Amor Vincit Omnia

by BRyeMC

Wings, Basketball, and Intimacy [March Madness]

Clyde pulled out his bracket and looked around the restaurant, trying to look at all of the basketball games that were going on at once. It was a Thursday, the official start of chaotic tournament where more than just two teams played. Since there were so many TVs, he had a hard time focusing on just one game, but that was the fun of March Madness after all. Clyde gave his bracket another quick glance and leaned back into the chair with a smirk. “I’m so glad I skipped school today.”

Seeing how he only had two classes, the minimum an athlete had to take to remain on their respective sport at Canterlot High, Clyde saw no point of attending school. The national “March Madness” annual collegiate basketball tournament always began around noon on the Thursday after Selection Sunday, the day where the lucky 68 teams were ranked and seeded to play, which usually happened on the third Sunday of the month, so he thought what better way to spend the early part of the "Madness" watching games at his favorite sports bar restaurant.

Clyde never had a favorite college team, but he always wanted to watch the games anyway because of the thrill of attempting to make the perfect bracket. Whoever had the perfect bracket would be rewarded one billion dollars. Of course, since there are so many unpredictable events that could happen, it was impossible. Instead, people would bet amongst friends to see who had the best bracket after the champion was crowned. Clyde and the rest of the basketball team, including Coach Iron Will, all had a bet going on for one hundred dollars, so he had to keep his eyes focused on all the outcomes.

Soon, his line of sight with one of the games was broken as Rarity walked in front of a TV and sat down in the seat across from him at the table. “Clyde, did you know they have TVs even in the bathroom?” she asked amazed. “Unfortunately they only had these basketball games on.”

“Yeah,” laughed Clyde, “they even have TVs above the urinals in the men’s bathroom. That’s dedication right there.” Rarity shook her head before giving a small laugh. Clyde originally had plans to watch the games with Tyrone, but after an unplanned dentist appointment, Tyrone had to cancel. Rarity didn’t want Clyde to be alone at the restaurant so she decided to skip her afternoon wellness class, which she rarely went to anyways, to sit with him.

“Did the waitress come by yet?” she asked.

“Not yet.” Clyde looked around. The restaurant wasn’t exactly busy, but he figured whoever their waitress was saw them walk in together and wanted to wait for Rarity to return before serving them.

After a few moments, a girl a few years older than them with bright red hair walked up to the table and smiled at them. She looked at Clyde and her smile instantly doubled in size and her maroon eyes filled with joy. “Hey, Clyde! I haven’t seen you in a while! How’ve you been? I miss seeing you and your friend.”

Clyde rubbed his head. “Well you know, the basketball season was tough this year, plus the playoffs were happening so I wasn’t able to eat here a lot lately. We got two games left before the championship, so Coach has us practicing almost every night. Since the tourney is going on right now, I figured I would watch some games today at my favorite place to eat.” He gave the waitress a smile.

“That’s what we like to hear!” said the girl happily. She glanced over at Rarity and smiled. “So, this is your girlfriend, the one you talked about before.” Rarity gave a single nod and shot a glance at Clyde.

“Yeah. My favorite girl in the world.” Clyde smiled at Rarity, who kept her serious gaze on him. Clyde was confused on her attitude, but soon the waitress spoke up again.

“So, what would you two like to drink?”

“A glass of water will be fine,” said Clyde.

Rarity looked up from her menu. “Water, please.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be back!” The girl walked away from them as Clyde looked at Rarity.

Rarity ignored his gaze for a few seconds before looking directly into his eyes. Clyde, nervous of her serious gaze, coughed and quickly tried to figure out what he did wrong. After finally figuring it out, Clyde gave a long sigh. “Here we go...”

“Who’s she?” asked Rarity slightly angered with her arms crossed. For the first time since he had known her, Clyde finally saw Rarity become a thing he thought he would never see.

“Jealous, huh?” teased Clyde with a smile.

“Don’t test me, Clyde.” Clyde flinched at those words, knowing with that tone in her voice. He also didn’t want to see her become extremely mad at him for the first time either.

