Chapter 35

Fluttershy, Rarity and I stayed with Sunset for a few hours. We did a few tests on her to confirm that it had happened, the usual hair and fingernail cutting…the results of which confirmed that it did work.

Sunset Shimmer was one of us now.

We eventually had to leave her there with Rarity, who stayed with her until morning. Fluttershy and I had to go home to look after and feed the Lynx kitten, then eventually head to work in the morning.

I thought Gord, my boss, was going to keel over when I walked in that morning. I don’t think I had ever seen him so glad to see anyone. As always, he didn’t ask about where I had been or what I had been doing, but I could tell he wanted to ask about the girls that I knew.

I went back to work as though nothing had happened, as did each of the girls.

Fluttershy had texted everyone to inform them of my return, the results of which ended up overloading my phone with text messages welcoming me home and telling me they were glad to have me back, and so on and so forth.

Fluttershy, Rarity and I went out to the Riverfield every night that week. I quite impressed by how much they progressed in the time I was gone. Fluttershy still needed some work on her flinching when she wasn’t ready for it…I had a feeling that would be difficult with her being such a jumpy person her whole life. I was starting to wonder what I could do about it. Rarity, however, had become quite steady…she had already surprised me with it the night I came home, when she showed me her swords in Fluttershy’s front room.

To my surprise, she had gotten creative with her diamond weapons beyond what I had expected.

“You need a rock, darling…like that one by the river…” she was saying. We walked over to the edge of the water in the moonlight, looking for just the right sized rock for her demonstration. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her as I reached for the rock that she was pointing at.

“Yes, that one.” She said, as I held up a round rock about the size of a cantaloupe. “Now, throw it at me…but not too hard.” she requested.

“OK…” I shrugged, underhand tossing the rock at the fashionista.

I watched as she raised her fist and swung at the rock as it approached. There was a flash from her fist and it suddenly had a solid blue diamond globe around it, which hit the rock with a loud clack, splitting it in two pieces, knocking it to the ground.

“Wow…” I said. “Not bad…”

“Diamond is one of the hardest things out there, darling.” She said. “What do you think?”

I sighed as I thought about it. “I’m sure you’ll find some good of uses for it...you could certainly bust some skulls with that.” I nodded.

Fluttershy cringed. “Oh my…please don’t do that, Rarity…”

“Don’t worry,” I said, putting my arm around her. “It’s much more efficient to just cut them apart…”

Fluttershy shuddered.

“Well, if you like that, then you’ll love this. Come.” Rarity said to me, waving me over.

Fluttershy and I watched as she held her hand out. There was a small flash just above our heads, then Rarity reached up to grab the object.

She handed it to me. It was a small, pointed object…about six inches long. It was teardrop shaped, one end had a sharp point, the other was round with a cylindrical shape to it. There was a little ridge that started at the point of the sharp end and wrapped around the length of the object, like a candy cane stripe.

I frowned. “Um, it’s OK…I guess. I’m not sure I understand it…”

I looked at Rarity as she raised an eyebrow at me.

I studied the object a little more, then shook my head. “I don’t know, it’s kind of small…and the handle isn’t very good…” I said, holding it by the round end.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “No no, it’s not a knife, darling…you throw it.”

I raised my eyebrows as I realized what type weapon this was. “I see, said the blind man…” I quipped.

“Try it out.” Rarity insisted.

I glanced at her for a second before I looked around the field, looking for a target. My eyes landed on the single tree that was in the middle of the opening, about a hundred and fifty feet away.

I tossed the little object up in the air, catching it by the point with my thumb and forefinger, then I raised my hand above my shoulder and launched the blue projectile towards the tree.

It flew swiftly through the air, straight as an arrow, then hit the tree with a loud thud.

Both girls’ eyebrows went up.

“Nice throw, darling!” Rarity exclaimed.

I turned to her. “That is excellent! Did you see how accurate that was? It went exactly where I meant for it to go.”

“Well, it took a few tries to get it right…” she gushed proudly. “The spirals made all the difference. Without them, the air doesn’t flow around it properly and it has a bit of a mind of its own.”

I nodded. “Let’s go see.”

We walked over to the tree and were surprised to see that it had buried itself completely into the trunk so the round end was flush with the bark on the outside of the trunk.

I nodded with approval. “That’s going to be a handy weapon.”

Rarity giggled with pride that her creation had impressed me.

“Can you throw it decently?” I asked her.

She stopped laughing. “Oh, well…I’ll need some practice. And when are you going to teach me how to use the sword?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. You need to know hand-to-hand first.”

Rarity groaned. “Oh, but I want to be an elegant sword fighter…not some ruffian who beats people with my fists!”

