The two left the building about an hour later with wide grins on their faces, Amy holding some paperwork to her chest as the wind gusted briefly. They talked animatedly as they walked to the waiting car and climbed in. “She’s gonna meet us at the apartment with the landlord and we’re gonna move in today! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Amy said, giving Alex a hug from her seat next to him.
Starlight climbed between the seats and gave them both a hug, but it didn’t seem as genuine. “Thanks for this,” she said as she scooted back to her seat and laid down. Amy was grinning like she’d just won the lottery and Alex went with that emotion as being the standard for them both, Starlight just being more reserved.
“You’re welcome, ladies. Well, let’s get you to your new home. I didn’t know the landlord was going to be there today and he’ll probably want to help you move in, except you don’t really have much, do you?”
“Not really, but we have enough to survive,” Starlight said as the car started.
“I think you shouldn’t tell him you’ve been sleeping in the woods or he’ll demand you get washed and scrubbed for ticks and whatnot. He’s really particular about that stuff, and pets in general. He’s old school and sees Equestrians as being very smart animals, but still animals.”
“Great, a racist for a landlord, just what I needed. Look,” Starlight said before she could be interrupted, “I don’t shed that much and I’m a very clean mare. I know how to use human toilets,” she said bluntly, “and that’s really the only thing we’ll need to worry about until he installs a pony style one, which can be used by humans just as easily. I don’t want or need to be treated special when I just want to be home.”
The humans were quiet as Alex started to drive them back to the apartments he lived at. Once there he parked in an assigned space and they all left the car to see a thin older man walking toward them. “Hey, Alex, how’s it goin’?”
“Good, Daryl, how are you? These are your new tenants and they’re excited to meet you and move in, once I get their stuff.”
“Oh, really, now?” Daryl said looking at the human and extending his hand. He shook her hand firmly with a smile.
“I’m Amy, this is Starlight Glimmer,” she gestured to the pony and Daryl looked down and his smile fell.
“Yeah, look, I’ll be honest and say I’m not looking forward to you moving in, but Alex said you’re good people and you won’t shed all over the place. Where’s Shelamar with the deposit so we can start this process?” Daryl asked.
Alex sighed and looked at Amy, who answered. “She’s on her way, she’ll be here in a little bit she said and we won’t be messy or leave a mess. I know you don’t trust us-”
“It’s not about trust, I do it to everyone- err, creature - is that the word these days; it’s about keeping the apartments clean for the next people to move in, and keeping the noise down at night, which hooves aren’t very good at doing.” Daryl interrupted.
“I can wear socks to soften my hoof falls and I can clean up after myself if I do shed my seasonal coats. I’m not some cat that leaves hair everywhere I go and has to use a box to piss in, I’m a thinking breathing creature, just like you.” Starlight said standing taller, for what good it did, she still only stood up to his waist.
“Whatever you say, but don’t expect your deposit back if I go in there and the carpet’s half pink and-”
“Okay,” Alex interjected, “this is getting heated and it doesn’t need to be. Let’s just agree that they’re moving in, have jobs, and are ready to pay the bills and rent when the time of the month comes, okay?”
Daryl reluctantly nodded and waved the females to follow him. “The apartment is upstairs in the middle, it was a one bedroom but I changed it to a two bedroom a long time ago. I have your special toilet in the back of my truck and I’ll have it installed today, but you can’t use it right away because the glue has to set.
“I’m sure Alex won’t mind letting you use his until it’s ready, right?”
Alex shrugged as he followed the trio. “I don’t have a problem with that.”
Daryl didn’t respond, leading the girls to the stairs and ascending. “Good. Alex, can you grab the toilet and bring in up? I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“Sure thing,” Alex said and went to a red truck with the tailgate down. He pulled out the squat toilet and looked at the box before hefting it up and noting how much less it weighed than a normal toilet. He quickly followed the group up the stairs to hear Starlight mumbling about the roughness of the steps wearing her hooves down and how she should have shoes for this.
Darly stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back down at the tiny pony. “If you don’t like the stairs you can always wait to move in, or choose another place to stay until-”
“That’s enough! If you have a problem with Starlight,” Amy stated, “then you can expect a call from the pony affairs office about treating her like a second class citizen when she’s a protected American citizen, just like you and me.”
