//------------------------------// // Future Plans // Story: Family and Friends // by conTROLLER234 //------------------------------// Family and Friends Chapter 9 Future Plans It had become later in the evening and Twilight was lying on her couch, muzzle in her book. Spike had been making tea for her, and he walked back in with a tray of refreshment. “Twilight, not that I really want you to worry, but shouldn't Andrew been back by now?” Twilight’s face was blocked by the book she was reading, though it suddenly dropped, revealing her shocked face. Spike took a step back, realizing what he’d done. “D-Don’t worry Twilight, I’m sure they’ll be back in a couple of minutes-” “How could have I forgotten?! He’s been gone all day, and I haven’t heard back from him!” Twilight hurriedly got off the couch, starting to walk in circles. “And they went exploring! They could be anywhere! Twilight collapsed to the floor, covering her face with her hooves. “Oh, what am I going to tell Princess Celestia…” Spike just watched his friend beat herself up, though he’s seen it a million times and just rolled his eyes. - - - - - “How are we going to find a way out of here before we freeze?” Scootaloo sighed with a shiver. Andrew hugged his arms to stay warmer, though he was losing heat fast. “M-Maybe this wasn’t a good idea..” Andrew mumbled aloud, and Applebloom stomped her hoof. “Of course it wasn’t a good idea! Scootaloo, what makes ya think goin’ into the Everfree Forest is a good idea?!” Scootaloo glared and took a step forward. “It isn’t! That’s why we’re Extreme Explorers!” Sweetie belle sighed in defeat. “Rarity’s going to be so worried..” Andrew finally spoke up between the conversing three. “Standing here and arguing Isn’t going to get us anywhere. Either we freeze here, or get out.” The fillies were quiet for a brief moment, until Sweetie Belle grinned and nodded. “Let’s get out of here then!” The three fillies nodded to each other, then huddled closer and each put a hoof in the middle, then looked over at Andrew, smiling big. Andrew walked over to the circle, and put his hand up with the others’ hooves. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, GO!” The four threw their hands and hooves into the air. “Alright, let’s get out of here-” “AppleBloom?! Scootaloo?! Where are you fillies?!” Scootaloo was cut off mid sentence by Rainbow Dash, who was seen flying overhead as the fillies all looked up. All four of them began calling Dash’s name, who soon flew down into the forest, landing in front of them. Her mane was sopping wet, and she sounded out of breath. Making them think she had been looking for quite some time. “Where have you fillies been?! We’ve been looking all over for you, your sisters and I have been worried sick!” Dash looked over to Andrew. “Not to mention Twilight too.” Andrew gulped. “W-Where is she?” “She’s out looking for you like the rest of the girls. Now, let’s get you all back to Ponyville.” She began walking in a direction. “This way is back to Ponyville.” The Crusaders nodded and followed behind her. A while later, they finally made it back to Ponyville, and thankfully it had mostly stopped raining. Twilight, Rarity, and AppleJack were waiting on the other side of the forest, and their faces lit up in happiness and relief as they ran up to the youngins. “Sweetie Belle! Oh my goodness don’t ever do that again!” Rarity had Sweetie in a death hug, and Sweetie Belle barely had enough energy to squeeze out her own words. “I..n-never, planned to..get, l-lost-!!”She coughed. “Andrew!” Andrew turned towards the call of his name, spotting Twilight running towards him, already levitating him up before she got to him. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, I don’t know what I’d do without you! I should’ve never let you out to do something like that!” Instead of agreement, which is what Twilight expected of Andrew, he pulled away from the hug grinning wide. “Are you kidding? It was so exciting!” Everypony turned to Andrew in puzzlement, even the three fillies. “...Really?” Twilight asked, unsure of how exactly to react to it. Andrew nodded wildly. “Yeah! It was a little scary at first, but it was a lot better than being cooped up inside all day.” “Well, you filles sure picked the right colt to recruit to your club.” Dash chuckled, nudging Scootaloo, who blushed lightly in