Boys And Girls
Dusk in the small town of Ponyville and the witching hours were still young. Six hours of night lay ahead, and for Rumble, Button Mash and Shady Daze, this meant a town with it’s back turned to their particular brand of antics.
The Toad in The Hole was half empty; a legion of ponies filled the bar stools and square tables in single units — with little difference that made way for the occasional twosome of ponies. Among them, the usual Friday night crowd had once again convinced themselves that a night ‘here’ was better than a night wherever they called home. Berry Punch, Cranky Doodle Donkey and his wife Muela. Familiar faces surrounded the boys. None of them dared to make eye contact with the three.
This was an unspoken rule of Dive Bars.
Rumble — with a skip to his step and a sideways-leaning gait — approached the bar counter with a foolish grin spread across his grey cheeks, and holding a tray of drinks between his teeth. Of the glasses two were of the usual design — fat around the rim, with edges and a handle. Filled with piss coloured Lo-Brau — while the third was a thinner, hourglass shape that lacked the handle and was filled with a darker, ink black liquid — which was Hoe-Carten.
“Here we are, boys,” said Rumble, setting the tray down and taking his seat in the stool between Button Mash and Shady Daze. He was greeted with head nods from Shady and Button.
Rumble kicked his lower legs around the barstool, tapped Shady Daze’s thigh with the tip of his lower-left hoof, and then set the fancier of the three beers just before Shady Daze. He did this and punctuated his actions with a knowing wink towards his friend.
“One exceptionally queer beer for my exceptionally queer friend,” he said, then set down the two remaining glasses of beer before himself and Button, “And, two regular, normal, beers for me and Button, because we are both regular and normal.”
Shady shot Rumble a smirk, then took a sip of his so called ‘Gay’ beer. Rumble too took a sip of ‘Normal’ beer and gave a content sigh.
“Regular in the literal, or the figurative?” asked Shady, raising a cynical brow towards Rumble, “Because, there should be enough fibre in that Lo-Brau to fix that up for you.”
“Hardy-har, Shady,” choked out Rumble, setting his glass down and then belching afterwards. “As much as I’m sure you’re just dying to know, what goes on with my butt is really my business and my business only. Unless you want me to start screaming ‘rape’?”
“You know,” Shady Daze said, rolling his pink tongue out from between his dry lips and burying his eyebrows down his forehead, “If you ever wanna take a trot on the wild side, Rumble…”
“Pass,” said Rumble without a moment of hesitation. “Your kind just can’t hold any candles to the beauty of the feminine form.”
Beside Rumble, Button Mash’s ears twitched twice when the words ‘Feminine Form’ escaped out of Rumble’s mouth. A lowly, pitiful grumble came from his lips and he dropped his head until his chin landed in a bowl of peanuts.
Rumble rubbed Button Mash on the shoulder, “What’s wrong, champion?” he begged.
“I don’t… really know how to talk to girls,” Button Mash sighed, lifting his pint-glass to his mouth and taking a swig. “It’s, like, they’re from another planet or something...”
He cocked his head towards a squared off table in the corner of the bar where three such creatures — the dreaded ‘girls’ of which he spoke — sat. They talked amongst themselves, giggled, laughed, snickered and acted in all the ways that girls enjoying a night out did.
Button watched them silently for a moment, then another anguished groan came from his mouth and he buried his face deeper into the peanuts on the bar counter.
Though he seldom cared to admit it, Button Mash’s experiences with mares was lackluster, unexceptional and more than not limited to his family tree. His mom, grandma, aunts, great aunts, cousins and the occasional ‘step-cousin, twice removed’; These were the mares and fillies that Button Mash drew his wealth of knowledge about the inner machinations of the feminine mind from.
Them, and Sweetie Belle.
He’d never kissed a girl. In his youth his mom and Rarity had arranged ‘play-dates’ between himself and Sweetie Belle, though, aside from sharing milkshakes, ice skating together one winter and the occasional dabble into the realm of cooperative video gaming, they’d never been anything more than friends.
That was the entirety of Button Mash’s love life.
He sighed again, lifted his beer and sipped greedily until the glass was empty.
“Listen, Button,” Shady said and touched his hoof to Button’s shoulder, stirring the colt out of his tranquil getaway from reality. “Your name isn’t Snips, or Snails, is it?”
“No…” replied Button, warily.
“And, you’re not mentally retarded. Are you?”
“No,” grumbled Button, “My mom had me tested when I was eight.”
