Exie walked down the muddy streets of Ponyville, her boots leaving deep imprints as she made her way through.
The roar of thunder ripped through the empty streets. The rain was coming down without mercy.
With every step the mare took, she grew further apart from the town that she thought she could finally call a home.
She walked away from all of the parties, all of her one night stands, all of her so-called friends.
She glanced at the library as she passed by. The place where the recently crowned princess currently lived. Perhaps the first pony that she had made “friends” with in this sleepy little town. She had never realized it before now, but Twilight had always been good for a laugh.
__________
“Is something wrong?” Exie asked with all of the innocence in her voice that she could muster.
“N-No. Not at all,” Twilight stuttered as she made her way through the stack of books that Exie had brought to the counter.
-How to please a Mare
-How to please a Stallion
-Secrets of the Pony Body
-How to do Bondage
-Advanced Leather Working and Knots
-How to Please Yourself Without Toys
-The Beginner’s Guide to Stargazing
-Tips and Tricks for when you Masterbate
“Are you sure?” Exie asked her. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me checking these books out.”
“I- It’s fine,” Twilight said as she finished with the last book. “I mean, sometimes a pony will check out one of these books. Just… never all at once.”
Twilight had always been so easy to get flustered. For a mare that was as well-read as she was, she always got awfully flustered when it came to sexual stuff like this.
Exie occasionally came over to check out a book or two to read, usually the latest romance novels, but today everything (With the exception of the stargazing book) was simply to see the look on Twilight’s face as she handled them.
She was doing everything she could to keep from bursting into laughter as Twilight pushed Tips and Tricks for when you Masterbate off to the side.
“So… you’re getting into stargazing?” Twilight finally asked, trying desperately to change the subject.
The sudden subject change was all it took for Exie to get ahold of herself, even if it still took a few seconds. “Yea, I never got to see the stars much, having pretty much always lived in a city. When I was just a filly in the br- er, orphanage, I always wanted to see a sky full them. I can’t say I’m disappointed now that I’m living here in Ponyville.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yea, I remember when I first came here from Canterlot. You could always see the stars despite the lights because Celestia would enchant the sky, but it still wasn’t the same. If you’d like, you could come over one night and use my telescope. The stars only get more beautiful the more you look at them.”
“You’d really let me use your telescope?” Exie asked her she started putting the books in her saddlebag.
She may have been checking out most of the books to see Twilight’s face more than anything, but she really was planning on reading the stargazing one. The sky at night over Ponyville was so beautiful that she just couldn't help it.
“Well, the telescope is technically the library’s so…”
“Expect me sometime next week then,” Exie said as she started heading out the door.
Just before reaching it she turned around though. “Oops, almost forgot something.” She rushed back over and grabbed Tips and Tricks for when you Masterbate. “Don’t want to forget this one. I plan on trying it out as soon as I get home.”
If she didn’t know better, Exie would have thought that Twilight had just gotten an instant sunburn. Yup, it was definitely way too easy to embarrass her.
__________
The bitter cold of the wind pierced through Exie’s soaked fur as she continued to make her way out of town. While not necessarily everypony understood the lifestyle she lead, they had never openly attacked or criticized her. This town seemed pretty accepting of just about anything as long as it didn’t affect them in a negative way.
The wind changed direction and blew the rain right into Exie’s face. She looked up at the Carousel Boutique despite the sting.
Rarity, as surprising as it may have seemed, had probably been the most accepting of some of Exie’s favorite activities…
__________
The bell above the door rung out as Exie walked into the dress shop for the first time.
“Hello?”
“This way darling! I’m just finishing up a quick design,” a voice from the next room beckoned.
Exie walked in just in time to see a posh, white unicorn put the finishing touches on what was probably the most beautiful dress that the light peach colored mare had ever seen.
“And… … … done. Sorry about that, welcome to the Carousel Boutique. How can I help you?”
Exie simply stared at the dress in front of her. “... Wow. That has to be the most elegant dress that I’ve ever seen.” She looked from the dress to Rarity, then back to the dress. “You made this?”
“Designed and made darling. This is a 100% original by yours truly.”
Exie’s jaw nearly fell on the floor. “You designed this too? Wow. I mean, I know how to make some stuff on my own, but I don’t think I could do this if you showed me, much less on my own.”
