To Be a Clown or Not to Be?

After his previous and final argument with his boss, Silver Platter was now back at his apartment, packing everything he needed slowly and methodically, going about folding all his suits and tuxedos, that he somehow accumulated after becoming a waiter, into his rather small suitcase. The butler was quite busy trying to make sure everything he packed was packed neatly and perfectly folded into an all too small compartment, which was threatening to buckle under the sheer volume of clothing that he was trying to fill up in its creaking protests. The stallion for his part was trying to think about only bringing what he felt was essential, which didn't seem to correspond to his suitcase's definition, for what he hopes will be a one-way trip, while jumping up and down on the cover in forcing everything to fit inside. From his apartment's door He then heard clopping noises from behind, and, fortunately for him, it wasn't the city guard coming to arrest him for his unintentional act of arson at his previous place of employment. Thankfully he turned only to see that it was his annoying next-door neighbor Sunshine Smiles who slammed the door burst open into his apartment with his usual stapled big happy smile on his face, which always irked the cream-colored pony since he first met him, and chirped out, "Hey! I heard what happened with the restaurant, Are you alright?" his concerns seemed only like an excuse to see him as much as Silver though on him as far as he was concerned.

The now-former waiter groaned, feeling a bit agitated as he turned around to see that Sunshine Smiles bouncing towards him and grumbled, "Yeah, I'm doing perfectly fine…" Silver Platter eyed the eccentric stallion, not trusting him to be in his clean and organized apartment that he was going to leave behind.

The chirpy orange coated stallion eyed him up and down, giving him a once-over to look for anything wrong about him before adding "I heard about the restaurant burning down," then switched and asked in a suspicious tone. "Are you sure? I heard you were fired?" he stretched that last part doubting his assertion.

At this point, the waiter was quite agitated enough at the teen bell hopper's antics and snapped back. "Yes! I mean, yes, the restaurant burned down, and I lost my job for it. But this only forced me to finally realize that I have to leave Canterlot once and for all, and cease my crummy life!" He yelled at the uninvited bell hopper as he turned back his up, muzzle at his overstuffed briefcase before continuing. "I can now move to Ponyville and try to be a clown again!" Silver Platter cringed and slammed a hoof to his face at what he just said, realizing the consequences admitting anything about himself could only invite more of Smiles' unwanted attention.

And just he was dreading, Sunshine Smiles seemed to have grown even more excited from the personal admission, as he bounced around the studio apartment and exclaimed, "yeah! It's about time!?" he cried out, "Hey, I can help pack your bags for you! I do it all the time for all the fancy ponies at the hotel!" Before Silver Platter could say or do anything to object, the eccentric bell hopper skipped through the apartment grabbing random assortment of things from his shelves covers and drawers, like books, candlesticks, lamps, literally anything he can get his hooves on, even the kitchen sink, and shoving the random objects into suitcases that weren't previously there before .

"What are you doing! I didn't ask you to do anything!" Silver Platter shouted back in confusion at Sunshine Smiles and began to chase the overexcited stallion who was quite happy and giddy at performing his. He went about throwing the suitcases on his back and started to stack them on top of each other.

"Hey, put that down! Don't touch that! Hey, watch it that's fragile!" Silver Platter snapped and scolded at Sunshine Smiles, futilely still trying to catch and stop him, but he was unable to see that the bell hopper seemed to be a lot faster then he could hope for bouncing around like a rabbit on expresso. Silver Platter was quite confused and getting quite agitated, trying to stop the bell hopper from touching his things, with his bumbling hooves. And at the same time, he was also wondering where Sunshine Smiles got all those suitcases in the first place? It seemed like he was pulling them out of thin air.

After what seemed like forever, but was actually just a few minutes of running around his studio apartment the former waiter was heaving quite heavily, after trying to futilely to dissuade the teenager. At this point, He was now quite exhausted from chasing the bell hopper, the stallion pulled back his mane groaning in exasperation as he exclaimed, "I don't even know why you're doing this?! We have nothing in common and barely know each other! Seriously, what's wrong with you! I don't get why you're obsessed with me!" he cried out in despair, as he wanted nothing to do with that overly cheery orange concentration of mindless optimism, which he just somehow hated from him, that he couldn't explain why.

On those words, Sunshine Smiles suddenly stopped in his tracks as he pushed the suitcases in a corner and stacking them up on a trolley that also seemed to have come out of nowhere. The stallion gave uncharacteristic long exasperated sigh seeming to be reminiscing about something deep in thought, which didn't fit into Silver Platter's image of the spirited youth a split second ago. The eccentric bell hopper turned around to face the former waiter, with a solemn look, and shrugged as he responded, "I don't know! I just want you to be happy. You just seem so miserable, and I want to help you find yourself." His words were cheerful, but it was devoid of any of the expected joyful demeanor from him.

