Birthday Surprisesby Tower of 0ChaptersWhere to Begin....Where'd it All Go?A Trip OutdoorsThrough the Woods....... And into the WhirlpoolWe have a Title?Turning those TablesA Man and His DecisionsThings Fall Back Into PlaceWhere to Begin...."Worst... birthday... EVER" A young man muttered to himself. "First my girlfriend breaks up with me, then my parents become 'busy' for the night, and now I don't have anyway of contacting my friends!" He continued with a slight haste, but ended with a sigh. "Atleast I can count on you to calm me in a way, LittleBigPlanet." The light hum of his console filled the room as he occupied the couch not too far away. His day started off as it would, normal. School was fine up until lunch rolled around. Of course, her parents' request didn't make him too happy since he was kind of expecting it from them. His mood fared no better, but chose an appropriate game for it. His 'library', as he liked to call his collection of games, consisted of many titles, some of which he played when he felt a certain way or if he was bored. As for now, he wasn't in the mood for the destruction of vehicles that Twisted Metal offered, nor was he in the mood to take up arms as the great Commander Shepard. Not even his classics that were Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper would provide ailment. Right now, he only wanted to rely on his 'cute' (in some aspects) game that was LittleBigPlanet 2. Another sigh left his lips, happy this time. His eyes gazed upon his sackperson's pod. "Time to get started then." The words came out as a murmur under his breath. It wasn't until several hours later he let out a yawn, the sun now setting, and the level coming to a close. Before he could reach the gate, a flash appeared out of the corner of his eye. Of course, he paid it no mind, until another flash caught his attention, this one was a lot brighter. The couch was positioned to an angled where anyone sitting on the end could see down the hallway. His eyes were now fixed on the darkened hallway. Noises were now emanating from behind a door. His door. Someone, something, someplace, might have just found its way into his room. He slowly rose from the couch and walked his way into the hall. Not wanting to alert who, or what, had found their way into his room, refused to turn on the hall light. "Aliens that decided to invade Earth by starting with a simple house? No... no. A madman with a blue box? Pffft... yeah right, like he'll be here. Burglars most likely." Scurrying could be heard on the other side now, the voices piping up then coming to a silence. The door flew open and the light flicked on in a matter of seconds. The room looked as it was when he left this morning. Bed a slight mess, desk in its usual spot, and the floor as its usual, skidded, self. "Wait? Skidded? My floor isn't skidded.." His eyes narrowed and took a step further into his room. "Come on out, I know your here..." His voice was heard from within the cracked closet door nearby. "Justin!" A female voice called out out and the sound of beating feathers could be heard before the lad is question was tackled to the ground by a grey form. "I haven't seen you in forever!" "Sheesh, Derpy, it's only been, like, what, four months?" Justin chuckled as he enveloped the pegasus in a hug, his laughter dies down and his eyes narrowed at the filly "But how did you even get here?" Justin's mind drifted off to his memories of Equestria. He wasn't what his world called a brony at the time, but he made sure to check out the show. Not important for the matter. When he first arrived, the only pony to greet Justin was, in fact, Derpy. Sure, he was a little confuse as to why she wasn't the only pony running from him, but then he came to understand that she grew up being different. With her eyes off balance most of the time and her flight was a little less than average, but Derpy made do with what she had, and Justin appreciated that about her. As time flew past the month mark, he came to know Vinyl and Twilight. Twilight was the one who sent him back to Earth, but Justin had an awesome time partying with Vinyl when he didn't feel like sleeping at all. Derpy just shrugged but continued to sit on Justin's chest. "Four months is kinda like forever!" "You're question might be one for a unicorn dude." A secondary female voice came from the same closet. The fur white as snow, blue hair that might glow under certain lighting, and last but not least, dark shades that covered her eyes, "Such as myself." "Vinyl!" Justin carefully put Derpy off to the side and got to his feet, a smile returning to his face. "Long time no see, eh?" As the human approached the unicorn, both engaged in a funky little handshake they made up when they got to know eachother. A brohoof high, a brohoof low, Vinyl jumped up and somehow smacked Justin's hand all four times with her hooves in a single spin before finishing off with him snapping and pointing at the filly. "So, how did you guys get here exactly?" Justin couldn't help but ask Vinyl. "Simple, she sent you back here four months ago. I'd have to say, this isn't exactly what I'd call a geat pad." Vinyle continued on. "Of course..." Justing mentally facepalmed, "... Twilight Sparkle." "Princess Twilight Sparkle now" Derpy corrected. "Okay, one, this is my bedroom, not a full home, and two, Princess?" Justin just looked at Derpy with confusion. "Yeah.. Twilight became Princess about... hmmmm... two months ago maybe? It was pretty sweet to watch the coronation." Vinyl smiled up at him before nudging his leg. "So, are ya goin to show us around or what?" "Uhm... yes... did you two even think about Twilight being able to bring you two back?" "Nope!" Both said in a cheery unison tone. "Great..." Just brought a palm to his face, shaking his head. "You two are technically stranded here for... who knows how long." "Atleast we're stranded with you." Derpy said, jumping up onto the bed, occupying the foot. In a sense, that was true, and Justin didn't want to question that. Where'd it All Go? As the night was growing and the trio's activities started to wind down. Justin found himself sitting on the couch, Vinyl's sunglasses snug on his face, and both mares sleeping at his sides. He was current;y staring up at the ceiling, collecting his thoughts that have been shooed away for fun. Vinyl and Derpy were in a place they shouldn't even exist in, even Justin knew he had no room to speak due to the fact that he found himself in the same situation months ago. Vice versa took on a whole new meaning for him now. He brought his head down and his eyes met the now half-eaten cake. A smile crept along Justin's face as he thought back to how Vinyl almost put away the whole cake in one go. He guessed it was a good thing Derpy stopped her.... somewhat. Justin started to look around the room for a clock, well, the only clock that was present. One in the morning, so it read, causing a yawn to emerge from the young man. "I guess it's time to hit the hay." Justin muttered. One of the fillies stirred, slightly yawning. "Aw.. c'mon dude, the night's still young." "Ha ha. The last time I tried to stay up, it was for seventy-two hours, no naps, nuthin." "Not even an energy drink?" Vinyl cocked her head off to the side, red iris' practically sparkling. "Nope." "Dang dude, you stayed up longer than I have, even after a show I pass completely out." Justin just nodded once, got up, took off the shades, and placed them on the coffee table. "C'mon, help me clean up some of this mess." Vinyl's horn quickly lit up, encasing the cake, cake cover, plates, and forks in her magic and placed the wares in the sink, the cake in the fridge. Justin was straightening up some of the living room to make it look some what nice before turning towards a certain sleeping pegasus. He gently took the snoozing mare in his arms, lighter than she looked, must be a perk of being a pegasus. Easily maneuvering around the couch to the switches to turn the lights off in the kitchen and living room before walking down the hall towards his room. As simple as it was, Justin still called it his sanctuary, and that's all he needed. His own little world to escape from reality. The young man put the sleeping Derpy on his bed and moved around it to the nightstand on the other side. His movements were swift, knowing his own room for a while allowed this, and he turned on the dim lamp adorned on his nightstand. Vinyl always wondered what else wen on in Justin's head. He'd always say that he was thinking about one thing, then turn out to be thinking about another. There were also times where he would be making noises under his breathe when he thought nopony was around. Of course, Vinyl has had some sort of time to figure out a few things about him. If Justin say he's thinking about one thing, assume that there is another. Her attention wasn't focused too long on that thought though, as Justin moved over to the closet and picked out a two more blankets. This piqued her interest a bit, slightly assuming what he was going to do now. "And what do you think you're doing?" Vinyl asked, trotting over to the human. "Making my bed on the floor, why?" Vinyl huffed and placed herself on the blankets, blocking any attempt Justin could make to adjust them. "Oh no you're not. You're gonna climb in the bed and you're gonna like it." "Is this a house guest telling me what she thinks I should do?" Vinyl just smiled up at the young man, intent on staying put. "Besides, I think Derpy might've actually enjoyed sleeping against you." Justin raised a brow before breaking his gaze on Vinyl. Sure enough, Derpy was laying on the bed, making slight movements and an expression that told him she was uncomfortable at the moment. With a shrug of his shoulders, he didn't try to argue back and went away from his intended spot for the night to go lay on the bed next to Derpy. The pegasus' movements stopped as soon as her fur came in contact with his shirt. She let out a content sigh and settled in. Vinyl hopped up on the bed to Justin's open side and laid herself down. A small smile splayed on her face as she looked directly at him. "If anypony knew about this, you'd be the envy of most stallions." She stated with her smile. "And why's that?" "Not very many can score two mares in bed." Vinyl put her head on Justin's chest. "Pfft, yeah.. sure. I'm just lucky I have to ponies from another plane of existence as friends who care about me even after I leave, and they just so happen to be girls." Vinyl sat there for a moment, listening to the steady thump-thump thump-thump of his heart. "Who knows, maybe they just care about you more than you really know." "And just what exactly are you getting at, Miss Vinyl Scratch?" "Well...." She closed her eyes for a few minutes before opening them again to meet his,"... maybe a certain Disk Jockey and Courier might just have developed feelings for you while you were gone." "Ponies falling in love with a human? Seems a bit... out there.. if you ask me." Vinyl sat up, "How is the an 'out there' concept?" "Well, one, I just got out of a relationship and probably isn't the best idea right now to jump into another. Two, I kinda don't see this working out opposed to living in, what I assume to be, different universes. Sure, I might be okay with going out with a pony for experimentation on a new perspective, but, how would it really work out?" Vinyl just sat there for a moment. Just had just made some good points opposing the idea, but he also let on to something more. She also knew he came a long way from when he first arrived in Equestria. Justin was about as shy as Fluttershy back then, but broke through with the help of Derpy and herself. "Ever been camping?" This definitely caught Vinyl off guard, her ears perked up at the young man's voice. "No, I'm a city mare, I've never been camping in my entire life." "Maybe we should change that tomorrow. Take you both camping." A Trip Outdoors Justin stood at the stove with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. The smell of batter filled the seemingly empty house, somewhat quiet for the exception of the shower running and sizzling. If pancakes ever smelled so good, he didn't want to be right. His wet hair was matted to his head and hummed a delightful tune. He soon heard the shower shut off. "You girls ready yet?" Justin yell over his shoulder, flipping a pancake onto a plate with the others. "Almost!" Derpy's voice rang out from behind the door. "Good, breakfast's almost ready!" "It smells good dude!" Vinyl was heard approaching from behind. "What are we havin'?" "Pancakes, a favorite of mine, with blueberries mind you." "Well, aren't you special when it comes to cooking?" "Don't try to make me blush, Vinyl. You even ready?" "I can be a flatterer man." "Noted. Derpy, you dried off yet?" "Mostly. But your towel caught fire." "What went wrong?" "I just don't know what went wrong!" Justin just shook his head with a smile, knowing that sometimes impossible things happen when Derpy is involved. Not that he didn't like her, hell, he loved Derpy to death, but sometimes that girl can get into some sort of trouble she isn't aware of. He flipped the last pancake onto the serving plate and switched the oven top off, then twisted the dial in the center off as well. Putting on a mitt and opening the stove, Justin reached in to pull out a tray containing one of the pegasus' favorite treats. A flutter of wings were his clue that she knew what he had just pulled out. "Well," Justin started, taking the two items to the table that's now being set by Vinyl and her magic, "time to eat up! Pancakes and muffins for all!" He heard a squee come from one of the fillies before going to his room to pick out and pack some clothes. After all was said an done, a human fully clothed and breakfast done with, came time to start packing. Time to make use of that old cooler was all Justin thought about as he filled the container of drinks with a layer of ice over them. A tent was next to collect, and know his parents, that would be somewhere in the garage. Thankfully, Justin located the damn thing on one of the top shelves. After dragging it down from its storage space and placing it in the living room with the cooler and his bag. Vinyl was looking at him funny, or, a different kind of look. "Problem?" He asked, not bothering to look away. "Yeah, have you even thought about what I told you last night?" "I have, and still am. Vinyl, I know we're good friends and I know four months is a long time not to see somebody, but I need some time to get over some things." Justin explained. "Oh yeah? How do you plan on doing that?" "With two of the best fillies I've ever met." He looked at the pony with a soft smile. His words were true up until the opinion stepped in. Vinyl didn't notice though and her cheeks went pink. Justin clapped his hands together, gaining the attention of Derpy, who was nuzzling a leftover muffin. The table was cleaned up a bit, the dishes in the sink, and two fillies in the midst of a camping trip. "Why are you even taking me camping?" "I don't see why not to take a city mare on her first camping trip." Justin reasoned, "How long do you gals have anyway?" "We won't know until Princess Twilight comes fetches for us." "Long enough.... I guess. Alright, you two in the back seats, can't risk people seeing you." The human ushered the two into the garage and into the passenger seats in the back of his car. Once that was done, he popped the trunk and put the cooler in first, scooting it all the way back, then proceeding to place the packed tent along with his change of clothes. Securing the trunk's lid, Justin went to occupy the driver's seat, showing the girls how to fasten their seatbelts before going on to his. "Sooo.. what is this thing?" Vinyl asked, looking at the human. "This, my fine little filly," Justin started the car, causing it to hum to life, "is a car." Vinyl sat in a sort of confused silence. "Think of a carriage that doesn't require ponies to pull it around." He then said plainly. "Ohhhh... got'cha." Vinyl nodded her head. "How long is this trip gonna last?" Derpy raised a forehoof as if she was in school. "Two hours, at least. It's take longer for bathroom breaks." Justin's eye shifted to the rear-view mirror. "How do you suppose that'll work. You've told us about the dangers of being out in the open in your world for us." "Simple really, pull over to a wooded area if available, and go there." He grinned, opening the garage door and pulling out. "Or I could have you use cups, which might not be the best option." Justin soon got the wheels on that car going, a trip he was determined to make and an experience he wanted to make the very best he could. only about thirty minutes have passed by, Vinyl on the verge of falling asleep, Derpy peeking out the window. Most of the