Chapter Two: Starting The Game

-May 2nd, 2020. Early AM-

I yawn as I slowly push myself out of my bed, rubbing the back of my head softly, wearily blinking as my hand slowly uncurls itself from the grip of my Thompson Submachine gun. Good ol' Tommy. Almost a hundred years old, and still works just as good as she did when she was made, my tomgirl. I smile and softly pat the pillow that it's hidden under, and after a moment, lift the pillow up to check the safety, check the magazine (forty round stick mag. I got a few drum mags, but they don't fit under the pillow), put her back down and away, and roll out of bed, yawning again as I get ready to start breakfast.

I stumble a bit as I get to the hallway. Damn, that was some quality liquor. Malt. As strong as 151 and as smooth as cream soda. The good stuff. I hum warmly, a little light headed but still ok as I get myself up and on the move, slowly walking forwards, walking down the hall past my little brothers room. He's sleeping peacefully... no, wait.

I freeze, looking at his door, and after a moment, press my ear to the door. Something doesn't feel right. A few moments pass, and I hear a quiet whimper. Shit, another nightmare. I curse lowly under my breath, mentally glaring at whomever runs the universe. He's been having on and off night terrors since the show ended, though he had always had some really rough nightmares even before then. That last episode... hell, I wasn't even a fan of the show and it spooked me. It was just off. I don't know what the hell had gone into the process of making it, it was just so damn dark, and more then slightly demented... like one of the writers had written it on LSD and Shrooms. Hallucinations and Paranoia. I slowly open the door, the whimper a bit louder now as I step inside.

Danny is curled up tightly under the covers, squeezing his new Luna plushie close. He's got tears on his face, fresh and still falling, and is shaking like he's in the middle of a blizzard. I curse, wishing that Mom was here. She'd be able to handle his nightmares. She was always good at calming us down, but Mom isn't here, so it's on my shoulders. I softly place a hand on his shoulder, and shake it, whispering urgently. “Danny. Danny. Danny! Come on Danny, wake up buddy, it's just a nightmare. It's another dream, wake up Danny!”

He wakes up with a gasp and a jolt, flinching away from my touch, and my heart breaks a bit as he looks at me in terror, exactly how I'd imagine he'd look at me if I ever told him what I really did for a living, who I really worked for. His eyes slowly start to focus and he bites back his whimpers and tears, wiping his face. “M-michael...”

A few moments pass before my hand drifts to his head, softly rubbing in in what I hope is in a soothing way. “Hey little brother. The dream come back? Come on, take a deep breath. It's just a dream. You're fine, you're safe, that stupid mythological creature ain't gonna come knocking round our door, and if he does, you know that your big brother's gonna break him.” I say, grinning at him warmly, comfortingly... or at least, I think I am. He shivers for a few moments more and sits up, shaking his head softly as he clutches at that Luna plushie. I take a moment to look around his room. His computer is blacked out. He must have turned it off. He always did prefer the dark to sleep in, and I can barely make out the posters and figurines from all kinds of anime and of course My Little Pony that adorn his walls and book shelves.

“It...” His voice makes my head rotate back to him, my focus fully on my quivering little brother, who lets out a soft breath before continuing, “It just felt too real Michael... it always does.” He mutters. “It felt... different this time though. More real... HE came... was laughing at me, because I was standing up against him, trying to keep him from... from Luna...”

The words pour out of his mouth as he starts to blabber about the dream, talking out the details. It's actually pretty freaky how detailed these lucid nightmares of his are. He's a pony in the dream, never can tell who according to him, and this pony ends up trying to fight Discord, only to watch in terror as the draconequus did something to Luna that made her vanish in a bright flash of white, and then to do the same to him.

I shake my head and softly rub his head again, trying to be as comforting as possible. I'm not quite made for this sort of thing. I've always bottled my own emotions, hid them and then let them out later. It's easier to keep focus that way, to get through the shit in life, with fine control and keeping a stiff upper lip so that the world doesn't try to fuck with you too much. “Hey, hey, calm down Danny boy. It's just a nightmare.”