Daryl was about to snap back, then he stopped himself and turned to the middle apartment and rummaged in his pocket. He reached the storm door and opened it, then after several seconds opened the main door and stepped in. “This is the place, take a look around while I check out the bathroom.”
Alex entered and followed Daryl to the bathroom, knowing what the apartment looked like since he lived just directly below them. Starlight looked around the open floor and noticed a counter and cupboards above them dividing the kitchen from what may have been their future dining room.
A room to the right was the first she went to look at, then she went to follow where the men went and saw Amy looking around the main bedroom passively. “What do you think? Starlight asked.
“It’s great! It’s better than camping and it even has an air conditioner for when it gets hot. What about the other room?”
Starlight shrugged. “It’s like this, only basic. An overhead fan and a window with a small closet I probably won’t use much of since I only have a couple outfits.”
“You can buy more with your savings, though. I’ve heard of a couple seamstresses selling pony clothes online, and you can always use more pony clothes and dresses. Maybe a nice shirt like I see stallions and mares wearing, too. Just for around the apartment, not in public where there’s those prudes.”
Starlight smiled at Amy and looked into the bathroom where Daryl was looking at the toilet. “I’m not installing it until they’re on the lease.”
“Sounds good to me, just stop rubbing it in; shouldn’t be too long before she’s here, right?” Alex asked.
Daryl shrugged and stood up with a groan. “Okay, let’s check the place over, just to make sure you like it before you sign the lease.”
Alex got up and moved to the front door. “I don’t have to be here for this part, if you have any problems or concerns, just call, text, or come get me, I live right below you, okay?” He asked Starlight and Amy.
They nodded and followed Daryl to the second bedroom and he left to return to his apartment to watch some tv and have a small snack. An hour later there was a firm knock on the door got his attention and he got up from the couch while pausing the show he was watching. He opened the door and looked down to see Starlight looking up at him.
“Hey, we need a ride to get our stuff.” She stated and turned away to go to the stairs where Amy was waiting with a smile. She rolled her eyes as Starlight closed the distance. “What?”
“You know, just because he’s a man doesn’t mean he’s a jerk.”
“How should I know and why should I care?” Starlight said back.
“Because you’re acting like a jerk to him,” Amy said back. “What about all that friendship is magic and forgiveness is close to Godliness.”
“I never said either of those things to you, those are things other ponies say and believe in.”
“Then how’re you gonna get your magic back if you don’t believe in that stuff?”
Starlight shook her head and lit her horn to pull her dress side to side. “Can we just go?”
“Ask him, not me,” Amy said, nodding to the man standing just outside his door with a blank face as he listened to them.
Starlight nickered shortly. “Do you spy on mares talking often?”
“Only when you storm off and don’t tell me what’s going on. C’mon, let’s go to my car and I’ll help you get your stuff.”
“You’re not touching my stuff,” Starlight snapped at the man as she stormed by him, swiping him with her tail as she passed.
Alex watched her go and heard Amy walk up beside him. “She isn’t always like this, I think it’s just how she shows excitement for a new change in her life.”
“So she’s just being a bitch to me because she’s happy? Don’t let me make her mad…”
“I think she’s only like that because she missed home. She’s talked a lot about her friends she left behind when she was pulled here. I don’t think she’s very good at making friends in the first place, so losing the ones she had is just very hard for her. Not to mention her experiences since she got here.”
“You mean…”
“Not just that,” Amy said as she started walking to the car, “she hasn’t welcomed a new life here. Why do you think she’s in such a rut? The government would have taken care of her for a few more months, but she just isn’t going with the system, it’s like she wants to fail, sometimes.”
Alex turned the corner of the building to see Starlight waiting by the car. “I hope we can help her adjust, or at least come to terms after all this time.”
“Hey, are you going to let me into your car, or are you just gonna talk all day?” Starlight snapped when she saw Alex.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming.”
Amy opened the back door and Starlight climbed in and laid down on the seat while the others got in the front seats. “So, I think we’ll have to make a couple trips if your trunk isn’t big enough.”
Alex started backing out of his spot. “I think we can do it in one. We’ll just have to put some stuff in the back with Starlight.”
“Just don’t touch my stuff,” Starlight reiterated.
