Saturday afternoon in Ponyville. The small town was bustling with activity. Little fillies and colts were out playing in the streets, some ponies were out running their weekly errands, and others were simply happy to be out and about on such a beautiful day with their friends. Then there were the shop owners.

The streets were practically packed with vendors, selling a wide variety of items. From the smallest of fruits to the largest of plants, you could find close to anything. Of course, a day like this was perfect for the town’s local flower ponies. They had picked up somewhat of a reputation around town as being overdramatic, but one thing was certain. Nopony could cultivate a garden quite like they could.

And on a day like this, that meant that their business was better than ever. A multitude of colts and stallions alike had already visited their stands. Some for their significant other, and some in the hope that the flowers would earn them a significant other. “Boy, we’re really raking in the bits today, girls!”

Roseluck and Daisy giggled at their younger sister’s exclamation. She was something of a joker among the trio, and had a reputation among town as being able to make just about anypony smile. Roseluck smirked at her. “Oh, Lily, your puns are going to get you into trouble one day, you know.”

Lily rolled her eyes and shifted her attention back towards the streets as a young colt trotted his way over to her stand. With an unwavering look of determination, he slammed a few bits down in front of her. “Hi, Pipsqueak! How are you?”

Pipsqueak smiled. “I’m great, Miss Valley!”

“Aww, you’re making me feel old calling me that,” Lily laughed. “You know you can call me Lily. Now, what can I get for you?”

“Do you have any black lillies… Lily?” He asked. The youngest of the flower sisters smiled, and ducked down behind her stall for a moment. When she popped back up, she had just what he had asked for. “Whoa, it’s even prettier than I thought it would be!”

Lily giggled, sliding the bits he’d offered towards herself. “And just who’s the lucky lady that’ll be getting this flower?”

“I-I don’t really wanna say…” He blushed.

“Oh, come on, we won’t tell anypony! Promise!” Daisy called out from a few stalls away.

Roseluck covered her mouth with her hoof, and laughed nervously as she regarded the little pony. “Don’t listen to her, Pipsqueak, you don’t have to tell us if you’re not comfortable.”

“Well, I guess you three are pretty good at keeping secrets. I got it for Scootaloo,” he spoke softly, embarrassed.

“Well I’m sure she’ll love it,” Lily smiled at him, ruffling his mane with her hoof. “Now run along, and tell your mom I said she’s lucky to have raised such an upstanding young colt.”

Pipsqueak gave a little salute, turned heel, and galloped off. Roseluck tilted her head towards Lily once he was out of sight. “I didn’t know you had any black lillies.”

“I decided to try and grow some new species for this month.” Lily smiled. “What about you two? Got any new flowers up for sale?”

“Nope.” “Same old, same old.”

“Oh, well I’m sure you guys will come up with something to…”

Roseluck zoned out as her younger sister spoke, focusing her attention instead across the town square. Ponies basically swarmed around Applejack while trying to buy some of her Red Delicious apples. Her eyes settled on the creature that had come to call Ponyville home for the past few months. What had Princess Twilight called him. A ‘hyooman’?

Whatever he was, he didn’t look nearly as lively as he had the last time she’d seen him. As he examined the apple in his hands, she could see that Applejack was trying to offer him some words of comfort. Why, though, was a mystery to her.

“Rosie?”

“H-huh?” Roseluck shook her head, and turned towards Daisy. “What is it?”

“You’ve been staring at Clyde for like two minutes.”

Roseluck’s cheeks burned a bright red. “O-oh. Sorry, I was just a bit distracted is all.”

“It’s a real shame about him,” Lily spoke sadly. Daisy nodded in agreeance.

“What’s wrong?”

“You didn’t tell her?” Daisy frowned at Lily, who chuckled nervously. “Princess Twilight wasn’t able to find a way for him to get back home.”

“S-so he’s trapped here? Like, forever?” Rose asked, turning to look at him again. That was definitely a cruel fate, being ripped away from his home and family forever, just like that. “That’s… horrible.”

“Yeah, he hasn’t really been taking it well. In fact, just the other day, he…”

Roseluck zoned out again, regarding the human with a sad look on her face. She watched as he slowly walked away from Applejack’s stand, an apple in hand. She had never actually spoken to him, not even in a passing situation. She had, admittedly, been terrified of him for the longest time. It was only when he had helped rescue one of Fluttershy’s animals from the Everfree Forest a few weeks ago, that she had begun to see him in a different light.

But even then, she never really had any idea of how to approach the much larger bipedal creature. Still, she wanted to at least try something to lift his spirits. She never liked to see anypony sad, so she settled on grabbing a bouquet of flowers from under her flower stand. With the bouquet held tightly between her teeth, she quickly trotted off after him, ignoring her sisters, who tried to get her attention.

Clyde let out a sigh as he approached Applejack’s apple stand. He still had a few bits left over after paying the rent on his home, and he wanted something to snack on. He had heard that she had just gotten some Red Delicious apples in stock and was intent on getting one. They had been his favorite fruit back on Earth, and somehow they were even better here.

“Well, howdy, Clyde. You here to buy some apples?”

Clyde didn’t reply, instead grabbing an apple from one of the many baskets she had on display and inspecting it.

“I heard about what Twilight told ya. Is there anything I can do?”

He shook his head, his wavy hair flopping from side to side as he did. “It’s… fine, Applejack.”

“Are ya sure? ’Cause you know, we were all planning a little trip down to the spa later today if you wanted to join us?” Applejack offered him a smile.

One that he had trouble returning. “I’m sure,” he replied, trying his hardest to smile graciously. “So how much are your Red Delicious apples?”

“Just a bit each,” she answered. “But you can have that one for free.”

Clyde finally managed a smile. “A-are you sure?”

“I’m sure. It’s the least I could do after hearing about your situation.”

She tipped her hat at him, and he thanked her before walking off. He was intent on getting back home before the mailmare got there. Last time she had beaten him, his mailbox had somehow been broken in half, and he didn’t feel like buying another one.

It was a hot day, though, and he eventually resigned himself to finding a nearby empty bench to sit down on. He wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead and plopped down on the bench, crossing his left leg on top of his right. He looked at the apple Applejack had given him again. There were no bruises, and it was one of the shiniest apples he’d ever seen. How her family was so good at farming them, he had no clue.

He was about to take a bite out of the apple, when he heard a voice to his left. “U-um, hello.”

Roseluck followed Clyde for a few moments, coming to a stop as he took a seat on a bench. They had wandered quite a bit aways from the town square, and she gulped as she thought of just how she could approach him.

‘Okay, Roseluck, you can do this. Just walk over to him, say hi, and give him these flowers…’

Trotting over to him was no problem, and he hadn’t seemed to notice her yet. She wasn’t sure why, but that made her feel a bit more comfortable. Once she was within a few inches of him, she took the bouquet out of her mouth and into her hoof and spoke. “U-um, hello.”

He turned towards her, closing his mouth as he did and lowering the hand holding his apple back down. “Um, hi?”

‘Okay, Roseluck, just hoof him the flowers now!’

“Th-these are for you,” Roseluck stammered out nervously. She looked away from him as she held the flowers out towards him. To her surprise, she felt the flowers leave her grasp, and she managed to look back towards him.

“Um… thanks, I guess? Why’d you get these for me, though?”

“O-oh, well I heard about you being stuck here and I thought that you might need some cheering up,” she replied softly.

“Ah,” he nodded. “Well, thank you.”

“Y-you’re welcome.”

The two remained quiet for a few moments, not quite sure what to say. ‘Dang it, I knew this was a bad idea! We’ve never even met, and here I am giving him a bouquet! He probably thinks I’m the weirdest pony in town now! Oh, the horror, the ho—’

“Roseluck, right?” He broke the silence and took her away from those thoughts. She nodded, and he smiled at her. “Truth be told, Roseluck, I was kind of expecting Twilight to come up empty. Heck, I don’t even know how I got here. I’m sure I’ll be fine… eventually.”

That was a bit of a relief. Maybe he wasn’t as sad as everyone thought he was? He was smiling, which was a good sign. Still, it begged a question that she wasn’t sure she wanted to ask. “D-don’t you miss your family, though?” She regretted saying that almost right away, as she watched his features fall. “O-oh gosh, I’m so sorry! Gosh, stupid, stupid Roseluck!” She scolded herself, smacking a hoof against her forehead.

“Hey, no worries, you don’t need to… hit yourself,” He finished, staring at her with a bemused look. She paused for a moment, looking past her hoof at him. He set the flowers he’d been given down on his lap. “Why do you care so much, anyways? We’ve never even met before, I only know your name because of Twilight.”

Roseluck blushed, falling down to her haunches on the ground. She gave a little nervous cough, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m… not really sure. I guess I felt bad that nopony was even trying to talk to you, aside from Applejack.” She was expecting Clyde to give her another strange look, but he surprised her by chuckling, a tiny smile meeting his face. “W-what?”

“You ponies are just too nice.” He paused for a second, patting the empty spot next to him on the bench. “Why don’t you sit up here? I’m sure it’s better than the ground.”

Roseluck was hesitant, but the look he was giving her said ‘you have nothing to fear from me’. She smiled warmly and hopped up next to him, falling down onto her rump again. “S-so, what do you do for a living?”

“That’s a silly question to ask someone you just met,” he laughed. “But if you must know, I work at the Carousel Boutique.”

Roseluck’s eyes lit up at that. “No way! Do you make clothes like Rarity does?”

“Oh, no, I just take measurements for her,” he blushed. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wanna know how to.”

Roseluck paused for a moment, wanting to get a better look at Clyde. Like her, his brown hair stopped just short of going over his eyes. His face was clean-shaven, and his blue eyes shined brightly in the sunlight. It almost made her wonder just why she'd been so terrified of him only months before. “Have you made any friends?”

“Aside from Rarity and Applejack, not really,” he shrugged. “Princess Twilight is always too busy to chat, and that yellow one seems really scared of me.”

“‘Yellow one’...?” Roseluck repeated quietly. “Oh! You mean Fluttershy? Yeah, she can be pretty timid,” Roseluck giggled.

“That’s it. I always forget it, because as soon as she sees me, she just flies away.” The two shared a short laugh. Once it died down, he gave Roseluck a warm look. “Thanks for talking with me, Roseluck.”

“It’s nothing…” She shook her hoof limply at him, blushing. “So... do you live around here?”

“I actually live just down the street from here,” he pointed with what she recalled being known as his ‘thumb’, and her eyes followed his directions. “See that little house down there, right before the last one?”

“The one with the little blue shutters beside the windows?”

“That’s it,” Clyde nodded. “I actually rented it out a few weeks ago. I was living with Rarity until then, but her sister is just so messy. She actually left a pair of her socks in the sink.”

Roseluck giggled. “That sure sounds like Sweetie Belle. She’s a little mischievous, but she’s a sweet filly.”

“Yeah, she’s something else alright,” Clyde laughed. With a sigh of what Roseluck assumed to be disappointment, he pointed back to his home. “Well, I need to go ahead and get home. I’d love to talk to you some more tomorrow, though, if you’d like.” He smiled. “It’s a bit unfair that we only talked about me.”

Roseluck found herself nodding eagerly, beaming a bit as she replied, “Okay! I’ll be at my flower stand if you want to chat while I work!”

She watched as Clyde got up, bouquet in hand, and walked down the street towards his home. “Okay, see you then.”

‘Wow, that went a lot better than I thought it would! He’s not scary at all!’ Roseluck exclaimed to herself. Then it hit her. ‘Oh, ponyfeathers, I need to get back to my stand!’

With that, she galloped back towards the town square, eager to let her sisters know that she had made a new friend.

Clyde opened the door to his home, flipping on the light as he stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind him, and he made his way toward the living room. It was still, for the most part, unfurnished. Just a couch, an end table situated on its left, and a coffee table that he never even used for coffee. To him, it had a much simpler purpose: being his leg rest. As he plopped down onto the sofa and helped the table fulfill that very purpose, he looked at the items in his hands.

His conversation with that cream-colored earth pony had caused the apple to slip from his mind entirely, and by now his appetite had subsided. With a sigh, he gently placed it down on the end table. That just left the bouquet Roseluck had given him. He wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do with it. The idea of simply tossing it entered his mind for a brief moment, but he shoo’ed away that thought as being needlessly rude.

After a few moments, he settled on going to the kitchen and filling up a glass with some water. It would have to do for now, since he didn’t have a vase. Once that was finished, he crumpled up the paper the flowers had been wrapped up in and threw it out. With a little splash, he dropped the bouquet into the cup and placed it onto the kitchen counter. He’d find a place for it later. For now, he needed to shower.

“Roseluck, where the hay did you run off to?”

“Yeah, we were totally worried about you!”

Roseluck gasped for breath, putting a hoof around Daisy’s neck for support. Maybe galloping halfway across Ponyville hadn’t been such a good idea after all. “I… followed… Clyde…” she huffed, taking a deep breath when she completed her sentence.

Lily rolled her eyes. “Gosh, no wonder everypony thinks we’re overdramatic; Rosie can’t even breathe after a minute of running…”

Roseluck finally got her breath under control and shot her younger sister a look. “Hey, it was more like a minute and a half!”

“Nevermind that. You followed Clyde? Why?”

Roseluck turned back to Daisy and shrugged. Was it not obvious? “He looked like he could use some cheering up.”

“And? Did you cheer him up?” Lily asked. She and Daisy kept their eyes focused intently on the middle sister as she trotted back into place behind her flower stand. For too long, as far as they were concerned, she remained quiet. It wasn’t until the tiniest of smiles tugged at the corners of her mouth that Lily spoke up again, hopping behind her own stand. “Look, Daisy! She’s smiling!”

“Ooh, tell us what happened, Rosie!”

Roseluck giggled. “Nothing, girls. I just gave him some flowers, and we talked, that was it!”

