//------------------------------// // Joining In // Story: Reversed Realities // by The1975Dash //------------------------------// I woke up and clutched at my blanket, sweating profusely as my breathing started to slow down and get deeper. I knew it was a dream, but it didn’t matter because it was far too real for me to get over. There was something about the ending of the dream that seemed eerie. I didn’t want to hazard a guess at what it could be. I looked around my room, shivering at what I might find lurking around there. However, I was allowed to sigh in relief when I saw nothing was there, waiting for me to notice it. I shuffled out of my bed before I fell down, not landing on my hooves; getting used to them was still an issue when it came to landing on them. I slowly walked over to the window and I was able to see the sun setting over the horizon. I had been sleeping for quite a while and I knew that this would mean I wouldn’t be sleeping too well tonight. I shook my head “Of course I would sleep for too long…I kinda wish I was there for the ‘adult’ talk.” Just as I finished saying that I heard the door slowly creek open, and I felt an ice cold shiver run down my spine; it gave me the same kind of feeling as when the dream was fading. I turned my head around and looked straight at the door to see that it was indeed open, but there was no pony there. I trotted over to the door and saw that no one was standing there either. Despite the fact I couldn’t see anypony; I could almost feel something watching me. I didn’t have anything like magic to sense it, so I couldn’t work out where it was, but I just knew that something else was in the room with me. I did the obvious thing to try and I spoke up “Hello? I know that you’re in here, but I would really appreciate it if you showed me where you are because you’re actually creeping me out a little bit now.” I said nervously, gulping and giving a sheepish grin as I circled around the room. My eyebrows soon dropped down when there was no response and funnily enough I didn’t feel like I was being watched any more. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit annoyed at it. I needed to know, and I especially needed to know why it made me feel so cold. I looked back to the door again and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Twilight standing there. I reassessed it and calmed down almost immediately. She frowned at me curiously before walking over and smiling “I have good news Aero. All the forms and boring stuff like that are signed.” She winked, clearly trying to appeal to my younger side, of which I still agreed with. “And that’s not all.” She grinned at me, seeming to find it quite hard to control herself “The Groves and I worked out a deal. You’ll be staying with me for the night and for the rest of the day tomorrow. Then you’ll stay another night and be returned in the morning where you will spend one day and one night before you come back to me. They said that my home was suitable, and that it appeared there was no danger to you, so they said that I could have the trial period for longer than most are allowed. Isn’t this great!?” she gave a light laugh to force a smile out of me. The smile was far from forced because it was the news I had been waiting for practically the whole time I had been there. “So I think you should get whatever you want to bring with you.” I looked back at the room and saw nothing and then I looked back at Twilight, smirking with an eyebrow raised. “Well I don’t know do I?” she sighed, a grin still covering her face. I trotted out the door with a smug smile on my face. I turned and faced the purple unicorn as she closed the door and I smiled as I saw it as the door closing on this part of my life. I was hoping that it would symbolise the end of my days of misery. However, it wouldn’t escape me so easy that I would forget about what had happened just before Twilight came in. I frowned as I thought of what it could’ve been to disturb me so much. “Twilight?” I asked and she soon turned her attention to me, her smile starting to become more neutral now. “Before you came in I felt a cold shiver. It was really scary and I didn’t like it.” I explained, making Twilight look at me with concern. She walked right up to me as soon as the door had closed. She nudged for me to start walking; I gave one more quick glance back at the door before I complied and started walking next to Twilight “Twilight? Do you know why I felt that?” I looked up at her to see a blank expression on her face, as if she was trying to ignore me. “Uh Twilight? Hello?” I frowned. She snapped out of her thoughts to look back down at me with a smile “I’m sure it was nothing Aero. If it was something then you would’ve felt more than just a shiver. I get them all