Chapters I love this Bar
Tie in with Room for Rent by Drax99
It’s funny how life is. You can find out something absolutely horrible, life changing, and yet for some reason it only makes everything funny. A couple of months earlier that happened when I went to the doctor. Still, I don’t want to get in on that. Instead I want to talk about the strange shit that’s happened in the last two days.
I nudge my rainbow haired drinking buddy and grin.
“Hellva party huh?” I ask.
She shakes her head and slowly stands.
“Told you I could drink you under the table,” she say.
“You passed out a good three bottles behind me,” I reply.
She looks at me and grins a little.
“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” she asks.
I stand and stretch. I drew my life savings out, and so far I’ve got another twenty grand to blow through. I’ve just got to remember to keep back a couple of grand at the end of it. The idea of hitting another bar comes to mind. So far that’s what we’ve been doing for the past week. Hitting every bar in this burg, but the one I really wanted to visit was an old bar from back home. It meant a road trip, but the bar was worth it. The kind of hole in a wall where fights broke out, guys drank to forget their problems, and what happened in the bathrooms was kept in the bathrooms.
“I’m thinking about a place that would be fun, but it means a little road trip. A couple of days heading out to the middle of nowhere, but it’s a good place, easy enough to have a drink, and its got a good atmosphere,” I say.
She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Aren’t you tired of bars?” she asked.
“The bars around here, sure, but this place is kind of special,” I say.
She looks at me and shakes her head. I watch as a grin forms on her muzzle.
“Why not? I’m supposed to study human behavior anyway. I’d say this is human behavior,” she says with a laugh.
We walk out to my old truck. I open the door for her and she climbs into the cab. I crawl into the driver’s seat and start the old ’77 ford. The engine catches after a second and purrs. I pull it down into gear and start driving. It’s a good three hours away, and on the way we can hit a few tourist spots.
I think about our meeting. I happen to be out at the river, ice chest full of beer in the back of the truck, and stuck in a funk. The sound of something hitting a might too into the water gained my attention and that’s when I saw her. She came up for a breath, struggled to swim, and without thinking about it I dove in. I swam out to her. The sounds of Toby Keith singing ‘Good as I once Was’ playing on the one working speaker in my old truck the background noise to my heavy breathing. I pulled the little cyan creature to the shore and was surprised to learn that she could speak. Of course I was asked where in the hell I had been, once she caught her breath, and I explained that I hadn't really cared about current events for the last few months. The little creature preceded to tell me about her and her friends, the portal opening over to Equestria, their coming over and learning about humanity, and a few other odds and ins. I suppose I should have been more freaked out than I was, but a few good Boston loggers tends to make seeing some surprising and odd a bit easier to deal with.
After that, and a couple of beers for the both of us later, she asked if I minded to give her the grand tour of the town. This place is just like my own hometown. It’s small enough to be somewhat safe, big enough to draw tourist, and out of the way enough not to have a shit lot to do except drink. We hit the tourist crap first. The waterslides, historic route 66, classic dive-in theaters, and the historic village with amphitheater were all on the list. Once we hit those it was time to hit the bars.
Roxies, Tuxies, Torches, and The Little Black Room became a staple for us. Lots of debauchery and all kinds of fun was what we were enjoying. Granted that’s what we were heading toward right now. She reached over and turned on the radio with her hoof. It’s still a little weird to see how that works. The old radio crackles a little and she digs around in the console for a moment before she brings up an old tape of Aerosmith’s ‘Toy’s in the Attic’. The sounds of Steven Tyler singing ‘Sweet Emotion’ blares through the speaker on my side.
I crack up as she sings to the lyrics she’s just learned a couple of days ago and finally I join in. Our voices are a far stretch from Steven’s as tape turns into a hiss before the next song begins to play.
“So, why this place?” she asks.
I look ahead at the road and think about the bar. Ned’s was more than just a landmark in my hometown. It was special, special in a way that I couldn’t really even begin to put into words. One of my hands finds my old worn wallet with a picture of Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker on the front of it. I fish it out and open it to show a picture of myself, two beautiful women, a couple of other guys and then another guy sitting down in front of me. I hand it to her and she takes a look at it.
“I grew up in that town. My friends and I always hung out at Ned’s. We’d play pool, maybe hit one of the old video games in the back, and more than once I helped my buddy realize that he was better off that some girl decided to dump him. We listened to damned near everything on the jukebox a hundred times over, but it was a place where we all felt at home together,” I say as she hands the wallet back to me and I put it away, “The truth is when I make a good friend I have to take them to Ned’s. It cements the friendship so to speak.”
She smiles and punches my shoulder.
“So, a good friend huh?” she asks.
“Damn straight,” I reply.
We stop at a BurgerQueen and hit the drive through. She looks at me and raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t want to take your good friend inside?” she asks.
“I don’t mind, but there’s every chance that if we go inside that you’re going to be mobbed by a huge group of kids,” I say.
I watch her think about it and she nods. We pull through and I look at her.
“So, what do you want?” I ask.
“A large order of waffle fries, and a strawberry shake,” she answers.
I shrug my shoulders, make the order, and soon we’re heading out toward the open road again. I watch her wolf down the food and she looks at me as I pick at what I ordered.
“Not hungry?” she asks.
“Just need to focus on driving,” I answer.
The truth is I haven’t had much of an appetite for a while now. It’s gotten worse the last few weeks, and it’s just something that I’ve been expecting for a while. Still, I don’t want my friend to worry about it. Hell, I just want to hang out with her, have a good time, and make some decent memories. Another hour passed and soon I found us pulling over at a wax museum. She looked at me like I was nuts, but I promised that she would get a kick out of it.
Twenty minutes later she was laughing at the Warlock of Emerald City display. The monster area was another thing though. All of the movie monsters on display and I noticed how she studied the Frankenstein monster. She looks toward me and then back at him.
“He doesn’t look scary,” she says.
“Well, compared to a lot of the other monsters he really isn’t,” I reply.
“No, it’s not that,” she says studying him, “He looks sad. Like he hates what he is, he hates even existing.” she says.
I look at the creature and notice exactly what she means. Hell, I’m where he is most of the time. This last week has been more than a distraction. It’s been reliving a part of my life I thought was over. Looking at the monster makes me think about how I was.
“He is sad. He’s sad because he never asked to be in the situation he’s in. He never wanted to be there, never wanted to see the things he did, or go through what he had to,” I say.
She looks toward me with her violet eyes and studies my face.
“You sound like you know about that,” she says.
“Just like to watch a lot of old movies,” I reply.
We continue to walk, but the rest of the museum doesn’t seem as much fun. The thought of the monster and how he reflected physically what I felt inside was sticking with me. I hate it. I hate feeling like this, but I don’t want to make her trip to this museum end badly, so I just enjoy it the best I can.
We finally leave the museum and I find myself having a huge case of cotton mouth. The doc’s words come back at me and I grumble. I grab my now watered down soda and take a drink. She watches me and touches my shoulder.
“You okay?” she asks.
I put on a half-smile and nod.
“Sure,” I say.
She studies me for a moment, but doesn’t say anything else. We laugh after a few minutes when I start talking about Ned’s again. I tell her about how one of the girls in the picture caught her boyfriend fucking around on her with another guy. She wasn’t really upset that he was bisexual, but she was pissed that he didn’t think he could come clear about it. So, to get back at him she hit on his fuck buddy, but it turned out horrible because his buddy was really only into dudes.
“Oh Sweet Celestia that had to be awkward!” she says with a laugh.
“Awkward wasn’t the word for it. We ended up talking late into the night, and she crashed over at my place. Hell, we watched bad horror flicks and pizza most of the night,” I say.
A couple more hours and I feel myself getting tired. We’re a good hour outside of my hometown. I could make it, hell I’ve done it before, but I also know that I need to get a little sleep. I start looking around for someplace to crash when the coughing starts.
Dash looks at me and taps my shoulder. I pull over and find myself coughing even more. It feels so violent, that I can barely contain it. She looks scared. I had never seen her look scared before. She gets closer to me.
“Hey, Bryant, you okay?” she asks.
I pull my hand away and look at the blood. It’s more than it’s ever been before. She looks at it and then at me again. I cough again and feel everything getting very light around me. She grabs my phone and thankfully the voice command is already activated on the older generation Robotz phone. I hear her shout at the phone to call emergency services.
Ten minutes later I’m in the back of an ambulance with my friend sitting next to me. She has her hoof on my hand as we near the hospital. I groan as the doctors begin poking, prodding, and running an MRI on me. After a few minutes the doctor walks in. He has a large chart with him, and I know he’s already contacted my own private doctor to get all my medical history.
