The man with the white mask
Sweetie Belle awoke with a small grunt, as she felt a hard, leathery boot digging beneath her ribs. She bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from crying out, and felt tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes, due to both the pain in her ribs and at what today's rituals would bring.
"Get up, Freak," said a man in a deep, gruff voice from above her. She sniffed and nodded, slowly rising to her thin, dirty hooves, with the sound of the rattling iron chain fastened around her left hind leg resonating with each movement she made. She looked around the large, dimly lit room to see the four human men who had captured her sitting around a circular, metal table, smoking cigarettes and playing cards. The man that had woken her up gave a wry smirk as he slowly walked to the other side of the table and kicked a metal dog bowl towards her.
She frowned as she looked down at the contents inside. She was used to seeing a pile of rotting fruit and vegetables laying within; instead, she was surprised to see slices of fresh apples, bananas, peaches, and some pears.
"Bitch, either eat the damn stuff or we leave you starvin instead," spat one of the men in a light, southern drawl as he puffed out a cloud of smoke. Upon turning back to his accomplices, he said. "Got any six's, Fred?"
"Nope," replied the dark skinned man as he took out another cigarette from his pocket. Sweetie paid the men no heed as she dug into her first good meal in nearly three months; she revelled in the sweet delectable taste of the fruit, with the feeling of the juices running down her throat and chin almost bringing her to tears. However, to the little filly's dismay, she had eaten the fruit too fast to properly saver the taste. Sweetie frowned when she looked down to see that the bowl was completely empty, and carelessly kicked it back to the table. Upon noticing this, the man that sat next to Fred commented with a small chuckle.
"Looks like she's done already. Hey, Josh, when is she gonna be ready to leave?"
"Eh, as soon as we get this bitch cleaned I guess." Josh, the man that had woken Sweetie before her meal, responded with a shrug. He gave her a smirk as he glanced down towards her. "Still can't believe some guy paid nearly one mil to get her." Sweetie's eyes went wide in horror upon hearing the man's words; someone had paid to own her... She had been bought by some creep on the internet; bought by someone who would undoubtedly force her to preform things she didn't want to do.
In responce to this repugnant revelation, she couldn't help but to think to herself: Just kill me, instead...[ If she was being honest with herself, she would've rather died in the most painful and excruciating way imaginable then preform whatever sick, twisted acts her supposed near future owner would demand of her. However her captor's thought otherwise, as they stared at their leader with wide eyes and slacked jaws.
"You're shitting us," muttered Fred, glancing from the filly to his boss. Josh merely remained silent as he shook his head with that signature smirk proudly written upon his face. After a few minutes of stunned silence, he was able to find his voice once again. "Damn, we're going to make some big bucks tonight, boys! Hey, we're all going to meet this guy for the exchange?"
Josh rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Of course we're going to meet this guy for the exchange; I wanna see if this fagat's not pulling our leg." He frowned as he once again glanced down at their captive. "Though, he was oddly specific on what he asked about her."
"Like what?"asked the man with the southern accent.
"Simple things, like what color her mane, tail and coat are; her age; the look of her cutie mark after asking if she even had one. Oh, and if she was still a virgin, of course." The men snorted in laughter at that, with Sweetie cringing in responce at the sound and feeling a little uncomfortable at the buyer's requests.
"Well, looks like he's gonna get what he wanted. I'll bet he found her after Mikey posted those pics of her," Fred said with a grin as he slapped the man that sat next to him on the back. The man in question smirked and gave a nonchalant shrug.
"Eh, what can I say? I'm a dark web photo master." The man with the southern accent gave a snort at that. "What's so funny, Bill?" Mikey asked with a scowl on his face. Bill shook his head as he placed his cigarette into the ashtray in the middle of the table.
"Nothin, just don't keep callin yourself somethin you ain't."