“But it felt so damn REAL Michael! It always does!” Danny whispers, shaking his head again. I let out a hard sigh and lean back a bit, letting my hand leave his head.

“I know Danny. But it's a nightmare. It's your mind trying to terrify you or some shit like that. We know it sucks, but you need to get it together man. I know it's hard, but you need to let it go. Can you do that for me? Just for now. If you want to talk it out later, I hear ya, but at the moment I need you to get outta bed. I'm gonna start breakfast, and we need to eat if we're gonna make it to the zoo.” I say, Danny perking up a bit at the mentioning of the Seattle Zoo and Aquarium.

“We're going to the zoo?” He says, a bit of a smile coming to his face, seeming to snap outta his funk for the moment.

“Yeah, we're going to the zoo. Another adventure to be found, I'm sure.” I say, shaking my head. I hate the damn place, but he thinks it's awesome, and I did promise I'd take him somewhere. Besides, he always feels better after going to the zoo. Dunno what that's all about, but it seemed to do a decent job of chilling him out after a nightmare, so I guess it makes a pretty good deal all around.

I grin at him and offer my fist for a fistbump, which he gladly returns, a bit of a smile coming to his face before I turn and walk out the door to his room, heading back towards my kitchen to start up breakfast as I hear him walk out of his room and into the bathroom and start the shower.

That's one crisis solved. I smirk, feeling rather pleased with myself as I start making omelets.

---/|---

Breakfast went pretty smoothly, after Danny came out of the shower, still clinging to that Luna plushie. I guess it's comforting to him, and I'm glad he's enjoying his present, I just hope he leaves it at home when we go out. No need for him to make a fool of himself or end up losing it. I'm pretty sure there aren't many of those plushies left if they aren't hand made by fans of the show. I mean, the shows been gone for five years now. I'd imagine it's difficult to find a fan who's still dead on for the show, who can make plushies, who's willing to make one for you.

We ate breakfast pretty slowly as I checked my watch again, eyes glancing over the digital display. Zero eight twenty. Perfect. I grin as I finish my food and put the dishes in the dishwasher and stand up, stretching. “Alright little brother. One more present for ya, and then we can get rolling.”

Danny hums, tilting his head as he looks at me. “Why didn't you give me it yesterday?”

“Well, it's a gift that you kinda need, and it is a gift, it's just not a really fancy one, and I'd figured that you'd like the plushie more.” I say as I walk over to the door, grabbing the last bag that I'd left there and bringing it over, pulling a old-fashioned motorcycle rider's helmet from the back and lightly tossing it to him. “Need a helmet if you're gonna ride.”

Danny breaks out in a massive grin, pulling the helmet on and strapping it as I pull my leather jacket on, stretching and checking to make sure that the internal hidden holster and my Browning high-powered is still there. Yep. Everything is as it should be. I snatch up my keys from the table by the door and start out, Danny close behind, though he pauses for a moment to give his plushie another hug before leaving it on the table. I close and lock the apartment door after he leaves, and we make our way down to my bike, with it's new side car.

I don't like side cars that much. Don't let me ride as fast, nor as nimbly as I'd like, plus they always remind me of Mom and Dad. But Danny wants to ride, so a side car it is. He clambers into the car as I mount my steel stallion, grinning as I turn the engine on and listen to the horses rumble.

Side car or no side car, I love riding my bike, so we hit the road hard and smooth, the Pony Express on patrol.

The ride to the zoo was unremarkable, just a standard ride for me, minus getting used to the side car, but Danny seemed to be enjoying himself, whooping when I revved and cranked the speed up to quite a bit over the legal limit (slowing down before the cops saw us) and got us to the zoo in record time. I smirk at him as we ride, and as we pull into the zoo parking lot, chuckle lightly. “A bit better then going in that old beat up Dodge Durango, yeah?” I say, taunting his current car and lightly punching his shoulder as I turn the bike off.