“Mr. Williams, I have some news that I’m sure you already know,” he says.
“How long?” I ask.
Dash looks at me and then at the doctor.
“Wouldn’t you rather have this news alone?” he asks looking at my little cyan friend.
She gets ready to leave and I shake my head.
“Not really, this is the first time I’ve had a real friend with me when I’ve heard this kind of news. Go ahead and tell me,” I say.
She sits down on her haunches as the doctor clears his throat and opens the chart.
“The MRI along with blood tests that we’ve run are showing the same information. The cancer around your lungs has metastasized further into you. Your original diagnosis of a few months… is very close to wishful thinking at this point. We could start Chemotherapy, but…” he starts before I stop him.
“There’s no guarantee that it will work, and to be honest it would most likely do more harm than good right?” I ask.
He nods.
“The only thing we can really do at this point is keep you comfortable,” he says.
“How much has my insurance paid on this?” I ask.
“Well, you met your deductible already, so technically it has paid for the entire trip and room stay. It would more than pay for another three weeks with all ease...” he says before I shake my head.
“Sorry doc, but I’m all aboard the nope train to fuck that ville,” I say.
Dash looks at me completely astonished.
“Sir, you realize that right now you’re on borrowed time at best,” he says.
“I’ve got a place I want to be, and it sure the hell ain’t a hospital room. So, I’m checking myself out,” I say.
“Mr. Williams, please, think about this,” he says.
“He doesn’t want to stay, so why make him?” Dash asks.
“Look, I don’t care if you are a visiting dignitary from happy magical pony world. He is my patent, and in my opinion I believe he needs to be kept comfortable,” the doc says.
“Hey, thanks, but no thanks and fuck you buddy. I want of this damned place, and I’m going to be leaving. So, either let me go, or I’ll pull this shit out of my arms and just walk out,” I say.
He looks at me, walks out of the room and a few minutes later there is a couple of nurses coming and removing all of the IV’s in my arms.
“Thanks,” I say as I get dressed, grab my clothes, bag, and head down stairs.
Dash follows me downstairs and watches as I call a taxi. As we wait for it come and pick us up she looks at me.
“When were you going to tell me?” she asked.
“After we got to Ned’s is when. Dash, I don’t want to be in a hospital when it happens,” I say.
“So you want to go in a bar? What the buck is wrong with you?!” she shouts.
“No, I didn’t want to go in Ned’s. I wanted to go at home, in my home. I’m sorry, I really am, but my taking you Ned’s wasn’t to lay this on you. It really is because you’ve become one of my best friends. I wanted you to know that you’ve made a good friend,” I reply.
“You’ve been hiding this the entire time. The not eating is part of it right?” she asks.
I nod.
“Why?” she asks.
“I don’t want you to do what my other friends did. I don’t want you to desert me because of this,” I say.
She shakes her head and looks at me.
“I don’t abandon friends. Even stubborn mules,” she says.
The taxi arrives and I give him directions to the old ford. We get out there and she looks up at me.
“You really feel like driving?” she asks.
“For a while, and besides, if you’re half as awesome as you say you are I’m sure you can get this old girl to do tricks she never even knew existed,” I say.
She laughs and touches the old truck.
“I bet that I could get her to scream my name,” Dash replies.
I laugh and we climb into the truck. I feel the tickle of the cough, but I hold it back. I don’t want another episode, and I really want to get to Ned’s. We drive the hour, and the entire time Dash asks me about Ned’s, my friends, the girl, and I begin telling her everything. I show her another picture of the girl. She’s wearing a wedding dress, and standing next to a man that resembles me, or would if I was completely clean shaven and not wearing an old ratty t-shirt and jeans.
She looks over at me for a second completely confused.
“Jessica… That’s her, we married about three months after her breakup with her old boyfriend,” I say as I flip to another picture; this one is a little boy and a little girl both with red hair like their mother, “That’s Tim and Barbara. They were my entire world.”
I hear a question trying to form in her throat and I save her from asking it.
“A drunk driver, icy road, and breaks I swore I’d fix the next day. Jess… She wouldn’t let the kids play hooky from school, and the school board thought that since the superintendent could walk the sixteen foot from his home to one of the schools without busing his ass everyone could make it in. The roads were really bad, and I told her that it would be best not to take the kids. I even offered to take them, but she told me no. I had just got off of a late shift at the foundry. Three hours later I got a phone call from the hospital,” I laugh with a lump in my throat, “I thought my idiot brother had done something again. I was ready to tell them off when one of them asked if my wife was Jess. I knew, fucking knew, what was happening. I drove this old girl straight up to the hospital and the doctors lay it on me. Tim and Barbara had both been killed instantly. The impact was in the side, in the back, and Jess… She had been knocked out for a couple of hours. They said that if she would have made the call a little sooner, even twenty minutes sooner, they might would have had a chance.”
I feel her not just touching my arm, but I feel her front legs wrapped around it in a hug.
“I went in to see her, and she already knew. She asked if the kids were okay, and I told her they were fine. I lied to her. I lied to Jess about them, but… I didn’t know what else to do. She told me that she loved me, and I held her. I held her until the monitor stopped beeping, and a long time after it,” I say.
“Bryant, I’m sorry,” she says.
“Not your fault. Since then I’ve been spending a lot of time working. I just worked, went home, worked, went home. I didn’t hang out anymore, and there wasn’t a whole lot else to do. I actually saved up a few hundred thousand dollars. After I started coughing a lot I went and got a checkup. I mean, it was like having a smoker’s cough, but I’ve never smoked a day in my life. The doc said the fumes from the foundry had reacted just right. A few months at best. Most men and women would have pissed their pants at that. I was happy. I don’t know why,” I say.
“I called my boss, told him that I was taking vacation time, hell I had a couple of months saved up, and that I wanted to take it all. I figured he thought I was looking for something else, so he didn’t argue. Most guys that’ve been there that long usually do that you know?” I ask.
“Bryant… is that why you were out at the river drinking?” she asks.
“Yeah, and then I met you. I wasn’t lying about current events. This is the second month of my vacation. I hadn’t watched TV or really listened to the radio. I’ve just been playing video games, chilling out, and going places. My friends who basically abandoned me before told me I should be in the hospital, but I don’t want to be. I want to enjoy life while I got it,” I reply.
She looks at me before I know what’s happening I’m getting Frenched by my little friend. She grins and as she pulls away and smiles at me.
“So, enjoy it. Let’s go the Ned’s and then where ever and whatever after that I’m down,” she says.
We get to Ned’s and walk in. It’s the same smokey bar, the same people in there, and behind the counter is old Ned. He looks at me for a moment, and then without a question he fishes out a Boston Logger. He hands it to me and grins.
“I never forget a customer,” he says.
“Thanks, say, what you want Dash?” I ask.
He looks at her and then back at me.
“Reliving some of the old college days?” he asks.
“That was Bobby, not me,” I say.
Dash looks at me and I shake my head.
“My friend bobby got piss drunk and busted his cherry with a Shetland Pony. He earned a little nick name around here,” I say.
“What nickname is that?” she asks.
“Farmer Brown,” Ned says.
I almost expect her to frown, but Dash begins laughing hysterically.
“Wait, he… he bucked a farm animal?!” she says through the tears.
“Like it was going out of style,” I reply.
“Oh Celesita… Oh that’s too good… I thought that you humans were all kinds of stuck up, well like my friend Pinkie’s new friend, but… he bucked a farm animal and busted his cherry doing it!” she fell on her back laughing.
“She’ll have a beer as well,” I say.
We drink for a while, listen to some Chris LeDoux on the jukebox, and after a while we finally leave the bar. I call a taxi and we take it back to my house. We get there and stumble inside. She’s still laughing about Bobby as we crash out in the living room. I pull out the futon and we both just fall asleep on it. A couple of hours later I wake up to a warm body snuggling close.
“Bryant,” she says.
“Huh?” I ask.
“You know… Celestia could maybe help you. I don’t know for sure, but she might could do something,” Dash says.
I smile and touch her muzzle.
“I don’t know about that… but I know that I haven’t had so much fun, or felt so alive in so long. Thanks Dash. Thanks for making me feel alive again,” I say.
There’s a kiss, and to be honest I’m drunk enough still to just go with it. I’m not sure what happens exactly throughout the night, but I know enough to know that there’s a threshold that I’ve crossed that, while not exactly like Bobby is close, but the difference is I’m too far away from caring. We lie there next to each other and she snuggles close. The hours pass and everything feels light again. I touch her and she stirs.
