A Twilight Landing

by MerlosTheMad

Chapter 18 : The Party and The Pony

The air in the room hung still and silent, while being just a little chilly from the early morning. A cat snored pleasantly at the foot of the bed, happy and providing some additional warmth in repayment for contractually agreed upon regular feedings.

Jo's head raised up off of her pillow. Immediately, one thing, one goal appeared in the girl's mind.

Coffee.

The lone thought superseded all others, becoming the thought ruler, presiding over the kingdom of thoughts itself. Her head pulsed with the anger of a hundred furious chimpanzees, all flailing around in her head with spike tipped whiffle bats while chucking bowling balls. Their screaming was endless.

In other words, she had a hangover. All will be right with coffee.

Jo managed to stand up and stumble to the door, surprising even herself that she didn't feel sick; other than the teeth clenching head pain. She stumbled down the stairs, her quest for her own personal holy grail directing her to the kitchen. Once in the living room, she met a peculiar sight, but not one that slowed her down in the slightest; Twilight seemed to be slumped over, and asleep by the far window, just beside the front door.

Meh. Jo couldn't really process that just yet, the need for caffeine kept her from attempting to figure it out. Coffeecoffeecoffee...

Spinning around at what to her seemed like light-speed, but to an observer would have been uncoordinated shuffling, Jo again headed in the direction of the kitchen table, sitting there along with the coffee maker. Oddly enough, both things sat in front of Twilight who was, again, in the living room.

Where the kitchen table and coffee creator were didn't matter though, they alone held the key to getting coffee, so approaching them was paramount. Jo didn't feel like driving to pick some up, were that even possible. Finally, her shuffling forward stopped, and she found her morning nectar. It remained on the table, sitting next to Twilight Sparkle, who seemed to have made friends with it. That is, if the level of the pitcher's contents was any indication. Still some left. Her labored thoughts observed, but scarcely cared.

Jo's hand closed around the lone cup, brought over the pitcher, and poured. All the while, Twilight's unconscious gaze remained locked in a staring contest with the front door that she seemed determined to win. Somewhere in her subconscious, Jo knew that she was supposed to greet the former unicorn. To that end, she let out a polite hello.

"Ghdmrnin' Twi'let..." Jo grumbled the words under her breath and went back to her cup of coffee, which was nearly full. There was no response from Twilight. Oh, she's asleep, right.

Jo would have face palmed for making the mistake at any other time, but right then, doing so would have been suicide. She took a sip of the coffee. Blessedly, it was actually still quite warm, perhaps not more than half an hour old.

Oooh, thank you God. Wait, thank you Celestia! Jo's beleaguered self smiled out of pure happiness in a way that only someone reaching Nirvana could. She took another sip, then emptied the cup, and poured another. A few swallows later, it occurred to Jo that Twilight really shouldn't be sitting at her kitchen table, moved in front of the door, clutching an apple pie from the refrigerator like a member of the NRA clutches their .22.

Jo studied her odd Equestrian tenant with mild interest, her bogged down mind trying to make sense of just what was going on. Well, whatever it is, it can wait 'till I finish my coffee, and take a shower... and find some acetaminophen... Holy hell, why did I do that last night? And why after years of drinking can't I hold it worth a damn? She wasn't able to come up with an answer to her own questions.

Twilight's influence on Jo had been quite profound, she swore and drank less after all. Sort of.

Jo sighed, watching the slow rise and fall of the purple haired girl's back in a daze. There was something off about the purple hair, now that she looked, but couldn't quite place it. Shrugging, she turned away, and came face to face with Alice.

"Morning!" The blonde girl chirped cheerfully, she leaned one hand on her side and flashed a grin that was all teeth, her other hand holding up a spatula nonchalantly into the air. She was dressed in a long sleeved teal and white striped shirt, along with what appeared to be beige dress pants.

Jo felt her heart implode out of her chest from the force of surprise that gripped her, however, her headache was such that subconsciously, she managed to resist crying out. Instead, her eyes widened, then shut, then she groaned and pushed the other woman out of the way in finality. "Grr, grf'ornink." One of her hands pressed against the side of her head in an attempt to hold back the headache caged within it.

"Wow, what happened to you? Anyway, I'm making breeeeakfast! Yay!" Alice walked alongside Jo until they reached the shower room, a whole four steps away. "We have a full day today, we gotta try on the costumes I've been working on, go shopping, enjoy some tasty lunch, then meet up at the party! I'm helping with the hors d'oeuvres, so we should get there early! Maybe four? There's gonna be so much to do this year, and the place is right next to the Halloween fair in town. Aaw yeah!"

Jo looked back at Alice, her face incredulous from barely picking up a word she had said. "What?" Her voice was little more than a croak.

"What what?" Alice tilted her head. "Oh, hors d'oeuvres? Well I'd say pu-pu platter, but honestly that just sounds gross, and-" She buttoned her trap when Jo growled at her again. "Or never mind. So, you were drinking after I left, I take it?" A knowing smirk grew and split across her face. Without waiting for an answer, she continued talking just a little too fast. "Well, I'm going back to food making. It seems you both had a rough night, so hopefully this will energize you for the day of fun to come, whoo!" With that, the spunky woman walked away, waving the spatula in a circle over her head.

Jo's attention lingered on the crazy person a moment. It's like, eight in the morning, how does she do this? Glancing at her wristwatch, it was actually just past ten. Groaning disfavor at the sight, she began padding her way tiredly into the shower, and after narrowly missing the doorway with her head, managed to edge her way inside. The half full cup of coffee she still held was left on the counter, near at hand.

"That's so great." Jo didn't wait for the water to warm up, she merely turned on the faucet and endured the cold, which felt wonderful. A few minutes of life giving, watery happiness, cleared her head and made her feel better quickly. She aided the shower's efforts by reaching out to the medicine cabinet not once, but twice, and finishing her coffee. While in the shower, she thought, while polishing off her drink until it was an empty cup on the counter.

"Maybe I should think about drinking less...a lot less..." While mulling over the idea, she gargled water to fix her scratchy throat.

While the guilty feeling hung about Jo, like a looming eviction notice or something equally dismal; it was wiped clean by a racket crashing in over the sound of the shower water. Or perhaps that was the sound of a certain Equestrian banging the door open.

"Jo!? You have to turn off the shower!" Twilight's voice called out from in the bathroom, on the other side of the curtain.

Oh, Twilight's awake. Jo thought, then furrowed her brow and turned to look through the quickly building wall of steam once she'd translated what the girl had said to her. What the- The other girl's hand clutched the shower curtain and ripped it open.

“Twilight!? What are you doing? H-hey!” Being tackled by surprise had properties similar to finishing the cup of coffee or the shower for the now wide awake Jo.

The entire scuffle last only a second, Jo being sluggish and worn from lingering alcohol, and Twilight apparently being more hyperactive than a juvenile hopped up on energy drinks. They both slid down onto the shower stall floor, Twilight pressing a finger against her friend's lips and begging for silence.

“Shhh! It could hear you!” Twilight's eyes were bloodshot and wild, and thanks to the shower, quickly getting soaked.

