Pwned by Ponies
Milly was on cloud nine as she looked across her vast living room. Not only were the kids she'd been charged with watching that day enjoying themselves, but so were the current members of Fireside Girls Troop 46231, who were actively playing with the kids and reading them stories. She felt like bouncing around her house in glee at the all-too-sweet scene.
"Thank you again for letting us come help today, Milly," Melissa said as she briefly broke away from the group. "We've been hoping for a chance to earn our 'Babysitting' patches."
"Think nothing of it," Milly told her. She turned her attention to the massive downpour that was still ongoing outside. "You couldn't have picked a better day to come by either. I don't know when that rain is going to let up."
"Miss Milly," one of the little girls called out as she rushed up to her. "Can we watch please?"
"Are you guys bored of playing already," Milly asked, to which the little girl nodded her head vigorously. Milly giggled a bit. "Oh, alright. It is a rainy day after all, so it's not like you guys can play outside."
"Watch what," Suzy asked as Milly picked up a remote for the entertainment center.
"There's a remake of an old cartoon from the nineteen eighties that the kids have taken quite a liking to," Milly told her. "I've been recording it on our DVR for some time now, and I happen to have the whole series. It comes in handy for rainy days or during naptime for the kids who have trouble sleeping."
As the menu screen for the DVR came up, Suzy and Melissa looked at it curiously.
"Milly, you wouldn't happen to be a fan of this show yourself, would you," Melissa asked.
"Well I must admit I have watched it a couple of times," Milly said cheerily. "You know, incidentally while the kids are watching. And also just to make sure the content was appropriate for them."
"A couple dozen times is more like it," Suzy repeated as she eyed the "number of times viewed" column next to the episode names. Most of the numbers were between fifty and seventy, indicating far more than just a couple of viewings. Milly laughed nervously at their discovery and quickly gathered the kids together to watch. The Fireside Girls looked to Melissa, who shrugged and motioned to them to also take a seat as the first episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic got underway.
Not ten minutes into the episode, Milly's doorbell rang. She quickly got up and, while still watching the screen, carefully made her way to the door to answer it. Isabella and Gretchen were on the other side and quickly ducked in to get out of the rain.
"Hey Milly," Isabella said in greeting. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced, but we were wondering whatcha…uh, Milly? What's with the crowd?"
"Oh, we're just watching something for the kids right now," Milly told her. "Make yourselves at home, girls."
"We won't be here long," Gretchen said as they walked back towards the TV. "We just wanted to dry off a bit and see if…oh my gosh, you're watching it now?"
"Yeah, the kids were getting bored," Milly told her.
"How far in are you?"
"We're only halfway through the first ep."
"Oh good, I haven't missed much then."
"Uh…Gretchen," Isabella asked. "Am I missing something here?"
"Izzie, you've got to watch this show," Gretchen told her as she eagerly took a seat alongside Milly. "It's so cute and cool!"
"Okay," Isabella said skeptically. "You do know you're getting all giddy over a kids' show, right?"
"Just give it a chance."
Isabella sighed and pulled a chair in from the kitchen to watch. Roughly twelve minutes later the first episode concluded with a cliffhanger ending. Milly fumbled the remote to the floor as the kids clamored for its continuation.
"Hang on, kids," she told them calmly as she finally grabbed the remote again. "I'll have it going soon."
Gretchen turned to Isabella with a grin on her face while Milly started up the next episode. "You have to admit it is at least cute, right Izzie?"
"Shh," Isabella said as she watched the screen intently. "I don't want to miss anything!"
Gretchen had to force herself not to erupt in laughter at Isabella's sudden attachment to the show. Just as she was settling back in to start watching the next episode, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She grabbed it and saw a text message from Ferb.
"Where are you guys," the text message asked. Gretchen bit her lower lip. Phineas and Ferb had been expecting them to have been back from the mall by now. She quickly composed a reply.
"At Milly's house, come on over if you want," her reply read. She sent it, pocketed her phone, and resumed watching the episode.
Almost half an hour later, Milly's doorbell rang once again.
"The door's open," Milly called out, being unable to tear herself away from the show.
Phineas and Ferb let themselves into the house and looked curiously at the mixture of little kids, Fireside Girls, and teenage girls gathered around the TV. They looked at each other worriedly and then approached the group to see what had them all so enthralled.
"Oh good grief, not this again," Ferb commented upon recognizing the show. He looked disappointedly at Gretchen, who was watching the show intently. "You could've told me this is what you were up to in your text message."
"You asked me where we were, not what we were doing," Gretchen told him indignantly. "Now hush. Twilight Sparkle is trying to figure out who to give her extra ticket to the gala to."
"Sounds like a dire situation to be sure," Ferb said. "Come on, Phineas. Let's…"
Ferb only then noticed that Phineas had pulled another chair from the kitchen up alongside Isabella and was taking a seat next to her. He looked at his red-haired brother incredulously.
"You're kidding, right," he asked. "This is what you want us to do today?
