Of Love and Lies

I 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.