A Wonderful Life 3 [PiE]

>Flitter lied sobbing on her bed with her face buried in her pillow.

>Cloudchaser sat beside her on the edge of the bed, her lower legs dangling off and wearing a very annoyed expression on her face.

>Flitter had been lying here all morning.

>It was now 4 in the afternoon.

>Cloudchaser had checked on her occasionally just to be safe and even tried to console her.

>Now she's just irritated by her sister's childish behavior.

>"I still don't understand your fascination with him," said Cloudchaser. "The guy's a total loser and a slob."

>"He just needs a loving push in the right direction," mumbled Flitter into her pillow.

>"Yeah, and it looks like the girl from last night might just be the push he needs," Cloudchaser said jokingly.

>Regardless of the obvious sarcasm, Flitter burst into another fit of tears.

>"Ugh," groaned Cloudchaser. "You are such a baby!"

>"What does he see in her?" asked Flitter. "What does she got that I don't?"

>"Well for starters, you are the biggest push-over I have ever seen," commented Cloudchaser. "Second-"

>"That's it!" piped up Flitter, rising from her pillow with a smile on her face. "I just need to be more assertive!"

>"It's more than that," said Cloudchaser.

>"No, you see! He gave me all kinds of chances to speak up, but I never did! And there was no way he didn't see the hints I was giving him!"

>"Uh... What hints?" asked Cloudchaser. "And he seems oblivious enough that-"

>"Let's go!" shouted a giddy Flitter as she hopped off the bed.

>"Where exactly?" asked Cloudchaser.

>Her answer was to be grabbed by the hoof and dragged out the door.

--

>Sunday is your last day of absolute freedom.

>And you're just wasting it away by sitting on your ass.

>You need a hobby.

>Or at least the motivation to leave your apartment every now and again.

>You should go for a run or to the gym or something.

>...

>Meh, maybe tomorrow.

>At the very least you should pick up your apartment after your asshole friends trashed it.

>Again.

>You pick up a single can from your place on the couch.

>God, this sucks already.

>A knock at the door.

>Saved by the bell!

>You groan as you're forced to get off the couch.

>God, you're getting fat.

>You saunter over to the door.

>It's Flitter with Cliffdiver looking extremely pissed off behind her.

"What's up?"

>"Hi Anon," greeted Flitter. "We just thought we'd come over and help you clean if you haven't already since we also helped to trash your apartment."

>"We?" huffed Cleftrunner.

>Flitter beamed and large smile at you as she quickly kicked her hind leg at her sister's shin.

>You raise an eyebrow at Claypidgeon as she hopped up and down and cursed under her breath.

"I, uh... That's not necessary."

>"Oh, but I insist," pushed Flitter.

"No, really. It's fine."

>You start to inch the door closed.

>Flitter places her hoof in front of it.

>"Let us help," she demands.

>"I think I'm gonna go," said Classclown as she slowly as she slowly backed towards her own apartment.

>You felt as if you were against a wall, figuratively speaking.

>Quite possibly literally in just a few short moments.

>You step to the side and hold the door.

"I mean, if you really want to..."

>"Thanks!" said Flitter as she trotted passed with the most innocent smile.

>You watch across the hall as Clockturner closed and bolted the door behind her.

 

>You shut your own door when you see that Flitter's sister will not be joining her.

>"It looks like you've already started," said Flitter, referencing the empty can still in your hand.

"Started," you emphasize. "Didn't get very far though."

>"Well if you can pick up the cans and stuff, I can wipe the tables down."

"Sure."

>You grab an armful of cans and drop them in the garbage can.

"So do you enjoy cleaning or something? This is the second time you've asked to clean for no reason."

>"Just trying to be a good neighbor. And it kind of helps to pass the time during the day as well."

>Flitter wets a rag and takes a spray bottle of cleaning solution.

"Ah. That makes sense."

>You toss a stack of sticky plastic cups into the trash.

"Thanks."

>"No problem."

"And you said 'to pass the time'? Do you not have a job?"

>Flitter wiped the table for a second in silence.

>"Well, no." she stated bluntly. "But I want to get one soon."

"Oh, alright. I'm not much better off, to be honest. I've been without a job for a while."

>"How long is a while?" asked Flitter, cocking her head at you curiously.

"Several months," you state after a moment of hesitation.

>Just saying it makes you flush with embarassment.

>"Several months!? How can you afford food? or an apartment?"

"A cab driver ran over my foot and a judge ordered him to pay me several thousand dollars for pain and suffering."

>At first ecstatic at the fact you can live off of these checks for a while, people, your family especially, soon came to make you ashamed to flaunt it around like you had been.

>You had already quit your job, and finding another one in this job market was damn near impossible.

>Not to mention you were almost out of money.

 

"So how about you?" you ask, trying to divert the conversation.

>"My sister has already found one, but I haven't been able to find one since we got here."

>You throw the last of the cups, cans, and bottles away and grab some sodas from the fridge.

>Flitter was waiting for you on the couch.

