Shame

"It's nothing, I assure you!"

He replies swiftly, silently begging the topic to vanish.

"Nothing." He snaps in reply.

He feels the blood rushing to his face, prompting him to look away, nonchalantly scanning... Well... Nothing, with his eyes.

He reclines casually, taking no mind that his hand rested atop the backrest, inches from her shoulder.

The comedian continues to talk and Arty continues to laugh. Everything was normal, even On such an abnormal day.

It was rather silly, but... He was sitting next to an important person in his life, alone and lost... Maybe she could use him?

Oh, what are you thinking, Arty, get it together! This is RAINBOW. DASH. We're talking about here! If you make a move on here, I'm detaching from Lefty.

Arty physically cringes at the thought of his brain seperting itself.

He notices how he must look, arguing silently with himself, he steals a glance at her to see if she noticed.

"Easy there, Dashie! It's not for a few more hours!" He pats the couch next to him as the show comes back, leaving Arty to chuckle again.

"W-Well yeah! They're a bunch of pilots who do stunts in jets, we can see them if you'd like! It's not far from here, and I'm pretty sure I can afford it." He smirks, hoping he might be able to take her out, it could be fun.

Wait... Take her out!? Like, on a date!? Good lord, Artyom, what are you doing!?

"Hah, no, actually it's electricity, like lightning?" He chuckles as he sets the remote down and watches the show. "I'm trying to think of all the things we have that you don't that you might find interest in..."

He pondered for a few moments before shrugging. "Life's pretty boring, here actually..."

Arty's eyes went wide as his cheeks shined pink.

"W-Wow.... That's new... U-Oh, yeah, sure, I'll do my best, I'm sure anybody who would have found your friends would post this somewhere..."

Arty brings up Canterlot on the laptop and scrolls threw the news and banter, looking for a post.

"Hm... I don't see anything... Let's give it some time..."

He sets the laptop on the counter and turns on the t.v., putting his feet up as the news turns on. A plane crash shows up first, causing him to sigh before changing it to Comedy Central, Kevin Hart's stand up was on.

"Well you tell cancer I'm lookin' for him, Imma find him, and when I do Imma shoot 'im in the face. Twice. Me. By my self. One gun. One bullet. All day. Every day. Wake up. Go back to sleep. Take a nap." Arty chuckled, his favorite comedian.

As the computer booted up, he looked over at her, buried in the book.

It was then that he fully took in that she was sitting next to RAINBOW. DASH.

"D-Dashie? I just can't believe it's really you... How's Ponyville? The whole place, rather... How'd you even get here?"

Arty would have responded if he wasn't rumaging through stacks of clothes searching for a shirt to wear. Finally he decided on a t-shirt with Dash's mark on the chest, a rainbow down the front. The idea of her being in his house completely escaping him. He makes his way back downstairs, walking back into the living room where she sat reading 'The Art of War'.

"Watcha got there?" He asks, walking over and grabbing his laptop, reclining at a reasonable distance from her on the couch.

"Ain't meant to be, I guess."

Arty pulls the car off the highway and into a more suburban area, passing down past a few houses and turning into a rather small one's driveway, into the garage.

"Roomies are out of the state, so we should be safe."

He shuts the car off and the garage door closes on its own. Getting out and into the cold room, he pauses, licking his thumb and rubbing a smudge off the car. He then, whistling the whole way, makes it to the door and unlocks it, stepping inside the... Well, pigsty of a house. There were dishes stacked in the sink, clothes on the couch where laundry had not been folded, and there was even two boxes of Chinese food with chop sticks in one of them, sitting on the coffee table. Lovely. Arty scratched the back of his neck, hoping Dashie wouldn't mind...

"Now... Um... Make yourself at home? I'll go get changed out of my work clothes..." He then leaves her to her devices as he makes his way upstairs and debates showering...

Slowly the car began to glide into an open lane... Second gear...

Third gear...

