[Fleur’s POV, 9:50 p.m.]

“Ozzy… W-what do you mean by that?” I asked while trying to keep myself from shaking.

“I was wondering if I could walk Claire home,” Ozzy said. “It may be a short walk from here, but I’m concerned for her going alone at this time of night. I… also have something I need to talk to her about along the way.” He looked over to Claire whose brow was raised slightly. “Is that alright with you?”

“Um… I suppose that’s fine,” Claire responded.

“How about we come with you?” Shiny asked, almost too quickly after Claire’s answer.

“It’s pretty personal, Shining,” Ozzy said. “I want, no, I need to handle this alone.”

“What about work tomorrow?” Shiny asked. “A-and we were going to start our workout program tomorrow like we promised, right?” I could tell Shiny wasn’t taking Ozzy’s suggestion well from how her voice was starting to crack.

“I’ll still be there for both of those things,” he answered. “Things will go back to the way they were, starting tomorrow. I just… I really need to do this. I feel if I don’t do this now, then I may not get another chance, or won’t have the guts to come up front when I do.”

There were only crickets chirping that filled the silent night air. I felt like my heart was twisting up inside me, screaming for Ozzy not to go. If what he needed to do was what I thought, even though I didn’t want it to happen, I was afraid anything I might say or do to stop him would crack something between the three of us to the point that it may never be repaired. No matter how much my heart said otherwise, I knew what I had to do.

“I understand, Ozzy,” I said. Everyone’s gazes were turned towards me. Shiny’s stood out the most out of all with her widened eyes and crooked glasses. “Can you just promise me one thing though?”

“What is it?” Ozzy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No matter what happens… try to keep yourself safe, okay?” I forced a small smile while biting the inside of my mouth.

He nodded. “I will. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Night Fleur, Shining.” He turned over to Claire. “Ready to go?”

“Sure. I’ll see you two later,” Claire bid us before they walked away.

“Good night…” We stood there for what felt like an hour before a carriage pulled up in front of the restaurant with Silver driving it.

“Excuse me for being late,” he said before he scanned around him. “Where’s Oz?”

“He’ll be with us tomorrow,” I said as I opened the door with my magic. “Just take us home, please.” I stepped inside slowly and turned to a wide-eyed Shiny staring at me as I sat down. “You coming, Shiny?”

“Y-yeah, sure.” She stepped in before shutting the door behind her. After a moment’s pause, the carriage moved as I looked out the window. The ride back home was silent.

[Ozzy’s POV, 10:15 p.m.]

The walk over to Claire’s place was quiet as we were the only ones in the area with few words to exchange to each other along the way. I mentioned how nice the night sky was as we walked, but it wasn’t long before things went silent again. Most of the time, I was trying to come up with what I should say to her, but there was just a lot going on in my mind to keep me from starting a proper conversation.

We arrived at her apartment complex within a few minutes. It was a large three story building that took up a good amount of space in the neighborhood. The double doors led to a small space where the residents could pick up their mail in the numbered boxes before we went further inside. We went into her room on the first floor of the building, and I scanned the place.

It wasn’t a brilliant, big space, but it still looked pretty good for a one person apartment. A small kitchen was the first thing I saw as I turned to my left, while a small dining table was sitting between that and the living room where a sixteen-inch flat screen sat across from a couch and a chair. There was a separate section to the right where her bedroom was seen.

“May I use your bathroom?” I asked.

“Sure. It’s to the right once you go in my room,” Claire directed. “You want something to drink?”

“Water would be nice, please.” I went to the bathroom like she directed, and did my business as I thought of what I should do.

What do I say? How uncomfortable is Claire feeling right now with this sudden invite? How would she even react? Fuck, I’m clamming up so much, I can barely even think straight. I guess I’ll start off with what I should have done a long time ago, and hopefully she’ll get the message once it’s out in the open.