the time. Pretty much every time before an important test I’ll get a shiver, but it’s just because I’m nervous and even excited at the same time. I think you were just excited that you’ll be out of here for good in a couple of weeks.” She smiled as we walked through the hall. The halls were now striped with the vibrant glow of the setting sun from every window we passed on our way out. The magnificent orange created from the sun’s dying glow contrasted perfectly with the maroon walls of the hallway, but my thoughts weren’t entirely focused on colour schemes at that point. Already something was being hidden from me, I could feel it. I cursed myself for thinking like that about Twilight because she would be my new carer, although I guessed I’d actually have her as an official mother. “I’ve already talked with Joy and Earnest and you’re clear to go now, but when we get back they want a picture with you. I’d imagine that a little filly might be hungry? You haven’t eaten much today, so I thought it’d be a good idea if we got Spike to cook us something delicious.” My thoughts of being deceived quickly dropped away as I found myself thinking of food, and only food. “I know it might be a little bit cheeky of me to ask him on such short notice, but I know Spike and he would want to make you feel at home and happy, and if cooking an impromptu meal is what it requires then that’s what he’ll do. Spike is my number one assistant for one reason.” She smiled proudly as she thought of the purple dragon who had been with her from the start. As we neared the exit I saw many of the older foals walking off to the dining room. I smiled to myself as I looked back whilst we were leaving. My view of the others was cut off as Twilight closed the door behind me, and I was soon being levitated above the ground as Twilight started trotting along and humming a happy tune to herself. It was still bizarre to be carried like this because although I was airborne, I couldn’t feel the air going past me, or through my mane, yet I was still moving through the air quick enough; it definitely wasn’t as exhilarating as flying, but it was an equally alien experience at first. The magic that had formed around me was making some kind of shield and it was forcing the air to go around rather than straight through. “Twilight can I walk?” I muttered just loud enough for her to hear. She lowered me down and I had to pick up to a canter just to keep up with her. I didn’t expect her to be so quick and I looked to her for a second; exactly when she gave me a wink coupled with a playful smile. I knew exactly what was going on and soon she started accelerating and started to get away from me. “Hey wait up!” I called, trying not to giggle as she kicked up some dust, showing how quick she was starting to go. I strained as I tried to keep up, but I just couldn’t. My eyes went wide as I felt a sudden rush of speed go past me, followed by a familiar trail of a rainbow. Before I knew it, the rainbow trail stopped and I found that I was running past Twilight who had been stopped by the cyan Pegasus that I suspected was the cause. As I went past she waved and cheered “Go!” however, I soon realised that her cheer was actually for Twilight to start again and I could hear her hooves thumping as she got closer. I could only focus on the ground just ahead of me; the earthy greens and browns came into my view as I made it out of the town centre. I gritted my teeth and put all my effort into the running “Flap your wings Aero! It’s what they’re there for.” I looked up to see her being the spectator in the race, although I think she wanted me to win for some reason. I spread out my wings and started to flap them as hard as I could. However, I felt the drag of opening the appendages up and I watched hopelessly as Twilight passed me again, giving a small cheer. Despite this, I soon found my speed increasing and it wasn’t long before I overtook Twilight again. I flapped my wings a few more times to gain some altitude, and before I knew it I was high enough to see her house. I was high enough to see that I was at least twenty feet above Twilight. I glided for a moment, but saw that twilight was picking up speed again. I gave a quick thought of what could be done when I remembered how birds were able to gain speed by diving down. