"So... I suppose the first course of action would be to re-teach me how to read." I say.
Twilight's eyes widen. She's thinking hard. Then a smile slowly spreads across her face.
What is she planning?
"Heeeey! I have an idea! I could teach you! Yeah! Yeah! And you could be my own personal student!" She says, now bouncing up and down.
"Personal stu-?" I start.
Rarity intervenes, "Darling, are you sure you can handle the responsibility?"
I cut in, "Responsibility? She's just teaching me the alphabet? Right?"
The two ponies continue to ignore me.
"Handle it? I'm a princess now! Besides? How hard could it be?" Twilight exclaims.
"Ok. But are you sure you are ready?" Continues Rarity
"Ready? I've wanted a student of my own ever since I got these wings!" She says, now beaming cheek to cheek.
Rarity turns to me, "Are you ready?"
"For what?" I say, "She's just teaching me the alphabet right?"
"What I think Twilight is suggesting is that you become her personal student, the same way she was a student of Celestia herself! This is a huge opportunity!" Exclaims Rarity, "Other ponies would kill for their foals to be taken under her wing! She is going to teach you a lot about magic in this world, starting with the alphabet!"
I ponder this for a bit.
"Why me? You just met me, I can't do any magic. I'm not even a pony!" I say, it really doesn't make sense.
Twilight thinks this over, "Celestia didn't know who I was until I accidentally blew the roof off of her magic academy."
"That still doesn't change the fact I can't do magic, I don't have one of those fancy horns." I protest.
"Oh silly, there's more than just unicorn magic! There's magic everywhere! The magic of Friendship for example! And the magic of music! Then there potions! There are magical objects, like amulets. And most of all SCIENCE!" Twilight says, running off the checklist she keeps in her head at all times.
"Science? Science isn't magic." I say.
"It is if you let it be!" She sings.
"Still, why me and why now?"
"Because, I like you!" She says nudging me in the shoulder with her hoof.
"What did you say about magic of music?" I ask out of curiosity.
"The magic of music is one of my favorite subjects!" She states, "it's too complex to explain right here and now, we'll save that for another lesson! But to put it simply, have you ever seen Pinkie Pie burst into song yet?"
"No?" I question.
"Well, have you heard any music at all since you've been here?" She asks.
"Actually yes. There's a little green unicorn that help runs a cafe down the street, she played a song for me." I state.
"Lyra? Anyway, did you feel like you were, I don't know, different?" She questions.
"Well now that you mention it, I did feel like it put me in a lull or something, but I figured that was because I was really tired and it was really good music." I say.
"On the contrary! It was magic!" Twilight states, matter-of-factly, "So what do ya say? Will you be my student?"
She puts on the biggest smile she can.
"Oh... I don't know..."
"Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please!" She begs, sticking her bottom lip out to emphasize the pleading.
I look over at Rarity for help.
She smiles at me and nods her head.
I look down at Twilight, who was now at my feet giving me the most innocent look she could.
"Ok Twilight, I'll be your stu-"
"YAY!" She shouts jumping off the ground, "I got a brand new student! I got a brand new student! Now I want you to take this piece of paper and write down all the letters of your alphabet starting from your version of A to Z!"
I take the paper and swim over to the desk where I grab a quill.
"Ok," I say, "A, B, C-"
"Uppercase and Lowercase!" She reminds me.
I scribble out what I had written down and start over.
"Aa, Bb, Cc..."
I finish writing down all 26 letters and their respective cases.
She grabs the piece of paper from the desk and writes down the letters of her own just under mine.
"Now I want you to take this home and study it!" She says, "I want you to be able to read this entire book by this time next week!"
She hands me a text book, a couple of quills, and some ink.
"Next week to learn how to read? Doesn't sound too bad" I look down at the letters on the paper.
"That's the spirit!" Exclaims Twilight.
Rarity chimes in, "Ben, there is another reason I wanted to speak to you."
She leans in close to me, "I didn't want to say this out loud but you smell like you haven't showered in days!"
I look over at Twilight, who was too giddy to really hear anything. She's right, I haven't bathed since I fell into the pond, which probably didn't help, the more I think about it... Fish water...
"Eww," I say, kind of disgusted, "you're right!"
Rarity looks over to Twilight who is singing to herself as she re-sorts books back into their proper shelves, "Twilight, I know you just got your new student and all but I'm afraid I must steal him from you!"
"Oh sure sure!" Twilight says happily and continues singing and sorting, I'm not entirely sure she heard Rarity.