“You will, but it’s important for you to know how to handle yourself without resorting to using your magic.” I explained. “You can’t just pull out that sword in view of the public if you’re in a situation where you need to use force. If you can do it with your bare hands, then we don’t have guys like Mr. Cody seeing a girl with magical diamond swords on the news and deciding he wants to come and get to know you better.”

Rarity folded her arms. “Fine then. Let’s get started.” She said with a scowl.

“OK.” I said, putting my hand up and motioning towards myself. “You and Flutters come at me.”

*****

That week, the girls’ Saturday dinner was going to be at Pinkie Pie’s.

I had to work until noon as usual, so I was going to meet Fluttershy there afterwards. She and Rarity had gone to town to shop for some clothes, so I just hopped in the shower when I got home, then got ready to go to Pinkie’s.

I figured they would have been at Pinkie’s by the time I got there, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case when I pulled up to the country house in my truck. I double checked the navigation on my phone to make sure that I was in the right place, then I saw Pinkie’s car parked at the side of the house, confirming that it was indeed her place…or her parents' place, rather.

It was a nice, but old house, surrounded by trees and a big yard. It was a country lot, but not a farm, with the two storey house standing in the middle. It was mostly white, with the clichéd shutters around the windows, a black front door and nicely kept hedges across the front. It would be a shame if Pinkie ever blew it up.

I decided to text Pinkie.

ME: Hey I'm out front. I'm a little early.

PINKIE: NO PROB, BOB! THE FRONT DOOR’S OPEN, JUST MAKE URSELF AT HOME. I’M JUST GETTIN READY.

ME: K

I got out of my truck and walked up the cement steps to the front door. I turned the knob, which opened the door as Pinkie had promised, and I stepped inside. From the front foyer, I could see a small closet directly ahead of me, with a large staircase beside it that had an old fashioned looking railing running along the length of it. The walls were white, as well as the stairs, but the top of the railing was black.

To the left, there was a living room full of out-of-date furniture and old looking wallpaper stretched all around the room. There was a fireplace with a large photo above it, featuring an old-school looking couple, a man with brown eyes and gray mutton chops and a woman with light skin and gray hair pulled up in a bun. She was wearing gold coloured glasses that sat low on her nose, with little gold chains attached to the corners of the frames that went around the back of her neck.

The room didn’t look very inviting. It looked like one of those rooms with no TV that old people sit in and visit with each other…talking about bullshit.

I turned to the right to see a nice looking kitchen. It looked like it had been renovated more recently, with nice modern-looking cabinets and appliances and a nice big island in the middle with stools all around it to sit at. There was lots of nice, dark wood finish in the room…it was actually quite beautiful and inviting, so I decided to go in there and have a seat at the island.

As I entered the room, I quickly noticed near the right corner there was a mannequin standing there with its hands at its sides, with a blue dress on. I stopped for a second when I saw it, then shook my head as I headed to the island to take a seat.

“God, that’s fucking creepy…” I whispered as I pulled the stool out to sit down. The mannequin was still in my right peripherals when I sat, so I twisted a bit to the left on the stool to get it out my vision.

On the left wall of the kitchen, above the cupboards there was one of those brass crucifixes, with the detailed, bloody figure of Jesus nailed to the cross. I looked at it for a second before I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Never happened…” I said to myself, shaking my head.

I sat there for about a minute, then I started quietly humming ‘Never Say Die’ to myself until I heard a pair of feet thumping down the stairs. I looked to my left at the doorway of the kitchen to see who was going to emerge at the bottom of the steps.

It was Pinkie, but I hardly recognised her. She had obviously just gotten out of the shower, so her hair was wet and straight, hanging down over her shoulders and back. She had beads of water on her shoulders and was holding a towel around her. Her cleavage was showing above the top of the light blue fabric as she turned the corner, her breasts too big to be able to tie the towel so it would stay on by itself, so she had to hold it together at the top with her right hand as she walked.

As she rounded the corner and came into the kitchen, she was moving fairly quickly which caused the split in the towel open up in the breeze. I could see the entire side of her light pink body. The slightly chubby curves on her hips and thighs were visible to me as she took another step…and as her leg went back during the stride I caught a glimpse of her well trimmed, pink triangular bush.

It happened so fast that all of the imagery was shoved into my eyes before I had a chance to turn away. I spun around on the stool, facing the mannequin again, causing me to scowl at the sight of it, then I turned back half way and looked down at the wood-finished island top.

“Sorry…” I said as Pinkie said ‘hi’ at the same time while she headed for the kitchen sink.

She giggled. “Oh, that’s OK! I just needed to get my rings out of the jewelry cleaner. It’s good to see you back in town, Goldie-Woldie!”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s good to see all of you guys again.”

I had my doubts that Pinkie realized how much of her I saw.

