You've Come To The Right Neighborhood

Entry No. 3, Day 4. Date: still unknown (Note: Ask one of the girls in the morning)

Well, I've been in Equestria for the better part of a week now, and in all honesty, I probably should be surprised that I still really haven't panicked about being in a completely different word, aside from that fainting spell, at least. But, like I told the princesses, a freak out isn't going to help now.

After eating my fill, the girls decided to go and get some things done while we were still there. I have a feeling I should have expected it when Rarity pulled me to what she said was her clothing store's Canterlot branch. Looked like she was prepping this new wardrobe for me earlier than I expected...

"Isn't it a little late to make clothes?" Spike asked as they entered the shop.

"Nonsense, darling!" Rarity chirped, snatching up a tape measure."This is actually my favorite time of day to brainstorm new designs."

"At least until I have to remind her it's her turn to fix dinner." Sweetie added, getting a look from her sister.

"Well...yes... but right now we can go ahead get your new clothes started on. Sassy! Are you available?"

A slender - but surprisingly buxom - pale cerulean mare with a vermilion, amber, and orange mane trotted in from the back, wearing black and gold thigh-highs and gloves. "Rarity? oh, I didn't even hear you come i-popping pinstripes!" She yelped when her eyes landed on Spike. "What in Equestria....!?"

"Um, hi?" He said, trying not to watch her breasts bounce some as she screeched to a halt.

"Oh, this is Spike. Fluttershy found him unconscious near Everfree earlier this week." Rarity replied, giving his side a friendly pat.

"'He'..? Wait...your friend found a stallion just out there, just like that!?"

"W-well, I saw him falling down a hill." Fluttershy spoke up. "He was knocked out by the time I reached him."

"Which brings us to why we're here, aside from my wanting to see how things have been going so far."

"Um, nothing groundbreaking, but fairly well." Sassy replied, still staring at Spike. "I was thinking up some designs for new work aprons when you called."

"That's good. As for the other reason...as you can see, he's certainly not local. And given how little he knows of Equestria outside of what he's seen or been told so far, the poor thing is a long, long way from home with little more than the clothes on his back. So, I figured while we're in Canterlont, I can get a head start on getting him some new clothes."

Sassy chuckled lightly. "Well, I've had some out-of-towners buy a few things from here, but this takes the pincushion." She looked back up at him, looking a bit more relaxed now that the surprise had worn off. "Any style in particular that catches your fancy, big boy?"

"Uh...not really...mostly just wore what was comfortable." He replied, hoping the two fashion-loving mares didn't take it the wrong way. but to be honest, archaeology was a dirty job sometimes, so comfort over fashion had become a rule of thumb to him.

"Well, we can start simple for now." Rarity draped the measure around her neck. "Cotton, perhaps."

Either Rarity was one hell of a seamstress or she and Sassy worked really well together because they had a couple of items ready in less than an hour. Though, she probably multitasked with magic since she was a unicorn. Anyway, she seemed really pleased with herself when she handed me a small bundle and ushered me into one of the dressing rooms.

When I found what she'd given me, however...

Spike's face literally glowed as he stared at the 'garment' he'd been given. In his hands hung nothing more than a leather belt with two panels of cotton cloth attached to it.

A loincloth...she'd given him a loincloth! His mind raced at the implications. The logical, and slightly calmer, part of his mind reasoned that, given what he'd seen so far, this was quite possibly standard male attire in Equestria.

The...less calmer part, on the other had was freaking out. 'How the hell can this be 'standard!? We might as well be walking around naked! She can't really be expecting us to wear this, can she!?'

'Think about it. The mares wear only shoes and accessories. Tempest only wears more because she grew up outside the country, most likely in an area when clothes are more common.' The logical side responded.

'Yeah, so?'

'So, considering the male population is so astoundingly low, it's reasonable to figure that a good many mares - the ones not currently in relationships, anyway - would possibly be somewhat starved for male attention.'

'Ok, but what's that gotta do with the loincloth??'

'If that's the case, don't you think a stallion walking around in the buff would be....I don't know...distracting to them?'

'I...I guess that makes sense. So, you think she just made....that for us 'cause she's familiar with it?'

'Or from habit. Either way, she looked pretty happy when she handed it over.'

'Are...are we still gonna put it on??'

'Regardless off how fast she was, Rarity evidently put a lot of effort in making this for us. Don't you think it'd be a little rude if we didn't at least try it on?'

'Fine...but still...'

"I don't have the body for this thing...!" He whimpered, getting undressed.

A few minutes later, Rarity knocked on the door. "Spike, are you decent, darling?"

"I...I guess. This is kinda new for me." He replied, mentally thanking her for adding weights to the panels so they'd say in place.

"Oh, don't tell me you buy off the rack?" She asked, opening the door. "Granted, it's easier in the larger cities, but there's nothing like--" She stopped dead when she looked at him. "Bwaaaaahhhhhhh......."

"Something wrong?" He asked, noticing her cheeks turn bright red and her horn spark a little. 'I did put it on right, didn't I?'