“Hey, if… if you want to talk to this Celestia, go ahead,” I say.
She smiles and borrows my phone. I’m not sure how it connects, but I hear a motherly voice on the other end. It sounds so peaceful, and to be honest I feel so tired… Sleep seems good right now.
I love this Bar
Chapter 2 – auf Wiedersehen
The house is so quiet. It’s not like the other places I’ve been so far. In front of me is a few dozen pictures, and the Television has a little static from having ran through a VHS copy of a movie called Bachelor Party. I’m glad that I watched it. It helped a lot. Well, it helped by making me a little less sad.
The pictures lying in front of me show a life that I can so relate to in parts. Hanging out with friends, having a good time, being awesome, and trying to live twenty percent cooler than anyone else. I touch one of the pictures and I feel a tear threatening to escape. I sniff it back and instead go through them some more. I study each picture with great detail until I find one that shouldn’t have been in the stack. I don’t know how it got in there, or even why it’s in there, but there’s a picture of the both of us, singing along to Tobey Keith’s ‘Red Solo Cup’ in Tuxies. I pick the picture up and carry it with me as I walk outside.
Twilight looks up at me with a sad pair of eyes, and Pinkie… I hate seeing her hair straight like that. It reminds me a little too much of her going off the deep end that one time. I get a hug from them and Rarity.
“AJ said that she’s on the way, but to tell you she’s sorry she couldn’t be here before it happens,” Twilight says.
“It’s fine girls,” I say.
We start to walk away and I hear Pinkie sniff. I look back and my friend wraps me up in a tight hug.
“I’m so sorry Dashie!” she wails.
“Hey, I’ll be all right. I’m a tough mare,” I say.
She nods, but continues to hug me. I hug her back and to be honest it feels good to get a hug like that. She steps back and straightens out her black dress. I try to do the same to mine, and suddenly I feel it straighten itself out. I look toward Rarity who smiles softly.
“I don’t want you to say goodbye to your first real human coltfriend looking like, how did Simone say it… A hot mess,” she says.
“Thanks Rarity,” I say.
She nods and the four of us start to walk toward town. I stop once more and look back over my shoulder at the house. I know what’s waiting me we get to where we’re going, but he isn’t there. Who he is, who he was is still in that house.
“Bye Bryant,” I say.
I love this Bar
Chapter 3 – Memories
The sounds of Tobey Keith singing ‘I love this Bar’ flow through the small hole in the wall bar. Dash tried to grab the bottle of Boston Logger sitting on the counter, but she was finding it hard to grip it. She looked up toward Ned who was cleaning a shot glass and groaned.
“N…Ned my hoof isn’t w…working right,” she slurred her words.
“Dash, that’s ten Boston Loggers and six shots in the last six hours. Girl, it’s time to call it a night,” the old bartender said.
She looked back at the bottle in front of her and tried to grip it again only to find that it was determined to stay out of her hoof.
“I…I’ll call it quits when I finish this beer,” she replied.
He walked over, touched it and shook his head.
“It’s warm Dash. Look, I’m gonna clear out your tab. Go home, get some sleep,” he said.
She looked at him and straightened up.
“I’m fine,” she replied.
“No, Dash, you’re wasted. Look, I know what you’re going through. Everyone that knew Bryant is going through the same thing. He was a hellva a good guy…” Ned started before she stopped him.
“It’s not the same thing! I… We connected! He was…” she began to sway in her seat and Ned rolled his eyes before he reached over to keep her from falling off.
“Okay, I’m calling limit Dash. Go home, get some sleep, and if you want to come back you’re welcomed to, but just try to sleep it off,” he said.
The cyan Pegasus leaned over on the bar and shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know if I want to go home. I mean…” she started before Ned motioned to another colored pony who was standing at the doorway.
“You mind to help her?” he asked.
“No, that’s why I’m here,” the purple alicorn said as she helped Dash down off of the stool.
The two of them began to walk to the home Bryant’s brother had signed over to her, and Dash began to hum a song. Twilight groaned a little as her friend began to drunkenly sing lyrics to some song about a plastic cup. They walked up to the house they had all stood outside of a few days before hand and Dash chose this moment to fall to the ground.
“This is okay,” Dash said.
Twilight looked at her, lying on the wet grass outside of the house and shook her head. She slowly helped make Dash stand and the two of them walked into the house. The entire time Dash was leaning on Twilight all of the way to the bed. Once there she helped her cyan friend into the bed and tucked her in.
“He’s really gone Twi,” she said.
Twilight looked at her and gently rubbed her mane.
“I know,” she replied.
She watched as Dash passed out and shook her head. She walked back into the house and noticed that Dash had put pictures up all over. There was pictures of her human coltfriend, pictures of them, it felt similar to a home would feel. She walked toward the kitchen and found the refrigerator full of junk food, beer, and water. She grabbed a water bottle, worked with it for a few minutes and finally got it to open.
She took a sip from it and looked back at the bedroom.
“Dash, I’m sorry but we need to try to get you to deal with this,” she whispered.
Twilight stood there for a moment with the bottle of water. She looked back toward the bed Dash was in. She didn’t want to leave her alone in the room in case she needed to be sick. She walked back toward the bed and heard the sound of groans coming from the bed.
“I…I’m gonna be s…” she started to say before the sound of vomit began to erupt from her.
Without a thought Twilight made a trashcan move toward Dash and let her empty the contents of her stomach into it. She shook her head and walked toward the bathroom and found a washcloth. She wet it down and walked back into the room where Dash was lying. She cleaned her muzzle and made sure her friend was lying on her side.
“Twi?” she asked.
“I’m here Dash,” she said.
“Why?” she asked.
Twilight looked at the cyan mare. She knew that Dash most likely wouldn’t remember this in the morning. She moved a beanbag chair that was in the room over toward the bed and sat down on it.
“It’s a different world Dash. I know that doesn’t make it any easier, but that’s the truth of it. I wish that I could say something that would help make this better,” she replied, “But, you know from what you told all of us he was happy he met you. Dash, you brought some joy into his life.”
She heard the sound of a snore and knew that Dash was already passed out. Instead of leaving the room she sat there next to the bed. She watched her friend sleep, and slowly she looked around the room itself. It was obvious that it had been his room at one point. She could see posters of various bands, pictures, and a flashing digital clock in the corner. She watched Dash sleep deeply and laid her head down on the side of the bed.
The night passed and Twilight woke up to the sounds of Dash’s groans. She saw her friend sitting up holding her head.
“Ow,” Dash said.
“Anything I can do?” Twilight asked.
“Bryant said that drinking water and coffee helped a lot,” Dash replied.
She grimaced and Twilight walked out of the room. She found an old coffee maker and began making a pot. She heard Dash finally getting out of bed, or rather she fell out of the bed. She walked back to where Dash was and checked on her.
“Hey, Dash, you all right?” she asked.
“Just my head,” she answered.
Twilight laughed and walked back into the kitchen. A few minutes later Dash walked in. She found a seat and waited for the coffee to finish being made. Once it was done Twilight poured her a cup and floated it over to her. She took it and drank heavily from the black brew.
“Dash, talk to me,” Twilight said.
“What’s there to talk about?” she asked.
“You could tell me about you and Bryant,” she saw Dash look at the table, “I know you might not feel like it, but I think it will help Dash, and besides aren’t you proud to have known him?”
Dash’s eyes raised toward Twilight’s, but it wasn’t sadness there. There was a burning determination she saw in her eyes.
“Don’t ever question if I was proud to know him again,” she nearly hissed.
Twilight swallowed back what she felt when her friend did that. Dash was brazen, headstrong, but this kind of determination was something she rarely saw.
“Then tell me about him. What happened when you first met, and what your time with him was like,” she said.
Dash looked at Twilight, took a drink of coffee, and then pushed the mug away.
“You already know that I crashed into the river and he saved me. I told all of you about that. Although, I didn’t need saving. I could have gotten out on my own,” Dash said as she leaned back, “But we started to talk, and I found him so easy to talk to. Hell, he shared his beer with me without question, but it was after he was ready to leave and he asked if I wanted to hang out for a while. I figured why not.”
(Freemount Arkansas – two months earlier)
The sound of I like this bar playing in the background of the truck as they drove made Dash tap her hoof to the music. She noticed that he didn’t mind that she was tapping on the outside of the truck. A few moments later they drove to a large waterslide just off of the road.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“The best way to cool off,” he answered.