“I just have to grab these, then I’ll be upstairs getting ready for a bit.” Pinkie said as she opened the red container that was sitting next to the sink. She slid the rings off the little peg in the middle, set the container down and rinsed the rings off under the tap.

“OK.” I said, keeping my head down.

“The others should be showing up soon, K?” she said cheerfully as she made her way back out of the room. The split side of the towel was on the other side of her as she left so I glanced up at her briefly when she walked by to go back upstairs.

“Yup.” I said.

I listened to the thumping of her footsteps as she ran back up the stairs, waiting until I heard them fade away completely before I looked up again.

I sighed, then shook my head as I let out a whistle. I put my thumb and forefinger up, holding them a few millimeters apart, putting them up to my eye and peering between them. “I was that close to seeing those fuckin big titties.” I muttered to myself. I turned to the mannequin with a smirk, then held up my thumb and forefinger to show it as well. “That close!”

I snickered as I turned to face forward again at the island. I looked at my phone, checking it to see if I had gotten any messages. I got up and casually walked out of the kitchen, through the foyer and into the living room. I was just having a look around to kill some time, but that living room was such an eyesore I decided to turn around and slowly make my way back to the kitchen.

I put my hands in my pockets as I sauntered back into the wood finished room, then I saw the mannequin again. I headed towards it, stopping about five feet away from of it.

“Why would they have this?” I wondered as I looked at it, shaking my head. For some reason, someone had taken the time to paint the eyeballs with some sort of shiny gloss, making it look extra creepy. I stood back up and sighed. “That’s fucked.” I said to myself.

I sighed and sat back down, taking my phone out. After another minute or two I heard the thumping of feet coming back down the stairs. I kept my head forward this time, in case she wasn’t dressed again.

Pinkie came back into the room, smiling as she saw me still sitting there. “The others haven’t shown up yet?” she asked in her screechy voice.

I shook my head. “Rarity and Fluttershy are clothes shopping.” I told her.” I don’t know about the others.”

Pinkie turned to me with her eyes wide. “Clothes shopping? With Rarity??” she giggled. “We probably won’t see them til next weekend!”

I chuckled and folded my arms, trying not to think about Pinkie’s bush.

She was wearing jean shorts now, and a tight white t-shirt with a big heart on the front. The shirt hugged her body tightly, showing off the little bit of pudge that she had. I had to admit, she pulled it off very well. Her waist still looked pretty small with those big cans hanging above it…they had to be about a double D. Her hair was a big curly poof again…I was wondering how she had gotten it to go from straight and flat to such a big pile of curls so quickly.

She was pulling out a large rectangular glass baking dish and setting it on the counter.

“What’s for supper?” I asked.

She looked back at me for a second with a big smile on her face. “Cheesy lasagne with extra cheese…did I mention there will be cheese?”

I smiled back. “Yeah I think heard something about some cheese…”

She giggled, then turned back to her work.

“You want some help?” I asked as I got up and started making my way around the right side of the island.

She shook her head. “No no, silly! You stay put.”

“Oh, OK.” I said, not expecting her to refuse the offer. “You sure?”

She looked at me again with that perpetual smile. “Mm-hm. I love cooking…I can’t have you stealing any of my fun!”

I put my hands up. “OK, fair enough.” I said. I stood there for a minute, looking around at the nice wood work above the cabinets. ”Nice kitchen.” I said.

“Oh thanks.” She said. “My dad did it. He just loves woodworking!”

I nodded. “He did a great job.” I said. Then I frowned, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb. “What’s with the mannequin?”

Pinkie stopped and turned to me with her eyebrows cocked, as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.

Then I heard a monotone female voice behind me. “I’m not a mannequin…”

My heart stopped for a moment as I slowly turned to look back at the mannequin, which now had its head turned to face me.

“I’m Maud.”

“Holy shit…it’s alive…”

“That’s my big sister Maud, silly!” Pinkie said, laughing hysterically. “You thought she was a mannequin?”

“I…” I started to say, turning back to Pinkie, who was clutching her stomach with laughter. “She didn’t move…” I tried to explain as I shrugged.

Pinkie started laughing harder. “You two were in the room together the whole time and you didn’t know??”

I stared at the floor, my eyes going wide as I started remembering all the things I said when I thought I was alone in there. “Oh fuck…”

I looked back at Maud, who was still in the same position. She opened her mouth again to speak in a monotone voice. “I like rocks.”

“Did she say like? Or smoke?” I thought.

I nodded to her, forcing a small smile. “Oh, that’s…that’s awesome.”

I slowly went back to my seat, wondering how this near-dead woman could possibly be Pinkie’s sister. She had gray skin and straight lavender hair and her eyes were an aqua colour…similar to Sunset’s, and she had simple eyelashes with purple eye shadow on. She was quite drab looking compared to her sister…not unattractive, just drab.

