A Journy thru August

“It’s not going to happen in August.” Said Twilight, stomping her hoof on the ground.

“Well, we did it once already, and trust me, it's better the second time,” said August, crossing his arms over his bare chest, leaving the unicorn positively fuming.

Off to the side, Spike was enjoying the show out front from his and Twilight bedroom windows. It was nice to see somepony else get under Twilight skin, and one who wasn’t afraid to talk back to her either. The two of them had been going on like this since they came back from the hospital. August was leaning up his motorcycle and was trying to convince Twilight to ride it again.

He was having as much luck as you’d expect with that.

“Well, it would be a pain to push my bike all the way back to that farm, and I’m not leaving it here soo.” August waved his hand in the air as he trailed off, making it clear he wasn’t going to budge on this issue. .

Twilight let out a sigh and lowered her head. “Fine, a compromise then, you push it out of town and ride it the rest of the way. As loud as that thing is, you might give half the town a heart attack.”

There was a moment of silence between them before August, looking a tad bit satisfied, spoke. “You got yourself a deal, Sparkle. Now can I have my keys back?” August held out his hand, and with a poof, his keys dropped down.

“We have to stop by Rarity’s first and let her know it's going to be a few days before your clothes need to be done.” Twilight said, turning towards the north side of town, a hint of dread on her face knowing she’d have to get on the bike again at some point.

August put his keys in his pocket and grabbed the handlebars of his motorcycle, pushing it behind Twilight. Neither of the two spoke as they walked, both enjoying the quiet morning. It was a nice change of pace for August; most of the time he was in cities always looking over his shoulder and could always smell some kind of smoke.

But here he only could smell the fresh air and the various stalls around him, most of which were selling some kind of fruit. Once more was the relative quiet, no loud cars or horns, angry people screaming at each other, alarms or phones. No it was just occasional polite conversations and the occasional bird or animal.

It was completely detached from the chaos he was used to.

Despite the peace, he wondered if he really could let his guard down here thou. His sister's crying face flashed before his eyes but was taken out of the memory by the feeling of eyes on his back.

August caught sight of the three mares from before. He narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at them: one was a pale pink with a yellow mane, the second was yellow with a red mane, and the third was a bright pink with a green mare.

All three had wide eyes locked on him as he walked by ducking into their stall as Twilight and August came closer. Twilight remained neutral as they walked past, unphased by the odd behavior. August, on the other hand, got an idea and veered off course, and headed right to them, stopping in front of their stall.

The three mares all ducked as he got close. Smirking, August simply leaned over the side and looked down at them, all huddled together looking up at him. He gave them a gentle smile as he spoke.

“Hi,” he said, his voice making all three jump.

They all looked up at him, shaking a bit and holding onto each other.
“Yes?” said the pink and yellow one.

“You guys sell flowers right?” August leaned over and tapped one of the vases on their stall.

The three mares looked at each other and stood up, looking a bit calmer now.
The pink and yellow one spoke first, “Ye, yes, we do. I’m Lilly. These are my sisters, Rose and Daisy. How can we help you?”

August mentally chuckled a little. Seemed this world loved to be on the nose when it came to names. “I mean what were the odds three ponies named after flowers worked a flower shop.”

“Well… You see, I might have made a few mares angry at me. Any chance if I promise to pay you back, you could help me with that?” August said half grinning and rubbing the back of his head, hoping this wouldn’t turn into a massive scene.

The three of them looked at each other a little surprised, but seemed to relax a bit and smiled at August. Finding some relief in the fact that even if he was a strange new creature, he still knew that flowers were a good way to make a mare happy, they popped up from behind the stall.

“Well, we don’t usually offer credit, but….” said Rose, looking at Daisy.

“We can make an exception this time. Who are they?”

“Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity”

Lilly and Daisy Laughed while Rose turned around and began grabbing several boxes and paper wraps. Lilly, still snickering, went to help, and Rose went under the stall and grabbed some scrolls.

“Four mares in one day? Aren’t you a heartbreaker?” She said, teasing August as he huffed.

“What can I say, good or bad? I make a strong impression,” August said,
pulling out his wallet and taking his ID out and placing it on the counter.

“Hold on to this, I’ll come back for it with your money.” August smiled at them, giving them a half-lidded stare, trying to turn on the charm a bit.

Rose picked it up in her hoof and put it under the counter, tapping one of the four boxes.

"Ok, the white one is for Rarity; it has lilies in it; she loves the color and smell. The pink is for Pinkie Pie. She loves almost anything, but peonies have a sweet taste to them, so that’s your best bet. Rainbow’s not one for flowers, but….”

