Dead on the inside

And so, Twilight’s part in this ordeal had been played, and it was time to pass the role onto another pony. The only thing that she could do now was rely on the strength of the magic of friendship and her own friends, and pray that they don’t let her down. They had never failed before, so there was no reason to doubt them this time either.

Rarity was the next one in line. Although she walked inside her boutique with a proud smile and great trust in her own abilities, the rest of the group did not share her enthusiasm, as they saw the luxurious and multicolored establishment being entered by a grim-looking man without a single piece of non-black clothing on his body.

Black shoes, black jeans, a long, black, leather jacket that stretched slightly past his knees. Not to mention - the black shades constantly keeping his eyes safe from the bright world...or rather – the world safe from them. Twilight and the rest of her friends stood by the wall, further away from the Rarity and Inhio. Rarity did love some extra room when accepting new customers, especially first timers.

Without much introduction, aside from some happy, melodic humming, Rarity accepted her visitor with about the usual routine, in spite of him not looking anything like her usual customers. She started in her typical, appealing and ladylike tone. "Oh, no, no, no, darling. That outfit simply won’t do.” She started to shake her head in disapproval. "Here, let me fetch you some...umm.”

Rarity froze from shock after taking a few quick looks around her own boutique, full of dressed up pony mannequins. She had only just remembered that just about all of her clothes were designed for female equines, even finding a piece of clothing fit for a male pony would have been a challenge, let alone a human. However, Rarity did not let the sudden shock state last long. She sighed loudly and changed her tone to a more serious and determined one. "Right...” She turned to Inhio to try convince him that she’s still got everything under control. "Not to worry, everything’s as it should be...In fact...” Rarity rubbed her chin. "Even better!”

It then occurred to Rarity, that this was not so much a challenge as it was an opportunity. Her friends already recognized that passionate look on her face, the one she gets when she’s overjoyed with the chance to do what she does best. Rarity was once again, so to say In the zone and ready to create.

"Oh yes! I can already see it! „Rarity - The best fashion designer in Equestria and beyond!”” The spark in Rarity’s eyes was shining brighter than ever. Her right hoof was raised and her sights were set to the sky, which, in this case, was blocked by the ceiling of her boutique. Right now, Rarity herself could see only her own name amongst the stars. Her gaze was fixed on the roof of the room for so long that Inhio had to look up just to see if there’s not a spider or something on the ceiling, that just plain wouldn't let her look away.

"And you’re going to help me achieve it!” Rarity suddenly set her eyes on Inhio and spoke in a slightly-less-friendly, almost demanding tone. Inhio didn’t exactly seem pleased about her attitude. "Oh, ha ha ha, where are my manners?” Rarity laughed and returned to a more welcoming tone. "The customer is always right, and your interests should come before mine.” At this point, Rarity was expecting Inhio to speak up and say just what kind of outfit would he like made. She mistook his silence for failure to understand her hint and decided to clarify.

"So, what will it be then, hmm?” She leaned towards Inhio with the right side of her head, hoping to hear him make an order. He didn’t say a word. Rarity thought he wasn’t sure himself, so she decided to give a few ideas. "A new jacket, perhaps? Brighter jeans, warmer shirt? Or simply a whole new outfit, altogether? You look like a serious man. A neat, luxurious tuxedo would fit you perfectly, don’t you think?”

Rarity smiled at him widely. Her teeth shined, as did her eyes, but Inhio only answered by gripping the inner edges of his open jacket and straightening it without releasing his hold on it. "I’m good, thanks.”

That wiped the smile right off of Rarity’s face, although it did not keep her from giving more ideas. "Some accessory, maybe? A hat, a bracelet, a necklace, something of the sort, perhaps?” The confidence and excitement in Rarity’s voice slowly seemed to be getting replaced with despair.

