Of Love and Liesby Lance SkyesChaptersPilotThe New ColtThe First Day of SchoolPilotHi. I’m Rei Sonkei. I’m sure you’ve heard of me and the little adventure I went through to get my cutie mark. Well, not much has changed since you last heard of me. My foster parents and I have moved permanently to Ponyville where I set up a little taco stand. You wouldn’t think I was very successful with it, but I do have my regular customers who come every so often to buy a breakfast taco or two. And yes, my foster parents are still out of the house almost 24/7. But all of this is beside the point of this story... It all started one quiet late summer morning. Business was slow that morning, so I just sat there and watched all the ponies walking through the market. I was considering packing up and calling it an early day when I was approached by the most beautiful filly I had ever seen. She was a unicorn with a pure-white coat that glistened in the summer sun. Her mane was a beautiful lavender and bright pink. Her green eyes sparkled like emeralds. Yet the most interesting part of her was her lack of a cutie mark. I was staring at her for a while before I noticed that she was trying to get my attention. I quickly snapped back to reality and clumsily greeted her. “Good morning, ma’am,” I said quickly. “Welcome to Ponyville Breakfast Tacos. Can I get you anything?” “Oh, no thanks,” she replied. “I just haven’t seen you around before and I wanted to meet you.” “Ok. I’m Rei Sonkei. What’s your name?” “I’m Sweetie Belle. Have you lived here, long?” I think about that question for a second. “No,” I finally answer. “I think I’ve only been here for about three months.” “Oh. Then I guess you don’t have many friends here.” “No actually.” I pause for a moment before I remember what happened before I actually moved here. “I have met a pony named Pinkie Pie.” She giggled a little, leaving me to wonder what she found so funny. “She didn’t happen to burst out into song when you met her, did she?” “Actually, no. Was she supposed to do that?” Sweetie Belle was about to reply when I heard another mare call her name. The mare was similar to Sweetie Belle in almost every way except she had a long purple mane and tail and three diamonds for a cutie mark. “Oh, no,” said Sweetie Belle. “That’s my sister, Rarity. She’ll kill me if she caught me talking to somepony like you.” She then reached into her saddlebag and gave me a piece of paper that she pulled out. “Here, follow this map to where we can meet, later this afternoon. See ya.” She then quickly ran off. Wow. She was just... wow! I really had never seen anypony quite so... pretty. I figured I should pack up and get home so I could get ready to go meet her later. So that’s what I did. With a few lessons from Pinkie Pie, I learned how to fit my entire stand into my saddlebag. She personally taught me how to do it and I still can’t figure out how it works. Later that afternoon, I followed the map to where Sweetie Belle told me to meet her. I came across a treehouse near Sweet Apple Acres and figured that was where she wanted to meet me. I looked inside to see Sweetie Belle and two other fillies who I assumed were her friends inside. What intrigued me most was that none of them had their cutie marks. I’ll never fit in with them all, I thought to myself. Not with my cutie mark. That’s when it hit me. What if I pretended to be a blank-flank? That way Sweetie Belle’s friends would be more likely to accept me and, therefore, I’d be able to spend more time with Sweetie Belle. But for that to work, I can’t let any of those three fillies see me. So I flew back home to get started on my plan. All I needed to do was apply some dark-green makeup to either flank so as to cover my cutie mark. I knew makeup really wasn’t for a colt, but I had to do everything I could to spend time with Sweetie Belle. Fortunately, I could easily sneak into my foster mother’s room and snoop around. I managed to find something that was about the same color as my coat. I knew I had to work fast, or Sweetie Belle will start wondering where I was, so I got to work right then. But just as I had started, I realized that there was a fatal flaw in my plan... and it was pink. Oh, how could I forget that Pinkie Pie actually witnessed me get my cutie mark? She could ruin everything! What was I going to do? I certainly couldn’t pull a “Cupcakes” or a “SHED.MOV” on her, so my options were limited if I had any at all. Besides, if anything were to happen to her, everypony would instantly know foul play would have been involved. Maybe I could simply talk to her and explain my intentions for her silence. Hopefully that would work. All I could do was apply the rest of the makeup, fly to Sugarcube Corner, and hope she’ll agree. I had finally made it to Sugarcube Corner. Once I landed, I made sure to go over what I was going to say to Pinkie. “Pinkie, there’s this filly I like, but she and her friends don’t have cutie marks. I figured that the best way to fit in with them would be if I pretended to not have a cutie mark, as well. All I ask is for you to not say anything about my cutie mark to them. The last thing I would need is for her to not trust me.” That was the worst argument I could have ever thought of, but it was Pinkie Pie, so it might work. I decided that was enough and trotted on in. However, when I walked in, I had a feeling of sudden horror. Sweetie Belle and her friends were already there. “Rei!” she called, waving her hoof. I reluctantly walked over to where they were. “Where were you, earlier?” “I was... um...” I really hadn’t prepared for this scenario, so I said the first thing that popped into my mind. “The pegasi had some pretty big weather planned for today, and they needed eveypony’s help.” Thank Luna that didn’t sound stupid. “‘Big weather?’” asked the other pegasus. “But it’s clear today.” That was true. I could feel myself sweating as I struggled to come up with a response. “Yeah, exactly. It was supposed to be a perfectly clear day without a single cloud in the sky, so they sent out several teams of pegasi to track down and bust every single cloud.” Luck was definetly on my side, today. “A nice, sunny afternoon was definitely worth the extra work,” I added. “Well, thanks for the nice weather,” said Sweetie Belle. “Wanna sit down and have a cupcake with us?” “Sure,” I replied. Then, I remembered why I was there. “In fact, cupcakes are on me.” I dashed off before she could tell me that they had already ordered some. I was galloping as fast as I could across the shop, unable to stop before I crashed into Pinkie Pie. “Hey!” she shouted, getting up. “Watch it!” “Sorry, Pinkie,” I replied. “I’m kind of in a rush. Can I have a word with you in the kitchen?” In the kitchen, I told Pinkie about how I had a crush on Sweetie Belle and how I wouldn’t fit in if she and her