Chapter 9
Ghost POV
Ugh... I might have had thousands of brothers and sisters, I still didn't understand sibling rivalries. All my siblings did was beat me up everyday every hour of the week! It might have been a lot more painful, but it was a lot less complicated. When I got to the Apple's house, there was only one light visible from the outside, and it was coming from Applebloom's room. I walked into the house and found Granny Smith asleep in her rocking chair, which didn't surprise me really, and continued up the stairs.
Now that I was a bit closer, I could her muffled voices coming from behind Applebloom's door, but I wasn't sure that walking in was the right thing to do. I put my ear to the door and started to listen, wondering if it was an appropriate time to walk in there.
"sister... right?"
"course... never... Applejack..."
"stealing... didn't... feel bad..."
I couldn't exactly make out what was going on, but apparently I was too focused on listening in to see the large red stallion sneaking up behind me. "An' jus' what do ya think yer doin' spyin' on mah sister?" Big Mac questioned, causing me to yelp loudly in fright and jump in shock.
"Oh! Big Mac! I was uh... I isn't what it-"
I was cut off by Applebloom's door swinging wide open and smacking me in the face, with Applebloom peering her head out of the door.
"Big Mac? Where's Ghost? Ah swore ah heard his voice out here." She looked behind the door. "Ghost! There ya are! Get in quick, we need to talk." With that, she grabbed me by my mane with her teeth and pulled me in. The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was Bag Mac glaring at me.
Now that I was inside, I saw that Sweetie Belle was on Applebloom's bed, curled up into a little ball. I didn't know what to say at that moment, so I just walked over to the edge of the bed with Applebloom and sighed. "Sorry I couldn't help fix things with Rarity. But, that's how it works out sometimes... I guess." I muttered, doing an absolutely terrible job of trying to comfort my friend.
"It's ok Ghost... I know you were only trying to help. But... I just wish Rarity could be a big sister like Applejack is to Applebloom." Sweetie sighed, flopping backwards and landing in the mass of pillows Applebloom had on her bed. "I just don't know why she can't be like that!"
I thought about that for a bit... Why couldn't Rarity be like Applejack? The answer came to me, but it was a longshot if Sweetie Belle would accept it or not. "Well... think about this. How much time does Applejack spend with Applebloom?" I asked looking over at Applebloom.
"I dunno... how much does she spend with you AB?"
"Well, pretty much whenever we're not crusadin' or at school. We're attached at the hip most of the time otherwise!" Applebloom said with a grin, but I wasn't sure it was making the sad filly on her bed any happier.
"Well Sweetie, you're always with your parents unless they're off of vacation right? I mean, you were barely able to make it to Nightmare Night, and from what Scootaloo told me, you were only in town after that because ... you wanted to find out if Applebloom was alright or not. Right?"
Sweetie nodded. Now I had to make my point before I just made things worse. "Well, Rarity hasn't had as much time as Applejack has had to learn how to be a good sister! In fact, what you said back there about Applejack teaching Rarity how to be a good sister, it actually made some sense."
"But... then..."
I put my hoof to her mouth to keep her quiet. "Wait, I have one last thing to show you." I said, before backing up a bit. "Now, I don't want you to be scared ok? But I have to start letting some ponies know before someone finds out from somepony else."
I sighed and released the spell that was generating my disguise, letting the green flames engulf me. When they finally vanished, I was no longer the colt that Sweetie Belle thought I was, but a changeling. Humorously enough, I was still wearing the bowtie that Applebloom gave me.
I could see that her widened eyes and agape mouth were enough to tell me what she actually thought of my true form, and hopefully she didn't try and cover up her thought with some lies.
"Your a... your a... You're a changeling!" She yelped, standing up on the bed she was on and looking left and right, probably looking for something to defend herself with.
"Sweetie Belle! Stop that right now an' calm down! He ain't one of the bad ones." Applebloom chided, walking over to me. "Ah've told you... he's the one who helped keep me safe when ah got foalnapped. He's stayin' here until he knows ah'm ok in the head or somethin' like that. Right?"
"Yep. Don't worry Sweetie Belle. I'm not here to do anything bad. If I was, then would I have tried to fix things between you and Rarity?" I asked, seeing her calm down a bit.
"So... you're a changeling... right?" She asked slowly. I nodded my head.
"Yes I am. And do you know what that means?"
"That you like to suck the love out of things?"
"Heh, no."
"That you like to pretend to be other ponies and steal foals?"
"No! Look, it means that I have thousands of brothers and sisters." I exclaimed, not wanting to hear what else she had to say about changelings. "And you know what else? I have never gotten to spend any quality time with them. Every single one of them tried to beat me up just because I was smaller than them. And that was my life until Project 64 came and saved me."
"The human that helped Applebloom get out?" Sweetie Belle asked, recognizing the name.
"Right. So you should feel lucky to have a sister that is actually trying to make things up with you. Not matter how bad of a job she may be doing."
Once I was done, there was a knock at the door. Out of instinct, I cast my disguise once again, just before Applejack peered her hear through the door. "Oh, Ghost. Ah thought ah heard ya. Um, Sweetie Belle. Why don't ya stay here for tonight? Ya'know, let everythin' cool down with Rarity." Applejack suggested. Still in a state of surprise, Sweetie Belle managed to nod her head and sit back down onto the bed. "Alright. Ghost, Applebloom. Can ya both come downstairs? Ah need ta have a word with ya both."
I looked back at Sweetie Belle, whose features told me that she was still mulling over this new revelation in her head, and went downstairs with Applebloom behind me. "Do you think that was a good idea? Telling her?" I whispered, but Applebloom just shrugged her shoulders.
"Anything ta help her get out of this funk." She replied, as we arrived in the living room. To our surprise, Rarity was standing in the room, a small smile on her face.
"Alright ya two. Me an' Rarity have been talkin' and we have a little plan that could help Sweetie Belle get over all of this fuss." Applejack explained, me and Applebloom looking at each other in confusion.
This oughta be good.