For weeks I've been having nightmares of the image of Rarity in that hideous bug costume. Luckily for me, Zecora just happens to have a potion that can help remove the image out of my head. So I of course went over to her hut, took a sip, and now I don't have to be tormented by that God awful image anymore.

As I was walking back home, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran past me and said one by one, "Hi Jeffrie!"

"Hey girls," I said--despite the fact they were far away by now. I then saw Fluttershy walking by, so I greeted her. "Hey Fluttershy."

She looked down at the ground and said, "Oh, hi Jeffrie."

"So...what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm just taking the girls over to my place for a slumber party."

"The girls? You're talking about Apple Bloom and her friends, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you're going to be looking after them?"

"Well Rarity's too busy to look after them, so I offered to do it for her."

Something told me that she was going to need my help. I mean, I didn't really have anything better to do, so I figured what the Hell? "I think I might come over and give you a hand."

That last sentence made her lift her head back up, "Thanks Jeffrie, but that won't be necessary."

"Trust me Fluttershy, you're going to need my help. This slumber party starts tonight, right?"

"Mm-hmm, tonight at my place."

"In that case I better let the guys know that I'm going to be spending the night with you and the girls."

As I was walking back to the house, Fluttershy was containing a joyful squee as she said to herself, "If I'm dreaming, please don't wake me." But she got out of that as soon as she remembered that the Cutie Mark Crusaders needed to be watched.

Later that night, I came down the stairs and saw Andrew and Jonathan playing checkers. I then reminded them, "OK guys, I'll be over at Fluttershy's place for the night, so don't wait up."

"And what do you plan on doing there?" asked Jonathan.

"Fluttershy's looking after the Cutie Mark Crusaders and I figured she could use an extra hand. You sure you don't wanna come along?"

"Nah, we're good."

Andrew then added, "Yeah, we'll just stay here so that way you can get some alone time with your girlfriend." He and Jonathan started to laugh.

"She's not my girlfriend, guys."

"Sure she's not," Andrew said sarcastically.

I then decided to shut him up. "Yeah, and I'm sure that I'm not going to tell Big Mac that you're planning on raping his sister in her sleep."

His laughter immediately stopped. "You wouldn't."

"I just might."

After letting out an evil laugh, I then walked out the door. But I didn't leave (on no, not just yet). I placed my ear next to the door and I heard Andrew say, "You think he really meant it?"

I poked my head through the door and shouted, "Oh yes I did!"

After watching them jump from fright, I closed the door and heard Jonathan say, "God, I hate it when he does that."

I poked my head in again and shouted, "I bet you do!"

After jumping again, Jonathan cried, "Will you get out of here already!" and I left them while having the last laugh.

It took a lot of walking, but I still managed to arrive at Fluttershy's cottage. I knocked on the door just once and Fluttershy was right there to open it. "Oh good, you've made it on time." She said in relief.

"Yeah, I had to mess around with the guys for awhile." I walked inside and that's when I saw the girls running all over the place.

Fluttershy then tried getting their attention, "Girls?"

The girls stopped running and as soon as they saw me, they all cried out, "JEFFRIE'S HERE!" they all pounced on me the same way Dino does to Fred Flintstone. As I was being pinned to the ground, Apple Bloom jumped up and down on my chest, while Scootaloo ran around me in a circle, and while Sweetie Belle jumped up and down upon my head as they all screamed, "Yay, Jeffrie's here! Jeffrie's here! Jeffrie's here! Jeffrie's here!"

Apple Bloom stopped jumping and said, "Well it's about time ya showed up!"

Scootaloo stopped running and said, "Yeah, Fluttershy said you were coming, but we were starting to think that you woudn't make it."

Sweetie also stopped jumping and said, "And now that you're here, you can help us find our Cutie Marks."

Scootaloo was like, "Yeah, because we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

And Apple Bloom was like, "And we want ta crusade fer our Cutie Marks!"

