There's Something About White Mane...

Le Fin Du Monde

He woke up that morning laying on his side with his body sunken into the frame of a memory absorbent foam mattress and sandwiched between the thousand thread count, silken bedsheets beneath him and the linen, gold laced comforter with a floral pattern wrapped around his frame.

A thundercloud of searing pain clouded his mind. Neurons fired without any deeper purpose while millions of thoughts barely worth conjuring raced in and out of his train of thought at rates faster than any pony could possibly measure using science. This was a hangover. This was his body's way of punishing him for something he couldn't remember doing. This was shaping up to be one of the worst mornings of his life.

Discovering where he was and just how he had ended up there was the main problem for him, but the solution was nothing that a heavy bit of snooping and a lighter touch of sleuthing could solve. Memory was the key here, and for the life of him he simply couldn't recall the events of the last night that had led him to this moment.

He tried anyway.

Let’s see: he’d been out drinking...with his roommate...and a colt named Stormy. A game--a drinking game--had been played. Alcohol--and plenty of it--had been consumed, but, after that, everything came wrapped in mystery.

A ripple in the bedsheets drew his attention to the fact that he wasn’t alone. There, laying cloaked in the same satin sheets with the same floral design as him was the unmistakable body of a male. A colt. An openly gay colt, to be exact.

The world around him started to spin; colors melted together. The walls, windows, posters, desks and bookshelves in the room all took a sideways slant. Vertigo gripped his nerves and clouded his mind and to remedy the situation he lurched forwards and sat up in the bed. Reminded of an old remedy he learned in his youth, he took deep, concentrated breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay Piper?”

It was Sunny Side, who Piper now recognized as the colt in bed beside him, asking this, but, no Piper was very much not ‘okay’.

“I think I’m...” he started, until bubbles of citric acid exploded in his stomach. Waves of half digested food, beer and whatever else he’d gotten himself into last night crashed against the inner lining of his gut and suddenly, Piper was doing the big spit; upchucking a potent mix of green bile and brown yuck onto the bed.

“Oh goodness!” Sunny Side shouted. “Honey, babe? Get a bucket!”

When he finished and his stomach had nothing left to expel, Piper wiped a hoof clean across his mouth. Little bits of bile and half digested food clung to his fur. He burped--not puked--a few times, then finding that happy place inside himself, he inhaled slowly, exhaled slowly and turned it into a meditation. His body quelled its rage not a minute later, and at peace with the world around him that he'd just sullied, he chose to speak.

“What... happened last night?” He asked to nopony in particular.

Honey Drop dashed through the open doorway levitating a small mop bucket in a glowing green aura. He placed it beside Piper’s space on the bed. Impractical now, Piper felt comfortable having it near him incase he repeated this embarrassing episode in the near future. He decided, however, to shovel hoofs filled with his vomit off of the expensive sheet and into the empty bucket.

Honey Drop fell on the bed and crawled between Piper and Sunny Side. His hoof found Piper's mane at the neck and he pet him as if he were a dog. Though, Piper still found comfort in it.

“Are you alright?” He asked, still patting him.

Piper swallowed. Nodded.

“Good. Just breathe,” Honey Drop urged. “I’ll bring you some Gravol and a glass of water.”

Piper thanked him with a polite, but short head nod. Honey Drop slinked his way between the two colts.

“...I’m sorry, Piper.” Sunny Side said after Honey Drop exited the room. “We both thought it would be funny if you woke up and found me in bed laying next to you. But, that’s not exactly funny anymore, is it?”

Piper shook his head ‘No.’, then sank into the bed and sighed.

“What... happened last night?” He asked. Again.

“You don’t remember?” Sunny Side asked, raising a curious brow and smiling, knowingly, as if he held some majestic secret that the other colt was unaware of.

“No. Nothing...” He paused to think. “Well, I remember being at the bar... with White Mane and... Stormy,” he said the name with malice. Like it were a poison on his tongue. “...then, it all got kinda...”

“Blackout?” Honey Drop asked, emerging from the doorway, levitating a commemorative ‘Wonderbolts’ sippy cup with Soarin’s grinning face, and a duo of circle shaped pills that he dropped, gently, onto the bedside table.

“Yeah...” Piper replied. He lifted the glass and popped the pills into his mouth, swallowing them down with a sip of water.

“So... you don’t remember... saying anything, erm,” Again, Sonny Side seemed like he had something on his mind and it was a matter of tactfully getting it out that stopped him from saying it. “About White Mane?”

Oh shit.

“What did I say!” He shouted.

