Ben

I smile, snuggling her in the water. "Well, I think it's safe to say you're clean."

She nods slightly, smiling and cuddling closer to me. "Yep..."

After a moment, I hear soft snores from her.

I chuckle. "Silly filly." I pick her up, turn off the water, and dry both of us off. I redress myself, then bring her out to the living room, where I wrap her in a towel.

I go back to the bathroom to rummage around for a hairbrush, miraculously, there is one. I bring it out and start brushing her wet mane so it doesn't get tangled.

She wakes up by the third brush. "Hm..?"

I continue brushing gently. "I brought you out here, and I'm brushing your hair now so it won't be all tangled and messy for Rarity." I pause for a moment as I untangle a knot. "That was pretty fun, hm?"

I put a finger to my lips and wink. "Gotta keep it a secret, though, okay?"

She smiles at me. "Okay." She takes a deep breathe, "C-Could I ask you something?"

"Mhm, of course," I say, resuming my brushing.

She turns towards me, looking in my eyes. "U-Uh.. Do you have a Special Somepony?"

I sigh. "Much as I wish a certain muffin-addicted mare would be, no. I do not."

"Why do you ask?"

"Would you uh... Could you uh..." She twirls her hoofsies in circles around each other. "Would you ever, in a million, billion, trillion year ever wanna be mine..?"

I smile warmly. "Oh, Sweetie, of course," I say. "But.. Maybe in a few years. I think we'd get in trouble if we became Special Someponies... But I can be your really cool, really fun babysitter until then, how's that?" I grin.

She frowns a little, "O-oh... Right.."

I plant a little kiss on her muzzle. "And of course, I can be one of your best friends ever, too."

She blushes, "Are you sure you can't be right now...?"

I shake my head with a smile. "No, but there's more kisses where that came from."

She blinks then leans forward and kisses you on the lips.

I return it for a second, two. Three. Then I pull back, grinning. "That was sweet, Sweetie."

"It was?" She smiles.

I nod happily in confirmation. "It was."

She licks her lips slowly. "W-Would it still be sweet if I did it again?"

I nod. "Of course. Just once more."

She nods and leans over, kissing me once more.

"Mm.." I wrap my arms around her. "Still sweet." I look over at the clock begrudgingly. "But sadly, I think Rarity's probably wondering where the heck you are."

At this moment, I hear frantic knocking at the the door.

"If anypony asks you what you were doing in my house, say you got all dirty, I let you take a bath, and then you napped while I made muffins. Mkay?"

I stand, quickly don my apron, and raise my hand. The door opens.

It's Applebloom and Scootaloo, "Well?" Scootaloo walks in without casting me a glance. "How'd it go?"

Applebloom trots past Scootaloo, "Shush!" She hushes her friend, "Sorry about her." The apple filly gives me a sympathetic glance. "But we haven't been properly acquainted yet, now have we?" She holds out her hoof to you, "Ah'm Applebloom. I think you know Sweetie and Scoots."

I shake her hoof. "Very nice to meet you, Applebloom." I gesture to the twelve dozen muffins I have baked. "Want some?"

She glances over, "Ooo. Those look mighty tasty..." She stares, a dribble of drool dripping down her hungry happy face, "But Ah cain't, Applejack would have my flanks if I ate sweets 'fore dinner in an hour."

Scootaloo looks from Applebloom to the muffins, "Well I ain't got no mom to worry about, so..." She trots over and takes a muffin. She then stuffs the whole top of it into her maw, "Thanks." She says, only mildly muffled by muffin.

I smile. "Muffins aren't too much of a sweet. They're closer to a glorified bread. but..." I levitate a box out, picking ten or so apple-cinnamon muffins from the assortment and putting them in the box. "There you are."

Applebloom looks very conflicted. "B-But..."

"For later," I affirm.

She nods. "Okay. Later." She smiles. "Y'all are mighty swell aren'cha?"

I chuckle. "Well, I try."

Scootaloo makes a very pleased noise. "Well. You know how to bake pretty good too. Almost better than Pinkie."

I raise an eyebrow. "I don't know about that... It's just my homemade recipe."

She nods. "It's good. Really good."

"Well, thank you." I levitate an empty box next to her. "Go ahead and grab as many as you like."

She takes and fills the entire box, even over filling it a little, then scoots it on her back. "Thanks."

