“But I can’t! My mother won’t lend me the chariot this weekend! Scar...you’ve gotta believe me. Yes, I know I promised! She has to leave town on a family emergency...no I’m not doing this on purpose! I--”
The line gave off a mute tone, and the blue pegasus set his phone back down on the desk with a long suffering sigh. Rubbing his temples, he slumped back in his chair. With his eyes closed, there was no way to look at the pile of worksheets and the mess of research notes. Perhaps if he just focused hard enough on his next story, all of that would go away for long enough to figure out what to do.
Opening his eyes again proved pretending to be futile, and the impending Monday stared back at him. How could it seem so close on a Friday afternoon? As blinking brought the desk back into focus, a small picture in a frame caught his eye, propped up in the corner next to a pouch of bits. Quickly looking away, Chaotic Harmony stood up and walked away from the desk. There wasn’t much space to pace or fly around in a dorm room, especially with all the mess on the floor. Not that any amount of thought would change reality.
Simple Harmony had called earlier to let her son know she had to take the chariot, apologizing profusely for the sudden change of plans. Far be it from Chaotic to give his already burdened mother his problems, he had wished her safe travels, and hung up quickly. That was when Scarlet Scare had called, and Chaotic had been forced to explain that their weekend plans had been canceled. Plans two months in the making.
That bit pouch had just enough to pay for two charges on the chariot, a dinner for two that had been reserved weeks ago, and maybe, just maybe, a new collar. Shaking his head to clear away the blush, Chaotic puzzled over what else to do. Two hundred bits was not enough to rent a chariot, and sending flowers just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.
Knowing that this was best chance was to talk to her again, Chaotic grudgingly walked back over to the desk and stole the phone from its resting place. Forgoing the button sequence to the contacts list, he punched in a series of numbers he knew by heart.
“Cmon...pick up!”
The ringing went on, and then a *pop* sounded on the line.
“Hello, this is Scarlet Scare--”
“Hey Scar! It’s me, Chaotic! I’m so sorry! I just wanted to--”
“--leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you! Bye!” *BEEP*
Staring at the little device in his hooves, Chaotic pondered what to do until a tiny metallic voice emanated from the phone.
“Voicemail length reached.”
The sound jarred him into motion, stumbling and dropping the phone on his desk. As he leaned to pick it back up, Chaotic brushed a hoof against the picture frame. From inside, a picture of a happier time beamed at him. There he stood, one wing draped over Scarlet, both of them grinning at the camera. Behind them, the vast waves of the ocean were frozen forever still, a dull blue against the tan of the sand. Swallowing to try to clear out the tightness in his throat, Chaotic blinked to clear his version. She wouldn’t be smiling like that right now, and no matter what else happened, it was because he wasn’t there.
That does it. Darting over to his saddlebags, Chaotic flipped them over and dumped out the mess of paper and textbooks onto the floor. In that empty space went a water bottle, a bag of carrots, a map, and the bit-pouch. Finding his flight goggles was a bit harder; they’d fallen behind his desk. With a deft snap, he pushed them over his eyes, grinning at the afternoon sun coming in the open window. It was time to go.
Lying under the broad canopy of an old oak in the warm autumn sun with a glass of tea within hoof’s reach was one of the most relaxing feelings that Celestia granted her subjects-just warm enough to be comfortable, and not so hot as to merit moving anywhere else. Cozy as it was, Scarlet Scare just couldn’t seem to drift off. Thoughts of her afternoon kept breaking through whenever it seemed she was just about to let go of consciousness.
Her phone had died in the middle of the call with her coltfriend, and when she’d finally gotten it working again, all that she had found on it was a long empty voicemail. He didn’t pick up when she called him back. She’d been upset; it was hard to spend long months away from her stallion, and thoughts of this weekend had been the only thing getting her through the last week. Talking without being able to see each other was hard on both of them, and she could only assume the worst for how he’d taken her ‘hanging up’ in the middle of the call.
Letting loose another sigh, Scarlet tried rolling over one more time, letting her other side get just a little more sun. She waited, but didn’t seem to be getting any warmer. Frustrated, she opened her eyes to see that she wasn’t lying in a sunny spot anymore, and there was no way the sun had moved fast enough to go behind the branches. Glancing up, she saw a pegasus blocking out the sun. Silhouetted against the bright light, the flier was impossible to make out, but he was moving closer very quickly. Before she could get up and move out of the way, he collided headlong with her.
Spitting out grass and dirt, Scarlet was ready to scream. “What the hay were you thinking?” Pushing herself back up, she cut herself short before she could say any more. Chaotic Harmony was lying on the ground, raggedly drawing deep breaths. “Wait, did you fly all the way here?”
“...Scar...let…” Chaotic reached out with his forelegs and wrapped them around Scarlet, pulling her back down into the grass for a hug.
She nuzzled him close and grinned. “I missed you too.”