"Whatever, lets just get her cleaned already," Mikey snarked. He and Mikey got up from their seats and walked to a nearby hose a few feet away from where Sweetie was standing. Bill lifted the hose while Mikey turned on the pressure. The filly stumbled backwards as a powerful stream of ice cold water blasted her in the face. After a few minutes of agonizingly cold torture, the water was shut off, allowing Sweetie enough time to catch her breath. After a few seconds, she saw Fred walking towards her with a white rag in his left hand. She didn't have enough energy to fight him as he placed it over her mouth and muzzle, forcing her to breathe in the substance it was coated with.
Her head began to feel light, and she saw her vision blurring as the drug began taking effect. The last thing she heard before collapsing to the ground, was Bill saying something about the deal being worth it.
***
Sweetie groggily awoke with a painful headache in the back of her head. Opening her eyes, she noticed that she was in a large van, and its windows were covered with black tape. She tried to hold back her tears in fear of what was going to happen to her. Was she going to be tortured? Was she going to be a sex slave? These ideas terrified her, but she summoned every ounce of resolve she had left, and steeled herself with thoughts of how she was going to get out of this. She was going to get home to her mother, and pretend this whole thing was just a bad dream. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the magical restraint that was around her horn and began pulling as hard as she could. It hurt, but she fought through the pain. She pulled and pulled with her weakened little hooves, but gave up when she heard a small crack as the feeling of her skull being split open ran through her body. She gave a yelp of pain and collapsed to the floor, panting heavily.
"Hey, knock it off back there," Josh yelled from the driver side. She couldn't take it anymore. She had delt with these four jerks for the past three months, and, as far as she was concerned, since she was never going to see their ugly faces again, she might as well have some fun.
"Why don't you come back here and make me," she growled through gritted teeth. Fred turned his head to face the young filly with a murderous glare.
"You better shut that mouth of yours if you know what's good for you."
"Rot in hell," she spat. Sweetie yelped in surprise when she saw the grown human attempt to punch her in the muzzle; he completely missed as Sweetie quickly ducked away from the man's blow.
"Hey, lay off the merch," Josh yelled. "Besides, we're here already. Sweetie's ears went flat against her head as she felt the vehicle slowly come to a stop. She watched as the men exit the van and heard the door behind her opening. Turning her head, she was met with the sight of Bill, Fred, and Mikey standing in the opening of the doorway, the cool night air gently flowing from between the three. Sweetie would've loved the feeling of the wind under normal circumstances, but given the current state of events, it was likely the last time she would ever feel it again, which took away the satisfaction it brought her.
"Get out," Bill ordered. Sweetie didn't say anything as she hopped out from the back of the van, and landed with a wince as her frail legs hit the hard gravel. She watched as Mikey pulled out a long leather dog leash and collar, and hooked it around the filly's neck. Sweetie tried to adjust the collar to be a bit more comfortable, but no matter how much she tried, the itchiness of the leather continued to bother her.
"Come on, let's get rid of her and get our cash," Fred said. The two nodded in agreement, and Sweetie made sure to keep up with the men as they lead her around the van and over towards a large dark alley. She saw Josh standing a few feet away with a proud smile on his face.
"And here she is, my good sir, just as I promised." Sweetie resisted the urge to scream in fear at the sight of a man dressed in all black step out from the shadows. She noticed he wore a white mask that covered his face from view, and had a strange marking on the forehead.
"Good," the man said in a deep, rattling voice that didn't sound natural to the filly's ears. He walked over towards her and knelt on one knee, gazing down at the little filly in silence. She slightly fiddled with her hooves as he began looking her over from head to hoof, unable to take her eyes off of the ground. After a few seconds of this, the man stood back up and gave an approving nod in Josh's direction.
"So, do we have a deal?" Josh asked with a small grin. The man nodded, and then pulled out a large black briefcase from behind a trash can.
"Here, two million dollars in cash." Josh's eyes went wide in shock as he took the case and held it out in front of him, checking its contents.
