Arith

                     "Oh, come on, Arith! Why can't you run faster?"

"Calm down, I'm coming!"

I run faster after Applejack. She's much faster than I am, but it's hard to not run after her. We're playing tag! Oh? What's that? Tag is a "little kid" game? Well, I don't care. I'm able to do what I want. Everyone else is hiding and I couldn't find anyone except Applejack. Look, there's Winona. Wait, she's saying something...

"Arith, get up, now!"

What?

I wake up. Poo, it was a dream. Why couldn't it have been real? The only reason it couldn't have been real is because...

Mom calls again.

                "Arith, are you getting up or not?"

"I'm coming!"

I roll off my matress and step over ponies in this crowded room. Why couldn't Mom have gotten an emptier room?

"Hey, I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

Mom proceeds to make me follow her to the back hallway of the building. Then we turn left, then we turn right. then we go straight for a while... Anyway, we go on for a long time and then finally we get to a door. The door is painted green. The only bright color in the whole building. Like I was saying, the dream was just... a dream. The only reason it couldn't have been real is because I'm a changeling. This whole building is for changelings. Normal ponies hate us. So before we walk through the door, the phone in the hallway rings. Mom picks it up. She says it's for me and I pick it up. The voice on the other end of the phone says, "This is a robbery!" Dramatic music plays; I hang up.

Mom says, "Who was it?"

"Uh, no one."

"Okay."

She tells me to cover my eyes. I do, then we walk through the door. She says to hold on, and then i hear a bunch of rustling around.

"Okay, open your eyes!"

It takes me a minute to adjust to the light, then I see a bunch of my friends with party hats and a banner hanging on the wall displaying "congrats!" and I'm confused.

"Like it? Arith?"

I guess I'm standing with a different expression than they expected, because they all stop smiling.

"Arith? Whats wrong?"

"Uh, Nothing. I was just wondering what this is for."

"Oh, this?" Mom says, "It's your congratulations ceremony!"

"Congrats for what?"

"Oh, did Corbin not tell you?"

I look over at Corbin. He looks away form me.

"No," I say.

Mom looks at Corbin. he looks at me, then at mom and finally says, "I didn't want to tell her because I didn't want her to go."

"Go where? Mom?"

Mom looks at me then says, "Queen Chrysalis wants you to come and live in her castle!"

I'm REALLY confused now.

Everyone laughs at me, or more rather, my expression.

"What."

"She does! Do you remember when you sent her that letter for school? Well, she got around to reading the letter one day and she loved it!"

"And how did you get all this information?"

"She sent you a letter back!"

NOW I have the expression they wanted because they all start cheering, except for Corbin.

Corbin and I are best friends. We have been since we were children. I walk up to him.

"Hey, Corbin."

He's not looking at me.

"Hi.."

"Hey, it's fine! I'll come back and visit!"

"I know..." He says, "but you'll be gone for what feels like so long."

"It's fine. Come on, Let's go eat some cake!"