Author's Note

Now only one month... (plus a few days) Still more, than my intention but at least stopped the exponential time difference raising between the chapters...

To be honest, I never thought, I'd manage to get it even close to 5000 words because this was a chapter, I had absolutely no idea what to do with but somehow I've managed to bullshit a few things together.

Also, I had no idea for a title so yeah... sorry about that, I try to come up with something better next time.

As always, enjoy!

10. Keeping secrets

The sound of an opening door made Lacy release a relieved sigh.

In the last few hours, he was foalsitting Amber Glow, the little unicorn baby, the daughter of Perfect Mane and Tricky Move. He only saw them a few times but the foal always enjoyed pestering the human either by playing with his hair, made him lift her, or trying to nibble his clothes.

Her mother came one day to the library since he knew that Lacy was living there and asked him if he could watch Amber because his husband had to work and he got a letter from her parents who were living in a nearby town, asking her to come and help them in something. That meant that her daughter would be alone for hours which in her age would be unacceptable so they needed to find a foalsitter. That's when they remembered, that there is a strange-looking creature in Ponyville who is adored by their daughter and would probably accept their request.

Lacy did accept and though he'd do it again, he had to admit that watching over a unicorn foal could be difficult and different from a human of the same age. Lucky for him Amber is over the magical surges, most unicorns have after born but as long as they don't learn control, it could be unpredictable.

Fortunately, there wasn't any problem, which Lacy couldn't handle. The most difficult task was the diaper change, which took Lacy almost half an hour, though most of this time he tried to clean Amber's fur. Besides that, she had a snack and played a lot. One toy could hardly last over a few minutes as Amber got bored of it quickly. Lacy couldn't even finish one baby book as around halfway Amber brought him another.

"I'm home!" came a voice as the door opened. Amber immediately run towards her arriving mother who embraced the little foal. Lacy got up as well and waited patiently for the mare. After a few seconds, the mother released her daughter who ran back into the living room to find something to play with. It wasn't hard, toys were everywhere.

"Hello, Mane!" Lacy welcomed her.

"Hi, Lacy! I hope there weren't any problems."

"Nothing, I couldn't solve."

"Glad to hear it." she trots near her daughter and kisses her on her head before turning back to the man. "you said that I don't have to pay you but at least allow me to give you a free manecut." with her magic she moves a stool to the bathroom then invites Lacy to follow her.

Lacy wanted to decline at first but he had to admit that over the weeks, he's been here, his hair grown too long, not to mention the beard situation. He usually kept it short but he could only do that with a beard trimmer, if he'd have to use scissors, he wouldn't be able to get both sides even close to even with each other. So yeah, his beard was getting too big for his taste.

The man sat on the stool which was too small for him to be comfortable but he'd bear it, shouldn't take too long.

"So, what do you have in mind?" asked Perfect Mane. Meanwhile, little Amber glow noticed that no one was there with her and went to find someone to play with but as soon as she noticed them, she decided to watch them instead. Her mother grabbed her with her magic and levitated her on the bathroom cabinet so she could get a good view. "Remember Amber, only watching." the filly babbled something to her mother in response.

"Just keep it almost shoulder-length, also if you could trim my beard short, I'd be very glad," Lacy told her while reaching out to pet the little filly.

"So... How do you like it here so far?" started another conversation with the hairdresser.

"Strange place to be honest. So different from my world yet so many things are familiar. Species who only exist in mythology in my world, magic, the damn sun, and the moon are controlled here. I didn't want to believe it at first but since it was recorded in history that not so long ago when that Nightmare Moon returned, the sun did not raise just after she was defeated. It's all crazy for me. And immortal rulers? My brain tells me to be wary of them, be afraid, and yet, when I met Princess Celestia, I couldn't imagine her being a tyrant, or even someone, who'd do anything bad just because she gains something from it."

"I can't imagine how hard must it be for you."

"You know, the worst part is how different am I since I appeared here. I wasn't so talkative, or even friendly with strangers in my world but here... I even talking to you about it, when I'm usually trying to relax while at a barbershop."

