Author's Note

I know I said this next chapter would be a flashback chapter, but upon second thought, it occurred to me that it wouldn't make sense to put it here. Sorry! You'll get your answers, though. Pinky Promise!

A new homie

Me and Flossy were sitting in the front room, smoking in our new house. The light shining through the white curtains provided just enough light to not trip over the furniture. We were enjoying the silence when it was broken by a knocking at the door. Definitely a hoof, by the sound of it.

"I got it, Floss." I say, getting up from the love-seat and taking a drag on my smoke. He just nods, watching as I walk to the door and whoever was knocking.

I open the door to a familiar (or unmistakeable) rainbow maned, magenta eyed cyan pegasus. Rainbow looked up at me with a grin.

"Heya, big guy! You guys down to hang out today?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. I look back to Flossy, who's got his hand to his chin in thought. Then, with a grin, finally answers.

"You go on ahead, nigga. I'm gonna do some home decoratin' today." Bro, if only you knew how gay that sounded... I turn back to Rainbow.

"I'm down, but Flossy isn't coming with us." I say, stepping out of the doorway toward Rainbow Dash and closing the door. She looks nervous for a second but it quickly goes away, replaced by a large grin.

"Sweet! Let's go!" She urges, dragging me by my arm down the street. Already a place in mind? Wait...why did Flossy bail out?

We continued down the street, now garnering looks of confusion instead of the usual shock or fear. Guess they're getting over my appearance-

"We're here!" Rainbow suddenly says, stopping me. The other girls were waiting outside a building, looking at us with smiles... I don't like those smiles...

"Well, at least you could make it, darling! Oh, you'll enjoy this!" Rarity says, way to chipper.

Nervous, I look up at the large one story building in question. The sign on the door read "Ponyville Day Spa!"

....Well, this should be interesting. "Alright, what the hell am I doing here, girls?" I ask, pointing up at the sign. Applejack is trying not to laugh.

"Oh, you just seemed so tense! I imagine this will do you a lot of good, darling! And don't worry, I'm hoofing the bill on this." She says, tossing her mane. Ho boy, they already payed....

"Alright, I guess I'll give it a shot. What's the worst thing that could happen?" I decide with a sigh. Who knows? These girls just might a human anatomy lesson out of this!

...wait a minute.... "Splendid! Well, let's get started!" Rarity says, walking in first. I walk in after her, followed by the girls. Well, no chance of dipping out. I feel set-up here...

Behind the counter between two doors on the opposite wall were two mares, one pink with a blue mane, the other blue with a pink mane. Twins, I guess?

"Hello! Velcome to Ponyville Day spa! Are you new here, Mister...?" The blue one asks me. I resist the urge to facepalm at this. My non-amusement must have shown, but after taking a better look, her eyes snapped open and a light blush glows on her cheeks.

"Yes he is, girls. We have an appointment for two." Twilight says, stepping forward. The sisters nod, and the pink one opens the door to the left of the counter.

"The usual." Rarity says simply as we walk in the door. What, no separate room for humans?

As we enter, I see a lot of massage tables, a couple mud baths, a sauna, and tables with various lotions. Further back, a hot tub is seen. Well, this actually looks pretty nice.

"I'm sorry sir, but the clothes need to come off." The pink spa mare informs me. Eh, no problem.

"Alright, hold up a sec." I say, before grabbing the bottom of my shirt and lifting it over my head in a single, swift motion. The shirt drops at my feet, revealing my upper body for all to see; my relatively tone abs, chest and arms, my super pale skin, and the few scars I collected from targets who fought back. The girls were all looking at me. Some, like Rarity and Twilight, appraisingly. Others, like Rainbow and Applejack, in respect. Pinkie was just looking at me deeply in the eyes, Fluttershy was looking away, blushing.

"Well, at least ya know how ta take care o' yaself." Applejack says, breaking the silence with a smile.

"Yeah, kinda helps." I smile back, unbuttoning my pants next. Now rainbow was looking away, just as red as Fluttershy. Twilight continued looking on in fascination, Pinkie was still looking in my eyes, before-

"Hey! You have pink eyes! I'm pink too!" she announces out of nowhere, bouncing. Well, that seems to take the edge out of the awkward silence.

Finally, I drop my pants (I know how wrong that sounds, but bear with me) leaving me in my black boxer-briefs. The black really clashes with my skin, making me look even paler. Of course, that was the desired effect.

"Sheesh! You're really pale, big guy." Rainbow comments, finally looking at me, keeping her eyes on mine. Hehe, she wants a peek.