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do a proper dive like the birds, but I could go for a slow descent. My hooves, which were outstretched at that point started to point downwards slightly and my whole body followed after their action. I grinned and decided I could have a little bit of fun with it; I pointed my hooves back up and flapped my wings as I gained altitude again. This was new to me, before I had only gone in a straight line, but I must have been about sixty feet in the air. I grinned and dived down, rushing past Twilight as the library got closer. I took a quick glance behind me to see how far ahead I was when I dipped my right wing and I started to feel unsteady. I looked at my right wing and caused my whole body to tilt to that side, so I tried to lift it back up, but it sent me spiralling to the left; I was spinning upside down in mid air and my hooves were flailing everywhere and I couldn’t see where I was going. The whole experience was terrifying and I couldn’t help but give a small scream at first. I tried to clear my head of the negative thoughts and tried to concentrate on getting myself out of the situation in hand. I couldn’t stop myself and soon my eyes were building up tears of frustration. I could just about make out Twilight’s house up ahead, so I knew I’d actually still been travelling forwards, but I just waited for the inevitable crash. Suddenly I felt a large force wind me, moving me out of the way and when I looked to my side I saw that it was the cyan Pegasus who decided to be my saviour. She steadied her pace and lowered us to the ground. Once again as my hooves touched the ground I felt all shaky and disoriented, and before I could even speak up I felt another force on me and I soon saw that Twilight had got to me and was holding me close “Twilight I’m fine…I think.” I said, still quite dazed from what had just happened; Rainbow’s rescue had winded me because of how fast she was going, so my voice sounded dry and hoarse. “It’s okay kid, you just lost concentration; it happens all the time. You’re just lucky I was there to save you.” Rainbow started and she held up a rather proud pose just to assert herself and let herself be known to us. “I know others could have done it, but I was there just when you needed me the most; I guess that makes me reliable and awesome.” She snickered to herself, causing Twilight to roll her eyes and walk back over to Rainbow, making sure I was staying still. Twilight circled around Rainbow and put on a rather mocking smile “Oh Rainbow you’re definitely the fastest, coolest, most awesome pony there is, and you’re so modest that it’s no wonder you’re a great hero. I mean you’ve really outdone yourself since the Mare-Do-Well incident.” Twilight smirked, causing Rainbow’s mood to shift and she quickly frowned at her friend “Oh come on Rainbow, don’t be sour. You know I didn’t mean it. I’m thankful that you were able to save Aero in her little…” she looked to me “Her little display.” They both chuckled and I could feel myself going red with embarrassment. “Actually. Rainbow, why were you just there. Y’know, there when Aero and I were racing.” This time it was Rainbow’s turn to smirk and she casually placed a wing over Twilight, chuckling to herself. “Twilight. From the second I spotted you two running, I knew what was going on and when I flew down to stop you it was because you need to give her a chance; she’s a lot smaller than you and she takes about five steps for every three of ours. Of course you were going to be quicker, but it seems like Aero had figured out the best way to get speed, and when she lost control I was ready.” She cleared her throat and looked back at the rest of the town “Anyway, I probably need to go practice more tricks. The light is running out and I’m not any closer to getting this new trick done whilst I’m talking to you…so…I’ve gotta go!” she grinned before dashing away in the blink of an eye, the only clue being her rainbow trail as she left. I couldn’t help but feel as if her departure was a bit sudden; I kind of wanted her to stay a little bit longer. As I looked off into the distance I could just about make out a small rainbow streak spreading throughout the sky, making the orange colours of the sunset become nothing but a background colour even to the little streak of rainbow I could see. I looked around to see Twilight holding her door open “Are you coming in?” she smiled at me and I walked in to see pretty much the same as what I did when I visited earlier in the day, except that everything looked a little bit darker with the fading light. “Spike!” Twilight called and within only a few second the purple dragon came stumbling in, carrying what seemed like a large pile of books. “I need you to cook some dinner for us. Something special so that we can welcome Aero.” She beamed, moving to the side a little to let Spike have a clear view of me. He picked up the books and gave a passing wave at me, smiling a little bit as he concentrated on getting the books back in their correct place. The books became enveloped in Twilight’s magic and she put them back in their exact places “Come on Spike we don’t have time to waste, she’s really hungry.” I opened my mouth to speak, but I