"Wait, I thought the deal was one million?" Bill asked. The man shrugged as he grabbed Sweetie's leash.
"I figured you deserve a bit of extra for the quality of your … merchandise...," he said. None of the four men disagreed as they quickly walked back over to the van and left in a stunned silence.
"Come on," the man said, slowly walking down the alley with the young unicorn filly obediently following him. She was very glad about the man's slow pace, but she didn't voice her thanks in her current state of dread. The two soon reached an old looking black car that the little filly couldn't recognize, and watched as he opened the passenger door, then the back door behind it. Sweetie frowned in confusion as the man stood to the side, clearly waiting for her to make a choice of what seat she wanted. She hesitated for a moment before hesitantly choosing the front passenger seat. After the man closed the door behind her, he got into the drivers seat and turned the key in the ignition, making the car roar to life.
"Are you going to buckle up?" The man asked. Sweetie nodded and tried to buckle herself in, but the collar and leash was proving the task rather difficult. The man noticed this and told her to stop. She complied and watched as he pulled out a pair of scissors from the glove compartment. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the sharp instramints, following his hand as he carefully brought them closer to her throat. Clenching her eyes shut, she waited for the incoming pain.
Instead, she felt the scissors slowly cutting through the collar. After a few seconds, she felt it loosen its tight, itchy grip from around her neck. She opened her eyes and watched as the strange man tossed the strips of leather out from his open window. Sweetie gently rubbed her throat as she continued to stare at him.
She watched him pull out a small black box with a red trigger at one end out from one of his pockets. Without hesitation, the man pulled the trigger and tossed it out the window. The man waited for a few seconds before driving away, the young filly quickly buckling herself as he got onto the main road.
"Do you wish to listen to any music?" Sweetie was a little caught off guard at the question.
"W- what?"she asked, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"I asked you if you wanted to listen to any music," the man calmly said, gesturing to the radio with a free hand. Sweetie hesitated as she bit her bottom lip, but after a few seconds, she gave a small nod. The man once again gestured towards the radio, inviting her to use it. Sweetie Belle reached out with a hoof, her eyes flickering to the man as she turned on the radio and began flipping between each station. "I need to get that ring off you when we get to our location," the man muttered. Sweetie's left ear flicked at his voice.
Why is he being so nice?[ she thought with a frown. Gritting her teeth, she gave a slight shake of her head. No, I'm sure he's just like all the other perverts; all they want is to rape and kill foals like me. Though it begs the question…[ she took a glance at the man as she found a good radio station to listen too. How many others has he done this to before me?[
For a while, the two were silent as the man drove through the city. Sweetie looked out from the window, and saw hundreds of ponies and humans walking up and down the sidewalks, blissfully ignorant to the events that would soon take place. She saw a fire truck and a few police cars speed by with their sirens blaring as the song continued.
"Never heard this song. Who is it?" The man asked as he stopped at a red light. Sweetie frowned as she didn't recognize the song or the Artist. Looking at the radio, she was a little surprised to see that the radio did not only show the station, but the song and the artist as well.
"It's called Broken Heart, by... b- by." Sweetie began feeling tears rolling down her cheeks at the sight of the ponie's name rolling across the small screen. The man quickly turned off the radio with his free hand, leaving the car in complete silence save for Sweetie's sniffs.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in a sincere tone, but the deep voice made it hard to sound genuine to the filly's ears. Sweetie didn't say anything as they continued to move and she soon began staring into space, letting her mind wonder. She began imagining her home of Ponyville, her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo going on their adventures to get their cutie marks. She remembered the days she would be sitting in class with her teacher telling them about the endustrial revolution over a hundred years ago. She remembered her mother; she thought on how she always tried her damnest to be the best fashion designer in history. She remembered being taken from home, forced onto a plane, and just wishing to go home as she was forced to do horrible things.
Now she was trapped in a car with a complete stranger, possibly never seeing her home again.