Pinkie was still getting ingredients out onto the counter as she continued to giggle about her sister and me.

Just then, the front door opened and Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked in. It was a relief to see them.

They both looked at me and smiled with excitement.

“Golds!” Dash hollered as she ran over and gave me a tight hug from the side.

“Hey, how’s it going, Rainbow?” I replied.

“Awesome, man.” She answered as she turned to Maud. “MAUD! How’s it goin??” she shouted, running over and playfully poking Maud’s belly with her index fingers.

Maud didn’t move. “Hi Rainbow Dash. How are you?” she said slowly, in a flat tone.

Dash recoiled and threw her hands up in the air. “Whoa! Slow down there, sister! What’s got you all worked up??”

Pinke spoke up. “Golds thought Maud was a mannequin!”

Dash looked at me.

I started shaking my head. “No, I…”

Rainbow Dash threw her head back, laughing so hard her voice had become a high-pitched screech…sounding more like a rusty gate being forced open. “That’s fuckin hilarious!”

AJ came and settled herself on the stool next me, chuckling as Dash continued laughing with tears in her eyes.

“Good to see ya again, sugarcube.” She said with a nod. “Looks like everythin worked out, eh?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Seems to be all back to normal.”

We turned as the front door opened again, and we saw Twilight and Sunset enter the house.

“Hey guys!” They said as they came into the kitchen and sat around the island. I wondered immediately if Twilight knew about Sunset’s new situation.

I turned to face them, trying to see if they might give me any clues, but Twilight was looking in the other direction. Sunset looked right at me immediately. She gave me a little smile, then looked away to listen to someone else talking.

Fluttershy and Rarity didn’t show up for another hour. Pinkie had the lasagne made up and put into the oven for almost forty minutes.

I almost fell off my stool when they walked in the door. Rarity was wearing a black knee-length skirt with a simple tight gray shirt that showed off her waist and nice bust. Her hair was the same style as always, which was never a bad thing.

Fluttershy was wearing tight blue jeans and a tight black v-neck shirt. The V in the neck went low…really low. It showed off a lot of cleavage…actually, more like all of it. I don’t understand how none of her bra was showing…it was a quite a sight.

I got off my stool and went over to them before they even had a chance to enter the kitchen. They both smiled at me when they saw me there, looking at them.

“Hello, darling.” Rarity greeted with a smile.

“Hey…” I said. “You two look amazing.”

I looked at Fluttershy, who had her hands folded in front of her, putting her arms in a V-shape. “You like it?” she asked quietly as she shrugged her shoulders timidly which brought her arms up, wedging her breasts together, practically squeezing them out of the shirt.

I must have been staring because Rarity’s little white hand appeared in front of my face. She was snapping her fingers at me, trying to get my attention.

“Up here, darling!” she said as Fluttershy giggled.

“Oh, right.” I said, blinking a few times. “Yeah, it’s nice.”

It wasn’t long before the lasagne was done cooking and got served up. We ate, talked and had a good time…I think. It was hard to tell with Maud. I kept an eye on her as she pulled a rock out of her pocket and set it on the table top, then set a piece of lasagne noodle in front of it. I decided to try talking to her about it to see if there was more to her than what I could see on the surface.

“Soooo, Maud…” I said slowly, trying to think of a polite way to ask her what the fuck she was doing.

“His name’s boulder.” She answered quickly, but flatly. “He’s my pet rock.”

The other girls had smiles on their faces as they watched me try to connect with the monotone woman.

“Oh,” I nodded. “So…”

“Yes, I’m feeding him.” She replied before I finished my question. Maud was surprisingly sharp for someone who seemed so brain-dead.

“Is he house broken?” I asked quickly, before she could cut me off again.

She turned and stared blankly at me. “Of course he’s house broken. I’m not a weirdo.”

I blinked a couple times, then shook my head and went back to staring at my girlfriend’s cleavage as the rest of the girls snickered.

A few minutes went by before AJ spoke. "You think there's enough fuckin cheese in this, Pinkie Pie?" she asked, stretching out a string of cheese with her fork to arm's length, then leaning forward and biting it off in the middle.

Pinkie was chewing on a mouthful of cheese like it was bubble gum. "I may have overdone it slightly..." she said with a scowl. "Sorry girls."

Dash waved her off. "Nah whatever. Being able to shit is overrated anyway." she said as AJ and Pinkie snickered.

Rarity dropped her fork onto the tabletop with a soft clang. "Oh my god, Rainbow Dash!" she cried, covering her face with both hands in disgust.

Dash covered her mouth as she laughed. "Oops, sorry Rare. Didn't mean to ruin your supper..."