Rarity shoots me a glance, "Lets hurry before she realizes what I just said!"
Not missing a beat, I gather up my homework and make way for the door. Like a sir, I open the door and let the lady go first, then follow her out. I glance in one more time to see Twilight jumping from bookcase to bookcase, throwing books in the proper place, then close the door.
"Boy, she's awfully happy to get a student." I say to Rarity.
"That mare is obsessed with learning, I shouldn't be surprised she'd want a student of her own later." She responds.
After a short walk, we arrive back at the Boutique.
"Now," says Rarity, "about that shower!"
…
She leads me upstairs and shows me the bathroom.
"Here's a towel and some shampoo to wash your... Uh... Mane?" She says, referring to my hair, which I tend to keep very, very short. I can't stand long hair.
"Hair, and I would hardly call it hair." I say jokingly.
"Oh well there's some soap already in there, and a sponge, and please don't take too long, Sweetie Belle should be getting home soon and she prefers to have hot water." Continues Rarity.
"Alright, I'll try to be quick, and Rarity?"
"Yes Darling?" She stops before she gets out the door.
"Thanks" I say
"Oh you're welcome, dear. And I should also add that while you were out I took the liberty of going through your bag of clothes."
"You did what?" I say kind of surprised.
"I took measurements of your current wardrobe, by the time you get out you should be able to get out of those hideous garments you're wearing." She says.
"What?" I say, "These are sweatpants, they keep my legs warm, they aren't supposed to look good. Utility over looks."
She just rolls her eyes, "Well they are ugly and they are filthy! You will not be running around in those things if you intend on staying for a while." And closes the door without another word.
"Well," I turn to the shower in front of me, "lets figure this thing out!"
…
They say that you think you're smart, until you try turning on someone else's shower. Well, it's true. I was trying to wrestle with the knobs for about 5 minutes before I got any water running. Not to mention the shower head is just a hair above shoulder level, I have to stoop down to wash my hair.
Whenever I did manage to get the water going, it was freezing cold, I felt like I was skinny dipping in Antarctica. Then I scrambled to turn the, what I believed to be the temperature knob. Nope, that's the pressure knob. Now I'm being pelted by ice cold water and I'm flipping out a little bit.
I turn the knob back down and the pressure seems ok again, how do ponies even take a shower peacefully? I try the third knob, and thankfully it's the correct one. Problem is now the water that was once ice cold is now burning my face off. I finally manage to put it at a proper temperature and begin washing all the pond water, sweat, and all around nastiness from the past two days off.
Once finished, I step out and dry myself off with the towel provided. I put my sweatpants back on, but don't put the shirt on, it's all I have until I see what Rarity has for me. If she has finished with it anyway.
I glance in the mirror to take a good look at myself.
"Looking good today, sir." I say to my reflection.
"Why thank you" I reply to myself.
"You been working out? You're lookin' pretty swole."
"Oh yeah, you know. Been hitting the weights, you know the drill." Flexing in the mirror.
I laugh at my own idiocy, "What the hell am I doing? Maybe Lyra was right, I do talk to myself a lot."
My self-examination is interrupted by by a small knock on the door, "Hello? Is anypony in here?" Comes a small voice from the other side of the door.
I open the door and look around, I don't see anypony. Then I look down. At my feet is a very little pony, only comes up to about my knees. She's looking at me with big wide eyes, and mouth agape. Uh oh…
"AAAAAHHHH! RAAAAARITYYYY!" She takes off running down the hallway, "THERE'S AN ALIEN IN THE BATHROOM!"
Good first impression.
I very calmly pick up the towel off the floor, gather up my shirt, and follow her down the hallway.
When I get to the end of the hallway, I find myself in a large room with a queen size bed on one side, many dresses and a sewing machine on the other.
I see Rarity laboring away at the sewing machine, seemingly unphased by a screaming Sweetie Belle. Who... Actually... Where did she go?
I walk over to Rarity, "Where did-"
"FIRST rule of the household," Rarity interrupts, "you do not, bother Rarity while she is working. "
"..."
"Also, Sweetie Belle is hiding under the bed. From the screaming I assume you two have met." she says without looking up from the machine.
I walk over to the bed, lay down on my stomach and peek under the bed.
"Well hi there!" I say calmly, and smile gently. "You must be Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie Belle is backed against the wall, hiding behind her tail.
"My name's Ben, you don't have to be afraid of me. I was passing through town and your mother generously offered to give me a place to stay."
