Chapters Lil Fabio - Hearts and Hooves day
The streets of Ponyville were abuzz with ponies traveling here are and there, all carrying large bags of chocolates and hearts, as Hearts and Hooves day was fast approaching and everypony wanted to do something special for that very special somepony in their life. This time of year was the busiest for mares like Bon-Bon who had her own candy shop in town, as everypony would come in at all hours of the day looking for some special candy or chocolate to give to the special somepony on Hearts and Hooves day, with all these customers she had barely had enough time to prepare something special for her special somepony Lyra...though there was one pony who had been coming into her shop buying candies far more than any other pony, and what was strange was that unlike the other ponies, he came in everyday of the year, not just when Hearts and Hooves day on somepony’s anniversary was coming up, and the strangest of all was that this pony was a young unicorn colt. Bon-Bon thought it was strange that one so young would already be looking for a special somepony as most foals she had seen around town, as well as the Cutie mark Crusaders, seemed to think that the opposite sex was, as they put it, ‘icky’. Yet this colt came into her shop at least once a day, and sometimes multiple times a day to buy chocolates and heart-shaped candies, saying they were for his future special somepony, yet every time he bought something it was for a different mare, and when asked about this he would always say the same thing…
“She thought I was joking…” he would say a dejected look on his face.
Bon-Bon understood why all these mares would think he was joking, because while he certainly had potential to be a very attractive stallion in the future, the fact that he was still a colt who acted like a full-grown stallion was just too adorable for anyone including Bon-Bon to take serious. He had the longest and most silky blond mane she had ever seen on anypony other than Celestia, and it was streaked with a butter yellow color much like Fluttershy’s coat, as it billowed around him like smoke and he had combed it so that it would cover one half of his face, adding to the mysterious quality his mane already gave through it’s billowy quality. His tail was shorter though it had the same silky and perfectly coiffed style as his mane did, as it fell elegantly behind him. He still had not found his cutie mark, though whenever he came to her store he would insist that his special talent would be something related to love and it would probably show up when he found that special somepony who wouldn’t turn him down…Bon-Bon thought this was sweet, but knew that he would probably have to wait until he was older to find that special somepony that would love him back.
This didn’t stop her from talking to him every time he came to buy chocolates for some new mare, and over time she began to find out more about him. His story was not a pleasant one, as she learned...he was an orphan, and his parents had abandoned him in an alley before even naming him, so she had taken to calling him Lil Fabio, after a model she had seen in one of Lyra’s books on humans that she was always going on about. When Bon-Bon told him about the name the next day, as well as where she got it from, he smiled and said “That’s perfect!”, explaining that having the name of such a famous guy would certainly improve his chances. When she found out the next day that he never had anywhere to sleep, as he did not have any house to live in, Bon-Bon offered her guest room to him, unable to stomach the thought of the poor colt all alone outside every night. He protested saying that he did not want to be a bother, though she insisted saying that with how much he came to her shop, he already essentially already lived here, this way he wouldn’t need to leave at the end of the day, and she would feel better about him having somewhere to stay. He offered to help out at the shop as a form of payment, though she said he could only help when he was older. He agreed, and has been living with her ever since.
This year, Hearts and Hooves day fast approaching, Lil Fabio entered her shop a he did everyday, after a long day of chasing after mares, though today he looked more downhearted than usual…
“Hey Fabio, you seem a bit more dejected than usual today, did something happen?” Bon-Bon inquired, wondering what could have made him this depressed
“Nothing different from any other day” he responded the glum evident in his voice “ just another day of everypony turning me down, because I’m so, to use their words ‘precious they could just eat me up.’ Why can’t anypony ever take me seriously!”
“Maybe it’s because you’re always going after older mares, why not try going after someone your own age?” she asked
“But girls my age are gross and icky!” he proclaimed
“Well what makes these girls you’re going after not ‘gross and icky’ as you say. They’re no different from the girls your age?” she explained trying to show him they only difference was their ages
“I...I don’t...I can’t...I just don’t know okay! They just are!” he shouted “I don’t feel the same way about girls my age…” his voice lowered. “I don’t know why they always laugh at me, I’ve tried everything, chocolates, candies, poems, love songs, and nothing ever works, they just laugh and tell me how adorable I am for trying…” He let out along sigh as he began walking to his room, intent on wallowing in self-pity
“I’m sorry you never have any luck, and I feel bad telling you this, but unless you try going after someone your own age, chances are they’re going to keep turning yo down…” She explained “the only time I’ve seen otherwise, was when Twilight used that crazy spell of hers and made the whole town, myself included, fall in love with this doll she had as a child” she began laughing as she talked “you should of seen it, we were all fighting over that doll like our lives depended on it.”
