//------------------------------// // "...Aw hayseed..." // Story: "Wait!" // by AxelGunn //------------------------------// "...Aw hayseed..." By MrAnderson92 I stood, frozen in the middle of the path to Ponyville, as I wrestled with my myself about everything that had transpired in the last couple of hours. What am I going to do?? Well, the RIGHT thing to do would be to talk to either Rainbow or Twilight and break off the date you have with them. But they're both so excited...I don't want to hurt either of them...Look, you don't have to necessarily 'hurt' either one of them, if you really have to you can just reschedule one of the dates. Huh...that seems like a plausible idea. But with whom should I reschedule? Well, to me the most logical choice is Twilight. You could reschedule your dinner from tomorrow night to tonight, celebrating your moving in on the very same night that you do! Brilliant! Next time I see her, I'll ask her to dinner tonight instead! I started walking down the path again, taking in the sights, and even stopping to smell a rose. Once I got to Ponyville, I decided to seek out advice from the one pony I knew I could find right now. I headed over to the Carousel Boutique and knocked on the door, only to have it opened by a trio of little fillies wearing red capes. "Oh hey there mister!" The little white filly I ran into (literally) said when she noticed it was me, "Are you hear to talk to my sister?" "Yes I am," I said, smiling down at the three fillies, "your name's Sweetie Belle right?" "That's right! And these are my friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said, tilting her head to a light yellow filly with a rose colored mane and tail, sporting a large red bow in her mane, and an orange pegasus filly with a fuchsia mane and tail sporting a cocky, overconfident look on her face, "and we're the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!" All three of them yelled at me with great force, "my sister isn't here right now though." She finished. "But ya sure are welcome ta wait with us!" Apple Bloom said excitedly, "You can help us think of some ideas ta get our cutie marks!" "Ah, so you three fillies are trying to get your cutie marks together?" I asked, "You know, I don't have my cutie mark either!" "REALLY??" All three of them shouted at me. "But you're so old! How do you not have your cutie mark??" Scootaloo asked me incredulously. "Well girls, I actually have amnesia. So I don't know my past. I barely even know my own name! So my cutie mark disappeared because I no longer know who I really am, and what my purpose in life is." "Oh...well you can be an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly, "Come on in, we can think of some ideas to do till my sister gets here!" "Haha, sounds like fun girls," I said, "let's start brainstorming!" Well...maybe this will help me find my cutie mark! Do you honestly think that these fillies might just happen to stumble upon your special talent? It's worth a try! These fillies are really happy! I'm going to play along, what have I got to lose? "What should we try first ever'pony?" Apple Bloom asked, pacing back and forth in front of all of us as we sat on Rarity's almost-too-fancy-to-touch couch, "There's just a whole mess of things we haven' tried yet!" "Oh! We could be Cutie Mark Crusader Ghost Hunters!" Scootaloo suggested. "That's ridiculous Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom said, "Ghosts don't even exist!" "And if they did," Sweetie Belle piped up, "how would you go about catching one?" "You don't know for sure that ghosts don't exist Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo said angrily, prompting Apple Bloom and her to start arguing profusely over the possibility of ghosts. I get the feeling this kinda thing happens alot with these fillies. I smiled and just watched as the two fillies verbally battled. "Hey, where did Rarity go anyhow?" I asked Sweetie Belle, turning over to her on the couch. "Oh, she had to go out for supplies," Sweetie Belle replied, "apparently she's making dresses for her friends Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. Do you know them?" "Oh yes...indeed I do," I muttered, my dates with both of them looming in my mind, "they're the reason why I'm here to talk to Rarity actually. I have a bit of a problem..." "Did somepony say problem?!" Apple Bloom asked loudly, breaking away from her argument with Scootaloo, "Maybe we can be Cutie Mark Crusaders Problem Solvers!!" "Hey, yeah!" Scootaloo agreed, the two of them eagerly walking over to me, "What problem do you have with Rainbow Dash and Twilight?" I think they're a little too young to help me with this problem...well that's what you get for 'playing along.' Oh shut up. "Ah haha...sorry girls I think you're a little too young to be helping me with this particular problem...but I'm sure somepony in Ponyville could use your help!" I said, trying to steer the conversation away from my problem. "There must be!" Apple Bloom said excitedly, "Come on Cutie Mark Crusaders! Let's go help somepony!" And with shouts of agreement from the other two fillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran out the door, right past Rarity, who was levitating inside many bags of materials. Why in Equestria does she need all this material for two dresses? "Ah, hello Rarity," I greeted as I slid off her couch, "I have a problem, and I was hoping you could help me out with it." "Hello Cloud! What seems to be the problem?" Rarity asked as she used her magic to begin measuring my body size. "Uh...well first off, why are you measuring me?" "For your suit of course!" She exclaimed, giving me an incredulous look, "Don't tell me you already forgot that I was going to give you a new suit!" "Oh right, that." I said sheepishly, I totally forgot! "Actually, I have a much more pressing matter to attend to, and I could really use some advice." "Well let's not take too long sweetie, I simply must get to work on these dresses! They're for Twilight and Rainbow Dash you know. They BOTH have dates tomorrow night! Why, once I heard the news I knew I HAD to make them some new dresses to impress their colts!" Rarity rambled, finishing up her measurements and tossing her tape to the side. Impress their COLT you mean...Well don't just stand there like an idiot, ask her what you should do! "Actually Rarity," I said quietly, "I'm the colt that Rainbow and Twilight is going out with. Through some unfortunate events that