“What are you doing!? What’s going to hear me? Weren't you asleep? What’s going on? Wh-” Whatever Jo was about to say was cut off by a slender hand, slapping firmly over her mouth.

Twilight cupped Jo's mouth in her panic, looking fearfully out of the bathroom and at the front door. With her other hand she quickly shut off the noisy shower water.

“Shhh!” Twilight shushed again, while her maddened eyes stared back into Jo's. “There’s a monster outside. I’ve been watching for it all night, although I haven't seen it again yet. But it could still be out there! I think it’s just waiting for an opportunity to break in, for me to lower my guard, but I'm too smart for it, Jo. I stayed up all night just to keep watch! Anyway, it might not be able to get in or know we're here, but if it hears us, you’ll be taking our lives in your hooves and giving us away!”

Jo was slightly shaken from the realization that a former magical creature was telling her that there was a frightening monster beyond her doorstep, not to mention from the unexpected body check, and her own present nakedness. Wait, a monster? Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Her wits returned to her though, and she gave the other girl a scrutinizing look of disbelief.

Twilight sucked in a breath as something occurred to her, still rambling. “Unless it was waiting for me to stop guarding the door! Oh no. Jo, we have to get up, but be careful. I don’t know what kind of powers it- Yo- AH!"

Recoiling, Twilight withdrew her hand and shook it fiercely, putting on a hurt look. "You bit me!"

"You invaded my privacy." Jo glared and Twilight, standing up and swiping a towel off the door quickly.

Twilight scowled, then ran out into the hall, slipping slightly on the floor and speaking frantically the whole way. "This is- wah! Way more important than a little clothes-lessness, Jo! I tried waking you up all night, but it was like you were under a sleeping spell! I read about the one in human stories that gets broken by true love's first kiss, but there was no way I was going to try that- Anyway, could you help me board up the door? I thought about using your table, but I couldn't find a hammer, and I didn't dare go back outside!"

Alice poked her head out of the kitchen. "Is Twilight losing her mind again? Jo, I can't leave the eggs so take a picture if it's really good!"

"Stop making noise!" Twilight shouted.

"What happened to being quiet?" Jo rolled her eyes, looked at Alice, then sighed and followed after her hysterical, purpler friend reproachfully. I cannot believe how crazy this girl, er- Pony can get when she gets going, a hundred Alices can't compare to this. The thought made her shiver. "Twilight, look, you aren't making sense. A monster? Twilight monsters aren't rea- Okay, well they aren't real here... Are you sure it wasn't just the neighbor's dog? They have a New Foundland, you know. They're big, but he's nice, as far as dogs go anyway." She found Twilight, again looking out the windows, crouching at the bottom of the sills and moving stealthily.

I am so glad she doesn't have her magic right now. Jo approached Twilight and tapped her friend on the shoulder. "Twilight, come on, whatever you saw it can't have been that bad, and I promise you it wasn't a monster."

Twilight looked up, a hint of doubt edging her determination. "Are you sure? You can't be sure about that. We should call your police force at least. They're no Elements of Harmony, but their job is to protect. Maybe they could look into it?"

Oh yes officer we swear, it was twelve feet tall, breathed fire and had teeth a mile wi- Jo barely managed to keep the rueful smirk of her face. The headache that poked at the side of her skull was the only reason she succeeded, too. "I'm pretty sure, Twi'. I'm also pretty sure if we called the cops that they would just call us crazy, too."

From the kitchen, came a shouted call from Alice. "We can always lie and say that there's robbers! They'll show up then, and when they see it, they'll shoot it!"

Jo face palmed.

"You can't shoot it! That could hurt it, or worse, kill it!" Twilight protested. "It's probably just lost. Maybe we could make some kind of giant, rudimentary sleep device? Oh, when did Alice get here?"

Jo face palmed again. Ow. She rubbed at the spot on her head she already regretted smacking. "Twilight, I promise you, it was probably Halloween decorations or something, okay? Not real."

Twilight's frown deepened, and she looked back out the window before speaking. “I know what I saw. It was down the street, just two houses from here. It could have hurt, or maybe worse, devoured the poor people that live there already! It was so horrible, Jo. I should have figured there would actually be monsters if inter-dimensional travel is possible, like I've proven. Goodness, maybe they like it here? Earth is like one enormous Everfree Forest after all.”

Jo continued to massage her aching head, stare fixated on the other girl's back. "Twilight, it took a genius, crazy unicorn to get to Earth the first time. A mindless monster-thing isn't going to do the same unless they're at least as smart, which I doubt. Alright?" The thought admittedly worried her. If it was possible to come and go elsewhere, maybe other things that went bump in the night had shown up over time. She didn't feel like pointing out what she had said was a baseless reassurance.

Twilight heaved a sigh, and despondently turned to look up in time to see Jo walking away and out of the living room. “Twilight,” she said, “I am going to get dressed, then we'll go outside and I'll prove to you there is nothing out there. We can talk about this after I finish my shower, but for now, there is one thing that you, as a good friend can do for me.”

Caught unexpectedly by the somewhat familiar phrase, Twilight blinked owlishly after her. “Yes?”

Jo turned around at the doorway and jabbed a finger at the coffee machine on the kitchen table, that was still wedged up against the front door. "Make me some more coffee."

Jo's face lit up the second she got out of the shower room for the second time, the rest of her morning rituals completed. "Oh my God, thank you so much." She gingerly took the offered coffee mug from Twilight's hands and cupped it softly in her own, taking careful sips of the piping hot liquid. "Mmm."

"Can we deal with the monster now?" Twilight frowned at her.

Alice, however, added in her two bits from the book table in the dining room, temporarily cleared of Twilight's mess of literature. "Not before you guys eat this!"

Jo sighed and gulped down the coffee. "Alice, I'm almost afraid to ask, but don't tell me you believe her?"

"Not really," Alice admitted honestly while twirling some of her hair and eying her own plate of pancakes. "I mean, I would like to. I love this fantasy thing, you have no idea." From there, she almost devolved into a fit of mad laughter, but regained some composure. "It probably was the neighbors though, Twilight."

While Jo shrugged and began to make her way upstairs to get dressed, Twilight threw up her hands and arms in defeat, then sat down next to Alice with a thump.

"Fine, but I still want to look, there should be tracks from something that big, and if there is a gruesome scene of butchery the likes that Earth or Tartarus has never seen before, then I promise you now I'll have enough 'I told you so's' for a lifetime!" Twilight practically fumed out of her ears by the time she finished, and a river of syrup was pouring over her own food from angry, overuse.

"How long do ponies actually live?" Alice rested her head on the fist grasping her fork and gave the intellectual an interested look.

"Ah- What?" Twilight blinked in complete surprise, staring back blankly.

Alice's eyes flickered down, away from Twilight's face, a smarmy look replacing her interested expression. "You're spilling syrup all over your food and the table, and yourself..."

