Home Sweet Home
“Did anybody bring their car?” asked Kyle as he called for the elevator.
“I know for a fact that Kasper brought his Chevy Sportvan. That could fit about ten of you guys,” stated Camron. “I have my Ducati sitting at the parking lot. I could take one other... that’s if one of you can handle it.”
“You’re on.” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash without another word.
“Alright then. That solves that. Now Kyle, did you bring your heap on wheels?"
“Nah. I thought it'd be good for my heart to take a walk. I didn't know we were gonna take nine strangers home with us." Kyle responded grumpily.
“Well, we’re down to six people not getting a ride home. We can call for a shuttle taxi.” Camron reached into his pocket, and pulled out a leather wallet. Looking inside, he stated, “I do have 480 bucks. I was expecting to buy some new gear before these girls showed up.”
“Shuttle taxi sounds good." Doug interjected.
Handing Doug $100, Camron said, “Alright then. You guys have fun. Cmon... Er...”
“Robin. Name's Robin.” Stated Rainbow.
“Alright, Robin. Let’s roll.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That was seriously AWESOME!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah, things I love... fast cars and fast women.” Camron added with a wink.
Rainbow’s expression deadpanned. “Sorry, but you’re NOT my type.”
“Uh... Right.” Camron felt dejected, having been shot down. “Well... Here we are, home sweet home.” He threw the door open, revealing a large, open living area. It had a small section with nothing but a couch and large television that had multiple gaming systems plugged in, a spot with a bunch of beanbag chairs, and a plate of brownies.
“Oooooh!” Pinkie zipped over to the plate of the brownies and began to reach for one.
“No, dammit!” Camron ran and vaulted over the couch to grab it out of Pinkie’s hand. “You don’t want to eat these." He said with a very serious tone. “They’re MINE.” Picking up the brownies, he said, “I’m just gonna go put these in my room.”
“You girls want anything?” Asked Ryan anxiously. He walked through another set of doors leading into the kitchen, and opened the cupboard. Inside were all of the condo’s dry foods, ranging from chips to instant ramen.
“I could go for something super sweet!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Wait...” She pushed past Ryan and instantly started tearing apart the neatly placed ingredients, taking an invisible inventory in her head. “Well! You guys do have cocoa powder and flour... so I could make us a cake!”
“Err... you don’t ha-”
“Nope! There’s nothing I’d love more then to bake a cake for one of my friends.” She smiled sheepishly and began to pull out the ingredients, humming a tune which sounded slightly familiar to the men who were currently at home. Their musings were interrupted by the slam of the front door, and the slightly heavier than normal breaths accompanying them. Ben walked by the kitchen entryway, lifting up a hand and waving at them lazily.
“Hey guys. I just ran home because I was bored. Going to go take a shower.” He disappeared from the room, and the sound of running water hissed softly around the condo.
“So...” Kyle slowly turned his attention to the girls. “I have some more questions for you...”
Doug rounded on Kyle. “Don’t. Ruin. This.”
Kyle scowled, and marched off to his room, slamming the door behind him. Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and frowned a bit, deciding she should talk to him. When she tried to open his door, it was locked.
“Who is it?” Kyle’s muffled voice was just barely understandable to Rainbow.
“It’s me, Robin. Can I- Uh- Come in?”
She heard him sigh, and start unlocking his door. “I guess if I don’t let you in, everyone else’ll get mad at me.” The door swung open, revealing Kyle’s blank face and icy stare. “What do you want?”
“Why’re you being such a jerk?” She cocked her eyebrow. “We don’t mean any harm or anything. Come on dude, chill.”
“Seriously?” Kyle frowned, and closed his door to the point where it was only open a small crack. “Go away.”
Rainbow didn’t let up, and shoved the door open. “Oh no you don’t!”
“What the fuck?! Get out you crazy bitch!” Kyle lost his composure, and started yelling.
“Nope. I’m staying right here.” She looked around his small room. There were no decorations, no bookshelves or anything of the sorts. Just a bed, a computer, and a TV, and as always, the lights were off, just like in the show. “Uh... It’s a bit empty, don'tcha think?”
“Don’t tell me how I should think about my room.” Kyle crossed his arms, and started tapping his foot impatiently.
“What’s your problem? I just want to talk!”
Kyle started chuckling. “Yeah, sure. And I bet you want to be ‘friends’ too. What do you want? Is it money? Sorry, I’m broke. Want my stuff? Good luck taking it. I’m lucky I have my friends out there. They’re the only people I trust. Anyone else would say they’re my friends, and then just stab me in the back.”
“But that’s... Come on, you have to have more faith in po-” Rainbow stopped, and took a second to recompose herself. “People. Seriously.”
He rubbed his eyes, and sighed. “Oh for the love of- Alright, I’ll bite. We can talk.”
She smiled, and sat down on Kyle’s bed, while he just turned in his chair. “Well... Tell me about yourself. The rest, I mean. I already know you’re a bit of a jerk.”
He closed his eyes, and pretended not to have heard the insult. “Well, I’m a bit... distrusting, as you can tell... I’m not really at liberty to tell a complete stranger much else. Mind telling me who you are?”
“You know my name already. It’s Robin. And-”
Kyle raised a hand to ask for silence. “Hold it. What’s your last name?”
“Uh-” Rainbow’s eyes wandered the room for a second, but then a smile grew on her face. “Wonders. My name’s Robin Wonders.”
“Mhm...” Kyle let the information sink in for a second, before moving on. “Where are you from?”
“Canada.”
Kyle leaned down, propping his elbows on his knees. “What city?”
“Uh... I’m from...” Rainbow shook her head. “Wait, why should I be willing to tell you so much if you won’t tell me anything?”
Kyle’s eyes widened, but then he grinned. “Smart girl... Maybe I was wrong about you all. Or at least you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the front of the condo, the rest of the gang showed up with their taxi shuttle. They all piled into the living room to talk about what was going to happen in the next few days.
“You know, you could just pick a room and be done with it. All of our rooms have one of us in ‘em, and we can just take the floor if we need to.”
Kyle and Rainbow walked in the moment Camron finished talking, catching just the end bit. “Someone take my bed? I don’t use it anyway.” Kyle stood with his friends, who were standing across from the sitting girls.
Rainbow sat down with her friends as Ditzy opened her mouth to talk. She was almost instantly cut off by someone walking down the hallway, singing.
“Ahhh... Girl look at that body. Ahhh... Girl look at that body,” It was Ben, walking into the kitchen. Shirtless. He opened the fridge and got out a Coke. “I, I, work out!”
Rainbow’s eyes widened as Ben walked out into the living room with just a pair of shorts on.
“We can see that.” Rainbow Dash’s jaw seemed to just stay open after she commented on Ben’s body.
Doug was trying his hardest to not laugh his ass off.
Ben was knocked out of his trancelike state of singing and looked up from his beverage. His fingers cracked open the top and dropped to his side. “Uh... Sorry about that. It’s just a habit I’ve gotten.” His eyes widened even more as Lyra’s nose started bleeding, red streams trailing their way down her chin. Doug went wide-eyed as well as he looked back at Ben, then back at Lyra. He couldn’t hold it anymore, and he roared in laughter as he fell onto his back.
