Shipper Madness (Bake, Scrap, Cross, Bell, Shutter, Starry, Zestari

"...Wait, what?"

Shutter had no idea what had just happened...unless Starry quite literally wanted him to cross-dress. He didn't think she was into that! Er, they'd have to discuss that later, but for now, he was counting this conversation as a minor victory.

Quickly, he walked over to the closet, and slipped out a suit of pre-war businesswear. It was some of the fanciest clothing he had been able to find in the wastes, and he kept it and his Stable 113 suit very safe, despite the few burn marks already in the fancy outfit.

Quickly, he slipped on the undershirt, before attempting to fasten his tie with his hooves.

"So...what do we do once we find Trails? New Pegasus is a big place...Is there anywhere you want to see?"

He asked, as he wrestled with the piece of cloth, attempting to get it secure and neatly tied around his neck.

"Sounds good." Trails whispered, kissing Zesty one last time before entering his room.

He had managed to trick his way into a comped room, well not so much trick as intimidate, and waiting for him was a tray of fresh fruit and booze. He guessed they set that up thinking a high roller was getting the free bed, boy could that be farther from the truth. Trails popped open a beer and tossed his vest onto the bed along with his armor. He chugged the beer down and tossed the empty bottle into the waiting trash can before stepping into the hot shower.

He couldn't help but laugh as the water turned brown almost the instant it hit him. Days of dust circled down the drain, leaving him clean for the first time in what he decided was two weeks. He admittedly rushed through the shower, not taking the time to soak like he had planned. Well to be fair when he made that plan the mare he was craving was on the other side of the wasteland, not just outside his door. Honestly it had taken all of the willpower he had not to pick her up and throw her on his bed then and there, but that wouldn't be the couth thing to do with other ponies looking for him.

Trails jumped out of the shower and got dressed in a hurry, noticing with a start that he'd been in the shower for five minutes. That was five minutes too long in his books. He was still wet, but the wind would fix that. He was still pulling his vest on when he walked out the door, his keys dangling out of his mouth. When he exited he saw Bake and Scrap coming down the hall. Trails locked the door behind him before turning to address the pair.

"Well if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Parts, I take it you two were part of this expedition too."

“Huh, why not..?” Bakewell asked Scrap, turning her head back to face ahead just in time to see Happy Trails locking a hotel door. She looked at him with confused eyes, and upon hearing the campfire-marked buck’s greeting her eyes somehow briefly managed to convey even more confusion.

Mr. and Mrs. Parts? Who was he talking to? Was there a Mrs. Parts? But why? She had tried so hard and thought everything was working out! Why would Scra- oh wait, she was Mrs. Parts. Whoopsie.

Bakewell took a moment to consider the title. Did this mean that her name changed? Bakewell Parts? Ewwww, that was a terrible name; so terrible that her nose scrunched slightly as she considered it. She had to be fair, though. It probably wasn’t as bad as the name Scrap would have gotten were their genders reversed: Who would want to go around being named ‘Scrap Tart’? Zestari Trails wasn’t too bad, though.

“Of course! Zestari asked, and I just can’t say no to that zebra.” She grinned at the wet buck. She thought that Trails looked pretty silly when wet, but no way was she ever going to tell him that.

“But what are you doing here? We were just about to go look for you in Red Rock.”

"Had some business in Everfreeside. Well the Khans had some business in Everfreeside." Trails replied.

He had stifled a laugh as he saw Bake's internal freak out play across her face. That earth pony was an open book, and a funny one at that. Well usually funny, when she wasn't having a dark moment. He wrapped a foreleg around Zestari and squeezed gently as the conversation went on. He was still debating whether he had passed out on the poker table and this was a dream, or Zesty was actually here.

"Zesty said there were more ponies here. Last time I checked I wasn't that popular."

Mr. and Mrs. Parts...not used to that one...still sounds kinda nice...but wouldn't that make Bakewell's full name into Bakewell Parts...that sounds so funny...

Scrap listened while Bakewell and Trails conversed, looking for a good opportunity to speak up and join in. When Trails brought up the other that had came with them Scrap saw his opportunity to start talking.

"Well, Cross, Winter, Starry, and Shutter all came too-so I guess your more popular then you imagined." He said cheerfully. In all honesty Scrap had only come because Bakewell wanted to after Zestari asked, but he wasn't going to vocalize that fact. "Speaking of the others, have you seen any of then yet? If not we should probably go find them."

After Happy shut his door Zesty sighed happily, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Now all the tedium and discomfort of being the un-partnered one in the group of seven during their journey from Stableton seemed so insignificant.

Still flushed with joy, she crossed the hallway and knocked quietly at Shutter and Starry's door, yelling out them a slightly sing-song voice. "Hi you two! No need to be in hurry, Happy's actually here in the hotel." She grinned and pranced off down the hallway and around the corner towards Winter and Cross' room, and ran into the pair walking hoof-in-hoof.