drive was in silence, and luckily, very few drivers this time of day. "What were you two talking about last night?" Derpy asked out of the blue. "Errm... Stuff?" Justin hoped she would buy into that. "Didn't sound like stuff." Derpy pointed out. "Just talked about this trip, no worries." Vinyl swooped in for the save. "Sounded like more than just the trip." There was a small silence present now. "You told him, didn't you?" Vinyl got a lump in her throat. "W-what? Preposterous!" Justin quickly responded. "Preposterous?" Vinyl was looking at the human in confusion now. "Expression I like to use..." Justin shrugged. "Humans are still so weird.." Vinyl said with a shake of her head. "You guys are trying to change the subject..." Derpy pointed out, still not convinced. "Well damn, atleast she's keeping track Vinyl!" Justin chuckled "Fine, I did let him know about how we felt after he was sent back." Vinyl admitted, hanging her head against the back of Justin's seat. "At first, I did find a bit strange, but then again, I'm not THAT sane of a person just yet. I also happened to have my stomped out yesterday by my girlfirend, which..." Justin sighed at the brought up the thought, "... take some time to get over." "Ooooh.." Derpy said under her breath. "Hey, cheer up! We're finally at my little paradise from the city!" Justin got their attention as he pulled into an open plain. The plain featured a small trail that looked like it was meant for the human's car and continued down a hill. The slope of the hill wasn't too steep, but that didn't stop Justin from slowing his car down while driving down the slope. Both the ponies in the car looked out the windows to the trees that were now starting to engulf the area around, save for the trail. After a few hours of hiking, the trio had finally reached their intended destination. A clearing where the grass grew shorter but decorated with dozens of flowers. The trees that surrounded this clearing would make one feel as though their location was secluded from the rest of the world. Justin could feel a certain grey filly rattling against his leg. With a short smile, he knelt down and patted the filly on her golden mane. She looked at him with a sort of fear behind her look, wings ruffling their feathers at her side. His hand was slowly rubbing the top of her head. "Ar-a-are you sure there aren't any Timberwolves in here?" Derpy asked, her voice visibly shaky. "Derpy, Wolves made of sticks and logs don't exist in the human world." Justin tried to reassure her fears. "Promise?" She asked. "Promise." He simply replied with his smile. "I should get the tent set up for the night, would you care to get some wood for a fire Vinyl?" "Yeah, sure, I'll just leave the scaredy pony here with you." Vinyl remarked, walking off into the treeline. A short while after the tent had been set up, a nice warm fire started, some laughs, and some experiences being told over the time they hadn't seen one another, Vinyl was busy poking at the fire with a random stick she found laying around. The fire itself showed no signs of dying out soon, but the sun was no longer able to be seen even through the trees. Justin was judging the time by the moon, seeing how far it was across the sky. Derpy was busy clinging to his side, still scared about something, he couldn't blame her though. Sometimes a forest, depending on location, can seem scary. Although the human world was nothing these two were accustomed to, but he was. All a forest needed to be scary was some sort of tale and certain group of predators, like coyotes, or wolves, or.... velociraptors. "Heh.... velociraptor gentlemen." Justin couldn't help but burst out laughing at the last thought he came up with. This caught Vinyl's attention. "Dude, what's so funny over there?" "Oh nothing," Justin tried his best to calm his laughter so he could speak, "just thinking about how one of the most dangerous hunters in recorded history wearing a top hat, monocle, sipping on tea, and being civil." "You humans are weird...." Vinyl concluded again with a smirk, going back to poking at the fire. "Yeah... we can be." Justin looked down at Derpy, who at this point was burying her face into his shirt, and started to rub her back. "There ain't anything out here to get you Derpy. Even if there was, you could count on good ol' Justin to fend them off," Derpy just nodded, but kept her face buried still. "Then why are you burying your head into my side?" "Because you're so soft." She meekly replied, wrapping her hooves around his waist tighter. "Well, in that case..." the human turned to his bag and dug into it, bringing out a small bag of items, "...s'mores, anypony?" He asked with a smile, Derpy and Vinyl now looking at the bag he held. Through the Woods...."Gah!" Justin inhale loudly before pushing his top half up off the ground. He did a quick inspection of the campsite to find all ponies and human accounted for. Although, he did find himself caked in melted Marshmallow goop with a peaceful, sleep, Derpy on his legs. That was a sight that brought a smile to his face. His eyes wandered over to the tent, where he assumed Vinyl was sleeping. "Psst!" Justin tried his best not to wake Derpy, "Scratch, you awake?" No response. "Dammit Vinyl" Justin cursed under his breath. He gently lifted the sleeping pegasus from his legs and placed her of the grass. The marshmallow might have been dried, but it was hurting like a bitch when he was moving. He guessed the only thing that he was glad for is that his pants were still on and they weren't covered in the white goo that used to be a soft treat. Justin made a sort of crawl towards the tent and felt around for the unicorn he thought was inside, but could feel a solid form. The human tore away the covers to find just a pile of pillows in the center. "Oh shit..." Justin muttered to himself. "Derpy! Wake up, we got a problem!" "Whaa?" Derpy asked sleepily, stretching from her spot before ever realizing that she was moved from her preferred bedding. "We got a problem I said, Vinyl's gone." Justin turned back towards the outside of the tent for any signs of where the mare might have run off to. Justin knew from some experience that Vinyl had a tendency to sleep walk after shows, parties, or a really exciting night. Normally, clues would be left behind as to where and when the sleep-walker usually ran off to. This though, there was a likelihood that the clues were not even present at the time, maybe some pressed grass. "Of course!" Justin finally realized, his thoughts now collecting, "The grass should still be wet which means that any hooves that just so happened to have been walking some time last night/early morning." Derpy watched as the human quickly got to observing the ground. Her head was tilted as she wondered just what in the hay he was up to. Her eyes, or eye, which ever one decided to focus in on Justin, watched as he stared at the grass and walked. His first destination was where he was sleeping and she had decided to sleep on his legs. Derpy's ears perked up slightly ans she yawned, just barely catching the loud 'hmmmm' from Justin before he returned to the tent. The grey pegasus kept watching as he walked away from the tent for a second time, following a seeming longer trail away from the tent and to the edge of the woods. With a snap of his fingers and a dash back to the site, Justin was quick to grab his shirt and throw it on despite the fact that he was sticky. "C'mon Derpy! I think I might know where Vinyl went!" Justin exclaimed with a wide smile as he scooped up the pegasus in his arms and ran. Leaves were crunching beneath shoes, the sound of wings flapping every so often, and the duo weaving to a for out of the way of incoming branches, shrubs, and other so items that happen to be in the way. For once, Derpy was actually having a hard time keeping up with the human. She usually didn't have any trouble keeping up with Vinyl or any other of her friends, but for a creature that walked on tow legs, he was FAST! "So, where are we heading again?" Derpy asked, not even sure if he even mentioned their intended way. "I think, think, Vinyl might have went to a creek not far from here. If she has any sense of direction, probably went out sometime this morning." Justin to a quick glance past the tree tops, "It's roughly afternoon right now." "What makes you think that she'd still be there?" "If I'm right from my experience in Equestria with her, she takes some long-ass showers." Justin took a moment to pause from the running. "1 to 2 hours at minimum..." Derpy was heaving, her stamina quickly drained from trying to keep up with Justin. He was fast, probably more than he seemed. She noticed that he started to chuckle softly to himself, her head tilted as she sat on the ground. "What's so funny?" "What I find funny is that I can run fast, but I don't work out enough for it." Justin continued to chuckle to himself, "I get asked if I run track. I don't even like sports! I just sit around and play mindless video games." Derpy heard him sigh, "What have I done with my life?" "What do ya mean?" "I mean what have I done in the world? Sit around, eat, sleep, work, and play? Well, maybe not any big work, chores mostly. The only, only highlight I know is appearing in Equestria those four months ago..." Approximately four months and six days ago... Spring, a wonderful season of change, much like Fall, it signals that most of the animals in the world awaken from the hibernation states. Leaves from fall cover parks, yards, and some roads, in the process of getting raked up and thrown out if not compacted into the ground by the snow. Justin was walking down a street after school, or somewhere of that sort. He didn't have a care in the world at the moment nor would he have paid any mind to outside noises due to his headphones blaring some of his favorite music, which could be anyone's guess seems as how he doesn't talk to anyone, barely. He had on his favorite shoes and was perfectly content with minding his own, always had been since he was young. Today, he was feeling a bit adventurous and decided to take a turn down an alley, Good thing he didn't live to too big of a down with not too many shady characters. The trek proved to not be troublesome, something he sort of liked. Justin closed his eyes for a few moments as his songs took a quick silence, some other sound caught his hearing instead. With some blinded fumbling, he silenced his music and kept walking on. Crunch crunch crunch Odd, he could've sworn that he was walking on pavement. Justin removed his headphones for more clarity in the sound. Crunch crunch crunch He looked down and opened his eyes and saw grass beneath his feet. What was even stranger to him is that he wasn't even in a wide open plain, nor did he look so... cartoony? Justin looked at his hands, shirt, pants, and shoes. Sure enough, he felt like he was put in some sort of twisted joke by nature. He turned around to go back where he came, but the alley he was in wasn't there anymore. He filled his lungs with a long, deep, much need breath... and screamed. Some birds in the distance flew away from trees from what looked like a cheap rendition of woods. He could and did silence his school's cafeteria once or twice by shouting random things during lunch, never expected to rustle the jimmies of birds. Justin's scream came to a close after a few moments, and failed to notice the figure standing behind him with wide eyes and pin-prick pupils staring at him. Present Day "Yeah, I remember that day, I wondered what made that screech." "IT wasn't a screech, it was me projecting my disapproval with my vocals." Justin corrected the mare. "In other words, a screech." Derpy pointed out smugly. "Fine, you win. One does not simply win against the adorableness that is Miss Derpy Hooves." Justin threw his hands up in defeat. Derpy just got a pink, no, light pink hue in her cheeks. 'Adorable' wasn't a word most ponies described her as. Then again, Justin was a human, a human from a culture, a culture that was- what was she going on about again? Oh yes, muffins. Oh, and Justin wouldn't count as 'most ponies' anyway. ... And into the WhirlpoolVinyl was just about done washing up, and for a pony who hasn't gone camping, she was actually enjoying the serenity of the outdoors. The wind rustling in the trees, the bugs making their noise, the birds chirping, and the running of the water she was bathing in. Calm, peaceful, perfect. Nature had it's own music, and Vinyl enjoyed it. Sure, her money was made in her music that pumped up dancers, really got them going, but when did she ever take time to enjoy this? Really to enjoy the music of nature? Never, that's for sure, well, until now that is. The creek she had found emptied into a sizable pool, just deep enough to go up to her neck. Nice, and cool, even the glow was nice. Wait, glow? Since when does water glow? Before Vinyl could think about any further, the glow in the water got bright and started to form a whirlpool around her. Casually sucking her in in a somewhat slow pace. The mare started to panic. Derpy and Justin heard a scream that sounded much like Vinyl and quickly sprang into action running/galloping towards the source of the noise. They finally made to see one of Vinyl's hooves get sucked down into a glowing whirlpool. "Vinyl!" Both somehow synced their response well. Derpy was the first to dive into the whirlpool, Her wings sprung open and she leapt into the air, gaining altitude before performing a nosedive into the center of the pool. "Dammit!" Justin was next. He quickly discarded most of his clothing, keeping his boxers on in case, and dove right in. Swimming after the two ponies. Deeper and deeper he went into the pool. Justin could have sworn that this pool wasn't as deep as this. Nonetheless, he swam deeper, not too long before the glow got brighter, then, darkness. Justin felt his conscious come back to him, a tingling sensation was present and light was present through his eyelids. Not too far did his hearing finally come back into play, listening in on his surroundings. He could hear muffled voices, agitated, argument maybe? Justin's hearing soon came back in full force. "...o brought back the human?" "That voice, it sounds familiar." Justin collected his thoughts in full. "Well maybe if you didn't spawn a sudden whirlpool when I was bathing, we wouldn't be in this mess!" "That's Vinyl, which means....." "He doesn't belong here!" The other voice hissed. "Well, it doesn't seem that he belongs back in his world either!" "There's good ol' Derpy." "Fine, if you want to keep him, YOU can watch him. I don't have time to be looking after the human." "So I'm stuck in Equestria... AGAIN. Well, atleast there are ponies I know and I'll probably be living with-" Justin's train of thought was soon brought crashing down like him when he got woke abruptly by a magical force throwing him from wherever he was. His eyes shot open to be caught in Vinyl's blue aura and a glaring face of Twilight Sparkle. Ahem, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Justin was soon placed on his feet gently and looked to Twi as if she was going to say something. Derpy nudged his hand, "C'mon, we should leave." "I agree," Justin looked down to Derpy, then Vinyl, "seems like I'm not welcomed here." "Yeah, well, somepony is just in a bad mood because she can't study no more." Vinyl shot a smug look behind her. The three were soon covered in a purple flash and appeared outside of the library. Justin smiled, knelt down on one knee, and took up both the mares in a hug. The hug was soon returned by the unicorn and the pegasus. Both ponies nuzzling either of his cheeks lovingly. "So, I guess you're coming home with me then." Derpy said softly. "And why's that?" "Because I don't have a spare bedroom like Derpy here, unless you don't mind sleeping on a couch shorter than you." Vinyl broke out. "I'm pretty sure a bed wouldn't be long enough for me anyway." Justin commented, both mare nodded slightly in agreement, "But I never really got any one-on-one with Derpy the last time I was here. Soooo...." Later that evening night "So.... I'm here in one of my favorite place of all-time, again." Justin muttered to himself, looking out the window in Derpy's bedroom. He sat with his limbs wrapped comfortably around the grey pegasus as they sat on the bed. Just looking out unto the night sky. Justin still had his boxers on, thankfully, and Derpy sat with her back against him. She looked like she was deep in thought, but by the sound of his comment, Justin was deeper into thought. "Justin?" Derpy spoke up. "Yesh, Derps?" "What's the human world like, and not what you told the foal, what's it really like?" Justin sat for a moment in silence, his mouth opened and a deep breath left his lungs. "Horrible, all I will say." Derpy turned