Upon hearing of this information, Lil Fabio began to think to himself, Geez, it would be nice to have mares chasing after me like that for once… Wait a minute, if I had that spell and someone to cast it on me, then I wouldn’t have to spend everyday chasing after girls, they would just come to me! as he trotted over to his room, he began to concoct a devious plan to get that spell and trick someone into using it on him, a devious smile beginning to grow upon his face.
“I hope you feel better!” Bon-Bon shouted from down the hall.
“Oh, don’t worry, I think my luck has just taken a turn for the better” he said as his devious smile grew ever larger.
Author's Note
This is my first attempt at any kind of romantic story, so when it comes up, please feel free to give any criticism you can think of. I hope you enjoy the story
Lil Fabio - Hearts and Hooves day
Lil Fabio spent the previous night planning how to get his hooves on this book and the spell contained within. The next morning, bright and early he ran out the door, saying a quick “See you later, have a pleasant day, bye!” as he ran, and was out the door before she could even respond.
He made his way over to Twilight’s, who lived at the Golden Oaks Library, which he had always found was ironic, having the towns library be a giant tree that was filled with books made of other trees...though he didn’t have time to ponder over the strange irony of the town library as he had a mission, and he was going to see it through. He knocked on the door, and waited a few moments, after which the door opened and there stood Spike, the unicorn librarians dragon assistant
“Hey Fabio, did you need a new book or something” the dragon inquired “Maybe something about how to find the perfect mare, or a book on romance?”
“Hello to you too Spike, though truth be told I was here to see Twilight and ask her about a very specific book I was looking for, is she home?” he asked
“Yeah, she’s upstairs studying some new book by order of the Princess, I’ll go get her.” He responded, making his way up the stairs. “Feel free to make yourself comfortable while you wait, sometimes it can take a bit to pull Twilight away from whatever book she’s in the middle of reading.
He made his way over to one of the shelves and began looking through the books on it to see if he could find the one he was looking for. As he looked through the shelves he found so many books both old and new, from adventure stories to histories of the world, yet he couldn’t find any that were related to romance. He decided to check other shelves elsewhere in the library, and eventually after hours of searching through dusty tomes in every corner of the library, he found the Romance section.
“How to deal with colt-cuddlers and filly-foolers in a modern Equestria , no that’s not it…1001 Great Date Ideas that’s not it either…Dating outside your species, and why you shouldn’t be ashamed , why I can’t I find it!” he shouted, only then remembering that Twilight had hidden the book, so it wouldn’t be just sitting on the shelves where anyone could take it. He slumped down on the ground next to the bookcase wondering how he would ever manage to find this book, given the fact that she had hidden it away she certainly wouldn’t give it to him to use, and with all these books here it would take days if not months to search through all of them, not including all the hiding places she could have created after living here for so long…
It was then that he saw a small twinkle of light of a crack in the book case he was sitting next to. He shifted his gaze back to where it was and noticed that back behind the books on the romance shelf, there was something that was reflecting a small ray of light from the window behind him. He moved the books that were in front of the reflective surface to check what it was, and discovered that there was a small gilded switch on the back of the shelf. He though this was strange, how could you have switch on the back of a shelf, there’s no space back there to have anything that would open up or slide out…? he thought to himself, yet as he pressed the button in the middle, a small indent in the bottom shelf popped open, revealing a small space inside of the back of the shelf, presumably for hiding things. His face cracked a smile when inside of the small hidey-hole he found the book he had been looking for this whole time…Dangerous Love Spells, and why You Shouldn’t be Casting Them, you shouldn’t even be looking at this book, go away! …the title seemed to go on past that part, but he had seen all he needed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get the book out of here as by now Spike and Twilight would probably be looking for him, so he put the book back in it’s hole, and reset the switch, but made sure to unlock the window behind him, resolving to come back in the dead of night to get the book when no one was looking. With the book re-hidden and the window unlocked, he went back to the main room, where Twilight and Spike were there with inquisitive looks on there faces.
“Where were you!?” Twilight asked “we were looking all over but we couldn’t find you anywhere…”
“Yeah man, I said make yourself comfortable, not search the entire library for the one best spot to best lost!” Spike continued where Twilight left off
“Oh, sorry about that” he said putting on his best mock smile. “I was looking for the bathroom and must have gotten lost…heh.” he began laughing as an attempt to cover up what he had really been doing. It worked like a charm.
