//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Operation Super Sleepover // Story: The Night Of A Broken Heart // by WanderingPony //------------------------------// The most dangerous thing in Ponyville walked out of the hospital on a lovely afternoon, plotting devious and convoluted plans for the night. That would be Sweetie Belle. With an idea. And neither of the other two Crusaders were having any luck getting it out of her head, seeing as she'd gotten the bit in her teeth and was running with it. "He's a COLT, Sweetie Belle. Do you want a COLT running around all day in your house?", said Scootaloo in an attempt to get Sweetie to actually think about something for five seconds. "Mommy always tells me it's good to have a colt in the house for when you need something done.", Sweetie replied. "Ah think she means a stallion, Sweetie. Y'know, like your dad?" The unicorn filly stopped in her tracks, Applebloom nearly ramming nose-first into her tail. "Daddy always wanted a colt.", Sweetie said. "Mommy said we couldn't have any more brothers or sisters. That I was the best surprise she ever had, but it was just me...me and Rarity. Maybe if she saw Chip for a while, maybe she'd let us have one for real? He's really nice and shy and, and, iwanttobeabigsistertoo." "Whut was that?" "I said, I want to be a big sister, too! Like Rarity! Don't you ever want to be like Applejack someday? Scootaloo, wouldn't you ever want to be like Rainbow Dash? Being a big sister is...is...like the most awesome thing ever!" The three fillies looked at each other as Sweetie's epiphany sank into their skulls. "Big sisters ARE kinda awesome...", Scootaloo said. "Ain't we a little small to be someone's big sister?", Applebloom added, still dubious. "So we'd ALL be his big sister together. To teach him all the important stuff. Like which crayon's best to get first.", Sweetie countered. "Or how to fold a paper airplane!" "The face you make when you want the last juicebox!" "Double-loop jump roping!" "The best place to jump over the creek!" "How to rub a puppy so his leg goes twitcha-twitch-twitch!" In full scheming mode, the three fillies trotted down the road as they discussed the proper care and training of little brothers. --- Somewhat tuckered after being ganged up on by three fillies and full of dinner, Chip slept in a way most young parents dream of- peaceful, sprawled out, and dead to the world. At least on the outside, which gave Nurse Redheart a chance to grab something and freshen up a bit, once she'd cleaned up the incidental destruction caused by four children occupying a small hospital room for playtime. A wide open grassy field, full of colts and fillies at play. The sun was warm. The grass smelled sweet and clover flowers dotted the ground, begging to be nibbled on. He lowered his head for a bite...and fell through the ground as it faded into a limitless expanse dotted with lights instead of flowers, flitting around his...glow? He flickered through the spectrum and chased a tiny mote of crystal with his light-friends, until he felt tired enough to rest on a shard of glittering stone. Time to soak in the love and joy until he recovered enough to play again! He blinked. The stone became the soft, sun-soaked field, and the breeze rustled through the red fur on his legs as the grass pillowed his head. Shards of friend-light danced on the inside of his eyelids as he basked in the springtime warmth. What is clover? Why is it good to eat? Why are all the ponies lights? That's what I look like. No I don't! I am blue, not red. But I...I know I'm red! I know I'm not red, I'm all the colors. I thought I was blue? I do remember blue. Perhaps maybe I am both. --- The three fillies split up at Sweetie Belle's house, reluctantly. The sun had nearly found it's place to rest, the first tinges of the sky readying itself for Luna's touch already evident. "Ah'm for Sweet Apple Acres, Granny's going ta need a hand and I still got chores to do. Good luck, Sweetie!". Apple Bloom waved a hoof and sped down the dirt road that led back to her home. Scootaloo remained, and the two fillies shared a conspiratorial look as they looked through an open window to find Magnum snoring away, hooves pointed in all directions as he sprawled