in her spot, her muzzle facing him, her wings came and draped over his shoulders. This caused him to look at her from the corner of his eye. All she did was tuck her head under his chin and nuzzle his neck, encasing his torso in a warm hug. Now mind you, he doesn't have any toned muscles, just the ones he inherited, which weren't much, but because he wasn't built, it made Justin comfortable to her. Derpy closed her eyes and left out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry." She spoke, barely audible. "For what?" "For dragging you back here, and Vinyl says that Twilight might send you back, and... and I don't want that.." Tears were starting to form. "Derpy, look at me." She did as she was told, yellow meeting brown, a hand stroking her cheek, "I would give anything in the world to stay with you two. You both are amazing friends and obviously care for me deeply. That's all I can ask for and return myself. I'm not really cut out for the human world as it is, but I can adapt, and adapt I shall." Derpy smiled a little bit, letting his thumb wipe away a forming tear and burying her cheek into his palm. "But how do you plan on staying?" "Let's not worry about that and focus on cheering you the hell up." Justin said with a wink. "Turn around and extend a wing for me if you will." Derpy didn't try to question why or what he was doing, but instead catered to his request and did so. "Thank you." Justin took a tip of one feather into his teeth lightly, causing Derpy to shudder and blush wildly. Her blush not visible from where he was. "Nibble, nibble." Justin managed to sound out, flicking the feather tip with something. Justin continued his 'assault' on each of Derpy's wings, each one causing her to shudder even more that the last. His hands were on her sides. More or less rubbing her cutie mark in reality. Oh how he loved that her cutie mark were bubbles. Derpy was suddenly brought to a disappointing and sudden stop. "Why'd you stop?" Derpy heaved. "If I kept going, you might've made a mess on your bed." Justin teased, as she beaned back. She looked up at him and he looked down at her. "Tease." Derpy smiled and stuck her tongue out. "Oh yeah? I'll show you teasing!" Justin exclaimed, starting to tickle the pegasus in his grasp. Derpy started to squirm and squeal in delight as the young man used his fingers in a nimble manner to tickle her without any signs of mercy. A wide grin splayed across his face. In the farthest reaches of his subconscious, a memory started to play out again. Approximately three months and two ago Justin's first month in Equestria wasn't so bad, but today, he felt like relaxing. Despite the park benches not really meant for someone of his size, he still found them relaxing. A cartoon-like land has never been so appealing to him until he's lived it. The blue skies have never looked better. He let out a long, relaxing sigh. Despite his recent barrage of questions of the once unicorn mare know simply as Twilight Sparkle. He paid no mind to the group of foal that had just approached his outstretched figure. One bumped his leg, his eye met three more pairs accompanied by three big smiles, Then, what he called, 'The Horde.' The first foals spoke up, to him, a filly with a Southern Belle, ""Cuse us mister, be we was wonderin' if y'all could tell us about yer kind." Justin looked at her with a raised, "You... want to know about... huuuumans?" He said 'humans' in a funny tone, stifling some giggles from the other foals. "Well duh!" The orange winged one piped up. "Okay okay, jeeze. Hold your...." He paused for a moment, pondering about his pun. "Err... anyway. Humans, what can I say about my own kind? Well, we are strong, amazing, wondrous, and somehow he hold prideful even after most disasters." "Big whoop, we've survived disasters too." "Oh yeah? Come back to me when you've survived a hurricane, or a tsunami!" Justin looked down at the orange filly with a grin. "What's a tsunami?" A colt asked. "A tsunami is a mammoth of a wall, made of water and very, VERY, VERY destructive to anything in its path." Justin's grin soon faded into a grimace, "But humans can be disgraceful with how we treat one another. Being an industrious species comes at a big cost." Justin sat back in his seat with a sigh, the horned, white filly with peridot eyes spoke up next. "What's the matter?" "Nothin'. Run along now children, I'd like to be left alone in peace." Present Day The tickle assault on Derpy had dies down after a while, She had taken up to laying on Justin's chest, gazing at his features. Moreover his eyes. Their color left her to wonder just as to how to they became so beautiful, and why she wanted to stare at them all night.. No, forever. Well, that might be a bit drastic. All night would do just fine. "Justin, why are your eyes so beautiful and dark?" "I have only a phrase for the that." Justin said calmly, then with a smile, "The eyes that have cried the most, are the more beautiful, the smile that has frowned the most, is the more pleasant." "Is that why I want to keep staring into them?" "You wanting to stare at my eyes darkness has nothing to do with that phrase." Justin removed his hands from behind his head and laid them across Derpy's backside. "But they can't compare to the amount of adorableness you have." Derpy's cheeks flushed again, "What counts as 'normal' in human society?" "Normal? I don't believe that there is a true definition for normal. So, I say, dammit all to hell." Justin let out a smirk. "So.. you wouldn't mind if we...?" Derpy mumble the last of the question under her breath. "Huh?" Derpy rolled her eyes, somehow and lurched forward. Justin's eyes went as big as saucers when he realized the sight before him. Derpy had, in a way, locked Justin in a kiss. Not just any kiss, one packed with a fire that has just started and didn't plan on getting extinguished. "About damned time you made a move." He thought as she broke away from his lips. "Hopefully this hasn't damaged how you see me now..." Derpy looked away, her blush raging like a fire across her cheeks. A hand came to her chin and gently urged her to look back at him. "Never in a million years." Justin said with a smile. Derpy suddenly focused out, her face gone completely serious, "I crave chocolate milk." Justin sat there for moment, staring at her, "Yeah, me too." "Let's go get some." "TO THE KITCHEN!" Justin exclaimed, jumping off the bed in a heroic manner before rushing out of the room. We have a Title?"My goodness, darling, how can you be so still?" Rarity was there early in the morning, taking measurements of Justin for a set of clothes. When Twilight had asked her to help the human with some more fitting clothes, Rarity was more than happy to accept, giving her the opourtunity to work on a new line for a new species. "Years on the stage." Justin replied with a yawn. "I didn't know you dabbled in the arts." Rarity stated, taking measure of his arm. "Why wouldn't I? It's a great experience, plus, I love all sorts of works. From the stage to the wall, I love them all." Justin exclaimed proudly, but silently. Rarity nodded and took a measure around his waist. She looked for a moment, marked the measurement, and removed the tape measure. She then looked at him from head to toe. Justin looked back, getting a feeling that a lightbulb was about go off, Just the wait was terrible. "Ideeeeaaaa!" Rarity chimed in a musical manner. "Aaaaaand the bulb went off..." Justin groaned internally. "Have you ever thought about becoming a guard?" She quickly asked with a grin on her face. "Uh... not really." Justin replied. "Why?" "Because!" "Rarity's horn lit up and her pale blue aura encased his body, an imitation of an 'off-duty' uniform on him. "I think you'd look rather dashing in a uniform like that of a guard!" "I'm not usually the one to..." "Or maybe like this." The white unicorn quickly changed the setup to a, what he assumed, was a tuxedo for a pony. "Better idea. How about a sweater, jeans, and some trainers?" Justin asked with a grin. Rarity gasped, shutting off her magic, then regaining her composure. Then just looked at the human confused now. Obviously Justin didn't plan on this fashionista to know what pants were, probably shoes weren't very popular either. He just brought a palm to face and sighed. "You know what? Forget it I even asked. Make whatever you want, I just want to go back to bed." Justin threw his hands up and walked away. But was stopped by a magical tug on his boxers. "You know, there is no need to be all fussy. I just wanted our guest to look nice for everypony is all." Rarity was looking at him with some puppy eyes. "Dammit, my only weakness...." Justin looked away for a moment then turned around. "Fine, you can make me that guard uniform, I just don't want to wear it all the time. So could please, please, please make me something casual?" Rarity muffled a squeal, but then straightened up. "I'll see what I can do, but I'll need you to come by when I am finished so you may try them on." "Eh, fine by me, how long do you need?" "A couple hours at most, maybe more for your size and stature. I'll be seeing you." Justin just nodded and headed back into the bedroom Derpy let him use, even though he was offered to sleep in her bed. He did have some standards, some might have to get broken for him to even try and understand some of these ponies a bit better. Two he understood most of the time. Just that one was an outcast, like him, and the other was, well, famous.. sort of. Justin pulled the covers back and curled up in the small-ish bed. And just sat there, waiting to fall into that sweet embrace of sleep. Well, that would have to wait a while since a certain grey pegesus decided to crawl on top of him a few minutes later. "Justin." She whispered in his ear. "Yes Derpy?" Justin asked with his eyes closed. "I just got done making some muffins, want some?" Justin was about to say no, until his stomach growled at him. He simply shrugged and accepted the fact that he isn't going to get anymore sleep than he wanted to today. Derpy got off of him to allow more freedom of movement and he slowly got out of bed, for the second time this morning. There was a nice, neat, little pan of muffins with little brown specks in them, which, if by chance, were either chocolate chips or brown sugar. The latter of which he didn't care for at the moment. Depry was by his side, smiling up at him, Dammit, why did he have to have such a weakness to adorable and cute things?! It was torture! No. it IS torture! If he wasn't stuck here, which in his case, might not be as long as last time, he'd stay here and hug the SHIT out of every pony that gave him puppy dog eyes and/or a damned smile! Why are they so adorable? WHY?! Also why do all- oh hey, these aren't half bad. Justin swallowed the bite he took. "Derpy, what are in these delicious muffins?" "Cocoa chips, maple syrup, and brown sugar." "Oh she's good." It didn't take long for Derpy and Justin to destroy the rest of those muffins, 'destroyed being an irrelevant term here. they soon found themselves in the living room. Justin on his back, arms and legs stretched out, and staring at the ceiling. Derpy could be found laying on her belly, a foreleg hanging off the edge, taking up most of the loveseat, and staring at Justin. All would be quiet if it wasn't for the knock at Derpy's door and the envelope that slid under it. Now how long had they taken to eat the muffins? Certainly wasn't that long, was it? Derpy was the first of the two to move, slinking off the loveseat and shuffling on over to the envelope. With some incredible mouth work, in the standards of Justin, she flipped the item to the front and tried to read the hand writing. Before giving up, she trotted over and handed the envelope to Justin. "What's this say?" "It says.." Justin took a moment to read it, then read over it again, "... my name. Must be Rarity telling me that my clothes are done." "Yay! Open it! Open it!" Derpy hopped up, then down, then up again. Justin removed the wax seal, fancy for his taste, and removed a card that tingled at the touch. "But how did she even-" Poof! Both Derpy and Justin were gone in a flash of blue, pale blue, and ended up at the intended destination. That destination being Rarity's boutique. What a funny word to say.... boutique. Anyway, Justin held his mouth closed with his hands before a bucket shot in front of him, he forgot about this..... almost! He spewed his breakfast and the day before's meals. This wasn't going to end well... "Oh my.." Rarity gasped. "Could you tone it down next time? Like a delay or something?" Justin quickly asked before spewing more into the bucket. "I'll try next time dear. Can't have you making a mess nearly everytime we teleport you." "Mmmhf! Thanks!" It took atleast a good fifteen minutes for Justin's stomach to calm down fully, it was another hour before they, and by they would be Rarity mainly, gave him something to drink. A nice glass of water did nicely for the human. After which, Rarity started to explain that she actually need Justin at the boutique earlier than intended to make sure that his clothes would fit him better, she just didn't think that Derpy would get dragged along too. The first attire she had him try on was his new formal wear, or as Rarity preferred it as his mock guard uniform. Complete with pants! Glorious pants! But these shoes.... "Well, I never thought I'd say this, but.." Justin examined himself in one of the mirrors, his head almost cut out from frame, ".. this look kinda suits me." "Oh I knew you'd just love it! Most ponies do of course." "But I'm not a pony." Justin looked at her, or what he could see. Not much, just a white and purple mash of colors. Damn, why did he forget his glasses? Oh yeah, he was jumping into a magically conjured whirlpool that led to Equestria. Not the best life decision, but the best mistake to have ever been made by him. He was happy there, even had the two ponies that he could call better friends than he once had back in Earth, or on. He stopped keeping track. The memories were there, definitely pleasant ones since Equestria was in his mind at the moment. Turning those TablesIt was about time Justin finally settled back in, although Twilight was still acting a bit sour towards him. The last time he was here, in Equestria, specifically Ponyville, she was nice, humble, even interested in learning about humans. But this wasn't like her, unless it may have been that time of year maybe? No, it was summer, there was that possibility though. Justin was busy occupying the exact bench he sat on when that group of foals wanted to ask him about his species four months ago, not that it would matter now. Was kinda cute though, youth being curious. All he wanted to worry about was how comfortable his shirts fit along with his jeans, and his new red trainers! They fit so well they were like some sort of oxfords or loafers! Amazing! "You don't do much as a human, do ya?" A familiar voice entered his ears. "No, although, I might end up running down the street in a non-normal fashion. Bring a few smiles here and there." Justin replied, his eyes opening and falling upon Vinyl. "Kinda like Pinkie Pie, huh?" Vinyl took up a seat next to him. "Natural stress reliever never hurt anybody." "No, I suppose not." "So, how can I help the spectacular Scratch today?" "Whoa whoa whoa... who said I needed your help?" "Never know, figured I'd hang out with you for a few days since I was already chillin' with Derpy not too long ago." "OH really, and how did that go?" "A well-mannered individual like myself doesn't kiss and tell." "Well, that's an overly explained way of calling yourself a gentlecolt. Wait, kiss and tell? You didn't, did you..." "I ain't speakin a word of it." "Aww. Justin n' Derpy sittin in a tree. K-i-" "Knock it off before I knock you off." "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?" "Quite the show, but no, I'll push you off this bench though." "Then maybe you'd like to show me what you and Derpy did?" "Oh hardy har har, I'll think about it though." "Seriously?" "Seriously." "Annnnnywaaaay." Vinyl started, prying herself from the bench, "I was thinking about dragging you along with me to a club." "Ohh, and just when I got myself on a nonchalant sleep schedule." Justin gave a fake pout, earning a scoff from the unicorn. "You're coming with me, whether you like it or not." Vinyl stamped a hoof to the ground. "Yeah, right, like I'll not want to spend time with the Spectacular Scratch and her Moving Music." Justin rolled his eyes a stood up from the bench. "It's not like I'm that famous.." Vinyl looked away, a hint of pink on her face. "Not yet." Justin pointed out before flicking her nose. "Tag, you're it." He then took off, flailing his arms in the air like a mad man, or like the one he was. "You're so