“Oh, come on, you wouldn’t be smiling if that was it!” Daisy teased her. Roseluck ducked beneath her stand, grabbing a few flowers to put on display. At the same time, Daisy leaned over the stand, her and Roseluck’s snouts almost touching. “What did he say?”

Roseluck rolled her eyes and raised up a hoof, using it to push Daisy back. “He said he liked talking to me, and…”

“And…?” Lily leaned in towards Roseluck as well, who was beginning to feel pretty cramped. But she was used to her sisters’ silly behavior, and remained unwavering in the face of their onslaught of questions. “Aww, come on, tell us!”

“You girls are so nosy,” she tittered. “He said he wanted to talk with me more tomorrow.”

Her sisters remained quiet for a few moments. She looked back and forth between them, just waiting for one of them to continue their inevitable teasing. The next thing she heard was the sound of a mare clearing her throat, and all three flower ponies turned back towards the busy street.

“Sorry, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” the mare asked.

She was standing right in front of Roseluck’s stand, so the middle flower pony could only assume that she was speaking to her. She shook her head, and the mare smiled. “I was hoping to buy a bouquet for my husband today, Roseluck.”

“Well, I’ve got a wide variety of bouquets in stock today, Ms…?”

“Velvet,” the older mare finished for her.

Roseluck’s eyes lit up at that, and she clapped her hooves together. “Oh, you’re Twilight’s mother! She told me you’d be coming by later today!” she exclaimed giddily. “Like I said, go ahead and browse through my selection,” she said, raising a hoof and motioning towards all of the arrangements she had on display, “and let me know which one you’d like!”

Twilight Velvet did just that, looking around at her options. While she did that, Daisy and Lily turned their attention back to Roseluck. “You totally have a new friend, Roseluck!”

“What’s the big deal, Lily?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t out of the question for ponies to befriend one another. After all, they were one of the friendliest races on the planet, if not the friendliest. “All we did was talk.”

“The big deal is that he’s the only human on the whole planet,” Daisy scoffed at her sister’s nonchalant attitude. “This is huge!”

Well, she couldn’t really argue with that. Still, they were making it out to be a much bigger deal than it really was.

“I’d like this one.”

Roseluck was quick to turn back towards Twilight Velvet and took a quick look at what she had picked out. It was on the larger side, and featured an assortment of roses, carnations, and peonies. “Ah, the ‘Pretty in Pink’ arrangement. That one is very popular on weddings and anniversaries,” Roseluck beamed. “I’m sure your husband will love it. If you don’t mind me asking, though, why are you getting him flowers?”

“It’s our twenty-sixth anniversary, and we’re in town for the week,” Twilight Velvet smiled warmly. “We always surprise each other with bouquets.”

“That’s sweet,” Lily piped up.

“I have to agree.” Roseluck took the bits she was offered and gave her best wishes to Twilight’s mom. Once the mare had walked out of earshot, she placed the bits in her drawer and finally replied to Daisy’s earlier exclamation. “Daisy, you only think it’s a big deal because it’s someone other than you.”

Daisy feigned a hurt expression, one that Roseluck could see through right away. “I assure you, that’s not the case! I’m simply proud of my little sister for making friends with such a rare creature!”

“Yeah… sure,” Roseluck rolled her eyes again, something that was becoming somewhat common whenever she spoke with her sisters. “Well, he’s going to be coming over here to chat tomorrow. Maybe then you can talk to the rare creature.” She laughed at the expression her sister gave her. “Oh, lighten up.”

She could hear Daisy grumble, “You lighten up…”, but a pony walked up to Daisy’s stand, keeping Roseluck from replying. While her sister chatted with that pony, she looked up at the sky, finding herself wondering what the rest of the day would hold for her.

Clyde stepped out of the shower, quickly wrapping a towel around his waist. If there was one thing he was glad existed in Equestria, it was showers. The Sun was almost always beaming down brightly on Ponyville, as if Celestia herself was watching them. That meant that any time it wasn’t either raining or snowing, it was hot.

‘Hopefully Fall will be better, whenever that is…’

He had yet to grasp the concept of how exactly the ‘seasons’ in Equestria worked. He’d heard something about a ‘Winter Wrap-Up’, but had yet to actually see it happen. Whatever it was, he was sure of one thing. It had to be weird. But hey, with no possible way to get back to Earth, Clyde knew he would find out eventually.

As he began to dry out his hair, he thought back to his earlier meeting with Roseluck. The little pony had clearly gone out of her way, going so far as to leave her flower stand, just to try and brighten up his day. She had been a little weird, sure, but he was willing to talk with anyone by this point. Clyde had actually seen the flower trio a few times, rolling around on the ground and shouting about how terrible things were. They were definitely a dramatic bunch, if nothing else.

‘Maybe it just runs in their family,’ he chuckled to himself. With that thought in mind, he threw his towel over the shower rack and and pulled on his boxers, ready to lie down in bed and read a book before going to sleep.

Roseluck sighed as she went through her cart, getting all of her arrangements set up for yet another long day of work. Last night had been too long for her taste. Lily’s latest shipment of gardening supplies had come in late, and she found herself roped into helping lug all of them inside into the late hours of the night. Her back was sore, her legs were sore, and she was sore. If there was any consolation in all of this, it was that the weekend was over, and that meant business would be slow.

Gently placing one of her larger arrangements onto the uppermost rack of her stand, she glanced back at her cart with a tired expression on her face. She still had plenty of smaller bouquets to put on display, as well as some potted flowers. This was going to take a while…

As she went to grab one of those potted flowers, struggling to pick it up, she felt it leave her grasp. Looking up, she was surprised to see Clyde holding the plant with one hand. “Sorry if I surprised you. You looked like you needed a hand,” he said, smiling down at her.

To say she was relieved was a massive understatement. However, it was nonetheless early in the morning and there were only a few ponies milling around outside. None of them looked half as tired as Roseluck felt, though. “What are you doing here so early, Clyde?”

Grabbing another flower pot, Clyde replied, “My shift at the Boutique starts in ten minutes,” and walked over to her vendor stall. “Where do you want these?”

“On either side of the stand.” She smiled, rubbing her eyes and yawning shortly after. “Thank you. Lily kept me up all night to help with a shipment that came in late.”

“I can tell that you’re pretty tired,” he chuckled, placing the plants down at the sides of her stand. “You’ve got bags this big under your eyes.” He held his thumb and index finger a couple of inches apart, and she giggled.

“I guess I’m not really a morning pony. Do you like mornings?”

“Oh man, mornings are great!” he replied happily, grabbing a few more bouquets for her and placing them wherever she pointed. “There’s so much you can get done in the morning that’s just impossible to do once everyone starts getting up.”

“My sisters both adore the morning,” Roseluck said, placing a few bouquets in their spots before wheeling back around to face him. He seemed to be in a much better mood than the day before, which was improving her own mood a little bit. “They’re actually both sitting at home just to watch the sunrise.”

Clyde turned about to look at the sun, which was just about halfway above the horizon, then back to Roseluck. “Well, I’ll be gone by the time they get here.”

“Hasn’t it been ten minutes already?” Roseluck guessed.

Clyde lifted his arm up and glanced at his watch. His eyes went wide, and he immediately took off in a full-sprint towards Rarity’s home, shouting back over his shoulder, “I’ll have to meet them when I get off!”

Roseluck snickered as he ran off. It was definitely going to be interesting when he met her sisters later that day. But for now, she had to finish getting her own little shop ready for business.

Clyde burst through the Carousel Boutique’s front doors. They slammed against the walls, and Rarity looked up from the front counter in shock. “Clyde! Are you okay?”

“I’m… sorry I’m… late…” he panted out, hands on his knees. Much to his chagrin, Rarity simply chuckled.

“Dearie, you’ve been on time every day, I’m sure you can afford to be a couple minutes late once or twice.”

“R-really?” he asked, bewildered. He had never known the fashionista to be especially lenient since he started working for her, but he supposed that perhaps that just came with the title of ‘Generosity’.

“Of course, Clyde. You’ve helped me more than enough over the past few months.” Rarity nodded, giving him a warm smile. “Now, we have a few appointments set up for later this afternoon, so let’s go ahead and get everything ready.”

For the next few hours, the two did just that. By the time the first customer waltzed into the boutique, everything was ready. Clyde was quick to take the pony’s measurements, and then he was on to the next customer. Every so often, he found himself looking towards the clock in his area, counting down the hours until he would be done. The cycle continued like that until it was finally time for him to leave, and he waited at the front counter for Rarity.

“Alright, Clyde, here’s your pay for the day,” she said, tossing a sack of bits onto the counter as the last of her customers left the store. “If you don’t mind my saying, you’ve seemed a bit… distracted. Is everything alright?”

“Sorry, I’ve just been looking forward to meeting someone,” Clyde looked back towards the front door as he pocketed his bits. “Do you know Roseluck?”

“Of course! I often go to her for assistance decorating the boutiques I own!” Rarity’s eyes lit up at the mention of her name. Obviously, she was very fond of the flower pony. “Is she the pony you’re meeting?”

“Yep. I talked to her a bit yesterday and we hit it off, so I told her I’d chat a bit with her after work today.”

“Well then don’t let me keep you, darling. Go on, and have a good night!” Rarity bid him adieu as he left the store.

The door slammed shut behind him, and he shielded his eyes from the sun as they readjusted to the light outside. Once they had, he lowered his hands and looked around. Ponies were shuffling around outside and running all sorts of errands, and it looked like the sun was about an hour away from setting.

He set off towards the market, hands in his pockets the whole time. That was another thing he was glad the ponies of this world knew about. The moment Rarity had seen his original clothes, she had set out to make him a complete wardrobe, and the results had been spectacular. He had even managed to get her to make a shirt for his favorite band. It confused everyone, but to him, it was a reminder of something he’d never get to hear again.

The walk was an uneventful one, aside from a few colts and fillies approaching him, but he was used to that by this point. Many ponies would visit from other towns to trade, and they would often bring their children. To them, he was somewhat of a celebrity, which he certainly didn’t mind in the slightest.

“Whoa, you’re weird looking!” most of them would exclaim. Their parents would scold them, and Clyde would assure them that it was perfectly fine. They were just kids, and after all, he was weird for Equestria from what Twilight told him. He had grown used to this.

By the time he arrived at Ponyville’s town square, the crowds were beginning to thin out. He spied Roseluck in the very spot he’d helped her unload her stock that morning. Shuffling his way between a few ponies, he called out to her. “Hi, Roseluck!”

The ever-working flower pony, who had been readjusting her stock, lifted her head up and noticed Clyde walking towards her. “Hello, Clyde!”

To say he was expecting Daisy and Lily to practically fly out from behind their respective stalls and get in his face would have been a blatant lie. “Um… can I help you?” he asked.

“So you like Roseluck?!” “Is it true that you’re stuck here?!” “Why do you even wanna talk to her?!” “Is it true that human wear clothes because they can’t conceal their genitals?!”

“Lily!” Roseluck shouted, blushing madly. “That question is completely inappropriate!”

Lily scoffed, stepping a bit away from Clyde. “I only asked it because it’s what everypony has been wondering since he got here.”

Clyde backed away from Daisy, who was still right up in his face. Looking back to Roseluck, he asked, “I knew you and your sisters were odd, but is this normal for them?”

“I’m afraid so,” Roseluck sighed. “Why don’t you come have a seat? I brought a stool out here for you when I took my break.” She pointed to a stool right behind her stall, which would place him right between her and the one he now knew to be Lily. “Lily and Daisy thought you weren’t coming since it was getting late, but I knew you would.”

“Yeah, sure, just throw us right under the carriage, why don’t you?” Daisy replied, rolling her eyes. She and Lily both moved back behind their stalls, and Clyde hesitantly took a seat in the stool he’d been offered. “I still want you to answer my question, by the way.”

“I think Roseluck is alright,” he offered. “She didn’t try to get in my face the moment she approached me.” He chuckled.

Daisy was about to reply when Lily piped up with a question of her own. “Are you really stuck here? Like, for forever?”

Clyde nodded. “‘Fraid so. Twilight thought she might be able to find a spell in some old books written by this ‘Starswirl the Bearded’ guy, but she didn’t have any luck. That was her last resort, so… here I am.”

“If you had a choice, would you stay here?” Roseluck asked. Clyde didn’t even have to think about that and shook his head almost right away. “How come? Don’t you like Equestria?”

“That’s silly, of course I do,” he smiled. “But I’ve only been here for about four months. I left an entire life back on Earth, so it’s not really a contest at all right now.”

The girls nodded collectively in agreement at that, but they still had more questions for him. Daisy was the next to ask a question, one he knew was coming. “What’s that logo on your shirt mean?”

“It’s the logo for a band I really liked back home,” he answered. Man, he missed them. “Of course, I’m pretty sure their music wouldn’t be very popular here,” he laughed, “unless you like hearing songs about sex and drugs.”

“Yeah, but what do the letters mean?” She repeated. That was when Clyde finally understood that she was asking if it was an abbreviation or not.

“Oh!” He smacked himself on the forehead, chuckling. “Sorry. It means ‘alternating current/direct current’.”

“That’s a pretty dumb name,” Lily blanched at it.

“Well nobody actually called them that, they just called them by the abbreviation.”

“My turn for a question!” Lily shouted, seemingly having ignored his reply. “Is what I asked earlier true?”

“C’mon, Lily,” Roseluck scolded her, “he doesn’t need to answer that.”

“No, no,” Clyde raised a hand, “it’s fine. To answer your question, Lily, yes. That is why humans wear clothes.”

Lily’s face turned bright red at that, and she fell onto her haunches. Roseluck and Daisy couldn’t help but laugh and poke fun at their sister for being unable to handle the answer to a question she’d asked. As Lily sat back, embarrassed that he had actually answered her question, Roseluck took the opportunity to ask another question of her own. “So why did you want to talk to me? I mean, I’m just your average earth pony, I’m certainly not special like the Elements.”