I went back to the room after I washed my hands and took a seat across from Claire with a glass of ice water in my hand. I took a few sips to quench the dryness in my throat and swallow the nervousness I had welling up inside me before I set the glass to the side. We sat at the table in silence for a moment, but the tense atmosphere from the time slowly passing was enough for me to finally make my move.

“I’m sorry, Claire.”

A moment of silence filled the room once more, but the air was much heavier on my shoulders than before as I waited for Claire’s response.

“W-wait… what?” she asked.

“Back in elementary school, when we had, well, ‘that,’ and all of those kids laughed, I’m sorry.” I looked down to my glass on the table. “I was confused about what went on between us after that, and I wanted to talk to you and ask if everything was alright, but you never let me say a word before you turned away. I thought back on it from time to time as I got older, and the only solution I came with as to why you were that way towards me was because of how I made you a magnet for teasing since that day. I was good with ignoring the other kids’ teasing, but I didn’t think of how you might have been if you were around me.

“It may have been something I could have just moved on from since we were just kids, but I couldn’t forget something like that, forget you, from my memories until something was done about it. I may still not know why you wanted to be with someone like me in the first place, but I honestly enjoyed the time we had together before that moment. I know this doesn’t mean anything now after all this time, but I just want you to know how sorry I am for what I unintentionally made you go through.”

The room was quiet once more as I took another sip of the glass. What came next was something I didn’t expect at all.

“Ozzy… if anyone’s going to apologize, it should be me.”

I looked up to her with a raised brow before I rubbed my eyes. “Excuse me?”

“To be honest, I thought you were mad at me for getting laughed at from our kiss,” Claire said. “You were much kinder and more reserved compared to the other boys in the class, and I wondered why no one else would want to play with you and just got picked on instead. So I thought I’d be your friend to get to know you more, and though we didn’t do much, I enjoyed what we had together. Later on, I developed a bit of a crush on you as we hung out more.” She took a drink for a moment before continuing. “Let me ask you something, Ozzy. Do you remember why I wanted us to have that kiss in the first place?”

“Uh… wasn’t it because of how much of a fad it was with the other kids and you didn’t want to feel left out from your own friends?” I asked.

“That’s what I told you, yes, but… that was actually a lie.” My eyes widened at the statement. “Kissing back then was more infamous about how gross it was and how it could spread cooties. I found it pretty stupid because I’d seen my parents kiss all the time at home before I heard about it, and they didn’t have any over-the-top infections the kids made up. When I talked to Mom and Dad about it, they told me kissing was something two people who really like each other would do. The moment I heard that, I wanted to share my first kissing experience with you.

“I was worried that you might view kissing the same way the other kids did despite how distant you were from them, so I made it up as a fad so I could have an excuse to do it.” She took another sip of her water before she looked down on it. “I wanted everything perfect because I liked you that much. The kiss we shared was my very first, and it felt like a dream come true until those kids came along. Being embarrassed was part of the reason why I ran off crying, but I mostly felt everything between us crumbled because of that lie I made up.

“I felt so ashamed of myself I couldn’t even look in your direction anymore because of how much you surely hated me then, at least that was what I thought.” She looked up to me once more. “I wanted to apologize to you for everything, but I was afraid of how you would react if I told the truth. Even when I saw you in that news broadcast, the guilt from the flashback I saw made me hesitant to find and talk to you. I may have looked like I was doing fine when we finally met again today, but I was nervous just being in the same room with you.”

“You were nervous?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Did you not see how nervous I was in that restaurant? If all of those chips I ate didn’t make it obvious enough, you’re a master in hiding your emotions compared to me.” Claire’s eyes widened before she started giggling. It steadily grew into laughter as I joined in, realizing how stupid both of us were back then.

“All this time, we could have settled things out if we just talked like we used to,” Claire said. “I really am sorry for that though, Ozzy. If I could go back and change it, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

“I’m just relieved I didn’t do anything that hurt you,” I said as I cleaned my glasses. “So… What should we do now? We got everything sorted out after all these years, where do we go from here?”

