To Turn a Life Aroundby TheEngineerChaptersPrologue: Is this the real life?Is this just fantasy?Caught in a land slideNot without a troubled pastDriving miss PinkieSaving for a rainy dayEighteen days laterA Comedy and a TragedyShadowsBlind SwingEnd GameEpilogue: To Turn a Life AroundPrologue: Is this the real life?To Turn A Life Around A story by: TheEngineer Prologue: I stopped to take in my surroundings for the briefest of moments. Okay, most of this scenario is just perfectly normal to me: Dark sky with plenty of stars and a moon to match clearly visible since I am currently miles away from the city; and there’s also some grass, that’s pretty normal. So why am I three hundred feet from the road outside of my recently out of control car staring at the three most bizarre figures I have ever seen? There in front of me, a mere ten feet away from me lit only by my car’s headlights, lay three motionless and very colorful… Well, rather small horse… Things… How on Earth did I ever end up in a situation like this? My day started out perfectly normal. Brushed my teeth, took a shower, put my pants on one leg at a time, ate my breakfast and left for work respectively. Nothing wrong with that order! So what could have gone so wrong that… Ohhh, ponies; that’s what they are. Small horses are called ponies! Of course, how come I didn’t realize that at first? Was it that the bizarreness of this situation and all the pretty colors kept me from making that one coherent thought? Great, I am going insane, just going completely Looneytoons right now. And what does a completely insane person do when faced with this type of decision making? That person begins to take three colorful bundles of unconscious fur and puts them in the back seat of his car! It just makes perfect sense! -----------------Earlier that day-------------- Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! I slowly woke up to the tormentor that is my alarm clock. “uhhhhgh” Seemed to be the only sound that came out of my mouth as I blindly reached for the off switch on that dammed and yet career saving device. After about two minutes of blindly flailing my arm around in fruitless effort, I gave in to the alarm clock’s wishes and got up. I shut off the alarm and look at the digital display, 6:03 am ugh, Tuesdays. With an all too practiced motion, I hopped out of bed and walked across the room to my faithful bathroom to take a nice and awakening shower. A rather quick shower, I was out in 10 minutes flat and made my way to my dresser as I dried myself. Crisp white shirt and dark brown slacks with a black belt and matching shoes along with my trusty clip on tie (What? There is a reason for it!). I went to go brush my teeth and quickly went downstairs and made myself a hasty breakfast that was equally hastily consumed. By 6:45am I was making my way to the driveway. ‘Hmm, SUV or sedan?’ I thought happily as I made my way into the gray sedan and began the hour and a half commute to work, my line of work being located at a commercial airline overhaul base in Pennsylvania. Juuuust in case you haven’t the faintest clue of what an overhaul base is or what it is for, I’ll just take the liberty of explaining. An aircraft overhaul base is where major maintenance or repairs are performed on aircraft, this is where planes are stripped to bare bones and inspected for the smallest of flaws and fixed to “Acceptable Flight Capacity” or higher (Ha! The look on a civilian's face when I say acceptable flight capacity is just priceless! There is a reason a lot of things that are done to the planes that people fly in are put in friendlier terms or not spoken of altogether). What is my occupation you may ask? I work there as an AMT (its short for Aviation Maintenance Technician) and I specialize mostly with composite materials, which is good considering the rise in its popularity thanks to the Boeing777 models. … I arrived at the OB rather quickly that day, about fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Found my parking spot, walked at a leisurely pace and clocked in on my way to the lockers. As I opened my locker I noticed something was off… was it? No. Wait, the lock was missing? THE LOCK WAS MISSING? I franticly looked through my locker only to stop myself and realize that nothing was actually gone or out of place. Sighing with a mind full of personal embarrassment I pulled out my set of coveralls, slid myself in, and slowly shuffled my way to the office to get my assignment. “Hey, Anderson!” came a familiarly booming voice, I turned to meet a rather cheery foreman. “Mornin’ Mr. Simons” I called back as he made his way to me. “I am very pleased to see you come early today, your shift doesn’t start in ten minutes and we have a rather heavy job on our hands!” responded my foreman. I immediately knew what heavy job meant in his vocabulary, it meant someone in the previous shift messed up big time; this line of work isn’t as low as being a grease monkey in a garage, it pays well and the hours are good, but sometimes it can really give you a massive workload. “Ughh, what did the grave yard shift do sir?” I inquired. “Well, this 777 came in as a regular overhaul but somebody thought it was a perfectly dandy idea to leave the safety pins on one of the landing gears out. When we shut off the hydraulics, the portside wing got smashed on the ground. I tell ya’, that man is going to get a serious suspension for that”. Oh just perfect I thought, I hate having to laminate those layers of aramid. The panels keep getting so fuzzy, and when that happens you can’t actually use it anymore because it promotes corrosion….. … nine hours later Well, that was the end of my shift. Normally an overhaul takes about two weeks, between stripping the plane off all of its paint, skin and flooring and having it put back together, it takes time. But this mess, this is going to take much more, maybe four or five weeks. Whatever, that is not my problem until Thursday, and until then I will relax. It’s still five o’ clock-ish, I can go to the park for a bit, and then buy a new lock for tomorrow (that would be useful), maybe some groceries….. . . . . . … Wow, time flew by really quickly. I guess that happens when your day was, for the lack of a better word, boring. My thoughts began to wander- At least I got paid and there are no current tragedies occurring in my life anD HOLY CANOLE WHAT TIME IS IT?! A lot later than usual is what it is! Wow! 11:29pm , if I don’t hurry the lig- was the last thought that ran through my mind when all the lights in this back road to my home, suddenly but right as scheduled, shut off. It was really dark and there was nobody around, so I solved my issue by giving my headlights a little more juice aaaand there, crisis adverted. I was only thirty minutes drive from my destination, home sweet home, when my uneventful day decided to swap out its title for a shiny new ‘what went wrong?’ kind of day. At first it was only a small light off to the left side of the road, where there was a… There really wasn’t anything there, huh. At first I simply chose to ignore the light and continue my way home, for I was oh so very tired, but this rather persistent light wanted attention. The light suddenly grew both in size and intensity and I was both blinded and freaking out. “What the actual FU-!“ That last syllable escaped me as I ran over something I could not see and heard a loud pop of which I am sure originated from a tire connected to this car and I quickly lost control, swerving to the left. Once I got my vision back, the first thing I saw made me push on the brake as hard as I could, not caring if I were to slam my face into the steering wheel (which thankfully, I did not) and simply stared at the sight before me. With my mouth pretty much hitting the floor I staggered my way out of the car and I stopped to take in the sight before me… ----------------Present----------------- Lifting three ponies into the back seat of a sedan wasn’t all that difficult, they were actually surprisingly light. Each pseudo-pony thing weighed 70 pounds, give or take, which left me with enough energy to check the other side of my car and assess the damage. With an exasperated sigh I just muttered to myself “Today was just perfect, simply the one day I dreamed of since I was small. This just had to happen today huh? Of all days, you, the stupid tire had to pick the most bizarre to just explode out of the blu-! black.” I kinda finished that thought realizing how dark it is out here. I hastily replaced the shredded tire, what did I run over exactly? And then began my way home. Once I found my precious road to home, I stopped the car as I spotted what tore my tire to bits, one hell of a big piece of jagged metal that I can only assume was once the bumper of a really old car. I just drove around it and hoped nothing else would get in between me and my bed. Finally I managed to come home. I made my way to the driveway and gave myself some time to think in the car, after ten seconds of blank thoughts I shut off the engine and began hauling these colorful ponies into the house while making sure no one was looking. It really was not that hard to be discreet since the closest house to mine was a few acres away. After some struggling, I managed to get the three pseudo-pony things in the house and when the door was shut and the lights were off, I simply slumped on the nearest wall and drifted into a dreamless sleep. Is this just fantasy?Chapter 2: Is This Just Fantasy? ........................... I'm not sure if I can really call this a dreamless sleep, it is more lucid than not. I mean, I don't see any images but that doesn't mean I don't have my thoughts... So, what did I just do today? Was it all a dream? When did the dream begin? Did it start when my shift at work ended or did it start on my drive home and nothing actually happened? I guess I could check the trunk of my car for products that I may have bought to prove that. Actually, I might be awake... I can feel a slight breeze on my cheek, it is rather comforting. Wait, wait just a minute there. I leave all the windows closed when I leave the house. With that final thought, I shot my eyes open as if they were being pried open with a crowbar. The only thing I saw was two gigantic, white and blue dinner plates floating in front of me, barely lit only by the soft moon light from under the nearby front door. That so-called breeze felt like it was originating from just under the two dinner plates, the source of which was a mere inch away from my face. That's when it hit me, and seriously, I need to be thinking much clearer soon or I will bash my forehead with a frying pan because this was a no brainer. "Gah!" I screamed as I realized that whatever this was it was alive, I simultaneously tried backing up to a wall that I was already pressed against (which must have looked pretty hilarious, if only I wasn't so scared). "Ahhhhhh!" The creature yelped back and disappeared into the shadows in a blur. I just sat there dumbfounded for just a second, and then scrambled for the light switch. If this is dangerous, I need to see it. Once I flipped the nearest light source to life, I managed to get a good look of what I was up against. Three figures huddled up in a corner, shaking from, well, fear. I chose this perfect moment (insert thick sarcasm) to take in their details, I am so smart. The one closest to me was, pink? It was completely pink, a coat of pink and a (mane was it?) mane and tail of darker pink. It also had what looked like tattoos on it's rump, identical on both sides, did someone brand them? Do they belong to anyone? The other two were similar, one was purple and the other one was sky blue. The blue one had a very interesting trait though (or fashion statement I really can't think or tell), it's mane and tail are, well, rainbow. "What is that thing?" I heard one of them whisper... Wait, whisper? The can TALK? Okay, okay I really am losing it. Without saying a word after several seconds of just staring, I just bolted upstairs to the bathroom. I splashed my face with ice cold water and looked my reflection on the mirror as if looking at my face is a way to check your own sanity. "Okay, same light brown hair and short beard. Same hazel eyes, but these aren't my eyes, these are the eyes of a crazy person!" I muttered quietly to myself. That was when I realized that if I don't want to be insane then I probably should not be acting like it in the first place. So I stood tall, dried my cold face and came back down to the living room where these creatures resided. By now they were all standing, their eyes dilated in what I guess was fear. "Okaay, I heard one of you talking before. So I know at least one of you can speak English just fine" I stated, "So, we should probably talk because I am sure you are just as confused as I am". The purple one spoke up first "What do you mean 'English'? You are speaking in fluent Equestrian! On a still important note, where are we and who are you?". I just stood there taking in that line of thought, they talk, they really talk. Are they aliens? Did horses somehow evolve without us knowing? Is it some kind of govern- HOLY COW it's a unicorn! What? And does that blue one have wings on it? "You are... A friggin' unicorn?" I responded in what was probably the worst first contact attempt made in history. "Um, yes? What exactly are you?" responded a somewhat agitated pony. That got me back to my senses, kind of. "Erm, let us have proper introductions first shall we? To try to minimize any confusion here" I said in my most diplomatic voice while motioning to a set of couches to the side. "Yeah, that sounds pretty helpful right now" said the talking rainbow. To which my response was to walk over to my favorite spot on the couch, and watching as they took their spots on the couch opposite from mine. Again, there was that awkward silence that filled the air... Letting go of a surprising amount of air that was being held for god knows how long, the pink one exclaimed "I wanna start!". I just stared in awe of how much air that pony could hold and then responded "Sure, you can go first". "My name is Pinkie Pie! I really like parties and baking and eating and enjoying eating and making anypony smile as much as they possibly can and itreallygetsmeexcitedwhenthereisapartyespeciallyabirthdaypartydidIevereverevermentionthat? Oooooo I love parties!" Pinkie Pie said... In a single breath, "Oookay, I got the Pinkie Pie part. So, who's next?" The purple one was about to begin her speech only to be rudely interrupted by (hehe, reading rainbow) the talking rainbow, "My name is Rainbow Dash! The fastest flier in all of Equestria! I doubt you will ever meet somepony as cool as me!" This one said with an impressively smug grin and jet black shade that came out of nowhere really. "Alright, now can I talk?" Said the aggravated ball of purple in a manner I almost sympathized with. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, we are all from the town of Ponyville in the great nation of Equestria and are here by complete accident, seriously, we had no intention of coming wherever here is. With that said, we really mean no harm if that is what you thought" The pony said in a slowly but increasingly nervous voice, and after a short pause added "You don't mean us any harm" *gulp* "Do you?". Alright, now was the time for me to speak. I really had way to many questions. But those questions would have to wait, these creatures are intelligent and they await my introduction. "No, I really don't mean any harm to anyone" I said, this made any trace of fear (or from what I could tell) go away; so I continued, "My name is Matthew Anderson, and I am a human being. Right now, you reside in my humble home in Pennsylvania and I really don't know what there is to tell about me so yeah, there's that.". There was that awkward silence, but it did not last as long this time and I could see a certain smile building up in Pinkie Pie. What an odd name... I decided to break the silence and ask the big question, "Where are you all from? I know you said Ponyville and Equestria, but I honestly do not know where that is". Twilight almost freaked out at that, "You don't know what or where Equestria is? Oh no, nonononono this is bad. Really really bad, we must be very far from home!" "Um, sorry to hear that but yeah. Equestria isn't a nation I ever heard about on this planet. Did you guys like, crash land from some ship like in a movie? Is there some way to 'call home' and be rescued?" I asked, feeling sorry for these three (mares? I think they are female, I don't want to ask though.) being so far from home, possibly with no way back. "Ship? How could we get here on a ship? There's no water near us for us to sail on. But that's just it, we don't know if we can contact anypony back home or if there is even a way back!" Rainbow Dash yelled desperately, not knowing what else to do about the situation. Okay, I would feel really bad if I just left these three stranded in a planet they don't know of with a possibility of having them run into people with bad intentions. What else could I do? "Well, while you are stuck here... I guess I could at least provide you with food and shelter." I said slowly and reluctantly. "YAY! Hes letting us stay!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. And that's when we had a very educating conversation on different worlds. At two in the morning. ........... "So, what you are telling me is that your world has no magic!?" Twilight gasped. "And that ALL of the clouds on this planet move by them selves!?", Rainbow Dash exclaimed in disbelief. "And that there are approximately eight BILLION humans on this planet that ALL potentially love cake!?" Pinkie commented giddily. "Yes, yes, and mostly yes" I responded. "And you are all telling me that you lived in a world with magic and weather control and you think my world is strange?" I responded to their descriptions of Equestria. Sure our worlds were vastly different, but there were a shocking amount of similarities. They have similar foods like cake and so on. They speak the same language too! They have farming and organized government, an economy, literature, sciences, some sports even! Who would have thought ponies could play Bowling ball? The image is pretty hilarious. "Yes, 'Earth' is very alien to us. I mean, look at these walls! How do you get them so smooth? And the electronics? Back in Equestria, we couldn't imagine having so much electrical power in one place!" Commented Twilight, who then proceeded to yawn.. Different species and yet very similar behavior, I can't get over that. "hmm, you all seem a bit tired. Wow, it's already four o'clock in the morning, we should get some sleep." I said, yawning myself. "Umm, not to be rude or anything. But where exactly are we going to sleep?" said Rainbow Dash. "Well, theres a guest bedroom upstairs and there are the two couches here. That should be enough, plus, I have extra bedsheets in a closet somewhere..." I trailed off as I went, well, bed sheet hunting. Some rummaging and random Pinkie Pie comments later, I had all of the couches ready for sleeping and I was ready to pass out. Twilight found the guest bedroom first and claimed her territory before it could be conquered, I'm pretty sure the others were way too tired to complain anyway. This was certainly a very interesting night, now to think about how on Earth I am going to hide a secret as big as three colorful pony mares. Caught in a land slideChapter Three: Caught in a land slide Wow, I just really passed out on my bed. Seriously I *yawn* must have been really really ti- *yawn* tired.. ----------oooOooo---------- "Hey there son" "Daddy!" "what is that?" "This?"...... "It's a time piece. I've had it for a long time now" "It looks really really old.." "It is old: I had it, my daddy had it, and his daddy had it, and his daddy before it had it...." *sighing* *long pause* "My little Matthew, heh, look at you, you aren't all that little anymore. Twelve years old, twelve years I had the joy of raising you. I did raise you well didn't I? I sure hope I did. Now, tell me the honest truth, even if I told you time and time again that everyone around you has lied many times. Can you be held responsible? Can you take care of this one thing for as you as you live or as long as you can until you pass it on?" *another long pause* "Yes, daddy. You know me, I always take care of stuff!" "Heh, you sure do." *pause* "Here, I think you are old enough to have this." *Young Matthew receives old, yet still perfectly preserved and working time piece* *Young Matthew looks at time piece, then at his father. Both wearing a small smile* "Thank you daddy." "Take good care of it, one day you will truly understand how significant this is." ...... *Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.* "Just a minute!" *running* *door opening* "Yes?" "Hello sir, are you Mr. Anderson?" "Oh, you're government. Yes I am, what can I do for you?" "Well, may I come in first?" "Sure, come in. Care for some tea?" "Yes, please." *man come in and takes a seat* *older Matthew in the kitchen next to the living room in which the man is sitting in* "So, what was it that you came in for?" "This has to do with your family. They are... Well, they are in a better place now." *cup shatters on the floor, tea spilled* "What was that?" "Sorry?" *voice rising* "No, what did you say about my family?" "Well, Mr. Anderson, you see." *nervous pause* "It was an accident." "Tell me what happened!" *Massive sigh* "The remainder of your family.. Your father, mother, younger sister, uncle and aunt; they were in a family field trip but were unfortunately caught in an automotive accident on the way there. I am sorry to say, there were no survivors in the crash. Not even the other party." *Tears* "What? What fucking 'field trip'? When the Fuck were they going on a field trip? Why did I never know about it? why!" "Sir..." *More tears* *voice lowering* "How could this happen? What went so wrong that this had to happen to me? It's... It's not fair! It's not fair!" *sobbing* "I... I came to deal with the legal side with you, your family members all had their wills set out to you." "Deal.. With the legal side? Are you fucking nuts? Get the hell out of here! Out! I don't wanna deal with any legal side when I'm fucking mourning!" *sobbing* "Sir, I am so, so sorry for your loss. I will just leave me card here, when you feel ready to talk about the legal matters I will await your beckoning call." *Man shows his way out of the house and shuts the door behind him.* *sobbing* *sobbing* *sobbing* ----------oooOooo---------- *Gasp* I shot up from my bed, sweating, panting, crying. I just waited for my heart beat to slow down from that nightmare, that... That memory. I searched the night stand next to my bed and pulled out the object of my hunt, a brass time piece with a gold chain. I simply put it up against my ear and listened to the ticking and the tocking, and waited until I fell back asleep. I woke up from my slumber, mostly just forced out of bed by the sunlight coming in from my window. I looked at my alarm clock, 10:27 am. I managed to crack a slight smile at the realization that it was Wednesday, and that I don't have to work today. I decided to get up and go straight to making breakfast, remembering to make extra for the guests. Making my way down the stairs as quietly as possible, I headed towards the kitchen. Of course, since I only slept for 6 hours, the first thing that was to be made was coffee. I just assumed everyone drinks coffee so that I wouldn't have to go through the effort of waking up my new acquaintances and put enough for everyone in the coffee machine. "Good morning." said a sudden and groggy voice. I whipped around, startle by the source of the voice. It was Twilight. "Oh hey, didn't hear you coming." I said. Twilight sniffed the air a bit, "Is that coffee I smell?" she asked. "Yeah, you have that in Equestria too huh? Milk and sugar?" I responded. She simply shook her head and said "No thanks, black." I just blinked, "Wow, I didn't take you for the heavy weight coffee drinking type". She just smiled and decided to ignore that last observation. After a few quiet moments where only the coffee machine said anything, Twilight reared up and leaned against the counter and began the conversation again, "I am really sorry, but I barely remember the conversation we had ye- today". After a moment of thought, I realized that I didn't either. We must have been really tired, I stated as such. And we just stared blankly at the coffee machine, it was almost done. "So let me get this straight" Twilight began, in a slight and slow monotone voice, "I am currently on a different planet, Earth, where magic is considered to be a myth and so are unicorns and pegasi." "That you are." I responded, "And you are from a different planet in a nation, Equetria, that relies on magic, considers humans to be a myth, and consists of a dual monarchy that somehow maintained peace for over a thousand years" I remarked. Somehow Twilight found that last bit of info shocking, I dunno what I said that was so wrong. "You had recent wars?" she asked. I stared at her for a good ten seconds before responding, "This nation has been at war since the year 2001." I said simply, but the look of confusion told me that our calendars are a bit different, "And, right now is the year 2021. Yeah, two decades of pointless war on the other side of the planet. I don't like it either" I added before I received any trans world judgment. "Wow." was all that managed to come out of her mussel. Anyhow, the coffee is done, and I love it when the coffee is done! But I forgot to do anything else, so I quickly grabbed four bagels, cut them open and started feeding them to my toaster. Twilight, seemingly wanting to get past the topic of war, asked what toasters were and another now boring conversation ensued. Meanwhile, the groaning coming from the living room was telling me that someone else is waking up. "Somepony." Twilight corrected, what? I didn't say that out loud did I? I gave Twilight a confused look and the look she gave back to me told me that I did.. "Hey guys, what's for breakfast?" Rainbow was the first to come in and the first to ask, but she looked like a wreck. Her mane was tossed and she had bags under her eyes and the groggy-ness to her voice spoke volumes of how tired she was. Pinkie Pie came in behind her, and she looked perfectly fine. "Right now, coffee and some bagels coming right up." I said. "Bagels? Whats a bagel?" Rainbow asked a question that took me completely off guard. How could our worlds been so culturally synchronized to the point that we share similar holidays and traditions like breakfast and they don't know what a bagel is?! "Oh god, you're serious." I said in utter shock. Twilight looked up at me and added "Yeah, she isn't joking, we don't have bagels in Equestria. Are they good?" "Are they good?" I repeated in disbelief, "I don't think you know a good breakfast until you tried a bagel!" I exclaimed. With that said, all of the bagels were nice and toasty, and everyo-pony sat at the table in the kitchen while I served coffee and bagels with cream cheese and chocolate-hazelnut spread on the side. "What? No forks and knives?" Rainbow asked, yet again another shocking question considering, well, they have hooves! How were they supposed to use silverware? "How are you supposed to use silverware when you have hooves?" I asked Rainbow while handing everypony a fork and knife, and Rainbow simply picked it up! My mind was exploding in rage at the sheer rape and violation of the laws of physics! "No really, how are you doing that?" I half yelled. "Jeez, you don't have to yell", Rainbow said, "Look, your hands are similar to the bottom of my hooves see?" she showed me a hoof. The sides of their hooves were hard, but the bottoms were soft tissue with a small paw pad triangle close to the center of the hoof, odd. Rainbow continued, "You can pick up a needle by simply pressing your hands on it right?", before I could respond she continued her speech, "It's the same principle with us ponies" She said triumphantly. "But, but, your actually using force with it!" I said as she used a knife to spread the chocolate hazelnut spread on one half of her bagel. I continued, "I can't hold a needle by pressing my finger on it and then pierce a piece of cloth with it". Pinkie Pie just shrugged and said, "I don't know how none of you remember that we talked about this seven hours ago, this is when I tell you that it's just hooves logic, Matty". All eyes just stared at Pinkie Pie who throughout the entire conversation had said nothing until now. We all decided not the question it and went to eating. I watched Rainbow close her bagel and move it towards her muzzle (with hooves! how?!?!). She began chewing and soon her eyes widened to a larger size than they currently were (are they nocturnal? Why else would they need such large eyes?). She chewed excitedly while making an adorable puffy face. Rainbow didn't wait until she finished chewing to comment, "Wow! Matjuw yew weally wewen't gokinj vhen yew" *gulp* "When you said that these are good!" Rainbow exclaimed happily and continued eating. The rest of our breakfast was fairly uneventful until I started talking again, at this point, we were all pretty much done eating and just finishing our coffee. "I was actually thinking of taking you guys to the city today, would have been fun, until I realized that colorful ponies would cause quite the riot out there" I said. Twilight gave me a smug grin and said, "Um, I'm a very magical unicorn capable of more magic than most ponies out there. And, it just so happens that I have a transformation spell under my coat for everypony to use", she said before shrinking back and adding, "Oops, I didn't mean to brag, I'm so sorry, don't hate me please". "How could we hate you when you just made our stay on Earth a whole lot easier for us Twi?" Pinkie Pie retorted. I just decided to add on, "And possibly saved your friend's lives...". The looks I got were mortified, oops. "Saved from what?" Pinkie seemed to be the first brave enough to ask. "I dunno, I was thinking that the government would want to use someone", "Pony", "Sorry, somepony like Twilight or Rainbow as weapons against the world if not just to dissect you in an attempt to understand you. I just don't think any good would come out from being found out." I spat out. The silence in the air was chocking me. I know I had to warn them about this contingency eventually, but I didn't think I would feel so guilty for simply warning them. I did the next best thing to do: I skipped to the next topic, "So, about that transformation spell?". "We're in mortal danger?" they all asked in unison. "Well, not if you are all careful and act completely natural in public. It really shouldn't be that hard since there is a lot of craziness that could pass as normal anyway" I responded quickly. Twilight sighed in some sort of relief, the others still seemed somewhat tense. Twi moved on first and began to respond to my unanswered question, "I really only need two things: a human DNA sample, such as hair or something else, nothing too serious. And I also need some time to configure the spell." "You speak of magic like it's some sort of science" I said flatly. "It is! Magic is one of the five major forces in the universe, along with strong force, weak force, nuclear force and gravitational force" Twilight responded in a lecturing tone. "Huh, that actually might fill a few gaps in our understanding of physics", I commented. "Well I digress, now that I had time to sleep on the issue at hoof, I now realize that Earth has less magical leylines than on Equestria. But that means I can still do magic, however weak it may be. Meaning that this spell that would normally take five minutes to configure may take around forty-five give or take. It also makes simple telekinesis a bit more difficult" Twilight said, levitating her cup of coffee for what I only now realize to be around the tenth time and that every other time I must have simply blocked it out of my mind. I guess my brain is too tired to question reality anymore... Anyway, DNA huh? I guess my nails could do with some trimming.. I stood up from the table full of empty plates and cups, and went to the bathroom to get a nail clipper. I came back to the table now full of confused ponies and ceremoniously gave the nail clippings to Twilight, who giggled at the scene. I guess I made it a bigger deal than it was, but at least I looked cool doing it. ... Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and I just sat idly on a couch while Twilight labored over configuring her spell. After some time, Rainbow spoke up, "Hey, what is that black rectangle over there anyway? Looks pretty useless." She asked. Somehow, Rainbow's questions keep making me think or make my mind explode. We were simply sitting doing nothing when there is a TV right in front of me, and a gaming console. I swear, those lights last night did something to my brain. "Hey Rainbow, you strike me as the competitive type, no?" I challenged, and as expected, she immediately whipped around and retorted with a smirk. "Cmon and give me what you've got!" all the previous fear she showed before melted away with the mention of a competition. With that said, I stood up and walked over to the TV, turned on the console and picked up two white controllers. Helo 6, best game ever made, ever. I gave Rainbow the controller and she gave me a questioning look in return, "What is this?" she asked. "Oo!Oo! I wanna play!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, to my surprise since I fully expected to have to explain the entire concept of a video game. "Pinkie" I gasped, "You know what a video game is?". She rapidly shook her head, "Nopey dopey lopey! But I do know how to play though!" she said. "What? That doesn't make any sense.." I muttered. Rainbow just gave me a sad look and said, "If you want to keep your sanity, just stop questioning it and say that it's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Also keep her sanity and make sure to be a good friend, and keep her away from a combination of flour and party hats." "Okay, I'll keep that in mind", I said cautiously. The TV was showing the usual light show that is the intro of the console turning on, it's a whole lot of green and white and very pedestrian to me by now, but it seemed to captivate the attention of both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow. While Rainbow was staring at the screen before her, Pinkie snatched the controller away (again, I'm done asking how they pick things up with just hooves. I still don't know how they are going to play, but then again, hooves logic). I started the game, and decided to play the campaign instead of the multiplayer, make things easier for them. "Alright, we are technically playing cooperatively, but whoever gets the most points wins. Enjoy the best sci-fi shooter ever made" I said. "You're on!" Rainbow challenged, and then proceeded to snatch the controller back, using all four hooves to push the buttons (hooves logic!!). .........45 minutes later, give or take......... "Rainbow, behind you!" "Argh! What the hay is that?!" "It's a noble, an alien with power shields like ours." "Help! I can't take him down on my own!" *Explosions* *Gunfire* "You are very welcome." ... Twilight was making her way downstairs, ready to announce that her spell was ready, but paused when she heard all of the commotion. "Um, what are you all doing?" she asked. I paused the game, much to Rainbow Dash's disappointment, and turned around with a small smile, "Playing a game while you got yourself ready, speaking of which, is the spell ready for action?" "Yes." Twilight responded hesitantly, "I believe that it's ready, mostly sure. Well, 98.3 percent sure." she added. I jumped out of the couch at the news and then stopped myself at a weird thought, "Wait, you won't all look like me will you? Because that would be like too much like Brave New World for me too handle." "Um, no. Your nail clippings were used only as a human DNA template. So, our own features will be applied to that human template to create our new figures. It's almost like what we would look like if we were born human, and it's also completely reversible." Twilight beamed, soon adding after that, "What's Brave New World anyway?". "It's a novel." I responded, "I have it in my library upstairs if you want to read it.". This put a smile on Twilight that was so big, I was sure she was going to hurt herself with it. "You have a library full of books I haven't read once?" Twilight asked. I nodded, very slowly and unsure. Twilight's eyes dilated and she inhaled deeply before hopping around in a circle chanting "yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes YES!" The other three of us waited for Twilight to calm down, which took about a minute or two, and then we got right down to business. "Okay, sorry about that" Twilight apologized, "Well, the spell is ready. Is everypony ready?". Every mare in the room nodded, I just stood there. "Um, Matthew? You might want to stand back a bit, I don't know or want to find out what a human transformed into a human looks like" Twilight warned. With a grimace, I stood aside. Twilight's horn began to glow a soft lavender, and soon, so were the bodies of all three mares. That's when another weird thought hit me. Wait a minute, if they aren't wearing any clothes now, and they are turning human in front of my very eyes, doesn't that mean....? The room became a blur after a blinding flash of white consumed it. Sure enough, my theory was correct. Before I got a solid look at naked pseudo-humans, I covered my eyes and bolted up the stairs. "You didn't warn me that you would be all naked!" I called as I made my way to my room and took out the first sets of clothes I could find, I could wash them later anyway. "Um, sorry? We didn't really think about that!" one of them called back, "Argh! Two legs, how do you walk around like this?". I simply responded by throwing a bunch of clothes down the stairs and instructing "There, put those on, I think we are going to go shopping for some clothes". The response I got should have been expected, women will be women no matter what species. They all cheered and did what I can only assume from the sound was a high-five. High-five? Did they do high-hooves when they are in pony forms? You know what? I'm done, I'm done asking questions I later realize I never wanted the answer to. My mind is going numb from the impossibility of this situation right now, so I will do my best to give my poor mind a break. .... "You can come down now!" Pinkie Pie called from downstairs. I came down and stood in awe, they really did it, they really are human-looking now. "Wow." I commented. "Argh, my eyeballs are so tiny!" Rainbow complained. "Nuh-uh, your eyeballs were so huge!" I retorted, offended by her statement on the size of my eyeballs, their size is just fine. I took the time to take the details of the three. Pinkie Pie now had very poofy brown hair and startling blue eyes, Twilight had black hair with nerdy bangs that covered most of her forehead and soft pigeon brown eyes. They were all wearing mens clothes though, that would have to change soon. Rainbow however, still managed to keep her erm, her rainbow.. And hazel eyes too, but, the rainbow! How did she keep that? "Uhh, why did Rainbow keep her rainbow?" I asked. All eyes were on Dash. Twilight in very deep thought, "Well, as a pony, no one else had naturally rainbow hair like hers, I guess it's a mutation that made it through the transformation process. But as of right now, she is no less human than you. I guess that's pretty handy if we want to pass as humans in the outside world." Twilight said, following her train of thought out loud. "I guess that makes sense" I said in a low tone, I realized that Twilight also looked a little nerdy, Rainbow looked very athletic through all of the baggy clothing, and Pinkie Pie just looked wild.... "Rainbow, you have to make sure to tell people you dye your hair if they ask, and don't let them see the roots of your hair either." I said. "Fine, whatever." Dash responded, feeling somewhat in-dignified that even in a different world her hair gets pointed out. Rainbow Dash suddenly lit up, looked at her legs and then looked at mine. "Hey, your legs are pretty strong. Do you do any sports and stuff?" she inquired. Again, her questions are taking me off guard every time! How does she do it? "Erm, what?" was all I managed to say. Before she could say anything though, well before anyone could say anything, I managed to recover "Well, I skate. I guess that counts as a sport". I was having a really awkward moment right now. "Skate? What the hay is that?" Rainbow asked. Twilight was now blushing from embarrassment, "Rainbow! Watch your language! And please, don't ask such weird questions", she said cringing. I don't know why, but that just made me crack up. I got questioning stares from both Twilight and Rainbow Dash (and a weird look of shock from Pinkie Pie, dunno why and I don't feel like pursuing that subject). Once I got over my fit of giggles, I responded "It's just fine Twi, no harm done. As for your honest question, the honest answer is that I will show you later. It's a little hard for me to explain". Pinkie Pie is being strangely quiet, maybe she's just home sick. ....................... So we got in my SUV and as expected, all three of my new friends were flabbergasted from the fact that it's a wagon that pulls itself. Twilight shot me a million questions per second on how an engine works, to which I answered to my best ability. Rainbow occasionally (thank god) interrupted Twilight to ask what skating is and talk about other sports that our worlds somehow had in common. Seriously, how can our worlds be so different and yet be so connected with each other at the same time? Pinkie Pie was still strangely quiet, it's starting to make me a little nervous. ....................... When we finally arrived to the mall I was planning to go to and found a parking spot, we began our search for new clothes for the mares in disguise (MiD?). At first we were just looking for a suitable store, it was a mistake, I should have taken them to the first place we found. The very realization that there is such a large center of consumption made the 'MiD' very giddy, I soon lost Twilight to a book store and Rainbow to Sports Authority. We decided to meet at the entrance in thirty minutes. Now, I was alone with Pinkie Pie. "Hey, let's go find a place to sit." Pinkie Pie said, her expression darkening a bit. "Uh, sure. May I ask why?" I questioned. "Well, I'll tell you when we sit" she responded. How could I say no? I didn't feel like I could. We found a nice looking bench and she just cut to the chase, "You eat flesh don't you?". I suddenly realized the gravity of those words, ponies are herbivores, that would make me an utter monster in their eyes wouldn't it? But, the look in her eyes told me that she knew my answer, she just wanted to hear it from me. "I er well, you see..." I sighed, "Yeah, I guess I look like a terrible person in your eyes huh?". I felt guilty for some odd reason. "I saw your teeth when you laughed at Twilight's reaction to Dashie's question, then I felt the ones I have now. They aren't all the teeth of a carnivore, you have cutting teeth and canine but you also have maulers, so you must be an omnivore." Pinkie Pie said quietly. I must say I was surprised at Pinkie's knowledge of teeth, then again, she is a baker. If anything, Pinkie Pie knows food and it's consumers. "No, I don't think you are a monster for being what you were born as. I just don't know why you didn't tell us, why you had to lie to us." Pinkie continued. Did I lie? Was it really that bad? "Do you.... Do you eat ponies? Is that why you didn't want to tell us?" she asked. "What? No, no no no,I would never eat that kind of animal! Horses were always valued in human culture so it's really frowned upon to eat them. I only eat animals like chicken, cow, fish and stuff like that. Even then, I never killed an animal with the intention of eating it before, I promise". I really didn't want her to be afraid of me. "Oh, okay..." she trailed off. "Was this why you were so quiet lately?" I asked. "Yeah, I just wasn't really sure. I think the others will want to know before it gets out of hoof." "Hand" I corrected. "Yeah, that." she responded. We sat in silence for a short while until a shout caught both of our attentions, "Hey! Guys! Over here!" yelled an excited Rainbow Dash. Pinkie and I simply decided to wait for her. She got to us and began the conversation, "Hey, I was headed for the entrance when I saw you two." she said, cocking an eyebrow at me. "The guys in that sports shop barely know a thing about athletics! It's insane I tell you! Anyway, I got bored and decided that meeting up with the group would be more fun." She finished. We went to the mall entrance to wait for Twilight and Pinkie Pie took the time as an opportunity to tell Rainbow my 'secret'. ... "Omnivore huh?" Rainbow began after the revelation, "Well, I used to have a Griffin friend. She was a carnivore and ate meat around me all the time, so no biggie." she said. I relaxed for a while until I had to ask, "Griffins too? Are all of the creatures in your land mythical?" Pinkie quickly retorted, "Nope! I saw a few birds and dogs around here and we have plenty of those!" "Oh, at least thats normal." I commented. .................one hour later................. Twilight came back, and we were all bored as could be. "Twi, just where were you! We looked in the book store and you weren't there!" a very annoyed Dash queried. Twilight widened her eyes when she spotted a clock conveniently placed above us, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I must have lost track of time, I asked the nice man that ran the book store about a history book and he told me that there is another bookstore nearby that had better ones!" Twilight apologized and then made a sounds that I could only describe as a squee. "Fine, whatever, let's just do what we came her for. We got side tracked enough." I grumbled, only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie who reminded me about the 'I'm an omnivore' predicament. With a deep sigh, I turned to Twilight, "By the way, I'm an omnivore. I eat meat on a near-daily basis to stay healthy and I really hope that doesn't bother you too much." I said quickly enough to confuse Twi for a moment or two. "Ahhh, that explains the teeth. Sorry I didn't ask before" Twilight said after a short pause, leaving Pinkie Pie with an open jaw that almost slammed on the floor. "Am I the only pony that was upset that he didn't tell us before?!" Pinkie Pie asked, a little too loudly. Heads began to turn and I began to freak out a little. "What happened to acting natural, Pinkie?" I snarled. Pinkie shrank back a little before we all quickly, and unanimously decided to leave for the clothing store with haste. ... I picked up a dark gray AC/DC shirt and waved it at Rainbow Dash, "Hey, the rocker look suits you! Goes really well with the hair too!" I said on the verge of giggling. "Very funny Matt." Dash said with the thickest sarcasm she could muster, "Who are they anyway?" she ended up asking. "One of the greatest hard rock bands to exist is who they were, I'll share music with you later though." I said. ... After many hours of shopping for a weeks worth of clothes for the three mares in disguise (I really like the sound of that!), we were finally on the check out line and I was gently stroking my debit card to prepare it for the big dent on missing money that it would soon suffer. "Why are you doing that?" Twilight asked with a judging eye. "Don't question it and be thankful that you aren't naked in public." I said flatly. *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* ........... "That'll be $875.27" said an impressively emotionless cashier... Holy crap, that's a lot of money. "Goodbye my hard earned cash." I said swiping my debit card, I didn't want to use credit in fear of never paying that money back again. My prayer did earn a smirk from Ms. No-feels, which almost made my day, almost. .............................. That ride back home wasn't very chatty, besides the random but deserved thank yous I got every now and then. So, I decided to turn on the radio and the first song that came up caught my attention, I heard this song before... "Where is that music coming from?" Pinkie asked, while watching me rock out at the steering wheel. "Oh, there are speakers inside some of the SUV's walls. Sorry for the surprise, they are so pedestrian to me that I didn't realize you wouldn't know." I said. "Wow, these speakers are twenty times smaller than Vinyl Scratch's and yet just as powerful." commented Twilight. "Who now?" I asked. "Only the coolest DJ in Equestria! Wow, I really like that tune!" Rainbow jumped in. ............................... We came home absolutely starved, "Oh god, how did we forget about lunch?" I cried out in despair. "Oooooh no, this is a bad tummy rumble!" Pinkie commented. "I.... I am going to die if I do not get a bite soon." Rainbow added. "Is this really the first time any of you skipped lunch?" Twilight asked, with a hint of ridicule. "YES!" We all cried in unison. Apparently, Twilight has studied so hard before that her alleged assistant wasn't able to feed her until nine o'clock at night. "Well, I for one, am going to make us one big dinner to compensate." I said almost crawling to the kitchen as Twilight reversed the transformation spell, leaving behind three colorful mares in very baggy clothing. ................ "What's for dinner?" "Cheese tortellini with a tomato, spinach, cucumber, lettuce and pepper jack cheese salad." "Wow, looks good." "You can thank the chef after you eat, and excuse my steak." "Oookayy.." .................... Wow, long day. I am going to sleep well tonight, well, if I try to not think about how much money I blew off today... Not without a troubled pastChapter 4: Not without a troubled past ---------------oODreamingOo--------------- "So Matt, what do you wanna do when you graduate?" "Me? I guess something in management. This school is offering us FAA licenses,so I might as well put those to use and get myself a temporary job as an AMT to pay for college tuition and stuff." "Good for you, having everything planned out for yourself." "What about you, Ted?" "Me? I guess I will follow my dad's footsteps, work in the CIA. Nothing hardcore, maybe the archives or surveillance." "Sounds exciting." "I wouldn't count on it, but it should pay well." "Yeah, what we all look for in a job huh?" "Totally, so when do you want to meet up after your visit up in New York?" "Soon after, how's Tuesday two weeks from now? I'm planning to make this summer very exciting." "Sounds good to me, can't wait to see what you have in store when you come back." "Heh, see you later man." ..... *Heavy rain* *thunder* *knock* *knock* "Hello? Matt! Are you in there? It's me, Ted!" *Door opens* "What... Do you want?" "Jeez, man, are you okay? I heard what hap-" "If you heard what happened then why did you just ask you most stupid question know to man kind? I lost my entire family, I'm all alone now! What could you possibly want from a man like me!?" "What? No, dude, you are not alone, I'm here for you man. I don't want to take anything from you, I just want to make sure that you are going to be okay.... It's hard, losing someone." "I... Did not just lose someone, I lost everyone! Can't you see that I am going through enough suffering just thinking about it? And then you come and make me talk over my loved ones like they are just a memory?" "I don't see it like that I.... Just... You haven't been answering your calls, I'm worried for you is all." *Matthew takes out his phone, shows it to a soaked Ted, and crushes it on the floor* "I need to be alone." *Door slams shut* ---------------oooOOooo--------------- *Gasps* "You okay Matt? You seem to be having a little trouble sleeping." asked a concerned mare in the shadows. I glanced at my alarm clock, three o'clock am. I then tried my best to make out the features of the pony laying down next to my bed, a small glint of rainbow gave away this pony's identity in an instant. "Rainbow?" I asked, startled by her presence, "What are you doing here?" "I uh, I wanted to ask you if you could teach me how to skate when you woke up" Rainbow said humbly, "I guess you woke up a lot earlier than I planned on." This brought a small smile to my face, I gave a glance at the nose of my skateboard, barely protruding from my closet's door and barely lit by the soft moon light. I have enough spare parts to make two more whole boards, I guess I could take in a protégé. "Sure, I could give you a few lessons. I guess it'll give you something to do while you're here", I responded. "Thanks, that means a lot to me you know. Being here means I can't fly, I just need something that would give me a similar freedom, heh, otherwise I wouldn't have this lightning bolt as my cutie mark." Rainbow said, in one of the most thankful tones I have yet to hear. "Um, you are very welcome", I beamed quietly, "We could start in the morning, around seven in the AM should be fine. Until then, how about you stop sleeping on the floor and come into a comfy bed?" She seemed to get the invitation and quietly thanked me once more as she climbed into my bed.. So many thank yous, it's getting hard to keep tabs on all of them. Rainbow and I quickly dosed off, backs facing each other. I slept soundly from then on, time piece in hand, no nightmares. ..................... I shot my eyes open as a bit of yellow hair landed on my face, I stared at it for a while before trying to blow it away. After several failed attempts, I simply resorted to sitting upright. Rainbow was still sleeping soundly, but the clock said 7:14am and I said we would be up at seven in the morning, so I gently poked Rainbow on her ears in a futile attempt to wake her up (partially so I could leave my bed). "Mmmffm, not now Soarin" Rainbow mumbled. "Who's Soarin?" I asked with a mocking grin on my face. With that, Dash shot upright and stared at me in disbelief. "Y...Y...You didn't hear that!" she begged in a harsh whisper. "Fine, I heard nothing. But you need to get up because it's past seven and I promised you some lessons." I responded. Rainbow quickly agreed and we climbed out of bed. I went down to the kitchen and made four very crude and hastily created sandwiches as breakfast for everyone and everypony whilst Rainbow made her way to the bathroom and used the mouthwash (I should get them tooth brushes eventually). Pinkie Pie was snoring lightly in the living room and Twilight was presumably still asleep, so when Rainbow and I ate our hasty breakfast, I wrote a note telling Pinkie and Twilight that we are going outside for a bit. Then we went upstairs and got a hold of my spare skateboard stuff that I used and discarded (but soon will be reused once more) to build a board for Dashie. Hmm Dashie is a nice nickname... Nah, Rainbow is fine. ... "Okay, here, hold this deck while I put the trucks on." I whispered to Rainbow in an attempt to not wake Twilight from her slumber. "The what now?" Rainbow asked, obviously confused with my choice of words. I sighed, "Here, hold this piece of wood while I bolt these two metallic T-shaped things onto the bottom." "You don't have to be so mean about it.." Rainbow muttered. The trucks were put on and I picked out a random set of wheels and bearings for add on. Installation was a breeze thanks to my handy-dandy tool box. "Alright, just one problem." I said once we were done. "And what would that be?" Rainbow said to me in a slightly surprised tone. "You are still a pony" I pointed out. Dash looked at herself as if she hadn't realized that she was walking on all fours. "Weird, wasn't I human when we went to bed?" Rainbow asked. "Um, at first, but not when I found you lying next to my bed. I just assumed that Twilight reversed the spell." I responded. Rainbow went into deep thought for a while, "Hmm, I guess she did.... Why am I still wearing socks?" I smirked, somehow, all of her clothing from before fell off except for the socks. I tried not telling her until she realized because it looked so damn funny. "Hey, they look good on you." I remarked. "Yeah yeah, I get it, it looks hilarious." Rainbow retorted, only slightly annoyed. "I guess we could ask Twilight to turn you human now. " I suggested. The hairs on the back of Rainbow's neck stood straight all of a sudden. "Uh, yeah, you go do that. I'm going to pick out my clothes while you're at it." Rainbow said with a degree of uncertainty. I just shrugged and made my way across the hall to Twilight's room. I didn't bother knocking since it's my house and I didn't really expect ponies to have dark secrets when they are alone. And I wasn't wrong about that last statement, Twilight was sleeping soundly in her bed, with a book on the floor. Huh, Brave New World. Without giving it much thought, I prodded Twilight a few times. "Hey Twilight, wakey wakey.". I was suddenly punched with a hoof that came out of nowhere, right in the chest. I staggered back, and regained focus just in time to see a very pissed off Twilight growl a frightening set of words, "Nopony wakes me up like that". I stood there in awe, I didn't think the nerd had it in her! And that managed to really, legitimately scare me. That's when I saw a cautious looking cyan blur in my peripheral. I shifted my head and saw Rainbow peeking inside with a bunch of clothes in her mouth and a bra on her head. The sight seemed to confuse Twilight enough to shake her out of her madness. "What is going on? Why do you need me at.... Almost eight o'clock?" Twilight asked. "We need you to turn Rainbow human again, I'm teaching her how to skate and that's not going to be easy if she's a pony." I said quickly. Twilight looked at her own body and looked a bit surprised too, only to shake her head a bit and began to cast the spell as I left the room. There was a flash from under the door, and a few minutes later, Rainbow came out human and Twilight flopped back into bed. Rainbow put on some flat soled shoes, they were a really old pair of mine that I still had for some odd reason, they fit her perfectly. A few minutes later, we had made our way out of the house in an orderly and quiet fashion (skateboards in hand of course). We got in my car because there is nothing worth doing near my house, and headed towards a small village that I know that has nicely paved roads that no one ever uses. Perfect for learning on. ............. "Hey, Matt?" Rainbow asked, almost cautiously. "Yeah?" I responded, eyes still on the road. "I, um, I wanted to ask if you were... Well, if you were feeling okay." she said, stumbling over her words. This surprised me, I didn't expect that from Rainbow. Then again, in retrospect, Rainbow tends to do a lot of things I didn't actually expect, like ask all of the right questions. "Um, why do you ask that?" I asked back. "Well, it's really because of last night. The way you woke up, you looked really startled. I dunno why, but I feel that this wasn't because of any old nightmare." Rainbow said, the sadness in her eyes beginning to pour into me. "Well." I began. "You don't have to say anything to me right now Matt, but I want you to know that I am your friend. And that I'm here for you when you need me." She said in those impossible-to-argue-with hazel eyes. I paused for what felt like the longest time before saying, "I'm fine, no need to worry about me.". The rest of the conversation died at that point, so I turned on the radio. To my pleasure, the Foo Fighters were on and we listened to their music quietly the rest of the ride. We parked near a small bank and made our way to a paved, secluded road for us to use. ........ "Okay, lesson zero. The first thing you need to know is what position you are most comfy when you are riding." "What, like this?" "Do you feel confident pushing like that?" "Yeah." "Alright, you ride regular then!" "Regular? Then why are you riding the opposite way?" "Because I'm goofy." "What? Stop clowning around and teach me!" "No, that's what they call it when you ride opposite! You silly filly." "Oh, well why didn't you say so?" ......... "Alright, so remember, left leg stationary behind the bolts and right leg pushing and resting on the hind bolts." "You mean like... This?" "Wow, fast learner." "Well, I'm known to be fast!" .................................. Rainbow got the hang of riding pretty fast, I think she would be ready for long distance cruising in no time at all. I think I will teach her how to ollie soon. We came home at noon, so I could get lunch going and so I could get the mares ready for the task ahead of them.It's Thursday and I get the graveyard shift today. "Thanks Matt, that was really fun!" Rainbow said as I pulled into the driveway. I smirked and then said, "Just wait until you start bruising your shins and ankles." "What? Why is that?" Rainbow inquired. "When you start learning tricks! You are going to get hurt alot, but it's all worth it in the end. There's a sort of reward, a sort of self-accomplishment when you learn and later master a new trick." I said with a witty grin. "Can't wait." Rainbow said, to my surprise, with a hint of anticipation. We got out of the car and into the house. Pinkie Pie figured out how to play video games all by herself and was now immersed in some intense multiplayer combat, and doing surprisingly well too. "Wow, Pinkie Pie, you are quite the gamer." I said with a low whistle. "Sorry, what was that?" was the only response I got from the occupied fluff of pink. I decided to ask another question, "Whatever, did you eat breakfast?" Pinkie Pie was now sticking her tongue out in concentration, eventually she said "Yep! Yes I did, thanks for the sandwich Matty, but I could really go for some lunch right now." "Well, maybe I could show you how to operate my kitchen so you can start using it too." I said slowly. This caught Pinkie Pie's attention, despite how close she was to winning another round. "You would really really do that for me Matty?" Pinkie Pie asked in disbelief, eyes beginning to dilate. "I don't see why not." I responded happily, "Come, it's lunch time, let me show you the ropes." "I don't see any ropes in here, but I'm sure we'll manage without those!" Pinkie commented as she followed me into the kitchen. Rainbow stayed behind and started playing in Pinkie's place, but even with proper hands, she somehow couldn't play better than Pinkie did. ..... "So you were a baker, right?" I asked. "I sure was! Ooooh but I can cook so many other things I can't really call myself just a baker you know. That's just what I do to make some bits, I go more along the lines of: Allaroundsuperfantasticironchefmareden!" She responded.... In one breath. "Wow, you sure give yourself a lot of credit." I said folding my arms, "Prove it." A smile began to grow on Pinkie Pie's face as she turned towards the counter and began to work her magic. No, really, magic, she's holding stuff with her hooves right now and the fact that they can do that still claws at my brain. ...1:04 pm.... "Lunch is ready!" I called. Rainbow quickly vaulted over the couch to get to the table and Twilight came down the stairs soon enough. "Did you two have fun?" Twilight asked Rainbow and I. "Oh boy, I sure did. Those boards make so much noise, it's awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Yeah, she's a very fast learner. I was actually surprised that it came to her almost naturally." I commented. "I'm glad you two had fun, and uh, sorry about my reaction to you waking me up this morning. It was a little over the top of me." Twilight commented with an added apology, "So, whats for lunch?" "Apology accepted and Pinkie Pie made a delicious looking spinach casserole (I could never get those right) and theres salad and lentils. You all have a plate, so it's self serve for today." I announced. Twilight and Rainbow made their share of comments and compliments and we ate quietly for a while. Two humans and two ponies sitting opposite from each other, I have no idea why, but that strikes me as odd. Not just the pony part but the forma- ahhhhh forget it... ... "Anyway, today I have work. I get the graveyard shift, are you all going to be okay while I'm away?" I began. Everypony looked around the room awkwardly. "Wow, this is awkward. We never asked you what you do for a living." Twilight said, "Oh! If you don't mind us asking that is." Wow, I somehow missed that point too. How on Earth did that happen? "Well, I'm an AMT. That stands for Aviation Maintenance Technician"......... .... "That's fascinating." Twilight said after I finished explaining my line of work. "Are you kidding? That's awesome!" Rainbow added. "It's pudding!" Pinkie Pie said, putting the pudding desert on the table. "Pinkie Pie, we're talking about Matt's job... That pudding does look pretty awesome though." Rainbow said, defending both teams. "Wow, when did you make that?" I asked Pinkie Pie. "Oh you know, between all of the when-hows and the what-nows." Pinkie Pie said, as is that was a perfectly reasonable answer. Rainbow's advice really helps, that's just Pinkie being Pinkie, my brain is saved. "Oookay, anyways... Twilight, I take it that you browsed through my library already?" I moved on. Twilight seemed to shrink a little. "Yeah, I did. Are you okay with that?" she asked cautiously. "Heh, yeah it's fine. I doubt that you used my laptop though. I guess you could use it to keep you entertained while I'm gone tonight." I said. "I don't really need much more entertainment, really! I took out that novel you mentioned and a text on world history, well, Earth history." Twilight responded. Rainbow and Pinkie were nice enough to make their own conversations quiet, a few giggles now and then. "Well, that would keep you occupied for quite some time, but I guess teaching you now would be better than never." I said. With that, we stood up from the table and began making our way to the study. "Wait! What about your pudding?" Pinkie asked with the most adorable pouting face... D'awwwww. Twilight and I walked back awkwardly, took our servings of pudding, gave Pinkie a pair of sheepish smiles, and as we walked away, I told Rainbow that she is doing the dishes today. "Awwww... Fine." Rainbow said, muttering under her breath. ............... "Alright, so to turn it on you open the screen-" "Like this?" "Yeah, like that. And you push that button to turn it on." "This one?" "No, the big one." "Oh, this one!" "No, that's called the space bar.... Here, that's the button you push." "Oh, sorry." "Don't be, you're learning." ......... "Try using your magic here, I want to see if you can use the touch pad." "Okay...." "hmm, that doesn't work.. Wait a sec." *rummaging* "Aha, wireless mouse!" "Eeep! where?" "No, silly, this is called a mouse. You move it around to give commands to the computer." "How does it work?" "I fix airplanes Twilight, not computers." "Oh." ....... "And this is called a web browser. It let's you surf the Internet." "What's the Internet?" "The biggest virtual library in existence." *Massive squee* "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Why didn't you mention this before?" "Because I was afraid of a reaction like that..." "Oh, sorry." ......... I finished acquainting Twilight to the use of the computer, and also kept a few tabs open (things like Netflix, and Google) So that she doesn't get 'lost' or trapped in the dark side of the Interwebs. "Well, here is a list of my favorite movies and shows. I recommend that you watch Doctor Who, it's amazing." I said after I made sure Twilight was confident to go on by her lonesome. "Thanks! I'll look into it" Twilight responded. Did I just make a mistake by getting her involved with computers? Nah. It's currently 5:32 pm and my shift starts at 8:00 pm. But I decided to go anyway, there was someone that I needed to talk to. Someone who I haven't spoken to in some time. I said my farewells to the three mares, Rainbow had asked Twilight to turn her back to pony form to see if that was the secret to being better than Pinkie Pie at playing video games. I stifled a laugh as I left when I saw Rainbow's frustration, one form of frustration that I know way too well. ................ The drive to Ted's office was killing me on the inside, it's relatively close to where I work, and yet I haven't spoken to him in....? It's been almost five months. Five months of me being completely alone. Five months that I now feel have been wasted. Is he going to hate me? I hope not, he was my best friend after all. I wouldn't be shocked if he resented me for what I did to him, cutting him off like that. Maybe there's room for forgiveness, maybe there isn't. Arrg, but I need him! But, is that the only reason I'm going to him now? To use him? What kind of person does that make me? Or maybe that nightmare was a wakeup call, maybe it was a sign that I can't be alone anymore. At least not without ending up hurting myself, or worse yet, someone else..... This drive really felt like it was going to be the end of me. .......................... I stopped in front of a gray office building, it did not look inviting at all. With a deep sigh, I got out of my car and into that building, the building my old friend Ted works in. I stopped in front of the secretary that was sitting at the center or a rather lavish lobby. I just stood there, the words caught in my mouth. "Ahem, sir? Can I be of assistance?" The secretary asked. She looked like a terrible person, the kind of lady with glasses and a bun for hair that would betray you at the mention of a dollar. Nevertheless, her question slapped me out of my stupor and into reality. "Um, well, you see.... I'm looking for Mister Ted Kimell." I finally said. The secretary had gone back to her business, and without even looking at me continued her 'conversation' with me. "Well, do you have an appointment?" she inquired, I was sure that she knew the answer to that. "Um, no bu-" I began but was very rudely interrupted. "Well then, I don't see why you have any reason to be here. Move along now." She said, with a cold stare pointed at nothing in particular. "If you could just-" I tried to begin again. "Ep, what did I just say?" she rudely inquired, her soul-less stare now pointed at me. "If you would let me finish!" I began once more, "I would like you to call him for me, I am sure that he would want to see me." I said with a sigh, relieved that I could finally get that message through to this woman. She simply stared daggers into me, as if I'm the one who just did something rude! How rude of her! "Fine." she said at last. She didn't even look at the call list, she apparently had it memorized, and called Ted. "Mister Kimell, there is someone here to see you." she began. "Yes, I understand that you don't have any appointments and that you are busy at the moment." she responded as I listened to a one sided conversation. "He insisted." she said with another glare. She paused, and looked at me, "Can I have a name?" she asked. "Oh, Anderson, Matthew Anderson." I replied. "A mister Anderson wants to speak to you sir." she continued. "Oh, I see. Well not to worry sir. Yes, I understand." she said before hanging up. "Well?" I asked. "Mister Kimell wishes you to leave the building, so if you please." she said, motioning towards the door. "Oh. Well, have a nice day." I ended that part with sarcasm so thick you would need to water it down before you could try cutting it. As I was walking towards to door, I heard a ringing from the secretary's phone. I didn't pay it any attention, I just wanted to leave this failure behind. "Yes? Oh really? Changing your mind so soon, sir? Yes sir." I heard the evil secretary behind me say before she called to me. "Mister Anderson! If you would come back please?". I froze in my tracks. What? Did Ted really change his mind after ten seconds? Well, I'm not one to complain! "Yes?" I asked expectantly. "Mister Kimell would actually like to see you right now. Take elevator four to the sixteenth floor, room 1619." the secretary said with a hint of resentment. "Thank you very much." I said in an honestly pleased tone, and walked past her triumphantly. ..... I walked down the hall of the sixteenth floor looking for room 1619. hmm, 1613, 1615, 1617... Where the hell is 1619? I thought to myself before turning the corner and sure enough, there was office 1619. You are a genius I thought sarcastically to myself before walking towards my goal. I opened the door slowly, walking in just as hesitantly. There he was, "Ted?" I asked. He was looking out his window, but quickly turned around at the sound of his name. "Matt? Is that really you? Shit, it's been five months!" he began before taking on a more sorrowful expression, "Are you feeling better?" he asked. "Yeah, a whole lot better." I responded. I saw a quirk of a smile appear on his face, it wasn't one of happiness, it was one of relief. "I'm really sorry about what happened, I shouldn't-" he began apologizing before It interrupted him. (Is that evil secretary getting to me?!) "No, I'm the one that's sorry. I... I shouldn't have pushed you away like that when you were only trying to help me." I apologized back. Ted's expression softened and we went in for a brief man-hug. "It's been too long Matt." Ted said sorrowfully. "Way too long." I agreed. "So what brings you here?" He asked while motioning to a quarter of whiskey he had on his desk, "Care for a drink?" "No thanks, I have work today." I rejected. "Ah, the good ol' machinist is back huh? Did you get better hours like you asked?" Ted began for nostalgia's sake. "Yep, and pay too. My foreman finally pulled through with that seniority bonus. How about you man?" I replied. "I got upgraded to the sixteenth floor, I am doing s'well my friend... So, I'll ask again. What brings you here?" he said, cutting right back to the chase. I looked around the room, "Your office isn't bugged is it?" I asked. "Nope, they stop that stuff after the thirteenth floor. So what even you say is private." Ted announced before darkening his expression, "What is this about?" "Look," I began," I have these friends that aren't really from here, and I was wondering if you could sneak into the archives and add a few entries... I know that's asking for a lot here, but I really need this.". There was a silence in the room, Ted was examining my expression. "What do you mean by 'aren't really from here' exactly?" he asked, "They aren't criminals, are they?" "No, they are not criminals." I retorted in a somewhat bashful tone, "And, they aren't exactly human either". Oh man, I'm starting to melt here. Ted just burst into laughter, "Oh man! Good one! You come back after all this time and you still have that sense of humor.." he trailed off, paused to look at the seriousness of my face, "Oh god, you're serious." "Ted, do you still trust me?" I asked him. "Well, yeah. I also owe you as well." he replied simply. "You owe me? for what?" I asked in shock. "You are the one who helped me in all of my classes in highschool when I really needed it... If it weren't for you, I would not have made it into my dream career. This office here? I can only thank you for it." Ted said. "That's what you owe me for? But that's what friends do, I don't need thanking for that." I responded, still surprised. "Don't waste your favor, I'm saying that I'm going to do this for you just this once you numb skull." Ted spat out, "But first: aliens, what do they look like?" he asked quickly afterward. I gave him a coy grin, "Ponies, bright and colorful ponies." He sat there, blinking a few times before asking the big question,"How are they going to fit into society? Proper ID and paper work only helps so long as the person looks human you know." I gave him the simplest answer I could give him, one that wouldn't strain his frontal lobe like it did to mine. "Magic." I said simply. He kept staring, "Dude, if you want to go through the same headaches I went through, all you have to do is ask." I added. "Okay, I'm asking." he said. "Fine. " I said, preparing myself for a long and hasty explanation. ......... "Equestria?" "Yep." "Dual monarchy.." "That's what I said." "Over 1000 years of peace and counting?" "I wish it were over 9000, but yeah." "And the purple one can do magic?" "Uhuh." "And one of her spells transforms the three into humans?" "Courtesy of my nail clippings, yeah." "What?" "Nothing. Anyway, can you help?" "I will get you three sets of full paperwork back grounds, from birth certificates, work applications, to passports." "Wow, thanks." "Thank me later, when the tables are turned and you owe me Matt." "Well, it's been great seeing you again man, see you later, I gotta go to work." "Likewise, see you later." ........................... I clocked in and the foreman was in the locker room giving everyone a speech. "Welcome back everyone, everyone had a nice Wednesday I presume?" Said the foreman before continuing. "Well, here's the sit-rep on the grounded 777. The port-side wing has been successfully removed and taken to a composites shop for repairs two shifts ago, and now we have to strip the bird of it's skin covering. I want a quarter of the crew working on removing the engine cowls, get that done as soon a humanly possible. The rest of you, I need you all to start removing every skin cover from station zero to station six. The FAA is on our asses for what happened here on Monday and unfortunately for you, you all have to work harder because of an idiot in another shift! Go, and no pencil pushing!" With that, I was assigned to work on removing the engine cowls. One of the easiest jobs to do on this beautiful bird because it's actually designed to come off, just loosen the hinges and get one of the trucks to drag it away for inspection. The rest of my shift was tiring and relatively boring. I left work at three in the morning and made my way home a quickly as I could without being reckless. ....................... I got home at four o'clock sharp, somehow cutting an entire half hour from my commute. I quietly made my way into the house, through the living room and into the kitchen. I then served myself a glass of some whiskey I had hidden in the kitchen and went to the back yard to unwind for a few minutes before going to bed. To my surprise, Pinkie Pie was laying in the grass outside, she was just staring at the sky. "Hey there." I greeted Pinkie Pie as I sat down next to her, much to Pinkie's own surprise. "Oh, you're back!" she said quietly. "So, what are you doing staring at the sky all by yourself?" I asked. "What are you doing staring at the sky with somepony staring at the sky by her self?" Pinkie asked back. "I just.... I need to lay down and think." I said, now laying on my back. "Well, I'm just thinking." Pinkie said, and then laid down on he back as well. ... "It's just so hard to believe that I'm so far away from home. The moon is so small, the clouds are so high and the weather in this world is like one big Everfree forest." Pinkie said serenely, "Oh, and Gummy, my poor, poor Gummy. I sure hope Fluttershy is taking good care of him, I miss him so much." she added with a pang of sadness. "It's just so hard.... To live." I said, sipping from my glass. Pinkie pretended not to notice. ... "Matty?" Pinkie asked after a long moment of silence. "Yes, Pinkie?" I replied, almost lost in the zen of the night sky. "Do you think I weill ever see my home again?" Pinkie inquired. That made me look at her. She looked back, with big, sad blue eyes. "I don't think it's impossible Pinkie," I finally replied, "But you are going to have to keep hope that one day you will, or it may never happen." "Oh." Pinkie commented, as if my word was the only truth. ... "Pinkie Pie?" "Yes?" "We should go to bed." "We should... Hey, Matty?" "Yeah?" "This morning, I woke up and Rainbow wasn't there. Where was she?" "Oh, she was sleeping with me." "You what? Isn't it a little weird to do that with a different species? I mean, not that I'm judging or anything, but, really?" "What? No! Gross! I think that counts as bestiality, no! I meant that she slept in the same bed that I was in, no funny stuff involved." "Ohhh." *giggle* "Well, now that that's answered I can sleep okay." "Glad, er, to have cleared that up." ... We made our way back inside. I set glass down on the counter, I still had some drink left, but before I could think about drinking it, Pinkie Pie took it. "Cheers to going home some day." she said quietly before drinking the last of my whiskey. "Alrighty, sleep well." I said before we parted ways and drifted to sleep... Driving miss PinkieChapter 5: Driving miss Pinkie ---------------oooOOooo--------------- *Door opening.* *Young Matthew enters the house.* "Hey mom." "Matthew! What ever happened to you?" "I um... I kinda fell a few times." "A few times? just look at your arms! What on Earth were you doing?" "Well, let's just say I'm not ready to grind on rails just yet." "Come here, let's get those cuts cleaned up." .... *Older Matthew at his family's funeral.* *Raining profusely.* "Here we gather today. In loving memory of...." *Matthew looking at his parent's closed coffins.* I can't say goodbye, I'm just not ready yet. *White noise drowning Matthew's thoughts* ... Aunt: "Happy birthday Matthew! How's my little nephew doing?" Matt: "I'm good auntie." Aunt: "My, you're already eleven years old! It barely feels like any time has passed at all." *Short pause* Aunt: "Well, I bet you're wondering what your uncle and I have in store for you!" *Young Matthew stares at a large, red box with a yellow bow* Matt: "What is it?" Uncle: "Well, why don't you open it and find out?" *Young Matthew begins opening the box* Uncle: "It's a skateboard!" Matt: "Wow! But I don't know how to ride it." Uncle: "Don't you worry about that, I can teach you. In no time at all, you will be riding this around to wherever you please!" *Matthew's mom stands by the doorway* Mom: "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I don't recall you two asking for permission before giving him something like that." Uncle: "Oh, the boy needs something fun and reckless to do. He's almost a teenager now! Might as well give him a head start." Mom: "This we need to discuss later." Aunt: "But just look at him, he's so excited to learn now. Can you really take it away from him at this point?" ... *Matthew staring blankly at his Aunt and Uncle's coffins.* Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time?Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time?Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time?Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time? *Tears running down Matthew's face* *White noise* ... *Teen Matthew playing with his little sister* "Haha! Do it again!" "What? You mean this?" "Yeah! How can you fly a kite so good?" "You mean how can I fly a kite so well? Practice is all." "Teach me, pweety pwease?" "Awww, can't say no to that face now can we? Alright, here, hold the string like this with both hands and don't let go." "You mean like this?" "Almost, try separating your hands a bit more." "There?" "Now you're getting it! Now pull the string with your front hand and feed or pull the string with the other." "Wow! Did you see that?" "Yeah, you're doing really well! Pull the string every time you see the kite begin to fall, eventually you will get the rhythm of it and you will be able to turn the kite where you want it to go." "Okay, just one wittle question." "What is it?" "What does eventually mean?" "It means that in time you will get there." "Oh... Matty?" "Yes?" "Thank you for playing with me today, this sunset is very pwetty." ... *Matthew crying in front of a small coffin, fellow mourners beginning to depart* "I am going to miss you so, oh so much, my little Sadie." *Man in uniform puts a hand on Matthew's shoulder* "Matthew?" *nodding* " I.... I cannot begin to imagine the pain you must be going through right now, your father was a good man. Gregory was a great man actually, both in the CIA and as a human being." "He... He sure was Mr. Kimell." "I just wanted to give my condolences." *White noise slowly becoming deafening* ---------------oooOOooo--------------- I shot up from my bed, panting quietly and my heart racing like I had just ran a marathon. I could also feel the dried tears on my face. Nopony in my room this time though, I dug out my father's time piece and waited for the calming sound to bring me back to the subconscious world. .......... The sweet scent of pancakes and apples wafted it's way into my nose and into my brain. It was tempting to the point that I almost got out of bed, that is until I saw the time. 10:28? It's too damn early, was my last thought before closing my eyes once more. .... I woke up groggily, yet no longer capable of sleeping anymore. I hate that feeling, what time is it? 11:56? Meh, I might as well get up. I shuffled my way into the bathroom and took a quick and revitalizing shower. I am so glad I only work three days a week, that graveyard shift on Thursdays is always the one that gets me. But now I am fully awake, courtesy of my lovely shower, which means that I get to do... Stuff. Huh, that train of thought might have left me. What am I supposed to do today? I told Ted about the mares, I guess I should tell the mares about telling Ted about said mares. But besides from taking a bunch of photographs of the three, I don't think there's anything to do but wait for the results in a few weeks. With that thought, I idly put on the first pair of everything in my drawers, not really caring for looks. Worn blue jeans and some random, plain, light green T-shirt. Where did I get this shirt from? I thought to myself after I put it on. With a shrug, I headed downstairs. The first thing that I saw was Rainbow playing the same game as last time, I may have accidentally hooked her on gaming. With that thought, I sat down next to Rainbow with a yawn. Apparently she wasn't aware of my presence until then and did a slight jump from the place she was sitting, to about three inches away from her original spot. "Well, good afternoon to you, sleepyhead", Rainbow greeted. "Good afternoon to you too, miss gamer-hooves", I greeted back. She just went back to her game, in which she wasn't so bad at anymore. Out of boredom and hunger, I stood from the rather interesting match Rainbow was involved in to get myself some delicious consumables. On my way to the kitchen, I got a peek into my library. Surprise surprise, Twilight was sitting inches away from a laptop screen, stacks of books on either side of her. "G'day Twi, how long have you been here?" I dared to ask. "Oh, hey Matthew", Twilight greeted while pausing whatever she was watching, "Um, wow, since six o'clock I guess." "Six? What were you doing this whole time?" I dared to inquire even further. "Well, there's that show that you recommended, Doctor Who, it's amazing by the way. And I was also looking through some human related history, Genghis Khan was an evil but very intelligent general", Twilight went on. I smirked when I realized that Twilight already finished the first season of my favorite teenage hood show. "Alrighty then, just make sure to get some air every now and then. Doesn't need to be too long, just some five minute brakes between episodes", I said idly while resuming my trek to the kitchen in my honor-bound quest for food. Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen, seemingly sitting and doing nothing, but the sweet smell of apples told me that she was just waiting. "Hey Pinkie, what'cha doing?" I asked. "Good afternoon Matty, how'd you sleep?" Pinkie asked back, seemingly ignoring my question apparently. "What smells so good in here anyway? I'm famished!" I said, passing the proverbial ball of conversation. "Oh, I just made some apple pie and then made some pancakes with the leftover flour", Pinkie responded nonchalantly. "I could sure go for either of those right now.." I trailed of hungrily. "Wellll, we ran out of pancakes", Pinkie began, that's when I noticed the slight bulge in her belly, "But I saved some pie just for you!" Pinkie continued as she pulled a place with a neat slice of apple pie... From under the table. "Pinkie Pie... You are so... Random." I managed to say as I reached for the plate. I just ate and Pinkie Pie just droned on about something. I was starting to simply block out non-essential conversations from Pinkie Pie in a subconscious effort to not sprain my frontal lobe. I should probably work my way against that, I don't want to be rude, and god knows what kind of trouble that could get me into. After I finished eating, I thanked Pinkie Pie and excused myself to the bathroom. I finished all of the necessary steps of personal hygiene, and then came back out to see that the only pony that actually moved in all of that time was Pinkie. Rainbow was still on the couch and Twilight was still on the chair inches from the screen. "Um, guys?" I began, "Do any of you want to, you know, do something?" Rainbow looked away from the game at least, "Aww c'mon, I'm on a winning streak here!" then Rainbow lowered her voice and continued, "I love to win." "Okay, one no. Twilight?" I asked. "Huh? What? But I'm in the middle of the second season!" she said biting her hoof for the briefest moment, "And I need to see how the Doctor is going to get out of this one, I mean, he has to right? He regrew a hand, I'm sure he can beat a few Cybermen. Right?" Twilight droned on doubtfully. I was sure I made a mistake introducing computers to these mares at this point, but I will deal with this later. "That's two nos, Pinkie?" I asked, and yet almost begged. "Sure! I don't see why not." Pinkie said, much to my relief. "Alright, let's get out of here." I said. "Um, Matty? Aren't you forgetting something?" Pinkie said, motioning towards her pink self. "Oh, yeah. Hey Twilight? Could you come here for a second and turn Pinkie human?" I called in response to Pinkie's reminder. There was a slight delay in her response, but eventually Twilight left the library and turned Pinkie human before going back to watching her new favorite show. I seriously need to talk to these two when I come back, there is so much to enjoy in the city before becoming a couch potato! It's just too soon! ... After Pinkie Pie got all of her clothes on(which took a surprisingly short amount of time), we got in my car and started our long ride to the city. Now we had about an hour and a half to figure out what to do when we get there. "So what do you wanna do?" I asked Pinkie. "Well, It's past noon. How about we start with lunch? I like eating." Pinkie suggested. Well, now we have some more common ground, we both like eating. "Sure, I know this great burger joint... Oh wait, herbivore, sorry." feeling a bit sorry on what Pinkie Pie is missing out on. "Well, do you know any other great places to eat at?" Pinkie asked. "Actually, that same place has fairly awesome salads. I'm sure you would like them." I suggested since I really had a craving for a burger right now. "Okie, sounds like a plan", said Pinkie Pie while eying my radio. "Hey Matty? How does this thing work?" "What? The radio? Just push the volume knob inward." I responded. I watched Pinkie poke the knob in my peripheral, keeping my eyes on the road. I smiled at the song that was just beginning, I recognized that intro immediately. "Oi. Oi. Oi. Oi." I began singing along, not really caring what Pinkie Pie thought of me. "See me right out of the sunset, on your color TV screen. I'm for all that I can get, if you know what I mean. Women to the left of me, and women to the right. Ain't got no gun, ain't got no knife, don't you start no fight." I sang along. "Cuz I'm TNT, I'm dynamite. TNT, and I'll win the fight! TNT, I'm a power load. TNT watch me explode!" I continued what would probably seem embarrassing to others, but one glance at Pinkie Pie told me she was enjoying the concert as much as I was. I continued singing until the guitar solo, and just listened to the music from then on, bored from singing. When the song ended and the radio talk host took over, Pinkie gave me a starry look, "Wow, I really like your singing voice! Much better than that mister gravel voice on the radio!" Pinkie complemented "Me, a better singer than the Bon Scott? Thanks but you're giving me way too much credit, I'm okay at singing, but not great." I retorted. ... Most of the ride was mostly music talk. An awesome song comes up and Pinkie would ask what band that was and so on. But then a question came into my head followed by the thought, why didn't I ask this in the beginning? "Hey Pinkie? Sorry that I never asked, but how did you three end up here? Or, what were you doing before you ended up here?" I asked cautiously. Pinkie gave me a sad look that lasted a fraction of a second. "Well, as much as I would love to say that Twilight was doing an experiment and that Rainbow and I were helping when something went terribly wrong, that would be both silly and a terrible lie. Actually, I dunno why I would love to say that at all!" Pinkie began, "What we were doing was walking through the Everfree forest. A whole lot of ponies were spreading stories that there were tall monsters made of stone in the forest! So many ponies were so terribly scared that Celestia sent the Elements of Harmony to see exactly what the problem was", Pinkie Pie paused and looked down for a moment, "Twi, Dashie and I got separated from the rest of the gang once we were inside the forest. That's when everything went dark and the next thing the any of us remember is, well, you know that part of the story." Pinkie Pie trailed off. "Oh... That's definitely very strange, I'm sorry that you don't know anymore about what caused this." I said sorrowfully. "It's fine Matty, you yourself said that we have to keep hope, hope that we will come back home one day." Pinkie responded. The rest of the ride was quiet albeit the music on the radio. .... I found a spot to park the car and began undoing the seatbelt. "Alright! we're here." I said excitedly. "Yay! I'm starving!" Pinkie commented. We both got out of the car and I locked the doors behind us as I walked Pinkie to our destination. The restaurant's name was Billy and I's . Pinkie and I walked through the aluminum double doors, I love the retro look of this place, and waited to be seated and looked through the menu. "So, what are you getting Pinks?", I asked, half testing if I could use new nicknames. "Ummmm, I'll take the chicken cesar salad, without the chicken." Pinkie concluded, and I concluded that 'Pinks' is a safe nickname to use. "Hey Pinkie? I understand that ponies can't digest meat properly, which is why it should naturally taste terrible to you. But, right now you are human. Would that mean that your taste buds changed as well?" I asked in a low, conspiring voice. I was trying to not let anyone else hear what I was saying as to not arouse any suspicion. Pinkie stared at me for a while, then scratched her chin for a bit before grimacing slightly. "I guess, but I don't want to hurt any animals just to feed myself." she concluded. I don't know why, but I wanted to pursue the subject further. "Well, I don't either, but the poor animal in question is already gone. Wouldn't it be worse that he or she died for no reason and let them waste away?" I said tentatively. "Hmm, you do make a good point", Pinkie began, "It feels wrong though." "Tell you what, you order your salad and I'll let you try my burger to see if you like it. If you don't like it, just spit it out and you haven't actually eaten any meat." I concluded in a triumphant tone. "Well...." Pinkie trailed off before continuing hesitantly, "Okay, I guess." .. "Hello handsome, sorry for the long wait. What can I do for you and girl?" said the waitress in an almost seductive tone. I tried my best not to blush, I think I succeeded with my poker face, but I can't tell for sure. "It just so happens that you can help us", I began, playing along with the restaurant cliché question of the year, "I'll have the cheese burger, well done, with sautéed onions, tomato, lettuce and a slice of avocado with a side of fries. For drinks, I'll have an unfiltered ginger ale. What about you Pinks?" I ordered in a well practiced manner. "I'll have the cesar salad, without the chicken please, and a sparkling cider. Thanks!" Pinkie ordered at a quick pace. "Okay, I'll be back soon with your orders." the waitress said with a wink. That almost gets annoying, but the food is totally worth it. Pinkie and I watched her walk away. "I think she likes you!" Pinkie said to me with a look I couldn't quite decipher. "Nah" I began, leaning back, "They get paid to do it". I then added with a growing ego, "But then again, who could resist this body?". That got Pinkie to giggle, then we just continued with some small talk. ... The waitress came back after thirty minutes or so, carrying absolutely everything we ordered in one tray which sat on one hand. How do they learn to balance those tray like that? I thought to myself. We thanked the waitress and began eating, Pinkie Pie seemed to be mentally preparing herself for what I signed her up for. I just waited without needing a verbal instruction, I was pressuring her to begin with after all. "Alright, I think I'm ready." Pinkie said after a few minutes of background noise. "Okay, here." I said, pushing the plate slowly to her. She stared at the burger for a bit. "Omnivore is right, you sure added a lot of veggies to this dish." she commented slowly. Before I could respond, Pinkie Pie picked it up and took a relatively small bite and chewed tentatively. To my pleasure, the pace of her chewing began to increase. "You know?", Pinkie began, "It's actually not bad. It tastes different from anything I've tried before, but I can see why you like it." I smirked, "I win then." "Win what?" she asked, looking up from the table. "Oh nothing, two parts of my brain were betting on whether or not you would like it." I said as if that was perfectly normal, but I was talking to Pinkie Pie, so she may have found that perfectly normal. She certainly didn't bother to point out anything wrong with that idea. .. We were almost finished with our meals when I noticed the manager walking around with a tray. He was offering his creation to his costumers. Everybody quickly declined his offer, I emphasized with them. He eventually came to our table to offer his challenge, "Hey there, enjoying your meal?" he asked. I nodded, Pinkie looked up from her salad and did the same. This was it, "Well, would you like to meet the dude?" the manager offered. "Who's the dude? Sounds like a nice person!" Pinkie asked. "Uhh, Pinks? The dude a challenge, not a person", I answered. This got the manager to laugh a big hearty laugh. This man had the voice that is the result of decades of smoking tons cigars and drinking gallons of whiskey. "Would you like me to introduce your friend to the rules?" the manager offered. "Yes please", I responded with a conspiratorial grin, "Hey Pinks, would you like to save me some money?" "Sure! What are the rules?" Pinkie Pie began excitedly. I almost felt sorry for her, but I was going to suffer too. "Well, the dude is the hottest edible substance I have ever been able to create", the manager began the speech he has rehearsed thousands of times, "My challenge to you is to last as long as you possibly can before you drink the cure to the heat, which is plain and simple milk. If you last more than thirty seconds, I will discount the price of your meal by fifty percent. If you last more than a minute, your meal is free and you can get another free meal the next month if you last a minute the next time you accept the challenge. Now, if you beat the previous restaurant record, you get a special place of honor on the wall over by the entrance." the manager finished. Pinkie Pie looked a slight bit nervous, but she quickly changed that into the bravest face I have ever seen. "Alright, bring it!" she challenged back. "I'll do it too." I said, very unsure because no sane person would attempt this twice... Much less six times. The manager nodded and responded by putting the tray on the table, serving us both a tall glass of milk and a toothpick with his special recipe on the end of it. People began to turn their heads to watch and the room fell silent as two waiter took out a stop watch to count both of our times. I looked at Pinkie Pie, we exchanged looks of regret, but it was too late to back out now. "Okay, on the count of three." the manager began. I took a hold of the toothpick, it burned my eyes more and more the closer I held it. This stuff was close to the intensity of the standard issue pepper spray the constabulary uses. "One..... Two.... Three!" the manager exclaimed as Pinkie Pie and I jumped right into a metaphorical bonfire. Pinkie had a delayed reaction, as for me, my eyes began to water almost immediately. But when Pinkie's reaction came, it came hard. She started holding on to the table in a futile attempt to ease the torment. She began breathing through her mouth. "Pinkie, don't", I wheezed, "That only makes it worse." "Oh, Celestia, it does!" she exclaimed. We sat quietly as our faces turned bright crimson and started sweating. Our tongues screaming at our brains in confusion. The manager put on an almost sadistic smile and the other costumers began cheering us on as we neared the thirty second mark. "Keep on going! Keep on going! Keep on going!" they began cheering. Oh god, it spread to my nose! I thought in agony. And my throat!. I gave up and reached for the glass of milk, the relief was godly. Pinkie kept going strong though, I was surprised at her tolerance. I wonder what she's thinking right now... But, sure enough, Pinkie had to quit sometime. She began slamming her hand on the table a few times, but then simply reached for her glass of well-deserved milk. The look of relief washed over her. "One minute and fourteen seconds!" one of the waiters called out Pinkie's time to everyone else. "Heh, fifty-eight seconds!" the other called out my time. Dang, so close. Still, the crowd of costumers cheered. Pinkie Pie smiled triumphantly at me, I smiled back. That was really intense... ... Eventually we left the restaurant having paid only eight dollars, sweet. "Wow, that stuff was spicier than rainbows!" Pinkie commented once she was sure no one would hear her. "You... Tasted rainbows before?" I asked in a shocked tone that I should really stop using in Pinkie Pie's presence. "Yep! It was this one time that I visited the Cloudsdale weather factory and Dashie showed us how rainbows are made in vats! I made the tiny mistake of tasting the rainbow-filled vat and by Celestia's horn, it was spicy!" Pinkie explained. "Ah, that makes so much more sense." I concluded. We walked around for a bit to let our food settle down. "So, what should we do now?" asked Pinkie after some time. "Well, I still have some cash left over since I didn't spend nearly as much money in the restaurant as I expected to. How about a movie?" I offered. "Oooh! Where to?" she asked excitedly. "Ummm, there." I said, pointing to an Indie theater. I liked those kinds of movies more than that of the mainstream, those have way too many special effects now, and the editors do so many cuts that you don't really have time to think and process what you just saw. It's almost like the editors are afraid that if they don't cut every half-second, they would lose their jobs. "Hmm, we don't have any theaters in Ponyville. Usually Twilight hosts a movie night for the town where we all get together and watch in the town square with a projector machine she has little Spike operate", Pinkie thought out loud, "What movie are they playing?" she asked. "I don't know", I responded with a smirk, "That's the fun of it though." We walked in and bought two tickets to whatever. It was a drama of a police officer who's daughter was kidnapped. It had a few action scenes that were great, but I also really enjoyed the monologues, they were ingeniously written. When the movie was over, Pinkie and I decided to just go home. I was tired from yesterday, so some recovery sleep couldn't hurt. "Wow, did you see that part where Walter thought his daughter was in the gas station but saw it was a trap and while he was running away it exploded and he didn't look back at the fireball? That was amazing!" Pinkie recalled her favorite parts of the movie. "Yeah, I also loved that scene where the kidnapper called the father and how in his speech, he explains why some people have no interest in saving humanity. Whoever wrote that scene was very familiar with psychology." I responded. "It's sad that thats the case, I wish everypony was a good pony. I'm glad that Walter saved his daughter." she commented. That's when I got philosophical. "Well, if everyone or pony in the universe was good, then how would we be able to tell the difference between good and evil?" I responded, staring into nothing as we approached the car. Pinkie remained quiet at that question. ... The car ride was quiet most the most part, Pinkie Pie deep in thought. "We wouldn't." she concluded. "Pardon?" I asked. "What you said before, if everypony... I mean everyone on this planet were good, we wouldn't be able to tell the difference between good and bad. Everyone in one way or another would be perfect, and that just feels so... Wrong to me. I guess that's why ponies and people like that exist, to remind us that we can be better than that, and so that we could continue to try to reach perfection without ever actually reaching it", Pinkie Pie said. I was surprised at her insight of the world, who would have thought that such a random and spontaneous soul could be so thoughtful as well? "Wow, Pinkie Pie, you are much more intelligent than you give yourself credit for", I commented. "Thanks Matty, but I don't think it takes too much thought to see what is right in front of you." she said. "That's just it, sometimes we see what's in front of us and never once question it because it's been there for so long. It takes a certain kind of insight to realize what has been there all along." I said, pausing before continuing, "You, Pinkie Pie, have that kind of insight. Don't you ever forget that." Pinkie just smiled. ..... We arrived at home, and I was tired. I was oh so very tired, but there was still some business to handle. Pinkie and I walked into the house, and to my annoyance, Rainbow was still where we left her. "Did you even move?" I asked Rainbow. Rainbow jumped at the harshness of my tone, "Um, well, kind of... You see", she tried to begin. "No, I didn't think so. Did you even go out to skate?" I said, almost staring daggers at her, but holding that back for her sake. Rainbow looked down in shame, "No, I'm sorry." Twilight came out of the library, eyes somewhat bloodshot. "You too Twi, I told you to take breaks every now and then at the very least. Did you do at least that?" She was obviously caught by surprise, "Um.... No, sorry if I made you angry." Twilight apologized. "I'm not angry, I'm disappointed." I began, "Pinkie here got to explore the city a bit more today, and what have you two accomplished while she was away? I understand why video games and TV shows can be so immersing, I went through that phase too. But you're stay here is hopefully only temporary and I would like you two to at least enjoy what my civilization has to offer. Not only does your new obsessions keep me from doing that, it also tells me that you have already given up your hope in ever coming back home." I finished coldly. I saw that Rainbow was on the verge of crying, that softened my stoic stance in this situation. "Rainbow, I just wan-" I tried to begin. "No! You said it yourself! I already lost hope of coming back home! Why should I even try regaining it if it's only going to hurt me in the end?" Rainbow interjected with her own thoughts. "Dashie.." Pinkie Pie pleaded quietly. Rainbow didn't want to hear it, she flew upstairs and locked herself in a room. Twilight was tearing up as well, but the look on her face was different from Rainbow's. "I... I'm sorry, you're right. I'm not making any progress in trying to come home if all I do is sit on my haunches and watch somepony else's story. Thank you, for letting me see that Matthew." a saddened Twilight said apologetically. "Hey, what are friends for? I only hope Rainbow sees that soon enough." I responded, "Anyway, it's almost dinner time. What do you guys want to eat?" "Anything is fine, thanks." Twilight said quietly as she made her way to her room, a book precariously balanced on her back. Wait, if Rainbow didn't lock herself in Twilight's room, which room is she in? Oh well, she needs some time alone. ... After Pinkie Pie got Twilight to turn her back to her pony self, she decided to go to my library, pick a random book out of my collection, and sat at the kitchen table to read as I cooked. "What have you got there Pinkie?" I asked as I started chopping up some onions. "Oh, I just took a random novel from your collection, if that's okay with you." Pinkie responded. "It's fine by me, I meant which book." I retorted, now putting the chopped onions in a pot. "Um, it's called Flowers for Algernon, is it any good?" Pinkie inquired. I paused, "Yes, it's a very good book." I said before returning to my task at hoof.... Hand! I meant hand! ... "Dinner is ready! Rainbow, come down please." I called. Twilight came down promptly, followed by Rainbow a few seconds later. She looked like she was crying for a while, the sides of her face matted with dry tears. "I hope you're okay with steamed vegetables." I said with an underlying apologetic tone. Rainbow didn't even look at me, that hurt. "Um, Rainbow? Do you want to clean your face first?" Twilight asked cautiously, knowing that she may be treading on thin ice. "Yeah, I'll be right back." Rainbow grumbled before leaving for the bathroom. The three of us sat down and waited for Rainbow to come back before eating. "So, Twilight. Do you have any clue as to how to go home?" I asked Twilight while we waited for Rainbow. "Well, kind of. I figure that we are indeed in the same universe as before, but traveled an extremely long distance in a very short time." Twilight began. "So, you're saying that whatever sent you here did so by folding our universe and send you from one half to the other?" I asked, or maybe I interjected, I can't really say for sure. "Uhh, yeah. How did you know I was going to say that?" Twilight asked. I shrugged, "I always figured that there are multiple universes and that they are all stacked one on top of each other. Which means that, theoretically, it is." "It is possible to fold that stack in two and travel through the universes, eventually you would end up on your own universe but on the opposite side..." Twilight finished for me. We all sat in silence, staring at each other until Rainbow came back. "Erm, I heard you guys suddenly stop talking. What happened exactly?" Rainbow questioned the odd-ness of the scene before her. "What happened is that we may have an idea on how we came here." Twilight responded. "That's the first step to coming back home, Dashie!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. "Well, that's good new to my ears!" Rainbow said, her mood brightening up a little. The rest of our diner was silent, despite the hopeful news. ... Pinkie and Rainbow left once we all finished eating. Twilight and I cleaned the dishes and later sat down at the kitchen table to try some sort of progress in the coming home idea. "You do realize that the theory we made doesn't really help us, and might even be wrong, right?" I questioned Twilight once we sat down. "Yes, that point is perfectly clear to me." Twilight began as a smile began growing on her face, "But, I have proof that this theory is correct." "Oh? And what would that be?" I asked in slight surprise. "Last night, I did some focusing. I sensed the residual presence of a very powerful, and very complicated spell which originates where you found us. I first picked it up when we drove past it the day you took us to get new clothes." Twilight explained. "I'm a little lost, Twi. Care to explain a little further?" I inquired, feeling lost in her, quite literally, magical vocabulary. "Um yes, yes I can." Twilight began, "The real clue was when I managed to trace the spell back, back to wherever it was casted. I was able to sense the number of leylines on the other side," Twilight was getting excited but kept her tone quiet, "It's the same number as in Equestria!" "And it was done by actually folding universes in two?" I inquired further. "From what I can tell." her expression darkened, "Whatever caused this was a very, very powerful creature or source. It's power rivaling that of princess Celestia herself." I swallowed hard, does that mean that she can't come back home? "But," Twilight began once more, "This does not mean that I can't attempt to replicate and reverse the spell. If it was able to take us here, then I can make it take us back." Twilight said, beaming. "That's amazing news Twilight!" I said, congratulating her a bit early. "How long will it take you to cast the spell?" I asked. "That's the thing, I need to study it first. It's nothing like any teleportation spell I have seen before, it's almost like a gateway spell if anything. It's going to take me a few weeks just to understand it, and even then, I don't think my raw abilities alone could allow me to cast the spell. I may be a powerful unicorn, but I do not possess unlimited power." Twilight said glumly. "But there's still hope!" I began, "What materials will you need? I'll be happy to help out." "Thank you so much for your hospitality Matthew, you're doing much more than anypony has the right to ask of you, you know. Unfortunately, I don't know for sure what materials I will need, yet." Twilight said. "It's no problem," I said before remembering something, "Oh, I forgot to tell you! My old friend, Ted, I commissioned his help with your stay here. He says he can get all three of you authentic records, so if anyone ever gets suspicious, or if anyone of you gets sick or something and needs a hospital, you will look like perfectly normal humans." This caught Twilight's full attention, "You what? Matthew, can you trust this person to hold our secret?" she questioned, much to my offense. "I have known Ted Kimell ever since I was born. Our fathers were friends before us, and when we were born, we started out as friends. He would never even think about betraying me, no matter what I might be going through. He has done nothing but try to stick by my side", I said sternly, "Even when I was pushing him away." Twilight seemed to understand how much I trusted my friend, and questioned my judgment no further. "Thank you Matthew, for everything." Twilight said before going upstairs to her room to sleep. I made my way upstairs soon after, making sure not to wake up Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. Both of which were sleeping soundly. Eventually I climbed into bed, unable to fall asleep despite how tired I may have been. I was trying to process everything that happened today. After a few long moments, I drifted off into the dark comforts of rest and sleep. Saving for a rainy dayChapter 6: Saving for a rainy day Well, I was resting, but I wasn't doing a whole lot of sleeping. Staring at my window into the darkness was the only thing worth my time while I tried my best to sleep, drifting deeply into my thoughts: So, my new friends can actually go home in the foreseeable future. That is great news for pretty much everyone, I just hope that everything goes soothly till then. Ah, who am I kidding? Nothing can go wrong, Ted is helping us out by making the mares legal citizens and no one else knows a thing about them. Take that negativity and throw it somewhere that you wont see, negative thoughts are just going to limit you and those around you. Hmm, I wonder whats for breakfast tomorrow? Meh, I guess I'll look inside my fridge and improvise. Is that some rain I see outside? I hope not, at least it only seems like a drizzle. Why wouldn't I hope for rain though? It keeps me alive and hydrated in a way, in a very *yawn* indirect kind of way..... Finally some actual, tangible sleep.. ---------------oooOOooo--------------- "Matty You're back! How was the exam?" "It went well, sis. I think the FAA will be taking me in the moment they see the results." "Thats great, so, what now?" "What now? Now we wait for that blue envelope to come in the mail. Until then, whats for lunch?" "I went ahead and made your favorite, I think it would be a great morale boost after taking a three hour long test." "Four hours.." "Whatever, are you going to sit and eat or what?" "Yes, yes I am. Uh, where are mom and dad?" "They went out, I don't know where, but they said that they would be back soon." ... "Mom, dad, welcome back!" "Hey Matthew, how was the exam?" "I aced it, plain and simple." "Wonderful, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to return this." "Dad... How much did you pay for this?" "Shhh, don't ask. I knew that you broke your phone in that little fall you took, so your mom and I decided to buy you a new one." "Do you like it? Oh, I don't think he likes it." "Mom, I love it. I just didn't expect..... You left the price tag on." "Oh, really? Don't look at it, just lemme take it off." "Dad, it's a little late for me to not look at it, six-hundred dollars? Are you two out of your minds? I mean, in this economy, it just doesn't seem like a good idea." "No, we are not mad. We thought that rewarding you for going so far in life would be nice considering all of our poor gifts to you in the past." "You guys really didn't need to do this, I'm only becoming an AMT." "Oh, stop being so modest and accept a gift from your parents." ... What the hell? Where am I? I thought as I looked at my surroundings, except there weren't any. Everything around me was pure white, no features or textures that I could see. I soon realized that I was laying down, I instinctively got up and started walking around cautiously. I couldn't feel a floor, and yet I knew I was walking on something. I must be dreaming, I thought. I mean, that's the only reasonable explanation to.... Whatever this is. Oh wait! I must be having a lucid dream, which means... I thought to myself as I began constructing my surroundings for myself. I started with sand, check. I added a body of water to my right, now I have a beach, with no end. I then started creating buildings to my left to make this area seem less... Boundless. Huh, I'm in Miami. I guess I sub-consciously wanted a vacation. I thought as I made a lawn chair rise from the sands along with a nice palm tree to create some shade from the sun I created. Well, this is nice. I continued thinking as I laid myself down on my new lawn chair. I sat around on that chair drawing things in the sky with clouds for what felt like an eternity, but I stopped at the sound of... Something. What is that sound? I thought as I began looking around, it was a dull, white noise. I eventually found the source of the disturbance, far away from me on the shoreline. It was a large, black stain in my world. Though I couldn't make out any of the details of said stain, I knew that I felt one thing, one feeling, when I set my eyes on the blackness. I felt fear, pure, instinctual fear. I stood up quickly once I saw the black shroud racing towards me. I began my attempt to flee, but the black shroud was spreading too quickly. Two shadows grabbed my legs from under the sand, the body of the shroud still twenty or so feet, towering above me. My frightened self stared at the darkness, instinct screaming at me to run, but my legs seemingly glued to the ground. And then, two small, glowing orange lights became visible inside of the shroud. I don't know how, but I knew that those were eyes, familiar eyes. "No." I uttered, the shroud's response gave the two glowing eyes a body, one that I couldn't mistake. "No!" I shouted at the figure that was slowly approaching me. The figure was a she, I knew it somehow. I knew her identity. She slowly rose her slender hand and pointed her index finger at me, and spoke with the voice of five souls, "Matty, why weren't you able to save us?" "I couldn't! I didn't know what was happening!" I shouted at the shrouded figure of my sister, wind seemed to be coming from nowhere. Suddenly, the figure began speaking in one solitary voice, "Why weren't you able to be with us Matty? I miss you so much." It was the voice of my younger sister when she was very little. "I... I'm sorry I wasn't there! You never told me where you all were going!" Now it was the voice of my father, "You can still join us Matthew, Join us!" The shroud suddenly lunged at me and everything went black, I felt myself falling and screaming. There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do....! ---------------oooOOooo--------------- *Kaboom!* "Gah!" I shouted, sitting up from my bed. Once I knew for sure that I wasn't asleep, I managed to calm myself down a little. I was panting lightly, I felt the cold sweat on my brow, and I saw the lightning outside my window. It was absolutely pouring outside. Once my heartbeat slowed down enough for me to be considered calm, I stepped out of bed and made my way across the room to my bathroom. I turned the light on and hastily began washing my face. When I felt I was done, I simply stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at myself. That was a really bad nightmare. Eventually, I dried my face and went back to bed, timepiece in hand. I listened to the calming sound of the clockwork until I drifted back to sleep. ... "Hey, you awake?" Asked an ignorant voice, clearly I wasn't awake. "Yeah, I'm awake." I said as I slowly sat up from my very comfortable bed, "Rainbow? What do you want?" "I was wondering if you wanted to go skate today, Twilight is awake now, I thought that starting early would be better than in the afternoon heat." Rainbow responded. Did I dream all of that rain? It must be really wet outside! "Uh, Rainbow? Did it rain last night?" I asked. "Yeah it did. It's annoying you know, I would never have my weather team make a storm on a weekend. Why do you ask?" Rainbow huffed. "Well, if you can avoid skateboarding on a wet surface, you should." I said matter-of-factually. "Oh." Rainbow began in a disappointed tone, "Well, in that case, you can go back to sleep." "Well, now that you woke me up, I can't. How about some breakfast?" I responded in my tired voice. "Yeah, I could sure go for something to munch on." Rainbow said as she headed downstairs. I hopped out of bed and followed suit. I'll get dressed later, it's Saturday and my pajamas feel very welcoming right now. I landed at the bottom of the stairs and saw that everypony in the house was awake, "What time is it?" I asked slightly surprised, since I normally wake up early. Then again, my situation right now isn't what one would call 'normal'. "Uhhh, it's about eight o'clock." Twilight said, looking at a clock on the wall. "Well," I began with a yawn, "Let's get breakfast done and over with, shall we?" As if on cue, Pinkie Pie trotted slowly out of the kitchen, holding a pan with her mouth. She set the pan down on the table of which I only now realize was already set along with glasses filled with orange juice that I didn't even know I had. "Breakfast is ready!" Pinkie called out from across the room. "I didn't know I had OJ." I commented, to which Pinkie Pie tilted her head in confusion. "You don't have OJ in your house, this is carrot juice!" Pinkie said, perking up with her own exclamation. "Okay then. Whats for food? I'm starving." I asked. "I made eggs and I cut up some fruit and put it in that bowl over there." Pinkie Pie answered. Rainbow then dashed out from behind the couch and quickly sat down at the table, tongue hanging out of her mouth. "Rainbow, what the heck were you doing behind the couch?" I asked, only now noticing that I lost sight of the pony I was following to begin with. "I was taking a nap." Rainbow responded simply. "A nap? In the few minutes that you were down here?" I questioned incredulously. "Well, obviously you haven't known me long enough. I am the nap master, I can take a nap anywhere, anytime." Rainbow retorted, ego readings off the roof. "Ookayyy." I said slowly as Twilight and I made our way to the table. ... "Wow, Pinkie Pie! These must be the greatest eggs I have ever tasted!" I complemented as I munched down on a piece of toast covered in an egg-paste the Pinkie made. "Thanks! you know what the special ingredient is?" Pinkie asked. "Umm, no?" I said, slowing down my chewing. Pinkie had a growing smile on her face, how does she not hurt herself with that massive smile? "Eggs!" Pinkie responded, now laughing hysterically. We all just stared at her, exchanging expressions of confusion. Eventually Pinkie Pie managed to calm down and continued after a few short breaths, "But seriously, just eggs and salt, nothing fancy." "Well, okay then. They're still great though." I commented. Everypony else nodded in agreement as we continued eating our meals. ... "So, what are we doing today, Matt?" Rainbow asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice. "Well." I began, looking towards a window, "It has been raining pretty hard so far, I guess we could stay in for today. We do, however, have one thing to do though." "Oh? And what would that be?" Twilight jumped in. "Well, Ted asked me to get a bunch of photographs of you guys, in human form, that he could use to put in your new 'records'. He needs several, and they need to look like they were taken in different years." I stated. "Just how are we going to do the last part?" Rainbow questioned. "Well, for starters, I was thinking hair dye..." I trailed off, I then saw Rainbow's eyes widen. "Oh no, nononono. I will not dye my mane! That's the second worst thing I could do next to a hoofacure!" Rainbow protested. "Well, sorry, but this has to be done. And I do not want to run the risk of you guys getting caught because we took half-measures." I said. "Or maybe we don't have to use hair dye." Twilight said thoughtfully. "What do you mean Twilight?" I asked, catching the hint of a plan coming from the lavender mare. "I remember learning an illusion spell that appears to change the colors of another pony. Of course, it's just an illusion and the spell would break once anypony touches the subject's hairs, but it would be perfect for a photograph!" Twilight said, thinking out loud. "Twilight, your spells always come in really handy." I commented as Pinkie walked out of the bathroom, "Oh, there you are Pinkie. We should get this over with quickly, I'll go get my camera." Pinkie Pie was clearly very confused, "Uhh, what did I miss while I was gone?" she asked. Twilight and Rainbow began to explain to her as I went upstairs to look for my camera. ... About two hours later, we had enough photographs that all of the three mares seemed happy with. Photo after photo was discarded because "It wasn't just right." And Twilight seemed to be the main suspect of the act. Sure, this wouldn't have been much of an issue if I were using a digital camera, but I wanted to make sure that everything we put into this effort seemed legitimate in other people's eyes. With that said, I was using a film camera from 1994, the kind that develops instantly. "Okay, that should be more than enough." I announced. Everypony seemed to relax at the news. As the three mares made their way to the couches to rest from two hours of rigorous photo shooting, I realized one small flaw in our plan. "Baby pictures.." I muttered. "What was that?" Twilight asked, not quite catching what I said. "Baby pictures! Twilight, can your illusion spells make you guys look like infants?" I said, realizing that someone might question why there is no photographic evidence that these three ever existed as infants. "I... Guess, I really don't know though." Twilight responded slowly, it seemed like she caught my drift though. "Well, that means we need to take a few more pictures then." I stated. Rainbow was just a hop away from the couch when I said that, the look of disappointment on her face almost killed me. "Awww, c'mon! It's not like anypony is ever going to realize a tiny detail like that!" Rainbow protested once more. "No, Rainbow. Matthew has a point, we have to make sure that there are no loose ends in our stories. This is something we have to do." Twilight responded, thankfully on my side. "Okay then. Twilight, can you test out the spell first?" I asked. "Sure, Rainbow?" Twilight responded and commanded at once. "Fine.. This is harmless, right?" Rainbow questioned while slowly trotting into position. "Absolutely harmless, if anything goes wrong, all we have to do is touch you and the spell would be broken." Twilight responded, Rainbow blushed at the poor choice of words. Twilight closed her eyes in focus, her horn glowing a soft lavender hue. The same hue soon engulfed Rainbow for a good three seconds before a flash of white consumed the room. I managed to covered my eyes before the flash, I got used to unicorn magic apparently. Once I knew it was safe to open my eyes again, I saw a small infant human Rainbow Dash with soft brown hair. "Ha, seems like it worked Twi, isn't that right my little Dashie?" I teased. Rainbow, despite her infant self, managed to look very cross with me, but either could not or would not say anything. I choose the foremost. "Huh, that went surprisingly well." Twilight commented on her own craftsmanship, innocently looking away and avoiding eye contact with anyone. ... The same was done with Pinkie Pie and Twilight and another hour later, we were finally finished with this tedious task. "That... Took too long." Pinkie breathed out. "You can say that again." Rainbow commented. "That took too long." Pinkie said that again. "Wow, that spell really did a number on my energy. I didn't expect that from such a simple spell." Twilight announced. "Didn't you mention something before about Earth having less leylines than Equestria, therefore making simple