“Everyone is special in their own way,” Clyde replied. “You struck me as someone, er, somepony, that would go out of her way to help others.”

“He’s right, just like last night,” Daisy reminded her. “Besides, you’re definitely special. You grow the best roses in Equestria!”

“Yeah, well, that sort of comes as a given with a name like Roseluck,” she giggled. “You think mom and dad knew what flowers we’d all end up being best at gardening?”

“Hay, no! They took a shot in the dark and got lucky!” Daisy laughed.

“But hey, enough about me,” Clyde spoke up, his eyes meeting with Roseluck’s. It wasn’t until now that he noticed how well their color went with the rest of her features. “How long have you been in Ponyville?”

“I think it’s been… eight years?” Roseluck asked, turning towards Lily, who, finally and hopefully returning to normal, nodded. She turned back to Clyde. “Yeah, eight years. We actually moved here together from Manehattan.”

“That’s a big city from what I’ve heard. Do you like it here more than you did there?” He asked.

“Uh-huh! The ponies here are a lot friendlier than the ones up North,” Roseluck smiled. “You’d never see somepony stop and ask if you need help like you did this morning. Thanks again, by the way. I was really out of it…”

“I could tell,” Clyde chortled. Who was he to simply walk past someone that needed help? He had been taught by his parents that if someone needed assistance and nobody was offering it, then he should at least try. “So how did you find out you liked gardening?”

“The funny thing is,” Roseluck looked to her sisters, then back to Clyde, “we all got our cutie marks on the same day. We found out there was a contest being held in our town for growing the best garden, and the three of us set out to do it together.”

“We totally owned that contest,” Lily boasted, making her sisters and Clyde laugh. “The next closest pony got like twenty points less than we did, and we got ninety.”

Clyde’s eyes widened at that. “Wow, and you were all fillies when you did that?” The trio nodded, and he took a moment to reorient himself on the stool and lean back against Roseluck’s stall. “That’s pretty impressive. What was the highest score you could have gotten?”

“There were three judges, so exactly ninety,” Daisy answered. “We actually got a perfect score.”

Clyde whistled, impressed. “Color me impressed. No wonder you three are the most renowned flower ponies in Equestria.” That led to another question. “How many ponies do you guys have come through town just to get some flowers?”

“I’d say about one or two a day for me,” Roseluck replied. Her sisters nodded; that seemed about right to them. “If it wasn’t for Rarity, we’d be number one in sales to ponies outside of Ponyville. But I actually had another question for you, if that’s okay?”

“Of course! We can’t get to know each other if we don’t ask any questions.”

“How old are you?” She asked. “ And I’ve heard that you age differently than ponies. Is that true?”

“On Earth, that’s definitely true,” he nodded. “But here, you guys seem to age at about the same rate that humans do.”

“And how old are you?” she repeated. He took a moment to answer, but she cut him off before he could. “Oh gosh, I totally crossed a line, didn’t I! I’m sure you don’t want to tell us how old you are, that’s why you didn’t answer it the first time!” To her surprise, Clyde laughed, and she felt a bit of pressure on her head. He was… petting her? “Y-you’re not mad?”

“Of course not. Gosh, I guess I wasn’t wrong to assume you three were over-dramatic,” he laughed, pulling his hand back from her mane. “Sorry if you didn’t want me petting you like that, but that usually calms down animals where I come from.”

“It’s fine. It felt… nice,” she admitted, a tiny blush forming on her cheeks.

Clyde, to his credit, decided not to poke any fun at the mare for that, no matter how tempting it may have been. “I’m twenty-seven, by the way. What about you girls?”

“Twenty-two!” Lily shouted. “Yay for being the youngest!”

“I’m twenty-nine,” Daisy smiled. “Boo for being the oldest…”

“And I’m twenty-six,” Roseluck answered. “Meh for being the middle child.”

That was… something, Clyde thought. These three could pass for frigging Powerpuff Girl clones back home, just in pony form. “Wow, so you didn’t get your cutie mark for a while, did you, Daisy?”

“Fourteen was when I got it,” she grumbled. Her sisters snickered, and that was when Clyde began to notice the sun setting on their conversation. “Looks like it’s about time to pack up, girls.”

“I can help, if you’d like,” Clyde offered. The three were more than willing to take him up on that offer, and the four of them spent the next few fifteen or so minutes loading up the cart with all of their supplies. Once they were done, he looked ready to head home himself. “Well, it’s getting pretty late, so I should probably head on home.”

“Actually, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to come home and have dinner with us?” Roseluck asked, her little blush returning. “N-not like, in a romantic way or anything! Just as friends!” She clarified.

Clyde tittered at her cute behavior. “No worries, I knew what you meant. I’m afraid I’ll have to pass for tonight, though. I’ve been itching to finish the first Daring Do book. Maybe tomorrow?”

Roseluck looked a little downtrodden at that, but managed a nod after a few moments. “Sure!”

The trio of flower ponies took that as their cue to begin their journey home, and Clyde did the same, wheeling around and heading towards the place he’d be calling home for a lot longer than he’d hoped he’d have to. One thing was certain, though.

Roseluck and her sisters were pretty cool girls, if a little crazy. The streets were now empty aside from him, and he laughed to himself. Tomorrow night was certainly going to be interesting.

It was cloudy. That was the first thing Clyde noticed as he stepped out of his home, and he wanted to cheer. It was definitely a welcome change from the constantly sunny weather, as far as he was concerned. It had been a little over a week since he had met Roseluck, and it felt like every time they talked, it was in scorching heat.

Well, aside from that dinner offer that he hadn't taken her up on. “‘I wanna read a book’,” he mocked himself as he closed the door behind him. He had felt a little bad after coming up with that lame excuse, but he just wasn’t in the mood for dinner. At the very least, he had come clean to Roseluck about that the next night, when he did have dinner with her and her sisters. She had laughed it off, thankfully, and they had had a great time.

They had talked about a variety of things, from their surprising shared interest in sports; she was apparently a fan of ice hockey, to how their lives in Ponyville had gone up to that point. His getting used to eating vegetation all the time had made for quite the conversation, as had his explanation for humans eating meat. All in all, it was a great way to bond even more.

With the promise to do it again some time, Clyde had gone home for the night. It had been nearly a week since then, and now that it was finally his off-day, he was going to make good on that promise. First, he’d take her out for some coffee and just chat for a little bit, and then he’d see where the day took them.

Of course, he’d go say hello to Daisy and Lily first. While it was true that he had grown closer to Roseluck than her sisters, they were still great ponies to be around. The walk to the marketplace was quick, and the two noticed him as soon as he entered. They waved him over with smiles on their faces.

“Oh my gosh, Clyde,” Lily addressed him as he approached the pair. “It’s been a few days since we’ve seen you! How are you?”

“I’m doing well,” he smiled, leaning up against her stall. “How are you, girls?”

“We’re doing great,” Daisy beamed. “With Princess Celestia coming to town in a few days, we’ve gotten a lot of orders.”

Huh. That was certainly news to Clyde. “Wait, Princess Celestia is coming to town? What’s the occasion?”

“She’s meeting with Princess Twilight and her friends,” Lily answered. Clyde switched his gaze over to her as she continued. “After that, she’ll be hosting a public brunch at Sugarcube Corner!”

“We’ve gotta go, right?” Daisy asked, looking to her sister.

Lily nodded. “You are so right.”

“Right?”

“Well,” Clyde interrupted them, chuckling, “I’m sure Rarity will drag me along to that brunch. I actually haven’t spoken with Celestia since Twilight gave me the news that I’d be stuck here.”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to see that you’re coming to terms with that.” Daisy leaned over the stall and pulled Clyde into a one-legged hug. “I’m sure you’re just hiding your sadness, though.”

“Well… yeah,” he admitted. “It would be pretty unnatural to just up and say I’m fine with it. You girls are doing a good job of helping me adjust, though, so thank you.”

“You’re just lucky you’re not a total bore,” Lily giggled. “Anyways… I’m sure you’re itching to go see Roseluck, right?”

“That easy to read, huh?”

“Way too easy,” Daisy laughed. “She’s at home doing a bit of gardening.”

“Thanks.” Clyde stepped back from the pair. “It was good to see you girls again, hopefully we can all hang out later tonight.”

“We’d love to!” The both exclaimed. Clyde laughed, said his goodbyes, and headed off towards the home of the flower trio. Getting there didn’t take nearly as long as the night he’d had dinner with them. That night, they had insisted on walking and talking, which caused the journey to become nearly fifteen minutes long. This time around, he got there in less than five minutes.

Roseluck wiped a bit of sweat off of her forehead, taking a glance up at the sky. It was nice and cloudy, and she silently thanked Celestia for that. Gardening could already be a pretty grueling activity, depending on what she was doing, so the fact that it wasn’t hot outside was definitely making this easier.

She looked back to her next target, a small patch of weeds growing out from under the house. Getting them out completely was going to be pretty tricky. Luckily, unbeknownst to her, she wouldn’t have to.

“Need some help?”

Roseluck jumped up and yelped. She crashed back to the ground on her back, and looked up to see Clyde standing over her. His blue eyes met the gaze of her own, much larger, green eyes, and she blushed. “Oh. Um. Hello, Clyde.”

“If I had known you were this jumpy, I would have done this sooner,” he tittered. She rolled her eyes, grabbing onto his hand when he offered it. He pulled her up, and she quickly dusted herself off. “Trying to get some weeds out?”

Roseluck looked back to the weeds sticking out from under her home, and nodded. “Yeah, they’ve been growing out from under the foundation for a while now. Daisy wants to hire somepony to come out and get them up completely, but they haven’t reached out far enough to affect our flowers yet.”

“Well, you never know. Sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Clyde motioned towards the weeds Roseluck had been eyeing when he’d arrived. “May I?”

“If you don’t mind getting your hooves—” Roseluck cut herself off, looking down at those claw-like appendages. “... Er, hands, dirty.”

“Not if it means helping a pretty girl,” Clyde grinned, laughing at the blush that produced on her cheeks. He crouched down onto the ground, inspecting the weeds that she was intent on removing. “Crabgrass, huh? My dad showed me an easy trick to get rid of these when I was younger.”

Roseluck leaned over his shoulder to get a good look at what he was going to do. Her mouth formed a tiny ‘O’ as she watched him wrap the fingers on his right hand around the crabgrass, and yank it right out of the ground, roots and all. “Whoa, that was incredible! I’d never be able to do that with my hooves.”

“I’ve always wondered how you guys are able to hold anything,” Clyde tittered. For the next few minutes, he pulled up the rest of the weeds as Roseluck watched. She was amazed at the ease with which he did it, and found herself looking down at her own forehooves every so often, wondering what it would be like to have hands instead.

“All done!”

Roseluck watched as Clyde got back up to his feet. The knees of his jeans had a bit of dirt on them, but he rubbed it off quickly. “Wow, you just did an hour’s work in fifteen minutes…”

“Heh, you sound a bit upset.”

“No, no! Thank you,” she smiled at him. Though admittedly, she had something else on her mind. “So what made you come over?”

“I can’t come just to see my favorite pony?” Roseluck felt her cheeks heat up again at that. “I knew you didn’t work today, so I was thinking we could go get some coffee or something,” he shrugged.

“O-oh, sure!” she exclaimed giddily. She certainly wasn’t expecting that, but she was happy regardless. “Where did you have in mind?”

“I was hoping you might know a good place,” Clyde laughed nervously. “I would suggest Sugarcube Corner, but Pinkie is there today.”

Roseluck raised a brow at that, and began walking towards the street connected to her house. “Why does that matter? Do you not like her?”

“I think she’s great,” Clyde replied, hurrying up to her side. “But every time I go there, she offers me some free cake. I’ve probably gained about fifteen pounds since I got here, because of that pony.”

“I wish she would offer me some free cake,” Roseluck giggled. The two turned onto a path that lead them between a few buildings. “I hope you don’t mind taking a bit of a shortcut.”

“No complaints here.”

Roseluck glanced to her side, and her eyes met with Clyde’s for a moment. Her thoughts drifted off as they kept walking, to a conversation she had had with her sisters the day before.

“So what are you gonna do for your day off, Rosie?”

Roseluck, who had been digging a hole, paused for a moment and turned to her older sister. “I’m not sure, Daisy. I’ll probably just do some gardening.”

“Oh em gee, she is such a bore!” Lily laughed. Roseluck was about to reply when Lily suddenly rushed to her side, wrapping a foreleg around her neck. “You should totally go see if Clyde wants to hang out with you.”

“...”

“Aw, look, she’s blushing!” Daisy exclaimed, causing said blush to deepen. “Does little Rosie have a crush on the local human?”

“N-no!” She cried out, dropping the trowel she’d been holding. “Why would you even think that?”

“Just the way you looked at him at dinner the other night.”

“What do you mean?”

“Doy!” Lily, foreleg still wrapped around her sister’s neck, twirled her around so that they were face to face. She did her best to emulate the dreamy look Roseluck had had on her face. “You were giving him this look all night!”

“Th-that doesn’t mean I like him, though!” Roseluck stuttered. “M-maybe I was just interested in what he was saying!”

“That would be true,” Daisy replied, stepping next to Lily, “if you hadn’t given that exact same look to that colt you liked back in school. What was his name, again?”

“Girls, please just—”

“Thunderlane!” Lily shouted.

“But I never ended up asking him out, it was just a crush!”

“Exactly!” Daisy beamed. “You see? You do have a crush on Clyde!”

Roseluck finally relented, her shoulders drooping a bit. “F-fine, I guess I think he’s… kind of cute.”

“Awww!” Her sisters both cooed.