“Well, you’re here now, and that’s what’s important I guess…” Twilight gave in, not wanting to continue arguing with a child over something so trivial. “So, Spike told me you wanted to talk to me about a specific book that you wanted, which one was it?” She asked, remembering the reason Spike had pulled her away from her current research.
“Oh, it was, let me see if I can remember the title, it had something to do with romance…” He began, realizing he didn’t have an actual book prepared to ask about.
“Knowing you, it was probably Equestria’s 101 Best Pickup Lines” Spike said with a smile on his face
“Now Spike, that’s not very nice to say to our guest!” Twilight seemed angry as she said this, disappointed in her assistant for making such a generalization. He didn’t want Spike to get into trouble because of him, os he figured he would agree, just to keep him out of trouble.
“No, he’s right Twilight, that’s exactly the book I was looking for! I must have told Spike when he opened the door and just forgot about it” Lil Fabio exclaimed. Twilight turned around and began looking for the book, though he could have sworn he heard her sigh, and mutter “oh, of course he did…” he took this time to wink at Spike, as if to tell the young dragon ‘you owe me one’ to which he saw Spike respond with a wink of ‘thanks for the save bro’
Twilight had returned from the room where he had found the romance shelves, and gave him the book Spike had mentioned. “Here you go Equestria’s 101 Best Pickup Lines though I’m not sure why you would need this. Anyway I’ve already filled out all the paperwork for checking out the book, just sign here and make sure to have it back sometime in the next 2 weeks, okay?” she asked, making sure he knew the rules of the library’s check out system as he did not come here often.
“Sure thing Twilight, and thanks for the book, this should definitely help me out with my plans!” He exclaimed as he ran out the door book in hand. He went back to Bon-Bon’s shop and left the book in his room. Now all that was left before he could put his plan into motion was waiting until nighttime when he could go back to Twilight’s under the cover of dark to retrieve the book and finally get his hooves on that ‘Want it, Need it’ spell that would make everypony love him…
It was nearly midnight when Lil Fabio awoke from his slumber, ready to enact his master plan to get the love spells book from Twilight’s library. He grabbed a black suit he had prepared for the occasion; which had been given to him by Pinkie Pie, when he told her he was attempting to get a cutie mark in spying, she also offered him a pair of night vision goggles but he refused; he also grabbed his saddlebags, as he would need something to put the book in once he got it. He snuck out of his room, and down the hall, careful not to make any noise as he passed by Bon-Bon’s room lest he wake her up and have her question his midnight sojourn. He made his way towards the door and exited to the streets of Ponyville. He knew that there wouldn’t be anypony walking around since it was nighttime, though he had not truly realized what that meant until he saw, for the first time, the streets of Ponyville, completely devoid of any traces of life. It was almost haunting, how empty the streets were, as if he were the last pony in an empty world. He put these thoughts out of his head as he made his way towards the Golden Oaks Library, eager to get the book and put this eerie world of midnight behind him.
It took him a few minutes to reach the library, and once it did it took another few minutes to find the window he had left open earlier. Luckily neither Spike nor Twilight had checked to make sure this window was locked or his plan would have been ruined. He carefully opened the unlatched window and snuck inside through the opened frame making sure to make no noise, he knew the lavender unicorn had a penchant for staying as late as she needed to to get whatever work she was doing done...once inside, he quickly found the romance section and turned his gaze to the bottommost shelf where he had found the switch earlier. He removed the books that were concealing it and pressed the button just as he had done earlier, the same smile appearing on his face, as the secret compartment in the book shelf opened up revealing his prize, the book Dangerous Love Spells, and Why You Shouldn’t be blah, blah, blah...he did not want to waste time reading the whole title again. He gingerly placed the book in his saddlebags, as he placed one of the other books back in the compartment, closing it afterwards and replacing the books he had displaced. After cleaning up the mess he had made, making sure to leave everything exactly as he had found it, knowing the neurotic purple unicorn would notice any changes, and then proceeded to make his way back out the window as quietly as he had entered, closing the window behind him when he was finished. He quickly made his way back to his room at Bon-Bon’s and removed the bag from his saddlebags, flipping through the pages to find the one he needed. The ‘Want It, Need It’ spell was found near the end of the book, and though it had a warning that it was a ‘very dangerous spell and should never be cast, except for educational purposes with someone to help nearby who is immune to the spell’ it was in actuality very simple to cast...all it required was for the user to focus on how much they wanted others to love it while channeling an amount of magic power proportional to the amount of love they desired. This made it understandable as to how it messed up when Twilight used it, as he had heard from others she was very distraught and panicky when she cast it, therefore not having any chance to control the amount of love and with her unheard of magic power, she would never have too little magic no matter how much love she desired at the time. He knew he was as ready as he would ever be for this spell, and he began channelling his magic through his horn while concentrating.
