Sunday, May 29, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Everything old is new again.

Morning

Shortly after nine in the morning, Mrs. Cake arrives, carrying the twins and a day kit. We're all in the lounge waiting for her, even Cadance and Shining Armor.

"Good morning, dearies!" Mrs. Cake says pleasantly. "I'm sure you've heard, but we've decided to have a party for the entire tennis team at Sugar Cube Corner this evening. I've been talking with Coach Chrysalis, and the girls' team is just going to go straight there from the airport. Everyone's making their own arrangements."

"Sweet!" Rainbow says. "Nothin' like a big party at our favorite hangout to make a three-day weekend perfect!"

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Twilight asks.

"Actually, we'd be grateful for the help setting up," Mrs. Cake says thankfully. "Nurse Cadance, are you sure you won't mind...?"

Cadance laughs. "I need the practice," she says. "Don't worry, the twins are in good hands with me and my husband."

"Thank you," Mrs. Cake says with a relieved sigh. "I'm sorry you'll miss the party..."

"I think we're a little partied out after last night," Shining Armor says with a laugh. "Besides, we really do need practice taking care of babies."

"Yes. Yes you do," Mrs. Cake says with a pained grimace. We all laugh.

Cadance looks at me. "Flash, would you mind going with Rarity to do the week's shopping for the dorm?" I nod. "Great. I'd like everybody else to help the Cakes get set up for the party."

"Where's Sweetie Belle?" Twilight wonders, looking around.

Rarity grimaces. "She...has something to take care of today," she says. "I'll be sure to let her know to meet us at Sugar Cube Corner this afternoon." The warning look in her eyes deters anybody from asking any more questions.

Daytime

As soon as Rarity is dressed for shopping (which takes almost thirty minutes) and I have the list and expense card from Cadance and the keys to the second SUV from Shining Armor, the two of us head out to the supermarket.

As we pull up to the intersection leading into town, I ask, "So what is Sweetie Belle doing today? You seem pretty tense about it."

Rarity takes a moment to collect herself. "She...met up with Nurse Love Tap for breakfast," she says. "They're...they're going together to the hospital to visit that...that boy."

"Oh." No wonder she didn't want to talk about it...

Rarity sighs. "Flash? You...you were right about Sweetie Belle," she says quietly. "She is so much stronger than I gave her credit for." She swallows thickly. "She's...she's stronger than I am."

"Rarity..."

"I've been asking myself...if I'd have the strength to forgive someone for doing to me what that boy did to her. If...if I could keep trying to be his friend, even after that." Rarity turns and looks out the window. "I'm...I'm not sure I could."

She falls silent for a long time.

"I've been thinking," she says as we turn onto the road that leads to the supermarket. "The elegance and grace and refinement I've worked hard to cultivate...are these things just a persona? A mask to hide a shallow, insecure girl, too ashamed of herself to face the world?"

I glance at her as I turn into the parking lot. "I think...you are who you choose to be. I think..." I pause to think as I look for a parking space. "I think...if you don't like who you are deep down inside, you can change yourself. You don't have to hide behind a false face." As I turn onto the next row, I add, "For what it's worth? I think you're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Rarity smiles at me. "Thank you." She looks down at her lap. "I just..."

She falls silent, never finishing the thought.

I park the SUV; we grab two carts and divide up the list. It still takes almost an hour to finish the shopping. Rarity is silent and pensive on the drive back to the dorm.

We quickly put away all the groceries and return the expense card to Cadance. The scene in the apartment is...interesting; Shining Armor looks like he's about to break down in tears, and Cadance is more than a little freaked out.

Apparently, the twins have been running them ragged...

Rarity and I decide to help them out for a little while before heading over to Sugar Cube Corner to meet up with the others.

We arrive to find the cafe almost completely decorated for a tennis-themed party. Twilight and Rainbow are hanging banners that read "CONGRATULATIONS!" and "WONDERCOLTS TENNIS CHAMPS 2016!"; Fluttershy and Sonata are blowing up balloons and putting up streamers, and the smell of baking wafts through the air.

Mr. Cake pokes his head up from behind the counter. "Flash! Perfect timing! Could you come back here and help me for a minute?"

"Sure." I head behind the counter. I find Mr. Cake with his head and shoulders buried deep in the guts of an old-fashioned fountain soda machine. There are several pressurized tanks lined up along the counter. I tilt my head. "What...?"

"We just bought this the other day," Mr. Cake says with a grunt, leaning back and sitting down. He wipes his brow. "I want to bring back the old-timey sodas like they used to have back when my dad was about your age. I think there's real potential there. Something kids your age would really eat up." He grunts. "Putting this damn thing together is a lot of work, though."

"You mean the kind you see in really old TV shows and movies, where there's a soda jerk and he makes ice cream sodas and egg creams by hand?"

Mr. Cake nods. "Yeah." He chuckles. "I'm surprised you know what an egg cream is."

"I've heard of them," I say with a shrug. "No idea what they are."

Mr. Cake chuckles. "I've had one once, back on our honeymoon. We found an old-timey diner that still had a soda jerk and one of these. It's pretty good, it's...well, it's kind of like carbonated chocolate milk." He shrugs. "Anyway, I've thought about adding one of these for a long time, but they're hard to find on the market and really expensive. I managed to find this one that someone had built out of a regular restaurant soda fountain on the Internet." He grabs one of the tanks and, with a strained grunt, hauls it toward the machine. "I...agh!...spent most of yesterday setting up the ice cream machine that goes with this thing..."

