Part 1: >>710658  
Part 2: >>758235  
Side Story 1: >>770689  
Side Story 2: >>771358  
Side Story 3: >>795562  
Side Story 4: >>799177  
Part 3: >>You are here  
Part 4: >>TBA
 
“No!” spat the false mare as she backed away from you, “I don’t wanna!”
 
“Come on!” you said, “You’ll like it, I promise.”
 
“No!”
 
You reached for her and one of her tentacles whipped your wrist with a loud snap. “Ow! Jeez!” you whimpered as you clutched your arm. She hit hard. She scurried past you and huddled up in the corner by the bed and grabbed a pillow to hide behind. You didn’t understand what the big deal was; she seemed absolutely terrified of the idea. You took a step toward her and stopped when she whimpered in fear. “You don’t have to be scared,” you said as you lowered to your knees to meet her eye-to-eye, “It’ll only be gone for a half-hour at most. That suit of yours is in desperate need of a wash. Just think of how good it will smell and feel when you get it back.”
 
“I won’t take it off, I won’t!” she said fearfully, “I need it!!!”
 
“I can’t wash it with you wearing it,” you said softly. “I’ll take good care of it and you’ll get it right back.” She continued to cower in the corner, keeping her face hidden behind the pillow and refusing to even look at you. Parts of her body rippled erratically as the tentacles within seemed to thrash about with fear. “Can’t you trust me?” you said with a smile, “Last night I trusted you, so now it’s your turn. That’s how friendship works.”
 
Her fake ears pointed straight up and her head wrenched away from the pillow to stare right at you. She was wide-eyed and silent for a moment, with every part of her body locked solid like a statue. “We…” she said weakly, “We’re friends…?”
 
“Yeah,” you said, “We’re friends.”
 
“I…” she said quietly. She stared down at the floor, back at you, and back down at the floor, all the while with a faint smile on her face. Finally she made eye contact with you, “Okay… just be careful…” She began to unzip the suit and immediately zipped it back up. “You have to leave.”
 
You smirked. “After what you wanted to do last night I can’t even watch you undress?”
 
“Last night was different.”
 
You wanted to laugh but didn’t; she was being dead serious. You nodded and left the room, closing the door behind you and nearly collapsing as you held back laughter. The idea that what made up her insides could actually be bashful was funny in ways you couldn’t understand: you had truly seen everything. A moment passed and the door opened a crack; a single green tendril offered to you the empty costume that you knew as the false mare, and almost pinched itself in the doorframe as it hurriedly wriggled back inside and slammed the door behind it.
 
You studied it carefully as you carried it to the wash basin, trying to figure out how it worked. Granted you knew very little about how magic or such things worked, but there didn’t seem to be anything unique or special about the suit other than the quality of the craftsmanship. Even the eyes, which looked 100% real when she wore it, were now nothing more than lifeless pieces of plastic that stared emotionlessly forward like a doll. You got to work washing it, being as gentle as you could and minding the popped stitches and opened seams; after how scared she had been you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if you ruined the costume. Thankfully the costume seemed to be made of what felt like denim, and wasn’t something that would rip easily or shrink. After giving it one final rinse you held it up by the forelegs and marvelled at it one final time; despite it being in disrepair and in dire need of a tailor, whoever made this costume was a master of their craft. Even Rarity, that nice mare who owned the boutique in town, would be impressed by it. As you carried the dripping costume to the fireplace to let it dry, you wished every step of the way you could get her to fix it for you but knew you couldn’t. Instead you decided, once the suit was dry and you gave it back to your friend, you would see about swinging by Rarity’s for some supplies and perhaps then go to the library for a book on how to sew. It would be a good excuse to visit Twilight Sparkle again as well; she had done quite a bit for you, between letting you live in this old house for free on the condition that you did some repairs to it and was also researching a means to get you back home. You were glad to have a friend like her in your corner, and found yourself considering the possibility of taking your new friend here to her. Out of all the ponies in town, she seemed like the most likely to actually give your false mare friend a chance.
 
“Maybe eventually,” you said aloud as you reached the closed door where your friend hid. You knocked softly, “Can I come in?” A loud slam against the door served as your answer as you tried the doorknob that wouldn’t turn. “It won’t be long, okay? I hung it up to dry. Don’t you want to come out and keep me company until then?” There was no answer, and you found yourself wondering if she even could talk without the costume. Either way if she wasn’t going to speak then you would. You spoke about your life before coming here, filling her in about your family and friends and things like what you did for a living. “You see?” you added to your tale, “I’m one of a kind here as well. Of course I have some friends here, but a lot of the ponies don’t trust me. I don’t know exactly what it’s been like for you, but I at least understand how you feel. That’s why we have to trust and look out for one another. I know what it’s like to be different and alone too, and no matter what you can trust me.”
 
There was silence for a moment or too and then the door opened a crack. A lone green tentacle slithered out and probed about until it found your arm. It coiled around your wrist and gently nestled into your hand and you gripped it back. Thinking about everyone back home, wherever home was compared to here, made you think about how worried they probably were about you. “Won’t be long now,” you said, your voice shaky as you stared off into nothing with thoughts of everyone back home swirling through your head.