She followed him as he walked up to the younger man working the ticket booth.
“Two for the slide,” Bryant said.
“Dude… that’s like one of those Pony things,” the younger man said.
“Really? I couldn’t tell,” he answered.
“Man… Look I don’t know if my manager is going to be cool with this. I mean that thing not registered for animals,” the kid said.
Dash glared at the younger man before Bryant poked him with his finger.
“Look, she’s an intelligent being, asking an intelligent being to let her slide down a fucking water slide. So, be a pal, and let her in,” he said.
“I… Look, I wish that I could, but…” he started before Bryant rolled his eyes, lifted the gate and motioned for Dash.
“Come on, we’re only alive once,” he said.
She smiled and followed him behind the gate. She turned toward the kid working the ticket booth and stuck out her tongue. The both of them climbed up to the top of the waterslide and he grabbed a rubber raft. She looked at it and then he sat down and indicated that she sit down in front of him. She took a seat and a second later she felt an arm around her chest. A moment later the raft shot forward, actually shooting out into the air for a good two seconds before it fell with a thud onto the slide. She felt them rushing toward the bottom of the steep waterslide. They hit a huge pool of water and skid across the top of it about two thirds of the way through before it began to slow and the water sloshed over the top of the raft and got the both of them soaked.
They both laughed right up until they reached the other side of the pool. A large man was standing there tapping his foot and shaking his head.
“What in the hell is this?!” he asked.
“It looks like a couple of folks cooling off,” Bryant said.
“It looks like a jackass brony and one of those pony things. Get outta my pool, and get off of my property,” he seethed.
Dash felt Bryant pull them to the side. He helped her get out, stood up, walked toward the larger man, and looked him straight in the eye.
“I paid for our ride down the slide,” he said.
“And you got it. Get out,” the larger man said.
“Sure, but first…” Bryant said before he hit the larger man with a right cross. The larger man fell to his ass. He grabbed his jaw and rubbed it.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he shouted.
Dash walked toward them ready to speak her mind as well.
“What’s wrong with you? He paid for us to ride your stupid slide,” she said.
“I’m gonna report you to the authorities!” The larger man said.
“You gonna report the fact the fact that you’ve got a fifteen year old kid working that ticket booth and concession stand? You know, the same stand that’s selling beer. Fifteen year old kid can’t work a concession stand, made for one person to stand in, that has beer. That’s the kind of thing that gets places like these shut down,” Bryant said.
The larger man began stuttering.
“Yeah, we’ve rode down the slide, and if she wants to come back and ride it again we’re going to,” he said.
She grinned at the man who got up and looked away from them.
“Fine… Thank you for visiting Hank’s slip and slide,” he said.
“Thanks, ‘preciate the cool water on a hot day,” Bryant said as he looked at Dash and grinned.
They started to walk out and Dash began laughing.
“That was so awesome!” she said.
“It was a lot of fun. Say, you been to an outdoor movie yet?” he asked.
She looked at him strangely.
“Then that’s a nope. Oh, this will be a hellva lot of fun. If you’re down for it,” he said.
“Why not, I’m down for anything,” she said.
They stopped by a convience store with a much nicer woman working the front desk. The two of them bought some ice and some Boston Logger. He dumped the water out of his cooler and put the fresh beer in and then covered it with the ice. The two of them headed down a long stretch of road that seemed to simply go on forever. He laughed and told her about how this was once called Route 66. It had originally connected the country as the main highway from coast to coast.
She looked at the old road, and then at the buildings standing around it. Some had long since closed, but then he turned in what seemed like a dirt road. They drove a little bit and a bubbly blond headed woman stuck her head out of a small window near a gate and smiled.
“Howdy! Y’all here to see the monster movie?” she asked.
“Well, that or visit with your bubbly self. How are you doing Denise?” Bryant asked.
“I’m fine as a feather! We’ve sold out the tickets for next week’s showings, but you know I always got a spot for you. Look, just pull in back in the… Hey, it’s one of them ponies! My daughter would go absolutely crazy if she knew you were here!” Denise shouted.
“Thanks,” Dash said.
“I know you’ve probly been asked a hundred times, but do you mind if’n I take a picture with you? My ex has our daughter this weekend, and I would love to show her that her mom met her personal hero,” she asked.
Dash smiled and nodded. The blond woman pulled her head back into the window, and a second later the door opened. She rolled out on a wheelchair onto the small cement porch for the building. Dash looked at her and then at Bryant.
“Go ahead, I’ll be right here,” he said.
She got out, once she gripped the old handle, and jumped up on the roof of the truck. She walked over and hopped down on the tool box and then over to the woman. Denise handed Bryant her phone who took the picture, and then one more for the woman.
“Thanks so much hun! She’s gonna love this!” Denise said as she rolled back into the building.
“So six dollars?” Bryant asked.
“Hell no! You got me a picture with my daughter’s hero Rainbow Dash! Free of charge tonight!” she exclaimed.
They pulled into the old drive-in and once they were parked Rainbow nudged him.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Her old man wasn’t a good fella. He was an asshole in every sense of the word. I wasn’t here when it happened, but apparently she was trying to leave him and he tossed her down a flight of stairs. She got a restraining order against him, had sole custody of her daughter for the longest time, but then his parents began fighting about getting to see the kid. So, technically her daughter goes to the grandparents, but she knows her dad is the one taking care of her,” Bryant said.
Dash looked back at the building and then pulled out a feather. She opened the door and looked up at him.
“I’ll be right back,” she said through clenched teeth.
She walked down to the building and knocked on the door. The woman opened it to see her there. Dash put the feather in her hand.
“Your little filly will get a kick out of that too,” she said.
“Thank you hun. You know, she goes on and on about how she wants to be brave just like you. Rainbow Dash isn’t afraid of anything. That’s what she always says,” Denise said.
Dash smiled and looked at her.
“That’s not always true. Even Rainbow Dash gets scared. I just don’t tell anyone,” she said.
Denise smiled at her and then wheeled herself back into the building. Dash grinned and walked back to the truck. She climbed up into the cab and watched a bad movie about a giant lizard terrorizing the people of Hong Kong. The giant thing breathed fire, and its roar seemed to made a sonic ripple that blew windows out for miles. They laughed at the bad special effects, the horrible acting, and laughable dialogue. Once it was over Bryant turned the truck around and set up a couple of lawn chairs in the back. She helped him and then he looked down at another building about halfway down the hill they were on.
“Want some popcorn?” he asked.
They stood in line, heard ‘Red Solo Cup’ playing in the background, and walked up to a guy decked out in tattoos and piercings. He grinned at them and lifted his right arm. On it was a tattoo of the cartoon version of Dash in Wonderbolt outfit.
“That’s awesome!” Dash said.
“Thanks! I had to visit six different tat palors before I found one with a decent enough artist to do this. We don’t have any hayfries here, but I’ll tell you right now our waffle fries are pretty kick ass,” he said.
She nodded and he dished up a plate of them. He then looked at Bryant.
“How about you?” he asked.
“Large tub of Popcorn,” he said.
Dash watched as the guy pulled up what looked like a two gallon bucket and filled it with Popcorn.
“What’s the damage?” Bryant asked.
“Six bucks,” he said.
“Really?” Bryant asked.
“Well, it’s an off night, you brought in a personal hero, so yeah, six bucks,” the guy said.
Bryant nodded and handed him the money. They walked back toward the truck and climbed into the back. Dash watched as another movie started and she ate the waffle fries. The guy was right. Those things rocked hard. She looked at Bryant who handed her the popcorn. She dove into it.
The following morning found them still in the back of the truck. Dash stretched under a blanket and looked at Bryant who was fast asleep. She nudged him and he fell out of his chair.
“Huh?” he asked.
“What next?” she asked.
He grinned and looked at the time. They had hit the tourist traps already. It was two pm, and that meant that Tuxies was open. He stretched and looked at her.
“How about we head over to a good bar I know?” he asked.
(Tahlequah Oklahoma – Present time – Bryant’s old house)
Twilight looked at her as Dash stopped and let out a breath.
“He sounded really nice,” she said.
“He was awesome. We bar hopped for a few nights. Hell, he flirted back and forth with me several times. Twilight… I didn’t realize how much I was really getting to like him until our road trip back here. He… He was so much fun to be around, and then I found out about everything he had been through, and the fact that he wanted to spend what time he had left trying to enjoy his life. He told me that I made him feel alive again,” she sniffed and laid her head on top of her front legs.