Twilight looked back down at the table, and jumped. "Wha- WAH!" The syrup was pouring off the edge and into her lap where she'd moved the bottle from over the plate. She quickly set the bottle down and stood up, the chair screeching out behind herself. "Oh no...! Does syrup stain?"

Alice got up to get something to wipe the table while answering calmly. "I don't think so. Not bad, anyway. More importantly are you alright, Twilight? The freak out this morning aside, you don't look so good. Just haven't showered yet, I'm guessing?" Before finishing her sentence, she placed a full fork of pancakes in her mouth. "m' r'ght?"

Twilight held the lavender tank top up and frowned down at her shorts, now doused in the sticky substance. "What? Oh, well, not exactly. I also didn't sleep much, or at all really. I did nod off but I don't know when... I should have listened to you girls just now, you're probably right about me imagining it last night." She heaved a sigh and sat back down, rather than leave to change. I'll just eat quickly, then take care of that...

Alice raised an eyebrow, sitting too. "Well, maybe, but don't write it off just yet. For the record, I totally believe you more than Ms. Skeptic if you're sure about your monster. Maybe it didn't charge in here after you or maybe it was more scared of you than you were of it, like a snake, or a Corgi."

Twilight shuddered on impulse at the mention of snakes, then stopped to try and figure out what a Corgi was in the next. Just before she asked, Jo walked back in, fully dressed now, and in a pair of ratty cargo pants with a baggy t-shirt.

Alice and Twilight looked over, while Twilight answered the other girl. "Uhm, I guess that's an apt analogy... If I knew what a Corgi was." Before Alice could answer that, Twilight greeted Jo, again. "Morning Jo, I'm really sorry about-"

"It's fine," Jo said loudly while drying her hair with a towel. "Though I have to wonder now if it's even considered impolite in Equestria to walk in on someone showering." She gave the other girl a flat look, and Alice too while she was at it, then sat to begin eating her own food.

Alice snickered, but didn't comment on the hilarious encounter that had happened.

Twilight felt taken aback by the statement. "Well of course! If your lives are in danger though that's hardly more important than an aversion to nudity. Don't you think?" She frowned, then looked at the table. "I've heard of what a real monster can do to somepony. It's kind of..." A welcomed, consoling hand from Alice was laid on her back, and she exhaled, dispelling the memory.

"Sorry, Twilight, I should have thought about that." Jo set her fork down and folded her hands up, looking ashamedly across the table.

"It's alright! You're probably right anyway, and you couldn't have known about that stuff." Twilight let out a half-hearted laugh, and smiled thanks at Alice for her gesture. "Anyway, you can't undo that sort of thing, only take precautions and not wander around where it's dangerous... I would still like to look, though, if that's alright."

Jo warily looked behind herself at the front door. "I imagine we would have heard something by now. This is a pretty busy town, but sure, Twilight."

"Yay! Best Friiiends, forever!" sang Alice, right before she stuck a piece of bacon in her mouth.

Twilight observed the act, and noticed her plate lacked any of the stuff. "Oh, hey what is that? It smells good. Why didn't I get any?" She smirked and looked at Alice. "Did you steal mine? I've read allegations that humans are greedy, but I thought I was a guest," she joked.

Jo was about to try and nicely word a sentence about her freeloading as a joke of her own, but instead her eyes snapped wide and looked in horror at what was laden on both her own plate and Alice's. "Alice," she hissed, getting the other girl's attention. "Where did you get this? Did you forget?"

The blonde's own eyes widened, but in confusion. "What? Oh, nah I brought it, it's hickory smoked. Mmm." Oblivious, she popped another piece in her mouth.

"Alice! You can't make bacon here- Are you kidding me?" Jo was already thinking of whether it was too late to throw hers out, or if she should just eat it now and hope it didn't come up again. Their Equestrian guest still hadn't come to terms with humans and their killing ways, much less so after finding out just how it all really was gathered while online.

Alice looked up, her face rife with confusion.

"Bacon? It smells so good, can I have some?" Meanwhile, not included in the current conversation and all, Twilight reached a hand out to Alice's plate.

Alice smiled perkily. "Yeah, su- Oh." Her brain finally clicked.

Jo and Alice simultaneously dove at Twilight's hand as it reached for Alice's plate.

Jo closed her car door and strapped in, exhaling a tired breath. She looked behind herself at Twilight, who was sitting in the backseat of Alice's car, absently holding her hair in one, now syrup-free hand. The other girl was also already staring blankly out of the window. "Are you alright, Twilight?"

"Huh?" Twilight faced forward, as if in a daze and met her friend's stare. "Oh, yes, just concerned about that monster, though. Thinking back, that thing was really quiet. Maybe it wasn't real?" She trailed off, again looking out the window at the sidewalk. "Maybe I'm just looking for... things where there aren't any."

Jo looked over at Alice, who shrugged and started the car, then back at Twilight. She kept her tone consoling in response to Twilight's behavior. "Hm, no, I meant the other thing. You aren't mad at me or Alice, are you?"

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh and sat up straighter from her slouched inspection of the side yard. "Oh please, Jo. I would never get angry at my friends, not on purpose anyway. I really care about you guys, certainly enough to not mind that you... you," she paused and gulped, as if a bubble of bile had threatened to rise up and say hello. "You both eat that stuff... Like you said, maybe it's more normal than I think back home." She nervously twiddled her fingers and smiled just as nervously. "A-After all, I don't know everything about home, like you said, and it did make sense after you explained it that gryphons would eat meat, and Gilda wasn't such a bad-"

Jo held up a hand and spun more to face Twilight. "Alright Twilight, I understand. It's okay, I'm really sorry. Alice is too, for bringing up that thing she brought up." She didn't dare repeat what her friend, whom she now considered a full blown idiot, had said to Twilight.

Alice let out an annoyed sound and pulled the car out of the driveway smoothly. "Look, I'm sorry I care so much for Twilight's health, but a little meat would really improve her diet." She made a strained noise, not wanting to sound pushy. "I'm really sorry about that, too, Twilight. I just don't understand vegetarians I guess." Her voice ashamedly lowered itself to almost a whisper, but both of the other women still heard it.

"Alice-" Jo began warningly.

Twilight coughed, and met Jo's eyes after her friend turned their attention back to her. "It's fine, Jo. It's important I adjust, after all. We're all going to a party that will, no doubt, have all kinds of hotdogs and hamburgers at it, right? I'm never going to eat them, but I don't mind being around them. Really." She put on her best fake grin of enthusiasm that she could.

Jo smirked back, albeit sadly. "Yeah, there might be... sorry. I hadn't even thought about that last night, Twilight."

The other girl waved a hand, then replaced it in her lap, taking a deep breath as she did. "It's gonna be great, I'm sure! You girls don't need to apologize at all. Alice was looking out for me, and you had my best interests in mind, we can all put it behind us now. Anyway, let's keep an eye out for that monster." With a little enthusiasm mixed with wariness, she sat up and pressed her face against the car window. "I saw it right... there!"

Alice and Jo both looked where Twilight indicated with her voice. What they saw was very, very interesting.

"Oh, wow," Alice said in amazement, gaping.