I want all of the mares to love me . He thought to himself, making this phrase the only thing in his mind. After several minutes of concentrating, there was a small flash as his magic went off sending a wave of magic through the town. Satisfied that the spell had done it’s job, he laid his head down to rest, excited for the next day, where everyone would love and pay attention to him, instead of just laughing at him and thinking he was joking.
Lil Fabio - Hearts and Hooves day
Lil Fabio awoke the next day eager to start his new life of everyone loving him, and as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes he noticed that Bon-Bon had been leaning over his bed staring at him while he slept.
“Bon-Bon...what are you doing?” he asked slightly off put by how close she was
“Oh, nothing, just watching you sleep cutie pie!” she exclaimed with seemingly no sense of shame
“And how long have you been doing this” He continued.
“I’ve only been doing it since I woke up...I don’t know why but when I got out of bed this morning I felt this weird urge to watch you sleeping. I talked to Lyra about it and she said she was feeling the same thing, so she came over and that’s what we’ve been doing this whole time...see she’s right there on the other side of the bed!” she explained
“What are you talking about, Lyra isn’t----AHHH!” he shouted as he turned his head and noticed the minty colored unicorn was on the other side of his bed staring at him, her face as unsettlingly close as Bon-Bon’s was. “Lyra! When did you get here, and what are doing!”
“Silly, I’m watching you sleep, and I’ve been here since Bon-Bon called me, didn’t she just tell you that?” she asked
“Okay...well, putting your new disturbing hobbies, and unsettling closeness behind us, since I am way too tired to think about it right now, What’s for breakfast Bon-Bon?” he inquired eager to get some food into his rumbling belly
“I made your favorite! A double daisy burger with hay bacon strips and hay fries!” she told him.
“Really! What’s the occasion, because you’ve never made me that unless I did something really well, or something really bad happened?” he asked
“Oh, I don’t need a special occasion to make something special for my little schnookum-wookums.” she said in a sugary sweet tone, almost dripping with sweetness
“Oh, okay…” Lil Fabio was a mite bit concerned with how the baby talk, as each nonsensical word she uttered sent shivers down his spine. She put the plate of delicious looking food in front of him, and he began to chow down, savoring every bit of the delicious food. Though as he ate he realized, Lyra and Bon-Bon’s strange behavior, the baby talk, his favorite foods being cooked for no reason...this must be because of the Want It Need It spell that he cast last night! He wanted all the mares to be in love with him, and now they all were, and he guessed that if this is the way Lyra and Bon-Bon were acting, then he could probably expect everyone to act similarly.
After finishing the delicious meal, he got up ready to put his dishes in the dishwasher, though Lyra stopped him. “No sweetie, I’ll take care of these for you, you just sit there and keep looking adorable.” She said
“All right...though I’m going to go and brush my teeth, Miss Colgate says that brushing your teeth after every meal I the best way to fight off gum disease!” he shouted eager to get away from the sickeningly sweet display
“Well, make sure to come right back, we’ve got a very big day planned full of love and kisses!” they called back the kitchen. The very thought of spending the whole day like this with the two of them made him shudder
I wanted them to love me, but now they’re treating me like I’m some kind of giant snuggly teddy bear…this is even worse than I could have thought! He thought to himself, thinking this must be some kind of backfire effect that happened when he used the spell. They might be watching me, so I’ll go brush my teeth just to be safe, but I’ve got to find a way out of here!
He made his way to the bathroom, and before entering he checked behind him just to see and...yup, they were right there peeking around the corner, making sure not to let their little ‘schnookums’ out of their sight. He entered the bathroom and was sure to lock the door behind him, it was only a couple of moments before he heard a knock on the door.
“Sweetie...if you lock the door, how are we supposed to come in and help you!?” they asked, which had to be the creepiest thing he had ever been involved in.
“I’m a full grown colt!” He shouted back at them. “I don’t need any help in here, that’s just gross!” the thought of them coming in and helping him almost made him sick to his stomach, though he managed to keep himself composed as he brushed his teeth…Wait a second, I’ve got two crazy mares chasing after me like I’m some kind of supermodel, and I’m just sitting here brushing! For all I know they could be finding someway to bypass the lock and get in here! he thought to himself, realizing the situation he was now in. I need to get out of here! . Spitting the toothpaste in the sink and rinsing his mouth out, he began searching for some way to get out of here without them noticing. The window! I can climb out through there, and neither of them would notice, they would just think I’m still in here! he opened the window, and quickly scurried out into the streets of Ponyville, eager to get away from those two and their crazy plans.