Rarity suppressed a small giggle. “Well, that’s to be expected if you’re just getting into it. I’ve been doing this since before I got my cutie mark, so it’s only natural that I’m good at it.” She lead Exie into the main hall of the Carousel Boutique as she continued, “Am I to assume that you came here to apply for a job then? If so, I should probably have you know you’re wasting your time. I’m not hiring now unfortunately, I prefer to work alone.”
“Actually,” Exie said, “I came here to ask if you could fix something for me.” She pulled one of her prized boots out of her saddlebag. “You see how the stitching is starting to come undone here? I was hoping you could fix it.”
Rarity took the boot in her magic and started to closely inspect the problem area.
Exie continued, “I’m sure I could sew it so it would stay together, but like you already pointed out, I’m not an expert by any means and I want this to look perfect. Even though you probably don’t have much experience in leather, I’m sure it’ll be simple.”
Rarity looked over the entire boot closely. “Well I have to say, for something that was probably just made for costume parties, this was really well done. A lot of care was put into getting everything just right.”
The fashionista very nearly did a double take when Exie said, “That’s probably because they were actually made for daily use. And the stitching probably came apart because I actually have worn them every day for a…” She struggled to remember, “... a while. I can’t remember exactly to be honest.”
“You wear them daily?” Rarity asked. “I can’t say I’ve seen many ponies who would so openly wear something like this. It does explain why you would come to me though. Judging from the workmanship and the fact that it’s all… well, black leather, buying a new pair of equal quality if you messed this up would be quite expensive. Assuming you could even find such a pair around here.”
“So you’ll do it?” Exie asked hopefully.
“Of course. It would be a crime to see such beautiful work be destroyed when I could fix it so easily. I have everything I need upstairs. Follow me, it won’t take but a moment or two.”
Exie marveled at every part of the boutique as they went through it. It wasn’t just a dressmaker’s dream with sewing machines, mannequins, and all the fabric you could ever need for a spur of the moment design, but a cozy home as well.
It was so much more than Exie had herself. However, having run away from home at such a young age taught her to always be thankful for what you had, not to pout over what you didn’t. No matter how little it was, you could always have less.
She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if this mare was to lose this all in some kind of freak fire. Would she be thankful for whatever she had left, even if it was just her family and friends, or would she fall into despair, unable to look past the fact that these were all material possessions and no matter how long it had taken her to get to this point, they could all eventually be replaced.
Exie sadly suspected that it would be the second of the two cases.
“Here we are,” Rarity announced as they walked into one of the rooms. “Now if you excuse me, I’ll be just a second.”
“...Uh…”
“Is something wrong darling?”
“Well…” Exie didn’t want to mention the obvious, but, “we’re in a bedroom it looks like. I don’t really see anything that’ll help you fix my boot.”
“That’s because I keep it all in the closet,” Rarity said as she trotted into the closet with Exie’s boot in tow. “No peeking now.”
Exie kind of expected to not hear anything, assuming the unicorn would hoof stitch whatever she needed to do. What she did hear however, were some boxes shifting around.
“Are you… looking for something? To like, fix my boot with I guess?”
“Oh, I’m not fixing your boot right now,” Rarity called back. The boxes stopped moving. “You see, I expect payment before I do anything.”
“Well, I brought some bits,” Exie said. “I didn’t expect you to just do it for free…”
“Not bits darling, I expect a different kind of payment,” she said as she waked out of the closet.
The outfit was simple, but effective. It was a black leather corset that rather complemented her white fur. Nothing too complex, but it told Exie what she needed to know.
“If things go right dear, you won’t have to pay a single bit for anything I ever do for you.”
A sly grin came across Exie’s face. “If you give me a few seconds, I can run home and get a few of my own toys. Make this a little more exciting for both of us.”
Rarity levitated an entire box big enough to easily hold twice the number of “toys” that Exie owned out of the closet. “I think I have us covered.”
__________
Boy, did she run me ragged that day. I couldn’t even walk right until the next morning.
Hehe.
I think she was just excited to have finally found a mare who was open enough to share her interests with. And she shared them often too. Even if it did get a little strange sometimes…
Exie stopped and looked at the park.
Even with her rain soaked mane getting in her eyes, she couldn’t help but smile. One of her favorite memories during her entire stay in Ponyville had started right in the park.
And wouldn’t you know it, it just so happened to be a memory of those three Cutie Mark Crusading rascals that everypony loved so much. Perhaps the few ponies left that would be able to make her smile should she come face to face with them right now.