"I don't believe it." Jo wiped a hand down her face, obscuring her vision entirely.

Twilight lept out of the stopped car and stared openly at the grotesque sight before her, very disbelieving herself. "W-What is this?" In the back of her head she picked up the sound of Jo opening her own door.

"It looks like the Potter's place is going all out this year... crazy." Jo got a good look at the plethora of decorations strewn across the front lawn of the home. "Was this your big scary monster then?" She strode past Twilight, stealing a glance at her friend's shocked expression, and up towards a massive, wire frame dummy tied to the side of one tree. Its eyes lit up a bright, fierce red, as Jo stepped onto the sidewalk. "Yeah, that looks like a bugbear alright."

Alice put a consoling hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"I just- I just don't get it." Twilight walked up to the thing and poked it in the chest. "A bugbear?"

Jo guffawed and strode up beside the other girl once again. "It's a nerd thing, basically there's a board game humans play that simulates fantasy. We don't have the real thing, so we pretend a whole lot, but you knew that. I guess their family is big into it or something to put this much effort into such... over the top decorations.

"Well, anything's over the top compared to yours, Jo." Alice joined the other two in staring up at the seven foot furry statue.

"I don't have any decorations." Jo answered, not looking back, and already knew what Alice was going to say before she said it. Hurr, that's because you don't have any, yeah, that's what she's going to say. Annoyed already, Jo turned to get back in the car.

Alice responded thusly, leaning close to their third party member. "You're a wizard Twilight."

Jo stopped in her tracks long enough to glare back at Alice, and get a goofy grin in return, then got back in the car.

"A what?" Twilight looked at Alice in surprise. "Oh, like Starswirl! Please, Alice," Twilight blushed. "I'm nothing like Starswirl."

"Oh come on, Twilight. I'm sure you'll get a section in the Canterlot library, too." Alice rolled her eyes at Twi's humbleness, then gleefully clapped her hands together from the idea she'd had. "Oh, we are so having another movie night soon. Those marathons last week were just not enough! Uggh, there's so much more stuff you should watch that's great, and-"

Twilight felt her vision go a little hazy at the mention of such an honorable spot in the library. A moment after, and she felt guilty about doing it, but she tuned Alice out a little bit. I don't really mean to do it on purpose, but this is important. She turned and looked at the sidewalk, trying to guess where she had been the night before, then back at the decoration again. It seemed as if she were missing something. After that, she strolled over and tried to find a good spot.

Once there was a break in speech from the girl that continually seemed to be vying for Pinkie Pie's place in the world, Twilight spoke up. "So, it's fake?" Twilight scrutinized the human-made creation in front of her one last time, then sighed and faced Alice. "I-"

Jo called out from behind her. "Guys, Twilight, come on. We confirmed it's just something super nerdy, can we go?"

Her expression drawing thin, Twilight turned around. "One second, Jo." She stole a glance back at the decoration, still glaring menacingly down at her.

Alice strode past her towards the car. "Yep, fake as can be, Twilight. Let's go! I want to show you the costumes so bad, you're going to love them. I worked so hard on the one for you, you'll think it's the best thing ever."

Twilight continued to stare at the thing, studying its features carefully. It was definitely really scary. She looked around the lawn, and made a pained face. The 'Halloween' decorations, as they were called, were far more gruesome than anything she had ever seen used for Nightmare Night. It was true, she supposed, that the holiday was designed to scare ponies, because over the years being scared became a great way to have fun. Humans too had seemingly figured out that being scared could be fun, though they seemed to push the envelope a fair bit further...

Trying hard to get the image of the bleeding, fake corpses out of her mind, Twilight turned around and joined her friends in Alice's car. She stole a final glance at the decoration, particularly around its base, frowned once more, then hopped in. Guh, humans, she thought, opening and closing her door. The car rumbled forth almost immediately, and she watched the house with the strange mannequin disappear from sight as they drove to Alice's to start their day. Now don't think that Twilight, after all, you're going out to try and have...fun with a bunch of them tonight. You need to be polite, and treat them just as you would any other Equestrian... I'm not at all nervous about it, we'll dance, play games and maybe make some new friends.

The car was silent for a time as the three girls undertook their voyage towards Alice's home. Their plan, to decide on costumes, of which the bubbly blonde professed to have many, and then go to the mall to spend the afternoon until it was time to party, something one of the three was incredibly apprehensive about.

Alice glanced over at Jo, then at Twilight in the rear view mirror. "So, was that bacon good, Twilight?" she asked out of the blue.

"The United States of 'Merica to Twi'-Light. Come in Twi'-Light." A distant voice reached Twilight's ears vaguely, and she drowsily pulled her head up. "Twilight!"

Twilight jumped at the louder mention of her name, used alongside a strange accent that vaguely sounded like Applejack's southern Equestrian slur. "Huh!? Oh, I'm sorry, Alice. I must have dazed off."

Alice giggled in response. "We noticed, and dozed off is more like it, we're here."

Blinking away the tiredness in her eyes, Twilight looked out to see the tall apartment building Alice lived it. "Terrific! Sorry about that girls, I just... well, you know."

Jo helped Twilight out of the car and grinned up at her. "To be fair, Twilight, I would have stayed up all night if I thought something was trying to kill me too."

"Ah haha, yeah." Twilight rubbed a hand behind her head and followed the other two leading the way up into the building. Sighing, and stifling a yawn at the same time, she followed after them inside. An idle thought swam by as she made her way up the three flights of stairs leading up to Alice's home. I really hope Alice cleaned up this time...

Twilight stared flatly around herself at the apartment. Well, it is... cleaner, sort of. The general area was clear enough to walk through, but the amount of clutter did seem to over encompass the greater part of the table and space near the walls. If I had my magic I could organize all of this in minutes. Not for the first, and probably not the last time, Twilight tried to feel for her horn naturally. The absence of magic bending to will stuck out in her mind as a constant reminder of her situation.

"Here it is, here it is, here it is!" Alice deftly hopped over every little obstacle.

Twilight looked up, and her eyes immediately lit up in recognition. "Is that...?"

Alice nodded vigorously, grinning all the while. "Yuuup! It sure is, Twilight, though admittedly I was hoping I could convince you to go as yourself. So, did I get the bells right?" Held up in the other girl's hands was a very convincing robe, covered in silver moons and golden stars, as well as bells at the hems.

Twilight's eyes shown with pure glee as she took up the cloth in her own hands. It was a great deal different and more... human, than any of her old costumes had been, all two of them, not to mention sized for a human, but it was a beautiful sight all the same. It's hard to believe I'm spending Nightmare Night away from Equestria.

"What do you mean by going as 'myself'?" Twilight followed Alice's excited expression, which lead over to a pair of lavender wings, a false unicorn horn, and a gorgeous, full-length dress to match them both. "Oooh," she ohhed in understanding. "Now that would be fun." Grinning, and carefully stepping over a few pairs of shoes, she walked up to the outfit hanging inconspicuously from a window's blinds. "Wow, Rarity would be impressed."