back on a comfy-looking bowl of a lounge chair. "Ready for Operation Super Sleepover, Sweetie?". Nods were had. "OH, SWEETIE BELLE! A SLEEPOVER AT YOUR PLACE WITH OUR FRIENDS IS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME! I CAN'T WAIT TO DO THIS, YOUR MOM WILL LOVE IT!", Scootaloo bellowed through the open window, the volume sending the stallions straw hat flying as he flailed back into sudden wakefulness. And buzzed off, leaving a trail of dust. Magnum managed to keep the naughty words down to a mumble as his daughter calmly pushed the front door open and walked up with a face that should have had a halo floating above it. "Hi, Daddy!", the angelic unicorn chirped. "Mommy gave me some notes for you!", and she mouthed over first the "mare of the house" note, then a fat scroll labeled "Honey-Do-or-DIE". Magnum's hat visibly wilted as he went down the second scroll. "Awwww....", Sweetie followed up with the next weapon in her arsenal. The cuddle. Boom. Heart shot. "...your Sweetie has a REALLY good idea. You could do all that...or...sleepover." Sweetie's father gave her a look that meshed confusion with the faintest glimmer of hope. "If you're busy being a GREAT daddy while my friends are here, well I guess it was OOPS!", as she booted the scroll full of chores out of Magnum's hands , "you were too busy making sure Sweetie and all her friends were having a wonderful time while they were here." Sweetie Belle's hindleg brushed the scroll again. Magnum's face held a look most colts had about one minute before recess began. "Diiiiid I mention Scootaloo made a new friend? A colt friend? Who likes to play.......hoofball?". Her father's face twitched at the word "hoofball". "He's a unicorn, too. And he's new in Ponyville and really nice but he doesn't know anypony else yet and I thought my daddy would make a really good friend cause you should meet him and his name's Chip and he's blue and-" Sweetie Belle found herself being swept up off the ground and plopped on the recliner next to her father. "Sweetie, darling? Your mother can run rings around me. Your sister's voice could be a tool of the Friendquisition for how often it gets her what she wants. But I know when my little Sweetie is trying a sneak to the endzone, so you're going to sit here and tell me about YOUR new colt-who's-a-friend and why you want him sleeping over at our place and not his house instead." Alarm bells went off in Sweetie's head as plan A collapsed like a house of cards. Time for plan B! As in blubber! Sweetie sucked in a deep breath. She hiccuped. She sniffled, and.... "HesalittleponyinthehospitalandhedoesnthaveanyparentsandwesavedhimfromatreeandCloudKickersaidweshouldgoseehimandheslonelyandscaredandNurseRedheartsaidheneedsunicornsandsistersandadaddyforawhileandyousaidyouwantedtobeacoltsdaddyIcouldsharemyroomandbeasisterwhileyouweredaddyand-", Sweetie's torrent of words was matched only by the torrent of tears flying in every direction as she let the run-on-and-over sentence end in sobbing, hiccups, and a thoroughly saturated subject. While Rarity is known as the literal Element of Generosity, her parents aren't too far back on that race, and Sweetie tears are one of the best emotional solvents known to ponykind. Magnum barely knew what hit him. "Oh, kiddo...you were trying to run a play for this-" "Chip!", Sweetie squeaked out. "...and here I thought you were trying to slide your first special somepony in while your mother wasn't around." Magnum booped his daughter on the nose with a hanky, wiping away a liberal helping of sob-snot. "Your sister pulled that when she was your age, did ya know? "Her friend's friend", plays the game, nice unicorn until your Mom found them playing spin the bottle when she checked in on them. Grounded her for three weeks!" Sweetie dissolved into giggles as her father poked her with a hoof. "Tomorrow after school, I think you and I need to visit mister Chip. But if you want to have a "sleepover"...you and I are going to have to make sure this house is extra-nice for your friends. Especially if it's going to be a long one.". Magnum picked up the scroll full of chores and winked at Sweetie. "Ready to start after dinner?" The rest of the evening was filled with smoke, dust, polish, and sparkle.