"Sweet Celestia's tits..." She whispered, trailing her eyes up and down him before blinking and shaking her head violently. "NO! No, definitely not! Hehe...um...Spike, what's that you're wearing with the cloth?"

"My underwear." He replied, feeling a little funny at the way she was staring

"Under-wear...?" She asked, mulling the term over like it was a new ice cream flavor. "What an odd word...anyway, heh, that's not quite how it's worn normally. Here, let me." Her horn glowed his boxer suddenly appeared in her hand.

"EEP!" Spike squeaked, feeling the sudden draft around his privates, the piece of cloth now the only thing protecting him from exposure.

"Now..." Once again, she came to an abrupt stop. "Oh...oh my...." Her voice was barely audible as she stared at the loincloth.

"R-Rarity...?" He asked, trying his best to act calm and not cover himself up in a panic. 'When in Rome, Spike! You were training to be an archaeologist, remember? Respecting other cultures comes with the territory!'

"Oh! N-nothing, darling. Just dick-deciding on what styles to make for you."

"Rarity, has he got one of them on? We wanna see!" Tempest's voice called out from the front.

"I..I dunno.." He said, shuffling his feet uneasily.

Apparently his voice must've carried out, because this time it was Twilight. "Come on, Spike. We just want to see how it look on you. None of us will laugh, I promise."

"Though we may snicker if she gave you something pink." Rainbow added.

"I..."

"Spike. It'll be fine." Rarity said reassuringly. "I've known these girls for years, and while we all have our flaws, meanspirited isn't one of them. Besides..." She headed out of the room, so he never saw her lick her lips. "Laughing is the last thing they'll do.

"A...all right." Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself as best he could and followed her out. The front proved to be a little warmer, thankfully, though he wasn't fully prepared for the reception.

"Viola!" Rarily declared, biting her lip with a blush.

"Eep!" Fluttershy's hands shot to her mouth as her wings popped open violently, lifting her a few inches off the ground.

Applejack ran a hand over her chest, and Rainbow's wings opened almost as fast, both whistling in unison. "Buck me silly"

Tempest gave him a half-lidded look, licking her lips. "Yum.."

Trixie and Pinkie just stood there, drooling.

Moondancer stared stared at him, horn sparking and biting her lip, and glasses steaming over.

The CMC seemed to be suffering everything; all three were blushing, with Scootaloo's wings popped open, Sweetie's horn sparking, and Apple Bloom having a visible nosebleed. Twilight was having a similar issue as well

Starlight whimpered and bit her finger.

"Unf...!" Barb growled, face red and her tail standing straight up like a flagpole.

"Basting and bindings!" Sassy's jaw dropped. "Where'd you get all THAT!"

"Huh?" Spike looked at her. "Get what?"

"Ah...Ah thinks she means yer..." Apple Bloom voice caught in her throat as she pointed at his torso.

"How'd you get ripped!?" Sweetie blurted, her face almost glowing.

"Ripped...? Wha..??" Spike looked at his arm. There was a bit of definition, but nothing he'd consider major. To be honest there were a lot of guys at the college a lot bigger than him. "It's nothing major, I did a lot of odd jobs to pay for college. Besides, an archaeologist's gotta be in decent shape to deal with excavation and possible harsh conditions-"

He was cut off by a loud 'squee', courtesy of Rainbow Dash. "Did he say what I think he said!?"

"What??" He backed up a little. Was one of those words considered something vulgar by pegasus standards or something?

"Dashie's a big fan of archaeology." Pinkie wiped her face off.

"Mainly because her favorite book series, Daring Do, stars one." Trixie added, doing the same.

Before Spike could respond, Rainbow's face was pressed against his, with an excited grin to boot. "You're an archaeologist too!?"

"In training, technically." He said, trying not to blush at the abrupt closeness. "Still had another six months before I found myself here."

She 'squee'd again. "Oh, I am SO taking you to meet her; first chance I get!"

"Meet who?"

"Daring Do, duh!"

"Let's just say the two became friends under interesting circumstances." Twilight said, trying to make her wings go back down.

Now, Spike wasn't too sure why a supposedly professional archaeologist would be willing to hang out with one who hadn't even gotten his credentials yet. But, Rainbow seemed hellbent on it. "Ok."

"Believe me, you won't regret it!"

"Yes, now that that's out of the way, you can change back." Rarity said, handing him his boxers back over the chorus of 'aww's from a few of the others.

"Thanks. I mean, it's great you're willing to make me some extra clothes, but I should probably ease myself into it."

"I got something he can 'ease' himself into...rawr!" One of them mumbled. Who, he didn't know. But for now, he was just glad to wear something more familiar. As he passed Rarity, though, he heard something that send a wave of embarrassed dread through him:

"Sassy, make a note; he needs bigger panels on the others."

Took me more than a half hour before I could bring myself to come back out of the changing room...and even then it was a struggle to look any of them in the face. Still don't know if I should've been more mortified at learning a room full of girls could see my junk, or...well, kinda flattered that they seemed to like what they saw.