"Everything is going wonderfully." she responded, a grin spreading across her muzzle. "Happy is here! We don't need to head to Red Rock today!" She turned, "Come on, he's having a shower, but I still need to find Bakewell and Scrap Parts."

Leading the pair, they went back in the direction Zestari had come from and as they turned the corner, noticed Bakewell and Scrap's back; they were in conversation with a still sodden and wet Happy. Zestari didn't care, though, and pushed past her two housemates, and stood next to him, giving him an affectionate bump, he slung a hoof around her and hugged her.

"He certainly is more popular than he thinks," she gave him a peck on the cheek, and then looked at Scrap. "No need to go looking for them, they're behind you." She nodded towards Cross and Winter. “Now we’re only waiting for Starry and Shutter.”

Winter was surprised to find that Trails was already here, but was more the happy for her Zebra friend as her face lit up with joy. She followed her with Cross as they joined up with every pony else apart from Starry and Shutter. "Hello every pony" she called as they trotted towards the forming group. She gave each of them a smile as she was happy they were all here and all relatively relaxed now that they had got some time to relax and spend some time with one another. She leaned against Cross as they stood there and she rubbed the side of her head against his neck affectionately. After what had happened in Harmony she had become more attached to Cross... not in a bad way but she now knew loosing Cross could be one of the very few things that break her. When she thought she lost him the pain had been so much and the will to find him had been so strong that she knew she wouldn't have left the city if he was still there. Even if the others left her down there. She looked at Cross for a moment, silently as she thought about their future and what it could have in store for them, good or bad. But whatever it was she knew that no matter what.. they had each other and in the end it would be that which saved them... every time.

Cross smiled as he felt pressure drift against his mane and crooked his head to nuzzle Winter's mane and returned her affection... normally he'd be a bit embarrassed but at this point he didn't care. The times he didn't have her in Harmony... were an emptiness he couldn't put in words, regardless of what would've happened, he would've ripped apart the city to find her searching every corner for answers...but thank the goddesses she was fine. In the end, it turned out in fact, she was everything he needed ...or ever wanted. Turning to her ear he whispered.

"I have something I wanted to ask you later ...when we get the chance" Turning back the group, Cross blushed a bit because one thing he had not gotten over was appearing 'soft', and by the goddesses did having Winter around make him fuzzy...

"Ahem...why hello everypony, good to see you all"

"Well, I'd like to see if there's anything fun we could do. Then again, since we'll dressed up for the occasion, maybe we start with dinner. It'll probably be late by the time we reach Red Rock."

Starry had been been observing Shutter as she spoke. He was fumbling to get his tie on, which just made Starry laugh. "Here, let me help you with that," she told him. Her horn began glowing, as she gripped Shutter's tie with her magic and tied and tightened it for him. Putting on a tie was notably easier when you had more than hooves to work with. "Well, don't you look like the charmer! I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for mares trying to steal my stallion."

Starry trotted over toward the door, and swung it open. "After you, dear," she said, holding the door open for him. She would follow him out.

Winter looked up to the yellow stallion as he whispered something about wanting to talk about... something. She didn't know what he could want to speak about though she hoped it was nothing bad. Winter was usually pretty curious so she couldn't help but want to know what it was he wanted. But she guessed it could wait, for now. She smiled to him and nodded before she turned her attention back to the group in time to see Starry and Shutter where now on their way. "So what's the plan ?" she asked, wondering what it was they were going to do today.

Scrap leaned up against Bakewell as the group continued to talk. After saying hello to Cross and Winter when they said hi. Scrap turned back towards the newlyfire enlarged group after noticing that Starry and Shutter were on their way. Not sure what the plan for the day was after Winter asked he piped up

"I'm not sure what the plan is now. I imagine we won't be making the trip to Red Rock now though...anypony got any ideas?

Zestari looked at Winter and then Scrap. "Good question." She turned towards Happy, "You've been here several times before. What would you recommend we do while we're here?" She gave him another peck on the cheek. "Ooh, but first we need to get Shutter and Starry."

She turned and looked back down the hallway, "Should we go see what's holding them up?"

Shutter could do little more then blush as Starry not only fixed his tie for him, but then went and opened the door for him. Welp, therewent the kind gesture he had been planning, since Starry beat him to it!

"Aha, thanks..."

Shutter said with an embarrased mumble, as he took Starry up on the gesture anyway...he was tempted to try ande make light of it by playing up how feminine this probably made him look to anyone else, but thought better of it, especially since Starry may have been thinking of ways to get him into a dress.

"Anyway, that sounds good...shall we meet up with the others?"

"The only things worth seeing are on the main drag." Trails replied, returning the peck on the cheek. "And even from that I'd say there's only two places you'd want to pop in to. Tartarus's just a glorified whore house, Stable 21 is just a tourist trap, and the 38 never opens. That leaves the Tops and the Ultra-Luxe. Well there's Pastel's shop if you're looking for some culture."