"So, what can I do for ya?"

"Leave." Scootaloo says.

"Rude much?" Applebloom asks with a slight cringe.

"Go away." Scoots corrects.

I watch the exchange with a raised eyebrow. "Who, me?"

"Yes." They say at the same time.

"But you could be a tad less demanding, this is his house." Applebloom scolds, sitting down and holding her head with a hoof.

"Okay," She looks back to me, "Please go away. Just another room is fine."

I shake my head. "Okay, then." I go off to my bedroom.

Several minutes pass before, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Echos through the house.

Followed by a door slamming.

I have no idea what to do, and am slightly panicking, so I simply wait for them to call me back.

Ten minutes pass.

I decide to take a look to see if they're even still here.

In the living room is Applebloom, holding a hoof to the bridge of her muzzle, and Sweetie Belle, sitting on the exact opposite side of the couch, looking very not happy.

"Uh.."

"...What's going on?"

Applebloom holds up a hoof in a stop motion. "Look. Ah... Ah'm not doing this." She hops off the couch, "Sweetie, would you get the door for me?" Sweetie nods slightly, not moving or looking over at Applebloom. Her horn sparks slightly, and the doorknob slowly turn until the door inches open. "Thanks."

After Apple Bloom walks out, I close the door, and look at Sweetie. "What happened?"

She doesn't say anything

"...Should I go ask Scootaloo?"

"No!" She yells, almost falling off the couch as she jumps up.

"Okay, okay, sorry, sorry, I just didn't know whether you'd tell me or not."

She sighs, sitting back on the couch. "I-I will..."

I sit beside her. "Alright. What happened?"

She doesn't say anything.

I sigh. "What did you tell them?"

She winces, "H-Huh?"

"What did you tell Applebloom and Scootaloo?"

She stares at me without talking, her mouth slightly open.

I scratch the back of my neck. "Sweetie, please tell me so I don't have to go find Scootaloo to get the story."

She shakes her head twice, "N-No..."

I hug her gently. "Please, Sweetie. I won't get mad at you, promise."

She shifts a little, left, right. "I told them... Crusaders code..."

I nod. "Okay. but, what exactly did you tell them?"

"...Everything."

"...Oh."

Panic hits me, but I try to keep it down. "Well, did they say they were gonna keep it quiet?"

"W-Well..."

"Applebloom said she wouldn't tell, crusaders code again, b-but... Welll..." She trails off.

"But what?"

"S-Scootaloo said some very mean things and she just left..."

I frown. "Do you mean you think she might tell other ponies?"

Sweetie shrugs. "I dunno... She was very mad at me..."

Something clicks just then. "Wait... when she came in, she asked 'Well, how'd it go?' If she knew you were coming here, and what you were gonna do, why would she be mad?"

"Well about that.. I just said I was coming to talk to you about something and for them to meet me here later..."

"..Ah. I see."

"...do you think we should find her and try to make amends?"

She shrugs. "I dunno... I'm afraid to talk to her again..."

"..Would you trust Applebloom to talk to her, maybe, then?"

She shakes her head, "They got in a fight about it..."

I sigh, dread seeping into my veins. "I guess that leaves me to talk to her."

She cringes, "A-Are you sure...?"

I shrug helplessly. "What else can I do?"

She quiets up with a sigh, curling into a ball.

I pet her mane, feeling pretty down myself.

"W-What if she tells somepony...?"

"Well, what if she tells somepony if I don't talk to her about it? I gotta try, at least."

She nods slightly. "I-I'm sorry... I h-had to, it's the rules... No secrets between crusaders..."

I hug her gently. "It's okay, it's good that you don't keep secrets from your friends."

A suspicion enters my head then, one that might help.

"...Sweetie, have you ever seen Scootaloo with her dad?"

She shakes her head. "No… S- She doesn't have parents..."

"...I know. She didn't want to tell me, but I kinda had my suspicions."

Another idea pops into my head. If things go well enough with Scootaloo, maybe I can offer her a home. That could help her not be so distant and spiteful of me.

She sighs. "But she always said to never try to find her... Said something bad would happen if we did..."

I think for a moment. The accepted canon was that Scootaloo slept in the clubhouse, or an alleyway somewhere. "Maybe she just doesn't want to be found."