It was starting to get a little late by then, so I thought that was the end of the day and they were going to either head back to the train or find a place to spend the night.

I was right on them spending the night, what I didn't expect was for them to head to Twilight's parent's house. At first I wasn't sure how they were gonna fit a group that big, even though the place looked a decent size outside; much less get the ok from her parents.

Color me surprised when they let everyone in. Strangely enough, her father, who Twilight'd introduced as Night Light, took meeting me in stride, or as he put it:

"After the changeling invasion, my oldest daughter marrying Princess Cadance, my youngest becoming an alicorn and Princess of Friendship, Tirek, and becoming a grandfather...finding out she's made friends with a stallion from another world is refreshingly mild."

Of course...then I met her, Twilight Velvet...except I didn't know that at the time.

Spike looked between Twilight and the shapely mare standing in the kitchen doorway. She had a light grey coat with violet and light grey mane, wearing only a pair of striped knee-high socks. "Um, Twilight?"

"Hm?"

"I thought your sister was at that Crystal Empire place."

Twilight stood there for a moment before she and the new mare started giggling. "Gleaming Shield is, Spike. This is Twilight Velvet; my mother."

"Oh." He said, having it click a second later, his face reddening. "Ohhh. Uh...heh that explains why she's so cute."

"S-Spike!" Twilight squeaked, blushing brightly.

Velvet just grinned. "Well, your new boyfriend just earned himself a few points."

"Boyfriend...?" Spike paused, missing the grins the other girls were giving him.

"Mooom!" Twilight yelped, blushing brighter. "We're just friends!"

"Suuure, Twilight." Velvet replied, not believing it for a second as she gave Spike a knowing look.

Once Velvet stopped messing with her daughter (and I guess me, by extension?), she and Pinkie went to fix the others a bite to eat. Meanwhile, Night Light had something he wanted me to know.

"Spike, right?" He started once it was just the two of them. "Before you say anything, just hear me out, ok? Now, this isn't some cliche' 'stay away from my daughter' speech or something. She's fought a magic eating centaur, she can handle herself. Besides, I can tell from the way you reacted to Velvet that you aren't that kinda guy."

"Yeah...I mean, your wife and daughter do look very much alike..." Spike gulped. It didn't matter if Night Light was shorter, this was a father, with two daughters that he cared about deeply.

"True. I've been told Gleaming takes a little after me." Light grinned. "Anyway, I just wanna give you some advice." He set a friendly hand on Spike's shoulder. "I saw how those young mares are all looking at you, and I just have this to offer...run."

Spike: looked at him in confusion. "Run?"

"Look, you've probably already noticed that males are in very short supply. In that regard, it's common for multiple mares to hook up with one. I almost had that happen to me while I was dating Velvet. The only problem is, when that happens, that can get the attention of others if they aren't after a different stallion." He looked back at where the mares were. "And believe me when I say a mare can wear you out when she's in the mood. Hell, Velvet alone is enough to leave me exhausted, while she's ready for more. Now,I'm not saying this to scare you off or anything. But, you currently have fourteen mares that, by some twist of fate I doubt either of us can fathom, you have earned the attraction of. For the sake of your body and pelvis..."

Spike shook his head. "I can't just run...after everything they've done so far." He replied. "Admittedly, Trixie is a bit forward, but that just seems to be her. I mean, Fluttershy could've just left me laying where she found me, but she didn't, Rarity's already started working on getting me some new clothes, though..." He gestured at the loincloth Nightlight had on. "The local attire's going to take getting used to, and Applejack and Pinkie were genuinely upset when they found out I hadn't eaten all day." He let out a weak laugh. "And the look Applejack gave me when I let out that it wasn't the first time."

Night Light smirked and shook his head. "Well, in that case, I recommend you stock up on energy drinks and pain relievers."

His last bit of advice's left me a little unnerved, but he was probably kidding.

As he finished his newest entry, Spike looked around. After they'd eaten, the group separated into Twilight and her sister's old bedrooms, flipping a coin to see who went where. Like at Fluttershy's house, he was ready to sleep on the couch, but they weren't having any of it, shoving the coin in his hand and saying "Flip." The end result: he was currently relaxed in a corner of Gleaming's room, surrounded by the CMC, Moondancer, Starlight, Fluttershy and Tempest. They'd played a rock-paper-scissors to see who got the bed (Scootaloo won).

A look at the clock showed it was well past midnight. Moving a bit to get comfortable, he leaned back and was about to let sleep claim him when a soft voice spoke up. "Spike...?"

"Hm...Moondancer?" He sat up. His eyes had finally adjusted to the dim moonlight pouring in through the window, so he had little trouble spying her silhouetted in the darkness, still wearing her sweater as she fidgeted with the hem. "Something wrong?"

"No...I-I was wondering if I could ask you something." She stepped into view, the light showing she was looking at him shyly, her cheeks pinking.

'Huh, now that I'm getting a better look at her, she's really pretty.' He thought. "Sure, what's-" He paused when, in an unexpectedly bold move, she sat down in his lap, straddling his waist. "...up?"