Watching Rarity try to eat with a fork was like watching a little kid with manners. They’re not that coordinated yet, but they always dab themselves with the napkin afterward. It didn’t help that they were eating four cheese lasagna and the marinara sauce made the whole thing sloppy.
“Like this, Rarity,” Annie said as she demonstrated the proper way to use a fork. Rarity took note of where her fingers were placed. She tried it again and did it perfectly. She was able to take a bite of lasagna without having to clean marinara sauce. She still dabbed her afterwards because it was the lady like thing to do.
“This is delicious, Ben,” Rarity said. “What’s your secret?”
“It’s actually an old family recipe that my great grandmother discovered by accident.”
“Well it’s much better than that greasy thing I had for lunch.”
For lunch, Annie took everyone to a small Mexican food restraint that she heard of Twitter. What she didn’t realize is that a majority of the dishes they served had meat in them and neither Cole nor Annie thought it was right for the former horses to eat meat. Luckily, Annie is a vegetarian and ordered for them, however, the quesadillas she ordered were soaked in grease. Annie never listened to suggestions she hears over Twitter again.
“What about you Twilight? How do you like it?” Ben asked
Twilight didn’t really respond. She was too bust reading 1984. Cole was surprised that she was almost done with it.
After their lunch, Cole took the girls back to the apartment to drop off the newly bought clothes and give Twilight an assignment. He scoured his personal bookshelf and picked out the ten books he wanted his students to read. He told Twilight to read King Lear by next week. Twilight’s eyes lit up when she saw the stack of books and was told to read them. It was the best assignment that she received since she became a princess. Not much was expected of her and she didn’t really care. For once in a long time, she got to do something that she loved to do.
“Put the book down, Twilight,” Annie said.
She again didn’t respond. She just took a bit of her slice of lasagna, taking extra caution to make sure not to get any sauce on the book.
“It’s no use, darling,” Rarity said, “It’s better to just let her read.”
“It’s a little rude, don’t you think Cole?” Annie said. What she didn’t realize, until she addressed him, is that he too was reading. He was read his treasured signed copy of Will Greyson, Will Greyson. This wasn’t a new thing for Cole; it was almost expected of him to read while having dinner. The only difference is that he could respond and read at the same time.
“I don’t see a problem with it.”
“Besides,” Rarity said after taking her last bite, “There really isn’t a way to make her stop reading. Except…” Rarity stood up and walked over to a stack of DVD cases, pick one up and dropped it. Twilight immediately looked up as the case hit the ground.
“Sorry,” Twilight said as she finally put down the book. “What were we talking about?”
“Nothing,” Cole said. “By the way, Ben, you have to start watching stuff on the DVR.”
“Doctor Who marathon?” Ben asked.
“What?” Rarity asked.
“It’s a TV show that Annie and Ben love.” Rarity and Twilight still had a confused look on their faces. “What? You guys don’t have TV where you come from?”
“No,” Twilight said.
“What do you do for fun?” Ben asked. Ben had always grow up loving TV, video games, movies, and anything super hero. He considers himself to be a “Media Guru” and get’s insulted when someone challenges something that he loves. A notable case was when a manager of a fast food restraint stated that Psycho was an overrated movie and whoever made it should be killed in the shower.
“We find ways to keep busy,” Rarity said. “Twilight, for example, practices her magic and I usually have an order to fill.”
Cole put his book down and cleaned the table.
“What are we going to do with their clothes?” Cole asked as he put the leftover lasagna in a container. He pointed over to the couch where they had put the newly bought clothes. “And where are they going to sleep?”
“I have the extra bed for when my friends stay the night,” Annie said. “Rarity can sleep there.”
“What about Twilight?” Rarity asked.
“I’m fine with sleeping on the couch. It’s actually pretty comfortable.”
“You’re our guest, Twilight,” Annie said, “you can sleep in Ben’s bed.”
“No way!” Ben said as he stood up. “You know my whole thing and letting other sleep in my bed. I wouldn’t let my own mother sleep in my bed.”
“Please Ben, it’s just until they can go home.”
“You mean in two and half years. I might as well buy a whole new bed.”
“It’s fine Annie,” Rarity finally said. “Twilight can sleep in your room and I can sleep in Cole’s”
“Excuse me?” Cole said.
“We going to sleep together, darling.”
“Frist off, I don’t know what that means in your world, but it means something completely different here. And second, I didn’t volunteer my bed. My bed if like my comfortable sanctuary, that shouldn’t be shared.”
“I thought you shared it with Trina?” Annie said
“Yeah, but I had feelings towards her. I’m not the type of guy who just lets any woman he see sleep in his bed.”
“But we shared a bed last night.”
“Yeah, but that was when you were a horse and not…” Cole stopped himself when he realized what he was going to say.
“Not what?” Rarity asked
“Not a beautiful women.” Ben said
“Ben!” Cole said with a bit of anger. It was true, Rarity was very beautiful and Cole would be lying if he didn’t think about that morning, but he tried not to. It was still a little too soon since his break-up with Trina.
“You’re sharing, Cole!” Annie said. “And if you have a problem with it, than you can sleep on the couch.”