Sweetie Belle pokes her head out of her tail and pipes up, "She's not my mom, she's my sister!"
"Wait what?" I look over to Rarity, who was now giving me a funny look, "I just assumed that- oh nevermind..."
"S-so y-you're not here t-to suck out my brain?" Sweetie Belle questions.
I laugh a bit, "Now why would I do that?"
"I-I don't know. Scootaloo said that aliens were really mean and liked to suck out little ponies brains f-for evil ex-ex-experiments." She says.
"Well Sweetie Belle, I don't know who Scootaloo is but I can assure you they are mistaken." I say.
Then I notice something.
"Hey, where's your little butt tattoo?" I ask.
"Butt tattoo? You mean my cutie mark?" She asks.
"Yeah, that." I say, "that's actually a much better name than butt tattoo."
Sweetie Belle giggles a bit.
"Well, I don't have mine. I'm a... blank flank..." She says sadly.
"Oh..." I say, not knowing what to say exactly.
Then an idea pops into my head!
"Well how about I let ya in on a little secret!" I say
"What is it?" She says eagerly.
"You're gonna have to come closer." I say.
She wiggles a little bit away from the wall.
"Closer."
She moves a bit closer.
"Just a little more!"
She scoots a bit closer.
"Just a smidgen more." I say.
She's really close to my face, I lean in to whisper in her ear.
"I don't have a cutie mark either!" I say.
She *gasps*, "You're a blank flank to?" She says, smile spread across her face.
"Wait till the other Cutie Mark Crusaders hear about this!" She exclaims.
"Why don't you come out from under there and you can tell me all about Cutie Marks and crusading!" I say.
I jump up from under the bed, a second later Sweetie Belle pops out.
I sit down on Rarity's bed and Sweetie Belle joins me.
"So what can you tell me about cutie marks, Sweetie?" I ask.
"Well duh! A cutie mark is what you get whenever somepony discovers their own special talent!" She says.
"What kind of talents do they include?"
"Rarity's cutie mark is diamonds! Her special talent is making dresses and stuff!" Sweetie says.
"Huh? What do diamonds have to do with dresses?" I ask.
Sweetie darts over to the closet in the corner and grabs a very shiny, diamond studded dress. Looks like its been "Bedazzled" honestly. Now that I think about it, WHERE CAN I FIND THAT MANY DIAMONDS?
"Oh I see. What other kinds of talents can there be?"
"Well Applejack runs Sweet Apple Acres, her cutie mark is a bunch of apples!"
Surprise, surprise... "There's a unicorn that runs a cafe down the street, Lyra, her cutie mark is a lyre. Does that mean her talent is playing the lyre?" I ask.
"Exactly!" Exclaims Sweetie Belle.
"So who are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" I ask.
"There's me! Scootaloo! And Applebloom! We make up the Ponyville division." Says Sweetie.
"Are there more than one division?" I ask.
"Well, there's only two branches in the organization. Applebloom's cousin runs the Manehattan branch."
Manehattan? Punny, punny.
"What do you do in said Crusaders?" I ask.
"We go on missions to discover our own special talents! If one thing doesn't work, we try something else!" Sweetie exclaims.
Then there is a knock at the door, downstairs.
"Sweetie could you go get that?" Rarity asks.
"Ok!" Shouts Sweetie, her voice cracks a bit.
I smile, she's a cute little thing.
I turn to Rarity after Sweetie leaves the room.
"So what is the significance of these "cutie marks" and why are the kids so intent on getting theirs?" I ask.
"A cutie mark defines who you will be! Sweetie Belle I believe told you the main jist of it all. I think they wouldn't be so stuck on getting theirs if they weren't the last of their class to be "blank flanks." Rarity continues
"They really need to be more careful, some of their crusades have almost gotten them hurt." She says.
"So what's a blank flank?" I ask, "Is that just a name for somepony who doesn't have their cutie mark?"
"Precisely," she says, "aaaaand done!"
She throws me a pair of new shorts and a t-shirt.
"Wow!" I say, "How'd you do that so fast?"
"I make dresses, darling, these are basically two or three pieces of cloth sewn together. It was nothing really."
I run to the bathroom really quick and throw the new clothes on. They fit perfectly!
I step out and Rarity looks me over, "Now see? You look much better!"
We go downstairs and find Pinkie, doing whatever it is Pinkie does. But hey, Pinkies gonna do what Pinkies gotta do.