“She’s just a waitress here. I think her name is Velvet Dove.” Clyde could tell Rarity wanted the truth at that very moment. “Don’t be angry, I only know her because she usually is our waitress when T and me come here to eat. That’s all.”

“That better be all.”

Clyde sighed. “I swear it is.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes. A million times. I promise.”

Rarity smiled. “Good. I believe you then.”

“You didn’t before?” asked Clyde shocked.

“Of course I believed you, darling. I just wanted to see your reaction.” Rarity giggled as Clyde sighed loudly again. “Clyde, I know you by heart now. You and I both know that I will always have faith in you. If we lasted this long, then we must love each other very much.” She gave a comforting wink.

“I do love you very much. More than basketball and music combined,” said Clyde lovingly with a grin.

"I also love you more than basketball and music," replied Rarity with a playful laugh. “I would even say more than all of my fashion creations I have made thus far, which is quite a lot, mind you.”

Clyde smiled with her and took some quick glances at the TVs. Most of the teams he picked to win were winning, but since none of the games were at halftime yet, he decided to not pay attention to the games yet. He saw their waitress walk over to them, carrying their glasses of water.

"Sorry for the wait," said Velvet Dove placing the glasses on the table. "I had to help carry out some food." She took out her small notepad and looked at Clyde and Rarity. "Anyway, you two ready to order?"

Clyde looked at Rarity, who replied with a nod. "Yeah. We're good."

"You want what you always get? Boneless honey barbecue?" asked Velvet Dove already writing down the order.

Clyde laughed. "Of course I do."

Velvet smiled and looked at Rarity. "And for you, miss?"

"I would like to try your pretzels. You can just bring them out with Clyde's food."

"Awesome. Thank you guys, we'll get them out shortly." Velvet took the menus and walked away.

To pass the time, Clyde picked a game to watch on the various TVs while Rarity played some trivia game on her phone. She was playing Rainbow Dash so she asked Clyde for help with most of the questions to make sure she beat her. Clyde was especially good at the sport questions while Rarity aced the entertainment ones. Clyde was enjoying the trivia game so much that he didn’t take notice of how time was flying by, and soon, Velvet Dove returned to their table with food.

“Here you are,” she smiled, handing Clyde the large bowl of wings. Clyde instantly felt a sudden surge of happiness within him as he looked at the pile of wings. Just the aroma of them made his mouth water. “And your pretzels.” Velvet looked over the two again. “Anything else I can do for you two?”

“I think we are good, thank you,” replied Rarity politely. She looked over at Clyde and shook her head as he was still mesmerized by the wings before him.

“Let me know if you need anything then! Enjoy!” Velvet walked away and Rarity took a sip of water and looked at her pretzels.

“Clyde?”

“Hmm?” he asked without taking his eyes off his meal.

“Do you want a part of these pretzels before you dig into your mountain of chicken wings? I’m not that hungry and they gave me three of them.”

Clyde looked at the pretzels and shrugged. “Sure.” He tore off a small section of one of the three pretzels and dipped it in the queso dip that came with it. The dip was somewhat spicy, a bit more than his honey barbecue sauce for his wings, but he liked it. “That dip is great.”

“Is it really hot?” asked Rarity.

“It has some kick to it, but it’s not too terrible. It’s more spicy than my wings’ sauce for comparison.”

“Oh. I never ate here before so I wouldn’t know.”

Clyde gasped. “You never ate here before?!”

“I’m a girl, Clyde,” stated Rarity bluntly, “I have no interest in these types of restaurants. I much prefer the fancy or fine dining-esque restaurants.”

“Yeah, and the expensive ones, too...” whispered Clyde to himself.

“Pardon?”

“N-Nothing.”

Rarity smiled. “Anyway, I do know my father and his buddies hang out at this place time to time to watch important games. He just never asked me to go because it’s mostly a sports bar.”