was stopped when I saw Twilight wink at me “Look at her Spike, her tummy was rumbling the whole way home.” She continued in a whiny tone, making the dragon look more like he was in a panic as he scurried back up the stairs to where he would make the food. “That’s why he’s my number one assistant.” She beamed and trotted her way to the stairs. I followed behind and shook my head; it was almost being mean to Spike, but it was still kind of funny to watch him panic over nothing, not that I would let him know it was nothing, going along with Twilight’s game was much more fun. I smiled as I saw the dragon already working hard on the food, a chef hat placed firmly on his head and he was humming a familiar tune and it made me giggle that the tune was even used here. “Spike I was thinking that maybe you and Aero would like to get introduced properly? I know you two met at the party but it was kind of cut short.” He waved a hand, seemingly dismissive of Twilight. “Well okay then.” She smiled before looking back at me again “Aero, make yourself comfortable please. Spike won’t take that long to finish up, and soon we’ll be talking like all of us have known each other for years.” She gave a hearty chuckle and smiled. Twilight and I wandered over to the table and we sat down. “So Aero, how was your nap?” I gave an uncertain look at her as I remembered what had transpired in my dream that ended with a nightmare, although I couldn’t be too sure on what it was. It was still bugging me and now that the dream had been touched upon, its intensity increased, making me more curious. “Is something wrong Aero? Did you have a bad dream or something?” I had to think about that, could I really call it a bad dream? It was a little bit off putting at times, but it wasn’t really bad. I could have called it emotional and strange, but not a bad or scary dream, at least not until the end, although I was more curious rather than scared about that. “Aero?” I shook my head and looked to see Twilight looking at me as if I was something she hadn’t seen before. “You zoned out on me there. Are you okay?” I finally responded, nodding slowly at her. “Well if you’re not you’ve got to let me know otherwise I can’t help you, okay?” I nodded again and she smiled, walking away to Spike after patting me on the head; sometimes I hated being this small, it just gave the older ponies an excuse to be patronising. It was odd; wanting to grow up all over again was familiar to me, but going through those thoughts again was different this time because I knew what to expect for the most part. However, I knew nothing about growing up as a pony, so I was clueless. Dinner passed by quickly and I was full to the brim. One more bite and I was sure I would look like a pony balloon, which would only attract Pinkie Pie’s attention, and although I like her I guessed she was prone to popping balloons, which wouldn’t be good for me. “And then I became her student.” Twilight finished as she was explaining to me how she got to be Princess Celestia’s protégé. I was able to let my food get digested as I listened to her story; it carried on until the sun had completely set and the moon had risen almost completely, that girl could really go into detail of one event. I yawned just after she finished, fearing her reaction if I yawned during her story. I hobbled over to a window and looked out at the moon, I heard Twilight follow after me and she stood next to me, sighing quietly “Luna really does do a beautiful job on the moon. I’ll tell you a story about Luna another time probably. It’s kind of sad, but it has a happy ending.” I knew what story she was talking about, or at least I thought I did. “I think you need to get some sleep. You can have my bed tonight, I’ll get in once I’ve finished working on something; we’ll get your bed soon because I just know you’ll want your own cosy bed.” She chuckled and pushed me in the direction of the stairs that led me up to her and Spike’s bedroom. I hopped into the bed and Twilight tucked me in “Comfy?” I nodded and she smiled, walking back down to do whatever she was doing. The bed had starry bed sheets and it made me feel even younger when I was tucked in. Spike soon came up to the room and got in his bed. It took a while for me to get to sleep because I was trying to get used to the room, trying to spot things that could spark some interest. After about twenty minutes I felt my eyelids get heavier and start to droop; I tried to fight it, but it was pointless and I thought to myself that shutting my eyes for a little bit would give the reverse effect and I’d be able to have my eyes open for longer next time. I gave another yawn and I curled up a little bit more, my body relaxing almost completely. I sighed happily as I finally gave in to the pressure that the incoming sleep was putting on me. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The next thing I knew it was morning. I knew that because I was rudely taken from my sleep by the blinding light that suddenly entered my vision and even through my eyelids the light seemed harsh. I narrowed my eyes to give them time to adjust and I saw a certain purple unicorn smiling at me. I frowned at her, showing my distaste in this treatment. I looked across to see that Spike was giving Twilight the same look as I was. Without saying anything I was ushered out of the bed and told to go downstairs. I protested and instead sat on the floor, looking at twilight, clearly unimpressed still. “You’re not going to make this easy are you?” I asked, knowing the answer, but I thought it would be worth the question to delay her further. “I bet I look terrible though.” I tilted my head with a smirk, thinking it would buy me extra time from whatever she wanted me to do. However, before I could do anything else I felt a hairbrush going through my mane and tail, straightening out my hair before Twilight put it back to the style it was yesterday. “Well sure I can look alright, but…actually what are you rushing me out the door for?” I raised an eyebrow at her despite the frustrated look she was giving me “What?” I looked at her as innocently as I could, but it did no favours for me at all. I backed up a little bit as Twilight’s frustration was getting to her mane as some split ends were appearing and she was becoming an opposite to her usual calm self. It reminded me of Jekyll and Hyde a little bit, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that “Uh Twilight your mane is kinda…never mind.” I backed away a little bit “Thank you for styling my mane…could you at least tell me what we’re doing today?” I chuckled nervously at her and tried to stand my ground as she did start to calm down. I breathed out in relief and I looked up at her questioningly. “What day is it actually?” I raised an eyebrow again; I couldn’t believe I had forgotten what day it was, but it had never actually occurred to me before. I actually had a few more question, the main one being centred on breakfast; it didn’t matter on what planet or in what body I was in, I would always have an appetite. “Well today there isn’t any school for you, and I thought it might be nice if you actually met my friends properly; I know you’ve met them briefly and I know Pinkie and Rainbow have said a bit more to you, but I thought it would be good if you could get to know Fluttershy, Rarity and AppleJack a bit better. I wouldn’t have thought that you and Sweetie Belle actually said much to Rarity, especially after the…the dress incident.” I nearly snorted from the laughter as my memory recollected that event. Twilight gave me a short scowl before continuing. “I think that Apple Bloom will be happy to see you, so do you want to visit the Apple farm first? It’s a really nice place and all of the Apples are friendly. I was already meant to go to the spa with Rarity today so we can meet her there; oh Aero you’ll just love the spa.” The thought made me want to wretch, I had never liked places like that, but I guessed I would have to go along anyway, so I held back my emotional sickness that I felt towards the spa and I smiled at her, letting her carry on her organised schedule. “Then after that we’ll go and visit Fluttershy. We could maybe even see if she will let you pet a few of the animals. Fluttershy would be fine I’m sure; you don’t exactly strike me as somepony who is a rough handler with animals.” It was then that I noticed that Twilight’s owl was actually just sitting by one of the windows with its eyes shut, sleeping soundly. It looked quite creepy just sitting there like it was watching something closely. “and Rainbow would be happy to teach you a few things I’m sure.” I blinked and looked back at Twilight as she finished her day plan. I was at least a little bit thankful that this had made Twilight happy again after the less than warm reception I gave her from my rather brisk start to the day. “I thought it would be a nice idea if you and I were to have a bit of an odd breakfast, but quite a nice treat at Sugarcube Corner. We can say hello to Pinkie, have breakfast and we’ll meet her later as I explained.” She led me down the stairs and we walked out the door as Spike waved us off. The walk to Sugarcube corner was quick and easy. Twilight paid for our cakes and I looked a bit strange probably because I was just staring at all the different cakes and pastries that were there, finding the choice I had to make very difficult. They all chuckled as I struggled to choose what to have, but eventually after a lot of second guessing I was able to choose what looked like the most