Ben shot Doug a fierce glare, which shut him up. He then turned back to Lyra, “Look... I’m really, REALLY sorry. If you want me to go...” Ben was interrupted by Lyra, whose hand shot up excitedly.
“No, keep it off.” She feebly pointed to Ben. “I’ll take his room.”
Isaac shook his head weakly. “Since when did our life become a manga?”
Ben took his drink and accidentally spilt it all over himself with his shaking hands. He tried to wipe it off of himself, but only succeeded in wiping it all over his body. “Damnit! I’m going to go get a freaking shirt.” Ben tore his eyes away from the copious amount of blood coming out of Lyra’s nose (Lyra had almost passed out with how much blood she was losing) to head to his room once again.
Kasper took a single look Lyra’s bloody face. “I’m just... er, excuse me for a bit. I just gotta... go...” he said as he hurried out of the room.
Kyle rubbed his eyes, and proceeded to plug Lyra’s nose with some paper towel. “Hey.” He waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. “You okay?”
She blinked a few times, but looked up at him. “Uh... Yeah... Wait. Don’t you, like, not trust any of us? At all?”
“Yeah, but I can’t stand to see people in pain. Are you sure you’re okay? You look a bit pale.”
“No, it’s fine, really.” She shakily stood up, and made her way to the living room. “If you need me, I’ll be on the couch. I need to lay down...”
“Alright, as entertaining as this whole event has been... I’m gonna bounce to my room.” Camron stated. “Anybody wanna tag along?”
Ditzy and Vinyl both looked up and tagged along with him.
“Well... experience has taught me the ladies love muffins. So... muffin?” Ditzy’s lazy eye, which had been slowly drifting across the room, suddenly snapped back to Camron at the mention of muffins.
“MUFFINS!” She jumped and tackled Camron out of his chair. “GIMME.”
“Woah woah woah! Hold up there, Speed Racer!” Camron slowly got up and made his way across the room to a chrome cabinet. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Ditzy was vibrating slightly in anticipation. “Alright... We have blueberry muffins... Chocolate Chip muffins... Banana muffins~”
“B-BANANA! GIVE THEM TO ME. PLEASE!” She screamed this, as if she needed them to live.
Camron raised an eyebrow at this, and couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Alright, alright... Catch!” He said as he tossed a banana muffin to Ditzy, who jumped into the air and caught it in her mouth.
She managed to say a muffled thanks after she landed clumsily, nearly falling onto her face. After recovering, she began munching on the delicious treat, her eyes rolling back in yummy goodness.
“You enjoying that muffin, there?” Camron’s grin grew.
“Mhm.” The thoughts that were passing through Camron’s mind were so obscene, it would be immoral to write them in a fic rated ‘Teen’.
“Alrighty then. I’ll just be here~” He slowly slipped into the terrible recesses of his mind as one of his eyes slowly slid off in the wrong direction.
“Uh... Well then...” Vinyl desperately looked for a way out, and thankfully spotted Kasper through the window, sitting on the balcony. “I’m just gonna go talk to Kasper now... Bye.” She turned and quickly exited the room, not even considering how bad of an idea it would be to leave Ditzy alone with Camron.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kasper was sitting alone with his thoughts, listening to his iPod. He didn’t hear Vinyl come out onto the balcony.
“Hey, Kasper.” He didn’t respond, and she noticed the earbuds he had on. “Oh.”
He started swinging his feet and bobbing his head to the beat of whatever song he was listening to. “Aw, how cute~.” Vinyl grinned, and let out a little fangirl-y giggle. She snuck up behind him, and stole an earbud from him, and stuck it in her own ear.
“Woah, what the- Oh. It’s...” Kasper failed to remember whether Vinyl had ever giving her name. “You. Hi.”
Vinyl took off her glasses and whipped her hair around a bit before looking into his eyes. “My name’s Torrie. Don’t wear it out~.” She said with a wink.
“Ah. Well my name’s Kasper. I believe you’ve stolen my music.” He said, with a mock-accusing point. He had slight trouble finding the correct words, as he was surprised by her deep red eyes.
“Oh? Well what’re you gonna do about it...” She poked him on the shoulder. “Bub?”
“Normally I’d steal it back, but you seem like you’re into music. You’re welcome to listen if you want,” he shrugged, “I really don’t mind.”
“Thanks. You know, you’re a pretty cool guy...” Vinyl looked out over the lake for a moment before looking back to him. “Hey, why’d you go running out of the kitchen earlier?”
A few minutes passed in silence. Kasper let out a dejected sigh. “If you really want to know... it was the blood.” He turned his head away.
“The blood?” Vinyl cocked her head curiously.
“Yeah, I’ve never been able to look at blood. It doesn’t matter if it’s my own or someone else’s, it just makes me uncomfortable. It’s a phobia I’ve had my entire life.” He shuddered a bit at the very mention of blood. “I felt like I was about to faint in there... I had to get out for a bit, to calm down.”
“Huh... I never would have guessed.” She swung her legs a bit, and stared up into the sky. “You don’t really seem the type to be scared of much. You look really... Chill.”
He let out a small chuckle. “Oh, I do? Hehe, yeah, I usually try to keep up my mood. Take the world with a smile! And why not take it as it comes? Completely calm and chill.”
“Kasper,” she reached around him and pulled him in by his shoulder. “I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“... So, suddenly, the Prosecution pulls out a NEW Autopsy Report, and I know it’s fake. So, I simply disprove said new report with the REAL one, along with the crime scene description, since they didn’t match up.” Kyle started laughing at the memory. He was telling another one of his stories. “So guess what I end up figuring out?”
Coal opened his mouth to say something, but backed out, so Doug took his place. “GUILTY!” he shouted with a goofy grin. Fluttershy shrunk a bit at the volume of his voice. Doug noticed that and mouthed an apology. She nodded and returned to her normal stance.
“No, you twit.” Doug frowned, but Kyle ignored it and kept going. “I found out the Prosecutor was the murderer. Quite obvious, actually. His shoe size matched the muddy shoe print found on the scene, and he had a grudge against the victim.”
“And you figured all of that out... In a few minutes?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, unable to believe that.
“Of course I did.” Kyle tapped the side of his head. “Logic. A man’s best weapon.”
“Well, ah’ didn’t see THAT comin’.” Applejack laughed. “So ya’ found the truth, even if nobody believed ya’. Ah’ like that.”
Kyle nodded in thanks. “Well, that’s it... Unless you all want to hear the story of where the word ‘contradiction’ came from-”
Coal loudly cleared his throat. “As much as I’d LOVE to hear another story, Kyle, don’t you have work to do?”
“Ugh, fine. I guess it’s about time I get College out of the way... To the computer! Allons~y!” He hopped out of his seat and headed off to his room, Rainbow Dash following behind him.
“I think I’d better get my work done too...” Coal checked his watch. “Yeah... I’m off. Later, everyone.” With that, he was gone too, leaving Isaac, Doug, Ryan, Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy.
“So, Penny... I was curious about how you got your hair to be all poofy and pink. How did you do that?” Doug asked, trying to bring up a topic so no one else would get bored and leave.
“Oh, you mean my ma- Hair! I just got this naturally! It’s almost always like this!” Pinkie said happily. “Occasionally, it gets all straight and droopy, but that’s only when I’m really sad! And that almost NEVER happens!”