She shouts, "Hi!"
"Good Afternoon, Pinkie." Says Rarity.
"Ello, ello, ello!" Says yours truly.
"Ello? Do you mean Jello?" Asks Pinkie, a bit confused, "OOH! Speaking of Jello! Ben! I just had the greatest idea! So I was walking down the street during my daily, mid-afternoon walk down the street, and I thought to myself. If Ben plans on staying awhile, he's gonna need a place to work! Then I thought about chimichangas, but then I thought, Hey! He could come work with me! Mr. Cake was looking for somepony else to help manage the place!"
"On Sugarcube Corner?" I ask.
"Yeah!" She says happily.
"Well... I really don't know how long I'll be here... I like you ponies a lot, but I'd really like to go home."
"Well why don't cha?" She asks, no longer bouncing and listening contently.
"Well you see, I don't really know how I got here in the first place. One minute I was in my backyard, swimming in my pond. The next, I wake up in a cave in the forest. I followed a faint trail that night, I was a little disoriented and exhausted by the time I got out, and I find myself on that park bench. I don't know how I got here or for what reasons. Honestly, when I woke up and saw a town full of talking ponies, I thought I had gone a bit crazy, but I played along in hopes I would wake up any minute. When I woke up this morning, reality really set in. I can't help but shake the feeling someone is responsible." I tell the ponies.
"Aww, you'll be ok until we get this mystery solved!" Says Pinkie reassuringly.
"You really think so?" I ask.
"Cross my heart, and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Says Pinkie, doing a plethora of gestures along with it.
"Now come on! There's somepony who wants to meet ya!" Says Pinkie springing back into action.
I throw my stuff into the guest room and follow her out the door.
For the fourth time today I find myself walking through town following a colorful talking horse.
"So Ben, which do you prefer? Dark Chocolate? Milk Chocolate?" Pinkie asks.
"Oh I like them both actually, you give me milk chocolate I'll go crazy, you give me dark chocolate I will still go crazy."
"So one could infer that you are loco for the cocoa?" Pinkie says, laughing at her own joke.
"I guess you could say that." I can't help but crack a smile.
My turn to ask a question, "What is your favorite sweet, Pinkie?"
"Oh well, I haven't really thought about it, but if I had to say anything I would choose my Special Cupcakes! I call them... *pauses for dramatic effect* Pinkies Special Cupcakes! It has my own secret ingredient! You'll have to try one sometime!"
"I might have to, they sound exciting!"
We make it back to Sugarcube Corner, the sun is starting to get low in the sky. Man, time seems to fly.
Pinkie bursts into the doorway. I follow her in with much more subtlety. There is a couple working behind the counter.
Pinkie introduces us, "Ben, this is Mr. And Mrs. Cake! Mr. And Mrs. Cake, this is Ben Short!"
"Uh, hello. Nice to meet you Mr. Short." Says Mr. Cake.
"Pleased to meet you sir!" I say holding out a hand to shake.
He seems confused at my gesture.
"It's a way of greeting," I explain, "you shake it."
"Oh! Pardon my confusion!" He says shaking my hand.
"Oh it's fine!" I say, I didn't even think about that honestly, it's kind of an instinct when I meet new people.
"Pinkie here tells me you were looking for an extra hand, er well hoof around here." I say.
"I was! Pinkie told me you were a good worker, she's told me quite a bit about you actually." Mr. Cake continues.
I look at Pinkie, "How do you know I'm a good worker?"
"Well, whenever I saw you laying on the bench the other day, my left eyelid twitched a bit and my ankle did a little hop so that meant you were a good worker!" She explains, matter-of-factly.
I look at Mr. and Mrs. Cake for any sort of clue as to what she just said.
"It's the Pinkie sense." Mrs. Cake assures me.
What the heck is Pinkie sense?
Then I hear some ruckus from upstairs.
"Oh! That's the twins! I better go see what they're up to!" Says Mrs. Cake.
She exits the room and heads up the stairs.
Mr. Cake returns his attention to me, "Well in any case, you got the job!"
I'm a little surprised, "Just like that? You didn't even really interview me?"
"Pinkie has told me enough to know you're a pretty dependable worker, and I believe in learning on the job! Tomorrow is the start of the weekend so I suppose you start on Monday, 8:00 A.M. Sharp!" Mr. Cake says.
That was surprisingly easy actually.
"Yes sir!" I say with a bit of a salute.
"Yaaaay!" Pinkie jumps off a shelf and knocks a jar off.
