A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

5 - Fashionista Extraordinaire

The library remained quiet as the assembled group stood and looked at each other, silent. Finally, Martin coughed as he looked at Twilight. "Sooo… what now?"
She wandered around the library. "Well… I guess we get you settled in for the month and see what happens…"
Rarity walked to Martin and looked at his clothes. "Oh my… we have to get you two some new clothes; you can't be wearing those… rags." She tapped his clothes in disgust.
"Um… but we have no way of paying." Mike muttered.
She raised her hoof. "I consider it my duty… that’s just a crime against fashion." She said, her nose held high.
"And when would you like us to do that?" He asked her.
She giggled, a hoof over her mouth. "Why right now of course, it's not like I could let you wander around town in… those any longer."
Martin sighed and glanced at the group. "Ok, let's get crackin'."
"Ok…" Mike agreed, hesitantly.
"Alright darlings, we'll have to catch up after I give these gentlestallions proper attire. Ta-ta!" She said to the group, walking out of the library with them in tow. They were quiet as they made it to her boutique, which was really out of place in the town. She opened the door and blushed slightly. "Sorry about the mess, I was hit with inspiration last night and had to make them."
The humans looked around the shop. "Never was inside a shop like this before… hmm…" Martin said as he inspected the different dresses and jackets on the mannequins.
Mike just stood awkwardly by the door. Rarity's horn glowed a light blue as a clipboard and tape measure floated next to her head. She had put on red ruby glasses as she looked at the two.
"So who wants to get their measurements first?"
Martin's good arm shot up in the air. "I'm always curious…" He smiled.
"Splendid, then stand here on this little stage and we'll get right on it." She smiled before she looked at Mike. "Look at some fabrics till I get him done." The tape measure soon had a life of its own, floating around Martin as she scribbled down some numbers.
At least twenty minutes passed before she finished, the tape measure floating to rest on the ground. "Took a little longer than expected but it's your turn." She smiled as she looked at Mike and Martin stepped off the stage. Mike gulped nervously.
As they passed, Martin put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don’t worry mate, it's really not bad."
"Yeah… sure…" He muttered.
Martin made his way over to where Mike had stood as Mike hesitantly stepped onto the stage, his face red. "Just stand there darling and don’t worry, nothing will happen to you." She promised as the tape measure floated towards him.
"O-ok…" He said, nervous.
Things went a lot faster, Rarity familiar and knew she needed to measure. It only took roughly ten minutes. "All done darling." She smiled as he stepped off the stage.
"Thanks." He gave her a small smile.
"Oh no need to thank me; it's the least I can do and I'm sure can repay the favor one day." He nodded as she looked over the notes. "Come back tomorrow and I'll have some things ready for you both."
"Will do; thanks again Ms. Rarity." Mike said as he made his way towards the door.
Martin followed as he waved goodbye. "Bye."
"Ta-ta darlings!" She said as the door shut, already getting the fabrics she needed.
Mike shuddered. "So what now?"
Martin looked around; somehow the day was already waning, the sun turning the sky a mix of orange and purple. The moon was slowly appearing but was hidden by thick clouds. "Damn… it's getting really cold-" A small snowflake fell onto his nose and he stared at it. "Is… is that snow?"
Snow came down harder; the snowflakes making it look like rain. "So this is snow… wow… its pretty." Mike whispered as he started to shiver. "Maybe we should go back to Twilights and see if we can find somewhere warm to sleep for the night."
"Yeah, let's go; you can admire the snow on the way." Martin chuckled.
"Yay!" Mike said as they made their way through the snow to the warm looking tree. The snowfall picked up and whatever light disappeared, the street lamps barely illuminating a foot in front of them.
"Damn… this is turning into a blizzard…" Martin narrowed his eyes to stop the snow that flew into them.
"Yeah… maybe we should try and hurry?" Mike said, his teeth chattering.
Martin started to walk faster. "Sounds like a great idea…"
Mike quickly caught up to him. "Maybe we should've packed a jacket."
Martin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Mike. "I don’t want my jacket to be honest, considering what's inside the pockets. I mean damn, the ponies already went wild seeing my knife; I wonder what would happen if they saw my revolver." He put his good hand up to shield his eyes.
"Oh yeah… good point." Mike chuckled. "Totally thought they were gonna arrest you…"
They finally made it back to the library, the snow had piled a few inches on the ground. Martin flung the door open and Mike run inside, quickly shutting the door behind him, snow flying in. They looked up at the sounds of hoof steps and saw Twilight walk up to them. "There you are… I was getting worried you got lost in the blizzard."
"Sorry… it took a bit to find our way back." Mike answered, still shivering.