Rarity sighed, then pushed her plate away then folded her arms on the table. "No no, that's OK, darling. I was just going to enjoy this." she said dryly, which made all of us laugh.

We finished up the lasagne and Pinkie brought out some of those amazing cupcakes that we had the first night I met the girls. Everyone had at least one, then settled themselves around the island, some standing, some seated on stools.

At the first pause in the chatter, Fluttershy committed the unusual act of speaking up in front of everyone. It was a rare thing to see, and everyone turned to pay attention to her.

“Um…OK, everyone…” she started, looking quite nervous. She was playing with her hair and looking down at the table.

We paused for a minute, then AJ spoke up. “You got somethin ya wanna say, Fluttershy?”

Fluttersy nodded, then took a deep breath. “Um, I’ve been thinking a lot about it…and…” she paused for a moment.

Dash finally shrugged. “Well? What’s the big fuckin news?”

“You should all become immortal!” Fluttershy blurted out, then squeezed her eyes shut.

There was utter silence in the room. She slowly opened one eye to look at everyone…what she saw was a room full of wide open mouths and eyes…except for Maud, or course.

“You…w-what?” Dash stuttered, then turned to look at me.

I was frozen in place…I couldn’t believe my girlfriend came out with such a proposal.

“Um…” Fluttershy continued… ”You all can be like m-me and Rarity…and Goldie. Then w-we’ll always be together...forever.”

Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, it’s a nice thought there, Fluttershy, but…I just don’t know about that…uh, I don’t know what to think.”

“W-what do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight spoke up. “Well…maybe we don’t feel quite right about…you know…with your boyfriend…”

“Oh, I know…I’ve thought about that…” Fluttershy explained. “I’m OK w-with it. It’s just one time for each of you…then the reward is living forever…w-without pain or fear.”

I felt bad for my girlfriend. I knew what she was trying to do…and it was sweet, but I could tell it wasn’t going to go over very well with the group.

“Yeah but, Flutters…” Dash said. “It’s just fuckin weird. He’s your boyfriend. And I don’t know about you guys, but the 2500 year old thing kind of gets to me…”

Rarity scowled. “That has nothing to do with it! What about when I’m that old? Will that make me weird too?”

Dash raised her hand to say something, but then let it drop onto the table with a slap as she shook her head.

“It’s not a bad thing, Dashie.” Fluttershy said. “Sunset did it this week. Now, she’s got it done and over w-with and she’s set for life…”

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Sunset, who’s face was drained of its colour.

“Sunset?” AJ said, turning to the red-head. “So that’s why you‘ve been so quiet today!” the farm girl shouted, pointing at Sunset.

Sunset had her head down, with her fingers weaved into her hair, her elbows resting on the table top. “Thanks Flutters…” she mumbled, shaking her head. Then she lifted her head up to face everyone. “Yeah, I did it. After I got hurt at the bar the other week, I thought a lot about it and decided it was what I wanted. I don’t have magic that helps me fight like you guys do…”

“So, what…” Dash started. “You just texted Golds and said: ‘hey, cum in my snatch and I’ll be good to go???’”

“NO!” Sunset barked. “I went and talked to Fluttershy about it first. That was like three weeks ago…in fact, that’s why I was there when Agent Cody showed up…so technically, me doing that saved Golds and Fluttershy!”

AJ shook her head. “Sunset, him showin up that day was just a coincidence and you know it. I’m not saying you didn’t do good, but don’t use it as an excuse.”

Sunset folded her arms angrily. “An excuse for what exactly?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” Dash said sarcastically. “For sleeping around with other people’s boyfriends?”

Sunset pounded her fist on the table then pointed at Dash. “THAT’S NOT WHY I DID IT! FUCK YOU, DASH!”

“Calm down, Sunset…” AJ said, putting her hand out. She turned to Dash. “Now that’s not what I meant, so just put those kinds of thoughts aside, Rainbow…”

“GIRLS!” Fluttershy shouted, making everyone jump. She took a deep breath before she continued. “I’m not trying to be w-weird, and I know it makes you feel strange to think about it…but I wanted you to do it because I don’t want to see you all get old…and die…while I live on. I’ll really miss you guys.”

The rest of them paused, looking down at the table.

“Aw, I know what you’re sayin, sugarcube…” AJ said. “But what about my family? I don’t want to see them get old and die either...”

“B-but…” Fluttershy started.

“I know…” AJ said, closing her eyes and putting her hand up to stop the shy girl. “And it’s sweet of you to think of us, really, but I’ve already dealt with my parents passin on…I’m not keen on going through that kind of loss again. I’m afraid I’m out.”

Fluttershy had her hands over her mouth upon hearing the rejection.

“Yeah…me too.” Dash said quietly, staring down at the table top. “I can’t deal with the age thing...it's not natural. Plus, who knows where that dick has been?” she said, pointing at my crotch.