“I’ve gotta be honest with you, Ozzy. Though you turned out quite handsome after seeing you again in person, I don’t think I could go out with you if you’re still as sweet and kind since we were kids. I was scared to come up front with you back then, and that hadn’t changed until you broke the ice first tonight. If I can’t be honest with you, then what kind of girlfriend would I be? Plus, I’ve tried to move on by seeing other guys sometime after I left town, and that guilt still bugged me. In the end, I just don’t feel good enough to be with someone like you. What about you?”

“Looking back at it now… I may have grown to like you up to that point, but I don’t know what might have happened if the outcome was different,” I said. “I was more worried about how much I fucked up with us, and… I guess over time, that still haunted me every time the thought of dating another girl came to mind.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “W-wait, we’re about the same age, right? And… you’re still?”

“Yeah.” I looked to the side while scratching my head.

“Crap, now I really feel bad, and I thought you were already with Shining or Fleur.”

“Wait, huh? Me with one of… n-no, there’s nothing like that between us at all. They’re just good friends of mine since I came to Equestria. I wouldn’t even think about being in a relationship with one of them.”

She raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms. “Really now? Are you trying to convince me, or yourself here? Let me ask you this, do you know what they see in you?”

“I’m just as much of a good friend and coworker to them as they are to me. That’s why I wouldn’t even ask them out.”

“So you don’t deny that you had dating one of them come to mind?”

I opened my mouth to answer until I recalled what I had just said and found that I’d dug myself into a hole. “Son of a bitch.”

“Ha! I knew it,” she boasted. “Now answer me this: what would you say if they had dating you in mind too?”

“I… don’t know. I didn’t think about it because I thought Fleur wouldn’t want me dating her to affect her image as a supermodel, and Shining’s got a stallion problem that’s too big for her to see anyone.”

“That wasn’t what I saw,” she argued. “Fleur certainly seemed concerned for you walking me home before we got here, Shining was acting much differently towards you than what the guys in the Wonderbolts told me about her, and I felt I was interrogated from all the questions they asked about me.”

“What do you mean, you were interrogated? I only saw you and the girls just talking to each other. What made you see it as anything other than that?”

“Call it a girl’s intuition. I’ve also seen it a few times from a few girlfriends back home sometimes when their boyfriends were around.”

You know, I’ve always thought that “girl’s intuition” thing was just a bunch of bull crap, and I still think that today.

“I still find it hard to believe that they somehow like me that much,” I said.

“Alright, then let’s confirm this: how do you feel about them, Ozzy? And I expect to get an honest answer about it.”

I looked down and thought of all the times I spent with the girls while I tried to find the right words to describe it. “I may have been hesitant about the idea at first when I got here, and I’m trying not to let what happened with Mascara affect me, but… though it has only been a few weeks, those girls have changed my life in ways I wouldn’t even dream about. They’ve become an important part of my life now, giving me something I thought I didn’t need, and now I just want to do everything I can to return the favor and then some. I can’t choose between them if someone asks, but when it comes down to it… I really do like them, Claire. I like them a lot, and I want to know how things might work out with us if one of them is into the idea too.”

“I see,” Claire said with a nod. “If that’s the case, then there are a few things I want to ask of you, Ozzy.” I looked up with a raised eyebrow. “First of all, I’d really like to start over between us and just stick to being friends if that’s alright with you.”

“Sure. I’d like to get things back to the way they were before too,” I answered with a small smile.

“Excellent. My second question is would you be willing to let me help you hook up with them?”

My smile instantly disappeared while eyes widened at the request. “W-wait, what? But aren’t you—“

“I feel responsible for you not having much luck with other girls since that day between us,” Claire explained. “I was selfish for tricking you into it, and not being honest with you about it after that just adds fuel into the fire. You deserve better than that, Ozzy, and all I really want to do right now is make sure you’re happy with your new life here in Equestria, especially after what I saw in the recent news. This is the least I could do to make up for what I did, if you’ll let me.”