friends knew I had a cutie mark and how I needed Pinkie of all ponies to stay quiet about it because she was the one and only witness to my cutie mark here in Ponyville. “Wow,” she said. “Some story. And why can’t you just be honest and trot on over to her despite your cutie mark?” “Because even if she does accept it, there’s no way I’d be able to fit in with all three of them.” “Fine, I’ll keep quiet about it. But you’re going to owe me.” I simply rolled my eyes and gave her the taco I knew she’d ask for. She took it and ate it in one bite. “Thanks! My lips are sealed!” “Oh, one other thing. Can I buy four cupcakes?” I trotted back over to the table where Sweetie Belle and her friends were with the tray of cupcakes perfectly balanced on my head. “Thanks again for the cupcakes, Rei,” Sweetie Belle said. “It was my pleasure,” I replied, sitting down next to her. “So, can you introduce me to your friends?” She introduced me to Applebloom, a yellow earth pony with orange eyes and a red mane decorated with a pink bow, and Scootaloo, an orange pegasus with a purple mane and fuchsia eyes. She told me of their club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and asked me if I wanted to join. Of course, I said yes. The three brought me to their clubhouse, where they all gathered around to induct me into their club. Scootaloo had a pair of drums that she played a fairly dramatic beat on (as well as a head-shaking solo), Sweetie Belle tried to read through a very long script that she got after Scootaloo several times for “forgetting to revise it,” and they gave me a red cape with a blue patch on it. It was about eight when I finally got back home. I folded up the cape and put it in my drawer, then collapsed onto my bed. That’s when I started to worry. What if Pinkie Pie was right? What if I should have been honest and just told her about my cutie mark? What if she never trusts me again? What if she makes me give back the cape? I really liked the cape. I had stared down the killer of my parents in the past, but I wasn’t as scared then as I was now. Maybe if I just keep a level head and roll with it all, things might not turn out as badly as I was afraid they would. I couldn’t do anything about it now, and it was a long day, anyway, so I just closed my eyes and went to sleep. The New ColtI was sitting in the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse, playing checkers with Scootaloo. I was managing to beat her, but not by much. I was having a tough time concentrating, anyway. I was trying to focus on Sweetie Belle and Applebloom’s conversation. “So did you finish that essay for school yet?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Not yet,” replied Applebloom. “I haven’t gotten any research done on The Crystal Empire, but how hard can a five-page essay be?” “It would probably be easy if you had a sister who would actually help you. Rarity’s to busy with her Fall outfit line to be of any help.” I knew a little about The Crystal Empire, so I got up and went over to help them. Besides, I wanted to hear about the school they went to. “What’s everypony talking about?” I asked. “Oh, nothing special,” replied Sweetie Belle. “Just a Summer assignment that none of us has any info on.” “I might be able to help if you need me to,” I offered. “I actually know a little about The Crystal Empire.” “Really?” asked Applebloom. “That would be really nice of you.” “It’s my pleasure. I’m always happy to help good friends. Now, tell me about the school you go to.” “Ponyville Schoolhouse,” said Scootaloo, walking over and joining us. “It’s not a very large school, just about 20 or so students. Don’t you go there for school, too?” “No, actually. I think I moved here right at the beginning of Summer.” “Ooh! You should enroll for this year!” said Applebloom. “How about it?” “Sure, I guess. What’s the worst that could happen?” “Well, funny you mention that...” said Sweetie Belle. “What? What’s wrong?” “There are these two bullies in our class, and they tend to give us a particularly hard time.” “Eh, I’ve dealt with bullies before.” Well... maybe Silver Blaze was a little higher than just a bully, but he still counts. Then again, I kinda had Luna to back me up. I guess this is no different, anyway. After all, this time I have friends. That’s when a thought occurred to me. “Last time I faced a bully, I had a friend to back me up. Will the same be true this time?” “No, Rei,” said Applebloom. “This time, you have three friends.” The others nodded in agreement. “Thank you, everypony. I’ll have your backs as well as you have mine.” I get deeper and deeper into trouble every day, don’t I? The next day, I went to the schoolhouse to get everything arranged for me to come next year. I sat down with a pony named Cheerilee, a purple earth pony who I assumed to be the teacher here. “So,” she said, “your name is Rei Soekei, you run a taco stand, and you don’t have your cutie mark?” “Yes,” I replied. “And your parents couldn’t come with you because...” “Because they have very busy schedules, so they just sent me by myself.” She sat back in her chair and put her hooves together with a skeptical look on her face. “Well, ordinarily, I’d turn down applications if a parent of guardian isn’t present.” Well, that worked. “Very well, Ms. Cheerilee. Thank you for your time.” I was about to walk out when she put her hoof up and said “However, I happen to enjoy your tacos on weekends, so here’s the arrangement I will make.” I sat down and listened intently. “I would like one free taco every weekend for each me and the stallion Big Macintosh. Do you know who he is?” “Yes. The red stallion with that thing around his neck, right?” “That is correct. So, do we have a deal?” I really didn’t need to think about it too much. Two free tacos every week isn’t too much. After all, they don’t cost too much to make. I figured it wasn’t too tall of an order. “Okay, Ms. Cheerilee, you’ve got yourself a deal. I will give you and Big Macintosh one free taco each every weekend.” “Thank you. I’ll get everything filled out for you to join us next spring. Also, don’t forget that the new school year starts in about a week. Have a great day!” “You too,” I said as I walked out of the building. Once I was outside, I began to worry. The fact that the new year started next week really caught me off guard. “I need to learn how to think things through,” I said to myself with a facehoof. Oh well. Like I said, I should just roll with it and see where this takes me. I flew off back to the clubhouse to tell Sweetie Belle and the others the good news. The week went by very fast. I used the money from the taco stand to buy a new saddlebag and school supplies, made sure new hours for my taco stand were announced, and even borrowed a few books from Twilight Sparkle, the librarian. At least, I’m pretty sure she’s