We met Twilight as she was about to leave her home, but her reaction to seeing me was to ask what I thought was a dumb question, one which caused me to narrow my eyes ever so slightly upon hearing it. I forced myself to stifle a sigh of exasperation.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school, young lady?" she asked sternly. I cleared my throat in an almost exaggerated fashion and turned my flank to her, pointing at my cutie mark in silent response. "Oh. Sorry about that, Michael -- so, what brings you and Rarity over here today?"
I winced a little at her mention of my human name but recovered quickly. "We were visited by Discord -- and I was hoping you might be able to provide a suggestion or two on how to deal with him," I replied. I flashed her a hopeful look, considering her to be the pony with all the answers, save for the Princesses. I suppose I should have thought a little more carefully before making the decision to visit her, but I had also wanted to see her again. Despite her almost stand-offish behavior, I still admired her deeply.
Perhaps it has something to do with your new cutie mark...
"Didn't you tell me two days ago that you were the one your co-workers considered to be the pony with all the answers?" she asked, grinning broadly at me.
"Well -- when it came to matters pertaining to my job as a human, yes, I was called the 'answer man' -- but here I'm at a bit of a disadvantage which is why I came to you first. I'm sorry if that annoys you, Twilight, but I wasn't sure whom else to ask," I replied, a hint of weariness in my voice. It still sounded rather weird to hear it in Sweetie Belle's voice, but at this point I was getting used to hearing it like that.
The librarian rolled her eyes at me before giving me a somewhat thoughtful answer of sorts. "Why not talk with Fluttershy? She was able to reform him -- perhaps she might be able to find out why he's been acting up again. If nothing else, perhaps her staring ability might turn him back," she replied with a hint of a chuckle. "Take care -- I hope you find your answer, Michael."
"Thanks, Twilight," I grumbled in response to her calling me by my human name again.
"That's Miss Twilight to you, young lady!" the librarian chided before chuckling. "Sorry, Michael, I couldn't resist the temptation to do that."
I grumbled a little more loudly at her retort before we left to head for Fluttershy's cottage. Rarity gave me a sympathetic look.
"Sorry, darling, she has a tendency to do that sometimes," she opined softly.
"It's all right, Rarity, I've dealt with worse -- but to hear it coming from her, though --" I began.
"She's a little stand-offish to be sure, but she means well. Don't let it get you down, dear!"
"Just a little disappointing," I mumbled in response as we wended our way to the cottage. The chirping of many birds grew louder as we approached and then I caught sight of her -- tending to her animals, her back to us as we arrived at our destination. She hummed a happy tune as she performed her duties, seemingly oblivious to everything else around her. I cleared my throat to get her attention, but upon hearing this noise, she meeped and retreated to the interior of her cottage. I turned to the fashionista and grinned sheepishly before offering a soft, "Sorry," as an afterthought.
"Aurora, darling, I believe I should have warned you about startling her," Rarity chided gently. "At least you should be more careful."
"Yes, Miss Rarity," I replied almost sullenly.
The butter-yellow pegasus returned to meet us, gasping silently when she caught sight of my cutie mark. She came over to me and inspected me closely. Rarity smiled in mild amusement at this before Fluttershy spoke up.
"Sweetie Belle, when did you get your cutie mark?"
"Well -- I kinda hate to say this, Fluttershy, but I'm not Sweetie Belle -- I just look like her. I got my cutie mark yesterday when I was playing with her and her friends," I replied. Her gaze hardened a little at me.
"If you're not Sweetie Belle, who are you? Why do you look so much like her? And why is part of Twilight's cutie mark part of yours?"
I began by telling her both my human and my pony names and about what had happened to me over the past few days and informed her that my affection for the librarian influenced my cutie mark to some extent. I took another moment to examine it, noting the seeming emptiness of the red outline of a heart with the purple outline of the six-pointed star superimposed on it. The bottom points of the star and heart appeared to intersect and the top point of the star poked out between the two upper halves of the heart. The two lower points of the star just barely poked out of the lower part of the heart. There also appeared to be a very small five-pointed gold star in the center of my cutie mark, something which baffled me.