As he walked through the streets of Ponyville, he noticed they were much more crowded than usual. As he pondered to himself why they might be so crowded, he remembered that today was Hearts and Hooves day, and everypony was scurrying around gifts in hand ready to spend the day with their special somepony, eating chocolates, trading sappy, romantic cards, and acting all lovey-dovey. As he walked by all these ponies, he felt very disconcerted when everywhere he went, all the mares stopped what they were doing and began to stare at him with an intensity to rival the sun. They began to follow behind him wherever he went, holding all manner of gifts they were going to give, or gifts they had received previously in front of them as if they meant to give them to someone. He wondered what they were doing, until to his horror, he remembered the phrase he had focused on when he used the spell last night…I want all the mares in town to love me . He realized that when he cast the spell it truly made all the mares in town love him, much the same way Lyra and Bon-Bon had been in love with him earlier.
Upon noticing the intentions of the pack of mares behind him he suddenly felt like a small lamb surrounded by a cadre a vicious lionesses ready to pounce and devour him like prey. As he felt them beginning to close in upon him, he knew he would only have one to chance to escape before the crowd came down upon him, and he took it, before they closed in, he dashed out in the direction he was pointing, going as fast as he could to escape the horde of crazed females.
“GET HIM! HE’S GETTING AWAY!” he heard several of the mares in the mob shout as he began running. He didn’t turn around, nor did he look behind him, for fear of the massive mob of females, that judging by how close their hoofbeats were, he could only assume were almost on top of him. He pushed himself harder than he ever had before and kept running despite the splitting pain in his legs, as he ran far beyond his limits. He had never been all that good at running and disliked it greatly, though if he did not keep running they would soon overtake him, and then he would be finished
He had been running for what felt like forever, until he noticed he was on the Apple family’s farm. He tried to lose them by running through the apple trees, though no matter which way he zigged or zagged, they somehow managed to keep on his tail. Seeing the barn, he quickly ran towards it, hoping he could hide inside, though he abandoned that plan soon after, knowing they would search inside, he ran around on of the corners, then another and hid himself in one of the hay bales, before any of the mob had rounded the corner, when they did the stopped and began looking around wondering where he had gotten to.
“All right, we need to split up! We’ll have one team search the orchard, while another searches the barn and it’s surrounding area. Let’s move people, we are going to FIND HIM!” upon hearing how organized they were, Lil Fabio only became more terrified, and was on the verge of tears, until he noticed one of them making their way towards the hay bale. Knowing she would find him, he offered a silent prayer of forgiveness for causing this madness, and resigned himself to his fate. Though before the mare could find him in the hay bale, three pairs of hooves grabbed him from behind and pulled him out the other side, quickly carrying him away from the group.
“Huh...what’s going on?” he asked wondering who these ponies were and where they were taking him, though in any case he was happy to be away from those crazy mares…
“We’re gonna need y’all to be quiet mister, while we bring ya to our secret base. Then yer gonna tell us why all those mares are chasin’ ya. “he heard one of the voice tell him only to be quickly shushed by another of the three...what was strange was these voices sounded like children. Everything suddenly went black as he collapsed from the stress of today, combined with his fatigue from running so hard for so long...
Author's Note
I'm guessing you all know who the three are that rescued him from the mob, if not then shame on you, go watch more ponies!
Lil Fabio - Hearts and Hooves day
The last thing Lil Fabio remembered before everything went black was three voices, seemingly belonging to fillies as they carried him off away from the love-crazed horde of mares. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in some sort of building, though the branches that were visible from the windows seemed to indicate that it was actually a treehouse. He also noticed that there were various pictures all over the room of three fillies engaging in more activities than he even knew existed. A few moments later he had fully regained consciousness, and began getting up from his prone state on the ground. He had just steadied himself when the three fillies he had seen in all the pictures burst into the room.
“Look girls, he’s awake!” cried one of them a white unicorn with a two-tone pink and purple mane.
“Ah can see that Sweetie Belle.” Answered another, this one a pale yellow earth pony with a red mane and bow.
“Now we can finally figure out why everyone is acting so weird.” The third one said, he noticed she was an orange pegasus with a deep purple mane.