expensive one, which I could see Twilight frown at a little bit, but she couldn’t deny me. It gave me a sense of power that I probably shouldn’t have because it was just getting a cake; not exactly gaining power over the world, but it was the first bit of control I felt and it was an advantage of being younger, I was given what I wanted on this occasion. I knew it wouldn’t work all the time, but it was quite fun to pick the most expensive thing seeing as Twilight was paying for it and not me. Both of us waited for the cakes to be served to us and when we were served, it was none other than the pink mare who was giving it to us. At first she didn’t notice, but then she suddenly perked up with energy when she saw us. She gave me the cakes and then dived in to hug Twilight “Oh my gosh I can’t believe you’re here! I was gonna come and find you after I finished work to see if you wanted to go see a Wonderbolt show that Dashie managed to get some tickets for, but now you’re here I can tell you now. Twilight do you wanna go see the Wonderbolts’s show with me, Dash and everyone of our friends?” she grinned, getting off Twilight, but she continued to bounce energetically as she waited for a response “Hey Aero!” she waved to me at a million miles per hour, her grin stretching further. “Well come on Twilight it’s not a guessing game. It’s a question; I thought you’d be smart enough to figure that out, duh.” She tutted, her mane bounced as she did, seeming to have a life of its own. Twilight was about to open her mouth to speak, but Pinkie was quick to answer instead “Great, I’ll let you know when we’re going. It’s going to be AMAZING!” she roared with excitement before she looked back to see both the Cake spouses looking at her, their head shaking; they were clearly just used to her behaviour now and just rolled with the ever changing motion that was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie went back to her work after waving at us again. Twilight walked over to me and took her cake; I had taken the opportunity to have dinner and a show with the performance that Pinkie gave. It was enough time for me to finish my cake and get rid of the excess icing. Suddenly, I heard the crash of something not too far from me; I turned to see what had happened and I could have been more surprised when I saw the culprit, or should I say the culprits. The doors swung closed behind them as they laid in their pileup. Scootaloo raced up and out, pointing her hoof at me “I told you she had come here with Twilight, and look who was right.” She boasted. I opened my mouth to speak, but Scootaloo was far too fast and she wrapped a foreleg around me as I looked up at Twilight, confused at their sudden appearance “So Twilight, we were wondering if we could show Aero around PonyVille since she is our new Cutie Mark Crusader after all. It would only be right if she was shown by us, her best and most trusted friends. Would that be okay? We also need to officially induct her into the group. It’s absolutely essential.” She explained, trying to put on her very best formal tone, although it was far from Rarity’s vocabulary. Twilight seemed to be thinking of an answer for them. Her face was scrunched up in thought as she tried to weigh out the decisions. “Well? Can we?” Scootaloo pushed. The purple unicorn lowered her head to look down at the three of them and she gave a warm smile “You know what. You girls can all spend the day together. Just make sure that you don’t get into trouble. And make sure you don’t get hurt; Celestia only knows what the Groves would think of me if Aero were to get hurt or mistreated when I’m not even there to stop it from happening and then I’ll be looked upon as a bad parent and then I’ll be-” she was halted from hyperventilating by the pink mare that had rushed onto the scene the moment it happened. Twilight soon regained composure “Yes. Just be careful.” She smiled sheepishly. Pinkie walked next to her friend and chuckled “Geez Twilight you nearly lost your cool. Lucky for you I was there to stop you, although I’m pretty sure you didn’t need my help, but if you didn’t then you would have stopped and I always need to help a friend in need right Twi?” she grinned, tilting her head to the side. Twilight gave a small grin and nodded at Pinkie, causing the mare to bring in another one of her rib-crushing hugs “Oh I knew you would appreciate it Twilight.” She gasped for a moment “I’ve got to get back to work. I think I’ve left some cupcakes in the oven, and that would ruin them if they were burnt! Gotta go!” all that we saw after that was a pink blur and the door leading to the kitchen closing, cutting off our sight beyond that point. All of us sat there for a second and watched as if we were expecting her to rush back out, but