After this unexpected sudden change of mood in the room, Silver Platter seemingly at odds with himself eyed the annoying bell hopper unsure of his true intentions and why he suddenly became so melancholy all of a sudden and remembered his previous objection snapping back. "Seriously! I'm not going to have you come with me to Ponyville! I don't want to deal with you anymore, then I have to!" The stallion was seething and was getting stressed as he got dressed in another of his snazzy tuxedo and went about adjusting the bowtie and combed his mane back into their dignifying manner again.

Sunshine Smiles hopped over with a smile on his face, seemingly forgetting about his previous mood and exclaimed, "You can't stop me! I already asked for the full week off!" obviously unwilling to make Silver Platter life easy for him, seemingly making it his mission in life to annoy and pester the poor suffering stallion any chance he could.

The waiter was quite confused at the bell hopper's statement as he scratched the back of his neck with a hoof. "So...the hotel just let you have a week off without any notice?" Silver Platter asked incredulously, it wasn't like any employer would just allow an employee to take leave on the drop of a hat like this.

Sunshine laughed as he threw his bell hopper suit aside in one swift pull. "Nope, I lied! I actually quit my job! Now come on, we need to get going before we miss your train!" He said before his uniform landed perfectly folded in his own luggage. Silver Platter's eyes widened completely baffled at how Sunshine was able to do that. And in the haze of the constant confusion, he didn't think to ask why he quit his job, other than the express purpose of continuing to make his life miserable upbeat antics.

Silver Platter rolled his eyes and gave another deep, exasperated sigh seeing nothing he would say was going to change this childish pony's mind. The more mature stallion took the one suitcase he packed himself carried it off while he grumbled, "fine, then you can be my personal bell hopper until I become a clown again. Would you mind taking the rest of my luggage onto the train?" Sunshine Smiles might as well be useful if he was going to pester him the whole way, he thought pragmatically to himself.

The orange coated stallion squealed in delight as he took ahold of the trolly and started to push it out of the room as he exclaimed, "alright! But...how are you going to pay me if you don't have a job!?" The stallion snickered under his breath as what he said was clearly just a joke.

The former waiter rolled his eyes as he followed behind the former bell hopper and sighed, "I'll figure something out when we get to Ponyville." He then started to walk off grumbling to himself, and Sunshine Smiles, feeling a bit guilty bounced over next to his colleague and chirped, "that's alright, I was just joking."

The two walked through the streets of Canterlot and headed straight to the train station. The more mature stallion seemed to be lost in thought, looking around and seemed to be thinking about leaving Canterlot. He looked around at the nobles trotting around with their heads in the air and wearing their fancy clothes. The former waiter looked around, seeming to be in conflict with himself; his brain was telling him to stay in Canterlot and try to find another job. All the while, his heart was screaming at him to leave this stuffy city and become a clown again. He was so lost in thought he barely realized he was at the train station when he suddenly heard the engine burst out a loud whistle. He looked over to see Sunshine Smiles skipped off to with the rest of the cargo on the trolley and took it all to the back of the train. Silver Platter looked at the excited orange coated stallion who was bargaining with other train ponies in the back of the luggage car. He watched with an envious smile seeing how happy the stallion was joking with the ponies on the station. Silver Platter then slowly trotted onto the train and took his seat, adjusting his suit and trying to get comfortable. Not long afterward, the train started moving slowly as it pushed itself down the tracks. He looked outside, watching the trees and houses blurring into each other as the train continued to chugging faster. Sunset Smiles bounced inside the train with that goofy smile printed on his face and plopped right across from Silver Platter, who tried to ignore him. The brooding stallion seemed to be going over things in his mind. Silver Platter was lost in his own mind feeling unsure of how things are going to turn out in Ponyville and about trying to change himself to a clown again. Lost in thought, the train continued onward as Sunshine began playing a game of some sort by staring out the window and shouting out, "I spy with my little eye something green!"

"Let me guess a tree or grass." Silver Platter snapped back as he was quite frustrated playing this stupid game.

The former bell hopper was bouncing in his seat as he exclaimed, "yeah, it's both! That was the twentieth time you got it right! How about we go again!"

Silver Platter slammed a hoof on his face and growled, "don't! just don't, I rather have my eyes gouged out then play this game again."