“Yea, now see here mister, me an Sweetie Belle here’ve been tryin to find out why our sisters are actin so strange, and then we happen to find y’all running around with all these mares including our sisters, and we want to know why!” exclaimed the yellow earth pony.
“Yeah! I was going to spend the day with Rarity, but then she ran off saying something about some dreamy stallion!” said the unicorn that he guessed was Sweetie Belle.
“Now you better start talking, or we’re gonna bring you right back to that mob, and finding out on our own!” the pegasus shouted shoving a fore-hoof in his face as she did so.
“Well, if you get your hoof out of my face, then maybe I can tell you how it happened, though I’m neither proud nor happy about it in the slightest…”, said Lil Fabio beginning to recount his misadventure “I wanted all of the mares to love me so that they wouldn’t laugh and would take me seriously. To do that, I did some searching and found out about the Want It Need It spell that Twilight had used. I went to the library and through some sneaking found where she had hidden away the book, then I came back at when they were asleep and ‘borrowed’ the book to use the spell. Though when I did, it made everyone crazy, and they all started chasing after me...now I don’t know what to do, and I just want things to go back to normal.” After his long speech Lil Fabio was quite exasperated.
“That’s quite a story ya got there, though I don’t really know what we can do to help…”, the earth pony said “by the way my name’s Applebloom, and this here’s Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and we’re...the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS !” the three of them shouted the last part in unison, which was perhaps the loudest thing he had ever heard.
“I don’t know much about magic, though if anyone could help us with reversing a spell, it would definitely be Twilight, she knows everything about magic.”, Sweetie Belle remarked. “Furthermore she also has experience, albeit slightly crazy experience with the spell, so she might have a way of fixing it.”
“Yeah, but when she used it last time, wasn’t it Celestia who fixed everything, not Twilight ?” asked Scootaloo.
“I know that Scootaloo, but you saw how embarrassed she was after everything was fixed, knowing her she must have come up with some sort of countermeasure… right?” replied Sweetie Belle.
“Even if Twilight can help us, we’ve still got 2 problems…”, interrupted Lil Fabio “One, Twilight probably won’t be too pleased to help when she finds out I ‘borrowed one of her books, and two, the moment I go out there, those crazy mares will notice and chase after me again!”
“No problem, the first one is a simple apology with genuine feeling, though ah’m not sure how to solve that second problem…” remarked Applebloom.
“Oh, I know, I know!”, shouted Sweetie “what if we dress him up like one of us? He could be an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader, all we would need is one of the capes, and we could hide that mass of hair he’s got by tying it up in a bun, so that everyone thinks he’s just another girl!”
“Woah, woah, woah, I’m not too keen on this whole ‘dressin up like a girl’ thing you’re planning”, argued Lil Fabio, though after a few moments of deliberation and no secondary options for getting through two unnoticed, he realized he had no choice “You girls sure there isn’t another way we could do this?”
“Any other way would take longer to find, and we want to fix everything and get their sisters back ASAP...plus you caused this mess so you need to accept the consequences of your actions, right girls!” declared Scootaloo.
“YEAH!” they both shouted in the same excessive volume from before.
“All right girls, let’s get to work!, Also I noticed ya’ll aint got yer cutie mark neither, so I was wonderin’ if ya wanted to join the club?” inquired Applebloom.
“It could be fun, and after this I probably won’t have anything to do with my days, so sure!” remarked Lil Fabio.
After several minutes, Lil Fabio, had a Cutie Mark Crusader cape around his neck and his hair tied up in a bun, with a small strand of it trailing behind him. Though he was initially skeptical at the very idea of them passing him off as a girl, when they showed him how he looked, he was instantly surprised. He could not even recognized the apparent filly in the mirror as himself. This just might work after all...
Finished with their makeover the girls and Lil Fabio made their way out of the treehouse, and began making their way towards Ponyville. As they walked through the apple orchard, they glanced over at the barn and noticed that while there were some mares still searching the area, most had given up to search in areas they thought would be more fruitful. Careful not to test their luck, they avoided the groups at the barn and soon they had reached the road leading to Ponyville.
It took several minutes of walking, but they had finally reached the town. The streets were filled with mares searching desperately, calling out for their ‘Schmoopy-doo’...and even though they didn’t seem to notice yet, the calls still sent shivers down his spine. They avoided any groups they could, and slowly but surely crossed the town, eventually ending up at their destination, the Golden Oaks Library.
Scootaloo went over and knocked on the door, calling out for Twilight, though it took a few minutes before noise could be heard coming down the stairs. “I’m coming, I’m coming…” A masculine voice called from beyond the door, which the group assumed to be Spike.