"I guess we became friends quickly."

"I guess... I mean some kind of trust formed if you asked me to babysit your daughter. I don't even understand why aren't you ponies freaking out... I mean, I'm glad, that you don't and somehow I'm not, which is another mystery for me to solve... Maybe with you, it's something about many sentient species, or I don't know. I asked Twilight about it and she told me about that zebra and a lesson for the whole town but it is different in my case."

"I don't think, that your case is different. I remember what happened with Zecora and you are in a similar position, I mean that part of coming from a faraway land."

Lacy only shrugged and didn't continue talking. Soon the mare finished and after Lacy thanked her for the haircut, said goodbye to both her and Amber, and joked the arriving Tricky Move about her wife cheating him with a creature from another world, and luckily the stallion got the joke.

"Hey, Lacy!" Twilight welcomed the arriving human. "How was foalsitting?" She had to wait for him to answer a little, till he went to the couch and sat down.

"It isn't that different from watching over a human baby. Though I had a little more trouble because of her magic I'm in one piece."

"That reminds me..." Twilight got a notebook and a quill. "I think today we should talk about how human behavior and intelligence develop from birth to adulthood."

Lacy sighed. These study sessions were planned by Twilight, so she could learn as much about humanity as Lacy could give her. The man went on with this because he owes a lot to her. She gives him food and shelter and though at first the human thought, that she only does this for the knowledge, over time as he got to know her better, he had to realize that even though, she wants to learn everything she can, she would help him out, no matter what. She never tried to blackmail, or threaten him. Though most of the time she doesn't seem to care anything other than the things she could learn, she still manages to see her friends and spend time with them. And he got a feeling, that she sees him just as much of her friend, like with the others.

And he sees her as a friend too. She's not only letting him stay with her and provides him food but helped him to find a way to earn money and also took time to teach him how things work here. Of course, it's a work in progress and there were arguments about certain things, but Lacy didn't have many options other than to accept what she said.

The next day Twilight offered Lacy to go with her to visit Rarity. Apparently, a pony named Photo Finish who is a famous fashion photographer came to the town and liked Rarity's hat so she wanted to do a few shots. She was impressed and she wanted to take more photos at the park this morning. Now it was afternoon and Lacy, Twilight and Spike were on their way to Carousel Boutique.

"Hiya, Twilight! Hiya Spike! Hiya Lacy!" they heard Pinkie Pie behind them, turning around, they saw the pink mare trotting happily towards them. "Are you going to see Rarity?" they nodded. "Me too!" she exclaimed louder than she should have. "You see, I was on my way to the library so we can go together, asking her how the photoshoot went but I just saw you all going somewhere and I know, that way is Rarity's boutique and now that we met here we can go together."

When they arrived, Rarity was nowhere to be found. Twilight told them, that she might be in her bedroom so they went up and found her inside the room, working with a black cloth.

"How did go? How did go?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically while jumping. Twilight, Spike, and Lacy were just smiling but it didn't last long.

"It didn't." Rarity put the black cape on her back. "Photo Finish wanted to work with Fluttershy, not me."

"Oh, Rarity. I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do?" Twilight asked.

"I just want to be alone right now," she answered while putting on the hood.

Lacy wasn't sure how to react, he heard that Rarity could be overdramatic from time to time but this was a different case. Since he couldn't help her, he decided to leave, however, the girls started to walk towards Rarity, probably trying to comfort her but were stopped by Spike.

"You heard her." the little dragon held up his claws and made them go backward out of the room. Lacy went with them. "She wants to be alone." however, Spike didn't follow the others, instead turned back to Rarity and wanted to go to her but Twilight grabbed his tail with her mouth and pulled him back. She and Pinkie gave him angry looks. "What? I didn't think she meant 'alone' alone." Spike explained.

"Believe me, Spike. It's better to leave her be now." Lacy told him, then all of them left the boutique.

"I can't believe it!" Twilight said as they all got back to the library, even Pinkie joined.