on!" Vinyl declared, galloping after the human. Later that night... The night had just begun, Vinyl and Justin were walking down one of the paths. Vinyl had taken the lead to 'escort', for lack of a better word, as they made way to the club Vinyl wanted to take him to. Justin wasn't too far behind, not that he didn't mind, he just was to make sure he didn't lose sight of Vinyl, even after that whole whirlpool-portal-thing fiasco. "So... how much farther til we get there Scratch?" Justin asked "Shouldn't be too far off dude. Keep following!" Vinyl called back. "As if I have any doubts about you." Justin mumbled under his own breathe. "What was that?" "Nothing!" As Vinyl promised, the duo of man and pony made it their, or hers, promised land. Of course, due to the weekend, there were a considerable amount of ponies out late, most of which seemed to be strolling through the streets, standing in line, or other such activities of a night owl. As for the two we're supposed to focus on, it was a recently opened nightclub that Vinyl may or may not have been going to before the visit to the human world. Being back here, on this street, outside this new club, reminded Justin of the first time he met Vinyl. Some time ago... Derpy had drug Justin out for a night out of the house. Him not being a usual night owl like most of the ponies in this club were, he debated whether to to stay in the booth he curled up in for the past hour or go sit at the bar. Maybe the bar wasn't the best option considering he wasn't too big on drinking. The dance floor? Nah, seemed too crowded for his taste. With a soft groan, he slunk lower into his seat. His eyes just above the table as he looked on towards the crowd, catching a glimpse of Derpy here and there. "Hey dude, why aren't you out there enjoying yourself?" A voice asked to him nearby. "If you haven't noticed," Justin slid back up, in plain view, "But I stick out like a sore thumb around here." "That didn't seem like a problem to ya before." Justin just looked to the unintended guest, by the looks of this unicorn, she looked like a regular. "Yo! Dreamboat McSpecial!" Vinyl teased, snapping Justin out of his daze. "Huh? What'd I miss?" "The door." Vinyl replied with a smirk. "C'mon, time to show you a better night than the last time you were here!" Although the outside of the building wasn't all too impressive, the inside of the club spoke for itself. The lighting seemed to be fitted with blacklights, making everything seem to glow, Vinyl especially. Some ponies in the center of the floor seemed to have some face paint on, along with glowsticks on strings in some of their mouths. A smell filled his nostrils, momentarily throwing him off until a nudge caught his attention. "So, whaddya wanna do first? Get a few drinks in? Get your groove on?" Vinyl asked, rubbing her hooves together. "I'd like to find a seat first, preferably a booth somewhere." Justin simply replied, scanning along the walls for an empty area. "Oh no you don't. You're not hiding in some corner like last time!" Vinyl declared, stepping behind him and pushing him towards the dancing ponies. "Oh great..." Justin muttered. Vinyl just kept pushing, the part of the crowd that the two were facing split to make way for the unicorn and the human. With a final shove from Vinyl, Justin ended up in the center of the floor, all eyes on him. He just stood there, unsure of what he was to do. A nervous smile plastered on his face, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead, eyes shifted. Two ponies gladly gave up their glowsticks and tossed them towards the human. Justin caught them both and looked at them for a moment before separating them to each hand. He wrapped them around their respective hand and clenched tightly. He shut his eyes, and took a deep breath, judging by the way the song was heading, an intense section was about to come up. Justin counted down in his head, starting at five. "5.... 4.... 3... 2... 1...." And so it begins. It was, by what he thought, atleast early morning. Celestia's sun had yet to rise, but telling by how late they stayed in the club, it might be around 4 in the morning. Vinyl fell asleep fast on his back, wasn't too heavy thank goodness. Justin might've thought she fell asleep sometime after the two left. She asked to be carried, so how could he say no? Vinyl did shuffle some in her sleep, nothing big that made him feel uncomfortable. "What am I going to do with you?" Justin spoke to himself aloud. "I already have Derpy into me, along with Scratch. How would this even work out?" Justin walked a bit in silence, Vinyl shuffled some more, bringing him to cradle the unicorn in his arms. "Maybe... I don't know. I'll come up with something if they don't know what to do." Justin continued his out loud thoughts. Trudging down the street towards Derpy's place. A Man and His DecisionsJustin awoke the next morning in large stretch and a glorious yawn. His eyes blinked themselves open to the sun light shining its way into the room, draping a second form on the bed. Last night he came to a decision, one of which he found glad that the spikey-maned unicorn sleeping in the same bed. He smiled a bit, admiring only one of two before him. He did a lot of thinking last night and came to a conclusion; why should he mope around on a ruined relationship when there are two mares waiting patiently for him, gladly awaiting either his offer or to make theirs. His hand fell upon her cheek, feeling the soft, warm fur that covered it. He couldn't help but scoot Vinyl a bit closer to him. She stirred a bit before settling again. So peaceful, yet beautiful. Any other questionable thought got thrown out the window, now was a time for acceptance. He's accepting the fact that he has two great mares there for him, ready to be with him. Now though, now he wondered if he had to choose between Derpy or Vinyl. A hard decision, and one he couldn't avoid if he tried. Who would he choose if not both? He'd have to ask either one of them sometime. Today, maybe? Yeah, but for now, he was content with cuddling up to Vinyl for the time being. "The glory of being me..." Justin thought to himself. Vinyl yawned the blinked herself awake, her eyes falling into focus on the face that that seemed to stare back. With a smile, she pushed the human out of the bed before pouncing upon him in a fit of giggles. Vinyl proceeded to sit up on his stomach, a wide grin was on her face. "Dude, you were amazing last night!" Vinyl exclaimed, just barely containing her joy. "I'm surprised, I didn't think you had too much to even remember." Justin teased. "Oh shut up. Where did you even learn to dance like you did?" Vinyl was practically bouncing away. "I guess it just came natural to me. You just never know." Justin shrugged and sat up a bit, his face eye-level to the mare. "Why do I feel that's a bunch of bull?" Vinyl raised a brow. "And why do I feel that somepony just may be earning themselves the heart of a certain human?" Justin smirked. "What are you getting at?" Vinyl mused. "Well, let's just say that I did a lot of thinking earlier and came to a conclusion." Justin's eyes seem to shift away for a moment, before looking back at Vinyl. "Why should I keep you girls waiting on me?" "So... you're.." Vinyl was having some trouble trying to figure out what he said. Why is he so cryptic!? "I'm not leaving you nor Derpy. You two mean more to me than I should have realised earlier. So I made a decision to say 'why not' and see where a three-way could go." Justin explained with a smile. Vinyl took a moment to register what he had just said. Then the lightbulb went off. With a small squeal, she quickly latched herself to Justin's torso, pushing her muzzle against his face in a kiss. Justin accepted the kiss graciously, returning the favor. Vinyl eventually broke the kiss and stare into his dark eyes. Vinyl and Justin actually did spend of of the day acting like the friends they were before, to the unobservant anyway. If one were to fully look at the couple, they'd see that Vinyl was closer than she ever would be to the human, whether it be standing, walking, or sitting. Laying, it was a dead giveaway. Vinyl would just simply lay ontop of him, no questions asked, no cares to give, and certainly not to be torn away. Well, Derpy got this much time to ogle over Justin too, but she was still at work, so, to break the good new, Justin decided on the favorite of his dishes and probably the most cliche'd of them all, pasta! A rather simple recipe of spaghetti noodles with some tomato sauce, he'd just have to do without those delectable meatballs for this time around. Justin could make that exception. Vinyl stood nearby, watching his steady hand movements. "You seem pretty good with those hands of yours." "I guess I am." Justin replied with a bit of his tongue hanging out in concentration. "Maybe you could show me just how good you are with them." Vinyl asked coyly. "Sure." Justin said, now totally out of it. Vinyl did a small hoofpump before scampering out. Justin was busy stirring the pasta sauce as the noodles boiled. His mind was elsewhere. The way the sauce seemed to shift, like something. Something that was familiar, like a place. A nice, warm, sunny place. Then it hit him. "I want to go to the beach." Justin stated to noone in particular but himself. "What was that?" Vinyl asked from the other room. "Nothin!" A few good minutes passed, well, half and hour at most, but everything was finally set. The table was covered, candles for a nice setting, what was considered silverwear, plates, and not to forget the pasta! Mouthwatering spaghetti made by a human, well, Justin considered it mouthwatering. In perfect timing too, Derpy had just come home! "Evening Derpy." Vinyl greeted from the couch. Derpy just gave a slight nod. Justin stopped what he was doing as his left eye twitched. "I sense that Derpy is sad." Justin quickly left the table, skidded around a corner, and slid on his knees. He enveloped the grey mare in a tight, comforting, loving hug. "Now what is wrong with my little Derps?" She looked up at Justin before wrapping around him tightly. "I just got stopped by Princess Twilight.." "And...?" "She told me to send you to the library, I know she's gonna send you back, I just know it." Derpy sniffed. Justin's smile faded as he gently let go of the grey pegasus in his arms and slowly stood. Vinyl gave him a curious look. His face didn't look terrified, but, rather a face of determination. Justin stepped around Derpy and continued for the door, his ears picked up Vinyl's voice. "Where are you going?" Vinyl asked. "To go talk to Twilight, what terrible timing she has." Justin simply said, leaning down to get out the door. The two mare just looked at the wide open door. "You can't do this!" Justin yelled, his glare directed toward the Twilicorn in front of him. "To Tartarus I can't! You don't belong here!" Twilight argued back. "I may not belong here, but I sure as hell fit in around here!" Justin shot back. They had been atleast arguing for over an hour now. That both were standing in the middle of the room, just the two of them, yelling. "The portal I created will send you back to the exact point in time to arrived! I suggest you go willing before I force you in!" Twilight stood as if she was about to charge at him. Justin sighed, walking towards the portal in defeat. "Fien, but I will return. Whether you like it or not." "You can't." Twilight scoffed, "You can't use magic, remember?" "I always find a way..." Justin jumped in with final words. "You Bitch!" Then he was gone, back to his world where he belonged. Later that evening in the Carousel Boutique... Rarity was sound asleep on her desk, a bit of droll coming from her mouth. A slight breeze started to rustle some of her papers, the sound waking her from her light slumber. With a sleepy look, she wandered over to a closed, but then remembered that all her windows were closed. So, then, where was the breeze coming from. Her eyes widened in realisation. "It can't be..." She spoke softly The breeze started to pick up speed and more papers, form a sort of paper tornado in the middle of her work room. The more the speed, the more the papers form a sort of solid tunnel. Light blue lightning started to shoot out from the paper-nado, a blue light building withing the funnel. It eventually got bright enough for her to cover her eyes, she couldn't possibly be blind making her dresses. In a sort of unintended explosion with no collateral damage to anything around it, the papers flew all over the place. In its wake, a kneeling form. It stood shortly enough, a bag on his back. "You're back?" Rarity asked. "Yeah, I owe ya one Rares. Thanks for that card." Justin smiled, quickly trudging over and placing a peck on her cheek. "Call me for that favor anytime." Things Fall Back Into PlaceVinyl and Derpy weren't taking Justin leaving so well. They both sat at the table he had set for the three of them, staring down at dimly-lit plates in the dimly-lit room. Neither of them ate any of the now cold spaghetti that sat in a strainer on the counter nearby. A stomach grumbled, breaking the long silence, but also did the front door open. They both jumped out of their seats and ran to the edge of the kitchen, both eyes peering around the corner to find a familiar figure letting an usually large bag hit the floor. With a sigh, he took off his hat and jacket, placing both on the coat rack. When he turned, he had the same face, only slightly different, there was for fur on his face. The fur had grown itself around his lips and under his nose. Both mare took no time guessing who it was and just tackled him to the ground. "We thought you left!" They both cried out in unison. "Well, technically, I did. for five months to finish schooling." Justin stated, both mare looked at him funny. "Dude, it's only been two hours." Vinyl put out. "It has?" Both nodded, "Well, I guess nothing has really changed has it?" "Except for your face." Depry piped up, "You have fur on your face now." "It's a goatee, Derpy, and it's hair. I guess we just created a time paradox." Justin just smiled before speaking again. "That way, you, you, and me can really get a relationship off the ground." Derpy's eyes went wide a bit as she gasped, "So that's why you made us supper." "It was me telling you that I'm no longer making you both wait on me being human." Justin then hugged both the mares and sat up, both close to his chest. "I might not be a pony, but I wouldn't change anything to to be around you two." "Quit bein' sappy" Vinyl teased. "Oh, and you weren't being sappy by tackling me to the ground?" Justin teased back Vinyl just chuckled and landed a playful punch on his cheek. Justin just shook his head slightly and let go of the two ponies, both sat in his lap with smiles and maybe some tears forming. He knew what those tears were for, happy tears for his return. They didn't think they'd see him again, but that changed when he came through that door. "So, how about I make something simple?" Justin offered. "I'd have to assume that spaghetti and sauce is no longer good and something warm sounds good." "One question first." Derpy stayed on his legs, a hoof pointed to his large bag. "What's that?" Justin followed the hoof then looked back to the grey pegasus. "That, my dear Derpy, is my dufflebag. It contains any clothes I decided to pack for the trip here." Derpy mouthed an 'oh' and was picked up by Justin and placed to his side. Once he got up, he made way back into the kitchen. The two mare just watched still in their places. They listened to running water, scrubbing, clamor of dishes and the fridge open and close. They already guessed what that human was doing. That is, until they heard more clamor, a sign that fell out reading: [Insert Exposion Sound/Graphic Here]; and a roar. Vinyl trotted on over to the door. "Just what the heck is going on in here?" Justin looked over his shoulder and shrugged. There was absolutely nothing out of place in Derpy's kitchen. It was like it was any other day. If any other day included a human in her kitchen. Yet, here he was, mixing some batter while a skillet lay on a stove nearby. Now where did he get that skillet? I don't think it mattered to Vinyl now, pancakes were involved, so, it must be good. Justin just mixed away with a smile on his face. He then opted to go ahead and pour some of this pancake batter in the heated skillet. The smell and sound of the batter hitting the heated metal filled the room and quite possibly other rooms. Atleast he could sleep tonight, even thought technically nothing changed in the slightest bit here, Justin hasn't been getting a wink of sleep for the past non-existent five months, knowing that he finally is back with two mares that care for him deeply, and he care for them more than they would ever know.
