• Published 19th Dec 2015
  • 11,903 Views, 415 Comments

A Stallion's Man - Spirit Shift



Life sucks when six gay stallions are after you. What's a straight human to do?

  • ...
47
 415
 11,903

CH3: Attempted Apologies

“So... you say you fell asleep?” asked Applejack, looking stoically into Barrett's eyes while taking a long slow sip from his cup of coffee.

Barrett nodded, pointedly not meeting his gaze. Instead he was staring down at his own cup of not alcohol. “Yeah, and when I woke up Butterscotch was cuddled up next me.” Barrett shrugged and took a long sip. Afterwards, he let out a relieved sigh. “I thought it was cute and harmless so I let him be and decided to go back to sleep.”

“Then Blitz stormed in an’ saw you two?” asked AJ raising a brow from over his mug.

Barrett stared up at him, his own brow twitching nervously. “Not exactly. Angelica let him in. I guess Elusive sent him. Anyway, he saw us together and started to freak out. I, like a sensible human, tried to explain the situation. Afterwards, I guess that Butterscotch woke up and realized that I was— I mean he was cuddling me, and so he freaked out and fell off the seat.”

Applejack just continued to stare at him. “An’ then Blitz thought you pushed the poor colt off an’ decked ya?” He took a sip from his mug.

“Well a few things happened in between,” Barrett sighed. “I may have hurt Butterscotch’s feelings. Dusk looked hurt too actually.”

“Oh, he’s gonna be hurt alright,” AJ muttered, the mug around his lips muffling his words.

Barrett stared at the stallion, his brow furrowed and his mouth stretched to a thin line. “Applejack, is there even anything in that mug anymore?”

Applejack calmly sat the mug down and went quiet for a second, causing Barrett to feel just a tad bit anxious. “Barrett, do you want some more ice?” AJ finally asked.

Barrett glanced out of his swollen, half-closed eye towards the semi melted bag of ice next to him. “Nah, it doesn't hurt anymore and I think the swelling has stopped. Why?” he asked feeling around his face. The second he touched his eye he flinched back and hissed from the stinging sensation. “Does it look like it’s getting worse?”

Applejack eyes narrowed and he only continued to glare at the large purple horseshoe shaped bruise around his friend’s eye and the dark mark keeping it half closed. He let out a small grunt in response and brought the mug back up to his lips.

While Barrett’s gaze was still blurry without his glasses, having forgotten them at Butterscotch’s place, he couldn’t exactly tell what kind of expression AJ was making. However, just from listening to the hollow slurps emanate from Applejack’s cup, Barrett deduced that his friend might have been just a tiny bit absolutely livid. Assuming that was the case, he decided to sit the bag of mostly cold water back onto his eye.

The hollow slurping sounds stopped almost immediately.

“Anyway,” began the human, “I’m gonna go see Butterscotch today. Maybe see if I can apologize for whatever I said. Then I’ll—” Applejack held his hoof up.

“Ah think Ah’ll talk to Blitz about what happened,” he interrupted. “Knowing him, he’s probably still in a huff for whatever reason.”

Barrett nodded slowly. “Alright then…. By the way, can I ask a question?”

“Sure thing,” said AJ, cocking his head.

“Do you know about a white coated mare in town. Brown gold mane and ruby coloured eyes?”

Applejack glanced down and rubbed his muzzle curiously. “Hmmm, not that ah know of. Why? Who is she?”

Barrett could feel the heat in his cheeks rising and, to hide his glowing face, he threw his head back and downed the last of his coffee. Letting out a burp, he shrugged. “No reason, just never seen her around before I think. I was curious.”

Applejack couldn’t help but crack a small grin from the impressive burp before glancing down at his own mug for the first time. “Oh,” he muttered, turning it upside down. The mug was bone dry. “Guess ah’m out too. Want some more?”

Barrett sat the water bag down and shook his head. “No thanks. I’m gonna take a walk around before going to see Scotch.”

Applejack opened his mouth to respond but paused when he heard a soft knock on the front door. Standing up from the table, Applejack made his way to the door and opened it up. He angled his head and scanned around, curious as to why there was nothing outside to meet him. Finally, his eyes wondered down to see a small white bunny glaring up at him.

“Can… can ah help you?” asked Applejack, glancing around nervously.

