Storm and I run out to catch up with Twilight. As we walk along I look over to Storm, who shakes his head. I think I'll ask anyway.

"Soo... what was that about?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I look back to Storm, who shakes his head again.

"Alright, I'll drop it... for now." Twilight gives a small huff and begins to walk normally. As we walk through the empty town, I can see faces appearing from windows and doorways, only to disappear the moment we make eye contact. "So, how long do you think it'll take for the citizens to become accustomed to me?"

"I give it a month," Storm states.

"It only took Zecora talking to everypony to become accepted. Once you start to talk around town they'll open up," Twilight says as she glances around the town.

"Alright, alright; who's Zecora?" I ask.

"She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree forest," Twilight states simply.

"Great, what's a zebra?"

"They're basically earth ponies that are covered in black and white stripes." Interesting, I'll have to ask this Zecora for some pointers on how to deal with the locals later.

We continue to walk towards the upper part of town, with little to no sign of its inhabitants. I'm starting to worry if I'll ever see any of them, but then again, why would I need to see any of them. Once I get my weapons I can go and find my way to Topaz; wherever it is.

"Hey Miles..." Storm asks, breaking the silence.

"Yeah Storm."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah… why…?"

"Well, I don't know. You just seem to be handling everything well. You did just find out that you were sent to the future."

"To be honest, I'm trying not to think about it. I just want to focus on getting back to Topaz Falls and finding out what happened to everyone I knew."

Twilight and Storm exchange looks before Twilight asks, "So what happened the day you were sent here?"

I sigh. "They happened." I quicken my pace and leave it at that. I know if I speak too much about them, I'll get into a really bad mood. And I don't want that to delay my inevitable departure. Twilight and Storm catch up, and we walk the rest of the way in silence.

"Here we are, Carousel Boutique," Twilight says as we approach a round building. It seems to be three stories tall and heavily embellished with bright intricate patterns painted throughout the exterior. A door that's cut through the center sits in the middle, with large oval windows going around the building. Twilight walks up to the door and gives it a few good knocks. With no answer she opens the door and walks in.

"Should we follow?" I ask.

"May as well," Storm says as he walks through the door, with me following.

The room we walk into seems to be the fitting area. To my right is a small stage surrounded by mirrors and a doorway to what I assume is the dressing room. To my left are rows of different gowns, most hanging from a rack but some are out on display on pony mannequins. On the other side of the room I can see a hallway the leads to the back of the building, as well as a stairwell that goes up.

"Rarity, it’s Twilight. Are you home?" Twilight calls out.

"One moment please, I'm in the middle of something," chimes Rarity from the backroom of the boutique. I begin to walk around the room, inspecting various little things, when something catches my eye. Sitting on the counter is a fist size diamond; nothing protecting it, just sitting there, in the open, alone.

"Everything alright?" Storm asks as he walks up to me, barely glancing at the unprotected diamond.

"Yeah, yeah... is it commonplace for ponies to just leave gems lying around... in the open... alone."

"Well, gems are pretty valuable, but I guess leaving them like that is somewhat normal. Hey Twilight, you know what Rarity uses the gems for?"

"She puts them into her gowns. It's kind of her trademark." Her trademark is putting gems into clothing... how the fuck does that work? Wouldn't it get uncomfortable wearing them?

"Hello Twilight dear, how is Miles... Miles! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" Rarity asks as she walks into the room.

"Heh, well I was, but I'm a quick healer, so I was released early." Rarity stares at me in disbelief for a bit longer before composing herself.

"Well that is great to hear. Now Twilight, is there something you needed or were you just visiting?"

"Actually, Rarity, I wanted to see if you could help me with something," I say before Twilight can respond. "You see, the thing is, humans don't like being so... exposed. I was wondering if you could make me a shirt. I don't have any money at the moment, but I would be willing to work to pay off my debt."

"Oh don't be silly, of course I would make you some clothes. And don't worry about payment, consider it my way of saying thank you for saving the town from the stampede."

"Wow, thank you for your generosity Rarity, I really appreciate it."

"Oh, you are so well mannered. Think nothing of it. Now let's get started right away, follow me dear," she says as she walks to the backroom. I glance back to Twilight and Storm before following her. Hopefully Storm can control himself while I am gone.

We walk down the hall past the stairs to another open area filled with sewing machines, mannequins, and rolls of fabric. Spike is in the center of the room, picking up random utensils and scraps of cloth.

"Hey Spike, what're you doing here?"

"Miles!? Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" Yeah, I'm growing to love this question.

"I healed up quickly. Do you work here or something?"

"Spikey wikey is my little assistant and offered to help earlier this week due to a large order I had to fill," Rarity informs me. Spikey wikey? Da fuck?

"Alright then, well let’s get started, what do you need me to do?" I ask as I try to change the subject.

"Just stand there and lift your arms straight out." I move to where she pointed and lift my arms, making me into a ‘T’ shape, and let her get to work. She levitates multiple strands of yellow measuring tape over to me and presses them all around me. She takes measures of my waist, chest, arm length, and body length, making notes after every measurement. Once done, she levitates the tape over to Spike and drops them into his arms, burying him in the tape. Is he like a slave or something? I'll ask later. Rarity walks over to a nearby table and begins to draw out different sketches of ideas. I walk to a different table and lean against it, crossing my arms.

"So Miles," Rarity asks, "do you mind if I ask you a few questions while I work on this?"

"I don't mind."

"Well, I don't mean to be so forward, but what happened between you and Twilight?"

"Wait what!?" Spike asks as he pushes a drawer shut.