Reaching towards 80, the car began to audibly cry a wail of sweet sweet turbocharged petrol fire.

Fourth gear...

Nearing a hundred, Arty eases off, worried of the extraordinary speeding ticket.

Back down to the speed limit, he eases into traffic and continues the trip.

"Wish I had more space..."

"Ohohohoho, yes it can, Dashie... It's just, well... There are too many cars around... Maybe when we get onto the freeway."

He pulls the car in and out of lanes expertly, making his way over the bridge and onto the freeway, where he begins to crack his neck.

"So... you wanna see what this thing can do, eh?"

"To make sure that if some as-... Jerk hits us, we'll be okay... Now..."

Arty turns the key and the car roars to life, the beautiful noise set Arty's heart aflutter, oh how he loved it. Into first gear and out onto the street they went, travelling through minimal traffic at a decent rate.

Arty chuckles, sitting down next to her and fastening his seat belt. "I ain't no pony, Dashie, I'm a human! Been a human for... Well, long as I can remember..."

He chuckles, inserting the keys and turning the electronics on, turning the volume down on the radio before it turned on. He closes his door and pauses.

"Seat belt?" He asks, tucking at his to show her.

Arty chuckled from across the packed garage, locking the final door and heading back over to her.

"Monster doctor? No, Mechanic? Yes. These things aren't monsters," He gestures to the cars in the garage. "They're machines... you know, like the buggies you guys have? Except they run on petrol, not horses!"

He makes his way over the the massive garage door and pulls the rope, dropping it quickly, only to be stopped at eye level by Arty's hand. He gestures beneath and latches the door behind her, exiting through the door as the siren bleeps once to ensure him it's armed. He makes his way down the face of the building and to the alley, where a beautifully painted and detailed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution sits happily, awaiting it's master. Arty casually opens the door and waits for Dash to step to the other side.

After calling off the ambulance and mopping the blood from his arm, Arty began locking up, leaving Dash to explore under the rules of 'Don't break anything'.

Arty grabbed the phone to redial the number, before pausing to glance over the counter, seeing Dash running off. He winced and dropped the phone, vaulting the counter and catching her before she makes it out the garage door.

"W-Wait a minute, there! It'll disperse in the buildings, it's fine!" He lowers his grip to her hand ad gently pulls her, guiding to the office. "I'm going to call the hospital again and tell them to call off the ambulance... If you REALLY are Dash... You don't have shelter or anything... I'll take you home and we'll get everything sorted out, okay?"

He smiles warmly, ignoring the fact that he was holding her hand, focused only on his desire to help an idol.

Arty stood back, apalled.

"W-Wha... H-How!?" He exclaimed, ignoring the mess.

"It's uh... Wow... Um... Well if you're Dashie, humor me! Prove it, eh?"

Arty leans on the counter and watches her with a half smile, expecting something funny.

"No, but... Um... You aren't Rainbow Dash... Must got burned in when you got struck... I think you were heading to a convention in cosplay..."

"Well you got struck by lightning and now you think you're a pony... So... Just try to stand up, would you? Like this." He gestures to his legs.

Just before pressing the call button, he stops and looks up, catching her eyes.

He presses the button and it rings as he puts it to his ear.

"It's a... Uh... Van that carries sick people to hospitals... Hi, thi-... Yeah I'm calling for an ambulance... Yes... No, it's not an emergency... Yes, thank you... 28 North... Yep, the garage... Okay, thanks!"

He hangs up and turns back to her.

"You shouldn't crawl around on the floor like that, it's dirty..."

Arty simply looked at her silently for a moment, fighting back laughter.

He punches in the number and glances back to her, taking in her features... Convincing cosplay...

"Maybe the lightning fried her brain..." He thinks out loud, looking back to the phone.

Arty couldn't help but laugh, opening the door and letting her in. He makes his way past her and hops the counter, grabbing the phone off the wall with his good hand and turning back to her.

"Um... How about your name? Can you tell me your name? Think the paramedics might need to know..."