magic like levitation more difficult than before?" I questioned. "Yeah, yes I did." Twilight responded wearily as she flopped down on one of the couches. I took the time to look outside, it was still raining. I walked over to my TV to check out the weather forecast. The television flicked to life and after a few minutes of useless news information, the weather lady finally showed up to give me the information I wanted. "Well, this was certainly a surprise for this week. We are facing heavy rain showers from Saturday to Sunday night, which is just a shame since the entire week was sunny and now our weekend is ruined by this kind of weather." The weather lady announced. Only half of that sentence was useful to me, I only needed the facts from her, not her personal take on what mother nature had planned for me today. "Yeah, that kind of stuff would never happen if you had some weather ponies tending to this freaky weather." Rainbow huffed. Everypony ignored her as the lady on TV continued. "The rest of the week seems pretty decent, with only a fifteen percent chance of rain on Monday from five o'clock to midnight. And the rest of the week will be sunny, Wednesday and Thursday being partly cloudy." The weather lady continued. "How do they get such precise measurements?" Twilight asked, to which I simply shrugged. "I fix airplanes Twilight, I don't do weather forecasting. I do know however, that they do their measurements with a weather vane." I responded. "Oh." Twilight commented. After a few minutes of junk on television, I decided to take action. "Alright, TV isn't going to show anything worth my time today. Who wants to watch a movie?" I asked. With several nods of approval, I turned on my gaming console and went right to netflix. "You can access that site on this too?" Twilight asked. "Eeyup." I replied. This somehow made Pinkie Pie giggle. "What is it?" I asked Pinkie. "Oh, it's nothing." She said in response, I just shrugged it off as Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. That was actually a lot easier to do than I expected. "Alright, time for some oldies. Did any of you watch V for Vendetta?" I asked, mostly looking at Twilight for a response since she was the most likely to have done so. "What?" Twilight asked when she caught my stare, "I was going to watch it, but I never got around to it." "Oh good, so we can all enjoy it." .......... We spent most of our day just watching movies, it wasn't until around 3:30 pm that I got a phone call. What? Who could that be? I asked myself. I picked up my cellphone from the table nearby and answered the call, everypony was looking at me. "Hello?" I greeted. "Hey Matt, it's me, Ted." Ted greeted back. "How... How did you get this number? I mean, the other was destroyed, remember?" I questioned. "Yeah, I remember. But I do work in the archives, I have access to your files and therefore I have a frequently updated list of your phone numbers." Ted responded. I chose not to pursue the ethical issues that had been dug up from that. "Anyways, whats the call for?" I asked. "I was wondering if you were up for a drink, I leave work in about an hour, I could meet you at the old place we used to go to." Ted offered. "Sure, I've got nothing better to do." I responded. "Great, see you there. I could also give you an update on the thing we discussed." Ted mentioned. I picked up on his hint right away, I guess I could give the photos to him now. "Sure, sounds like a plan, see you there." I said right before hanging up. I looked up from my phone to see the three mare staring at me like some weirdo. "What?" I asked. "Who was that?" Rainbow demanded. "It was a friend." I replied simply. "Was it Ted?" Twilight asked. "Yeah it was, I was thinking about giving these photographs to him now since I'm going to have a few drinks with him." I responded. I thought for a moment that Pinkie and Rainbow would have been lost in the conversation right now, but then I thought, why would they volunteer to be photographed without know why or for who? I guess Twilight filled them in before. "Well, have fun!" Pinkie cheered. "Yeah, just don't come back too tipsy." Rainbow commented. "Okay I won't, I still have to be able to drive back, so I'm limiting myself." I said, only briefly realizing that I was going to be driving under the influence. "Be careful." Twilight added. "I will." I replied before adding, "Twilight, you know how to navigate netflix, right?" Twilight swiftly nodded, "Yes, we won't be bored anytime soon." With that, I left and went on my way to the city, photographs on hand. ..... I parked in front of the bar, Ted was standing on the sidewalk in front of it. I got out of my car and we greeted each other quickly before going inside. We grabbed a seat in one of the far corners of the bar. "So, pick your poison." Ted began. "I'm just going to grab a beer, I still need to be able to drive home." I replied. "How are things there anyway? With your new guests I mean." Ted asked, wanting to get a better understanding of my new friends. "Pretty well, they are getting used to the American way of life. Whether or not thats a good thing, I really can't say." I said. "Thats great. Anyways, down to business." Ted began, he looked around for a bit before taking out his phone and removing the battery. "Any electronics you have on you, just take out the batteries for now. I'm not taking any risks when I'm sticking my ass to a bonfire." Ted commanded. "Sure." I said as I took out my phone and removed the battery. "good, I just want to make sure no one but us knows about this conversation. Okay, I found three different family trees that died off in 2018. That is what we want, I can just stick the new profiles at the end of them and make it look like there is one more person to the family name, I will probably set the years of birth as 1996. We are mostly good to go with this, all I need is seven or eight photographs of the three, each one should be different. I also want to meet the three souls I'm saving before I go through the risk." Ted continued. "Well, awesome news. I already have the photographs." I said as I pulled thirty photos from a pocket in my jacket. Ted took them and scanned over them quickly. "That.. That is some good work. I see that you used your old camera, nice.... How the hell did you get them to look younger and younger? And.. Baby pictures?" Ted said questioningly. "Damn, this will do very, very nicely." He added. "Thanks, how long would it take?" I asked. "Depends on how tight the security is. Say, that rainbow haired one is quite the looker ain't she?" Ted commented. "Yeah, yeah, save it. I'm pretty sure thinking about that counts as bestiality. But, I digress, you can work with this right?" I said. "Work with this? Dude, you just made my job twenty percent easier with this handy work. How did you pull off the baby pictures anyways? They look like the same people!" Ted replied. "Magic." I said mystically with a hand motion. Ted gave me a strange look. "Alright, we can continue this later. Put your battery back on, they get suspicious if you take it out for too long." Ted said. "Sure. Wait, they do?" I asked, somewhat baffled. "Uh, yeah. They do." He said as if it were common knowledge. ... "So, how have you been hanging on?" Ted asked as he sipped from his drink. "What do you mean?" I asked. "What? You mean to tell me that after you've been off the grid for five months, you didn't expect me to ask you anything?" Ted complained. "Sorry. Yeah, I'm starting to cope, I'm pretty sure my dad wouldn't want me mourning him for every, ya know?" I replied. "Thats good to know. I know I can't really understand what you've been through, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, okay?" Ted said with a concerned look. "I'm fine now." I said sternly. I then softened my expression and finally asked, "So, whats the low-down on the rest of the gang?" "Well, since you've been living under a proverbial rock, I guess it's only fair to bring you up to speed with the old crowd. Alex got hired by British Airways about two months ago, now he's in London for a year of training. Leslie managed to start her own business up in New York city, she's got a nice bakery going on in Manhattan. And Jess moved to California with her girlfriend about three months back, I hear that they have it going pretty well, maybe a wedding in a year or two." Ted announced. "Wow, proverbial rock is right. So, you're the only one that stayed here?" I asked, he just nodded. "Well, I guess there are some visits I'm going to have to plan later." I replied. "I'll leave it up to you to tell them that you recovered from your mental breakdown, make the feel special." Ted offered. "Thanks, I'll be doing that soon." I responded. ... Some friendly chatter and banter later, mostly revolving around video games, zombies and twizlers, we went on our separate ways home. ... The drive home was very quiet. The radio was off and the only sounds to accompany my thoughts was the steady hum of the car's engine going at a steady fifty-five mph. We were approaching a milestone, I just know it. Once my friends have their paperwork in there, they would appear to be completely normal and completely legal citizens. That will give us the time we need for Twilight to ready her spell and bring the mares back home. That thought just made me smile, for the first time in what felt like ages, I was helping others out in their time of need, it wouldn't be me that needs saving this time. I suddenly felt the urge to drown out my thoughts, so I reached for the radio and tunes it to my favorite station. Whoever was running the station had great timing, I turned on the radio just as Big me by Foo Fighters came on. I smiled and continued my drive home. ... I pulled into my driveway at around ten o'clock, 10:13 pm to be precise. I hopped out of my car and made a calm pace towards the door. Once inside, I was greeted by two asleep ponies on the couches. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie were snoring lightly as I walked quietly past them and into my library where Twilight currently resided. "Hey, what's up?" I greeted quietly, but paused once I saw the concerned look on Twilight's face, "Erm, what's wrong Twi?" I asked. "Look." Twilight said, pointing at the laptop screen before her. I took a look at the screen, it was one of the weeping angels from the show Doctor Who. "It's a weeping angel, what of it?" I asked, still confused at Twilight's reaction. "Those are the things we were looking for back in Equestria right before we got sent to Earth, I watched this episode four times now and it makes sense to me! They are assassins that send their targets far away to other parts of the universe, maybe even on a different time line, and let time kill their targets for them. These are the things local ponies were spreading rumors about, these are the creatures we were looking for inside the Everfree forest, and I'm willing to bet that these are the creatures that sent us here." Twilight explained. "What? You're telling me that the weeping angels are real? This is just some TV show, how could they be real? How could a living thing turn to stone the moment any other living thing looks at it?" I questioned. "I don't know, but that's the only thing that actually explains how we got here." Twilight responded. I paused, "Do the others know?" I asked. "I haven't told them yet." Twilight replied. "Should we tell them, or keep it a secret?" I asked again. This made Twilight freeze, I knew this was a heavy question to ask, but I felt like it had to be asked one way, or another. "We can't keep it a secret forever, I showed them the first few episodes already. Rainbow doesn't seem very interested, but Pinkie Pie seems to have claimed a new favorite show to watch." Twilight answered, "We will have to tell them eventually." "This we will discuss later, I'm too tired to think clearly." I said, later noticing the books that Twilight had stacked next to the computer, "Doing some reading Twi?" I asked. "Uh, yeah." Twilight began sheepishly, "I was looking for a few academic books, but I got lost in the way you organize things." "Heh, sorry about that. My books are organized slightly differently, alphabetical order and what I use the books for as well. Recreational books there, the notes and texts I used during high school there, classics over yonder, etcetera." I informed. "Oh, that makes some sense." Twilight said, lighting up a bit. She made her way to where I keep my high school material. "Wow, your education went pretty far." Twilight commented. "What? No, not really. But I was a good note taker, so you're free to read my books if you want to refresh your mind on these subjects for some odd reason." I said. Twilight gave me a small smile before puling out two notebooks, one said 'Calculus' and the other said 'Chemistry'. "You know, Calculus is a very rare subject in Equestria. I've only read three or four books on the subject, and only a handful of ponies have mastered it." Twilight commented. I nodded, "I can see why it's so rare, it is a very rigorous course to take. I almost failed a few times and more than half of my class dropped out. I honestly hated that class more than any other." I responded as Twilight skimmed through the notes with surprisingly focused eyes. "But it seems to me that you understood the class." Twilight complemented. "I'm very rusty in my math now, but I used to understand what is in that book." I replied. "Well, I personally used to really understand chemistry, but I got very rusty at it as well." Twilight said in an attempt to stay even with me. I smirked. "That was the second hardest class I took, you know. You really have an eye for the complicated, picking those two particular books from the rest." I commented. "Well.." Twilight trailed off. "Just... try to get some sleep, I'm going to bed now." "Oh, okay. Good night!" Twilight called as she sat herself down with more reading material to keep her mind off from the weeping angels. Could they be here on Earth too? Eighteen days laterChapter 7: Eighteen days later These days are starting to go by a lot quicker, I guess I'm starting to get used to living with three more souls walking about in my house. It's odd really, to think that someone could possibly get used to living with three colorful ponies that talk. But I did exactly that in less than a month. Twilight has been sleeping less and less because of her work on that spell that would take the three mares back home. She keeps talking about this being a 'composite spell', which is at it's very core, more than one spell combined into one. Not unlike the composite materials I work with, but I digress, she has been studying this spell and the residue it left behind, and somehow does so from the comforts of my library. It seems to me that she has made progress in her studies though, Twilight believes that she will require certain runes that will somehow assist her. Stuff that I will never fully understand really. Rainbow has made a surprising amount of progress on her skateboard. This is the mare's third week on Earth, and she already mastered cruising around and doing olleys. Honestly, I am somewhat jealous of her progress since It took me months to get to her level. Pinks has basically annexed my kitchen, it has now become her domain and she prepares our meals pretty much every day because she really wants to. If it makes her happy, why not? And Ted has finally pulled through with the job, now all three of the mares were technically born on Earth according to the law. I guess that's something that should be covered in a bit more detail, he came to my place a few days before delivering the paperwork so that a few things could be straightened out... ... *Knock**Knock**Knock* "Just a minute!" I called, signaling the three mares to go upstairs and hide. Once I saw Pinkie Pie's tail disappear around the bend, I walked over to the door to see who it was. I guess it was safe to say it was a pleasant surprise. "Ted! Good to see you, come in." "Thanks, great to see you too." "So, what brings you here?" "Remember? I said that I wanted to meet your new friends before I finish this." "Oh yeah, wait a sec. You can come out guys!" The three mare came down stairs and froze when they saw my friend, "This is Ted, the guy I told you all about before." Twilight apparently had the transformation spell done while they were hiding, clever girl. "Erm, Matt? They're human." Ted pointed out. "Ted, hows your memory?" I began incredulously, "I told you that Twilight can use her magic to transform the three into humans." "You say that like magic is a fact." "It is a fact! It's one of the univers-" Twilight began before I nonchalantly interrupted her. "It's a fact Ted, I asked the same question before." "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. If Matt thinks you three are worth protecting, then I'm here to back him up." Ted greeted. "Hiya! Thank you for what you're doing for us Teddy! I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way." Pinkie greeted while lunging for Ted's hand. Pinkie learned about hand shakes not too long ago, and she was now practicing by vigorously shaking Ted's hand. "Uh, nice to meet you too." Ted said awkwardly. In a desperate attempt to get away from the brutal hand shake, Ted began greeting the closest other mare in disguise. "You must be Rainbow Dash, dig the hair by the way." Ted said, while keeping a short distance from Pinkie. "Hey, I heard a lot about you from Matt. You sound like a pretty cool guy." Rainbow said with a smile. "Yeah, I get that a lot." Ted replied smugly before turning to Twilight. "So, that was miss hyper, and there's the athlete, you must be..." "Twilight Sparkle." Twilight finished for Ted while briefly, and properly shaking his hand. "Okay, those were the introductions. How about we sit down and have some tea?" I offered. "Oh, Oh! I'll do it!" Pinkie began. "No Pinks, I got this. How about you get to know Ted some more while I do the kitchen work this time?" I commanded. That didn't deflate Pinkie too much though. I came back a while later with a tray. Apparently Twilight reversed the transformation spell for Ted to see, and I got to see Ted's mouth hit the floor (metaphorically of course). "I know that I was mentally preparing myself to see something like this, but it's still very... Shocking." Ted began. "Yeah, and it's even more shocking to realize that you get used to it." I replied as I served everyone and everypony a cup of tea. The second Rainbow got her cup, she hovered her hooves above it, sticking her tongue out in concentration and rolled the steam into a small ball, courtesy of Pegasus cloud walking abilities. Rainbow then launched the small cloud projectile at Ted in what I assumed was a demonstration. The small cloud smashed into Ted's shirt and scattered, leaving Ted in awe. "That was awesome." Ted managed to comment. All the cyan Pegasus did in response was lean back in her chair with one of her signature smug grins. "Alrighty Ted, knowing you, I am sure that there's also a business side to this, right?" I said, cutting to the chase. "As always," Ted began, "Besides from coming here for a nice chat with your friends, I also want to make sure that we get the naming situation straightened out. You guys can choose a first name, but the last name thing is fixed since I'm putting you three at the end of different family trees." "Oh, right. Names here are different, Um... I got nothing." Rainbow said. "Ted? I don't think they are very well acquainted with human names." I pointed out. "Maybe you two could help us out?" Twilight offered. Ted and I glanced at each other and smirked. "Hey Matt? Does she look like a Kathy to you?" Ted asked, looking at Rainbow. "No, no. She's more of a Kaitlin, don't you think?" I responded, playing along with the opportunity that was given to us. "Yeah, Kaitlin sounds appropriate." Ted agreed with a nod. "Now, nerdy looking.... How about Gabriela?" I offered. "Nah, she's not that kind of nerdy," Ted began, Twilight seemed to be getting somewhat annoyed. Short temper, that one. "How does Ashley sound?" "Sounds perfect." I agreed. Ted and I just looked and Pinkie Pie for a few moments, she just waited with a smile. Only one person came to mind when I looked at Pinkie, Ted and I just looked at each other, apparently we were both thinking the same thing. "Leslie." We both said in mutual agreement, both of us thinking of a certain baker gal who is into similar antics. "So? What do you all think?" I asked. They all nodded in agreement, Twilight seemed a bit confused though. "Why did you two say Leslie simultaneously when you were choosing a name for Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked out of curiosity. "Well a friend of ours, her name is Leslie, has a rather hyper personality. Not unlike Pinkie Pie over there." Ted explained simply. "And, conveniently enough, she is also a baker." I added. "Oh." Twilight said. "Oh? That's a big oh!" Pinkie began, "Oh, I really really wanna meet this gal oh!" "Yeah, unfortunately, she moved out to New York. She started her very own bakery somewhere in Manhattan." Ted replied. "Wait, don't you mean Manehattan?" Rainbow questioned. "No... It's Manhattan, get it straight." Ted retorted. "Wait, is there a city in Equestria named Manehattan?" I inquired. "Yeah, there is." Rainbow replied. Twilight and I exchanged glances, our worlds may be more connected than we thought. ... And that was that. Most of the conversation afterwards was just Ted learning about Equestria, really. He came in and handed the paperwork to me himself a week later, saying that sending it by mail would have caused too much suspicion. Yesterday was Tuesday, three weeks since the mares came into my home. That was a special day at work, we finally finished our job with the damaged 777. Brand new port-side wing and all, and that was when the foreman called me into his office. ... "Mr. Anderson!" Someone called from behind me. I looked away from the paint job I was doing to see one of my crew members, Dobson, standing there. With a sigh, I put down the paint gun and walked over to him while taking off my mask. "What do you want? We need to get this done soon." I asked. "Simmons wants you in his office," Dobson began before taking on a harsh tone, "Now." "Okay, take over for me, will you?" I answered as I handed him my mask and motioned towards my paint gun. I walked towards the other end of the hangar where Mr. Simmons' office resides. What bone could he possibly have to pick with me? I thought as I neared my destination. I arrived at the door and knocked briefly. I was quickly answered with a, "Come in!" to which I complied with. Simmons was sitting at his desk, chin sitting on his fists. "Was there a reason for calling me over?" I asked. He simply motioned for the chair in front of me, I thanked him and sat down in front of him. "Mr. Anderson," He began very formally, "How long have you been working here?" "Since I graduated highschool. Six years now." "And how long has it been since you were given the task of being one of my crew chiefs?" He inquired. "Almost three years sir." I answered, not quite knowing where this conversation was headed. "You see, I have been given the offer to recommend one of my workers for an inspector's position. Now, I had to pull a few strings to make sure that I wouldn't lose a good worker and keep that inspector a local one." Simmons paused, "I also couldn't help but notice that your FAA record is completely clean, not one mistake since you started working here. Now, you sure haven't worked as long as some of these guys here. Some personnel in other shifts have been in this line of work for over thirty years, but you, you have one thing that they don't." Simmons stopped to take a short breath, "You, Matthew Anderson, have made no errors in this line of work, and the FAA smiles when they see something like that. I want to recommend you for the local inspector's position for this hangar as well as the local airports." He finished with a smile. I was shell shocked. I had not expected an opportunity like this to show up anywhere near the next four or five years! And yet here I was, being given a promotion that isn't expected to be had without seniority. "Sir, I would love to be given that opportunity." I accepted gratefully. "Now, don't get too far ahead of yourself. I said that I'm recommending you, you have to be interviewed first." "Okay, when will this interview be?" I asked. "It will be on Thursday, you don't have to work that day. Now, as for the interview itself, it will be with another inspector, an FAA representative and yours truly at this address." Simmons explained as he handed me a business card. "I don't need to remind you how much the FAA loves black, and do NOT under dress for this. Go, finish your shift before I change my mind." Simmons said with a small smile. "Thank you." I said as I left his office. ... So, that interview will be tomorrow at eight o'clock. I should be fine, I have a great record and a great work ethic. There's nothing to be worried about. I can't sleep, too much to look forward to tomorrow. Why does sleeplessness strike at the worst possible moments? ... I woke up slowly, my eyelids fighting to stay shut. Eventually I beat my eyelids into submission by rubbing my eyes a bit, when I could finally see, I saw a cyan blur suddenly move. "Oh hey, you're up." Rainbow said. "Oh hey, you were watching me sleep. That isn't creepy at all." I commented. "Hey, me watching you sleep is not the worst thing that could happen to you. Besides, it's actually kind of.... peaceful." Rainbow retorted. That last part did not entirely put me at ease. "Okay, I'm going to ask now. Why were you waiting for me to be up?" I asked. "Because... You promised me we would go skating today, for the whole day." She pointed out. Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. I actually did say that we would go skateboarding until our legs are screaming for no more... "Okay, you got me there. Just, lemme get ready, you should probably do the same." I said. "Got it." Rainbow said with a nod, and then she was off. I guess it was about time that I came through with this, she's been waiting for quite some time for me to take her skating again. I got out of bed with little struggling, and with a few stretches, I was off to the shower. I was now fully dressed with proper skateboarding attire, which is basically worn jeans and a graphic tee, and heading downstairs for some breakfast. I'm guessing Pinkie Pie beat me to the kitchen. I landed at the bottom of the stairs, and sure enough, the scent of pancakes wafted into my nostrils. Yep, Pinkie Pie beat you to the kitchen. I walked in to see that everypony was already awake. Pinkie Pie was quietly eating while reading a book and Twilight was absentmindedly sipping her coffee as Rainbow ate as quickly as Equinely possible. "Mornin' everypony." I greeted as I sat down at the table. "Gooooood morning Matty!" Pinkie exclaimed as she hoofed over my very own plate of Pinkie's pancakes, maybe I could call them Pinkiecakes?. "Thanks Pinkie." I said as I dug into my meal. After a few bites, I looked over at Twilight and asked, "How's the progress with the spell coming along?" Twilight looked up from her coffee and smiled, "Not long now Matthew, thanks for asking. I just need a few more days." Just a few more days? Has it really been that long? "That's... That's excellent news Twi!" I congratulated, "But I think that you could add some more sleep to your schedule, you don't look so good." "I'm fine Matthew, thanks." Twilight said, shrugging me off. "No, I think Matt has a point Twi. You really look like you need some rest. Besides, we aren't really in too much of a rush." Rainbow said in an effort to back me up. Twilight just stared at her coffee mug for a while longer, "You know what? I think I could do with some rest, it gets a bit hard to think after staying awake for four days straight." Twilight announced, mostly to herself. "Four days." I repeated, my face completely expressionless. Twilight nodded meekly and continued staring at the cup before her, I turned back to my plate after a few seconds. "Annnyway, what are you reading there Pinkie?" I asked between mouthfuls of pancake. "This other book I found in you library," Pinkie began as she looked back at the cover, "It's called: Of Mice and Men." "What's with you and mouse-related literature Pinkie?" I asked, recalling that her previous book was Flowers for Algernon. "I... Don't know..." Pinkie responded awkwardly. ... Rainbow and I finished eating and I packed a small bag with three water bottles and spare shirts for the two of us (just in case humidity gets the best of us), and I also brought my suit so that I won't have to go to and fro the city. I can't forget that my interview is today at eight o'clock. "C'mon Rainbow! The earlier we get there, the better!" I called from the front door. Mere moments later, Rainbow walked past me and into the SUV. "Nice get-up by the way." Rainbow complimented, motioning towards the suit I had slung over my shoulder. "Thanks." I replied. "Why all the black though?" Rainbow asked. "Because the FAA loves black." I responded simply. With that said, I placed the suit and the bag in the back of the SUV and we promptly set off to the city. ... Moments into the ride, the sun started getting into my eyes. "Agh, glare. Rainbow? Could you go into the glove box in front of you and pull out a pair of shades?" I asked. "Yeah, sure." She responded as she reached in front of her and eventually dug out a pair of aviators that I keep there, "Whoah, those are awesome." Rainbow commented in awe. "You think so? I think there's another pair in there." I replied. Rainbow did not hesitate to go looking through the congested glove box once more and soon took out a pair of aviators identical to mine. "Swag." Rainbow announced as she put them on. That gave me a hearty chuckle. ... After a short time of driving in utter quietness, a bored Rainbow dash leaning towards the window began singing to herself. I decided to keep quiet and enjoy the show. "Now Rainbow my dear, I cannot express my delight. It's abundantly clear that somewhere out here is a pet that will suit you just right." Rainbow sang in an abnormally soft voice. "I can't wait to get started, but first let me set a few rules: it's of utmost importance, the pet that I get is something that's awesome and cool!" Rainbow continued singing, but this time in her own voice. It's probably a duet, I wonder if she changed the lyrics of a song she knows to fit her name in it... I wouldn't be surprised if she did. "Awesome, cool, got it." Rainbow continued in that unnervingly soft voice, "I have so many wonderful choices just wait, you will see." "I need something fast like a bullet to keep up with me!" Rainbow sang in her normal voice. Something in those lyrics tickled a part of my brain. "Whoah, just hold on a minute there," I began, Rainbow looked back at me in surprise, "Did you just make those lyrics up now?" I asked. "Erm, no. Fluttershy and I burst into song one time when I was getting a new pet. Why?" Rainbow responded. "Because I had no idea that ponies understood the concept of a gun, that's why!" I retorted just a bit too loudly. "Oh, that." Rainbow began, "Yeah, when I was a filly, they taught us in school about how our previous war, like a thousand years ago, was when guns were banned or something. So yeah, I know of the concept, but it's not like I've ever seen one before." "Banned?" "Yeah, because they are way too unequine. Too deadly." "So, not even the princess's royal guards use them?" "Nope." "Well, that's one thing I learned today." I concluded, I increased the speed of the SUV ever so slightly as I reached for the radio. "Wait," I paused, "Did you just say that you and your friend Fluttershy just burst into song?" I asked incredulously. "Uh, yeah. It's not like I do that kind of stuff often, that's more of Pinkie Pie's thing." Rainbow replied. Remember, you are done asking questions revolving around Pinkie Pie's nature. DO NOT PURSUE THE SUBJECT! "How the heck do you just improvise lyrics like that?" I questioned. Damn it Matt! Your brain tells you not to pursue the subject and you do the exact opposite! Why am I even here? Rainbow simply shrugged, "I dunno, we just did." Saved! You got your answer, don't dig a deeper hole Matt. At least do it for the sake of logic and reasoning. "Okay then. On a side note, do you feel like listening to music?" I asked. "Sure." Rainbow replied excitedly. ... I parked the SUV in the parking lot of a park. "We're here." I announced. Rainbow looked around for a bit, "Where are we going to practice?" she asked in confusion. "There's a skate park not far from here, come on now." I replied. We both got out of the SUV and took our boards and the handy provisions bag, damn I forgot about food. "Alright, follow my lead." I called back to Rainbow as I got a running start before mounting my board, she began to follow close behind. After a short ride, three minutes give or take, we arrived at our destination. This was a brand new park, not even two years old yet. The cement was beautifully smooth, the ramps were perfectly positioned, and the rails weren't even bumpy. This was the perfect spot. There were only three other people in this rather large skate park, so congestion wasn't an issue either. "Wow, this place is awesome." Rainbow commented as we stopped in front of it. "It sure is, lets go!" I said as I flew past her, dropping off my bag at a nearby bench. Rainbow quickly recovered and followed suit. I made my way to a three stair and attempted a tray flip. Unfortunately, I messed up and bailed out before I hurt myself. "Damn, I need some practice." I commented on my skill work. I got a quick response in the form of Rainbow doing an ollie over a ledge, completely clearing it and landing on the other side without a hitch. "Damn, you're making progress. Took me a good part of a year to master my ollie." I commented. "Heh, thanks. I'm a really fast visual learner, or so they tell me, so it was easy to do it after I saw you do it a few times." Rainbow replied, awkwardly rubbing her neck. "Well, I for one think you're ready for your first trick." I smiled. "Okay, give me a challenge!" Rainbow said brightly. "Alright, these are easy. It's called a pop shove-it, and it looks like this." I said as I performed my demonstration. "You basically angle both of your feet like this, and it's pretty much like jumping forwards." I instructed. Rainbow then tried her first attempt at the trick, but the board went too high and she couldn't land on it. "Argh, what went wrong with that?" Rainbow huffed. "Hey, relax. You aren't expected to land it on your first try, and fortunately for you, I'm here to point out what you're doing wrong. You need to put a little more down force on your front foot, the rest of your maneuver was fine." I continued instructing as I attempted to calm Rainbow down. "Okay, more down force. Got it." Rainbow replied and in one short breath, she went for it again. My mind was completely blown away, she freaking landed it in her second attempt! "Wow, you're a natural!" I cheered, "A friggin' prodigy!" Rainbow gave me a sheepish smile, "Is that all you got for me?" she said in quick recovery, her smile now covered by a smug grin. "Okay... You really do learn quick, let's see if you can master that trick first though. Give me ten in a row!" I instructed. ... The ten in a row thing really got to Rainbow, she kept getting to about six or seven before messing up and having to start over. I was doing circuits around the skate park and checking in on her every now and then. For this moment right now, I was in the zone and grinding a rail into submission. I eventually succeeded and proceeded to head for the nearest ramp to make this a trick streak. Sadly, fate wouldn't let me have that and I somehow ended up flying past the ramp and onto the sidewalk outside of the skate park, almost running into two guys in suits. "Oh man, sorry about that." I apologized. One of the men smiled right before responding, "It's quite alright, no one was hurt." I decided that this was the time to check on Rainbow, mostly because I just made myself look like an idiot, but also because I didn't check on Rainbow for some time. "Seven!" *Swoosh* "Eight!" Rainbow was apparently almost there, I noticed that she hadn't noticed me yet, so I decided to just watch and see if she made it. *Swoosh* "Nine! C'mon Rainbow, almost there." *Swoosh* "Ten! Woohoo! Ten, I did it!" Rainbow cheered. "Wow, you just mastered a trick in one hour... You just gained all of my skater respect." I commented at her progress so far. Rainbow turned around slightly stunned, she hadn't noticed me until then. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, you saw that!? That was amazing!" Rainbow yelled like a little fan girl. "Yeah, it was pretty damn amazing..." I trailed off. "So, what's my next trick?" Rainbow asked eagerly. I looked at my watch, it was noon. "How about some lunch first?" I offered, "I'm pretty hungry right now." "Yeah, lunch sounds... Nice." Rainbow said, slightly out of breath. "Alright, let's go restaurant hunting." I announced. With that said, I grabbed my bag and we were off. It felt surprisingly light, a quick check revealed to me that all of the water had been consumed. ... Once we found our way out of the park, Rainbow and I stopped under a nice tree and began discussing lunch. "So, what's there to eat around here?" Rainbow asked. "Depends, what do you want to eat?" "What is that supposed to mean?" I gave Rainbow a look. "Just... Give me a few suggestions, there's a little too much variety around here." Rainbow said with an exasperated sigh. "Um... Are you okay with eating meat?" I asked, wanting to know how small of a range of choice I have here. "What?" Rainbow began before looking around and lowering her voice, leaning close to me, "I'm a pony, remember? Herbivore and such?" "Yeah, you are. But right now, you are human. Different metabolism and different taste buds, remember?" I replied just as quietly. "I dunno, it just feels weird thinking about it." Rainbow said, unsure of what to say. This was when I remembered that I did the same exact thing to Pinkie Pie. Am I converting these mares into omnivore-ism? "I just want to know what our options are right now." I replied simply. Nah, just opening boundaries. "Well, I did try some chicken in flight school thanks to my ex-friend Gilda.... I guess it wasn't so bad. Sure, why the buck not?" "Wait, buck? Isn't that a kick with your hind legs?" "Um, yeah, but we sometimes use it as a substitute for foul language. Curse words were really, really frowned upon when I was a filly, so we found small loopholes in the system." "Doesn't your friend Applejack like to buck apple trees?" I responded with a growing smirk. Rainbow's eyes began to widen right before she almost collapsed on the floor in laughter. "Ahhhhahaha! How come I never noticed that before!? She loves to buck apple trees, it's genius!" We both laughed for a while, Rainbow was in tears before she could recover. "Oh, oh that was a good one." Rainbow said once her laughter died down, some people were staring at us because of all the noise we were making, but I didn't really mind. "So, meat is fine then?" I asked. "Yeah, as long as I have other stuff next to it too. You know, just in case I don't like it." Rainbow replied. "Alright, Japanese food it is." I said with a clap. "What's Japanese?" Rainbow asked with a slight tilt of her head. "It's an ethnicity, Japan is a country and Japanese food is the type of food that originated from there." I explained. "Oh, well, I'm going to stop asking so I can save some surprises for later." Rainbow thought out loud. "Okay, I know a place that isn't too far down. Are you confident enough to skate in traffic?" I asked. "Uh, sure. Just, don't go too far ahead of me, okay?" "No problem, we aren't in any sort of rush." "Alright, so, how far is it?" "About ten blocks straight that way." I said, motioning down a street. "Okay, what are we waiting for?" Rainbow asked, I shrugged. "I dunno." I said as I mounted my board, timing it perfectly so that the traffic light was in our favor. Rainbow followed closely. "I don't know if you already noticed, but when those lights that are facing us are green, it means that we are allowed to cross, red means that it's the perpendicular lane's turn to move!" I announced as I looked back, she was looking down wards, probably keeping an eye on the ground for any pebbles and debris. "Also, it's probably a good idea to be aware of the cars that rush past you!" That snapped Rainbow out of her focus and she looked at me, "Oh yeah, sorry. Um, why are we riding against the traffic? It seems a little, you know, stupid." "It's precisely so that you can be aware of the cars around you, this way nothing surprises you from behind." I called back. After we covered four blocks, Rainbow suddenly rode past me, sticking her tongue out at me before overtaking me. I was caught by surprise and I watched as she used long, elegant kicks to push ahead of me. She has a really nice... I shook the thought away and gave chase. Rainbow wants a race, she's gonna get a race. With long, powerful kicks, I quickly caught up to her. "Wow, you're fast." Rainbow uttered, just loud enough for me to hear above the roaring of our boards and the cars around us, as I rode parallel to her. "I know." I said with a smirk before going even further ahead, dodging a red pickup truck by mere inches while doing so. I looked back with a slight grimace at what could have been. "Cutting it a little close there pal!" Rainbow called from behind. "Yeah, sorry! We're almost there anyway." ... We stopped in front of a sizable restaurant called Rising Sun Sushi. "Jeez, so much fancy." Rainbow commented. "Eh, not really. It's a lot more modest on the inside, but the food here is totally worth it." With that, we walked in. "Hi, table for two please." I said to the lady standing at the front. "Sure, come right this way." The greeting lady said with a smile. "Not too many people here." Rainbow commented. "That's because most people are working right now." I replied. "Heh,and you are getting a raise today." she remarked. "Well, it's more of a promotion. Different job, but it does pay much better." We sat down and looked at our menus. "What? Why are all of these dishes named so... Weirdly?." Rainbow questioned. "It's a different language, but since it's a name for the dish, that's how it's said in English too." "Whatever, at least they give you a description of the dish right below that." I didn't answer, I was busy choosing what I wanted for lunch. "Oh cool, this one is all veggies." Rainbow said quietly to herself. A waitress came to our table, and holy smokes she was hot, "Good afternoon, are you two ready to order?" she asked. "Erm, not quite yet." I answered. "Okay then, would you like some water in the meantime?" I then remembered how thirsty I was, we ran out of water a while ago. "Yes, please." She served us water and walked away. Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at me. "What?" I asked. "You don't actually think I didn't notice you staring, did you?" she said with a grin. "Hey, don't judge." "I'm not, she really is kinda hot." Rainbow said plainly. "Well, thanks for understanding. I replied awkwardly. "What do you think of those guys over there?" Rainbow added as she motioned towards two men in black suits, they were near the window seat looking the other way. "I dunno, I guess they could be called kinda handsome. I wouldn't know though." I replied, "So, any questions about what you want for lunch?" "Uh, yeah. What exactly is sushi? That's half the menu and all it says is 'with salmon and avocado and blah blah etcetera'." I grinned at her annoyed expression, the little hand movement was the real icing on the cake. "It's a roll that's held together with rice and seaweed. The center of it holds whatever is in the description." I explained. "Oh.. That actually sounds kinda good." Rainbow said with slight relief. Eventually, the smokin' waitress came back to ask if we were ready to order. With a nod of agreement, we began placing our orders. "I'll have the volcano roll special with the soup and teriyaki salmon with vegetables." "Okay, and you?" "Um... I'll have the California roll with.. Um, I can't pronounce that, number sixteen?" "Alright, what will you have for drinks?" "Coke please." "Um, do you have cider?" "We have apple flavored green tea, would you like that?" "Sure, not too hot please." "Okay then." ... Some small talk later, the waitress came back with a tray that had everything we ordered at once. How do they balance those trays? It looks so hard! "Volcano roll special for you, and these are for you. Enjoy your meal." The waitress said with a wink. "I really hope that wink wasn't for me." Rainbow said sickly. "You noticed the lazy eye too huh?" I asked. "Yuhuh.. I couldn't tell for sure if she was talking to me or you, it was so confusing!" Rainbow said quietly. "Well, she had to give up something to have such a glorious body." I remarked with a smirk. "Yeah, tell me about it." Rainbow said as she looked down at her plate, "Uh, where are the forks?" she asked. "Oh, I forgot to tell you," I began with a devious grin, "You eat this with chop sticks." I challenged. "What, this package here?" Rainbow asked, picking up the paper wrapping the chop sticks came in. "Eyup, with those." I smirked. "How the hay are you supposed to use these to eat?" she questioned. "Like this." I said as I swiftly picked up a piece of what I think was a piece bok choy, and placed it into my mouth. "It's easy." I said with my mouth full. "How... What? Show me how you're holding those." Rainbow demanded. I complied and showed it to her. "Just hold it like this, only this finger really moves. The rest of your hand is completely still." I explained, I think Rainbow got it now and she was about to try it. After several attempts of trying to catch a slippery steamed vegetable, she gave up and stabbed a piece of sushi with one of the chop sticks instead, "This is so much easier Matt." she said with a smirk before sticking the roll into her mouth. She chewed tentatively at first, looking around the room as she chewed. "Well?" I asked. "Not bad, I like the chewiness of it." Rainbow declared, "I mean, it's not amazing, but I can see why people would like it." "Okay then." I said as I swiftly scooped one of my own sushi into my mouth. I forgot about the name 'volcano' and my sinuses immediately opened up to the presence of wasabi. "Holy shit, that is spicy!" I exclaimed as I reached for my soda and chugged a good amount. Rainbow was holding her mouth, trying not to laugh. "You okay there Matt? Your eyes seem to be watering a little over there." "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't expect it to be so... Intense." I replied between gasps for air. It wasn't as bad as meeting the dude, that is a terrible experience that I go through with every time I go to that restaurant with company. This just caught me by surprise. "It can't be that bad, can it?" Rainbow questioned as she picked one of my sushi rolls and ate it. She had a slightly delayed response, giving her time to swallow it before realizing her mistake. She quickly covered her mouth, as if it would relieve the sinus opening assault on your mouth that is wasabi, and then lunged at what was left of her glass of water, since the tea would not have helped at all. "By Celestia's beard, that is spicy!" Rainbow managed to say after eliminating her glass of water. A nearby waitress heard all of the commotion and was kind enough to provide us shot glasses of milk. That was instant relief, I then gave Rainbow a challenging look and she needed no words to be said. "Um, miss? Can we have two glasses of milk please?" Rainbow asked. "Sure," The lady replied with a smile, she whispered into my ear as she walked away, "We'll just add that to your check." Clever girl. .. We had already finished the rest of our meal... "Okay, there's eight rolls left. That means there's four for the two of us, I don't need to tell you that the one who lasts the longest without touching the milk wins right?" "Right." "On the count of three.... Three!" We stuffed the four rolls into our mouths and had a stare down as we chewed. Soon enough, we were both tearing up from our screaming tongues. ... "I knew I would win! This stuff doesn't compare to Rainbows!" Rainbow Dash announced her victory, people began staring at our audacity, which didn't bother me in the slightest. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Check please." I called. "Oh good, the manager was about to ask you two to leave." the waitress said in an amused tone. .. "Oh, that was great! I loved the look on your face when you went for your glass. It was all like this!" Rainbow said as we walked, making funny faces at me that I am sure were not the ones I made when I desperately grabbed my glass. "Oh god, at least I lasted longer than I did in the dude challenge." I remarked. "Oh, that thing you did with Pinkie? She told me how she saved you some money on dinner." Rainbow began, "So, how much time until your interview?" I looked at my watch, "It's about 1:30 right now, I'll be making my way to the office that they are interviewing me in at around 7:00." I replied. "Oh, cool. We still have time to skate right?" "Yes, the prodigy still has time to skate today." I remarked. "Cool, but, let's walk there. I'm kinda full and I want my stomach to settle down before I get more practice" Rainbow said. I nodded sagely, "Words of a wise Pegasus." I said quietly, making sure no one heard that. ... We arrived back at the skate park, there were a few more people in it now. "Alright chief, what's my next trick?" Rainbow asked. "It is, pause for dramatic effect, front side 180." I said right before mounting my board to demonstrate. "This is your beginner's trick to grinding on things." I announced after I landed back on the ground. "Cool," Rainbow began, "So, any tips?" "Just ollie and shift your weight to your left." "But you went to the right..." "Your left because you ride opposite to the way I ride, Kaitlin." I ended with some emphasis on that. Rainbow gave me a look before trying the trick herself. She didn't land it, but then again, it's her first attempt. "Try using your shoulders to shift your weight." I offered before riding around and doing my own thing. .. I rounded about to a ledge and I successfully kick flipped off of it, I landed just fine, but I didn't expect to see a riding Rainbow to do a front side right next to me. "Gah!" We both crashed into each other and fell onto the ground. Rainbow fell on top of me, her face contorted in confusion, inches away from mine. "Are you okay?" "Yeah I'm fine, this concrete is surprisingly comfortable." "Um, yeah." "Rainbow?" "Yeah?" "I think I hear our boards rolling away from us." "I think I hear it too." Rainbow suddenly broke the awkward stare and began to get up. She offered to help me up, but I declined the offer, getting up quickly. We began making our way to our boards, but a fellow skater got to them and pushed them our way. "Dude, I saw that fall. Should have caught it on film, it was awesome! Seriously, sick kickflip bro." The random guy said as he continued on his way to do a 360 shove it and left the park. "That guy was certainly random.." I said as I popped the board up to my hand. "Yeah, weird." Rainbow said as she did the same. ... Rainbow was getting her front sides pretty damn high, almost landing them too. This dudette here just made as much progress that I made in almost seven months in a day. Eventually she landed the trick, and my mind proceeded to get blown to a proper proportion of the awesomeness. "You are a natural on that thing, Rainbow." I muttered. "I guess I'm pretty good at it." Rainbow said modestly. "You're kidding right? You are the best I have ever seen. Seriously, I don't think anyone has ever learned a quickly as you." I praised. "Thanks Matt." Rainbow said with a hint of sincerity. "Well, I think it's time to celebrate a bit. Would you care for some frozen yogurt?" I offered. Rainbow tilted her head a few degrees, "And what exactly is that?" she asked. "It's basically ice cream, but made with yogurt instead. It's actually really good." I replied. "Well, okay then. No meat, right?" "No.. That's just weird." ... We arrived at this place I knew for a while now. I tried it once and I've been waiting to go with a friend eventually, it's called the Green Mango. Rainbow and I walked in and sat down at what is essentially a 'yogurt bar'. "Hey there, what can I get for you two?" ... "Wow, this stuff is great! The fruit on the sides just adds on to its awesomeness." Rainbow complemented, I noticed the cashier dude nearby suddenly smile. "Glad you like it." I replied. We ate quietly for a bit. I was looking at the shiny trophies in front of me. Wow, they sure earned a lot of awards.... Wait, second place on a marathon? I think there are some personal trophies here too. Impressive. Something suddenly caught my eye, it wasn't what lay in front of me, but its reflection. Right there on a large, shiny trophy, was the reflection of two men. Where did I see those two before? I suddenly got a flashback of my incident in the skate park, I ran into two guys, the same two men in suits were at the restaurant too, and now right behind Rainbow and I. They were looking at us. Are they following us? Holy shit, why would they be following us?.... Oh no. "Rainbow?" I asked nervously and quietly, staring at the trophy, trying not to get the two men to realize I know what they are up to. "Yeah?" She replied awkwardly. "Do you trust me?" I asked. "Sure.... Why wouldn't I?" Rainbow replied hesitantly. "Look at the trophy I'm staring at and do not look back." Rainbow looked at the trophy and noticed the reflection. She lowered her voice and stared straight ahead, "Who are they?" "I don't know, but I think they were following us since we were at the skate park." "Why? Who?" Rainbow asked quietly. "I dunno, but we need to leave, now." I said as I left a tip on the counter and made my way for the door. Rainbow followed closely, trying her best to act natural. I think my smile was a bit too forced, but I can't change that now. Rainbow and I walked at a brisk pace, boards in hand, not looking back. "Rainbow, I need you to follow me closely, we are going to haul some serious ass right now. Maybe we can lose them, hopefully I'm wrong about them following us." I paused, I saw two dark figures in my peripheral as I looked at Dash, "Better safe than sorry though." I got a running start mounted my board, Rainbow did the same. We soon got off the sidewalk and into the street, and I kicked as hard as I could. Rainbow was right next to me, rush hour had just started but the streets were fairly clear. Just our luck, it would be harder to lose our mystery pursuers. I looked back at Rainbow, she was starting to lag behind. Her legs aren't used to this kind of use yet. I need to think of something, quick! I spotted an alleyway that we could use, I looked back at Rainbow and signaled her to turn right. She got the message when I swerved into the alley and she followed suit. "I..." I began, breathing deeply, "Think.... We lost them." "Yeah...." Rainbow was more out of breath than me, sweat was covering her brow and forearms, "I.... Think we did." We laid ourselves back against the nearest wall for a very much needed rest. We got back up after a minute of hard breathing and lazily made our way back to the SUV, trying our best to make sure we weren't being shadowed. I sat in the driver's seat with Rainbow on shotgun, simply staring ahead and still breathing a bit hard. "Rainbow?" "Yeah?" "You... Need to change your shirt." I said as I started to giggle. She looked at herself to see what I meant, her shirt was soaked with sweat and it made the shirt stick to her torso, but what she didn't see was the fact that the back of it was covered in jet-black dust, probably from leaning on that wall in the alleyway. That made me go into full on laughter, it was more than probably induced by exhaustion. "What? Seriously, what?" Rainbow asked in confusion, then she noticed something on my shirt. Her eyes widened in comprehension and she broke into full on laughter as well, "Matt, the same goes for your shirt too!" "Oh man, you're right... I need... I need to change my clothes," I paused, "Oh right, the interview." I then glanced at my watch, it was 7:00. "Rainbow, I think we need to get going, otherwise I'm going to be late for that interview." I announced. "Alright, let's get out of here." Rainbow replied. ... We stopped by a local thrift store where I changed into my suit and Rainbow changed into her spare shirt. We then hastily made our way out before anyone noticed that we weren't buying anything. We then climbed back into the SUV and went hunting for the address on the business card that I was given. "That suit looks good on you." "Thanks." "So, where is this place?" Rainbow asked. "Honestly? Some part of town that I never really visit." I replied. "Why?" "Because there's nothing fun to do in this part of town, and the FAA loves boring stuff and paperwork." I replied simply. "Oh, of course." Rainbow commented with a roll of her eyes. ... "Oh, there it was." "We passed this spot three times! How did we not see it there?" "I dunno, but it's a good thing that I gave myself an hour to look for this place. It's good to be punctual for these kinds of things, and ten minutes early is a green light for interviewers." "Okay then, how long is this going to take?" "I'm not sure, but you are welcome to come with me so that you don't have to wait in a car, bored to death." "Sure, if that's okay with them though." "Don't worry, they shouldn't mind if you wait in the waiting room." "Haha, I see what you did there. C'mon, stop wasting your time." ... We waited for a few minutes in a rather lavish waiting room on the eighth floor of an office building. It wasn't too long until three men came out to greet me, one of which I already knew. "Hello, Mr. Anderson I presume?" asked a tall, slender African man. His accent was heavy, yet cultured. "Yes, hello Mr. Simmons." I greeted. "Hello, these here are the two others I mentioned before. This is Mr. Naidoo, he is our FAA representative for today." "Mr. Naidoo? You wouldn't happen to be related to the Kumi Naidoo would you?" I asked lightly. The tall man chuckled briefly, "No, no, I am not a direct descendant of the great human rights activist. I'm just a regular man." we then shook hands. "And, this is Mr. Goldleaf, he is the FAA inspector chosen for this interview." Simmons then motioned to the other, shorter man. "A pleasure to meet you." Goldleaf greeted. "Likewise." I replied as I shook his hand. "And, who would this be, a friend of yours?" Naidoo asked. "Uh, yes. Is it okay if she waits here?" I asked. Rainbow stayed quiet the entire time, odd. "Yes, it's fine. Come, shall we begin?" Naidoo responded. ... "So, Mr. Anderson. What do you think makes you capable of undertaking a job like mine?" Mr. Goldleaf asked. "Well, I always know what I'm doing when it comes to the aviation industry. With my hands on experience, I am very confident that I will be able to know where defects and damages are most likely to occurs, especially since I will have procedures to guide me as I work." I replied professionally. "You certainly show a lot of confidence in your skill." Mr. Naidoo commented. "In this field, I would say that you have to be confident, lest you want to make a mistake. That is something that is unacceptable in aviation, lives are at stake when this kind of work is being done." "But, don't you think that confidence may ultimately lead to those mistakes, Anderson?" Mr. Simmons asked. "I respectfully disagree," I began, "There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness, I have found that line long ago and do my best to not pass it." ... More than an hour passed in this interview. It somehow took a detour of multiple aviation related pop-quizzes, as if they were testing my basic aviation knowledge, a test that I passed with flying colors. "Well, Mr. Anderson, I know that this is somewhat unconventional, but I believe that this has gone very well and your inspector's training in Colorado should begin soon." Mr. Goldleaf announced. Wait what? "What do you mean, Colorado?" I questioned. "What? An inspector's life is in the travel bag, you did not actually expect to stay here in Pennsylvania did you?" Goldleaf pointed out. "No, I was under the impression that this was exactly what this would be. I was told that I would stay here." I said, lowering my voice and silently staring daggers at Mr. Simmons, he gave me an apologetic look. "Well, I'm sorry, that is not the case. But, by my records, you have no family ties holding you here, so I don't see why you can't just move out." Goldleaf said, not realizing on how thin the ice he was treading on actually was. Simmons immediately picked up on what Goldleaf said, he already knew about what happened and what I went through. Heck, he was probably giving me this chance out of pity if anything. "What... Did you just say?" I asked threateningly. Back off, you could make this work. At the very least do not make yourself look like a fool! "I beg your pardon?" Goldleaf asked. "Uh, Mr. Goldleaf, I don't think you fully understand Mr. Anderson's situation," Simmons said, trying to keep the peace amongst gentlemen. "And what would that be?" He questioned in a tone that I picked up as 'asshole'. "The fact that my entire family died in a single day and the only thing that I truly have to keep them as a memory is the house my aunt used to live in and the places I used to spend time with them, that is what my situation is." I snarled. Goldleaf was ever so slightly taken aback, but did a commendable job of keeping a stoic pose. I then realized that I had stood up. "I'm sorry to hear that." Goldleaf said in a monotone voice, Mr. Naidoo is a sharp man, and decided to stay out of this conversation. "I'm so sorry, I was under the impression that Anderson would stay as a local inspector as well. Could we not make a compromise of sorts?" Mr. Simmons offered. "Sorry, but we cannot change all of this paperwork for one man. This was an international inspector's position." Goldleaf declared in a completely unsympathetic tone. "No, you sir are not sorry. And you made a much sorrier attempt at hiding the fact that you aren't. I believe that this interview is over." I said, walking away. I opened the door and made my way to Rainbow to tell her we were going, only to be stopped by Mr. Naidoo. "Wait, Mr. Anderson. Before you go, I just want to say for all that it may be worth, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. I... lost my daughter as well, to a vehicular accident. You may not be able to give you this job, but I can give you this advise, get up. Get up as quickly as you can and jump back into the saddle. Otherwise, you may never leave the terrible pit you may still be climbing out of." Mr. Naidoo said with a heavy sense of empathy. "Thank you, you're a good man Mr. Naidoo." I said as I firmly shook his hand. I then turned and signaled Rainbow that it was time for us to leave. The elevator ride and the walk out of the building was completely quiet. No sound, Rainbow did not speak and my mind blocked out other noises. Rainbow finally spoke when we left the building, "I guess I don't have to ask you how it went." she said quietly. I gave Rainbow a sad look before opening the door to the SUV for her. Rainbow climbed in and I made my way for the driver's seat, it looked like it was about to rain. "Well?" Rainbow asked when I got in, "Aren't you at least going to give me a response?" "Yeah, no, I definitely didn't get the job." I replied darkly, I still didn't start the engine. "Why? What happened in there?" Rainbow almost pleaded. "I... I don't really know." I began, "The guy mentioned that I would have to live on the traveling bag and I declined the offer, so to speak." Rainbow stared at me for a moment. I started the engine and made my way into the road, "Man, what is up with this traffic?" I said. The radio was on, it started with a familiar song: "What have you done? You made a fool of everyone. Sexy S.." I turned the radio off. "Matthew?" Rainbow asked softly, this caught my attention, normally she just refers to ma as 'Matt'. "Yeah?" I replied. "Is... Is everything okay?" She asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I responded. "Well, we could start with the almost daily thing where you wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. Then there's that the dude that spoke to you last said 'I am sincerely sorry for your loss'." Rainbow pointed out harshly before adding in a softer tone, "Sorry, I'm really bad with emotional moments. I don't normally discuss things that I consider sappy." I sighed, were all of those bad nights really that obvious? "Matthew, what exactly happened?" Rainbow asked. "I...." I began trailing off, holding back tears, "It's a long story." I sighed. "Looking at this traffic, I would say that we have time for a long story. More importantly, in private." Rainbow pointed out. She has a point, she's also on to you. "Well, you see..." I began... .... It took us more than an hour to get out of the city, there was some terrible car accident that blocked all major traffic and we were stuck at the worst of it. In that time, I managed to explain everything to Rainbow. And I mean everything, from my life before, during, and after the tragedy that changed my life. I even added the bit where I secluded myself and pushed all of my friends away, staying basically isolated for almost five months. It might have been longer if it weren't for the three mares coming into my life. It was now 11:30, how the hell did that happen? The road was completely dark albeit my headlights lighting the road ahead of me. "Matthew... I... I had no idea." Rainbow finally managed to speak as she fought back sympathetic tears. "Yeah.... I guess it's been kind of tough." "Kind of tough? Kind of tough?" Rainbow repeated in absolute disbelief, "I don't think I have ever met somepony that has gone through so much, much less somepony so strong to the point that they can hide their pain from others." "I... Really don't kn.." I was cut off by a brief flash of white. That surprise made it hard for me to keep control of the SUV, but I thankfully did. "That was weird, you okay Rainb-." I was suddenly stunned at the sight before me. Rainbow was back in pony form. "What.. In the hay?" Rainbow said, looking down at herself in confusion. "I thought Twilight said that the spell was permanent." I questioned. "Yeah, so did I." Rainbow said in shock. "Well, at least we're almost home. Just a few minutes left." "Oh good." Rainbow replied in relief. Moments later, the engine suddenly sputtered and then died, "Oh bad. That is really bad timing." I commented. "What happened? What's wrong with it!?" Rainbow asked, now very desperate. I switched gears to neutral. "I don't know, the lights are still on so the battery works," I began before noticing the dashboard, "Oh.... No." I said quietly as I tapped the dashboard in a pathetic attempt to fix the problem. "What is it? What is it?" Rainbow cried desperately. "Calm yourself down Rainbow! We're out of fuel." I explained. "Out of fuel?" Rainbow repeated in a defeated tone. "I don't know how this could happen... The tank was almost full when we left this morning." I said as I looked outside, it was pouring now. "What are we going to do?" Rainbow asked. "We aren't that far from home, five miles give or take. I could skate there, and you could fly there." I offered. "That is a little risky Matt, look how dark it is." Rainbow pointed out. "Rainbow, every automobile is required to have all of the necessary emergency equipment on board. I have a small floodlight in the back, it's conveniently waterproof." I declared. We then both got out of the SUV, Rainbow began shedding the now useless clothes at the driver's side of the SUV. "Okay, just put those in the back when I open it." I said. Rainbow picked up the pile of soaked clothes in her mouth when I saw a light behind us, I wasn't as stunned from the light as Rainbow. Acting as quickly as humanly possible, I tackled Rainbow to the other side of the road. That guy almost ran us over! "You okay Rainbow?" "Yeah, I think so." I looked over to the suspect car. Oh no, he stopped, he might have seen Rainbow. Quick Matt, QUICK! Think of something, now! No... That's just stupid, just stupid enough to work maybe.... "Rainbow, you still trust me right?" I asked quickly. "Yes." Rainbow replied without hesitating this time. "I need you to stand here and let me handle this." I ordered. She did not complain, she just stood there silently. I jogged over to my SUV, completely soaked, and dug out the two pairs of aviators. I put one pair on and dashed to Rainbow and gave her the other pair. When she put them on, I then turned to the confused man who was now approaching me, the lucky man had an umbrella with him. I was preparing to do the dumbest thing I have ever attempted. "Sir? Are you okay? I am so, so sorry, I didn't see you there!" The man was apologizing profusely. "And what was that blue... Thing I saw? Is that it over there?" He asked, just as I feared. "Sir," I began, fishing out my wallet from my coat and flashing him my FAA ID way too fast for him to read it, "I'm with the CIA, you may have noticed that you nearly caused a possibly fatal and costly incident." I said in my most authoritarian voice. "Erm..." the man was clearly more confused than before. "Right now, I do not have to state to you any of your rights if I were to detain you, for you almost destroyed a critical asset of our agency." I declared before looking around as if to make sure no one was watching and whispered to him in a mock-desperate tone, "Do you have a cell phone on you? Anything electronic?" I asked. "Uh, yeah. I think so." the man said, completely lost and terrified of what he got himself into, good. I continued whispering in the rain, "Please, take out the batteries, I don't want my bosses hearing this." I tried my best to look desperate. "Sure, whatever you say." the guy was trying his best to not 'disappear' courtesy of the CIA. He quickly pulled out a phone and some unidentified electrical gadget and removed the batteries from both before returning them to his pocket. I did the same. "Look, what's your name?" I asked. "Uh, David." "Alright, Dave, I need you to do me a solid here. You see," I began, my desperate mask seemed to be working, I removed my aviators for effect, "This isn't the first time I screwed up and almost revealed a really important government secret. If you say anything to anyone, losing my job will be the least of my worries man. I really, really need you to keep quiet about this, at least until this goes public." I pleaded. David's face changed from a frightened one to a sympathetic one, score. "Okay, on just one condition." he said. "Sure, anything." I said, nodding rapidly. "Just tell me what that blue horse thing over there is and I will leave without saying a word about this to another living soul." he offered. That stunned me for a moment, it almost seemed to help my disguise though. "Oh, god.. Oh my god you are serious aren't you?" I asked, he just nodded. "Okay." I said with a deep breath, "Just, please.. Don't screw me over with this, I really can't tell you anything about this." I began. David seemed to lean a bit closer, he was dying to hear what this was all about. "It's synthetic life." I said plainly. "What?" "It's a robot designed to mimic realistic organic behaviors." I explained. "Then why is it a blue horse?" he questioned. "So that we don't confuse it for a real, living thing." I said as if it were obvious, "It is all part of a project to have synthetic humans go in behind the enemy lines. We could assassinate key individuals without any human risk on our side." I said before turning to Rainbow, who was a mere ten feet away. "Subject 23, attention!" I yelled, praying that Rainbow would catch my drift. She miraculously did, maybe her hearing is better as a pony, she did a salute. "Direction, my position!" I commanded, and Rainbow trotted slowly towards us and stared at everything through her aviators. "Wow, it really does look alive." David commented. "Yeah, we finally got the blinking right." I replied, "Well, as promised, not one word." David nodded in agreement, "You can count on me." "No, I'm serious. I still have a few strings that I can tug at, and I can watch you very, very closely." I said, almost threateningly. David nodded and nervously walked back to his car, driving away until we couldn't see his car anymore. "Matt?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah?" "That has got to be one of the most amazing things ever!" she exclaimed as she proceeded to reel me into a tight, wet hug. We then walked back to the SUV, I changed into regular clothes. The spare shirt I had is already completely soaked. I also took out the small, crank powered flood light and my skateboard. "Didn't you say before that you shouldn't skate in the rain?" Rainbow asked incredulously. "Yeah, but does it look like I have a choice? New grip tape is only five dollars, I think that's worth the price if it means I'm getting home." I replied. I turned on the floodlight and made sure that my car was locked and completely off, I didn't want the battery to die on me later. Rainbow and I then made our way home, I was riding as fast as I could and Rainbow was flying at a brisk pace next to me. We arrived homeward eventually, I have no idea how long that took, but my watch tells me that it's one in the morning. Rainbow and I moved as quietly as possible, we didn't want anypony to wake up. I dried myself off and then helped Rainbow get dry in the places she couldn't really reach. Apparently, Rainbow normally dries herself off by flying around. How does Pinkie Pie dry herself? No, don't ask about Pinkie Pie! You know what happens! I eventually dragged my exhausted body into bed, Rainbow passed out on her assigned couch downstairs mere seconds ago. Man, today was just... Way too much. A Comedy and a TragedyChapter 8: A Comedy and a Tragedy ---------------oooOOooo--------------- "Now son, I know you might think that thirteen years old is too young to start learning, but my father started teaching me when I was just eleven." "But aren't you going to get into trouble if we get caught?" "Matthew, I'm teaching you how to drive. If we somehow manage to get caught, then I am willing to pay the small price for the reward of teaching you. Besides, no one ever comes to this place anymore." "Yeah, because it's really sketchy around here..." "Ha! New slang word I take it?" "Yeah." "And what, pray tell, does it mean?" "It means that this area is very spooky, suspicious and it makes me a bit uncomfortable." "Well, going out of your comfort zone is a good way to learn new things, no?" "I guess..." "Okay, first things first, let's switch so that the wheel is in your hands." ... "Now it's time for lesson zero, starting the engine. Many people think that it's just turn-and-go, but there's a little bit of timing involved." "Okay, what do I need to do?" "That's the spirit I wanted from you! What you do is turn the key all the way and wait for the electric motor to start the engine, you let go of the key the nanosecond you hear the engine come to life, alright?" "Sure, sounds simple enough." *Engine starts* "There! Now, the first thing you will notice is that the car is in park mode. To start moving forward, you first check all of your mirrors and then press on the brake before switching the gear to drive." "But there's no one here, why do I need to check the mirrors?" "We are talking safety Matthew! Always follow the safety rules when operating machinery, lest you want you or somebody else to get hurt. Now, do as I instructed before." "Okay." .. "You got it! You will notice that you don't actually need to press on the gas to start moving, just let go of the brake. Since this isn't stick shift, it's mostly just steering around. With that said, I want you to just do a lap around the lot without pressing on the gas yet, let the car do the work for you for now." "Got it." ... "You, my son, are a natural at this! I guess those racing games really are doing some good.. Now, I want you to do another lap, but I want you to maintain your speed at fifteen miles per hour. Later I will teach you how to park." ........... "Hey there boys! How did the lessons go?" "Our boy Matthew here is a star student, didn't have to yell at him one time!" "It was great mom! I can't wait until I can drive you guys around!" "Heh, and neither can I, I sure hope one day you will repay me for all of the lunches I've been preparing you." "Now, Florence, we all repay you by complementing on your amazing cooking every single day." "I was just teasing, Gregory." "And so was I." "Um, I'm going to do my homework now, if you two don't mind." "Yes, finish that before Sunday. Now, for us two, shall we find a place more.. Private?" "Agreed mister instructor, teach me some of those maneuvers of yours." .... I found myself half buried in... Sand? I quickly stood up to get a good look at my surroundings, sand, ocean and buildings.... Miami? No, not Miami, this was the place I created before.. I turned back to where I was originally facing, the palm tree and lawn chair had appeared. Wait, what happened last time I was here? I felt something cold, something very cold, touch my shoulder. I spun around to identify the source of such coldness, only to find nothing, just a boundless ocean. Once I decided there was no threat, I turned back to the palm tree. The second I turned back, I felt the jolt of fear. There, standing before me, were five shadows facing me. Five shadows... Five... "No.." "Matty, why weren't you there to save me?" the shortest one pleaded. "Matthew, I am so disappointed in you. You could have saved us." said a fatherly figure. "NO! I couldn't have done anything! I'm so sorry that I lost you all, you have no idea how much it tears me up that I wasn't there!" I screamed at the figures. "Oh, but we do understand, my little Matthew. We understand very well." said another figure, the gravelly voice told me it was my uncle. "What...? So, you all forgive me?" I asked confusedly. "Only if you JOIN US Matthew." the shell of my aunt replied. I couldn't handle it anymore, I pivoted in place and bolted to any direction that wasn't towards the torment.... If only shadows weren't so fast. "Where are you going Matty? You can't run if you want to join us." I ran, I couldn't feel my body but my mind knew that it was running. But it was a useless, pathetic and an utter waste of nothingness. I felt the coldness wrap around my ankles and I hit the sand face first. The sand gave some resistance at first, but then it caved in and I fell into an endless pit, screaming. "Join us Matt! Join us!" "Matt!" "Matthew!" ---------------oooOOooo--------------- "Matt!" a frightened voice whispered, something was prodding my ribs. I opened my eyes with a gasp and then searched my room for the source of the voice. I caught a slight hint of cyan next to my bed in the moonlight. "Rainbow?" I questioned in surprise, keeping my voice quiet as to not wake the others. "Are you alright? You started talking to yourself and I got worried..." "Why are you here?" "I..." Rainbow trailed off, "I wanted to try to comfort you, you know, because of all the stuff you've been through. Not just the stuff today, but, you know." "Why?" "Because we're friends.... And.. Because I kind of know how you feel." Rainbow explained, I refrained from getting angry at those words. I hate it when people try to turn sympathy into empathy, comparing their situations to mine. "What do you mean?" I asked. Rainbow began her response with a small sigh and a shift of her weight. Her face was caught by a small sliver of moonlight coming from the window. "My... My daddy was killed in a robbery when I lived in Las Pegasus. Mommy, she didn't handle it very well. She started drinking and doing other things before she decided that she needed to run away as far as we could. She and I took the express train to Stalliongrad where we lived with my uncles." Rainbow began, I could see that she was holding back tears. This shook me, seeing the last soul I expected to open up to someone doing so for me, somebody she only knew for a month. "But her drinking habits were quickly getting out of hoof, eventually, she lost it and disappeared on me..... I was supposed to be her everything, and yet, she managed to leave me with relatives that I didn't even know I had until then. But I was still a little filly, and those relatives of mine really had no interest in keeping me. So eventually, I got sent out to a boarding school in Cloudsdale, where I first learned to fly..." Rainbow Dash trailed off. I was completely taken out of my dream state now, she really did open up to me just now.... Why? "I... I didn't know, I'm so sorry you had to go through that at such a young age." I responded, saddened that no matter where you might be, tragedies still occur left and right. "I just thought that we should be even, since you told me your secret." Rainbow replied. "Wait, no one else knows about this?" I quired. "No... Even Fluttershy thinks I have family that I can rely on somewhere." I then sat up, crossing my legs and signaling Rainbow to sit. I waited for her to do so before I replied. "I guess we all have something to hide from another then...." I commented. "I guess so." Rainbow agreed in a forced tone. A few moments passed before she started talking again. "You know, you never answered my question." "Which one?" "When you woke up, I asked you if you were alright." "I'm fine now, thanks." I replied curtly, there was a long pause. "No, you're not. If you were fine, you wouldn't be having nightmares every time you slept." Rainbow retorted. I sighed quietly and stared into blackness. "If you knew the answer, then why ask?" I questioned, I then felt a familiar prod on my side. "Stop delaying what you can't avoid." Rainbow said, poking me with her hoof for emphasis. She has a point you know. "I'm not." I replied quietly. "What were they like?" "Pardon?" "Your.. Family, if you don't mind me asking." "No, it's fine. I guess that question was inevitable if you knew that I lost them." "Well?" I was quiet for a few moments, I just needed to gather my thoughts. "My dad, Gregory, was an amazing human being. He was the idol I always needed... Every morning I would come to the kitchen and he would be sitting there reading the paper, pointing out the stories he knew were false or made up. He would always teach me that you have to dig for the truth, that you shouldn't aspire to be someone else but you should aspire to be better than you are now, and so many other things." I began quietly, Rainbow remained silent, I could hear her soft breathing in the darkness. I continued, "My mom, Florence, she was the exciting one in the family. Every weekend she would have something in mind for us to do together. She has successfully drilled into my head that I should be curious, creative, impulsive and a bunch of other things because that generates the moments that make life worthwhile.... And her cooking... Was absolutely amazing, not one thing I can cook that she hasn't taught me first. I can smell her special pecan pie now." "And little Sadie, man, Pinkie would have loved to meet her. Always bubbly and curious, ready to learn something new all the time. She was my opposite in a strange way, I would be the one that follows all of the rules to the word while she just looked at rules as challenges, sentences that taunted her to do things. Not bad things of course, because that would have disappointed dad, and we both hated doing that..." I continued my reminiscing, at this point, I was mostly just talking to myself. "My aunt and uncle, man, they were the happiest couple I could possibly think of to date. Always up to something interesting too. Once, I came to their house after school to find that they were building their own coffee machine, saying that the key to the best possible flavor was in the air pressure while the beans are being pressed.. Can you believe that? I was surprised that they managed to have jobs and do more shenanigans than my sister and I combined.." I trailed off. "They all live in me in some way, I kind of adopted certain quirks of personality from all of them." I finished, I looked over to Rainbow and was surprised to see that she was sobbing quietly. "Rainbow? Are you alright?" "I'm fine. I just... I dunno, I almost feel jealous that you had a family to begin with, yet, I'm devastated that you had something so.... Precious taken from you." Rainbow replied quietly. I took that as a sign for a comforting hug, so I leaned forward to do so, but Rainbow beat me to it and hugged first... Really tightly. "Air... Air." I choked out. "Heh, sorry." Rainbow said as she loosened her grip. I'm not sure how long that embrace lasted, but it did for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Rainbow let go and sat on her haunches before me. "You know, you were the last soul I ever expected to open up to somebody else." I commented. "Well, life is full of surprises, no?" Rainbow retorted with yet another good point. "True, but I always thought that you were too proud to lower yourself to such tender moments." "Well, it's okay to do it once or twice a year." Rainbow replied, regaining her composure. "If you say so," I began while looking at the clock on my nightstand, "It's still three in the morning, we should go to bed." "Um... Could I stay here tonight?" Rainbow asked. "I guess, why? I questioned. "You will not believe how lightly Pinkie Pie sleeps, the teeniest sounds will wake her right up. I don't think I want to answer the questions she might have for me if I woke her." Rainbow reasoned. I shrugged, either not bothering or too tired to argue that point. "Sure, whatever floats your boat." With that, I climbed back under my covers and made room for Rainbow to sleep on. ..... I woke up slowly, finding myself staring at a wall. Eventually I gained the will power to turn my body around, finding that my legs were incredibly sore. "Owie." I whispered to myself as I wriggled in my bed. I soon noticed that my covers were not on top of me, they were wrapped around Rainbow Dash instead. I giggled quietly, she looked like a pony burrito. My eye then caught on to something curious, why are her wings half extended? I thought as I looked at the mare beside me, time for some questions. I poked Rainbow's ear, it instinctively