"I’m fine, really, there’s no need for any of this,” the man replied, remaining calm, which was more than could be said for the eager fashionista, who wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

"Hmph...Well, if you won’t tell me what kind of outfit you’d want, then I guess I’ll just have to make one without your approval.” Rarity walked over to her work table in a huff.

"This should be good,” Inhio whispered so quietly that no other soul heard him say that.

"Now...lets see.” Was the phrase with which Rarity began sorting through all her materials. She kept looking through all her fabrics, all colors and lengths, comparing them and measuring them, and looking back at Inhio, once every few seconds. She kept saying small phrases that only made sense to her, and repeating the word no, way too often "Hmm, no, this won’t do...Aha!...no...no...Oh heavens, no!” She didn’t seem to be making any progress, and the longer it went on, the more she kept looking back towards Inhio. She herself wasn’t too pleased at how things were turning out either.

"Bah! I’m not getting anywhere like this! I need something to work with...Hmm. Aha!” Rarity seemed convinced that she was onto something good. Rarity took her measuring tape and walked over to Inhio. "Now, if you would please hold still...” The eager mare jumped right to measuring the length and width of Inhio’s body, one limb after another. Inhio didn’t mind at all, he even released his jacket and straightened his hand so that Rarity wouldn’t have such trouble measuring it.

Rarity thanked the man and happily walked back to her work post while humming the same melody that she was humming when she first walked in here. Rarity walked passed her work table and faded from everyone’s view for a while, but everyone could still hear her working from where they were. They heard sounds of both metallic and wooden origins. Something being sawed, nails being hammered in, as well as some heavy objects clashing together or being dropped, it was impossible to tell from there.

The ponies got a bit bored after a while of waiting on Rarity. Inhio wasn’t too entertained either, but still seemed quite patient. A few minutes later, something gave the ponies something to smile about and raise their heads in hopes, but those hopes vanished as quickly as they appeared. Rarity came out of the cover, but left again after picking up a few materials from the table, mostly green fabric. And so, the insufferable waiting continued.

Everyone could still hear Rarity working, but heard no distinct sounds. Nothing wooden or metallic could be heard anymore, in fact, nothing could be heard at all, for most of the time. They heard something that sounded like a roll of paper being unfolded, but that’s as far as it went on any sound that’s origins could be told from just hearing it from the other room.

At last, it seemed like the wait was finally over. It sounded like Rarity was about to come out of her cover, but something came before her. A human-sized mannequin on wheels rolled out of the place Rarity was last seen entering. A human mannequin in a land full of tiny horse is a big enough surprise, but the costume on it was still the most interesting sight in the room. The outfit was no less a surprise for Inhio than it was for the five other ponies. In fact, his was the most surprised face in the room now...for he had seen clothes like these before.

The mannequin nearly rolled right into Inhio, stopping just inches away from his feet. Inhio stood and stared at it with an unsettling gaze and a raised eyebrow. The entire mannequin was covered in green clothes, from feet to head. A green jacket which was only half as long as his own, green trousers that ended short, revealing striped socks and brown shoes with a raised tip, and a green top hat that had a belt with a golden buckle around it, as did the trousers. The jacket also had a yellowish shirt and a green bow tie underneath it. Inhio maintained his confused stare on the outfit until the moment the overly-excited white mare ran up to him and nearly shouted out, "Well, do you like it?”

After a few more seconds of staring at the confusing sight, Inhio turned to the pony and replied in a tone not as calm as his usual one, "Do I look like a freaking leprechaun to you? Or even remotely Irish, for that matter?” Those words left Rarity no less confused than Inhio himself.

"I’m sorry, dear, what was it you said? A umm...eye-rish? A...lepricon?...Sounds like some strain of a unicorn, but I still have no idea what ever could you mean.” Rarity’s eyes held no lies, but that only made Inhio twice as confused as he was at first.

There’s no way... He thought to himself. How?... Can it really be true? Do these ponies know nothing of leprechauns and the irish? But...but that can’t be! This costume is the spitting image of every irish fairy tale!