Alice blushed at the compliment. "Now, depending on what we choose, I have Gandalf the Grey and Starswirl the Bearded as choices, or, you can choose to go as yourself, and match Jo! Teehee!" Filled with an overabundance of energy and excitement, Alice actually hopped up and down saying "teehee".

Twilight turned from fingering the peculiar wings and the dress, comparing it out of habit right away to the outfits Rarity made every year for Ponyvillians around Nightmare Night. "Match Jo? Why, what's Jo going as?" Glancing over at the aforementioned girl; Jo looked as surprised as she herself felt.

"Yeah, what am I going as, Alice?" Jo asked smartly, leaning against one wall with arms crossed. "I don't remember ever saying I was going as anything, in fact I'm pretty sure I'm not." Her glower sank more as she spoke, as if the topic at hoof was an incredibly dire one. "I'm just going to go, have... fun, and..."

"Drink?" Alice offered, slowly, leaving her mouth slightly open for effect. "Come on Jo, if you're going out for the first time in forever, and for Halloween, you should do it in style and go all out. Who knows, it's a big party, you might get luuck-keeeey."

"Shuddup," Jo brandished a fist and held it up as a warning. "Honestly I don't like the idea of drinking anything in public. Never have. I guess I'll just have to buckle down and-" She held a hand up to her face, gasping in a blatantly sarcastic manner. "-Socialize."

Alice laughed out loud in an equally exaggerated manner. "I'll believe that when I see it, Joey," then ducked into the nearby closet and began rummaging.

Twilight's flat looked stretched across her face. I swear, these girls are crazy. I can never tell if they're having fun, fighting, or are just joking with one another. It's even more confusing because of how full of different cultures and personalities human stories are. I have no frame of reference! With ponies, Twilight at least knew how things worked. Humans were different entirely depending on where they were from, what they did, and more.

Twilight looked at the costume again, then a nearby room to change in. I suppose I'll try it on and let them sort things out. She couldn't help but give both girl's looks like they were crazy as she did so.

"Now come on," Alice called back out into the room, and reappeared with a light blue, slightly shiny outfit. "Don't say you won't wear it until you at least try it on-"

Without even waiting to look at the next costume Alice held for more than a second, Jo gave her answer. "No. Not in a million years, no."

Alice pouted, barely keeping the smile off her face as she did so. "Jo! This is so perfect, you can't tell me it isn't perfect! If Twilight goes as herself, you have to go as this. Besides, I sized it for you!"

Jo turned around, refusing to dignify the other woman with even as little as a simple acknowledgement. "I can't believe you thought I'd ever wear that." She pictured the beautiful dress that Twilight was just given by Alice, and the other blue one being offered to her. "Look, I don't want a costume. You two dress as frumpy wizards and I'll just be the chauffeur."

"Jo," Alice stepped around and stood in front of Jo, deadpanning and being completely serious. "You should dress up, it will be fun, don't be a buzz kill! This is hilarious and you won't regret it."

Jo frowned and looked blankly at the ground. "Neh, maybe I'll just go as Han Solo this year."

Alice's eyes bugged at the very suggestion of such a cop-out. "Holy pie, Jo, I remember that. You were Han like eight years ago!"

"Yeah," the other girl replied airily. "I also haven't even done anything for Halloween in eight years. It's just another day like any other, except people use it as an excuse to be weirder than normal." After glancing at Alice for a moment, she added, "People that haven't already topped the charts anyway."

Alice set her friend with a deep glare. "Hey, I resemble that remark." A light smile quickly replaced the expression and she chuckled. "Lighten up, man. We're supposed to be having a ton of fun tonight! You can't possibly expect to accomplish that by handing out scathing remarks to strangers and people you haven't seen in years."

"Don't call me 'man', Alice." Jo answered back.

Alice grinned. "Stop acting like one then. You should use the Trixie costume, it'll be hot. You'll have fun." To punctuate her suggestion, she held up the dress and flourished the hem of the dress. The length suggested it would be knee length on Jo, and the entirety of it was surprisingly elaborate for a Halloween costume. Still, there would be no mistaking it by the cape and wizard hat to anyone who would recognize the ensemble; it was a Trixie costume.

"Come on," Jo grimaced at the thing and cringed away from it somewhat. "I don't like doing this stuff, and I'll look stupid in a dress, not to mention that lousy wig. I won't have any fun at all and then you'll feel bad."

Alice folded her arms again. "If you're the only person there without a costume, then you won't have any fun, Jo. Come on, grow up and act like a kid already!" She hung the outfit back up beside the other two remaining. "Now, if you don't like these ones I picked out because of Twilight, I have plenty of others to pick from in the closet-"

"Why do you even have so many costumes?" Jo interrupted, stealing another glance at the two wizard robes, she sighed and began thinking of other possibilities just to please her friend.

Alice nonchalantly looked up at the ceiling. "Hey! I have like, a dozen, maybe. Besides, it's fun, I've liked cos-play for a while, whether it's Star Wars or whatever." She ran a hand down the Starswirl robe. "I made them with some other friends, except for Gandalf, just for tonight." Grinning, she looked back at Jo. "When we're at the party you can thank them! Come on, Jo, it's one night, trust me. You really don't think Twilight will get a kick out of this?"

Jo frowned a little and looked at the pale blue outfit again, a single unicorn horn hanging from its chest. "I think she'd be more liable to kick me, considering who I'm dressing up as." She unfavorably fanned out the hem of the Trixie costume where it hung on the wall. It did seem to be her size, though it was hard to tell.

Alice giggled, and opened her mouth to reply, but instead the bathroom door opening and their other friend's voice got their attention.

Twilight strode in, holding up the long length of dress that almost reached the floor. It was a full out gown nearly, where Jo's had a much shorter length. On the sides were patterned her cutie mark, which she stared down at it with a happy gleam in her eyes. "How do I look? What do you girls think?" she asked, smiling.

Jo leaned over to Alice and whispered, "I think we gotta keep a close eye on our friend tonight."

Twilight looked up, "This is pretty amazing, Alice, thank you."

Alice spotted an absence of the costume, namely, the horn. "It was no problem Twi', I'm just really really happy you like it. Honestly, I should have thought about..." She trailed off a bit, then perked up. "I should have thought about a better matching shade of violet at the shoulders," she averted. "I think it's too dark."

Twilight looked down. "Seems alright to me." She felt the curiously smooth material, it was quite a strange texture. "So, I could hear you two arguing through the door." Spotting the somewhat familiar light blue of the costume Jo held, she continued. "Was it over the outfit that's supposed to match me? What costume is it?" Grinning she stepped carefully towards the clothes. "Oh my, is this-?" She gave the immediately recognized symbol on the flank of the dress a suspicious look.

Unable to resist, Alice bounded forward and grappled Twilight in a hug. "Yup! It is, isn't it funny? Jo should try it on right now."

Jo sighed, and readied herself for Twilight's disapproval on the costume. She began walking towards the exit, intent on stepping outside and waiting.

"Yeah, Jo try it on, I bet it will look amazing on you," Twilight's cheerful voice said, following after Jo.