the librarian. The fact that she was a princess kind of threw me off. Finally, the day had come. It was time for me to face my greatest challenge yet, school. I went over to Carousel Boutique to pick up Sweetie Belle and walk to school with her. I figured this would be a good time to learn a little more about the school. “So,” I said, “anything I should know about this year?” “Well, there is something,” she said. “I’m not sure I should tell you about it, though.” This really caught my attention. “Well, why not?” “It’s kind of private information.” She sighed, looked around to make sure nopony was around to listen, then began to talk. “There’s a filly in the Cutie Mark Crusaders who has... certain feelings for you.” “Oh?” “Yes, but she isn’t sure if she even wants you to know about it. She’s afraid you may not have the same feelings for her.” “Well, maybe she’s wrong. Maybe I do have similar feelings.” I then leaned in a little closer, careful not to invade her personal space too much. “Maybe I’m just waiting to make sure she has the same feelings I do.” “Oh, good,” she said, backing away. “I’m sure Applebloom will be happy to hear about this!” “What?” I shouted. I was caught so off guard that I tripped over my own legs, falling flat on my face. “Rei! Are you all right?” “Yeah,” I said getting up and dusting myself off. “I’m fine. Did I hear you say that Applebloom had ‘feelings’ for me?” “Uh-huh,” she replied. “Oh, hey. We’re here already!” She wasn't lying. We were already in front of the school. “Well, see ya inside.” “Sweetie Belle, wait.” She turned around, listening. I was about to confess that the feelings I had were actually for her, but I froze up. “Uhh... don’t tell Applebloom that I have the same feelings for her just yet,” I finally said. “I kinda wanna tell her in person, just not yet.” “Okay,” she replied. “See ya.” As she walked inside, I smiled and waved, pretending there was nothing wrong. When she was finally gone, then I had time to stress. Applebloom has a crush on ME? How is this even possible? How could a filly like her like a colt like me? We have almost nothing in common except that we both work with our hooves. This will complicate everything. How can I be with Sweetie Belle if it means breaking her friend’s heart? I just can’t stop going deeper into trouble. What’s next? Another pony becoming suspicious about my fake blank flank? I was stressing like crazy when I realized that there was nothing I could do but roll with it. I know that’s lead to nothing but trouble so far, but every hill has to have a bottom. So I just took a deep breath and walked inside. The First Day of SchoolI was still kind of shocked about Applebloom having a crush on me when I went inside to take my seat. I sat near them, but I honestly didn’t want to take much notice of them. I noticed Applebloom staring at me, but I didn’t want to look away too quickly or I might hurt her feelings. In a stroke of luck, I had an excuse to look away when Ms. Cheerilee walked up to the front of the class and said “Okay, class, settle down and get quiet.” Everypony got quiet and paid attention. “Good. Now, welcome back. I hope you all had a great summer vacation, but now it’s time to learn again! Hooray!” The class was silent. “Anyway, this year we have a new student. Everypony, please welcome Rei Sonkei! Come on up, Rei.” I was kind of reluctant to go up. Standing in front of a crowd wasn’t exactly my comfort zone, but I had to anyway. I walked up to the front of the room next to Ms. Cheerilee and introduced myself. “H-hello. My name is Rei Sonkei. I moved here from Canterlot at the beginning of the summer. I run a little taco stand in the town market. That’s pretty much it.” I stood up there for a little longer, facing the soulless gaze of the rest of the class. Then, the hoof of a pink earth pony with a tiara on her head shot up into the air. “Do you have a question?” “Yeah,” she replied with a miss-priss accent. (There’s such an accent, right?) “Don’t you have a cutie mark?” “No, actually. I’ve been trying to find it for a long time, but I’ve never found what my true talent was.” She and another grey earth pony laughed quietly. “Am I missing some kind of joke?” “No,” replied the grey pony. “It’s just that if you haven’t gotten your cutie mark by now, you’ll wind up a blank flank forever like those three ponies in the back.” “Hay!” I snapped. “Nopony talks that way about my friends!” “Oh, those are your friends? I didn’t mean to offend you.” “Really?” I naively asked. “Just kidding!” As the two laughed, I noticed Sweetie Belle and the others in the back, obviously taking the shots these two fillies were firing hard. I was filling with anger when I finally thought of a solution. “You think you’re the first bullies I’ve met? You think you’re something really special, don’t you? Well, let me be the first to tell you... I’ve taken worse than what you two can dish out. I’m sure that, deep down, you two aren’t even real bullies. You don’t really mean all the things you say. You two just want to stay ahead of the pack to avoid any real bullies.” I then leaned in a little closer to the grey one. “You’re afraid. Afraid of being bullied, yourselves. Afraid of losing your status as the top dogs. Afraid of disappointing your little daddies.” This actually caused the grey one to nearly fall backwards out of her seat. I then walked away back to my seat, followed by much applause by the rest of the class. “That was amazing, Rei,” commented Sweetie Belle. “Yeah,” added Scootaloo. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” “How’d you do it?” asked Applebloom. “Everypony knows how a unicorn’s magic works, but a magician, on the other hoof, never reveals his secrets.” After an otherwise uneventful day, I trotted out of the school and into the courtyard with pride. Everypony instantly began crowding me, asking what it took to stand up to bullies and wondering if there was any special trick they needed. I simply replied, “All you need to do is believe in yourself and not let your bully get under your skin.” After a while, I finally found the two fillies I was looking for. I found out that their names were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “What do you want?” Silver Spoon asked asked as I trotted over. “Well, I was planning on gloating a little in your faces, but then I decided it would be a better idea to try extending a hoof in friendship.” Diamond Tiara just scoffed. “Friends? With a blank flank like you?” “Come on. I’d be willing to bet that neither of you two have any other real friends.” The two looked at each other for a moment, and I knew I had them in checkmate. “Okay,” Diamond Tiara replied. “Nopony ever wants to be friends with us, so this is kind of a first. How is this supposed to work?” I sat down next to them to explain what I wanted them to hear. “First thing’s first. Tonight, you two come by my house. Sweetie Belle and her friends will be there, too. I want us all to get to know each other a little better if we’re all going to be friends. Sound good?” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to me. “Okay,” Silver Spoon finally said. “We’ll come.” “Great,” I said as I got up. “I’ll be waiting for you two.” Just before I flew back home, I turned around and said “Hey, Silver Spoon. You’re name reminds me of a pony I used to know. He wasn’t the nicest stallion I ever met, but he was a lot worse than you.” With that, I flew off. The first phase of my plan was complete. It was time for the second phase... Later that evening, I had everything in place for my plan. Of course, I didn’t really invite Sweetie Belle and her friends. It wouldn’t have been a good thing if they were caught up in this particular prank. I got everything in place for the scary story I was going to tell Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and the little ‘bonus’ that would come with it and waited. After a while, I heard a knock on the door and two voices on the other side. Time to see if this plan would work, because Celestia knew I wasn’t sure it would. I flew over to the front door and opened it. “Welcome,” I said to the two fillies. “Please, come in.” The two fillies walked into the room I had set up. There were a few chairs around a table, which had a small spread of a dozen tacos on it. “What are those?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Are those supposed to be food?” “I know it looks weird,” I said, “but trust me, they taste good. Take a seat and help yourself to them.” I trotted off into the room behind where they were sitting and quietly made one final check to make sure my trap was in place. The rope was attached correctly, concealed so that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would never see it, and ready to work the second I released it from under the table. After I finished up, I trotted back into the living room where I found that neither of the two had even touched the tacos I laid out. “You’re supposed to eat them, not stare at them.” “Uh, we had a big lunch,” Silver Spoon said. “Yeah,” Diamond Tiara added. “We just aren’t hungry, that’s all.” “Oh, well I can totally believe that.” I honestly didn’t believe them, but it was okay. They’ll come around. “So, while we’re waiting for Sweetie Belle and the others, what do you say we tell some scary stories?” The two looked at me like I was a Timber Wolf for a little while, but eventually they looked back and each other and shrugged. “I’ll go first,” Diamond Tiara said. She went on to tell the story of the Headless Horse. This got Silver Spoon shaking a little, but I had heard the story about a hundred times. After Diamond Tiara was finished, Silver Spoon told a tale of how Pinkie Pie used to make cupcakes. I admit, a bit graphic, but I had still heard it and watched the cartoon somepony made based off of it. [Author’s interjection: Seriously, I just recently watched Cupcakes and it was very disappointing compared to the fic.] “So, Rei,” Diamond Tiara said after she was done whimpering in fear from Silver Spoon’s story, “do you have a story you’d like to share? I doubt it will be nearly as scary as that last one.” At long last, it was time for the third and final phase of my plan. “Oh, I have quite the story for you two,” I said, purposefully letting an evil smile form on my face. “Have you two ever heard about the creature known as... Slendermane?” When the two shook their heads, I went ahead and let a small evil chuckle come out. “Well then... you girls are in for a treat. It all started one night in front of the Everfree Forest...” One scary story later... The two fillies were really shaking at this point and their expressions showed pure terror. “...then, just as she took the eighth page in her hoof, the static stopped. She was safe... or so she thought. She walked quietly out of the building and back out into the woods, hoping she’d be able to find her way back to Ponyville. However, she didn’t get far before she heard the all-too-familiar boom from behind her.” As I was about to say this last line, I stealthily undid the rope from under the table. “She turned around quickly to find, standing right there behind her... SLENDERMANE!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon yelped a little when I shouted the last word, but they played it off like nothing happened. “Pfft, that wasn’t scary at all,” Diamond Tiara said. “Yeah,” Silver Spoon added. “I mean, a faceless pony who guards eight pieces of paper in the Everfree Forest. Heh, somepony needs to get a life.” “Oh, he does more than guard his pages,” I said, watching the trap work behind the fillies. “Sometimes, he leaves the Forest and comes to Ponyville to prey on innocent little foals like us on dark nights like this one. In fact- WHAA!” I did my best to make my scream as realistically as possible. (My cutie mark should have been in acting.) I pointed behind the two fillies, still screaming. “IT’S SLENDERMANE!” The two fillies quickly turned around to find Slendermane standing right behind them. They screamed at the top of their lungs and galloped as fast as they could out of the house and into the night. Just for dramatic effect, as the fillies were galloping, I shouted “WAIT! DON’T LEAVE ME- GAAAAAAAH!” Hopefully, that would give them the impression that Slendermane got me and was close behind them now. It would have been true if Slendermane were actually here. I got out of my chair and trotted over to what easily passed as the real Slendermane. If the fillies had actually paid attention, they would have noticed that it was suspended by ropes hanging from the ceiling and that it was just an oversized stuffed doll that I had made, myself. “Acting, arts and crafts, generally impractical and sometimes rather cruel jokes... and yet my cutie mark is just a taco.” With a sigh of self-satisfaction, I took the Slendermane doll down from the ceiling, gathered up all the rope and put it away, and took the doll up to my room where I stored it in my closet for possible use in the future. I was just about to go to bed when I remembered that the two fillies hadn’t eaten a single one of the tacos I made. I quickly trotted back down to the living room where the entire plate of a dozen tacos remained untouched. I sighed with disappointment and put the entire plate in the fridge. I pulled one of the tacos out and ate it before I closed the fridge, then trotted back upstairs to bed. “Well that wasn’t a bad day after all,” I said to myself. “New school, new friends, new ‘friends’, and a life-size Slendermane doll I made with my own two hooves over the course of an afternoon. I should give that to somepony for Hearth’s Warming.” With all that in mind, I got into my bed and fell asleep.