Luckily I'm close enough and my reflexes are fast enough to catch the thing before it shatters all over the ground.
Mr. Cake responds, "I like you better already! Do you know how often that sort of thing happens? There was one time, Spike got all crazy and Pinkie ended up giving him a ton of cake, which ended up everywhere!"
"Hey! I wasn't giving him cake! I was assaulting him with cake!" Protests Pinkie.
I smile, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. 8:00 A.M. Monday?"
"8:00 A.M. Monday." He repeats back to me.
I step back outside, the sun was getting low, I should probably be headed back to the Boutique.
As I'm walking I take a route slightly different to get a better feel for the place. I find myself at the edge of town, overlooking the forest a ways off.
It was weird, I felt like someone or something was watching me in the trees.
For a minute I stare at the treeline, then shrug the feeling off and keep heading back to the Boutique.
Once it's in sight I stop and take a look at the horizon. The sun is about to set. I take a look at the Boutique, or more accurately the tree standing next to it.
I wonder if I could get a better view from that tree?
I look around to see if anypony is looking, then scramble up the tree like the child I am inside.
I'm scaling the branches, I look at the Boutique, looks like I'm about to the second floor. I keep climbing then grab something that isn't a tree branch.
"Hey! Watch it!" Says Rainbow.
I nearly fall out of the tree!
I catch myself, "Jeepers Rainbow, you startled me!"
"I startled you? You startled me! Do you know how hard it is to get some shut eye around here?" She asks.
"In this tree?"
"Yes! Bu- No! Well, kind of!"
"I'm assuming hard?"
"Extremely! With Pinkie running around and what not! Anyway, what brings you up here, stranger?"
"Oh well you know I just wanted to get a better view of the moonrise." I say.
"Not a bad spot to choose, but if it were me? I would've went to the hilltop where we were yesterday." She says
"I considered it, but it's a pretty good walk, I just wanted to get back before dark."
"Notice I said, if it were me." She says flashing her wings, "Fastest flyer in Equestria and all!"
Then, there's a flash on the horizon. The sun sinks below the plane. Then, the real show begins. The stars begin their cycle of being painted on, hey! Was that a shooting star? Then for the grand finale, the moon rises to its proper place in the sky! Dang! That was so awesome!
While I'm on the edge of my seat the whole time, Rainbow Dash yawns, "*yawn* Seen it!" And rolls over on her branch bed. Are you kidding me?
I decide to do something mischievous, I climb down a branch or two. Make sure she's too busy trying to sleep to notice what I'm up to. I reach up, reeeeally quite like.
I get a grip on the pillow she is resting her head on. If I pull this just right…
*YANK* "WOAAAH!" shouts Rainbow Dash as she falls out of her perch in the tree.
She has pretty quick reflexes and manages to recover before she hits the ground.
She looks up at me, which I am laughing my head off while dangling from the tree branch.
"What did you do that for?" Rainbow demands
"Oh you know!" I say climbing down, still laughing, "Good sport!"
I hop down and throw her, her pillow.
She catches it while giving me a stink eye.
"Oh come one, you have to admit that was pretty funny." I say smiling.
Slowly a smile creeps across her face as well, "Ok, it was pretty funny." And lets out a little giggle.
"You were so scared!" I tease.
"Was not!"
"Oh don't give me that! You were too!"
"Rainbow Dash isn't scared of anything!" Rainbow says, now in third person.
I poke more fun at her, "You are so full of it! Your face when you were off balance! Priceless!"
"Yeah, yeah! Don't go telling anypony about it!"
"Ok! I won't!" I laugh a little bit more, then head inside, "G'night Rainbow Dash."
"Night, Stranger" she says.
I open the door and smell food cooking down the hall, I follow the scent and find myself in the kitchen.
"Good evening!" Says Rarity.
"Evening!" I reply.
"So how did it go?" She asks.
"Well I got the job, without too many questions asked actually." I say.
"Well that's good!" She says.
"Also Rarity, what is "Pinkie Sense" exactly?" I wonder.
"Pinkie Sense? Well, it's hard to explain. Every once in a while Pinkie gets a twitch somewhere on her body, and it usually tells the immediate future." She tells me.
"Twitches that tell the future?" I ask, "Sounds kind of far fetched."
"Well they haven't been wrong yet! Oh by the way, if she says anything about a twitchy tail, hide under something sturdy!"
"Why? What's a twitchy tail mean?"
