Marshmallow Fillying

“I am sorry sir, but there seem to be no rooms left,” the hotel manager explained.

Joe was not very pleased about this. After seeing poor little Sweetie Belle break into tears for not being ‘creatively gifted’, walking aimlessly through Ponyville for almost an hour for a hotel, and receiving this news on arrival, he found it very hard to keep his composure.
“What do you mean there are no more rooms? What about all those keys behind you? Almost all of the rooms have a key to them,” Joe said while pointing to the wall of keys behind the manager.

“Ha! Not quite, those are for decoration,” said the manager stallion in a condescending tone.

“Oh, well, usually in Canterlot, hotels use real keys as their keys. I guess I don’t quite understand how things work around here…”
“Wait, Canterlot? No wonder you act like big shot, thinking like you run everything and demanding a room. Why can’t you Canterlot folk just take ‘No’ for an answer?!”
Joe was shocked and taken back by the manager’s interruption. The smug look on the stallion’s face made Joe just wanted to destroy him. But what would that accomplish? Would that change the image of a “Big-Shot” Canterlot pony? Plus… what would Sweetie Belle think? As furious as Joe was, he took a step back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breathe.

“… I am sorry to have bothered you. I hope you have a good night,” Joe said with a nice smile.

The manager pony didn’t say anything for about a minute, until finally coming out from behind the counter. He got very close to Joe, gave Joe the same smile as he received. Joe felt he had settled the argument, but unfortunately, all he felt was a face full of spit. The spit covered his eyes and slowly dripped down his face and muzzle. In response, Joe took out a handkerchief out of his poscket to whip his face. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with the irate expression of the stallion.

“Now, get out.”
Joe did as he was told without making a scene. At this point, words could not describe how enraged he was. All he wanted to do was show that stupid stallion a piece of his mind. He knew he could have taught that scrawny, poor-excuse of a manager a valuable lesson about making fun of somepony twice his size. But as angry as Joe thought he was, he somehow felt at ease. It felt good that he was mature and kept his control through that confrontation.
I wish she could have seen me back there…She would have been so proud of me…
But as the thought passed through his head, a high pitched squeak of a voice came from behind him.

“Hiya Joe!”

Sweetie Belle’s cheerful voice cracking made Joe’s heart skip a beat. He turned and waved excitedly to her, before trotting towards her.

“Sweetie Belle! I’m sorry about what happened at your sister’s boutique,” Joe said.

Sweetie Belle’s cheerful mood dimmed down a bit on the reminder of the event. “It’s okay. Rarity is just really mad lately. She hasn’t had a costumer go to her boutique in almost five months. That’s like forever!”
Joe laughed at the little filly’s statement. “ Well, she is lucky to have a funny, little sister to cheer her up.”

“Well… I just don’t know,” said Sweetie Belle with a more depressed tone. “Everything I do is wrong to her. It’s like I’m just a stupid idiot to her! I try my best, I really do! I just want to be like her one day, but she is always such a meanie face.”
“Hey now, don’t say that,” Joe said as he put a hoof around the soft little unicorn. “I bet she is always happy to see you whenever you come and visit her. Rarity just seems stressed from underworking and even though it isn’t fair that she is taking out on you, she needs somepony to keep her from losing it. She does it because she loves you.”

“What if she is just doing it to be mean and no pony wants me around?” Sweetie asked as she looked at the ground, trying to cover up her sadness.

Joe took the hoof that was behind her and put it under her chin. “Hey…” He said as he gently pushed up Sweetie’s head to look at him.”… You are the most caring, most nice, and most adorable filly I have ever met. I know Rarity and other ponies just love you, and whoever doesn’t is crazy.”

Just then, Sweeties pupils grew as big as a full moon and as glassy as a class of wine. Her emerald eyes glowed into the now setting sun. Her smile grew very large. Her teeth beveled from the sunlight and her cheeks blushing and becoming as rosy as a flower. The face she made made Joe’s heart explode.

Suddenly, Joe felt the little filly jump up and embrace him. Her soft coat against his was so warm. Her soft make tickled his chin as she nestled her head into him. All around, it felt like she was being hugged by a giant marshmallow.
“Thank you Joe. You are the bestest grown-up friend I have ever had,” Sweetie declared as her embrace became a bit tighter.
Joe returned with favor and hugged the white filly. “Hehe, thank you too. You are the best filly friend I have ever had.”
As soon as he said that, the marshmallow filly stretched up, and gave Joe a firm kiss on the cheek. Her face was bright red once the action was completed. She kept giggling like a school filly with a secret.

Joe, on the other hand, stood there silently. A gawked look laid upon his face as his cheeks grew as red as Sweetie’s cheeks. After about a few minutes, Joe gave a big smile to Sweetie and gave a simple “thank you.”

Both unicorns stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. It felt as if they were the only ponies in the world; no ponies, no animals, no dragons, just a tiny filly and a broad stallion. They both could have stood there all night and all day for the rest of their lives.
“Hey Joe, I have to go to the train. Rarity said she wants you to go back to the boutique if you can’t find a room in the hotel,” Sweetie Belle said to break the romantic silence.
On the thought of the hotel, Joe remembered about the rude manager pony inside, which forced him to realize that there are other ponies in Equestria. “Alright, thank you again Sweetie Belle!”
“You’re welcome! I’ll come visit tomorrow after school to see how your doughnut stand is doing!” Sweetie Belle said enthusiastically as she started to skip away. “Bye-Bye!”

“See ya tomorrow Sweetie, “ Joe said to Sweetie!
See you tomorrow… Sweetie.