Closing her eyes slowly, Jo took in a deep breath and turned around. I should have kept walking. Judging by the two exuberant looks worn on the girls in front of her, it didn't seem like she was getting out of it now. "Just gimme the thing." Snatching it up angstily, Jo strode into the bathroom and shut the door, not quite a slam, but not quite a gentle closing either.

Her two friends' cheering and encouraging remarks followed her.

"I feel like an idiot." Jo grimaced at herself in the mirror.

Alice rolled her eyes. "You look great! So does Twilight." Alice laughed, readying up her camera, much to Jo's chagrin. "So, group pictures?"

"Oh, please no." Jo frowned in despair at the sight of the device. "I don't want evidence of this ever happening."

At the same time, Twilight had spoken over Jo, full of excitement. She was already posing, immediately recognizing the miniature human 'camera'. "Oh, yes! I still can't believe how tiny human cameras are, and they don't need a unicorn flash or powder either!" She let out an excited giggle and wrapped an arm around an unwilling Jo.

In the end, Jo complied, unable to resist the infectious happiness from Twilight. Alice stuck out a victorious tongue at Jo, who got even by scowling in half of the pictures.

At the end of the shoot, Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "I almost forgot to ask, Alice, but why Trixie? Why not Rarity? Rarity's a unicorn too, and my friend. Trixie was... well..."

Alice looked over her camera, shocked. "Are you kidding? Trixie is your match, your rival! She's the yin to your yang, the shadow to your light! You two are like two sides of the same coin, the-"

"Alright, Alice, we get it." Jo sighed and brushed an annoying length of pale blue hair out of her face, trying to use her hideous wizard hat to hold it back.

Alice giggled. "Simply put, I guess, Jo kinda seems like Trixie sometimes, what with being a grump. It's perfect!"

Jo sighed, and walked away in order to get her normal clothes back on, allowing Alice her fun and completely wrong comparisons.

Twilight, still in her train of thought, pulled one of the wings on her back around with a hand to her front, where she could see it clearly. "For that matter, why the wings? You girls know that I-" She was interrupted by an over eager and excited Alice.

"So! We've got a few hours to kill. Shall we go and have some fun, girls?" Alice clicked the camera off, set it down, and struck an adventurous pose by the door.

Jo blew on the length of the hair invading her eye sockets again, then pulled off the hat and wig. "Sure, let me just change again so I can minimize my embarrassment..."

Jo stared intently out of the car window at the passing buildings. Her wandering thoughts hung around the party, and just what she would do with herself. I wonder if they'll have Mario Party or something there so I can keep myself entertained.

From the backseat, the sound of Twilight snoring lightly filled the car. Every so often the blonde driving would giggle, presumably from that. The refugee they were trying to show a good time was obviously tired from her nighttime vigil, but had said she didn't want to call off their plans. So, slept in the car she did.

The car ride was mostly quiet, though Alice had tried to speak to Jo about this or that, mostly joking remarks about taking Twilight home if Jo met someone. Jo wasn't sure how to take it. On one hand, Alice was a known goof and shameless, on the other, she seemed really earnest and well meaning in tone.

In the end, Jo mostly gave her one word responses, to not be entirely rude. She had no intent of gratifying her with any well meaning response. Beating Alice to it as they parked, Jo turned around and poked Twilight's hoodied shoulder. "Hey, we're here-" after a second, she added, "You can stay in the car and sleep though, if you'd like." Much to her surprise, the once-unicorn's eyes popped right open.

Twilight blinked twice and rolled her head over to look at Jo. "Hm? Oh no, I couldn't do that. Let's go on in and have some fun, girls! I'd actually like to see that arcade thing again... I got curious recently after talking about something on that forum." Quickly, she hopped out of the car, taking quick steps around the front and coming up alongside Alice.

Jo got out of the car more slowly, stuffing her hands in her pockets, then followed after Twilight.

Alice smiled at Twilight, then blew out her cheeks as the three walked towards the local mall. The idea of going to the arcade didn't sit well with her. "If you really want to, Twi'. Just to let you know, though, arcades are gross."

Jo looked around herself at the public surroundings absently and interjected. "Arcades are awesome. They're a pillar of society and gaming history."

Alice looked over from spiritedly walking ahead and said, "Meh," with a smile.

Twilight put a finger to her cheek and hummed up at the tall ceiling in the human building. "Well, we could stop at that bookstore like last time. Barnes and Noble? I wouldn't mind saying hello to the nice people there and doing a little browsing..."

Jo and Alice gave each other a 'look', that sort of said they knew how long they might be there if they did that, which was likely until later that night like every other time they took Twilight to a place with books.

"How about we go and look at some clothes, instead?" Alice offered, smiling at both girls.

"Okay!" Twilight returned simply, none the wiser.

Jo put on her favored expression of choice, a frown, but shrugged. "Sure, after that we can find a place to eat."

Twilight didn't mind the sound of lunch at all, despite the surprise she had gotten that morning. "Sounds like a plan to me, girls." She flashed a happy smile to Jo, trying to drum up some enthusiasm from her. It at least succeeded in softening her features, it seemed. "Will you be trying anything on by the way, Jo?"

Surprising herself, Jo said, "I might." After a moment, she added, "I'm not big on clothes though, Twilight. I will probably just be looking."

Twilight laughed as if her friend had made a joke, then explained. "Well, you'd feel right at home in Equestria, Jo. In the countryside, at least."

The other human smirked back at her in return. "I said I'm not big on clothes, not that I wouldn't or don't wear them. You pick out anything you would like, though."

Twilight frowned at that. "I looked into procuring money to pay you back for all your generosity. I didn't realize how important it was at first when I got here. And I mean that, you simply can't live a healthy or happy life on Earth without a decent amount of currency. It's nothing like Equestria!" She folded her arms, thinking hard. "I couldn't come up with much, but, I did have an idea last night! I was almost upset with myself that I didn't think of it sooner really."

"Twilight you don't need to do that, really." Jo gave the other girl a convincing grin, mostly, because she meant it, too. "I'm not hurting for it or anything," she lied. "Heck, if nothing else I'll just trade in that stupid car my uncle left me. Or take on another job. I think I could manage that, I've been lazy lately, anyway..."

Twilight let Jo finish, but spoke up again, and with fervor in her voice. "Well, be that as it may, I'm getting the hang of computers and I started studying some of the basics for what you do at home. I was wondering, couldn't I just help you and we could finish things twice as fast?"

Jo blinked at thought, and almost tripped over her baggy pants. "W- Yeah, I guess," she replied, then spoke against the idea. "But come on Twilight, you don't have to do that. Aren't you trying to figure out a way home? I can't help you back with that, just focus on Equestria." She flexed her hands from where they were inside her pockets, starting to sweat slightly.

Twilight exhaled a breath. "Well, I want to do both, and I can. We'll talk about it later though, Jo. For now, I do need to buy a purple skirt."

"Twilight, I- a purple skirt?" Jo was caught of guard by the change in topic. "Why do you need a purple skirt?"