“We… well, you know that I’ve done it a hundred times. We did something different. It was… different. I don’t know what to call it,” she said.
“They call it making love,” Twilight said.
“That sounds right. It wasn’t just rutting. He wanted me to call Celestia. I think he wanted to live,” he said.
“I’m sorry we were too late,” Twilight said.
Dash nodded and looked at the photo of them in Tuxies. The both of them bleary eyed and singing. She pointed to it and smiled.
“That was the first night at Tuxies. We sung every song they had on Karaoke there. It’s a lot different than in Ponyville. They don’t practice the songs. It’s just doing it for the thrill of doing it,” she said.
“I wish that I could have gotten to know him,” Twilight said.
“Think of Pinkie’s friend, but a lot less stuck up… Oh wait… Let me tell you a story about a friend of his! His friend Bobby, that went to college with him, got all kinds of drunk and they wondered out into a field. His friend saw a Shetland Pony and bucked it! He busted his cherry with a farm animal!” Dash said with a laugh.
Twilight looked at her with her jaw hanging open.
The Dance
Tie in with Room for Rent By Drax99
(Bryant and Dash’s last night together through Dash’s Eyes)
I can see why Bryant wanted to go the Ned’s. It’s a fun place, and it reminds me of ‘The Little White Lyre’ back in Ponyville. I hear Bryant suggest that we leave the truck overnight, and instead catch a taxi. I shrug and nod.
“Sure, that sounds fine to me,” I reply.
He pulls out his little black Robotz phone and tells it to dial the taxi company. We walk outside and the night air floods over us. It’s really no different than any night in Ponyville. The air is comfortable, the sky is clear, but the one thing missing is the batponies going about their business. I watch as a white car pulls up with a yellow Taxi sign on the door and on the roof of it. The owner rolls down his window and looks at us both.
“Bryant, how’s it hanging buddy?” the guy asks.
“Lower than yours Hank. How’s life treating ya?” Bryant asks.
“About the same. I’ve got the custody of the kids,” he replies.
“Damn, glad to hear it. How are they?” Bryant asks as he opens the door for me.
“Teresa’s okay, but Timmy’s actin’ funny. If’n I find out that one of Patty’s brothers did something… Well, you know,” he says.
“Hey, whatever it is I know you’ll take care of it,” Bryant replies.
“So, a pony huh?” he asks.
I look up at him and give a half smile.
“I bet y’all get the stuff about not looking like the cartoon all of the time,” he says.
“Yeah, but it’s not too bad,” I reply.
“No kidding. You know, if this entire multiverse thing is real I wouldn’t mind seeing if that Warrior Princess is real,” he says with a laugh.
Both Bryant and I laugh as Hank kids and jokes with us. After about fifteen minutes we pull up to a house and Bryant gets out. He turns around and hands Hank a couple of bills.
“Damn Bryant, I only brought to the edge of town,” he says.
“Don’t worry about it. Get something nice for your kids,” Bryant says as we get out.
I watch as the taxi shifts into gear and takes off. The both of us walk through a slightly overgrown yard, and up to the house. Bryant fumbles around with a key for a moment and then unlocks the front door. We walk inside and I notice the difference between his home and some of the other homes I had been in. Some of the people in San Frisco had places so polished that they would seem at home with Rarity, and then there was Louis, Pinkie’s friend, his house was so neat and tidy that it was like looking at a place Twilight would have owned. Bryant’s house was a place that was well worn and lived in.
It wasn’t ugly, but I could see that this had been a house that had been lived in. The furniture was comfortable looking, the walls were clean, but it felt homey. I think about a few things, and then I wonder about his friends and if they had come over. That leads me to think about his friend Bobby again. I find myself snickering a little thinking about Bryant, Bobby, and their other friends hanging out, getting drunk, and then watching their friend get so wasted and do something that he was teased about for years.
Bryant stretches and grabs the end of a futon and pulls. It turns into a queen sized bed and he kicks off his work boots.
“I think that I’m gonna crash out for a while,” he says.
I crawl up beside him, still chuckling lightly, and nod. He turns toward me, and I snuggle close to him. He feels so warm, and it feels nice to have his arm around me. I feel him relax, and as I hear him sleep I lay there looking across the room. The last week has been a blast, and I’ve really enjoyed every bit of it, but there’s something more here. I know that when it comes to romance stuff I’m not that good at it. I’ve always been a direct mare. So, it feels weird to feel what I feel right now. I’ve liked Gilda, I like Pinkie Pie, and I thought that Soarin was pretty hot, but I really haven’t felt this before.
I haven’t felt this kind of connection, and that scares me. It scares me because of what it means. I let out a snort of uncertainty when I feel him stir behind me.
“Dash something wrong?” he asks.
“Bryant,” I reply.
“Huh?” he sleepily asks.
I turn toward him, and look into those green eyes of his. I want to tell him how I feel, but before that I want to tell him something else I’ve thought about since our trip to the hospital.
“You know… Celestia could maybe help you. I don’t know for sure, but she might could do something,” I say.
He smiles, and I feel his hand gently caress my muzzle. He rubs up to my ears and lightly scratches behind them for me for a moment.
“I don’t know about that… but I know that I haven’t had so much fun, or felt so alive in so long. Thanks Dash. Thanks for making me feel alive again,” he says.
He moves toward me, and I don’t make him wait. Our lips touch, I feel his mouth open, and everything seems to move on its own. He’s not harsh or forceful, but instead he’s gentle. Each movement is done softly, and seems to give me slight shivers that spread through my wings. I feel him moving down, his kissing gentle, soft, like small caresses, and each one feeling with shivers.
Each touch seems to drive the point home of what I’ve been feeling. He moves back up and kisses me again. I can taste a little of myself on him, but it doesn’t bother me. To be honest he’s the only stallion, man, whatever, I’ve known to do this. Soarin sure didn’t. I roll us over, my wings draped around him.
“Do you want to?” I ask.
I feel so nervous. The last time I’ve felt this nervous was the first time I ever did anything, and I’m fairly sure it was that stallion’s first time too. Instead of an answer he leans up and kisses me again.
“I’d love to,” he says.
It doesn’t take that long to get him out of those clothes. His old tee-shirt, blue jeans, and boxers are gone in an instant. I take a moment to admire something that’s a first for me, and I realize that there was a good chance he wasn’t boasting with his friend. Actually, from the looks of it I’d say he’d give Soarin a run for his money.
We share a kiss, and soon the two of us join together. I find myself rolled under him, but he’s not being savage. Again he’s taking time, making sure that I like this, and I find myself realizing what I had felt was right. I love him. I’m in love with him. He can be brash, and rough, but each movement he makes only proves that he can be gentle and sweet.
It seems to last almost forever, and at the same time it doesn’t last nearly long enough. It doesn’t matter how wonderful it felt because I could have happily stayed in that moment for the rest of my life. He doesn’t pull directly back. Instead he rolls us gently until I’m back on top. He gives over the control and I accept. We move together like a single being again, and before long I find that I don’t want a more feverous movement, but instead I want to show him the same gentleness he gave me.
After a while we collapse, and I find myself snuggling back up close to him again. His left arm is under my head, and his right is draped across my chest. We’re still for so long until I feel him kissing my neck, and I start to wake up from my near sleep.
“Hey, if… if you want to talk to this Celestia, go ahead,” he says.
I smile and find his Robotz phone.
“Dial 555-867-5309,” I tell it.
The phone does and in a few seconds I hear a voice I haven’t heard in quite some time.
“Hello?” she asks.
“Princess Celestia, this is Rainbow Dash. I… I have a question,” I say.
“How are you doing my little Pony? What is it that you want to ask?” she asks.
I explain about Bryant, and I feel his hand against my back. I turn to see him slipping off to sleep.
“love you,” he says sleepily.
I smile and determination fills me.
“I do not know what I will be able to do, but I promise to do all that I am able,” she says.
I hang up the phone and turn toward him. My eyes widen as I notice that he’s not breathing. I pick up the phone and have it call the emergency services that I did before. Each second that passes as I wait for them seems to be an eternity, but eventually they arrive. They start working on him, and all I can do is watch helplessly. I ride to the hospital with him, and I watch as they pound on his chest, breathe into his mouth, and I can hear his bones cracking.
When we get into the hospital it’s more of the same until finally they make me leave the room. I do the only thing I can think and I call Twilight. She answers her phone, tells me that the Princess had called her, and then I explain what was happening. She tells me that she’s on her way. I wait inside of the small white waiting room, listening to the sounds of static on the television until finally the door opens. I look up hoping that it’s Twilight, that somehow she found a way to use magic and teleport here, but instead it’s the doctor I had seen. He walks toward me.
