Jas turned to me with a lightning stare. "Who is she?"

I stepped forward, holding up my hands in surrender. "Jas, meet Fluttershy." I smiled sheepishly.

"You mean the crazy girl you found in the forest?" Jas asked incredulously. Fluttershy stepped back, hurt.

"Calm down Jas, she's not crazy-" I tried to explain.

"How can she not be crazy? She thinks she's a flipping pony!" Jas said.

There were several things I wanted to say. But she was, in Equestria. There's no way we can know she wasn't. But I knew that would make me sound crazy and it wouldn't help my and Fluttershy's case. I had to distract her, at least until morning.

"Look, you're jet-lagged and tired. Can we talk about this in the morning?" I pleaded. Jas must have been up for at least 24 hours.

"Yeah, I am. But I want to deal with this, now." Jas dropped her helmet on the table by the door and stood facing me, hands on hips. "Well?"

Damn. "Come on Jas, you even said it, you know me. She was lost in the woods, no idea where she was, nowhere to go. I had to help her."

"And she really has nowhere to go?" Jas asked sceptically.

"No. Come on Jas, it won't hurt. I slept on the sofa last night, and I've set up the spare room so she can stay there. Come on, do we have to argue in front of her?" I gestured to Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her hair and cowering in the corner of the room, next to the window. "Especially now, you just got back and it's half twelve in the morning." I pleaded.

"Fine. We'll continue this in the morning." Jas turned and walked into the main bedroom, ignoring Fluttershy. I walked over to her as she sniffed.

Oh god, I couldn't deal with it if she started crying.

"Come on Fluttershy, don't cry." I rubbed her arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause an argument." Fluttershy sniffed again.

"I know, it's alright. She'll understand in the morning, she's just tired and jet-lagged." I tried to re-assure her. It seemed to be working, at least a little.

"What does jet-lagged' mean?" she asked quietly.

I smiled. At least that would distract her, for now. "I'll explain in the morning. Aren't you tired?"

She yawned. "Yes." she blinked several times.

"Let's get you to bed then." I led her down the hall towards her bedroom.

I heard rustling from inside my and Jas's bedroom, probably Jas changing into her pyjamas. I followed Fluttershy into her room and walked up to the wardrobe, swinging the doors open and pulling out one of Jas's old pyjama tops and trousers. I held them up to Fluttershy.

"Here, you can change into these. They're more comfortable for sleeping in."

"Thank you." she smiled sleepily and took them from me. She started to pull her top off, but I held my hand up.

"Woah, let me get out before you change." I grinned and stepped backwards.

She blushed. "Sorry."

"It's ok. Do you want anything before you go to sleep?" I asked, holding the door handle ready to leave her to her privacy.

"Do you have milk on this planet?" she asked.

I nodded, smiling. "I'll get you a glass." I closed the door behind her. Instead of heading straight for the kitchen, though, I walked into my bedroom and saw Jas, in her pyjamas, getting into the double bed.

"Want anything Jas?" I asked. I knew she would be angry at the fact that Fluttershy was here, but I hadn't expected her to do this.

"No thanks. I just need sleep." Jas said.

"Well, ok. I'll be in in a second." I said. She huffed as I walked out, but she hadn't banished me to the sofa, so it couldn't be that bad.

"Maybe it would be best if you slept on the sofa again." Jas angrily said after me.

Bugger.

I carried on into the kitchen and sighed. First night back and I and Jas had already had an argument. Enough for me to sleep on the sofa, no less. Mits padded her way over to me and pawed my legs gently, begging to be stroked. I knelt down and rubbed her head. She purred.

I've said it once, I'll say it again. Mits is best cat.

I stood and walked into the kitchen to grab the milk and a glass for Fluttershy. I sighed again as I poured the milk. Honestly, trying to talk Jas into believing Fluttershy was real: not going to end well. I put the milk down on the counter, I was getting hot. I hadn't taken my leather jacket off yet and the heating, though feeble, was still on. It had started raining as heavy as hell suddenly and the temperature would have dropped outside so I didn't want to turn it off. I shrugged the jacket off, threw it onto the sofa for later and took the milk into Fluttershy. I rapped on the door gently.

"Are you decent Fluttershy?" I whispered.

"Yes." she confirmed through the door. I pushed it open and saw her sitting on the side of the bed, the pyjamas crudely put on and crumpled, though not exposing her private areas, thankfully. I walked over to her and handed her the glass. She took it and smiled before drinking from it. Hey eyes widened in shock, at how cold it was I presumed. She drank it and put the glass down, leaving a white moustache on her upper lip. This felt just like a cartoon, I mused.

"Thank you Jamie." she handed me back the now empty glass.

"No problem Fluttershy." I smiled at her.

"No, really. Thank you for defending me, even though I caused an argument. You're too kind." she stood up and hugged me, an action I found was occurring surprisingly often. It still surprised me though. I hugged her back and rubbed her shoulder.

"It's ok Fluttershy. I should, probably go." I tried to let go, but she still gripped me, pressing her head to my chest, her being several inches shorter than me. "Fluttershy?" I asked. She let go at last, blushing slightly. "Good night." she said.

"Uh, good night. Sleep well." I said stepping out of the room and closing the door.

What.

I opened my eyes to sunlight, straight into my eyes. Again. Damn sun. At least the rain streaking down the glass of the window was dulling it down. As far as I could tell, I was the first one awake. I'd changed into some pyjamas, leaving the shirt unbuttoned. I was starting to miss duvets. I felt a pressure on my chest. Mits was curled up, asleep.

Curses.