"Me neither. I could've stayed with her..." Spike murmured but got an annoyed look from Twilight.

"Is it really that big deal?" Lacy asked.

"Of course it is!" Pinkie yelled to him and brought her face really close to his. "It's her dream to be well known across Equestria and to be in the spotlight and to be a part of the elite. And we must help her any way we can because we're her friends. And that includes you too, mister. You are her friend, right?"

"I guess..." Lacy had enough of Pinkies constant siege on his private sphere and pushed her head away from his.

"That didn't sound convincing," Twilight said. "I thought, we talked about it. We see you as our friend. And even Princess Celestia asked you to make friends."

"I know, but it's not just like that. You cannot force others to become your friend. I mean, I kinda see you, Twilight, and Spike as friends but the others? I'm not so sure..."

"So you don't think of me as your friend?" Pinkie asked with teary eyes. "That cannot be! I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville and you live here too!" she lost it completely and began crying.

"Pinkie..." Lacy kneeled and put his hand on Pinkie's head, lightly petting her mane. "If it's that important, then I'll be your friend."

The pink mare immediately stopped and looked into his eyes.

"Really?" she asked. After his nod, she let out a cry, this time in joy, and hugged the human. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'll be your best friend! I'll even prepare another party for you!" she began bouncing around but suddenly stopped. "Wait! What about the others?"

"What about them?"

"Rarity is your friend, I know it! She did make your clothes." Pinkie argued.

"Yeah, that was really generous of her and I'm thankful. I guess, she's my friend too."

"Let's not forget about Rainbow Dash." Twilight joined. "I'm pretty sure, she thinks of you as a friend after you helped her out with those bullies in Cloudsdale though I'm still thinking that the method was too aggressive."

"You have a point," Lacy admitted.

"I'm not sure about Applejack and Fluttershy though." Twilight continued. "Applejack seemed to dislike you and I think Fluttershy just needs a little more time." then her eyes become bigger. "And what about those other ponies, you've met? Like Perfect Mane? She clearly sees you as one if she asked you to watch over her daughter."

"Alright, you win. So what about it?"

"I'm just saying, that you've made great progress," Twilight answered his question. Lacy just shrugged.

In the next two days, Lacy noticed that something changed in Ponyville. As he was walking on the streets, he couldn't help but notice that pictures of Fluttershy were everywhere. Shopkeepers advertised their products with her pictures, there was a stall selling magazines filled with photos of her and ponies could only talk about her.

Fucking herd mentality. No matter where you are, you'll find a trend blindly followed by many without thinking. Though Fluttershy's kinda cute... but most ponies are kinda cute.

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw the now-famous model pony running from a group of fans. Lacy just shook her head.

The worst nightmare of an introvert. R.I.P. her privacy...

Another day passed. Lacy was in the library, reading a book, finished all his chores. Spike was upstairs taking a nap. The little dragon was happy, that Lacy offered to help out in the library since he's living there as well and the two of them could easily finish everything much sooner and that meant more nap time for the dragon.

The door swung open and Twilight walked in. Lacy wondered when she'd come back. She went to the spa hours ago and was supposed to come back earlier than this.

"I'm back!" she said as walked to the man. "I need your advice," she told him. Lacy put down the book and looked at her.

"What happened?" he asked a little concerned after seeing her face. She looked stressed.

"Both Rarity and Fluttershy told me a secret and it's so hard not to tell the other."

"Um... Why is it so hard?" Lacy asked, not understanding the situation.

"Because if I'd tell them, then that'd solve their current problem," she answered.

"You mean, this modeling thing?"

"Yeah, that. I think I can tell you because they only asked me not to tell the other, so Rarity is jealous of Fluttershy and Fluttershy doesn't want to be a model."

"And what's the problem? Fluttershy can just say no, right?"

"She could but she won't because Rarity encouraging her to continue." Twilight let out a frustrated grunt. "I wanted to tell Fluttershy that what does Rarity really thinks but I can't because I promised Rarity, I'll keep it a secret. And if I break my promise, then I'll lose her trust, and losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend..."