His hooves, desperate and wild, latched onto the fur of Sunny Side’s chest and pulled the startled colt towards him. Realizing the severity of his actions, and reaction, he released his grip on the still shaken gay pony then sunk into the bed.

“...I said something stupid, didn't I?” He stopped to stare with pleading puppy dog eyes at the two gay colts who stared back with a nervous discomfort at him. “About him?”

“Um...” Honey Drop sighed, then sucked a sharp breath of air. His hoof nervously ran along the back of his mane, and he stared, imploringly, at Sunny Side. Begging the other to take up the mantle of conversation.

“Well, you see...”

Both colts stopped and stared, nervously, at each other, then at Piper. Each other again. Then Sunny Side the ceiling and Honey Drop the floor.

“...I told you I liked him, right?” Piper moaned.

Solemnly, both colts nodded.

What came next was the weirdest mix of relief and embarrassment he’d ever felt in his life that. On the one hoof, he felt horrible with himself for revealing what he’d up until now kept as his most intimate, personal secret. On the other, it felt almost nice to get it off his chest and confide in somepony (or, ponies in this case.) who were certainly well attuned to the touchy subject matter.

With a sigh, Piper shuffled in the bed.

“I swear,” Sunny Side claimed, enthusiastically gripping Piper and shaking him by the shoulders. “We won’t tell anypony. Not a soul! Right, Honey?”

Honey Drop nodded.

A painfully awkward silence followed this. Not a pony in the room quite knew what to say, or how to say nothing, and stared, nervously, back and forth. This was until Sunny Side broke the silence with a quandary for Piper.

“Would...you like to talk about it?”

Silently, Piper sniffed then nodded his head.

“I’ll make us some brunch,” Honey Drop chimed in.

***

They were sitting at the dining table now, a perfectly prepared meal in front of them courtesy of the wonderful culinary skills of Honey Drop. Food, of all kinds, delicately crafted to the peak of the taste buds delight; Twelve grain toast, lightly buttered with low fat margarine and honey. Strips of hay-bacon, grapefruits, a pitcher of orange juice, a pitcher of vegetable juice and bowls of cereal.

This was brunch and, since Piper had never had a proper brunch before, this was all a new experience to him. As were the questions and the answers he had to respond with being asked to him by his two closest gay companions.

“How long have you felt his way about him? Sunny Side asked, levitating a piece of toast towards Honey Drop, who bit into it and smiled, longingly, at his lover.

“A few,” He wanted to say ‘days’ and pass this off as just a fleeting crush, but, here were two colts--both professionals in the realm of same sex attraction, who were offering their guidence free of charge to him. “Weeks.”

“Oh, my.” Sunny Side gasped.

“I know!” Piper grunted then his face fell into his hooves. One of the colts, it didn’t matter who, rubbed his back, but this came as little comfort to him. “I just... I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Piper, do you mind if I ask you something?” Honey Drop spoke up.

Piper, for better or for worse, shook his head ‘No.’

“What exactly is it about White Mane that attracts you to him?”

Piper paused to ponder this; what was it about White Mane that had him so transfixed. The answer came naturally.

“At first, I think it was because he’s-”

“Aloof?” Sunny Side asked.

“Naive?” Honey Drop pondered.

“No, no, sweetie." Sunny Side spoke up. "I think the word you're thinking of is ‘gullible’’?”

“I was going to say ‘cute’.” Piper blushed.

“Oh, so it’s because he looks like a mare, not acts like one?”

“What? No!” Piper leapt to defend his roommate (And recently admitted crush) and his honour. “I don’t just like him because he-”

“-has an ass like a high school girl?”

“...I was going to say is really sweet.” Piper grunted.

“Sorry,” Sunny Side chimed in. “Go on.”

“I mean, yes he’s really good looking. But, I don’t just care about how he looks. He has this really sweet and innocent personality, you know? At first I thought he was maybe a bit... erm... 'aloof' like you said, but, I think he's just insecure about himself.” Piper nibbled on a piece of grapefruit. “That night after The Freaks And Geeks party-”

“-where he went down on Brawny Brawler?”

“I told you that, too?”

“You really don’t remember much about last night, do you?”

“Hun, that’s beside the point...”

“Right, right. Sorry Please continue,” Sunny Side, again apologized for his unrestrained nature.

“I just..." He sighed. "I wanted to be there for him and tell him it was okay to make mistakes. He looked so ashamed, and so heartbroken. I think he really thought he had a chance with Brawny...” Piper paused again to stare solemnly down at his plate. He licked his lip, nervously, then raised his head. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. We're both guys, and I don’t even know if I’m gay! I just... I want him to be happy. I want to make him happy.”

“Oh, Piper...” Sunny Side cood. “That is so romantic.”