“Fine. We can share a room.” Rarity stood up and hugged Cole. They then moved each girls’ clothes into their respective rooms while Ben got ready to watch a few episodes of Doctor Who. Twilight decided to give the show a chance. She noted about half way through the first episode that it was exactly like a book series she loved, Doctor Whooves, although she picked that up by similar titles. Rarity tried to keep up, but ended up confused. Cole already knew that he couldn’t keep up and decided to read his book instead.
Cole decided to go to bed at about 10 and Rarity followed him. He decided to change in the bathroom again. Even though, she was a human now, Cole still felt a little weird changing in front of her.
He opened the door to his room and Rarity was about to get in the bed completely naked.
“Damn it, Rarity!” Cole said as he used his hand to block his view of Rarity’s more private body parts.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re naked, again.”
“Of course I am, darling. We’re about to go to sleep. Why would I need clothes?”
“Well for one, what if there is a fire. You don’t want to run outside naked, do you?”
“I guess not.”
“Plus, you’re sharing a bed with a man. People might get the wrong idea.”
“What do you mean?”
Cole started to blush a bit. He never thought that he would have to give this talk to anyone as he didn’t really want kids. In fact, that’s how he based his life. He decided to work for a college because everyone in college either has already had sex or know about it. He decided to move into an apartment and have his friends take the extra rooms so there would be no room for a kid. He even wanted to be with Trina because she didn’t want kids either.
“Well, there are times when either a man or a woman love each other…”
“You mean sex?”
In Equestria, sex was reserved for those that were truly in love and only after marriage. It just didn’t seem right to any pony to do something that personal with just any pony. Rarity had come close to find some pony that she loved enough, but they decided to go their separate ways when they talked about it. After that, Rarity started her slump.
“Oh thank god. I don’t have to explain that to you.”
“I can see now why wearing clothes at night could be useful. Do you have any clothes for me to wear?”
“Check the top drawer. Trina probably left something.”
Rarity walked over to the dresser with Cole blocking his view the entire time. She picked out a loose fitting shirt and a pair of sweat pants. The two then climbed into the bed. Cole again put up the pillow wall as he was afraid of his “horn” poking her.
----------
Ben, Annie, and Twilight ended up watching about six episodes before they decided to call it a day.
“Can I ask you something, Annie?” Twilight said as the two got ready for bed.
“What?”
“Have you and Ben ever been a thing?”
“No, we’re just really good friends.”
“What about Cole?”
“God no. I would rather jump out a window than say that I’m his girlfriend.”
“Have you ever been in a relationship?”
“Once in high school, but that was a while ago. Why do you want to know about my love life?”
“I’ve just been thinking about my finance. I haven’t really been away from him for this long.”
“Are you worried that he’s going to cheat?”
“What? He wouldn’t cheat. Would he?”
“I don’t really know him, Twilight.”
Twilight started telling Annie all about Flash. She made him seem like was some sort of god that could do no wrong. She did point out all of his flaws, but she also told her about everything that he would do to make up for it. Twilight started to smile as she went through all the good times that they ever had. She even smiled at the bad times she’s had because Flash was there to make everything better.
“It sounds like he really loves you,” Annie said when Twilight finished talking. “There is no way the he could cheat on you. Even if you begged him to.”
“Thanks Annie. Good night.” Twilight went to bed that night thinking about Flash again. This time, however, she wasn’t thinking about how she’s not going to be seeing him. She was thinking how happy she should be when she gets back to Equestria. She knew that there was nothing that she could do to make time go by faster, but she prayed that s\time would just fly by.
----------
Flash was excited when he Shining Armor invited him to get some drinks. When he was in high school, Shining Armor came to talk to his class about joining the royal guard. After that, he realized what he was going to do for the rest of his life. Shining also became a role model for Flash. He even made it his personal goal to become Captain of the Royal Guard when Shining retires.
Flash made his way to the bar of The Watering Hole, where he saw Shining already drinking a mug of cider.
“Captain,” Flash said as he took the seat next to him.
“Please Flash, we’re off duty. Call me Shining.”
“Are you sure, Captain?”
“Don’t make me order you. Besides, we’re going to be brother-in-laws. You should feel comfortable around me. Can I get a mug for my friend here?”
“Thanks Capt…Shining.”
“What made you want to join the Royal Guard?” Shining asked.
“What?”
“I thought that I should get to know you and I’m always curious what kind of masochist would want this job.”
“Well I was always good a protecting my little sister from bullies and what’s Equestria but a really big sister.” Flash decided to lie to Shining in fear of sounding like a fan boy. It wasn’t really a lie, as he did have a little sister and he was protective of her.
Shining, however, thought about the never ending cycle that could ensue. He, the captain, fell in love with a princess. Now, Flash, who would have a shot at being Captain if Shining retired today, is in love with his little sister, who is a princess. He hoped that his little sister would become a princess and the next Captain would fall in love with her.
The two spent the rest of the night drinking and talking. They ended up closing the place down and went home after that.
Flash did the same thing as the night before. This time, however, he felt happier. It was because of what Shining said. He told him that he wasn’t thinking about how long until Twilight returned, he was counting down the days until she could return. Flash decided to do the same and started to think about how happy he would be when she comes back.