//------------------------------// // Part 2 - Meeting the Charmer // Story: Love at First Charm // by Creative Charmer //------------------------------// "My, this is taking quite a long time!" Rarity said as she wiped her head. "We've only been following the scroll for about a minute, Rarity," Twilight responded. "I know, but I didn't think this scroll would be so long!" "She's got a point," Rainbow Dash interjected. "This scroll is ridiculously long. I didn't even think they could be this long." "I have to admit," Twilight replied. "I've never seen one like this. Whoever it belongs to must have had it specially made for a reason." "Well what reason would they need to have the scroll so dang long?" asked Applejack. "I'm still sticking to my secret recipe idea, if anypony cares to agree with me," said Pinkie Pie. Twilight looked at Pinkie in a condescending way, and then she said, "Well, don't worry, we'll have to find where it leads soon, and then we'll know for sure." They continued to follow the scroll even deeper into the forest, but then Twilight perked her ears up. "Do you hear that?" "Hear what?" asked Fluttershy. "It's faint, but it sounds like someone is talking...and they sound upset." Everypony else listened as they walked towards the noise. "Let's see...no! Ugh!" The talking got louder as they got closer. "Now how about...oh, that's just awful!" "It sounds like a guy," said Rainbow Dash. "And he really sounds mad at something." "Gosh, what could be making him so upset?" asked Fluttershy. "Well, we'll know now, since he's on the other side of this bush," Twilight said. She and the others then stuck their heads through the bush and saw a small clearing, and on the opposite side of where they were, they saw a unicorn sitting on a stump. "Look!" Twilight quietly said to the others. "He has the other end of the scroll!" she pointed at the scroll that the unicorn was holding up with his magic. "Well, it looks like we finally know who it belongs to," said Applejack. "But I'm still curious as to what he's been writing on the scroll." "Well, we could ask him," said Fluttershy. "Or we could just stay here and watch what he does," Rainbow Dash suggested. "But isn't it wrong to spy on someone?" "Who says?" "Umm...I don't know..." Fluttershy said as she cowered. "I think Fluttershy is right," Twilight said. "It's probably best to just ask him." "Well, I still think—" "Arrgggh!!" Rainbow Dash was cut off at the sound of the unicorn's angry shouting. The ponies then started watching him again, having forgotten about their previous conversation. "Come on, come on, think! I know!" the unicorn wrote on his scroll. "...no, no, no!!" he scribbled out what he had just wrote and moved the scroll up to write something else. He then wrote on the paper again, but got mad and scribbled it out again. He then scribbled even harder, then threw scroll and his quill and fell off the stump and onto the ground in anguish. He lie on his back, covering his eyes with his hooves. "Why? WHY?? Why must this be so difficult?!? Aaaggh!!!” The ponies watched in shock and sadness as he became more and more distressed. Twilight looked at her friends, and they knew what she was thinking by the look on her face. They all proceeded to walk out of the bush and over to the unicorn. "Are you all right?" Twilight asked. The unicorn suddenly ceased his sobbing, and moved his hooves away from his eyes. He looked around at all the six ponies, unsure as what to say. "...who are you?" "Oh, well, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends," she pointed to each pony as she addressed them by their names. "Oh, I see," he then got back up on his feet. "Well, my name's Creati—I mean, Creo! Yeah, Creo..." he chuckled nervously. The other ponies looked at each other with wary faces, and then back at Creo, who was smiling like he was hiding something. "Creo, I know we just met, but if you're nervous about something, you can tell us. We won't think any different of you. Right, girls?" The other ponies all nodded and agreed with Twilight. "...well...okay. I feel like I can trust you ponies," Creo took a deep breath. "My name isn't actually Creo. It's just a nickname I made for myself because I'm embarrassed of my real name," he said as he slapped his hoof on his face. "Oh, come now," Applejack said, "It can't be all that bad." "Applejack is right," Rarity added. "Your name is just as good as anypony else's." "Not mine..." Creo grumbled. "I'm sure it's very nice," said Fluttershy. "It's probably cooler than you give it credit for," Rainbow Dash added. "Yeah!!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It's probably the most super wonderful fantastical splenderifous name in the world!!" she shouted as she jumped into the air and landed on her back on the ground. "Well...you get the point," Twilight said. "Okay, I'll tell you," Creo sighed. "My name is..." The other ponies leaned forward to listen. "...Creative Charmer..." "Creative Charmer? That's your name?" "Yes..." Creo grumbled. "My parents named me that because they thought I would grow up to be creative and charming...ugh..." "...well, I think that's a perfectly fine name; right, girls?" The other girls agreed with Twilight, but then there was the sound of snickering. Everypony looked and saw that it was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie who were snickering. Twilight cleared her throat loudly, which made Rainbow and Pinkie stop. "Sorry, man," Rainbow chuckled. "I just couldn't help myself." "Me neither!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Your name just sounded so silly to me!" "Yeah, I'm sure it does..." Creo said, slumping down and hanging his head in humiliation. "Girls, please!" Twilight shouted. "Let's try and be civil here." "Absolutely," Applejack added. "You're gonna make our new friend feel bad." Creo then lifted his head up. "You consider me a friend..? Even after we just met?" "Well, of course we do, sugarcube!" "Oh, quite so." "We certainly do!" "Yes, of course." Creo turned to Rainbow and Pinkie. "Do you consider me your friend, too?" "Well, of course!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Oh, of course!!" Pinkie also exclaimed. "It's always great to make a new friend!" "Well...that's really nice of your girls...nopony has ever wanted to be my friends so fast before," Creo's sad disposition had completely disappeared, and he looked truly happy for the first time since the girls met him. "Sure thing, Creo," Rainbow said. "I'm sorry we laughed at you, but friends joke around like that. We didn't mean anything bad." "Oh, we would never do that! Making friends feel bad is one of the worst things ever!! One thing you should know about us is that we never mean those kinds of things seriously!!" Pinkie exclaimed as she grabbed Rainbow and Twilight and pulled them right next to her, hugging them both tightly. Creo chuckled. "Well, that's great to know. You girls will make great friends." "Well, thank you," Twilight said after Pinkie let her go. "Also, if you want to be called Creo instead of your real name, we all understand," The others nodded in agreement. "Thank you all very much. Even though you made me feel better about my real name, I still like my nickname better." "Then, we shall call you by that, Creo," Rarity replied. "Sure thing!" "You got it, pal!" "All righty-wighty!" "You girls are just the perfect ponies to be friend with," Creo sincerely said. "It's no wonder you all are such good friends with each other." "It's no wonder indeed," Twilight said. "We may have been through some hard times before, but nothing will ever come between us and our friendship," Twilight and the other girls then had a group hug. Creo looked so touched by this heartfelt display. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he ran over to his bag that was next to the stump he was sitting on. He used his magic to take out a blank scroll and started to write on it.