Icing On The Cake

by BigBadBari21

Chapters

Separated
(Almost Forgotten) Memories
The Perfect Colt
2 AM
The Reply
Like A Slap In The Face
Lies Cannot Come True
Overreactions
A Day To Myself
24 Days
Safety Blanket
Strawberry Ice Cream
Cynical
Ignorance Is Bliss
Eavesdropping
Icing On The Cake
Prologue
The Letter
Author's Notes

Separated

Icing On The Cake

Written by BigBadBari21

A bright blue filly bobbed down the road.

That was me, of course.

I hid a dark secret, but I wouldn't dare tell a soul.

I lived in Ponyville for most of my time growing up. I was born in Prance, but I remember none of it. I didn't even come to Ponyville with an accent.

I bobbed right up to my boyfriend. And gave him a big kiss. He gave me a small smile, but kept on engaging in his conversation with his friends.

I had grown used to this, I didn't care. The big purple colt talked about his usual things: other people, myself, his sports, inferiors, and mare. Mares were always the topic of choice. It made me slightly uncomfortable, but I got over if soon enough. I didn't want to make him stop talking about a silly topic. I could always change. So I did.

This was his graduation day, the day he graduated from his Unicorn Academy training.

I was so proud, I even got to travel with his family for the ceremony. His extended family even came, and I saw my best friend once more. She was his cousin, and they were rather close friends. But she was closer to me.

After the ceremony, we were alone.

"Hey cutie?" He started our conversation. That in itself was a little odd. He never started conversations. He wasn't much of a talker in general.

"Yes?" I looked to the freeing skies just beyond the tree we were under. I looked back into his purple eyes.

"What do you plan on doing? For the rest of your life?"

"Well," I started, "I was thinking about opening up a bakery in Ponyville,"

"What?!"

I kept going on, oblivious to what he was saying. "With you obviously there with me, doing what you love doing, your magic thing."

"Cutie..."

"Yes?" I smiled at my pet name.

He let out a big dramatic sigh. "Are you okay with a long-distance relationship?"

"What do you mean?" I was rather sad and concerned, as I probably should have been.

He looked back at the trunk of the tree, clearly trying to avoid my eyes. "I probably won't be able to find a job in Ponyville. I won't find a job there that I can use my schooling with, at least. If we kept this us, we'd only be able to see each other on the weekends."

"And what are you proposing?" I think I let more concern show on my face than I wanted to.

He sighed. "Well, I've already got a job there. That's why I'm bringing it up. I think we should try the long-distance relationship thing. Besides," he faked a smile, "we can send cute love letters."

I half smiled to show that I was at least somewhat strong. I hoped to the bottom of my heart it would work out. I took a few steps back towards the group.

"Hey." He said, trying to get my attention one last time. "We're going to make this work, aren't we? We always do." He gave me a big hug, that practically smushed me.

I gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and tried to smile. At least he did.

On the train ride back to Ponyville, I talked with my best friend about it.

"Belle... What am I going to do?" I leaned on Belle Chapeau's shoulder. "He's practically leaving me." I looked outside the train car.

"Excuse me, but I do believe you guys said you'd make this work! Pull yourself together. Seriously. You're going to do this. I promise."

"But what if I find someone? Someone that isn't him?"

"Then you tell him girl! This isn't rocket science." Belle Chapeau could always shrug little things off. Didn't she ever have time to be a little dramatic?

"What if he finds someone... Someone better?" The thought scared me. I may have been a drama queen, but I definitely knew I wasn't the best pony out there. Besides, he seemed to be so much more mature than myself. Maybe he'd find someone just as mature... Someone who could keep him happier than myself. The thought almost brought me to tears.

"Then you break up with him. Cup Batter, this isn't hard!"

I rolled my eyes and looked at her. "Belle, you obviously have NOT been in a relationship before. It's almost like looking at me and telling me I'm not your friend anymore because I mess up!"

"Well, I do believe that if he cheats on you, that gives you a legitimate reason for breaking up. I'm no whiz or anything."

"Can't I even give him a chance? What if he doesn't even tell me?"

"If he doesn't tell you, hon, that will give you all the more reason to end it. If you can't even think about trusting him... That would not be a relationship I'd like to be in. Let me tell you."

I put my head in my hooves. "I just don't know what to think anymore..."

•••••

When I got back to Ponyville, I knew the one place I would be going to. Ponyville's one and only pancake house, owned by my best friend's aunt and uncle. Me and my two closest friends Fanny Pack and Carrot Cake all met in the pancake house, not for pancakes, but just to meet up. We always did.

I rushed back to our table, like I always did. I collapsed onto the table. A tear fell out of my eye, as their card game scattered everywhere.

"Jeeze Cup Batter, what's up with you?" Fanny Pack bent down to collect all of the cards that fell off the table. Carrot Cake looked equally as confused and concerned.

"Is it... Him?" Carrot Cake looked deep into my eyes.

I bit my lip and nodded.

He had actually kind of a pretty eyes. But I thought about that for less than a second.

"What did he do?" He backed away, slightly tearing his attention away.

"He told me he wants to live in Canterlot, where he's already gotten a job. And he wants to have a long distance relationship, where we'd only see each other on the weekends."

"It's not going to last..." Fanny Pack whispered under his breath.

"That's what I'm afraid of!" I wailed loudly.

Carrot Cake sighed. "He's not very trustworthy... I wouldn't be so worried so much about yourself as him. Can you still have contact with him?"

I nodded.

"If I was you, I'd tell him that you guys should still keep contact, but you should break up for now, and who knows, love always finds away." He sighed and looked at the ground.

"I agree with Carrot. Truthfully..." Now Fanny Pack sighed, "I didn't see it lasting for much longer." He looked at Carrot Cake to further prove his point.

"But..." I tear fell to the ground off my face. "I want to keep it going to see go long it can last. He says he's going to send me a letter first." I stood up to leave. I needed some fresh air.

"Hey Cup... We just want what's best for our best friend." Carrot looked at Fanny. "Both of us."

(Almost Forgotten) Memories

I got home and sighed. I knew this would be a harder issue to deal with than our relationship had ever dealt with before. I wondered if our relationship was strong enough to be put up to the test.

"Of course we're strong enough. We've been together for almost a year now. We've both changed, and we're perfect for each other." I tried convincing myself, taking out my white pearl earrings for the night. I always liked wearing them.

"Cup, will you please come down for dinner?" My mother called from downstairs.

"Coming mother!" I yelled back. I quickly fixed my hair up, and then I went down to dinner.

My sister, my dad and my mom were already downstairs. My mom had cooked noodles. Again. She never cooked anything else.

"Mother, thank you kindly for these noodles and white sauce." My sister robotically said.

"Yes dear, thank you." My father robotically replied.

"Thanks mom! I should show you a few different recipes sometime." I smiled, trying to be really nice and respectful about it.

"Would YOU like to cook dinner?" She glared at me. Everything was offensive to her.

"I could if you wanted me too!" I really wanted to help.

"Fine," she said snobbily, "you can cook dinner every night. Make sure you always follow the recipes exactly."

"Mom, you know I don't ever follow a recipe..."

"Why don't you? Exact measurements are the way to go."

"Because sometimes, exact measurements aren't... Perfect."

My entire family gasped. I should have expected this, growing up in a family of mathematicians. Everything for them had to precise and exact. It was kind of annoying.

I said nothing more on the topic. I didn't want to get them scared or anything. I didn't really communicate with them very much beyond the dinner table. They never were very talkative. They always were finding new calculators, or they were making up problems for each other... I was always the odd one out in my family.

Everyone in my family was a deep grey or almost blackish, with rather straight hair. I wasn't normal, I was bright blue with fluorescent pink curly hair/bush. I also hated math. My parents tried to teach it to me at a young age. They said it would be really fun. They taught me fractions, and that's about as far as I got until I got frustrated. At least fractions helped me with my cooking. I always could figure out exactly how much I needed, even though I rarely ever used the exact measurements anyways.

I got up to my room. I kept it a fun bright red color, with a little dab or orange. I had about a billion pictures on my walls, pictures of mainly my friends and I. Pictures of Belle and I as filles; painting a picture, making cookies (mine actually looked edible), playing dress up, outside on a playground, the list went on.

To the right of that, I had a little collection of pictures with Fanny Pack, Carrot Cake and I. To my surprise, there were more pictures of Carrot Cake and I than Fanny Pack. I guess he was the one taking the pictures. He always seemed like a photographer. A lot of our pictures looked posed, but they were produced on old black and white film. I guess that's what Fanny Pack loved best, was photography. It was kind of cute, like, small person cute. There were a few pictures of us three together. We were all laughing, it looks like, and Fanny Pack was covered in cake I guess...

•••••

"Guys, what should we do today?" I slumped down onto our table. It was a cold winter day, and the three of us wanted nothing but to stay inside.

The three of us, all without cutie marks, all thoughtfully thought of ideas to fill our day.

"Maybe we could..." Fanny Pack looked around. He sighed. "Do nothing."

"We could..." Carrot Cake looked like he had an idea. "Bake a cake!" He looked particularly enthralled by this.

All three of us looked at each other.

Fanny Pack whispered, "But guys, I can't cook..."

"Nonsense! Anyone can cook!" Carrot Cake dragged Fanny Pack back into his aunt and uncle's kitchen to start cooking. I followed quickly behind with a smile.

"Excuse me?" Carrot Cake respectfully approached Waffle Iron, Fanny Pack's uncle.

"What can I do for you today, Carrot?" He responded to him with a bright smile.

"Do you mind if we baked a cake in your kitchens? It's dinner time, and not many people eat pancakes for dinner. Or after."

Waffle Iron looked at his wife. She nodded, and he replied to him, "Sure, you just have to clean up any mess you make."

"Thanks Waffle Iron!" I yelled from the back of the group, and the three of us went in.

When we got into the kitchens, the world was open to us. I loved cooking, and making food for others. Carrot Cake agreed with me.

"So... Do any of you guys actually know HOW to make a cake?" Fanny was skeptical if this would actually work.

"Wait- you don't know the recipe for a cake by heart? I thought everyone could memorize it. It's not hard." Carrot was made for this. "Cup, do you know the recipe?"