"Forever!" Pinkie's jumped out from a bookcase suddenly, yelling.

"What the fuck?!" Lacy yelled while rolling down from the couch he was lying on. His left hand clutching on his chest. Even Twilight jumped a little. "Holy shit, Pinkie, where..." Lacy tried to look at her but she disappeared. "Huh?" He looked around but the pink pony was nowhere to be found. He shot a questioning look to Twilight but even she just shrugged.

Lacy took a few deep breaths and after he was sure that his heart rate went under two hundred, he sat back on the couch. Twilight sat next to him.

"I came up with an idea though," she said after a few seconds. "Tomorrow there will be another fashion show and if I manage to make Fluttershy look bad, then Photo Finish will let her go and all of this will end," she explained her simple plan.

"Wouldn't that just cause scandal? I mean, what if they'll still talk about her all the time just about what happened there."

"Don't worry about it. If Photo Finish thinks, that Fluttershy can't win the love of the crowd anymore, then she'll just leave and search for another model, and the fashion fans will follow her."

"If you say so..."

The next day Lacy went with Twilight to the Ponyville Community House. It was a building in the center of the town, which as the name implied was used for social activities. It didn't have a special style to stick out, like Rarity's boutique. The building had three main parts. The hall, the stage and auditorium, and the backstage.

Now they were heading to the backstage part to meet Fluttershy. There was a pony who was guarding the entrance of the dressing rooms, asking them, what are they doing here but after telling him that they're here to see Fluttershy and the pegasus told him to let them in, they were allowed to come inside.

"Hello, Fluttershy!" they both greeted the shy mare, who was already in the dress.

"Oh, hello Twilight, hello Lacy." she greeted as well. "What are you doing here?"

"I have an idea, how to solve your problem," Twilight answered.

"And I'm here for the show," Lacy added.

While Twilight told her the plan, Lacy was just sitting and listening. He didn't realize sooner, that a fashion show would be really boring for him. Soon a pony came informing Fluttershy, that it'll start soon, get ready. Twilight and Lacy went out to give Fluttershy a minute alone and were waiting for her behind the curtains.

"You really think it'll work?" asked Fluttershy, as she approached them.

"I'm not sure," Lacy told her but had to add something after getting a glare from Twilight. "But I'm no expert."

"They love you for being you." Twilight turned towards her friend. "So all I have to do is make you not be you. Just leave it to me."

The music started and it was time for Fluttershy to get off the stage and face the audience. Twilight and Lacy looked out, seeing many ponies, watching Fluttershy, completely oblivious to her stage fright.

As she began to walk forward, Twilight light up her horn, preparing for her part. Soon a violet aura appeared around Fluttershy, making her fall. The whole auditorium gasped and even the music stopped. Then Twilight started making her tripping, floating, falling, picking her nose, and gave out dog and donkey noises and other things.

Lacy couldn't help himself, he started giggling. It was too funny for him to contain it. He had to admit, this was the best fashion show, he ever saw, because of this, and because this was the first one.

Ponies started 'boo'-ing, and demand to get her off the stage. Meanwhile, Twilight canceled her spells and was waiting for what will happen next. She smiled at her success.

"See." she turned to Lacy. "I told you, it'll work."

"Bravo!" that's when they all heard a pony shouting and drumming with her front hooves, which was basically used as clapping here. Everyone began looking around searching for the source of praising.

"Bravo?" asked a mare. "Who could possibly say bravo to that horrid display?"

Soon they found out. It was Rarity. Twilight groaned in annoyance, but then her face quickly changed for a worried expression.

"Oh no! It could ruin her reputation! We have to stop her!" Twilight told Lacy.

"Why is she doing this?" the man asked.

"She doesn't want Fluttershy to think, that she's jealous of her and wants to support her to be famous." Twilight explained.

Lacy wanted to ask more, clearly not understanding this whole situation but they heard as the ponies began to praise Fluttershy again. Twilight just stared with an open mouth, unable to say anything. Meanwhile, Lacy lost it again and began laughing.

