Work was long and hard (Perverts begone!). I not only had to man the cash register, but also wait the tables due to such a small task force available. The Cakes were taking care of their babies and Pinkie was in the kitchen, so that left me running around with cupcakes on a plate.
When I arrived at home (at this point thinking of Fluttershy's house as a home), I said nothing to her when she said hello, instead just grunting like some sort of cavepony. I walked right over to the bed and laid down width-wise, not caring about anything but getting to sleep. Sleep, of course, came easier than ever before, even though it was there was still an hour or so until sundown.
That night, I dreamed of violence, and war between strange creatures. There was not a single familiar species to be seen, and no matter which way i turned in my dream, those were creatures fighting, hurting. And it felt... good. It felt like this was something I had worked for.
I couldn't move. I struggled to stop it, trying to cry out, but I couldn't do anything. I heard a voice in the back of my head.
"Do you remember? This is what you wanted." it said, it's sound gruff and deep, like a war veteran who has seen too many things.
"Bull shit. I'm a nice person." I thought back to it.
"Bull shit, huh? Maybe it really did work, then. We'll see." it said. "We'll see..."
As the ominous voice faded, I heard another, more familiar voice.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. Please wake up, Velvet. Please please please please wake up."
I opened my eyes and saw light streaming down on Fluttershy's face. Tears were starting to form on the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, thank Celestia, you're awake! You were shaking and screaming about 'certain doom' and some place you called 'the realm of Satan'." she said, her voice shaking.
"Well, how long was I out?" I asked.
"You slept fine all night and all this morning, but a few hours ago, you started shaking, and just a few minutes ago the yelling started." Fluttershy said. "I was scared that you were possessed by something..."
I got out of bed and hugged her trembling figure. I would have to make sure this didn't happen again. Her fragile spirit might not be able to take something like this too much more. After a minute or two, she slowly stopped shaking.
"It's okay, sweetie, it was just a nightmare." I said comfortingly, to myself as well as her. "I should probably get to work. I only have to work today and tomorrow, so I'll get going. You should go out and tend to the animals to take your mind off of it."
"Okay... I'll do that." she said. As we walked out the door, I saw myself in the mirror for the first time. My mane was a dark brown with light brown touching the edges. The rest of my body was a khaki color. My eyes contrasted with the rest of my body, being a vivid green.
"Are you going, Velvet, or are you going to look at yourself in the mirror all day?" said Fluttershy teasingly.
"Yeah, I'm goin'. Don't get your feathers in a bunch."
Work was easier today. The kids were asleep, so the Cakes waited the tables. I got tips from almost every customer, and a few of the guys even tried to flirt with me.
Right as we were about to close up shop and the last few customers were leaving, two very loud, very similar looking guys came in.
The taller, more muscular looking one, a pegasus wearing a black necktie, had a bright green body and a dark blue mane. His cutie mark was a pair of nunchucks. The other smaller, kinda pudgy one (this one a a unicorn) had a blue body and a dark green mane. His cutie mark was a drum set. Both had large, but completely full, saddlebags.
"Hey, I know you guys are about to close, but am I too late to get some big ass cupcakes?" the buff one asked me. His voice was deep and gruff, but playful as well.
"No, not at all. What what you like?" I said.
He's kind of cute. I thought.
"Well, since Necktie here lost the bet, so he will have a cupcake with random ingredients from around the kitchen. I, however, will have a vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing and filling. Both of them the biggest size they can be without being considered and actual cake." said the short one. His voice was the exact opposite of Necktie's. His voice was like a teenager, adventurous and joking.
"Yeah, my brother Slender here loves his food." said Necktie. "So, what's the damage, how much is this gonna hurt my wallet?"
"The total comes to thirteen bits." I said. I was liking this Necktie pony more and more.
"Here, I only have twenty left. You might as well take the rest as a tip. I'm sorry I can't tip you any more, but I need to go to the bank." said Necktie, placing a bag of bits on the counter.
"Cover your ears." I said, following my own advice.
"What?" said the brothers in unison.
"TWO BIG BERTHAS, COMIN' UP!" screamed Pinkie Pie, sticking her head through the doorway from he kitchen.
"Oh, Celestia, my ears are burning!" screamed Slender.
"Tough it out, ya pussy." said Necktie, smirking and playfully punching his brother. I noticed that his eyes were watering, though.
"I warned you," I said, laughing. "And just so you know, your order will be out in-"
"Order up, Velvet!" said Pinkie, ringing a small bell and handing me a plate with the cupcakes.
