bleak/reverse

So, after the pool incident, we stayed indoors all day. I just let them do whatever they wanted, such as if they wanted to watch movies and the like. Twilight spent the rest of the day studying for that spell they were relying on to escape. Anyway, on day 4, nothing special really happened until about 7 PM, when it was almost dark. The sky was shrouded in clouds which were colored a cold periwinkle of desolation. These clouds looked exactly like the clouds I saw the day I lost my girl, forever.

I need to get that off my chest later, but for now, let's get the day's main event out of the way; The drive we took. I wanted the girls to see more of the area I lived in, as I hoped it'd at least entertain them to see more of the world that they never knew existed, even though they all wanted to get back to their own land. I just wanted them to enjoy the time they spent here and to make up for yesterday's very extreme mishap. We were going to take a drive to Downtown Loomsville, which, in my opinion, looked dazzling at night. It gave off that perfect industrial feel. It made me think of a visually appealing Blade Runner-style city. I knew they'd get a kick out of it.

So, the clock reached 7:15 PM, we all got in the van. We all know where we're going, and so everyone buckles up and off we went.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to get there, Stevie! How long's it gonna take us to see this big lighty place, huh, huh, HUH?" Aah, Pinkie. Always being one to chime in at the first chance she gets.

"Well, usually when I have to go there, it takes about an hour," I answered. "There's quite a few highways we gotta get past."

"From the description you gave us," said Twilight, "It does seem like a pretty interesting sight. Just try to make sure nobody gets killed."

"Ah highly doubt that'll happen, sugar cube," AJ butted in. "Stephen here oughta protect us real good, right, Stevie?"

Not even bothering to glance at the others and keeping my vision fixed to road, I responded with a generic "Of course, AJ". After that rather quick conversation, there was silence, other than clearly audible humming from Pinkie. I decided to turn on the radio.

"Fearless people

Careless needle

Harsh words spoken

And lives are broken..."

Fuck.

Not this song, no, no, no. It was "Prayer for the Dying" by Seal.

I fucking hated that song. I heard it on the same fucking station on this same fucking day, exactly one year ago.

It was the day I was drained of all emotion except sadness, and the day I felt the most pain I ever did since losing my parents; I lost the one woman I loved and cared for. I wish I didn't say those things to her, those horrible, horrible things...if I didn't, it wouldn't have happened.

I wanted to turn it to a different station, but I found myself unable to. I just kept driving...while lost in my thoughts and regret. I accidentally swerved by some dick in a Jeep, and Rainbow had to relay it to everybody. "Hey, Steven almost got hit that guy's...uh, vehicle!" I got chastised and told to be careful, and AJ remarked to Twi with "Ya' know, I think ya were on ta somethin' earlier..."

Twilight, in a "Of course this shit was gonna happen"-kind of tone, replied with "Yep."

Pinkie chimed in. "Hey, Stephen, this song is really sad." I was too immersed in my thinking to process what she said, and it took me about 10 seconds to respond. "I know" was all that escaped my lips. I slowly reached over to the knob to turn the radio channel.

"If I didn't care

Would it be the same

Would my every prayer begin and end with just your name

And would I be sure that this is love beyond compare

Would all this be true

If I didn't care for you..."

"If I Didn't Care" by The Ink Spots. Didn't care too much for that song, to say the least. The radio was really hating me that day. I scrolled through some more.

"Come up to meet you

Tell you I'm sorry

You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you

Tell you I need you

Tell you I set you apart..."

"The Scientist" by Coldplay. Agh, it reminded me too much of the horrible day. "Just stop, stop with the sad songs!" I yelled to myself. I muted the radio. Didn't really help matters, since the rest of the song was playing in my head.

"Stephen, what's wrong?" Asked Rainbow. She actually sounded a bit concerned. That was a first.

"Nothing, I'm fine. You don't need to know about it."

"Know about what?" Asked Twilight.

"Come now, Stephen. Is there something bothering you?" chimed in Rarity.

"No, nothing at all. I just...uh, really don't care for that type of music, that's all." Twilight responded with "Well, alright" in a suspicious tone. I cleared my mind and focused on the task at hand; Getting to Downtown Loomsville with me and the girls alive and well. We were only 20 minutes into the trip, had a long way to go still. Twilight, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow all sat in the back seats (there were three rows of back seats, so a total of six people could sit back there) while Fluttershy sat in the front, I think because she felt close to me for saving her life yesterday...even though I was the one who caused her near-death experience by not paying attention. I still felt horrible for it.

It was silent again. The "back-seat five" bided their time by watching out the windows, not really seeing much since it was pretty much pitch-black out there. Rainbow remarked that "we must be in Silent Hill". Jesus, how much pop culture was she picking up on?

Fluttershy was mostly quiet. She was in the front seat, so she could see more since I had the lights on the front of the car turned on. Most of the sights from here was just the darkness surrounding the highway, until we got to Downtown Loomsville. It felt like an eternity, but we finally reached our destination.

"Oh my," Rarity said. "Look at all the lights!"

Everyone in the car, sans me, said "Oooooh!". Well, they were getting a kick out of the place, at least.

"Well, well, well, Stevie! You were right, this place IS cool!" I impressed the great Rainbow Dash, that's gotta count for something.

"My my my, we must be in quite the extravagant city! It looks so dazzling!" If only Rarity knew how wrong she was. Aside from the way the place looks at night, there's nothing of special importance here.

The best way I could describe the way the place looked at that time is this; Streets littered with yellowlish street lights, mixed with car lights, and mixed with neon restaurant and store signs. We drove through the place for a while, and the whole time, everybody marveled at those damn combinations of lights. Even Fluttershy thought the sights were pretty spectacular. It was probably unlike anything they've ever seen.

About 30 minutes after we got there, we went back home. The trip back was mostly filled with conversation amongst the girls about the sights they just witnessed, with the occasional "Thank you, Stephen" slipping out, to which I replied with "You're welcome".

Later on, Twilight noticed I was mostly silent throughout the drive back. Well, everyone probably noticed, but Twilight was the first one to say something about it.

"Are you okay, Stephen?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You're being unusually quiet. Does this have something to do with the radio thing from earlier?"

"Twilight, please stop asking about it."

Twilight's eyebrow raised. "Why is that?"

I couldn't respond. Everyone was quiet, and all eyes were fixed on me.

"Stephen, you can tell us. We're your friends, right?" Rainbow's words gave a chill down my spine. Friends...that word felt new and out of the blue. Friends were something I didn't have for such a long time. I...I had friends. Goddamn, I actually had friends.

Real, true, pure friends.

So I said, "Of course you are. You all are."

"So, in that case, could you tell us what's bothering you?" Twilight asked.

"..."

"What?"

"Well, Twilight, it had a big impact on me. I don't want to talk about it."

"Talking about it will make you feel better."

"Really?"

"Really. I promise."

"...Well...okay. I'll tell you in private when we get home."

"Alright."

The remaining time spent of the trip back home was silent.