“Whoa... Really?” Doug asked; this reminded him of something quite familiar. He shrugged it off, however, and continued, “That’s like... Wacky! I like it! Can you show me how to do that?”
“Sure! Come on! We can go do it now!” She said, getting up from her couch and grabbing Doug’s arm.
“Wha-WHOAAA!” Doug yelped in surprise at how fast he was being dragged across the hallway into the bathroom.
“Ah... Good luck ta’ tha poor boy, cuz when Penny’s around, stuff just doesn’t seem ta’ make sense...” Applejack said, shaking her head.
Isaac raised an eyebrow to this, “Why would that be?”
“You’ll see, she’s a mite nutty.” Applejack chuckled.
Back in the bathroom, Pinkie was moving faster than Doug could comprehend. Before he knew it, his hair was just as poofy as Pinkie’s, if not more. “Whoa... I see... Why... Why are there three Pennys... Standing in front of me...?” Doug asked in confusion and shock. It took him a few seconds to refocus his vision, and when he did, he stared at his own crazy reflection in the mirror. He just stood there, gawking at his new hairstyle.
Pinkie giggled, “Heehee! You look so cute and funny like this! Let’s go show the rest of your friends!”
Doug simply hugged her in response, yelling, “WHEEEEEEEEEEEEW!”
They left the bathroom, and charged down the hallway back towards the living room. Pinkie joined in on the shouting. Next thing everyone knew, Pinkie had tackled Applejack, and Doug attempted to tackle Isaac, who stepped off to one side. Doug careened into the wall behind him headfirst. Pinkie, Applejack, and Doug all fell to the floor.
“Ugh... Consarn it, Pin-Penny!” Applejack shouted frustratingly at Pinkie, barely able to save herself from revealing the secret. “Ya’ could’a hurt me there!” Isaac rolled Doug back over only to find him unconscious. His newly poofed hair was flattened due to the collision.
Fluttershy nearly fainted upon Doug’s encounter with the wall, but steeled herself and whispered, “Oh my...”
Pinkie stopped her energetic self to apologize, “I’m sorry, Applejack, I wasn’t trying to hurt you...” She said, beginning to tear up.
“’S’okay, Ah forgive ya. Jus’ please be more careful next time?” Applejack requested, putting a reassuring hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. Pinkie looked up, happiness starting to return, and nodded. She then looked at Doug, who was still unconscious at the time.
“Hey!” Camron walked out of his room with his arm wrapped around Ditzy in a friendly manner. “What the hell was that noise? Sounded like somebody got tru- Ooooh. Doug’s KO’d.” He chuckled softly and softly jabbed Doug’s shin with his foot.
“Ohmygosh, is he going to be okay?” Pinkie asked worriedly.
Isaac sighed and nodded. “This isn’t the first time Doug has knocked himself unconscious. He seems to have a knack for injuring himself without any of the injuries being permanent.” Isaac checked Doug’s pulse to be sure.
Applejack was just shaking her head at all of this, mumbling under her breath. “‘S jus’ Pinkie bein’ Pinkie...”
“Oh! I know! I’ll whip up a nice batch of cupcakes for when he wakes up! I’m sure he’ll love those!” Pinkie said, hopping up and down giddily.
“I... I would love that...” Doug muttered as he began to awaken.
Pinkie gasped and tackle-hugged Doug. “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, I’m glad you’re okay!”
“Can’t... Breathe... Need... OXYGEN.” Doug yelped, gasping for breath.
“Oh! Sorry! Hehe!” Pinkie giggled, letting go of the poor man that she was suffocating with her death-grip hug.
Doug took in a deep breath of air. “Ah... SWEET, SWEET AIR! How I’ve missed you so!” he said, overdramatically.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Doug.” Camron reached down and gave Doug a boost getting up.
Pinkie giggled even more at that. “Now, let’s all celebrate with those cupcakes!” She shouted with glee. Isaac, Applejack, and Fluttershy seemed to cheer up exponentially at this.
Ben popped his head in the room, wearing a white muscle shirt, looking around. “Hey, where’s that lady that I gave the nosebleed to?”
Doug took in another deep lungful of air, and proceeded to laugh uproariously. Isaac just cocked his thumb behind him towards the couch.
“Looks like I have to bring her to my room, don’t I?” Ben walked over to where Lyra was asleep, curled up on the couch. He picked her up gently, easily keeping her small form in the little ball that she had curled up into. She smiled, and snuggled her head down into his pectoral as he made his way to his room.
“Alright. I’m gonna go back to my room. You coming Debby?” Camron asked as he got up from his seat. Ditzy nodded and they both left for his room.
Fluttershy turned to Doug with a confused expression. “Wait, where are Victoria and Marcus? I don’t remember them being in the cab...”
Doug scratched his chest as he hoisted himself on top of the chair he was leaning on. “Oh, Marcus doesn’t come back ‘till a little past eleven. I guess that Victoria just decided to hang with him. Wait until she sees that truck he has for a car-”
Suddenly, Kyle’s door slammed against the wall. “Fuck college, I’m bored! I’ll write that report another day, I’m sure my professor won’t mind.” Fluttershy recoiled from his shouting. Kyle noticed this, and took a moment to calm himself. “Uh... Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you... Wait.” Kyle scratched his head. “I don’t know your name. Heck, I don’t think I know any of your names, save Robin.”
“My name’s...” She lowered her head, and her voice. “Flora...” She was almost inaudible.
“Flora, huh? That’s...” Kyle narrowed his eyes, which made Fluttershy shrink even more. “An interesting name... I’m just gonna go grab a soda.” He walked off to the kitchen, and Doug rolled his eyes.
“Ah, don’t mind him. He’s just a bit too serious sometimes. He’ll warm up to you, don’t worry.” Ryan smiled, and Fluttershy smiled back. The mood Kyle had created lightened a bit.
“Oh, it’s alright, a few of my friends are like that sometimes, especially-” She stopped herself, unable to remember Twilight’s human name. She’d only heard it once or twice.
“Especially...?” Doug cocked his eyebrow.
“Oh, nevermind. I-It would be rude to talk about her behind her back.”
Kyle marched out of the kitchen, a can of Mountain Dew in his hand. “What’s this about being behind someone’s back?”
Flora shrunk back down. “Um... No, I just-”
“Hey, calm down. It’s fine.” Kyle waved a hand to dismiss the topic. “Where’s Robin, anyways? Did she stay in my room- Shit!” He bolted up the stairs, yelling about his computer, and how no-one other than him is allowed to touch it.
“Uh...” Doug couldn’t find a way to respond to that.
“He’s like that when it comes to his things...” Ryan rolled his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Wonder what Marcus is up to...” Camron mused as he paced back and forth in his room. Ditzy was preoccupied munching on a chocolate chip muffin to notice.
“Well... speak of the devil...” Stated Camron as he pulled out his cell phone. “Let me see...
From: Marcus
Hey camron. sending this bcuz i’ll be back in about 30. leave the front gate unlocked. cya.”
“May as well tel-”
“Wait!” Ditzy grabbed Camron’s phone out of his hand and flipped it over, revealing a worn out sticker of... Her, in pony form. “What’s this? Is thi-”
“Hey! Give me that back!” yelled Camron as he reached out for the phone.
