up the door and, sure enough, there was Apple Bloom on the other side.
She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans that day, her shirt being a few shades lighter. She smiled happily as the door opened and tipped her head at Eventide in greeting. “Howdy, mister Eventide! Ah’m not late, am Ah?”
“Hello, Apple Bloom. You’re right on time, actually,” Eventide greeted before he looked being Apple Bloom. Whatever he was looking at, Beebee couldn’t see it from here, but it made Eventide’s aura shimmer with shades of purple. “And… I see you came with extra guests?” he questioned in a noticeably more guarded tone.
Apple Bloom shrank back a little, a sheepish smile appearing on her face. She reached a hand up to scratch at the back of her head while looking back at what Eventide was seeing. “O-oh, well, uh, Ah was kinda hangin’ out with a few of my friends when the bus pulled in. They, uh, wanted to come along. Sorry ah didn’t call to let ya know, but Ah didn’t have any service on the bus, and they wouldn’t take no fer an answer.
“Ah’m real sorry, ‘bout that. But they’re mah best friends, and I trust them to be nice. Is this alright?” she finished, turning back to Eventide and clasping her hands behind her back. Her eyes shifted briefly past the older man and caught Beebee’s gaze. The two made eye contact for a moment, and Beebee couldn’t stop himself from giving her a shaky wave.
Eventide, with a raised eyebrow, glanced back at Beebee, then at Fluttershy. After a moment, he gave off a quiet sigh and stepped aside to allow Apple Bloom to enter. “As long as they behave themselves too, then no, it’s no problem,” he relented, his gaze lingering meaningfully on Fluttershy as if to ask for her help.
Beebee turned his attention away from his parent as not one, not two, but three girls, all looking to be in their early to mid-teens, walked in. Apple Bloom was up first, obviously, and her eyes swept across the front room of the house as she entered. It took Beebee a second to remember that she had never actually been in here, before.
She let out a low, impressed whistle as she took in the sights. “Wow. Nice place, Bee.”
“I’ll say,” the second teenager agreed as she walked up to Apple Bloom’s side. She had orange skin and a head of short, messy purple hair that matched the color of her eyes. She was wearing a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a pair of baggy green shorts. She looked around and nodded in approval. “Spacious, warm… I like it.”
The third girl had a more demure look on her face as she entered and took a position on Apple Bloom’s other side. She had skin the color of pristine marshmallows, and curly, pastel-purple hair hung down to the small of her back. Her eyes were a rich green color, reminded Beebee of the forest’s outside, and her attire consisted of a white and pink striped tank top underneath an unbuttoned hot-pink t-shirt that matched nicely with the long and flowing yellow skirt that obscured her legs.
“These must be Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” Beebee mused as he thought back on his phone chats with Apple Bloom. His eyes moved from one teenager to the next, taking in all of the details and committing them to memory. “The Crusaders…”
After a few seconds of admiring the inside of the home, Apple Bloom’s eyes settled on Beebee, and her face lit up along with her aura. She took a few steps forward, a big grin appearing on her face. “Heya, Beebee! It’s Been a while!” she greeted enthusiastically before holding out her hand to Beebee.
Beebee stared at it for a few seconds before his brain kicked back into gear. “You’re supposed to grab and shake, you idiot!” he screamed at himself mentally. He smiled back at her and reached out to take Apple Bloom’s hand in his. “Y-yeah, it’s good to- yipe!” He was suddenly cut off when he felt just how tight her grip was and lost a little of his balance from the intensity of the shake. His arm was thrown up and down with little to no mercy whatsoever. “W-woah!”
Apple Bloom quickly released his hand after a few more shakes and slid back a few inches, clasping her hands behind her back and bending forward slightly. “So, how have ya been? Yer leg doin’ better?”
Beebee steadied himself on his feet before offering her any reply. “Holy cow does she have strong hands!” he thought as he blew on his now sore hand. After a moment, he gave her a smile of his own and nodded his head. “Uh-huh! It’s all better, now! Look!” as if to prove his point, he jumped up and down a few times, showing that he could, in fact, stand on his own two legs just fine.
Apple Bloom’s aura lit up even more brightly, and she gave a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s good. Ah was kinda worried that Ah messed somethin’ up. Ah’m only part of the way through my first aid class.”
‘Which you’re taking thanks to me,” The marshmallow girl said in a teasing sing-song voice before taking a step forward and giving Beebee a friendly smile and cursory examination. “So, you must be Beebee,” She said while holding out her own hand. ”It’s nice to finally meet you! My name is Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom told us about you.”
Beebee gently took her hand in his and was relieved to find that her grip was much more gentle than Apple Blooms. Her skin was also softer and smoother than the farm girl’s, making his mind blank a little as her fingers slid across his. He quickly snapped out of it and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Sweetie Belle. I really like your hair.”
“Aw, thank you,” Sweetie beamed at the praise, lifting a hand up to idly toy with one of the curls hanging from her head. “My big sister Rarity helped me figure out how to style it, and it’s a lot of work to keep it looking nice.”