Where to Begin...."Worst... birthday... EVER" A young man muttered to himself. "First my girlfriend breaks up with me, then my parents become 'busy' for the night, and now I don't have anyway of contacting my friends!" He continued with a slight haste, but ended with a sigh. "Atleast I can count on you to calm me in a way, LittleBigPlanet." The light hum of his console filled the room as he occupied the couch not too far away. His day started off as it would, normal. School was fine up until lunch rolled around. Of course, her parents' request didn't make him too happy since he was kind of expecting it from them. His mood fared no better, but chose an appropriate game for it. His 'library', as he liked to call his collection of games, consisted of many titles, some of which he played when he felt a certain way or if he was bored. As for now, he wasn't in the mood for the destruction of vehicles that Twisted Metal offered, nor was he in the mood to take up arms as the great Commander Shepard. Not even his classics that were Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper would provide ailment. Right now, he only wanted to rely on his 'cute' (in some aspects) game that was LittleBigPlanet 2. Another sigh left his lips, happy this time. His eyes gazed upon his sackperson's pod. "Time to get started then." The words came out as a murmur under his breath. It wasn't until several hours later he let out a yawn, the sun now setting, and the level coming to a close. Before he could reach the gate, a flash appeared out of the corner of his eye. Of course, he paid it no mind, until another flash caught his attention, this one was a lot brighter. The couch was positioned to an angled where anyone sitting on the end could see down the hallway. His eyes were now fixed on the darkened hallway. Noises were now emanating from behind a door. His door. Someone, something, someplace, might have just found its way into his room. He slowly rose from the couch and walked his way into the hall. Not wanting to alert who, or what, had found their way into his room, refused to turn on the hall light. "Aliens that decided to invade Earth by starting with a simple house? No... no. A madman with a blue box? Pffft... yeah right, like he'll be here. Burglars most likely." Scurrying could be heard on the other side now, the voices piping up then coming to a silence. The door flew open and the light flicked on in a matter of seconds. The room looked as it was when he left this morning. Bed a slight mess, desk in its usual spot, and the floor as its usual, skidded, self. "Wait? Skidded? My floor isn't skidded.." His eyes narrowed and took a step further into his room. "Come on out, I know your here..." His voice was heard from within the cracked closet door nearby. "Justin!" A female voice called out out and the sound of beating feathers could be heard before the lad is question was tackled to the ground by a grey form. "I haven't seen you in forever!" "Sheesh, Derpy, it's only been, like, what, four months?" Justin chuckled as he enveloped the pegasus in a hug, his laughter dies down and his eyes narrowed at the filly "But how did you even get here?" Justin's mind drifted off to his memories of Equestria. He wasn't what his world called a brony at the time, but he made sure to check out the show. Not important for the matter. When he first arrived, the only pony to greet Justin was, in fact, Derpy. Sure, he was a little confuse as to why she wasn't the only pony running from him, but then he came to understand that she grew up being different. With her eyes off balance most of the time and her flight was a little less than average, but Derpy made do with what she had, and Justin appreciated that about her. As time flew past the month mark, he came to know Vinyl and Twilight. Twilight was the one who sent him back to Earth, but Justin had an awesome time partying with Vinyl when he didn't feel like sleeping at all. Derpy just shrugged but continued to sit on Justin's chest. "Four months is kinda like forever!" "You're question might be one for a unicorn dude." A secondary female voice came from the same closet. The fur white as snow, blue hair that might glow under certain lighting, and last but not least, dark shades that covered her eyes, "Such as myself." "Vinyl!" Justin carefully put Derpy off to the side and got to his feet, a smile returning to his face. "Long time no see, eh?" As the human approached the unicorn, both engaged in a funky little handshake they made up when they got to know eachother. A brohoof high, a brohoof low, Vinyl jumped up and somehow smacked Justin's hand all four times with her hooves in a single spin before finishing off with him snapping and pointing at the filly. "So, how did you guys get here exactly?" Justin couldn't help but ask Vinyl. "Simple, she sent you back here four months ago. I'd have to say, this isn't exactly what I'd call a geat pad." Vinyle continued on. "Of course..." Justing mentally facepalmed, "... Twilight Sparkle." "Princess Twilight Sparkle now" Derpy corrected. "Okay, one, this is my bedroom, not a full home, and two, Princess?" Justin just looked at Derpy with confusion. "Yeah.. Twilight became Princess about... hmmmm... two months ago maybe? It was pretty sweet to watch the coronation." Vinyl smiled up at him before nudging his leg. "So, are ya goin to show us around or what?" "Uhm... yes... did you two even think about Twilight being able to bring you two back?" "Nope!" Both said in a cheery unison tone. "Great..." Just brought a palm to his face, shaking his head. "You two are technically stranded here for... who knows how long." "Atleast we're stranded with you." Derpy said, jumping up onto the bed, occupying the foot. In a sense, that was true, and Justin didn't want to question that.
Where'd it All Go? As the night was growing and the trio's activities started to wind down. Justin found himself sitting on the couch, Vinyl's sunglasses snug on his face, and both mares sleeping at his sides. He was current;y staring up at the ceiling, collecting his thoughts that have been shooed away for fun. Vinyl and Derpy were in a place they shouldn't even exist in, even Justin knew he had no room to speak due to the fact that he found himself in the same situation months ago. Vice versa took on a whole new meaning for him now. He brought his head down and his eyes met the now half-eaten cake. A smile crept along Justin's face as he thought back to how Vinyl almost put away the whole cake in one go. He guessed it was a good thing Derpy stopped her.... somewhat. Justin started to look around the room for a clock, well, the only clock that was present. One in the morning, so it read, causing a yawn to emerge from the young man. "I guess it's time to hit the hay." Justin muttered. One of the fillies stirred, slightly yawning. "Aw.. c'mon dude, the night's still young." "Ha ha. The last time I tried to stay up, it was for seventy-two hours, no naps, nuthin." "Not even an energy drink?" Vinyl cocked her head off to the side, red iris' practically sparkling. "Nope." "Dang dude, you stayed up longer than I have, even after a show I pass completely out." Justin just nodded once, got up, took off the shades, and placed them on the coffee table. "C'mon, help me clean up some of this mess." Vinyl's horn quickly lit up, encasing the cake, cake cover, plates, and forks in her magic and placed the wares in the sink, the cake in the fridge. Justin was straightening up some of the living room to make it look some what nice before turning towards a certain sleeping pegasus. He gently took the snoozing mare in his arms, lighter than she looked, must be a perk of being a pegasus. Easily maneuvering around the couch to the switches to turn the lights off in the kitchen and living room before walking down the hall towards his room. As simple as it was, Justin still called it his sanctuary, and that's all he needed. His own little world to escape from reality. The young man put the sleeping Derpy on his bed and moved around it to the nightstand on the other side. His movements were swift, knowing his own room for a while allowed this, and he turned on the dim lamp adorned on his nightstand. Vinyl always wondered what else wen on in Justin's head. He'd always say that he was thinking about one thing, then turn out to be thinking about another. There were also times where he would be making noises under his breathe when he thought nopony was around. Of course, Vinyl has had some sort of time to figure out a few things about him. If Justin say he's thinking about one thing, assume that there is another. Her attention wasn't focused too long on that thought though, as Justin moved over to the closet and picked out a two more blankets. This piqued her interest a bit, slightly assuming what he was going to do now. "And what do you think you're doing?" Vinyl asked, trotting over to the human. "Making my bed on the floor, why?" Vinyl huffed and placed herself on the blankets, blocking any attempt Justin could make to adjust them. "Oh no you're not. You're gonna climb in the bed and you're gonna like it." "Is this a house guest telling me what she thinks I should do?" Vinyl just smiled up at the young man, intent on staying put. "Besides, I think Derpy might've actually enjoyed sleeping against you." Justin raised a brow before breaking his gaze on Vinyl. Sure enough, Derpy was laying on the bed, making slight movements and an expression that told him she was uncomfortable at the moment. With a shrug of his shoulders, he didn't try to argue back and went away from his intended spot for the night to go lay on the bed next to Derpy. The pegasus' movements stopped as soon as her fur came in contact with his shirt. She let out a content sigh and settled in. Vinyl hopped up on the bed to Justin's open side and laid herself down. A small smile splayed on her face as she looked directly at him. "If anypony knew about this, you'd be the envy of most stallions." She stated with her smile. "And why's that?" "Not very many can score two mares in bed." Vinyl put her head on Justin's chest. "Pfft, yeah.. sure. I'm just lucky I have to ponies from another plane of existence as friends who care about me even after I leave, and they just so happen to be girls." Vinyl sat there for a moment, listening to the steady thump-thump thump-thump of his heart. "Who knows, maybe they just care about you more than you really know." "And just what exactly are you getting at, Miss Vinyl Scratch?" "Well...." She closed her eyes for a few minutes before opening them again to meet his,"... maybe a certain Disk Jockey and Courier might just have developed feelings for you while you were gone." "Ponies falling in love with a human? Seems a bit... out there.. if you ask me." Vinyl sat up, "How is the an 'out there' concept?" "Well, one, I just got out of a relationship and probably isn't the best idea right now to jump into another. Two, I kinda don't see this working out opposed to living in, what I assume to be, different universes. Sure, I might be okay with going out with a pony for experimentation on a new perspective, but, how would it really work out?" Vinyl just sat there for a moment. Just had just made some good points opposing the idea, but he also let on to something more. She also knew he came a long way from when he first arrived in Equestria. Justin was about as shy as Fluttershy back then, but broke through with the help of Derpy and herself. "Ever been camping?" This definitely caught Vinyl off guard, her ears perked up at the young man's voice. "No, I'm a city mare, I've never been camping in my entire life." "Maybe we should change that tomorrow. Take you both camping."
A Trip Outdoors Justin stood at the stove with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. The smell of batter filled the seemingly empty house, somewhat quiet for the exception of the shower running and sizzling. If pancakes ever smelled so good, he didn't want to be right. His wet hair was matted to his head and hummed a delightful tune. He soon heard the shower shut off. "You girls ready yet?" Justin yell over his shoulder, flipping a pancake onto a plate with the others. "Almost!" Derpy's voice rang out from behind the door. "Good, breakfast's almost ready!" "It smells good dude!" Vinyl was heard approaching from behind. "What are we havin'?" "Pancakes, a favorite of mine, with blueberries mind you." "Well, aren't you special when it comes to cooking?" "Don't try to make me blush, Vinyl. You even ready?" "I can be a flatterer man." "Noted. Derpy, you dried off yet?" "Mostly. But your towel caught fire." "What went wrong?" "I just don't know what went wrong!" Justin just shook his head with a smile, knowing that sometimes impossible things happen when Derpy is involved. Not that he didn't like her, hell, he loved Derpy to death, but sometimes that girl can get into some sort of trouble she isn't aware of. He flipped the last pancake onto the serving plate and switched the oven top off, then twisted the dial in the center off as well. Putting on a mitt and opening the stove, Justin reached in to pull out a tray containing one of the pegasus' favorite treats. A flutter of wings were his clue that she knew what he had just pulled out. "Well," Justin started, taking the two items to the table that's now being set by Vinyl and her magic, "time to eat up! Pancakes and muffins for all!" He heard a squee come from one of the fillies before going to his room to pick out and pack some clothes. After all was said an done, a human fully clothed and breakfast done with, came time to start packing. Time to make use of that old cooler was all Justin thought about as he filled the container of drinks with a layer of ice over them. A tent was next to collect, and know his parents, that would be somewhere in the garage. Thankfully, Justin located the damn thing on one of the top shelves. After dragging it down from its storage space and placing it in the living room with the cooler and his bag. Vinyl was looking at him funny, or, a different kind of look. "Problem?" He asked, not bothering to look away. "Yeah, have you even thought about what I told you last night?" "I have, and still am. Vinyl, I know we're good friends and I know four months is a long time not to see somebody, but I need some time to get over some things." Justin explained. "Oh yeah? How do you plan on doing that?" "With two of the best fillies I've ever met." He looked at the pony with a soft smile. His words were true up until the opinion stepped in. Vinyl didn't notice though and her cheeks went pink. Justin clapped his hands together, gaining the attention of Derpy, who was nuzzling a leftover muffin. The table was cleaned up a bit, the dishes in the sink, and two fillies in the midst of a camping trip. "Why are you even taking me camping?" "I don't see why not to take a city mare on her first camping trip." Justin reasoned, "How long do you gals have anyway?" "We won't know until Princess Twilight comes fetches for us." "Long enough.... I guess. Alright, you two in the back seats, can't risk people seeing you." The human ushered the two into the garage and into the passenger seats in the back of his car. Once that was done, he popped the trunk and put the cooler in first, scooting it all the way back, then proceeding to place the packed tent along with his change of clothes. Securing the trunk's lid, Justin went to occupy the driver's seat, showing the girls how to fasten their seatbelts before going on to his. "Sooo.. what is this thing?" Vinyl asked, looking at the human. "This, my fine little filly," Justin started the car, causing it to hum to life, "is a car." Vinyl sat in a sort of confused silence. "Think of a carriage that doesn't require ponies to pull it around." He then said plainly. "Ohhhh... got'cha." Vinyl nodded her head. "How long is this trip gonna last?" Derpy raised a forehoof as if she was in school. "Two hours, at least. It's take longer for bathroom breaks." Justin's eye shifted to the rear-view mirror. "How do you suppose that'll work. You've told us about the dangers of being out in the open in your world for us." "Simple really, pull over to a wooded area if available, and go there." He grinned, opening the garage door and pulling out. "Or I could have you use cups, which might not be the best option." Justin soon got the wheels on that car going, a trip he was determined to make and an experience he wanted to make the very best he could. only about thirty minutes have passed by, Vinyl on the verge of falling asleep, Derpy peeking out the window. Most of the drive was in silence, and luckily, very few drivers this time of day. "What were you two talking about last night?" Derpy asked out of the blue. "Errm... Stuff?" Justin hoped she would buy into that. "Didn't sound like stuff." Derpy pointed out. "Just talked about this trip, no worries." Vinyl swooped in for the save. "Sounded like more than just the trip." There was a small silence present now. "You told him, didn't you?" Vinyl got a lump in her throat. "W-what? Preposterous!" Justin quickly responded. "Preposterous?" Vinyl was looking at the human in confusion now. "Expression I like to use..." Justin shrugged. "Humans are still so weird.." Vinyl said with a shake of her head. "You guys are trying to change the subject..." Derpy pointed out, still not convinced. "Well damn, atleast she's keeping track Vinyl!" Justin chuckled "Fine, I did let him know about how we felt after he was sent back." Vinyl admitted, hanging her head against the back of Justin's seat. "At first, I did find a bit strange, but then again, I'm not THAT sane of a person just yet. I also happened to have my stomped out yesterday by my girlfirend, which..." Justin sighed at the brought up the thought, "... take some time to get over." "Ooooh.." Derpy said under her breath. "Hey, cheer up! We're finally at my little paradise from the city!" Justin got their attention as he pulled into an open plain. The plain featured a small trail that looked like it was meant for the human's car and continued down a hill. The slope of the hill wasn't too steep, but that didn't stop Justin from slowing his car down while driving down the slope. Both the ponies in the car looked out the windows to the trees that were now starting to engulf the area around, save for the trail. After a few hours of hiking, the trio had finally reached their intended destination. A clearing where the grass grew shorter but decorated with dozens of flowers. The trees that surrounded this clearing would make one feel as though their location was secluded from the rest of the world. Justin could feel a certain grey filly rattling against his leg. With a short smile, he knelt down and patted the filly on her golden mane. She looked at him with a sort of fear behind her look, wings ruffling their feathers at her side. His hand was slowly rubbing the top of her head. "Ar-a-are you sure there aren't any Timberwolves in here?" Derpy asked, her voice visibly shaky. "Derpy, Wolves made of sticks and logs don't exist in the human world." Justin tried to reassure her fears. "Promise?" She asked. "Promise." He simply replied with his smile. "I should get the tent set up for the night, would you care to get some wood for a fire Vinyl?" "Yeah, sure, I'll just leave the scaredy pony here with you." Vinyl remarked, walking off into the treeline. A short while after the tent had been set up, a nice warm fire started, some laughs, and some experiences being told over the time they hadn't seen one another, Vinyl was busy poking at the fire with a random stick she found laying around. The fire itself showed no signs of dying out soon, but the sun was no longer able to be seen even through the trees. Justin was judging the time by the moon, seeing how far it was across the sky. Derpy was busy clinging to his side, still scared about something, he couldn't blame her though. Sometimes a forest, depending on location, can seem scary. Although the human world was nothing these two were accustomed to, but he was. All a forest needed to be scary was some sort of tale and certain group of predators, like coyotes, or wolves, or.... velociraptors. "Heh.... velociraptor gentlemen." Justin couldn't help but burst out laughing at the last thought he came up with. This caught Vinyl's attention. "Dude, what's so funny over there?" "Oh nothing," Justin tried his best to calm his laughter so he could speak, "just thinking about how one of the most dangerous hunters in recorded history wearing a top hat, monocle, sipping on tea, and being civil." "You humans are weird...." Vinyl concluded again with a smirk, going back to poking at the fire. "Yeah... we can be." Justin looked down at Derpy, who at this point was burying her face into his shirt, and started to rub her back. "There ain't anything out here to get you Derpy. Even if there was, you could count on good ol' Justin to fend them off," Derpy just nodded, but kept her face buried still. "Then why are you burying your head into my side?" "Because you're so soft." She meekly replied, wrapping her hooves around his waist tighter. "Well, in that case..." the human turned to his bag and dug into it, bringing out a small bag of items, "...s'mores, anypony?" He asked with a smile, Derpy and Vinyl now looking at the bag he held.