“But, he went home with Stormy last night, and, I mean...what can I do about it? What if Stormy just dumps him like Brawny did? Or, what if they start going out?"

He bowed his head again on the table and, for whichever reason, his eyes grew damp.

“You need to tell him, Piper.” Honey Drop insisted. “If you care about him, you need to tell him how you feel.”

“But...” Piper pouted, his lower lip quivering. “What if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if I ruin our friendship? What if he hates me for liking him?”

“You’ll cross that bridge later, Piper.” Honey Drop took a sip of orange juice, then set the glass down and hunched his head onto his crossed hooves, staring intently at Piper. “Bottling this up isn’t going to make either of you feel good.”

“But... what do I say? What do I do[?” Piper huffed with modest worry and concern. “I’ve never felt like this about a colt before! I've never felt like this about anypony before!”

“Oh, Piper, you silly colt, you.” Sunny Side sighed. “This is part of life. Do you think Honey Drop just fell into my lap?”

“Well, actually, there was that one time,” Honey Drop purred. Sunny Side giggled, then batted his hoof at Honey Drop, who smiled -- low and sultry.

Piper cleared his throat and drew their attentions back towards him.

“Right, sorry...” Sunny Side coughed, then tore his eyes from his lover. “No, I had to romance this handsome hunk for almost a month when we met. I knew he was gay, and he knew I was, but it wasn’t like we just ‘clicked’ at first.”

A faraway sigh escaped his throat.

“Yes it’s true. I, Sunny Side, being of sound mind, body and soul, had to court this magnificent stallion for weeks before he finally asked me to dinner.”

Pridefully, Honey Drop puffed his chest and grinned.

“Hmm, and you remember our first date?”

“Goodness, it would be hard to forget.” Sunny Side beamed. “I didn’t think anypony could make studying for an improv exam seem so sexy.”

Again, the two lovers shared a sultry look. Somehow, incredibly, they found the strength to tear their eyes apart and stare back at Piper.

“What Sunny Side is trying to say Piper, is that you need to put in the work if you want to win White Mane’s affection. You need to show him you care and then when you do, you need to woo that lucky colt off of his hooves.”

“But...but...but...”

“Butts belong on stallions who wear spandex shorts to the gym.”

Both Piper, and Honey Drop, stared completely baffled at Sunny Side, who shrugged casually, then sipped the orange juice out of his glass from a straw.

They ate in silence for a while, until the clock chimed in the kitchen and all three colts realized they had spent their entire morning talking about the situation Piper was in, while offering a heaping dose of homemade remedies that may or may not work.

It was lunch proper now--Twelve o’clock on the nose--and the daily meeting of friends was minutes away from commencing at the library. Hurriedly, they decided to wrap up brunch and their conversation, and meet up with the others. The unspoken notion that this had been a private, personal, sort of conversation, was felt mutually by all three parties present. None would bring it up with the others, and Piper felt comfortable knowing that he had two new allies in what was slowly becoming a concerning conflict in his life.

He pushed that thought out of his mind for the time being, and trotted behind Sunny Side and Honey Drop on his way to the library.

***

“Oh, I don’t know if I could do that...”

This was White Mane speaking to his audience, who were the pegasus Scout’s Honor, and the Gryphon, Vincent. This was the gang in the library during the lunch break between classes. Missing were Honey Drop, Sunny Side and Piper, but, time passed with or without them and so did the conversation.

“Really, you’ve never considered it?” Scout’s Honor asked, leaning forwards in his seat. Eagerly anticipating the answer.

“No... not really.”

“But, mares are so hot, dude.”

"They are very pretty, but I don’t think I could do that with them.”

“Wow, you really are gay, aren’t you?”

Their conversation wasn’t the sort of academic focused drabble that they usually engaged in during their time together, but, White Mane was less comfortable with Scout’s Honor than he was with Sunny Side and Honey Drop. Scout was closer to Piper in that sense. Vincent, however, he was quite comfortable with.

“Hmm, Scout.” Vincent grunted. “I think what White Mane is trying to say is; he doesn’t look at mares like you do.”

“I know,” Scout grumbled. “I’m just trying to make conversation.”

This was when the three missing parties to the conversation and group approached. Sunny Side, Honey Drop and Piper, strolled into the corner table of the library and took their seats. Whiet Mane’s eyes followed Piper’s movements and when he was seated, he smiled.

“Good afternoon, Piper.” He smiled. “Are you feeling better this morning?”

Piper smiled back shyly. His eyes moved from his roommate, to Sunny Side, then Honey Drop, both who grinned, but said nothing.

“Yeah,”

“Honey Drop and Sunny Side took good care of you?”