Phineas shrugged and grinned at him. "Hey, we can't exactly do a whole lot in the rain dude. Not to mention our girlfriends are here too, so that even further limits our possibilities. Besides, I've heard this show is kinda funny anyway. Can't hurt to give it a shot, right?"
Ferb's hand made a rather audible smacking sound as he applied it to his forehead. "Fine. Make room on the sofa please, Gretchen."
Milly quickly slid to the floor so Ferb could sit next to Gretchen. Gretchen quickly cuddled up with her boyfriend as his reward for humoring her. Ferb braced himself to be assailed with girliness. After an hour's worth of watching, though, his cynicism towards the show had all but evaporated.
"You know there really is some smart humor in here," Ferb noted as the sixth episode continued on the screen.
"I think the characters are pretty neat, honestly," Isabella said. "I mean they really gave them personalities. Not to mention they're all adorable."
"Got a favorite yet," Gretchen asked her.
"I have to go with Twilight. She's the most sensible of the group, and the smartest. What about you?"
"Hands down Fluttershy. I love her hair, and later on in the series she turns out to be pretty awesome."
"I'm all about Applejack," Milly added. "I love how down-to-earth she is."
"How about you boys," Isabella asked, looking from Ferb to Phineas.
"Sorry, I'm just enjoying the humorous bits," Ferb told her. "I can't say as any of the main characters has left much of an impression on me."
"You like Celestia," Gretchen said, which quickly made Ferb's face turn bright red. Gretchen sighed a bit. "Royalty always catches your eye."
"Oh come on, just because I like the one character with a regal air about her doesn't mean I have some predilection for sovereign characters or people!"
Gretchen smiled and patted Ferb's cheek lightly. "I was just poking fun, honey. Oh, and that was a total guess on my part by the way."
Ferb grumbled and sunk into the sofa some more as Gretchen kissed his cheek. Isabella giggled and looked over at Phineas.
"How about you, Phineas," she asked. "Any of the ponies catch your eye?"
"I gotta go with Pinkie Pie," Phineas told her with a grin. "Everyone loves a party animal, after all."
"Plus she's insane," Ferb added. "You know, birds of a feather and all that."
"At least I'm being forthcoming about who I like Mr. 'I-Can't-Actually-Admit-I-Like-Ponies.'"
"So…anyone getting hungry for lunch," Milly asked, wanting to both tend to her kids and change the topic. All of the kids she was watching for the day raised their hands, as did the Fireside Girls. She laughed and got up from the floor. "I'll get some lunch going, then. Macaroni and cheese good by everyone?"
"You sure you've got enough for everyone," Phineas asked.
Milly just smiled sweetly at him. "Phineas, I'm dating Buford."
"Ah, right. Nevermind."
As if on cue, Buford practically burst through the front door quickly followed by Baljeet and Ginger. Ginger quickly closed the door as the boys tried to shake some of the rainwater off of themselves.
"It's rainin' cats, dogs, ferrets, moose, and probably a platypus or two out there," Buford proclaimed. "What's for lunch Mi- hey, what's with the party?"
"Oh, we're just watching ponies with the kids," Milly told him as she headed for the kitchen. "I'm about to put on some mac and cheese, sweetie. Go ahead and have a seat."
Buford grunted, seeming disappointed at the scene. "Ponies, huh. Well I guess if that's what's on we'll just have to suck it up and deal."
"Buford, isn't your current computer desktop background of a blue Pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail," Baljeet asked him.
Dead silence hung over the entire room as everyone looked at Buford in utter disbelief. Buford slowly turned to Baljeet, who suddenly realized he'd said something he truly shouldn't have.
"I should start running, shouldn't I," Baljeet asked nervously as he swallowed audibly.
"Buford, don't forget there are kids here," Milly called out in a singsong voice from the kitchen.
Buford put a burly arm around Baljeet's shoulders and grinned at him. "C'mon, 'Jeet. Clearly you just need to be introduced to the show properly."
"I gotta be honest," Gretchen said as she watched Buford and Baljeet sit on the floor in front of her and Ferb, "I would never have pegged you for a fan of Rainbow Dash, Buford. Nevermind you being a brony."
Phineas and Ferb both snorted as they tried to stifle their laughter.
"Brony," Phineas asked, his voice filled with amusement. "Do I dare ask?"
"I dunno, do you?" Buford's voice positively dripped with menace as he glared at Phineas.
"Uh, yeah I'll pass this time," Phineas said nervously as he took shelter in Isabella's arms.
Buford grinned and then turned to Gretchen. "As for your question, why wouldn't I like the one who's twenty percent cooler than all the rest of 'em?"
"She won you over with the sonic rainboom, didn't she," Gretchen asked, an amused smile on her face.
"Sonic rainboom," Ferb repeated questioningly. "Are you serious?"
Gretchen patted Ferb's head and then settled back into continue watching. "You'll see. We haven't gotten that far yet."