Alice skipped every few steps, slightly ahead of the other two women. "That was my suggestion! Twilight didn't even know we had skirts, and they're a great deal simpler and more comfortable, aren't they Twilight?"

The girl in question nodded happily. "They sure are! Plus, purple matches my hair." Twilight grinned at Jo, fanning the hair for effect.

Jo, for her part, gave Alice a calculative glance over the whole affair, but didn't say anything. Twilight was well and truly girly, for all her nerdiness, just like Alice. But she had never felt the need to be. Whatever, they're just skirts.

From in front of them, Alice added in, "You should pick out a few of them, Twilight, my treat! No buts, either."

Thus began another argument over favors and being too generous, with many citations of Rarity and ponies as examples, until they all came up in front of a store. Together, they walked inside, still bickering, until the racks of clothing successfully distracted Alice to the point of only partly still participating. Still, she had won it seemed, much to Twilight's guilt. Alice had sworn she would buy even more if Twilight didn't accept them from her, and neither the Equestrian nor Jo doubted that she meant it.

"Oooh," Alice slapped a hand on Twilight's shoulder and kept her from entering the dressing room with one of her chosen outfits. "Wait, I got it! Instead of going as yourself we can use my old dragon costume. We'll spray paint it purple and give you an eye-patch!"

Jo sighed and would have let her head fall into hands, years ago perhaps, but over the last few weeks she'd mostly re-adjusted to Alice and felt unphased.

"Why?" Twilight asked. She looked down at the clothes, then back up at the more and more excited blonde girl.

Jo answered airily, and to no one in particular, "An eye-patch might mean a pirate joke, and something to do with Spike... Is this some big set up for an alliteration gag? Because that's lame, even for you, Alice."

Alice blew her friend a raspberry from across the hall. "No, not that. But, if we did what I said, then Twilight would be a one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple, people-eater!" She grinned at both of them ecstatically from the cleverness of her mind.

Twilight met Alice's enthused expression with a confused one of her own, and confessed, "I don't get it." After a second, she frowned and added, "That sounds a little 'dark' as you two put it, for me at least. I'll stick with something that doesn't eat other somethings. Which, by the way, dragons don't do. At least, I don't think they do..."

"My thoughts exactly. Well, less the 'dark' aspect and more the one where that's just a stupid idea." Jo deadpanned at her now disappointed looking blonde buddy. "Any other bright ideas, smart guy?"

Alice didn't waste a second in shooting back her retort. "Psch, you only wish I was a guy. Too bad they don't put up with you the way I do, huh?" She folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at Jo again, but angrily and glaring over it.

Jo returned her own, nonchalant gaze over a detached frown. "Yuh-huh, no, I need a guy like I need another weirdo friend like you, which I definitely, do no-"

"Girls!" Twilight hopped in front of both of them and put her hands up to either's chest, keeping them from getting any closer to one another. "Stop it! You're friends. Friends don't fight like this! You've practically been doing this all day." She gave them each a thoughtful look, then added, "Honestly, nopony fights like this. You should both apologize to one another and come to an understanding, now!" Her strained look shifted between both of them, who stared back at her. "Well?"

"Before we do that, can you take your hand off my chest? This is pretty awkward." Jo grimaced, and struggled to back up against the clothing store wall behind her.

Alice laughed. "I dunno, I don't mind." Much to both Jo's, and Twilight's dismay, she winked.

Twilight's arms recoiled against herself while the rest of her backed up. "I- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" She shut her eyes, sighing, and tried to disappear from sight. "Never mind."

"Like I said, awkward." Jo grimaced deeper and began walking away. "I'll be waiting outside."

Twilight looked after Jo. "H-hey! You guys didn't apologize yet!"

Jo sighed, too, and flopped her arms against her side. "Twilight, I'm not eight, okay? We're adults and we were just messing with each other."

"Nooo, come on Joey, apowogize to Awice." Alice mocked, and couldn't suppress a giggle by the end of it.

Jo took another couple steps back and pointed a finger at the blonde mischief maker in their midst. "You really want me to apologize to that? Besides, she started it." Turning to Alice, she added, "Now, if she acted her age, maybe I could take her seriously enough to give her an apology anyway."

"D'aw, dat huwts mah feewings," Alice pouted.

Twilight reached up and combed her hands deep into her hair, disheveling and pulling it at the same time. "Am I going crazy here!?"

Both of the other women jumped and looked at her, then each other, then back.

"Seriously, you two are fully grown, adult mares! Women! Whatever! Aarg-" Twilight turned around where she was in the hall and nearly barreled over another shopper. "Oh geez sorry- Where was I?" The indignant woman was subjected to having to walk around Twilight, and then the other two women who were quietly whispering further insults at one another. All the while, Alice continued to use her cutesy-like voice.

Twilight regained her bearings, steadying herself against a dressing room door from almost falling. "Would. You. Pay attention to me!" Her voice was suddenly angry. For the first time since she'd been around either of them, too.

Both of the other girls looked back in stark shock.

"I'm sorry Alice, you're not a dude." Jo said, wide eyed and dead serious.

"Yeah, me too Jo, and for the record you're plenty pretty. I've seen like eight guys checking out your butt since we got here."

Twilight gave them both a slightly hysterical smile, finally coming down from the escalation of emotion that had overtaken her. "There, now was that so hard, girls?" She held a hand up to herself, then exhaled and let out a huge breath, drawing the hand out in front of herself slowly. "Okay, now I'm going to go inside here and-"

"Wait, guys were checking me out, and you didn't warn me?" Jo scowled at Alice.

"Oh yeah, yeah. They were getting an eye full. You should totally work with what you got while you've got it, Jo." Alice nodded sagely to herself.

Jo growled back. "Look, if they do that again, and you don't tell me, and I find out? I'll-"

Meanwhile, Twilight watched and listened, then sighed. "Oh well. Good enough." She wore an exasperated look and stepped into the dressing room.

The three of them munched happily on respective meals. Jo ate a fruit cup, Twilight had procured a salad with lots of little tomatoes, and Alice had simply gotten fast food. Namely, a burger; from Wendy's. Not, of course, without Twilight insisting that she did. The perceptive unicorn had picked up on the girl's longing, though the whimpering Alice had made while staring at the place in the food court ensured it would be hard to miss.

Jo looked up from her watch and placed another piece of cantaloupe in her mouth.

"So, what time have we got, oh fearless leader?" Alice asked, watching from over her greasier, unhealthier food. She smiled, content from her meal's tastiness and ready for the night to come.

Jo looked up placidly. "A little bit before two, but we could do some more stuff." She looked over at Twilight with a hinting smile. "If you promise to leave when it's actually time to go we could drive over to the bookstore again."

Alice perked up where she was sitting, and spoke first. "Nails."

Twilight blinked and closed her mouth from trying to answer Jo, then looked over at the yellow haired human.

"Nails?" Jo and Twilight asked as one. "As in, the hardware store?" Jo continued, giving her friend an incredulous look.