"I think it's very cute, Aurora!" the pegasus offered, smiling softly at me. "But I'm amazed you were lucky enough to have your wishes granted! You must be very excited to be here!"
"I suppose so -- perhaps at first -- I dunno, Fluttershy -- I'm still very confused about a lot of things around here. I'm trying to find out what we can do about Discord, though -- I'm worried he might be trying to go back to his old ways," I opined almost glumly.
"I'll have a talk with him -- he told me he was reformed -- but if I find out he's doing bad things again..."
"Are you talking about me again? What have I told you about that?" asked the draconequus as he smiled mischievously at us. He casually sipped on a cup of coffee or some other brownish liquid, which kept overflowing the cup. What spilled on the ground made a sizzling sound and seemed to have a very corrosive effect on the soil, causing me to grimace a little.
"Discord, why do you keep pestering me?" I asked, my tone heavy with annoyance. "And what are you drinking?" I added as I watched the liquid scorch and eat into the soil.
"Heavy coffee -- with a little nitric acid for an extra kick. You bring me quite a bit of amusement -- and I'm glad I chose you to bring over here," he chuckled.
"Discord! You should know better than to bring ponies from their home worlds to this one! I suggest you send her back as soon as possible!" the pegasus demanded. She appeared to ready her stare for good measure.
"Ah, no, I can't have that, my dear friend -- I believe I promised not to make mischief here in Equestria, but bringing him here hasn't caused any harm -- at least not to Equestria at any rate -- and after all, I believe I'm also entitled to a little fun for myself. Little Aurora here has already proven to show me my decision wasn't wrong!" he chortled between sips of his coffee.
"Thanks for nothing," I groaned as I rolled my eyes at him.
"You should be careful about rolling your eyes at me, young lady -- they might come up snake-eyes if you do," he chuckled as he flashed me an almost menacing look. My eyes went wide for a second upon recognizing his malicious intent.
"Discord! Stop scaring her!" Fluttershy commanded.
"Oh, come on, I wasn't gonna hurt her ... much," he responded almost petulantly. He seemed to wither a little bit from her as she readied her stare. "Oh, all right, I'll be nice," he added, causing her to relax a little. "Just -- let me have some fun -- please?" he asked, giving her a sad-eyed look. I'll have to admit this sight caused me to chuckle a little before he returned his attention to me. "And young lady -- be careful about expressing your amusement, especially at my expense!" he admonished as he appeared to splash his coffee in my direction.
"AAAAHH!!" I shrieked as I retreated behind the fashionista, the coffee landing in the spot where I'd been standing. As it hit the ground, it evaporated before causing any corrosion to the grass.
"Discord, that was not very nice," the pegasus averred, casting her harshest stare at the draconequus. I whimpered a little as my fear got the better of me. Fluttershy came over and began comforting me. "Sorry about that, Aurora -- I hope he didn't scare you too badly. Discord! You'd better not do that again!"
"Aaaahhh, you're no fun anymore," he grumbled before disappearing as suddenly as he arrived. I was surprised he made no sound as he left.
"Um, well -- I hope you can talk some sense into him later, Miss Fluttershy," I offered almost meekly, giving the pegasus a hopeful glance.
"I'll have a little chat with him later on, Aurora -- and please, you don't have to call me Miss," she replied warmly before embracing me in a soft hug. I'll have to admit it felt pretty nice to hug her -- her coat of fur so soft, her wings gently wrapped around me -- and I smiled broadly upon receiving her kindness.
"Thank you, Fluttershy -- I appreciate your kindness and hope to spend some more time with you soon," I said.