__________
“Common girls, our Cutie Marks ain’t gonna get themselves today!”
“Applebloom, slow down or you’re going to-”
*THUD*
“...Ouch,” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo winced at the same time.
“Er, sorry Exie,” Applebloom said as she stared at the full-grown mare she had somehow managed to knock down.
Exie shook the stars that were spinning around her head away. “Woah, what happened?”
“Applebloom just knocked you over,” Sweetie Belle bluntly said.
“I guess you’re just like your brother then,” Exie said as she got up and rubbed the top of the farm filly’s head, “too strong for your own good.”
“Do you even know know how strong Big Mac really is?” Scootaloo asked rather accusingly.
“Well…” Exie thought back to the previous week.
***
“Eey- huh?” the bulky farm pony stuttered.
“You heard me right big boy,” Exie whispered as she slowly walked around him, observing every aspect of his toned body. “Wadda say?”
“I- Ah’m sorry, I just always thought you was into mares,” was all he could get out.
“Usually…” Exie brought her face in close to his. “But not always. Recently I’ve felt like going at it with a big, strong stallion. So tell me,” she brought her lips right next to his ear and using a voice she perfected over many years, asked as slowly and seductively as she could, “your place or mine?”
***
“I’ve been to the farm a time or two,” Exie told them. Not really a lie since they did end up going back to his place. “Trust me, I know.”
The three fillies sat quietly, like they were awaiting the story of exactly what transpired when Eixe visited the apple orchard.
“... Ummm, so what were you three doing?” Exie finally asked, hoping to change the subject.
“We were just getting our Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Cool, what were you trying to do to get them?”
“We were gonna- We were going to… Uh, what were we going to do Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked.
“Ah don’t know. I thought you knew,” she replied.
“Then why were you running ahead?”
“I don’t know. I don’t gotta explain everything I do!”
“I thought we were trying to get our Cutie Marks in running,” Sweetie Belle chimed in.
Scootaloo gagged. “Ick! Running? Who wants a Cutie Mark in that?”
“I have an idea for you three~” Exie teased as she picked up the stuff she had been carrying when Applebloom knocked her over. “Just follow me.”
***
“Alright, I have just two questions,” Exie told Applebloom as they looked over the side of a rather tall bridge.
“One: My idea for getting your Cutie Marks was sewing, so how did we end up here, on a bridge, about to bungee jump? Two: I already have my cutie mark, so why am I about to jump with you?”
“Ya know, I really don’t have any idea myself,” Applebloom said with much less worry than Exie would have prefered. “The last thing I remember is you telling us to follow you in the park. This seems to happen quite a bit. We don’t really question it though.”
“Wait, WHAT?!”
“OnetwothreeGO!” Applebloom pushed Exie off of the bridge and then jumped herself shortly after.
***
Scootaloo sighed as she collapsed on to the floor of their clubhouse. “We’ve tried bungee jumping, sky diving, deep sea diving, shallow sea diving, distance swimming, swimming pool installation, and improperly installed swimming pool removal so far and it’s only noon. What else can we try?”
“Maybe Exie’ll have an idea,” Applebloom suggested.
“Exie?” Sweetie Belle asked as she poked the light peach colored mare. “Guys, she doesn’t do anything no matter how much I poke her. I think she might be broken…”
“Don’t worry, I got this,” Scootaloo said as she got up and walked over to Exie.
The pegasus stood there for a second, cleared her throat, then promptly slapped the mare across the face.
“Wha?” Exie asked as she rubbed her cheek.
“We need ideas for Cutie Marks,” Scootaloo bluntly told her. “Give us some.”
“Oh no!” Exie cried. “You girls are nuts. I’d try suggesting something safe, but you’d probably just ignore it to and go play in traffic.”
“We wouldn’t do that,” Applebloom reassured her. “We tried doing it last week and all it did was make a bunch of ponies angry at us. We need new ideas.”
“How did you get your Cutie Mark?” Sweetie Belle asked. “... and what is it?”
“My Cutie Mark?” Exie asked as she looked at it. “Well, I’d love to tell you three, especially since you can’t do anything dangerous if you’re here listening to me, but you’re all a little young to hear the story.”
“PLEASE!” the three of them asked, making the best puppy-dog faces that they obviously had a lot of practice making.