Twilight nodded. "Well I have the fireplace going if you guys wanna use that to get warm…" She said as the two humans sped to the small fireplace in the corner, trying to get warmth back in their limbs. She shook her head as she trotted towards them. "Martin, AJ asked if you felt good enough, you could help on the farm if you want." She paused and looked at Michael. "And Michael… I'm not sure if Fluttershy asked, I couldn’t hear her, but I think she wants to know if you'd help her with the animals tomorrow morning."
Mike's face erupted in a huge blush. "S-sure… I'd l-l-like too…" He said, stuttering.
Martin chuckled at him before nodding his head. "Yeah, I'll help." Martin blushed slightly but no one noticed it.
She nodded. "Until you made your decision, you can live here. Princess Celestia asked me to look after you two; I got some sleeping bags and mattresses." She blushed. "Although I'm not sure it'll fit you, I'll make it bigger. And you'll be staying in the guest room upstairs."
"Works with me…" Mike said, his face hidden as he willed the blush away.
Martin glanced at the clock. "Damn it's already ten past five…"
Mike chuckled. "Only that early; I thought it was much later with how fast it got dark…"
"It gets really dark when there's a blizzard and during the winter, the sun lowers much earlier."
Mike rolled his eyes. "I know that… I just assumed it was later anyway…"
Martin walked upstairs. "I'll check out the guest room." He opened the door and walked into the room, bumping his head on the door jam. The walls were made out of numerous bookshelves, all organized and dusted. The room had no light save whatever came from the small window. The blizzard was in full force, smacking into the window.
Mike popped his head in. "Wow… nice room."
"Yep…" Martin as he looked at the sleeping bags, there were two; a green and a red. "Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the green one."
"Ok." Martin said as he passed the small green sleeping bag.
Twilight appeared in the doorway. "It's not much but I hope it's enough." She said, hoofing at the ground.
Mike smiled at her. "It's more than enough... and thanks for letting us stay again, we appreciate it."
"Indeed, may the Nine bless you."
She nodded. "Maybe sometime you can explain what all these 'Nine' and 'Gods' you keep referring too…"
Martin smiled. "I'm sure I'll find time to do so."
Mike stared out the window, admiring the snow. "So this is what snow looks likes… it's pretty amazing…" He muttered.
Twilight gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean? Have you never seen snow before?"
He shook his head no. "No… this is the first time; where I come from, it doesn’t snow… ever."
"Oh well at least you got to see it now." She said with a smile.
"Yeah… I'm glad I could finally see some." He said with a small smile.
Before she left the room, she used her magic and stretched the sleeping bags so we could fit comfortably in them and not freeze. After the round of goodnights, she left the room and Martin quickly shut the door. He looked at Mike, who was trying to get comfy. "Mate… what do you think we have to do if we want to stay?"
He paused and scratched his beard, staring out the window. "Well… if I was Celestia, I'd make us give up our human bodies."
Martin frowned. "But I like my body… I love having fingers, you know?"
"Yeah… it's just a thought though, I could be horribly wrong… but that’s the only thing I can think of … I'm rather fond of my body myself, well besides…" He pointed at his plastic eye.
Martin looked at the plastic eye. "Even if… I'm not sure that'll come back again."
"Yeah probably not." Mike shrugged. "It's not like we could just magically grow another one." Martin shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"
Mike sighed, his hands resting on the back his head as he stared at the ceiling.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Martin asked, looking at the blizzard.
Mike turned so he could see out the window. "What?"
"My childhood… it snows a lot in Lower Saxony, the Mash Lake would freeze and I'd go there with my family..." He frowned, realizing that he'd never see them again.
"Yeah… I wonder if anyone noticed you were gone."
"Who knows… they won't expect me back too soon… told them I'd be gone for a few months on vacation." He said, looking at the floor.
"Ah… well, maybe she'll let us send them a letter or something…"
He sighed and sat down on the red sleeping bag. "Maybe… maybe."
"I hope so… so we just don’t disappear."
They sat there, wrapped in their own thoughts before the door opened, revealing the baby dragon. "Umm… dinners ready." He said.
"Ok." Mike said, getting up.
Martin sighed and followed suit as they walked down the stairs and sat at the table. Dinner was a daisy sandwich for Twilight, a sparkling plate of gems for Spike, and for the humans he made some grilled cheese and eggs with a side of salad.
"Looks wonderful Spike." Mike said as he began to eat.
"Much appreciated mate." Martin agreed, digging into his salad.
They finished dinner rather fast, mostly in silence as Twilight asked a few questions here or there. According to the clock, it was a little past six and the blizzard hadn't let up. Mike sat by the window, staring vacantly out at the winter wonderland while Martin tried explaining to Twilight who the Nine were.