And Sweetie Belle was like, "And, and, and, we, um...yeah! What they said!"

Fluttershy finally walked up to them and said, "OK girls, time to get off of Jeffrie and come back inside." The three of them then went back inside her cottage. "Sorry about that; they were just very excited when I told them that you were coming."

As I got up, I told her, "What can I say, kids love me."

When we were finally inside, the girls were discussing about their crusading. Apple Bloom said, "I wonder what we can do first?"

They thought for awhile until Scootaloo suggested, "I know, we could go adventuring in the Everfree Forest!"

They all agreed and were just about to leave the cottage, that is until Fluttershy got in their way. "Oh no! The Everfree Forest is much too dangerous. It's filled with far too many strange creatures."

Sweetie Belle then said, "But you could go with us and we could catch those creatures. We could be, um...creature catchers!" and they all cried, "YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CREATURE CATCHERS!"

Scootaloo got on top of Apple Bloom and then they covered themselves with a rug and a basket. They then pretended to be a creature from the Everfree Forest, while Sweetie Belle pretended to be a creature catcher. These girls were just over excited and pretty much ran all over the place; they were so excited that they didn't look where they were going and ended up breaking one of Fluttershy's tables.

Sweetie was the first to say, "Sorry, Fluttershy."

Then Scootaloo followed, "Yeah, sorry."

And Apple Bloom finished it. "I guess we aren't creature catchers."

I then told them, "No, but you could be Cutie Mark Crusader Demolition Experts--if that's what you were planning."

Apple Bloom had this to say, "Nah, who wants ta have a wreckin' ball fer a Cutie Mark?"

"Not us," Sweetie and Scootaloo agreed.

They all thought for awhile until Apple Bloom shouted, "I know! We could be Cutie Mark Crusader Carpenters!" they all got on stethoscopes and they pretended that they were about to perform surgery. "Hammer!"

"Hammer." Scootaloo said as she gave Apple Bloom a hammer.

"Hammer!" Sweetie requested.

"Hammer." Scootaloo gave her one as well. "Hammer!" she was silent for awhile until repeating, "Hammer."

After each of them had gotten hammers, the three of them commenced to rebuilding the table. Unfortunately though, their building skills weren't that top-notch. When they were finished, Sweetie was like, "Um...that doesn't look like a table."

"We were making a table?" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Somepony needs ta put this thing out of its misery." Apple Bloom commented.

"We are definitely not Cutie Mark Carpenters." Scootaloo declared.

"Who wants a picture of a hammer on their flank anyway?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo then walked up to me and said, "Well aren't you going to suggest something?"

"Suggest what?"

"Anything we can do to get our Cutie Marks."

"I don't know, maybe you can all be Cutie Mark Crusader Stockbrokers."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were both interested in this suggestion. The two of them walked up to me as Apple Bloom asked, "What's a stockbroker?"

I then gave them my description. "It's a guy who runs around a big room, shouting 'Buy this! Buy this! Buy this!'."

"Yeah, we can totally do that!" Sweetie cried as they all started to run around the cottage and shout, "Buy this! Buy this! Buy this!"

Fluttershy then tried to quiet them down. "Um, girls, I think you're being a little too loud. Maybe you could just tone it down a little?"

But she was speaking so softly that none of them could hear her. I then instructed her, "No Fluttershy, if you want to get their attention then you have to raise your voice. Like this," I then stomped my foot on the floor and cried, "HEY, KNOCK IT OFF!" they stopped what they were just doing and silently sat upon the couch. "OK, it looks like you girls are a little hyped up; so we're gonna have to give you an activity to get the excitement out of you three. Fluttershy."

After giving her permission, she then suggested, "OK, um...how about we play a game?"

"A game?" Apple Bloom asked out of curiosity.

"Mm-hmm, it's called: shh."

"What's that?" asked Scootaloo.