Exie took a step back from the barrage of cute in front of her.
“Please,” Applebloom said alone this time. “You never know, maybe we can get ours the same way you did!”
Exie took a deep breath in before answering. “... Okay, how about we make a deal. I’ll tell you guys how I got my cutie mark if you promise not to tell anypony what I tell you. Ever. Is it a deal?”
Applebloom looked at the other two crusaders, then back to Exie. “Deal.”
Exie motioned for the three to gather around.
Exie had never been one to be serious. She always liked to be fun and flirty. But, even if only for the next few moments, she became so serious that she could give Fluttershy’s “stare” a run for its money.
“When I was still just a filly, younger than even you three, I had to go through pain and hardship that no kid should ever have to go through. My Mom and Dad argued all of the time, and it eventually reached the point that my Mom just left one day. When she did that, my Dad became... overprotective of me. He stopped sending me to school. He would lock me in my room all day. I couldn’t do anything.”
“That doesn’t sound that bad,” Scootaloo interrupted.
“That’s because that isn’t what the pain and hardship was,” Exie said before the orange pegasus could say anything else. “That started when I ran away from home. Tell me Scoot, have you ever run away from home? For real? No adults to cook you food, no bed to sleep in, no roof to protect you when it rained?”
Scootaloo simply shook her head, realizing just what Exie was getting at.
“Well I did. For real. When I was younger than you three I lived on the streets of a dirty city by myself. I was always covered in dirt, I was cold in the winter, and had to search through trash cans to find food. Food that other ponies threw away. I’m lucky I never got sick from eating nothing but garbage for as long as I did.”
The three fillies started having second thoughts about getting their Cutie Marks the way Exie did.
“One day, a nice pony came up to me and took me to a building where I was given a shower and food that wasn’t rotten. They even let me sleep in a real bed for the night. When I woke up, the mare that owned the building, I guess I’ll just call her… Missy for now, she asked me if I was ready to go back out by myself.
“Of course I begged her to let me stay. I didn’t want to go back to sleeping on the sidewalk, so she told me that I could only stay if I was a good girl and promised to do whatever I was told. As you can imagine, I listened real well. I didn’t fully understand at the time, but she made me do things that… Well, even though her heart was kinda in the right place, if anypony ever found out she made me do them when I was so young, she’d go to jail.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were quiet for a little bit, thinking about what Exie had just told them.
Sweetie Belle finally asked, “Was it those things that got you your Cutie Mark?”
Exie looked at the heart with a price tag attached to it that was on her flank one more time. “Yes. Even if my Cutie Mark doesn’t exactly stand for what Missy made me do, it was doing it that lead to me getting it.”
“So what happened after that?” Scootaloo asked.
“I stayed, and grew up there. It wasn’t a bad life, but I decided to leave once I was old enough. Now don’t get me wrong girls, Missy isn’t a bad mare. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know what would have happened to me. She’s helped countless other homeless fillies too. Do you all understand why I don’t want you telling anypony now?”
The nodded their heads in unison.
“Ah still can’t believe you had to eat garbage,” Applebloom told her. “I don’t think I’d eat garbage even if it would help me get a Cutie Mark.”
“Eating garbage didn’t get Exie her Cutie Mark,” Scootaloo interjected.
“Yes it did!” Applebloom retorted. “... eventually.”
“What would an eating garbage Cutie Mark even look like?” Sweetie Belle asked no pony in particular.
“I don’t even want to think about it,” Scootaloo mumbled to herself.
Exie chuckled. These three fillies had the attention span of... well, three young fillies.
“How about we all get some ice cream?” she suggested.
“Yea!”
“Let’s go!”
“Ice cream!”
As she was walking down the road, Exie couldn’t help but wait to see these three crazy fillies again despite the crazy day they had dragged her through. They were just so fun and innocent that she couldn’t help but like them.
__________
As Exie took her final steps out of the town, she thought once again about how it had all just gone wrong so quick.
Ponyville had been so inviting to her. Everypony knew each other and cared about their neighbors. Living in this little town had been some of the best months of her life.
Just yesterday, despite having never really told anypony, Pinkie knew it was her birthday and threw her one heck of a party. Just yesterday everything had been fine. And today it all went to hell.
__________
“SURPRISE!”
“... Pinkie, this isn’t a small party. It’s almost everypony in Ponyville.”
“Yea, that just sometimes kinda happens.”