“Ah. Well, you should at least try one of these.” Clyde picked up a wing with his fork and held it near her plate. Rarity hesitated on taking it, but after looking at Clyde, she slowly gulped and picked it up with her hand, almost nearly dropping it as soon as she touched it because of the sauce on dripping down on her fingers. She took a small bite out of it and spat the rest of it on her plate, her hand twitching as she looked at the sauce covering her lovely fingernails that she just had a pedicure on a few days prior. Clyde saw around her mouth was some barbecue sauce as well and he really wanted to help her clean it off with his own mouth by kissing her, just because it would have been two of his favorite things combined.

“So?” asked Clyde playfully, trying not to laugh. “Are you a fan yet?”

Rarity ignored him for a moment and, using her clean hand, picked up her glass of water and as elegantly as possible, drank some water, before quickly using her napkin and the condensation from the glass to remove all the barbecue sauce from her fingers and mouth. She shook her head and angrily frowned.

"Clyde, how can you possibly enjoy these... these buffalo wings?' They're simply impossible to eat without getting your fingers all sticky, and your hands and face absolutely filthy! Can someone get me a fork, a knife, and another napkin before I scream?"

“Oh, come on,” laughed Clyde finding amusement from watching her panic. “They aren’t even that hot or messy! Having all that sauce on buffalo wings are what makes them so addicting!”

"Buffalo don't even have wings! How can you support such a grotesque misunderstanding of basic knowledge?" she snapped back. She looked at the half-eaten wing with anger and hatred.

“You can always get plain wings, although you’ll be missing out if you did that.” Clyde saw Rarity was unmoved by his suggestion so he laughed again and started digging into his pile. He handed her his napkin, as he always used a fork, so she could at least try to stay clean. Rarity refused to finish the wing Clyde gave her, so she slowly ate her pretzels while watching Clyde eat the many wings he ordered. Every few minutes while he took a quick breather to take a drink, he saw Rarity glance at the wing on her plate and shake her head in disgust. He snickered before continuing to eat away at the pile.

---

~ ~ ~

---

"Call me later, darling?"

Clyde and Rarity were now sitting in his car at his usual parking spot in front of Rarity's small shop entrance. Normally, Clyde planned to watch another set of games before leaving the restaurant, but since his "perfect" bracket already was busted after the very first game, he didn't want to watch anymore at the restaurant. Clyde gave her a smile. "Ten o'clock sharp. Like always."

"I'll be sure to pick up!" Rarity gently grabbed his face and gave him a loving kiss, but soon stopped and moved her head away from him. She licked her lips and giggled. "Your lips taste like honey barbecue."

Clyde smirked. "What did I say? It's the best flavor of wing sauce."

"I never disagreed with you. I just didn't like the 'buffalo' wing that was attached to it. It does taste wonderful though..." Rarity kissed him a few more times in small pecks before opening the passenger side door and walking into her home, giving one last smile and wave to him before she disappeared behind the front door.

Clyde pulled out his phone to check the scores of the current games on. At first he decided to go home to watch them, but the sudden thought of balling at the park came into his mind. Since the weather was fairly warm and the chilling harshness of the winter was far behind him, he plugged in his phone with the auxiliary cord so he could listen to the songs on his phone and quickly sped off towards the park's courts.

When he finally reached the park, Clyde hopped out of the car excitedly and grabbed his basketball from the trunk. He pulled out his earbuds from his pocket, plugged them into his phone, and bounced the ball as he walked up to the empty court and stared at the hoop.

Normally the park was always buzzing with activity, but since school was still in session, it was a ghost town. Clyde found a strange and familiar sense of comfort being the only one at the court, as he could shoot the ball and listen to music in peace like he did growing up after his parents' deaths.

He decided to take shots from behind the arc for a few minutes before doing anything else. With every miss he would jog with the ball to the other side of the court and back to try again from the same spot. If he made it, he would simply take a floater or layup, something simple to reward his effort at hitting a long range shot. Eventually, Clyde's shot hit the rim and bounced towards the chain-link fence. He slowly walked over to the ball and stopped when he noticed a car pulling up beside his. The car looked familiar to him for some reason but he couldn't remember. The car's door swung open after it shut off and crawling out of the driver's side was a man some years older than Clyde he guessed.