after a few seconds she didn’t so we all exchanged confused looks before Scootaloo reminded her fellow ‘crusaders’ of their current mission. They were able to sneak me away from twilight without her even seeing, although I couldn’t figure out why they were sneaking me out. “Is this really necessary? Twilight said it was okay for me to go. I don’t see why you felt the need to get me out of there without me saying goodbye.” I whined, giving a slight edge to my voice, showing my irritation. “Not only that, but you seemed to pay little attention to the fact that-” I was cut off by Sweetie Belle shushing me. “Oh come on, not you too Sweetie Belle. I was only trying to-” the same response came from Sweetie Belle. My expression flattened “You’re carrying me through the centre of PonyVille. I don’t think you need to whisper.” I was completely ignored. “Oh hey, lets play the p..annoy AeroCrown game. It may earn you a cutie mark in that.” I grumbled, but the response was almost immediate because I found myself on the floor, no longer being carried by the three fillies. I winced on landing, my rear experiencing the pain “Ouch! What gives with you three today?” I huffed, feeling even grouchier at that point. “Could we really get a cutie mark for that?” Apple Bloom beamed before realising the tone that was in my voice and her expression soon turned “Oh… Aero, why’ve ya gotta be so like that?” she asked, looking like I had just crushed her hopes. However, she soon started giggling at herself “Look at me, startin ta weep like a foal. Ah dunno how ah fell for that…” she kept on giggling despite the odd stares she was getting from the other three of us…and some of the ponies passing by in the town centre. We ushered her away from the centre and moved to the outskirts of the town “So what exactly are we going to do? Rarity says I have to go with her to the spa today, so I don’t have long.” Sweetie Belle explained; a hint of sadness in her voice. When she mentioned the spa I remembered the whole point of the day that Twilight had set out for me. As much as I hated the spa, and as much as I probably regretted agreeing to going, I had to go. Especially since Sweetie Belle was going to be the only filly there. I couldn’t stand to think of her being bored by herself. I bit my bottom lip and felt my stomach churn as I opened my mouth to speak and allow myself to get dragged into whatever horrible trial was about to come my way in the spa. “Sweetie Belle. Twilight told me that I had to go to the spa as well and I agreed to go, so when you have to go, I’ll come with you. I’ll keep you company. I’ve never actually been to a spa before, so how does it actually work in there?” I asked, receiving odd looks from the trio; it was something I was getting awfully accustomed to. “What? I just told you I’ve never been to a spa.” Their looks did not cease and I shook my head, getting bolder “Hello, Equestria to Scootaloo…somepony? Anypony?” they all started giggling at me “What did I do now?” I sighed “This is all just a massive joke to you isn’t it?” they all nodded “But you still want me to join your little group of the…crusaders?” again they all nodded in unison. My expression went flat on them “Fine. Let’s do something.” The three of them cheered and I couldn’t help but let out a small smile as I rolled my eyes. I felt myself being pushed away this time and it was confusing me because I had no idea where I was actually going; until I saw Scootaloo’s scooter. It struck me as an odd place for her to leave her scooter. It had just been propped on the side of a cart. “Get in, we’re going to the clubhouse.” She said, getting onto her scooter. I was clutching to the back of Sweetie Belle as the scooter started; I closed my eyes as we started moving. I had never liked moving fast when I wasn’t in control, although flying was probably an exception. The trailer bounced on most of the bumps and I shook from fear. I chanced a peak to look ahead and I saw that we were out of PonyVille; obviously I had closed my eyes for longer than I thought. A few seconds was all I could take as I buried my face back into Sweetie Belle’s back, whimpering a little bit because I hated it. “Is something wrong back there? All I can hear is some high pitched whining.” Scootaloo chuckled and I could hear that the others were laughing with her. I couldn’t even find the courage to look up and scowl at them; I would save that for after we stopped and I regained my composure. Revenge would be in order and it would be sweet to watch I would catch a sweet tooth. Before I knew what was going on I felt myself crash to the ground after bouncing off of one of the other three. I opened my eyes and looked back to see the trailer and the scooter looking a little bit worse for wear, but I could