"What do you want?" Sweetie blinked in confusion when she heard the man's voice interrupt her thoughts. Looking over at him, she noticed that they were parked at a healthy fast food drive through that was mainly focused on serving salads.
"Uh..."she muttered in confusion as she stared at the menu.
Wait, wasn't this guy going to take me to his place?[ She shook her head at the thought, and stared at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked. "Being nice to me and everything." The man gave a sigh, and pressed a button under his right ear.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Ms. Belle. I just want to keep you safe," the man said, his voice no longer deepened, due to the now apparent voice mojalator hidden in his jacket. Sweetie gave a nod, and looked at the menu with hunger nagging in her stomach.
"C... can I have a salad, please?" The man gave a nod in responce as he turned to the sighn.
"Anything to drink?"
"Just some water," Sweetie muttered.
"Alright, ehem. Can I have five regular salads, a Pepsi, an apple juice, a Mountain dew, a water, and an ice tea?" Sweetie Belle raised a confused eyebrow at the man.
Why does he need that much food?[ she thought to herself. Maybe he has a lot of people or ponies at his home...[ She glanced at the man as he reached behind him in the back seat and pulled out a baseball cap from one of the seats. Slapping it onto her head, he adjusted the cap so that only the lip covered her horn. Sweetie gave him a confused look once he was done.
"Just to hide the restraint," he said. Sweetie gave a nod, and watched as he pulled up to the first window. Sweetie watched as he turned his head away from her and removed his mask; though, due to the way she was positioned she wasn't able to get a good look at his face. However, she could at least tell that he had light skin.
"Hello, Sir," said one of the employees with a smile.
"Hello," the man replied in an equally cheery tone. Sweetie couldn't help but roll her eyes at the display. The man paid his order and was instructed to head to the second window to get their food. The man complied, and after grabbing four large white bags along with the drinks, he drove into the parking lot, and parked the car .
"Can you hold these for a moment?"the man asked. Before the little filly could answer, she found herself nearly being buried under large bags of food, completely blocking the man from view. A second later, the man began placing the bags into the back seats with his mask back on. Once he was finished, he re buckled himself before once again rejoining the main road. Sweetie Belle gave the man a suspicious look for a few minutes.
"What's up?" the man asked.
"Why can't I see your face?"she asked with a frown. The man was silent for a few minutes before answering.
"To protect you," he said. Sweetie gave him a flat look.
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"I thought Rarity would've lectured you about cursing." Sweetie's jaw dropped at his words.
"H- how do you know about my mother?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in anger. The man didn't answer as he continued to drive. "Well?" Again, the man remained silent. Sweetie huffed and folded her forelegs over her chest. "Whatever, just wake me up when we get to... wherever you're taking me, alright?"
"Very well," the man said simply. With that, Sweetie got into a bit more of a comfortable position and slowly fell asleep.
***
Sweetie once again awoke the third time that night, but instead of the usual kicks to the ribs, it was by a soft, gentle gloved hand shaking her awake.
"Hey, wake up, we're here," said the strange man as sshee came to the waking world. Opening her eyes, she noticed that the car she was in was parked in front of a tall building that had bright lights running up its tall surface. Turning to her left, she saw the man that bought her, although he still dawned his mask. Sweetie slumped her shoulders as her fears soon began bubbling to the surface of her mind.
This is it,[ she thought with a frown. He's going to abuse me in his own home. Possibly even kill me by the end of it.[ she glanced at the building with dread welling up in her chest.
"Sweetie Belle, I'm giving you a choice right now," the man said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You can either come with me, or run away." Sweetie shot her head to face him with a confused expression.
"Y- you would let me go?"she asked with a raised eyebrow. The man gave a firm nod in responce.
"I told you, I want to protect you, but if you don't want my help, you're free to go." He emphasized his point by unlocking the car, unbuckling the filly, and opening the door. Sweetie could only stare at the man in complete shock.