"Congrat, Twilight! You invented a new trend." That's all he managed to say.

Later in the dressing room, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Lacy were talking.

"This is awful!" Fluttershy said a little louder than usual she would talk but still had that sweetness in her voice. "Just awful! Somehow I've become more popular, than ever."

Every social media bitch wants to know your location...

Lacy just stood there, not talking much after Twilight got angry at him for not helping. The man just shrugged, saying, he doesn't know how to help, other than telling her the truth, but Twilight asked him, not to do.

"I'm so frustrated, I could just kick something!" Fluttershy readied her hind legs, then lightly kicked a vase, that barely moved a little. "If only Rarity didn't want me to be a model so badly!"

Twilight groaned.

"But Rarity..." she suddenly stopped herself by putting one of her hoof in her mouth.

Lacy was about to tell Fluttershy to get herself together and quit because he started to lose his patience in the matter. However before he could, the door swung open and Rarity walked in.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm great!" Fluttershy put on a fake happy face. "I'm a super famous fashion model. Why wouldn't I be great?" she said, not even trying to hide how she really feels about it. Apparently, Rarity was completely oblivious.

"Because you ha..." this time Twilight put both of her front hooves in her mouth.

"Oh for fuck sake!" Lacy yelled. "Just te..." suddenly Lacy felt something strange on his mouth, which immediately closed. He saw Twilight's horn glowing and put two plus two together fast. She just shut him up with her magic. The problem was that his lips were a little inward and Twilight really squeezed his mouth and soon felt his teeth cutting into his lips. He panicked and tried to force his mouth open with his hands. Luckily Twilight let him go. As he took his hands away, he saw a little blood on his fingers and also started to feel that there is liquid in his mouth which is not saliva. He shot a glare towards Twilight, then turned around, showing his back to the others.

"Out there on the runway everypony was turning on you and..." Rarity sighed. "Oh, Fluttershy. It's so awful. I wanted them to." she finally admitted.

"You did?" asked a surprised Fluttershy.

"Of course she did! Because...!" Twilight suddenly put the content of a full fruit basket in her mouth. The girls looked at her questioningly, while Lacy, who meanwhile turned back, just kept his glare but the others ignored him.

"I'm jealous! I wanted all the attention. And instead, it was going to you. I even started hoping that you would do something silly so your modeling career would be over. But then, when it started happening, all I could think was how could I want you to fail at something you love so much?" Rarity told her everything.

"But Fluttershy doesn't... ugh!" This time Twilight put his head into a potted plant. This made Lacy replace his angry face with a confused one.

"Love? Oh, Rarity. I hate being a model."

"You do?"

"More than anything."

"Then why did you keep doing that?"

"I was afraid if I quit, you'd be mad at me for not wanting to 'shine all over Equestria'."

"And I thought if I told you how jealous I was of your success, you'd think I was a terrible friend."

"Never!"

"All this time..."

"If we'd just told each other the truth."

"I promise never to keep my feelings in secret again."

"Me too."

Both did a pinkie promise.

As Lacy listened to them, he couldn't help but think back at the time, he didn't tell his mother the truth and it got so bad that their relationship is still bad, after years. Thoughts invaded his mind. Maybe he could've prevented the whole thing, just trying harder to persuade her. Or he could've told her the truth sooner and maybe the damage wouldn't be so severe. No matter how pointless to be in the 'what if?' zone, Lacy sometimes just couldn't escape from there.

"Spike has a crush on Rarity!" Lacy came back to reality by hearing Twilight's shouting. He shook his head and saw that Rarity and Fluttershy disappeared but there was a blue earth pony mare with white mane and tail and in mostly black and white clothing and pink sunglasses, just standing there, looking forward. While he observed her, he completely missed Pinkie Pie, who somehow appeared in a mirror, looking at Twilight, disappointed.

"Come on, Lacy, let's go!" Twilight waved the man to follow her, which he did. They met Rarity and Fluttershy outside, who invited them to the spa. Twilight accepted but Lacy turned down and decided to go back to the library. When he arrived, he noticed the absence of the dragon but didn't think much about it. He just began searching for a book to read.

