//------------------------------// // Companions Acquired: Cosplayers // Story: Awakening Pink // by Masterweaver //------------------------------// As soon as we crossed the Red River, we took the nearest exit into the small town of Marietta and pulled into a local McDonald's parking lot. I managed to unbuckle myself, mentally bringing my number of Finger Accomplishments up to five (waffles, the initial internet search, the cliff bar, iPad keyboard, and now a seatbelt) but had to wait for my brother to open the door. Soon enough, Figment and I were out, stretching our hooves. Well, I was. He was kinda enjoying the view. "Are you sure you want to bring Figment along?" I glanced at the lolling puppet/plushie on my back. "...Yes. Maybe he'll distract the rabid fanboys." "Wouldn't count on that. You want to leave your bags behind?" "No," I replied automatically. I had an almost pathological need to have the bags in sight at all times; their contents were my identity and quite frankly I was having enough identity issues as it was. "I'll just put them down next to me and have Figment guard them." "He's a stuffed animal with a slot to stick a hand in." "He's also a dragon. I trust him." "Are you sure you're all right?" "I anthropomorphize EVERYTHING. I named my clarinet back when I was in band." "Really?" "Yep. Obsidian, that was her name." We started walking for the door. "You never told me that." I smiled. "I never told you a lot of things." My eyes drifted to a sign plastered on the door. "Hmmm. No shirt, no shoes, no service." "Well, you've got the shirt." "And these," I waved my forehooves, "totally count as spats. So I'll call them shoes." "They're on your forehooves, not your rear ones." He held the door open as I trotted in. "I could only find two, and I thought fingers were more important than toes. Sue me." My brother looked thoughtful. "Do you think Hasbro could actually sue you?" "By the loom, I HOPE not!" That would just open a whole new slew of problems... It was about this time that I realized the McDonald's establishment was unnaturally quiet. Looking around, it was quick to determine the cause of the silence; pretty much everyone, from child to adult, was staring at me. Even more unnerving was the table in the corner, claimed by a three women and one man in colorful clothing. The man was, rather poorly in my opinion, dressed as Pinkie Pie; the ladies took Rarity, Derpy, and Fluttershy influences in their dress. Every single one of them had an expression of awe. Outside my time on the stage, I have never been good with crowds. In fact the only reason I never panicked on the stage is because I always submerged my identity in that of the character; it was never ME on the stage. But now it was me being stared at and the whole thing had me so rattled (although I didn't realize it at the time) that I didn't WANT to submerge myself into the character. So I dealt with the situation in my usual manner. I turned to the counter and ignored them. Granted, the cashier was staring at me too, but at least with him I has a business-based structure of interaction. "I'd like... hmmm. I think I'll take the number seven salad." I glanced at my brother. "How about you?" "Hamburger, no mayonnaise." The cashier, to his credit, regained his composure quickly and rattled off a price. I'm not sure what it was. I've never been good with money. But I paid up anyway. We went to a corner opposite that of the cosplayers. I dropped my bags beside my chair and placed Figment on top of them so he was giving them a stern glare. We ate our surprisingly delicious meals quietly, and eventually the conversations of the restaurant began up again. Still, every time I glanced across the room, the cosplayers were significantly focused on something or other; I'd done that sort of thing myself to realize they were watching me whenever I wasn't looking. *** Ten minutes after we got back on the highway, my brother glanced into the rearview mirror. "They're following us, you know." "The cosplayers?" "Yep. They all piled into a red van after we left." I twisted around, peering out the rear window. Yep, there it was, a red van with, surprisingly, the Derpy lady at the wheel. The one dressed as Rarity was riding shotgun; she gave me a little wave. At a loss for anything better to do, I waved back. The two of them gleamed happily. After a moment, though, I turned back to the front seat. "I don't know how I feel about this." "Creeped out?" "Well, a little bit," I admitted, "but not like oh my gosh call the police levels. More like... more like hey that spider is pretty darn big levels. That Derpy lady pulls it off very well," I added. "What about the Pinkie guy?" "His wig sucks. And Pinkie would not wear a skirt, she's way too touchy-feely for that." I pondered. "Maybe a skort. The fingerless gloves make sense though." "Are we honestly criticizing the cosplay of your stalkers?" "Mockery alleviates tension, well known fact. The vast majority of American media is based on the principle." I'd even gone so far as to theorize that the reason America hadn't broken down was because it encourage mockery to let off steam before things went down the road of war. "Fair enough. So what do you think of the Rarity one?" I twisted around again. "...well since she's currently got an iPhone out, I think she's broadcasting my position for the world to see." With a heavy sigh I slumped into my seat. "I know a lot of people would commit minor crimes to be in my position, but I feel like whining about it." "Yeah, losing your hand, sex, and privacy sounds like it would be a pretty harsh blow." "See, you understand. I don't think they do, and... and I can't bring myself to actually rant at them about how unfair the whole thing is. They're just being fans." "Normal fans don't follow the object of their affection cross country." "That point is debatable. Depends on the fandom, really." I glanced at Figment. "I think I'm going to play a little prank on the internet." Carefully, I reached out and turned the plushie so he was looking out the back window. Then I glanced back at Rarityphone, mimed a camera, and pointed at the dragon before snapping back into my seat. Then I pulled out my iPad, googleing Real Life Pinkie. Soon enough I stumbled across a collection of images; the most recent of which involved only Figment, with only a single caption: Spike's older brother? I grinned, sending a reply. Yes. Yes he is. ---Pinkie Pie. Hey, I could have a little fun, couldn't I? *** "Right, this is getting ridiculous." My brother turned the wheel, heading for the exit lane. "Obviously they're going to follow us everywhere, we need to deal with these people now." "Oh come on, they're just having a little bit of fun!" "I thought you'd be freaked out by this." "I'm too busy posting comments on the pictures and eliciting reactions to worry about what they intend to do. Jacqueline seems pretty nice, though--" "Who?" "The Rarity cosplayer." I tapped my iPad. "She's been going on about Best Day ever, but she also seems to have this thing for fighting off the trolls. Well, the really bad ones. The silly snarky ones she's cool with, and since I'm okay with them too--" "Look, I get that you're making internet friends and all but we need to know if they plan to do anything more then snap pictures!" I sighed. "Alright, alright. Paranoid, aren't you? There's a McDonald's, let's pull over there." Honestly I had been trying to avoid this, but he had a point. Interactions through the intertubulars were so much more different then interactions face to face. Once we slid to a stop, my brother got out and opened the door for me again. I hopped to the ground, glancing at the road we had just come from; sure enough, there was that red van, pulling into the parking lot two spots away. The doors all opened the second the thing stopped running, and the four cosplayers approached me with cautious eagerness. We stared at each other. And, eventually, it became clear that I was going to have to make the first move. "....Um, heya! How's it going?" I smiled a bit awkwardly. "I'm guessing your rumps are tired from all that sitting, so maybe we should just take a little walk around--" Suddenly I squeaked as the Fluttershy cosplayer lifted me up in a tight hug. "OHMYGOSH YOU ARE ADORABLE!" She snuggled me for all of five seconds before remembering herself. "Oh. Oh geese, sorry, I just, you're so cute!" I took a deep breath. Then I replied, completely deadpan, "Yeah, I get that a lot."