"The Nine are gods that watch and guide us through our lives. First and foremost, there's Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time and the Chief God of the Pantheon, then Arkay is the God of Life and Death, Dibella is the Goddess of Beauty, Julianos is the God of Wisdom and Logic, Kynareth is the Goddess of Nature, Mara is the Mother Goddess and Goddess of Love, Stendarr is the God of Mercy, Talos is the God of War and Governance, and finally, Zenithar is the God of Work and Commerce."
She frantically wrote them all down on a parchment, asking him to spell a few before she re-read the scroll and looked at him. "And everypony believes in these 'gods'?"
He chuckled. "Oh no… neither do I; I just like to use their names for fun… like many others. They don’t exist; they are just part of a worldwide known story that amazed billions of people."
"Oh…" she paused. "So you use it more as an ironic insult to people that do believe in those 'gods' of theirs? Interesting…"
His eyes widen. "Oh no... I don’t think anyone believes in those gods… and even if they did, I'd never want to offend them."
She looked at him blankly. "That’s just confusing."
"I just use their names for fun, not to offend anyone. If someone is offended by me doing so, I'll stop. I mean no harm to anyone, at least not like that."
She shook her head. "That’s not what I meant. You sound like you were using false gods almost in an ironic sense to people that have believed in the 'real god', like this Jesus person?" She asked as she read the name from her parchment.
"Oh… I guess I just misunderstood you there." He said, scratching the back of his neck.
She blushed slightly. "Sometimes I misinterpret myself…"
He chuckled. "Happens to all of us sometimes…"
She nodded and leaned closer to him. "So what's wrong with your friend?" She whispered.
He looked at Mike, vacantly staring off into space with a raised eyebrow. A grin slowly appeared on his face as he moved closer to him. "You thinking' bout Fluttershy, ain't ya?" He whispered.
Mike seemed to snap out of his daze and his face was heavily flushed. "Huh? Oh… no… just thinking about stuff."
He nodded with the grin. "'Bout Fluttershy 'n' stuff, right?"
Mike rolled his eyes. "No… more like Celestia never did answer why Discord brought us here… it just seems like there's something going on that no one knows but her…"
His grin disappeared. "Oh… yeah, makes sense."
Twilight looked at them. "I'm sure she'd tell you if something was going on."
Mike sighed. "I'm not sure… I'm just getting that feeling." His face turned a deeper red. "And maybe Fluttershy was in there somewhere." He muttered.
Martin's grin re-appeared. "How about you go buy her some flowers or something nice like that, aye?" He whispered. Twilight couldn’t hear them, but she was interested in what they were whispering.
He rolled his eyes again. "I've known her for what, two maybe three days? Don’t you think that’s too soon… and besides, you’ve seen how I get tongue tied around her… Also that whole Discord thing is bugging me…"
Martin sighed. "Ok… but you shouldn’t worry too much. There's nothing we could do about it anyways, at least for the moment."
Mike scratched his head. "Women in any dimension are weird…"
Twilight leaned closer to them without either noticing. "What do you mean?" She asked, her tail flicked a few times as she stared at him.
Martin looked at him before getting up quickly. "You're on your own for this one mate." He quickly disappeared into the guest room.
He glared at the guest room door. I guess I deserve this… "Nothing against women or mares, but they seem to cause me no end of stress no matter where I am… granted two of them did save my life, which I should thank you for… and Fluttershy…"
She seemed relieved. "Oh… ok." She said, a faint smile on her lips.
Martin slowly opened the door. "Is the danger averted?" He asked, sticking his head out.
Mike glared at him. "Yeah… we're good, right Twilight?" He asked, slightly nervous.
She nodded "Phew." Martin said as he left the safety of the room.
"That was for turning the shower to cold this morning, wasn’t it?" Mike asked, glaring.
Martin smiled. "Yep."
"You're cruel."
"Aww… I'm not that bad."
"Remind me to tell AJ you threw your best friend to the wolves." He chuckled as Twilight looked at Martin curiously, her head slightly tilted.
Martin stared at him. "You wouldn’t dare." He said, terrified.
Mike held his poker face before he started to laugh. "You know I wouldn’t, but it was totally worth it to see your face."
"What are you two talking about?" Twilight asked, confused.
"It's nothing, just a little joke we had back on Earth, right?" He looked at Martin with a little smile.
Martin smiled nervously. "Yeah… a joke…" She nodded but still looked confused. He sighed before he looked at the clock. "How can we pass the time?"
"I can always ask you more questions?" Twilight asked with a small smile.
His eyes widened and he looked even more terrified. "Oh god… depends on the question I guess…"
She giggled. "Well… what did you do before you came here?"
"Oh…" He sighed, relieved. "Well, I was a paramedic; I got trained in Germany but I got my first job in London." He said, slightly surprised at the question.