“Hell yeah! That was great!” Danny whoops, pulling a big grin up onto my face as I dismount and take my helmet off, storing it in my bike. I hold my hand out for his helmet, which he doffs and offers to me. However, I end up stopping short of taking the helmet as I gawk at his hair for a moment before chuckling.

“Heh, did I do something that spooked you Danny-boy? You got some streaks in your hair.” I laugh, taking his helmet as I grin at him. He blinks, and tilts his head at me as I put his helmet away and check my messenger bag.

“Streaks? What are you talking about?” Danny blinks, looking at me in an adorably confused way that makes me chuckle and shake my head.

“Your hair has a lighter stripe going through it, like you were shocked into a lighter color dude. Hah, it's probably just a trick of the sun.” I grin, shaking my head at him. “Well, whatever, don't worry about it. Come on, the whole day is ours, lets light this firecracker.”

He smiles and nods, following me as we head into the Zoo and start to explore. A few minutes in from the gate, a big sign is posted up, boasting about their newest attraction. “Hello, what is this?” I murmur, looking the sign over. “Saudi Arabian horses? Neat. Want to check that out Danny?”

“What's the difference between those horses and normal ones?” Danny says, shrugging. “I mean, they're all horses right?”

I shrug. “I dunno. Lets go find out.”

With that thought, we start walking, Danny starting to chatter about the various animals and their traits, making me smirk. It was gonna be a long day at the zoo, but damn if it wasn't worth it to get his mind off of that nightmare.

----||/----

-May 2nd, V/IV-

Blugh. Two hours of walking around the zoo and we finally came to the only thing that really caught my attention. The Saudi Arabian horses. They had them in a massive enclosure, in which a large group of horses were trotting around, eating, nickering at one another, and generally being, well horses. I have to admit, they were rather spectacular looking horses, more like prancing nobility then the work horses you see around when going cross country or the running mustangs that adorned the side of my new sidecar, tall and rather majestic.

Danny seemed to be in light awe, standing up on his tip-toes to get a better view of the horses as I snapped a picture or two of the horses in motion. Hmmm, gives me a few ideas for a project to work on once I 'retire' from the Mob. I've got plenty of money, maybe a farm or a dude ranch or something. Whatever a dude ranch is. I'm pretty sure it's a ranch where you have lots of horses. Maybe breed 'em for the track or something?

Well, whatever, Danny has been enjoying himself all day, talking my ear off about animals, horses, the show, some art piece he was working on, a image he saw online, a story that he was working on... just talking talking talking, non stop. I love my little brother, but sheesh, sometimes he can really blather. I glance over at him, and stop for a moment, before looking between him and one of the horses he's looking at.

His hair looks... longer, and that lighter brown stripe is much more visible now. Kinda like one of the horses down there. A little unusual to be sure, and I find myself staring at his hair, a little confused. His hair has always been a dark, chocolate-ish brown. The lighter stripe was really weird to look at. He finally stops talking and looks to me and notices my stare, and nervously runs a hand through his hair.

“What? Something on my head bro?” He asks, trying to find what's making me stare. I shake my head after a moment and chuckle. “Nah, nah, just the sun playing tricks on my eyes little brother. Nothing to worry about. Come on, lets get something to eat and then kick the pavement, I think we've seen just about everything.”

He nods, so we make our way over to one of the overpriced restaurants, ordering some hot dogs and two sodas. We sit down to eat, when Danny starts talking. “Thanks for this BBBFF, it's really cool of you to hang out with your little brother.” Danny grins. I shake my head. “It's no problems. I know I got a lot of work to do, but come on, I can take a week vacation to hang out with my brother. Besides, after this job, we're gonna be set for a while.”

It's true, the money from this art run was gonna be tight. From what the Boss told me, he was gonna throw in a bonus for me, as a 'thank you' for the years of hard work. Maybe a promotion. I'd been running the delivery routes for the Mob for several years now, doing everything from gun running to moving precious pieces of artwork like this, and I've got a perfect delivery record. Dollars to Doughnuts that I've impressed the Boss somehow and now I'm getting my pay for it.