This guy is actually letting me go. I can go to the police and report those men of what they did, and be with Mom again.[ She smiled at the thought, but it quickly fell when she glanced at the man next to her, who simply stared out from the front window. But what if I get captured again? I don't think he'll be able to help me a second time, and he's been nothing but nice to me. Maybe, maybe I should give him a chance.[ She gave a sigh as she made her disision. Reaching out with her hoof, the little filly grabbed onto the pony handle, and pulled the door closed, she then re buckled herself and looked to the man with a small smile.
"I want to go home and see my Mom again, but I don't want to risk getting captured." She sighed as she continued. "You've been nothing but kind to me, and all I've been thinking is that you're just another pervert, but you're not. I trust you, and I think she would be greatful for you helping me." The man gave a nod and drove into a parking garage that was filled with hundreds of other cars that looked extreamly expensive to the filly's eyes. After a few minutes, he was able to find an empty spot and parked the car.
"Follow me," the man said once the two got out from the car with the food in tow. Sweetie did as she was told and followed the man towards an elevator on the other side from where they came. Once inside, the man pressed the button for the top floor and after what felt like only a few seconds, the doors slid open, and what she was greeted with made the filly's jaw drop in complete shock. The elevator opened to a large living apartment with a livingroom, kitchen, and a dining room that all looked to be able to fit at least 20 humans and ponies together.
"Woah," was all she could say. The man gave a light chuckle as he stepped into the home.
"Girls, I'm back!"he called as he placed the food onto the table. Sweetie gave him a raised eyebrow as she slowly entered.
So, he does have more ponies.[ She looked around and saw that the large flat screen TV was flipped to the news, showing a burning van in the middle of the street and was being doused by a group of firefighters.
"You don't have to yell," said a voice that Sweetie thought she would never hear again. Glancing at the couch, Sweetie was shocked to see Diamond Tiara sitting there and watching the TV with a bored expression on her face.
"D- Diamond?" Sweetie Belle watched the slightly older earthpony filly give a slight jump in surprise at the unicorn's voice. Turning her head, her eyes went wide at the blank flank standing a few feet away from her.
"S- Sweetie?" The filly nodded, and felt tears running down her cheeks. Without warning, Diamond leaped off of the couch, ran over to the unicorn and tackled her in a tight hug, causing the both of them to fall to the floor. Sweetie immediotly returned the hug as the two began laughing.
"We thought you were dead," Diamond whispered. Sweetie frowned and pulled away from the bully to give her a confused look.
"We?" Diamond gave a small smile and opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by two other fillies tackling the two in a hug.
"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo screamed in unison as they hugged their friend.
"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo!" Sweetie said as she buried herself into the embrace. "You have no idea how much I've missed you guys." The four ponies stayed like that for a few minutes before Sweetie broke the embrace. Looking over at the man with a smile on her face. "How... when...?" She couldn't find the words to speak, and simply stared at him with tear filled eyes. The man gave a small chuckle before replying.
"I found Apple Bloom in California, Scootaloo was in Florida, and Diamond was in Washington DC," he said as he placed the food in front of a few chairs. "They were all captured like you and sold on the black market." Sweetie nodded, and looked to her friends with a huge grin on her face.
"Well, at least we can go back home together," she said. The three others gave her a frown as they glanced at one another, then turned their gazes towards the man.
"Y'all didn't tell her, did you?" Apple Bloom asked. The man gave a sigh as he finished setting up the final plate.
"I figured it would be best that you told her instead of me," he replied. Sweetie looked at the four with a confused look on her face.
"What's going on?" questioned Sweetie with a tone of uneas. Diamond gave a sigh as she rested a hoof on the filly's shoulder.
"Sweetie Belle, we... we can't go back to Equestria," she said somberly. Sweetie could only stare at her friends in disbelief.
