I get into the shower and wash myself off, but there’s a nagging thought at the back of my mind. That vision... It was me. No matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn’t clean the images from my mind. I know it’s not what I want, no way. I could never do that to anyone... but apparently, I could. Even if it was the worst case scenario, the fact that that’s what I could become... I shudder, scared by myself. I know my mind is messed up, but what I saw... no. I don’t need to think about it. It’s over, it didn’t happen, and it’s not going to happen. I let the gentle susurrus of the water calm my nerves. I am not a bad person. These ponies showed me that.

I’ve had a dark past, a lot of pain, fear and hatred from those closest to me and to those I didn’t even know. But this is my chance. Here, in Equestria, I can be safe. Not physically of course, this place is filled with dangers and threats, but... I’m not worried. I have friends here. Friends who care about me and will help me if I need them. Is this what Twilight meant by ‘Friendship is magic’? Not an actual force or power, but... a sort of mental unity that we can use to feel safe?

I’m not entirely convinced, but I do know that I am not a monster. I have many vices: Greed, sloth, I’m a liar, thief and a cheat... but I’m not evil, and these ponies trust me. My own trust has been abused in the past and left me scarred and hurt, but I will not do the same. I don’t vow to be a good person through and through, that’s impossible, but... I feel relieved. That image helped me. It showed me what I’m not and why I’m glad that I’m not. I’m not going to make any changes to who I am. I’m fine the way I am. Maybe... maybe I should tell them my name? No. I’m not sure if I’m the same person as back then... but I don’t feel any different... I have to give it more thought later.

I get out of the shower and dry myself off. It takes about six towels because they’re so small. Damn these ponies and their tiny bodies. I put on my clothes, and I feel like I hadn’t just showered. It just occured to me how filthy they are. I decide that I’m going to talk to Rarity about those clothes.

I head over to Carousel Boutique, thinking about what sort of clothes she might come up with. I’ve seen her designs and they aren’t bad, but I think that jeweled clothing would get rather uncomfortable. I walk in the door and see Rarity, perfectly fine, working on a dress. No, stop freaking out, it was just a dream, everybody is perfectly fine. I take a deep breath to calm myself.

“Hiya Rarity.”

“Huh? Oh, hello Anthony. That was, um... quite the show you put on earlier.”

“What can I say? I have talents. Anyway, I’ve finally gotten sick of wearing the same outfit this entire time so...”

Immediately, Rarity’s eyes light up. “Oh that’s marvelous, because I have come up with hundreds of fabulous designs, you simply have to try them! Well, once I finish them of course. It’s a little difficult because I don’t have any human mannequins, but I do have a few things finished.”

I shrug. “Sure, why not? Let’s see what you have.”

Minutes later, I’m not sure if I feel stupid, or really fancy. She made me a fine, blue longsleeve shirt, over a white undershirt, with a spring-green handkerchief in the breast pocket. Since my legs are not as prominent as that of a pony, all I had was a pair of simple white slacks, but that just seemed to help the entire ensemble. But something was missing...

“This is really cool Rarity!”

“Thank you dear, I had to make this without any form of reference, but I did what I could. I am so glad that you like this!”

“Now how about some underwear?”

Rarity blinked at me. “Uhhh, well... I suppose I could make you some, but it’s not exactly... what my business here is for.”

“What? You make clothes. Underwear is clothing, right?”

Rarity coughed into her hoof and cast a furtive glance to the door. “Well, I’m not exactly in the business of designing... intimate apparel.”

“Intimate?” Then it struck me. Ponies don’t wear underwear. they don’t have to, so to them, clothing meant to cover one’s privates...

“Ohnononononono! That’s not what I meant, I swear, I just want something to prevent chafing, and have a little cover incase my pants get messed up.”

“...covering?”

I facepalm and take a deep breath, kneeling down to be eye-level with Rarity. “How do I put this? Stallions and human males are... different.”

She nods slowly, a bit confused. I decide the easiest way to do this would be to just be blunt. “Specifically with our... genetalia. You see, stallions have a sheath so that when their ‘tool’ is not in use, it is not clearly visible to the public.”

She’s still nodding, a bit of a blush visible on her face.

“Human males, like me, do not have a sheath, nor do we have fur. This means that if we do not use clothing to cover ourselves...”

The blush has spread across her entire face and is now very visible. “Stop, stop... I understand your... meaning.”

I rub the back of my neck. “Yeah, so if you could... you know?”

Despite being alone, she still looks around, and whispers. “Come see me alone later tonight, okay?”