Through the Woods...."Gah!" Justin inhale loudly before pushing his top half up off the ground. He did a quick inspection of the campsite to find all ponies and human accounted for. Although, he did find himself caked in melted Marshmallow goop with a peaceful, sleep, Derpy on his legs. That was a sight that brought a smile to his face. His eyes wandered over to the tent, where he assumed Vinyl was sleeping. "Psst!" Justin tried his best not to wake Derpy, "Scratch, you awake?" No response. "Dammit Vinyl" Justin cursed under his breath. He gently lifted the sleeping pegasus from his legs and placed her of the grass. The marshmallow might have been dried, but it was hurting like a bitch when he was moving. He guessed the only thing that he was glad for is that his pants were still on and they weren't covered in the white goo that used to be a soft treat. Justin made a sort of crawl towards the tent and felt around for the unicorn he thought was inside, but could feel a solid form. The human tore away the covers to find just a pile of pillows in the center. "Oh shit..." Justin muttered to himself. "Derpy! Wake up, we got a problem!" "Whaa?" Derpy asked sleepily, stretching from her spot before ever realizing that she was moved from her preferred bedding. "We got a problem I said, Vinyl's gone." Justin turned back towards the outside of the tent for any signs of where the mare might have run off to. Justin knew from some experience that Vinyl had a tendency to sleep walk after shows, parties, or a really exciting night. Normally, clues would be left behind as to where and when the sleep-walker usually ran off to. This though, there was a likelihood that the clues were not even present at the time, maybe some pressed grass. "Of course!" Justin finally realized, his thoughts now collecting, "The grass should still be wet which means that any hooves that just so happened to have been walking some time last night/early morning." Derpy watched as the human quickly got to observing the ground. Her head was tilted as she wondered just what in the hay he was up to. Her eyes, or eye, which ever one decided to focus in on Justin, watched as he stared at the grass and walked. His first destination was where he was sleeping and she had decided to sleep on his legs. Derpy's ears perked up slightly ans she yawned, just barely catching the loud 'hmmmm' from Justin before he returned to the tent. The grey pegasus kept watching as he walked away from the tent for a second time, following a seeming longer trail away from the tent and to the edge of the woods. With a snap of his fingers and a dash back to the site, Justin was quick to grab his shirt and throw it on despite the fact that he was sticky. "C'mon Derpy! I think I might know where Vinyl went!" Justin exclaimed with a wide smile as he scooped up the pegasus in his arms and ran. Leaves were crunching beneath shoes, the sound of wings flapping every so often, and the duo weaving to a for out of the way of incoming branches, shrubs, and other so items that happen to be in the way. For once, Derpy was actually having a hard time keeping up with the human. She usually didn't have any trouble keeping up with Vinyl or any other of her friends, but for a creature that walked on tow legs, he was FAST! "So, where are we heading again?" Derpy asked, not even sure if he even mentioned their intended way. "I think, think, Vinyl might have went to a creek not far from here. If she has any sense of direction, probably went out sometime this morning." Justin to a quick glance past the tree tops, "It's roughly afternoon right now." "What makes you think that she'd still be there?" "If I'm right from my experience in Equestria with her, she takes some long-ass showers." Justin took a moment to pause from the running. "1 to 2 hours at minimum..." Derpy was heaving, her stamina quickly drained from trying to keep up with Justin. He was fast, probably more than he seemed. She noticed that he started to chuckle softly to himself, her head tilted as she sat on the ground. "What's so funny?" "What I find funny is that I can run fast, but I don't work out enough for it." Justin continued to chuckle to himself, "I get asked if I run track. I don't even like sports! I just sit around and play mindless video games." Derpy heard him sigh, "What have I done with my life?" "What do ya mean?" "I mean what have I done in the world? Sit around, eat, sleep, work, and play? Well, maybe not any big work, chores mostly. The only, only highlight I know is appearing in Equestria those four months ago..." Approximately four months and six days ago... Spring, a wonderful season of change, much like Fall, it signals that most of the animals in the world awaken from the hibernation states. Leaves from fall cover parks, yards, and some roads, in the process of getting raked up and thrown out if not compacted into the ground by the snow. Justin was walking down a street after school, or somewhere of that sort. He didn't have a care in the world at the moment nor would he have paid any mind to outside noises due to his headphones blaring some of his favorite music, which could be anyone's guess seems as how he doesn't talk to anyone, barely. He had on his favorite shoes and was perfectly content with minding his own, always had been since he was young. Today, he was feeling a bit adventurous and decided to take a turn down an alley, Good thing he didn't live to too big of a down with not too many shady characters. The trek proved to not be troublesome, something he sort of liked. Justin closed his eyes for a few moments as his songs took a quick silence, some other sound caught his hearing instead. With some blinded fumbling, he silenced his music and kept walking on. Crunch crunch crunch Odd, he could've sworn that he was walking on pavement. Justin removed his headphones for more clarity in the sound. Crunch crunch crunch He looked down and opened his eyes and saw grass beneath his feet. What was even stranger to him is that he wasn't even in a wide open plain, nor did he look so... cartoony? Justin looked at his hands, shirt, pants, and shoes. Sure enough, he felt like he was put in some sort of twisted joke by nature. He turned around to go back where he came, but the alley he was in wasn't there anymore. He filled his lungs with a long, deep, much need breath... and screamed. Some birds in the distance flew away from trees from what looked like a cheap rendition of woods. He could and did silence his school's cafeteria once or twice by shouting random things during lunch, never expected to rustle the jimmies of birds. Justin's scream came to a close after a few moments, and failed to notice the figure standing behind him with wide eyes and pin-prick pupils staring at him. Present Day "Yeah, I remember that day, I wondered what made that screech." "IT wasn't a screech, it was me projecting my disapproval with my vocals." Justin corrected the mare. "In other words, a screech." Derpy pointed out smugly. "Fine, you win. One does not simply win against the adorableness that is Miss Derpy Hooves." Justin threw his hands up in defeat. Derpy just got a pink, no, light pink hue in her cheeks. 'Adorable' wasn't a word most ponies described her as. Then again, Justin was a human, a human from a culture, a culture that was- what was she going on about again? Oh yes, muffins. Oh, and Justin wouldn't count as 'most ponies' anyway.
... And into the WhirlpoolVinyl was just about done washing up, and for a pony who hasn't gone camping, she was actually enjoying the serenity of the outdoors. The wind rustling in the trees, the bugs making their noise, the birds chirping, and the running of the water she was bathing in. Calm, peaceful, perfect. Nature had it's own music, and Vinyl enjoyed it. Sure, her money was made in her music that pumped up dancers, really got them going, but when did she ever take time to enjoy this? Really to enjoy the music of nature? Never, that's for sure, well, until now that is. The creek she had found emptied into a sizable pool, just deep enough to go up to her neck. Nice, and cool, even the glow was nice. Wait, glow? Since when does water glow? Before Vinyl could think about any further, the glow in the water got bright and started to form a whirlpool around her. Casually sucking her in in a somewhat slow pace. The mare started to panic. Derpy and Justin heard a scream that sounded much like Vinyl and quickly sprang into action running/galloping towards the source of the noise. They finally made to see one of Vinyl's hooves get sucked down into a glowing whirlpool. "Vinyl!" Both somehow synced their response well. Derpy was the first to dive into the whirlpool, Her wings sprung open and she leapt into the air, gaining altitude before performing a nosedive into the center of the pool. "Dammit!" Justin was next. He quickly discarded most of his clothing, keeping his boxers on in case, and dove right in. Swimming after the two ponies. Deeper and deeper he went into the pool. Justin could have sworn that this pool wasn't as deep as this. Nonetheless, he swam deeper, not too long before the glow got brighter, then, darkness. Justin felt his conscious come back to him, a tingling sensation was present and light was present through his eyelids. Not too far did his hearing finally come back into play, listening in on his surroundings. He could hear muffled voices, agitated, argument maybe? Justin's hearing soon came back in full force. "...o brought back the human?" "That voice, it sounds familiar." Justin collected his thoughts in full. "Well maybe if you didn't spawn a sudden whirlpool when I was bathing, we wouldn't be in this mess!" "That's Vinyl, which means....." "He doesn't belong here!" The other voice hissed. "Well, it doesn't seem that he belongs back in his world either!" "There's good ol' Derpy." "Fine, if you want to keep him, YOU can watch him. I don't have time to be looking after the human." "So I'm stuck in Equestria... AGAIN. Well, atleast there are ponies I know and I'll probably be living with-" Justin's train of thought was soon brought crashing down like him when he got woke abruptly by a magical force throwing him from wherever he was. His eyes shot open to be caught in Vinyl's blue aura and a glaring face of Twilight Sparkle. Ahem, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Justin was soon placed on his feet gently and looked to Twi as if she was going to say something. Derpy nudged his hand, "C'mon, we should leave." "I agree," Justin looked down to Derpy, then Vinyl, "seems like I'm not welcomed here." "Yeah, well, somepony is just in a bad mood because she can't study no more." Vinyl shot a smug look behind her. The three were soon covered in a purple flash and appeared outside of the library. Justin smiled, knelt down on one knee, and took up both the mares in a hug. The hug was soon returned by the unicorn and the pegasus. Both ponies nuzzling either of his cheeks lovingly. "So, I guess you're coming home with me then." Derpy said softly. "And why's that?" "Because I don't have a spare bedroom like Derpy here, unless you don't mind sleeping on a couch shorter than you." Vinyl broke out. "I'm pretty sure a bed wouldn't be long enough for me anyway." Justin commented, both mare nodded slightly in agreement, "But I never really got any one-on-one with Derpy the last time I was here. Soooo...." Later that evening night "So.... I'm here in one of my favorite place of all-time, again." Justin muttered to himself, looking out the window in Derpy's bedroom. He sat with his limbs wrapped comfortably around the grey pegasus as they sat on the bed. Just looking out unto the night sky. Justin still had his boxers on, thankfully, and Derpy sat with her back against him. She looked like she was deep in thought, but by the sound of his comment, Justin was deeper into thought. "Justin?" Derpy spoke up. "Yesh, Derps?" "What's the human world like, and not what you told the foal, what's it really like?" Justin sat for a moment in silence, his mouth opened and a deep breath left his lungs. "Horrible, all I will say." Derpy turned in her spot, her muzzle facing him, her wings came and draped over his shoulders. This caused him to look at her from the corner of his eye. All she did was tuck her head under his chin and nuzzle his neck, encasing his torso in a warm hug. Now mind you, he doesn't have any toned muscles, just the ones he inherited, which weren't much, but because he wasn't built, it made Justin comfortable to her. Derpy closed her eyes and left out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry." She spoke, barely audible. "For what?" "For dragging you back here, and Vinyl says that Twilight might send you back, and... and I don't want that.." Tears were starting to form. "Derpy, look at me." She did as she was told, yellow meeting brown, a hand stroking her cheek, "I would give anything in the world to stay with you two. You both are amazing friends and obviously care for me deeply. That's all I can ask for and return myself. I'm not really cut out for the human world as it is, but I can adapt, and adapt I shall." Derpy