//------------------------------// // Part 12 - To Reconcile Is To Care // Story: Love at First Charm // by Creative Charmer //------------------------------// As Creo sat, feeling totally worthless, Spike came walking by, and his attention was immediately drawn to the sound of all his shouting friends. "Woah!! What in Equestria is going on here??" "The worst possible thing that's ever happened to me..." Spike turned and saw Creo sitting dejectedly. "Creo? What are you doing here?" he asked as he rushed to Creo's side. "Oh, I'm just sitting here—mulling over all this chaos I caused..." "Chaos?" "Chaos, anarchy, pandemonium...any of these synonyms seem like a fit description for what I've done..." "What do you mean you've caused this? What in the world is going on??" Spike asked, starting to sound a bit frantic. "Well, Spike, all of these ponies wanted to spend time together with me today, and when each pony found out what the others wanted, that's when the feuding began," Spike looked taken aback by this. "When one pony said what they wanted to do, another pony came and the two started arguing over who should spend time with me. And now all of our friends are fighting because of me..." Reminding himself o this made Creo feel vastly lower in spirits. Spike still looked stunned by Creo's account of what happened. He then looked towards his quarreling pony friends, and was even more shocked to see them fighting like this, as they had never done such a thing in the past. "I never thought I'd see them act this way. Especially because of the reason they're fighting." "I've only known them all for a day, and I can't believe it, either. I mean, do they really just like me that much?" Spike looked at his friends, and then back at Creo. He began pondering what Creo had said. "You know, I think they like you more than you think." "What?" Creo asked in perplexity. "Well, the reason I say this is because the other day, after you left the library, I noticed Twilight looking out the window at you, and she had a weird look on her face." "What kind of weird look?" "It looked like she was entranced; she was focusing all her attention on you, and she was even smiling a little. It reminded me of how I sometimes look when I see Rarity." "What are you talking about?" "Well, whenever I see Rarity, in all her beautiful glory, I just become mesmerized by her," Spike's face suddenly shifted to the same love trance that Twilight was in before as he had mentioned. "Spike? Spike?" Creo waved his hoof in front of Spike's face. "Spike!" Creo shouted, making Spike jump back to reality. "Huh?! What?? Oh...what was I saying?" "You were talking about Rarity being beautiful and then went into this love-filled daze." "Oh, right! That's the look Twilight had when she was looking at you!" "That's the look??" Creo then put together everything that Spike told him. "Are you saying...that all these girls have a crush on me??" "Yes, I'm sure of it. That's why they're fighting over you; because they want to spend time with you without anyone else around." Creo was speechless. He couldn't believe that that was the reason for all this chaos. Gloom surrounded him, causing him to lament over this unfortunate series of circumstances he had the misfortune to cause. "All I wanted to do was be a good friend. I never intended for any of this to happen," Creo hung his head down, but then lifted it back up, sporting a look of fortitude on his face. "But now I have to make amends for what I have done, and undo what I have caused," Creo got up and ran in the direction of the girls, and Spike hurriedly followed him. Creo ceased running when he was close enough to the girls, all of which had not let up their constant bickering. "What are you going to do?" Spike asked when he stopped next to Creo. "I need to make them stop fighting, and since words didn't work, I'll have to try using magic." "You mean you know actual magic spells?" Spike asked, astonished. "Actually, there's only one spell I ever learned, because it's the only one I thought I would ever need. You see, the dark has always been unsettling for me, ever since I was a colt. I eventually learned of a magic spell that creates a bright flash of light, and I studied the spell so I would possess a way to make the darkness not so frightening for me anymore." "Wow," Spike replied in awe. "Do you really think that'll make the girls stop fighting?" "It's the only idea we've got, so we have to try. I'm not going to be responsible for creating such bad blood between our friends," Creo readied himself as he planted his hooves firmly on the ground and pointed his horn at the center of where the girls were all at. He began concentrating as the magic flowed through his horn, making it glow brighter and brighter. When he was at the maximum power, Creo released the spell, which shot out a beam of light that halted in the exact center of where the girls were. The light then took on the form of a sphere of light that tripled in size. Right before the spell finished, Creo pushed Spike's head away from the light, and moved his own head away as well. The orb of light than burst into a large flash of brilliant light, which was so bright that all of the girls shouted in fright and surprise, and desperately tried to shield their eyes from the luminosity. "Waaahh!!" Twilight shouted after the initial impact of the light. "What in the hay is goin' on??" Applejack asked loudly while using her hat to shelter her face from the extreme brightness. "Aaaahh!" Pinkie shouted as she covered her eyes. "Who put all this white here?!" The ponies continued to be alarmed at this situation until the light had finally dissipated. Pinkie Pie was the first one to open their eyes. "It's okay, everypony! The white went away and the color came back!" she exclaimed, and one by one the other ponies uncovered their eyes and unshielded their faces. "My word! What was that light?" Rarity asked, quite confounded. "And where did it come from?" asked Rainbow added. "And did it have to be so bright?" Fluttershy asked, still feeling a bit phased by the intense luminosity. With everypony feeling puzzled by this sudden occurrence, Creo knew it was time to step in and tell them what was going on. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," he said after walking over to the girls, to which they all turned their attention onto him. "I didn't mean to hurt anypony with that light." All of the girls gasped. "Creo..you don't mean...??" Twilight stutteringly asked. Creo made a lamenting sigh. "Yes, Twilight. That light was conjured by me," all of the girls were utterly shocked to hear this. "Ah don't believe it..." "It just can't be!" "I seriously don't believe this!" "Is this real?" Pinkie fretfully asked. Suddenly, the worry vanished from her face. "Wait! This isn't real, is it? That must mean we're in a dream!" she exclaimed excitedly. "What should I do first?? Oooh, I wanna see Ponyville made out of sugary sweets!" Pinkie then sat down, and began concentrating on creating a sweet Ponyville, with everyone else staring at her with weirded out faces. "Pinkie, this isn't a dream," Creo said. "This is real life." "But it can't be real life! Somepony as super nice as you would never do something mean to us in real life! So, show me the sugar-filled Ponyville, dream world!" she exclaimed as she spread her hooves out in the air to take in the dream that she desired. Creo sighed disappointingly. "Pinkie, I'm telling you, this isn't a dream. I really did shoot that light at your girls, but I was not trying to be mean in any way. That's the last thing I would ever want to do," Pinkie lowered her hooves in response to this, looking to be accepting what Creo said to be true. "Well, if yah weren't tryin' to hurt us," Applejack said. "Then why did yah shoot the light at us?" "Because it pained me so deeply inside to see your girls quarrel over me. I did what I did to cease the hostility you all had aimed at one another." The girls were all fixated on Creo, engrossed with his expressive speech. "You see," he continued. "When I look at you girls, I see a group of great and caring friends: friends that love having others be their friends and love spending time with those very friends; so when a fight breaks out amongst such a devoted group of friends, and I am one of the ponies within that very group of friends, it becomes my solemn duty to step in and mend the broken bonds of friendship that have been torn apart by jealousy." The girls all had their mouths hanging wide open, completely rapt by Creo's astute representation of this entire predicament. "All I ever wanted when I met you ponies was to be the kindest, most paramount friend I could be, because you were all so kind to me when we first met," Creo sighed despondently. "But it is clear to anypony that in my attempt to repay you all for your kindness, I overdid my own kindheartedness, and inadvertently caused all of this chaos," he hung his head in sorrow. "I am deeply sorry for what I did to you girls, and I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me." The girls exchanged looks with each other, all looking to be feeling like heels for making Creo feel so guilty and downhearted. How could they do this to him? Especially after how kindheartedly he had treated them all? The girls were feeling guilty as Creo was, but now it was time to repay him for his kindness and remove all these feelings of remorse from Creo's self. "Creo," Twilight started as she stepped forward. "There's nothing that needs to be forgiven." Creo tilted his head slightly back up. "What?" "Well, there's nothing that needs to be forgiven by you. The only ones here that should be asking forgiveness is all of us for how badly we've made you feel." "Twilight's right," Applejack appended. "None of this is yer fault at all," Creo looked astonished to be hearing these words come from his friend's mouths. "Yeah, it's totally our faults," Rainbow Dash said, looking and sounding quite remorseful. "You girls really don't think this was all my fault?" Creo asked in bewilderment. "Of course we don't, sugarcube. We shouldn't have fought over you tah start with." "It was quite improper of us to even think about fighting over a friend like you," Rarity added. "Let alone fighting over a friend at all." "I feel so ashamed" Fluttershy said dismally. "I feel more shame than double shames plus another three shames!" Pinkie said in addition to Fluttershy. "The point is, Creo," Twilight said, cutting off Pinkie Pie. "Is that we're all very sorry for everything we have done to make you feel like a criminal, and remember that it was all the cause of us, and not the cause of you in any way," The other ponies nodded in agreement. "...so you all honestly don't blame me for any of what happened?" Creo asked, sounding modestly surprised. "Of course not, Creo," said Rarity. "We would never even consider that thought." "Remember, we're the ones who shouldn't have started all this feudin' in the first place." "After all, we're all friends," said Fluttershy. "Really great friends!" Pinkie exclaimed as she popped up between Rarity and Fluttershy, hugging them both by their necks. "And one important part of friendship," Twilight began to say. "Is not fighting over wanting the same thing, whether it be an object," she looked over to Creo. "Or somepony that you like." Creo smiled, feeling a great deal of joy from this unwavering flow of kindness and acceptance, knowing that at last, the quarreling had ceased to be. The girls were also in high spirits now that the fighting was no more. "Ah feel so downright ridiculous for bein' a part of that feud," said Applejack. "Well then," Rarity appended. "Let us promise not to fight over something so silly like that again!" she instantly looked to regret what she said as she peered over at Creo. "I mean, not that Creo is silly at all, but, umm..." Rarity blushed from discomfiture as she struggled with what she should say next. "Ahh, he knows what yah mean," Applejack responded nonchalantly. "Yes, so let's hug already!" Pinkie Pie blurted out, and all six of the girls gathered together for a great and heartwarming group hug.