Inhio stood still and gazed at the costume with an unforgiving glare without breathing a word. Although it seemed like he was heavily displeased with the outfit Rarity had made for him, it was not so much displeasure as it was just plain difficulty gathering his thoughts. Rarity’s face had an awkward smile on it as she rubbed the back of her head. She seemed certain that Inhio was so disgusted by the costume that he was having a hard time trying to figure out how to say he doesn’t like it as politely as possible. "Ehe he he...I take it you’re not too pleased with this one,” she muttered quietly, as though she didn’t want Inhio to hear that part. "I just thought that green might be your color.”

While still speaking, she took the mannequin and drove it back out of everyone’s sights, this time snatching some white fabric on the way. "Not to worry, I’m not about to give up that easily!” She left the room, still looking rather enthusiastic about this opportunity.

Only when both Rarity and the mannequin had left the room, did Inhio shake his head and leave his state of trance. Alright...I guess that could have just been dumb luck. Was the only thought that helped Inhio remain calm. She did do a pretty great job, considering it was her first ever time making something for someone that isn’t a horse-shaped being, I have to say. Mayhap she could actually make something that I would fancy wearing, after all.

The five other ponies seemed eager to see Inhio try the costume on. None of them seemed to dislike the outfit even one bit, and all as one, they were rather surprised about Inhio’s impolite reaction to it. Rarity could not be seen or heard, and the waiting resumed, once more. All of them could only hope that Inhio wouldn't be as unhappy about the next one as he was about this one. Inhio had seen enough to know that this one was quite the capable designer. To think that she could not only make a human-sized mannequin, but even a costume to go with it in such a short period of time...Quite astounding, really.

Inhio had only barely stopped dwelling in his thoughts when the mannequin reappeared once again, though seeing what it carried nearly made Inhio drop off his feet. The suit on the mannequin had all the colors of the american flag on it, in addition to a pinch of gold. A thin, white jacket with a red lining and very wide sleeves, and white trousers that split near the feet, revealing red lining on the inside. The outfit also came along with some fine, white shoes and was thoroughly sparkling with red, blue and gold colored decorations, mostly around the chest, sleeves and belt area. From a distance, it seemed like the suit had a belt made entirely out of gold. The only thing this picture was missing was a black wig on the head...Indeed, Inhio was now gazing at what seemed to be an exact replica of one of the stage costumes of the very king of rock and roll himself.

"That’s not possible...” Inhio muttered quietly to himself. This has got to be some kind of joke...Celestia might have tipped her off or something, she may have already had these costumes made before I even arrived here...Or I could even still be dreaming.

While Inhio was making up different kinds of theories on how can the current sight be real, the five other ponies stood and stared at the costume with amazement. Rainbow Dash was the first one to say a word. "Woah!”

And then Twilight added "You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Rarity!” The other three only nodded and agreed with a sound of approval that didn’t require them to open their mouths. "Mmhm.”

When Rarity finally caught up with the rolling mannequin that had stopped at Inhio’s feet again, she seemed excited and had already opened her mouth to say something, but then she saw the expression on Inhio’s face. That instantly sealed her lips shut. It was hard for Rarity to see him that way, she put a lot of effort in making this costume, which she thought any prince would love to wear, and yet, Inhio looked as though he had just seen a ghost. The quiet staring and waiting continued for no less than half a minute, until Rarity became desperate and nearly begged Inhio to say a word with her eyes full of disappointment. "Why, what ever is the matter, darling? I put my heart and soul in this costume! Please, say something! Anything! Please, don’t keep me wondering!”

Inhio still didn’t speak.

"What’s his problem? That costume is awesome!” A voice was heard from one of the five ponies standing by the wall at the other side of the room. All of a sudden, Inhio started shaking his head quite vigorously, not like the kind of shake of disapproval, but more like the kind you’d see a girl doing when trying get a spider out of her hair.