"Yeah... well, it basically went down like this." I go over everything that happened after the bullfight. The entire time Rarity quietly works on some white fabric, while Spike just sits on a small stool, watching me very closely. "So basically, I made Twilight feel me up to fix me," I say in summation.

"So nothing romantic happened between the two of you?" Rarity asks to clarify.

"What!? Who said anything romantic happened?" I ask as I look around the room.

"Well, Pinkie Pie was saying that Twilight seemed to... enjoy herself a little. But, Pinkie Pie could have been reading too far into it." Wow... I feel slightly violated... and dirty.

"I'll have to talk to Twilight to clear some things up." I look down to Spike and notice that he looks a little mortified. "Are you going to be OK, Spike?"

"What? Oh yeah, just fine. Glad to hear about Twilight feeling up complete strangers. I’m just peachy," he says as he stands from his stool and walks out of the room.

"What was that about?"

"Well, Twilight is basically his mother. Most of the time they act like brother and sister, but Twilight has raised him since he was hatched from an egg. She's always been the one to watch over him." Again, wow. I had no clue they were that close... I guess he's not a slave.

"Think I should talk to him as well?"

"That would probably be best... aaannnddd done!" she says as she lifts a plain white shirt over to me. I grab it and look it over a bit before putting it on. It's a long sleeve button up shirt that has a lay flat collar. The collar seems odd but it beats walking around shirtless.

"Well go on, how does it fit?" Rarity asks.

"It's perfect. Thank you very much," I say as I tuck in my shirt.

"It was no problem at all, now I have a proposition for you."

"O-K, what do you have in mind?"

"I doubt you want to wear the same clothes every day, and I'm absolutely fascinated by your home attire. If you let me look over those smashing pants, I'll make you some more clothes. What do you say?" Smashing? Seriously? But she has a point, I don't think wearing the same thing over and over again will help with getting the locals used to me.

"I’ll agree on one condition. You make me a new pair of pants first. You know, so I don't walk around half naked in an indecent way."

"Deal, now hold still so I can take measurements for your pants," she says as she pulls out the tapes and begins to measure me again.

"Just out of curiosity, why are you so interested in my clothing?" I ask as I watch the tapes fly around me.

"Are you kidding? It is my obligation to fashion that I seek out all trends, past and present. Plus, I'll be the first to introduce human fashion wear to ponykind, who could resist such an opportunity?" I think I should tell her they’re just pants, but she is making me new clothes for free, so I'll let her have her moment.

"Whatever you say Rarity." She finishes measuring and goes back to her sewing machines, levitating various rolls of fabric and utensils over with her.

"Miles, could you be a dear and fetch me Spike. I need his assistance."

"Sure, no problem."

I walk back out to the front room to find Spike and Twilight talking over by the manikins, and Storm standing guard over by the door. Twilight looks slightly irritated and is looking away from Spike, who is standing in front of her with his arms crossed, tapping his foot.

"Hey Spike, Rarity says she needs your help with some stuff," I say as I walk into the room.

"Alright, but I still have some things I want to say when we get back home," he tells Twilight as he walks back to the backroom.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's just mad about a couple things going on right now," Twilight says in an irritated tone.

"That's no reason for disrespect; want me to get him back in here?"

"No, I'll talk with him when he cools down. Miles, I'm going to head home right now. I need to... do a few chores," Twilight says as she looks away from me.

"Alright, see you later then." She nods and walks out the door without another word. I look to Storm and ask, "Do you know what's going on with her?"

"Just some personal matters I don't know about. Nothing we should concern ourselves with." Fuck that shit. I guess friends means something else for ponies. I'm not going to let something that's bothering Twilight go unattended. Not to mention I am most likely to blame for it in the first case. I begin to walk back to the backroom but stop by the doorway when I hear their conversation.

"..Seems nice enough, but I still don't trust him. What if he turns out to be a fillyfooler? What about when he gets his weapons back? He could go on a killing spree. You saw how well he handled that bull bare handed! I just don't want to see anypony get hurt," says Spike.

"Darling, I have to agree with Twilight on this one. I think you’re overreacting to all of this. Yes, he did do quite a number on that bull, but that was self-defense. And I don't believe somepony like him would be a fillyfooler."

"So would you leave him with Sweetie Belle?"

"Spike!"

"Well?"

"Well... no. But that's just because I don't know him! You can't just assu—"

"Yeah I don't know him either, that's why I don't want him around Twilight so much, we don't know what he will do; or what he's capable of." A silence fills the room. I can't believe what I just heard. Yeah they don't know me, but have I really given them a reason to be so fearful? With neither of them speaking up I decide to walk into the room.

"Miles! I-I finished your pants, there's a fitting room back in the front room, let me show you."

"Don't worry, I saw it." I grab the pants and walk straight into the fitting room. I'm slightly pissed for being judged so poorly, but at the same time I can't rightly disregard their worries. It's true that they don't know much about me, but how dare they make accusations about me without getting to know me first.

I quickly remove my boots and switch pants. The new ones feel more comfortable, but also feel more fragile. They're a light tan and must make me look like a puss. But I ignore it for now and return to Spike and Rarity. I set my old pants down and turn to Rarity.

"Thank you for the common courtesy Rarity, I'm glad to see a few diamonds in the rough. I'm going to get going now, I'll stop by tomorrow to check in on your progress. Vale usque nos obvium iterum."

I leave the building with Storm following closely. I don't know where I'm going, but I need to clear my head before I do something regrettable.

Next Chapter: Chapter 16 Trust Estimated time remaining: 85 Hours, 5 Minutes