“You should totally ask him out!” Daisy said.

Roseluck rolled her eyes. “No way am I going to do that, Daisy. You’ve heard what ponies were like where he’s from. There is no way he’d want to date one,” she argued. “Besides… I’m sure these feelings will pass. I’m sure it’s just because I’ve only ever hung around with ponies.”

“Suuuuure,” Daisy replied with an eye roll of her own. “Well, when it’s been a few weeks and these feelings are still here, you can bet your flank Lily and I are going to set you two up.”

“Go right ahead,” Roseluck replied. With a sigh, she picked her trowel back up and knelt to the ground, picking up where she’d been interrupted.

‘It’s not like that’s going to happen.’

“Roseluck?”

Roseluck shook her head, getting that memory out of her head. “S-sorry. What’s up, Clyde?”

“I was just asking if we were almost there, we’ve been walking in the same direction for like ten minutes.”

Roseluck stopped in her tracks and took a look at their surroundings. “Uh… this way!” She bounded off to her left, and could hear Clyde jogging to catch up to her yet again. This time, their walk lasted only a few moments before they finally reached their destination. “Here we are! The Coffee Bean!”

“Huh, looks pretty quaint.” Indeed it was. There was a little sign in the shape of a coffee bean hanging over the entrance, but that was the only indication that they sold coffee. Clyde pulled open the door, and motioned forward with his free hand. “After you.”

Roseluck smiled, trotting inside and right up to the front counter. The door slammed shut behind her, and she turned back to see Clyde eyeing the menu overhead.

“Well, I’ll be…” Roseluck turned back to the counter, and gasped when she saw who was behind it.

“Flitter!” Roseluck exclaimed. “You work here now!?”

“Yeah, I got the job a few weeks ago!” Flitter grinned widely, and her eyes went wide when she finally seemed to notice Clyde. “Whoa, you brought Clyde! Hi, Clyde!”

“Hi, Flitter,” he smiled. “How’s the wing?”

Roseluck looked between the pair a few times before settling her confused gaze back on Flitter. “Wing? What’s he talking about, Flitter?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal,” Flitter closed her eyes, throwing her hoof out limply. “I clipped my wing on a tree branch a couple of days ago. Clyde saw me rolling around on the ground in pain, so he brought me to Nurse Redheart.”

“No big deal!? You hurt yourself!” Roseluck yelled. “What if Clyde hadn’t shown up to help you?”

“I know, I know… I should try to be more careful when I’m out night-flying,” Flitter groaned, rolling her eyes. “You’re such a nag, Roseluck.”

“A nag that you love,” Roseluck winked.

Flitter giggled. “Alright, alright. So what’ll you guys have?”

Clyde, who had been patiently waiting while they had been chatting, looked back up at the menu. “I will have… a medium vanilla coffee, decaf.”

“Oh, what a great choice! The vanilla here is to die for,” Flitter smiled. “And for you, Rosie?”

“I’ll get the same thing, but a small.”

“Alrighty, two cups of vanilla coffee coming up~” Flitter sing-songed, prancing over to the coffee machines. While she was getting everything ready, Roseluck led Clyde towards a booth in the corner of the shop. The two took a seat across from each other, and Roseluck watched with interest as Clyde did his best to position himself comfortably in the tiny booth.

“Hehe, you’re a little big for the booth, huh?”

“No kidding.” He moved his legs around for a few more moments before, finally, he seemed to be comfortable. Well, as comfortable as he was going to get. “So, what made you pick this place?”

“This was the first place I ever went to when my sisters and I moved here. I like to think of it as a second home, because I come up here a lot to just… get away from everything,” Roseluck explained. For a moment, neither of them said anything, and Roseluck blushed a bit. “You must think that’s pretty silly, huh?”

“Nope,” came the blunt reply. “I had a place like that back home, actually. But it was the local deli, not a coffee place.”

“Alrighty, two vanilla coffees! A medium for you,” Flitter said, placing a cup down in front of Clyde. “... And a small for you,” she continued, repeating the action for Roseluck. “So, what made you two want to come here?”

“Clyde actually asked if I wanted to go get some coffee,” Roseluck smiled. “Well, after he helped me finish pulling up some weeds.”

“Ohhh, so you two are on a date? I’m so sorry, I’ll leave you alone!” Flitter yelped out, rushing behind the counter and through a door. Meanwhile, leaving behind two madly blushing individuals.

“Sorry about Flitter, she’s just—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Clyde cut off Roseluck. “So, how has your week been?”

His attempt to change the subject didn’t go unnoticed, and Roseluck was more than happy to go along with him. “It’s been pretty good.” She paused, taking a small sip of her coffee. “Aside from helping Lily and Daisy, obsessing over the princess coming to town in a few days.”

“Oh yeah, they told me about that. She’s holding some sort of brunch, right?”

“Well, she isn’t, but yes.” She took another sip, then looked at Clyde’s cup. “Are you not gonna have any?”

“Just waiting for it to cool off,” he smiled. “Where’s this brunch being held? I’m pretty sure they told me, but it slipped my mind.”

“Sugarcube Corner.” Roseluck laughed at the disgusted face Clyde made. “Sorry, but there’s no escaping the free cake this time.”

“Ugh, damn it…”

Roseluck stopped her laughter, a confused expression replacing her smile. She tilted her head to the side a bit. “What’s that mean?”

“What?”

“You said ‘damn it’. What does that mean?” Roseluck asked, her eyes blinking curiously.

“It’s a curse word. You use it when you’re frustrated,” Clyde replied, looking just as confused as she did. “Does it not exist here?”

“The only curse words I know are ‘pony feathers’ and ‘horse-apples’,” she shrugged.

Much to her chagrin, Clyde broke out in laughter. “Seriously? Okay, that is way too adorable.” Finally, Clyde took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “Hey, this is actually pretty good.”

“Told ya!” Roseluck smirked. A question that had begun burning in the back of her mind caused her to change subjects. “So what was that whole business with Flitter?”

“You mean with her wing?” Clyde asked, and Roseluck nodded. “I had to stay late at Rarity’s a couple days ago. Something about a shipment arriving late from Saddle Arabia or something, I dunno. To be honest, sometimes I kinda zone out when Rarity is talking about where she gets her fabrics. I think that might be because—”

“Um, Clyde?” Roseluck interrupted him. “Flitter?”

“Oh, sorry! Speaking of zoning out, heh. Well, I was outside organizing the packages she’d gotten. She likes to have everything organized before we bring it inside. You know, to make things easier?” He paused, taking another sip of his coffee. When he put the cup back down, he was wide-eyed. “Wow, this is really good.”

Roseluck giggled cutely. “You’re really easy to distract, Clyde.”

“Sorry,” he blushed embarrassedly. “Anyways, it was really quiet outside. So when I heard what sounded like wood splintering, I decided to go check it out. I ended up finding Flitter a few hundred feet behind Rarity’s boutique.”

“What happened? I mean, aside from her clipping her wing.”

“Well, I’m sure it was to maintain her pride, but she didn’t tell you the whole story. She flew straight into this little tree, couldn’t have been more than fifteen feet tall. It fell right down on top of her wing.”

“Oh my gosh!” Roseluck turned towards where Flitter had run off to, then back to Clyde. “Was she okay?”

“Yeah, the tree didn’t weigh more than forty pounds, so she just sprained it.”

“Well she’s lucky you were there to help her,” Roseluck smiled. The two each took a sip of their coffee, then she continued. “So you carried her all the way to Ponyville General?”

“Eh, it was no big deal. She was going on and on about me being her ‘hero’, but she was pretty out of it.”

A tinge of jealousy sprung up inside Roseluck upon hearing that, but she did her best to ignore it. “S-so, um. What happened after that?”

“I went home, and today’s the first I’ve seen her since then,” he shrugged. “Like I said, it wasn’t that big a deal.”

The cream colored earth pony definitely disagreed with that, but she knew that she wasn’t going to change his mind on the matter. Still, now she had a new thought burning in the back of her mind. Why had she been jealous when he’d mentioned Flitter calling him her ‘hero’?

She zoned out, all of her focus going towards that all-important question. It was true, what Lily and Daisy had said the day before. She did have a tiny crush on him. Was it possible that it was bigger than she thought?

‘Come on, Roseluck,’ she berated herself. ‘That’s just silly. I mean, he’s not even a pony! Not to mention he’s clearly not looking for a relationship. He just found out that he’s stuck here forever, for Celestia’s sake! But then… why do I get a funny little feeling in my tummy whenever he smiles?’

Roseluck let out a sigh, which didn’t go unnoticed by her human counterpart. “Is something bothering you, Roseluck?”

“N-no, I just…” She trailed off, her thoughts consuming her yet again.

‘There you go again. You can’t even finish a sentence because you’re too busy thinking about him!’ She scolded herself. Deep down she knew she just needed to calm down, but for some reason she couldn’t. ‘Okay, there’s only one thing to do. A surefire way to find out whether or not you actually like him.’

“I, um…”

‘Come on, you can do it!’ She thought, her internal struggle continuing. That was the last straw, and she knew she was going to do this no matter what. ‘Damn it, Daisy was right,’ she confessed to herself, using the phrase she’d learned from Clyde.

Roseluck took a deep breath, then bellowed out, “do you wanna go to Princess Celestia’s brunch with me?”

‘There you go again. You can’t even finish a sentence because you’re too busy thinking about him!’ She scolded herself. Deep down she knew she just needed to calm down, but for some reason she couldn’t. ‘Okay, there’s only one thing to do. A surefire way to find out whether or not you actually like him.’

“I, um…”

‘Come on, you can do it!’ She thought, her internal struggle continuing. That was the last straw, and she knew she was going to do this no matter what. ‘Damn it, Daisy was right,’ she confessed to herself, using the phrase she’d learned from Clyde.

Roseluck took a deep breath, then bellowed out, “do you wanna go to Princess Celestia’s brunch with me?”

It had been a couple days since that line of questioning, and yet, Roseluck had chosen to wait until the last minute to tell her sisters what had happened. Better to hear all of their gossiping near the end than to let it eat away at her for a few days, after all. Of course, that way of thinking had led her to the position she now found herself in. Stuck in her living room, being peppered with questions by Daisy and Lily. Talk about a plan backfiring….

“So… what happened next?”

“Yeah, come on! Spill all the details!”

Roseluck rolled her eyes at her sisters’ behavior. The two were definitely holding up their end of the bargain when it came to pestering her non-stop about Clyde. But then, gossiping was pretty fun, even if she was the ‘gossipee’, as it were. Especially when it meant that she got to see her sisters in a bit of a tizzy. She shrugged. “There’s not much to tell really.”

“What do you mean there’s not much to tell?” Lily pressed, advancing on her sister. Roseluck didn’t budge, and she gave a huff of dissatisfaction. “Come on, you just asked the only human on the entire planet out on a date, and you won’t tell us what he said?”

“Ugh,” Roseluck scoffed, a light tinge of pink spreading across her cheeks. “I didn’t ask him on a ‘date’. I just asked if he wanted to go to today’s brunch with me.”

Daisy and Lily exchanged pensive looks, and Roseluck knew just what was coming. Daisy’s shrug all but confirmed it. “Sounds like a date to me.”

“It’s not a date!” Roseluck cried out, her voice cracking ever so slightly. ‘Okay’, she thought, ‘this isn’t turning out to be as fun as I thought it would.’

“Well then what is it?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow at her older sister’s adamant denial.

“It’s just two friends going to a brunch!”

“Wait,” Daisy spoke up, grabbing her sisters’ attention. “So you’re saying that you asked him on a date as… friends?”

Roseluck fell to her haunches, groaning. “I never said that it was a date!”

“Then just tell us what happened!” Lily cried out, grabbing Roseluck by the shoulders and shaking her around. Roseluck was used to her sister being on the dramatic side, but this was just getting ridiculous. “For the love of Celestia, tell us!”

Roseluck relented, sighing as her sister finally let her go. “Fine…. So Clyde had just come over to help me with some of my gardening. After we finished, he invited me out for some coffee at the Coffee Bean. From there, well…”

‘Oh my gosh, Roseluck, what a stupid thing to ask him!’ She cried out internally. ‘Just look at the look he’s giving you! He’s disgusted! He’s going to say no and—’

“Sure!” Clyde replied, his tone chipper. Taking a quick sip of his coffee, he continued, “I was probably going to go with Rarity, but it would be fun to go somewhere with a friend and not have to wear fancy clothing.”

“R-right. Friend,” Roseluck chuckled nervously. “We’ll be going as friends, glad you’re on the same page.”

Clyde either didn’t notice her nervousness, or elected to ignore it. “So is it like a black tie optional, or what?”

“Oh, Princess Celestia doesn’t care what anypony wears,” Roseluck informed him. “At least, that’s what she says every time she visits.”

“Great, I hate wearing formal clothes,” Clyde laughed. “They’re always either too tight or too hot.”

Roseluck giggled. “I’ve never actually worn a dress. Rarity is convinced that I’d be ‘simply dazzling, darling’, but I’ve never really seen the point since we don’t usually wear clothes,” Roseluck impersonated Rarity, and quite poorly. At Clyde’s laughter, she felt her cheeks heat up. “Heh, I guess that was a pretty bad impersonation, huh?”

“Aside from the voice, spot on,” Clyde continued his laughter. “Just make sure she doesn’t hear you. Last time I impersonated her, I was given quite the mouthful about being ‘uncouth’.” Roseluck watched with interest as Clyde finally managed to reel in his sides and take a sip of his coffee. When he was done, he lifted the mug up and looked in it. “Darn, I’ll be right back.”

“... So what happened after that?” Lily asked, grinning. Roseluck smacked a hoof to her face, letting out another groan. Lily laughed, “Kidding!”