“Well, I’ll have to touch some things to help you out, unless your magic is gonna come back again, only this time on its own.”
Starlight frowned but stayed quiet for the moment.
“That was kinda mean,” Amy said.
“Why, because she’s being mean to me, I have to let her walk all over me? She should show a little appreciation for everything I’ve already done after only knowing her for less than a week.”
Starlight snorted. “You want something, I bet. That’s how you all are, every human wants something for whatever they do.”
“Maybe I’m not human then. I’ll be an alien as far as you’re concerned.”
“More like a monkey,” Starlight stated.
Alex stopped the car suddenly in the street and turned to glare hatefully back at the mare, who cowered back at his glower. “Don’t call me a fucking monkey.”
“Okay, okay, sorry. I didn’t think you’d be so sensitive about it.”
Amy turned to look back at Starlight. “It’s a very racist thing to say in general, but people that are of darker complexion take it very personally for that exact reason. It’s like me calling you a twist head or spike brow.”
Starlight looked down. “Oh… sorry then. I guess I bucked up, huh?”
Alex started driving again, frowning and keeping quiet as he drove. No one in the car spoke through their short drive to the camp. “Here we are, get out, Starlight, I need a minute to talk with Amy about something.”
“You mean me?” Starlight asked.
“I mean get out or I’ll help you pack your stuff and touch all of it with my dirty human hands.”
“Sheesh, you don’t have to be moody, I’m leaving.” Starlight said and used her lips to grasp the handle to open the door. She got out and was about to buck the door shut, but instead gave it a shove with a forehoof to close it properly.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?!” Alex asked Amy once the door was closed. “She’s like a cute little underaged thoughtless brat!”
“She’s just-”
“Ungrateful and unfriendly at every turn,” Alex interrupted. “I’ve been nothing but kind, generous, and friendly, but she turns me away at every chance she gets. I get she’s had a couple bad experiences, but if she’s gonna keep treating me like this, I’m gonna have to draw a line and distance myself from her. Not you, just her, until she pulls the tree out of her ass.”
Amy snerked. “I’ve never heard that one, it’s always been a stick. Sorry, anyway, I think over the next couple days she’ll warm up to you. She wasn’t even that cool with me at first, we were just neighbors in the tents until we just… I dunno, clicked. She had a place, even, when she moved here, but she couldn’t stay with them, maybe she thinks it’ll happen again.”
Alex’s frown returned. “I don’t really care about her living situation, because it’s fixed. She has a job, she has a couple friends, and she has a home. She shouldn’t act this way, no excuses.”
“I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying give her a chance and a little time. She’ll open up to you, I’m sure of it.” Amy said, placing a hand on Alex’s arm.
He sighed and lowered his head. “Fine, but if she keeps being this way to me, I’m going to have to make some really hard choices. I’ve never had a pony friend before, and I was hoping to have one before I died, and now I have the chance, and she’s walled herself off like crazy. I thought when I met you both in the thrift shop we’d do what some ponies and humans have done and make instant friends. Instead I get insulted, pushed away, and treated like garbage the whole time.”
Amy smiled a little. “Give me some time with her, give us some time with her. She doesn’t really trust men, but I think that she can trust you like I do. You’re a really nice guy.”
“Yeah, and where’s that gotten me?” Alex mumbled to himself.
“We’ll find out where it’ll get you, together, okay? Don’t be hard on yourself over what one pony thinks, anyway. I like you, and that’s something, right?”
Alex sighed. “Okay, okay, I’ll get off my high horse and give her a couple more chances. Just please, work with her to stop being such a bitch at me.”
“Fine,” Amy said and crossed her arms over her chest, “as long as you stop calling her that. It’s not a nice thing to call a friend, ever.”
“Oh, yeah… women. Ouch,” he said with a smile after Amy turned to punch him in the arm. “Just kidding. I’ll stop, as long as she doesn’t force me to say it again.”
“Ugh, men; you’ll never understand women.”
“Hey, don’t group us all together. We’re not all bad, you know.” Alex said with a little pride.
“Wait here, give me a couple minutes to talk to her. Just, open the trunk and we’ll bring her tent, at least. We’ve gotta say bye to a couple people, if they’re still here right now, too.”
Amy opened the door and closed it, leaving Alex to groan loudly in peace. “What the hell did I get myself into?”