“R-right, yeah…” Shady Daze stuttered and paused for a second. He traced his tongue along his lips and then continued, “Um, moving on… Do you have a dick between your legs?”
“What?”
Shady Daze reached his hoof down to Button Mash’s waist, lay it flat against the colt’s lap and brushed it down the side of his thigh, growing closer towards Button Mash’s never-touched special region.
“Whoa, hey!” Button Mash screamed, slapping Shady Daze’s hoof away from him so hard that it would bruise later. “Knock it off, Shady!”
“Okay, okay,” Shady said, grinning, “But, you’ve got a penis, right? A cock? A rod? A fuckstick? A-”
“I get it!” Button Mash shouted. “And, yes. I do!”
“And, from the number of times that I’ve walked in on you when you’re having your ‘quiet time’ with a copy of Filly Fanny Fun, I can tell that it works.”
“Yeah,” Button Mash grunted, “I’m starting to think it’s not by accident anymore…”
“Don’t misdirect!” Shady commanded. “Now, since you’re not anything less than a normal male in the prime of his life, with a healthy libido, I’m convinced that there’s absolutely no reason you can’t talk to these girls tonight. Agreeable?”
“I don’t know…”
“Button, one of them is Twist. And, you know her, right?” Shady asked. “I used to bring her around to your place all the time back when we were, you know… together.”
“Yeah.” Button nodded. “That’s true. She’s nice.”
“Yeah, she is. The other two you know from school,” said Shady. “Dinky really wants to get in to Princess Sparkle’s School for Gifted Youngsters in Canterlot when she graduates, and Archer plays hoofball and listens to The Dirty Fetlocks. So there’s something you can talk about with them.”
“I suppose…”
“How much money do you have on you?”
“What?”
“Money?” Shady asked. “How much?”
Button Mash shrugged, “Maybe like eighty bits left?”
“You should buy the next round.”
“No way!” Button snapped. “I already bought the first round!”
“Button, I’m trying to help you out here. Now, Twist likes Crystal Island Iced Teas, Dinky drinks Cosmarepolitans and Archer likes Whiskey Sours. If you buy the girls a round of drinks it’ll make you look charming.”
“But, I got this money in a card from my aunt. And, she told me to spend it on something that matters, and-”
“Button!”
This time it was Rumble who interjected. He stared cold and hard into the eyes of the emotionally cowering colt beside him, and wore a face neutral of any emotion. Button Mash swallowed a lump in his throat and prepared himself for a pep talk from his best friend.
“This is something that matters,” said Rumble “Buying the girls a round of drinks is like putting a down payment on pussy. It shows them that you’re charitable, which chicks love.” he raised his chin. “Besides, Thunderlane does it all the time. And look how well he does with the ladies.”
“Yeah?”
Rumble nodded.
“Look, Button. You can sit here all night, with us, and, yeah, Shady will probably make out with you later tonight if you get drunk enough-”
Shady Daze furrowed his brows at Rumble, who ignored him
“But it’s not going to get you laid, is it?””
“No...” said Button Mash.
“Or, you can buy the girls some drinks, get them a little less anxious, a little looser, and before you know it you’ll be snorkel deep between the thighs of Dinky, or Archer.” He stopped, laughed, then slapped a hoof to Shady Daze’s shoulder and flashed a grin. “Hells, I bet you could even go home with Twist.” He looked at Shady. “That is, you know, if you don’t mind sloppy seconds or potentially catching Shady’s ‘gay’...?”
“Fuck you, Rumble.” sighed Shady. “Seriously...”
“Aww, c’mon Shady,” said Rumble, brushing the other colt’s head with the fetlock of his hoof. “I’m just dicking around, is all.”
“Just cool it with all the vulgar jokes about Twist, alright?” said Shady.
“Fine,” said Rumble, “We cool?”
Shady Daze took a sip from his drink, swallowed, then nodded his head.
“Anyway, Button,” Rumble continued, “What do you say to that idea? Buying some drinks, getting the girls a little more familiar with how we do our thing? Making sure everypony is nice and comfortable with each other, before you get really comfortable with one of them?”
“Yeah… Yeah, okay!” Button Mash said.
“I’ll buy the drinks while you and Rumble go over there and say ‘hello’,” offered Shady, reaching his hoof out towards Button Mash, “Sound good?”
Button Mash nodded his head and reached a hoof into his pocket. He pulled out a treasure of small gold coins that he traded to Shady Daze. “This will work, right?”
“Absolutely.” said Rumble.