"All right, just to be completely sure,” Inhio finally spoke. "Do the words Elvis Presley mean anything to you?” After only seeing Rarity raise her hoof and utter an unconfident "umm.” Inhio instantly continued, "No, of course they don’t...Then how about the king of rock and roll? Ring any bells?” Without much thinking, Rarity looked at her friends, who only tilted their shoulders or rubbed the back of their heads without saying a word.

"No, I don’t believe I’ve heard any of those phrases before,” Rarity spoke after turning her eyes back to Inhio. "But I would love to know what does any of that have to do with the costume I’ve just made...if you please.”

That was the only answer Inhio expected to hear. Either she was lying or really was on an unbelievably incredible streak of dumb luck. Either way, Inhio could not figure out the truth behind this uncanny situation. The only thing he was wondering about now was whether to tell these ponies what was so special about the costumes Rarity had just created.

"Are they really that bad?” the saddened fashionista interrupted Inhio’s thoughts and got a quick reply from him, that, despite sounding unsure and being full of intervals, sounded like the truth.

"No, they’re not bad....It’s just...I’ve seen them before...Back at my world.” Inhio was having trouble keeping his sentence uninterrupted since he was still battling with his own thoughts in his head.

"what!?” All as one, the six ponies exclaimed, unable to believe what they had just heard. "Are you sure?” Asked the white mare, which was also the one most surprised out of the six ponies.

"Positive,” a quick and confident reply followed.

"B-b-but how?” Rarity stuttered, still unable to believe her own ears and Inhio’s lips.

"I have no idea, that’s exactly why I was so shocked from seeing them for myself.”

The two stared at one another for a while. One unable to believe his eyes, the other – her ears, but nevertheless, the facts were undeniable, and none of them looked like they were lying, nor would any of them have any reason to do so. After a brief moment, Rarity hung her head once she realized what this meant. "So...If you were to wear any of these costumes back at your own world...”

"I’m afraid so,” Inhio interrupted, already being certain of what the pony was about to say. Rarity seemed very sad, even though no one could actually see her face since her head was facing the ground. Inhio had already gotten down on one knee and was about to try cheer her up like he did with Twilight, earlier that day, but before his hand could reach her, Rarity suddenly turned around and took the mannequin back to her workshop with her. For some reason, she looked very confident for someone who seemed like she was about to burst into tears, just moments ago.

"I need a moment.” Were the last words anyone heard before she had left their sights again. Her sudden departure from the scene left Inhio baffled. He looked at the other five ponies still in the room with him, but they seemed just as confused about it as he did. A few of them even looked worried about their friend. As they listened more carefully, it started sounding like Rarity was working again.

Could she be making another costume? Was the thought on the minds of all the ponies. Only Inhio alone wondered something slightly different.

An irish fairy tale, the king of rock and roll, what’s next? Ezio Auditore? Inhio almost got excited from that last thought. Heck, I’d wear that! Inhio was pretty eager to see what else was Rarity about to cook up. If sheer dumb luck made her stitch together such masterpieces, then surely her next outfit should be worth seeing.

"Umm, pardon me, over here!” a voice called Inhio over. He turned his attention to one of the five ponies that was now waving her hoof at him. "Yeah, right here. Just a quick question.” Rainbow Dash flew closer to Inhio before continuing, "Did I hear you right, earlier. Did you say – king of rock and roll?”

"Aye, your ears do not deceive.”

"You have a king of rock and roll at from where you come from?” A single word from Inhio wiped the wide smile right off of Rainbow’s face.

"Had.”

"Oh...” Rainbow Dash hung her head and slowly lost altitude, reaching the floor in a few seconds. "What was he like?” she asked, raising her head up again.

"I never got to meet him in person, but I hear he was...” Inhio hesitated, trying to figure out a proper single word to describe the man. ”Great...To say the least.”

"Sounds like quite the man.”