Spike opened up the door, and greeted the three fillies and Lil Fabio “Hey girls, what’s up...and who’s your friend?”
“Hey Spike, ‘she’ is what we came here for, though could we perhaps discuss this inside, away from all these crazy mares?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Sure, come on in” responded the dragon, waving the girls inside. Once everyone was inside, he closed the door so that they could resume their conversation. “So what did you girls need, a book on cutie marks and how to get them, a book on different ideas on how to get cutie marks, we got everything here!”
“Actually, we’re here for our new friend here…” began Applebloom undoing the bun in Lil Fabio’s hair, returning his look to normal. “Fabio here, went and used a spell he shouldn’t ‘ave and made all the mares in town fall in love with him, including both me and Sweetie Belle’s sisters. Now we need Twilight’s help to undo everything and fix everyone.”
“Oookay...well, I’ll go get Twilight and I’m sure she’ll be able to help you with whatever you guys have done…” Responded Spike.
“WAIT!”, shouted Lil Fabio eager to stop the baby dragon “has Twilight been acting strange at all today, like talking about romance, dreamy stallions and the like?”
“No, she’s been acting relatively normal...though she has been nonstop reading for the past day, but that’s nothing new for Twilight.” Answered Spike.
“Good, I guess the spell didn’t affect her for some reason” said Lil Fabio, breathing a sigh of relief.
Spike continued his walk upstairs to fetch Twilight from her studying. They could hear him from downstairs, urging Twilight to pull herself away from her current book as the Cutie Mark Crusaders needed her help. She initially tried to have Spike handle it, though as soon as he mentioned a wayward spell, she immediately stated that she would personally handle it. They then heard her hoofsteps as she made her way down the stairs, until she was standing right in front of them ready to help.
“Oh, hello again Fabio, are you finished with that book already?” she inquired.
“No, I’m sorry to tell you this but that book was just a cover, I used the time you were finding it to find a different book, and then I came back at night and kind of ‘borrowed’ it for my own personal use, since I wanted to use a spell in it…” he began to explain.
“Why would you steal one of the books!? I’m sure if you asked I would have lent it to you…”, she explained, a smile on her face “Now why don’t you just tell me which book it was so we can find out what you did.”
“It was…Dangerous Love Spells, and why You Shouldn’t be Casting Them… …and I used it for the Want it Need It spell…” he said, mumbling as he spoke.
“I’m sorry, what did you say...I didn’t really catch that.” she asked.
“Okay! It was the Want It Need It spell! I’m sorry please don’t be mad!” he shouted nearly on the brink of tears. “I just wanted everyone to love me, since they normally laugh at me and act like I’m some kind of adorable joke!”
“Oh dear, this isn’t good, I might be able to reverse this...though I have to ask, why would a little colt like you want all the older mares to love you? If you’re looking for a special somepony, wouldn’t someone your own age be better?” Twilight asked.
“That’s just it! Everyone always laughs when I say I love someone! I’m not trying to be romantic, I just want someone to be y family!”, he shouted tears dripping from his face “Ever since I was born I’ve been alone...my parents even abandoned me before even giving me a name! Since then I’ve always been looking for someone to be my family since I’ve never had one, but they always just laugh, it’s not fair!”
“Oh...I’m so sorry...I didn’t know…” Twilight said, almost crying herself. “ I thought you had Bon-Bon, don’t you live together? Whenever I see her on the street, or when she comes to the library, she always talks about you like you were her own son?
“She...she does?” He asked in between sobs “I never knew...I thought I was just some kid who she knew and was taking care of just to be nice…”
“Oh, Fabio...She took you in and has be taking care of you because she loves you like her own, and I’m sure she would never let anything happen to you.” she said embracing the sobbing colt in a hug, attempting to calm him down and stop his tears.
“You also have friends who will always be there for you, fellow crusaders...friends to the end...CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BFF’S!” shouted all the crusaders as they joined in on the hug.
Wow...I’ve never felt this loved in my life before… thought Lil Fabio, as he quieted his bawling and let himself be comforted by the warm and pleasant group hug. He realized that this was what he was looking for all along, not a special somepony; at least not yet; but someone to love him unconditionally, to hold him when he was scared, comfort him when he was sad, and cheer with him when he was happy…He also realized he would need to find some way to show Bon-Bon how much he appreciated her care and all she had done for him over the years.
“There…all better now?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah, I’m feeling better now.” Said Lil Fabio a small smile appearing on his face.