Shady nodded too, before breaking from the two and prancing towards the bar with a mouthful of Button Mash’s bits — wrapped in a cloth coin pouch — in his mouth. This left the Button Mash, cautiously unsure of himself, and Rumble, grinning like a wild-child.
“Wanna head over?” Rumble asked, nudging Button Mash in the soft fur of his belly. “I’ll take Archer. We’re both pegasi, so, you know, we’ve got that in common. You can get Dinky or Twist?”
“Sure, yeah,”
“Righty-O,” Rumble cheered, pushing out of his seat. “Let’s go pay the pussy buffet a visit!”
***
“Girls!”
Rumble greeted the table with all the charm, elegance and class of a colt taken with a good drunk. He was soused and not a pony at The Toad in The Hole would argue against the fact. He had on a stupid expression — half a smirk, and half an open mouthed smile — with eyes bulging outwards and glazed over.
This was ‘The Ever Elegant Rumble’ in his natural sedated/inebriated state. To the girls, this was nothing new. Since he was a lad of thirteen, and his brother had first left out a cup of vodka that he’d mistaken for water one late night, Rumble had been slowly sliding down the slippery slope. Tonight wasn’t much different.
When he fell into his seat, the chair wobbled, tipped to the right. It was only a firm grip on the hoof rest from Button Mash that kept Rumble, and chair, from further making a spectacle of their entrance.
Rumble didn’t pay this any concern.
Button Mash was terrified.
“How are we doing tonight?” asked Rumble, popping his shoulders, splaying out his wingspan and, then leaning forwards onto the table so that his chest touched chestnut wood and his body’s weight pulled coasters and bowls of peanuts to him.
His question was directed at the duo of quarter tables which currently sat his audience, who were Archer, Dinky Doo, Peppermint Twist and Button Mash. None of them looked at him with anything less than a studious curiosity in their eyes. He was a case study to them: the end product of a pony with too many ounces of liquid courage running through his veins and not enough conviction to work past it.
Rumble, however, was unmoved by the glares he received. Too far gone — mentally — and far too drunk to care, Rumble was content with riding the strong positive vibes his body shot through his system. Gone was any sense of shame or humiliation he might have once had (pre-drinks) Now replacing them was a strong sense of invincibility.
Rumble was riding the crest of a strong and beautiful wave.
“We’re okay.”
It was Twist who answered, never looking Rumble in the eyes, knowing full well that he’d consider that more than a compliment in his current state of inebriation.
“That’s good,” purred Rumble. “Everyone’s feeling prim and proper?”
The girls nodded their heads. Skeptical as they still were, they had the good faith and a voucher from Shady Daze that Rumble wasn’t in fact a sexual predator, and that this was actually him being kind. It wasn’t much, but it did keep them feeling safe.
“You all look great by the way,” he said, “Is that a new sweater, Dinky?”
Dinky smiled, softly, then nodded her head. Her eyes moved from Rumble’s drunken form onto Button Mash’s, who found himself locked in a curious staring contest with a coaster he twirled on the table.
“Shady’ll be right back with some drinks, courtesy of our little birthday boy.”
He patted Button Mash on the forehead, parting his mane and digging into his skin. Button Mash came to life; he groaned and with his left hoof threw Rumble’s leg away from him.
“Happy birthday, Button,” Dinky said.
He lifted his eyes to meet hers and he smiled softly. “Thank you, Dinky.”
“Barely legal, right?” asked a smirking Archer.
Button Mash nodded. “Yuppers,”
“That must feel good?” asked Archer, leaning forwards, readjusting herself into her seat and smiling at the birthday boy. “Finally old enough to buy copies of Moanin’ Mares without any trouble, eh?”
Rumble laughed, so did Twist — though with the common courtesy to cover it with her hoof. It was only Dinky who didn’t. Instead, she fired at her friend a glare which went ignored by the sole female pegasus of the table.
“Uh, heh, yeah…” Button said, reaching his right hoof behind his head and scratching at his mane, “I guess…”
“I remember my birthday,” said Archer, tapping her hoof on the table, “Me and my sister went to my cousin’s place in Cloudsdale and we got absolutely trashed on these Skynoff jello shots my cousin made. After that, I drank two litres of Dodge Junction Mudslides that my cousin made with expired milk she had in the back of her fridge, and I ended up doing the big spit in the toilet! Celestia, I didn’t even make it to the bar!”
“Fuckin’ rights, Archer!” Rumble said, then laughed and beat the table twice with his right hoof. Drinks and coasters shook. “I’m sure Cloudsdale’s much better off that way.”