Piper nodded.

White Mane turned to them and his face brightened with a smile that made Piper flush. No pony present, save for the two gay colts who grinned like jackals, seemed to notice, however.

“Thank you both so much for taking care of Piper last night. I hope he wasn’t any trouble?”

Sunny Side’s little grin expanded.

“Oh, it was no trouble,” he said “Piper is a wonderful guest, he was very polite and courteous. You’re such a lucky colt to have him as your roommate.”

If being blatant was a brush, Sunny Side was painting in broad strokes.

“Oh, I already knew that,” White Mane giggled. His eyes fell once again onto Piper, who sunk into his seat, like a foal prematurely taking a seat at the adults table before he was ready or a proper size to fill the seat.

This. White Mane’s uncanny ability to make Piper feel so mighty and yet so tiny at the same time was going to drive him into the madhouse, or, the bottom of many bottles. He hadn't decided which one came first.

He stared to Sunny Side and Honey Drop for some kind of reprieve from his situation. They stared back, sadly, but said and did nothing else.

Scout, also, seemed to notice the silent looks and physical communication, though his reaction was far different from the three colts ‘In-the-know.’ and the sole colt who was the cause of so much heartache.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He waved his hooves wildly, drawing everyone’s attention towards him. “What’s going on here? What are you guys talking about?”

White Mane looked to Piper, who looked to Sunny Side, who looked to Honey Drop, who looked to White Mane, who sighed.

“Well, last night,” He began. “Piper and myself had a few drinks with Stormy. You know: Jagged Horn’s roommate?”

“Right, the gay one?” Scout pondered.

White Mane blushed and sighed, dramatically, but with the slightest touch of satisfaction.

“Yes, the gay one,” he sighed, once again. His smile brigthened, like an elderly colt recalling a pleasant memory, then he continued. “And, well, Piper got a little...erm...sick, so we dropped him off at Sunny Side and Honey Drop’s place...”

“Wait...’we’?”

White Mane blushed.

“Well, Stormy and I...” He said, leaving implications in the air.

"Yeah, you and Stormy dropped Piper off. Then what?"

“Well," White Mane cooed and broke out into a wonderfully charming ear to ear smile. "We had a very lovely evening.”

Piper bit his lower lip. From the moment he woke up alone in Sunny Side's bed, to the second after he figured out how he'd gotten there, he knew what had happened between White Mane and Stormy. It only took hearing it form the pony's mouth to boil the blood in his veins in anger, and, jealousy.

“Oh, no way!” Scout laughed. “You two banged?”

White Mane sucked his teeth, then tapped his hooves on the table. Piper continued to feel crushed and emasculated.

“You make it sound so repulsive...” White Mane sighed. Scout shrugged his shoulders, then stared around, waiting for somepony else to speak, before he realized it wasn’t going to happen and stole the spotlight.

“So...what happened after?” Scout asked. “Where is he now?”

“Well, he said he had to a busy morning. So...”

“...You got ditched?” Of course it was Scout’s Honor saying this, with that brash mix of ignorance and lack of empathy. Regardless, White Mane found the strength to answer.

“No, of course not!” he defended, angrily. “Stormy just had to go to a lecture he wanted to see this morning.”

“Uh, there, um...” Vincent interjected, softly, scratching his neck with his claws. “...aren’t any lectures scheduled today, White Mane.”

“Well...Well...” White Mane looked momentarily hurt, then it passed and he smiled. “He said he was going to meet me at The End of the World party tonight.”

White Mane seemed like he was grasping at straws. As if he were aware that there might be a sort of lack of proper chemistry between the two and that it, in fact, had been another example of his aloof nature getting the better of him.

Drawing comparisons between the two--Stormy and Brawny--was easy for Piper, not that he wanted too. It filled him with a bit of selfish joy to imagine that this latest heartbreak for his roommate with Stormy would be enough to turn the younger colt off of jerks, and onto more well adjusted pinto colts in the future.

“Oh, snap.” Scout grinned. “The End of the World Party is tonight? Dude, that’s gonna rock cocks!”

All eyes drew to him, and he stared back startled.

“It’s going to ‘rock’ what?” Sunny Side questioned.

“...cocks” Scout mumbled quietly.

The eyes still stared and he frowned.

“What? Ponies say that!”

“No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.” Vincent stated.

“Well, you guys are just weird!” Scout shouted. “Back home. Where I come from. Ponies say it all the time! It’s totally not gay!”

“No one said it was.”

Scout’s face fell flat.

Nothing was said, ponies just continued to stare, questioningly, at him.

“So, everyone is going, right?” Vincent asked, drawing the attention off of his roommate and onto himself.