I didn't know the recipe by heart, but this wasn't the first time I've made a cake. "Cakes aren't my forte, but sure, I kind of know it."

Carrot was in charge of this whole production. He knew exactly what to get, and how much to put in. I helped him with a bit, but I did a lot of watching and observing. Fanny looked for the ingredients. After all, he knew the kitchens best, he had grown up around it. He just didn't know how to cook in them.

A half an hour later, and a messy kitchen, it was finally ready to put in the oven. In the cake pan. Just then, Waffle Iron walked in.

He gave a big belly laugh. "You guys know you'll have to clean all of this up!" He looked around at the slightly trashed kitchen. "How's your cake coming?"

"It's all done!" I perked up. "Look!"

Waffle Iron walked slowly towards the table we had our cake at. There was tons of flour on the floor, and-

He slipped.

Trying to grasp the table for balance, he accidentally hit the cake pan.

The cake didn't even go flying, it just went straight towards Fanny's face. It just ricocheted towards his face.

It got everywhere else, but nobody seemed to notice, Fanny Pack started whining. "Of all the things that could happen... THIS happens to me!"

I was trying to hold back completely laughing out loud. It came out as a snicker, then I looked at Carrot, and his face showed the same thing.

We both burst out laughing at each other.

Cake Iron came out. "What in Equestria is going on--" she laughed, then grabbed a camera.

"Hold it right there guys!" She took a picture of the three of us. And gave a copy to each one of us.

The camera flashed.

We started cleaning up, talking quickly about the cake and how we almost made it, laughing a lot.

"GUYS!" Carrot yelled at the top of his lungs, clearly extremely happy.

"What?" Both Fanny and I looked at him.

"I got my cutie mark!" A wide smile was plastered onto his face. "I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!!!" He dropped his broom and danced around with Fanny and I.

It was true: three little carrot cakes were plastered onto his hind.

He could actually say he got his cutie mark now. All three of us were extremely happy.

Oh what a great day.

The Perfect Colt

As spring slowly turned into summer, the days became warmer, flowers bloomed, and my two friends and I began to spend more time together.

Not very surprisingly, my parents not started caring about where I was. This was usual, they never quite cared about me enough to wonder where I was going. As long as I was safe and sound, they didn't care where I was.

An entire month had passed by, and I heard nothing from my boyfriend. He even said he was going to send me a letter first. I don't even know what, but I was a mess because of it. I wouldn't tell anyone because of it. Seriously, it wasn't even that small of a problem. Maybe he was working a lot so he could see me one of these weekends. Save up for a train ticket, for maybe him and myself. Or maybe that was the reason he wasn't writing to me, because he was saving up so much. He was oh so frugal.

"You would think one of these days colts would start respecting mares..." Carrot Cake brought me out of my trance, stuck on thinking about him.

The three of us were walking around Ponyville, simply enjoying the day.

"Seriously, you would!" Fanny Pack totally agreed with him.

"Why, what's the problem with what they're doing?" I was confused.

"Oh, EVERYTHING!" Carrot was more passionate on this subject that I think I knew. "Just how they treat them. If I had a girl, I'd treat her like she's everything to me, because I won't fall for anything short of amazing."

"Me too. My girl... She's got to know how to cook. But she's got to be pretty." Fanny Pack spun around, and fell down on the field we finally arrived at. He smiled, thinking of somepony.

"My girl..." Carrot actually giggled. It was a weird occurrence. "I don't care what she looks like, but outside beauty doesn't matter... Even though shes going to be beautiful in the inside. She's going to be kind, and smart, and love what I do... But she can't be perfect. I will not allow that. Because I want to be there for her. And perfection doesn't need help." He smiled thinking about it. He fell down right next to Fanny.

"I never thought men were romantics!" I was really surprised. "I just thought they all wanted mares for sex and stuff."

The two colts looked at each other. "Well, that's your average colt, who isn't mature in the slightest," Informed Fanny, "and we try to avoid doing that."

Carrot patted the ground in between them. "Siddown, Cup. If your perfect guy could ever come, what would he be like?"

I plopped down right next to him. I took a deep breath.

"Man... If I could have one perfect colt... What would he be like..." I rolled over onto my stomach, and started to talk. "First of all, he'd be kind to no end. He could always laugh at someone, including himself, but he would would be nice about it. He should always be able to make me laugh, no matter how mad I am, or how sad I am, or any other emotion. He should always be there when I need him, or just about every other time." I started standing up and talking with my hooves, something I was better at. "He should treat me well, and be a gentlecolt. He should be an example for others..." I stopped in my tracks.

"What's wrong?" Fanny was the first to notice I stopped.

"I need to do something." I ran off.

Fanny and Carrot looked at each other. I heard their hooves following behind me.

I ran all the way back to my house.

Why didn't I do this a month ago?

I ran inside, and did a quick wave to my mom, who was the only one inside my house. I dashed up into my room.

Out of breath, I searched frantically around my desk for a piece of paper and something to write with. I started crying. I don't even know why. All my bottled-up emotions just came out right then and there.

As tears flowed down my face, I shut my door and locked it. I knew Fanny and Carrot would be following me closely behind. Carrot's a fast runner, he'll be here any second.

The front door opened.

I shut my blinds.

"Excuse me, did you see Cup in here?" Carrot barely seemed out of breath, and still left Fanny in the dust.

I turned off my lights. I wanted darkness.

Carrot's feet were heard up the stairs. Fanny came in the door, and followed Carrot.

I sat down at my desk, and turned on my lamp. I had to have a little light. I turned the shade towards the wall so it wouldn't shine quite as brightly.

"Cup? Are you okay?" Carrot knocked softly on my door.

"Yeah... Are you... Okay?" Fanny breathed through each word.

I said nothing. I wanted to disappear.

"We're staying here until you let us help!" Fanny almost yelled through my door.

I didn't care. I hated this. I made a terrible mistake.

•••••

"Hey cutie, want to do something for me?" He stroked through my pink busy hair, and looked at me with his plum eyes.

I giggled. "Sure, what is it?"

"Want to strike a pose for me?" He winked.

"What do you mean?" This made me slightly uncomfortable. I fidgeted.

"Show off your brand new cutie mark." He winked again this time, meaning it.

I had just gotten my cutie mark earlier that day. I didn't know how to feel about this. He had been in relationships before me, is this how they worked?

•••••

Belle ran up to me, rather briskly.

"Cup! I have something to show you!"

I turned around. I was laughing, Fanny had just done a weird thing... Again.

"Can it wait?" I laughed between every word.

"No..." She had a grave look on her face.

"Okay, fine." I composed myself. "Let me see this."

"Come over here. I don't want to say it in front of all of these people."

I was getting more and more concerned with every single thing she said.

"So what's up?" I was concerned.

"He sent us a letter... And there was this picture in it. He said they were just friends."

I don't think I could have been possibly more sick to my stomach. It was a picture of him, face to face (mind you, almost kissing,) a VERY seductive mare, her leg wrapped around him...

•••••

I had to do something about this.

2 AM

I sealed it. I wanted to keep it short and sweet.

Finally, I wiped my eyes. Tears still leaked out every once in awhile, but they soon got more and more sporadic.

"Cup, open this door! Please! We want to help!" I had ignored my two best friends for at least half an hour, trying to write that simple letter, but Carrot sounded close to bawling.

I opened the door slowly.

"Holy buck... I was so scared for you... What's wrong?" Carrot gave me a huge hug the moment he saw me through the crack in the door. He had obviously been crying as well.

I looked at my closed blinds. "I realized that I had made a huge mistake."

"With what?" Fanny slowly creeped into my room, and sat on my bed.

"Him." I closed my door, I didn't want my parents hearing this conversation.

"What did he do?" Fanny Pack tried to act like he didn't see this coming.

I sighed. A few more tears fell out of my eyes. "He did things... That..." I couldn't even tell my best friends.

"Take your time." Carrot said, taking a seat right next to him.

"You don't have to tell us." Fanny urged.

"I want to, that's the issue. I want someone to know what I'm going through. It's just... Hard. Extremely difficult." I laid down on my floor, putting my head in my hooves.

Fanny got off the bed and sat on the floor near me. He put his hoof on top of mine. "We'll both be here for you, you don't ever have to worry. You can trust us."

Carrot followed his example, but didn't put his hoof on top of mine.

"Remember earlier today when we were talking about my idea of the perfect colt?" I took a deep breath in, and I started shaking. I sat up to face them both.

They nodded.

"He's not my version of perfect. He's nowhere near perfect, quite honestly. I don't even know why I fell 'in love' with him.

"He used me." Tears started flowing again. "I was pretty much a sex toy for him! We may of never had sex, but he definitely used me, I know that. I don't even want to describe it. All I wanted to do was make him happy. For once in my life, somepony actually liked me back, and he used it, and ran away with it. And now I'm stuck in this ridiculous mess of not being able to trust him. Ever. All I know right now is that he's probably cheating on me... Using another poor mare... I don't even want to confront him to break up! I'm afraid of confrontation! I'm afraid he'll doing something to hurt me. Guys, this isn't normal!" I bawled to the point I couldn't continue.

I fell to the floor in a heap of tears. All they could do was give me a big hug.

"Hey, Cup, you're going to get through this. One day, you'll be looking back on this. We're going to help you make this your past. Because it isn't your fault. You got hurt. Terribly hurt." Carrot hugged me tighter.

"What if he doesn't let me even break up with him? What if I'm stuck in this relationship forever?" My heart sank.

Carrot and Fanny looked at each other. "Listen Cup. We're like your brothers. If this kid gets in the way of your well-being... We already have something against him." Fanny stood up, and put on his tough face.

"Fanny, I hardly think you're someone to start a fight." I giggled a little.

"Hey! I was being serious!"

"Cup, you've got it wrong." Carrot laughed. "He would START a fight, but never WIN one."

"Hey!" Fanny exclaimed, but then decided to join them in laughing.

"So are we going to send this?" I held up my letter.

Fanny grabbed it. "Right. Now."

We all walked outside and went on a trip to send it.

"Um hey... Carrot?"

"Yeah Cup?"

"Are my eyes still all swollen and red?"