"Here, let me help with that." I grab the tank from him and pick it up. It's heavy!

"Thanks." He shows me where to put it, then starts connecting it to the machine. "Anyway, what do you think? Fountain drinks mixed at the counter, ice cream sodas, any flavors, any mixture. Will kids go for it?"

I shrug. "Who knows? I think it's a good idea, though. I mean, unless you lose money on it."

Mr. Cake laughs weakly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Anyway, I want to have it up and running in time for the party for a test run."

"Sounds good." I spend most of the rest of the afternoon helping Mr. Cake finish installing the soda fountain. The rest of the girls are either baking, bringing things out to the front, or setting up for the party. At around three in the afternoon, Sweetie Belle arrives, looking wrung out. Rarity quickly steps aside, gives her a muffin and an iced coffee, and spends a few minutes talking quietly to her.

We finish all the preparations with minutes to spare. We're all taking a break and drinking some sodas—pre-bottled, because we're not testing the soda fountain until the party—when the doors burst open and Pinkie enters with a huge, happy grin.

"Did somebody say PARTY?"

Evening

The entire team arrives in short order, and everyone's in a festive mood. Rainbow Dash puts on some music, which fills the cafe. We gather around in groups, talking and chatting and laughing. Everyone has plenty of food and drink. Mr. Cake mans the soda fountain; once the kids from the team realize what he's doing, he quickly finds himself swamped with orders for ice cream sodas and fountain drinks. I can see phones out, spreading the word about the old-timey soda fountain at Sugar Cube Corner.

I ask Mr. Cake to make me a cherry cola float with chocolate ice cream and a twist of fudge syrup. It's one of the best things I've ever tasted...

The party rages on for hours. Throughout the party, I notice Sweetie Belle mostly keeping to herself, only halfheartedly engaging in conversation or playing games with the others.

It's late in the evening when the party starts winding down and the tennis team members start to leave. Everyone from the dorm stays behind to help clean up. I'm taking a break from wiping down tables when Sweetie Belle walks over and sits down next to me. "Umm...got a minute?" she asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

She looks down at her hands, which are folded on the table. "I...I went to visit Button today."

"Rarity mentioned that. How is he?"

"He's...he's Button," she says glumly. "His mom asked how he's doing, and...and he talked about all the games they're giving him to play, and how different they are from what he usually plays, and how much harder it is when he can't look up FAQs..." She shakes her head. "When he was out of the room, his mom explained that the 'games' are really evaluation tools they're using, and that they've developed these things that look and feel and even sound like video games but they're really kind of...video psychiatry, and the doctors are evaluating his 'play' and making determinations."

"Wow." I shake my head. "It kind of scares me that there must be enough people out there like Button that they'd even need something like that."

"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle sighs. "Anyway, they're also talking to him and giving him medication and all the regular stuff, but..." She slumps forward onto the table. "Basically, they don't hold out much hope of him ever being able to have a normal life. He...he might have to spend the rest of his life in a mental institution."

Ouch.

"I...I tried to apologize to his mom, because if it wasn't for me, he'd..." Sweetie Belle chokes up. "She thanked me." She looks up at me, tears in her eyes. "She thanked me, because if not for me, she'd never have realized it was time to put Button in a hospital. If...if not for me, something a lot worse could've happened, and..."

It doesn't take much imagination to picture what else could've happened to Button, beginning with somebody killing him in anger, and ending with him trying to gun down all his classmates before being shot dead by police. I shudder.

Sweetie Belle sniffles. "So...yeah. I guess...I did kind of help him. Even if...even if it's not the way I wanted to."

Rarity emerges from the back. She sees Sweetie Belle crying, and her eyes soften. "Sweetie Belle? We're about ready to go back to the dorm," she says gently.

Sweetie Belle looks up and nods. "Okay."

Rarity smiles. "How about I fix you an ice cream soda before we go? I think we have time to drink one together."

Sweetie Belle wipes her eyes with a napkin and gives Rarity a weak smile. "I...I'd like that."

I join them in having one more ice cream soda before we regroup with the others and drive back to the dorm.

By the time we get back to the dorm and the Cakes pick the twins up and take them home, I'm really tired, so I send Mom and Dad a quick text letting them know I'll call them tomorrow, then get ready for bed. I'm just about to turn out the lights when Pinkie walks in, a pensive look on her face.

"What's up?" I ask.

Pinkie wrings the hem of her shirt as she stands in the door. "Hey, Flash?" she says quietly. "Can I ask a serious question?"

I nod.

She squirms in place. "If I ever wanted to, y'know, have a baby, even though I know you're probably gonna marry Twilight if...if you two stay like you are right now..." She swallows. "I mean...if I wanted to have your baby someday, would...?"

Whoa. What?

"I'm just asking because...I'm just thinking about, y'know, the future and stuff," Pinkie says. "I'm not...making plans or anything. It's just...a thought."

I sit down on the bed and stare at her. "I...I don't know," I say. "That's...kind of a big thing to think about, you know?"

She sighs. "Yeah..."

"Maybe...ask me again sometime?" I shrug. "When we're all out of high school and don't have to worry about Sunset Shimmer killing us all painfully?"

Pinkie laughs quietly. "Yeah. Okay." She turns to leave.

I stand up and walk behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Pinkie? You'll always be one of my most precious people."

Pinkie smiles at me, hugs me, then heads to the stairs. I stand there for a minute, lost in thought, before closing the door, turning off the lights, and getting into bed.