smiled a little bit, letting his thumb wipe away a forming tear and burying her cheek into his palm. "But how do you plan on staying?" "Let's not worry about that and focus on cheering you the hell up." Justin said with a wink. "Turn around and extend a wing for me if you will." Derpy didn't try to question why or what he was doing, but instead catered to his request and did so. "Thank you." Justin took a tip of one feather into his teeth lightly, causing Derpy to shudder and blush wildly. Her blush not visible from where he was. "Nibble, nibble." Justin managed to sound out, flicking the feather tip with something. Justin continued his 'assault' on each of Derpy's wings, each one causing her to shudder even more that the last. His hands were on her sides. More or less rubbing her cutie mark in reality. Oh how he loved that her cutie mark were bubbles. Derpy was suddenly brought to a disappointing and sudden stop. "Why'd you stop?" Derpy heaved. "If I kept going, you might've made a mess on your bed." Justin teased, as she beaned back. She looked up at him and he looked down at her. "Tease." Derpy smiled and stuck her tongue out. "Oh yeah? I'll show you teasing!" Justin exclaimed, starting to tickle the pegasus in his grasp. Derpy started to squirm and squeal in delight as the young man used his fingers in a nimble manner to tickle her without any signs of mercy. A wide grin splayed across his face. In the farthest reaches of his subconscious, a memory started to play out again. Approximately three months and two ago Justin's first month in Equestria wasn't so bad, but today, he felt like relaxing. Despite the park benches not really meant for someone of his size, he still found them relaxing. A cartoon-like land has never been so appealing to him until he's lived it. The blue skies have never looked better. He let out a long, relaxing sigh. Despite his recent barrage of questions of the once unicorn mare know simply as Twilight Sparkle. He paid no mind to the group of foal that had just approached his outstretched figure. One bumped his leg, his eye met three more pairs accompanied by three big smiles, Then, what he called, 'The Horde.' The first foals spoke up, to him, a filly with a Southern Belle, ""Cuse us mister, be we was wonderin' if y'all could tell us about yer kind." Justin looked at her with a raised, "You... want to know about... huuuumans?" He said 'humans' in a funny tone, stifling some giggles from the other foals. "Well duh!" The orange winged one piped up. "Okay okay, jeeze. Hold your...." He paused for a moment, pondering about his pun. "Err... anyway. Humans, what can I say about my own kind? Well, we are strong, amazing, wondrous, and somehow he hold prideful even after most disasters." "Big whoop, we've survived disasters too." "Oh yeah? Come back to me when you've survived a hurricane, or a tsunami!" Justin looked down at the orange filly with a grin. "What's a tsunami?" A colt asked. "A tsunami is a mammoth of a wall, made of water and very, VERY, VERY destructive to anything in its path." Justin's grin soon faded into a grimace, "But humans can be disgraceful with how we treat one another. Being an industrious species comes at a big cost." Justin sat back in his seat with a sigh, the horned, white filly with peridot eyes spoke up next. "What's the matter?" "Nothin'. Run along now children, I'd like to be left alone in peace." Present Day The tickle assault on Derpy had dies down after a while, She had taken up to laying on Justin's chest, gazing at his features. Moreover his eyes. Their color left her to wonder just as to how to they became so beautiful, and why she wanted to stare at them all night.. No, forever. Well, that might be a bit drastic. All night would do just fine. "Justin, why are your eyes so beautiful and dark?" "I have only a phrase for the that." Justin said calmly, then with a smile, "The eyes that have cried the most, are the more beautiful, the smile that has frowned the most, is the more pleasant." "Is that why I want to keep staring into them?" "You wanting to stare at my eyes darkness has nothing to do with that phrase." Justin removed his hands from behind his head and laid them across Derpy's backside. "But they can't compare to the amount of adorableness you have." Derpy's cheeks flushed again, "What counts as 'normal' in human society?" "Normal? I don't believe that there is a true definition for normal. So, I say, dammit all to hell." Justin let out a smirk. "So.. you wouldn't mind if we...?" Derpy mumble the last of the question under her breath. "Huh?" Derpy rolled her eyes, somehow and lurched forward. Justin's eyes went as big as saucers when he realized the sight before him. Derpy had, in a way, locked Justin in a kiss. Not just any kiss, one packed with a fire that has just started and didn't plan on getting extinguished. "About damned time you made a move." He thought as she broke away from his lips. "Hopefully this hasn't damaged how you see me now..." Derpy looked away, her blush raging like a fire across her cheeks. A hand came to her chin and gently urged her to look back at him. "Never in a million years." Justin said with a smile. Derpy suddenly focused out, her face gone completely serious, "I crave chocolate milk." Justin sat there for moment, staring at her, "Yeah, me too." "Let's go get some." "TO THE KITCHEN!" Justin exclaimed, jumping off the bed in a heroic manner before rushing out of the room.
We have a Title?"My goodness, darling, how can you be so still?" Rarity was there early in the morning, taking measurements of Justin for a set of clothes. When Twilight had asked her to help the human with some more fitting clothes, Rarity was more than happy to accept, giving her the opourtunity to work on a new line for a new species. "Years on the stage." Justin replied with a yawn. "I didn't know you dabbled in the arts." Rarity stated, taking measure of his arm. "Why wouldn't I? It's a great experience, plus, I love all sorts of works. From the stage to the wall, I love them all." Justin exclaimed proudly, but silently. Rarity nodded and took a measure around his waist. She looked for a moment, marked the measurement, and removed the tape measure. She then looked at him from head to toe. Justin looked back, getting a feeling that a lightbulb was about go off, Just the wait was terrible. "Ideeeeaaaa!" Rarity chimed in a musical manner. "Aaaaaand the bulb went off..." Justin groaned internally. "Have you ever thought about becoming a guard?" She quickly asked with a grin on her face. "Uh... not really." Justin replied. "Why?" "Because!" "Rarity's horn lit up and her pale blue aura encased his body, an imitation of an 'off-duty' uniform on him. "I think you'd look rather dashing in a uniform like that of a guard!" "I'm not usually the one to..." "Or maybe like this." The white unicorn quickly changed the setup to a, what he assumed, was a tuxedo for a pony. "Better idea. How about a sweater, jeans, and some trainers?" Justin asked with a grin. Rarity gasped, shutting off her magic, then regaining her composure. Then just looked at the human confused now. Obviously Justin didn't plan on this fashionista to know what pants were, probably shoes weren't very popular either. He just brought a palm to face and sighed. "You know what? Forget it I even asked. Make whatever you want, I just want to go back to bed." Justin threw his hands up and walked away. But was stopped by a magical tug on his boxers. "You know, there is no need to be all fussy. I just wanted our guest to look nice for everypony is all." Rarity was looking at him with some puppy eyes. "Dammit, my only weakness...." Justin looked away for a moment then turned around. "Fine, you can make me that guard uniform, I just don't want to wear it all the time. So could please, please, please make me something casual?" Rarity muffled a squeal, but then straightened up. "I'll see what I can do, but I'll need you to come by when I am finished so you may try them on." "Eh, fine by me, how long do you need?" "A couple hours at most, maybe more for your size and stature. I'll be seeing you." Justin just nodded and headed back into the bedroom Derpy let him use, even though he was offered to sleep in her bed. He did have some standards, some might have to get broken for him to even try and understand some of these ponies a bit better. Two he understood most of the time. Just that one was an outcast, like him, and the other was, well, famous.. sort of. Justin pulled the covers back and curled up in the small-ish bed. And just sat there, waiting to fall into that sweet embrace of sleep. Well, that would have to wait a while since a certain grey pegesus decided to crawl on top of him a few minutes later. "Justin." She whispered in his ear. "Yes Derpy?" Justin asked with his eyes closed. "I just got done making some muffins, want some?" Justin was about to say no, until his stomach growled at him. He simply shrugged and accepted the fact that he isn't going to get anymore sleep than he wanted to today. Derpy got off of him to allow more freedom of movement and he slowly got out of bed, for the second time this morning. There was a nice, neat, little pan of muffins with little brown specks in them, which, if by chance, were either chocolate chips or brown sugar. The latter of which he didn't care for at the moment. Depry was by his side, smiling up at him, Dammit, why did he have to have such a weakness to adorable and cute things?! It was torture! No. it IS torture! If he wasn't stuck here, which in his case, might not be as long as last time, he'd stay here and hug the SHIT out of every pony that gave him puppy dog eyes and/or a damned smile! Why are they so adorable? WHY?! Also why do all- oh hey, these aren't half bad. Justin swallowed the bite he took. "Derpy, what are in these delicious muffins?" "Cocoa chips, maple syrup, and brown sugar." "Oh she's good." It didn't take long for Derpy and Justin to destroy the rest of those muffins, 'destroyed being an irrelevant term here. they soon found themselves in the living room. Justin on his back, arms and legs stretched out, and staring at the ceiling. Derpy could be found laying on her belly, a foreleg hanging off the edge, taking up most of the loveseat, and staring at Justin. All would be quiet if it wasn't for the knock at Derpy's door and the envelope that slid under it. Now how long had they taken to eat the muffins? Certainly wasn't that long, was it? Derpy was the first of the two to move, slinking off the loveseat and shuffling on over to the envelope. With some incredible mouth work, in the standards of Justin, she flipped the item to the front and tried to read the hand writing. Before giving up, she trotted over and handed the envelope to Justin. "What's this say?" "It says.." Justin took a moment to read it, then read over it again, "... my name. Must be Rarity telling me that my clothes are done." "Yay! Open it! Open it!" Derpy hopped up, then down, then up again. Justin removed the wax seal, fancy for his taste, and removed a card that tingled at the touch. "But how did she even-" Poof! Both Derpy and Justin were gone in a flash of blue, pale blue, and ended up at the intended destination. That destination being Rarity's boutique. What a funny word to say.... boutique. Anyway, Justin held his mouth closed with his hands before a bucket shot in front of him, he forgot about this..... almost! He spewed his breakfast and the day before's meals. This wasn't going to end well... "Oh my.." Rarity gasped. "Could you tone it down next time? Like a delay or something?" Justin quickly asked before spewing more into the bucket. "I'll try next time dear. Can't have you making a mess nearly everytime we teleport you." "Mmmhf! Thanks!" It took atleast a good fifteen minutes for Justin's stomach to calm down fully, it was another hour before they, and by they would be Rarity mainly, gave him something to drink. A nice glass of water did nicely for the human. After which, Rarity started to explain that she actually need Justin at the boutique earlier than intended to make sure that his clothes would fit him better, she just didn't think that Derpy would get dragged along too. The first attire she had him try on was his new formal wear, or as Rarity preferred it as his mock guard uniform. Complete with pants! Glorious pants! But these shoes.... "Well, I never thought I'd say this, but.." Justin examined himself in one of the mirrors, his head almost cut out from frame, ".. this look kinda suits me." "Oh I knew you'd just love it! Most ponies do of course." "But I'm not a pony." Justin looked at her, or what he could see. Not much, just a white and purple mash of colors. Damn, why did he forget his glasses? Oh yeah, he was jumping into a magically conjured whirlpool that led to Equestria. Not the best life decision, but the best mistake to have ever been made by him. He was happy there, even had the two ponies that he could call better friends than he once had back in Earth, or on. He stopped keeping track. The memories were there, definitely pleasant ones since Equestria was in his mind at the moment.