“Not until you explain how you got this!” She scrunched up her eyes and put on a serious glare.
Camron sighed deeply and sat in a chair. “Alright. Jeeze. That’s a picture of my favorite character from a show I watch.”
Ditzy opened her mouth to speak, but Camron held up a finger to stop her. “Before you say anything, understand that although this show may seem girly and all... I really, really enjoy it. And this character, she makes me smile, and it always strikes me how she can shrug off other people’s opinions. Something I never was able to do. So now... Mock me. People I know always do... Especially the girls.”
Ditzy turned to face him and stared at him for a good second with a tear forming in her eye. Suddenly she leaped forward and knocked Camron out his chair, embracing him in a hug.
“Err... Alright.” He hugged her back. “So... do you like Pendulum?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“... Because, NOBODY’S allowed to touch my stuff, Robin.” Kyle was standing in between her and his computer. The reason? Kyle had half of his hard drive loaded with pony stuff. Custom music, games, videos...
“But I wanna see! What’s the problem?”
“Listen, Robin, I just don’t like people touching my stuff. It makes me feel...” Kyle scratched his head for a moment, trying to think of a good word. “Threatened.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged, and sat down on his bed. “Fine...”
Kyle nodded, satisfied. “Good, now, I’m gonna go get something to eat...” He put his foot out the door, but stopped, and turned back. “Do you want anythi-”
Rainbow was staring wide-eyed at Kyle’s computer screen. It was her... But as a pony, in a Wonderbolts costume, a happy smile. “What’s up with this...?”
Kyle let out an angry, stressed sigh, and leaned back against the wall. “Well, you have your secrets, I have mine. You just found one of them. I watch that show all the time, even though it’s for little girls. I do feel a little ashamed of myself, but what the hell? I enjoy it.”
Rainbow shook her head slowly, muttering “no way” under her breath.
“Yeah, I saw that coming...” Kyle took off his hat, and brushed his bangs out of his eye, and instead of the icy stare he normally had, there was a tired, sad gaze. “Go ahead, say whatever you want, I don’t care.” He seemed to brace himself, as he took in a breath, and closed his eyes.
“I’m not gonna say anything.” Kyle’s eyes popped open in surprise. “It’s... Different. That’s all.” She still looked shocked, but she wasn’t disgusted or anything, which was a plus to Kyle.
“... You’re serious? You ain’t gonna give me crap for it?”
“No! Why would I?” Rainbow smiled, and caught Kyle off guard again.
“... Thanks. You really don’t know how much I was expecting you to start bombarding me with homophobic bullshit.” He smiled, but just slightly.
“Well, finally smiling...” A mischievous smile grew on her face. “Mr. Stone Face?”
Kyle started laughing. “Nice... Hey, I’m sorry for being suspicious of you and your friends. You all seem pretty trustworthy. You know how it is, you can’t trust anyone these days.”
“I guess.” She stretched, and yawned. “I’m just gonna... Go. I’ve got some stuff to talk about with the girls. You know, girly stuff... Uh...”
Kyle shrugged. “Sure. I’m just gonna...” He looked at the ceiling, and then back to Rainbow. “Ah, who am I kidding, I’m gonna slack off. Again. And piss off my professor. Again. And probably fail the class... Again. But, I HAVE VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY!”
“Oh? Like what?” She cocked her eyebrow in curiosity.
“... Uh...” His eyes darted around the room. “Nothing you’d- Uh- Be... Um... Interested in-”
“Hold it.” Kyle’s jaw dropped, causing Rainbow to smile. “Who are you to say that? Come on, show me.”
“OK... It’s called..” He swallowed hard, fear in his eyes. “‘Penumbra: Overture...’”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isaac snagged a bottle of water and slowly backed out of the chaotic mess that was the kitchen. Clouds of flour and other ingredients filled the air. After getting far enough away to not be choked by the fumes, Isaac turned and strode out into the living room to check on their unconscious guest. As he walked down the hallway, passing Kyle’s room, he heard a duo of high pitched screams along with the sounds of monsters and terror.
“TAKE THE BEEF JERKY! NO, NOT ME, TAKE THE FUCKIN’ BEEF JERKY- OH HOLY SHIT NO- AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Kyle’s screams were louder than all of them, and slowly drifting from comprehensible words, to gibberish. Isaac chuckled and shook his head as he passed by.
Once he reached the living room, Isaac walked over to the large couch that dominated most of the room. Lying across the cushions was a beautiful young woman with indigo hair. Twilight still hadn’t roused after fainting in Ben’s arms. Isaac sat down near her and took her hand to check her pulse, feeling for any abnormalities. As he sat there, holding her hand, her eyes flitted open.
Isaac was struck by her violet eyes. Such an unnatural color, yet they seemed to fit this woman so perfectly. Twilight gazed back into his eyes with equal amounts of wonder.
At the same moment Twilight woke up, Ryan strode into the room. He looked over to the couch, silently watching Isaac and Twilight gaze into each others eyes.
“Naughty, naughty~...” He cooed, snapping them out of their trance. They both looked away, blushing profusely. “Not interrupting anything, am I?”
“What? N-no!” Twilight stuttered, while Isaac rubbed his temples in annoyance.
“I was just checking to see if she was alright when she woke up. You just had to come in and make it so awkward.” Isaac looked up from his facepalm. “I’m sorry about this. My friend Ryan can tend to be a little... Immature.”
“I prefer to call it ‘Imaginative’... Screw it, I have the mind of a 5 year old! You guys still love me though!”
Isaac chuckled. “Of course we love you, but would you mind toning it down a bit?” He looked back to the reclining woman. “Anyway, I’m sure you’re quite confused as to who we are and where you are. I’m Isaac, and this is Ryan. After you fainted in my friend Ben’s arms, we found the rest of your friends and gathered back here at our condo... Your name’s Susan, right?”
The woman’s eyes flashed from Isaac to Ryan, her blush getting considerably brighter as she stumbled with her words. “Su-Susan? Oh wait, yes, my name is Susan.” Twilight got up slowly, raising herself into an upright position, and looked at her hands for a good few moments.
“Uh, you sure you’re alright there Susan? You look a little lost.” Asked Ryan, looking at her worriedly.
“Y-yes, I’m fine. Just a little confused is all... can you tell me where my friends are?”
“Well, Penny and Doug are in the kitchen making cupcakes, I believe,” Isaac pointed towards the doorway that had clouds of flour billowing out of it. “Torrie and Kasper are out on the balcony just in front of us.” He nodded ahead, Susan following his gaze, her eyes resting upon a woman with neon blue hair.
Isaac stopped to gather his thoughts, and Ryan continued for him. “Ben took Laura to his room, because she fell asleep on the couch. Camron and Debby are in Cam’s room right now,” He pointed at the loud room just up the hall. “Flora’s gone out to the garden, and A.J. just stepped outside to get some air.”
Another set of screams came from Kyle’s room. “And, as you can tell, Kyle is in there,” Ryan pointed towards the closed door, ”along with Robin.”
“Don’t forget Marcus and Victoria. They’re still out at the mall.” Isaac pointed out.
