Cheeseball sat down on his green bed. He was really sad about what happened that day at school. He had met a really nice filly, but his father had ruined it by saying she was evil when obviously his dad couldn’t read a history book.
“I guess I’ll just do homework,” Cheeseball sighed. He opened his saddlebag and took out his sheet of math homework. But then, a small piece of paper fell out of his bag. He looked at it and smiled. It was from last year when a nice stallion, Mr. Valentine, had come to their school and given every student a lecture on love. Cheeseball wasn’t the lovey-dovey type of pony, but neither was the lecture.
The lecture taught Cheeseball that there are different kinds of love — friendship and romance — and that little foals his age couldn’t really experience real romantic attraction until they were older. Before they start maturing, they only have schoolhouse crushes.
Cheeseball knew that most of the other ponies were daydreaming or talking to their friends when Mr. Valentine was talking, but Cheeseball absolutely loved the lecture. It was one of the most interesting things he had ever heard, and he took a lot of those things into account in his everyday life. Mostly the friendship things, though, since he was way too young for romance.
“Angel Valentine is here to give you all a lecture on love and friendship,” the paper read. It had a giant heart on it, and in the center of the heart was Mr. Valentine’s face. He was a purple unicorn with green and gray hair, and Cheeseball remembered his cutie mark being a giant heart with angel wings coming out of it and a chocolate in the center.
Cheeseball put the flyer back into his saddlebag and started working on his homework. He didn’t even get finished with the first problem when somepony interrupted him.
“Hi, Cheeseball!” He saw a yellow filly with green eyes and curly light green hair with orange streaks in it. His younger sister jumped on his bed before he could tell her to leave.
“So, whatcha doin’?” She asked.
“I was trying to do my homework, but you interrupted me. Lucky, can you please leave?” He asked in a very annoyed tone.
“Aww, what’s wrong, Cheesy? Cat got your tongue?” She asked.
“Do you even know what that means?” He responded. Lucky shrugged and Cheeseball rolled his eyes.
“So, why are you so sad?” She questioned. Cheeseball internally debated whether he would tell his younger sister about Fluffball, and the “tell her” side won.
“Well, I met this filly today-” He started, but she interrupted him, “Oooh, is she pretty? What’s her name? Are you two in love?” Cheeseball was startled by all of the sudden questions.
“Woah there! One at a time, please,” He said.
“Oops! Okay, first, is she pretty?” Lucky asked. Cheeseball nodded his head. Fluffball was the prettiest filly that he’d ever met. She had the most beautiful green swirly eyes, cute wings, and pretty hair. Her hair sort of reminded him of cotton candy.
“Oooooh! Okay, second, what’s her name?” She inquired. Cheeseball wondered if he should say Fluffball’s name out loud. He feared that his dad would hear and get mad.
“Fluffball,” He answered in a low voice so his dad hopefully wouldn’t hear. Cheeseball definitely would be able to hear what he just said, but that was only because his hearing was his strongest sense. He could hear the quietest sounds when others couldn’t.
“Oh My Celestia! Your names match!” Lucky squealed.
“That’s exactly what she said!” Cheeseball said. Lucky smiled, “Ooh, I like her already! Okay, last question. Are you two in looovvveeee?” Cheeseball got uncomfortable at this question. Of course he wasn’t in love! He was only 7 years old (almost 8)! He would start to contemplate things like this at age 13, at the least!
And he had just met Fluffball today. Sure, he loved how she talked and how pretty she was, and her adorable personality. But he definitely didn’t want to be in a romantic relationship at age 7. It would make him unbelievably uncomfortable, mostly because of how strongly he believed in the words of Mr. Valentine.
“Uhh hello? Earth to Cheeseball?” Lucky said. Cheeseball shook his head, “Hey, that’s exactly what Jany said to Fluffball! Anyways, to answer your question. No, we’re not ‘in love’. Ponies my age can’t be in love; we’re too young. And besides, I definitely don’t want to have a marefriend until I’m at least 13.”
Lucky looked absolutely shocked at his words, “But… I have a marefriend! I’m not too young!”
“You- WHAT!?” Cheeseball gawked. He was absolutely stunned that his 6-year-old sister had a marefriend! She was SIX YEARS OLD!! How the hay did she have a marefriend?
Well, it’s not like they’re literally in love. They are only in kindergarten. It’s just a schoolyard crush, he told himself.
“What’s wrong?” Lucky asked. Cheeseball looked at her and responded, “You’re… You’re only six! How the hay do you have a marefriend?” He knew that his sister wasn’t actually in love with another pony, but he didn’t want to make her mad by explaining how that stuff works.
“Because we love each other!” Lucky beamed. Cheeseball rolled his eyes but still kept his mouth shut because didn’t want to make her mad.
“Okay… Well, what’s her name? What does she look like? Does she have any siblings?” Cheeseball flooded her with questions.
“If you don’t like it when I ask you a bunch of questions, then why do you do it to me!?” Lucky scoffed. Cheeseball laughed, “Well, now you know how it feels!”