“I know this isn’t easy, and I’m very sorry. We tried everything we could, but sometimes it’s just someone’s time to go,” he says.
I find myself crying harder than I’ve ever cried in my life. He leads me into the room I had been in and on that bed is Bryant. He looks so frail compared to how he looked a week ago. The doctor steps back and I move toward Bryant. I slowly crawl up on the bed and bury my head into his chest. I breathe the smell of in him. I take that smell and let it fall over me.
“I love you too,” I whisper in his ear.
I don’t remember much of the night after that. I left the hospital, took off into the air, and sometime during the night I ended back at Bryant’s house. I woke up to the sounds of movement and saw Twilight talking to another human. I moved into the room to see a guy that looked sort of like Bryant. The guy looked at me, gave me a half smile and handed me something.
“Hey, I’m Carl. Bryant… He had a will set up a while back, but he never changed who the house was supposed to go to. It kind of defaulted to me, and to be honest… I couldn’t live here if I wanted to, but your friend here told me about you and my brother. It’s not the same as having him here, but take the house, and if you can drive his old ford. Everybody I talked today said that they haven’t seen him that happy in a few years. Thanks for doing that for him,” he says.
I nod and extend a hoof. He instead pulls me into a hug.
“I don’t know about y’all, but I’d say we’re family, and my family hugs,” he says.
I return it and can’t help but feel hurt. Not because of him, or really even because of Bryant, but because of what had happened. He lets me go and then steps back.
“Thanks for doing for my brother what I couldn’t. We never could get along very well… I guess it was because of Becky… I shouldn’t have been doing what I was a doing, but then… I didn’t realize a few things about myself then either. It doesn’t matter. But thanks,” he says.
He turns to leave and looks back at me.
“Take care,” he says.
Twilight helps me back into the house, and grief washes over me. Last night had been bad, but it hadn’t really set in yet. It starts to become more and more real as the day moves on. She holds me, softly stroking my mane, as I cry.
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More than a memory (Bonus Chapter 1 for I love this Bar - Alternate Ending through Dash's Eyes)
More than a Memory
Bonus Chapter 1 for I love this Bar
Room For Rent By Draxx99
(Alternate Ending to I Love this Bar through Dash’s Eyes)
I can see why Bryant wanted to go the Ned’s. It’s a fun place, and it reminds me of ‘The Little White Lyre’ back in Ponyville. I hear Bryant suggest that we leave the truck overnight, and instead catch a taxi. I shrug and nod.
“Sure, that sounds fine to me,” I reply.
He pulls out his little black Robotz phone and tells it to dial the taxi company. We walk outside and the night air floods over us. It’s really no different than any night in Ponyville. The air is comfortable, the sky is clear, but the one thing missing is the batponies going about their business. I watch as a white car pulls up with a yellow Taxi sign on the door and on the roof of it. The owner rolls down his window and looks at us both.
“Bryant, how’s it hanging buddy?” the guy asks.
“Lower than yours Hank. How’s life treating ya?” Bryant asks.
“About the same. I’ve got the custody of the kids,” he replies.
“Damn, glad to hear it. How are they?” Bryant asks as he opens the door for me.
“Teresa’s okay, but Timmy’s actin’ funny. If’n I find out that one of Patty’s brothers did something… Well, you know,” he says.
“Hey, whatever it is I know you’ll take care of it,” Bryant replies.
“So, a pony huh?” he asks.
I look up at him and give a half smile.
“I bet y’all get the stuff about not looking like the cartoon all of the time,” he says.
“Yeah, but it’s not too bad,” I reply.
“No kidding. You know, if this entire multiverse thing is real I wouldn’t mind seeing if that Warrior Princess is real,” he says with a laugh.
Both Bryant and I laugh as Hank kids and jokes with us. After about fifteen minutes we pull up to a house and Bryant gets out. He turns around and hands Hank a couple of bills.
“Damn Bryant, I only brought to the edge of town,” he says.
“Don’t worry about it. Get something nice for your kids,” Bryant says as we get out.
I watch as the taxi shifts into gear and takes off. The both of us walk through a slightly overgrown yard, and up to the house. Bryant fumbles around with a key for a moment and then unlocks the front door. We walk inside and I notice the difference between his home and some of the other homes I had been in. Some of the people in San Frisco had places so polished that they would seem at home with Rarity, and then there was Louis, Pinkie’s friend, his house was so neat and tidy that it was like looking at a place Twilight would have owned. Bryant’s house was a place that was well worn and lived in.
It wasn’t ugly, but I could see that this had been a house that had been lived in. The furniture was comfortable looking, the walls were clean, but it felt homey. I think about a few things, and then I wonder about his friends and if they had come over. That leads me to think about his friend Bobby again. I find myself snickering a little thinking about Bryant, Bobby, and their other friends hanging out, getting drunk, and then watching their friend get so wasted and do something that he was teased about for years.
Bryant stretches and grabs the end of a futon and pulls. It turns into a queen sized bed and he kicks off his work boots.
“I think that I’m gonna crash out for a while,” he says.
I crawl up beside him, still chuckling lightly, and nod. He turns toward me, and I snuggle close to him. He feels so warm, and it feels nice to have his arm around me. I feel him relax, and as I hear him sleep I lay there looking across the room. The last week has been a blast, and I’ve really enjoyed every bit of it, but there’s something more here. I know that when it comes to romance stuff I’m not that good at it. I’ve always been a direct mare. So, it feels weird to feel what I feel right now. I’ve liked Gilda, I like Pinkie Pie, and I thought that Soarin was pretty hot, but I really haven’t felt this before.
I haven’t felt this kind of connection, and that scares me. It scares me because of what it means. I let out a snort of uncertainty when I feel him stir behind me.
“Dash something wrong?” he asks.
“Bryant,” I reply.
“Huh?” he sleepily asks.
I turn toward him, and look into those green eyes of his. I want to tell him how I feel, but before that I want to tell him something else I’ve thought about since our trip to the hospital.
“You know… Celestia could maybe help you. I don’t know for sure, but she might could do something,” I say.
He smiles, and I feel his hand gently caress my muzzle. He rubs up to my ears and lightly scratches behind them for me for a moment.
“I don’t know about that… but I know that I haven’t had so much fun, or felt so alive in so long. Thanks Dash. Thanks for making me feel alive again,” he says.
He moves toward me, and I don’t make him wait. Our lips touch, I feel his mouth open, and everything seems to move on its own. He’s not harsh or forceful, but instead he’s gentle. Each movement is done softly, and seems to give me slight shivers that spread through my wings. I feel him moving down, his kissing gentle, soft, like small caresses, and each one feeling with shivers.
Each touch seems to drive the point home of what I’ve been feeling. He moves back up and kisses me again. I can taste a little of myself on him, but it doesn’t bother me. To be honest he’s the only stallion, man, whatever, I’ve known to do this. Soarin sure didn’t. I roll us over, my wings draped around him.
“Do you want to?” I ask.
I feel so nervous. The last time I’ve felt this nervous was the first time I ever did anything, and I’m fairly sure it was that stallion’s first time too. Instead of an answer he leans up and kisses me again.
“I’d love to,” he says.
It doesn’t take that long to get him out of those clothes. His old tee-shirt, blue jeans, and boxers are gone in an instant. I take a moment to admire something that’s a first for me, and I realize that there was a good chance he wasn’t boasting with his friend. Actually, from the looks of it I’d say he’d give Soarin a run for his money.
We share a kiss, and soon the two of us join together. I find myself rolled under him, but he’s not being savage. Again he’s taking time, making sure that I like this, and I find myself realizing what I had felt was right. I love him. I’m in love with him. He can be brash, and rough, but each movement he makes only proves that he can be gentle and sweet.
It seems to last almost forever, and at the same time it doesn’t last nearly long enough. It doesn’t matter how wonderful it felt because I could have happily stayed in that moment for the rest of my life. He doesn’t pull directly back. Instead he rolls us gently until I’m back on top. He gives over the control and I accept. We move together like a single being again, and before long I find that I don’t want a more feverous movement, but instead I want to show him the same gentleness he gave me.
After a while we collapse, and I find myself snuggling back up close to him again. His left arm is under my head, and his right is draped across my chest. We’re still for so long until I feel him kissing my neck, and I start to wake up from my near sleep.