PilotHi. I’m Rei Sonkei. I’m sure you’ve heard of me and the little adventure I went through to get my cutie mark. Well, not much has changed since you last heard of me. My foster parents and I have moved permanently to Ponyville where I set up a little taco stand. You wouldn’t think I was very successful with it, but I do have my regular customers who come every so often to buy a breakfast taco or two. And yes, my foster parents are still out of the house almost 24/7. But all of this is beside the point of this story... It all started one quiet late summer morning. Business was slow that morning, so I just sat there and watched all the ponies walking through the market. I was considering packing up and calling it an early day when I was approached by the most beautiful filly I had ever seen. She was a unicorn with a pure-white coat that glistened in the summer sun. Her mane was a beautiful lavender and bright pink. Her green eyes sparkled like emeralds. Yet the most interesting part of her was her lack of a cutie mark. I was staring at her for a while before I noticed that she was trying to get my attention. I quickly snapped back to reality and clumsily greeted her. “Good morning, ma’am,” I said quickly. “Welcome to Ponyville Breakfast Tacos. Can I get you anything?” “Oh, no thanks,” she replied. “I just haven’t seen you around before and I wanted to meet you.” “Ok. I’m Rei Sonkei. What’s your name?” “I’m Sweetie Belle. Have you lived here, long?” I think about that question for a second. “No,” I finally answer. “I think I’ve only been here for about three months.” “Oh. Then I guess you don’t have many friends here.” “No actually.” I pause for a moment before I remember what happened before I actually moved here. “I have met a pony named Pinkie Pie.” She giggled a little, leaving me to wonder what she found so funny. “She didn’t happen to burst out into song when you met her, did she?” “Actually, no. Was she supposed to do that?” Sweetie Belle was about to reply when I heard another mare call her name. The mare was similar to Sweetie Belle in almost every way except she had a long purple mane and tail and three diamonds for a cutie mark. “Oh, no,” said Sweetie Belle. “That’s my sister, Rarity. She’ll kill me if she caught me talking to somepony like you.” She then reached into her saddlebag and gave me a piece of paper that she pulled out. “Here, follow this map to where we can meet, later this afternoon. See ya.” She then quickly ran off. Wow. She was just... wow! I really had never seen anypony quite so... pretty. I figured I should pack up and get home so I could get ready to go meet her later. So that’s what I did. With a few lessons from Pinkie Pie, I learned how to fit my entire stand into my saddlebag. She personally taught me how to do it and I still can’t figure out how it works. Later that afternoon, I followed the map to where Sweetie Belle told me to meet her. I came across a treehouse near Sweet Apple Acres and figured that was where she wanted to meet me. I looked inside to see Sweetie Belle and two other fillies who I assumed were her friends inside. What intrigued me most was that none of them had their cutie marks. I’ll never fit in with them all, I thought to myself. Not with my cutie mark. That’s when it hit me. What if I pretended to be a blank-flank? That way Sweetie Belle’s friends would be more likely to accept me and, therefore, I’d be able to spend more time with Sweetie Belle. But for that to work, I can’t let any of those three fillies see me. So I flew back home to get started on my plan. All I needed to do was apply some dark-green makeup to either flank so as to cover my cutie mark. I knew makeup really wasn’t for a colt, but I had to do everything I could to spend time with Sweetie Belle. Fortunately, I could easily sneak into my foster mother’s room and snoop around. I managed to find something that was about the same color as my coat. I knew I had to work fast, or Sweetie Belle will start wondering where I was, so I got to work right then. But just as I had started, I realized that there was a fatal flaw in my plan... and it was pink. Oh, how could I forget that Pinkie Pie actually witnessed me get my cutie mark? She could ruin everything! What was I going to do? I certainly couldn’t pull a “Cupcakes” or a “SHED.MOV” on her, so my options were limited if I had any at all. Besides, if anything were to happen to her, everypony would instantly know foul play would have been involved. Maybe I could simply talk to her and explain my intentions for her silence. Hopefully that would work. All I could do was apply the rest of the makeup, fly to Sugarcube Corner, and hope she’ll agree. I had finally made it to Sugarcube Corner. Once I landed, I made sure to go over what I was going to say to Pinkie. “Pinkie, there’s this filly I like, but she and her friends don’t have cutie marks. I figured that the best way to fit in with them would be if I pretended to not have a cutie mark, as well. All I ask is for you to not say anything about my cutie mark to them. The last thing I would need is for her to not trust me.” That was the worst argument I could have ever thought of, but it was Pinkie Pie, so it might work. I decided that was enough and trotted on in. However, when I walked in, I had a feeling of sudden horror. Sweetie Belle and her friends were already there. “Rei!” she called, waving her hoof. I reluctantly walked over to where they were. “Where were you, earlier?” “I was... um...” I really hadn’t prepared for this scenario, so I said the first thing that popped into my mind. “The pegasi had some pretty big weather planned for today, and they needed eveypony’s help.” Thank Luna that didn’t sound stupid. “‘Big weather?’” asked the other pegasus. “But it’s clear today.” That was true. I could feel myself sweating as I struggled to come up with a response. “Yeah, exactly. It was supposed to be a perfectly clear day without a single cloud in the sky, so they sent out several teams of pegasi to track down and bust every single cloud.” Luck was definetly on my side, today. “A nice, sunny afternoon was definitely worth the extra work,” I added. “Well, thanks for the nice weather,” said Sweetie Belle. “Wanna sit down and have a cupcake with us?” “Sure,” I replied. Then, I remembered why I was there. “In fact, cupcakes are on me.” I dashed off before she could tell me that they had already ordered some. I was galloping as fast as I could across the shop, unable to stop before I crashed into Pinkie Pie. “Hey!” she shouted, getting up. “Watch it!” “Sorry, Pinkie,” I replied. “I’m kind of in a rush. Can I have a word with you in the kitchen?” In the kitchen, I told Pinkie about how I had a crush on Sweetie Belle and how I wouldn’t fit in if she and her friends knew I had a cutie mark and