Archer leaned forward and put on her worst pair of curious/enraged eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Rumble waved an intrusive hoof at her face, “Nothin’,” he said. “It’s just, I’ve seen how you get at parties. Remember that time at Scootaloo’s birthday? I don’t think I can ever hear ‘Equestrian Rhapsody’ again without getting a hard-on.”
Archer shrunk back into her seat. “Shut up,”
Rumble grinned. “All I’m saying is you really know your way around wall mounted fixtures. Especially ones that look suspiciously like stripper poles.”
Archer fell back further in her seat and with her wings covered her face, hiding her blush and dropped eyelids.
Dinky looked at Button Mash, Button Mash at Dinky, then Rumble, then Twist. She rolled her eyes, turned towards Rumble and tapped him on the shoulder.
“How about you, Rumble?” Twist asked, with a sly grin spreading across her lips. “I’m sure yours must have been a night of refined culture and decadence.”
“It was most definitely a grand ol’ trying time,” admitted Rumble with a cheerful grin. “Brolly and Thunderlane threw a house party for the weather team after they stopped that tornado last summer, and, since it was my birthday we amalgamated the two. See, me and Shady were already at my place, celebrating with whiskey...”
“As per the usual,” Twist added in with a wry grin.
“Right, yeah,” nodded Rumble, “And, Button, you had a touch of I.B.S. that day, didn’t you?”
Slight pause in Rumble’s story for him to look over at the red-cheeked birthday boy.
“It was just a stomach flu,” grumbled Button Mash, folding his legs across his chest and frowning.
“Are you sure?” Rumble asked, “I remember your mom telling me and Shady that you locked yourself into the bathroom with a couple volumes of The Trotting Dead and your Joy-Boy in the morning and that you hadn’t come out since then?”
“That never happened!” Button Mash snapped, still red in the cheeks. “It was just the flu!”
“Anyway,” continued Rumble, “So, the weather team shows up at my place, Brolly’s drunk and Thunderlane gives me a bunch of caps of Candy Dust for my birthday, being a gent and all. Me and Shady took ‘em all at once,” He paused to laugh and slap himself in the forehead with his hoof, “And, shit, I remember getting fucked out of my mind on that stuff. I mean, I was dancing, and drinking vodka and cranberries that Blossomforth kept pouring me, and then, the next thing I know, I’m humping Flitter in the bathroom. I must have blacked out after that, cause I don’t remember much going on afterwards…” He stopped again to scratch his head, “When I woke up, the tub in the bathroom was half-filled with piss, Thunderlane was passed out on the lawn, and Shady was cuddled up in my bed, snoggin’ my Wonderbolts pillow.”
“How romantic.” Archer, who had regained her pride, sneered at Rumble. “You guys sure are close, huh?”
“Two peas in a pod,” shouted Rumble, “And, no, he didn’t get a chance to put anything inside of me during those lost hours of my life, Archer.”
“The thought never grazed my mind,” said Archer, smiling towards Rumble.
And, speaking of Shady Daze…
Carrying a tray of drinks and waltzing into the room, with a twist in his hips and lunging his neck right to left, came Shady Daze. He set the tray down on the square tables, then hopped into an empty seat between Button Mash and Twist.
“Drinks for the table,” said Shady, reaching for a pint of Lo-Brau. “You lot can thank Button Mash’s big wallet and even bigger heart for that.”
Five pairs of eyes fell on the colt, who smiled back. “Oh, hey, it’s really no problem.”
“Thank you very much, Button,” said Dinky. She reached forwards to grab her drink. When she did, she brought her hoof back, giggled and stared at the flustered colt before her. “But Button, ponies are supposed to buy you drinks on your birthday.”
“Yeah, well, tell that to Rumble,” Button mumbled into his glass.
“Well, what if I buy you your next drink?”
Button Mash’s ears perked upwards. He lifted his eyes from counting bubbles in his glass, to staring into the soft round pupils of Dinky Do’s eyes. She was smiling.
“R-really?”
“Sure,” she said. “If you’d like?”
“Yeah, that would be great!” he cheered.
Rumble kicked him in shin. He bit his lower lip.
“I mean, cool,” he gasped, then leaned backwards in his chair and threw his left leg over the legrest. “Yeah, that would be really cool, Dinky.”
Dinky giggled again. Her eyes studied his form, they scanned from his nervous, sweaty forehead, past his brows — arched in worry —, down to his trembling hooves. She smiled, then grabbed her drink with two hooves and took a sip from her Cosmarepolitan.