"Something's gonna drop from the sky." Says Rarity.
"Like? Randomly?" I ask.
"It happens more often than not some days." She continues, "Once Twilight got hit in the head by an Anvil and a Piano, within the same minute!"
"Ouch! Don't think that would be too pleasant. Warning taken."
I sniff the air, my stomach is empty. I'm kinda hungry. Then, scumbag stomach makes his mating call, "MRRREEEEOOOOOOW"
Rarity laughs, "Sounds like somepony's hungry."
"Oh I am." I admit, "May I ask what is for dinner?"
"Oh why certainly, we are having a special salad topped with lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers. On the side we are having some green beans, and some wheat rolls!"
"Sounds delicious!" I say, no meat. Expected, but it'll fill me up... For now.
She levitates me a plate and I sit down next to Sweetie Belle, who is stacking the green beans to make a tower out of them.
"What are you doing Sweetie?" Asks Rarity
"I'm trying to get my cutie mark for abstract art!" She declares
I have to put a hand over my mouth to keep a laugh in.
"What do you think Ben?" She says, showing me her rearranged pieces of food.
"It looks... like... its... AAARRT!" I declare loudly!
The two ponies look at me like I'm crazy.
"Sorry, inside joke." I say, thoughts drifting back to Earth, my Art teacher was crazy like that, that's why he was one of my favorites. (IT'S AAART!)
I we continue eating and pretty soon I'm finished, it was delicious!
"That was very good Rarity, thanks for the meal." I say.
"Oh you're welcome. All I cooked really were the green beans, but I suppose I could take credit for that." She says.
Then Sweetie Belle yawns.
Rarity says, "It sounds like somepony is ready for bed!"
"Awwww.. But Raaarity, I'm not even *yawn* tired..." Sweetie protests.
"Come along now, off to bed, don't forget to brush your teeth!" Rarity says.
"Oh, ok." Says Sweetie Belle, and turns to leave the kitchen.
Rarity looks at me, "I took the liberty of stopping by the dentist pony, I picked up an extra brush, you better go also."
Wow... I don't know what to say... Element of Generosity at her finest.
"Rarity, I know I've said this about twenty times already, but thank you so much for all you're doing. I really wish I didn't have to burden you." I say truthfully.
"Oh it's nothing, it's not often we get somepony so interesting in town." She says, "but it's time for ponies to be headed to bed, young and old... That means you."
She didn't have to tell me twice, I follow Sweetie Belles path to the bathroom.
I make it up the stairs and hear the faucet running. I step inside the bathroom and see Sweetie Belle brushing in the mirror.
She looks at me and hold out a new toothbrush for me.
"Thish once yoursh!" She says through scrubbing her teeth.
"Thanks." I say, taking my brush.
I dab a bit of toothpaste on and join her in brushing. For a minute me and Sweetie Belle just look at each other in the mirror. Then she does something.
*poke*
I look at her in the mirror, did this little filly just poke me? Oh it's on now!
*backpoke*
*backbackpoke*
We are supposed to be brushing our teeth here! Why are having this poke war?!
*poke poke poke*
Oh! She just pulled out the triple poke!
"What in Celestias name are you two doing in there?!" Shouts Rarity from down the hall.
Me and Sweetie spit out our toothpaste simultaneously, and call out in unison, "Nothing!"
I look down at Sweetie Belle, she looks up at me and we start giggling like idiots.
Then I hear some laughter down the hallway. Good, good.
Once the giggling subsides, Sweetie Belle looks up at me and asks the most innocent question in the world.
"Are you like my brother or something?"
…
"I.. I, what makes you say that?" I ask.
"Well Twilight has told me about some of the stuff her and her brother used to do and I just kind of got curious because I've never had a brother before." She says.
"Well, I don't plan on staying forever, Sweetie..." I say as best I can.
"Oh that's ok! You can be my temporary brother! Kind of like Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash!" She says as she runs out of the bathroom and into the hallway.
I put down my brush, rinse it off, and set it next to Sweetie's. I look in the mirror and just stare at my own reflection. I start to feel a knot in my chest. My heart is pounding. I think of my sisters back home…
Rarity trots by the door, then does a double take.
"Are you ok, Ben?" She asks, concerned.
I turn around and put the mask on, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine."
I say that, then head downstairs. Before I reach the bottom of the staircase.
"Are you sure?" She asks once more.
I pause at the bottom.
"...... Yeah..... I'm good" I reply
Biggest lie ever told.