Ryan counted on his fingers, seemingly doing some mental math. “Looks like almost everyone is accounted for. Who would you like to room with, Susan? Me, Isaac, or Marcus?”
Twilight shifted her weight on the couch nervously. “Well, I’d like to room with Isaac.” Her blush returned slightly, only giving Twilight’s face a slight tinge of pink.
Ryan grinned mischievously, the lighthearted shenanigans he had planned showing through his twinkling eyes. “Looks like you want to room with loverboy over there. Seems like we got ourselves some love birds.”
Ryan’s musings were interrupted by a swift smack upside the back of his head from Isaac. “We’ve only just met.” Isaac rolled his eyes before turning back to Twilight. “Now then, shall I show you to your new room?”
Her eyes lit up and she replied, “That sounds wonderful.”
“I bet it does~” Ryan gave Isaac a huge, cheesy wink.
Isaac tossed his hand up into the air in disgust. “Fine. You can show her to the room. I have some science to get done anyway.” Isaac walked over to the doorway leading downstairs, then turned back. “It may be a little chaotic around here, but you get used to it after a bit. You should probably try to rest once you get to my room.” He turned to go downstairs before stopping again and called back to them, “Oh, and please don’t touch any of my swords that are on the walls. Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Ben’s room, Lyra was beginning to stir. She woke up, finding herself on a bed rather than a couch. It was a simple bedroom, a thick, plush red carpet on the floor, and cream-coloured wall with strips of black at the ceiling and the floor. Lyra lifted herself on her elbows to look around, and was greeted by the sight of Ben’s large form, which was hunched over something. She cleared her throat to catch his attention. Ben jumped up, and turned around, trying to hide whatever he was working on behind him.
“Hey, I’m sorry about that. You said you wanted my room, and then when I came back with a shirt, you were asleep on the couch. I just took you to my room so that you could sleep on a bed, and to see where I can fit on the floor.” Ben shuffled a bit awkwardly as Lyra bored her eyes into him.
“What’s behind you? You seem awfully protective of it.” Ben just looked behind him, and stepped aside.
“What, this? Its just my Booze Bin.” Ben got back down, but slightly to the side so that Lyra could see from her vantage point. It was a large box that had a few different latches and taps on it, and it slid down into the floor when he was done messing around with it. Lyra’s eyes roamed around the room, seeing only a simple wardrobe with an extensive number of drawers, and finally landed on three guitars. One electric bass, an electric guitar, and an acoustic guitar.
“Hey, you okay?” Ben turned to Lyra, worry etched on his face. Lyra sprung up from the bed, and stretched out her limbs.
“Never felt better! So, what’s your name, anyway?” Lyra asked to take some suspicion off of her, and just to get Ben talking.
Ben scratched his scalp and shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Well, my name’s Ben. This is my room, and I know, not much to look at. I like to keep it this way, makes sure that it keeps my clutter low.”
Lyra pointed at the almost-invisible hooch box. “So, care to show me what’s in there?” Lyra almost slapped herself for using her usual abrasive curiosity as Ben cocked an eyebrow.
“You know what? You’re going to be sleeping in my room. Might as well show you what’s in my bin. As well as any other things I usually keep secret around here...” Ben trailed off as he looked around his sparse room with his hands akimbo. He just shook his head as his eyes landed on the bed. Ben beckoned Lyra down as he got on his knees to deal with the box that sunk into the floor.
“So why does it sink down into the floor?” Lyra was puzzled with the large box that she never saw in the show. Ben just shook his head as he flipped a few switches and punched in a few numbers on the top. There was the sound of hydraulics as the box lifted from its resting place.
“I am just really protective of my booze. I like to make sure to keep ‘em safe by locking this refrigerated dumbwaiter into the ground.” The large door swung open as the dumbwaiter completed its ascent from the floor.
“Woah...” Hundreds of bottles lined the walls of the large box, as well as the door. Lyra caught sight of a few names, Jagermiester... Jack Daniels... Assorted bottles of cider... Assorted small barrels of german beer... Applejack Daniels... wait.
“Applejack Daniels?” Lyra did a double take. It really was a booze with AJ’s name on it. It even had a little picture of AJ on the bottle. Ben shifted nervously as Lyra looked deeper into the vault of inebriation. There were bottles of booze for all of her friends. There was a bottle that had a picture of a piece of candy that looked strangely like Bon-Bon’s cutie-mark. Its label read ‘Candyass’ and it had the same colour of her coat. She saw a bottle with a strange-looking bird on the front, and pulled it out.
“Philomena’s Flame. Yeah, those are custom-made alcoholic drinks. Made for bronies. And yes, I am a brony too.” Lyra looked at Ben with curiosity, eyeing up the bottle and Ben’s relatively neutral expression at the same time. Another bottle caught Lyra’s eye, the bottle having the color of mint green. She reached out and grabbed the bottle, bringing it out of the dumbwaiter. She read the title of the drink.
“High Strung. One of my best creations, I think I spent a good amount of time making this mix.” Lyra stared at a cheerfully waving picture of herself on the bottle, as a pony.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie was humming her favorite cupcakes tune while showing Doug step-by-step how to make them.
“So... Uh, what do I do now?” Doug asked confused. He had just finished mixing the main ingredients in a bowl while Pinkie was just behind watching.
“You put the mixture into the muffin tin and bake it silly!” Pinkie said bouncing around in anticipation.
“Okay...” He tilts the bowl into each slot on the tin. By this time, Pinkie was practically squeeing with delight.
“Aaannd... YOU’RE DONE!” Doug practically jumped from the outburst, almost dropping the bowl onto the contents below. “Now bake those delicious treats for about fifteen minutes!”
Doug was not a good cook, and while he used to cook in Family Consumer Science class in tenth grade, he was not very reliable. He tended to aggravate his partners... A lot. Pinkie, however, seemed unperturbed by his slowness. While she was anxious, she was perfectly content with his pace. Doug really appreciated that.
“So, that’s it?” Doug asked somewhat shocked. He always expects more work than it usually is.
“No, silly! You still have to put the icing on them! OH, and don’t forget the sprinkles!” She put extra emphasis on that last word.
“Okay, okay! I got it! Heheh...” Doug was already becoming bored, and Pinkie seemed to be showing the same feeling. “Hey, want to check out my room? I could show you some of the stuff I have in there! Ben likes to keep his room pretty organized, but I don’t really care about that... Too much stuff to put up, I’m seri-”
Pinkie stopped him mid-sentence by putting a hand over his mouth, hushing him. “Sure!” She said, grabbing his arm as they run down the hallway.
“WAIT! MY ROOM IS AT THE BEGINNIIING!” Doug shouts. Pinkie stops abruptly, sending him four feet down the hall. He ended up reacquainting his face with the ground. Muffled sounds of pain were heard from the poor soul.
“Come on, lazy! Where’s your room?” Pinkie says while pulling Doug up from the friendly ground. Before she can move, Doug interrupts with a “STOP.” Pinkie halts in her march and turns back to Doug. His face is as red as an apple, partly from the impact of the ground, and partly from the rising frustration.
“Oh... Sorry...” Pinkie said, giving the puppy eyes. Doug sees them... And his heart practically melts.
“It’s... fine. My room is down there, on the left.” He points to the first room on the right.