Carrot looked at both of us. "I'm going to take a safe bet and say all three of us have bright red, swollen eyes."

Fanny rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it!" I smiled.

A few awkwardly quiet minutes later, we got to the post office. For some reason, I couldn't go in. I just couldn't bring myself to go inside.

"Hey, you guys can go inside without me." I waved them off.

"What?" Both of them looked at the other. "Well, okay... I guess..." Fanny had a very confused look on his face, yet he did it anyways.

Carrot stayed behind with me. "Hey... What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I actually didn't know what was wrong with me anymore.

"Are you sure? You and I both know that isn't true."

"I'm still a little emotional." I didn't want to listen after that.

"Cup, you know I'll always be here for you?" He gave it one final shot.

I nodded. That was the last of it.

Fanny then came out, almost right in the nick of time.

"Sent! He should be getting it late tonight. The pegasi said you could get a reply as early as tomorrow afternoon, if he's quick enough to respond!"

•••••

I couldn't sleep. I knew he'd get the letter in the morning. I couldn't think about anything else.

What would he do?

How would he react?

Would he take it well, or would he overreact?

Did I just put myself in danger?

What if I'm making a mistake?

What if I just need to suck it up?

I think I'm making a mistake.

It was 2 AM. I didn't care, I had to go outside, get some fresh air.

I slowly sneaked down the stairs, and out the door.

The cool spring midnight air felt nice, I was in a nervous sweat.

The world was open to me, but I decided to go to the place I felt the safest: Carrot Cake's.

I knew the way to his house blindfolded, but tonight, I barely knew the way. My mask of tears didn't help, and my brain couldn't think about little else. I stumbled into his backyard.

His room was on the ground floor, so I simply softly kicked the window to wake him up. If he said he'd always be there, I hoped 2 AM counted as always.

A very groggy Carrot Cake opened the window. "Who is it?" He rubbed his eyes, and then saw me crying in a heap outside his window. "Oh my..." He gave me a big hug.

We must have sat there for half an hour, him just holding me, and me uncontrollably crying. He was warm, and his fur slowly got wet from me crying, but it was soft...

After awhile, I stopped crying, and we sat in silence. Just him holding me. He stroked my hair softly with his hooves only to comfort me a little more.

An hour maybe passed after that. "Hey," he said softly, "it's going to be all right."

I buried my head into his chest even more.

He turned his head towards the sinking moon, as he pulled me closer to him. "One day."

The Reply

I want to see you in person.

Nopony else.

Just. Us.

If its anyone else, then I will not be happy, and I might just not cooperate.

Tomorrow, at noon. Meet me outside the Everfree Forest.

Like A Slap In The Face

The three of us all walked to the edge of the Everfree Forest the day after I got the letter.

I sighed. "I guess I have to go. He wants to talk to me alone."

"Hey, why don't you stay with us until he comes? Besides, we can calm your nerves a bit." Fanny was the first one to come up with the brilliant idea.

"And we won't leave you. We'll be here, watching from a distance." Carrot REALLY thought about what he said, and kind of laughed. "Whoa, that sounded REALLY creepy." We all laughed, even though mine was a tad forced I felt.

Just then, I saw him coming. My blood started boiling. I NEVER got mad. I felt, for probably the first time in my life, pure and utter hatred. I never hate ponies. Everypony isn't perfect, and I accept that. This colt, I just... Couldn't stand him.

"Cup," Carrot reminded, "don't... Overreact, okay?" He felt truly concerned, and I heard it in his voice.

I approached him.

Every step, my blood pounded in my ears.

I was surprised I controlled myself enough to retain composure.

"Let's get this over with." He said, with an almost slightly annoyed voice.

He did NOT just say that. I started crying I was trying to control myself so much. It just started leaking out.

I took a deep breath in.

"You know what?"

"What?" He started playing with the grass.

"I felt used, and disrespected, and well... Like a sex toy, quite honestly." Staying calm was my top and hardest priority, but soon it would slowly fall to the bottom...

"What did you say? I didn't hear you..."

I was silent.

All my bottled up hurt, pain, and misery exploded.

"Listen here." I advanced on him.

"You listen, and you listen well. I came into this relationship looking for true love, and all you did was ask me for sexual things! I'm sick and tired of it! I couldn't even trust you! For all I know, you probably had 10 mares by your side the month you were away in Canterlot! You disrespected me! You begged me for sexual things, and I did it so you would shut up for once! And I'm SICK of it! You make me SICK the way you always want sex. Sick to my stomach. And if you don't shape up, you'll get some poor, desperate, hooker. Because right now, the way you're headed, that's all you will ever deserve." I took a deep breath in, and back out. Tears waterfalled down my face, started making small puddles on the ground. All my emotions were out.

He took a moment to think about it.

He actually thought about it.

Seriously... Is that hard?

"You know what, you little filly?" He took on a more aggressive tone, retrograding the one he had previously. "I'm sick of being your little punching bag. I'm sick of being the person you always have to complain to for everything. And you know what offends me? The fact that you think I was actually in the relationship for sex. And no, I wasn't hanging out with 10 mares a day in Canterlot. You know, I actually wanted it for love too! I was advancing the relationship, you dumb filly!" He slapped me across the cheek. It evidently was pretty hard, all I remember was collapsing to the ground. I think I hit the ground pretty hard too, I passed out. But the last thing I saw was a bright orange flash pinning him to the ground...

•••••

FANNY PACK

I stood there, in complete and utter shock.

For some reason, Carrot saw it coming way earlier before I did.

He slapped her. Well, it was more like an elbow to the face. She collapsed, and Carrot charged at the dumb idiot... He took him out pretty good. Sure, he wasn't out, but he took him out enough to where he wouldn't ever mess with Cup again. He brought him back to town to get him on the nearest train home. Carrot told me to stay with Cup in case she woke up.

I did as I was told, and sat down next to her.

Her bright poofy pink hair was a bit duller, and more messed up. I ran my hooves through it. I tried to comprehend what exactly had just happened.

Here Carrot and I were, talking.

"Hey, Carrot?"

We both were watching Cup and her boyfriend.

"Yeah?"

"Well, um..." I stuttered, I was about to bring up an awkward topic. "What do you think of... Cup?"

He laughed. "Like what do you mean?"

"Like, more as a friend?"

He got really confused, just then. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, because, I... Uhhh..." He flashed away, just in time to save her. I sighed. "Nevermind."

Lies Cannot Come True

I woke up in my bed (huh, what a concept) with my two best friends almost... Staring? At me? This was more than unusual.

I sat up quickly, up soon regretted it. My head began throbbing. Why was it throbbing again?

"Whoa, Cup. You might just want to lay down." Fanny unshared me back to my pillow.

I turned towards both of them. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Carrot was genuinely surprised.

"Well, I remember the talk I had, and I don't remember the ending of it..."

"Well, uh..." Carrot suddenly got a little awkward saying it. "He slapped you... Or... Uhh..." He looked to Fanny for help.

"Elbowed you in the face would be a better description."

Every single one of their words pounded in my ears.

"No wonder my head hurts so much." The bright sunny day shining through the windows almost blinded me. "Hey, would you be a dear and shut those blinds for me please? Thank you."

Fanny sprinted to those blinds like his life's mission.

"So... Was it official? Am I out of this relationship? Forever?"

"If he ever comes back, and treats you half as badly..." Carrot tried hiding his utter hatred for him as well.

"Hey, um, guys..." I almost whispered.

"What? You should speak louder, I can barely hear you." Fanny's voice seemed to me like he was yelling, even though I was a bit smarter than to think he actually wasn't.

"Just... Shhh." I pressed my hoof to my lips, indicating quiet.

"What?" Fanny's voice didn't get any softer, quite the contrary, actually.

"Shhh!"

"Fanny, she's asking us to talk quieter." Carrot understood immediately, seeing how he was in a hoarse whisper, just for her.

Fanny reluctantly started talking softer. "It couldn't of hurt you that bad anyways."

I kind of did this awkward 'death-glare-head-roll' thing. I don't know quite how to describe it, but it certainly got the point across to Fanny that I was serious.

"Besides," I said softly, "I want to get better as soon as possible, it's been a long time since I've experienced this world-" I did a big dramatic hand movement- "Single!"

Both of the boys laughed. "If I were you, I'd let there be a little time between you and your next dream-colt-to-be, instead of going head-first. You know, give love some time." Carrot advised.

I laughed. "Carrot, and HOW many marefriends have you had?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just sayin'."

"Besides," Fanny said nervously, "the colt you're looking for might be right in front of you."

We both kind of stared at him.

Carrot gave him an eyebrow raise and an eye roll. "Aanyways..."

"Umm, yeah. That was a little awkward. Who do you mean, right in front of me?"

Fanny panicked. "It could possibly be... Uhhh... Umm... Carrot!"

Confusion wracked my already hurt brain.

Carrot?

Seriously?

"You're serious?" I don't know quite how that came out, but I'm going to guess it came out not quite like I intended. Luckily, it came out the same time Carrot said 'Really?' (But of course, I was not listening.)

First of all, I was already on Fanny's case. I knew something was up. Fanny used to be a lot funnier, a lot more sporadic, and definitely didn't care what Carrot or I thought of him. I'm not a dumb cookie, I've known he's liked me for awhile.

But why would he ever mention Carrot? Seriously...

Carrots nothing but my best friend. Seriously. He's the one who's always there for me, and is rather overprotective, but rightly so. They're both like my brothers. Even though I've know Carrot for a lot longer than Fanny.

Which only makes Fanny's crush on me weirder. And the fact that Carrot and I are like best buds.

I sighed. "You guys better go. I'm not going to get any better with you guys around me." I shooed them out of my room and my house.

They both started walking away.

"Wait!" I almost forgot an important question. Both of them looked around. "But just for Carrot."

Fanny gave both of us the 'really guys, keep it clean' look.

"Fanny, seriously. I don't like him, even if he likes me." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, and what you said... I don't like her." Carrot protected himself.

Fanny walked away.

CARROT CAKE

Cup sat up, more slowly this time.

"Are you feeling better?" I wondered.

Why was this awkward? Was it because of the comment Fanny just said? I'm sure she didn't want to make it awkward.