Twilight spoke up quietly. “Um, I’m not very comfortable with it either…to be honest.”

Everyone looked at Pinkie, half-expecting her to just get naked right there. She had her head low and was rubbing her arm. ”Actually, I’m with AJ…I have my sisters…I don’t want to leave them behind. I mean, Maud is sitting right there…” she pointed at her sister, who some of them turned to look at. “Sorry, Flutters.” Pinkie said, looking apologetically at her friend. It was strange for me to see her like this…it was the first time I had seen her actually being serious.

Fluttershy’s bottom lip was starting to tremble. She had put herself out there for her friends, thinking they would be grateful for the offer…and she never expected all of them to reject it. “B-but…you guys…don’t want to…?”

AJ put her head up to face her friend. “Look…it’s not that we don’t care about how you feel, sugarcube...”

The shy girl’s eyes started to tear up, and she quickly left the room sobbing. The rest of them looked remorseful as they sat around the island…except for Maud. Did nothing ever get to her?

AJ turned on her stool to look at me. “Sorry…”

I shook my head. “It’s OK. I’ll go talk to her.” I started walking out of the kitchen, then I stopped to look back at them. “Um, that wasn’t my idea…just so we’re clear.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatevs.” She said in a snarky tone.

AJ scowled and backhand slapped Dash on the arm, making a loud thud that echoed around the room.

Dash started rubbing her arm with her other hand. “Ah! Fuck, AJ!” she said, looking at the farm girl with a scowl as AJ shook her head at her before looking back at me.

“We know.” She said with an understanding nod.

I left the room and looked around the house for my girlfriend. I went through the tacky living room, though a door on the far side which led to an office den of some sort. There was another door on the far side of that room which led to a back hall with two doors. One was closed, the other had a window in it, revealing the backyard beyond. As I stepped into the hall, the closed door suddenly opened and two gray skinned girls stepped out from what appeared to be a basement staircase.

One of them stayed in front of the other. She had more of a blue-ish hue to her skin and light gray hair, which hung down one side of her head and was spiked on the other. She had much anger in those dull green eyes as she stood there, looking me up and down for a moment before speaking.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?” she growled.

I put my hands up. “Whoa! I’m, uh Pinkie’s friend…I was just looking for Fluttershy. Have you seen her?”

She raised an eyebrow while keeping her face in a threatening expression. “No, I haven’t seen her…she’s probably around here somewhere…just stay the FUCK out of the basement!” She growled again as she walked past me to the office room that I just came out of.

The other girl actually reminded me a lot of Fluttershy. She was still standing there, pulling her shoulders into herself timidly as she looked down at the floor; she had lighter gray skin and long, gray striped hair that covered half of her face, allowing me to see only one of her purple eyes.

“Uhh...hey,” I greeted awkwardly, unsure of what else to do.

“Mmmmmm-hm!” was literally the only sound she made.

She jumped suddenly as the angry girl’s voice rang out from the other room behind me. “MARBLE! Get the lead out!” she hollered, prompting the gray-skinned girl to scurry past me to join her sister.

I shook my head, thinking about how unusual Pinkie’s family was turning out to be. I found it odd that they were all at home, maybe they had a family thing going on later or something…Maud had to be about thirty, and the angry bitch must have been around the same age. Surely they didn’t all still live at home?

I resumed the search for my girlfriend, deciding it best that I stay out of the basement for the time being, based on the subtle hint I got from Pinkie’s sister. There had been no sign of Fluttershy yet, until I looked out through the window in the back door and found her alone in the backyard on a large bench swing. She was sitting here alone, looking off into the distance.

I went outside through the door and walked through the backyard, approaching the swing. I stood there and looked at her. She had shiny streaks on her cheeks where her tears had been running.

“You mind if I sit with you?” I asked.

She didn’t move.

I sighed, then slowly sat down beside her, folding my hands on my lap. “I’m sorry that didn’t go the way you thought it would.” I said.

She didn’t respond.

I sighed while I looked around the yard. There was a breeze that kicked up at that moment, rustling the trees up as I looked back at her. Some of her hair blew across her face and stuck to the wet tear tracks.

I reached over and cleared the hairs from her cheek. “Look, it’s a lot for them to think about. Just give it time and let them mull it over. Maybe they’ll come around.”

She turned and looked at me. “What if they don’t?” she asked with a sniffle.

I looked at the grass below us for a second, then back at her. “Then we have to respect their decision. We can’t force them into it.”

She turned away again with fresh tears going down her cheeks.

“I know it’s hard.” I said. “I’ve lost many good friends.” I sighed, looking off into the trees. “It’s just part of the game.”

We sat for a few minutes while she silently wept. She finally seemed to stop after a while, wiping her tears away.