"W- what?"she asked, looking to each one of her friends who all had serious looks on their faces. Sweetie slowly shook her head as she continued to stare at her friends. "W- what do you mean we can't go back?"
"The border's closed. No one can enter, not even ponies," Scootaloo said, staring down at the floor.
"Why not?" Sweetie asked, her ears pinned to the back of her head. Apple Bloom gave a shrug as she spoke.
“Don’t really know, but there’s a large fire shield over the entire country."
"What about Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and Filthy Rich?"
"Applejack was last seen in Italy, Rainbow was in Greece for the Olympics, and my father was last seen in Germany," Diamond said with a frown. "As far as we know, they might be stuck in Equestria."
"M- mom?" Sweetie asked hesitantly. The three gave nervous looks to one another before Apple Bloom answered.
"The plane she was on split in two when the shield appeared, and...” she sniffed as she had trouble telling her friend the end result. “I’m sorry, Sweetie.”,." Sweetie fell to her knees and began balling her eyes out at the loss of her sister. She felt her friends trying to comfort her, but she continued to cry into their shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie," Diamond whispered. She heard the man's heavy boots approach them.
"Apple Bloom, can you take her up to her room for me?"he asked. Sweetie numbly felt herself following Apple Bloom, not really paying much attention to where she was being lead to. All she knew was that she went up the stairs and went down a long hallway, the next thing she knew was that she was laying in a bed with Apple Bloom tucking her friend beneath a large blanket.
"My room's across from yours, so if y'all Need anythin, just let me know." Sweetie didn't answer as she simply stared at the blank white wall in front of her. She heard the door close behind her, but continued to be silent and still.
“She's dead. She's actually dead.‘ was all she could think as she lay in her bed. For what felt like hours she continued to think those two words over and over in her head, not daring to make a single move.
She hoped this whole thing was a dream, hell, she wanted it to be a dream. She would've rather woken up back in that place with those freaks knowing that her mother was alive and that she could still go home then be here with her friends and a complete stranger. She clenched her eyes and tried to fight another on-slot of crying. Gritting her teeth in anger, she began punching all her anger into the pillow, with a growl, she threw it across the room, hitting the wall on the other side. Sweetie sat there, panting for breath as she sniffed and wiped her tears away. Sighing, she fell backwards on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
Her left ear flicked at the sound of the door gently opening and closing, followed by the smell of food that made her stomach growl. She ignored it as she felt a heavy weight shift the matriss to her left.
"You know–"
"Beating up a pillow isn't going to help my problems?" Sweetie finished with a growl. The man paused before once again speaking.
"Actually I was going to say that was the first time I saw a filly your age do a roundhouse kick to a poor Defenseless pillow," he said with a light chuckle. Sweetie gave a small sigh at his words. "Who taught you?"
"Mom did, she taught me when I was five after our house was robbed by a pony and a human."
"I see."
"Yeah, I was six when I sent a kid to the hospital after he kept making fun at Scootaloo for her wings."
"What did you do?" Sweetie grinned as the memory of that day filled her mind.
"I bucked him in the balls," she said with a small chuckle. The man snorted in laughter at her words. She sighed and sat up on the bed. Looking over at the man, she was a little surprised to see that he wasn't wearing his mask.
"Nice scar," Sweetie said, staring at the mark on his forehead. The man simply grunted in responce, and held out a bowl of salad towards her with a plastic fork inside. Sweetie gave him a frown as she stared at him with a flat look.
"What?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Sweetie sighed and pulled off the baseball cap from her head, revealing the magical restraint around her horn. The man face palmed and groaned into his hand. "Give me a minute," he said. Standing to his feet, he pulled out a pair of small bolt cutters from a small pocket in one of his boots, and placed the bowl on a nearby dresser. Bending down to one knee, the man examined the restraint with a critical eye. Giving a silent nod to himself, he spoke with a ferm tone in his voice.