All the heads of the ponies around him nodded ‘Yes’ in response.

Vincent smiled.

“Tonight could be a lovely bit of fun,” Sunny Side smiled. “It’s been awhile since either of us,” Slight pause to drap a hoof, longingly, over his lover’s shoulder--who nuzzled his head against the fur of his neck--then continued. “Have been out.”

“Oh, you two are plenty out.” Scout grinned.

“Scout, you are so clever.” Sunny Side droned, prodding his tongue from his mouth. “However do mares keep managing to let you slip away?”

“Hey, I got plenty of tail back home!” Scout countered. “I mean, I was getting laid like, six, seven, times a week! And, they were always top shelf brand, too!”

“And your luck with the ladies somehow took a dramatic nosedive when you came here?”

Scout huffed.

“No, I’m just... playing the field you know?” He defended. “I mean, I could get laid anytime I wanted to, I just don’t think it would be fair for Vincent if I kept kicking him out, night after night.”

At this, Vincent raised a curious brow.

“Really, now?” he asked.

Scout seemed panicked now, like some small rodent caught in a corner with nothing but traps ahead of him. He took a second, rubbed his chin with his hoof and pondered how to proceed. This was done with the leering gazes of the ponies around him, who hoped to see him stumble his way through whatever came next.

“Yeah, totally.” He said, realizing his prolonged silence had turned awkward. “Listen! All I know is that tonight involves two thing; me getting nice and drunk, and me getting my dick damp.”

Sunny Side snorted a condescending sort of laugh at Scout’s crass display of youthful excitement. This urged a snarling face from him.

“Really, Scout?” Sunny Side mused. “You think between now and then, you can find a pony on campus who will sell you some roofies?”

The colts around the table--minus Scout--all contained themselves, until a snicker from Vincent unleashed the floodgates and suddenly, everyone present, even Scout himself, were laughing. It didn’t matter that he’d just been mocked, this was all light hearted ribbing. Friends, at the prime of their lives, celebrating their youthful ignorance.

These were the mornings and afternoons that Piper enjoyed more than anything. It didn’t bother him as much it usually would that White Mane wasn’t particularly interested in him romantically, or sexually. He had a safety net now; Sunny Side and Honey Drop were there if he needed them, and, even if he never got the chance to tell White Mane how he felt, he felt confident that they wouldn’t share his secret with him themselves.

Laughing, smiling and cheering. That was how they spent the rest of their afternoon.

Not much else was done with their day. Classes were skipped with no consequences while the gang of friends shared stories from their lives. Piper, White Mane, Scout’s Honor, Vincent the Griffon, Sunny Side and Honey Drop, all colts (And a singular winged hybrid of beasts) who had through some miraculous stretch found each other as friends and couldn’t imagine life without the others.

This was Camden. This was their lives. This was living life to its fullest.

This was Piper at his happiest.

Things were good.

***

“Are you kidding?” Scout shouted over the noise of the dual bass cannons blasting loud and angry rap music that shook the house. “She’s totally checking me out!”

This was The End of the World party now. Yet another Camden spectacle better to live through, then observe from afar. A hundred and more ponies packed into a frat house on the edge of campus, fueled by alcohol and sharing the joys of victory over the forces of sobriety and clear consciousness.

Another friday night at Camden.

Tonight, Scout, Vincent and Piper found themselves cornered into a quieter spot near the couches. Scout’s Honor had been referring to a mare he’d been eyeing over the course of the night in the same way a timberwolf would eye a lonely pony traveler lost in the woods--hungrily. Like an absolute predator.

His unlucky victim tonight was a mare--pretty, with a wonderfully flowing pink mane and a slim build hidden behind her cream colored coat--who sat alone, on a couch with a drink of gin and tonic in her plastic cup. As was Scout's Honor's way, he'd singled her out as lonely and self concious after the friend she arrived with had left her after being asked to dance. This was Scout's time to shine. Like the vultures he unintentionally modeled his lady killer approach after, he was swooping in on somepony he assumed defenseless and left stranded in a wasteland.

A braver soul and a better friend would have warned him that she glared--which was the proper word for it--at him with the same pair of nervous, worried, eyes that a tourist visiting a dangerous metropolis like Manehattan or Baltimare, stared at brick walls while walking through a back alley; nervous. Bemused, slightly curious, but mostly nervous.

“No,” Vincent grunted in response to his question. “She’s not staring at you because she thinks you’re good looking. She’s staring at you like that because she probably thinks you’re going to put a something in her drink the second she breaks eye contact with you.”