The man, decked out in sleeveless black shirt and matching shorts, looked at Clyde's car and then to him. He adjusted the black beanie on his head as he did with his dark shades before walking through the court's fence gate and up to Clyde. Clyde took out his earbuds and put them away in his jeans.

"Hey," greeted Clyde, giving the new baller a quick look. He was taller than him and extremely muscled. Clyde also noticed the man's five o'clock shadow and was instantly impressed since he himself was a fan of the stubble-esque beards because Rarity liked them. "We can share my ball if you want. I see you don't have one."

The man looked at Clyde before smiling. "I would hope so since I was the one who bought it." Clyde froze in place hearing the man's voice and instantly began shaking with a strange sense of disbelief and nervousness in his gut. The man smiled again before taking off his sunglasses. Clyde instantly felt tears in his eyes forming as his prediction was right and saw that the man in front of him shared the same dark eyes as their mother.

"S-Shale?" Clyde's voice was broken as he couldn't believe who he was talking to. Before he could say another word, his brother wrapped his arms around him and gave him a hug. Clyde couldn't think straight as all sorts of emotions were rushing at him in his mind.

"I missed you, Clyde. I'm glad to see you are still hanging in there." Clyde could tell his brother's voice was shaky as well, which he found odd because he couldn't remember the last time his older brother showed much emotion except after the that tragic night long ago. However, Clyde knew the reason for his emotions this time. Other than the short phone call before Christmas a year ago, the two hadn't seen each other since early summer of that same year.

Soon, the two ended their hug and grinned at each other. Clyde slapped his brother's hand and laughed.

"I see you've been working out,” stated Clyde impressed. His brother’s arms and legs were at least twice as thick as they were before he left for the Guard. Clyde knew the military trained their men ruthlessly, but he never imagined how fast the results would be seen.

Shale flexed his bicep and shrugged. "It's not that impressive compared to some of the members on my squad. But compared to you, I look like a bodybuilder." He gave a laugh.

Clyde shook his head. "I'm not that thin. I got stronger since you've seen me last." Clyde was telling the truth as Iron Will had the basketball team lift weights occasionally. Not only did he want them faster, he wanted them to be tough so they could fight for rebounds and to back people down in the post. Clyde didn't mind lifting weights as Rarity did like the results tremendously. "So, how were you about to visit? You told me you probably wouldn't see me until next year or the one after that."

"I got done with my training early," replied Shale, "and I'm on the reserve list in case I'm needed. Basically, I'm here with you until late summer unless I get called for emergency reasons. Now I can watch you play ball for the school and even graduate."

"Really!? That's awesome!" said Clyde excitedly. "Good timing too since we got two games left until the title if we can get there." Clyde bounced the ball to his brother and looked at the hoop. "I guess you saw I wasn't home so you went to another option to where I would be?"

"Actually, I haven't been to the house yet," said Shale looking at the cars in the parking lot. "I went to pick up that rented car after my buddy dropped me off, and since I was close to the park, I decided to stop by to check it out." He looked over at Clyde with a smirk. "Glad to see you are skipping school and not getting that education."

"Hey, now wait a minute! You can't call me out like that! I only have two classes!"

Shale laughed. "I'm kidding. I know what day it is." He dribbled the ball around his body and smiled. "So, let's see how much better you have gotten."

"You're on," said Clyde with a competitive smirk.

Shale walked over to the fence and placed his sunglasses on the ground. He also removed his black beanie. Shale had thick black hair like Clyde, however, since being part of the Guard, his hair was mostly buzzed off except for the top section of his head which was spiked up partially. He looked so much older and more mature to Clyde now that he barely recognized him, but Clyde knew his brother wanted to join the Guard because of that. All he wanted to do was protect his little brother.

The two walked over to the hoop and stared at each other. Before Clyde could suggest to do free throws for the ball, Shale gave a smile. "You can go first."