"Time to close up shop, Velvet!" said Mr. Cake stacking up the last chair.
"Well, it seems my shift had just ended. Do you guys want to continue this conversation elsewhere? We can go to the library." I said, mainly aiming it at Necktie.
"There's a library in this town?" he said. "See, Slender, that's just one more reason for us to settle down in this place!"
"Settle? You mean you guys don't have a place to live?" I asked.
"Nope. Actually, ever since dad passed away, we've been on the move. That was, what, three years ago?" said Slender. "Well, however long ago it was, we can talk about it at the library. Just lead the way."
"Actually, it's right down the road."
"Well, as I said, lead the way." he said.
"So, let me get this straight, you guys are orphaned brothers, who have been traveling Equestria for three years, and you have both yet to obtain marefriends?" I said, laughing.
"Yeah, laugh it up. It hurts on the inside. I'll freely admit it, but Necktie here? He won't even show it a little bit. This guys shows no pain. But he hurts nonetheless." said Slender.
"That's not true! I show pain! I how physical pain,when my bones are sticking out of my skin. I just don't react, that's all. I happen to have a very high pain tolerance. Also, I haven't tried to get a marefriend. This guy right here is the one who tries and fails. I haven't found what I call a 'keeper' yet." said Necktie.
We had been talking for hours, and just recently touched to topic of their past relationships, or in this case, the lack thereof. I found that despite being only similar on the outside in color, the two are very alike. The way they talk, you can tell that the pair are best friends and have been through a lot together.
"Hey, it's getting late, we should probably find a good spot in the woods to put our air mattress." said Necktie. Necktie's full name, I as I had recently learned, was Tasty Necktie. He just said not to ask him why, and also not to ask him why he wears a necktie all the time. Slender, who's full name is just 'Slender", said to l go along with it.
"Nonsense," I said, "My friend Fluttershy wouldn't mind letting you guys put your air mattress on the floor at her house. That's where I sleep, too. Not the floor, her house. Just... follow me." I said, rambling on nervously, trying to make a good impression on Necktie. I found myself strangely attracted to him.
We flew to Fluttershy's house (with Slender riding on Necktie's back). As we reached the door, the sun finished setting, casting an eerie shadow over everything. i looked over at Necktie and saw that, even in this light, his big brown eyes still had a playful sparkle in them. Slender's big brown eyes were asleep. I slowly opened the door and saw Fluttershy sitting in an armchair reading.
"Well, there you are! You took a while to get home! And, oh... you... you have company... that's great!" she said, starting to do what she always does and get quiet around people.
"Fluttershy, this is Necktie, in the necktie, and this is Slender, asleep on Necktie's back. They're brothers who are working on getting a place to saty. And don't worry about a bed, they have an air mattress they can put in the floor." I explained to her.
"It's nice to meet you." said Necktie, dropping Slender off of his back onto the floor.
"Hey, I- oh, we're here." said Slender, standing up.
"You must be Miss Fluttershy. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." he continued, earning him a kick in the shin from his brother.
"We'll just get the mattress set up and get out of your mane until the morning." said Necktie.
"Oh, it's no problem at all! I'm just glad that Velvet is finally making some friends." said Fluttershy. Necktie looked at me with raised eyebrows. I just rolled my eyes at him. Meanwhile, Slender was trying his best to blow up the mattress with his breath.
"Dude, we've been over this, you know an inflation spell. It works. Just use it!" said Necktie.
"Good... *gasp* good idea..." said Slender, red in the face and out of breath. He inflated it with a blue magic and they both just laid down and were out, just like that.
"I think it's time for us to do the same. It's very late." said Fluttershy. I nodded and got in bed with her.
"So what do you think of the new guys?" I asked Fluttershy.
"Oh, I don't know, I haven't gotten into a conversation with them yet, so can't really tell." she replied, cautious about new people as always. I laid in bed for an hour, thinking about what I was going to do with my life, until finally I drifted off to sleep, Fluttershy's snores acting as my lullaby.
Hey, it's me, BigBadFluttershy. Chapter four is out. Sorry about the late-night update. I thought my keyboard was broken, but it turns I had just accidentally turned on filter keys like the Derpy that I am. As for the two new characters, Slender and Tasty Necktie, they're based off of my friend The Erect Slenderman and myself, respectively. I'm not sure what the pairing for Slender will be at the moment, be Necktie's pairing is happening very soon. I'm up for a vote by either PM or review on Slender's pairing, so send in those votes! Also, OC ideas are always helpful and will be considered. Signing off,
The pony who only cares a little bit, BigBadFluttershy