"That's assuming we get that far at all. I can't imagine we won't find anything better to do. I find it hard to believe that we'd spend the next six hours watching this show no matter how entertaining it may actually be."
Episode Seven
"It's always the quiet ones, isn't it," Ginger said after witnessing Fluttershy ranting at a fully grown red dragon.
"And now you know why I like her," Gretchen said proudly. "You do not mess with Fluttershy."
Episode Eight
Everyone in the room who hadn't seen the episode before was roaring with laughter as Fluttershy had spoken with a very deep, very masculine-sounding voice after having been "cursed".
"Flutterguy…" Phineas said, gasping for air between laughed. "Oh jeez…"
"Just wait until she sings later," Buford said, smirking at him.
"Oh you've got to be kidding," Ferb said, also trying to stop laughing.
Episode Eleven
"Oh great, now I'm going to have this song stuck in my head forever," Baljeet complained after the Winter Wrap Up musical sequence.
"It never goes away," Milly told him. "Trust me."
Episode Sixteen
"Okay now hold on," Baljeet said. "How many G's was she pulling to do that sonic rainboom for crying out loud?"
"Over sixteen hundred," Buford told him.
Baljeet slowly looked at Buford, incredulity on his face. "How do you even know that?"
"Some physics guy who's a fan of the show did the math on it and posted about it online."
"…I don't know whether to be horrified or truly curious to see his work."
"Ditto," both Phineas and Ferb said in unison.
A grand total of six total hours later…
"Next," Ferb said, eagerly awaiting the next episode.
"Sorry, Ferb, that's all there is," Milly told him.
"What? Are you serious?"
"Totally. Season one had twenty-six episodes and that was the last one."
Ferb sighed and sunk into the couch as Gretchen did her best to keep her total amusement at her boyfriend's change of heart about the show to herself.
"Well that turned out to be a pretty good way to burn a rainy day after all," Phineas said, standing and stretching after the marathon. "Especially since the rain stopped about five hours ago."
"That had to be one of the coolest and cutest things I've ever watched," Isabella said. "Kids today really do have it better than we did if they've got stuff like this to watch."
"Speaking of kids, where are the ones you were watching, Milly," Ginger asked.
"Yes, I thought you were babysitting when we arrived earlier," Baljeet added.
"Oh, their parents all picked them up some time ago," Milly told them. "I think you guys were a little too wrapped up in the show to notice. The Fireside Girls also left about the same time."
"Which means we marathon-watched the second half of this show entirely on our own," Ferb said, suddenly realizing the truth.
"Welcome to the herd, dude," Buford said, grinning from ear-to-ear with self-satisfaction. He stood up and took Milly into his arms for a hug. "I think I'll head home now, toots."
Milly gave him a quick kiss and hugged him tightly. "Alrighty. Remember, you can come over any time to watch with me."
"Don't I know it. Later, bronies."
With that, Buford left the house laughing raucously all the way.
"I suppose we should all be going as well," Ferb said, standing from the sofa once Buford was well on his way. "Sorry to have imposed on you like this, Milly."
"Oh you guys were no imposition at all," Milly told him.
"Mind walking me home, Ferb," Gretchen asked. "It is pretty late."
"I was planning on doing just that," he replied, offering her his arm. She quickly took his arm, waved to her friends, and departed Milly's house with him.
"We should all get going as well," Phineas said. His pronouncement met with agreement from all the rest of Milly's guests. "Thanks again for having us over, Milly."
"My house is your house, guys," she told them happily. "I mean that. You guys are always welcome to come and hang here."
After a round of farewells, the group of friends all went their separate ways. Some time later, Gretchen looked up at Ferb as they continued walking to her house. Ferb recognized the look of curiosity on her face.
"So, what'd you really think," she asked. "Did you really enjoy it, or were you just placating me?"
"I think I need to stop being so judgmental about kids' television shows," he told her. "I can't help but admit that I did enjoy a good deal of that show."
Gretchen smiled, happy that her boyfriend had indeed enjoyed himself. "Too bad you missed the beginning. There's a really good story in the first two episodes."
"Yes, well I somehow doubt we'll be making a habit of invading Milly's home just to watch the show."
"You know I have it available at my house too."
Ferb looked at her with a wry smile. "You do?"
"Mm-hmm, and I'm pretty sure my folks are still out on their date tonight at this hour," she said as she hugged Ferb's arm closely to her chest. "We could certainly check out those first couple episodes you missed."
Ferb raised an eyebrow at her. "I suspect that's not all we'll be checking out."
"Ponies are fun, but they've got nothing on you, baby," Gretchen said, a seductive smile on her face.
The couple picked up their pace a bit, eager to get back to Gretchen's home to watch the part of the show Ferb had missed earlier. And, of course, to have some much desired alone time.
Next Episode Preview: The annual Danville Japanese midsummer festival has arrived and Ginger is preparing for an evening to remember with her friends, but especially with Baljeet. But are the two of them really ready for the step she has in mind, or has Ginger taken this planning business of hers too far?