flinched and Rainbow was now fully awake, "Good morning Rainbow." I greeted with a smirk. "Funny." Rainbow replied plainly. She then had a short struggle getting out of the roll she got herself into, I didn't help because it was so funny just watching. Eventually Rainbow was released from the trap that was my covers. "What's up with your wings?" I asked curiously. Rainbow, for some reason, immediately seemed alarmed at this information and looked behind her. Rainbow's wings were still stiff and half extended. "Oh... They are um... They're sore! Yeah." she explained nervously. I did not buy that explanation, but I didn't feel like pursuing the subject, I wanted food, "Okay, could you let me out? We should get some breakfast." Rainbow jumped out of bed, nodding furiously, "Yeah, breakfast! I'll be right down with you, see ya!" she said as I found myself out of my own room. She sure is acting funny... I made my way downstairs and saw that Pinkie Pie was still sleeping. She had her head hanging slightly off the side of the couch, a little bit of drool hanging from the edge of her mouth. Yeah, light sleeper. I walked to the kitchen with a slight shrug and started cutting up some fruit. .... I had four bowls of fruit salad ready for eating when Rainbow finally showed up, which was convenient, I wanted to ask her a few questions. "Morning once more miss Dash." I greeted. "Uh.. Hi again?" she replied confusedly. "So, what is really up with your wings? They're still kind of stiff by the way." I asked, cutting to the chase. "Wha..?" Rainbow began her confused attempt to answer my question when Pinkie Pie waltzed into the kitchen with a yawn. "Oh.. Good morning everypony." Pinkie Pie greeted with another yawn. "Hey Pinks, need some coffee?" I offered. "Yes please." Pinkie responded childishly. "So, Rainbow, I still didn't get an answer." I continued my previous conversation. "Well, um, it's hard to explain.." "What are you two talking about?" Pinkie asked, "And why did you go upstairs in the middle of the night Rainbow?" she decided to add. "Well, I wanted to sleep with Matt last night and..." Rainbow was cut short by a surprised Twilight coming through the doorway. I'm not sure what situation I may have gotten Rainbow in, but I can feel it in the air, this is getting awkward. "You wanted to do what with Matthew?" Twilight questioned in surprise, Rainbow was caught off-guard and her face was blushing furiously under her cyan coat. "Silly Twilight! Dashie wasn't actually sleeping-sleeping with Matty! She was just sleeping in the same bed as him!" Pinkie explained, both saving Rainbow from some awkward explaining and bouncing back from her previous tired state. "Oh, sorry for assuming something like that Rainbow..." Twilight apologized quickly, it was her tone to blush now, "But... Why did you want to sleep in Matthew's bed?" "Wow, this is extremely awkward..." I began, "But first, Rainbow: you still didn't fully explain to me why your wings were stiff this morning Rainbow." "I told you Matt, I'm sore from that flight last night." Rainbow pleaded. "Really? Because that looked more like a warm up to me." I retorted, pursuing this curious case. Twilight and Pinkie gave Rainbow a knowing glance, I'm being kept out of the loop. "Wait, what flight? I never turned Rainbow back to pony form." Twilight asked in surprise,it took her a few moments to notice that detail. "This is actually a story we are going to have to tell you two while we eat, yesterday was one hell of a day." I replied as I began setting the table for breakfast. ... "Men in suits were following you two, and you just shrugged it off for an interview?" Twilight questioned in shock. "Hey, that job would have earned me another twenty thousand dollars a year. So yeah, I shrugged that off for another moment of thinking." I retorted. "But Matty, you gave that job up and left really angrily." Pinkie added sadly. "Hey, take Matt's word for it, that Goldleaf guy was being cold hearted jerk. Matt didn't want those kinds of people around him." Rainbow defended. "Actually, there were two reasons why I couldn't take the job, that wasn't really one of the reasons. Yes, this Goldleaf fellow really pissed me off, but I didn't want to leave Pennsylvania because I would have to give up this house if I did, and I can't really travel with three mares in my luggage." I added. Everypony in the room was shocked by that line of reasoning. "We... We were the reason why you didn't take the job you wanted?" Rainbow recovered from her shock first, and was the first one to comment. "Well, I don't want you three to feel bad about it. I thought that I would get to stay when I came to the interview, so I shouldn't have taken the job anyway since I wasn't given all the details. Besides, I wasn't supposed to get that offer in another four years at least." I said in an attempt to not make my friends feel guilty. "Okay, and one more thing. Why in the name of Celestia did you think that plan to keep that person quiet would work? Why couldn't you have just ran?" Twilight continued her line of questioning, it feels like an interrogation. "If I did run, how could I know for sure that the guy, who almost ran both Rainbow and I over, would keep quiet?" I retorted. "Besides, you should have seen him! Matt was amazing! He totally had the guy fooled from beginning to end!" Rainbow praised. "Okay, I guess the ends justify the means in this case..." Twilight trailed off as she watched Pinkie balance a fork on her muzzle, it was actually very impressive, "So, then you two made your way here without your vehicle? How are you going to get it back?" "I'm getting on that today. I'm going to stop by a gas station and get enough gas to get it back to my driveway. I guess that I should tell Ted about what happened yesterday as well." I replied. "Can I come with you?" Twilight asked. "Um, sure. But it's just a trip to the gas station." I stated, Twilight still seemed interested though. "Are we doing anything else today?" Rainbow asked. I scrunched my face a little, deep in thought, "No, I don't think so." ... We all finished breakfast and I got myself ready to leave the house. Twilight was ready when I came downstairs. "Ready to go Twi?" I asked. "Sure, let's go." she replied. "Hold on, lemme check the weather. I don't want to get caught in a surprise rainstorm again." I said as I headed to my computer, Rainbow was already using it. "Can I check the weather forecast really quickly?" I asked Rainbow. "Sure." Rainbow replied as she hopped off the chair. I sat down and was about to type 'weather forecast' on google, but accidentally pressed 's' instead of 'w', and the first thing on the history made me stop. Stallions? "Uh, Twilight? Could you please explain this to me?" I called, Rainbow caught sight of what I was referring to before Twilight could get into the library and immediately began her uproar of laughter. "What's all of the commotion about?" a human Twilight asked as she came into the room, watching Rainbow literally rolling on the floor with laughter. I simply pointed at my screen. "Knowing that you're a pony, I really hope this isn't what I think it is." I stated plainly, trying not to laugh too. Twilight looked that the screen and was clearly taken aback. "I didn't know that it saved my history!... I mean, I had nothing to do with that!" Twilight said in a really cheap way to deny the evidence before me. Wow, ponies are really bad liars. "Twi, it's alright." I started chuckling when I saw her blushing face, "What you do in your private time is none of my business, but I have to ask, is this chair sanitary to sit on?" I asked, that just made Rainbow laugh harder, I finally gave in and began laughing as well. Twilight was clearly very embarrassed, poor girl. "Y-yeah, your c-chair is clean..." "Oh... Man, Twi, I really didn't think your urges would get the best of you first." Rainbow said once her giddiness died down, "I guess it's always the nerdy ones." "Sorry if I hurt your feeling Twi, I just found this opportunity hard to pass by." I apologized with a smile. "No, it's fine. Let's just go." Twilight said quickly. ... The car ride started off in silence, I felt like a real jerk right now... "Hey Twilight? I really am sorry for laughing at your expense, it was funny at first, but now I feel awful about it." I apologized. "I will gladly accept your apology as long as you try not to do that again." Twilight responded, she was looking out the window and nowhere else. "Well, I hope you will truly forgive me in time." I began, "So, how's the progress on your spell?" Twilight seemed to lighten up a bit, "It's going well actually, now I know a few things that I'm going to need for the spell to work. I actually have the list with me." Twilight said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. "Great," I began brightly, "It doesn't include anything that would be too expensive, does it?" "Um, no, not really. You can take a look at it if you want." Twilight offered. "Sure, but I'm driving right now. I'll take a look at the list at the gas station, alright?" I replied. "Oh, okay." ... "Hey Matthew? Who was Shakespeare?" Twilight asked after a long moment of silence. "You could have searched it up, and you ask me instead?" "Oh, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." "No, it's fine. I just never expected a question like that, where did you hear his name?" "I saw that you had an entire collection of this person's works in what seemed to be a special place in the bookcase. I was just curious is all." Twilight explained. "That actually makes perfect sense.. Where do I begin?" I paused, "Well, Shakespeare was one of the greatest play writers that ever lived. He was able to decipher many of the mysteries behind human behavior and put it into his work, he was actually more focused on revealing human behavior instead of improving it, I guess he didn't see the point of it. Shakespeare was so great because he was capable of creating so many characters in so many scenarios in both comedies and tragedies." I monologued. "Comedy as in funny, or comedy as in a happy ending?" Twilight quired. "Most of the works I read from him were tragedies, but he does add some comic relief here and there. He also did a few comedies with happy endings. So it's a little bit of both I guess." I replied. "Shakespeare sounds like a disturbed soul if most of his works were tragedies." Twilight commented, I simply shrugged. "I don't think anybody will ever know if he was disturbed or not, he has been dead for so long that only his work remains as his legacy. Pick up a few of the plays that I have, they're written in older forms of English, but it's still very entertaining and insightful." "Okay, maybe later.... What's that over there?" Twilight asked pointing towards a structure in the distance. "That's our stop actually, it's the gas station." I replied lightly. "It's shaped so.... Oddly." "I, on the other hand, have a hard time finding something more pedestrian than this." I replied. ... I filled a two gallon container and paid the respective price. Twilight also chose this moment to show me that list, I set the container down once we were out in the open and began skimming through the writing.... Something was off. "Pineapples, watermelons and kiwis? Twilight, do you really need those for a spell?" I asked incredulously, I mean really, who would have thought that watermelons have magical properties? "What?" Twilight asked, she was as confused as I was. Twi took the list from my hands and looked at it, she quickly took on a sheepish expression, "Oh, wrong list.. This was the list of exotic fruits that I wanted to try." Twilight explained. "Well, do you have the other one?" I asked curiously. "Yes, somewhere..." Twilight trailed off as she searched all of her pockets, "These things are nowhere near as handy as saddle bags." "You could wear a backpack if you really want to." I replied. "Very funny.. Oh, here it is!" Twilight dug out another neatly folded piece of paper. I took said paper and read it. "Chalk, okay..." "Four grams of quartz, odd, but doable." "Eight grams of crushed sea salt? I think I have that at home." "And.... Aluminum powder, I think I can get that from an etch-a-sketch." I looked at the list oddly, this was not what I expected to be shopping for. "You can get those for us, right?" Twilight asked pleadingly. "Yeah, I think I can get the chalk in this gas station right now actually." I turned and went back into the store without waiting for a reply. "What?" Twilight asked herself quietly before following suit. I walked around the small store, this was some sort of organized chaos that I can't really say was organized in my eyes. Nothing seemed to be in any particular order, but I eventually found some white sidewalk chalk next to a thermos and a can of turpentine, what? "Hey, Matthew? What was that thing you mentioned before?" Twilight asked from another aisle. "What thing? I found the chalk by the way." I replied. "The etch-a-thinggy, what was it?" "Etch-a-sketch? Yeah, it's a rectangular screen with two knobs on it, did you find one?" "I think so..." Twilight replied hesitantly. I walked over to the aisle Twilight was in and saw what she was looking at. It was an etch-a-sketch alright, but it was a cheap knockoff in the shape of a star. "Well, close enough." I said as I picked it up. We then walked over to the counter and began purchasing our toys, the guy at the cashier gave us weird looks but decided to keep quiet. "That went well." Twilight commented as we left the store and headed for the car. "I guess, but that old guy gave us some weird looks, as if I'm too old to be playing with toys, pfft." I replied playfully. With a short fit of giggles, we got back in the car and began our ride back home. I am going to have to walk to my SUV from my house so that I don't leave my car behind, that would just be a waste of time. .... Twilight and I arrived at the house, she decided to stay because walking six miles is not in her best interest. I decided to skate there instead, now that I wouldn't have to wait for a pedestrian to catch up, and now Rainbow decided to tag along. At least this gives me a chance to get her out of the house, I haven't seen Pinkie anywhere though... "C'mon Rainbow, let's go." I called. She soon came down, fully human and fully dressed. "How are you going to carry that thing and skate?" Rainbow asked incredulously as she pointed at the red gasoline container. "Because I can...." I trailed off, getting an idea. I put down the container and went to a seemingly random closet. After a few moments of rummaging, I pulled out a nice looking rope. Without saying a single word I went over to the container and started wrapping the rope around it. "What are you doing?" Rainbow asked curiously. "Watch." I replied simply as I concentrated on a knot that I learned long ago. Eventually, I managed to wrap the rope around the container so that I could wear it as a backpack. "Wow, impressive." Rainbow commented. "Well? Let's haul to the SUV!" I exclaimed as I sprinted out the front door, grabbing my board on the way out. Rainbow was kind of far behind, since she took the time to close the door behind her. .. Damn, she is fast and she is gaining on me. I thought when I looked behind me to find that Rainbow was less than twenty feet behind me. Rainbow caught up to me and gave me a challenging look and then stuck her tongue out at me as she overtook me. "You might be fast, but can you maintain your speed?" I challenged before she passed me. "Ha, you just watch. I'm the best athlete you've known!" Rainbow called back. Wow, my legs were a bit sore from yesterday and I was losing ground to Rainbow. I guess it's all of the extra weight, but that might help me since there is a short hill up ahead. I started pushing with everything I had to reach the peak of that hill with the most speed possible. I started catching up to Rainbow, probably because she didn't want to exhaust herself at this hill. I caught myself staring at Rainbow for a short time, but I quickly shook myself and focused on the challenge at hand. I suddenly flew past Rainbow in a burst of speed, the look of surprise on Rainbow's face was something I would have taken the time to laugh with, but I was really out of breath to do so. I gave Rainbow a short wave and a smirk as I flew into the hill's slope and started gaining speed. I must have been going a twenty miles per hour or so when I started getting speed wobbles, I started zig-zagging to tame them before they flung me off the board. I guess Rainbow wasn't so lucky, I heard a thump with an "Omph!" Behind me. I looked back to see Rainbow sliding down the hill side, her board following closely behind. I bailed out of my board and ran over to stop Rainbow's slide to the bottom of the hill, "Crap, are you okay?" I asked when I caught her. "Owww, I did not think my board would turn on me like that.." Rainbow managed after a few gasps. "Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot to tell you about speed wobbles." I apologized. "That's what its called? It felt like getting thrown off." Rainbow replied. "Yeah, the more you fall the more you learn, I guess. How's you road rash?" "My what?" "The scrapes you got from your fall, let me see them." "Um, let's get off the road first, I see a car way over there." Rainbow pointed out, I looked behind me to see a blue pickup truck in the distance. "Alright," I replied as I helped her up, "Can you walk?" "Yeah, I'm fine." We walked over to the side of the road, I spotted our boards on the sides of the road a little ways down the hill, they thankfully stopped. "Okay, let me see your scrapes." I demanded. Rainbow nodded and showed me her elbows and knees. Her left elbow and knee were scraped up a bit, but not much else seemed off. "Did you hit anything else?" "Yeah, I was sliding on my back for a while." she said as she turned around to show me, her shirt was a little ripped at the torso, her bra strap was in the way so there wasn't any road rash there. "Your back is fine, but I want to give your knee some attention later." I diagnosed, "Can you still skate? We still have about two miles to go." Rainbow nodded just as that blue pickup truck passed us, we made our way to our boards and slowly made our way down the hill. No racing this time, it wouldn't be fair since Rainbow was hurt. ... We cruised at a gentle speed, the road was clear of any other cars so we were riding at the center of the road, where there weren't as many cracks. We eventually found my SUV off to the side of the road where I left it. I went straight for the back and fished out a first aid kit and Rainbow sat so that I could properly disinfect her scrapes. "I only have rubbing alcohol, so it's going to burn a bit." I warned. "It's okay, just get this over with." Rainbow said with a hint of relief. "You know? You still never explained the wing thing to me." I said. Rainbow sighed heavily. "You aren't going to drop this are you?" Rainbow asked. "Nope." I replied proudly. "Well, if you simply have to know... A Pegasus' wings get stiff when they are um... Horny." Rainbow explained. "What?" I began in surprise, "Can I ask who you were thinking of?" "I'd rather you don't" "Fine by me." I finished. We got that over with and I fed my hungry SUV with its proper diet, two liters of gasoline. We hopped in and drove our way back. ... We were half way home when I noticed that something was off, "My tank is draining too fast.." I observed. "Is that bad?" "I really hope it's not what I think it is." "And what would that be?" Rainbow asked. "I might have punctured my gas tank... Odd, I don't recall running over any rough terrain recently." "Well, get home before we're out of juice. You can check there." Rainbow suggested. "Yeah." I agreed. ... I pulled up into my drive way and quickly got out to inspect my vehicle for damage, Rainbow followed out of pure interest. I got down on my belly and inspected my SUV's underside, I quickly spotted a leak. The leak was, of course, located at the gas tank. I saw two holes in the tank, both approximately 1/16th of an inch in diameter, they seemed to be placed so that one hole feed air as the other one drains. This was done deliberately, I could tell it was done with a drill, and very hastily. Whoever did this did not know that drilling at high speeds on steel would destroy the drill bit. The full reality of our situation hit me, hard. "Rainbow, we have a problem." "I can see that Matt." ... "Twilight! Pinkie! Where are you two?" I asked somewhat nervously as I entered the house. "We're here Matty, what's wrong?" Pinkie Pie said, coming out of the library. "I think we have a serious problem on our hands." I said. "And hooves." Rainbow added. I shot Rainbow I look, "What? It's true." My phone started ringing, I checked the caller ID. It was Ted, I picked up as soon as my hands would allow. "Ted? Is that you?" I answered. "Yeah, what's wrong?" He asked, I remembered that others might be listening to our phone call. "Uh, nothing. I was actually wondering if you wanted to have a few drinks with me at the bar." I replied. Ted must have caught my emphasis on the word 'bar', there was a short silence. "Alright, what time?" "Not too late, how about five o'clock?" I offered. "Lucky for you, I happen to be on break at that time. Sure, five o'clock." Ted replied. "So, why did you call?" I asked. "I actually wanted to see if I could come over tonight." he answered. "I don't think that would be a great idea for now, maybe another time?" I offered. "Yeah, sure. See you at five." "Yeah, see ya." I hung up. Every pony was staring at me. "What was that all about?" Twilight asked. "Matty? You look really really really upset, what's wrong?" Pinkie asked worriedly. "I think there are people that know who you all are, and I don't think they are the gentle kind either." I replied. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked nervously. "There are SPIES after us! Those guys in suits totally sabotaged Matt's SUV and we almost died in that car accident, if it WAS a car accident!" Rainbow blurted out. Pinkie and Twilight gave me shocked expressions. "I wouldn't say it like that, but the evidence points towards that general direction." I confirmed. "How can this be possible? We haven't spoken to anyone but you and Ted. That driver last night must have said something!" Twilight concluded. "Twily, how does that make any sense? That poor poor man couldn't have said anything if those guys were following Matty and Dashie before he saw them..." Pinkie reasoned. "Oh, yeah. Sorry for jumping to conclusions. But, how could anybody other than Ted know?" Twilight questioned. "Ted must have ratted us out." Rainbow growled between her teeth. "No, Ted would never give me up like that. I'm sure there is some other explanation to this, but the way I see it, theorizing how people found us out isn't going to make any progress. Twilight, how quickly can you get the spell ready?" I said. "Uh... I don't know, I still don't have the ground quartz." she replied. "I'll go pick it up today, how much time do you need?" I responded quickly. "Uh, I don't know. I could start calibrating the spell now, and I could finish calibration by Monday. The spell should take about five minutes to cast then." Twilight answered. "Good," I said, looking at my watch, 4:00 pm, "I gotta go, I have a meeting with Ted to go to." I said as I headed out of the door. "Wait!" Pinkie called, "You didn't have lunch." "That can wait Pinkie, this could be something very bad." I replied, Pinkie just shook her head and pulled out a large cupcake... Out of where? Where did that come from? No, I'm done asking questions, take the cupcake and run Matthew. "It's dangerous to jump into danger in an empty stomach Matty, take this." Pinkie offered. "Um, thanks." I took the cupcake, said my goodbyes and left. ... It was a very stressful drive, the road was completely empty except for my car and the occasional other. Paranoia was starting to seep into my mind and suddenly every other car was suspect to my judgment. They are not following you Matt, otherwise the same car would be behind you constantly. I turned up the radio to drown out my thought, I pressed a little harder on the gas to get off the road sooner. ... I arrived at the bar at 5:01 pm, close enough. Ted was already waiting for me inside, this time at another corner. I sat down in front of him and the waitress took my order. "One Appletini please." I ordered. Ted cocked an eyebrow at me. "What's with the fancy drink" he asked. "I dunno, I had a craving." I replied with a shrug. We then both exchanged serious glances. "So, what did you need to tell me?" he asked while pulling the battery off his phone, I did the same. "I think there are men who have been watching me and my friends. I caught two guys shadowing me the day of my interview." "How did that go by the way?" "Didn't get the job. Did you have any idea that these men are watching me?" "Can't say anything crossed my radar no, I was actually going to go to your place to celebrate our success on hiding your friend's secrets. Are you positively sure that they were following you?" "I was with Rainbow at the skate park, that's when I first saw them. We went for lunch, they were there too. When Rainbow and I went to a frozen yogurt place, I saw them there as well. Rainbow and I fled the yogurt place when we took notice," "You still eat that stuff?" "Don't interrupt me, I'm pretty sure that they followed us out but gave up the chase because we were skating away..... I suspect that they sabotaged my SUV after that." I explained. Ted leaned back on his seat, letting the information seep into his mind. "Damn." Ted concluded as he sipped from his beer. Before we could say anything else, the waitress came and gave me my drink. "Here you go sir, enjoy." the lady said plainly. Ted and I waited for the waitress to leave before we continued. "Matt, this could be very, very bad." Ted concluded once more. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." "Matt, if what you're telling me is true... This is only the beginning, if the guys that were following you were below my paycheck, I would have known. Whoever it is, these are people that are very high up in the ranks." "What if it's just the FBI? Maybe they're rookies, it wasn't too hard for me to spot them." I suggested. "Matt, have you been living under a rock? The FBI and the CIA are one and the same." Ted said as if it was obvious. "Oh." "Matthew," Ted began, leaning forwards, "I'm going to say this again, this is only the beginning. These operative are way above my rank in the CIA and they do not play nice." There was a pause before Ted continued, "Do you have a gun?" he asked seriously. "What? No." "Get one, learn to use it because you might have to use it." "Ted," I began in disbelief, I looked around to make sure no one was observing us and lowered my tone to a harsh whisper, "I've never even held a gun before, you expect me to defend myself with one?" "Learn as you go Matt." "Where am I even going to get one? Gun laws these days are really tight." I continued whispering harshly. "I know a guy, he's strictly small time and he doesn't interfere with the CIA's regular trafficking clients, so no one's busted him yet. I recommend a nice Glock, it's light, low recoil and easy to clean." "Ted..." I trailed off when he gave me the address of the man he mentioned, "I can't do this." "You have to, how long until your friends can go home?" "Not long now, just a few days." "This might give you enough time to get them home." "And what about me Ted? Buying a gun is only going to bring more attention to me." This seemed to diffuse Ted. "Sorry, you're right." "It's fine, will you be able to take care of yourself? I kind of got you tied up in all of this." I replied. "I'll be fine Matt, I can take care of myself if things get hairy. Plus, I still have a few strings to pull at that could get me out of this. Worry about yourself and your other friends, alright?" Ted reassured me with a smile. "Yeah, take care man. Drinks on me. Oh, and by the way, where can I get myself quartz?" I asked. Ted shrugged, "Internet?" he suggested. "Right." I said as we gave each other a manhug, I then put a twenty on the table and left. ... I came home, everything seemed like a dull buzz in my brain. I didn't even drink my appletini. I looked in my wallet, I had the gun dealer's address in there, I guess I took it without realizing. Rainbow sat down next to me. Oh, I'm sitting on a couch. "We're going to be okay Matt... Right?" Rainbow asked for reassurance. "Yeah, Twilight will get your spell ready and you will all go home... Everything is going to be fine once that happens." I said in my best reassuring tone. Rainbow gave me a sad look, "And you?" she asked. "I'll figure that out in my own time." "No! You can come with us can't you? Those guys can't reach you in Equestria." Rainbow offered. "And make the spell harder for Twilight? What if I do go and Twilight somehow messes up because I'm going too? Did you even think about Ted? I got him into this situation and now there are men going after him too, don't you think? If I get to go to Equestria, shouldn't Ted get to come with me?" I replied harshly, Rainbow seemed to shrink back from me... That softened me up. "Look, Rainbow. Equestria just isn't my world, I don't belong there. Despite everything that I've lost here, I still have things worth staying for. I have my dream job at the hangar, I have my Aunt's house, I have friends to back me up. I can't just leave the little I have left behind me." I said in a much softer tone. Rainbow just sat quietly next to me, eventually resting her fuzzy head on my lap. She didn't need to say she was sorry, I could feel it. ... Dinner was dull, even Pinkie Pie was grimly quiet. Eventually I just went to bed early.... ShadowsChapter 9: Shadows I woke up this morning feeling strangely refreshed, despite my current situation. Huh, no nightmares last night. I hopped out of bed and made my way to the shower. ... I came downstairs, ready to take on my Sunday morning... Except I didn't see anypony. Where could they be? I walked slowly towards the kitchen, choosing to not panic just yet. Maybe they're somewhere else in the house and I haven't seen them yet. I took a few steps past the kitchen doorway when.. "Surprise!" shouted three feminine voices. I jumped slightly at my obvious surprise, turning around to see the source of the shouts. I saw Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all standing next to the doorway, massive smiles plastered on their faces. "What?" I asked plainly as confetti came out of nowhere, landing on my hair and all over the floor. "We wanted to thank you for everything you did for us!" Twilight explained. "So we set up a little surprise party!" Pinkie added. "With one of Pinkie's amazing cakes." Rainbow added with the slightest drooling sound. I was dumbfounded. "What?" I asked again, not quite sure if this was reality. "Didn't you hear us, buddy?" Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head, "This is all for you!" "Guys, you really didn't need to do this for me." I said modestly, glancing at the confetti all around me. Pinkie Pie motioned towards the table behind me, I looked over to see a chocolate cake covered in white and pink frosting with blue letters that said: "Thank you for everything, Matthew." "What are we going to do then, throw away the cake?" Pinkie asked in disbelief. "No, no! This..." I trailed off staring into the cake-y frosting, "Looks delicious." Pinkie's smile grew even wider. "Well, let's get this party started!" Pinkie began, only to be cut off by Twilight. "Remember Pinkie, this is supposed to be low key. No loud music." Twilight reminded, Pinkie Pie's mane deflated ever so slightly before poofing back up again. How does she do that? We all sat down as we replaced our breakfast with an awesome cake. Hmm, the cake was not a lie after all. ... "Pinkie Pie, when did you even make this? I have to say it's the greatest cake I have ever had the chance to taste... Ever." I complemented between mouthfuls of chocolate cake. "I baked it over night when everypony was asleep! I tried really hard to not wake anypony up, but Twily and Dashie eventually came over to help me out." Pinkie explained, waving a fork in the air. Don't question it Matt, you know what happens when you do and you do not have enough Advil for that. "Really guys, thanks. This is more than I could have asked for." I said. "Hey, no problem big guy. You're the one who made the most sacrifices here." Rainbow replied. We had some small conversations until we were all done eating. Twilight and I got into planning out our next few steps after we cleaned up all of the confetti, of course, Rainbow was nowhere to be seen at this point. "So, Matthew. When can you get us the ground Quartz?" Twilight asked. "I was thinking of ordering it through mail, but that might take too long. Maybe I can find a store and pick it up today." I replied. "Okay, good." "So, how much more time do you need?" "It might actually take more time, It is really hard to tell at this point." Twilight said hesitantly. "Okay, as long as you're making haste." ... I looked up on a few stores that might sell quartz and found one that is actually relatively close to the overhaul base. It's a place called Gems and Minerals. I told the three mares that I would go buy the quartz that they needed now and that I would be back after lunch, and made my way to the car soon after. ... Another long ride to the city, for such a desperate time, there's one thing in my day that truly does not want to change. I switched on the radio and drowned out my thoughts as I drove to my destination alone. ... Damn, barely any parking spots around here. I thought as I neared the mineral store's address. I scanned for any potential parking spots, I soon spotted a large green van start pulling out of its parking spot. Bingo. I took the parking spot as soon as it became available, and was soon given a dirty look from some lady that wanted the same spot. Parking is such a competitive activity. I hopped out of my car and walked over to the store, it was just one block down. Sure enough, right where the Internet has pointed me to was the store I have been looking for. It just wasn't what I expected it to be. So much for modesty... I thought as I took in the lavish details of the glorified stone dealership. With a shrug, I opened the door and walked inside. There was a bald man behind a counter in a black suit with a rose red shirt underneath. "Welcome to Gems and Minerals, how can I be of assistance?" The man said with a practiced smile. "I'm looking for quartz." I replied simply. I was still taking in the details of the shop, the inside was decorated in an oriental manner. There were paintings of many cultures everywhere and the walls seemed to be made of... Bamboo? Why? "Well, I can certainly help you with that!" the man said with a small cheer. I'm not one to judge, but my gaydar is going off right is. "Uh, thanks. What's your name again?" I asked hesitantly. "Philip Twain at your service. Please, follow me." Philip said as he motioned me to a display case. Inside resided six sparkling gems, lit by a single light from above. "Here are our most prised pieces of quartz." he announced. I had no idea that quartz was so expensive looking, normally it's really cheap. "Uhh, how much would one of these dent my wallet?" I asked incredulously. "Well, the most affordable one you see here goes for around two-hundred dollars-" "Whoah, hold on just a minute there. I was looking for something more... Modest." I interrupted. Philip gave me a stern look. "Oh, I see. Follow me, right this way." he said as he turned to the back of the store, I followed. Philip then opened a panel on the back wall that contained a sort of container, not unlike those large craftsman tool cabinets. "Huh." I muttered quietly. Philip ignored me and shuffled through the codes on the drawers. "Ah, here." he announced as he pulled one of the drawers open, revealing a tray of dozens of white and clear stones, "I believe this was what you were looking for." "This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks." I replied happily. "Well, not that it's any of my business, but what exactly are you using these for?" Philip asked with the thickest tones of curiosity. I paused for the briefest moment before replying, "I'm... An Earth science teacher, I need some quartz for one of my lessons on crystal formations." I said with my greatest poker face. "Oh." Philip said, his expression brightening, "And here I thought you were getting married! I'm so terribly sorry for jumping to that assumption, I just never thought a person of your looks would be a teacher." "That's fine." I replied awkwardly, "How much for two of these?" I asked. "Well, for you... I'll give you a teacher's discount, how does twenty dollars sound to you?" Philip offered. "Perfect! Here you go." I said, fishing out a twenty at a surprising speed. "Ha! You certainly are a teacher, please, wait until I get these wrapped up for you and your receipt is printed out." Philip responded with a hearty laugh. He didn't even check for a teacher's ID.... Either he's stupid or I'm just that charismatic, I will probably never know. "Well, if you insist." I said lightly. Philip nodded, took two stones out, one clear and one white, and took them over to the counter. Philip wrapped the two stones in a practiced motion and put them in a small paper bag. The bag had the shop's logo on the side. I handed Philip the twenty and he handed me my receipt. "Thanks Philip." I said in a friendly tone. "No problem, do come again!" Philip replied. I then left the store and made haste for the car. I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to need more quartz, but I probably won't be coming back here. ... "I'm home!" I announced as I walked in through the front door. "Hey, how did it go?" Rainbow asked, being the first to see me. "I got the quartz Twilight needs, and nothing bad happened today... So pretty damn well, I'd say." I replied. Twilight came out of the library as if on cue. "Hey Matthew, you have it?" Twilight asked excitedly. "Yeah, here." I replied, handing her the bag. She took it in her mouth since she's storing her magic for later. "Wow, I can't believe it... We're actually going to go home aren't we?" Rainbow thought out loud happily. Pinkie Pie then jumped out of seemingly nowhere and attacked me with a massive hug, "Yay Matty! Remember when I said 'cheers to going home someday'? Someday is almost here, yay!" Pinkie exclaimed as she suspended herself of the ground. I giggled at Pinkie's antics, "Yeah, almost hard to believe huh?" I replied. "Well, that's only going to happen if I get back to work. So, if you will all excuse me." Twilight added before walking back to the library. ... Today wasn't so bad, no men in suits followed us today and my car wasn't sabotaged. Rainbow and I got to exchange music today as well, pony music is very vocal from what I've heard so far. Dinner today was more talkative than normal too, it almost felt like being with family... Almost. Pinkie Pie was also showing us some of her party tricks, including hoof shadows... How she managed to make a swan with just hooves I will never know. All in all, I managed to go to bed peacefully. There wasn't much in my mind to torment me right now, there was just the fact that I had to go to work tomorrow. ....... *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BR-!* I shut off my alarm and jumped out of bed and into the shower in a practiced motion. I was out five minutes later, drying myself quickly and putting on a pair of dark brown slacks and a crisp blue shirt with a black tie. I ate breakfast hastily and brushed my teeth as I packed a bag with casual clothing to change into later. By six in the morning, I was out of the house. Professional attire, messenger bag and skateboard in tow. I got in my car and drove off to work, successfully avoiding anypony from waking up. ... I drove into the parking lot of the hangar, humming happily to the Beatles. Once I parked in my respective spot, I hopped out of my car and made my way to the lockers, where I put on my coveralls and clocked in for work... "Anderson! Come into my office!" Mr.Simmons called from his office once I stepped into the work zone. I noticed that the previous shift had already hauled a new plane into the hangar. It was an A-320, a very old girl indeed, I shook my head and made my way to the foreman's office. "Yes sir?" I asked professionally. "We need to talk." he said softly, he motioned me to come inside and take a seat, and I did so. "What about sir?" I asked, pretending to not know what this was about. "It's about Thursday. Are you okay?" Simmons said, cutting to the chase as usual. "I'm fine Simmons, I just lost my interest in the position during the interview." "And made a fool out of me in the process, I was the one that recommended you to begin with, and you dared to show that kind of temper to men who have worked in the FAA longer than you have lived." Mr.Simmons said, tensing up a bit. "I'm.. Sorry, I kinda lost it when that Goldleaf guy turned out to be completely soulless." I apologized genuinely. "It's okay son, I understand what you went through and I'm willing to sacrifice myself just a bit for you. But, you have to understand that becoming a heartless person is simply what happens to man who does this line of work for as long as a man like Goldleaf." Simmons said. I looked up slowly at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" I asked. "He has a side job in the NTSB Matthew, he has seen a lot of failures and a lot of death in his lifetime... More than his fair share actually, eventually all of those things make a man numb to the rest of the world, make them look at everything objectively and only that. I'm sure that he didn't actually mean you any disrespect, he's just the product of suffering and torment." "Why are you telling me this, sir?" "Because Matthew, I don't want to see the same thing happen to you. It would break me to see such a promising man lose his humanity to his experiences. Listen to Mr.Naidoo's advise and move on before you are simply a copy of what Goldleaf has become." Mr.Simmons said genuinely, putting a fatherly hand on my shoulder. "Thank you sir, I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen." I replied. "Heh, you always do. Here" Mr.Simmons replied as he handed me the dossier on the plane in the hangar. "That A-320 needs its starboard flaps repaired before this aircraft get overhauled, the pilot asked for a change of tires and hydraulic fluid too." Simmons announced to me, returning to his normal, professional stature. "Consider it done, I'll tell the other crew chiefs." I replied before leaving the office. ... I gathered the other crew chiefs and informed them of our next job. We all split up the workload evenly and then we set off to gather our crew members to start the overhaul process. I had finished giving my crew members the situation report and we set of to repair the two starboard flaps that had apparently taken some damage during a landing. Three of my crew are going to remove the damaged skin, Dobson and I are going to get the rivet gun ready for when we are going to put in the replacement skin. I was at one of the work stations, connecting an air hose to the rivet gun we were going to use when someone approached me. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Mr.Anderson?" the man asked. I glanced at his identification on his left breast pocket, he was part of the NTSB. "Lucky you, that's me you're looking for." I replied, dropping what I was doing to see this conversation through. "Oh good, well, I'm in the process of an investigation right now. An Airbus 330 crashed in California two years ago, and your name came up in the paperwork." the investigator announced the alarming news. An A-330? "That's terrible, I don't quite recall the incident... Was everyone okay?" I asked. "Sadly, no. fifty-four people died in the crash and seventy-six people were severely injured. I came because two bolts that were securing the vertical stabilizer were signed by your name a month before the crash, but those same two bolts were nowhere to be found in the crash site." the man said. I gulped, this is very bad news. But I was never a pencil whipper! Shit, I could lose my job for this! "I see," I began, "I believe that we should be discussing this with the foreman present." I declared, the man nodded and followed me to Mr.Simmons' office. I knocked on the office door, "Come in!" Simmons called from inside. I walked in with the investigator in tow, Simmons' expression grew serious once he saw the NTSB was involved in this conversation. "Hello, are you the foreman in this facility?" the investigator asked. "Yes, Mr.Simmons, and you are?" "Mr.Witt, it's a pleasure." "Likewise, so, what's this about?" Simmons asked suspiciously. "Well," Mr.Witt began, motioning me to sit next to him, "An A-330 crashed in California around two years ago. While doing our investigation, we found that Mr.Anderson had signed for two bolts securing the vertical stabilizer just a month before the crash. Those two bolts were nowhere to be found on the crash site." Simmons leaned back on his chair. He understood what this meant if I couldn't prove that it wasn't my fault. "Well... This is quite serious." Simmons said in surprise. "Indeed, I came here to set the record straight." Mr.Witt replied. "Wait," I jumped in, "You said A-330 right? We don't get many of those here, what series was it?" I asked, putting a lot of hope into this one idea. "It was a...", Mr.Witt began as he searched through his case file, "Two-hundred series." Shouldn't he know that information off the top of his mind? He has worked on this case for two years after all. "Two-hundred.... I don't recall ever actually seeing the two-hundred series of an A-330 before, I remember working on the hundred and the three-hundred series, not two." I thought out loud. "That's some very compelling information," Mr.Witt replied, I saw a gleam of happiness in Simmons' eye, "Can you prove it?" Oh no... That gleam in my foreman's eye was gone. "I'm afraid that I don't have any paper evidence of that, sorry." I replied weakly. "Well then, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to suspend your licenses for some time until this investigation is over." Mr.Witt concluded, "You will not have permission to work on anything aviation related, power plant and airframe alike, for eight months. During that time you will rerun your training and you will either be allowed to return or be terminated. That last decision is for your company to decide." Witt replied. My heart sank when I processed that information, I will surely be fired if they somehow manage to prove me guilty. There are many other people just waiting to replace me, why would they keep me when they can have someone with a clean record? Mr.Witt left the office, left me to my thoughts until Simmons interrupted them. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through with this..." he said. "What now?" I asked glumly. "Now I have to fill out a whole lot of paperwork and you wait for a month or so until you get your training schedule in the mail. Sorry, but you're going to have to relearn everything in aviation. I wish there was something I could do to stop this, but this is something you're going to have to go through, they will probably lower your pay some." "Okay, I guess I will be seeing you sometime later." I replied, leaving to collect my belongings. ... It was near the end of my shift when I left, I changed into my casual clothing before leaving, and took my sweet time walking to my car. There's no rush anyway. I climbed slowly into my car and started driving, I didn't quite know where yet, but I needed to keep my mind busy. ... I drove aimlessly until I found myself at a park, I impulsively decided to find the nearest parking spot, got out of my car and pulled out my board. I soon found myself riding on a small, paved road with walls made of many trees. I may have lost my passion, but at least I haven't lost my release. I continued kicking along the road, following wherever it offered to take me, my passes slowly becoming more frustrated. I continued along until the path took me to a circle of bricks surrounding a small fountain with a statue on it, a war memorial. I jumped off my board and let it roll off to the side, there's no one around to steal it anyway. I have never seen this place before, but it had a familiar feel to it. There was a plaque on the statue, only somewhat hard to read because of that fountain. "We remember those who have fallen, but we cherish those who got back up and moved on". I read quietly to myself, the bottom of the plaque said: In loving memory of those who have fallen in Syria. I looked away from the memorial and looked around for my board, I eventually found it and picked it up, only to find myself sitting at the edge of the memorial circle. I was staring blankly at the blue sky. ... I eventually made some peace with the fact that I will lose my job, and passion, entirely and was now beginning my drive home. Get up and move on... That's one phrase I have heard people tell me far too many times, they don't understand how hard it can get to move on, how so much in life can go so wrong. Yet, I still yearn to move on, and still try my push forward because going back simply isn't an option. I've thought about ending it before, ending it all. It was actually a dominant though in my mind at one point, the day after I learned my family died. For a very long time, that thought would be a poison in the back of my head. Every time that I held a knife, leaned close over a ledge or worked near the power tools in the hangar, that one thought would linger: I could just end it now. The only thing that has ever stopped me from actually doing it wasn't fear, it was hope. Hope that one day I will be at peace with myself and the pain wouldn't be there anymore, and now I'm so close too. I spotted a flower shop and my mind stopped, how long has it been...? I found a place to park and bought fifteen pink roses, and then, made my way to the cemetery... ... The grave markers were right where they should be, still new looking. Mother, father, sister, aunt and uncle all in a single row... All so peaceful looking. "I'm sorry I wasn't there, I miss you all so much..." I spoke quietly. After a long moment of paying my respects, I placed three roses at each marker, reminiscing on cherished memories while doing so. I then turned around and headed home. ... When I arrived home, I found all three mares sitting on a couch and staring at the front door. What worried me was that they all had worried expressions on their faces. "What?" I asked innocently. "Where the hay were you? We were worried sick!" Rainbow exclaimed first. "Why didn't you tell us that you would be coming home late today? You had us thinking something happened to you." Twilight said in a much calmer tone. "Did something happen to you Matty?" Pinkie asked slowly, being the only one to notice that I was upset. "Well, I lost my job... That's what happened to me today." I said flatly. There was a unanimous gasp. "Why would they fire you?" Rainbow questioned sadly. "Well, apparently a plane I had allegedly worked on crashed a month after I worked on it. This was two years ago, and they recently found out that the parts that I had signed for were not present in the crash, so they could only assumed that I signed without actually doing anything and ended up killing... A lot of people." I explained. "Did you really do what they think you did?" Twilight asked. "No." Replied genuinely, "I'm not a pencil whipper." "That's not fair, you should go back and tell them that you did nothing wrong!" Pinkie suggested. "I told them that I never worked on that plane before, I've never even seen an A-330 two-hundred series before. But without solid proof, I've got nothing." I replied, defeated. "What are you going to do now?" Twilight asked. "Find a new job... Eventually. Technically my license only got suspended, but I know my company doesn't accept employees with a casualty count." "Matt, I'm sure you will get another job, somewhere where they will truly appreciate you." Rainbow encouraged. "Maybe... So, Twilight, how much longer?" I asked, changing the subject. "I know for sure that we will be ready tomorrow." Twilight replied confidently. "Alright," I began with a small clap, "Now that there's good news, let's eat some dinner." We all ate dinner happily, mostly happily. At least nothing tragic happened today. Ted Kimell was sitting at his office desk, rapidly going over files and reports. He knew someone was following his tracks, so now he had to cover them. The files of the three females that do not belong on this world sat in front of him, reports of certain and somehow connected covert ops and reconnaissance reports to the side. He knew how to find the people that were after him, and he could get them before they got either him or his friends. Ted knew that all he had to do was find his hunter and pull the strings he has to pull, the only factor he didn't have control over was time. He had to buy his friends time, blow the horn before the danger arrives. Ted jumped at the sound of his office phone, he picked up, "Yes?" "Mr.Kimell?" it was the lady in the lobby. "Hey Elizabeth, what do you need?" "There's someone here to see you." "Could you tell me who it is?" "Won't say." "Tell him I'm busy." "Okay." "Oh, and one more thing." "Could you hold a message for a friend of mine?" "Of course, who would that be?" "Matthew Anderson." "Oh." "Is there a problem?" "No, not at all! What would you like to tell him?" "Tell him that he will need to leave. He'll understand, and I trust you will keep this confidential." Ted Kimell said sternly. "No problem... When exactly do you want me to send this?" "When something happens to me." Ted replied. "Oh... Okay then." Elizabeth replied worriedly. "Thanks. By the way, would you like some dinner tonight?" "Me?... Of course, I think that would be lovely" Elizabeth replied quietly, Ted realized that there must be someone in front of her. "Well, see you after work. I won't hold you any longer." "By-" Ted hung up and got back to the task back at hand, he wanted to get this done soon. ... Ted continued working, he was the last man on this floor now, he was mostly sure of it. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard muffled footsteps just outside of his door, his heart began pounding at a concerning rate as he realized what this might be. Oh no, the boss. He thought quickly as he removed the three mare's files from his desk. He watched as the doorknob turn as he picked up a pen and pretended to be doing what he was supposed to be doing... The only problem was that the person who walked in wasn't his boss. "And who might you be?" Ted Kimell questioned his visitor suspiciously, he then spotted a pistol with a silencer being drawn from behind the man. Ted quickly reached for the gun in his desk, only to realize it wasn't there. He widened his eyes in realization. *pfft* The unknown visitor watched Ted Kimell's body slump forward on his chair, and then removed the silencer from the pistol and placed the weapon in Ted's limp hand before leaving with no witnesses. Blind SwingChapter 10: Blind Swing *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* BEE-* I instinctively shut off my alarm clock and got out of bed and into my shower in one swift and practiced motion. Mindlessly washing my tired body as I got ready for the day to come. I soon got out of the shower, all dry now. I started getting dressed: gray slacks, green shirt and a blue ti- oh yeah... No job.. With a heavy sigh I began taking off my professional clothing and slapped on a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain brown T-shirt. Wait... It's still 5:30 in the morning... I stopped and contemplated going back to bed, but soon realized that it's too late, that shower already woke me up. Well, you still have home entertainment... I thought to myself. I never thought I would feel like there's nothing to do the day after I got fired. I continued my train of thought as I quietly began heading downstairs, I could hear a faint noise from the other room and curiosity got the best of me. I walked over to Twilight's room, the door was closed and I quickly recalled the last time I woke that mare up. I shuddered at the memory of getting hoof-punched in the chest. Well, I'm pretty sure that she isn't asleep. I concluded from the faint noise of a turning page. With a deep breath, I turned the knob of the door and quietly walked inside. Twilight was sitting at her bed, books and notes scattered everywhere. Twilight noticed me come inside and quickly looked up with a faint smile. "Well, good morning Matthew." Twilight greeted. "Oh, hey. Did you happen to get any sleep tonight?" I asked. Twilight nodded, "Yes, I just woke up when I heard your shower turning on... Did you forget that you can't go to work today?" Twilight inquired. "Yeah, I guess I formed a habit after having the same schedule for six years." I replied nonchalantly. "Wow... That's a really long time to have a job." Twilight commented in awe. "Long time?" I questioned in disbelief, "Maybe in Equestria, but some guys in that hangar have held on to that job for over thirty years. Most of the teachers I've had during my school years have been teachers for more than a decade as well." Twilight's mouth hung open for a while, I guess it's shocking to find out that there are people out there that have had the same job for a longer time than you have lived. I guess I find it shocking too, but failed to have as strong a reaction as Twilight's. I waited a few seconds for Twilight to respond, when she didn't, I decided to change the subject. "So, still working on the spell I take it?" I asked. That snapped Twilight out of her reverie, "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm sure I will be done by the end of today." she replied with a grin. "That's great, I was actually thinking of inviting Ted over for him to say goodbye to you guys... You know, since he helped you, it's only fair that he gets to give you all a proper farewell." I said. Twilight simply nodded and went back to her work, "So... Coffee?" I offered before leaving. "Yes please." ... I walked quietly past a sleeping pink mare and an empty couch.... Wait what? I shrugged and continued my way to the kitchen. Rainbow Dash was sitting at the table, reading a book. "Rainbow? I didn't know you like reading..." I questioned before greeting. Very polite Matthew, you're a prodigy amongst gentlemen. Rainbow looked very startled, "M-Matt? Why are you up so early? It's only.... Oh." she trailed off as she remembered what day it was. I cocked an eyebrow, "What? It's not like being caught reading is embarrassing... Well, I guess it depends on what you're reading. What are you reading anyway?" "I guess you're right... But I still don't want to look like an egghead, it's okay to be seen reading every now and then, but not every single day like Twilight." Rainbow explained. "Rainbow, that is so... Odd. But I'm not one to judge, you still didn't tell me what you're reading though." "It's uhh... Cat's Cradle by some guy named Kurt Vonne-whatnow." Rainbow replied, unsure. "Vonnegut." I corrected. "Yeah, that." "I had no idea you would be into something like that." I commented, somewhat pleased. "Well, I was looking for something like Daring Doo, but I couldn't find anything that looked like it." Rainbow replied with a shrug. "Daring Doo? Who's that?" I asked in the thickest of curiosities. "Only the greatest adventure mare ever!" Rainbow exclaimed, trying not to be so loud as to wake Pinkie in the next room, "She hunts for treasure and outsmarts bad guys in the most awesome of ways!" "Huh... That actually sounds a lot like Indiana Jones." I commented. "Who?" Rainbow questioned with a tilt of her rainbow head. "Indiana Jones, he's a treasure hunter who thinks on his feet and has a witty attitude throughout his adventures." I explained in awe of one of the greatest adventurers in fiction. "Do you have any of his books?" Rainbow asked curiously. "His books don't exist." I began, noticing the look of disappointment in Rainbow's eye, "But I can show you the movies." I finished with a grin, she immediately lit up to the idea. ... Rainbow and I made breakfast, in that time we also accidentally woke Pinkie Pie up when I, in the most awkward way possible, dropped a frying pan. I made some coffee and brought it up to Twilight before Pinkie, Rainbow and I sat at the couch and began our India Jones marathon. ... "Hahahaha! Did you see that? He just shot his own plane and Jones had no idea!" Rainbow laughed hysterically. "Yes Rainbow I saw it." I replied monotonously, this was the hundredth time that she asked me that question after all. ... We had finished watching the entire series of Indiana Jones, I'm guessing they loved it because Rainbow was reenacting some of the action scenes while Pinkie kept pretending to be using a whip. "That was awesome, which one is the next one?" Rainbow asked excitedly. "That was the last one they made." I replied with a shrug. "Oh," Rainbow began with a tinge of sadness, "Do you have anything else?" "Actually... There one that you have to watch before leaving, Star Wars." I said as I reached for the controller and began searching for the right movie. ... We finished watching episode two, and I felt like I needed a break. We somehow spent pretty much the entire day sitting on this couch, and I'm starting to see a dent where I originally sat. "I think I need a little break..." Pinkie said, rubbing her sore eyes. "Yeah, agreed." I replied, looking at my watch, it was already seven o'clock in the afternoon. "Awww c'mon! We still have more to watch! Rainbow complained as she waved a magical hoof in front of us, probably trying to convince us with the force. "Rainbow, I have no clue how your eyes aren't begging for some sunlight right now, but Pinks and I need a break." I said flatly. Twilight walked downstairs as if on cue. "Hey Twilight, long time no see." I greeted. "Hey guys, sorry to keep you all waiting..." Twilight apologized. "Twi, there's no need to apologize. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be going home at all!" Pinkie soothed. "Thanks Pinkie." Twilight said as her mood brightened a bit, "I'm actually almost ready, I'm going to take a short break before triple checking my calculations a fourth time before attempting to get us home. We don't want to end up in some random place in space after all." "That's great Twilight." I commented, "I guess I should call Ted over any minute now." "Hey, did you guys leave any food for me? I'm famished." Twilight asked. "We left some leftovers in the fridge." Rainbow offered, "You're welcome to have it if you want." Twilight nodded and headed to the kitchen. ... We lounged around for a while longer when the sound of my doorbell made me jump. I quickly signaled Rainbow and Pinkie to go to the kitchen before approaching the door. I realized that I should be cautious as to whom I open my door to, I know people are after us and that we're on borrowed time right now, I looked through the peek hole in my door and was surprised at the sight before me. I opened the door. A woman was there, she was the person at the desk when I visited Ted's office and she looked like she had been crying all day. "Matthew Anderson" she asked with a cracking voice. "Yeah?" I replied uncertainly. "I'm Elizabeth Mcarran, I'm sure you remember me from the office building." Elizabeth identified herself, attempting to regain her composure. "Sure I remember you, how did you know where I live? What's this about?" I inquired. "It's... Ted. May I come inside?" Elizabeth announced. "Yeah, sure." I replied, motioning to the couch. Elizabeth sat down, and seemingly did not notice that the entire couch was warm, maybe she decided against questioning it. "So, what about Ted?" I questioned with increasing worry. "This morning... I'm sorry to have to bring you the bad news the way it was brought to me, but he was found dead in his office." Elizabeth said, she looked like she was on the verge of crying once more, but could not, she had no tears left to shed. Dead... "What happened to him?" I asked quickly. "I don't know. All I understand right now is that Ted knew what was going on and that the investigation only lasted five hours before they called it a 'suicide', of which I know is complete bullshit." I did my best to calm down. How could you possibly keep calm? You just lost your best friend! With a heavy sigh, I made my inquiry, "How do you know it was BS?" "Many reasons. He asked me out the night before, he also told me to send you a message if something were to happen to him. Also, the photo of his family was inside his desk when he was killed and there was nothing but case files on his desk, despite the fact that he only works the archives." Elizabeth reasoned. "Message? What message?" I asked. "That's entirely why I'm here, his message to you was: leave. He told me that you would understand." "That's it? Leave?" I questioned incredulously, I could feel my eyes begin to water. "That's all he told me..." Elizabeth began unsure before continuing, "When the investigation was over, I took the liberty to investigate for myself. All the forensics team took as evidence was photographs of the scene and a pencil! So, I looked through Ted's desk, I found this." Elizabeth then took out a small, yellow envelope from her purse and handed it to me. The envelope had Matthew Anderson written hastily on it. "That's certainly Ted's handwriting." I said observantly. "I know, what's in it though?" Elizabeth asked, I gave her a teary look. Don't get angry, she already cried her guts out, that's why she's not doing it now. I slowly opened the envelope, inside was a bunch of cash, nothing else. "Well?" Elizabeth asked impatiently. I pulled out the wad of money and showed it to her, "Wh-what does it mean?" Leave. He was giving me this money to leave, it's enough to buy a plane ticket to Chile. "I... I don't know." I lied. Elizabeth started shedding tears now. "So Ted Kimell was killed... Shot in the head with his own gun, for no reason?" Elizabeth questioned, standing from her seat, "I find that a little hard to believe... I'll leave that money with you since it's what Ted wished for, but I will keep looking for reasons as to why this wonderful man had to be so cruelly taken from this world. I can only hope that you do the same." Elizabeth said before heading for the door. I heard the door close and I turned to where the mares went to hide, they were already coming out. "Who the hay was that?" Rainbow asked. "And what did she say about Teddy?" Pinkie questioned, her eyes beginning to water. "He's... He's.." I couldn't hold it in anymore, I had lost my best friend and I needed to cry for him. My head rested on my palms as I tears began shedding freely. I couldn't see what the three mares were doing, but I could feel a wing being wrapped around my back. "Matty..." Pinkie sobbed a bit, "Teddy wouldn't want you to be so sad for him right now." she said, knowing that saying 'it's going to be alright' would only make it worse. I didn't look up from the safety of my hands, I tried to ignore the world around me, but I still felt three bodies hug me very tightly. "Matthew... I understand that this might be hard for you, but we no longer have the time for grief." Twilight said with a slow sob. A few moments passed before I could calm down, I looked up to see my three friends just as sad as I was, yet they were trying to comfort me instead of themselves. "Alright," I began with a deep breath, "Okay... Twilight, you need to get to work on that spell, now. Pinkie, Rainbow, I need your help barricading the doors and first floor windows." I finished, sucking in my grief for another time. ... I turned all of the lights off and we moved my couch into the front door and the refrigerator onto the back door, creating makeshift barricades that would hopefully buy us time if they are actually needed. Twilight was getting herself ready as Pinkie, Rainbow and I gathered the supplies. I was in the kitchen searching for the salt, but I couldn't find it... "Where's the salt?" I asked in a slightly desperate tone. Pinkie stood next to me on her hind legs and searched through the counter, quickly spotting the salt behind a bottle of olive oil. "Oh... Thanks." I said. "No problem!" Pinkie replied quickly. "Hey, how are you supposed to get aluminum powder from this?" Rainbow questioned as she lightly kicked the cheap etch-a-sketch. "Like this." I said, picking up the toy over a plate and tearing the thing open with the help of a knife. I then poured the fine dust into the plate. "Oh." Rainbow said. "Yeah, nobody dare sneeze now." I warned. "Yeah, that sounds fair." Rainbow replied. We headed upstairs to my room, Twilight had drawn an intricate rune on the floor with the chalk with the quartz at a corner of it. "Do you have everything?" Twilight asked nervously. "Yeah." I replied as I handed her the two ingredients. "Okay, place the aluminum dust on that corner over there and some of the sea salt on that corner." Twilight ordered, I poured the aluminum on the spot Twilight had indicated as Pinkie did the same with the sea salt. "There. Pinkie, Rainbow, stand here and there." Twilight said, pointing at two spots in the middle of the rune as she took another spot. This is it... My heart was racing a mile a second, my mind was racing through thought after thought, the sound of muffled footsteps came from the roof and... What? "Do you all hear that? I asked nervously. Everypony froze in fear as they listened to the sounds above us. I desperately looked for something to defend ourselves with, damn it, I don't have a gun. I spotted my skateboard in my closet. That is a stupid idea, I thought as I reached for it and waited next to the closed door. I barely even thought about it before taking my father's timepiece too, and stuffed it in my pocket. At this point, I guess luck is the only thing that might be on our side anyway. "Stop looking at me and finish your spell!" I whispered harshly, Rainbow was about to protest, but Pinkie shut her up with a sad look in her eye as Twilight continued her work, her horn glowing softly. I prepared myself to swing at the first thing that walked into my door. My heart was racing even faster, it was on the verge of bursting out of my chest at this point. *Thump thump* I heard the muffled footsteps stop. *Thump thump* I knew they were about to make their move, I mentally prepared myself for the worst. *Thump thump* ...The silence was deafening. *CRASH!* I turned to see my window shatter and instinctively covered my eyes when I saw what came through. A blinding light suddenly engulfed the room, it still managed to blind me, but I was not distracted. I faintly heard my door being smashed open and I quickly whipped around with my board, and smiled slightly when I felt it connect with something hard. I'm pretty sure whoever I hit yelped in surprise, but the ringing in my ears wouldn't give me the pleasure of hearing it. My vision was coming back, and I saw the intruder in front of me get ready to swing at me just in time for me to move my board in the way. I felt a fist connect with my board along with a distinct cracking noise. Damn, he broke my board. I dropped my now useless board and got ready for a fistfight, only to see the faint shadow of what looked like a rifle being raised towards my face. *Whack* I fell into a deep darkness, blacker than the darkness I was already inside of. I was unconscious, and I had failed the last of my true friends. .... How long was I out? I thought to myself, I was awake but there was nothing to see, I was in pitch darkness. Suddenly, as if in response to my thoughts, a bright light appeared. It was pointed right at me with the power of the sun, I could barely make out two figures behind the light. "Mr.Anderson, it appears that you have a lot of questions to answer." End GameChapter 11: End Game The bright light that is currently pointed at my face is threatening to burn out my corneas, it's so bright! It makes it hard to think straight too. Okay Matthew, assess your situation here... Bright light, faint outline of two people... Are those ropes? Yep, I've been tied down on a chair. One rope on my wrists around my back and another on my legs to the chair. You have two options on how to react, Matthew: You can try to talk this out, or you can panic. Panic sounded very tempting at this point, but something was driving me towards the former. That guy said that I have questions to answer. "What kind of questions?" I asked innocently, trying to squint past the light. "Don't play stupid with me, we know everything." the same voice as before retorted. "Define everything." I called back, trying to buy myself time once I realized that the rope on my wrists wasn't as tight as it should be. "Mr. Anderson, do we have to fall back on more... Conventional methods of questioning, or will you cooperate with us?" the male voice replied in a disturbingly soft tone, "By everything, we mean that we know that your father was in the CIA, we know that you worked as an AMT until your license was suspended not too long ago, we know that your hobbies include skateboarding and we especially know about your relationship with three certain extraterrestrials." the voice mock-answered my demand, finishing in a very menacing tone. "Aliens? I don't know what you're talking about." I bluffed. I heard a metallic table being smashed, followed by the sound of falling tools. "Damn it! Will... You.. Cooperate or not, Matthew Anderson?" the voice responded, clearly aggravated. I felt the rope around my wrists giving some way. I huffed, "Does it look like I have much of a choice?" I said. I was starting to see through the blinding curtain. I could see two men, one was talking to me, and the other was standing by a door. The door had an aluminum table next to it, there were scattered tools on the floor around it. Behind the man that is questioning me I could see a tool locker, along with it, the faint outlines of a hacksaw, carpenter's and machinist hammers, pliers and other tools that didn't seem to belong. Why are all of those tools in the same locker... They're all for different materials, what purpose could they have other than... Oh no. They're planning to torture me aren't they? "I don't see you getting out of this any other way." the man replied. "Fine, if you raided my house, you must have known anyway. Can I at least have a name to call you by? I don't feel very comfortable speaking to a nameless shadow." I complied. "Call me Gregory." the voice replied maniacally. "Okay... Gregory, what do you want to know? I'll be happy to answer since my schedule has been so conveniently opened up for you." I replied, hating the fact that he's using that name of all others. "Tell me who you work for." "Work for? I used to work for the FAA; I've never had any other occupation in my life." I replied confusedly. "No, tell me who you really work for!" the man shouted. "Look, I don't know who you think I am, but I'm just a regular man with a regular life. Whoever it is you think I work for, I promise you, I don't." I responded. What? Do they think I'm a spy? There was a heavy sigh, "Okay, that's one truth. Now, where are your three little friends from?" "..... Equestria." I replied hesitantly. "How did they get here?" "Unknown." "Lies, tell me how they got here." the man said menacingly, I heard the distinct sound of a knife being lifted from a metallic surface. "Look, they seriously don't know how they got here, and I seriously only ran into them by accident!" I said desperately, I was hoping they would buy that since they definitely wouldn't buy the weeping angels story. "Okay, part truth." the voice began, I heard the knife being put back down, "They know how to get back, don't they?" "W-why do you want to know why?" I asked nervously. "Who exactly do you think is asking the questions here?" 'Gregory' began, there was a slight pause, "We want to know, Matthew, because we are at war with multiple nations. We can both prevent an invasion from another world and exploit so many possible resources from said world at the same time. Now, answer." This is bad. "First, I really need to know this... How did you find us out?" I asked, stalling for time. "I will give you this at least." 'Gregory' began, somehow giving in to my plead for answers, "We knew from the beginning, Matthew. We have satellite imaging of the day to ran into your new friends and we have had agents on your tail ever since. I even had a little fun with my task force and shadowed you in the most obvious way to get you a little freaked out. I dare say that you made this a little too easy for us." he finished. "What?" I questioned in disbelief. "Yes, did you really think that your friend's tinkering with the archives wouldn't go unnoticed? Even if we weren't actively watching your every move, we still would have found out. Ted Kimell's death was your fault." he said, his words stung, "Now stop stalling, answer." "I think they might know how to get back home." I replied, defeated. I felt the ropes on my wrists start to undo themselves. "Hey Ca- Greg, I'm going to be on the other side of this door before you start your thing, last time was a bit too messy." the other man spoke for the first time, and left the room. "Well, now we have some one-on-one time with each other." 'Gregory' said, and I swear I could see the faint glimpse of a sadistic grin on his face through the curtain of light. Okay, that guy left. One-on-one isn't too bad right? Better chances on my part. I thought as I surveyed the room slightly, it looked like it had been insulated to keep sound in. I recognized the padding from what we put in aircraft walls nowadays. "It appears we finally have time to have a bonding experience." I said in a mock cheer. "Stop fooling around, I know you are a bright man, much like Gregory Anderson was. How are your friends going home? Some ship maybe?" 'Gregory' asked, his previous statement stung me. "I dunno." I replied, feigning ignorance. 'Gregory' leaned in close to me, enough for me to see his sadistic face. He held a yellow folder in front of me, "Mr. Anderson, this is my last contingency before I fall back on using my toys." he said menacingly. Do I know him from somewhere? "And what, pray tell, would that be?" I questioned. "Tell me something," he began, "Have you ever found out about what happened to your parents, younger sister and uncles?" he said leaning back into the light. "They... Died... In a car accident." I growled. "Is that so? I am so terribly sorry to hear that." He began in mock sympathy, "Now, do you want to find out what really happened to them?" That was when it hit me; I knew where I had seen this man before. My mind went back to when I spent the day with Rainbow Dash; he was one of our followers... My mind went back to the day I got the news of my family's death; he was the man that informed me to begin with.... "What did you do to them?" I questioned desperately. "Me? Oh, it wasn't just me. This case file states that it was four agents on a mission to terminate a loose end. Those loose ends being your father, the rest were just... Witnesses." he said heartlessly. My hands were free now; I just had to wait for an opportunity, "Witnesses?" I repeated. 'Gregory' leaned in close, "Witnesses." he snarled back. I head butted him, hard. I then released my arms and pushed him back before he could react and went in to release my legs. I froze in my tracks at the loud sound of metal on concrete, with a yelp of pain following it. I looked up, but failed to see anything through the blinding light and decided to untie my legs first. I set myself free and stood up, ready for a fight. What I saw when my eyes got accustomed to the darkness, though, was not what I expected. The interrogator was on the floor, pinned by a locker that fell and caught him at the ribcage. I had pushed him into a locker that wasn't secured into anything, and it fell on him. The amount of blood on the floor was making me sick, along with the gargling that came from the man. "You... Will......Not.......... Esc-" he said before his gruesome demise. I stood there in utter shock. Luck is on your side today, and you just killed a man.... It doesn't quite balance out. I felt sick with myself; I never thought that killing would be so sickening.... Or quite so easy. I eventually came back to my senses and reached for the gun in the man's shoulder mounted holster. Ted, I've never even held a gun before. Learn as you go Matt. I fiddled with the weapon a bit to find all of the buttons and such, there was a safety, which I switched to off, and there was the release, which I found out was how you take out the magazine, it holds seven bullets... And I guess I figure the rest out as I go... I will learn as I go. My eye caught on to the yellow folder that now resided on the floor... Could what he said be true? I almost went to go pick it up and read through it, but decided that I didn't want to know. If it was true, it would lead to more pain and suffering. If it wasn't, the same thing would happen, only pain could come from that folder. I walked over to the door, the guy that left is now waiting on the other side. He mentioned four agents before... Could that be the number of people here too? Unless I'm in some sort of military base, but this room isn't exactly high-grade. Here's hoping there's three left, and that the mares are here too. I tried my best to open to door in a stealthy manner, and it seemed to be working. I found myself to be mere inches from this man's shoulder, and he didn't seem to notice me yet. I began to raise the gun slowly, but he noticed me. Crap. "Don't you move a single muscle." I whispered as menacingly as I could, he just raised his arms in the air and- *Oomph!* Holy balls he's fast! Whatever he did, I was effectively disarmed and had a gun pointed at my face. "Well, you sneaky son of a bitch." the man snarled, "How did you get out of your cage?" I didn't respond, I was too busy trying to mentally prepare myself to die. The agent moved towards the door, keeping the weapon fixed at my head, but was distracted by the gruesome sight of his partner's demise. "Jesus! Calvin!" he whispered, looking away. I lunged at the opportunity and grabbed at the gun and pushed him into the room, I managed to yank the weapon from the man's grip of steel, but not without letting a shot out that ringed my ear. "Hey!" he shouted in the room before I shut the door, thankfully the door has a deadbolt on my side. Why wasn't it locked before? Maybe because his partner was in there. The agent punched at the door fiercely, but to no avail. But I was sure that the shot got everybody else's attention. I took in my surroundings. I was at the end of a really long hallway lit by florescent lights, the hall gets narrower at one point and it seems like it goes in two directions at the other end. Someone turned a corner and spotted me, pulling out his gun without hesitation. I ran to the small wall provided by the narrowing hall. *Bang!* *Bang!* The man fired two shots at me, and thankfully missed. That was two. I thought, hoping that his pistol held as many rounds as mine. A few moments passed in silence, no shots and no footsteps. I crouched and peeked around the corner. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* Shots flew over my head; I looked at the wall behind me to see that they would have hit me in the face if I weren't crouched. That's five, and that was too close. I pressed against the wall, my heart racing with adrenaline. I needed to find a way to get this guy to shoot without putting me in too much danger... Idea. I fired into the hallway without looking. *Bang Bang!* Four left. *Bang Bang!* The man had fire back, that was seven! I took a deep breath and turned the corner, running at the guy at full speed. I saw him around the other corner, reloading. I only had a few seconds for this. I sprinted as fast as I could and threw myself to the ground as soon as I saw my enemy show himself. They are shooting to kill, they have only aimed at my head so far. I found myself sliding on the ground, the agent was clearly surprised and I intended to use that to my advantage. I pulled the gun up and fired, I wasn't ready for him to fire too. *Bang!* *Bang!