Angelica simply scoffed and bounced past him and into the house. Barrett watched with mild interest as the bunny hopped into the kitchen, onto AJ’s seat, then onto the table before stopping in front of him.

Barrett quickly took note of the pair of familiar black rimmed glasses that Angelica held in her paws. Barrett stared down at her and she stared up at him. After a second of further staring, she scowled and waved her paws about, apparently signalling for him to lean down.

Barrett instead simply held his hand out and gestured for her to give him his glasses. Angelica hopped into his palm and motioned for him to bring her closer. Barrett looked back at AJ who shrugged before bringing Angelica up to eye level.

The bunny immediately slapped his nose and pointed out the door. Barrett followed her gesture, recognizing that she was pointing at the town, or rather, probably what was beyond it.

Smiling, Barrett petted the top of Angelica head. “I know. I was already going to go apologize anyway, so don’t worry.”

Angelica smiled at him and nodded, thankful that he understood. Sitting the glasses back on his face, the bunny hopped from his palm to his shoulder and pointed forward. Barrett stood up from his seat and walked over to the door. “I guess I’m going to see Scotch right now then.”

AJ nodded and took a step outside to let him out. “Be safe. Don’t get slapped again,” he said. Barrett smirked, thinking he was teasing, but one look at his tight lipped expression told him that he probably wasn’t.

Angelica, however, smirked anyway and slapped Barrett playfully on his cheek. Barrett, unaffected by the soft attack waved at AJ, adjusted his glasses, and started down the path to leave Sweet Apple Acres.