“Agh!” Scout groaned. “What is it with you guys today and thinking I need to drug girls to get laid? I’m not a sexual predator!"

“Allegedly...” Vincent grinned.

“Alright, you fucking naysayers!” Scout stated, popping his shoulders forward and raising his chin high in the air. “Stand back, and let the master show you how it’s done.”

He broke off from Piper and Vincent, then trotted towards the mare on the couch proudly. His eyes never leaving her form while hers grew more and more fearful with each step he took. When he finally approached, he smiled and mouthed something that looked like “Hi.” Her face fell flat, she rolled her eyes at him then mouthed back something that looked awfully close to ‘Not interested.’

Scout did a hundred and eighty degree turn on his hoof, never letting his face fall while he did, then walked back with the same skip in his step. As though his brain hadn't yet grasped the idea that he hadn't just been turned down, or, alternatively, that it was so used to it, it hardly affected him anymore.

“That went pretty well.” Vincent chided, prodding him on the shoulder with a hoof.

Scout grinned an arrogant and silly little smirk.

“Yeah...” he said, exhaling a breath and checked to see if there was dirt lodged into the cracks of his hoof. Super casually. “I wasn’t really interested in her. I'm pretty sure she's a lesbian, actually...”

“Must be.” Vincent smirked.

Piper, meanwhile, had been distancing himself from the conversation and focusing himself across the room where White Mane stood by the stereo with Sunny Side and Honey Drop. They were laughing, smiling, drinking from plastic cups of red wine or top shelf vodka. He’d been tempted to approach, but, he wasn’t quite drunk enough to add much to the conversation.

White Mane broke his eye contact with Sunny Side and Honey Drop and stared at something across from him. Piper followed his eyes; There, standing alone in the kitchen, was Stormy fixing himself a drink. Feeling a frown growing on his face, Piper ignored his feelings for the moment and stared back at White Mane, who had excused himself from his group and moved towards Stormy.

Piper bit his lower lip. Sighed. Then downed his drink.

“I’m gonna go top myself off,” He told Vincent and Scout, excusing himself. They responded with polite head nods, then went back to engaging in a rousing, philosophical discussion about why Scout’s Honor lacked the ability to pick up girls.

Piper waded his way through the crowd. As packed as the part was, Piper still moved with the grace and folly of a colt who’d spent the better part of his life navigating his way around heavily populated areas. Always mentally a step ahead of where he needed to be, smiling politely at the faces that disappeared into the crowd. After a minute of swimming through the crowd, he reached the place where the dynamic duo of colt cuddlers still stood and gawked at the outfits worn by some of Camden's elite.

"You'd never catch me dead in that shirt." Sunny Side was saying, until his eyes fell on Piper and he smiled. “Now, what Piper is wearing...” he growled. "There's a shirt I'd love to tear off of a pony."

Piper stared down at the baby blue button up from Hoity Toity's Fall Collection his father had sent him a few weeks back. It looked alright. It wasn't special. It was tight at the neck, loose at the shoulders and the bottom button often came undone for no good reason. He was sure his father had spent way too many bits on a shirt from such a big name designer, but, somehow knowing it drew the fashionable queer eye of his friend made him feel alright with it.

“Ignore him,” Honey Drop urged. “He gets a little...flirty when he has more than a few drinks.”

“Do not!” Scout pouted. Honey Drop nudged him. Piper sighed.

“So, White Mane’s over there talking to Stormy?” He asked, already knowing what the answer was. Sadly, Honey Drop nodded while Sunny Side seemed to find himself transfixed with rubbing his face against Honey Drop’s muscular chest and shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Piper.” Honey Drop said, taking a sip of what was probably cheap boxed wine from the colour of it. “I know this is...hard to take.”

Piper, despite how he really felt, just shrugged. He noticed the box of wine--which no doubt Sunny Side and Honey Drop bought for themselves, but had been sharing with White Mane as well--and filled his cup with what smelt a little like watered down paint thinner.

“It’s...bullshit.” Piper grumbled. “Look at Stormy, standing there, thinking he's so cool and hot! I...I could be so much better for White Mane!"

Sadly, Honey Drop sighed. He allowed himself to break away from his lover and moved towards Piper. Up until this very day, Piper had never thought anything more of Honey Drop than a companion piece to Sunny Side. They came as sort of a package deal; a 'Earn one friend, get the other for free' sort of deal. It made sense that they were individuals, it just never really occurred to Piper. He had met them when they were already dating through White Mane and one of his many acting classes, but he never really got to know them much better than...well..really, 'Sunny Side and Honey Drop the colt cuddlers'.

There was a companionship in the works between himself and Honey Drop, something strictly platonic, but still intellectual and emotional, which Piper was really starting to enjoy.