“Cheers,” Rumble said, raising his glass into the air.
“To Button Mash.” said Dinky.
“To Button Mash!” repeated a chorus from the table.
Dinky Doo was a pony that Button Mash hadn’t ever spent an exceptional amount of time around. He knew her through Twist and from around school. He knew that she was smart and that on their latest history test she’d gotten an ‘A-’. Her interests, personal, professional and otherwise, however, he decided he wanted to know more about.
“Um, so, hey, Dinky?”
It came out in a stutter.
“Yes, Button?”
“How are, uh… how’re things with you?”
She smiled at him. “Very good. Thank you.” She took another sip from her drink. “And you?”
“Really, really, really, good,” said Button Mash, “I just finished reading Volume Three of Fullmetal Pegasus, and, I was really looking forward to Volume Four, but then Rumble and Shady said I had to leave before I could open my presents, so I didn’t get a chance to see if my mom bought it for me for my birthday, like I asked her too, but…”
He clapped his hoof over his mouth.
“Don’t be a dork.”
The words echoed in his head.
“You read manga?”
Button Mash froze. Ice ran through his veins and his stomach clenched tight.
“Um, well, not like, a lot, or anything,” he squeaked, “I mean, sometimes I do, er, which is to say, that I like the art style, and the characters, and…”
He looked around the table to find five pairs of eyes staring at him. His company sat completely silent.
“Ah, nerts,” he groaned.
“Calm your teats, Button Mash,” Archer said, with a roaring laugh. “Dinky reads those ultra-nerdy kinds of rags too.”
Button Mash turned his eyes back towards Dinky, who nodded her head in agreement.
“You read Fullmetal Pegasus?” he asked.
“Yes.” she nodded, “I do.”
“But, like, you’re cool…”
“Reading comics and manga doesn’t make you a dork, Button,” she sighed. “Who told you that?”
Button Mash turned his head at Rumble and shot him a dirty look. The pegasus responded with a wink, then raised his glass and took a sip of beer.
“No one…” Button Mash sighed.
“When’s the fuckin’ honeymoon already?” said Rumble.
A flash of crimson spread across Button Mash’s cheeks. He kicked his leg into Rumble’s shin, who just ignored him with a whimsical whistle in the tune of ‘Here Comes The Bride’.
“Anyone up for a smoke?” Shady asked.
Twist raised her hoof, and Shady shot her a quizzical look. She shrugged it off and lifted herself out of her seat. Rumble smiled.
“If either one of you two come back with hickeys on your necks, I’m going to make fun of you for the rest of the night. Especially you, Shady Gays.”
“How clever, Rumble,” said Shady as he got out of his seat.
Shady Daze shrugged him off and headed to the outside porch, followed closely by Twist.
***
The mid evening air was cool and crisp. The sun had for the most part set now, leaving only faint traces of red in the sky. Shady Daze fished a Red Apple cigarette out of the pack, bit the end, then offered another to his company.
Twist rejected his offer with a polite wave of her hoof, reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin pack of Pom-Pom cigarillos — small, hoof rolled cigars the shape of a fatter cigarette with a built in plastic filter on one end and twisted up on the other. She accepted the gold plated lighter that Shady used to light his cigarette, lit the tip and then puffed a cloud of smoke.
“Since when do you smoke?” asked Shady, “I’m pretty sure I remember a time back when we were dating that you made me wash my hooves and brush my teeth before I could even hug you after a cigarette.”
“I don’t smoke,” she said, blowing smoke through her nostrils. “At least... I try not too. It’s really just when I drink.”
Shady Daze took a long drag from his Red Apple, and exhaled smoke through his nose and around his lips. “That’s how it starts,” he said, offering her his own brand of sage wisdom on the topic of cancer sticks.
She made a face: puckered her lower lip, scrunched up her nose, and Shady Daze laughed.
“So, how has Twist been since this morning?” he asked.
She blew another smoke cloud, then smiled.
“Twist has been good in the seven hours since I last saw you,” she said, dryly, “You left that black toque at my place though.”
Shady chuckled. “Keep it as a momento.”
A loud bang followed by a crash and shouting sounded from the bar, and both Twist and Shady Daze turned their heads to stare at the scene through the window. Rumble stood on his hind legs with his right leg on his chair and his left on the table, he was thrusting his pelvis at Archer’s face and pouring Lo-Brau down his throat. Beer splashed off his jaw and around his lips and fell onto the floor. Morty — the bartender — was screaming at Rumble from behind the bar.