I put my hand on her thigh over the tight jeans. “You look beautiful today…”

She slowly turned and looked blankly at me.

I took my hand off of her. “Sorry. Bad time.”

She sniffled. “It’s OK. Thank you.”

I ran my fingers through her hair for a few minutes. She finally turned to me again. “I’m not a good fighter…”

I was caught off guard by her statement. “What? Yes you are…”

She shook her head. “No…Rarity’s doing so much better than me…she’s stronger…she has her weapons…and she’s fearless. I can’t even stop myself from flinching…and that was supposed to be lesson one.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. It was true that Rarity was doing better, but Fluttershy had made some great progress as well.

“You’re doing very well. Don’t worry about how Rarity is doing. Just worry about you. Comparing yourself to others isn’t always a good thing…” I said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m proud of what you’ve done so far.”

“Can you go back into the house?” she asked suddenly.

I sat there, stunned that she told me to go away. She’d never done it before.

“I just wanna be alone.” She said, with another fresh tear streaming down her cheek.

I nodded and slowly got up to walk back to the house.

*****

Inside, some of the girls were sitting in the kitchen and some were in the tacky living room. Sunset was standing in the living room, looking at the picture over the fireplace.

Dash and AJ were sitting on the couch watching her.

I came in and sat on the couch next to Dash, still thinking about Fluttershy.

“How is she?” AJ asked me.

“She just needs a little time.” I replied, staring at the floor.

“Sorry about what I said in there.” Dash said. “About you being old and weird...”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I get it.” Then I pointed at Sunset. “That’s who you really should be apologizing to.”

Sunset turned and looked at me.

Dash looked at her and sighed. “Yeah…” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I didn’t mean that, Sunset…I’m just a dick sometimes. Sorry.”

Sunset smiled faintly. “It’s OK.” She turned to face Rarity as she entered the room with a tea.

Sunset took a deep breath. “So Rare…are you guys gonna take me out to Riverfield?”

Rarity and I looked at each other with surprise.

“How did you know about that?” Rarity asked, turning back to the red-head. “Have you been reading our minds and not telling us?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“No…” Sunset put her hands up. “Well, actually yeah…but it was an accident. At the restaurant…as we were leaving, you bumped into me on the way out the door.”

Rarity sighed, looking down at her tea, then at me.

I shrugged. “I guess.” I said. “Great, Sunset will almost certainly be a better fighter than Fluttershy too…that won’t help her confidence much...”

They were quiet for a moment, then Dash finally asked. “Uh…what’s Riverfield?”

Rarity smiled at Dash. “Well, Golds has been taking us out to an isolated spot in the woods behind Flutterhy’s…and he’s been teaching us how to fight.”

“What??” Dash chuckled. “You and Fluttershy?”

“I wanna see what goes on out there.” Sunset said. “I bet I can teach you guys a thing or two.”

Rarity tipped her head back. “HA!” she laughed as she pointed at me with the teacup that she had her index finger hooked through the handle of. “Do you have even the slightest idea of what this man is capable of?” she said, setting the teacup back onto the saucer that she was holding in her other hand.

“Oh, I can imagine,” Sunset started, “But-“

“But nothing, darling. I am positive there is nothing you can bring to the table. Golds is an excellent teacher. I’ve already learned so much.” Rarity said, taking another sip of her tea.

Sunset put her eyebrows up. “Oh yeah? Care to show me?”

“Oh god…” Dash put her face in her hand.

“Sunset! Stand down this instant!” Rarity scolded.

Sunset shrugged. “What? It’s not like we can hurt each other.”

“We’ll spill tea on Pinkie’s rug.” Rarity said as an excuse.

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. “Pinkie’s rug…”

Sunset put her fists up and started hopping around.

When she was in high school, during the time that she was planning on taking over our world, she had met an old man not long after she arrived here, before she had anywhere to live. He owned the boxing club in Canterlot and had found Sunset behind his building, huddling up for warmth on all fours behind a dumpster. He felt bad for her and let her inside to keep warm.

He decided let her stay there on the condition that she cleaned the gym up when they closed, which she did for a few weeks until she started using the speed bags at night as well as the other training equipment. When there were athletes there, she would occasionally spar with them…and after a few months she got pretty tough.

Once she started going to Canterlot High School, she used what she’d learned there to bully the other students and had roughed up quite a few of the girls at the school, as well as a few of the boys. When the boxing club owner found out about what she was doing, he kicked her out. She wasn’t really cleaning up anymore anyway, which was part of the deal for her to stay there. All it really accomplished, however, was pissing her off even more…sending her right back to the school to continue her abuse of the other students.