“I can’t imagine how this feels for you,” Honey Drop said, taking a sip from his cup. “But, good things happen to good colts, and I can't think of a colt I know who's more deserving of nice things than you are, Piper."

“Thanks.” Piper sighed, then realizing how harsh and severe he sounded, rebounded. “Really, I mean that. You’re...really good friends.”

Honey Drop draped a hoof over Piper’s shoulder.

“I used to think you were just like Scout. Another silly breeder who loved 'pounding vag', watching hoofball and drinking domestic beer." He paused, sipped again from his cup, then finished his thought. "It's nice to know that you're a sweet guy."

Piper laughed. Honey Drop laughed. Sunny Side fell onto the floor in a clump.

“White Mane would be lucky to have you,” He finished, then smiled at Piper and, in a move that startled him, wrapped hooves around the sexually confused colt and pulled him into a hug. “Just remember; whatever happens, Sunny and I are here for you.”

Piper broke off from the hug and smiled.

“Thank you.” He said. Honey Drop smiled back.

Politely, Piper stared away from Honey Drop and let his eyes wander until they found what he’d been yearning for all night; his roommate.

The scene set itself out like a page out of a corny romance novel. There was White Mane, smiling flirtatiously, while he ran a hoof along Stormy’s back. The older colt, Stormy, looked disinterested in him and focused his attentions on a new player to the game; Gentle Strokes. The wannabe artist from some hick town with a name like Dodge Junction or Appleooza.

This rubbed Piper the wrong way. Here was a colt who was willing to bear his heart to Stormy, and there was Stormy, acting incredulously towards him and trying, it seemed, to draw the eye of a colt that, as far as he knew, was straight and uninterested.

Ugh! Stormy!

Gentle Strokes, the farm pony, laughed at something that Stormy said. Stormy grinned. White Mane frowned. Stormy said something to White Mane that made the younger colt smile, but shy away, like he were interrupting something. Gentle Strokes and Stormy broke away from White Mane and headed for the rooftop balcony while White Mane, still smiling, made his way back towards the trio.

“Oh, Piper!” He greeted with the kind of cheer that made Piper’s head feel light. “Isn’t Stormy so wonderful!”

No! He most certainly was not.

“He seems...” He paused to stare at his companions for some kind of enlightenment. Honey Drop shrugged. Sunny Side still remained on the floor, cradling a plastic cup of wine he sipped from. “...nice.”

White Mane sighed cheerfully, then took a sip from his plastic cup.

“I know,” He said. “He had to run off to compare notes with that silly farm pony from Dodge Junction, but, he’ll be back for me.”

Piper fought urges in his body to correct his roommate's assumptions. No, Stormy would not be back for him. That much was clear and evident to anypony not madly in love with him. Unfortunately, it seemed his roommate didn’t agree with that viewpoint.

“White Mane,” Piper poked his roommate, drawing his attention.

Staring at White Mane now and noticing that hopeful little gleam in his roommates eyes, that no matter what he had to say, White Mane would find a way to twist it around. Nothing he said would urge White Mane to consider the fact that, maybe, his fling with Stormy was exactly that; a fling. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Piper bit his tongue and said nothing.

***

Time passed. The party continued. Music blared. Ponies danced, and Piper still found himself drawn to his roommate’s pleasant aura.

White Mane had spent the better part of a half hour searching the room for Stormy’s presence in between the occasional trip to the bathroom and refilling his plastic cup with cheap red wine. Piper, meanwhile, had spent that time studying his roommate and drinking in his movements.

It was the little things that White Mane did that really made Piper smile. He would puff his cheeks out and make an adorable little pouty face when a song he didn’t like came on the stereo. Or, when one that he did like came on, he would bob his head from side to side with his eyes closed and an unwavering smile on his face. He’d bow his head, kick his hooves along with the beat of the bass and whip his mane back and forth. It looked silly, but, that was part of the reason Piper liked it.

Piper sighed, took a powerful sip from his drink, then tapped his hooves impatiently on the countertop. White Mane caused stirs in him that he hadn’t felt for any pony in ages. The fact that he was a colt and White Mane was a colt didn’t really bother him nearly as much as it might with other ponies. This was college, colts were supposed to experiment and if that meant he got to get in bed with a colt like White Mane he was more than happy to try something new.

He finished his drink and stared across the room. That was when something different happened.

White Mane, and by extension Piper, had been watching a scene unfold between Gentle Strokes, the farm pony, (and apparent apple of Stormy’s eye), Jagged Horn (or, The Handsome Dunce as he was known in their group of friends.) Stormy, and The Colt From Las Pegasus.