how I needed Pinkie of all ponies to stay quiet about it because she was the one and only witness to my cutie mark here in Ponyville. “Wow,” she said. “Some story. And why can’t you just be honest and trot on over to her despite your cutie mark?” “Because even if she does accept it, there’s no way I’d be able to fit in with all three of them.” “Fine, I’ll keep quiet about it. But you’re going to owe me.” I simply rolled my eyes and gave her the taco I knew she’d ask for. She took it and ate it in one bite. “Thanks! My lips are sealed!” “Oh, one other thing. Can I buy four cupcakes?” I trotted back over to the table where Sweetie Belle and her friends were with the tray of cupcakes perfectly balanced on my head. “Thanks again for the cupcakes, Rei,” Sweetie Belle said. “It was my pleasure,” I replied, sitting down next to her. “So, can you introduce me to your friends?” She introduced me to Applebloom, a yellow earth pony with orange eyes and a red mane decorated with a pink bow, and Scootaloo, an orange pegasus with a purple mane and fuchsia eyes. She told me of their club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and asked me if I wanted to join. Of course, I said yes. The three brought me to their clubhouse, where they all gathered around to induct me into their club. Scootaloo had a pair of drums that she played a fairly dramatic beat on (as well as a head-shaking solo), Sweetie Belle tried to read through a very long script that she got after Scootaloo several times for “forgetting to revise it,” and they gave me a red cape with a blue patch on it. It was about eight when I finally got back home. I folded up the cape and put it in my drawer, then collapsed onto my bed. That’s when I started to worry. What if Pinkie Pie was right? What if I should have been honest and just told her about my cutie mark? What if she never trusts me again? What if she makes me give back the cape? I really liked the cape. I had stared down the killer of my parents in the past, but I wasn’t as scared then as I was now. Maybe if I just keep a level head and roll with it all, things might not turn out as badly as I was afraid they would. I couldn’t do anything about it now, and it was a long day, anyway, so I just closed my eyes and went to sleep.
The New ColtI was sitting in the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse, playing checkers with Scootaloo. I was managing to beat her, but not by much. I was having a tough time concentrating, anyway. I was trying to focus on Sweetie Belle and Applebloom’s conversation. “So did you finish that essay for school yet?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Not yet,” replied Applebloom. “I haven’t gotten any research done on The Crystal Empire, but how hard can a five-page essay be?” “It would probably be easy if you had a sister who would actually help you. Rarity’s to busy with her Fall outfit line to be of any help.” I knew a little about The Crystal Empire, so I got up and went over to help them. Besides, I wanted to hear about the school they went to. “What’s everypony talking about?” I asked. “Oh, nothing special,” replied Sweetie Belle. “Just a Summer assignment that none of us has any info on.” “I might be able to help if you need me to,” I offered. “I actually know a little about The Crystal Empire.” “Really?” asked Applebloom. “That would be really nice of you.” “It’s my pleasure. I’m always happy to help good friends. Now, tell me about the school you go to.” “Ponyville Schoolhouse,” said Scootaloo, walking over and joining us. “It’s not a very large school, just about 20 or so students. Don’t you go there for school, too?” “No, actually. I think I moved here right at the beginning of Summer.” “Ooh! You should enroll for this year!” said Applebloom. “How about it?” “Sure, I guess. What’s the worst that could happen?” “Well, funny you mention that...” said Sweetie Belle. “What? What’s wrong?” “There are these two bullies in our class, and they tend to give us a particularly hard time.” “Eh, I’ve dealt with bullies before.” Well... maybe Silver Blaze was a little higher than just a bully, but he still counts. Then again, I kinda had Luna to back me up. I guess this is no different, anyway. After all, this time I have friends. That’s when a thought occurred to me. “Last time I faced a bully, I had a friend to back me up. Will the same be true this time?” “No, Rei,” said Applebloom. “This time, you have three friends.” The others nodded in agreement. “Thank you, everypony. I’ll have your backs as well as you have mine.” I get deeper and deeper into trouble every day, don’t I? The next day, I went to the schoolhouse to get everything arranged for me to come next year. I sat down with a pony named Cheerilee, a purple earth pony who I assumed to be the teacher here. “So,” she said, “your name is Rei Soekei, you run a taco stand, and you don’t have your cutie mark?” “Yes,” I replied. “And your parents couldn’t come with you because...” “Because they have very busy schedules, so they just sent me by myself.” She sat back in her chair and put her hooves together with a skeptical look on her face. “Well, ordinarily, I’d turn down applications if a parent of guardian isn’t present.” Well, that worked. “Very well, Ms. Cheerilee. Thank you for your time.” I was about to walk out when she put her hoof up and said “However, I happen to enjoy your tacos on weekends, so here’s the arrangement I will make.” I sat down and listened intently. “I would like one free taco every weekend for each me and the stallion Big Macintosh. Do you know who he is?” “Yes. The red stallion with that thing around his neck, right?” “That is correct. So, do we have a deal?” I really didn’t need to think about it too much. Two free tacos every week isn’t too much. After all, they don’t cost too much to make. I figured it wasn’t too tall of an order. “Okay, Ms. Cheerilee, you’ve got yourself a deal. I will give you and Big Macintosh one free taco each every weekend.” “Thank you. I’ll get everything filled out for you to join us next spring. Also, don’t forget that the new school year starts in about a week. Have a great day!” “You too,” I said as I walked out of the building. Once I was outside, I began to worry. The fact that the new year started next week really caught me off guard. “I need to learn how to think things through,” I said to myself with a facehoof. Oh well. Like I said, I should just roll with it and see where this takes me. I flew off back to the clubhouse to tell Sweetie Belle and the others the good news. The week went by very fast. I used the money from the taco stand to buy a new saddlebag and school supplies, made sure new hours for my taco stand were announced, and even borrowed a few books from Twilight Sparkle, the librarian. At least, I’m pretty sure she’s the librarian. The fact that she was a