"Aurora, darling, please don't rush us -- there's another reason I came over here. Fluttershy, I believe today is our spa day -- Aurora, would you like to join us?" the fashionista asked, addressing me with a warm smile.
"Miss Rarity, I would be honored to join both of you to the spa -- though I suppose as a filly, I don't know how much they'll do for me," I replied. My expression was one of curiosity as I had never been to the spa before -- not even in all my years had I done so. Almost inadvertently, I let this information escape my lips, drawing a gasp of surprise from my "sister," who scooped me up in her magic, her eyes wide with amazement, a big toothy grin on her face.
"Aurora, you're simply going to love it! You're in for a real treat! I can't believe you've never been to a spa before!"
"It's very nice, Aurora -- I find it quite relaxing and they know how to preen my wings properly," Fluttershy added, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she covered her mouth with a forehoof when I grinned slyly at her statement.
"Sounds like a little too much information there, Miss Fluttershy," I noted, mirth fully evident in my tone. Her blush deepened a little further as she tried to hide her face behind her mane. "Sorry about that -- I'll behave myself," I added as I saw Rarity glower at me a little and growl ever so softly. "I said I'm sorry, Miss Rarity! Please, I didn't mean any harm," I whined petulantly, my voice cracking as I tried to give her my best puppy-dog eyes look.
"Apology accepted, darling," she chuckled. The pegasus giggled ever so softly at the exchange, which let me know things were okay. "Now if you don't mind, let's get going! Don't want to keep the pampering waiting!"
"Thank you, Miss Rarity," I said softly as I trotted behind the two mares, though I had to canter to keep up with them. They discussed recent events which had occurred before my arrival, so I decided to pay little heed to what they were saying as we continued onward towards the town. I was starting to get winded as we neared the bakery, the scents emanating from that building causing my mouth to water.
"Hey, Rarity, can we stop by here on the way back for some cupcakes or something? It smells so good," I called out, interrupting their conversation. I suppose I should have been more considerate of them, but -- the food smelled delicious and it caused me to get a little impatient.
"Aurora, darling, is food all you think about? Is that why you're so pudgy?" Rarity asked almost mindlessly, not bothering to look back at me. I must have involuntarily whined at that question before answering, because she then lowered her ears and head in response.
"Ugh, I could understand Diamond Tiara asking something like that -- but --" I began as I fell to my hocks, holding my head in my forehooves. I don't know if it was because I was in a filly's body or what, but tears began to well up in the corners of my eyes.
"Oh, Aurora, darling, I am so sorry! I -- look, we'll get something later, I promise," said Rarity as she tried to comfort me. I didn't like how my mind was reacting to my being in this filly's body and I was starting to get a little worried about the subtle changes that seemed to be taking place. She gave me a quick hug as well before returning her attention to Fluttershy, whose expression changed from surprise to compassion.
"Um, Rarity, was it necessary for you to ask her such a question?"
"Sorry, Fluttershy, I lost my head for a moment there -- I had no idea she was so sensitive about her weight."
I continued to follow the mares, who would occasionally take a look back over their withers to make sure I was still fairly close. My short legs and small size forced me to continue cantering, my breath coming in gasps as I tried to keep up. The extra weight I was carrying on my body didn't help either, causing me to stop and take a breather every few minutes.
"Aurora, darling, if you'd like, I can carry you on my back," Rarity offered, flashing me a sympathetic look.
"No, Miss Rarity -- I need the exercise," I answered, almost huffing in annoyance. I knew we were close, but I couldn't give up yet -- I was determined to make it all the way there without resorting to riding on my "sister's" back. I found myself wincing whenever she would talk to me in a patronizing tone and I was beginning to resent it. Even her contrition didn't sound terribly convincing, but I chalked that up to her regarding me as a filly. I silently hoped I could meet Princess Celestia soon and get that issue addressed.
"We're here," Rarity announced cheerfully as we trotted up to the entrance. I looked up at the sign, but couldn't read it.