"Well, it's a game about who can be quiet the longest."

"Don't you mean the quiet game?" I pointed out.

"The what?"

"You know, the game that involves you being quiet for a long time?"

After an awkward silence, Fluttershy turned back to the girls. "Anyway, I bet you can't beat me." She then took a deep breath and held it.

Two seconds later, Scootaloo shouted, "I lose!"

"Me too!" added Sweetie Belle.

"Me three!" added Apple Bloom. They all went up a chimney as Apple Bloom said, "We can be Cutie Mark Crusader Coal Miners!"

"YEAH!"

Before I could raise my voice again, Fluttershy--to my surprise--shouted, "NO!"

After that, Fluttershy immediately sent them off to bed. The only problem is that none of them were tired; so Fluttershy decided to sing a lullaby for them. Just as they were about to doze off, Sweetie suddenly felt like singing along. But while Fluttershy sanged it in a more calm, relaxing tone, Sweetie sanged as if she were in a southern gospel choir. She was singing so loud that it caused some chickens to wake up. The girls then went outside to try to herd the chickens back in their coop; Fluttershy however was able to herd them back by simply staring at them. After that was all dealt with, Fluttershy got the girls back in bed and it was now just me and her, downstairs.

As we were sitting on the couch together, I asked her, "Hey Fluttershy, how did you make those chickens calm down like that?"

"Oh, that was just the Stare."

"What's the Stare?"

"It's how I can control animals. Like this," she then stared at me, but nothing happened.

"Um...is something suppose to happen to me? Because I'm feeling no effects right now."

"That's funny, it works on animals all the time."

"Well that makes sense, especially seeing as how I'm not an animal."

Fluttershy then let out a yawn as she nuzzled next to my lap. "Thanks for coming Jeffrie, I probably wouldn't have been able to calm the girls down without your help."

"What're friends for?" after that, she then closed her eyes and was sleeping in a sort of position that made it look as if she were trying to pleasure me. Boy I'm so glad the guys aren't here to see this. While I was playing Candy Crush on my phone, I could hear the Cutie Mark Crusaders sneaking down the stairs. They're definitely not Cutie Mark Crusader Sneakers, that's for sure. When they got close to the door, I said, "And just where do you think you're going?"
They stood there for awhile until Apple Bloom said, "We're headin' ta the Everfree Forest."

"Didn't Fluttershy already tell you not to go there?"

"We know," said Scootaloo, "but it's for a good cause."

"And what good cause would that be?"

Sweetie then gave me her reasons. "One of Fluttershy's chickens got loose and went into the Everfree Forest, so we're going to find it."

"In that case, I better come along with you."

"Ya don't need ta do that, Jeffrie." Apple Bloom insisted.

"Oh yes I do, missy. Because there's no way that I'm letting you three wander around some dark forest without my supervision. But before we go, I better leave a note for Fluttershy."

I leaned over to a table that just happened to have a pen and some paper, and I've written down:

Dear Fluttershy,

-Jeffrie.

After setting the note somewhere more noticeable, I gently lifted Fluttershy's head off of my lap. But just as I was setting her head upon a pillow, she started to say in her sleep, "Mmm, Jeffrie, don't stop." And it was only starting to get weirder. "Oh yes Jeffrie, lower, lower, lower..."

"OK, let's go looking for that chicken." I quickly pushed the girls outside before Fluttershy could say anything weirder in front of them.

As we were trekking through this dark forest, Apple Bloom was calling for the chicken. Scootaloo seemed to be a bit confused by this method. "What are you doing?"

"Callin' fer the chicken!"

"That's not how you call a chicken."

"Oh, and you know how ta call a chicken?"

"I know that's not the way."

"Then show me."

"I don't have to show you!"

"You're just chicken!"

"Am not!"

"Oh wait, now I know how ta call a chicken! Scootaloo! Scoot-scootaloo!"

"That's so funny I forgot to laugh."