princess kind of threw me off. Finally, the day had come. It was time for me to face my greatest challenge yet, school. I went over to Carousel Boutique to pick up Sweetie Belle and walk to school with her. I figured this would be a good time to learn a little more about the school. “So,” I said, “anything I should know about this year?” “Well, there is something,” she said. “I’m not sure I should tell you about it, though.” This really caught my attention. “Well, why not?” “It’s kind of private information.” She sighed, looked around to make sure nopony was around to listen, then began to talk. “There’s a filly in the Cutie Mark Crusaders who has... certain feelings for you.” “Oh?” “Yes, but she isn’t sure if she even wants you to know about it. She’s afraid you may not have the same feelings for her.” “Well, maybe she’s wrong. Maybe I do have similar feelings.” I then leaned in a little closer, careful not to invade her personal space too much. “Maybe I’m just waiting to make sure she has the same feelings I do.” “Oh, good,” she said, backing away. “I’m sure Applebloom will be happy to hear about this!” “What?” I shouted. I was caught so off guard that I tripped over my own legs, falling flat on my face. “Rei! Are you all right?” “Yeah,” I said getting up and dusting myself off. “I’m fine. Did I hear you say that Applebloom had ‘feelings’ for me?” “Uh-huh,” she replied. “Oh, hey. We’re here already!” She wasn't lying. We were already in front of the school. “Well, see ya inside.” “Sweetie Belle, wait.” She turned around, listening. I was about to confess that the feelings I had were actually for her, but I froze up. “Uhh... don’t tell Applebloom that I have the same feelings for her just yet,” I finally said. “I kinda wanna tell her in person, just not yet.” “Okay,” she replied. “See ya.” As she walked inside, I smiled and waved, pretending there was nothing wrong. When she was finally gone, then I had time to stress. Applebloom has a crush on ME? How is this even possible? How could a filly like her like a colt like me? We have almost nothing in common except that we both work with our hooves. This will complicate everything. How can I be with Sweetie Belle if it means breaking her friend’s heart? I just can’t stop going deeper into trouble. What’s next? Another pony becoming suspicious about my fake blank flank? I was stressing like crazy when I realized that there was nothing I could do but roll with it. I know that’s lead to nothing but trouble so far, but every hill has to have a bottom. So I just took a deep breath and walked inside.
The First Day of SchoolI was still kind of shocked about Applebloom having a crush on me when I went inside to take my seat. I sat near them, but I honestly didn’t want to take much notice of them. I noticed Applebloom staring at me, but I didn’t want to look away too quickly or I might hurt her feelings. In a stroke of luck, I had an excuse to look away when Ms. Cheerilee walked up to the front of the class and said “Okay, class, settle down and get quiet.” Everypony got quiet and paid attention. “Good. Now, welcome back. I hope you all had a great summer vacation, but now it’s time to learn again! Hooray!” The class was silent. “Anyway, this year we have a new student. Everypony, please welcome Rei Sonkei! Come on up, Rei.” I was kind of reluctant to go up. Standing in front of a crowd wasn’t exactly my comfort zone, but I had to anyway. I walked up to the front of the room next to Ms. Cheerilee and introduced myself. “H-hello. My name is Rei Sonkei. I moved here from Canterlot at the beginning of the summer. I run a little taco stand in the town market. That’s pretty much it.” I stood up there for a little longer, facing the soulless gaze of the rest of the class. Then, the hoof of a pink earth pony with a tiara on her head shot up into the air. “Do you have a question?” “Yeah,” she replied with a miss-priss accent. (There’s such an accent, right?) “Don’t you have a cutie mark?” “No, actually. I’ve been trying to find it for a long time, but I’ve never found what my true talent was.” She and another grey earth pony laughed quietly. “Am I missing some kind of joke?” “No,” replied the grey pony. “It’s just that if you haven’t gotten your cutie mark by now, you’ll wind up a blank flank forever like those three ponies in the back.” “Hay!” I snapped. “Nopony talks that way about my friends!” “Oh, those are your friends? I didn’t mean to offend you.” “Really?” I naively asked. “Just kidding!” As the two laughed, I noticed Sweetie Belle and the others in the back, obviously taking the shots these two fillies were firing hard. I was filling with anger when I finally thought of a solution. “You think you’re the first bullies I’ve met? You think you’re something really special, don’t you? Well, let me be the first to tell you... I’ve taken worse than what you two can dish out. I’m sure that, deep down, you two aren’t even real bullies. You don’t really mean all the things you say. You two just want to stay ahead of the pack to avoid any real bullies.” I then leaned in a little closer to the grey one. “You’re afraid. Afraid of being bullied, yourselves. Afraid of losing your status as the top dogs. Afraid of disappointing your little daddies.” This actually caused the grey one to nearly fall backwards out of her seat. I then walked away back to my seat, followed by much applause by the rest of the class. “That was amazing, Rei,” commented Sweetie Belle. “Yeah,” added Scootaloo. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” “How’d you do it?” asked Applebloom. “Everypony knows how a unicorn’s magic works, but a magician, on the other hoof, never reveals his secrets.” After an otherwise uneventful day, I trotted out of the school and into the courtyard with pride. Everypony instantly began crowding me, asking what it took to stand up to bullies and wondering if there was any special trick they needed. I simply replied, “All you need to do is believe in yourself and not let your bully get under your skin.” After a while, I finally found the two fillies I was looking for. I found out that their names were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “What do you want?” Silver Spoon asked asked as I trotted over. “Well, I was planning on gloating a little in your faces, but then I decided it would be a better idea to try extending a hoof in friendship.” Diamond Tiara just scoffed. “Friends? With a blank flank like you?” “Come on. I’d be willing to bet that neither of you two have any other real friends.” The two looked at each other for a moment, and I knew I had them in checkmate. “Okay,” Diamond Tiara replied. “Nopony ever wants to be friends with us, so this is kind of a first. How is this supposed to work?” I sat down next to them to explain what I wanted them to hear. “First thing’s first. Tonight, you two come by my house. Sweetie Belle and her friends will be there, too. I want us all to get to know each other a little better if we’re all going to be friends. Sound good?” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to me. “Okay,” Silver Spoon finally said. “We’ll come.” “Great,” I said as I got up. “I’ll be waiting for you two.” Just before I flew back home, I turned around and said “Hey, Silver Spoon. You’re name reminds me of a pony I used to know. He wasn’t the nicest stallion I ever met, but he was a lot worse than you.” With that, I flew off. The first phase of my plan was complete. It was time for the second phase... Later that evening, I had everything in place for my plan. Of course, I didn’t really invite Sweetie Belle and her friends. It wouldn’t have been a good thing if they were caught up in this particular prank. I got everything in place for the scary story I was going to tell Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and the little ‘bonus’ that would come with it and waited. After a while, I heard a knock on the door and two voices on the other side. Time to see if this plan would work, because Celestia knew I wasn’t sure it would. I flew over to the front door and opened it. “Welcome,” I said to the two fillies. “Please, come in.” The two fillies walked into the room I had set up. There were a few chairs around a table, which had a small spread of a dozen tacos on it. “What are those?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Are those supposed to be food?” “I know it looks weird,” I said, “but trust me, they taste good. Take a seat and help yourself to them.” I trotted off into the room behind where they were sitting and quietly made one final check to make sure my trap was in place. The rope was attached correctly, concealed so that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would never see it, and ready to work the second I released it from under the table. After I finished up, I trotted back into the living room where I found that neither of the two had even touched the tacos I laid out. “You’re supposed to eat them, not stare at them.” “Uh, we had a big lunch,” Silver Spoon said. “Yeah,” Diamond Tiara added. “We just aren’t hungry, that’s all.” “Oh, well I can totally believe that.” I honestly didn’t believe them, but it was okay. They’ll come around. “So, while we’re waiting for Sweetie Belle and the others, what do you say we tell some scary stories?” The two looked at me like I was a Timber Wolf for a little while, but eventually they looked back and each other and shrugged. “I’ll go first,” Diamond Tiara said. She went on to tell the story of the Headless Horse. This got Silver Spoon shaking a little, but I had heard the story about a hundred times. After Diamond Tiara was finished, Silver Spoon told a tale of how Pinkie Pie used to make cupcakes. I admit, a bit graphic, but I had still heard it and watched the cartoon somepony made based off of it. [Author’s interjection: Seriously, I just recently watched Cupcakes and it was very disappointing compared to the fic.] “So, Rei,” Diamond Tiara said after she was done whimpering in fear from Silver Spoon’s story, “do you have a story you’d like to share? I doubt it will be nearly as scary as that last one.” At long last, it was time for the third and final phase of my plan. “Oh, I have quite the story for you two,” I said, purposefully letting an evil smile form on my face. “Have you two ever heard about the creature known as... Slendermane?” When the two shook their heads, I went ahead and let a small evil chuckle come out. “Well then... you girls are in for a treat. It all started one night in front of the Everfree Forest...” One scary story later... The two fillies were really shaking at this point and their expressions showed pure terror. “...then, just as she took the eighth page in her hoof, the static stopped. She was safe... or so she thought. She walked quietly out of the building and back out into the woods, hoping she’d be able to find her way back to Ponyville. However, she didn’t get far before she heard the all-too-familiar boom from behind her.” As I was about to say this last line, I stealthily undid the rope from under the table. “She turned around quickly to find, standing right there behind her... SLENDERMANE!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon yelped a little when I shouted the last word, but they played it off like nothing happened. “Pfft, that wasn’t scary at all,” Diamond Tiara said. “Yeah,” Silver Spoon added. “I mean, a faceless pony who guards eight pieces of paper in the Everfree Forest. Heh, somepony needs to get a life.” “Oh, he does more than guard his pages,” I said, watching the trap work behind the fillies. “Sometimes, he leaves the Forest and comes to Ponyville to prey on innocent little foals like us on dark nights like this one. In fact- WHAA!” I did my best to make my scream as realistically as possible. (My cutie mark should have been in acting.) I pointed behind the two fillies, still screaming. “IT’S SLENDERMANE!” The two fillies quickly turned around to find Slendermane standing right behind them. They screamed at the top of their lungs and galloped as fast as they could out of the house and into the night. Just for dramatic effect, as the fillies were galloping, I shouted “WAIT! DON’T LEAVE ME- GAAAAAAAH!” Hopefully, that would give them the impression that Slendermane got me and was close behind them now. It would have been true if Slendermane were actually here. I got out of my chair and trotted over to what easily passed as the real Slendermane. If the fillies had actually paid attention, they would have noticed that it was suspended by ropes hanging from the ceiling and that it was just an oversized stuffed doll that I had made, myself. “Acting, arts and crafts, generally impractical and sometimes rather cruel jokes... and yet my cutie mark is just a taco.” With a sigh of self-satisfaction, I took the Slendermane doll down from the ceiling, gathered up all the rope and put it away, and took the doll up to my room where I stored it in my closet for possible use in the future. I was just about to go to bed when I remembered that the two fillies hadn’t eaten a single one of the tacos I made. I quickly trotted back down to the living room where the entire plate of a dozen tacos remained untouched. I sighed with disappointment and put the entire plate in the fridge. I pulled one of the tacos out and ate it before I closed the fridge, then trotted back upstairs to bed. “Well that wasn’t a bad day after all,” I said to myself. “New school, new friends, new ‘friends’, and a life-size Slendermane doll I made with my own two hooves over the course of an afternoon. I should give that to somepony for Hearth’s Warming.” With all that in mind, I got into my bed and fell asleep.