“Hey, don’t forget about me!” the third girl piped up while stepping forward as well. “I’m Scootaloo!” she declared before clapping him on the shoulder. “Nice to meet ya!”
Beebee winced from the smack and idly reached a hand up to rub at his now complaining shoulder. “Uh, nice to meet you, too,” he replied in a slightly awkward voice.
“So, did you have any ideas on what we were doin’?” Apple Bloom asked after a moment, glancing back and forth between her two friends. “Ah’m open to just about anythin’, as long as yer dad’s okay with it.”
Eventide, who had remained by the door the entire time, waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t mind me. We’ll cut in if something’s not okay, but just have fun,” he assured before giving Beebee a small wink and a smile.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Scootaloo asked curiously, crossing her arms over her chest.
Beebee suddenly went stiff, and his hands began to play with each other over his heart. “Uh… uh-h…” A heavy, awkward silence began to fill the air, and Beebee idly scuffed his foot on the floor. His hands drew back behind his back, and his eyes darted from one teenager to the next as if looking for inspiration. He had been expecting just one new friend, not three. As much as he hated to admit it, he was feeling overwhelmed and had no idea what to do or say.
Talking with Apple Bloom when he was hurt had been one thing, and so was talking to her over the phone. He could manage that, then. But this? He had no idea what to do, now, and so he looked helplessly over his shoulders at Fluttershy.
She looked back at him, and a look of understanding appeared on her face. She gave him a reassuring look, stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle said that you talked about Beebee. Do you mind telling us what you’ve been saying about him?” she asked, drawing the attention of the visitors.
The heads of three teenage girls swerved to the side to look up at Fluttershy in surprise, their eyes going wide and their aura’s glowing with confusion. “What the? Fluttershy?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”
Beebee frowned and looked back and forth between them. Did they know each other?
“I’m good friends with Eventide,” Fluttershy responded happily while gesturing at the man in question. “And I help him take care of Beebee whenever I can.”
“Ohhh. Okay, I gotcha.” Scootaloo, satisfied with the answer, nodded her head before taking a step back and pointing her thumb at Apple Bloom. “Well, AB told us all about how she found him hurt out in the woods, and how she used all of the lessons she’s learned in her first aid class to help him get better.”
Sweetie Belle nodded and picked up the story from there. “Uh-huh, and she also talked about how interesting she thinks Beebee is.”
That got Beebee’s full attention. “Interesting?” he echoed, finally returning his gaze to Apple Bloom and tilting his head. “What do you mean by that?”
Apple Bloom got a slightly sheepish look for just a moment but sobered up quickly. She cleared her throat and gave Beebee a smile. “Well, Ah just thought that y’all were interestin’. Ah mean, Ah had never seen ya around before, and then suddenly there ya are, out there alone in the middle of the forest with a leg injury. Kind of an interestin’ way to meet somebody, Ah think.”
“Oh…” Beebee said slowly. Well, that made sense, he supposed…
Sweetie Belle leaned forward a little bit, planting her hands on her knees and tilting her head at Beebee with a curious look. “So, tell us a little about yourself. I kinda want to know more about Apple Bloom’s first patient.”
Beebee perked up a little bit, a small smile growing on his face. “Oh, uh, well…” that smile became strained as his brain, for reasons he would never know, decided to go back into its previously awkward state. The silence threatened to return, but luckily, this time, he was able to find his voice. “I, uh… I… like… books?” he finally managed to stammer out with an awkward and crooked grin.
Unbeknownst to Beebee, Eventide’s face found his palm.
Thankfully, Sweetie Belle didn’t seem too put off by the incredible awkwardness of that statement. In fact, if anything, she seemed greatly interested. “Really? What kinds of books are you into? I like romance stories and mysteries myself.”
“Heh, Ah bet a lotta that comes from yer big sister, don’t it?” Apple Bloom noted with a small smirk while crossing her arms over her chest and nudging Sweetie in the ribs with her elbow.
She glanced sideways at Apple Bloom with a pout. “So? You like apples because of your big sister.”
Apple Bloom made to retort, paused, and then shrugged. “Touche.”
Sweetie rolled her eyes at that and looked back at Beebee again. “So? What about you?”
Beebee gave it some thought, a hand coming up to rub at his chin. “Uh… well, I kinda like a lot of stories. I don’t leave the house very often, so books and tv are how I spend most of my day. But, if I had to pick a favorite…” he hummed quietly to himself before a very specific book sprang back into his mind. He perked up and grinned. “Oh, I know! I think I still have a copy of it downstairs!”
“Downstairs?” Scootaloo questioned, her eyes soon finding the staircase that descended into the basement. Her face scrunched up slightly in confusion. “Er, you keep your books in the basement?”