She smiled. "That’s sounds like a wonderful job, always helping ponies."
He smiled back at her. "It was always my dream; I've wanted to become a paramedic since I was seven years old."
She looked at Mike. "And you Michael, what were you before you came here?"
He scratched his head and chuckled. "I was an author…"
She smiled at him curiously. "Really; what kind of books did you write?"
"Mostly science fiction but I dabbled in some historical non-fiction, action/adventure, and a romance every now and again…"
She continued to smile at him. "Do you have any of them with you?"
"No… I had one in my backpack but that was back on Earth… and I don’t think it traveled with us…"
Martin reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "Don’t worry pal… you put them up remember? I took screen shots of one of them."
Mike blushed. "Oh yeah…"
Twilight appeared next to Martin and stared at his phone. "So his stories are in this thing?"
He nodded and turned on the phone, the screen lighting up brightly. He tapped the screens a few times and showed her the first image of the page to her. "Just touch the screen down here and it'll bring you to the next page."
She held it with her magic and stared at it for a moment before she began to read. She seemed to speed read through the first dozen pages in the span of five minutes or so.
"Damn… she's fast." Mike whispered, not wanting to bother the reading unicorn.
"That's what he said." Martin chuckled.
"Ha."
She ignored them and sat down on the couch. "Geez, it's still early… you got any movies on your phone?"
Mike shook his head. "Nope… I got a few on my iPod though." He said, grabbing it and turning it on. He scrolled down the list. "…Let's see; Star Wars, Jaws, Sorcerer's Apprentice, the Family Guy Star Wars…"
"Which Star Wars movie?"
"A New Hope."
"Aww man, I love episode four!" Martin yelled in delight.
Mike smiled. "It's my favorite movie…"
Martin shrugged. "Meh, I prefer five but four is one of the best." He got up and walked towards the guest room. "Come on mate, better atmosphere…"
"Sure." Mike said, following him. He set up his iPod so they both could see it. He unplugged the headphones and turned the speakers as loud as it could go before hitting play.
"Haven't watched episode four in ages." Martin said, excited.
"I just had a marathon last week or so."
The main theme started to play with the opening text crawl. The Imperial Star Destroyer chased after the Rebel corvette as Twilight opened the door and went to speak till she heard the laser fire. She walked over and saw the movie and smiled. Mike scooted over for her and made sure she could watch it with them as she hoofed Martin his phone back.
"Thanks." He whispered, trying not to interrupt the movie.
She nodded but wasn’t really paying attention, wrapped up in the movie. They watched the entire movie, Twilight staring at the people curiously but refrained from asking any questions, not wanting to disturb the movie. A few hours later, the ending credits slowly faded away plunging the room into total darkness.
Martin looked at Twilight as Mike grabbed his iPod. "So what did you think?"
She looked at him with big eyes. "I liked it… it seemed so creative… I could never come up with an amazing story like that."
Mike chuckled. "Don’t worry, this movie influenced so many people it's not even funny… and the guy that wrote it based it off of other people's work."
Martin glanced at her. "There's six movies in total; first came four, five and six, then one, two, and three about twenty years later."
"There are six movies like this?" Her eyes sparkled.
"Yeah, but that was the best one in my opinion."
Martin coughed. "I think five was the best."
"Do you have any others?"
"Michael says he has a parody of the fourth but I don’t think he has any of the others."
"I have the fourth and the parody on here." He brought up 'Family Guy - Blue Harvest'. "Wanna watch it?"
Martin grinned. "I love Family Guy… but it might not be the right thing for Twilight, there are a lot of references that she won't get."
"Yeah…" Mike looked at her. "We can still watch it if you want to though."
She shook her head. "It's getting late and it's going to be a very busy tomorrow. Maybe we can watch it some other time." She got up and trotted towards the door. "Goodnight you two." She said before shutting the door.
"Night."
"Goodnight Twilight."
Martin looked at Mike. "Still wanna watch Family Guy?"
"Of course." He said, clicking the play button. "Then we should try and sleep… we have a long day tomorrow…"
"Yep, you have a pony waiting for ya." He nudged Mike's side.
His face turned red. "S-so do you remember?"
Martin's face turned red. "You god darn ass! Don’t you dare tell her!"
He laughed. "You know I wouldn’t… probably…"
Martin narrowed his eyes and glared at him. "I wonder what Fluttershy would say… hmmm…"
"Say about what?" Mike gulped.
"I'm sure we both know… right pal?" Martin said, his trademarked grin back. He was still a little red himself.
"….L-let's get back to the video…" Mike said, turning to watch his iPod, the brightness making it hard to hide his blush.
Martin smiled at his little victory as they finished the movie before hitting the sleeping bags, tired from another stressful day.