Later, Twilight and Spike got back.

"Dear Princess Celestia." Lacy heard Twilight dictating the next friendship lesson. "Being a good friend means being able to keep a secret. But you should never be afraid to share your true feelings with a good friend." Spike then rolled up the message and sent it to the princess.

"You know Twilight." Lacy started instead of greeting. "You can still be a good friend if you can't keep a secret. Just they won't tell you any after some time."

"Very funny." Twilight stuck her tongue at him. "But maybe there is some truth behind it."

"I'm going to make dinner," Spike stated, then walked into the kitchen.

"Alright. Sorry again for telling your secret crush on Rarity." suddenly her eyes went wide, looking at Lacy, who looked back at her confused.

"Don't worry Twilight," Spike stopped and looked back at her. "He already knows it and kept it a secret." the little dragon then continued to the kitchen.

"He told you?" Twilight questioned Lacy, who only nodded. "When?"

"When we were on our way to save Rarity from those dogs," Lacy answered.

"Why would he tell you first? I mean, it's kind of obvious, you have to just look at him when he's in the same room with her but still..."

"He asked if I have a few tips for him."

"Few tips? Why would he ask you for advice?"

"That's a good question, especially after telling him, that none of my previous relationships lasted longer than a few months," Lacy told her, Twilight just gave him a surprised look. She forgot, that Lacy had girlfriends before. She then remembered, that it was mentioned before, when they all watched his memories of his last night on Earth.

"But he could've just asked one of us, or look after it in a book," Twilight spoke. Lacy started to feel a little offended, like it was such a bad thing, that Spike asked something from him first, which isn't connected to him being from another world.

"It's something, that a male can talk about with another male. It's not something, you can really get from a book. I think he just wanted another perspective from the same gender. He doesn't have many guy friends, right? He mostly hangs out with you, or stays in the library." Lacy explained.

"I guess, you have a point." Twilight let out a sigh. "And could you give him some pointers?"

"I didn't want to get his hopes up. There is a significant age difference, which wouldn't be a big problem in my opinion, if not for the fact, that Spike is a child and will be for years. Also, I don't know how accepted here the romance between different species."

"I'm not a pony who knows a lot about romance, but I do know, that it's completely accepted. If both creatures are sapient, then it's completely okay to be in a relationship or even get married. Though I'm sure, there are ponies, who would judge you for being together with a different species but I don't think they have a significant number."

"So completely tolerance in romance, with a little statistical error?" Lacy tried to summarize.

"I guess." Twilight nodded. "What about your world?" she asked, already having a quill and paper in her magic grip.

"I can't tell you a concrete answer, only speculations, because humans are the only sapient beings there. But I think people would be in four major groups in that matter. The biggest would be probably, those who would at first give them funny looks but soon learning to ignore it and continue living their life. They probably won't have any physical affection towards any other than a human but wouldn't judge those, who have. They're the neutral party. Then there would be those, who would hate the idea of even being friends with them, and would try to hurt you for being in love with another species. They're the haters, who just want reasons to lash out at somebody. Though they aren't the worst. The worst are those, who would try to force the haters to change their minds."

"Why are they worse?" Twilight asked, cutting into Lacy's speaking.

"Because they would completely ruin that person's reputation, which would affect him even if that hater later changes his or her mind. This group of people is the same as the haters just on the other side. And they are worse because they are acting like they're different from them. Fucking hypocrites." Lacy took a few breaths to calm himself and prevent a long ranting session. "Anyway, the last group would be those who would prefer to have an interspecies relationship over a same-species romance. Of course, there would be other types of people and this is completely my own opinion so don't see it as a fact. Plus this is something, that probably won't happen to humanity for a very long time if ever."

Before Twilight could've reacted to this, Spike yelled out that the dinner is ready. Lacy immediately got up and began walking to the kitchen, leaving Twilight, who stood there for a few seconds before joining them.