Clyde with the consent, nodded and quickly burst to his brother's right, driving towards the basket. He nearly had a perfect angle to the rim for the easy layup, but Shale bumped him in the arm, causing him to fumble it and allow his brother to take it. "Foul?" asked Clyde angrily with his arms over his head.

"Maybe in a real game," laughed Shale, "but this is street ball. We grew up playing with no fouls. Clyde can't play tough anymore since he's all professional now, huh?" He dribbled to the arc, planted his feet, and took a jump shot. Clyde sighed as he watched his brother's shot swish perfectly through the net without hitting the rim. He jogged by Clyde, giving him a chuckle, and picked up the ball.

As soon as Shale threw Clyde the ball, Clyde began his attack again towards the rim again. He couldn't get by due to the good defense from his brother so he backed off him and dribbled the ball close to the ground. Clyde wanted his brother to reach in to try and poke the ball out, like most players did during a real game, so he could rush right by him. However, Shale was much more intelligent and refused to even try doing that. Clyde saw his brother give him a smirk so he dribbled between his legs for a few seconds before quickly stepping back and nailing a three. One of Clyde's proudest accomplishments of this year's season compared to the last was his better shooting percentage, including the three pointer in which he struggled with last year.

"Not bad," said Shale with a shrug. "Your handles improved."

Clyde smirked. "Well of course they did. That's my main approach to getting an open shot or layup." He picked up the ball and threw it to his brother, quickly getting close to him to prevent an easy basket. Shale turned around to post up Clyde, pushing towards the basket with his strength. Clyde never excelled in post defense due to his size, but he tried his hardest to stop him with his forearm. After a few more dribbles, Shale did a small fadeaway shot. The two of them watched the ball bank off the backboard, right into the net.

"You gotta get stronger if you want to stop the post, Clyde. Look how abusive that was," said Shale shaking his head.

"Well, since I defend people close to my size, I really don't have to," responded Clyde in his own defense. "Point guards don't really post up in high school ball."

"I guess that's true." Shale picked up the ball and bounced it to Clyde. He looked up at the rim and then to Clyde. "Did you ever learn to dunk yet?"

Clyde dribbled the ball behind his back and looked at the rim. When the ball returned to his right hand, he charged forward. Upon arriving near the foul shot line, Clyde stop his dribbling to put both hands on the ball. He took his two steps and jumped as high as he could with the ball over his head. He began falling back towards the ground before he was above the rim, but he could reach it. He quickly placed the ball into the hoop and hung on the rim for a few seconds before letting go and landing firmly on the blacktop. "I haven't dunked in a real game yet, but I can graze the rim," said Clyde with a frown. "Maybe one day I can get higher."

Shale walked over to him and placed his arm around his brother. "And then, maybe one day I can call you 'Clyde the Glide.'"

Clyde instantly found humor in that sentence and laughed. "I wish I could dunk, and even ball, like him. He was awesome." The two brothers stared at the hoop for a few minutes in silence, letting only the wind be the source of sound around them.

It was weird to him how this same park was so important to him throughout his time living in Canterlot. Clyde's first time here was after meeting Tyrone and his other old friends after that detention session on the Saturday after the first week of school. While he didn't get to hang out with them as much as he did anymore, he still considered them friends to him. Shortly after the first month of school, Clyde and Tyrone practiced at this court to make the school's team. This was also where Clyde finally gave into his feelings for Rarity and told Tyrone about what to do. And now, to add to the list, this same park reunited him with his brother. Clyde shook his head and smiled.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Shale noticing the small smile on his brother's face.

"It's nothing. You wanna go home now and watch the rest of the games today?"

"Sounds good. Plus, I have to clean up the mess you made in the house since I've been away." Shale flashed a sly grin.

"You'll be surprised how undamaged the house is then. I know how to take care of a house."

"You are a maid now?" teased Shale, "I never knew you cleaned houses in your spare time."

Clyde rolled his eyes. "Yep. That's exactly what I do."