“Okey-dokey-lokey! Let’s go!” She grabs his arm, yet again.
“GAAAHHHH!” Is the only sound that is emitted from Doug as they burst through the door.
Pinkie surveyed the room they had both barged into. It was nothing special, but there were plenty of clothes on the ground. There were even some toys and cases with designs laying scattered across the ground as well. The wall had some cool posters on them, but she had never seen anything like what was on them. One poster had a human with red, shiny hair, and two scars in the shape of an X on his cheek. His face looked determined as he wore a green robe with a sharpened sword. This image sort of scared her a bit, but she moved on to the other sights. She saw some sort of TV with a picture on its screen.
She moved to get a closer look at it, but Doug moved in front of her. He rushed to his... TV and quickly turned it off before she could get a closer look at it. He had a look of pure terror on his face. When he finally turned around, he sighed in relief, although the stress-filled visage reappeared when he saw her suspicious-looking face. But, her expression randomly became happy again.
“Is there something you don’t want to show me, Doug?” She asked curiously with a sly grin.
“Nope! Nothing at all! It was just... Nothing!” Doug grinned sheepishly.
Pinkie glared at him for a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to Doug.
“Hmm... Okey-dokey-lokey....” She said giving the “I’m watching you” look to Doug, which made him stiffen up even more. She began walking towards his shelf, but he blocked her path again. Pinkie was becoming frustrated with these sudden restrictions.
“Ugh, but I thought you said you were going to show me your room!” Pinkie complained.
“I never said I had to show you all of it! There are some personal things that no one needs to see in here!” He said, feeling more confident with his comeback.
“Okay... I’ll just leave then...” Pinkie whimpered. She began walking back towards the door, but not before looking back, showing Doug her prized puppy face.
Doug took one look at it, and regretted his decision immediately. He thought for a moment, then finally gave in to the antics of the Pinkie.
“Penny, wait... I’ll show you them... Just promise you won’t laugh!” Doug requested frantically.
Pinkie immediately brightened up. “Yay! Can I see what’s on there?” Pointing towards his computer.
Doug sighed. “Sure...” Pinkie squeed at that answer. “Prepare yourself, you’re likely to flip at me for this.”
“Silly, why would I get angry at you? You’re too cutesy-wootesy for me to do that!” Pinkie said, giggling uncontrollably.
“No, I didn’t me- Ah... Nevermind... Here goes nothing...” He turned on the monitor, revealing the Mane Six as fillies munching on cookies.
“Well? Any comments, insults, or criticisms? I’m all ears.” He said, looking back at Pinkie. Her eyes were frozen, as was her face, in a shocked expression. She was letting out a long, loud gasp. Pinkie began to tip backwards, causing Doug to tilt his chair to catch her. The ending results were Doug falling first with Pinkie landing on him.
“OOF! Oh, brother... At least she didn’t laugh...” He got up, pulling her towards his bed. It looked as if she was out cold. “This is going to be a funny story for the guys...” Doug sighed, returning to his computer.
He looked at his picture again, and looked at Pinkie, his favorite pony. His mind began to work slowly... Then the realization hit him like a hammer. “She’s a Pegasister...”
Doug let out a long gasp, similar to Pinkie’s, and fell out of his chair, knocking him out cold as well.
Isaac came into the room, intent on asking Pinkie a question, but instead found Doug on the ground with a shocked expression on his face. He turned to Pinkie, who was apparently sleeping on Doug’s bed. Isaac paused for a moment, observing the slumbering party animal.
He silently mulled a few options in his mind before settling on one with a nod. Isaac stepped back out into the hallway and looked around to see if the coast was clear. Upon ascertaining that no one would interrupt him, Isaac silently navigated the maze of refuse that cluttered Doug’s room over to the bed. He took one of Pinkie’s hairs that lay on the bed near her, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and slipped back out of the room.
“Now time for some science...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t believe he raised the heat on that damn furnace... He nearly cooked the whole product!” Coal mumbled to himself as he pulled into the condo. He didn’t see Marcus’s truck with the others, and gave a tired sigh. “Marcus isn’t back yet, so it’s likely the guys haven’t eaten. I better get on that... Hope these women don’t mind my cooking.”
Coal was lost in thought as he went over what all he could make for everybody. He made it all the way to the front door before he caught sight of a large stetson out of the corner of his eye. Coal turned to see the young southern girl sitting on the front porch. She had her stetson over the front half of her face, but lifted the rim to give him a quick smile. “Hey there.”
“Hey... Uhhh...” Coal began rubbing the back of his head. For the life of him he couldn’t remember this girl's name.
“Somethin’ the matter, sugarcube?” Applejack queried as she leaned upright.
“Yeah, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten your name. Sorry about that, but uhhh... What was it again?”
“Y’all can call me Jackie, Coal.”
“Hahah... Yet you remember mine. Sorry, I’m pretty bad with names. So... Any reason you’re out here, Jackie?” Coal stepped away from the door, and sat down across from Applejack on the porch.
“It’s all sorts of loud inside. Ah just needed ta’ relax out here ah bit.” Applejack leaned back against the condo, and took in a deep breath. “It has been one heck of ah day.”
“I bet. I’m not sure why all of you needed a place to stay, but uh... If any of you are in trouble, please let us know.” Coal gave an awkward smile as he scratched the side of his head.
Applejack shook her head, and smiled a little wider. “It ain’t nothin’ like that, but thank ya all the same.”
Coal gave a small sigh of relief, and then made his way for the door once more. “Good to know. Anyway, I better get busy on dinner. I’m not the only one who can cook in this place, but one of the few who actually will. Anything you particularly like?”
Applejack pulled the rim back down over her eyes as she got comfortable once more. “Ah’m always up fer anythin’ with apples.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus led Rarity out the front of the mall. He proceeded to lock all five pairs of glass doors and pull down the iron grating in front of them.
“Hate having to close up... It’s such a pain in the ass...” He mumbled to himself.
He finished up his almost nightly routine and turned around, leading the purple haired beauty into the parking lot towards the lone blue pickup truck sitting on the asphalt.
“You look awfully tired, are you sure it’s a good idea for you to be driving?” Rarity asked with a worried expression.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Marcus opened the passenger side door for Rarity. She smiled at him and climbed in. He smiled back and closed the door behind her. He climbed into his seat on the other side of the truck and turned the key. The hunk of scrap metal sputtered to life and started to purr. The two of them sped out of the parking lot onto the dark streets. The buildings and street lamps soon gave way to hills and trees. Lots of trees.
“So you live out in the middle of nowhere?” Rarity’s expression changed to one of nostalgia. “Reminds me of home...”
“Really now? Where ya from?” Marcus glanced over to his companion long enough to see her expression. It reminded him of a child who had run away from home.
“I’m from.... Just a little town in Canada. You’ve probably never heard of it.”
“Yeah, betcha I haven’t.”
The two sat in silence for several minutes until Rarity finally spoke up, “This silence is just dreadful, wouldn’t you agree? Would you mind if I turned on the radio?”
“Yeah, I wouldn- wait!”
Too late. She had already turned on the stereo. Marcus’s iPod had been plugged in and was playing one of his favorite songs.
Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile! It fills my heart with sunshi-
Marcus had quickly unplugged his iPod and turned a shade of red that would make a Coke can green with envy. He let out a sigh and continued to drive.
“Go ahead, laugh all you want, not like I haven’t been laughed at before...”
“Marcus, I... I don’t....”
Rarity stared with her mouth slightly open. He just sat there and looked ahead. Silence reigned for several more minutes until the radio crackled to life and soft country music began to play.
“Marcus.... What was that...?”
Marcus let out another sigh. “Yes, I’m a brony. I like the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Guess you’re going to never speak to me again.”
“It’s not that, it’s just...” Rarity paused for a moment, searching for the right words. “Very surprising, to say the least...”
“Why ya say that?”
Rarity shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. “Well... It’s complicated...”
Neither of them spoke until they approached the fairly large condo nestled in a grove hidden by the trees.
“Home sweet home.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus nearly flung the door open and dropped his truck keys into the wicker basket by the door. He called out to the rest of the building.
“Hey guys, what was for dinner? I’m friggin’ starved!”
There was no immediate response. Marcus opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by two high-pitched screams from Kyle’s room.
“OH FUCK! I FUCKING HATE DOGS!” Marcus recognized Kyle’s voice and shook his head at his friend’s outbursts.
“Um... Is he OK?” Rarity’s voice was quivering slightly out of concern.
“He’s fine, he’s just playing a game.” Marcus walked into the kitchen and began to rummage through the fridge. He stopped his search for a moment and raised an eyebrow.
“Is something burning? I’m pretty sure I smell something burning.” Marcus raised his head, and sniffed the air a few times, before looking at the oven. “Why did they put coal in the oven?”
“Did someone say my name?” Coal asked as he came into the kitchen.
“What? No, I...” Marcus’s hand met his face, he walked over to the oven and turned it off. “Hi Coal, what’ya up to?”
“Not much.” Coal shrugged. “I’m just getting ready to make everyone something to eat-”
Another pair of screams emanated from Kyle’s room, and the owner of said room yelled out again. “What the FLYING FUCK is that?!”
“IT LOOKS LIKE A GIANT WORM!” A more girly voice, presumably Robin’s, nobody could be sure.
“WHY THE HELL WOULD THERE BE A GIANT WORM IN AN ABANDONED MINE IN GREENLAND?!” Okay, THAT was Kyle.
Ben popped his head in the kitchen. “THEY’RE SINKING CITIES WITH A GIANT WORM!” A loud laugh could be heard from Kasper out on the balcony.
Marcus shook his head. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be out in the garden...” He turned on his heels, and headed out, not wanting a migraine from the madness.
Ben stepped into the kitchen with a brown bottle that was titled ‘Discordant Tastes’. He cocked a thumb behind him. “Welp, I gave Laura some of my brews. She got a bit buzzed and passed out, she’ll probably be out for the rest of the night.” He took a swig from the unappetizing-colored liquid.
“DEAR SWEET JESUS I NEED TO RUN THROUGH ACID AND CLOSE DOORS AND SMASH BARRIERS- HOLY SHIT STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” After Kyle’s incessant screaming, a loud roar was heard. Kyle had his speakers turned up. Again.
“How is that...” Robin paused. “Thing even real?!”
“I have NO IDEA.”
Ben looked down at his bottle as it lowered from his lips. “Oh Kyle, you so silly-”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Kyle cut off Ben mid-sentence. Ben looked up the hall, and his eyebrows low- “HOLY GOD DAMN!”
“Looks like I’m going to go visit someone up the hall. I don’t even know how he interrupted the narra-”
“SWEET JESUS MOTHER O’ GOD!” Ben took the bottle and stoppered it as he walked up the hall to Kyle’s room. He almost got knocked over by another shout, so he just turned back into the kitchen.
“So... New girl...” Ben trailed off, not knowing what to say after Kyle’s outbursts.
“Victoria. And you are?”
“Ben. Nice to meet you.” They shook hands, and Ryan walked into the kitchen. When he noticed Rarity, he seemed to adjust himself for a second, and looked her over.
“Oh. You must be the girl who was with Marcus. My name’s Ryan, pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He shook her hand. “You said your name’s Victoria, right?”
“Right...” She seemed surprised. “A-And you are?”
“Ryan.” He cocked his eyebrow. “Are you alright? You seem a little nervous.”
“Oh!” She cleared her throat, and straightened herself a bit. “Sorry, I’m just overwhelmed. So many people in one place, you know how it is.”
“Yeah, I understand. Moving from Ireland to here yielded the same results for me. Not everyday you cross the ocean and stay with eight other people, you know?”
Rarity smiled, and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by another pair of screams. “OH DEAR LORD! KILL IT WITH FIRE- Oh. I did. YAY!”
Robin shouted in praise. “Yeah!”
“... Is it always like this?” Rarity tilted her head, and stuck her lower lip out.
Ryan shrugged. “You get used to it... Hold on...” Ryan contemplated for a moment, but shook his head. “Never mind. Hey, do you need a room? I’d be glad to give you my bed.”
“That’s very kind of you, Ryan.” She smiled warmly, before Ryan moved both arms, pointing them down the nearby hall.
“After you m’lady.” He said in an extremely posh accent, making Rarity giggle slightly before walking down the hall, Ryan in tow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus stepped out into the garden taking a deep breath of fresh air. He looked over the various flowers and plants, a small smile forming on his face.
“Finally, somewhere in this place that ISN’T complete madness.”
He continued his peaceful stroll through the quiet garden, stopping to admire the colorful flowers every so often. He walked for a while until finding one of the stone benches scattered throughout. He took a seat and looked up at the dark night sky, enjoying the moon’s soft glow.
His relaxation was interrupted as the sound of glass shattering could be heard from inside the house. More specifically, Kyle’s speakers.
“Ugh, I need to get further away...”
He stood and stretched his legs a little before walking again. The further he went, the quieter the noise from the house became. He soon left the garden itself and stopped at the edge of the forest. Marcus found a tree with low hanging branches that he could easily climb. He did so and sat with one leg dangling off the side.
“Much better...”
He got comfortable on the branch and continued to stare into the almost black sky. He could hear nothing from the house, only the tranquil sounds of nature. Something seemed out of place, though, something that shouldn’t be there. He looked around and saw a young woman walking at the edge of the forest. She was saying something, but Marcus couldn’t hear what. He watched her and recognised her as Flora. He jumped down and walked up to her.
“Hey there, Flora, wasn’t it?”
She jumped at his sudden appearance from the tree and tried to hide behind her hair. “Um.. Y-Yes. You’re Marcus... Right?”
“Yup.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Come out here to get away from the lunatics?”
“Yeah...” She shrunk a little bit. “They’re all too loud...”
“Tell me about it. Try having to deal with them and trying to sleep.” He rolled his eyes, remembering sleepless nights from Kyle’s Amnesia binges, and the maniacal laughter from Kasper as a result. “So, Flora, eh? Guess it isn’t a coincidence to find you out in the garden.”
“I-I guess not... I quite enjoy nature...” A small smile snuck onto her face. “Most of the time I just sit and enjoy the plants and animals...”