“Hey, if… if you want to talk to this Celestia, go ahead,” he says.
I smile and find his Robotz phone.
“Dial 555-867-5309,” I tell it.
The phone does and in a few seconds I hear a voice I haven’t heard in quite some time.
“Hello?” she asks.
“Princess Celestia, this is Rainbow Dash. I… I have a question,” I say.
“How are you doing my little Pony? What is it that you want to ask?” she asks.
I explain about Bryant, and I feel his hand against my back. I turn to see him slipping off to sleep.
“love you,” he says sleepily.
I smile and determination fills me.
“I do not know what I will be able to do, but I promise to do all that I am able,” she says.
I hang up the phone and turn toward him. He’s lying there, so peaceful. I feel… hopeful. Maybe Celestia can save him, and maybe everything will work out okay. I curl up next to him and feel his arm wrap around me. It feels amazing to have him so close, and to know that I’ve found my special somepony. A soft chuckle escapes me as I lie there. My parents, both of them, would be proud, and wary at the same time.
Dad had always told me to follow my heart. I loved him to pieces, but there was times that he was a little too emotional. Mom was different. She was a hard mare, and she knew when things had to be a certain way. Still, even with her being all hard and everything she loved dad like no other.
I always try to act like mom, but right now, at this moment, I think that I am acting a bit more like dad. I think I’m losing myself in the prospect of building a life together with Bryant, and I can’t help but feel giddy. A few minutes later his phone rings and I answer it.
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight’s voice asks.
“Twi?” I ask.
“Celestia asked that I arrange some transport for you and your colt friend. I didn’t even know that you had a colt friend,” Twilight says sounding a little confused.
“I do, and we need to get to the gateway,” I reply.
“Okay, but what’s going on?” she asks.
“I’ll explain everything later, but please, we need to do this as soon as possible,” I say.
“Okay, look I’m going to call in a favor, and there should be a taxi to take you to the airport there in fifteen minutes,” she replies.
Once she hangs up I start waking up Bryant. He groggery gets up, listens to me, and together we get ready to meet the taxi. He goes to the bathroom to take a shower, and leaves the door open. I hear the shower starting, and then his head hangs out of the room.
“You want a shower?” he asks.
I sniff myself and realize that maybe getting clean wouldn’t be a bad idea. I walk toward the bathroom and look in to see him holding his hand under the water. I stand there; studying the form I had seen and felt last night. I can see a few scars on his chest, and there are small burn marks on his arms where heavy gloves would have ended at. I trot over to him, stand on my hind legs, and wrap my forelegs around him. He leans down a little and we kiss. I feel his hands moving down my back, right behind my wings, and I wonder if he even realizes what he’s doing.
The spot is so sensitive, and it can really hurt if someone doesn’t rub the place right. Instead it feels amazing. A small moan escapes into his mouth as we kiss. I feel his hands softly, gently, and determinedly moving down my back until they come to rest on my cutie marks. There’s a slight squeeze and I nearly jump. There’s absolutely no hiding my wings. Both of them are sticking straight out, and after last night I’m fairly sure he understands what it means. He breaks the kiss and I feel my eyes flutter open.
I’ve never been the romantic type. Soarin’ and Gilda could contest to that. I’ve always been direct, but this time it’s different. I want to do things for him. I want to do more than just ask if he wants to bang. I want to flirt, tease, and do everything a marefriend would want to do. He steps into the shower and extends his hand to me.
“Want to join me?” he asks.
I smile, take his offered hand, and step over into the tub. I’ve stood on my hind legs for extended periods of time, but it usually caused my back to become a little tight. It’s different with him. I lean against him, like he suggests, and it feels more relaxed than it did before when it was just me. His tub has this shower head that can be removed and aimed lower if needed, and it is awesome. I let him rinse all of me down, and then we both begin soaping me up. I return the favor and do the same to him. It feels wonderful, it is amazing, and the shower really is helping wake both of us completely up.
He tickles me and I return the favor as we step out of the tub. He gives me a towel and I begin drying my fur, then my mane, and finally I get to my feathers. It’s different for every Pegasus. Some like to start with their feathers, but I never could do that. I like to let my feathers drip a little before I start drying them. It gives me a chance to preen them better, make them look better, and feel better.
Rarity always goes on about her mane, and she constantly asks why I don’t want to do something more with my own. Sure, a stylish mane is nice, if you don’t work as a weather captain. The one thing I always like to make sure looks the absolute best is my feathers. I want them looking amazing.
“So, what is this Princess like?” Bryant asks.
“Princess Celestia is pretty cool. We’ve helped out Equestria a bunch of times, and she’s never really too busy to talk to any of us. Although I think part of the reason is because of Twilight,” I say.
“Dash, no matter what happens, You’ve made this part of my life take a turn for the better. I… I really never thought I could feel this way again,” he says.
I look at him and smile. There’s a part of me that wants to kid and tease with him. That wants to play around, but another softer part of me suggests something else, and for once I listen to the softer part. I kiss him. We stay like that, holding each other, kissing each other, right until the sounds of a horn blaring away outside can be heard.
He quickly dresses as I finished drying off. After a couple of minutes we walked outside to see a cab similar to the one that had drove us out here. The cab driver opens the door for us and once we get inside Bryant asks to be reminded of how much we owe when we arrive at where we’re going.
“No charge sir. We were contacted by the Equestrian Government and told that your trip was to be charged to them directly,” he says.
Bryant smiles and shakes his head. The night sky is still beautiful as the cab leaves. I lean against Bryant and feel his arm move around me. It feels amazingly secure like this.
“Which airfield are we heading to?” Bryant asks.
“Well, the town’s local one isn’t big enough to handle a straight flight. We were asked what airfield could, and it’s going to Tulsa International. The good news is that we should be there within an hour, and with the light traffic at this time of night we’re going to make some really good time,” the cab driver answers.
Our trip isn’t that eventful, and to be honest once I hear Bryant’s breathing level out I decided that a little sleep would be nice. The next very next moment I could feel being lightly shaken awake. I look around to see Bryant giving me a smile before opening the door. I climb out of the cab after him and we both watch as it leaves. We walk inside and once there he walks up to the first ticket booth. I lean up against it and clear my throat.
“Excuse us, but we have a question about our flight,” I say.
“The only fights going out at this time of night are private chartered flights. Unless you have a private chartered jet then you’re not going anywhere right now,” the woman working the counter replies.
“Do you mind to check?” Bryant asks.
She rolls her eyes and begins typing. For a moment there’s nothing and then the woman’s eyes grow wide. She looks down at me and swallows as she plasters a fake smile on her face.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that you had chartered jet waiting. Take this,” she says as she hands us a couple slips of paper, “Down to gate sixteen. They’re going to help you board.”
I shake my head and walk with Bryant until we reach the gate itself. The man working the gate looks at the slips of paper, scans them for a moment with a phone looking thing, and then nods to us both. He waves us through and we follow the tunnel until we’re outside of the building. Once outside I see a pony waiting.
“Ms Dash, Mr. Williams?” he asks.
“That’s us,” I reply.
“I’m supposed to escort you to the gateway. Once there you will be meeting with Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia. I’m guessing this is pressing business, but do either of you mind to tell me what it is that drug me out of a comfortable bed with a beautiful woman?” he asks.
“It’s important business,” I say.
He shakes his head and leads us both to a twin engine jet. We board it and within fifteen minutes we’re leaving the ground.
“How long of a trip is this?” Byrant asks.
“You’ve got a few hours,” the stallion that met us says.
“In that case I’m going to get a couple of hours sleep,” he replies.
I nod and lean against him. After a few minutes the both of us are well on our way to sleep. Once again it seems that I had no more got to sleep then someone is waking me back up. I awoke to find my right wing across Bryant. It looks like he’s still sleeping soundly.
“Ms Dash, We’re going to be landing in about ten minutes. You might want to wake your friend up,” he says.
I gently nudge Bryant and slowly his eyes blink open. He looks around before letting out a yawn.
“Don’t start doing that. You’re going to,” *Yawn* “make me do the same thing.”
We get off of the jet and walk into a large building. I notice there are a few different sets of doors, but we’re lead down the left set of doors. Finally when we get to where we are going I see Twilight and Princess Celestia standing there with a human. The human looks at Bryant and raises an eyebrow.
“Bryant, I didn’t know that you were friends with the Equestrian Government,” the other human says.
“You know me Doc. So, what are you doing here?” he asks.