Turning those TablesIt was about time Justin finally settled back in, although Twilight was still acting a bit sour towards him. The last time he was here, in Equestria, specifically Ponyville, she was nice, humble, even interested in learning about humans. But this wasn't like her, unless it may have been that time of year maybe? No, it was summer, there was that possibility though. Justin was busy occupying the exact bench he sat on when that group of foals wanted to ask him about his species four months ago, not that it would matter now. Was kinda cute though, youth being curious. All he wanted to worry about was how comfortable his shirts fit along with his jeans, and his new red trainers! They fit so well they were like some sort of oxfords or loafers! Amazing! "You don't do much as a human, do ya?" A familiar voice entered his ears. "No, although, I might end up running down the street in a non-normal fashion. Bring a few smiles here and there." Justin replied, his eyes opening and falling upon Vinyl. "Kinda like Pinkie Pie, huh?" Vinyl took up a seat next to him. "Natural stress reliever never hurt anybody." "No, I suppose not." "So, how can I help the spectacular Scratch today?" "Whoa whoa whoa... who said I needed your help?" "Never know, figured I'd hang out with you for a few days since I was already chillin' with Derpy not too long ago." "OH really, and how did that go?" "A well-mannered individual like myself doesn't kiss and tell." "Well, that's an overly explained way of calling yourself a gentlecolt. Wait, kiss and tell? You didn't, did you..." "I ain't speakin a word of it." "Aww. Justin n' Derpy sittin in a tree. K-i-" "Knock it off before I knock you off." "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?" "Quite the show, but no, I'll push you off this bench though." "Then maybe you'd like to show me what you and Derpy did?" "Oh hardy har har, I'll think about it though." "Seriously?" "Seriously." "Annnnnywaaaay." Vinyl started, prying herself from the bench, "I was thinking about dragging you along with me to a club." "Ohh, and just when I got myself on a nonchalant sleep schedule." Justin gave a fake pout, earning a scoff from the unicorn. "You're coming with me, whether you like it or not." Vinyl stamped a hoof to the ground. "Yeah, right, like I'll not want to spend time with the Spectacular Scratch and her Moving Music." Justin rolled his eyes a stood up from the bench. "It's not like I'm that famous.." Vinyl looked away, a hint of pink on her face. "Not yet." Justin pointed out before flicking her nose. "Tag, you're it." He then took off, flailing his arms in the air like a mad man, or like the one he was. "You're so on!" Vinyl declared, galloping after the human. Later that night... The night had just begun, Vinyl and Justin were walking down one of the paths. Vinyl had taken the lead to 'escort', for lack of a better word, as they made way to the club Vinyl wanted to take him to. Justin wasn't too far behind, not that he didn't mind, he just was to make sure he didn't lose sight of Vinyl, even after that whole whirlpool-portal-thing fiasco. "So... how much farther til we get there Scratch?" Justin asked "Shouldn't be too far off dude. Keep following!" Vinyl called back. "As if I have any doubts about you." Justin mumbled under his own breathe. "What was that?" "Nothing!" As Vinyl promised, the duo of man and pony made it their, or hers, promised land. Of course, due to the weekend, there were a considerable amount of ponies out late, most of which seemed to be strolling through the streets, standing in line, or other such activities of a night owl. As for the two we're supposed to focus on, it was a recently opened nightclub that Vinyl may or may not have been going to before the visit to the human world. Being back here, on this street, outside this new club, reminded Justin of the first time he met Vinyl. Some time ago... Derpy had drug Justin out for a night out of the house. Him not being a usual night owl like most of the ponies in this club were, he debated whether to to stay in the booth he curled up in for the past hour or go sit at the bar. Maybe the bar wasn't the best option considering he wasn't too big on drinking. The dance floor? Nah, seemed too crowded for his taste. With a soft groan, he slunk lower into his seat. His eyes just above the table as he looked on towards the crowd, catching a glimpse of Derpy here and there. "Hey dude, why aren't you out there enjoying yourself?" A voice asked to him nearby. "If you haven't noticed," Justin slid back up, in plain view, "But I stick out like a sore thumb around here." "That didn't seem like a problem to ya before." Justin just looked to the unintended guest, by the looks of this unicorn, she looked like a regular. "Yo! Dreamboat McSpecial!" Vinyl teased, snapping Justin out of his daze. "Huh? What'd I miss?" "The door." Vinyl replied with a smirk. "C'mon, time to show you a better night than the last time you were here!" Although the outside of the building wasn't all too impressive, the inside of the club spoke for itself. The lighting seemed to be fitted with blacklights, making everything seem to glow, Vinyl especially. Some ponies in the center of the floor seemed to have some face paint on, along with glowsticks on strings in some of their mouths. A smell filled his nostrils, momentarily throwing him off until a nudge caught his attention. "So, whaddya wanna do first? Get a few drinks in? Get your groove on?" Vinyl asked, rubbing her hooves together. "I'd like to find a seat first, preferably a booth somewhere." Justin simply replied, scanning along the walls for an empty area. "Oh no you don't. You're not hiding in some corner like last time!" Vinyl declared, stepping behind him and pushing him towards the dancing ponies. "Oh great..." Justin muttered. Vinyl just kept pushing, the part of the crowd that the two were facing split to make way for the unicorn and the human. With a final shove from Vinyl, Justin ended up in the center of the floor, all eyes on him. He just stood there, unsure of what he was to do. A nervous smile plastered on his face, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead, eyes shifted. Two ponies gladly gave up their glowsticks and tossed them towards the human. Justin caught them both and looked at them for a moment before separating them to each hand. He wrapped them around their respective hand and clenched tightly. He shut his eyes, and took a deep breath, judging by the way the song was heading, an intense section was about to come up. Justin counted down in his head, starting at five. "5.... 4.... 3... 2... 1...." And so it begins. It was, by what he thought, atleast early morning. Celestia's sun had yet to rise, but telling by how late they stayed in the club, it might be around 4 in the morning. Vinyl fell asleep fast on his back, wasn't too heavy thank goodness. Justin might've thought she fell asleep sometime after the two left. She asked to be carried, so how could he say no? Vinyl did shuffle some in her sleep, nothing big that made him feel uncomfortable. "What am I going to do with you?" Justin spoke to himself aloud. "I already have Derpy into me, along with Scratch. How would this even work out?" Justin walked a bit in silence, Vinyl shuffled some more, bringing him to cradle the unicorn in his arms. "Maybe... I don't know. I'll come up with something if they don't know what to do." Justin continued his out loud thoughts. Trudging down the street towards Derpy's place.
A Man and His DecisionsJustin awoke the next morning in large stretch and a glorious yawn. His eyes blinked themselves open to the sun light shining its way into the room, draping a second form on the bed. Last night he came to a decision, one of which he found glad that the spikey-maned unicorn sleeping in the same bed. He smiled a bit, admiring only one of two before him. He did a lot of thinking last night and came to a conclusion; why should he mope around on a ruined relationship when there are two mares waiting patiently for him, gladly awaiting either his offer or to make theirs. His hand fell upon her cheek, feeling the soft, warm fur that covered it. He couldn't help but scoot Vinyl a bit closer to him. She stirred a bit before settling again. So peaceful, yet beautiful. Any other questionable thought got thrown out the window, now was a time for acceptance. He's accepting the fact that he has two great mares there for him, ready to be with him. Now though, now he wondered if he had to choose between Derpy or Vinyl. A hard decision, and one he couldn't avoid if he tried. Who would he choose if not both? He'd have to ask either one of them sometime. Today, maybe? Yeah, but for now, he was content with cuddling up to Vinyl for the time being. "The glory of being me..." Justin thought to himself. Vinyl yawned the blinked herself awake, her eyes falling into focus on the face that that seemed to stare back. With a smile, she pushed the human out of the bed before pouncing upon him in a fit of giggles. Vinyl proceeded to sit up on his stomach, a wide grin was on her face. "Dude, you were amazing last night!" Vinyl exclaimed, just barely containing her joy. "I'm surprised, I didn't think you had too much to even remember." Justin teased. "Oh shut up. Where did you even learn to dance like you did?" Vinyl was practically bouncing away. "I guess it just came natural to me. You just never know." Justin shrugged and sat up a bit, his face eye-level to the mare. "Why do I feel that's a bunch of bull?" Vinyl raised a brow. "And why do I feel that somepony just may be earning themselves the heart of a certain human?" Justin smirked. "What are you getting at?" Vinyl mused. "Well, let's just say that I did a lot of thinking earlier and came to a conclusion." Justin's eyes seem to shift away for a moment, before looking back at Vinyl. "Why should I keep you girls waiting on me?" "So... you're.." Vinyl was having some trouble trying to figure out what he said. Why is he so cryptic!? "I'm not leaving you nor Derpy. You two mean more to me than I should have realised earlier. So I made a decision to say 'why not' and see where a three-way could go." Justin explained with a smile. Vinyl took a moment to register what he had just said. Then the lightbulb went off. With a small squeal, she quickly latched herself to Justin's torso, pushing her muzzle against his face in a kiss. Justin accepted the kiss graciously, returning the favor. Vinyl eventually broke the kiss and stare into his dark eyes. Vinyl and Justin actually did spend of of the day acting like the friends they were before, to the unobservant anyway. If one were to fully look at the couple, they'd see that Vinyl was closer than she ever would be to the human, whether it be standing, walking, or sitting. Laying, it was a dead giveaway. Vinyl would just simply lay ontop of him, no questions asked, no cares to give, and certainly not to be torn away. Well, Derpy got this much time to ogle over Justin too, but she was still at work, so, to break the good new, Justin decided on the favorite of his dishes and probably the most cliche'd of them all, pasta! A rather simple recipe of spaghetti noodles with some tomato sauce, he'd just have to do without those delectable meatballs for this time around. Justin could make that exception. Vinyl stood nearby, watching his steady hand movements. "You seem pretty good with those hands of yours." "I guess I am." Justin replied with a bit of his tongue hanging out in concentration. "Maybe you could show me just how good you are with them." Vinyl asked coyly. "Sure." Justin said, now totally out of it. Vinyl did a small hoofpump before scampering out. Justin was busy stirring the pasta sauce as the noodles boiled. His mind was elsewhere. The way the sauce seemed to shift, like something. Something that was familiar, like a place. A nice, warm, sunny place. Then it hit him. "I want to go to the beach." Justin stated to noone in particular but himself. "What was that?" Vinyl asked from the other room. "Nothin!" A few good minutes passed, well, half and hour at most, but everything was finally set. The table was covered, candles for a nice setting, what was considered silverwear, plates, and not to forget the pasta! Mouthwatering spaghetti made by a human, well, Justin considered it mouthwatering. In perfect timing too, Derpy had just come home! "Evening Derpy." Vinyl greeted from the couch. Derpy just gave a slight nod. Justin stopped what he was doing as his left eye twitched. "I sense that Derpy is sad." Justin quickly left the table, skidded around a corner, and slid on his knees. He enveloped the grey mare in a tight, comforting, loving hug. "Now what is wrong with my little Derps?" She looked up at Justin before wrapping around him tightly. "I just got stopped by Princess Twilight.." "And...?" "She told me to send you to the library, I know she's gonna send you back, I just know it." Derpy sniffed. Justin's smile faded as he gently let go of the grey pegasus in his arms and slowly stood. Vinyl gave him a curious look. His face didn't look terrified, but, rather a face of determination. Justin stepped around Derpy and continued for the door, his ears picked up Vinyl's voice. "Where are you going?" Vinyl asked. "To go talk to Twilight, what terrible timing she has." Justin simply said, leaning down to get out the door. The two mare just looked at the wide open door. "You can't do this!" Justin yelled, his glare directed toward the Twilicorn in front of him. "To Tartarus I can't! You don't belong here!" Twilight argued back. "I may not belong here, but I sure as hell fit in around here!" Justin shot back. They had been atleast arguing for over an hour now. That both were standing in the middle of the room, just the two of them, yelling. "The portal I created will send you back to the exact point in time to arrived! I suggest you go willing before I force you in!" Twilight stood as if she was about to charge at him. Justin sighed, walking towards the portal in defeat. "Fien, but I will return. Whether you like it or not." "You can't." Twilight scoffed, "You can't use magic, remember?" "I always find a way..." Justin jumped in with final words. "You Bitch!" Then he was gone, back to his world where he belonged. Later that evening in the Carousel Boutique... Rarity was sound asleep on her desk, a bit of droll coming from her mouth. A slight breeze started to rustle some of her papers, the sound waking her from her light slumber. With a sleepy look, she wandered over to a closed, but then remembered that all her windows were closed. So, then, where was the breeze coming from. Her eyes widened in realisation. "It can't be..." She spoke softly The breeze started to pick up speed and more papers, form a sort of paper tornado in the middle of her work room. The more the speed, the more the papers form a sort of solid tunnel. Light blue lightning started to shoot out from the paper-nado, a blue light building withing the funnel. It eventually got bright enough for her to cover her eyes, she couldn't possibly be blind making her dresses. In a sort of unintended explosion with no collateral damage to anything around it, the papers flew all over the place. In its wake, a kneeling form. It stood shortly enough, a bag on his back. "You're back?" Rarity asked. "Yeah, I owe ya one Rares. Thanks for that card." Justin smiled, quickly trudging over and placing a peck on her cheek. "Call me for that favor anytime."
Things Fall Back Into PlaceVinyl and Derpy weren't taking Justin leaving so well. They both sat at the table he had set for the three of them, staring down at dimly-lit plates in the dimly-lit room. Neither of them ate any of the now cold spaghetti that sat in a strainer on the counter nearby. A stomach grumbled, breaking the long silence, but also did the front door open. They both jumped out of their seats and ran to the edge of the kitchen, both eyes peering around the corner to find a familiar figure letting an usually large bag hit the floor. With a sigh, he took off his hat and jacket, placing both on the coat rack. When he turned, he had the same face, only slightly different, there was for fur on his face. The fur had grown itself around his lips and under his nose. Both mare took no time guessing who it was and just tackled him to the ground. "We thought you left!" They both cried out in unison. "Well, technically, I did. for five months to finish schooling." Justin stated, both mare looked at him funny. "Dude, it's only been two hours." Vinyl put out. "It has?" Both nodded, "Well, I guess nothing has really changed has it?" "Except for your face." Depry piped up, "You have fur on your face now." "It's a goatee, Derpy, and it's hair. I guess we just created a time paradox." Justin just smiled before speaking again. "That way, you, you, and me can really get a relationship off the ground." Derpy's eyes went wide a bit as she gasped, "So that's why you made us supper." "It was me telling you that I'm no longer making you both wait on me being human." Justin then hugged both the mares and sat up, both close to his chest. "I might not be a pony, but I wouldn't change anything to to be around you two." "Quit bein' sappy" Vinyl teased. "Oh, and you weren't being sappy by tackling me to the ground?" Justin teased back Vinyl just chuckled and landed a playful punch on his cheek. Justin just shook his head slightly and let go of the two ponies, both sat in his lap with smiles and maybe some tears forming. He knew what those tears were for, happy tears for his return. They didn't think they'd see him again, but that changed when he came through that door. "So, how about I make something simple?" Justin offered. "I'd have to assume that spaghetti and sauce is no longer good and something warm sounds good." "One question first." Derpy stayed on his legs, a hoof pointed to his large bag. "What's that?" Justin followed the hoof then looked back to the grey pegasus. "That, my dear Derpy, is my dufflebag. It contains any clothes I decided to pack for the trip here." Derpy mouthed an 'oh' and was picked up by Justin and placed to his side. Once he got up, he made way back into the kitchen. The two mare just watched still in their places. They listened to running water, scrubbing, clamor of dishes and the fridge open and close. They already guessed what that human was doing. That is, until they heard more clamor, a sign that fell out reading: [Insert Exposion Sound/Graphic Here]; and a roar. Vinyl trotted on over to the door. "Just what the heck is going on in here?" Justin looked over his shoulder and shrugged. There was absolutely nothing out of place in Derpy's kitchen. It was like it was any other day. If any other day included a human in her kitchen. Yet, here he was, mixing some batter while a skillet lay on a stove nearby. Now where did he get that skillet? I don't think it mattered to Vinyl now, pancakes were involved, so, it must be good. Justin just mixed away with a smile on his face. He then opted to go ahead and pour some of this pancake batter in the heated skillet. The smell and sound of the batter hitting the heated metal filled the room and quite possibly other rooms. Atleast he could sleep tonight, even thought technically nothing changed in the slightest bit here, Justin hasn't been getting a wink of sleep for the past non-existent five months, knowing that he finally is back with two mares that care for him deeply, and he care for them more than they would ever know.