Shale laughed. “I’ll stop the typical older sibling teasing for now. Let’s just go home.” Clyde nodded and the two of them walked to the only two cars in the vacant parking lot after Shale picked up his beanie and shades. As Shale walked by Clyde’s car, he brushed his hand over it roof and whistled. “I missed you too, girl. I’m glad Clyde hasn’t wrecked you yet.”

Clyde shook his head and sighed. “I’m not a bad driver.”

“I know, but Midnight here was my girl. I was sad to let her go, but I had to leave for training and you needed a car.” Shale rubbed his palm over a dirty spot on the black car’s paint and smiled. “I’ll take you for a spin later, girl.” Shale looked at Clyde who was giving him another head shake.

“I’ve never seen someone that excited to see a car again.”

“It was my first car. Everyone has a special attachment to their first ride.” Shale raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying you aren’t a fan of Midnight?”

“What? Of course I love Midnight, too! She’s been good to me since you gave her to me last summer.” Clyde slyly smirked as Rarity came into his mind. “Plus, I’ve had some good memories involving Midnight myself.”

Shale proudly nodded. “Good. Midnight is a great car.” He opened the door of his rented four-door car and called over to Clyde. “I’ll see you at home.”

Clyde nodded and entered his brother's beloved car, Midnight. After plugging in his phone to listen to his playlist instead of the radio, Clyde packed out of the parking space and drove home. As he was driving, he couldn’t help but feel weird to think that someone was actually waiting for him to get home. He always would get home to an empty house, but this time his brother would be waiting there as if nothing tragic happened to them.

Clyde pulled into the driveway beside Shale’s rented car upon getting to their house. Shale was already inside, so Clyde quickly pulled the key out of Midnight’s ignition and walked into the house.

As he looked around, he saw Shale leaning against the kitchen cabinets munching on a bag of chips. Shale gave a small wave before grabbing a handful of chips and throwing them in his mouth. Clyde smiled and quickly ran upstairs. He went into his room and found comfortable clothes to get into before heading straight to the shower.

A few minutes and a refreshing shower later, Clyde sat at the end of his bed while looking through his phone. A little after Clyde was out of the shower, Shale decided to get one also, probably for the same reason of washing all the dried-up sweat and grime off of them.

As Clyde sat in his room, he felt strange hearing the shower running. Normally he was the only who took a shower here, and sometimes Rarity when she stayed over, but since Clyde knew she wasn't here and he was sitting on his bed, hearing the shower running completely freaked him out since he never thought his brother would see him again this soon.

The sound of the shower abruptly stopped after a few minutes and the quietness of the house Clyde was accustomed to was present once again. Clyde moved his head around to rid the tension in his neck and as he decided stand up to walk downstairs, he heard the bathroom door open up and footsteps walk through the hallway. Shale looked into his room and frowned.

"Hey, Clyde. Can I ask why there is some makeup and female shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom?"

Clyde laughed. "It's not mine. Rarity keeps some of her extra 'beauty supplies' here."

"Rarity?" asked Shale confused. He looked past Clyde and gazed upon the two frames above his bed. "Oh, that same girl you were telling me about on the phone that night?"

Clyde nodded. "That's the one."

Shale gave him a smile and walked into his room to look at the two collages Rarity made for them for Christmas and after their Manehattan trip. Clyde was used to looking at them for a quick smile in the morning, but he tried to look over at his brother to see his reaction. Shale remained relatively unmoved, but Clyde did see a few smiles show up.

"I'm impressed, Clyde. Not only did you find a girlfriend somehow, you also managed to find one who is rather attractive and probably out of your league."

Clyde frowned. "Thanks for not believing in me..."

Shale shook his head. "What I meant is that you never talked to anyone before I left. You stayed in your room all the time listening to music and avoiding contact with people unless you had to. I'm just surprised is all." He looked back at the collages and scanned the pictures again with a serious gaze. "So, did you sleep with her yet?"

Clyde blinked, not truly understanding the question at first. "Well, yeah. I told you she keeps shampoo and makeup here in case she stays over after we fall asleep on the couch or bed."

Shale kept his eyes on the various pictures. "No. Did you sleep with her yet?" he repeated with extra emphasis.