I bite into the hotdog, not really paying attention to it when I notice something odd. A guy in a miscolored suit. Not really that big of a deal, but it was really weird. Don't see a lot of burly dudes walking around a zoo wearing a half-black, half-white suit. Especially when the white is on one half of the suit and the black is on the other, split right down the middle.

I try to put it out of my mind as I continue to eat, but something feels a little off about this guy. He's just looking around, and his suit really makes him stand out, the shades don't help. A few minutes pass and he starts moving away, pulling out a cellphone. I raise an eyebrow, and finish off my hotdog.

Dunno what his problem was, but whatever, he's not my business and isn't looking into mine, so I'll leave it be. No sense sticking your head into a hole in the wall just to have it cut off. “Alright little brother, ready to go?”

I glance over to Danny, who's only eaten a bit of his hotdog and has a slight frown on his face. He's eaten all the fries, but I guess the 'mostly pork' hotdog didn't agree with him. “Yeah, I'm good to go big bro. What time is it?”

I glance at my watch, reading the time and noticing the date idly in the back of my mind. May second, 2020. “Almost two o clock.” I say, feeling surprised. We spent a lot more time here then I thought we were going to. I look around at the crowd of people and families going about their day, and stand up, stretching yet again. A pretty common thing for me, it pays to stay limber.

I motion for Danny to follow and we make our way out of the zoo, walking out the front gate towards the parking lot. I have this weird, niggling feeling in the back of my head that something is wrong, but no matter how many times I scan around, I can't place it. I softly pat my jacket to make sure my browning is still there, which it is, and the feeling drifts to the back of my head, comforted by the knowledge that I can handle trouble if there is any.

As we walk over to my bike, I check my bag. Yep, everything's accounted for. The 'museum' pieces are still there, as well as my extra ammunition. I re-sling it on my shoulder and pull my helmet and his out of my bike, passing Danny's helmet over and pulling my own onto my head. At that point, my bluetooth starts ringing, making me let out a low, annoyed groan. I just wanted to enjoy a day with my little brother, is that too much to ask?

I mount my bike and start the engine as Danny climbs in, and tap the side of my helmet. “You've reached the Pony Express.”

“Ah, Mr. McCloud, good. I knew I had the right number.” I blink as Q's voice echos over the speakers, that uncomfortable feeling from last night while I was watching Star Trek returning. I gesture to Danny to be quiet because I have a phone call as I speak up. “Mr. Q. How did you get my number? Or I suppose a better question would be why, and why you called me? I know that I'm the primary dealer with anything of your involvement, but all negotiation is to be done in person, and meetings set up-”

“-Through your enforcer, yes yes, I know procedure, but you see, Mr. McCloud... I have a request of you.” Q cut me off and his voice made me freeze up for a moment. That voice is cold, malicious, and calculating, and immediately, that feeling of wrongness from before leaps up and grips me around my neck, making me shiver even as I push my bike back and start pulling out of the parking lot, head on a swivel. This asshole is really putting me on tilt...

“A request. Look, Mr. Q, all requests go through the Enforcers and then through the boss. I'm just the delivery man. That's why they call me the Pony Express. I negotiate prices and deliver final products. All deals are final unless the boss says otherwise. I don't do requests.” I growl, not pleased that my day was being interrupted rather rudely by this arrogant art dealer.

“Oh, but this is a request that I must simply -insist- that you oblige me with Mr. McCloud... you see, all I request is that you die in a fireball, and take those troublesome Elements with you! Au Revoir, my Pawn!” Q's voice is dark, demanding, and full of maniacal glee as he suddenly disconnects.