Roseluck sighed, but couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s kiddish behavior. “But yeah, he said he’d love to go… as friends…”

“The way you said ‘as friends’...” Daisy trailed off, looking at Roseluck pensively. This time around, her tone didn’t come across as teasing. “… Are you disappointed, Rosey?”

Roseluck didn’t bother answering her question. And yet, that gave her sisters all the answer they needed.

Clyde had made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime. Saying no to that girl who had asked him to prom? Mistake. Deciding to skip out on a college exam to get wasted with some friends? An even bigger mistake, even if he’d ended up passing the class. Telling Rarity that he was going to Celestia’s brunch with Roseluck?

Well, that may just have been the biggest mistake of his life.

“Rarity, is this really necessary?”

The fashionista who just happened to be his boss chuckled heartily at his question. “Clyde, dearie, you know how important appearances can be on a date.”

“Rarity, I’ve told you a million times. It’s not a date,” Clyde pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration seeping in as the alabaster unicorn went to work taking his measurements. “She just wants to go as friends.”

“Mm.” Rarity quickly wrapped her measuring tape around his arms. “Well, regardless, this does give me the opportunity to finally make you some positively dashing formal attire.”

“I thought Princess Celestia didn’t care what anyone wore?”

The seamstress tittered. “While it may be true that Princess Celestia pays no heed to the clothing a pony is wearing, there is still no shame in being fashionable.”

“There is if you hate wearing dress clothes…” Clyde muttered. To his dismay, Rarity herself seemed to pay no heed to his complaints. There were a lot of things he could be doing, but no, he had to be stuck at Rarity’s boutique getting fitted for a suit he didn’t even want to wear. It was prom all over again. ‘Well at least I won’t be going alone this time.’

Clyde felt the measuring tape as Rarity moved it down his legs, extending it from his waist to the floor. “Hm, thirty-two inches. It seems you’ve grown about half an inch since I last measured you.”

Clyde looked at her strangely, but she didn’t seem to notice as she went to measuring his waistline. “That doesn’t make sense. I haven’t grown an inch in three years and suddenly I’m sprouting again?”

“Well, now that you mention it, it is a tad strange for a stallion— er, man, your age to be growing,” Rarity noted, floating over an ink and quill with her magic and writing down his measurements with ease. “Perhaps you should let Twilight know. I’m sure she’ll be able to find out why.”

“Maybe…” he muttered. Now that Rarity had finally taken the accursed measuring tape away, letting him once again move around freely. “But for now, instead of focusing on if I’m suddenly growing again, I gotta ask. Are you sure you’ll even be able to tailor a suit for me within the next four hours?”

“Oh, Clyde…” Rarity giggled. “You underestimate just how quickly I’ll work for a friend.”

“Alright, Roseluck, do you know the first rule of wooing your stallion?”

“Um…” Roseluck tilted her head confusedly at Lily. She had practically been forced into a chair by her sister, and now she was learning that there were rules to getting somepony to like you? That was certainly news to her. All the while, Daisy was watching the two curiously. “... No?”

“You don’t know the rules?!” Lily gasped. Turning back to Daisy, she pointed a hoof right at Roseluck’s snout. “Daisy, she doesn’t know the rules!”

“I’m, uh,” Daisy sounded a little startled by Lily’s sudden outburst, “I’m actually with Rosey on this one. I have no idea what the hay you’re talking about.”

“That’s it,” Lily shouted, “it’s time to teach you two how to bag any stallion you want!”

“Lily, I really think you should—”

“Okay!” Lily interrupted, cutting off Roseluck. “You like Clyde, right?”

Roseluck sighed. “Yes.”

“Well then, the first step to wooing your stallion is making your affection for him known!”

“And just how do you expect Roseluck, a pony, to woo Clyde, a human?” Daisy asked, letting out a sigh herself. “And besides, she said herself that it was just a crush.”

“Pfft, that’s what everypony that’s in denial about being in love says,” Lily giggled.

“‘Love’? I don’t love him, Lily,” Roseluck blushed. “I just think he’s… kind of cute.”

“Either way,” the youngest sister continued, “there’s more to the first step than just making your affection known. You have to be subtle about it.”

“Um. Why?” Daisy deadpanned.

“Being blunt is for stallions, Daisy. A true mare will give subtle hints to let the stallion of her affections know that she has her eyes set on him.”

“But stallions are also really dense when it comes to getting signals like that,” Daisy countered. “If Roseluck really likes Clyde, she should just be honest with him about it.”

“Um, don’t I get a say in this?” The mare in question asked. Her sisters looked to her, then back at each other before shrugging. That was her okay to begin talking again, and she was going to take advantage of it. “I’m flattered that you two want to help me win over Clyde, really. But I don’t want to win him over. At least, not yet. I’m actually glad he said we’d be going as friends, because all I ever wanted was to find out whether or not I actually like him.”

“So then… you don’t want our help?” Lily asked.

“Damn it,” Roseluck cursed. She could sense the sadness in Lily’s voice. That hadn’t been her intention. Getting up from her seat, she wrapped a hoof around her sister’s neck. “I guess there’s one thing I can think of that I might need help with.”

“What is it?” Daisy asked, finally stepping away from the corner of the living room. “Whatever it is, we’ll do our best to help.”

“Well…” Roseluck scanned her eyes across the room as she trailed off. Her sisters were waiting patiently all the while. “You both know what ponies are like where Clyde is from, right?”

Daisy and Lily both nodded. ‘Whew, thank Celestia, that'll make things a lot easier,’ she sighed internally.

“I’m sure that dating a pony is the last thing on his mind because of that. So, um, could you girls help me make myself more… I don’t know. Appealing?” She asked. “To Clyde, I mean.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Daisy said. “You want him to see you as a human?”

“No!” Roseluck shouted, blushing. “I just… If I do end up liking him, I’d want him to see me as more than just a pony. I want him to see me as a girl. Not just some ‘cute pony’, but a ‘beautiful girl’. Could you two help with that…?”

Lily and Daisy looked to each other, nodded, then turned back to their sister. “We’d love to!” Daisy exclaimed, smiling widely.

“Yeah, this’ll like, totally give us a chance to give you a makeover!” Lily squeed. At that, Roseluck’s pupils turned to pinpricks. “We can do your hair, and give you a hooficure, and—”

“But there’s only six hours until—”

“Oh, we just have to let her borrow that dress you wore on your date a few months ago, Lily!”

Roseluck fell back on her haunches. ‘Damn it.’

“Rarity, I am not wearing that. It’s too—”

“Small?”

“No, it’s—” Clyde started, but found himself cut off yet again.

“Do you think the colors are strange?”

Well, he had to admit that the colors were actually nice. Grey suits had always been something he thought looked pleasant to the eye, and the coral color she’d picked for the tie was also nice. “The colors are fine, Rarity. It’s just too… fancy.”

Rarity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Nonsense, Clyde! Why, you’ll be the toast of the town!”

“That’s kind of my problem with it, Rarity,” Clyde countered. While it was true that he’d definitely stick out in a suit as nice as the one she’d made, that wasn’t who he was. “I don’t like sticking out, especially at parties.”

Rarity tilted her head, shooting a confused look at Clyde. “But… you’re the only human in Equestria. You stick out all the time, darling.”

“Don’t you think I’d rather… you know, not stick out all the time?” Clyde pointed out the obvious. “I like it here, I do. But being the only one of my species is… difficult.”

“I… understand, Clyde. If you do not wish to wear the suit, then that is your choice and I must respect it,” Rarity smiled. “However, I am almost certain that Roseluck will be dressed up for the occasion.”

That had Clyde’s attention. He raised his eyebrow at Rarity. “She told me she hated wearing dresses, though.”

“That very well may be the case, darling,” Rarity paused for a moment, moving to put away some of her supplies, “but have you taken her sisters into account?”

“Daisy and Lily?” Clyde was confused. “What do they have to do with anything?”

“They have to do with everything!” Rarity replied, and rather loudly. “Tell me, Clyde, do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I have an older sister.”

“And did your older sister ever persuade you to do things that you wouldn’t normally do?” Rarity continued.

“Huh,” Clyde’s eyes widened. “Now that you mention it, all the time.”

“Now, how certain are you that Daisy and Lily are not doing just that with their sister?”

“Alright, fine, I get it,” Clyde sighed, his eyes rolling as he did. Rarity was right. He had met Daisy and Lily, and he knew that they were likely thinking the exact same thing Rarity had been. “They think it’s a date and they’re going to fix her up, right?”

“Precisely! And how do you think poor Roseluck would feel if her date—” Rarity paused, chuckling awkwardly when she noticed the look Clyde was sending her way. “Er, friend that she happens to be going to a social event with, isn’t dressed as nicely as she is!”

“Like a fish out of water,” he guessed. “Maybe I should wear the suit, then.”

“Do whatever you wish, darling. If you need me, I’ll be in the back room,” Rarity informed him, trotting off happily to the back of her home and leaving Clyde alone.

‘Damn it.’

Roseluck stared at the mirror Lily held out in front of her. She looked… different. She wasn’t sure if it was good different, or just… different. Her hair had been redone into a ponytail, which hung over her left shoulder. Well… she didn’t want to hurt her sister’s feelings. “Um. I… like it?”

“Oh, I just knew you would,” Lily squealed, wrapping her forelegs around Roseluck and pulling the older mare back in her chair. “And I’m sure Clyde will, too. Ponytails are all the rage right now.”

“No offense, Lily,” Daisy piped up from across the room. She paused for a moment, going back to work on Lily’s dress. The girls, meaning Lily and Daisy, had decided that making a few modifications to the dress would help it look better on Roseluck. Roseluck watched with interest as she finished sewing… something, to front of the dress, and turned her head back. “But I don’t think Clyde is very familiar with the fashion trends of Equestria.”

“Aw, what do you know?” Lily giggled. “All that matters is that he’s going to think Roseluck is the cutest little pony ever.”

Roseluck could feel her cheeks heating up, and looked back into Lily’s hoof held mirror. Now that Lily mentioned it, she did look pretty nice. She was about to voice those sentiments when she heard Daisy shout out, “Finally, it’s finished!”

She was quick to hop out of her chair and trot over to Daisy, ready to see just what her older sister was so excited about. Daisy whirled around, holding the dress up in her hooves. Roseluck stared at it, a confused expression wandering onto her face. “I don’t get it. There’s nothing different abo—”

Roseluck paused, finally catching on to what Daisy had done. There on the front of the dress, was a tiny little patch that looked just like her cutie mark, sewn right into the fabric. It wasn’t a perfect replica, but that wasn’t what mattered.

“Wow, it looks great!” She shouted, pulling Daisy into a hug. “But where did you even learn to do this kinda stuff?”

“Remember that time I went over to Rarity’s to get a few buttons replaced?” Daisy professed, as Roseluck let go of her and simply waited for her to continue. Daisy blushed a bit under her sister’ gaze, but continued nonetheless. “She taught me how to do minor repairs and dress work like this while I was there.”

“Well, I’m glad she did. I just hope dresses aren’t as uncomfortable as I’ve always imagined,” Roseluck giggled cutely.

“Trust me, you’ll forget about that once you’re with Clyde,” Lily interjected, trotting up to the pair. “Speaking of, how much longer until the brunch, Daisy?”

“About an hour,” Daisy replied. “But if we want some good seats right near the Princess, we should go ahead and leave now.”

Roseluck smiled. If her sisters cared this much about making her ‘date’ with Clyde go well, then she wouldn’t complain.

“This is boring.”

Those were words that Clyde had used many times before, but they had never garnered quite the reaction they did this time around. Ponies stopped talking, gasps were heard all around, and he could even hear the distinct sound of shattering porcelain, the tell-tale sign of a dropped teacup.

Ponies sat all around Sugarcube Corner, an array of makeshift tables set up around the store. Most found themselves sitting with their friends at smaller tables, but Clyde had been given the role of ‘Guest of Honor’, and was set up at a table with the Princess of Equestria herself, Celestia. By his side was Roseluck, his newest friend, and Twilight and company rounded out the table’s occupants.

This was only Clyde’s second party, and the first had been a blast. This one, though, just didn’t seem to have the same punch to it as one of Pinkie Pie’s classic ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ parties would. His comment had seemed harmless, something he figured would be drowned out by the many ponies catching up with one another

So, he found himself confused by the many horrified looks he was receiving. Even Roseluck was looking at him as if he had just shot Celestia herself. “Um… did I do something wrong?”

In an instant, his employer was in his face. “‘Something wrong!? This is the most important banquet of the season!”

“Sorry, Rarity, but I honestly don’t get the big deal,” Clyde shrugged. “Aren’t parties supposed to be lively? All I see are a bunch of ponies that are scared of saying or doing anything to upset the princess.”

Speaking of the princess, it was now that Clyde became aware of the ever-growing smirk stretching across her muzzle. She was clearly enjoying what was happening, even if she wouldn’t admit it to her subjects. The thought of the princess of Equestria being so laid back was hilarious.

“B-b-but…” His date began to stutter, “you can’t just say that Princess Celestia is boring!”

“I didn’t, I just said that this party is boring. Where’s the music? The games? Pinkie Pie would be ashamed to see something like this,” Clyde offered. Off in a different corner of the room, the pony in question nodded like crazy in her seat. “See?”

“I can assure you, Pinkie Pie’s version of ‘fun’ is drastically different than most ponies.”

Clyde rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Point is, I thought Princess Celestia would want everyone to have fun. You know, loosen up around her for a change?”

“But, darling, you can’t? You shouldn’t? Can you?” Rarity’s mane frizzed around the edges from the tizzy she had worked herself into. “One does not simply imply anything negative in regards to the Princess!”

“Um, that wasn’t really negative,” Roseluck spoke up, ending her bout of silence. Rarity gave her a look, pushing her to defend Clyde further. “I have to admit, while I do think he could have said it a bit nicer, Clyde has every right to say whether or not he enjoys something.”

