The Girls of My Life 2: Old Flames and New Flames

As the day turned to twilight, Spike and his boys exited the winnebago wearing make shift hunting equipment, "Boys, tonight we are monster hunters." Spike told his crew.

"I love it." Pip said eagerly.

"So where are we headed?" Snips asked.

"Follow me." Spike said, as he led his entourage down the block.

Meanwhile, Ember was in her living room watching TV, before looking out her window and saw Spike and his boys walking down the block all dressed up like they were going on a hunting trip, "Now where are those guys going, hmm?" she pondered, before whipping out her cellphone.

Spike and his crew had reached the woods on the edge of town, "Boys, we have arrived." Spike said in a presenting tone.

"In there, huh?" Snails asked.

"Uh-huh. Our mission is to find us the most foul beast to ever walk the earth, the dreaded Demogorgon." Spike whipped out a drawn picture of said monster.

The boys expressed their repulse, as Featherweight spoke, "That thing's mouth is bigger than my cousins."

"The Demogorgon is strong, durable, and can is strongly attracted to blood. It can sense even small amounts from anyone anywhere even across dimensions." Spike explained wearily.

"Such a find would leave us famous." Pip said with excitement.

"Yes, but be warned once we set foot in there, there's no turning back. So if anyone wants to back out now and be a coward for the rest of their life, do so." Spike told them.

The boys looked at each others before nodding and stood their ground, "We're all in." Featherweight answered.

"Good choice." Spike said, as the boys turned to the woods and went inside, unaware they were being watched.

The boys trekked through the woods while making sure to travel along the path, while keeping an eye out for anything just to stay in character. As Spike walked he narrated, "The Brave Monster Hunters begin their quest through the Black Forest with one thing on their mind. Find the dreaded Demogorgon and take it down!"

"But there are still the risks of other beasts lurking around." Snips said adding to the drama while popping up from behind Spike.

"That's never stopped us before." Snails noted.

"Agreed. So whatever is waiting for us, we'll face it together." Featherweight declared.

"Well, said, comrades." Spike commended them, as they decided to go off the trail and into the woods.

They crept through the brambles and bushes, while climbing over logs. Suddenly Spike stopped, followed by the others, "Spike, what's the hold up?" Thorax asked.

Spike shushed them and motioned ahead. They looked over seeing a deer feeding, "Wow. So majestic and beautiful." Pip gasped.

"We shouldn't disturb it." Featherweight said.

"Agreed," Spike confirmed, "Let's move around it." they followed Spike's lead as they kept their distance while making sure not to make a sound.

Unfortunately, Snips ended up stepping on a twig resulting in a snapping sound that alerted the deer. The boys stood perfectly still as the deer looked around wondering if it was alone. After nothing but silence it returned to its feeding much to the boys relief. They continued to creep along before they were out of wind of the animal.

When nighttime came, the boys were using their flashlights to guide them through the darkness. Spike spoke to his friends, "Well, I'm sorry to say, but we have not found the Demogorgon."

"Well, you can't find them all." Thorax replied.

"Yeah, plus it was a nice night for a hike." Pip added.

"I suggest we head on back now." Featherweight said.

"Agreed." Spike confirmed.

"Oops, need to take a leak." Snips began, as he went to a tree, but before he could unzip, Snails spoke up.

"Snips! Don't do your business in front of us!"

"Yeah, man. If you're gonna do that, go further so we don't have to smell it." Pip added.

"Ok-ok." Snips said, as he went further away from them.

When Snips saw he was far enough from them he started doing his business. He finished and zipped up, "Whew! That was a long one," he was about to follow the path back to his friends, until he heard some twigs snapping and bushes rustling. He froze and looked around him while aiming his flashlight in every direction, "Guys? Is that you?" he heard more rustling, "Guys, this isn't funny." he stated while sounding scared. Snips kept backing away and spinning around wondering where we has being watched. Suddenly he looked behind him, and the scene cut back to Spike and the others who heard Snips screaming.

"Snips!" they shouted, as they ran for the source, and stopped seeing Snips flashlight.

"Snips!" Spike shouted, "Where are you?"

"Snips, you better not be fucking around with us or we'll leave you!" Snails called.

"Guys, help me!" Snips voice came from the woods.