Sunshine continued to hound him seeming to not really care that Silver Platter was annoyed with him the entire time. Luckily for Silver Platter, the train eventually came to a stop at Ponyville were dozens of ponies started getting off the train. The two stallions went out into the dirt road that lead out into Ponyville, and his eyes went wide, seeing how different things were then at Ponyville. It was apparent to his unwanted refined taste that the ponies here were more uncouth walking about and talking and laughing. Ponies here seemed to be less stuck up more free to do as they please unbound by rules of high-class society. Silver Platter turned to see that Sunshine was now pushing the trolley full of his luggage, and he chirped, "so we heading out now!?"

Silver Platter fixed his suit and responded curtly. "Yes, we shall go out and find a mare named Rarity first. We need a place to stay, and she...well to put it simply she owes me." The stallion looked down and felt quite angry with his nostrils seething and trying to control himself as he was feeling quite upset and anxious, but he wanted to keep his composure as he tried to be as couth as possible. As for the reason of him being angry, it came from the fact that he was transformed into a waiter by a strange magic Rarity possessed over a month ago.

The two continued down the road with his single suitcase while Sunshine was lugging all the rest of his Silver Platter's luggage on a trolly huffing and wheezing with his face a bright red from the physical strain. They eventually made it to Carousel Boutique, and Sunshine was quite confused about why they were there and asked, "so...what, are we doing here again?"

"Like I said before, we need to talk to the mare that lives here." Silver Platter growled, feeling quite angry for having to come to the place where Rarity lived with her being the one who ruined his life.

The former waiter then fixed his bowtie before he stomped into the Boutique as Sunshine slowly followed behind him. With the ringing of the bell, they walked through the dress shop filled with fancy gowns and other quaint designs like suits, bridles, and shoes. The two eventually made it to the register to find an elegant white-coated mare with a purple color corkscrew mane named Rarity who was looking over with a bright smile seeing the fancy-looking stallion with his head stuck up in the air. The mare noticed him as he looked at what looked like a stallion from Canterlot immediately and came up to him in getting to asked, "how may I help you, darling? If I may ask, are you from Canterlot?"

Silver Platter fixed his bowtie again before he responded curtly, "yes, I am My name is Silver Platter, and you probably don't remember me, but we met before." He then gave a small bow and lowered his head in politeness.

"You do seem familiar...were you in Ponyville a few months ago?" Rarity asked suspiciously, looked the stallion over tapping a hoof to her chin, trying to see if she could recall where she met this stallion before.

Sunshine Smiles snickered as Silver Platter was still quite angry at this mare he also still need to keep his composure and fixed his suit before he growled, "I'm here to tell you that you ruined my life, and made me a miserable waiter, I spent the last month thinking nothing about how to get back at you!"

Rarity gulped, feeling a bit nervous now and whispered, "w...a.what darling? I'm sorry that happened to you, but...but I still don't remember you?" This made Silver Plater snort in frustration as he clopped his hooves on the ground feeling outraged that Rarity still couldn't recall what she did to him.

She turned to the orange coated bell hopper standing next to Silver Platter and asked, "don't tell me we met before as well?"

The former bell hopper blushed and shook his head, taking out a hoof and exclaimed, "no, my name is Sunshine Smiles, and I'm Silver Platter's assistant!" This made the former waiter roll his eyes at the notion of Sunshine being his assistant.

Rarity blushed, seeing a lot of Pinkie Pie in this stallion and shook his hoof as she replied, "well, it's nice to meet you, darling." Sunshine held onto her hoof and continued to shake it for some time, then they got into a conversation about hotel standards. Silver Platter's eye twitched, seeing this mare didn't remember anything about what happened when she made him this way along with Sunshine Smiles being annoying again. Being quite angry and enraged, he needed to do something to alleviate his anger. He walked over to the back of the shop to Rarity's kitchen. Both Sunshine and Rarity were quite confused and followed the waiter as he opened the fridge and began pulling out bread, cheese, lettuce tomatoes, and a basketful of daisies. The mare was quite stunned and asked, "I..I don't mean to be rude darling, but what in Equestria are you doing with my pantry!?"

The stallion went about pulling out a long knife and went about cutting up the lettuce and tomato into slices as he went about trying to alleviate his frustration, so he didn't lash out. After going about finishing cutting up the produce as he snapped, "Now what do you want on your sandwich?"

Rarity, who was quite confused, asked, "w...well, I guess a daisy sandwich does sound delicious as I'm quite famished from all the work I did."

Sunshine raised a hoof like a foal as he bounced around and shouted, "can I have one! I want one with lots of daisies, please!"