“B-b-but—”

“Even in front of royalty,” the flower pony cut off Rarity. Roseluck turned in the direction of Celestia. The princess had been silently watching the exchange, seemingly enjoying the little bit of conflict. “Princess Celestia, your, uh, regalness, are you enjoying the party?”

Celestia smiled, a short giggle escaping past her wall of professionalism. “I’m glad you asked, Miss Roseluck. Rarity,” Celestia addressed the fashionista, “while I appreciate the effort you and everypony else have put into these… festivities, I am afraid I must agree with Clyde.”

Rarity seemed to deflate at Celestia’s words. “You think the party is… boring?”

Celestia gave her most generous subject a warm smile. “Rarity, I appreciate the effort you put into helping set up this banquet. It’s just… sometimes I want to be treated like more than just your princess. I consider you a very dear friend.”

Jaws dropped all around at the princess’s revelation, and Clyde could have sworn a few ponies even looked close to fainting. The very idea that their princess, their goddess, essentially, wanted to be treated more like a friend seemed so taboo.

“I’m sorry for being so blunt, Rarity,” Clyde found himself apologizing to his employer. “I know you put a lot of work into the party, but it’s just not my cup of tea.”

“Well…” Rarity bit her lip, looking between Clyde and Celestia. “I suppose I could have taken some of Pinkie Pie’s advice into further consideration. I was just so worried about upsetting you, Princess Celestia.”

“Worry not, Rarity. As long as my little ponies do what they do out of love, I will be happy,” Celestia replied, shifting a bit in her seat to make herself more comfortable. “Speaking of which… why don’t we allow Clyde to give us some insight on what a ‘human’ party is like?”

Clyde perked up at the mention of his name. “Huh?”

“Come on, Clyde,” Roseluck nudged his arm with her snout, “tell us about parties back on… what did you call it? Ee-arth?”

“Earth,” Clyde chuckled, his left hand finding its way onto his companion’s head. As he began to gently rub Roseluck’s mane. The mare closed her eyes peacefully, a gentle purr escaping her lips, he continued, “and they’re definitely a lot different than they are here.”

“Do go on,” Celestia smiled. Everypony in the place was silent now, following their leader’s example. “Twilight has sent me many reports on your home planet, but never one of its customs.”

“Well first of all, parties back home weren’t really that strict on when to show up, at least not the smaller ones. Not to mention, at most of the parties I went to, we definitely didn’t drink tea. Pretty much anything with alcohol in it was our drink of choice.”

“Like Applejack’s cider?” Rainbow Dash finally contributed to the conversation. “That stuff is so good!”

“Aw, shucks, it ain’t that great,” Applejack blushed. “‘Sides, I bet Clyde has had all sorts of different drinks.”

“You bet,” he nodded. “Heck, I couldn’t even name all the different drinks on Earth. I’m sure there were tens of thousands.”

Many ‘ooh’s’ and ‘ahh’s’ could be heard. One of the many ponies in the crowd shouted out, “Name a few!”

“Heh, well my favorite drink was called ‘Not Your Father’s Root Beer’. I know you guys have root beer, so imagine brewing it with actual alcohol, but the taste hardly changes,” Clyde explained. “We also had something called vodka, which was my particular mixer of choice.”

“Actually, we have that one, too,” Twilight informed her friend. “Though I’ve never had it myself. It seems to be more popular in big cities like Manehattan or Fillydelphia.”

“Makes sense. Back home, people who live in the countryside really loved their beer and cider.”

“What’s ‘beer’?” Roseluck piped up, a single eye opening and peeking up at Clyde.

“It’s this weird sort of drink that’s made with wheat, hops, all manner of stuff, and then brewed in a specific way. Every beer is different, so you never really know the ingredients unless you look them up.”

“What was your personal favorite?” Rarity asked. “... Not that I’d want to drink alcohol,” she added to a few chuckles from her friends, and even Celestia.

“I like ‘Blue Moon’. It was brewed in this gorgeous state called Colorado, and one of the main ingredients were orange peels. I love oranges, let me tell you.”

It was at that moment that Clyde was bombarded by an array of questions ranging from simple ‘What else do you do at parties?’ to ‘What are human relationships like?’. For what felt like hours, he did his best to answer everyone’s query into his prior life on Earth, actually having a bit of fun reminiscing.

It had taken Clyde quite a while to get through everyone’s questions, and by the time he was finished, the party found itself winding down. Most ponies had already gone home, either to get some rest or attend to whatever jobs they had. At some point, Roseluck had wandered off to talk to someone she had described to Clyde simply as ‘a friend’, leaving him alone with Celestia and the Elements, minus Pinkie Pie, who had to complete some chores before the night was finished.

“So, I take it you like Miss Roseluck?” Celestia stated quite bluntly.

Clyde found himself choking on the tea he’d been drinking, having to spit it back into his cup, much to the horror and disgust of Rarity. “I mean… I do like Roseluck. Just as a friend, though.”

“Oh, come on!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “It’s, like, so obvious, dude!”

“Yeah, I gotta agree with Dash,” Applejack nodded.

“Quite so.”

“Yep, looks like it to me.”

“So you all think so?” Clyde asked. Everyone nodded, except… “Fluttershy? What do you think?”

The shy pony smiled. “Oh, um, well… I don’t want to pile on, but you two do look cute together.”

Clyde took that into consideration. The thought of a human hanging out with a cute little pony was admittedly a little adorable. But his feelings for Roseluck were strictly platonic. At least he was pretty sure they were. “Well, you’re wrong. I love Roseluck, she’s a great friend. That’s it, though.”

As if on cue, Roseluck found herself back next to Clyde only moments later. She seemed perky, so he assumed her conversation with ‘a friend’ had gone well. She peered up at her new human companion as she climbed into her seat. It was beginning to grow dark outside, and he could easily see the bags under her eyes.

“You’re tired.”

“Yeah…” Roseluck blushed, looking back towards the ground. “I had a good talk with Minuette. Actually, she was wondering if you’d like to meet her?”

“Ah, so that’s ‘a friend’s’ name,” Clyde joked, making his little friend giggle. “Anyways, sounds like a plan, I’d love to meet her. If she’s anything like you, I know she’ll be a lot of fun.”

Roseluck smiled. That smile disappeared as she took a moment to look at Clyde, then his friends. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to leave your—”

Clyde held a hand up, silencing her. “Trust me, it’s fine. I’m getting pretty tired, too.”

“Well, I must thank you for a very interesting day, Clyde,” Celestia said, giving a little wink in his direction. “I wish you well on your walk home.”

“Thank you, Princess,” he replied, removing himself from his seat. “Good night, everyone.”

Once everyone had offered their goodbyes, Clyde and Roseluck made their way outside. The mare at his side was smiling once again.

Clyde and Roseluck strolled outside together, the bright light coming from Luna’s moon illuminating the world around them.

“Wow,” Roseluck began, “Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is out here! I wish I had more opportunity to explore the town after dark.”

“Yeah, it definitely is,” Clyde replied. “But tell me, what were we doing out here again?”

“Oh, we’re meeting up with Minuette, remember? Man, I just told you that a few seconds ago. Your memory must be pretty bad,” she laughed.

“Heh, that tends to happen when I’m tired. Who is she again?”

Roseluck rolled her eyes. “She’s one of my oldest friends.”

“Oh, right. Now I know who she is, but not much else beyond that.’

“Trust me, you’ll like her.”

The two travelled towards a nearby oak tree and sure enough, the pony in question was waiting for them. From what he could tell in the light Luna’s moon was providing, she was a blue unicorn, and her mane almost looked like toothpaste.

“Hey girl,” Minuette said, wrapping up Roseluck in a tight hug. “Hey there, uh, Clyde, right?”

Clyde waved his hand briefly. “Yep, that’s me. I take it you’re Minuette? We haven’t really spoken much. I think I’ve seen you around town with Lyra and Bon Bon?”

“Yep, that’s me,” she replied. “Sorry I”ve never made an effort before. I honestly wasn’t quite sure how to approach a human. Culture differences and all that, I’m sure you understand.”

“Not a problem,” he said.

“Anywho,” Roseluck interrupted. It was cute seeing Roseluck in her natural state, Clyde thought. “I actually wanted to ask you a question, Minuette. Now that you’ve met Clyde, I was wondering if there’d be any chance under the sun that you’d like to go on a double date with he and I? Maybe?”

‘A double date, huh?’ Clyde monologued internally, doing his best to make his confusion less evident. ‘Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to humor the idea, maybe see if there’s some weight to what everyone was saying…’

Minuette rubbed her chin for a moment. “I suppose I could make that work. My new boyfriend does talk a lot about you.”

“New boyfriend?” Roseluck cocked her head curiously. “I thought you were with Lyra?”

“Oh, that’s old news. Ship has sailed.” She let out a chuckle. “My new guy, just got a chance to hang with him yesterday, actually. He’s so sweet. I’m sure you know him. Spike, the dragon dude with the wicked sense of humor?”

Clyde almost choked on his breath. “Spike? Seriously? He didn’t tell me anything about it! I’mma have to remind him how the bro code works.”

Roseluck chuckled. “Well, that’s great, either way. So, assuming Clyde is okay with it, would you actually like to try it? I was thinking we could go bowling or something fun like that.”

“Definitely!” Minuette replied. “Just name the time and place!”

Roseluck thought for a moment. “Well, Clyde, are you free next Tuesday afternoon?”

He nodded. “That works for me and I know it works for Spike, the lazy lizard. I’ll let Rarity know.”

“Works for me, too,” Minuette said. “So, how about next Tuesday, six in the afternoon we meet at Sugarcube Corner and go from there?”

Clyde and Roseluck both nodded in unison. Well, next week was definitely going to be hilarious, that much was for sure.

After a little bit of conversation, Minuette said her goodbyes and Clyde and Roseluck were left alone once again.

“Man, I can’t wait to get out of this freaking suit,” Clyde chuckled. “It feels nice, but man is it hot.”

Roseluck didn’t offer up a reply, so he took a moment to check up on her. She was staring down at the ground, seemingly mulling over something in her head. “You alright?”

Roseluck didn’t answer that question, instead looking back up at him. “Say, Clyde?”

“Hm?” He replied as the two walked along one of the many dirt paths of Ponyville. “What’s up, Rosey?”

“‘Rosey’?” She giggled. “That’s a cute nickname. But… I was actually wondering if…”

Roseluck looked towards the ground, as if she were embarrassed.

“Hey, no reason to be shy, you can tell me anything, ya know,” Clyde assured her. “You’re one of the few ponies I can call a friend.”

Roseluck gulped. “...I was wondering if I could go home with you tonight?”

Clyde stared blankly at Roseluck. The magenta-maned pony returned his gaze, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. With every passing second the smile on her face grew more manic, more nervous, until she finally snapped.

“Ugh, what a stupid question. ‘Can I go home with you tonight?’,” she repeated it back to herself. “Of course he would sit there and just say nothing. It doesn’t even make sense to ask that when we’re just saying good night to each other. Why do I even listen to Lily and Daisy when it comes to this st—”

“Wait.” Clyde’s voice put an end to her rambling. For the time being, at least. Still, he’d have to tread carefully if he wanted to avoid an episode. “... Lily and Daisy?”

“Yes, Lily and Daisy!” Roseluck cried out, her face red with newly-risen anger, though it quickly gave way to a simple look of frustration. “You know, I really do love my sisters, but they’re always getting me into these crazy situations, and I just can’t even sometimes…”

Clyde knelt in front of his distraught friend, extending a hand towards her. He ran his fingers through her disheveled mane, her stress visibly melting away as his fingers ran through each and every lock. “Look, I don’t really know what’s going on, but I know it’s bothering you.”

“Yeah…” Roseluck admitted, her blush deepening even further. “It’s just… Ugh! How do I word it…?”

“No matter what you say, I won’t judge you. I’d like to think we’re friends now, Rose,” Clyde assured her, refocusing his efforts on her left ear.

“Ooh, that feels heavenly…” Roseluck mewled. “You’re so lucky you have fingers.”

“Heh, never leave home without them,” Clyde chuckled, earning a light jab from her. “Sorry, that was a pretty stupid joke.”

Roseluck just giggled, so he continued.

“Anyways… What’s bothering you?”

Roseluck’s giggle fit ceased, and she fell to her haunches. “I guess I should start from the beginning. So Lily, Daisy and me were at home preparing for the banquet, when Lily asked me a question.”

“Oh?” Clyde responded, plopping down next to his friend. With a chuckle, he remarked, “Knowing Lily, I’m sure it was quite the scene. I better go get some popcorn.”

Roseluck grinned, “Shut up. Now, you know Lily. She’s always got some crazy plans involving us.”

“Well hey,” Clyde smiled, stroking her mane. “At least you can’t say she doesn’t care about you and Daisy. Trust me when I say that back in my world, not every family is as tightly knit as they are here.”

Roseluck was all too happy to return his smile. “Yeah. Even through all the silliness, I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world.”

“So, now that we got the obligatory cheesy moment out of the way, what did she say?”

“Well…” Roseluck’s gaze fell to the ground, one hoof moving to scratch nervously at the other. “She wanted to know what I thought of you.”

“Can’t say I see the big deal about that,” Clyde laughed. “Hopefully you only had good things to say?”

Roseluck’s eye nearly rolled out of her head. “Well, duh. But it’s what she asked after that.

“She asked if I liked you… and...” Roseluck released a small gasp of air. “I said I did.”

This is it. He’s going to run away and never look at me again, all because I had to go and be honest…

“Remind me again why I’m doing this, Rarity?” Clyde groaned. The speed and ease at which Rarity sized him up with her measuring tape almost made him feel violated. “I thought you already had my measurements.”