“Um… Wow, Claire, I honestly didn’t expect that. I don’t think you need to justify yourself like this, but if this is what you really want, then I really appreciate you doing this for me.” I gave a small smile.

“Then it’s settled.” She got up from the table and went to the front door as I followed her. “You’ve got work tomorrow, right? I’ll figure out what we’ll do to get your dream girl, or mare in this case, and you let me know what’s up when an opportunity arises. Sound good to you?”

“Definitely, and thanks again for all of this. I really do hope we can become good friends again.”

“I’d like that as well.” Claire then held out her hand with a small smile.

I looked down to the hand that was held in front of me before I turned my gaze back up to her. “I should probably tell you, but we don’t shake hands for that around here.” Without giving her a chance to a respond, I came in and wrapped my arms around her waist. “We settle things with hugs. Is that alright with you?”

Claire took a moment before I felt her arms wrap around me in response. “I’m more than alright with that, Ozzy… Thank you.” We then pulled away from our hug before she opened the door for me. “Have a good night, Ozzy. Let me know what’s going on with you three soon, alright?”

“Will do. You have a good night too.” I walked out of Claire’s apartment and left the complex. When I looked back at the building, I compared how I felt from when I was inside to where I currently stood. I felt much lighter in the shoulders than when I went in, and the clear night sky added to how content I was with how everything worked out. From that point, I went ahead and walked my way back home, enjoying the scenery and the cool air.

When I entered the neighborhood where the girls and I lived, there was something about the setting that threw me off. Shining’s house was dark as I passed by, but once I got to Fleur’s and mine, the lights were still on. I checked the time on my phone.

“11:45?” I asked myself.

It must have taken me longer than I thought to get here. Then again, I was at Claire’s place for a while. Still, shouldn’t Fleur be in bed by now? We’ve got a lot of stuff to catch up on starting tomorrow, so I would think she’d get plenty of rest to start it off right.

I approached the door and tested the knob. Sure enough, it was unlocked as I stepped inside—

“OZZY!” Before I had a chance to react, I was suddenly sandwiched by Fleur and Shining after they practically sprinted over to me. I felt I was losing air while my head was about to pop as the girls squeezed me in a vice-like hold.

The fuck? Where’s this coming from? Oh god, I can’t breathe!

“Do you have any idea what time it is?!”

“Where have you been?!”

“We were worried sick!”

“What happened with you?!”

“If you could let go while… giving me some air I’ll explain,” I said before the girls immediately released me. I shut the door behind me as I took the sweet oxygen back into my lungs. “Seriously though, why are you two…?” I looked up and saw the girls before me with widened eyes. Shining was wearing the same nightwear from the night before while Fleur was in one with a similar style, but with frills at the end of her skirt part and the color matching her eyes. Both of their eyes looked slightly pink and swelled while their ears were folded. “Whoa, what happened to you two? You don’t look too good.”

“H-huh?” Fleur asked as she sniffled. “Oh, uh, allergies. There were stray cats in front of the house and the number got my eyes watery.”

“There was a gust of wind that blew pollen right into my face and I had the same reaction,” Shining said. “It’s because of our allergies that has also kept us awake if you’re wondering.”

“Oookay, but why are you here, Shining?” I asked.

“I had a large spider in my room and I couldn’t go to sleep knowing it was there,” she replied almost too quickly. “That’s not important right now. What is though is what happened between you and Claire. What took you so long in getting back here?”

“Uh, we just kind of talked and caught up on some personal things is all,” I said. “I had some questions to ask her that were answered over drinks, I walked back home when we finished, and that was really it. Wait, what did you think was gonna happen?”