>Your game you were playing and forgot about was still idling on the TV.

"Oh yeah. I've been meaning to ask you. Where did you come from?"

>"Equestria."

"Well, yeah I knew that. But I mean before you came to the city."

>"Equestria," Flitter repeated.

"Wait, you came straight here?"

>"Straight from beautiful Cloudsdale."

"Can I ask you another question? How does that work exactly? Moving from Equestria to Earth. Like, do you just board a magic train or something?"

>"Well there's an exchange program that you can sign up for that pairs you with a human partner for a month, but it's only one pony per partner. Not wanting to be seperated, Cloudchaser and I signed up for the standard immigration and took everything we had and moved here. Both programs simply teleport you to a inter-dimensional travel station here in the city."

"Oh wow. That must have been a really hard decision to just give everything up and come to a place like this."

>Flitter looked at the floor in front of her and solemnly nodded her head.

>"It's been tough."

>Then she smiled up at you.

>"But there are some things - and people - that have made it a lot more bearable."

>You take a sip of your coke and nod your head, not looking at her.

 

>Then you lock eyes.

"So what do you do for money? Surely your sister can't support the both of you and that apartment with one job."

>"Oh that's easy. We had several dozen bits saved between the two of us before we came to Earth."

"Well that's pony money," you state matter-of-factly.

>Flitter shook her head.

>"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what the humans set the exchange rate at," she said with a large grin.

>You raise a curious eyebrow.

"How much?" you ask, taking a sip of your coke.

>"Eighty human dollars per bit."

>You cough and lurch as the cola burned it's way up into your nose.

"Holy crap," you wheeze in a raspy voice, still coughing.

>Flitter has an adorable laugh at your expense.

 

>You spend the next half hour or so to really get to know each other.

>You've never really had the chance to just sit down and talk and have a laugh with her.

>It's a nice change of pace to get to know someone knew.

>You can't remember the last time you just sat and talked to someone for an extended period of time.

>The two of you eventually found yourselves sitting there with nothing left that you could think of to talk about.

>"So," started Flitter, taking a look around. "You spend so much time cooped up here. What do you do for fun?"

>You're not sure why you were taken aback by her question.

>Probably because you have absolutely nothing to do around here.

"Well... TV and video games," you shrug. "Not much else. My friend Joe friend my damn computer, so that's not an option."

>Flitter picked your controller off the couch between both hooves and fumbled with it.

>"So how does this work?" she asks, inspecting it.

"Magic," you say for lack of a better explanation.

>You give her a quick demonstration by playing a game online.

>"So you just pretend to kill each other for fun?" she asks.

"Pretty much, yeah."

>"Why?"

>You give her a simple shrug of the shoulders.

"Posterity? Bragging rights? Quite possibly also venting anger until you start losing."

>"But that's meaningless if no one knows who you are."

"I suppose that's true. But a few minutes of being able to say 'I'm better than you' is kind of fun."

>"And people aren't worried that someone might actually try to hurt others because of this?"

"Only if said person is a pschotic and/or a complete idiot. That being said, I met Dom on here a while back. I lost, got pissed, found out he lived nearby, and showed up on his doorstep with a knife."

 

>Flitter had a look of horrow at how casually yet serious-sounding you had just said this to her.

>You take note of her discomfort.

"I'm kidding."

>Flitter let out a sigh of relief.

"But I did actually meet Dom online."

>Flitter nodded and watched as you finished your game.

>You set the controller in her lap and she looks up at you in confusion.

"You wanna try?"

>She just shook her head.

>You take the controller back, but give handed her te mic instead.

"Here. Pretend like you're the one playing."

>"Why?"

"Because people don't like to lose to a girl. And this has potential to be funny."

>Sure enough, the very next game had guys talking to her, flirting, and generally being the annoying douchebag stereotype.

>Flitter was all-too-eager to chat with them, too.

>Their voices were coming through the TV too so you could hear the conversation and tell Flitter what to say at times.

>As expected, they started to belittle Flitter as you started to move into the better half of the leaderboards, to which Flitter promptly retorted back.

>You were dying from laughing so hard.

>Flitter also seemed to be enjoying putting a few anonymous kids in their place.

 

>A notification pops across the bottom of the screen.

>'StolenTurtle is now online'.

"Oh! Oh! Gimme that."

>You hold out your hand and clutch the air repeatedly until you get the mic.

>'StolenTurtle has joined your party'.

>"Yo, yo, yo. What's up, homey G," came the deep voice at the other end of the line.

"You're fuckin' gay," you comment.

>"Hey, I just got a month's paid vacation, faggot."

"What the hell? Who's dick did you suck to pull that one off?"

>"Pony Exchange Program," he said. "Apparently they come to stay with you for a month and you get payed for missed work so you can hang out with them."

"Oh, no kidding? That's awesome! Maybe I should sign up for that."

>"Speaking of which. I've mysteriously ended up on their program's registry. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Not a clue, homo."

>A voice is heard in the background of Dom's mic.

