Second Chances II: Love and Courage

Second Chances II: Love and Courage
By Hero541
Chapter 10: Houston…

Josh and Sweetie Belle sat in Sugarcube Corner, their lunch now finished and listening to Pinkie Pie talk. He knew Rarity would kill him for it later, but he’d decided to spoil the little filly and get her a nice big ice cream cone. She sat there, ice cream all over her muzzle and a huge smile on her face. Pinkie was ranting on about a recent trip she’d taken to the spa with Fluttershy in Rarity’s absence.

“So, then, they asked me why I’d eaten the mud mask they’d put on my face.” she said, rolling her eyes a little, “I told them that it smelled a lot like the cake batter we use here at the shop.”

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess it didn’t taste like cake batter though.” said Josh, noticing that the filly had finished her ice cream and grabbing some napkins from nearby to attempt to clean the remnants off Sweetie Belle’s face.

“It didn’t.” said Pinkie simply, a dreamy expression crossing her face, “But, I just used my imagination to make it taste like cake batter! It was delicious!”

Sweetie Belle, who had begun to squirm as Josh attempted to clean her face, stopped her movements and just stared blankly at the pink party pony. Josh himself had also stopped what he was doing and did the same towards Pinkie who had a huge smile on her pink face.

“I’d love to live in your head for about ten minutes, Pinks.” he said, continuing his previous efforts to clean the filly.

“I have a lot of fun.” replied Pinkie, beaming at Josh and Sweetie Belle once more.

“I’ll bet.”

Mrs. Cake came trotting out of the back of the store, a tray of cupcakes balanced on her tail. She smiled at Josh and Sweetie as they came into her field of vision.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, holding back a chuckle as Josh continued to attempt to clean Sweetie Belle’s muzzle.

“I think we’re good… For God’s sake, Sweets!” he said, struggling to contain the squirming filly, “I’ve gotta clean off your face! If your sister comes back and sees you with ice cream all over, she’s gonna murder me.”

Sweetie continued to shift and squirm as Josh tried to clean her off still. The human was becoming more and more frustrated with the filly, but he knew how to make her cooperate.

“If I don’t clean off your face, we can’t go to the park and play.” he said.

Sweetie turned to him, her eyes wide and fearful. Josh smiled as she suddenly stopped squirming and allowed him to finish cleaning her off.

“… There!” he said, leaning back and examining her once again pure white muzzle, “All clean. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Sweetie shook her head and jumped down from her chair, turning to look back at Josh.

“Can we go to the park now?” she asked excitedly, beginning to jump up and down.

“Sure thing.” said Josh, rising and making for the door, “Thanks for the food, guys. It was really great!”

“No problem, deary.” said Mrs. Cake, waving to the two as they exited the shop, “Have a great day!”

“See you later, Joshie!” exclaimed Pinkie, waving ecstatically at Josh as he headed out the door.

As Josh and Sweetie made their way through town, ponies here and there would wave to them, all smiling warmly. Josh returned each gesture with one of his own, always happy to see a few smiling faces wherever he went. In no time at all, he and Sweetie had arrived at the school playground where a few other foals were playing with their parents or siblings. Josh even saw Derpy Hooves and her absolutely adorable daughter, Dinky, playing tag nearby.

“Come on, Joshie!” called Sweetie Belle, rushing onto the swings and waiting for a push, “I wanna swing first."

Josh happily complied, taking his place behind the little filly on the swing. He began to push her, sending her higher and higher with each small shove. Soon, she was giggling loudly as she ascended to the highest point possible on the tiny swing set. After a few minutes of this, Sweetie jumped down from the swings and headed towards the slide. She slid down a few times, Josh waiting at the bottom to catch her each time and raising her high into the air every time she returned to his embrace.

After that, they headed to the field and joined Derpy and Dinky’s game of tag. Both fillies giggled uncontrollably every time Josh would chase after them. The human himself was having an unbelievably fun time playing around with these two little ponies. He’d not felt this free since he was a kid their ages. However, he soon got tired and walked over to the nearby bench that Derpy had begun to occupy once Josh had arrived.

“These kids will wear you out pretty quick, huh?” asked the wall-eyed pegasus, watching as her daughter and Sweetie Belle continued to play around some more.

“Yeah…” said Josh, panting a little as he did the same as the pegasus, “They certainly do make life… a lot better though.”

“Every day with my little muffin is always a blessing.” replied the gray mare, a huge smile on her face, “And I’m sure you think the same about little Sweetie Belle there.”

“I love Sweets like she was my own.” said Josh, a wide smile spreading across his face as he heard the filly giggle loudly once more.

“Are you gonna have one of your own?” asked Derpy, turning to look at Josh with her good eye.

“We’ve… thought about it.”

“Well, I’m sure you’d make an excellent father.” said Derpy, her smile now directed at Josh, “If you’re so great at making Sweetie Belle there happy, I could only imagine how well a child of your own would be taken care of.”