“Yeah, well, not much aside from birds and squirrels out here.” Marcus looked towards the thick tangle of trees. “You can find the occasional wolf in the forest but... We try not to go in there too much. We call it the Everfree.” Marcus smiled, remembering where the name came from.
Fluttershy let out a little gasp and turned away from Marcus a little.
“Hey, you alright?”
“I-I’m fine... It’s just...” Her eyes flicked back and forth as she tried to think of something to say. “Cold... Yeah, it’s a little chilly...”
“Well, we can head back inside, sound good?”
“Y-Yeah...”
“Hey, you got a place to stay while you’re here? If not, you can take my bed, I’m comfortable on the floor.” He shrugged to emphasize the fact.
Fluttershy smiled and nodded slightly. “Th-Thank you, Marcus... That’s really sweet of you...”
“Nah, can’t stand to see a woman without a comfortable bed to sleep in. A guy can get comfortable anywhere. Hell, I could sleep in the tree if I had a mind to! Anyways, come on, let’s get back inside before one of us gets sick.” Marcus started walking back through the garden, Fluttershy following close behind.
He opened the door for his pink-haired friend and waited for her to walk through before following suit.
Marcus looked around for a minute then asked to no one in particular, “Hey, has anyone seen Kasper?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kasper and Vinyl sat on the balcony, shivering. Someone had locked the door, not noticing the two outside. That someone was Isaac, who was lost in his thoughts when he took it upon himself to lock everything up.
“T-They f-forgot about us, d-didn’t they, K-Kasper?” Vinyl was shaking so badly, her glasses kept trying to slide off of her head.
Kasper tried to nod, but he could barely move. “Y-Y-Yup.”
“Th-That ain’t cool, man...”
Kasper chuckled a bit. “It’s a-alright... W-We’ll get them b-back... S-Somehow...” He started rubbing his shoulders. “Oh GOD it’s FREEZING out here!”
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first?
(edit: LOVE YOU GUYS!!! WOO~)
Got on mainly to see if this updated. MFW 10k words
and now to read
500187
Congratulations. You wield the mighty position of first!
Fourth? At least I read it first, lol. (alright, so it was the rough draft. sue me.)
Edit:
Alright, seriously though... this was my favorite chapter so far. The characters are starting to come to their own, and the relationship building feels natural. I especially like the little hints being dropped about our worlds MLP, and the ponies reactions to them. Especially Ditzi and Pinkie
This has been fun to work on with you guys, even if I am but a lowly proofreader XD
Now shitberg shall go down.
More!
MOAR1!1!1!!!!!1!!1!!
6th I suppose. Real comment soon
Just when I thought I couldn't love this story even more! You guys are great authors and to have you all working on this story is AWESOME!!! I can't wait for the next update!
all of my yes.
Ha! Nice chapter! Good work guys!
My god! 10k words in a single chapter? You guys are GODS! SACRIFICE!!! SACRIFICE!!! SACRIFICE!!! SACRI- Okay what the hell am I doing? I'm sorry for that...no..just no. Going back to my cave now
Awesome chapter! Also, who else agrees that DOUG seems to be the smartest one of them all, because he is THE ONLY ONE who could tell Pinkie was part of MLP....To an extent. Even if he only got as far as her being a Pegasister, he's 2 steps ahead of ALL OF THE OTHER MAN 9.
Awesome chapter. I FUCKING LOVE THIS STORY!!!!
Thank you for the pewdiepie reference Kyle
The Paradox...
IT HATH BEGUN!
LOLOLOLOL
Now they are aware of the broniness of the guys.
HAHAHAHA!!!! This story just gets better!!!!!
That last scene with Kasper and Vinyl, I couldn't breathe for a bit there. So much funny.
-Minty
We're all just background humans. :C
....I have a sudden urge to play Penumbra. Will i be scarred for life?
that was amazing.
I am now confused with the names and shippings xD
Heh, I couldnt stop laughing at the parts with Kyle and "Robin" playing: Penumbra: Overture. Probably cuz' ive played the game and know exactly why they were screaming.
500448
I suggest you watch pewdiepie videos concerning penumbra if you do you'll get the references with the beef jerky XD
Freezing? Oh crud, I sure hope there aren't windigoes. That would be very VERY bad.
I love this fic
And...moar Fluttershy plz?
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Pinkie_Pie_lolface.png
500472
Insanity. Lots and lots of insanity. And muffins.
500529
Sar: Sounds about right. Speaking of which, wheres all our muffins? Did Derpy steal them again?!
EPIC!
Oh good god they've paired off ALREADY?!
500352
Actually, we ALL think they're pegasisters...
500564 Yeah, but it seems like Doug has gotten farther along the path to true realizatin than any of you! Everyone else thinks they are just Pegasisters, but nobody would faint about it! Doug must have pushed the realization farther than the rest of you!
500352
I think Ben knows though...
" Ben stepped into the kitchen with a brown bottle that was titled ‘Discordant Tastes’. He cocked a thumb behind him. “Welp, I gave Lyra some of my brews. She got a bit buzzed and passed out, she’ll probably be out for the rest of the night.” He took a swig from the unappetizing-colored liquid. "
I must say that this has been yet another amazing chapter.
What character is in Doug's room?
I literally Awesome Faced when I read the words Penumbra: Overture. Best games ever, I own all of em.
So happy to see all the gals and guys gettin' together; and LOL, they revealed their brony-ism. THE FUN IS DOUBLED.
Things can get a little confusing at times, but that is understandable.
500205 That is a very hawt position.
~Jack (Is still best background person, deal with it.)
500596
It was just a typo. Fixed, by the way.
500645
Oh, alright. Thanks for the heads up.
500629
Pinkie is in Doug's room.
img.ponibooru.org/_images/8f26493d052c85bf791236326bfe62d0/17264%20-%20animated%20fangirl%20rainbow_dash.gif
This chapter just makes me incredibly happy. All of my yes. Take it.
I love the gears of war reference, and did Doug possibly make a reference to my favorite youtuber? One, Mr. Tobuscus?
WHERE CAN I PURCHASE BRONY ALCOHOL?!!
500670
I mean the shiny red haired human with the X-scar, green robe, and sword.
PREPARE FOR THE FOURTH WALLS TO COMBINE INTO:THE NEVER BEFORE HEARD OF EIGHTH WALL!!!!!
we're fucked
Penumbra? a.deviantart.net/avatars/a/w/awwyeahplz.png
^ random tense change (there's more after that, too)
... The giant worm is cool 
Nobody likes the Penumbra dogs...
>Pinkie stopped her energetic self to apologize, “I’m sorry, Applejack, I wasn’t trying to hurt you...” She said, beginning to tear up.
>Applejack was just shaking her head at all of this, mumbling under her breath. “‘S jus’ Pinkie bein’ Pinkie...”
They refer to each other by their real names here.
Great chapter otherwise! Keep up the good work!
Kaspar! Kick the door!
UPDATE FASTER GUYS I CANT TAKE IT D:
Yay, new chapter (a very long one at that)
The amount of win contained in this fic is incredible. I can't even begin to describe how much I love it.
Confound these authors, they leave me at a loss for words!
The only problem I'm having is trying to remember that the Man 9 (that's what they're called, right?) are characters in a show in Equestria, rather than people from reality. So basically, nothing that's your doing! I'm loving this so far, keep it up!