When Shady Daze turned back, Twist was frowning.
“I can’t believe you still hang out with Rumble,” she said. “I know he’s your best friend, but he’s also kind of a dick.”
Another loud explosion from inside the bar had both ponies turning back towards the window.
They watched together as Archer, laughing, slammed her hoof on the table and threw golden bits at Rumble. Rumble was rotating his pelvis and shaking his flanks. Dinky sat, shrunken in her seat, with a revolted, embarrassed look to her, while Button Mash just bowed his head. Morty, the bartender, was still screaming at them, waving his hooves. Rumble said something to Morty, then dropped from the table and collapsed back into his seat.
“Nah.” Shady Daze shrugged. “Rumble’s alright.”
“Shady,” Twist said, tapping his shoulder, “He used to make, and eat, mud pies when we were kids.”
Shady Daze laughed a little louder.
“He still does,” he said. “That’s part of why I like him.”
“Come on, Shady,” Twist said, nudging him on the shoulder. “You’ve gotta be getting tired of that whole ‘Put-my-dick-in-any-pony-who-has-a-pulse’, thing by now?”
“He’s not that bad,” said Shady, “He’s got a few quirks, but he’s worth a few laughs. Besides, I have a pulse and Rumble’s never tried to put his dick in me.” He paused and his face fell. “Do you think it’s cause I’m not pretty enough, Twist?”
He faked a laugh, which Twist corrected with a stern, commanding eye. He swallowed and bowed his head.
“Sorry.”
She waved his false sympathy away with her hoof.
“I get why Button Mash likes him,” said Twist, “Button’s sort of… impressionable, and Rumble has a big ego and he can bed stupid girls-”
“And how,” said Shady.
“But you’re smart,” she finished.
“Thanks.”
“All I’m saying is, he needs to grow up.”
Shady Daze stared through the glass at Rumble — still dancing in his seat — then took a drag from his cigarette. Twist did the same. They stood for a moment, smoking, stealing glances at the other, before Twist broke the silence.
“Where are you staying tonight?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow, “I’m not sure how late this thing at Diamond Tiara’s is going to go, but you’re welcome to come by? You can even bail us out if it’s lame. Then, we can just head back to my place? My mom set up a cot for you and everything.”
“Thanks, but I’ll see if Button’s okay with me crashing at his tonight,” said Shady, “I really don’t want to keep troubling your folks.”
“Shady,” Twist snapped, “you know for a fact that it’s not any trouble. I really wish you’d stop playing that stupid sympathy card with me.”
“Sorry,”
“It’s fine,” said Twist, smiling softly. “This is just… a very unfortunate series of circumstances. Agreeable?”
Shady Daze nodded.
Twist frowned and cocked her head towards him. “You know, just because your dad-”
“It’s cool, Twist,” said Shady.
Twist leaned her body forwards, her hoof rising up to catch his left shoulder, “Shady…”
He brushed the hoof off of his shoulder, blinked his eyes and bit his lower lip between his teeth. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now. All I want to do tonight is get totally shit-faced, make sure Rumble doesn’t commit any heinous sex crimes and try and have a good night. Comprende?”
“I worry about you,” she said. “You’ve been doing so good this year, with all the crap you’ve had to put up with, and with him coming back into your life, now, and doing what he’s doing to you-”
“He’s not so bad,” Shady said, cutting her off, “I mean, I wouldn’t be much good as a ‘stallion stuffer’ if I didn’t have a disapproving, violent, angry drunk for a dad, right? Besides, since the accident he can hardly throw a left hook, and-”
Twist didn’t speak a response, instead, she trotted a few steps forwards and rested her head against Shady Daze’s left shoulder. She rubbed her face into the faux-fur collar of his jacket, then reached two hooves around him and pulled him tight against her body.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Shady,” she said, “I get that you don’t want to talk about this, here, tonight. And, we don’t have too. But, I really think we should? One day, at least? Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean I don’t still care and worry about you, you doofus.”
“I’ll be okay, Twist,” he said. “Seriously. I’m chock full of sass, remember?”
He didn’t know if he was telling her the truth or not: so far all the signs pointed to the polar opposite of what he’d just told Twist to be true, but, then again, Shady Daze was an eternal optimist of the highest calibre and lived to see the silver lining on every cloud.
“Wanna head back in?” he asked, flicking his cigarette butt over the fence so that it landed on the cobblestone pavement just outside the bar.
“Sure,” she said, smiling softly. “We might as well watch Rumble get dragged out kicking and screaming.”