Josh said nothing to this, instead choosing to look to Derpy and return her smile. As he did so, he felt a slight tug on his pant leg and looked down.

“Excuse me, sir…” said a little tan and brown speckled colt, “I saw you and Sweetie Belle and Dinky playing over here…”

“Hey there, Pip.” said Josh, reaching down and ruffling the little colt’s mane a little, “Yeah, we were playing over here. You wanna play with them too?”

Pipsqueak just nodded, looking to the ground more than at Josh. The human smiled and stood up before reaching down and picking up the colt much like he would Sweetie Belle.

“Sure,” he replied, smiling down at Pip in his arms, “you’re more than welcome to play with us as much as you want.”

Pip smiled wide as Josh placed the colt up on his back, allowing his back legs to dangle over the human’s shoulders. Josh waved back to Derpy and made his way over to Dinky and Sweetie. Together, the three ponies and human played some more, each one having an unbelievable amount of fun. Josh laughed and enjoyed himself immensely with the three young ponies. He had just gotten on his hands and knees and allowed them to climb on his back when he heard a voice call across the park.

“Pipsqueak!” called a pink mare, rushing over to Josh and the three ponies. Her bright green mane fluttered wildly behind her and she looked panicked as she approached the human and his companions.

“Hey there, Rose Blossom.” said Josh, smiling widely as the mare reached them.

Rose Blossom didn’t reply to Josh, instead looking to her colt with panic in her eyes.

“It’s time to go, Pip.” she said, reaching up to Josh’s back and grabbing her son by the scruff of his neck with her teeth.

“But mom!” he protested as she set him back on the ground, “We were having so much fun!”

Rose Blossom turned Pip around and pushed his little rump along.

“I know you were having fun.” she replied sternly, glancing back over her shoulder at Josh, “However, there’s no need to associate with somepony like that.”

Josh was taken aback by Rose Blossom’s words. What the hell was that for? he thought, setting Sweetie and Dinky back on the ground. He rose and followed after the mare, a mixture of confusion and anger overtaking his mind.

“Rose Blossom,” he called, catching up to her and Pip, “why can’t Pip stay and play with us for awhile longer?”

At first, Rose Blossom ignored him, continuing to make her way through the park at a more frantic pace. Josh, now annoyed with the mare’s actions, had to fight the urge to yell at her.

“What did I ever do to you?” he asked, anger beginning to seep into his words.

Rose Blossom stopped her movements and turned to face the human, peering up into his face.

“It’s not what you’ve done,” she said, beginning to glare at the human, “it’s what you’re going to do. I don’t want my little Pip to get hurt by you.”

Josh had nothing to say to that. He simply stood and stared at Rose Blossom as she made her way out of the park. His mouth hung slightly agape, unable to believe what he’d just heard. How could she think I’d ever hurt Pip? he mused, her words echoing through his head.

“J-Joshie?” asked a small voice behind him.

Josh’s trance was broken and he turned to see Sweetie Belle standing behind him, her ears flat against her skull as he peered down at her.

“W-why did she say you were gonna hurt P-Pip?” she stammered, slowly inching forward, a look of fear and sadness overtaking her face.

Josh knelt down in front of Sweetie Belle, laying as close to the ground as he possibly could to seem less intimidating. He reached out a hand towards the filly, who looked at it cautiously. When Josh noticed this, his heart almost broke. Please don’t let Sweets be scared of me again he thought, feeling a wave of sadness overtake him.

“Sweetie…” he said softly, laying down on the grass in front of her and peering up into her watery jade eyes, “I… I don’t know why she said that…”

“Y-you’re not gonna hurt me, are you?”

At those words, the dam burst, and Josh began to cry. His favorite little filly, the one thing besides Vinyl that he loved most, was afraid he’d hurt her. He felt his heart shatter as she continued to stare at him and lay his head on the grass, unable to look at Sweetie Belle’s beautiful face. As he did so, he felt her tiny hooves wrap around his arm and squeeze tightly.

“D-don’t cry, Joshie.” said the filly through her own tears, “I-I didn’t m-mean to make you s-sad. P-please don’t cry…”

Josh looked up to her and saw her bury her little face in his shoulder. Slowly, he scooped up the tiny pony and began to rock her gently as she cried with him.

“Sweetie Belle,” said Josh, staring through his blurry vision to the little filly in his arms, “I love you so much. I’d never hurt you.”

Sweetie wiped her beautiful eyes with a little marshmallow hoof and looked up to Josh once more.

“I l-love you too.” she replied, reaching up and wrapping her forelegs around his neck.

Josh allowed her to cry into his own shoulder for a few minutes. Rose Blossom was long gone by now, and so were Derpy and Dinky. As Josh sat there, holding Sweetie close and rubbing her little white back, he began to wonder what had come over Rose Blossom to make her act like that. She’d always been so loving towards him, even helping him set up some dates for he and Vinyl. What makes her think I’m dangerous all of a sudden? he thought, feeling a nagging thought in the back of his head as to who might be responsible for this.