"Well, sort of, but noise and light hurt. Like, too much." She rubbed her head a bit.

"Well... Umm... That's good."

A few awkward moments passed.

"What did you want to ask me?" I finally broke the silence.

"Oh, what exactly happened after I passed out? It's been bothering me. I just want to know."

I sighed. It was so difficult to tell her.

"Well?" She pressed on, and shooched closer.

Her bright pink eyes... They sparkled... But I couldn't pay attention to them, and I certainly didn't want to prove Fanny right. I finally gave in. I needed to do something else besides look into her eyes. Remind me that I need to find a girl with eyes like those. "Fine. He slapped you to the ground... And I jumped on him, just to pin him down. He asked me what the heck I was doing, and rightly so. I told him," I sighed. I hated acting like I was the bravest person ever. I drew a line. I usually am very confident, almost cocky, but I'm no where near brave. I can't even get up the nerves to tell my best friends that I like someone.

"Yes?" She pressed on again. We were 'shoulder to shoulder' (or slightly, since I was rather tall, and she was really short)

"I told him he can't ever come back to Ponyville to see you again. I told him that he deserves to be locked up forever for what he's done to you, how much he's hurt you, and none of us will quite understand how much he hurt you. And if he comes back, ever again, and even looks at you, I'll actually do some damage."

"Were you being serious?" Cup looked slightly hopeful.

"I don't want to ever have to prove myself."

"Hey, Carrot?"

"Yep Cup?"

She giggled, it rhymed. "Thank you for always being there for me. It means a lot. Remind me you're going to be at my wedding."

I laughed. "Best mare: Cup Batter! It's going to be you. And I will convince my wife it will be you, no matter who her best friend is."

She laughed. "Thank you dearie. It means the world." She kissed me on the cheek, then shooed me out of the room.

I got out of her house, as quick as ponily possible.

My mind was racing as fast as a Wonder Bolt.

What just happened? Why are my cheeks burning? Why did my heart skip a beat?

Oh my Celestia... Was I falling in love with my best friend?

No. I wouldn't allow myself to let that happen. She's not my type, and she wouldn't ever like me back. And giving Fanny satisfaction... Ooh, I can just see it now... I could not let this happen. I don't even like her. There's nothing bad- I mean, good- in her... She's weird, with the worst manners, well, they were better than Fanny's... But she... Was just... So...

Special.

Overreactions

CARROT CAKE

I couldn't believe this was happening.

I laid in bed that night, hugging a pillow, giggling.

What was wrong with me...

She had only kissed me on the cheek. Seriously, pull yourself together. It was a friendly gesture of being a loyal friend. She had no feelings for me. I knew she wouldn't. Moments earlier we had talked about marrying someone else. She obviously wasn't interested in me, not in the slightest.

I tried ignoring it.

I tried thinking about Fanny. That reminded me of her.

I tried thinking about the day I got my cutie mark. That only made me happier and made me think of her.

Heck, I tried thinking of why I had to pin her ex down. Seriously. That couldn't even knock me out of my good mood, I did that for her.

The sad thing is, that wasn't the first time today Fanny's brought us up.

I knew he was totally kidding and using it as a cover-up, but still... I had thought about it before. It had started scaring me. I usually kept to myself, I stayed safest that way. I hurt nobody, and nobody hurt me. I liked it that way. I didn't even know my best two friends that well...

That just made me think of Cup again.

The way she laughed, her bright pink eyes that always would sparkle when she wanted something or got what she wanted, the way she would always do out of the ordinary things... She cared for everyone. She made me laugh until I couldn't stop... The way she just recently started calling everyone dear and dearie... When she jumped up and down when she was excited...

I just then got really sad.

She won't ever love me back.

•••••

Ugh, why did I do that? That could have possibly been the weirdest thing I've ever done to one of my friends.

Now he probably thinks I like him. I don't.

Well, I'm pretty sure I don't.

And I'm always sure of myself.

Besides, he was the one who told me that I should take a break from relationships. Maybe I should actually listen to him. I'll just ignore it. It's not much of a feeling anyways.

For some reason, I wanted to tell Belle about this little feeling.

I wanted to tell Fanny too.

But I'm no jerk, I won't tell him.

I'll tell Belle. Yes. I will. But not now, it's almost midnight.

Which reminds me... Why am I not asleep? I always go to sleep early. Something was bothering me. Bothering me, quite a bit.

I couldn't stay still. I got up and paced around my room.

I couldn't think about anything else but besides how completely stupid I probably looked.

I started talking aloud. "Ugh, he probably won't ever talk to me." I whispered to myself in the mirror. He was my closest friend, and loosing him over something stupid made me sad.

Actually, loosing him in general made me really sad. Very sad, actually. I confided in him for a lot of things. He was always around more than Fanny, as a smaller foal, Fanny would always end up hurting himself, somehow, someway. He always had to stay behind as we did our adventures.

He was sick so often, actually, that everyone in town just knows us two, but not him. Some people recognize him, but not many. He was never the adventuring type as a foal. I was pretty sure both Carrot and I loved adventuring. I loved it.

Loosing all of those memories, all of my complaining, whining, dramaticness, the guy who I could laugh with to no end, scared me. Scared me to the point of crying.

He was the person I could run to if I couldn't stand my situation, and I felt like giving up. He was my reason for waking up in the morning.

I stopped in my tracks.

Is that what love is?

The picture of my friends were only a few feet away from me. I looked at them.

I wanted to find true love, but was it closer than I imagined?

Ugh, what am I talking about?

True love, gosh, what am I, a romanticist? True love is for people who are super lucky, to find their other half, and to realize it...

Besides, I had half of my life in front of me. I probably would meet so many more better, more handsome, funnier colts than him. We were just friends too.

Why am I even THINKING about this? Man, I don't even like him.

I let my eyes wander across all of our pictures.

All of the time spent laughing, giggling, make memories, making fun of each other... Was this really supposed to happen? Was this just a natural state in life, where we just go through, where we just naturally fall in love with our best friends?

Yep. It was. It'll be over soon enough.

I jumped onto my bed and fell straight asleep.

•••••

First thing in the morning, I went over to Belle's. She lived kind of a bit out of town, so it was a hike to get there. But it was worth it, the dew on the grass hadn't yet evaporated from the sun, so the ground looked like it was almost sparkling.

I knocked on her door. Good thing he wasn't her brother, I wouldn't know what I would do if he answered the door...

Her father answered, and he led me straight up to her room. She was still waking up, but I didn't care.

"Belle..."

She yawned, quite loudly. "What's up, chicken butt?"

"So I broke up with your cousin."

"High time." She rolled her eyes.

"Buutttt..." I extended my word for dramatic effect.

"Yes?"

I took a deep breath in. This would be hard and awkward. "IKissedMyBestFriendOnTheCheekAndBeforeIDidn'tLikeHimButNowI'veBeenThinkingAboutHimAllNightAndIDon'tKnowIfILikeHimNowOrNot..." It all came out in one big breath.

She instantly became alert. "Is it that one Cake?"

I bit my lip and nodded.

"Can't you do... Better? I mean, sometimes it seems like you do it just for guys and attention."

"Oh. I didn't even say I liked him, I just... It's been weird. I've been thinking about him, and I don't even want to like him, because I know I won't grow up to get married to him."

"Ew, you even thought about marrying him?!?"

"I said I wouldn't, okay? I know I'm going to find someone better... Hopefully... Soon." I sighed.

"Well, I don't know. I wouldn't get too involved with that guy. They all seem a little weird to me."

"Hey," I said defensively, "I don't care if I like them or not, those people are still my friends."

"Yeah, sure."

I rolled my eyes. "I've got to get back for breakfast. See ya later." I used any excuse I could to get myself out of there as quick as ponily possible.

I ran back to Ponyville.

My next objective was to get to Carrot's.

I rolled my eyes at myself.

Why did I always end up going back to him? No wonder I thought about liking him.

I tapped on his window again, agreeing to make it quick.

He opened his window, and I said, "Nobody hears about what I did, okay?"

He smiled, quite a bit, and nodded. I dashed off before it got awkward.

This time, I actually ran home for breakfast. My mind was running... Why was he smiling? Was I overreacting? Am I just going insane?

I bolted through the early-morning townsponies, and they got out of my way pretty quickly, seeing as I was running. I went straight up to my room, and shut the door.

I took a breather, then collapsed onto my bed.

What am I ever going to do about... Love?

A Day To Myself

That day went on as normal. Well, as possible.

I actually spent a day, inside my house, and locked in my room. I wanted a solitary day. All of these mixed feelings... I just needed a day to chill out and think.

Of course I had to tell my parents what I was doing. I went down to breakfast, grabbed a few things, and just told them.

I skipped each step up to my room. They didn't care, they never did. They were just happy I wasn't having sex or doing drugs.

They actually didn't care. I told them, so they would trust me. All they cared about was my older sister.

I flopped on my bed and started peeling an orange. I stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

They loved her. She was brilliant at math, best in her class. I wasn't ever good at math. I was good at more artsy things. I could draw, I could sculpt, but my real calling was baking. But they didn't care.

Gosh dang it, they didn't even care enough to give me a name that made sense! Cup Batter? Really? I hate my name, it has almost nothing to do with my cutie mark! Did they actually mean Cup of Batter or what? They should have given me a middle name that started with O then, that would have made so much more sense. My cutie mark is three cupcakes, nothing related to batter.

Carrot would know what to do. Carrot's smart. He also understands me, he cooks like myself. At least he was named correctly...

I thought about him. That was a little weird, I never really think about him. He never really comes to mind. He was my best friend, and that's all I ever wanted to happen. It would be weird and awkward if anything else happened between us. I've just known him for so long... I think I would just be different than anyone else. Only because I've known him so long and so well.

Wait- was I just confessing to myself I actually liked him?

I thought hard about it.

There was no negatives about it, as long as I kept it to myself. I would have to try extra hard to do that. I mean, he wasn't exactly the most sought-after boy in the entire universe. Everyone thought I could do better, even Belle said it. I would have to keep it from her too. I didn't think I could do better. We both were physically unattractive, but me more so. At least had a brilliant smile, and perfect pistachio-colored eyes that lit-up whenever something made him extremely happy... He had a little sparkle to them too, a little sparkle I didn't seem him give to anyone else, only to me. He always did it, not even when he didn't even think about me.