The former waiter gave a small nod concentrating on his work fixing the sandwiches by cutting off the crust of the bread and light placing mustard on both sandwiches before taking out a kettle and placing it on the stove as he felt that a proper sandwich needed a nice hot beverage to go with it. Rarity blushed as she asked, "darling, you don't have to make tea. The sandwiches are quite enough."

"Yeah, seriously! This is a lot considering nopony asked you to do any of this." Sunshine added in as he scratched his head.

Silver Platter didn't seem to care waiting patiently for the pot to boil and poured three cups of tea. He then went to the table and grabbed a clean white table cloth and placed it over while lighting a candlestick in the middle of the table the last touch as he took out a record player and placed the needle on it, and classical music started to play throughout the kitchen. Rarity was stunned as he then took her by the hoof and lead her to the shop where he skimmed through the gowns and dresses. Rarity was confused and asked, "I have to ask why are you doing this? I mean, I'm flattered, but this is too much."

Silver Platter eye twitched and grumbled, "I'm not trying to be kind, I'm trying to calm myself by doing what I know best, which is being an expert in fine dining and you need to look more proper before you can eat. "

He went about taking out a fancy purple gown that shimmered and glistened. With lightning speed, the stallion then went about slipping the dress over her body without even the chance to react, which he hardly then went about fixing her mane brushing it and curling it around her face. Rarity was feeling both nervous and confused about this as she asked, "If you're so angry with me darling, why are you doing this?"

"I told you before this isn't for you. I'm trying to calm myself, so be patient and don't move." The stallion explained as he then went about applying eyeshadow under her eyes and slowly applied makeup on eyelids with a makeup brush. Silver Platter then went about applying a velvet colored lipstick to her lips and then finished the makeover by applying a light blush to her cheeks. The stallion stood back and responded in a calm demeanor. "It is done my lady."

Rarity looked at herself in the mirror and gasped in complete amazement. "How were you able to do this! I mean, have you done a mare's makeup before?"

"Yes, I have for dozens of mares who were in a rush and didn't have their makeup ready or aren't properly dressed." The former waiter responded curtly as he looked at the fashionista's reflection, making sure his makeover was perfect. He was still angry at the mare, but he would not let his personal issues override his professional demeanor and respect for a mare's looks.

Sunshine Smiles then came bounding into the shop, curious about what the other ponies were doing. But before he could do anything, Silver Platter was on top of him as he went about dressing Sunshine in a tuxedo, pulling up a nice set of black pants while fixing a white dress shirt around his chest and a black suit jacket. Sunshine blushed to feel uncomfortable as he was dressed up by the former waiter who chuckled, seeing this childish stallion finally looking proper for once as he chuckled, feeling like he got one over the annoying stallion. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist coming in to see what's going on, so I had a tuxedo prepared just for you."

The bell hopper smirked looking at himself in the mirror across the room and scoffed, "Well, I have to say I do look good in a tux."

"Yeah, but you would look better if you lost some weight. I would suggest you stop eating so many sweets and eat more greens." The more mature stallion snapped as he went about tying a black bow tie around his neck, then he began brushing and grooming the bell hopper's mane. He then escorted two to the table and sat her down first, then sat. Sunshine Smiles across from her. The former waiter then went about and placed the plates of sandwiches next to each of them. They began munching on their sandwiches as Rarity eyes went wide with disbelief at how good the sandwich tasted and exclaimed, "my goodness that..this is the best sandwich I've ever had!"

"It's like you got the best ratio of all these ingredients mingling in one!" Sunshine exclaimed as he was quite surprised at his own sandwich as well.

Silver Platter bowed and responded respectfully. "Thank you for the compliment now please enjoy your meal." He was starting to feel less frustrated and was seeming to calm down.

They went about eating their sandwiches and drinking their tea as Rarity asked, "so..your less angry now? But, I'm starting to think I do know you, were you ever actually a clown before darling?"

Silver Platter's eye twitched, feeling a new wave of anger take over as he slowly came up behind the mare, wanting to slam the table or scare her. But instead, the stallion started to massage the mare's back easing the pressure on her back and shoulders. She moaned and rubbed her body against his hooves, feeling so relaxed as he performed his relaxing massage hitting all the tension in the mare's back. No matter how frustrated Silver Platter felt, he somehow always ended up doing something that went along with fine dining and performing his duties as a butler or waiter. He simply gave a low grumble and muttered under his breath in a volatile tone. "I am trying to relieve pressure by performing my duties bestowed by my cutie mark as it's telling me to perform this procedure on you."