“Okay, well. Her name is Lightningstrike Dash, she’s a green pegasus with brown eyes, and her hair is red, orange, and yellow. She has a twin brother named Thunderstrike Dash and his hair is green blue and purple. Their hair colors match to make the rainbow! Oh and also they have an older sister named Sunbeam or something,” Lucky explained.
“Sun Ray?” He asked. Lucky nodded in confirmation.
“I know her! She’s Fluffball’s best friend,” Cheeseball smiled.
“Wait, why were you sad earlier? It seems like Fluffball is a nice filly!” Lucky asked.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention she’s part changeling. But her Dad is a reformed changeling! Just another type of reformed changeling. But Dad doesn’t believe that she and her dad are reformed! It’s so dumb. Can’t he just pick up a history book and read it!?” He ranted.
“Oh… Well, I believe you! And I support you, big brother!” Lucky hugged Cheeseball, who hugged her back, “I support you too, Lucky.”
“HEY, are you two hugging without me!?” Cheeseball looked towards his door and saw a filly who looked just like Lucky but without curls in her mane.
“You can join us, CC!” Lucky called to her twin sister. Carrot Cheesecake smiled and jumped onto Cheeseball’s bed and joined the hug.
“What’s all this talk about supporting?” Cheeseball’s Dad, Nacho Cheese, was walking into Cheeseball’s room, looking skeptical.
“Oh uhhh we were just ummm…” Lucky couldn’t think of a good lie, and neither could Cheeseball. CC didn’t even know what they were talking about.
“You were telling your sisters about that changeling, weren’t you?” His Dad said. He said the word “changeling” with pure disgust, which made Cheeseball have an awful feeling in his stomach.
“I’ve got to teach you three some real history, not what they tell you in school. The only reformed changelings that exist LOOK like reformed changelings! They’re colorful and have colorful horns and dragonfly-like wings. The fake ones look like unreformed changelings! If you ever meet one, you’ve got to run! They’ll feed off your love and convince you that they are your friend! Cheeseball, I don’t want to see you EVER talking to that evil filly ever again, or you’ll be busted,” His dad lectured. Cheeseball’s heart sank as he heard the last sentence his dad said.
Nacho left the room and Cheeseball heard his sisters say, “Oooh, you’re gonna be busted!” Cheeseball glared at them and said, “I thought you said you support me.”
“We do, but we also want to see you get BUSTED!” CC grinned. Cheeseball forced them out of his room and then continued on his homework, thinking about Fluffball the whole time.
The next morning, he arrived at school. His family was always early for things, so they were always one of the first families there. He saw his sisters run towards a pair of green pegasi and assumed that those were the twins, Thunderstrike and Lightningstrike. He also saw Fluffball’s friend, Sun Ray Dash talking with a light blue pegasus and an older light purple pegasus.
Since he had nothing better to do, he trotted over to Sun Ray and decided to tell her about Lucky and Lightningstrike.
“Hey, Sun Ray!” He called out as he approached them. Sun Ray looked startled that he was trying to talk to her. The blue pony she was talking to was a filly with a squared muzzle like a colt’s, and she had a mane that looked like a waterfall from green to blue.
“Sun Ray, that colt wants to talk to you! You should go with him! Maybe you can get a coltfriend!” The filly whispered. Cheeseball was startled at what she said, and then Sun Ray responded to her.
“What!? No! Fluffball has a crush on him!” Cheeseball blushed at Sun Ray’s comment.
“Look, he’s blushing! See, he likes you!” Cheeseball rolled his eyes and then the waterfall-maned filly shoved Sun Ray towards him, their faces almost touching.
“Gah!” Sun Ray yelped. Cheeseball and Sun Ray both blushed in embarrassment and quickly put some distance in between each other.
“So… Why did you want to talk to me?” Sun Ray asked.
“Oh, yeah! Did you know that-” Cheeseball started to tell her, but then saw that the filly with the colt muzzle was staring at him intently.
“Do you mind?” He snapped. She looked surprised and turned away to talk to the older light-purple colt.
“Wow, you’re good at making ponies mind their own business!” Sun Ray complimented. Cheeseball smiled and replied, “Well… I don’t really like it when other ponies hear my private conversations. I have insanely good hearing. I can hear ponies having conversations when they’re whispering and they aren’t anywhere near me!. I try not to listen to them but I still hear everything they say, so I always feel like ponies are listening to me when I talk, too.”
Sun Ray nodded and then asked, “Wait, could you hear what Waterfall Mist and I were just saying about you…?” Cheeseball giggled and nodded yes. Sun Ray hoofpalmed in embarrassment.
“It’s okay! I don’t mind. I honestly thought it was funny,” Cheeseball said. Sun Ray smiled and then asked, “Oh yeah, you were about to tell me something! What was it?”
“Oh, right! Okay, did you know that my sister and your sister are in a relationship?” He asked. Sun Ray looked surprised, “Wait, what? You’re talking about Lightningstrike, right? And I didn’t know that you have a sister.”
“I have two, actually. They’re twins and in the same class as your younger twin siblings. Their names are Lucky and Carrot Cheesecake. CC for short. Last night, Lucky told me that Lightningstrike is her marefriend,” Cheeseball told her.