“Oh-ho-ho,” Rarity guffawed, “silly Clyde. My suits are made from only the finest of Equestrian tapestry. You can’t simply measure a tee shirt and replicate the size and feel. It’s just not possible.”

Clyde rolled his eyes. “It’s just a suit, Rarity. You don’t have to break the bank for me.” Clyde cocked his head to the side. “To be fair though, you’re actually right about the sizes. Back where I’m from, I could buy three different shirts in a medium size and they’d all fit differently for some reason. Carry on.”

Rarity nodded, but it was clear she didn’t actually take his words into account as she continued her measurements. “I appreciate your unwillingness to take advantage of me, Clyde. I simply want you to look the best you can for your date.”

With a loud clack, Rarity magically slammed her tape down. “And, fini!”

“So I can finally move?” Clyde asked, relief flooding through him. “I was beginning to worry that I’d be frozen like that.”

“I can always arrange, if you’d like to take over for my ponnequins?” Rarity tittered, eliciting the slightest of chuckles from Clyde, who wasn’t sure if she was entirely joking. “But I’m afraid you’d miss your dinner plans.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to offend Roseluck by not showing,” Clyde laughed nervously. “Imagine telling her that I picked being frozen over going on a date with her.”

“Mmm.”

Rarity hooves click-clacked across the floor of her boutique as the mare trotted off to grab some materials. While she was gone, Clyde was left with only his thoughts as company.

Come on, man, pull yourself together. The last thing you need to do is blow your chance tomorrow…

“I’m back,” Rarity announced her presence. “I’ve got something wonderful in store for you, Clyde!”

“What’s that?” He asked, snapping out of his thought-induced trance.

“Feast your eyes upon this!” Rarity produced a small, red square of fabric, levitating it in the air beside her proud smile. “Voila!”

Clyde blinked a few times. “It’s uh… nice?” He scratched the back of his head. “What is it?”

“It’s a handkerchief!” Rarity beamed. “But it’s a very special handkerchief!”

Clyde blinked several more times. “I see. I wasn’t aware the technology for blowing snot out of your nose needed renovation.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Be a dear and shut your mouth for just a moment.”

She glided across the floor toward him and held up the handkerchief toward his eye-level, allowing him to take in the details. As he did, his eyes popped open.

It was a gorgeous shade of deep maroon that shimmered in the light and it had his name sewn into the fabric in beautiful font. But, in the bottom corner was a stitching of a small rose, every detail to perfection.

“Rarity…” Clyde took the item into his hands. “This is lovely. But, why would you put a—”

“Rose?” Rarity chuckled. “Dear, I’ve been in the ‘nice dinner with a friend’ game long enough to know when something is a tad bit more special than that. Now, not only will you have a lovely accessory to compliment your outfit but if the moment is right, you can tell her this handkerchief was made especially for her, which will undoubtedly warm her heart, but if not, you may simply have a pleasant night and go your separate ways.”

Clyde once again blinked. “So it’s basically romance insurance?”

“Exactly!” Rarity winked at him. “It doesn’t hurt to have something extra in your back pocket… literally!”

A sniffle drew him back to reality.

“Roseluck?”

She tried futilely to wipe away her tears, only serving to cake her fur in them, as she looked up at her friend. “Hm…?”

Rarity, you’re a god damned saint…

“Here, this might work a little better,” Clyde said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the handkerchief Rarity had made for this very moment. Taking care not to startle her, he lightly dabbed the soft fabric across her cheeks. It must have been imbued with some sort of magic, he noted as it left her face entirely dry.

Roseluck’s eyes caught notice of the stitching as it passed across her field of view. “W-what’s this?” She stammered, reaching to take the handkerchief from Clyde. Taking a moment to fully look over the beautiful piece of cloth, she found herself even more choked up than before. A hoof flew up to hide her gasp, though not very well.

“So… do you like it?”

“I love it,” she affirmed. “But that still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Huh? What question?”

“I asked it while you were off in dreamville,” Roseluck joked, earning a little wheeze from Clyde. “Now that you know how I feel… does it change anything between us?”

“What do you mean?” Clyde asked, all the hints she was giving flying right over his dense head.

“Ugh! Nevermind. I don’t even know why I bother trying to act like I know what I’m doing!”

Clyde found himself taken aback by that little outburst. “Whoa, what is that supposed to mean?”

Ever since Roseluck was a filly, she never could find the courage to take charge when things didn’t go as planned. Her sisters had always been there for her. Years later, the disheartening truth finally hit her…

“I always took my sisters’ guidance for granted,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “I don’t even know how to express myself without having a panic attack…”

Dejection laced the sigh Roseluck let out, her gaze falling to the ground. With everything out in the open, she found herself struggling to make any moves outside of rubbing her foreleg ashamedly.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to express yourself,” Clyde finally spoke up, though her gaze remained unwavering. “Back home, I was the kid that everyone picked on. Kinda made it hard to speak up when things got tough, ya know?”

Roseluck’s head tilted up and down ever so slightly. Still, she had no reply to offer.

“... Things have been pretty tough since I found myself stuck here,” Clyde rambled on. “But then the most wonderful thing happened.”

“W-what’s that?” Roseluck asked.

“I met the most beautiful mare in Equestria.”

Finally, Roseluck found the courage to peer up at Clyde. “Wha—”

Roseluck found her breath taken away as Clyde’s lips finally, finally, met hers. They were soft; a feeling she found welcoming as she sunk fully into their first kiss. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest, a sensation only exacerbated by Clyde wrapping his arms around her.

By the time their lips finally parted, Roseluck’s face was so red it looked as if it may melt off.

Clyde just smiled at her. “Sorry, I just thought I’d finally express myself.”

“Wow…”

Roseluck’s cheeks burned a bright red as Clyde pulled back from her, a faint rope of saliva connecting their lips. “I, uh…”

“You don’t have to say anything, Roseluck.” Clyde gave the cream-colored pony a smile to reassure her, then continued with a chuckle. “Still, I didn’t think kissing a pony would feel that nice.”

That little joke helped to put Roseluck back in her comfort zone, and she narrowed her eyes at her human friend. “Well, I’m glad I could help set the bar.”

“Pretty high, too,” Clyde laughed. “In fact, I think it might be nice if we kissed again.”

“Oh really now?”

“... Just to try and raise the bar a bit, of course.”

Roseluck smiled. “Obviously…”

Trailing off, the flower-pony closed the gap between them yet again. Their lips connected softly, her fur bristling against his skin as their eyes closed. She sank into the kiss, her right foreleg finding its way to Clyde’s cheek and tenderly holding him. By the time she withdrew, her heart was practically pounding out of her chest in excitement.

“... That one was even better,” she said with newfound confidence.

Clyde smiled, a blush of his own coming across his features, something Roseluck took a form of comfort in. It assured her that, regardless of her feelings about this newfound relationship, she wasn’t the only one who was nervous.

“So…” Clyde said, breaking the brief silence, “It’s pretty late, and most everyone is heading home. Want me to walk you home?”

“Well… I was kind of hoping I could still come to your place, tonight?” Roseluck reminded him. The implications of her request weren’t lost upon her, and she once again found her cheeks heating up. “N-not that I’m the kind of mare who just goes home with stallions! I just don’t want to spend my whole night recanting the story of my first kiss with a human to my sisters.”

Clyde laughed uproariously at that. “Well if it helps, I’m not a stallion. But… are you sure?”

Roseluck didn’t need to think about it. “Yes.”

“Wow, your place is really clean.”

Having grown up with two sisters, Roseluck certainly wasn’t used to seeing a home free of clutter. Clothes were neatly hung up, laundry was in the hamper, and his kitchen seemed to be free of even a single crumb.

“Being friends with Spike has definitely paid off in that regard,” Clyde nodded. “Though I don’t spend a lot of time here anymore. If I’m not working at the boutique, I’m out on the town getting to know everyone.”

Roseluck nodded, trotting her way over to his couch and climbing up and onto it. For a few moments, Clyde simply stared at her, prompting her to speak up. “So…? Are you gonna come sit next to me?”

“O-oh! Yeah, that would make sense, wouldn’t it?” He replied, chuckling nervously. With a heavy exhale, he plopped down next to her. “Sorry, still getting used to this all.”

“You’re not the only one,” Roseluck was quick to admit. Still, deep down, she was sure that she wanted to be here with him. Where it would lead, and just how far? That was another story. She had had her share of romantic encounters throughout her teenage years, but those had seldom gone beyond a simple peck on the lips. “I’m not really experienced with this kind of thing…”

“I thought Lily and Daisy said you’ve been in relationships before?” Clyde replied.

Roseluck’s eyes rolled, and she let out an exasperated sigh.. “Those two, I swear. I mean, I went on a few dates back in high school, but they never really blossomed into anything. … I don’t know, I guess I’ve been waiting for the right pony. Er, you know what I mean,” she explained.

“Man, they had me thinking you were the mare all the guys wanted.” Clyde chuckled.

That sentence struck Roseluck differently than their usual banter, and her next question practically spilled out of her mouth. “... Am I the mare that you want?”

Clyde smiled, leaning forward to give her snout a little kiss. “You’re the mare I need.”

Snout kisses be damned, Roseluck wanted more and she was going to get it. She shot forward, quickly closing the gap between them. As their lips connected, she shifted her body weight into him, toppling him back into the couch cushions. To her delight, the kiss only grew more impassioned.

The sudden feeling of Clyde’s hand running through her mane only added to the rush of emotions she was enduring. Despite how heated their kissing was, she still felt safe in his arms, a feeling that gave her comfort.

By the time their kiss came to an end, Roseluck was finally sure of what she wanted. Slowly, deliberately, she extended her right hoof towards his pants, running it across the fabric covering his crotch. It was evident even through his pants that he was already stiff, proving how he felt about her in a way that words couldn’t.

“W-whoa, are you su—”

“Yes,” Roseluck curtly responded, her gaze shooting back up to meet his. The look on his face changed from one of befuddlement, to one of pure shock as Roseluck moved her hoof up, grabbing at his zipper and tugging on it. “Take these things off.”

“Um… what?” Clyde asked. This was… different. Still, the human was quick to do as he was told, grabbing his pants by the hem and tugging them down. Roseluck did the rest of the work for him, pulling on the legs until only his boxers remained. “... You really want this, huh?”

“What gave it away?” Roseluck tittered. A moment of doubt creeped into the back of her mind. What would it look like? Would it be too big? Too small? Would it even look similar to a pony’s? Finally, electing to smartly ignore these worries, she pulled back the waistband of his boxers, revealing… “Th-that’s your…”

“... My penis, yeah. You seem surprised for someone who just ripped my pants off,” Clyde laughed.

“It’s so…” Roseluck tried to settle on a word that aptly described how she felt, in a way that wouldn’t come across as abrasive. “Nice.”

“Nice, eh?” the human asked, chuckling a bit more. “So… are you gonna just stare at it? We don’t have to do anything if you’re—”

“Why is it round?” She suddenly asked, reaching a hoof out to touch the rounded tip. It twitched in response, startling her enough to retract her hoof. Once it came back to rest against his leg, she slowly extended her leg towards it again.

“I guess it just is,” Clyde shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it. Why are pony dicks flat?”

“Well, that’s, uh… Huh.”

“Exactly.”

“So…” Roseluck trailed off, thinking of what to say next. What to do. “How do we, um… you know…?”

Clyde raised an eyebrow, eyeing the mare. “Have you never—”

“No, okay?” She quickly responded, aggravation laced throughout her tone. “I’ve had a few coltfriends, but we never did… this.”

“... Why me?”

Roseluck huffed, her expression showing more and more signs of expression by the second. “You’re nice,” she said.

“Nice?” Clyde chuckled. “Lots of stallions are ‘nice’.”

“You’re also caring. You’re charming, you’re funny, and you’re pretty handsome for a human. … You treat me like your friend, not just someone you want to rut,” she finished. “And all I want is a lover that I can also call my friend.”

Roseluck looked down to the couch, hesitant to hear whatever Clyde would say. The moments passed by painfully slow, neither human nor pony able to come up with the words to move the conversation forward. Finally, fed up with the wait, she lifted her head back up, only to find herself being unexpectedly kissed by Clyde.

To her surprise, Clyde’s tongue poked against her teeth. She was all too happy to grant it entrance, her own mingling with it in a dance for control. It was a dance that she would almost immediately lose, sinking back into the couch as Clyde positioned himself over her. Though she wasn’t prepared to say it, she could feel herself trembling with delight at how everything was unfolding. Being here, under the man she wanted more than anything to be with.

Her eyes flicked open as their passionate kiss carried on, scanning downwards to catch a glimpse of his rapidly growing member. Unlike him, she didn’t need to waste any time stripping out of clothes, a fact that she definitely appreciated. Idly running a hoof down towards her privates, she could feel her fur begin to matte over with her own juices. She was ready.

Clyde must have sensed it as well, the human pulling back from their kiss and peering between her legs. Without a word, he slinked backwards until his head was positioned right between her thighs. She wasn’t afforded the time to ask him what he was doing before he moved forward, and she could feel his tongue running up the length of her marehood.

“Huh…” He said, ignoring the immense blush painted over Roseluck’s face. “It tastes like berries.”

“I-is that good?” Roseluck asked, worried.

Her answer was another forceful lick, one that was enough to make her eyes roll back. Still, this wasn’t what she wanted.

“A-alright, please stop!”

“... Do you not like foreplay?” Clyde asked, pulling away from his spot between her thighs.

“I do, but not tonight!” She admitted, albeit in a crazed tone. “I just… I need you to rut me.”

Clyde appeared to be more than happy to oblige, quickly positioning himself over her yet again. This time, his erection was pointed directly at her entrance. He looked to her for approval, and she nodded.