“Good to hear! Now, we’ve only got one problem left to solve, and that’s reversing the spell you unfortunately used, though after this happened the first time I did some researching on it, and found some interesting facts. One, it can’t affect anyone that has more than a baseline understanding of magic, which is why I was not affected...and two, It can be easily reversed by a unicorn of stronger magical potential, similar to how Princess Celestia easily reversed it when I used it so carelessly. The only thing I need is the book with the spell, do you have it with you?”
“No, I’m sorry, but it’s in my room at Bon-Bon’s…” answered Lil Fabio.
“No problem, you stay here and I’ll go get it with Spike”, responded Twilight “Crusaders you stay here with Fabio and keep him company, okay?”
“Okay!” they shouted in unison.
Twilight made her way out the door to the library, while Fabio sat in the middle of the library with the Crusaders.
“So, once we get this all finished, you wanna join the Crusaders, and work t’wards getting yer cutie mark?” asked Applebloom eager to find something to talk about.
“Didn’t you already ask me that, I’m pretty sure I already said yes...besides I couldn’t well leave my good friends hanging, especially after how nice you guys just were!” exclaimed Lil Fabio.
“Yay, now we’ve got 4 Crusaders, plus a new friends to party with!” shouted Scootaloo.
“Yeah...CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, CRUSADERS FOREVER!” they all bellowed in unison. Lil Fabio realized this was probably a typical trait of this new group he had joined…though with friends like these, he wouldn’t have it any other way…
Twilight returned an hour or so later with the book in her saddlebags. When she reached the candy shop, Bon-Bon nearly tackled her asking if she had seen Lil Fabio anywhere, or any idea where he might be...she responded by saying she had no clue where he was, grabbing the book and beating a hasty retreat while doing so…
Twilight re-entered the library only to find 3 fillies and 1 colt playing tag in her library, and the whole place had become a gargantuan mess! Books were strewn everywhere with no care at all for their personal safety...it would take hours if not days to rearrange ad reorder everything, let alone re-shelving everything. She decided she would leave that for later, and focus on the current problem before moving on to the next one…
Upon noticing that Twilight had returned, the CMC stopped their game and moved towards the center of the library, ready to finally end this whole ordeal. Twilight quickly removed the book from her bag, and readied herself for undoing the spell.
“All right, this is going to take a bit of time, though it shouldn’t be all that difficult…”stated Twilight.
The CMC watched as Twilight’s horn, as well as her entire body began to glow with magical energy, and after being concentrated around her for several seconds, the energy was released in a wave of lavender magic that rippled through the entire town, cleansing all the mares in town of the previous spell’s presence. After the purifying wave made it’s way through the entire town, Twilight released her magic, and the glowing ceased.
“Is that it? Is it over?” asked Lil Fabio.
“Yeah...that should have cleared all the effects of the spell from anypony and everypony in the whole town. Everything should be fine now.” Answered Twilight slightly winded from expending a great deal of magical energy.
“Thank you so much Twilight! Now I’m sorry but I gotta go and see Bon-Bon, to thank her for everything she’s done!” shouted Lil Fabio as he ran out the door. “I’ll see you girls later!”
Bon-Bon wondered what Lil Fabio had been up to all day, as she hadn’t seen him since last night...though everything that had happened today was a blur to her, she tried asking other ponies, but the said that their day was a blur too. She had been pondering this strange occurrence when Lil Fabio burst through the door, ran up to Bon-Bon and gave her one of the biggest hugs she had ever gotten.
“Woah, what was that for Fabio?” she asked.
“I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and I also wanted to say that though I didn’t realize it, you’ve been like a mother to me my whole life and, well I love you for it…” said Lil Fabio, about to break out in tears again, though they were happy tears this time
“I…I don’t know what to say...except, I love you too buddy, you’ve been like a son to me since I took you in, and one of the happiest times of my life has been seeing you grow up.” Bon-Bon had almost been to choked up to speak. She had been raising Lil Fabio since he was a small colt, after learning of his inauspicious early life, and she had always felt that his troubles early in life had been the reason he never showed his emotions much. She figured that when his parents abandoned him, he lost all trust in others and felt that if he was vulnerable due to emotions he would end up getting hurt again. Though now he was openly showing emotion, and even saying that he loved her like a mother...she did not know exactly what had happened though this was by far the happiest moment of Bon-Bon’s life, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the entire world...
Author's Note
Wow, this was a really long chapter, probably the longest I've ever written...
I may write a sequel to this story, though if I do it will be later down the road, as I have to get back to writing my Abarat story, as well as others that I have planned, as of now though this story is complete.