still hear the motor growling. I stood up, my legs still shaking as I was still adjusting to the solid ground beneath my hooves. I looked at the other three and they all seemed shocked and quiet as they stood up. However, it didn’t take long for them to giggle. I couldn’t work out what they were laughing about. “Aero you’re so scared of being on a scooter!” Sweetie Belle sniggered, trying to cover it with her mouth “Your wings are spread out right now.” I raised an eyebrow and looked back to my wings, seeing that they were outstretched. It was odd, I couldn’t actually feel them and I didn’t feel them stretch out like they were. I had to assume it was just a natural reaction in a sort of ‘fight or flight’ response, which was far more literal in my current form. “We just fell and then you stand up looking like you’ve seen a ghost.” Sweetie Belle walked over and put a hoof over me as she continued to chuckle. Despite them all having their own cuts and grazes, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo just set the scooter and trailer upright and then off to the side. “Why aren’t we going any further?” I asked, getting another chuckle from the others. “Well it’s because we’re here. Whilst you refused to look ahead, Scoots took a few shortcuts and we got here quicker, but we didn’t plan on falling off, so sorry about that part.” I frowned at Sweetie Belle as she gave a sheepish smile to me, whilst raising her hoof in a salute “I think she’s gonna blow!” she called and immediately I was tackled down to the ground, leaving only the trees and the sky in my view; the light blue only shown in traces through the spots not covered by the dark green of the leaves and the contrasting brown of the bark. The simple view was blocked by two faces staring back at me with a silly grin on their face “What!? That’s not what you should do; you just had to move her attention away from fuming at me. Don’t tackle her!” Sweetie Belle called to them, sounding irritated herself. I struggled in their grip and nearly broke free, but I could only find the whole situation funny so I was fighting through laughter, which only made it more difficult. “Wait she’s laughing. Let her up. She’s laughing.” Sweetie Cheered. I felt the weight lift off me and I stood up as quickly as I could, charging at Sweetie Belle with a grin on my face. However, she sidestepped out the way with ease. I kept running, but I slowed down when I looked up and saw the clubhouse; it was impressive to me, and it looked well constructed. I tripped over the start of the stairs the led up to the house and I landed face first; receiving a face full of dirt and a small cloud of dust. I felt like I was going to wretch at the smell that had just come over me. I let the dust settle and saw that just in front of my nose was a rotting apple and I quickly backtracked until I caught a hoof on the stairs again. Luck was kind to me on that occasion because I was able to steady myself enough to stay up. I turned to look at the clubhouse again, it looked even better up close, and although the materials seemed pretty much the same for it, the whole building looked well designed. “Girls, I’ve gotta say this is impressive. Did Apple Jack make it?” I looked back to see that they weren’t there. I frowned and followed the sound I heard from them, tracing it up to the top of the stairs; how had I not noticed them going up there? They shook their heads and shared a giggle between each other. “Na. Ah made it. It was pretty easy, but it took a long time.” Apple Bloom stated, almost gloating in her response. “Come on up the stairs, they’re safe enough for all three of us to walk up them. You’re not scared of us are ya?” she smirked, narrowing her eyes at me, taunting me. I narrowed my eyes back at her, although I wasn’t smirking like she was. I took one step forwards, keeping eye contact with her, trying to work out if she was bluffing. “I’m not sure whether you’re being serious or not. How can I be sure you haven’t trapped this for me?” she shrugged and then the other two started laughing. Scootaloo was laughing the loudest and she spoke in between her laughs “Aero we wouldn’t t-trap it for a fellow crusader.” She continued uncontrollably. Apple Bloom started laughing with them, although hers were more controlled and she looked back to me, gesturing me to get over there. I swallowed and walked up the stairs, finding out in embarrassment that I was over thinking things way too much. The other two fillies stopped and stood up straight, moving to the side of the door to the clubhouse. Apple Bloom pushed it open and all three cheered. “Welcome to the clubhouse and welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they grinned as I was pushed inside, Sweetie belle closing the door behind us.