AJ’s expression soured worse and he craned his head to look upwards. His gaze flew across the sky until they finally locked onto a particular cloud with a familiar head sticking out from the corner. Said head quickly ducked back into the cloud.

~~~

Following the same path from earlier, Barrett made his way through the town and towards the opposite edge of Ponyville. As he walked, he began to feel a soft paw touching the black mark around his eye. He turned to see Angelica raising a curious brow while staring at his eye.

Barrett sighed. “Yeah, Blitz got a bit upset. Don’t worry about it.” Angelica crossed her paws and gave him a skeptical look. Barrett shook his head. “I guess I said something stupid… or phrased it in a mean way… I think.”

Angelica, mouth wide, gave him an incredulous look of disbelief. Barrett rolled his eyes. “What? All I said was the same thing I’ve been saying. I told him that I’m not gay.”

Barrett scoffed and Angelica simply facepawed in response.

The rest of the trip proceeded in silence. As they walked through the street, Barrett couldn’t help but notice that ponies were staring at him with even more skeptical expressions than before. Not surprising considering the rumor that he could just barely hear being whispered around. “The human took advantage of the kindest pony in town” had been the basic summary of what he could collectively make out.

He let out a small groan and decided to do a bit of glancing around himself. From what he could see, the white coated pony mare from that morning wasn’t out there. He shrugged, knowing he had the rest of the day to look.

The walk soon found completion as Barrett and Angelica passed the town's limits and crossed the bridge into Butterscotch’s cabin and animal sanctuary. As usual all sorts of critters frolicking about. Birds flew together in simple patterns, beavers played under the bridge, bees and butterflies flittered among the flowers and other bunnies were hopping around playing tag it seemed. There even appeared to be a large bear playing with a few smaller animals by the side of the house.

Taking careful steps in order to not disturb the delicate, and frankly miraculous, ecosystem of Butterscotch's yard, Barrett made his way to the door. He hesitated for a second, his fist hovering just an inch from it. However, with a nudge from Angelica, the human gave the door a few tentative but firm knocks.

Angelica crossed her paws and waited for any reply. After a few seconds, she began tapping her foot impatiently. After a full minute, she slapped the human and knocked his glasses askew.

“What?” asked Barrett. Angelica pointed to the door. Taking the hint, Barrett knocked again, this time calling out, “H-hey… Butterscotch? You around?”

When there was still no answer, Barrett sagged and leaned his head against the door. “I’m gonna start to feel really bad if Scotch just isn't going to answer the door for me.”

Raising a brow and giving her little chin a scratch, Angelica gave Barrett's cheek a pat and climbed off of his shoulder. He watched in curiosity as the bunny hopped through the bunny slot near the bottom of the door.

Lifting his own forehead from the wood, Barrett sat his ear against it instead. He could hear the thump thumps of the rabbit hopping around the home. When the thumps stopped they were replaced with a chattering noise. The first sounded like a meow, and then a hiss, then he found himself falling forward as the door suddenly fell open.

Tripping over himself, the man barely recovered his balance enough to land on one knee. In front of him was Angelica, grinning her devilish grin.

“Oh haha,” he mocked, standing back up. “I’m… guessing he’s not home?” Angelica nodded and made a motion with her paw, moving it in circles around her face.

Barrett tilted his head for a second before trying to work it out. “Face… facial… Oh,” he gasped. “He went to the spa?!” Angelica nodded.

“Hmmm… I guess he left to go cheer himself up or something. I suppose that If I show up that’ll only make things worse,” he muttered, his tone low and melancholy.

Without wasting another second Barrett waved to Angelica and turned away. “Alright then. I promise I’ll apologize to him whenever he comes back home. Thanks for coming with me… even if I was probably just a free ride to you.”

Angelica simply gave him a smirk, saluting him off and closing the door.

So then Barrett strode back across the yard, past the bridge and back into town. When thinking about what to do now, his mind eventually fell back onto the image of that mare. Her pearl white coat, light amber mane, and her vivid red eyes were all so foreign to him, but still strangely familiar. As he walked his mind struggled to remember what her male counterpart could be.

Either way, he was happy to at least see another female in this crazy little town. Though he knew it was an exaggeration, to him females around his age were as rare in Ponyville as it was to find ponies who don’t wear clothing in Canterlot.

As he crossed into the residential area, gaze lingering in the clouds, he absentmindedly held up a hand and found himself counting the female ponies in town. “There’s Time Twist who hangs out with Clutzy… There’s Toffee who is—”

He paused both, in speech and in stride, as he passed a particular house. This house, standing tall and ordinary, looked absolutely no different than the other thatched-roof homes around it. The only thing that attracted his attention to it was the fact he could hear loud, by this point, familiar arguing coming from the ponies inside.

“—was dating Flash.” Barrett shook his head sadly. “I swear every time I walk past here I either hear them yelling at each other or making out. They really need some thicker damn walls.”

Choosing not to dwell on it, Barrett continued walking, far too used to this particular song and dance. Eyes looking up at the sea of air above him, he continued his time wasting mental activity. “There’s that game obsessed filly that Silver Bell is into… I think her name was Switch or something. And I think there are some that go to the school that Smiles teaches at.