Rose leaned in and motioned for August to do the same.

“Don’t tell anyone, but she has a real soft spot for roses.” August nodded and made a zipper motion across his lips.

“And Twilight absolutely adores lavender and buys some every week.”

August glanced at the mentioned pony, now looking at him with a frown and a raised eyebrow.

Rose, following his gaze, saw Twilight standing behind him next to his bike and hummed a smirk on her face.

“Would you like those delivered, sir?" Rose said as her sisters came up behind her boxes on their backs.

August reached for the white box and held it under his arm, nodding at the florists, “I would appreciate it. I don’t think Rainbow Dash would take it well if she saw me right now, and I don’t know where Pinkie Pie lives, so…”

“We understand, and your total comes out to 80 bits by the way to be paid by the end of the week,” said Lilly, handing him a rolled-up scroll and tying a ribbon around it.

August nodded and pocketed the scroll. “Thanks ladies. I’ll make sure to pay you back as soon as I can." He winked at them. “One way or another,” his voice so thick with innuendo, all three went beet red as he walked away.

Twilight was another story, currently pouting as August walked back to her, setting the white box on his bike. “How did you pay for that?” she asked, knowing full well he was effectively destitute.

August chuckled as they began walking again. “Would you believe I scared them so bad they gave them to me for free?”

Twilight looked back at the three mares still standing at their stall faces bright red, practically fanning themselves in an attempt to cool off.

"No,” Twilight said simply. “For somepony from another world, you sure are good at getting into ponies heads.”

August laughed darkly as he walked beside her pushing his bike. “It's what I was raised for, so I can’t argue there. Besides, you guys don’t act that different from people in my world. Just a whole lot nicer.”

Intrigued, Twilight made a mental note of that remark to bring up later as they were at Rarity’s home, the sign still reading closed.

August rolled his bike to the side of the building and joined Twilight as she knocked on the door. After several minutes of waiting with no answer, August looked down and asked, “How good of friends are you with her?”

“She’s one of a hoof full of ponies I would trust with my life.” Twilight spoke with complete confidence that actually impressed the young human.

“Is that so. Ok then,” August said and opened the door, walking in with zero hesitation.

Twilight stared at August as he held the door open for her before sighing and walking in.

The pair looked around the room, taking everything in. Put simply, the place was a mess.

Bits of cloth lay on tables, half-finished sketches of rough human bodies and outfits lay on the floor, and several ripped and torn outfits hung on modified ponaquins in the rough shape of humans were everywhere.

August’s hand hovered over his gun out of habit, and he spoke with a tense tone, “This place looks like something out of a horror movie. All that’s missing is blood smears and a creepy message on the walls.”

Twilight eyes darted to his hip and her heart began to speed up. Her mind flashed to the look of pain on Pinkie’s face. Should she try and take his gun again? What could she do to keep August from feeling the need to pull that thing off his hip?

Surely he didn’t believe Rarity was going to harm him in some way did he?

As August was scanning the room, he could hear a dark voice in one ear telling him to be prepared to be ready to strike. His hand was inching closer, and he twitched when he felt the cold metal touch his fingers.

In an instant August felt a pain in his chest that turned into a calming warmth. What was he doing? Why was he so jumpy? He had always been on edge before but never on this level. And what was he scared of exactly, for crying out loud, this pony was just supposed to be a seamstress, not some psycho from a slasher film.

He let out a deep breath, ejected the magazine from the gun, and handed it to Twilight. If he really wanted to make a life for himself here he needs to show Twilight he can be trusted. Plus after what happened with Pinkie already, he’d rather not accidentally shoot another innocent pony.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief r and teleported the magazine away. She looked up to August, a smile on her face. “I don’t know what a movie is, but I’m sure that everything is... AAAHHHH!!”

Twilight let out a scream, as a hoof shot out from under some bunched up fabric on the floor along with a moan.

With a pop, Twilight was gone in a purple flash only for her to reappear on August's back, choking the life out of him as she did so. August was too busy trying not to fall over from the sudden weight pulling him back to stop the librarian from powering up her horn and letting out a blast of force, sending the clothes and white-furred pony flying a few feet away, dramatically screaming as she flew.

Twilight was huffing in August’s ear trying to gather her thoughts when she finally did. She gasped and hopped off August's back, who fell over onto the floor, and ran over to the very messy-looking Rarity laying dazed on the floor.

The normally prim and posh pony was, as she'd most likely say, a total disaster. Her mane was completely frayed, her makeup was running down her face, and she was covered in sweat. Once more, she had bits of fabric and thread trailing off her and was muttering as Twilight helped her up.