"We certainly should!" Starry told him, pointing down the hallway. "They're right over there, so this won't exactly be a daunting task to accomplish.

Starry took Shutter by the hoof and walked with him over toward where the group had already gathered. "Hello, everypony! I hope we didn't keep you waiting."

Starry disposed of the pleasantries, and addressed Trails. "Hey there, Trails! Haven't seen you in a while! How have you been?"

Cross didn't really have much to say at the moment. Everypony was really giving their hellos all and all, and he'd already done so..... Squeezing Winter's hoof, he silently nodded as the group discussed what to do. Already he had a good feeling on what Winter wanted to do but he'd leave it up to vote to decide.

"Hey Trails, good to see you again as well..."

Winter Bell listened as they all said their greetings and listened as Trails explained what to do. She thought for a moment before turning on the idea of heading to the Ultra-Luxe. "Well I've heard the Ultra-Luxe is a good place to get a nice drink and good food ?" she suggested. She felt Cross squeeze her hoof and rubbed her side against him affectionately. Though in her mind she had the niggling thing that told her she should put on something for the occasion if they went there.

Bakewell didn’t budge when Scrap leaned against her, the mare’s sturdy body easily supporting however much weight her unicorn partner chose to put on her. She didn’t lean in return, but she did flash Scrap a smile.

The Ultra-Luxe? Wasn’t that supposed to be really ‘high class’? Fancy places like that made Bakewell nervous; She never felt like she belonged. The mare risked a glance at Trails, wondering if he felt the same way. To her, the stallion didn’t seem the type to buy into such things or to behave once he got into them. Maybe she was slightly biased because the only fancy thing she had ever seen Happy at ended in him pouring boiling water onto another pony’s face amongst thousands of other misdeeds that Bakewell didn’t notice due to being…distracted. Yes, distracted was a nice word for it. Polite.

“I don’t really care what we do.” The beige earth pony lied after nodding a hello to Starry and Shutter. This place’s room numbering system confused the hay out of her. “I’ll just vote for whatever Scrap wants.”

Hi Starry, Shutter.” Zestari nodded towards the pair as they approached. “Good to see you up and about.” She smiled at them.

Turning to Happy as he listed off places, she gave an awkward look, “Well, where do you think would be best? I don’t really know anything about this place.” She looked at Winter as she suggested the Ultra-Luxe, and shrugged, “I guess that sounds nice.”

"Howdy Starry, Shutter, Bell, Cross." Trails replied, giving them each a curt nod before continuing. "Honestly the Ultra-Luxe is all window dressing, and not good enough to justify the price of admission. That and it's just creepy. The Tops is the best place far as I'm concerned."

"Hi Starry and Shutter, we were just discussing what to do now since we dont have to make the trip to Red Rock" Scrap said to the couple as they approached before resuming the conversation with the others. "So I guess we stay here then if the Ultra-Luxe is as Trails describes."

Cross nodded in agreement, he remembered passing that hotel while they traveled here and it didn't really say 'welcome' so much as it was just a mystery to be dwelled into by curious and wealthier tourists. No real need to waste time there.

Already Cross knew what Winter wanted nonetheless if they were all going to end up 'going out', he chuckled as her expression seemed to agree.

"...you all go on ahead we'll catch up with you later" Cross waited for a signal from Winter to agree before proceeding...

*FLASH* ...they now stood back in their room.

"Alright ...I had the feeling you might've wanted to put something on before we go, so take your time, we can rejoin them anytime."

Winter was ok with them catching up latter. She had a feeling this was something to do with what he wanted to tell her earlier but she couldn't be sure. When they arrived back in their room she chuckled a little and shook her head, "No I'm honestly fine Cross, really" she said before she trotted over to him, rubbing the side of her head against his chest, "But thanks anyway" she said holding the embrace for a moment before the curiosity got the better of her, "What was it you wanted to tell me anyway ?" she asked as she looked up into his red eyes, questioningly and curiously.

Cross blushed, he guessed wrong, he hated being wrong. Now he probably looked like an idiot. He did feel more secure as Winter affectionately and rubbed her head against him ...then she asked about what he said earlier...

"Umm well I was saving that for later, ...but... I wanted to ask you ....if you wanted ...to move into Tenpony with me...if....you want to"

He blushed a bit nervously since it was a big question for him to ask his marefriend, he had a good feeling she'd like it though.

After having been lead over by Starry, Shutter wouldn't have much to say, as he gave a quick wave to everyone, then simply listened as they talked.

However, once Cross teleported away with Winter, Shutter felt like he should say something, and gave his throat a light clear.

"So...Uh...The Tops, right? What's that like?"

He asked. He didn't know much about New Vegas other then the rumors, so he really had no idea about any of these places his friends were talking about...