"Guys, I got a feeling we're not really alone here." Pip said in fright.

"What do we do?" Thorax asked.

"Guys, stay together!" Spike instructed, as they kept close, "We got to find Snips."

"How do you know it's not too late for him?" Featherweight asked.

"It's never too late," Spike replied seriously, "Besides he'd do it for us."

"I'm not so sure he would." Snails replied with doubt.

"Oh, that's comforting." Thorax said in sarcasm.

The boys proceeded with caution, while aiming their flashlights all around, "Snips!" they all kept calling out for, but received no answer.

"He could be anywhere." Snails said.

"And it's getting harder to see out here." Pip put in.

"Think maybe we should call the police?" Featherweight asked.

"It's logical." Thorax agreed.

"Are you nuts?" Snails asked rhetorically.

"What?" Spike asked.

"If we call the cops and tell them this, they'll wonder what we're even doing out here in the first place."

"We tell them the truth?" Thorax asked.

Snails gave Thorax a dry expression and spoke in an equally dry tone, "Then they'll think we lead sad miserable lives."

"And what if they think we're just a bunch of stoner boys getting wasted?" Featherweight asked at the possibility.

"They can't write us off as that since we're clean." Spike noted.

"Guys, I think we're getting off topic here." Thorax reminded them.

Spike nodded, "Thorax is right, we need to stay focused and find Snips."

Featherweight looked around, "Hey, where's Pip?"

"Pip?" They asked before hearing him scream.

"Pipsqueak!" Spike shouted.

"What's going on?!" Snails cried, before they heard a loud echoing roar.

"What the hell was that?" Featherweight asked, sounding more frightened than before.

"You don't think the Demogorgon is real, do you?" Thorax asked in worry.

"It can't be." Spike replied, before hearing another roar.

"That sounds real enough!" Snails cried.

"What do we do?" Thorax asked, before Featherweight screamed.

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" he took off running.

"Featherweight!" the other shouted, as they ran after him.

"Featherweight, come back!" Spike shouted, only for them to hear him scream.

"It got Featherweight!" Snails cried.

"Now it's just us!" Thorax cried, before they heard the roar again.

"I don't want it to end like this!" Snails screamed, as he tried to find a way out but disappeared into the darkness.

"He's doomed." Spike said, before realizing Thorax was gone too, "Thorax!"

Spike looked around panicking as beads of sweat ran down his face, "Ohmygod-Ohmygod-Ohmygod! What am I gonna do?" he asked himself before hearing the roar right in front of him and saw a shadow moving in the darkness. Terrified he ran from the figure screaming, "SOMEONE HELP!" h tripped over a branch and fell face first to the ground. He groaned, before looking up and saw a hooded figure standing before him, "Mercy!" he winced, before the figure lunged at him resulting in him screaming.

The next thing Spike knew he couldn't see anything, only darkness, "What happened? Where am I?" he asked.

"Spike, is that you?" Came Pip's voice.

"Pipsqueak?"

"Yeah it's me."

"Anybody else with you?"

"I'm here." Snips answered.

"So am I." Thorax replied.

"Me too." Featherweight added.

"And me." Snails finished.

"Where are we?" Spike asked.

"I don't know. I can't see anything." Thorax answered.

"Our heads have been sacked." Snips explained.

"What got the jump on us?" Spike wondered.

"None of us has any clue." Snails answered.

Suddenly the boys had their sacks removed allowing them to see again, and noticed they were wrist and ankle tied to chairs under a single light in some room, "What is this?" Pip asked.

They suddenly heard the roaring sound from the forest which made them scream, "Demogorgon!" Suddenly the lights came on and the group saw they were in a familiar basement workout gym. Surrounding them was Ember, Sunset, Starlight, Moonlight, Sunshine, and Moondancer who were laughing.

"Oh, my ribs are killing me!" Ember laughed, while clutching her side.

"You guys should see your faces!" Sunset chuckled.

"What the?" Thorax asked.

"Girls?" Spike asked, "What's going on here?"

"Why're we tied up like this?" Snips asked worried.

"We couldn't resist." Sunshine giggled.

"We faked you guys out." Moonlight grimaced.