“Please…”

He guided himself to her entrance, prodding at it for a moment before finally sinking into her waiting depths. They both let out moans as the sensations washed over them, and Clyde quickly locked his lips back over hers. The heat she pumped out was clearly a motivating factor, as she could feel him struggling to push deeper inside. After just a couple inches, he pulled back until just the tip remained inside.

“P-put it back i-Ahhh!” Roseluck cried out as Clyde slammed himself back forwards, burying another few inches inside of her aching cunt. Her head fell backwards against the couch cushions, and she found herself content to lay there as he redoubled his efforts, giving another thrust. The incredible unlikeliness of what was happening began to set in as he pulled back, shoving himself in one more time before their hips finally met. The smack that echoed throughout the room as they did only served to turn her on further.

“Oh my Celestia, pound me,” Roseluck demanded, a request Clyde was all too happy to oblige.

As he settled into a rhythm, Roseluck could feel her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Every thrust made her feel so delightfully full, and the power behind them was nearly rocking the entire couch. “Y-you’re pent up, aren’t you?” She panted out.

“More than you know,” Clyde replied, leaning down to give her a kiss on the snout. His movements became rougher with those words, his hips now practically slamming against hers with every thrust, his balls rhythmically clapping against her ass.

Ever so slowly, she could feel herself beginning to tighten around him, causing his thrusts to go slower and deeper than before. Her pussy was sucking him inwards, desperately attempting to milk the human for all he was worth. Finally, just as he began to grind against her good spot, she could feel her entire body tighten up as her climax washed over her. Her muscles tensed up, her legs seeming to form a mind of their own as they wrapped around his waist, locking him inside.

“Oh my Celestia, c-cumming!”

To her shock, she could feel something warm spray against her inner walls. The immense heat was enough to prolong her orgasm as Clyde gave a few more weak thrusts. A few more ropes of cum painted her insides just enough to keep her feeling full as his member quickly began to soften.

“S-so did I…” Clyde panted out, collapsing atop her. “Sorry, I was just… really pent up.”

“H-heh, you still lasted longer than any pony would,” she chuckled, finally catching her breath.

“Good to know,” he laughed. “That was amazing.”

“It really was,” Roseluck replied. “But maybe we should try some foreplay next time.”

“You know I’m game,” he replied, giving her a peck on the lips.

“... And then we had sex.”

“Raw?” Big Mac asked Clyde.

“Yep.”

“Cool,” said Spike.

“... What if things between us change, Daisy?”

“Well, duh,” Roseluck’s older sister replied. “You slept with him. There’s really no going back from that, Roseluck.”

“But I didn’t want to—”

“But nothing,” Lily interected. “You and Clyde are going to be such a cute couple!”

Roseluck could feel her cheeks heat up at that comment, and she barely managed to stammer out a reply. “S-shut up! We’re not that cute…”

“Oh, puh-lease!” Lily replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “You two are the talk of the town! Everypony from here to Canterlot wants to know how you managed to get with the world’s only human!”

Roseluck didn’t think she could blush any harder at this point, and she found herself cut off by Daisy as she attempted to summon up any sort of retort. “W—”

“Heck, I’m curious how she managed to jump his bones.”

Lily audibly groaned. “Eww, can you not say it like that?” She replied. “I’d rather not talk about any kind of bones.”

“Girls,” Roseluck intervened, grabbing the attention of her sisters. She sighed, taking a moment to look around Ponyville’s marketplace. “I’m scared. I’ve never done… that.” She settled on that word to appease her younger sister, then looked back to them. “You don’t think he’ll expect it every time we’re together… do you?”

Daisy smiled, extending a hoof to rest on her sister’s shoulder. “Rosey, you’re worrying way too much. Everything is going to be fine! I’m sure Clyde is having the same worries as you, anyways.”

“R-really? You think he’s worried, too?”

Lily nodded, adding her two cents. “It’s only natural to worry about your relationship once it progresses to the next stage.”

“Do you think I made a mistake, Rarity?”

“Absolutely, positively not,” she replied. “If anything, what you did was a good thing!”

“A… good thing?” Clyde asked. He ruffled the back of his head in confusion, chuckling. “I mean, it felt good, but I don’t know what else you could mean.”

“Clyde,” Rarity deadpanned, “think of it like this. You’re the only one of your species in all of Equestria, and you chose her. You could have had anypony you wanted, but you chose Roseluck. It shows that you truly care about her.”

“I really do,” he nodded, looking to the ceiling wistfully. “I never really had anybody back on Earth to speak of. Well, aside from my family, but I hadn’t lived with them in quite a while.”

“You don’t talk about them much. If I might ask, what were they like?”

“I… they were the best,” Clyde replied, a tinge of sadness in his voice. “I had the best parents a guy could ask for. They kept me safe through a lot of turmoil. See, my dad was in the military, so we had to move around quite a bit.”

“Ah, I see. Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor? I believe you’ve heard of him?”

Clyde nodded. “Mhm. Cadance’s husband, right?”

“The very same! He’s the leader of the Royal Guard, so he spends a lot of time away from the Crystal Empire.”

“Yeah, it can be pretty rough. Thankfully, the Marine Corps gave us housing wherever we happened to go. I remember the last place we had moved to was this place called California.”

“Sounds exotic.”

Clyde laughed. “Hah, some parts definitely were. Pretty expensive, though. Imagine paying like ten bits for a gallon of milk here.”

“I’d rather not,” Rarity giggled. “What about your siblings? Did you have any?”

“I had two,” Clyde said. “An older brother and a younger sister. Jack and Emilie. Funny this is her name ended with an 'ie', not a 'y', so everyone would mispronounce it and she'd get upset.”

“Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. Were they nice?”

“The best,” he repeated. “I used to get bullied a lot back in middle school. Jack was in tenth grade at the time, and he came to pick me up from school one day. Saw me getting pushed to the ground by this jerk who was always kind of a dick.”

“Did he tell him to stop?” Rarity asked.

“More like knocked his lights out!” Clyde exclaimed, laughing. “All it took was one punch and he went down. He certainly never messed with me again after that.”

“Well…” Rarity trailed off for a moment, turning her attention back to the dress she had been so diligently working on before this conversation. “While I can’t say I agree with his methods, I also don’t blame him. Why, if I had ever caught somepony bullying Sweetie, I don’t know how I would have reacted.”

“I would have done the same for Emilie. Bullies don’t stop until you give them a taste of their own medicine.”

“I suppose,” Rarity nodded. “Speaking of, how are Roseluck’s sisters? Do you get along with them?”

“They’re a riot,” Clyde replied, smiling. “I love chatting with them, especially when it means we all get to vent a bit about work.”

“Uh-huh? So you vent about me?” Rarity asked. She turned around for a moment, tittering from Clyde’s expression. “Kidding! I know just as well as you that sometimes all you want to do is prop up your hooves and complain!”

“Heh, yeah. But you really think Roseluck and I will turn out fine?”

“Mm,” Rarity hummed, her mouth tuning up into a smile. “I do.”

“So what’s your next idea for a date?”

“Well…” Roseluck turned her head to look in the direction of the Everfree Forest. “I’ve heard some really good things about that new amusement park in the Everfree. What was it called again?”

“Raving River Rapids!” Daisy replied. “My friend Amethyst went there last week and said it was awesome! She said there was this one water slide that does a loop.”

“Wow, that does sound pretty intense!” Roseluck smiled. “Do you think humans like water parks?”

“Uh, how could they not?” Lily said matter-of-factly. “Doesn’t Clyde love swimming?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” Roseluck stated, a frown coming across her features. “It’s never really come up.”

“Well then how about this?” Daisy said, reaching underneath her stall. Pulling her hoof back, she revealed a small sack of bits. With a smile, she tossed them to Roseluck, who caught them with a confused look. “Take these and show him a good time, Rosey.”

“Daisy, I can’t—” Roseluck was cut off as Daisy stamped her hoof over her mouth.

“It’s fine. I won them in a bet with Lily, anyways. She didn’t think you guys would do the do.”

“You what!?”

“Oh my Celestia, I can’t believe you would make a bet about us doing… you know!” Roselucky cried out. A particularly large vein was practically bulging out of her forehead, causing her sister Daisy to stammer out a reply.

“W-what?” She asked. “Are we not allowed to bet on your happiness?”

Roseluck stamped her hoof down, glaring at her elder sister. “You bet on my sex life, Daisy. What even possessed you to do that?”

“H-hey!” Daisy stuttered back. “At least I actually bet on you guys to do it! Lily didn’t have any faith that it would happen.”

Lily was quick to join Roseluck in glaring at her sister. “Way to throw me under the carriage, Daisy. I just—”

“Just what?” Roseluck cut her off, turning to the youngest of the trio. “Didn’t think I’d ever do it?”

“N-no, it’s not that!” Lily replied. “I just didn’t think that Clyde would wanna do it with… you know…”

“With me?”

“No,” Daisy answered for her sister. “A pony. Lily thought he’d be too weirded out to end up doing it. I told her a pussy is a pussy, ya know?”

Roseluck simmered down a little, albeit with a blush coming across her cheeks. “Ew, please don’t talk about my mare parts like that.”

“You mean Clyde’s mare parts,” Lily chuckled, earning a punch on the shoulder from Daisy. “Ow, it was just a joke!”

“Sorry,” Daisy said, ignoring Lily’s retort, “we didn’t mean to upset you. We’re both rooting for you and Clyde more than anypony in Equestria.”

“Well, aside from you, of course!” Lily added.

Roseluck harrumphed, falling back onto her haunches. “You girls… don’t think he’ll find it weird that he had sex with me, do you?”

Lily and Daisy glanced at one another, then back to their sister. The two joined her in sitting on the floor of their quaint little cottage, plopping down across from her.

“Rosey, I haven’t seen him this happy since we first met him,” Lily spoke up. “It’s obvious that he doesn’t care what you are. He cares about who you are.”

Daisy nodded in agreeance. “And who you are is a fantastic pony, a wonderful sister, and someone he can rely on when he’s feeling down.”

“I dunno, girls. Sometimes I just feel like he’s upset, but isn’t talking about it with me. I want to be there for him, you know?”

Daisy smiled, reaching out a hoof and placing it on Roseluck’s shoulder. “It’s not always about talking about your problems. Sometimes just having somepony with you is enough to make any problem go away. It’s all about perspective.”

Roseluck reached a hoof of her own out, pulling Daisy into an embrace. “I hope so.”

“Darling, you are being utterly ridiculous. Of course Roseluck is happy to be with you!”

Clyde groaned, hanging up yet another dress for his boss. It had been an action-packed first day of the work week, and the two were still in the thick of it. “I don’t know why a Yak would even need a dress like this, all they ever do is destroy stuff.”

“Oh, quite the contrary for Yona!” Rarity replied, unlatching a chest and rifling through it. “She has learned a lot from Twilight and Starlight. In fact, I haven’t seen a Yak this excited for something as dreadfully boring as a homecoming dance in a long time.”

“Oh?” Clyde raised an eyebrow at that proclamation. “Who’s she going with?”

“I believe she’s been asked by Sandbar. The poor little colt practically got crushed by her when she said yes, if Spike is to be believed.”

“Heh, now that sounds like a Yak.”

“A-ha!” Rarity exclaimed, popping back up from the chest. “Finally, I’ve found it!”

“And what is ‘it’?” Clyde asked, making his way over to her.

The fashionista turned to face him, beaming. She extended her hoof to share her discovery with Clyde, who maintained a look that was a mix of curiosity and confusion. To him, it just looked like an ordinary gem, albeit in the shape of a heart.

“I don’t get it,” he said, moving in to look closer. The gem shimmered brightly in the sunlight shining through the boutique’s windows, giving off a radiant glow. His eyes quickly shifted up to the mare’s own. “It’s pretty, but don’t you have hundreds of these?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Do you not remember the story I told you about this gem? The significance that it holds?”

Clyde wracked his brain for anything that could pertain to the gem Rarity was holding. ‘A heart shaped gem? Where has she— Oh!’

“Spike!” he exclaimed. “It’s the gem he gave you before he went all King Kong on the town.”

“King Kong?” Rarity asked. “Nevermind, I’m sure it’s some sort of reference from your world. Anyways, this is the gem that Spike gave to me, yes. Do you remember what caused him to change back?”

“He looked into the gem and saw the monster he had become,” Clyde replied. “I don’t really get what makes this so important right now, though. Aren’t we supposed to be working on an order for Sapphire Shores?”

“It can wait,” said Rarity, shocking Clyde enough to make his jaw go agape. To her credit, she ignored his awestruck look. “You were wondering if Roseluck would find it weird to be with you, even though you’re not a pony?”

Clyde shook his head, regaining his senses. “Uh, yeah. I guess.”

Rarity extended the gem towards him again. “This gem is proof that love knows no bounds, Clyde. No matter what you are on the outside, true love comes from the inside. Does Roseluck make you happy?”

Clyde nodded, a slight smile creeping its way onto his face. “More than you know. She’s been here for me when nobody else has. Honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without her and her goofball sisters.”

“Hopefully you’d use that free time to help me,” Rarity giggled, earning a chuckle from her friend. “But in all seriousness, I’m sure Roseluck feels the same way!”

“I really hope so. I mean, we did have sex, so I guess it—”

“You what?!” Rarity cried out. “You two did that and you’re still worried?!”

“Welcome to being a guy,” Clyde replied, nervously tittering. “A girl could straight up tell us they love us, and we’d still miss the signal.”

“And here I thought Twilight was dense when it came to signals,” Rarity replied, joining her friend in laughter. Her gaze soon fell back down to the gem in her hoof, and an idea popped into her head. “Do you happen to know what size she is?”

“Uh… not a clue honestly.”

“Be a dearie and find out from one of her sisters,” Rarity said, idly waving him away with her free hoof. She turned heel, trotting back to the chest she had found the gem in. “We’re going to make Roseluck a dress that nothing else will compare to!”