response. “Could we all have a sleepover or something?” Andrew wondered. Almost every word that shot out of Andrew’s mouth hit Twilight harder and harder, surprising her more and more. She’s never seen him like this. But come to think of it, she’d never seen herself like this, either. She didn’t have the chance to reply, though, and AppleBloom beat her to it. “As much fun as that sounds, ah doubt that a sleepover is gonna happen on a school night. And plus what just happened..” She sighed, and AJ smacked her lightly in the back. “Y’all got that right, missy.” She frowned. Andrew panicked slightly, but dramatically at the same time as AB ran over that dreadful word that no filly or colt has ever, ever, liked in their childhood. School. Twilight tapped her chin for a moment. “Actually, speaking of school, I’ve been thinking about putting Andrew into the school here. It’d be good for him to learn even more past what I’ve taught him, and he’ll meet new friends! What do you think Andrew-” Twilight giggled along with the other girls as they saw Andrew tightly curled up in a ball on the ground. The three fillies didn’t laugh, however, as they knew the pain of school. “..n-no, I don’t think that’s a good idea..” Andrew groaned. “Oh come on, it ain’t that bad. Y’all are gonna learn lots that ya didn’t know before! And you’ll be spendin’ more time with fillies and colts your age.” AppleJack tried to cheer him up, though it didn’t do much, as she just earned another groan. Andrew looked up at the three fillies for mercy, but they all gave him the sorrowful look that read the words of: “It’s too late.” “Come on Andrew, it’ll be good for you.” She levitated him up onto her back, and he finally relaxed out of his ball. “..fiiiiine..” He whined. Pinkie, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout most of the conversation, bounced over to Andrew on Twilight’s back. “Don’t worry, school’s like, super duper fun! And you’ll get to hang out with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo every day, too!” That seemed to cheer Andrew up a little bit, as he sat up and looked over at the three little fillies, each of them conversing to each other. He sighed and finally gave in. “Fine, I’ll go.” He shut his eyes, realizing it didn’t matter whether he wanted to go or not, he was going to school. “So, I dunno about you guys, but I haven’t had lunch yet and it’s going on 4 o'clock. I’m gonna head over to the cafe if any of you want to tag along.” Dash stretched her legs and opened her wings. After a couple of nods and agreements, most of the girls agreed to follow along. Rarity had to go back to the boutique for some fashion business, though let Sweetie Belle stay. Fluttershy had to go home to check up on her animals, and Pinkie did whatever. When they got to the cafe, the rain had completely stopped, and the restaurant was a bit crowded. “Looks a bit busy. Nothing a few ponies did to hurt anypony.” Dash pointed out, and although it was a bit busy it wasn’t any work to find a seat. A waiter came by and took their orders, and because Andrew couldn’t eat flowers or hay, he ended up just buying a simple salad. The waiter returned with the food and after some “thank you’s”, everypony dug into their meal. It didn’t take very long for Andrew to finish was was on his plate, and when he finished he sat back in his chair with a quiet sigh. “Hooiee, that colt sure ate a lot for such a little one. And fast too, almost up with Pinkie!” AppleJack said, almost done her meal. Once everypony had finished their lunch, they all broke into conversation, the mares talking about their own thing, and the youngest talking about their own thing. (Cutie Mark Crusader business). They had been there talking for quite some time, before they looked at the time and headed home for the day, splitting the ponies and fillies up to head home. By the time Twilight and Andrew got home, it was getting dark and Andrew was getting tired. Twilight took her usual responsibility of putting Andrew to bed. Not needing to do anything with Spike, as he was already fast asleep. The last thing was herself. She made sure everything was done, then hopped into her bed with a long sigh, then turned to Andrew with a soft smile as he was already in dreamland. “I love you Andrew.” She pulled him closer to her and kissed his forehead, then fell fast asleep.