I immediately gun my bike, roaring out and away as fast as humanly possible. That set me way too far on edge, and I take those kinds of threats seriously. Danny yelps as he's pushed back into his seat, scrambling a bit to adjust to the sudden pressure before he turns and looks at me in confusion. I ignore him as I look around wildly, scanning for some kind of threat when I see it. A black SUV, Escalade from the looks of it, rolling after me, riding fast and looking to follow. It's going too fast and those windows are tinted out. Cliche maybe, but when you need a car to ditch after whacking a guy...

“Hey Danny, want to see some real riding?” I yell out so Danny can hear me. He looks confused but nods his head. “Sure, something up BBBFF?” He yells back, tilting his head.

“Nah, everything's fine, just hang on!” I lie smoothly as I rev the engine and then race off, pushing my bike for all the horsepower I can get as I start weaving tight runs through the slower Seattle Traffic, glancing back via my mirrors to try to see the Escalade.

Damn, for a SUV, it's hauling. As fast as I'm going, about seventy, definitely over city limits, the SUV is doing about seventy five and it's gaining, even in this traffic. I pull the bike and side car into a tight, looping left turn around a confused looking Taxi Driver, and the SUV follows. I curse as I look ahead. No cars in front of me, and glance back, cursing harder. There isn't a single car behind me, and we're on a straightaway that leads out onto the freeway- no turns for me to escape with now.

One of the SUV windows starts to roll down, and my eyes widen as I watch a man lean out the window, pulling some kinda AR-15 out with him, which he charges menacingly with one hand before bringing it around to aim at me and Danny.

I swear and veer my bike to the side, the telltale retort of a rifle being fired echoing as I see bits of the pavement to the side of me get ripped up before a bullet whips past my head and takes out one of my mirrors. I pull away from the side the guy's leaning out from, more in front of the SUV, swearing long and hard as I start to reach in my jacket, only to look at Danny and notice him looking at me wide eyed and scared.

I bite my lower lip. If I pull my pistol, Danny'll know that somethings up. But he already knows somethings up, because we're being SHOT AT. I told myself I wouldn't get him involved in this kind of thing, and I don't know what the hell kind of game Q was playing, but I needed to protect my little brother.

I pull my Browning from it's holster smoothly to keep it from catching on the holster as I draw, then quickly rack the slide and unsafe it, moving my hand back to and holding my throttle down as I aim back for a few moments. A quick double-glance to make sure I'm aiming generally where I need to, I growl and pull the trigger with a satisfying BLAM, .45 caliber death being slung faster then the speed of sound back at the SUV. It hits the windshield, making it shatter, and making the driver swerve and his AR-15 buddy move back inside and duck. I whirl back to look at the road as I move from rolling about seventy to ninety, wind ripping at me as I duck lower to the bike, behind my windshield.

“Michael!? What the hell is going on?” Danny yells, looking panicked as he grips the side car, ducking low.

“I don't know Danny, hang with me little brother, we're gonna get out of this, I promise!” I yell back, glancing to see if the AR-15 carrying asshole decided to hang out the window agai... well shit.

The guy is leaning out the window again, but this time he's got a fucking rocket launcher?! What the hell is going on? I scream bloody murder as I whip the bike and side car into a sliding U-turn as the guy fires the rocket. I watch as it screams by my head, inches from contacting my face, and carries on past as I roar forwards, U-turn complete as I zip by the SUV, firing my Browning at them the whole way past. The guy with the launcher jerks a few times and slumps, pretty much falling out of the SUV as we drive onwards, when a loud roar lets out behind us. I glance into my other mirror, only to grimace in horror as a good chunk of the road and sidewalk, as well as a lamppost and several windows are blown away by the rocket hitting the road.

“This is fucking insane. This is FUCKING INSANE!” I scream out, my heart hammering as I look back for the SUV, which swerved away down a side alley, and tap my helmet, activating my Bluetooth.

“CALL BRICK!” I yell, heart pounding as I look around for more trouble, more vehicles. It's like the world is deserted, there's nothing else around but me and Danny.