“...Wow,” Sun Ray responded. Cheeseball chuckled, “Yep, that’s what I thought, too.”
“They’re way too young to be in a relationship,” Sun Ray said.
“That’s exactly what I thought!” Cheeseball agreed. Sun Ray giggled. He was surprised at how much Sun Ray’s thinking was similar to his. It wasn’t common that he found somepony who agreed with him on these kinds of things.
“So… do you have a crush on Fluffball?” Sun Ray asked. Cheeseball thought for a few moments and responded, “Well… can I tell you something? It’s kinda personal, but you seem like the kind of pony who would actually listen.”
“Oh uh sure,” She replied.
“Let’s go over to the tree. I don’t want anypony to eavesdrop,” Cheeseball said. The two kids walked over to the tree and sat down.
“Okay, so… I don’t know if I have a crush on Fluffball or not. I’m the kind of pony who believes that you need to be older to know what a real crush feels like and be in a real relationship. That’s why I think it’s so weird about Lucky and Lightningstrike. And I literally met Fluffball yesterday, so I don’t want to rush into things, like at all. I don’t want to be in a relationship with anypony until I’m at least 13,” Cheeseball explained.
Sun Ray nodded in understanding and Cheeseball let out a relieved sigh. He was glad that he met somepony who understood him.
“Can I tell you something? It’s something that I’m confused and worried about, but you seem to know a lot about this stuff,” Sun Ray asked. Cheeseball nodded, happy that she was willing to share things with him, too.
“Well… I’ve never had a crush on anypony before. Even a small crush or just a silly one that little kids like us get. Like Lightningstrike and Lucky, or Fluffball’s crush on you-” She covered her mouth with her hoof.
“It’s fine, I know. I heard you say it to Waterfall earlier,” Cheeseball laughed.
“Okay, good. So anyway, I’ve never had a crush on anypony. Everypony that I know has had a crush on somepony before, even if it’s not a ‘real’ one like when we’re older. Is something wrong with me?” Sun Ray asked. She seemed really worried.
“Nothing is wrong with you! There’s actually a thing called ‘Aromantic’. It’s where a pony doesn’t experience any romantic attraction. And also it exists on a spectrum, so there are ponies who only experience it occasionally, some who only experience it when they are really good friends with the pony, and the list goes on and on. But if I were you, I wouldn’t label yourself as Aromantic, because you’re not even a teenager yet,” Cheeseball explained.
Sun Ray smiled gratefully and hugged him. It caught him by surprise, but he hugged him back.
“Thanks, Cheeseball! I’ve felt so weird for a long time, but you’ve helped me realize that it’s normal to feel this way,” She said. He broke the hug and put a hoof on her shoulder, “Hey, everypony is unique in their own way. It’s normal to be different.” He said this in the most reassuring and kind voice that he could, so she would know that he really meant it. Sun Ray smiled again.
“I wonder where Fluffball is?” He asked, looking around. He noticed that other ponies were starting to arrive at school
“Well, we were here pretty early. And also Fluffball and Jany usually arrive way later than I do. My family has this saying, ‘The Dashes are always early’,” Sun Ray said.
“My family says, ‘The Cheeses are never late’!” Cheeseball exclaimed. They both laughed.
“Do you wanna know something funny? Fluffball has a crush on this tree!” Sun Ray said.
“What!? Wait, I thought she has a crush on me,” Cheeseball responded, pretending to sound hurt. Sun Ray laughed, “Well, I don’t know for sure if she has a crush on you, but she told us that you’re the most handsome pony she’s ever met and that it felt like you were putting her under a spell with your good looks.”
Cheeseball blushed, “She really said all that?” Sun Ray nodded. Cheeseball was very flattered that Fluffball thought he was so handsome.
“Aww, you’re blushing! Did Fluffball put you under a spell, too?” Sun Ray teased. Cheeseball chuckled and replied, “Well, I definitely feel something for her. Don’t tell her I said that.” He added. Sun Ray giggled and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Cheeseball smiled, “Sun Ray, you’re a really great pony to talk to. It feels like I can say anything to you and you won’t judge, and I’ve never had somepony who I can say anything to. Would you like to be friends?”
“I feel the exact same way! And you didn’t have to ask, I already consider you as a friend after this conversation! Even more like a best friend!” Sun Ray responded.
“Really? Yay!” Cheeseball yelled, hugging his new best friend.
Cheeseball heard a voice saying, “I don’t have a crush on the- Wait, Cheeseball and Sun Ray!?” He looked up and saw Fluffball and Jany standing in front of them. Both of them looked shocked, and Fluffball looked a little jealous. Cheeseball and Sun Ray broke the hug, standing up.
“Hi, Fluffball and Jany!” Sun Ray said, at the same time Cheeseball said, “Hi, Fluffball!”
“What are you two doing together?” Fluffball asked suspiciously. Cheeseball and Sun Ray exchanged glances, their expressions confirming that they both wanted to keep their conversation confidential.
“We were just talking about things. We actually both have a lot in common and are really good friends, now!” Sun Ray said. Jany smiled, but Fluffball still looked jealous. Then, the bell rang and they all walked inside to start their school day.