befell me, both the dates happened to get scheduled at the same time and I don't know what to do! I don't want to hurt either Rainbow OR Twilight, but I can't think of a way to resolve this without somepony getting hurt in the process..." I trailed off, looking down at the ground. Rarity gasped, a little melodramatically if you ask me, "You mean they're BOTH going out with YOU?" "Well...yeah!" I said, slightly offended at the tone of her voice, "Why do you say it like that?" "Well, practically everypony knew that Rainbow had a thing for you," Rarity said, "she could barely keep her hooves off you!" You don't know that half of it... "But I never expected Twilight to be so forward as to go out with you so soon after meeting you!" "Well, I don't really know if the date with Twilight should be considered a romantic one," I said slowly, "we're going to celebrate the fact of me moving into the library with her." "Dearie!" Rarity gasped, "Of course there's going to be a romantic element for that date! She asked you to live with her and you said yes! She obviously wants to spend more time with you!" "Well, then I'm an even bigger idiot than I thought!" I said exasperatedly, "And to top it all off, I'm getting some memories of a pony who might've been my marefriend before I got amnesia! But I'm also attracted to Rainbow Dash AND Twilight and I'm looking forward to my dates with them but I'm not sure if I should! I don't know how I should deal with all of these feelings!!" I finished loudly, practically yelling inside the boutique. "Ok Cloud, calm down," Rarity soothed, "the first thing that you have to do is to decide which one you wish to date tomorrow." "Well that's much easier said than done," I grumbled, "but let's say I do that. What do I tell the mare I decide not to date?" "The truth dearie." Rarity said simply, "That's the best thing you could tell her." "I suppose...but how am I supposed to choose??" I asked desperately. "Search your heart hun, you'll find the answer you need inside yourself." Rarity murmured, giving me a quick hug. Yes, that helps us ALOT...Oh shut up, at least she's trying to help us. I sighed, "You're right Rarity, I have to go somewhere quiet and think this over for a good long while." "I think that is a great idea Cloud." Rarity said with a smile. "Any suggestions on where I could go?" I asked mildly, the only place coming to mind is over at Fluttershy's, which wouldn't be the best idea since Twilight is probably still there. "Well, you could go down to the lake, or into the field right outside Ponyville," she offered. "Oh, I know! I'll go to the Everfree Forest!" I exclaimed, "Thanks a lot Rarity, you give some great advice!" I said as I walked out her door, "I'll be sure to let you know how it all turns out! Good luck with your designing!" And with that, I was out of the Carousel Boutique and heading down the path to the Everfree Forest. After skirting around Fluttershy's cottage, I found myself at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. "As long as I stay on the path, I should be able to find my way out easily! After some quiet alone time, I'm sure I'll have my mind made up!" And with that being said, I started off into the forest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle had just left Fluttershy's house after a short chat, and had started her way back to Ponyville when a thought struck her, Maybe I should find Cloud and see if we should just have a get together of all our friends instead of just a one-on-one kind of a thing... she thought. I don't know if I'm ready to be in that kind of atmosphere with him...Oh there's Applejack! I'll ask her for advice! "Hey Applejack!" Twilight said cheerily, walking over to her friend. "Well howdy there Twi!" Applejack greeted heartily, turning to face Twilight, "Whacha got goin' on?" "Well, I was wondering if I could ask you for some advice..." Twilight trailed off. "Advice concerning what sugahcube?" Applejack asked curiously. "Well...it's about Cloud," Twilight said quietly, a blush growing on her face, "he and I have a date tomorrow evening to celebrate him moving into the library, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to be in that kind of situation with him yet..." "Hold on there a sec sugahcube," Applejack said hurredly, an odd look on her face, "you said the two of ya have a date tomorrow? Now ya'll are sure of that?" "Yes, I am!" Twilight answered, beginning to get confused, "We said we were going to meet at the fountain in Ponyville square at seven. Why do you ask?" "Oh...uh nuthin' Twi," Applejack said, quickly looking away from Twilight's eyes, "if ya'll are looking for some advice about that there colt, you should go 'n' talk to Rainbow about 'im. I'm sure she can help you out." "Yeah, she probably can," Twilight muttered, "do you know where I can find her?" "Actually, I just saw her over at Sugahcube Corner talkin' with Pinkie Pie." Applejack said, nodding her head over in Ponyville's direction, "If'n ya'll hurry, you should be able to catch her." "Thanks Applejack, I can always count on you." Twilight said, smiling at her friend, "I'll see you later alright?" "A course you will Twi," Applejack said, smiling right back at her, "bye now!" And with that, the two mares went their seperate ways, Applejack heading in the direction of Fluttershy's house, and Twilight heading to Sugarcube Corner. OF COURSE she would advise me to ask Rainbow Dash, Twilight thought darkly, Rainbow couldn't keep her hooves off Cloud if she TRIED... Soon enough, Twilight was walking into Sugarcube Corner, and spotting Rainbow and Pinkie over by the counter walked over to them, "Hey Rainbow...can I ask you something?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well damn...where the hay am I? I looked around, scanning the forest around me, looking for any sign of the path that I somehow lost. I was RIGHT on the path! I honestly don't know how you managed to lose the path. Oh man oh man oh man, I gotta get outta here! Did it ever occur to you that Rainbow Dash and Twilight might find out THEMSELVES about your little mess-up? That thought made me fall on my rump. "Oh Goddess...that would be awful..." They would hate me! They would just think I was leading them on! I yelled in frustration, the stress of my emotions and finding out I'm utterly lost finally getting to me. You know what you have to do to get out of here right? What would that be? You have to learn to fly again Cloud. "...Aw hayseed..."