"You also fergot how ta call a chicken!"

"Why, you..."

Yeah, seeing little kids throw hissy fits might be cute and all, but even that has a limit. So I stopped them. "Knock it off you two, do you wanna find the chicken or spend all night arguing?"

Apple Bloom then exclaimed, "Hey, maybe that's our special talent. Arguin'!"

"Is not!" Scootaloo disagreed.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

They kept on doing that for about ten minutes until Sweetie Belle said, "Girls! Our special talent is not arguing. Besides, what would the Cutie Mark of somepony whose talent is arguing even look like?"

Well one could be a red elephant and the other can be a blue jackass. As much as I would've like to say that joke out loud, I knew that the girls probably wouldn't get it. (But I should definitely save it for later.) My concentration however was interrupted the minute we heard Fluttershy calling; and soon enough, she eventually caught up with us.

"Hey Fluttershy," I said. "I trust that you saw my message?"

"There's no time for details," Fluttershy said in a panic. "We have to leave the forest at once!"

"But...we haven't found the chicken yet!" Sweetie objected.

"There's no time for that," Fluttershy insisted. "There's a cockatrice on the loose!"

Why does that sound familiar? As I was trying to remember, Apple Bloom said, "A cocka what now?"

Fluttershy gave her a quick explanation. "A cockatrice! It's a frightening creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. Now, come on!"

The girls didn't seem to be too frighten upon receiving this information. In fact, Scootaloo even said, "The head of a chicken and the body of a snake? That doesn't sound scary, that sounds silly!"

Apple Bloom even boasted. "Why, if I ever saw one of them cockathingies face-ta-face, I'd laugh at how silly it was."

"No," Fluttershy cried. "Never look one in the eye!"

Just as she was about to go into more detail, that's when the chicken had came out of a nearby bush. Upon seeing it, the Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately ran after it. But as they were getting close to it, there appeared another chicken. But as soon as it revealed the rest of its body, we knew then that it wasn't a chicken at all. The second the beast had stared at the real chicken and turned it to stone, that's when I suddenly remembered. The cockatrice was mentioned by Gilda during our yo mama battle (I guess that's what she meant when she said my mom's ugliness could turn one into stone).

Anyway, as the cockatrice was getting ready to attack us, I whispered to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, "Girls, you've ever tried getting a Cutie Mark for fleeing in terror?"

"No."

"Time to earn it!"

After grabbing Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, while Fluttershy carried Scootaloo, we all tried to get as far away as possible. We just kept running, and running, until something made me trip. While I was busy letting painful sighs the same way Peter Griffin did in Family Guy, the girls were screaming until I heard Fluttershy shout, "GIRLS! Behind me, NOW!"

When I finally got the pain out of my system, I looked at what tripped me and saw what appeared to be a stone statue of Twilight Sparkle. But I saw something even more strange than that; I saw Fluttershy having a staring contest with the cockatrice! I noticed that half of her body was starting to turn to stone, but she just kept staring that beast down until it finally gave up.

After witnessing her victory over the cockatrice, I just had to congratulate her. "Damn, Fluttershy, I knew you could handle chickens, but I didn't think you would just stare at that monster like that!"

She blushed a little as she said, "Oh, it was nothing."

"Nothing?!" I exclaimed. "Fluttershy, you almost got turned into stone and yet you still managed to make that cockatrice run back with its tail between its legs. This is even more badass than the time you stood up to that dragon."

After giving her my praise, the Cutie Mark Crusaders took the time to apologize. Sweetie started it, "We're sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest."

Apple Bloom then did her part. "Yeah. We'll listen ta you from now on."

"We promise," Scootaloo assured her.

"Oh, you do, do you?" Fluttershy responded. "Well, you better, or I'll give you...the Stare!"

After a brief silence, we all joined in laughter until Twilight started to regain her normal form. "What...what happened?"

"It's a long story," I told her.