Why would she love a freak?
Anger. And sadness. These are the two emotions that Glistening Soaps was feeling right now. He laid in a puddle of soap as he cried, the memory of what happened a little earlier replaying through his mind.
Earlier…
Glistening was feeling happy, but also nervous. This was to be expected, since he was going to ask his crush out. He was feeling happy that he had finally gotten the courage to do this, since he had loved her for a while, but nervous because of the possibility that he could get rejected. Though, he had a good feeling she would feel the same way when he walked out the door of his house. But, as he got closer to her shop, he got more nervous. But, with his bouquet in his bag, he continued on.
As he walked to his crush’s flower stand, he took the time to think. He thought about how… amazing she was. She was just so nice, optimistic, caring, smart, beautiful, everything he could have wanted in a lover. Plus, she was one of the only ones that liked him, aside from Pinkie Pie, and Applejack maybe. Him and Applejack talked, but haven’t really hung out together. Not many ponies liked him because of what he was. Sure, he was an Earth pony, but his skin was replaced with soap (which is why he is called a “Soap Pony”). He was something Equestria had never seen before. Even though he was a regular pony, aside from his soapy skin, he is disliked amongst almost everypony in Ponyville. Luckily, Rose didn’t care about that, and became his friend.
Rose was a tan unicorn with a red mane and tail, has green eyes, and two roses for a cutie mark. She loves flowers, and has her own little shop where she sells flowers she grows herself.
As he was walking, he was lost in his thought, and didn’t notice when two pegasi flew above him with a bucket. One of them turned the bucket upside down, and let the water fall onto the soap pony. The water covered him, ruining his jacket and the flowers, and making him slippery and slick. The two ponies above laughed, and Glistening exclaimed, “Hey! Why did you do that?!”
“We just wanted to see if it was true that soap is slippery when it’s wet.” One of them said, then flying lower, and pushing Glistening to the ground.
The soap pony fell on his chest, and tried to get up. He fell back down the first time, because of his slippery hooves. The pegasi continued laughing as Glistening successfully got up on his second attempt. He had gotten his hooves wet and slippery before, many times, so he had an idea of what he was doing. “What did I do to you?” He asked.
“You came to Ponyville.” The second one retorted.
“You know… white is a pretty bland color. I say, we give the soap a new color.” The first one said.
“W-what do you mean?” Glistening asked, as he started backing away from them, a little anxious at what they were going to do. They grabbed some tomatoes, and the second one threw one at him. It hit Glistening’s jacket and stained it. “Hey! Stop!” He yelled.
They didn’t do that, but the opposite, and continued. Not wanting to be humiliated like this, he ran home for shelter to hide from these two. As he ran, he could feel what felt like one thousand pairs of eyes staring at him, and he thought he even heard laughs as he ran. He got in his house, and locked the doors and windows, and ran into his room. When he was in there, he looked at himself in the mirror. He was dripping soap, and was leaving soap on the floor where he stepped. His usually poofy mane was now flat, pointing down from being wet. His jacket and body were red from being pelted with tomatoes. The flowers he had gotten just for Rose were now ruined. He felt so bad for the ruined roses, and humiliated for how he looked. He didn’t know what to do. So, he did what his mind told him to do: he laid down on the floor, and let it all out.
Now…
He continued laying there and continued crying until he thought he heard something. He stopped crying and listened for a few moments. Silence. Until…
“Hello? Glistening?” Rose called out. Not from outside, but inside his house. This didn’t surprise him, as he had left a key in a certain spot, and let her know where it was in case she ever needed to come over.
“Rose? W-why are you here?” He stuttered. He hoped she wouldn’t come in, but part of him did hope so he would be able to see the one he loved again.
“Glistening, I came to see you. I saw what happened. Are you ok?” She asked from somewhere else in the house.
“N-not really.” He said. He then heard hoofsteps slowly getting louder until they stopped outside his bedroom door.
“May I come in?” The mare asked.
There was silence for a few moments until the soap pony inside the room finally said, “Sure.”
The unicorn walked in, and looked at the pony on the ground. “Oh, Glistening.” She said. She lied down next to him, and rubbed his back. “I’m sorry that they did that. I talked to them, and made it clear that they shouldn’t do that.”
“Th-thanks.” Glistening said.
Rose noticed the flowers that were in the bag. “Hey, what are the flowers for?”
“Oh, um… uh…”
“Yes?”
“It’s… it’s stupid…”
“No, no. You can tell me. I won’t make fun of you.” She soothed.
The Earth Pony sighed, and said, “...you.”
Rose was taken back by what he said. “What?”
“They were for you, Rose. I really like you, and have for a while now. You’re really amazing, and have everything I look for in a pony. I loved you for a while, and I would be so happy if you loved me back, but… I don’t know why you would. I’m just a freak that has soap instead of regular skin, and I’m not special… And…” He tried to continue, but then buried his face back in his arms so she wouldn't have to see him sobbing again.
Rose didn’t know what to say at first. The one pony she really cared about, the one she loved and cherished… loved her back. She was really excited, but decided to wait to show her excitement, since she felt if would have been rude because of how upset Glistening was. “Glistening, I… I love you too…”
Glistening looked up and at her. “Y-you do?”
“Mhm. Glisty, you’re such a sweet and amazing pony as well. You were always nice, even with all the hate you get. You’re just so nice, so caring, positive, all of it. And you aren’t a freak. You’re really special, having soap instead of regular skin. No matter what anypony says, I’ll never see you as a freak. I love you, Glisty… a lot…”
Glistening was speechless. He was actually loved! Not in the way his parents loved him, but romantically. Somepony loved him, and wanted to be with him, and cherish him! He was… ecstatic that somepony loved him back. So ecstatic in fact, he leapt towards Rose, pulled her in, and kissed her straight on the lips. He kissed her for a few seconds, but to him, he felt way longer than that. Rose was shocked. It was unexpected, she didn’t expect him to be so quick about it. Though, after a few seconds she kissed back. They continued the kiss for a few seconds, before Glistening pulled away. After he processed what he did, he freaked out a bit.
“Rose, I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to be so sudden! I d-don’t know what came over me!” He sputtered.
“Glisty, calm down. It’s alright.” She assured the soap pony.
“No, it isn’t! I should have asked if I could before I-”
“Glist, it’s alright! I promise! Listen, take some deep breaths. Like you tell me, in through the nose, and out through the mouth.” She said. He did that, and started to calm down. “Honestly, I’m not mad at you. I… liked it.” She blushed lightly.
“R-really?” He asked, blushing lightly as well.
“Mhm. Glisty, will you… go out with me, and be my colt-friend?” Rose asked.
“Y-yes, Rose. I would love to be your colt-friend.” Glistening replied. Rose smiled, and kissed him again, and Glistening kissed back. They kissed for longer than the first time, and both enjoyed every second. After a minute of kissing, they pulled away, but still stayed connected by a string of saliva.
“How about we get you dry so you aren’t dripping soap everywhere?” Rose suggested.
“Sure.” Glistening said. They went into the bathroom, Rose got a towel, and helped her new clot-friend dry off.
“Were you coming to my shop today to ask me to be your mare-friend?” Rose asked, and Glistening nodded. “Do you have anything special that you planned for the chance I said yes?”
“Mhm. I was going to take you out to eat, then I was thinking we could watch the sunset.” Glistening revealed.
“That sounds great.” When she finished helping him dry, she proposed, “How about we get started with your plans?”
“That sounds like a great idea.” The soap pony replied. The two walked to the front door, exited the house and closed the door behind them, and went out together on their first date.