*Briiiing. Briiiiing. Briiiii-click* “This is Brick. What the fuck are you doing calling me right now Pony? You know this is Brick's personal time.” I barely resist the urge to facepalm as Brick picks up. He has this 'personal' time each day that he takes to do something really immature, like read a child’s story, or watch a cartoon, or something. I usually don't even think about it. But it's a big deal at the moment apparently.

“Brick! As much as I'd love to say I'm calling you simply to ask what you're watching today, WE'VE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS!” I yell out, swearing as I pull another hasty U-turn as two more SUV's come into sight, guns and guys hanging out the windows. I swear as gunfire lances by and rips up the road and I crank the throttle harder, leaping from the seventy I was hovering at into the hundreds. A panicked cry comes from Danny as gunfire echos around me.

“What the fuck? Pony, what the hell is going on that you're got gunfire going off?” Brick says, sounding confused. Oh Brick, stop being stupid please. We got bigger shit to deal with right now.

“I'm being chased through downtown by motherfuckers in Black SUV that were sent by Q, who are shooting at me and my little brother for some goddamn reason, and they've got FIREPOWER THAT'D MAKE THE ARMY BLUSH IN EMBARRASMENT!” Ok, maybe it was a over exaggeration, but what can I say, I panicked.

“Holy shit, that explosion a few minutes ago was you?! I thought that report was exaggerated.” Brick says.

“YES, it was me, dodging a mother fucking RPG round. GET THE BOYS ROUNDED UP! I need to get back to my apartment and grab my gear so me and Danny can book it!” I yell into the bluetooth.

“Dude, I can't, I'm in NYC, remember? With the boss.” Brick says, sounding very worried.

“THEN CALL THEM. Something, anything! I didn't join the mother fucking Mob to get screwed over at times like this!” I say, panic creeping into my voice as I turn, firing the last few rounds in my Browning at one of the SUVs. It swerves away wildly and crashes into a building, so I'm guessing I hit someone or something important.

“OH! Right! Yeah, I'll get on it! Hang tight Pony, the Calvary is on the way.” Brick hung up and I prayed he realized how serious this was as I reached into my messenger bag to pick out another mag.

“B-Big Brother! What the hell is going on?” Shit... I forgot about Danny! I look over and my heart breaks. It's the nightmare look. It's that damned look that I always feared I'd end up seeing directed at me. He's scared. Terrified. Of me.

“Danny... Danny, it's gonna be ok. I promise.” I yell back. “Trust me, please little brother, I'm not gonna hurt you. They're not gonna hurt us.” I wince as my other mirror is blown away by a round of .556 that skimmed my ear. “I WON'T let them hurt us!”

“You... I.... you owe me an explanation b-big brother... the mob?” Danny says. I can barely make it out, but I can read his lips just fine, and I shudder.

“I promise... to explain, little brother.”

My heart sinks. I promised. I never break my promises.

“Then you really should wake up.”

What?

The question never leaves my lips as my head turns almost on it's own to gaze wide eyed into the looming stare of two yellow and red eyes that leer in a hungry fashion as a rocket skims towards my face...

-//-

-May 2nd, 2020. 1500 Hrs-

I cry out in surprise as I jolt upwards, clutching at my racing heart as I look around wildly. I'm suddenly tackled in my side with a crushing hug, and I look over at my little brother. “Wh-”

“Michael! You're ok!” Danny cries out as he hugs me tightly. “You were having a really bad nightmare big brother, worse then mine!”

I blink, rubbing my forehead softly as I look around. I wasn't in my bed, I was on the couch... guess I fell asleep watching Star Trek. That last glass of booze must have done me in. I shake my head. What a horrible dream...

“... Michael? What... were you talking about?” Danny asks quietly, looking up at me with soulful eyes. I wince.

I wanted to deny everything he might have heard out of hand, but I still don't know what was going on, so I look at Danny in confusion. “What are you talking about little brother?”

Danny pouts at me. “You never were a good liar Big Brother... how long have you been... been... a mobster?” Danny says, sitting back a bit.