"I'm going to have to cut that off, but I need you to be completely still, alright?" Sweetie Belle gave a nod, and watched as the cutters slowly made their way to her horn. Feeling the bolts lach onto the lock on the device. Sweetie closed her eyes as the man once again spoke. "Okay, on three, 1, 2, 3."
*crack!*
Sweetie gave a small grunt as she felt the restraint loosen from around her horn, and was removed by the man with perfect eas. She couldn't help but wince at the throbbing that soon followed in her horn, as if the magic that was being blocked was finally able to flow through her horn.
"You alright?"the man asked. Sweetie Belle gave a small nod in responce. Opening her eyes, she saw him once again holding out the bowl with a warm smile on his face. She returned it and reached her hooves out to take the food, but the man held out a hand to stop her.
"Use your magic," he said. Sweetie frowned and glanced up at the tip of her horn. Taking in a deep breath, she focused on the bowl and watched as a faded light green aura enveloped it. She watched as her magic slowly drifted the food to her, with man's hands a few inches under it in case it fell. After a few seconds, the food was resting in front of her. She then levitated the fork and took a large bite of her food.
The room was silent for a few minutes, only breaking when Sweetie bit down on a crunchy piece of lettuce or a carrot.
"France," the man said in a soft voice. Sweetie looked up to face the man with a confused expression.
"What?"
"You wanted to know how I knew your mother, I met her in France, well, Paris to be exact around ten years ago. I was working as an aid in one of the museums and she was studying at the fashion school down the street. She had asked me about an old Viking sword that was found in the country side of Equestria. I was helpful and told her the history of the blade, and where it came from. She was intrested at how much I knew about the damn thing. Eventually she left and I went and finished my job. I kept seeing her after that for the next month and a half. She would come in, ask me about a random object, and I would tell her what I could about it. We soon began seeing each other outside of my work and over the first few years became good friends. We would hangout at cafes, bars and a few other places."
"Sounds like you really cared about her," Sweetie said. The man gave a nod as he continued.
"Yeah, I did. We told eachother about everything, our hopes, our dreams... our fears. She eventually one day came up to me and asked if I wanted to go on a date with her," he said with a small chuckle that quickly died in his throat. "Sadly I had to decline and when she asked why, I told her that I didn't want to break her heart. She understood and we remained friends. Eventually we went our separate ways, but kept in contact with one another. Fast forwards a few years and I get a call by someone telling me that my best friend died. I obviously went through the stages that come with grief and after about two weeks I took a look at her will and saw that she left me in charge of taking care of you. I've never met you so I went to your house in Ponyville. However when I got their I couldn't find you."
"So you began tracking me down," Sweetie whispered.
"Currection, I was tracking you and the other girls down," the man said, jabbing a thumb at the door. "I was given the same request with AJ, Dash and Mr. Rich."
"Oh," Sweetie muttered, staring down at her food with a frown. After a few seconds passed, a thought came to her and she looked up to face the man. "Wait, if Mom told you to take care of me in her will, then why did you give me the option to leave your car?"
"Just wanted to see if you were stupid enough to do it." Sweetie Belle immediately punched him in the arm, causing him to laugh. Sweetie didn't hide the smile on her face as she stared at him. His laughing died down and his expression became a bit more serious. "But in all seriousness, I want to take care of you. I know you don't know me and I don't know you, but I want that to change, okay?" Sweetie gave a nod in responce at the man, who returned the nod as he stood back up and headed for the door.
"Wait," Sweetie called, making him stop and turn to face her. "What's your name?"
"Cain, my name's Cain," he said with a smile. With that, he left the room and gently closed the door behind him. Sweetie sighed and placed the half finished bowl of food on the nightstand, she figured she could eat the rest tomorrow. Letting out a tired yawn, she grabbed her pillow with her magic and covered herself with the blanket. Sighing, Sweetie slowly felt herself drifting to sleep with a smile on her face, all but ready for her new life.
Author's Note
Hope you all enjoy this.