Turning a corner, Barrett exited the residential area of Ponyville and came into the main part of the town complete with the Solaris statue, Town Hall, and Sugarcube Corner. To his surprise, seeing the confectionary come into view sent his stomach rumbling.

Thinking back, Barrett realized that he never did eat the eye-gasm pancakes from that morning. He supposed that even though he was just at AJ’s house being punched in the face had stunted his appetite a bit.

But, his eye was feeling better, and he was hungry, and it was a bit past noon… maybe. What the hell, he decided to go grab a cake to eat.

His mouth curling up into a smile, Barrett licked his lips and made his way to the store, only to be greeted by a hug from above!

“Barry-Buddy!” squealed the excited voice of Bubble Berry, glomping Barret’s head in a big hug.

Barret almost fumbled a bit from the force and added weight of Berry, but somehow, he managed to keep his balance. “Oh great…” he mumbled. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself.

However, instead of the fresh scent of cakes and donuts, Barrett was greeted with the smell of diabetes. When Barrett opened his eyes, he saw Berry’s snout pressing up against his nose. He also took notice that their lips were just a few inches apart, and an awkward warmth began building in his face. Barrett quickly took a few steps back.

“Oh it’s so good to see you this afternoon, Barry-o,” Berry started on his rambling. “I had a leg buckle followed by a twitchy ear, pins and needles in my left hoof, and finally the urge to shake my groove thang! That only meant that my closest bestest buddy is coming to see me!” Jumping up in the air, Berry locked his hooves around Barrett's waist and began swinging himself and the human around in circles.

Barrett gave a yelp of shock as Berry was not only intruding his personal space, but acting way too hyper. “Berry stop before I get dizzy and throw up!”

Berry didn’t hear his cry as he continued to spin both of them around. “Oh we are going to have so much fun for this afternoon. We’ll bake a huge cake in the shape of me and you and we’ll eat it together and we’ll share it with the other and get real fat and—”

“Berry, can you stop for a fucking second before I barf all over you?!” Barrett yelled, however, by the time he finished he realized that he was now spinning all by himself, and that Berry had let go of his waist.

Berry, back to standing in front of the door, chuckled. “Hehehe. No need to yell, I’m here silly-willy. And such a bad word you said, someone needs to wash their mouth out good,” Berry teased while sporting a big grin.

Barrett looked at Berry, he had an intense glare plastered on his face, before calming down and remembering that the stallion just like to play around. “Look Berry… Can I get something to eat?” he asked. “I’m getting kind of hungry and—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Berry had shoved a donut into his mouth. “Haha! I knew you’d be hungry, so I made you several donuts.” He still held that big grin.

Barrett cautiously chewed on the donut. He didn’t appreciate things being shoved into his mouth, but he couldn’t say the same about the donut. Honestly, he couldn’t complain since the chocolate glaze on top of of the donut was satisfying his hunger. He gave a moan of satisfaction. “You know Berry…” he said with a full mouth, “I would be mad at you… If this donut wasn’t so delicious. It’s chocolatey and has a vanilla cream filling and everything. It’s really freaking great tasting.”

Berry gave a surprised gasp. “You… You really like my cream that much?” he stammered, resisting the urge to explode. Instead he just let out an embarrassed giggle. “Thanks!”

Barrett gave a thumbs up, before swallowing the chewed donut. “Well, yeah.” He patted his belly to further emphasize his happiness. “You wouldn’t happen to have any more of those donuts, would you?” he asked looking down at him with a thankful grin.

Berry nodded happily and a small blush grew on his face. “Yeah, I made the cream myself in my room just last night! I gotta admit, I was thinking about you while I did it.” Barrett’s grin immediately fell flat into a frown as a deeply… deeply disturbing thought ran through his head.

He opened his mouth to respond but Berry, in his usual hyperactive enthusiasm, had already ran back into the store.

Barrett looked from the empty spot where Berry was, to the cream on his fingers, then back to the spot and let out a low shudder. “Nah… of course not,” he muttered to himself while wiping the cream on his pants. “He’s not that weird.”

“Excuse me?” Barrett’s mind snapped to attention when he finally took note of the pony standing in front of him, obviously try to leave the store. To his surprise, it was the same mare from that morning.

“O-oh,” he stammered, moving out of the way. The mare frowned a bit and Barrett realized that she apparently recognized him as well. After all, it was kind of hard to forget about the monkey who was fighting the pony.

Saying nothing more, the mare moved passed him and began trotting away. As she walked past, Barrett caught sight of her cutie mark. It was of a small makeup mirror.

“Hey, hold on a sec?” said Barrett, calling out to her. The mare stopped in her tracks and turned her head around to look at him. Barrett decided to pick his next words carefully, just in case she was as cautious around him as every other pony. “You were there this morning right, trying to break up the fight?”

The mare furrowed her brow and turned around to face him completely. “Wait, was that what that was? I thought you two were just rough housing.”

“No,” Barrett said, scratching his head. “I just had to deal with Rainbow Blitz’s bull. Something is up with him, he always acts first and then asks questions later.”