>"I wanna say 'Hi'," is heard in a female voice.

>Dom starts talking to whoever it is.

>Flitter takes this moment to pop a question.

>"Why are all of you so rude to each other?"

"It's all in good fun," you explain. "True friends are assholes to each other. Right Dom?" you ask through the mic.

>"No. Fuck you," he replies. "No not you," he goes on to say.

>You shrug.

"They can't all be winners."

>"It's just wierd to me," says Flitter.

"If you hang out with us, you'll see how commonplace it is."

>"I suppose."

 

>The mic on the other end crackles as it is passed from one person to another.

>"Howdy!" greets a new voice. "I'm Applejack!"

" 'Sup," you greet. "I'm Anon."

>"And I'm Flitter!" shouts Flitter from her end of the couch.

>"Well, shoot. Y'all got a female pony partner, too?"

"No, no, no. Just a neighbor," you correct.

>"Did you come in on the exchange program?" shouted Flitter.

"You know what? Here."

>You pass the mic to Flitter so she can talk to Applejack without shouting.

>They ask each other questions about the seperate programs and otherwise casual chatter.

>You and Dom just play together in silence for now, but after a while, you finally wrestle the mics from the girls so you can chat.

>Things very quickly go south, however.

>"Holy fucking horseshit! I don't even know why I play this fucking game with you."

>You manage to say "Shut up and play, faggot" in between fits of uncontrollable laughter.

>Somehow dodging bullets, you run up and stab Dom in the chest.

>Very heavy breathing is heard from his end of the mic.

>'StolenTurtle has left the game'.

>You quickly grab your phone and send him a text.

>'Where did you go, fag?'

>You immediately follow it up with a second message.

>'Get back online'.

 

>You set your controller down and shut off the console.

"Welp, I think I'm done for the night."

>You check your watch.

"Holy crap, it's 8:30."

>"If you're hungry, you're welcome to come over for dinner," offered Flitter.

"No thanks. I think I'll just order some Dominoes or-"

>"You're not eating pizza again," objected Flitter.

"I was actually thinking of hot wings," you correct.

>"Same thing. You're not ordering out again. I won't allow it."

>Flitter got up and flew to the door, holding it open.

>"After you."

>You look from her to your phone and sigh.

>Placing your phone in your pocket, you grab another coke from the fridge and walk passed her into the hall.

>Flitter shuts your door and goes to open her own apartment, only to find it bolted from the other side.

>She kicks the door.

>"Cloudchaser, let me in!"

>"Swear to Celestia, if you're covered in Anon's blood, I'm calling the cops," called her sister from the other side.

>Unbolting the door and cracking it open, she peers one eye out into the hallway.

>"Yo Anon. You're not a lobotomite by chance, are you?" asked Cloudchaser.

"Not that I'm aware of."

>"Okay. Good."

>Cloudchaser opened the door and went back to her place in front of the TV.

>Flitter leads you inside.

 

>Their apartment wasn't that horribly decorated, to be honest.

>In fact, it was very nice compared to yours.

>But then again, anything was.

>It seems that the girls really appreciate the colors of baby blue and white.

>Most of their non-wooden furniture was white.

>Carpet included.

>The walls and ceiling were blue.

>"It gives a feeling of home, you know?" asked Flitter after taking notice of you inspecting the room.

>"Blue sky and white clouds."

"You two actually live in the clouds?"

>"Yup."

"That's pretty cool, not gonna lie."

>You made your way to the leather couch and plopped yourself down on the opposite side of Cloudchaser.

>Flitter went to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

>The sound of cabinets banging open and closed also catches your ears.

>"Uh... Cloudchaser?" asked Flitter as she came into the living room. "Where's the food?"

>"YOU were supposed to go grocery shopping today, remember?"replied her sister.

>"Oh... Right..." flushed an embarassed Flitter. "So what are we going to do for dinner?"

>"I dunno," shrugged Cloudchaser. "How about take out? I don't feel like going anywhere tonight."

>"I- Sure," agreed Flitter as she went to the phone.

"Hey wait a minute. How is this any different than my dinner plans?" you ask Flitter.

>"Because now you're not being a hermit," retorted Flitter.

 

>You were wondering how they would get by ordering from a Chinese joint.

>As it turns out, they made it work.

>They didn't even appear grossed out when you were munching on your sweet and sour chicken or chicken fried rice.

>That in itself surprised you.

>They must have accepted the fact humans eat meat long ago.

>The three of you sat on the floor in front of the TV.

>Flitter had flipped it to some old "I Love Lucy" reruns.

>She seemed to enjoy it.

>You weren't bothered, but Cloudchaser made her disapproval well-known.

>When dinner was over, you took your leftovers with you and thanked Flitter for the meal, even offering to pay her back.

>She declined and invited you back anytime.

>You just might take her up on that.

>You had a better time than you thought.

>It was 10:30 when you got back.

>You put the food away and kicked your shoes off before going straight to bed.

>You had work tomorrow, something you weren't exactly too excited about.