Okay, so I kind of guessed he liked me. Or at least thought about me and had feelings for me. That wasn't stupid. I was a smart filly, I knew the difference between a colt who actually liked me or was just going for friendship. The funny thing about Carrot, is that he didn't want to be anything more than my friend either. He didn't mind not advancing the relationship. I'm pretty sure he's completely content on not advancing it. Besides, I like how we are. Just really close friends, always together, understand each other, can laugh forever... It's like the perfect friendship.

Well... What if it actually made the perfect more than friendship? I thought about it. I didn't know how to feel about it. He never had a marefriend before me, would he be awkward? Of course, that's like asking somepony if the grass is green. He'd be awkward, but would it be unbearable? Could I be able to live with somepony who didn't know how to be in a relationship right off the bat? Or would he learn quickly?

I admit, the fact that maybe the fact that somepony actually liked me for who I was... Well... Comforting. Some where in Equestria, I was wanted. Loved. Adored.

I looked in the mirror. My bushy two-toned pink hair, my eyes to match, my cerulean body... Not to mention my chub. I was fat. I gained extra pounds, from where, I didn't know. Everypony in my family was a stick. I was made fun on at school. Carrot and Fanny always protected me. Carrot often did better though.

I realized that I probably wouldn't be the person I am today because of him. He changed me, for the better. I owed him so much. Maybe I should tell him I like him.

What would Fanny say? How would he react? Not kindly, I presume.

Maybe we could just agree to do nothing right now. That is, if he liked me. Sheesh, I thought I knew. Maybe he like that one mare...

Oh, it killed me... This uncertainty bothered me. I always knew what I wanted... Now... I couldn't even think straight.

I decided I at least needed to bring up the topic to him. I wanted to go to his house. I quietly walked all the way down stairs, and out the door. The bright light kind of blinded me, but only for a moment. My eyes slowly grew used to it, so I started trotting off to the Carrot's.

I could smell an amazing odor coming out of the front window, from about a few feet away. I moved closer. I bet Carrot was cooking. It wasn't always his parent's forte, but he did teach them a few things.

The ledge outside was broken off on one side, but it didn't matter. I leaned up to the window. My right foot stepped in something squishy, but I didn't care. Carrot was nowhere to be found. I looked around, switching the weight between my legs. I put more weight on my right leg.

I remember falling to the ground.

That was the last thing.

24 Days

I woke up.

I was staring at whiteness, and it definitely was a ceiling.

What happened?

How did I get here?

I felt a warm sensation in my hoof.

I tried sitting up to see who it is, but my head wouldn't allow it. My neck responded, my head didn't want to.

The place I was in was loud and noisy, with lots of beeping and people talking casually. Occasionally there was a big loud beep, and I heard hooves run over to the spot it was coming from.

"Cup, are you awake?" A shaky stallion's voice asked, seemingly in the direction of me. I presumed it came from the same pony who was holding my hoof.

"Are you talking to me?" I finally found my voice somewhere.

The colt attacked me with a hug. It hurt, but gave me a good glimpse at him.

He was an amber color, with a bright orange mane to go along with it. His mane was slightly unkept, but it was short. He was tall and skinny, not much fat on him. His pistachio colored eyes looked like he was crying, either that or he was high. Maybe we were both high together, how in the world did I get here?

"Oh Cup, I'm sorry..."

I felt a stinging, all the way to the bottom of my heart... I really didn't know what this kid was talking about.

"I'm sorry I did it, will you ever forgive me?"

"Excuse me, sir..." I addressed him formally. I didn't want to be rude. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Cup... You don't remember?"

I shook my head. "I don't remember anything." I sighed, I had to guess this guy was a good friend of mine. "I don't even know my name, except for the fact that you've repeated it. I actually don't know who you are, at all."

I think I accidentally hurt him with that statement. He sat back down, with a look of utter disappointment on his face.

"I'm sorry dearie... I wish I could help..." I called him that out of instinct, somehow. I felt like it fit the situation.

He stood back up and looked at me, since I couldn't exactly sit up.

"I'm Carrot Cake. I'm your best friend, and I've known you since as long as we-" His face suddenly lost all happiness, but he perked back up, proving to be better than it, "I remember."

"Good to meet you, Mr. Cake." I felt awkward saying that. He was supposed to be my best friend, and I was acting like he wasn't... It just felt... Weird. Unnatural. Even for me.

He smiled. "Just call me Carrot."

I finally made my first friend. "So... Why am I here, Carrot?"

He sighed. "Well, I was making a pie. Specifically an apple bacon pie. The cooling ledge somehow broke... And the pie fell. I have no idea what you were doing outside of my kitchen window, but I found you, outside, and you slipped and fell on the pie. And hit your head pretty bad. I actually have no idea about half of it. I was going to check on the pie... And I found you. Evidently the townsponies didn't see you...?"

"What was I doing there?" I asked quizzically.

He scratched his head. "Nobody knows, not even your family. You said you wanted a day to yourself, all alone, but you never told them you left..."

"I did?" Wait-- exactly how long was I passed out?"

He sighed. "24 days."

Just then, nurse pony walked in. "Oh, I see you're up! We'll get a doctor to come in and check on you." She rushed out in an instant.

After she left, I reacted to his statement. "24 days..." I muttered under my breath. I finally spoke up. "Why would I be out for so long?"

"The doctor said you had some pretty bad brain damage. They tried a new surgery on you, and the recovery time was much longer than expected. They never even knew if you were gonna come out of that coma..." He shuddered, staring at his hooves the entire time.

"Wait-- does that mean-- I'm BALD?" Of course I couldn't reach up, I was almost in a body bind on this stupid stretcher. My head hurt terribly. I didn't know much, but I knew a mare without hair... Was a very uncommon thing.

He bit his lip and nodded. "They had to shave it off for surgery."

I sighed. I woke up from almost a month in a coma, and I don't even get to know what my hair looks like...

"Hey Carrot?" He suddenly became alert. "What did my hair look like before it was shaved off?"

He turned slightly 'pink', which just resulted in him looking oranger. "Ummm... It was curly, big, and bouncy. It was a cotton-candy colored pink, and had a darker tone to it. It always bounces whenever you jump up and down, which usually happens when you're happy or excited. I suppose I should just stop there."

For some reason, I actually enjoyed him describing me. It was kind of an odd sensation. "No," I smiled, "Do go on."

"Well, umm..." He obviously had not expected this answer. "It matches the color of your eyes..."

I just realized then, I had no idea what I looked like. Seriously, I hadn't remembered anything, ever. And I definitely hadn't moved to a mirror anytime recently. "What DO I look like?"

He turned... Oranger. "Well, you're this indescribable cerulean color. It's a bit lighter than that, but, it's still different. I like that color. You're really short, but I don't mind shortness at all. And you aren't the skinniest pony ever, but why does that matter? It doesn't. You're actually a really pretty mare, Cup."

Someone knock me out again, this dorky colt had a crush on me. I decided to voice my opinion. "Wait-- do your have a crush on me?"

He was shocked by this question, and totally unprepared, like other questions. "Well, I don't like to think I do. And even if I did, I respect you too much to do anything about it. You probably wouldn't want me to do anything anyways. I just... Don't know, okay?" He seemed totally honest, which I thought was weird. Maybe he was still trying to talk to the old Cup. Maybe she had a crush on him too.

I actually thought about myself having a crush on him.

I laughed, I thought I deserved a lot better, to the bottom of my heart.

Safety Blanket

I laid in the hospital bed that night, thinking about what went through my mind.

The doctor told me I had hit my head extremely hard, hard enough to damage the connections in my brain badly, even to forget a lifelong friend. The reason I was in a coma was because my brain was fixing itself, and they had no idea how long it would take to fix itself. They had tried a new surgery on me, trying to at least to repair the most simple of connections, such as breathing and heart beat, and it worked, but took significantly longer than they had thought for me to recover. Then the doctor hit me with the news: I pretty much had died. They thought my head hit one of the steps leading to his door, since his kitchen window was right next to it. He said they didn't know if my memory would ever come back, and if it did, they didn't know how soon.

"Brain science is a very tricky subject, since we know nearly nothing about it," his voice repeated in my broken head. He also went on to talk about that by telling past memories, it could also trigger something in my brain for all of the rest of them.

Carrot stayed by me the entire night. He actually was sleeping in the small chair next to my bed. It wasn't meant to be a bed, it was hardly even a chair. We talked and laughed, and he shared stories about us the entire night. He left around dinner time to make me something and to get some old photos of us.

He returned with a piping-hot home style dinner, and a large stack of photos. "I got these off of your bedroom wall." He flipped through a few. He got to one, and laughed, very hard.

"What was that one?" I asked with my mouth stuffed full, which probably wasn't very ladylike.

He flipped the picture around to show me. It was three fillies, all laughing in a very dirty kitchen. One of them looked like a much younger Carrot, and I presumed one was myself, and there was a third colt, kind of cubby, and a tannish color, with a curly chocolate mane and tail to match. He was kind of covered in a batter. "Who's he?" I pointed to him.

He laughed. "That's Fanny Pack, our other compadre! He's kind of a klutz." He laughed again. "Well, more so than you."

He talked all night. The doctor let me sit up, so we could at least have a normal conversation. I listened well, maybe these past memories would trigger something. I asked questions all the time.

At one point close to midnight, I finally asked the question: "So where's my family?"

"Well, they came in about a week ago. They said they were going on a 10 day trip back to Prance."

"They just left without me? Didn't even care? Some family I have..."

"Yeah, they were going to go for you, since you were born there, and they just left anyways. I'm supposed to send a letter. I have no idea where though."

I quickly got off the subject. I knew they would eventually come back for me. Obviously. They were my family, they wouldn't just leave me...

He started going back to his stories, and we were laughing again within minutes. I think he always just had that effect on me. I kind of liked it.

He had an infectious laugh, along with a stunning smile. His pistachio colored eyes sparkled whenever he laughed as well, or he remembered another memory.

"Hey, do I have a coltfriend?" I wondered that. He never mentioned anything about that. If he was my best friend, he would know something about that.