The mare snorted and burst out in a fit of giggles. “Well, he’s always been the daredevil. He probably thought that beating you up would get him in the Wonderbolts or something stupid like that. I swear he hangs off their plots way too much.”

Barret’s eyes sprang open. “You know Rainbow Blitz?” he asked incredulously.

The mare nodded. “I do. We went to Wonderbolt Academy together. He was teamed up with someone who was even more reckless than him. I think his name was like Thunder… Dirt or whatever, I don’t remember,” she trailed off, rolling her hoof, and eye, in circles.

Barrett started to chuckle in response, but after a second, he stopped abruptly and remembered a question that he wanted answered. “By the way… I didn’t get your name. My name is Barrett Biggs.”

The mare held out her hoof. “I’m Ample Grace.”

Barrett shook her hoof and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. By the way, are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

At that Grace cocked her head to the side. “Umm no. I’ve lived here for a pretty long while. I mean, I do leave town to go on tours every so often. But yeah, I’ve probably lived here longer than you have,” she said, chuckling again.

“Seriously?” Barrett looked her up and down again, still trying to mentally piece together who her male counterpart might be. She definitely looked familiar but he just couldn’t recall a pony with her colours and that cutie mark, despite recognizing pretty much every other pony. He shrugged, guessing that she probably never showed up on screen. “So tours, huh? I’m guessing you’re pretty important than?”

Grace nodded and sat a hoof on her chest proudly. “Of course. I’m a model. I travel around sometimes, wearing clothes and saddles and looking pretty damn gorgeous if I do say so myself,” she said, striking a pose and playfully flipping her amber mane. Barrett smirked and gave her a sarcastic giggle.

Seeing his reaction, she broke down and chuckled sheepishly. “Oh please, I’m not that much like Blitz. But seriously I—”

She was interrupted by another bout of rumbling from Barrett's stomach. By the time it had ended, Barrett was blushing and Ample Grace was still giggling.

“I… I guess one donut wasn’t enough. I should really get something to eat.” Barrett glanced back up at the confectionary behind him.

Grace followed his gaze and gave him an amused grin. “What? Did you skip lunch?” she asked.

Barrett turned back and looked her dead in her eye. “Well I would have eaten but I guess getting a black eye provided too big of a distraction,” he deadpanned.

Grace shrugged. “Hey, I wouldn’t know. Anyway, I don’t really think cake is a healthy snack. If you want to, you can hang out with me and we’ll get some real food.”

“Hmmm, I don’t know,” he grimaced. “It’s not hay related is it?

Brace simply stared at him, apparently trying to comprehend his last sentence. “Excuse me? Why would you assume it’s hay related?”

“Well see... that's the thing. When I’m at like a restaurant everypony offers me something hay or flower related. I knew that there was a place in Trottingham that makes great pizza. But as far as Ponyville goes, the only thing I’ve eaten regularly are fruits, veggies, and junk food.”

“It doesn't have to be,” she said, frowning. “You know, ponies can make things that aren't hay related. It’s not always hay fries and daisy sandwiches,” she snarked. Spinning on her heel, she gestured with her hoof and pointed down the road. “Come on, it’s close enough to evening where we can hit up a restaurant.”

Barrett reeled back in surprise and shook his head. “No, I mean as far as cheap regular food goes. I know that ponies can cook I’m just saying—”

Grace simply continued trotting away, her hips swaying with each stop. “Too late, I’ve already invited you. Now come on.”

Sighing reluctantly, Barrett took one more glance at the confectionary behind him. “Wonder where Berry went?” he muttered to himself, remembering that he was talking to somepony else beforehand. Peaking in through the window, he looked around but found no sight of the pink pony or his… suspicious donuts. Figuring that Berry probably had better things to be doing, he turned around and followed the mare.

However, above the entrance of the store, and with his face plastered against the window, Berry stared down with wide eyes at Barrett and this other mare as they talked and walked away.

Berry gasped against the glass and tore his face off. “Oh… my… cupcakes!” Panicking, Berry turned and ran over to his bed where his loving pet, and a plate of freshly cream filled donuts, sat.

“Gummy did you see that!” Berry lifted the alligator to his face. “That model just invited Barrett to dinner! Do you know what this means?!” he asked, shaking the docile reptile around.

Berry stopped shaking the Gummy for a second to get his response. The blank eyed alligator simply stared at him, offering no response aside from a slow blink. However, in that single blink, Berry got his answer.

To which he responded with a scoff and a playful eye roll. “What? A date? Of course not.” His cheery grin turned back into a super serious frown. “No, this means that she going to try to recruit Barrett into her agency!” Berry resumed the shaking. “You remember the Butterscotch incident, right? Barrett wasn’t here for that! He doesn't know how bad it is!”

Dropping the reptile, Berry covered his mouth with his hooves. “I can’t let him accept the deal or I’ll barely ever get the chance to see him!” he gasped. Throwing a hoof into the air, Berry came to a defining conclusion. “I can’t let him go through with it!”

With new found determination, Berry dashed out of his room and down the stairs, blatantly ignoring Mrs. Cake's yelling to be careful.

Author's Note:

"Yayyyyy I did a chapter all bi miself!!" ~Spirit Shift

"Screw you I helped!!" ~Viewpoint Robin

"I didn't, lol" ~An Empty Shell