Alice frowned at Jo's obvious poor excuse for a joke, then held up Twilight's hand. "No, silly, nails, as in finger nails? We should get ours do-" Before she could finish the word 'done', Jo answered.

"Oh, sure." Jo shrugged and plucked a grape out of her food.

"Darnit Jo, you refuse to ever agree with anything I say, act normally, or ever be encouraging in the least- Wait, 'sure'?" Alice's eyes nearly crossed in confusion.

Jo looked up from her fruit salad, blinking. "Yeah, 'sure'. What's wrong?"

Alice's eyes widened to their fullest, a mild fury building from the conundrum that was apparently, Jo. "You argue about almost everything though. You wouldn't even consider wearing Trixie's outfit just because it was a dress! You're like, anti-girly."

"Well, yeah. That was a dress, that's different." Jo offered calmly, hiding her smirk rather well.

Twilight looked back and forth between the two girls as they devolved back into their usual arguing. Although, it did admittedly seem more reserved. I probably shouldn't interfere with their friendship, as weird as it is. She looked up at the ceiling with a confused scrunch to her face, then got down to business in the conversation. "Girls, come on, take it easy. Jo, stop pranking Alice."

Alice looked over at Twilight, a blank, doe eyed expression clear on her face. "Pranking?" she asked.

Jo's own expression split into a grin. "Aw, Twilight, how'd you know?"

Twilight thinned her mouth into a mild frown, hiding her amusement. "I've seen Rainbow and Pinkie prank ponies around Ponyville, and each other, enough to know a friend tricking another when I see it."

Alice furrowed her brow deep, pointed at Jo, then laughed. "Well, won't tonight be fun?" She smiled at her two friends as big as she could, but it faltered.

"Something wrong, Alice?" Twilight easily caught the odd look on the other girl's face.

Alice coughed, "Oh uh, nothing. Anyway, are you two finished? Jo, I'm going to assume you don't mind waiting while I treat Twilight to this, hm? You can go sit in your smelly arcade while I culture our friend here."

Jo harrumphed, but took the last bite of her fruit cup without incident, before getting up to pitch it. "Fine, I will!"

Twilight awed. "I want to do that, too." She turned to Alice. "Will this take long? I'm still kind of fuzzy on what exactly it is we're doing." A little doubtfully, she looked down at her own, oddly shaped human hands, and the 'nails' tipping each finger.

"It's like a spa! A little bit. They have spa stuff, anyway." Alice grinned and nabbed Twilight by the arm, not wasting another second. She brought one of Twi's hands up to her face quickly. "Yeesh, well, I can tell Jo taught you how to take care of yourself as a human. This will never do." With that, she was dragging a slightly confused Twilight off into the crowd, not quite giving her the complete explanation that was asked for.

Jo arrived back at their table in the food court, only to find it empty. "Guys?" She looked around herself, not finding them. "Delightful." She hadn't really intended to go to the arcade.

"I think I've seen this before actually." Twilight stared in curiosity and interest at what was being done to the hard surfaces on the strange replacements for hooves she had received. "I didn't really understand the point, but if it's just to look nice and match clothing, that makes sense."

Alice looked over from where she sat, smiling contentedly. "Yup, I'll bet other people do it for other reasons like religion or something, but mostly it's just for looking good." After a moment, she laughed. "I hadn't thought about it until now, but I'm dressing as Starswirl tonight." She noticed Twilight's slightly questioning look, and explained. "I'll be dressed as a guy dressed in a dress with painted nails." Unable to resist, she broke out laughing. "Ow!"

The lady painting her nails had slapped her hand. "Stop moving."

"Oh, sorry." Alice bit her lip, then looked back at Twilight.

Twilight fought to suppress her own laughter at Alice, and at picturing Starswirl with lipstick. At the same time, she eyed the woman hunched over her hand nervously. "That does sound ridiculous alright."

"There you two are," Jo's voice said from behind Twilight.

Twilight turned slightly and looked up. "Hey, Jo- Ow!" She faced forward again and couldn't help but wince from the sting on the back of her sensitive hand.

"Sit still, girl." The spa-woman gave Twilight an incredulous look, then set back to work.

Twilight suppressed a sigh, ignored Alice's giggling, and spoke back to Jo, sans turning around this time. "We're almost done, Jo. Sorry about leaving you like that. I didn't even notice you were gone until we were already sat down."

Nearby, Alice mumbled an apology too, and what sounded like 'Baron Buzzkill'.

"It's alright," Jo responded from behind her. "I wasted some time and money at the arcade after all, then came here. You weren't really hard to find." Wheeling an extra chair over, Jo sat on Twilight's left. "Something about having a brightly colored head. It's pretty easy to spot from a distance."

Alice looked over from the corner of her eye, then sighed.

"Do you have something to add, Alice?" Jo offered to the girl sitting on Twilight's other side.

Alice looked over. "Oh, no, I was just going to point out that it was more likely that there's only one place that does nails here, but stating the obvious is getting a little redundant with you."

Twilight's expression thinned a hair.

"Oh, that's funny coming from you, Ms.-"

"Girls, why can't you both-! Ow!" Twilight flinched and shut one eye in pain.

The woman behind the counter flared up. "All of you, stop talking!"

The three girls answered in tandem. "Yes ma'am," they apologized, then muttered their own versions of an apology.

"Is everypony ready?" Twilight called from the door, a completely authentic smile on her face. She felt a little odd, despite the fun she was having, had been having for the most part all day, and was about to have. The feeling crept up from simply how much she missed home, and guiltily knew that her friends were probably grieving her. Don't think about it, Twilight. She swallowed, and replaced her smile when a begrudging Jo stepped out of the bathroom.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with." Jo sighed, looking down at herself sadly.

Alice bounded up from the living room, waving her hands, pink finger nails and all in what looked like some kind of arcane gesture. "Oh buck up, Jo, you look fantastic. Heck, you even remembered to shave your legs-" Giggling, she dodged away from an attack that she had instigated. The sight looked even sillier, considering what Jo was wearing.

"Alright, I'm not chasing you around in this tonight, Alice. So promise me right now, you won't embarrass me," Jo looked at Twilight quickly, "or Twilight, tonight, okay?" Her expression was dead serious.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Alice grinned ear to ear and followed the motions she had practiced over the weeks.

Jo deadpanned, while Twilight brightened up by the door enough to light the hallway.

"I walked right into that one." Jo muttered. "Alright, let's go and get this over with." She trudged dourly past Twilight and into the complex corridor. A hand caught her arm though. Looking up, she met Twilight's eyes.

"Come on Trixie, try and have some fun tonight." Twilight tilted her head and smiled at Jo friendlily.

Jo fought it, but in the end returned the gesture. Breaking the trend though, she replied, "Please, The Great and Powerful Trixie has fun for nopony." Her arm wrenched itself away from Twilight, and the cape at her back flapped out behind herself. "Trixie does, what Trixie wants."

Alice and Twilight looked at each other, snickered, then followed their friend, not quite sure they believed at all what had just happened.

"So Twilight, you don't scare easy, do you?" Alice flashed a final grin before locking the apartment door.