The pink mare, oblivious to Exie’s shock over having the entire town jump out at her after being told it was a small party, pushed her into the door of the Sugarcube Corner and into the fracas.
“Pinkie, I don’t personally know most of these ponies,” Exie whispered rather angrily.
“Well I know them!” Pinkie, once again oblivious to the obvious emotions Exie was displaying, announced rather loudly. “I know everypony in Ponyville and I say that we’re gonna have a heck of a party today. ISN’T THAT RIGHT EVERYPONY!?”
A mixture of cheers and shouts came from the entire building.
“A little intimidating, it’s it?” Twilight came out of nowhere and asked.
“More than a little,” Exie told her once Pinkie had hopped off to go do Celestia knows what.
Twilight let out a small chuckle. “At least you’re familiar with most of these ponies. Pinkie threw me a party the first day I arrived in town.”
“It’s still intimidating,” Exie stated. “I may know them, but I don’t like, KNOW know them.”
Twilight just dismissed it with her hoof. “Most of these ponies probably just showed up for the cake. If you just want to hang with me and my friends for a while, I don’t think the party will mind. You may not KNOW know my friends either, but-”
“I’d like that,” Exie cut in. “I can handle a small group of ponies I don’t know, just not an entire town at once. If you all don’t mind that is…”
“Nonsense darling,” Exie heard Rarity say. She turned to see that the unicorn was standing right behind her. “We’d love to have you. We’re all in the corner right over there. All of us except for Pinkie that is.”
Exie looked back to Twilight. “I guess it’s agreed then. I’ll just hang with you all for a while.”
Once Twilight was just out of earshot, Rarity whispered, “If you can, stop by tonight. I have my own special present for you~”
***
“- so I told her to make it herself if it was so easy, and she did. You know what happened?” Exie asked the table she was sitting at. “It fell to pieces the next day. Not a single stitch held. Boy, you should have seen the look of embarrassment on her face.”
They all had a good laugh as Exie took a sip of punch.
“Ya sure got a lota interesting stories there,” Applejack said once they all calmed down a little.
“Yea,” Rainbow Dash added. “I never knew working in a costume shop could be so cool. I may just have to quit my job on the weather team.”
Exie chuckled. “It’s an experience, that’s for sure. I don’t want to do it the rest of my life, but I’m not complaining.”
“COOKIES FOR EVERYPONY!” Pinkie cried out from somewhere in the bakery.
The group looked down to see that there was now a chocolate chip cookie in front of every one of them.
“This has to be a dream,” Exie mumbled as she stared at her cookie, a genuine grin gracing her face.
“No, that’s just Pinkie being her good ‘ol random self,” Rainbow commented.
Exie shook her head as she snapped out of her trance. “No, I didn’t mean the cookies. I learned to stop questioning that mare long ago. I meant the entire time I’ve spent here in Ponyville. I’ve never seen a place so open and inviting. I just can’t help but think it’s all a dream and that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and be back in the bro- er, orphanage.”
“It’s not a dream,” Rarity reassured her. “You’re in Ponyville, and you’re at a giant party that was thrown just for you.”
“Yea, don’t you worry ‘bout it none sugarcube. We’ll always be there for ya, just like I’m sure you would for us,” Applejack added.
“It’s official then, I’m dreaming,” Exie said with a small chuckle. “Thank you all. This just means so much to me.”
Twilight picked up her cooke. “Glad to have you Exie. Now lets eat our cookies in a toast since if we don’t, Pinky will get to them first.”
Just before she could take a bite, Exie swiped the cookie out of Twilight’s hoof. “This is my party, and I say I want THIS cookie.”
Everypony laughed out loud at Twilight’s surprise when Exie took a bite.
I think I’ve finally found myself a true home. Exie thought as she laughed with everypony else.
__________
Exie looked down on Ponyville from a hill as the storm continued to unleash its wrath upon her.
“Some home this turned out to be.”
The Manehatten Mare turned around and walked away, never to see the small town of Ponyville again.
__________
“Twilight, why did she have to go?” Spike begged to know. “She was nice, you said that yourself. You guys threw her a birthday party yesterday. I don’t understand…”
Twilight looked out her window as Exie walked down the hill on the very outskirts of town, never to return.
“You wouldn’t understand Spike,” she said as she slowly shook her head. “I don’t even think she totally understands.”
END