"Yeah, I know. It's a condition I've had since I was born. Humans don't normally have pink eyes and skin paler than a white girl." I say simply, but the joke was lost on them. Sighing, I look to the onlooking spa ponies.

"Hey, you girls have any towels I can cover with?" I ask, thumb hooked in my underwear.

They nod and leave to get it. "So, if humans aren't like that, why are you?" Twilight asks, ever curious.

"Well, you've heard of albinos' right?" I ask. Something sparks in her eye as she puts the pieces together.

"Yeah, I am one. It's a problem that affects my eyes too, but I had eyedrops and stuff for that back home. But I didn't have them when we were yanked here." I continue, lowering my head.

"Well, maybe we can do something for you about it?" Twilight suggests hopefully. I shake my head at this.

"I doubt it..." The sisters walk back in with a large towel, which I take, wrapping it around my waist before slipping my underwear off, still covered by the towel.

"So what first?" I ask, finally ready. Rarity points a hoof to the sauna, and we walk to it, the coals already set up.

I sit down on the bench, toward the end, and the girls take their seats as well. Rainbow Dash sat next to me, then Fluttershy, then Rarity, then Applejack, then Twilight, and finally Pinkie Pie.

The pink spa pony pours a ladle of water onto the coals, and the steam starts to cloud my vision. With that, Rainbow asks

"So what do you mean Twi can't do anything about your eyes? She's crazy powerful!" she sounds confidant in her friend.

"Because someone already did. How my eyes are now is how good they'll ever be." I admit. This seems to shock her, and everyone else.

"Well, who was it?" Twilight asks, again curious.

"...it was a couple years ago, I was in a bit of rut because I couldn't see well enough to be any good at anything during the day, and I first found out I wasn't fully cured from...being a zombie..." I start, the girls listening patiently.

"A woman found me at the park by our home, me and my homies lived there at the time... Her hair was an odd blue, and she wore all black... she sat next to me on the bench and asked why I was crying..." I could feel tears start brimming in my eyes

"S-so I told her... everything that was going on. She looked me in the eye and told me 'Dry your eyes, boys aren't supposed to cry' but I couldn't..." Rainbow was looking up at me now, her own eyes reflecting how I was feeling at the moment, recalling this memory.

"So she said 'Well, what if I helped with your eyes?' of course, I didn't believe her, but I said she could do what she wanted. She...did something, I don't remember exactly what, but the next thing I knew, she was gone...and I could actually see clearly, for the first time." A faint smile touches my lips "I've never forgotten that day, but I never saw her again after that..."

Twilight looked like something was bugging her, but she remained silent. Tears finally started spilling from my eyes as I remember my homies back home, all we did, and all we got into together...

"H-hey, you alright big guy?" Rainbow asks, being the only one who could see my tears. A timer goes off, and the door opens, showing the blue spa pony. I quickly wipe my eyes as the steam clears, showing little evidence tears were even there. With that, we walk to the massage tables, a pair of tables put together to accommodate my size. I may not be the beefiest on the street, but everyone looks up to me. Literally.

I lay down, Twilight laying down next to me on the other massage table, and the ponies get to work on our backs. Surprisingly, their hooves aren't cold, or even hard... working out the kinks in my back with practiced ease.

I can't hold back the sigh of content as my back and shoulders are kneaded. It was... relaxing.

+++++

The rest of the spa trip went smoothly, with light chatter and some stories. The only hitch was Rarity let slip that one of the girls had a bit of a crush on me. Okay....not gonna lie, should've seen that coming. Still a little weird.

Okay, VERY weird. I had to refrain making a comment about pony head-height compared to me, but I didn't want whoever it was that liked me getting any ideas.

Anyway, I was on my way home, followed by Rainbow Dash and Twilight. The sun was pretty low already, and my house came into view.Twilight branched off to the left, toward the library, and Rainbow suddenly speaks up.

"I saw you crying. In the sauna." she sounds like she's trying to be careful. I turn my head to her.

"And?" I ask, much to her shock "I'll cry if I want to. I just miss my homies back home, and I'll bet Flossy does too."

"Well...could I be your homie, big guy?" She asks. I raise my eyebrow (I seem to do that a lot) at her, thinking.

"Well, we did get to hang, and you girls helped us out a lot. You know what?" she tilts her head "Why the hell not." I answer with a smile. She grins at me and holds her hoof out. I think for a minute, then meet it with my fist.

Looks like I got another homie.

...but even so, I miss the guys....