“I was contacted by the princesses here. It seems that they are interested in your medical history, and I wouldn’t have said a thing, but apparently you gave permission to that young lady beside you to contact the Equestrian Royal Family and permit them to oversee your medical case,” he smiles and walks toward Bryant before laying a hand on him, “I’m just glad to see you doing better boy.”
Bryant nods and looks up Princess Celestia. I watch as she walks toward him and gestures toward a table. He takes a seat near it.
“Mr. Williams, the doctor presented us with your condition, and I’ve already forwarded a good deal of the information to my most trusted physicians. We are expecting to hear from them, but I must say that while the chance of curing you is quite good it may… take some extreme measures,” she says.
“What kind of extreme measures?” I ask.
“Dash, we don’t know how bad his cancer is. There’s some records from that small town hospital you had him taken to, but it really only suggests that the cancer is very aggressive,” Twilight answers.
A few moments later the door opens and a pony walks through it. I can tell it’s one of Celestia’s royal guards, and he looks tired. He bows, hoofs her a scroll, and she opens it. Her eyes scan it carefully before she turns to us.
“Tell me Mr. Williams, what made you change your mind? Your doctor explained that you were relaxed and actually happy to hear about your diagnosis. He also went through the trouble of explaining part of your past, and I must admit that finding out what had happened I wasn’t that surprised at why you reacted in the way you did. However, you’ve changed your mind and want to live. So what caused you to change your mind?” she asks.
I feel him wrap an arm around me, and I hug myself against him.
“She did. I was ready to meet my maker. There wasn’t really anything left for me. Rebecca, Tim, and Barbara were my entire world. I lived for them, but when they were taken from me.. I fell into a pit that I was stuck in for nearly ten years. I don’t know if you know what it’s like, but I wasn’t really alive then. I was existing, but not really living. Finding out that I had cancer gave me an excuse to try to find a reason to live, even if for a little while. When I met Rainbow,” he swallows and looks down at the floor.
“When I met her I had decided that my last days would be spent out on that river. I was just going to stay out there, drink myself stupid, and let nature take its course. After I met her and got to talking to her I sense something I hadn’t sensed in a long time, and that was a kindred spirit. I enjoyed our time together, and as the days passed I began to feel something else I swore I would never feel again. She’s made me feel alive, and for the first time, in a long time, I want to share that feeling with someone else. I need to share it with someone else. I don’t think that I would be here right now if I didn’t feel that,” he says.
She nods and leads the both of us through the door, and once through it we see the gateway. Two humans begin typing in some codes and when they finish we step through. The moment we step through I see Luna standing there.
“Sister, I received word that you needed me here,” she says with a yawn.
“I do Lulu, if Mr. Williams accepts our treatment. Mr. Williams, our physicians have found no fault in your physician’s findings. What they did discover, based on the details your physician’s notations was a possibility of why you were affected the way you were,” she says before she turns to Luna, “Did you ensure that Dr. Comet was contacted?”
“Sister, he is on the way,” Luna answers.
“Sorry that I’m late,” a voice says. I look to see a pony in a white coat. He nears us and bows.
“Rise my little pony,” Princess Celestia says.
“My princess, what can I do for you?” he asks.
“Dr. Comet, it is my understanding that you are the most skilled at scanning spells. In fact it is because of you that we’ve had such large advancements,” she says.
“I’m not one to brag, but yes I’ve helped devise ways of how to scan down to a cellular level,” he replies.
“Very good. What we require of you is to scan our guest. Inform us of his condition, and if it is something that may reoccur giving the right circumstances,” she says.
He nods and turns toward Bryant. I step back to give him room and watch as his horn glows red. The red aura surrounds Bryant, and I hear somepony click their tongue. I look to the doctor, and I see his face becoming more and more of a grimace as he finishes the scan. After a few moments he stops and shakes his head.
“There are cancerous cells throughout his body. It’s likely even with some of our more powerful healing spells that given the right conditions the cancer he now has would return,” the doctor says.
“Doctor, would you agree that a permanent transformation spell, powerful enough to change down to the cellular level, would be enough to remove the cancerous cells?” Princess Celestia asks.
The doctor rubs his chin with his fetlock.
“In theory it would. It should remove or rather rewrite all of those cells into healthy cells. But your highness, it’s very possible doing this would be very traumatic to Mr. Williams,” he says before turning to Bryant, “Sir, I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to go through this. A transformation spell is painful enough, but to do what the Princess is suggesting… Sir, I’m not sure it would be wise.”
I watched Bryant as he took in what the doctor said. He looked around and took a seat. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thanked the doctor, and asked him to remain regardless of Bryant’s decision. I touched his arm and felt his free hand wrap around my hoof.
“What Dr. Comet said is very true. This is a spell that has only been done a hoofful of times, but it is something that will save your life,” Princess Celestia states.
I feel his hand tighten on my hoof for a moment.
“Can he have some time to think about it?” I ask.
“Of course he may, but Mr. Williams, Bryant, we need to perform this spell while you are still strong enough to handle it. If we try to perform it while you are in a weakened state there is every chance that it will kill you,” she tells him.
“There is something else you should think of. My sister is offering you a chance at life, and while you have said that Rainbow Dash has opened your heart and allowed you to feel things you believed long dead, you must think about what it is that gives you purpose. A life, without purpose, is often one filled with regret,” Princess Luna says.
“Sort of what was it that I was best at and enjoyed doing or being right?” he asks.
She nods.
“The best job I ever had. The best thing I ever was, or most likely will be, was a dad. I like to think that I was good father, and I felt like that was my purpose then,” he says.
A knowing smile crosses her muzzle.
“There is something else that I must say now. Mr. Williams, if we do this who you are will be gone. I am uncertain if your mind will be whole when it is finished. There is a possibility that you will be fine, remember everything, but just as likely it could fracture your memories,” she says.
“He could lose who he is?” I ask.
“It is possible my little pony,” she replies.
“It’s a better chance than I was offered before,” he says.
“Bryant, are you sure? I mean maybe they can just clear up the cancer,” I reply.
“You heard them. Even if they clear it up if the conditions are met it will relapse. Besides I can handle about anything,” he says.
I give him a nervous smile as he nods. A moment later I watch as both Luna, Celestia, and Twilight lift him into the air. There’s a moment while he’s surrounded by their magical aura, and then there’s the screams. It’s so painful to hear. I can hear bones breaking, reshaping, a gagging sound coming from him followed by a feral scream of pain. It hurts so bad to hear him, and right now I’m wanting to force them to stop. I need to make them stop hurting him. I run forward only to find myself restrained.
“I’m sorry miss, but if you interfered while this was going on it would kill him,” Dr. Comet says.
“LET ME GO! THEY’RE HURTING HIM!” I scream.
I feel him holding me, keeping me from protecting Bryant, and the entire time I feel something inside of me, something savage, ripping its way to the surface.
“LET ME GO!” I scream.
He holds me. A moment later the aura ends and a large red furred, black maned Stallion lies on the floor where Bryant had been. The clothes he had been wearing have all ripped and are lying behind him. I step toward him, carefully.
“Prin… Ummm.. Celestia, this is very odd,” I hear Twilight say.
“He’s a Pegasus, but he has Earth Pony hooves. That is extremely odd,” she says.
“What?” I ask.
I near him and see the large wings he has. They’re beautiful, and they're huge. He’s easily as tall as Big Macintosh, but thinner. I touch his muzzle. I hear the princesses talk about how he’ll have to be taught how to fly. That makes sense since he wasn’t born a Pegasus. He won’t have the instincts that we have. Everything will have be learned over time, and now it seems that time is something we’ll both have.
“Dash…” he mutters.
“He remembers my name,” I say.
“We should keep him under observation,” Dr. Comet suggests.
“This is awesome! I mean, he’s gonna live, and plus that town he’s from is really nice. It’s almost like being back in Ponyville. It will be fantastic for him!” I exclaim.
“Rainbow… It might not be a good idea for him to go back, at least not right now,” Twilight says as she looks at me.
“Why not?” I ask.
“My little pony, while what we did saved his life we cannot know how other humans will react. I would not want to cause unrest there because of this. At least not until I am certain that reintroducing him to his world would not cause undo chaos and unrest,” Princess Celestia says.
“Oh, but I’m still a diplomat. I mean, I’ve got to be over there for a while at least,” I say.
“It is true that you’ve been assigned this duty, but there is nothing that says you cannot enjoy a vacation,” Princess Luna says.
I look at them and nod. I then nudge Bryant who opens an eye and looks at me.
“Hi,” he says sleepily.