I cupped my hands under her torso and tried to gently lift her off me. Her paws hung limp and she purred gently in her sleep. So cute. I laid her on the pillow I had been resting on and sat up. The flat was dark, the small crack in the curtain letting in the only light. And it was utterly silent.

I sat up properly. At least it was warm. I decided to check stuff on my laptop. I had deliberately avoided using it for fear Fluttershy would get curious and want to check out the internet. The horrors she might witness… I wouldn't let her see that.

I opened Chrome and went to my Hotmail account out of curiosity and saw I had 4 new emails. Two of them spam, as usual. No matter how many times they ask, I will not need Viagra for Christ's sake. There was one from the bank – I ignored it, I knew what it would say – and the last non-spam one from an art studio in town. It was a reply.

Most interesting. I clicked on it and skim read it quickly.

Thank you for your application blah blah blah we are interested in your artwork, and wish to meet you in person blah blah blah 9th of April. Please bring another example of your artwork so we can further examine…

I grinned, forgetting the situation between the two girls in the bedrooms. I'd sent them one of my better pieces of work, and they liked it! I wasn't hoping to become a world famous artist, I knew that wouldn't happen, but if they at least liked my art, I could sell it to them and get some much needed money.

I jumped up and punched the air. This was excellent! I did a double take. The 9th of April was tomorrow. And they wanted to see another piece of my art.

Not good.

I didn't have anything good enough to show them, what I'd sent them had been my best piece. I needed to draw something good, soon. But first, I had to deal with the Fluttershy-Jas situation.

I decided to wait until they were both awake. If I was going to convince Jas that Fluttershy was real, I'd need her to help. I might even have to take Steven up on his offer to help.

There was a creak as a door opened. Thankfully it was Fluttershy, so I still had time to figure out my strategy. She sat down on the sofa between me and Mits, stroking her head carefully so as not to wake her.

"Morning Fluttershy. Sleep well?" I whispered, deciding to button up my shirt for the sake of modesty.

"Good morning Jamie. I slept very well thank you, the duvet was very comfortable. What are you doing?"

"Checking my mail." I answered.

"Don't you have to go outside, to the mail box?" she asked, confused.

"Not in this world. Well, not all the time." I explained. "Look, someone wants to buy one of my drawings. But they want to see another, and I don't have one to show them.2 I muttered.

"Why don't you just draw something?"

"It's not that simple. It needs to flow; I need to want to draw it." I looked up at her. She was looking at the screen, her hair ruffled and her pyjamas were crumpled, the tell-tale signs of a long night. Speaking of which, what was the time now?

I looked at the laptop. Oh good, half ten. Even less time to draw the picture they wanted. I looked back at Fluttershy again.

Hmm.

"Fluttershy, would you mind if I drew you?" I didn't know how she would react to my request. She was shy, obviously, and she knew I was going to show it to people.

"I don't know…" she said, managing to whisper even more quietly.

"Alright." I sighed.

"…ok." she said after a few seconds.

I looked up at her. "Really?"

"Yes." she said.

"You don't have too." I said.

"Please, I'd like to help. But, I'm a bit messy." she looked at her fluffed up hair.

"Yeah. I think I could use a shower as well. And you must be hungry. If you want I could make you some breakfast while you have a shower, then I could have a shower."

"What about you?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'll eat with Jas when she wakes up. Though given the how late she was up, that might be a few more hours."

"If you're sure." Fluttershy whispered.

"What do you think about Jas?" I asked after a few moments.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy turned and looked at me.

"What do you think of her? Is she mean, kind, caring? Give me your honest opinion." I asked.

"Oh, I don't know. It's rude to talk about people behind their backs." Fluttershy looked away.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind, though." I reassured her.

"Well… I think she seemed alright, until I said hello." she frowned.

"Yeah, I guess you've yet to see her good side." I mulled. "I'm sure she'll be better today. Anyway, let's get you some breakfast." I stood up and Fluttershy followed. "Except I think we're out of pancake mix." I walked into the kitchen and knelt down to open a cupboard.

"I don't suppose you have any hay?" Fluttershy smiled, sitting down at the table.

"I wouldn't recommend eating it in this body." I chuckled. "Humans aren't really built to eat it. How about Rice Krispies?" I held up the light blue box of cereal.

"What's that?" Fluttershy asked.

I smiled and grabbed a bowl and spoon. "You'll like them, I'm sure." I poured the Krispies in and half-filled the bowl. Now for the magic trick. I pulled the milk out the fridge and poured in a little. I slid the bowl in front of Fluttershy. She was about to ask, but I stopped her.

"Shh, listen." I said, holding a finger to my lips.

She stopped and looked at the bowl. I could hear a quiet snapping, crackling and popping noise. Fluttershy beamed, apparently thinking this was the best thing ever. She tried to pick up the spoon, dropped it with a clatter, picked it up again and prodded the mushy mix with it, causing a flurry of noises.

"Go on, try it." I ushered her.

She scooped up a small spoonful and hesitantly put it in her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully. "It's… nice." she said.

I shrugged. "It isn't exactly the best cuisine on the planet, but it's alright. Now, I'm gonna take a shower. Feel free to get a glass of milk or water. If you want I could even show you 7up when I get dressed." I offered. I wondered how she would react to that.

Fluttershy smiled at me as she her Krispies. "That sounds nice."

I smiled back and walked down the hall towards my room to get a towel and change of clothes. I mulled over the last two surprisingly eventful days.

I stepped in quietly so as not to wake Jas. She looked so peaceful. Not compared to last night, when she'd given me a look that could have melted rock. I grabbed my clothes and was about to leave when Jas's phone went off, indicating a text.

I know I shouldn't of, but I was drawn to the phone. I picked it up and looked at the display.

.

.

.

Who the hell was Jason?