Sweetie shrugs.

"I... I have to get home..."

I nod, hugging her one more time. "I'm sorry about all this."

"No it's my fault...,

I shake my head. "Don't you go and tell yourself that."

She hugs back, leaning further into me. "Everything is my fault..."

I kiss the top of her head gently. "No, it's not. Don't worry, this will all be fixed."

She doesn't respond except getting up and walking over to the door. "...Can you walk me home...?"

I nod. "Absolutely." I get up, open my door, and walk with her out into the fading light.

The sun and moon are both in the sky, the sun setting just as the moon rises. It's twilight. Beside my door is Applebloom, sitting  and staring out at the sunset.

I sigh. "Hey. You want to walk with us?"

She shakes her head, "Ah gotta git home, and hopefully find Scoots along the way." She grumbles, standing up and stretching, "While Ah personally don't agree with your... youness, Ah cain' at least stick to the Crusaders Codebook like a proper member..."

"..Okay." I don't know what else to say, what else I could say.

She stares at me, "Don' make me regret this."

I nod. "..I know."

"...I'm sorry."

She snorts, shaking her head. "No you ain't. Sorry means you wouldn' do it again if you had the chance." She turns and trots away, "Get'er there safe or you know what Ah'll do."

"...Let's go, Sweetie."

I walk the short distance with her to Carousel Boutique.

The mood is rather mechanolic, and I wonder to myself if I really would do it again, given the chance.

...No. I wouldn't put her through this again. Even if I got a million chances, I couldn't do this to her again.

Sweetie is quiet almost the whole trip, until she asks, "This doesn't mean you won't do fun things with me anymore right...?

I sigh. "Sweetie... I can still do kisses with you, that's okay. But... I can't do what we did again. I mean, we did it once, and look what happened. Do you think Applebloom and Scootaloo would stay quiet a second time? I can't put you through this again... I'm sorry."

She doesn't say anything any continues walking.

Finally, we arrive.

Sweetie scruffs the ground, "Alright... See ya..."

I pet her mane once more, before letting her go inside. The door shuts quietly.

"Sweetie Belle, where the buck have you been?! You've had me worried sick!" Rarity soon yells from inside. Silence follows, "Well?!"

"If you continue to not answer me, you're grounded for a month!" Rarity yells, sounding just a tad more pissed.

I knock on the door. "Uh, Rarity?"

The yelling stops and you hear very angry hoofsteps stomping towards the door. It flies open, "Yes?" She asks me calmly with a  peaceful smile.

In the background is Sweetie mouthing, "No" while shaking her head. She's crying just a little.

"I believe I can vouch for Sweetie Belle. She came to my place earlier, and she got extremely messy. She had a bath, but she fell asleep for a while." I lean in to whisper. "I think she and the other Crusaders had a bit of a falling-out... I think she's pretty emotionally exhausted."

She stares at me for a moment, "W-Well... Be that as it may, she had no right to leave without announcing it, or refusing to tell me the same." She frowns, but just a tad less than me imagine she was before.

I sigh. "I think she just needed to get away for a bit. I know I've had times like that, when the world just seems to.. all crash in on you at once."

Rarity huffs, "Even so, I simply must punish her slightly. Grounding her for a week at the very least."

I hold up a hand. "Actually, I can take the blame for some of that... when she fell asleep, I let her sleep. I figured she could use it. I'm sorry." I look down in slight shame.

"I just did what my mom always said:  'If someone's having a hard time, let them sleep it off. They'll wake up better.'"

"That's not what I'm punishing her for. I'm punishing her for refusing to answer me, I am her legal caretaker and as such I have to know where she is and will be at all times, at least until she can better take care of herself."

I nod. "Alright. but... maybe cut her a little slack. She's in a rough time right now."

Rarity stares, "I'm not certain of the kind of world you come from, but here everything isn't sunshine and rainbows. I will see to her punishment or lack thereof on my own terms. But I thank you for clearing this up." She glances back to Sweetie, who refuses to make eye contact with anypony. "Have a good evening."

She closes the door.

I sigh and walk away, hoping that I'd done enough damage control. I was pretty excellent at diffusing things, but she seemed more snippety than normal.

I look around, wondering what to do next. I decide I need a breather, and go back to my house. I use magic to aid my jump and sit upon the roof.