“His body is so strange. Needs a full range of movement totally different from a pony... and shoes. What about shoes?”

Rarity didn’t even seem to notice Twilight as she was led to a couch and sat down.

"Rarity, are you ok?” asked Twilight, worry in her voice as she touched her hoof to Rarity’s shoulder.

August was behind Twilight and loudly snapped his fingers in front of Rarity’s ear, making both ponies jump. Dazed for a moment, Rarity’s eyes focused on August, and she pounced. Going past Twilight and tackling August to the ground despite his size, standing on his chest.

“HOW DO YOUR KIND MAKE CLOTHES FOR YOUR BODIES!!!” She shouted in his face, her eyes practically stretching from their sockets into his own eyes.

August, looking a little nervous, rubbed the back of his head and looked at Twilight for help. Twilight sighing, lit up her horn and floated Rarity off of August and back onto the couch.

"Rarity, calm down,” she said, standing between the man and the mare, though the later looked as though she was holding onto her sanity by a thread.

“How can I calm down?! I haven’t been able to come up with one functional outfit for him, much less something that should be worn in front of the princesses!” Rarity cried before draping herself along the couch. ”I thought this would be the ultimate challenge, designing clothes for a completely new species, a chance to create something wholly unique….and I can’t come up with even one piece of clothing….I’M A FRAUD!”

The poor mare started to weep hysterically, managing to pull a bucket of ice cream seemingly out of no where before shoving her face into it.

August dusted himself off and stood up, wondering if getting tackled by ponies was just a part of his life now, as Twilight calmed Rarity down, patting her on the back.

Seeing a possible way to both make peace and hopefully restore some sanity to the conversation, August picked up his dropped box of flowers and opened it up, checking to make sure none were damaged.

“Oh Twilight, darling, what am I to do? I have never felt so defeated in my whole career. I have no frame of reference for his people or how to properly make patterns for his wardrobe.” Rarity wailed as she threw herself onto Twilight. “It’s like trying to make a painting without any paint.”

“Rarity it's fine; you have time to figure something out. We're not meeting the princesses for a few days at least.” Twilight cooed, “I’m sure by then you can figure it out.”

Seeing an opening, August walked over to the two mares and was leaning over the couch holding the white box in front of Rarity. His voice was soft as he got both of their attention.

“I have a bunch of fashion magazines back at my trailer, and you can take apart one of my old suits if it helps. They're too tight on me now anyway,” August said, flexing his arm in front of them.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that comment. “How many suits do you have?” she asked with curiosity in her voice.

“Five, all custom by a tailor in bespoke; they were all the height of fashion about five years ago.” August said making air quotes around the height of fashion part.

His attempt at humor seemed to work as Rarity smiled while she opened the box and smelled the lilies that sent calming her down.

Rarity sniffled and wiped away some of her running makeup before speaking, “Thank you, darling. I must apologize for you seeing me in such a state. It’s unbecoming of a lady. Just, give me a minute to make myself presentable and we can hopefully get started.”

Rarity was cut off as a loud ringing began coming from August. He, along with the mares in the room, jumped, and he pulled out a small rectangle from his pants, the sound coming from it.

“Huh, guess that mesh network still works.” August said tapping his phone twice and the sound stopped.

“What is that?” Twilight asked, eyes glued to the device in August’s hand.

“It’s my phone. It got an alert that something was at my trailer; seems my systems still work here. Guess all the money was worth it.” August kept tapping his phone as he talked.

He flipped it around, showing Twilight and Rarity a moving picture that showed Applejack. They both jumped when they heard her voice.

“Ya’ll in there? Granny wants to talk to ya!” shouted Applejack, rapping on his door.

August moved his hand and tapped the side of his phone and spoke, “Give me like twenty minutes, Applejack. I’m at Rarity’s right now.”

Applejack jumped and leaned into the screen. “Ya’ll got some fancy magic then. Al, let Granny know.” She turned around and walked away.

Twilight's eyes were wide, still marveling at the advanced piece of technology in August’s hand. She was so lost in thought she didn't notice him and Rarity talking.

After a minute of discussion, August patted her on the head and went to stand outside as Rarity went to clean herself up. Though again, Twilight ignored all that, still focusing on the phone.

His species was so much more advanced than theirs; they may not have magic from what he told her, but their technology seems to make up for it in spades. A device that could share images across miles; even some of the most advanced mages couldn't do something like that. And that was to say nothing of the communication abilities it possessed.

She couldn't help but wonder, Just what could their species really do if their casual technology was so astounding.