It had been a few years since Sunset Shimmer had thrown her fists in a fight, but to her, it was like riding a bike. She was pretty sure she had never fought any of her current friends before, and she admittedly felt weird calling the fashionista on in Pinkie’s living room.

Like she said, she couldn’t hurt Rarity. Nor could Rarity hurt her. It was just harmless fun. Sunset was actually a bit excited to show her friends and especially me the skills she had taught herself in that boxing club night after night. She was confident she could easily get plenty of hits in on Rarity, who had only been training with me for a few weeks.

“Come on, Rarity. Just one round. Put the tea down.” Sunset taunted.

“I refuse.” Rarity said, taking another sip.

Sunset hopped closer and lunged a bit with her shoulder to fake out the fashionista, who didn’t react in the slightest. Sunset was a little caught off guard by the failed attempt at intimidation…Rarity must not have been paying attention, she figured.

“Now don’t break anything, you guys…” AJ cautioned.

Rarity was still holding the tea with one finger through the handle in her left hand and the saucer in the right hand. She was standing in front of the couch with me, AJ and Dash watching.

Sunset was on the left, facing the indigo-haired girl. She decided to let Rarity have it. She closed in and threw a jab with her left, then a hard right hook, followed by a left hook then an uppercut from the right.

Rarity leaned to the right, missing the jab…then she leaned back, letting the right hook pass by her face. She tossed the saucer to Dash to free up her right hand as he dodged the left hook then caught Sunset’s right wrist as she came in for the final swing. Rarity spun around on the right side of Sunset, twisting her arm behind her back, then used the heel of her left foot to sweep Sunset’s legs out from under her. The red-head went down face-first, landing flat on her stomach, rattling the whole house as she hit the floor. Rarity was standing over Sunset with her feet apart, bent down, still holding Sunset’s arm behind her back. She still had her left index finger looped through the teacup handle…and not one drop of tea ever got spilled.

Everyone heard an angry voice from upstairs and looked up to the ceiling as they listened to it. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??”

Rarity answered back. “Sorry Limestone, darling! Sunset seems to have tripped herself…”

“Oh…” the growly voice answered back. “Well, just make sure you guys stay the FUCK out of the basement!”

I shook my head as Rarity took another sip of her tea, then swallowed it as she looked back down at Sunset. “Do you yield, darling?”

Sunset sighed against the floor. “Yeah, Rare…do I really have a choice?”

“I’m afraid not.” Rarity replied.

Dash and AJ were speechless as Rarity helped Sunset up to her feet. I had a grin on my face. “Nice moves, Rarity…”

“Uh, what the fuck just happened?” Dash asked, chuckling in disbelief, still holding the plate that Rarity had tossed to her during the fight.

Sunset looked at me with a red face. “I guess I’ll see you out there…looks like I’ve got some learning to do.”

I got up from the couch. “Yep, I’ll see you there.”

I went to the back door to check on my girlfriend, who was still sitting in the swing in the same spot. I sighed as I watched her. She had the ability to do what Rarity just did…she just needed the confidence. I knew she had it in her somewhere…

Just then, a pair of white hands grabbed me by the shoulders…I turned around to see Rarity. “Oh my goodness, darling! Did you see what I did?? That was so exhilarating!!” She brought her lips up to mine and kissed me hard…her tongue came into my mouth and swept around excitedly as she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, pressing her body against mine.

She separated the kiss, excitedly breathing at what she’d just done. “I didn’t know I could do that!”

I nodded. “Yeah, you did really good. It was amazing.”

She turned for the door. “I have to tell Fluttershy…”

“No!” I grabbed her arm to stop her.

Rarity looked at me, stunned.

“She’s not feeling good…just give her some space.” I said quietly.

Rarity sighed. “The poor dear. She’s still upset about what happened in the kitchen?” she asked.

“Yeah, and she’s also down on herself about her training…she thinks she’s not doing as well as you.” I explained.

Rarity put her fingers over her mouth and looked outside at her friend. “But that’s nonsense…she’s making wonderful progress.”

I nodded. “I know, but she doesn’t think so.”

We both looked outside at the shy girl for a moment before Rarity turned to me. “Why don’t you take her home, darling?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see if she’ll go.”

I walked out to Fluttershy, asking her if she wanted to leave. She nodded quietly and got up to walk around the house to the front yard.

I went into the house again to say goodbye, to which I got a sombre farewell from everyone in return.

Out front, Fluttershy was leaning with her back against the passenger door of my truck. I walked over and unlocked it and we got in. After starting the engine, I looked over at her. She was looking out the passenger window.

“Hey,” I said.

She slowly turned to face me. Her eyes were wet and blank looking.

“It’s gonna be OK. We’ll get everything figured out. I promise.” I said, reaching across the seat to her. She looked at my hand and eventually reached out to hold it, lacing her fingers together with mine and squeezing gently.