Clyde felt his face warm up and he scratched his head to act casual like he didn't know what his brother was talking about. "I-I don't have to answer that. W-What makes you say that I have?"

Shale looked over at him with his serious gaze, making Clyde feel even more uncomfortable. "I'm not asking for the details. I just don't want you to break the girl's heart."

"W-What?"

Shale closed his eyes. "Most of the guys I roomed with during training would always talk about their adventures with girls during high school. Almost all of them only dated and pretended to love them just to sleep with them to act all cool to their friends and to see how many times they could get laid as if it was a simple contest." Shale opened his eyes to look at the pictures one last time and then quickly shot his gaze to Clyde. "There isn't a single picture on that wall where at least one of you isn't smiling. I can tell she loves you very much and I haven't even met her in person yet."

Clyde nodded at his brother and looked at the pictures on the wall himself. His brother was right about the pictures all having at least one smile on them, something Clyde didn't notice but at the same time not surprised about knowing Rarity's personality. "Trust me. I don't want to ever break her heart either. She means too much to me."

"Good," replied his brother giving him a pat on the back. "I have my faith in you, Clyde."

Clyde smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot coming from the guy who I looked up to all my life, especially after our parents' death."

Shale rubbed his head and laughed. "I'm not a hero, but I did promise to take care of you." Shale patted Clyde's back again and looked at the Manehattan collage. "So you two went to Manehattan?"

"Yeah. I took her there for Fashion Week, which she is into that topic tremendously, as a Christmas and I guess Valentine's present."

"So this is where all that money goes to..."

Clyde slyly smirked. "You said before you left to only spent the money on necessities. Rarity makes me happy and I couldn't imagine what I would be like if I didn't meet her last year. Other than food and groceries, all the money spent so far was probably relating to her in someway." Clyde looked at the heart-shaped collage and a large smile appeared on his face. "It's because no matter how life treats you, there's at least one person who loves you enough for you to keep striving through it. She's my muse."

Shale nodded with a smirk. "You have changed after all and it's for the better. I'm proud of you." The two shared a smile before a stomach gurgle erupted from Shale. He laughed and turned towards the door. "I guess I'm still hungry so time for me to eat some more of those delicious chips."

"Those chips are really good," replied Clyde in agreement. Shale started to walk out of his room but Clyde stopped him. "Hey, would you like to meet Rarity and her family in a few minutes? I'm sure they are home, but I'll give her a call real quick to see."

Shale smiled. "Sure. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen with those chips in the meantime." He left the room and charged down the stairs.

Clyde looked back at his two collages and pulled out his phone. While the conversation with his brother turned rather personal, Clyde knew his brother only wanted him to be smart about certain decisions. Clyde knew Rarity wasn't just an "object" to him. She was a combination of a best friend and a soulmate. She was also the only person who knew his heart and mind as well as he did. Clyde quickly clicked on Rarity's contact name under the favorites section, which truthfully, only she was part of, and put the phone to his ear. After a few rings, Rarity's blissful voice soothed Clyde's ear.

"Hello, my love! I see you couldn't wait until ten to call me." She gave a lovely giggle.

"You know I love the sound of your alluring voice," said Clyde smoothly, however, in his mind he hated how cheesy that sounded.

"Why thank you, darling." Rarity paused briefly. "Say Clyde, this might be rather awkward to ask on the phone, but did I leave my bra in the back of your car?"

Clyde blushed. "W-What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm in my room right now and I can't seem to find that laced lavender bra that I had on when we... how do I put it? Fooled around in the back of your car a few nights ago. I really love it because, as you know, it matches my- Wait! I found it! It was under pillow!"

Clyde sighed in relief away from the phone. He knew if Shale found a bra in the back of the car, let alone in the back of Midnight, he wouldn't ever let it down to him. "So, everything is good then?"

"Yep! You'll see for yourself in a few nights! Maybe..." She playfully giggled again. Clyde frowned but eventually smiled. "Anyway, darling. Did you want something?"