Harsh words were shouted between Jagged Horn and The Colt From Las Pegasus. Something about a mare, dancing, drugs and being choked with a belt. Then, a kick thrown by The Colt From Las Pegasus hit Jagged Horn, who fell to the floor. The party seemed to pause and all eyes fell onto the form of the fallen colt.

Stormy looked like he were about to leap into the fray himself, his face contorted, his hind legs lowered, rear raised--like a cat about to kill a stuffed mouse--when, quicker than anypony could make sense of it, Gentle Strokes--the farm pony from Dodge Junction--was ontop of The Colt From Las Pegasus, twisting his forehoof behind his back and forcing his face into a puddle of stale beer on the hardwood floor.

The music stopped, the dancing with it while every pair of eyes in the room watched, silently, the set piece presented before them. Gentle Strokes was twisting The Colt From Las Pegasus’s hoof to the point of breaking, and The Colt From Las Pegasus was fighting it. A few more seconds of twisting and he stopped and cursed an apology. Gentle Strokes let him go not long after, and he raised himself to his hooves and glared incredulously at Jagged Horn, Stormy, then Gentle Strokes--who had a look on his face like the next wrong move that The Colt From Las Pegasus made would be his last.

The eyes of every pony in the room followed him as he walked out of the party; his head hung low, snorting and huffing obscenities about ‘Fags’ and ‘Queers’ under his breath.

It seemed like an end to the party was near, but, it surprised him that the music turned back on and everypony resumed dancing like nothing at all had happened. The only thing that happened worthy of noting was a look shared between Stormy and Gentle Strokes; their eyes lidded and filled with excitement.

The next thing that happened almost shocked Piper. Stormy softly bit Gentle Strokes’s tail. It wasn’t a drastic move, but while Piper had expected the farm pony to offer something in the form of protest, he instead happily followed Stormy who dragged him from the dance floor of the party, to the living room. Once there, he threw Gentle Strokes--quite violently--backwards onto a couch then leapt on top of him. Gentle Strokes’s hooves ran along Stormy’s body, while Stormy kissed his way from the gape of Gentle Strokes’s neck, up his throat, his chin, and then, hungrily their mouths met.

Just like that Gentle Strokes--the hick outsider from Dodge Junction with a chip on his shoulder--came out to all of Camden. If he hadn’t just psychologically bitch-slapped The Colt From Las Pegasus, this might have been the most shocking event of the night, but now it just seemed almost normal. Or at least as normal as things like this happened to go.

No one seemed to pay it much mind, save for the sniffing, damp eyed colt with the golden coat and snow coloured mane, who turned away from the scene like he’d just witnessed his parents getting murdered, and darted out the back door.

Impulsively, Piper followed him.

***

When Piper found White Mane, he was standing on his hind legs and leaning against the railing. Mentally, Piper drew comparisons between this moment, and the moment in all of his least favorite movies where the protagonist comforts his love interest. All that was missing was a sun setting in the distance over a lake and bad indie music playing in the background.

“Hey, White Mane,” He called, softly.

White Mane turned to him and tried to speak, but his lips faltered and he sniffed instead. Piper faked a smile, then moved closer to his roommate and wrapped him in a hug. White Mane nuzzled his face into Piper’s chest and this time, unlike the other times, the other colt hardly even blushed.

Right now wasn’t about silly crushes or sexual tension, it was about one being there for the other.

“...can we go home?” White Mane asked.

Piper nodded.

***

On the way back Piper and White Mane stopped for a late night coffee at a place called Monk’s where Piper bought himself a coffee (two sugars and cream), and White Mane a Choi Mocha Latte with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Relaxed, White Mane seemed to have mellowed out over the time it took to leave the party and get to Monk’s. He smiled, and Piper smiled too.

To Piper, buying White Mane a night cap coffee wasn’t much, and it probably didn’t change the state of their relationship, or imply the feelings he had, but it felt nice to know that he had the power to cheer his roommate up during his darkest hours.

That was when a warmth, familiar and inviting, filled Piper's body.

They spent the rest of the night talking about things specifically not related to Stormy. Piper told him about how Scout had tried and failed to pick up the mare sitting alone, and White Mane giggled. White Mane told Piper about how Sunny Side tried to invent a new dance and had ended up kicking Honey Drop in the face, and Piper chuckled.

With lifted spirits and coffee filling their bellies, the two best friends left Monk's coffee shop and headed for home. On the way, it dawned on Piper that White Mane walked quite close to him. Close to the point where his flank would brush against his roommate's, and vice versa. All Piper could do about it was smile something silly.

Maybe, just maybe, things would be alright.