“Uh, nothing,” Fleur said while looking to the side. “I wasn’t worried over anything. Were you, Shiny?”

“Nope,” she answered while following Fleur’s gesture in the opposite direction.

Something tells me that’s not entirely the truth. Was it because of how I acted throughout the day? I guess that would make sense, especially with what happened over dinner.

I sighed before I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry about how I behaved today. Knowing that Claire lives here caught me off guard, and I just had a lot on my mind. I’m also sorry we didn’t do everything you planned today, Fleur. Maybe we can do it another day, and I’ll balance things out with spending one with you too, Shining.” I put my glasses back on before I looked back to the girls. “How about after my jog tomorrow I’ll make it up to you two by making Prench toast for breakfast?”

“Well, with how late it is right now and my, um, allergies, I’ll let the jog for tomorrow slide by due to the circumstances,” Shining said before she sniffled. “But you’ll have to make a lot of Prench toast for leaving us like that, got it?”

“I don’t care how much weight I might gain tomorrow, I expect four slices on my plate before we’re out,” Fleur said as she raised her nose with her eyes closed and a hand to her chest. “As an experienced supermodel and with Shiny’s training program, I can work off the calories easily, so don’t hold back on the cinnamon. We also expect good cuddling from you while we sleep in your bed tonight. Understood?”

With how they were dressed, I couldn’t help but chuckle at their demands as they tried to act serious with me before I smiled. “I’ll be sure to do that. Just let me freshen up first and I’ll join you two inside, alright?”

“Don’t dilly-dally too long,” Shining said. “We’ve got some big appointments starting tomorrow, and we’ll need all the rest we can get.”

“Sure. I’ll see you in a bit.” I went upstairs to grab my change of clothes and headed to the bathroom.

I had already taken a shower before we left for dinner, so I only had to brush my teeth before I slipped into my nightwear and got back to my room where the girls were waiting. Shining and I set our glasses on the nightstand next to the alarm clock before I got under the covers with the girls on each side of me. I felt more trapped than the other nights we all slept together as the girls were holding onto me securely before Fleur flicked off the lights with her magic.

“You know you don’t have to worry about me leaving, right?” I asked. “It’s not like I was going anywhere anytime soon.”

“I already told you we weren’t worried,” Fleur said while I rolled my eyes.

“Let’s just get some sleep. We all had a hectic day and we could use some good shut-eye,” Shining said before she yawned. “Besides what happened tonight, I’m glad we got to spend our last days of our vacation like this before we get back to work.”

“I’m honestly glad I’ll be going back soon,” Fleur said. “Felt like it’s been forever since I did anything worthwhile, and I’m itching to get back to what I do best.”

“Same here,” I said. “Though the vacation was nice while it lasted.” We bid our goodnights before I closed my eyes and thought about my conversation with Claire.

Do these two really like me that way? Have the past couple nights sleeping together like this proved that, or is it something close friends in this world do? Ugh, I just can’t tell what’s what from all of that experience with girls back home I missed out on, and who knows what other bizarre signs of affection or friendship are at play here? Oh well, I’m not complaining. The feeling right now’s nice, and I don’t want that to change anytime soon. Though… do I really feel that way towards these two like I told Claire? Even if it’s so, how would I even choose one over the other? I guess I’ll have to really think about this as time goes on, but I’m glad I got that misunderstanding with Claire cleared up though. I feel with that weight off my shoulders, I can do a lot more now than I did before. All I want to do right now is be the best friend and secretary the girls have ever had, and that’s just what I’m going to do.

Author's Notes:

Looks like things turned out better for those three than what they had originally thought. How will Claire help Ozzy get closer with the girls, and will the girls try to confront her for answers? We'll have to find out next chapter.

And just to spice things up, I'm going to put down a little timer for what's still to come:

Trial with Mascara: 4 weeks.

Fleur and Shining's next heat: Approximately 5-9 weeks. Until next time,

This is Dudeler, signing off.