The boys processed everything and realized it, "It was you girls out there spooking us?" Pip asked.

"That's right." Starlight admitted.

"How?" Featherweight asked.

Moondancer answered, "Ember saw guys heading off somewhere so she phoned us and we met up to trail you. Being a known fan of Tabletop and RPGs I could tell from your attire you were going out into the woods for LARP. When we learned you were planning on pretending to hunt for monsters Ember brought with her a loudspeaker and did her perfect impression of a monster roar."

Ember held up the loudspeaker and gave a medium sized roar into it which sounded like the creature they heard in the woods. The boys face faulted, as Spike spoke to his friends, "We've been played."

"And we fell for it." Snails added feeling embarrassed.

The girls began untying the boys, "We hope we didn't scare you guys too much." Sunshine said in concern.

"Based off their screaming, I think we did." Moonlight noted.

"Well, we were scared shitless." Snips admitted.

"And yet it was exhilarating." Spike put in.

"But don't ever do it again." Thorax warned them.

"We promise." Sunset replied, as the girls laughed.

Spike looked at his pals, "Well, boys, looks like our LARP took an unexpected turn."

"Yeah, almost got real." Pip said.

"Let us never tell this to anyone, and that means you girls." Spike warned them.

"Don't worry, this is between us." Ember assured.

"Thank you." Featherweight said.

"Before you guys go back to Spike's place, how about a beer?" Ember offered some beers.

"After all that I need it." Snails said, as he took a beer.

So everyone had a beer, as Moondancer spoke, "You know guys ever since I saw you I wondered because you looked familiar."

"We do?" Pip asked.

"How?" Snips wondered.

"I didn't know yet, until I saw an old popular video from three years ago under Spike's profile page on VidTube." Moondancer explained, as Spike's eyes lit up.

"What?"

Moondancer pulled up her laptop and showed everyone a video, "This is you guys, isn't it?" she asked.

The boys minus Thorax paled, as Ember read the video, "Chop Away at My Heart, by the Lumberjacks?"

"You guys did a video together?" Sunshine asked curiously.

"It was really meant for just a joke." Snips explained, while feeling embarrassed as were the others.

"Let's see it together." Moondancer started the video.

"Awesome." Thorax watched.

"No!" the boys cried.

(Chop Away at My Heart)

They watched the video taking place in a forest where Spike and his boys were dressed like lumberjacks with red and black flannel shirts, jeans, and boots. The boys had their sleeves rolled up, while Spike's shirt looked like the sleeves have been ripped off. The group was dancing in sync with Spike singing lead verse, as the others sang as backup.

The girls watched with excitement, while Spike and his boys were flustered, "Wow, Spike, you're so passionate." Sunshine gasped.

"I know, right?" Moondancer asked.

"Please turn it off," Spike pleaded, before holding up a dollar, "I will give you this dollar I found in Snips' pocket."

"You what?" Snips asked.

"You can keep it." Starlight answered, as they continued to watch the video.

When the video finished, Snails spoke to Spike, "Why didn't you delete that?"

"I wanted too, but there were so many comments." Spike answered.

"Why're you guys so ashamed of it?" Sunset asked.

"Look, we were high school teens, we didn't know what we were doing." Pip explained.

"Well, I think it's great." Moondancer said.

"Yeah. Even I do." Moonlight admitted.

"We'll never escape this fame." Featherweight told the boys, as the girls chuckled.

The boys continued to stick around for a few days getting to know Spike's old town, the girls, and Thorax, before it was time for them to head back home.

One morning as Snips was driving the winnebago along the road back for Canterlot, the others were lounging about relaxing, "It was fun in Ponyville." Pip told them.

"We sure had a blast." Featherweight put in

"But it'll be nice to be back in Canterlot." Snails said.

"Especially with the souvenir we're bringing back." Snips noted, as Spike came out from the back.

"I'm glad my parents allowed me to come back to Canterlot with you guys so I can see the city as well as the girls again." he told his friends.

"They're gonna be excited to see you." Pip said.

"But remember, none of you are to tell them about the other girls." Spike warned them.

"And we made the promise not too." Snips assured him.

"Good. Because I don't wanna have to gag you guys," Spike said, before looking out the window, and thought to himself, 'Girls, baby's coming home.'