"No, you don't currently. I don't know if you have a crush on anyone, I don't think you did. If you did, you probably came over to tell me. It sounds like something you would do."

"Nobody? Dang..." I don't know why I was depressed by this. I think the thought of someone being there for me was kind of nice.

I quickly got over that too. I'm sure I knew someone who knew who I liked. If I liked someone. Maybe there was just nobody in... Ponyville, did he call it? Maybe there was nobody there for me. Maybe there was gonna be somepony somewhere else.

I stared at Carrot. He was already a tall, lanky pony as its was, and the small chair only made it seem worse. He was curled up into a ball, completely asleep. But he had this faint smile on his face. It made me smile that I could see somepony so happy in such a situation, even with the option of going home and sprawling out on his own bed.

Nurse pony walked in quietly, noticing he was asleep.

"Poor colt, he's been here since he dropped you off." She looked at him with a bit of pity.

"Wait- he's been since I got here?"

"Honey, he was the one who brought you here!"

"Really?"

"Yep. Do you need anything? It's kind of a crazy hour. Two in the morning."

Carrot stirred.

"I'm good, but is it possible to get this guy a blanket?"

She shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid I can only give them to patients."

"I understand. I don't need anything, thanks though."

She slipped back out to the hallway.

I looked at my blanket at the end of my bed. I wasn't using it, I already had three of them. I was actually kind of hot, now I thought of it.

I tried extending my hind legs to reach it, so I could pick it up with them. I started lifting it up, and it fell the other way.

"Dang it..." I whispered. I leaned forward, to where it almost hurt my head. I was going to get this blanket for this colt who did a lot for me already. I owed him this much.

It was just out of my grasp. Dang it, I thought I was taller... I kept reaching. I finally caught the end of it.

As I unfolded it, I draped it across him. He curled in closer, it was kind of really cute (but definitely not in a weird way) and I kind of smiled.

I finally decided it was time to actually attempt to sleep.

He shifted once more. I'm pretty sure he was deep in his sleep, but maybe I'm just crazy, but I heard, subconsciously, a very small,

"Thanks Cup."

Strawberry Ice Cream

Carrot and I eventually got out of the hospital the following morning. I just had to come back for a few checkups every once in awhile. I was okay with that, I didn't mind it in the slightest. I just wanted to get back outside, to see the sun. Again, I guess.

I stood outside of the hospital, minutes after we had checked out. It was a bright sun-shiny day, despite the fact that it was very windy. I didn't care. I let my tail flow in the wind all around, the entrance was like a tunnel and the wind couldn't decide which way to go. I didn't care. I was free of the prison I was just in.

My head got cold, I could feel the chills all the way across it. But there was an odd sensation, right above my left ear. I poked it with my hoof. Pains shot through my entire head. I got really dizzy., and almost fell.

Carrot caught me. "That might not be the best idea to poke where they cut open your head for now." He brought me back to my feet. "I bought you a hat. I'm no fashionista, but it should keep your head covered for now." It was a flowery beanie hat, such as for newborn fillies.

I admit... It was kind of hideous. And ugly. I could replace it later, if I found money somewhere.

I took it anyways. I was definitely going to need my head covered for walking anywhere outside. I slipped it over my head and ears, being careful not to damage my scar, or pull it in anyway.

He sighed, and looked at the world around us. "Where do you want to go?"

Where to go... What a concept. I had the whole world open to me, and all I said was, "Why don't you choose?"

"What? Really? Do you care if I show you around town? Again?"

I shook my head. "I want to see this place, and who better to show me around than somepony who actually remembers it?"

CARROT CAKE

A billion things raced through my mind. I couldn't take her anywhere nice. That would seem like I'm going on a date with her. And I want her to like me for me, not because I take her nice places or what not.

"Well..." I said, trying to hide my anxiety, "Let's go, we have no time to loose! We've got a town to see!" I started cantering towards Main Street.

She booked it way in front of me, her beautiful rosy eyes blossoming like a rose with all of the new sights.

She saw a little boutique. "Oh Carrot, let's go in here!" She grabbed my hoof with a wide smile, and we walked in.

The mare behind the counter I'm sure was staring at me weirdly, wondering what a stallion was doing in there... But my mind was focused on one thing. My hoof.

She held my hoof. I don't even care right now that she was dragging me into a place I'd normally take 5 steps away from. I'd go anywhere with her, if this was the simple reward.

She picked up a bigger hat. It looked sophisticated. I didn't ever understand why mares needed hats that big.

"Carrot, come here. I want you to see me wearing this, and what you think." She slipped into a dressing room (which probably seems absurd for a simple hat, but, I didn't question it) and quickly came out.

That hat did something to her. Something I didn't understand. It's like she grew 4 years older in that dressing room, in the most simple way. I saw my hat I bought her before.

Her bright smile made the whole room glow. "What do you think?" She struck a few poses, but I think my favorite one was her simply smiling at me.

"It's... Wonderful." I tried to not smile like an idiot. Truthfully, it didn't work very well.

"Well, I'd get it... But I don't have any money." She fluttered her eyelashes at me. Kind of like how my heart fluttered.

I tried to act annoyed with this. Acting was hard around her. "Well... I guess. Depends on how much it is."

She read off the price tag.

I hid my grimace with a smile. "Fine, but I won't buy you much else, okay?"

She giggled. Maybe it was worth it. "Okay..."

I finally paid the cashier. She winked at me, and whispered, "Treat that one well, she's worth it."

I blushed, but whispered back. "She's my friend."

"Marefriend, seriously man. Get your act together."

We exited the shop soon after that. Cup was glowing practically with her new-found hat.

We came upon an ice cream shop.

"Hey, Carrot? You wouldn't mind...?" She signaled towards the ice cream shop.

I sighed. I wanted to talk face to face with her anyways. "Sure, why not? I'm a little hungry anyways."

I got my usual, strawberry. My personal favorite.

Cup looked through and through every flavor of the menu, up and down. Once, twice, thrice even.

"I think I'm gonna try... Cherry Surprise, please!" She finally picked...

We finally sat down outside, in the midday of summer.

She took a bite of her ice cream, and shoved it quickly down her throat.

Her face contorted at odd angles. She looked like she was going to puke.

"Never," she breathed, looking like it was choking her, "try Cherry Surprise! It tastes like poop!"

I started laughing aloud. "The real surprise is it tastes like crap!" (See author's notes) I didn't even care if I was obnoxiously laughing.

She took her spoon out of her ice cream, and dunked it into mine. I was too busy laughing to even notice.

She ate the entire spoon.

"Hey!" I finally looked from the bowl to her, back and forth. "You don't get to steal my ice cream!"

"Well, I just did." She giggled.

I loved my strawberry ice cream. Quite a bit. I had my reasons for it being my favorite.

I rolled my eyes, and caved in. "Take it." I said reluctantly.

"What?!" She was obviously not expecting this answer.

"Take it. You obviously want it."

"Well... Um... I kind of didn't want it..." She confessed.

Ooh, I could have some fun with this. "So... You were just toying with me?"

She smiled. "A little." She seemed proud of this.

"Were you FLIRTING with me?"

Her face froze.

Cynical

What do I say to that?

Five hundred different scenarios raced through my mind.

'Why wouldn't I be?' Noo... That one ended badly.

'Of course I wasn't!' Lying never did anyone any good.

I sat there, completely wide-eyed.

"Well?" He pressured, not making me feel any better.

Okay, I told myself I wasn't falling in love with him.

The more I told myself that, however, the less it happened, and the more it sounded like denying it.

"What?" My small voice echoed, shakier than I wanted it to be.

"Were you flirting with me?" He leaned across the table with a devilish grin painted across his face, his eyes full of...

Awesome...

Green...

Stuff.

All my logical thought processes stopped. Right in that moment. My brain went absolutely numb, I felt really stupid. I didn't care though. Time almost froze, or sped up. I couldn't tell which, all I could focus on was him.

Finally, after a long time, he giggled. Laughed, even.

My eyes went big with offense.

"Why are you laughing??" My tone wasn't quite so cheery.

He turned red, but leaned in close and whispered, in possibly the most endearing tone I've ever heard come out of someone, "Your eyes tell it all."

I froze as he backed away and giggled.

"What just happened?"

He smirked, grabbed his spoon again, and dipped it into his ice cream.

"I know your secret."

What was he talking about? I had no secrets, obviously. "I don't even know enough about myself to HAVE secrets." He grinned as he ate his ice cream.

"Hah! Honey buns, you like me, and you can't even lie!" He poked my nose with his spoon, to further his point.

"What- No-"

He smirked. "Yeah you do."

"No, I don't- why would I-"

He dipped for more ice cream casually. "Because you think I'm highly attractive in every way possible?"

Why in the world was this coming so naturally to him? This was not the awkward nerd I had met only a day ago.

And no, he was not attractive.

I scoffed. "Excuse me?? You aren't-"

"Shh, honey buns. You don't need to deny it."

"Honey buns? Excuse me?"

"Well, why not? You like me, I like-" His face froze, he just said something he probably wished he didn't.

He...

Likes...

Me...

As in, more than a friend.

My broken brain didn't know what to do with this information.

"So you pretty much insult me for liking you, then you admit doing it yourself??"

He was quick to correct himself. "I wasn't insulting you-"

"You could have TOLD me, and then not seemed so hypocritical, and maybe possibly I would actually think about you as a better colt-"

"Excuse me?" Both of us had unexpectedly gone into yelling tones, or something quite like it.

The manager of the store came up to us. "Excuse me, could you two please take this somewhere else? You're making a scene, and I do not want it at my shop."

We both looked at each other.

"Yes, yes we can. At least I'm telling you." I shot a glare at Carrot.

"Thank you." The manager left our awkward scene as quickly as possible.

We started walking, soon out of town, towards the countryside.

"Maybe if you didn't ever try deceiving me for your own personal pleasure-"

"Well I'M sorry, honey buns for trying to get a joke out of something-"

"It wasn't a very funny joke, if you even call THAT a joke! It was cynical, rude-"

"Cynical? Oh ho ho, now I'm CYNICAL?"

"If you think something like that is funny, yes!"