"Aye, that he was.” Their conversation got cut short, it sounded like Rarity was about to enter the room again. Without a word, the blue pegasus darted back to her friends and pretended like nothing happened between her and Inhio. Right as she landed, the mannequin reappeared in the room for the final time. Inhio wasn’t nearly as surprised about the costume on it this time as he was with the last two. In fact, the clothes on the mannequin seemed to be rather appealing to him. Following the mannequin, Rarity emerged from the same place as it did, this time breathing quite heavily.

Rarity was so exhausted that she pushed the mannequin too hard and didn’t slow it down enough, and was now running after it to stop it. She wasn’t nearly fast enough to catch it. Luckily, Inhio stopped it by placing his foot on one of the wheels. As Inhio stared at the clothes on the mannequin, the panting voice got closer. Still trying to catch her breath, Rarity spoke up. "There...this is...the last one...I’ll be making.” Rarity stopped her short interval heavy breathing and took a long, deep breath instead, continuing afterwards, uninterrupted, "Consider this a parting gift.” Rarity had made this last one much faster than the last two, but it didn’t seem like she put any less effort in this one...Out of all three, this one seemed like the most meaningful to her.

Inhio looked upon this one without a mind full of bizarre theories. He turned the mannequin around to get a good look at the costume. This one was much simpler, the only thing that was different about his own jeans and those on the mannequin, was the color, and also, they were split near the lower edges, just like the last costume, except that this time, the split was on the outer side of the legs, not the inner, and it didn’t have linings of a different color as itself.

As for the upper part of the body, there was a black shirt with somewhat short sleeves, and a small, brown leather vest with no sleeves and boots of the same color. The boots also had a spur - a tiny, sharp, water-wheel-shaped gear at its back. As for other accessories, there was a golden sheriff star on the jacket, a brown serape and a black cowboy hat with a low top and barely curved edges. It almost looked like a flamenco hat. This whole set might not have seemed all that weird for Inhio, especially after seeing the last 2 costumes, but Rarity’s friends knew that she had no particular love for this sort of style, and were a bit surprised about this outfit. Nevertheless, it was a true work of art, and the way Inhio looked at it, no one could ever say he seemed displeased.

"Well, do you like it? Please tell me you like it! I really thought this might suit your style, you did seem the type to me.” Rarity suddenly got the feeling that the way she said the type may have offended the man. "Umm, no offence intended, of course.” Of course, Inhio wasn’t offended at all. On the contrary - he gently took off the hat and spoke up as he held it between the index fingers of both his hands.

"You know...I’ve always held a lot of respect for all things country.” That put a smile on the face of not only the maker of the costume, but a certain farm pony, as well. Rarity asked if he’d like to try it on and was delighted after hearing a positive reply. Inhio took a quick look around the room, but then remembered something when looking back at the ponies. "Right...I don’t suppose you’ve got any dressing booths around here?” The expression on Rarity’s face was a better answer than Inhio could possibly ask for. "Right, of course, why would you even need one, seeings how there’s nothing wrong with being clothless around here.”

"I’m guessing it’s not alright for one to walk around naked in your world, then?” Rarity asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Short answer – yes.”

"Well then, umm...” Rarity rubbed the back of her head while trying to figure out a solution. "If you’re shy, then I suppose you could go get dressed in my workshop, we promise we won’t peek.”

"Oh, umm, that won’t be necessary. That might have been a problem if I had to change underwear, but I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t make any, eh?”

"I’m sorry, dear, what was that? Underwear, was it?”

Inhio got a bit dazed from that reply, which was also a question. Idiot, why would they need underwear? He thought to himself. "Nevermind, forget about it.” Rarity was still rather curious about what that word Inhio mentioned meant, but she didn’t ask again, since Inhio said to just forget about it. It’s only natural that these humans have different traditions, she thought.

Without saying another word, Inhio began to switch clothes right in front of the twelve prying eyes, starting with the jacket and shirt first. Some thought that it would be more polite to turn away while he gets dressed, but their curiosity got the better of every one of them. It was quite the interesting sight for them, seeing Inhio from the front when he took his shirt off. Inhio was no fighter, but he was still rather well-built. He kept himself in shape, even while his darker side was in control of him.