I sigh softly. Yep. I was talking in my sleep. And apparently Danny was sitting for a while to listen. I glance at my watch. Fifteen oh five. Three o clock in the afternoon? Damn, I was really out of it. “I said a lot in my sleep, didn't I?” I say.

“How long?!”

I hang my head a bit and look at my little brother, blinking and frowning a bit as I noticed something... off. “Uh, Danny, a question before you grill me- What's with your hair dude? It's... longer.” I say, shivering at the vague sense of Deja Vu from the nightmare as I look at his much longer hair.

“I don't know, don't ask about the stripe in it either, you mentioned it while you were sleeping too. Now tell me!” Danny says, prodding me in the chest with a finger, making me wince and sigh again.

“... Since I started being a delivery man Danny. Uncle Jameson was a enforcer years ago, and his condition for his help was for me to join the Mob till I turned thirty.” I said flatly, sitting back.

“Thirty... you've been in the mob for almost fifteen years?” Danny says, sitting back, looking at me in shock. “What the fuck?! Why didn't you tell me? No, wait, how didn't I noticed? Have you actually killed anyone? Is it anything like the movies? Why BBBFF?” Danny stutters out, rapid-firing a few questions as he leans away from me slightly, which makes me growl before I finally bark out at him.

“To protect you!” I snap, probably with a big more force then I should have, as Danny flinched back from my outburst. “Because I needed to keep you safe, because I promised Mom and Dad, because I wasn't going to that damned foster house, and I sure as hell wasn't leaving you there! I swore on their death bed that I'd protect and provide for you little brother. The Mob was just... an easy answer. Besides, delivering messages and packages isn't dangerous... mostly.”

Danny frowns at me and softly picks up Luna from my chest. I blink, and after a moment, pull him and the plushie into my arms for a hug. He had given me his plushie to try to comfort me in my nightmare. I vaguely remember something about Princess Luna being able to protect dreamers from nightmares. Pity she wasn't here, I'd have appreciated the help.

Danny sighs. “Not exactly the greatest birthday present here big brother...”

I shake my head. “No, not exactly the greatest birthday present, for either of us.” I say with a light chuckle, hugging Danny. “I'm sorry for not telling you, but I'm also not sorry at all for not telling you, because honestly, I'd rather you never found out.”

The pair of us let out a sigh and Danny fixes me with a glare. “You owe me something for this.” He says, crossing his arms. I groan, shaking my head.

“Whatever you want little brother.”

“ANYTHING?”

I bite my lower lip. “... Yeah, anything. I mean, I've got enough money and time.”

“... Pony marathon.” Danny says, crossing his arms.

I fix him with a blank stare. “... A pony marathon.”

“Yep! Starting right now, you're watching the rest of the episodes with me. Season three onwards.” Danny says, a smirk on his face. “You never watched the rest of them.”

I groan, rubbing my forehead. “Alright... alright... if we must.”

Not the worst thing that could happen, but honestly, not how I wanted to spend today... Oh well, time to man up and face the music.

“Alright Danny, lets watch... ponies.”

Chapter End

Author's Note

And there you have it fillies and gentlecolts, that's chapter two!

In case you didn't guess/figure it out on your own, -yes-, the unusual section breaks and everything else that seemed off during this chapter was completely intentional. No, I wasn't forgetting where I was or what I was writing- Michael was dreaming, and as you all are aware, dreams can be very, very irrational sometimes. One of the dreams that I remember quite visibly was a fight in an alleyway that somehow turned into a fight on the moon. Dreams do stuff like that.

So a funny fact about the first few chapters is that I wrote them all during my last deployment, when I was super low on sleep after a particularly busy work week. I sat down, started writing, and when I refocused, I couldn't remember writing any of this.

3spooky5me. All of the details, characters, and the plot was laid out before me, and I had some notes that I was able to figure out, but I had no plan to write this story at all. So... yeah, how's that for a interesting little aside?

Anyway, that's chapter two and I'll see ya'll in about two weeks for chapter three! This is Ash the Kitsune, Sayōnara!