"And rude, don't even get me started on rude! Honestly, at least I'm not the judgmental one of us!"

"Excuse me!? Try forgetting everything you've ever known about everyone, and try NOT being a little judgmental."

Carrot looked out into the setting horizon and yelled in frustration.

It kind of scared me, but I was so filled with emotion right then, I didn't even care.

"Listen here, Cup, I've known you since before both of us were born practically. We've grown up together, laughed together, gotten our cutie marks together, and you've been my closest friend since, forever. You've always been there for me, and I've always been there for you. Through thick and thin, even when Fanny wasn't there. Like that one time that tree blocked your path in the Everfree forest, and I stayed with you even when Fanny went to go find help, and ended up being away for hours because his mother scolded him for being in there? Just like then. And we were stuck in there, and you were crying, and I held your hoof through the hole in the trunk, even though it left scratches on my hoof that are still there to this day? Yeah, that day. I looked into your pretty pink eyes, and I tried comforting you to the best of my ability." He was crying now for some reason. My angry emotions left me ages ago, all I felt for this colt was mainly a bit of pity.

I hugged him, I didn't know what else to do. I just... Wrapped my forelegs around him. First, he was surprised, but then he sooner or later got so comfortable with it, he completed it by wrapping his forelegs around me. He was surprisingly strong, more so than his lanky figure showed.

I bet we looked rather awkward, a round, short, mare hugging this lanky, tall stallion. I didn't even care what we looked like. Being in his arms was enough comfort and safety to last a lifetime.

"Hey Cup?" He finally broke up our hug and let go, no matter how much I wanted to hold on.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Oh man, I hated this rush of my emotions, but this time I let them all spill out. "I'm sorry too, I'm sorry I called you cynical, and rude, you know I actually don't feel that way about you, and okay, maybe you're slightly a little bit attractive, and I was just thinking-"

Instead of feeling the cool summer's night on my lips, it was something warmer, wetter, softer... I opened my eyes for a second, and his face was remarkably closer to mine... Then closed my eyes, it was nice, comforting...

I didn't want to leave this, I didn't know much, but I knew I wanted this. Forever, as long as that lasted.

Ignorance Is Bliss

I pulled away, and emotions flooded me.

Every last memory I've ever had came funneling back into my brain, all at once. I felt like a train hit me. I collapsed into a bed of flowers, bawling, raw emotion attacking my security in knowing nothing.

"Did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry..." Carrots concerning voice seemed distant, memories involving him flooded the pathways of my brain.

I remember it all. The hurt. The laughter. The disappointment.

I didn't even know what emotion I felt. Happiness, mixed with anger, joy mixed with disappointment.

"Cup, I'm sorry..."

I don't remember what my response was to that. I knew I had said 'It wasn't your fault', but how I did it, I have no clue. I may have screamed it, I may have said it quietly under my breath.

He wrapped his arms around me, providing the only comfort I knew.

My parents had always not cared. I had been utterly disrespected by my first love. I always felt like I wasn't good enough. I was an utter coward to everything. I was fat and ugly, and everyone knew it.

After a couple of minutes, remembering how I am, I finally told him. "I got every memory back."

"Oh, dear..." He pulled me in tighter.

Ignorance was bliss. I wanted to crawl away, and hide forever, with this lovely colt as my protection.

I looked up into his amber eyes, which had also leaked a few tears.

The moment I realized it, I almost smiled. It may have been worth the pain.

"What?" He asked, inquiring why a small smile had dawned across my face, obviously brightening his mood a bit.

I giggled. "I fell in love with you twice."

We both started laughing, both of us turning a bright shade of red.

I buried my head into his chest. It was warm, soft, and I felt like I could do anything in his arms... Like all of my mistakes never mattered in my arms. Down to every last imperfection... He loved me.

Well, that was stupid and naïve to believe. I hoped it. I hoped it with all of my heart.

"Cup?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I please be there for you, whenever you need me?"

I giggled. "Aren't you already?" I said, remembering when I went over to his house at 2 in the morning, except the reason why pained me.

He smiled, but soon got very serious about it. "Cup, I've seen you go through a lot. I ALWAYS want to be there for you." He smiled a bit thinking about what he was gonna say next. "You're the smartest, cutest, prettiest, craziest mare I've ever known. I wish there was a word to describe how much you really mean to me, because none of those quite describe how amazing you truly are. They all are severe understatements."

I turned... REALLY red. I giggled. "You actually think that about me?"

He fell into the flowers I had just gotten up from. He patted the ground, signaling I should join him, and I did. I laid my head between his forelegs, so I could hear his gentle heartbeat as we watched evening turn into night.

He sighed. "When I said you're the best mare I've ever known, it beats my mom." He laughed, shaking my head (which in turn made me laugh). "And my mom's a pretty darn good chef."

I was devastated. "You only like me because I can cook?"

"Oh no no no! I love you because you make me laugh, you're gorgeous, even without hair. You're smart, much more than you show. We love the same things, which only makes me love you more..."

He kept on repeating the word 'love'. Were we really that far into the relationship already to where we loved each other? Love is where you want to spend the rest of your life with this person... Even wait around 24 days for them to come out of a coma? Was that it? Or maybe it was something like my last love, and this was just a foolish game I was playing with myself. It couldn't be that. That was lust. Right?

This distress didn't help my current emotional state in the slightest. I felt a tear or two drop from my eye, and evidently Carrot felt it on him. Obviously, I was laying on him.

"What's wrong, Cup?"

"I don't know..." I no longer cared if he saw me crying, I had just been caught anyways. I started tearing up faster. "I don't know what to do about us right now. I mean, you're a fabulous stallion, don't get me wrong... I'm just a little confused. I'm sorry..."

He seemed offended I said sorry. "Why are you saying sorry? It's my fault. I'll never rush you into things, whenever you're ready. You lost your memory, then gained it back within a 48 hour time period. I should be the one saying sorry here." He paused for a moment, and noticing I didn't reply, he added, "That was my sorry. I really am sorry, I don't ever want to rush you into anything. That was my plan."

"Thank you." I looked up to the starry night sky. What a day happened. Fell in love, bought a fabulous hat, got the worst flavor of ice cream possible... Regained all my memories, fell in love again...

"Carrot?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we just lay and talk all night? It's not like my parents are even home."

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"Anything."

So we did. We talked about anything that came to mind. We spilled all of our secrets, the ones we never told anyone about. We laughed, we cried. My best friend for years, suddenly got closer to me in every way possible. But it was a different kind of close. Not the close that every young pony thinks a relationship is. But a different type of close. Almost... A deep understanding of the other. The more we talked, the more I realized we were exactly alike in many ways. Every passing moment was worth remembering, and this time, I knew for certain it wouldn't go away any time soon.

Eavesdropping

I woke up. And I was sopping wet with dew. Everywhere. The only dry patch was where I fell asleep lying on Carrot, and I guess my stirring woke him up too. The blinding sun, already high in the sky, had dried up every other drop around us. But of course, not us.

"Morning sunshine," He yawned with a big smile. "What time did we go to sleep?"

"Umm..." I blushed. "4 AM? 3:30? Something like that."

My face froze, I had just thought of something quite... Interesting.

"What is it?" We both sat up.

"How is Fanny gonna react to this?"

We both kind of sat there looking at each other. Sure, it was nice, but the real reason was because we didn't know what to do about this.

"Maybe we should just... Break it to him slowly?" Carrot suggested. " I haven't talked to him in about... 15 days. I was busy being a guardian angel." He winked.

I rolled my eyes, trying to coolly shrug it off. Smiling didn't help.

"How about we just try asking him about it. Or, I should rather. He kind of likes you."

A billion puzzle pieces fit together in my mind. "So that's why I remember him being strange around me lately..."

"Yep. Here, let's walk back to town. My parents probably are wondering where I am, since I told them you were awake."

I picked my hat up off the ground. "I might need this... Besides, it'll keep people from freaking out."

Carrot grinned. "I don't know, you look pretty with or without it."

All of his obnoxious flirting may one day get on my nerves. Right now, it simply made me giggle.

"You do know that you don't need to compliment me so much? Or rather flirt with me?"

"Cutie Pie, I know that, it's just funny seeing your face."

I smiled, yet tried to ignore it. "Let's just get to town."

•••••

"Fanny, I have something to tell you."

I heard Carrot's voice through Fanny's bedroom door, I wasn't quite allowed in yet.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, what is it?" Fanny pushed him onto the point.

"Cup and I... Well... Umm... How do I say this..." Carrot was struggling for words, to describe this indescribable thing to our very best friend.

"Carrot, you really still think I like her?" Fanny laughed. "I actually don't. I thought we had this conversation before. At the hospital."

I could tell through the door that Carrot was utterly speechless, looking for words.

Fanny was awfully lighthearted about this, more so than he usually was about topics like this. "I'm happy for you two."

And with that, I could tell he was walking towards the door. I causally ran down the hall. Well, as causally as running down a hall trying not to get caught goes.

I turned around to make it look like I wasn't eavesdropping.

"Cup, you were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Fanny laughed, he knew me awfully too well.

"Well... Umm..." It was now my turn to struggle for words.

"Just like your coltfriend in there. Get along you two, you're young."

I was actually a little offended by this. "He's not my coltfriend!" I scoffed.

"He isn't? Oh. Sorry." He said insincerely. His voice dropped. "I still think you two should get together. He'll make you happy."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever," I said with a smile.

"Here, I'll even get him to ask you to be his marefriend RIGHT here." He went back into his room, and dragged Carrot out.

"Now," Fanny prodded, "Ask the mare out!"

"Fanny, I'm not comfortable with this. This was not in my list of ideas to ask her." Carrot softly spoke, his softer side coming out.

I wasn't comfortable with this either. I chose not to voice my opinion, which in the end turned out to be a great idea.

"Carrot, there's no time for chivalry."

"There is ALWAYS time for chivalry, especially when you're dealing with such a-" he struggled for words once again, "AMAZING mare!"

Fanny cowered down a bit. "Sorry, don't let me intrude on your romantic life." He said sarcastically.

We walked quickly out of his aunt and uncle's shop.

"What was his problem?" Soon after, I bombarded Carrot with answers.