“His bedroom’s in the basement,” Eventide was quick to clarify, taking a step forward. All eyes turned to him, and he continued. “You see, we used to live in a really small house with only one bedroom, and that’s where I slept. When Beebee came into things, though, I needed a place for him to sleep. So I converted the basement into a bedroom for him. He liked it a lot when he was smaller, to the point that Fluttershy and I kinda took to calling him the basement boy. The name stuck, and it’s been something of a tradition that Beebee’s bedroom is in the basement.”
Beebee blinked a few times as he tried to process all of that information and commit it to memory. A cover story wasn’t very good if nobody else knew it, after all.
Scootaloo visibly pondered Eventide’s answer for a minute before shrugging her shoulders noncommittally. “That’s kinda weird, but I like it. Okay, lead the way, Beebs.”
Beebee had started to make his way for the stairs when he heard that. He paused and slowly looked over his shoulder at Scootaloo, his expression filled with complete bewilderment. “...Beebs?” he parroted incredulously.
Apple Bloom shot Scootaloo a deadpan look before her palm rose up to cover her face. “Scootaloo… no,” she scolded slowly.
Scootaloo pouted and crossed her arms over her chest with her cheeks puffing up .“Oh, you guys are no fun.”
A short time later, the group stepped into Beebee’s bedroom. As soon as the lights flicked on, Apple Bloom panned her eyes around to scan the room and get a feel for it. Compared to the other room in the basement they had just passed through, Beebee’s room was surprisingly nice. It wasn’t dusty or anything, and the walls had all been painted a very pretty shade of sky blue.
The bed in the corner looked a little small for Beebee as he was now, but Apple Bloom didn’t pay that much mind. What was more of note was the remarkably large collection of toys and other assorted childish things. Some of them looked more appropriate for toddlers, though judging by how some of them were stuffed into the corners, she could only assume they weren’t getting much use.
Beebee didn’t give her much time to ponder the space, though, as he quickly made his way directly for the tall bookcase that sat against the left wall a little deeper into the room. Apple Bloom went to stand behind him and looked up and down the shelves as well, curious about Beebee’s collection.
It was impressive, by her standards. Though to be fair, she reminded herself, her standards were pretty low. Beebee’s collection was quite varied, too. The various books on each shelf had no form of discernible organization and ranged from short little kids picture books to a few middle school adventure novels, and there was even a young adult novel trilogy held snugly on the top shelf. It gave off the feeling of organized chaos, that Beebee himself knew where everything was, and that it was right where he wanted it.
Apple Bloom gave a small, pleased hum at the sight. She then looked down at Beebee, who was crouched down to pull one very specific book from the bottom shelf.
To the surprise of not just Apple Bloom, but also her two friends, the book was something one might expect a preschooler to enjoy. The thin picture book had a blue hardcover, and on the front was a drawing of a big and cartoony green dragon. It was looking down on an equally cartoony boy and girl, and the text ‘Pete, the big green dragon’ was written over top of them in bold, friendly letters.
Scootaloo barely stifled a snort, though Apple Bloom didn’t miss it, and shot her a warning glance. Still, that didn’t stop Scootaloo from frowning in confusion. “Pete the big green- isn’t that one, like, for really little kids?” she asked, sounding a little incredulous.
Beebee visibly winced under Scootaloo’s tone, and Sweetie Belle was quick to speak up. “Hey, I’m sure he has a reason for liking it so much,” she said before coming up to Beebee’s side and crouching down. “Right?”
Beebee looked sideways at her and gave a grateful smile. “Yeah… See, I know I’m a little old for this book, but…” he slowly stood to his full height and turned around to show it to the others more clearly. “...I like it because of the message in it. I...” A nostalgic and fond smile gradually began to appear on his face, and he ran his hand over the front cover. “...It helped me out. I felt like I didn’t belong with my dad like I was holding him back, and... I like it because it helped me realize that I do belong with him.”
“Aaaw, that’s so sweet,” Sweetie Belle said in an adoring coo, her hands folding together over her chest.
Apple Bloom nodded along in agreement. “So, it’s your favorite because of sentimental value?”
Beebee smiled and nodded. His eyes lingered on the cover for a second before he looked up at the three of them and his smile grew even wider. “Yeah, it is. Do you guys wanna sit down and read it with me?”
While they all seemed a little taken aback by the request, Sweetie was quick to recover. “I don’t mind,” she said with a short nod. “I may not be a little kid anymore myself, but I like a good children's book from time to time.”
Apple Bloom gave Sweetie a sideways glance and smile before turning back to Beebee. “Same here. Count me in.”
All eyes then turned to Scootaloo, who looked more than a little conflicted at the prospect. Beebee got the impression that she was the sort to try and act cool and mature all the time. “Well, er, I mean… I kinda... “ she rambled before letting off a sigh. “Okay, sure. Why not?”
Beebee beamed and quickly ran over to sit down on the side of his bed while flipping open to the first page. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed after and sat down next to him on the bed, while Scootaloo elected to stay standing. Once everything had settled down, Beebee cleared his throat and began to read.
As he did, Apple Bloom had to admit… the little guy had a good voice.