Rarity mpphed as she loved this odd pony who was clearly a butler of some kind who knew how to treat a mare. She flashed him a coy smile and cooed, "honestly darling, how can I repay you for giving me this lovely lunch and relaxing massage?" Her body was now so relaxed as it melted in Silver Platter's hooves as she seemed to be in such a good mood. The former waiter stopped the message and went about taking her hooves dainty and began to manicure them. "I was once a party clown named Button Nose, and you turned me into this a month ago when you were possessed by some dark magic. I need a place to stay while I'm getting help from Pinkie Pie to be turned back into a party clown."

Rarity felt a little guilty for his supposed grievances against her and despite not remembering this pony. The fashionista remembered what she almost did being possessed, and it wasn't out of the question she was responsible for changing the fate of this stallion. She then bowed her head and responded in an apologetic tone. "well, I do apologize for what happened to you. I feel obligated to accommodate you while you stay in Ponyville, but you don't have to work for me, darling."

"No, I have to work for you, I can't just live here without paying rent or working in some sort of capacity." The waiter snapped back as he was quite an adamant feeling that it was professional to not live off another pony's generosity and not pay them back.

Rarity slowly got up and looked at the stallion with a smile and cooed, "well, if you want to darling, you are quite the gentle pony, and I would love to have you stay around." She eyed him seeing how respectful and handsome he looked the mare was hoping they could go out on a few dates before he left.

The former waiter bowed and replied, "Thank you, I appreciate your generosity for letting me stay here."

She flashed her long eyelashes at Silver Platter and cooed, "Well, I am the element of generosity after all."

"I'm assuming you're staying here as well?"

The fashionista asked and then turned her attention to Sunshine Smiles with a smile who was busy munching away on his sandwich.

She was hoping this bell hopper would stay seeing he was also kind of cute, and she wouldn't mind trying to date him as well.

Sunshine Smiles hopped over as he took out a hoof. "If that's ok? I lost my job in Canterlot too."

Rarity waved a hoof and gave a playful response. "Of course, darling, now come along. You two can have the spare bedroom upstairs."

Sunshine Smiles picked up all of Silver Platter's luggage and started to carry it all up the stairs with a big smile on his face, seeing it as an opportunity to show off his bell hopping skills. While Silver Platter himself begrudgingly followed behind seeing that Rarity and the bell hopper engaging in more lighthearted banter laughing at a joke.

They all went up the steps, and they came into Rarity's spare bedroom. The room was quite simple without many trappings, but Sunshine Smiles was already hopping about unpacking the suitcases and throwing things left and right, lamps, books, candlesticks. Rarity and Silver Platter watched astonished at Sunshine Smiles's work seems to be taking all kinds of objects that couldn't possibly fit-out of the suitcases and helped organize the room. It was now looking more furnished with a bookcase, a few candles, a throw rug in the middle of the room, and the spare closet in the bedroom was now filled with his suits. Raised his hooves and exclaimed," there all unpacked! Told you it wouldn't take that long!"

Silver Platter was a bit concerned, seeing that the room was nice. However, there was only one bed as he asked, "I'm sorry, miss Rarity, I don't mean to be rude but is this the only room available? As nice as this, I rather not sleep in the same room with another stallion; it is rather inappropriate seeing were both adults. Also, even though I don't see anything wrong with it, I am not a homosexual."

"I'm so sorry darling, this is the only spare room I have." Rarity apologized and bowed her head a little, feeling a bit uncomfortable about how straightforward this butler-like stallion was being.

Silver Platter groaned as Sunshine squealed, clapping his hooves together. "Oh yeah, it's gonna be like a sleepover!"

Silver Platter shook his head, rubbing his hoof down his face feeling agitated again and grumbled, "It looks like I don't have a choice; at least the room looks nice. Now I need to get going and introduce myself to Pinkie Pie and seeing she can turn me back into a clown."

"Oh, can I come along! Please! I always wanted to meet Pinkie Pie!" Sunshine exclaimed excitedly as he bounced over.

The former waiter waved a hoof and grumbled, "Alright, come on, then I doubt there's anything I can say or do that'll make you change your mind seeing how you love to follow me ever.

Silver Platter turned his attention to Rarity and gave a bow as he replied, "we shall be back within the hour."

Rarity blushed, seeing how serious this waiter was being and replied in a relaxing tone. "Of course, darling, take your time. You're not on the clock."

The stallion gave a bow before strolling out of the room with Sunshine skipping off alongside him. Rarity looked behind her and felt terrible for the stallion seeing it was her fault he was in this predicament, but she also saw how sexy that stallion looked with his rump swaying from side to side. Rarity couldn't help but watch with a coy smile. "Even if he can't become a clown again he's quite the catch just as he is right now."