I pause. “Uh, Rarity...”

Her eyes go wide realizing what she had said. “I mean... uhm...” She stammers for a sec. “I’ll make you some, just...”

I decide to end this now before things get worse. “Yeah, I know, I’ll drop by later.”

Then came the disaster in the form of a little white filly. “Hi Rarity! Hi Anthony! hey sis, why’s your face all red?”

Nope, red alert, eject, abort mission, evacuate, run! “ThanksfortheclothesRarityI’llseeyoulater!” I grab my old clothes and Spark up, dashing through the door and outside as fast as I can.

Well, that was a lot more awkward than I expected it to be. I feel bad for leaving Rarity to explain by herself but I was not about to attempt to recover from that, I know when I’m going to screw up.

I stop by a shop window and look at my reflection. I really do look rather nice. I feel pretty darn fancy in fact. I’ll have to thank Rarity again tonight when I see her. That was certainly... interesting. Yeah, I’ll call it interesting. As I’m wandering around Ponyville, I see Spike walking along with a long roll of paper. I decide to chat, since we don’t talk much anyway. “Heya Spike.”

“Hey Anthony, woah. Nice suit! Where’d ya get it?”

“Rarity made it for me.”

“I should have guessed, I mean... isn’t she just fantastic?”

“I admit she’s good, but I’m not that big a fan of clothes to be honest.” Spike doesn’t seem to hear me, he’s just staring at nothing with a dumb grin on his face. Then I get it.

“Crushing pretty hard there, aren’t ya, dude?”

He shakes himself back to reality. “Huh? Oh... yeah, that obvious?”

“How could you possibly get more obvious than this?” I mimic the face he had while off in his daydream.

He sighs. “Yeah, I guess. Hey, she likes you, doesn’t she?”

“Ehhhhhhhhhh... yes? Maybe? I honestly don’t know.” I shrug. “If you’re asking for help, I don’t know a dang thing about human girls, let alone mares.”

“Heh, think you’ll have about as much luck as I am?”

“Wait... you imply I’m going to try?”

“Well, if you can’t go back home, why not?”

“Because they’re ponies! Seriously man, to me, a pony is a pony. I ain’t gonna even try that minefield.”

“Never? Really?”

“No way, man. I’ve already accepted that I’m probably gonna be stuck here for good, but unless a chick has only one pair of legs, I ain’t trying anything.”

“So you say, and yet that show for Rainbow Dash...”

I start laughing. “No man, I was messing with her. Totally honest, I could have just dumped the bucket of paint over my head and fulfilled the bet just like that. I wanted her to regret beating me.”

“Why would she regret that?”

“Well for one, now everyone in Ponyville thinks she’s got some sort of weird kink.”

Spike suddenly understands what I did. “Oh, man. That’s harsh.”

“Yeah, what can I say? I’m a passive-aggressive poor loser.”

“No kidding. Remind me not to beat you at anything.”

“Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Absolutely anything you want it to.” I stick out my tongue. “Man, it is soooo good to just chat with another guy, you know? Why are there so many mares anyway?”

Spike shrugs. “That’s just the way it is, I suppose.”

“So, what’s next on your slave-list?”

“It’s not a slave-list, I’m performing very important tasks for Twilight as her number one assistant!”

“Sure, so what’s next?”

He looks over the list. “Pick up dry cleaning.”

I grin, looking down at Spike and trying not to laugh.

“This is just very, very bad timing, I swear!”

“Whatever man, I’m just saying, if you end up with a collar that says ‘Property of Twilight Sparkle’...”

Spike groans. I’m having too much fun. “Or would you prefer it say ‘Property of Rarity’?”

He raises a claw and opens his mouth in protest... but shuts it quickly. “I’m not going to give you anymore ammo, man.”

“Alright, alright, I’m done. But in all honesty, I suppose I could ask Rarity what she thinks of you.”

He gives me a suspicious glance. “Really? You aren’t gonna pull anything, are you? If the next time I see her, she thinks I-”

“Calm down man, I don’t have anything to gain by doing anything like that.” I grin. “Yet.”

“Dude, you’re evil.” I laugh and reply. “No way, if I was evil, it’d be a lot easier to figure out what’s wrong with me.”

“I know what’s wrong with you, already.”

That catches me off-guard. “Oh? What is it?”

“Plenty. There’s plenty wrong with you.”

I laugh again. “You got me there, Spike. Anyway, I’ll leave you to your incredibly important list of incredibly important tasks.”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 29 Estimated time remaining: 31 Hours, 11 Minutes