"I don't know... It's like, something snapped. I mean, not quite that, but... Something quite like it. It's kind of scary." Carrot's face showed the upmost concern.

"Oh. Hopefully it gets better soon."

Carrot nodded. "Me too."

"Soo..." I wanted to change the subject quickly. "Do you want to tell me all your fabulous ideas for asking me out?" I giggled.

He smiled. "How about... No. You'll see the one I decided on when I actually do it."

"Pleeaasse?" I put on a big puppy dog face, hoping it would work.

"Cup, as adorable as you are..." He tried to look away from my big eyes, "No." He smirked.

"I'm gonna bother you about it until you do it!"

"Good." He smiled again.

This colt was impossible. I swear to Celestia...

"Carrot, you do know I'm a rather impatient pony."

"And I'm socially awkward on every level?"

I gave up on this fight. Oh well.

We finally got to his parents, and we didn't tell them. But they were for sure happy to see me. They always were my second set of parents, the ones who cared at least. Besides, I was their second daughter practically, next to Carrot's little sister. They fed me right up, and their home was a place I felt safe from everything... Well, before I discovered Carrot's hugs. I even took off my hat in their house.

Carrot had me explain what happened to me, even though it was a little hazy right before. He filled in the parts I couldn't, like how it was obvious I fell and such. I didn't include the really ooey-gooey parts, like us kissing and falling asleep together, until his father, the kindest ex-general you will ever meet, Yellow Cake, asked me why we both had been out the entire night.

"Umm... We were... Trying to remember everything, and just... Remembering everything. You know?" I didn't exactly lie... Just stretched the truth.

Bun Cake, his mother, knew right away. All she did was smile.

I stayed there overnight, in the spare bedroom, like I always did.

At about midnight, Carrot knocked on my door.

"Whaaatt..." I groaned, trying to act like I actually was sleeping. I didn't quite fall asleep yet.

"Cup, can you sleep?"

"I ALMOST fell asleep. Then you like to come in here."

"Aww cutie pie, try not to act like you don't care too much, mmkay?" He snuck around me, and slipped under my covers, and wrapped his arms around me.

"Oh, I mind... A lot." I said, snuggling closer to him, pulling his arms tighter. My eyes soon became heavier and heavier...

"Are you falling asleep?"

"Shh... Yes, I am."

"Just remember you're beautiful." He whispered this softly into my ear.

Now I could fall asleep.

Icing On The Cake

I woke up without Carrot by my side. I was kind of sad, but I knew I had to get home.

The Cakes made sure I stayed at their house long enough to eat breakfast. And a long talk. After a long time, I made sure I had time to go home.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay overnight, but I really should be getting home now." I pleaded with his parents to let me go home. Carrot wasn't up yet, I assumed he stayed until I fell asleep, which might have been late.

"Oh, please, come over whenever you need it, since your family isn't home. You are for sure welcome here!" Bun Cake pleaded with me.

"I'm fine, thank you, I don't want to overrun your hospitality."

"You could never do that. Anything for our boy's closest friend." Yellow Cake said after I tried opening the door. They just kept on talking to me, they were always this talkative.

I finally got out of there. I shut the door, and sighed when I got outside. My hat might of blocked the sun, but warm sunlight bathed me... It instantly made me happy. I searched deep in my brain for the way back to my house. I must have remembered it sometime in my life.

I walked through Ponyville, looking for something familiar. I finally spotted Fanny's uncle's shop, and where they also lived... It was a run down shack, but they didn't mind. If I could own that... I would make it a shop. A fabulous shop... Where anyone could buy hot fresh treats at any time of the day... That would be lovely. Absolutely lovely.

I kept on searching, and finally, I found my home. I was really happy, but then I heard a yelling off in the distance...

"Cup!!!" Fanny breathed, running quickly towards me.

"What is it, Fanny?" I went to open the door to my home, when Fanny threw himself on the door, blocking me.

"Fanny, you're being absolutely ridiculous. Can I not get into my own home?"

"NO!" He yelled, then changed his mind and said it more civilly, "Not right now."

I rolled my eyes. "And why not?"

"Because..." He said searching around, there was obviously something I didn't see.

"What are you looking for?"

"That!" He grabbed my hoof, and we were off.

"Fanny Pack!! Where are we going?"

"I don't know, but away from your house!"

"Wait, what??" I dug my heels into the ground, and forced both of us to stop. "Why are we running away from my home? Thank you very much, I haven't been there in almost a month. And if you don't tell me why, I'm going to go home, normally, like I always do."

Fanny sighed. "There's a surprise, waiting for you, back there. But there's something over here that I need to show you first."

"What's the surprise?"

"Umm Cup," he laughed, "it's a surprise. As in, I can't tell you."

"A hint??" I tried not using my puppy dog eyes, but hey, they worked on Carrot, why not try them on him?

"That's not gonna work on me, Cup."

Darn it.

"So now I'm supposed to leave you, it's somewhere around here."

We were in the town park. Or at least I was. I looked everywhere. There was an odd old stallion selling balloons, obviously trying to get my attention. I ignored him and kept looking. There were at least a dozen young fillies playing frisbee, and people softly talking, laughing.

Where was this, and what did he want me to find? Gosh darn it Fanny. He knew I was too impatient for surprises.

"Excuse me? Miss? I was told I needed to talk to you!"

I turned around to the old man, nearly knocking my hat off in the process. "Me?"

He nodded. "Two boys came over here, told me to sell you a balloon, and a very specific one."

"Which one?"

"This blue one here. They already paid for it, but they said you were supposed to pop it."

"Umm... Okay. Thanks sir." I took the cerulean balloon to a more secluded place, so my balloon pop wouldn't scare everypony.

Of course, there was a note inside of it.

Congrats! You've found this note.

You'll notice the balloon is the color of your coat.

This is not the end to your quest,

I won't put too much of your wit to the test.

Don't worry, no crazy places you must go,

Because now you are going to your home.

On the way,

Think a little bit about yesterday.

What was that supposed to mean...?

I ignored that, and walked home anyways.

I was NOT going to think about yesterday.

Well, what did Fanny mean about yesterday? Did he mean why he was acting like that? Did he notice and change it? Or maybe he was talking about me urging Carrot on to ask me out. I would never do that. I respect Carrot just as much as he respects me, and I would never make him do any of that stuff.

Nor would I ever do it. Because I feel like I did it before, but if I remember correctly (thank Celestia I would) the relationship didn't end quite like I wanted it to.

I opened the door to my house. It was dark, as I expected it to be. A single light came from the kitchen, and I had to check it out.

Carrot was there, in a cute little bowtie and a smock. It seemed to fit him so well.

He turned to me with a smile.

"What's up, Cup?"

CARROT CAKE

She giggled. Man, she was adorable when she giggled.

"I just found this note... In a balloon... And it told me to come home. So I did. What are YOU doing in my kitchen?" She teased, obviously trying to see my fabulous creation.

"I will show you..." She pushed me away, "as long as you wait at the table."

She sighed. "You know I hate waiting."

I smiled. "I won't keep you waiting that long, okay?" She turned around, and sat down, as I frantically put on the last touches.

I stared at it... And for 5 minutes worth of staring, all I added was one little heart. It was perfect, it needed nothing else.

The icing on the cake... It was perfect.

I carried it out to her dining table.

She read it.

At first, her mouth dropped open.

Then, she got a great big smile.

Then she giggled. And that progressed very quickly.

And then she jumped up, and screamed, "YES!"

She jumped into my arms, and giggled. Quite a bit.

I looked back on the cake.

'Would you like to be mine?'

Prologue

The short blue filly bobbed up and down. She jumped all the way to her best friend's house, eager to tell him the news.

She burst in the door.

"Guess what?"

The young colt tuned around, a large pie in his hooves. He looked just as happy to see her. "What's up, Cup?" They both giggled at his usual greeting.

"I got myself a colt friend!" She bobbed up and down around him.

His smile faded, if only for a moment. "Really? Who?"

She giggled. "You know that one unicorn? The one who saved that one filly?"

"Oooohh... That one! That's really awesome Cup! I really hope it goes well for you!"

She giggled all the way out.

He shrugged a little.

If only she knew.

The Letter

I need to tell you something. You aren't going to be happy with what I've got to say. But you've got to listen.

I want to break up with you. But I want to do it in person. I at least owe that to you. Please come to Ponyvile, whenever you can next. I don't want to explain here why. Just please don't be childish and not respond to this. I hope you one day will one day will understand this. Please, come back to Ponyville, if only for one day, or even less than that.

From your marefriend,

Cup Batter

Author's Notes

Hey guys, this is BigBadBari21! This note to you guys, I'm sure will sound a little corny, but you'll want to read through it. :)

First of all, I'd like to give a big thank you to everyone who read this. THAT MEANS YOU. I know I'm not the best writer, but this story means a lot to me, and for that, I thank you.

Second of all, I'd like to thank my countless (well, not really), editors and proof-readers. TheRoyalGuard, for proof-reading it, my personal friend Jenna, and AdmiralBrony, all three of you for reviewing this and reading it.

I also want to thank BlueWeavile for the picture.

I actually have a reason beyond my love of writing why I wrote this. My boyfriend and I were sitting around one night, just thinking about stuff. Things like how incredibly people are incredibly sexual (including in our school) about relationships, and how none of them are taken seriously, including ours. Of course, we wanted to tell the world how awesome our relationship is. Okay, so maybe I didn't get to that part of the story yet, and I plan on showing you in the next edition of this. :)

Writing this was so much fun. Little did you know, I make the most unorganized author possible. Every single day I added another chapter, the story took a twist and turn that I never imagined. I was right there discovering what happened with you . :) But anyways...

I'm thinking seriously about making a sequel for this. Your job now is to PM, leave a comment, leave a message on my user page, or get in contact with me any ways possible. And I want you to give me unanswered questions, and anything you think should be in the next edition (which I'm thinking will be 2 years in the future.). Your comments influence my writing greatly, and if you didn't comment, I would be out of ideas and reasons to write.

And finally, I want to thank someone special, for being my inspiration in this story. I don't need to say much about this person, but they should know I'm thanking them.

Thanks to all of you for reading it. :)

BigBadBari21