The ponies were very intrigued about his body form, the chest and stomach, the part where the ponies had a smooth, flat surface, the man had several shapes and lines. He even had one long line across his entire chest and stomach. The chest also seemed split into two parts. These two, peculiar-looking square shapes with round lower edges and a couple of weird looking darker spots of skin, right in the middle of each of the shapes, they almost looked like wounds of some sort. Much like the chest, the stomach was also split, but instead of two squares, it was six smaller ones, and he also had a tiny hole at the lower part of his stomach.

The front part of his body was interesting, if not disturbing. Some of the ponies looked at it with wide eyes, and some looked a bit unsettled and almost wanted to look away, but when Inhio turned around, they all gazed at him with both their eyes and mouths wide agape. Inhio had nearly already put his black shirt on when an already familiar voice interrupted him, "That...is awesome.”

Inhio turned his head towards the crowd of ponies. "Huh?”

"Your cutie mark...It looks amazing!” If all six of the ponies weren’t staring at him so excitedly, Inhio probably would have thought that they weren’t talking about him.

"My what?” Inhio asked, utterly confused about the joke these six were trying to pull on him.

"Your cutie mark, on your back. I thought humans didn’t have cutie marks,” Twilight clarified, still leaving Inhio confused.

"Wait what?...Ooooh! That!” Inhio just remembered about the tattoo on his back. It was a beautiful angel that stretched all over his back and even slightly covered his shoulders, as well. "You mean my tattoo.” Yet another word that none of the ponies recognized and repeated, just to be sure they heard it right.

"Yeah, a tattoo. I suppose the easiest way to explain this is to say that it basically looks just like one of your cutie marks, a drawing that never disappears from your body, once it appears. There’s just a few differences. It doesn’t appear by itself, but is painted on by a person who makes a living out of making these marks. Also, not everyone gets them, people can choose if they want one or not, and they can also choose the exact spot on their body where they want it on. Oh, and one more thing – it’s kinda painful to have it drawn on you, since it’s not drawn by a pencil, but a special sort of sharp contraption, meant just for this occasion."

Inhio spoke that out so fast that it left most of the ponies even more confused than before they found out. "Riiiight...” Was the only thing anyone of them could say.

Inhio kept on talking as he was getting dressed. "I devoted this drawing to my wife, Angela...” Inhio spoke out the last part of his sentence very quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear it, "She was always my angel.”

The six ponies looked at each other with a sad expression on their faces. They had just remembered that Inhio lost his wife long ago, and knew just how much he loved her. The way he just called her his angel struck a chord in each one of them. As they looked at each other, trying to think of some cheerful words for Inhio, they didn’t notice that Inhio had already put on both his shirt and pants, and was now just putting on the final pieces. Twilight had already raised her hoof and was about to say something, when Inhio walked up to them, already dressed up as a born cowboy. The way he slowly walked up to them with loud steps, it was a cheerful sight, especially for Rarity.

"Howdy, y'all!” Inhio spoke in a western accent rather well, it seemed like he had done this before. His black hat was covering his eyes, he raised it for a short second while greeting the ponies. Inhio walked back towards the mannequin that was now holding the clothes he walked in here with. He brushed his hand against the sleeves of his black jacket, as if saying goodbye to it. He shifted his head backwards, all of a sudden. "Hope you won’t mind if I leave this here, for now,” he spoke while looking at Rarity.

"Oh, no, not at all! I’ll keep it safe for you.” Rarity was still overjoyed about the fact that Inhio liked the outfit she had made for him.

"Thank you,” he said the two words very sincerely, like he really meant it. "Ah reckon we’d best get a move on, then.” Inhio started walking towards the door without even waiting for a reply, and the six ponies gladly followed him, without hesitation. They figured that it would be best to just let Inhio enjoy this moment.