"I wanted to see if you and your family was home. I have someone for you to meet."

"Of course I'm home. You know I rarely drive since you like to chauffeur me around all the time. My parents should be getting home soon and Sweetie Belle is... I think she is somewhere with her friends I assume or on her way home from school."

"Perfect. I'll be over soon then."

Rarity gasped. "Clyde, did you buy me a puppy?!"

"Wait, what?"

"You did didn't you?"

"No! You know Opal would start hating me if I did that," laughed Clyde.

"I suppose you're right. Anyway! I'll see you soon then!" Rarity kissed him through the phone, by sound, like she normally did before hanging up.

Clyde put his phone in his pocket and shook his head while laughing. "I love that girl so much."

Clyde made his way downstairs and looked at his brother who was now eating a sandwich. "You ready?" he asked during his breath of air.

Clyde nodded. "She's home so whenever you want to leave."

Shale smacked his hands together and jogged over to the keys. "Let's bounce. I'm driving Midnight."

"Fine with me."

Shale grabbed the keys and excitedly ran out the door. Clyde checked to make sure everything was off before locking up the house. He walked over to the car he was so used to driving and opened the passenger seat. It felt weird to not be in the driver's seat, but he also enjoyed the feeling of actually sitting there and just chilling as well. Shale soon sat in the driver's seat and rubbed his palms around the steering wheel. "It's been so long..."

"Don't get too excited," joked Clyde.

Shale ignored him and turned the key in the ignition, smiling largely at the roar of the engine. He grabbed his shades and looked at Clyde. "Hey, it has been so long since I drove Midnight here it was..."–Shale put on his sunglasses–"...driving me crazy."

Clyde smacked his head. "Damn, dude. That was awful."

"Ease up, Clyde. I was waiting all that time to say that." He gave a laugh and put the car in reverse and pulled out the driveway. Clyde turned on the radio, but Shale turned the volume down after a few seconds. "So, on the way here, tell me how you met this girl."

Clyde looked out the window. "Well. I guess it all started the week after I sat in that Saturday morning detention after the first week of school."

Comments

[axl bishop]

enjoyable as always

i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr289/axlthehedgehog_2008/responses/keep-calm-and-stay-classy%20v2.png

stayclassy

[BRyeMC]

5756941 Awesome. Glad you are enjoyed!

[BlueSun52]

Awesome chapter!

[BRyeMC]

5757213 Thank you!

[KillerRobotQuote]

Shale's a cool broski.

[BRyeMC]

5757370 Yeah he is. A true broski.

[AdmiralPopeyesBeard]

Ohh, they did the ~HEY HEY~ in the ~CAR CAR~ didn't they? Niiiice. So that's what the title ment.

Great chapter by the way, dude!

5757370
5757491

Agreed!

[BRyeMC]

5766799 They also did it in other places, too! Probably. Most likely.

And thanks!

[Azure_Shadow]

Way to go Clyde, having fun with your lady is important. Swift would never have the bravery to do that though.

[BRyeMC]

5795345 Swift actually needs to get his girl first, though.

[Azure_Shadow]

5795350 Well even if he did, I doubt he'd have Clyde's courage.

[BRyeMC]

5795359 I feel it would be more of a mutual decision than him just asking her.

Although, I can see her asking him more than him asking.

[Azure_Shadow]

5795498 Pinkie: Swifty, the party don't stop just cause we're the only ones left.

Swift:

[BRyeMC]

5795547 Luckily for Clyde and Swift, their girls seem to be the ones to initiate the fun times, and probably very often.

All the boys have to do is stand there, smile, and nod.

[axl bishop]

Love Conquers All , i like it

stayclassy

[BRyeMC]

5849359 Indeed it does, at least in this case!

[Anime PJ]

Okay, taking a quick break to ask this, how the hell did you guys end up discussing the characters' sex lives in the comment section? I can understand commenting on Clyde's Car Conquest, but you guys got way too into that conversation ... and I had way too much fun reading through it.

On a sidenote, I am also way too proud of the alliteration I used in this comment.