* I felt pain shoot up from my left thigh; it was like nothing I've ever felt before. I yelped in pain, holding back tears as I watched the agent's lifeless body fall to the ground. I had shot him in the head, on the right temple. Blood was pouring profusely from my thigh; I desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Oh, this is bad. Matthew! Whatever happened to you? I um... I kinda fell a few times. A few times? just look at your arms! What on Earth were you doing? I limped towards the end of the hall, I heard a crash to the right as I approached the end. I looked towards the source to see another agent getting up from the floor; she must have heard my footsteps because she turned her focus to me. "Do not move." she said sternly. I stared blankly at her, I felt a little light headed and didn't feel like talking to a stranger. "Rargh! Don't you even think about hurting him!" Rainbow yelled fiercely before pouncing on the agent. The woman was clearly stunned, and dropped her gun. Seeing Rainbow gave me enough hope to regain my energy, I quickly limped over to her to help. I painfully caught up with the two fighters and pulled the blue one away, shooting the woman almost without thinking about it. "Matt! You're okay!" Rainbow cheered, not noticing my bleeding leg. "Are... You guys okay?" I asked. "Yeah, Twilight and Pinkie are in that room back there, the idiots also brought the materials to cast the spell." Rainbow replied happily. "Oh.... Good." I said, leaning against the wall and slumping down to the floor. It was then that Rainbow noticed my leg. "Oh, crap. Matthew, we need to get you some help." Rainbow pleaded. "No, you have to go now." I ordered sleepily. Rainbow started tearing up, "I can't just leave you here! You can still come with us, Twilight knows a bunch of magical healing spells and stuff!" she offered desperately. I saw the agent twitch in the corner of my eye. "Equestria is not my world," I replied sternly, suddenly remembering something and reaching into my pocket. I fished out my father's timepiece, and placed it around Rainbow's neck, "Go, before more come this way. I'll buy you as much time as I can." I ordered. Rainbow hugged me, not caring about my blood touching her, tears now flowing freely. "You stubborn fool; I'm going to miss you." Rainbow sobbed. "I'll miss you guys too... Go now." Rainbow gave me one last glance before going back into the room, I soon saw a soft purple aura coming from inside. I turned my attention to the woman laying face down in front of me; she was starting to get up. I tried lifting the gun to her, ready to finish another life. But my arm felt so... Heavy. The woman just laid back on the wall opposite from me, staring at me. "Well, what do you know? It appears that we have similar injuries." she observed. I noticed he leg was bleeding too. "I guess so." "Mr. Anderson.... It's been a great hunt, but I'm too tired to finish it." she breathed. I simply closed my eyes for a moment, opening them just in time to see a blinding flash of white. "I think it's finished now.... Miss?" "Hawthourne." she finished for me, "Was that them? Are they gone?" Hawthourne asked. I nodded. My vision was starting to get blurry, my eyelids became heavy and my hearing became dull. I closed my eyes and gave myself time to think. So, this is what dying is like. I thought to myself. It certainly isn't what I expected it to be, I thought it was all 'my life is flashing before me and I see the light'. All I saw was blurriness. Life doesn't flash by you when you're on the brink of death, no. It's actually something much more focused, it's one train of thought and a few number of people that you remember. You focus on that one thought as hard as you can, hoping that whatever comes after this, this is what you will remember when you get there. What was my thought? It was: I'm done, I'm finally coming home, I'm finally joining you all. Mother, father, Sadie, aunt and uncle, I'm coming. Goodbye world. Goodbye Rainbow, Pinkie and Twilight. I opened my eyes once more; I don't know how long I've been lying there... But I started seeing a golden aura around my vision, at the edges of my blurriness. I closed my eyes and it was still there, the golden aura. Then, I felt it. I felt myself take my final breath.... .... What now? All I see is darkness. I no longer feel the ground beneath me... Actually, I no longer feel anything, not even my body. I still saw the golden aura though. What is this? This can't be the afterlife.... Could it? Seriously, if this is hell, then I must say that it's disappointing. If this is heaven, then it leaves much to be desired. I silently thought to myself in this void. And what is that golden aura? Is it getting bigger? I think it is.... I observed the golden aura begin to engulf my formless 'vision', and then... Nothing. No wait... No. Not nothing, I can feel something. Is that... A floor? It's different from the one I was on before.... "Hey, is that him?" "It can't be, come on!" I heard rapid hoofsteps and flapping wings.... Wait what? I shot my eyes open just in time to see a cyan blur slam into me, the blur held me at arm’s length. "Those same hazel eyes...." a familiar voice muttered quietly, "It's him! He's alive Pinkie!" What? I shook my head rapidly, attempting to get rid of the blurriness, only to get pulled into a fierce, cyan colored hug. "Matty! Yay!" yet another familiar voice cheered before I felt another hug from my side. I started getting back my vision, and the sight before me was unbelievable. I saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie right in front of me, as hard as it was to believe, I could feel them in front of me despite my previous numbness. Eventually, my gaze wandered past the two. I saw smooth porcelain flooring, tinted windows and a massive white horse.... With a pair of wings, a really big horn, and majestic multi-colored hair that waved in a non-existent wind. Is that the princess Twilight told me about? "What...?" I managed to utter. Rainbow managed to release me, as did Pinkie. The teary looks on their faces told me just how worried they used to be; now it looked like tears of sheer joy. I tried to stand up, but quickly fell back to all fours. I guess that, whatever happened, I'm still tired. "You know, that color coat kinda suits you." Rainbow managed to say. "What?" I repeated my previous question, now looking down at my... Hooves? I stared down at myself, as much as I wanted to see my fur-less torso and legs, I could only see light brown hooves. "I believe that you might want an explanation." the princess finally spoke. "Yeah, that would be of some help." I replied quietly, falling back on my new haunches. "Well, Rainbow Dash here was, very luckily, transported into my sleeping chamber. She hastily explained to me the situation that you were in and how you were the one to take care of my little ponies when I could not. With that said, I tried my best to resurrect you. Unfortunately, even my powers are limited; your body was too fragile to bring through the wormhole that Twilight opened up. I did, however, managed to get a hold of your soul and preserve it before bringing it here and, in some odd way, put it into an equine template. So that body is technically yours, it's what you would have looked like if you were born a pony." the princess explained. "Soul? I didn't know souls were physical, tangible things..." I questioned. "Silly, you can't touch a soul, though I think they would be really really really squishy if you could! They actually exist in the magical realm more than they do in the physical." Pinkie suddenly jumped in. Pinkie just explained something to you, don't question any further! Pinkie just gave you your final warning! "Okay." I nodded at Pinkie before turning back to the princess, "What about Twilight? Where is she? Is she alright?" "Well, Twilight was found in the courtyard, unconscious. My dear sister, Luna, was the first to find out that my faithful student was suffering from a mildly serious case of magical exhaustion and began giving her proper treatment at once. Twilight Sparkle will be alright soon enough, but she needs her rest." the princess explained, and also hinted at me that she was Celestia and not Luna. Awkward situation avoided. I simply nodded, relieved that Twilight was going to be okay, I tried my best to not freak out at the words ‘mildly serious’. I turned to Rainbow, who was still just inches away from me and looking slightly past me, "What?" I questioned. "Look behind you." she smirked. I whipped around and saw nothing, "No really, what?" "I meant your back, silly!" I looked at my back and stared for a while, taking a few moments to process the information. "Wings?" "Yep." "Huh, I guess it's only appropriate since I've been working on aircraft for six years." Celestia gave a slight cough to get our attention, "Now that you're here, I believe that I would very much like a few answers. You all left a lot of ponies worried sick, you know." "Oh, I think I should start then, since the three mares were unconscious when I found them..." I began ... We gave princess Celestia the whole story. I had the strange pleasure of meeting the other princess, her name is Luna, and we discussed many things about things to come. Celestia, very generously, offered me a place to live in Ponyville since I already have friends who live there. Pinkie Pie already began making plans for the 'welcome back to Equestria Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow! And welcome to Ponyville and Equestria Matthew!' party. Celestia offered Pinkie a ride home, but she refused on the grounds that she "Can make much better time when I travel alone." ... Rainbow and I are now quietly finding our way out of the palace of Canterlot. Luna is busy taking care of Twilight, Celestia is busy taking care of a nation, and Pinkie is busy organizing a party. "So... What now?" I asked. I immediately felt a hard slap on my left cheek. "Ow! What the hell was that for!?" I complained. "That was for making me leave you like that." Rainbow explained in a heartbroken tone. "Okay, I guess that's fair enough." I trailed off, "So, will you answer my question?" "Of what now?" "Yeah." "Now, we get to live don't we?" Rainbow smirked. "Ooh, now you're getting abstract on me aren't you?" I teased. "Maybe, right now all I want to do is get out of Canterlot. This is a place where modesty died long ago." Rainbow almost seemed to gag. "Alright, what's the fastest way to Ponyville?" I asked. "We can take the train... We should probably ask Celestia for some bits, I'm broke right now." Rainbow added. We awkwardly came back to the palace and asked princess Celestia for some cash to ride the train, she gave us the counter offer of giving us a ride on a chariot, but Rainbow insisted on the train ride. I didn't complain. ... "Two tickets to Ponyville please." "That'll be twelve bits." "Here you go." We grabbed our tickets and waited patiently on the station. We waited for only five minutes before the train arrived, we grabbed a pair of seats by a window and Rainbow happily painted out and explained every single landmark there was along the way. "That's the tree I fell through when I busted my wing! Man, you should have seen the trick I was trying to do!....." ... We hopped off the train the moment it stopped at our destination, walking lazily through the empty streets. It was getting late. "Where did Celestia say I was living again?" I asked curiously. "Some place that's been up for sale for I-don't-know-for-how-long. The nice mare that was selling it even offered it furnished and nopony took it, lucky you huh?" Rainbow replied. "Yeah, very lucky me..." I trailed off, thinking off all the close calls I went through recently. "Well, there it is. You see it?" Rainbow pointed at a house about a block away. "Yeah, looks lovely." I commented. "The princess told us that the owner would be waiting for you, so I guess not having a key isn't a problem right now." We walked over to the house, a mare opened the door before we got there. "Hello! Are you.... Matthew?" she asked, having some trouble pronouncing my name. "Uh, yeah. I came to see the house." I answered. "Well, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Berry Punch, pleased to meet you!" the reddish mare introduced herself. "Likewise." I replied. "Please, do come in." she offered, Rainbow and I stepped inside. Berry Punch showed us around the house, it looked nice and the foundation looked pretty sturdy. "Why would you give up a place like this?" I questioned. "Well, I'm raising a foal with my husband, and it's a little nerve wreaking when some other pony manages to pull your house for many meters before finally stopping. My husband and I managed to get a small place where we can raise little Berry Pinch, it's at the edge of town, far from Sweet Apple Acres." "Pulled... Your house?" I asked in surprise. "Uh, I'll explain later, Matt." Rainbow intervened. "Okay then." ... Berry Punch gave us a full tour of the place, giving me the key and walking away with a big bag of bits. "Well, I guess I'll be going home now.." Rainbow said, looking at the sunset through a window. "Sure." I replied. "Uh, I guess I'll come back tomorrow morning to give you a tour of the town." Rainbow began. "That sounds awesome." I commented. "Oh.. And I guess I should be giving this back to you." Rainbow motioned to the timepiece around her neck. "No, keep it. My father always wanted me to pass it on to someone anyways." I insisted. "Well, okay. I guess I'll see you later." Rainbow replied awkwardly as she began making her way to the door. "Wait, just one thing." I said. "Yes Matt?" Rainbow turned around quickly. "You slapped me for making you leave, but what do I get for coming back?" I asked. Rainbow walked towards me, leaning in really closely. "Depends on what you want." she answered slowly, almost biting her lower lip. "Well what do -" I began, only to be cut off by a sudden kiss. Surprisingly, I didn't fight back, I just let it happen. Rainbow pulled away, looking at the ground, "Um, sorry... I shouldn't ha-" I didn't stop to think about it, I close my eyes and leaned in for another kiss. It was pure bliss. Rainbow didn't pull away this time, instead, her tongue started pushing outward, begging for entry. Who was I to say no? Our tongues danced for what felt like an eternity, only the two of us, with nothing to interrupt. I heard Rainbow's wings shuffle slightly before we pulled away. "So, um... Goodnight." Rainbow said dreamily. "Yeah, goodnight." I replied quietly. Rainbow then walked out of the house and left me with my thoughts... I didn't have any; my mind was on the fritz. I closed the door behind Rainbow, not bothering to lock the door; I don’t have anything of personal value in here anyway. I then found my way to the master bedroom since there was nothing else to be done today. As someone would have expected, I couldn’t fall asleep. There were so many thoughts sprinting back and forth across my mind. I actually died today… Not only did I die, but I somehow ended up coming back as a Pegasus in a really faraway land. I guess I would be patting myself in the back right now, since I managed to rescue my friends in the end, if only I had hands. At least an hour had passed by before I finally found a comfortable position to sleep on and drifted off into a deep slumber. This bed is really comfortable… Epilogue: To Turn a Life AroundEpilogue: To Turn a Life Around I woke up to a sudden tapping noise that engulfed the room I resided in, I stood up quickly, getting out of bed only to fall face first on the wooden floor. Apparently it's a little hard to get used to having four legs; walking is easy, getting up is somehow difficult. With a slight groan, I got up and walked towards the source of the sound. It was my bedroom window... Well, my new bedroom window. This house hasn't been broken into and this window hasn't had a flash-bang grenade thrown through it. I couldn't see what was on the other side, yet, since there was a heavy drape covering the window and effectively blocking out any and all light from the outside world. I casually moved the drape to the side with a brown hoof, wincing at the blinding amount of sunlight that is suddenly pouring through the window. "Good morning, care to let me in?" a very familiar voice asked, I waited a few moments for my eyes to adjust before replying. I soon saw a hovering Rainbow Dash waiting for me to open the window. Was that thing that happened yesterday a dream? "Hey, you're up early," I began, "Wait, lemme unlock this thing." I fiddled with the small lock with my hooves with no success, I soon gave up and pulled on the small pin with my mouth and pushed the window open. I watched as Rainbow flew inside both quietly and gracefully. "Why couldn't you just use the front door like it is meant to be used?" I questioned. "Because I knocked five times before realizing that you weren't waking up." Rainbow replied, slightly annoyed. "Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought I was, sorry." I apologized. "Hey, no problem, I still got in right?" "I guess... What brings you here anyway?" "We were going to walk around town, remember?" Rainbow reminded me. Uh, I guess I'll come back tomorrow morning to give you a tour of the town. "Oh, right. What time is it?" I asked. "Uh, it was around eight last I checked." Rainbow replied. "Okay then, let's get going." I concluded. "Breakfast?" Rainbow offered. "I sure could go for something to eat, I don't have any money though." I said sheepishly. "Matt, it's not like I expected you to suddenly have equestrian bits on you. Besides, it's about time I started paying you back for those clothes you bought me." Rainbow responded. "Oh.... Yeah." I said with a slight blush of embarrassment, I then started making my way to the front door. I then noticed Rainbow wasn't following, she was simply staring at me, "Uh, Rainbow?" I asked awkwardly. "Matt," she began, now trying to contain her laughter, "Did you ever notice that your flank is blank?" Rainbow finished, now letting loose a giggle. "My what now?" I asked, glancing at my flank. Sure enough, all I saw was a plain, light brown coat. No 'cutie mark'. "Oh," I began in realization, "I still don't see how that's so funny." "You're a year older than me, and you have no cutie mark," Rainbow began, pausing to laugh for a short while, "And you just inspired me of a certain prank we could pull on three certain fillies." A devious grin appeared on my lips, "Fillies is the equivalent of girls right?" I asked, Rainbow nodded. "Alright, I'm in. But let's talk about that later, I'm starving." "Sure thing, let's stop by at the bank first." ... We walked lazily down the street, accidentally bumping into each other every now and then. We stopped at the local bank and we walked slightly faster towards the closest place that provided food. We were headed towards the market, but Rainbow immediately pulled me towards another direction, saying that she knew someplace better. We continued our path through an alleyway and found a restaurant as soon as the alley ended and the street began once more. "This place has some great daisy sandwiches and hay fries." Rainbow commented. "Uh, Rainbow? I don't eat that stuff." I replied hesitantly. "Matt, you have different taste buds now just like I did when I was human." Rainbow said plainly. "Oh yeah, good point." I replied in surprise. She always makes a good point.... ... Rainbow managed to convince me into eating a grilled daisy sandwich with an order of hay fries... As odd as it is to admit, it was pretty damn good. Daisies taste kinda like spinach only with a more citrus-y flavor. "Okay Rainbow, I think you got me hooked on daisies..." I announced between mouthfuls. "Ha! I knew you would like em!'" Rainbow declared victoriously. We ate peacefully for a few more moments, only a few moments. Pinkie Pie jumped out from under the table, a small party hat somehow holding on to her head without any string. "Ohmygosh! Matty, Dashie! Just the two ponies I needed to see!" Pinkie cheered abnormally happily before quickly pulling up a chair to our table and sitting down with us. "Pinkie.... Where did you come from?" I asked in the slightest tone of fear, Rainbow gave me a chiding glance. "From under the table silly! You saw me come out from there." Pinkie replied quickly. "Okay Pinkie, why is it that Matt and I are the two ponies you needed to see?" Rainbow asked, saving me from a migraine. Damn it Matt, you forgot the golden-pink rule: never question Pinkie Pie, punishable by brain aches and migraines. "You see, Twilight finally recovered from that nasty case of magical exhaustion and Celestia sent her here by chariot! She's waiting at her place and we should totally stop by to see how she's doing." Pinkie explained at an unbelievable speed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see how Twilight is doing." I said, standing up from my chair. "Uh, where exactly is Twilight's house?" "Heh, come on Matt, follow me." Rainbow motioned as she stood up from her seat. Rainbow walked towards Twilight's house, me and Pinkie in tow. I kept trying my best to look at the scenery as we walked, but the way Rainbow's tail swung from side to side was.... Distracting. I caught Pinkie giving me a coy smile, "What?" I asked innocently. "Oh, nothing." Pinkie replied dismissively. ... We were nearing the top of a slight hill when Rainbow looked back at me. "We're almost there." Rainbow announced. "Oh, good." I said, perking up slightly. I soon saw a large tree with a front door and windows. "Uh, it's not that is it?" I asked. "Yeah it is. Twilight's house is both a library and a tree." Rainbow replied. My mind childishly went back to a certain sponge that lived in a pineapple before his show got canceled. Oh, who lives in a li-bra-ry over a hill; Twi-light Spar-kle! I shook the thought out of my head, that was silly. "Nope! It was actually kinda funny!" Pinkie giggled. "What?" I asked. "That lyric about Twi that you just made up, it's kinda funny!" Pinkie chirped. "Bu-but.. I didn't say that out loud." I replied in disbelief. Wait, remember the golden-pink rule Matt! "Well, you see, the reason I was able t-" "No, I don't wanna know." I interrupted Pinkie, getting a slight glance of approval from Rainbow up ahead. "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said with a bounce. Now that I think about it, she was bouncing for most of the trip here... Odd. "Well, we're here." Rainbow said, stopping at the front door. Pinkie didn't hesitate before trotting past me and Rainbow, opening the door quickly and closing it behind her before either of us could say a word. Rainbow just looked at me and shrugged, she then knocked on the door and waited for a response. "It's open!" Twilight called from inside. Rainbow opened the door and let me in, it was dark in here... Really dark. We walked inside, hesitating on closing the door since it was our only light source. "SURPRISE!" a massive cheer greeted us, lights being turned on in the process. "What?" I asked once more, I seem to have been asking that a lot lately. Before me, I saw a sleepy Twilight, an overly happy Pinkie Pie and a grinning Rainbow Dash. But there were more ponies in here, ones that I didn't recognize; there was a white mare, and orange one and a soft yellow mare, and... A baby dragon, all smiling hesitantly. I glanced upwards, there was a banner saying 'Welcome to Ponyville Matthew!'... Why is it dedicated to just me? Wasn't Pinkie planning a party for Twilight too? "Matthew?" Twilight asked wearily, "Is that really you?" I nodded, not knowing which words to choose from. "Princess Celestia told me what happened... Did you really sacrifice yourself for us like that?" Twilight continued. "Wait, you didn't know?" I asked, now I was even more surprised. "No," Twilight shook her head, "When Rainbow came back to the room she kept saying that you were fine." Clever mare, she knew Twilight would have come for my rescue. "Well, I'm all right now, so no worries." I dismissed, "So, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" Twilight simply ignored my last question and trotted across the room towards me, tackling me into a fierce embrace. "You gave up so much for us, even your life... And you want me to simply forget that?" Twilight said, sobbing slightly on my shoulder. I hugged Twilight back, everyone in the room was quiet, I noticed the white mare put a hoof to her muzzle, holding back tears of her own. "Twilight, I'm alright now. There was really not much left for me back home anyway." I insisted, not wanting to see a friend cry for me at a time for them to be joyful. Twilight pulled away from her tight embrace, holding me at arms length, "Matthew, you really gave too much for us... I don't know if I will ever be able to repay you for the sacrifices you made for us." "Come on now, I already said you have nothing to worry about; we're friends for crying out loud, I was there when you guys needed me, I'm sure you would have done same for me." "Thank you..." Twilight said quietly before letting go of me. "It's all in the past now." I began darkly before brightening back up again, "So, introductions?" This brought Twilight back up to her normal attitude, "Yeah, sure. This is Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike." she said pointing a hoof at the orange mare, white and yellow mare and the dragon, respectively. "Howdy there." Applejack greeted in a heavy southern accent. "Pleased to meet you!" Spike said with a wave. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Rarity said in a cultured accent, giving me a slight wink when nopony was looking. Fluttershy just squeaked and tried her best to hide behind her mane, intimidated for some reason. "Hey everypony." I waved, "So, uh... What now?" I asked awkwardly, not sure on how to proceed in this situation. "Well, we heard a rather brief explanation of what happened from Pinkie Pie, I'm sure that you would understand when I say that we would like a much longer, slower, and more thorough story telling of this... Adventure you four had." Rarity spoke up, getting nods of approval from the majority of the audience. "I guess that's fair." I replied, I suddenly got hit with a ton of pillows. "Oh, sorry." Rainbow Dash apologized as she hovered over me, "I was getting pillows for everyone to sit on." she explained. "Er, RD? don't ya mean everypony?" Applejack asked incredulously. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I picked up a few bad habits over the past month." Rainbow dismissed. "Well," I began, working my way out of the pillow stack, "Everypony just grab a pillow and we can get this show on the road." ... "Your job is to do what?" Spike asked in surprise. "My job was to overhaul, repair and maintain aircraft." I replied. "Your world has machines that can fly? That's... Beyond ingenuity." Rarity said in awe. "Yeah, they are quite a sight." I replied. ... "You were in a what now?" Applejack asked in confusion. "Uh, it's basically a wagon that pulls itself." Rainbow answered for me. "And how the hay is that supposed to work? I sure could use a few of those on the farm." Applejack replied. "It works with an internal combustion engine, it's quite genius really. To think that you could harness thousands of tiny explosions and focus the energy to turn two axles..." Twilight droned on. "Okay, Ah'm lost now. Could we get back to the story now?" Applejack said, regretting that she got Twilight into her fascination mode. ... "Hold on just a minute there darling, did you... Just say that you lived in a world where everypony wears clothes... Every single day?" Rarity asked in a mixture of awe and disbelief, "I knew I should not have let Pinkie Pie take my place in that monster hunt." she said with a slight pout. "Speaking of which, Twilight, did Celestia ever tell you what happened to the weeping angels while we were gone?" I asked curiously. Twilight nodded, "Yes, she told me that she managed to speak to one of them. All she explained to me was that they aren't coming back to Equestria ever again, in a rather... Angry way." Twilight finished hesitantly. "I guess I will know more later." I replied, going back to the story at... Hoof. ... " What's a skateboard?" Spike asked after I mentioned that I was teaching Rainbow how to skate. "Think about Scootaloo's scooter, only without the handlebar, it's also not as wide and the wheels aren't as big. It's also much louder than scootaloo's scooter." Rainbow explained happily, Fluttershy seemed to cringe slightly once Rainbow mentioned the loudness factor. Should I explain that the loudness depends on the bearings? Nah. ... "Now why would ya think tryin' somthin like that would keep that guy quiet?" Applejack questioned. "Hey, I had to think of something quickly. And it seemed to work anyway." I defended. "Yeah, and you should have seen him, it was so awesome! I almost believed it too, if it weren't for the synthematic life thinggy." Rainbow added. "Synthetic." Twilight corrected, cringing slightly at the slaughter of vocabulary. ... "Y-your friend was killed? Who could possibly do such a horrible thing?" Rarity asked, her eyes quivering. "My own government... They saw an act of treason and acted upon it at once, even if it was my fault that he was involved to begin with." I said bitterly, remembering the painful words of the interrogator. Ted Kimell's death was your fault. I pushed those thoughts back, they were lies, painful lies. "I'm so terribly sorry for your loss, but rest assured, you can't possibly blame yourself for Ted's death, you couldn't have known." Rarity soothed. "Thanks." ... "So you barricaded the first floor doors and windows, but didn't expect them to attack from the second floor?" Spike asked once I mentioned the 'we got captured' part. Yes Matt, barricade the first floor Matt, they totally don't have the technology or the logistics to attack from the second floor Matt... "Yeah, I kinda slipped up on that part." I replied. "How did you escape?" Spike asked excitedly, clearly very much into the action. "Let us get to that part." I replied calmly. "Yes, and since we're almost done, that means we're just minutes away from starting the real party and serving cake!" Pinkie Pie added excitedly, seeing how she hasn't spoken in some time, I can tell that she's really eager to celebrate. ... "He questioned me for some time, it really didn't take me long to realize that they were planning on torturing me if I didn't cooperate. Now that I think about it, I don't think they were planning on letting me out alive since the interrogator was giving me more answers than I could have hoped for." I told, leaving out a few details. "What happened next?" Rarity asked quickly, she was now laying down on the floor, head resting on her forearms. "Well, I knew that my chances weren't very good. But the ropes on my wrists weren't as tight as they should have been." Applejack snorted at that, "So I tried my best to stall the interrogator while I untied my wrists. I was unbelievably lucky, the other guy by the door decided to leave before 'things got messy'. So that's when I decided to make my move, I managed to get the interrogator close enough for me to head-butt, followed by a really hard push once I released my arms." "No one wins the head-butt!" Rainbow whispered to herself. "I then... Untied my legs and used the rope to restrain the interrogator." I lied. "He... Died didn't he?" Fluttershy intercepted my lie almost instantly. "Don't be a silly filly Fluttershy, nopony jest dies from bein' tied down." Applejack responded, not entire understanding what Fluttershy meant. "No, nopony just dies from being tied down." Fluttershy repeated, shaking her head, "But that wasn't what happened, was it?" Fluttershy gave me an apologetic look. Everypony else stared at me in surprise once I didn't deny the truth. "No... It wasn't what happened." I answered darkly, "How did you know?" "That look in your eyes. It's the same look I saw in Mr.Grizzles' eyes when he came to me after accidentally killing his friend in a fight." Fluttershy answered sorrowfully. Well, no turning back now. "Do you all really want to know what happened?" I asked, there was a unanimous nod of agreement. , "When I pushed the man, he fell back into the locker filled with his instruments of pain. That locker was apparently not secured to anything and it just.... It just fell on him. I didn't do it on purpose, but there it was. When I managed to see what had happened... The blood, oh god all of the blood. That man spent his last dying breaths to tell me that I wasn't going to escape." I said, looking down at the ground, not daring to look at anybody in the eye. I heard the small gasps coming from all around me. "Hey, it was either you or him." Rainbow said, putting a comforting hoof around my neck. "Yeah, it was. it's still haunting, seeing someone like that." "Hey, don't beat yerself down sugarcube. It ain't like ya did it on purpose." Applejack tried to comfort some more. "Yeah, but the next two were." I announced, everyone except Rainbow seemed shocked to hear that. "Hey, you had to! It's not like they weren't trying to kill you!" Rainbow consolidated. "Yep, true." I replied simply. "Is that how... You perished?" Rarity asked hesitantly. I nodded. "I grabbed the interrogator's gun and managed to trap the guy that left inside of the interrogation room. Well, I trapped him inside, but not without him firing a shot off into the air, alerting another agent who came down a hallway. I managed to shoot him in the head, and he managed to shoot me in the left thigh." I explained briefly, "I was bleeding badly, but eventually the pain numbed away and I was able to limp towards the end of the hall. I found another agent who was headed toward Rainbow but saw me as a greater threat, pointing her gun at me. Rainbow took the opportunity to surprise the agent lady and I came up, pulled Rainbow away and shot the woman in the leg, almost without thinking about it." I said, that last part surprising even me. "What happened then?" Applejack asked eagerly, she didn't seem conflicted with the 'I have killed' thing. "That was when I started getting dizzy, I don't remember too much from then." I answered. "Yeah, he slumped down on the wall and told me to just leave him there." Rainbow took over the story,"I kept telling him that I couldn't just leave him there, but Matt proves to be too stubborn sometimes. He gave me his timepiece and demanded that I go." Rainbow paused, almost shedding a tear, almost. "So, I ran. I just ran back to Twilight and Pinkie without looking back and told Twilight that Matt was fine, knowing that she would try to save him if I told the truth." "I... I don't know what to say." Twilight responded in defeat. "Matty? Is it okay if I asked what... Dying feels like?" Pinkie Pie asked hesitantly. "Sure, I guess people would like to know if someone else went through it and came back to talk about what just happened." I began, trying to get my thoughts organized. "You know? It was actually a lot like falling asleep. I did start feeling numb and a little cold, my vision was also getting really blurry... But besides that, it was like going to sleep." I answered. Everypony in the room was quiet, letting that thought sink in. "Well, that certainly was not the answer I expected to hear." Rarity commented. "Well, it certainly wasn't something I expected to experience, but that's how it was." I shrugged. "Can we start the party now?" Pinkie Pie asked anxiously, shifting her weight from side to side. "I guess we c-" I almost managed to respond, only to be interrupted by Pinkie Pie jumping unbelievably high into the air, confetti spraying in all directions. "Whoohoo!" Pinkie exclaimed in mid-air. Where did all of the confetti come from? "Well, I guess the party started." Rainbow announced, her mood lightening up considerably. ... This was certainly a very interesting party, considering that all of the participants, albeit one purple dragon, were ponies. I also learned how to dance with four hooves, which was surprisingly easy to do. Put your left hoof out, put you right hoof in. Now, reverse and head-bang. The cake was amazing too, Pinkie managed to bake it this morning as soon as she heard that Twilight had woken up. She really lives up to her self proclaimed title of Allaroundsuperfantasticironchefmareden, seriously, this cake is beyond amazing; it's almost like it gets tastier with every bite! ........... The sun was coming down now and we all went our separate ways. Rainbow tagged along with me since my house was on the way to hers. "Your friends are really nice." I complemented, trying to throw around the proverbial ball of conversation. "Thanks, I've known Fluttershy since I was in flight school." Rainbow replied in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "A very perceptive one she is." I replied, recalling the fact that she saw through my iron curtain. "Yeah, that was actually very surprising. She never found out anything from me that I didn't want her to know, but she saw right through you." "And I'm some sort of experienced liar too, considering that I totally fooled that guy in the street." I said with feigned pride. "I really can't say this too often, that was amazing. It was like nothing I've seen before, you had him fooled all along." Rainbow said with an adorable giggle. "Heh, that was pretty hilarious from my point of view now that I look back at that." I commented. "You remember the face he made when you showed him your wallet?" Rainbow asked. We suddenly broke out in laughter. "He was so confused! I didn't even give him enough time to get a good look at it." I commented once I regained control of my laughter. "Heh, yeah." Rainbow replied, wiping a small tear from her eye. "This sunset is really nice." I said after a moment of silent walking, my voice dripping with awe. "Nice? It's one of the most beautiful things in Equestria." Rainbow replied, looking towards the sun. "Yes, but not the most beautiful thing in Equestria." I said quietly. "How would you know that? You haven't been here for all that long." Rainbow asked in shock. "Well, I just know, you know?" I answered lamely. "Look, I know this spot in the park where you can really see how beautiful the sunset is. Let me show you because you really don't know what you're talking about." Rainbow insisted, nudging me to the left. "Okay, okay, I'm turning left." I replied. "Good, the park is right there anyway." "So it is." I nodded. Rainbow and I eventually came to the park Rainbow mentioned. The park was marked by a modest fence, the only trace of interference inside was a dirt path and a few benches in the distance. Rainbow led me down the path, accidentally bumping into each other every now and then. I didn't mind too much, it certainly wasn't anything to make a fuss about. "Okay, follow me." Rainbow said, steering from the dirt path and into was seemed to be just woods. "Sure thing boss." I obeyed. We walked slowly up a slight hill, the trees started clearing up. We soon arrived to the top of the hill, it was occupied by a single tree and provided a clear view of the sunset. "Welp, this is it." Rainbow concluded. "Wow, you weren't kidding. This really shows off the beauty of the Equestrian sunset." I complemented. "So, does that mean I convinced you?" Rainbow asked curiously, taking a step forward. "Um, no." I said curtly. "Well, I guess that means we will have to stay here until you say so." Rainbow said, sitting next to the tree. "Try me." I said with a smirk, laying down next to Rainbow. ... "So, tell me; what exactly is more beautiful than this sunset?" Rainbow asked after a long moment of silence. "Oh, I can't say." I replied innocently. "Oh? Why not?" Rainbow asked curiously, ever so slightly scooting over towards me. "Because." "Cmon, I trusted you without question before, why can't you tell me one tiny thing?" Rainbow begged with a tinge of disappointment. "Well, if you really want to know." I replied hesitantly. "Yes?" Rainbow asked. "It's something really personal, really." "Yes?" "Are you super sure that you want to know?" "Yes..." This could be thin ice you are treading on right now. "You, Rainbow Dash." I finally said. Very thin ice. I cautiously looked over at Rainbow Dash... I was surprised to see a small smile on her lips. "That's... A surprise." Rainbow managed to say. "Well, now that we're in this situation, I'm going to ask... Do you, uh, want to be my uh... My girlfriend?" I asked awkwardly, I haven't done this in a long time. "I thought I already asked you." Rainbow said with a smile. "Wha-?" I began confusedly. "You do remember that kiss last night, right? That, Matt, was me asking." Rainbow explained. "So, that's a yes then?" I asked, I'm having some trouble realizing that this is actually working out for me. Rainbow gave me the most beautiful giggle, "Yes Matthew, I will be your marefriend." she replied slowly, as if making sure I understood. "Oh, well, that was kind of easy." I said, cheering up. "You saying that I'm easy to get?" Rainbow retorted with feigned insult. "No, not at all." I replied seriously, "Easy to get isn't the right words; easy to ask is more like it." I answered. "Yeah, I guess that's true." Rainbow replied with a bright smile. Nice save Matt. No problem, Brain; you saved me enough times for me to start saving back. What? "Hmm, it's getting dark; we should get going now." I eventually said, watching the last bits of the sunlight disappear. "Yeah, we should." Rainbow answered warmly, giving me a quick nuzzle. I looked at her in surprise, "What? We're a couple now, I should be able to nuzzle you when I want to." Rainbow defended. "I think the same goes for me then." I replied, giving her a playful nuzzle to emphasize my words. I then sat up, looking deeply into Rainbow's magenta eyes. "Well? Let's get going then." Rainbow said after a very long, yet comfortable stare. "Yeah, let's." I answered, waiting for Rainbow to get up before we started walking back. We were bumping into each other a whole lot more now, not sure if it was accidental anymore. ... By the time we reached my house it was nearly pitch dark, the sunlight went away really quickly. "So, this is it." Rainbow said, "See you later then." "Sure." I said, leaning in for a kiss. Rainbow beat me to it, pushing forward with an amount of passion that sent a chill down my spine and set my blood to a boil. I pulled myself out of the shock and started pushing back with just as much passion, our tongues now partaking in a moving dance, a dance that repeatedly sent pleasant chills up and down my body, my mind turning into a fuzz of thoughts too incoherent to remember. I heard Rainbow's wings flap a few times before we both pulled away. "Wow, that was certainly something." Rainbow commented in awe, a gentle blush on her face. "Yeah." I replied, pausing with a peculiar thought. "Wait, it's really dark right now, are you sure you can get home safely?" I asked. "Um, I dunno, it's actually really hard to see clouds in the dark." Rainbow replied with a peculiar gaze. "Well, would you like to stay the night?" I offered. Rainbow gave a soft giggle, "I would love to." I nodded, opening the door and motioning her to come in. I watched her walk past me, her rainbow tail flicking my nose. I gave a soft sigh of bliss. My thoughts once again becoming prevalent. Who would have thought that things could change so dramatically, so quickly, in such a short amount of time? Barely a month has passed by since I first met my three special friends. In that relatively short time, I learned of a new world; I taught a new friend how to skate; I tried the dude challenge, again; I was chased by secret agent men; I rejected a promotion; I lost my job; I lost my childhood friend... Still, there's one thing that rings in my mind, one phrase that keeps repeating itself, one phrase that had to be told to me countless times: move on. Ted told me, Simmons told me, Mr.Naidoo gave the same advice... It's about time I started telling the same thing to myself. Moving on... It's what Ted would have wanted me to do, he would hate for me to go on in grief once more like before. It's what dad would have wanted me to do, he believed that the only way to go is forward; because you can't go back and just standing there is just silly. So that's what I'll do, that's what I did do. I finally moved on and accepted, I could not have prevented their deaths, but I can preserve their memories. I should have a memorial built eventually, that should do them some justice... Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, Sadie.... Ted. Who would have known? At times where hope is but the smallest ray of light in a bottomless pit of misery, there is still that small hope. For me, that pinprick of light grew into the form of three mares. It was those three special friends that managed to shock me into the fast lane of recovery, and it was those three that finally managed to turn my life around. The End. Author's note: This was certainly loads of fun to write, I even surprised myself in a few parts of this story. I'm sure that many of you found Ted's death as a surprise, I'm almost sorry to say that I planned his death from the very beginning; his last name was actually a hint towards that, Kimell? The word kill is in that name, and you can only assume two outcomes from that. I did mention before that I would have very subtle foreshadowing! I would like to give a massive thanks to refferee for an outstanding job as my editor. You sir are a very awesome individual and I look forward to continue working with you. Refferee's work has been accurate, efficient and an overall stelar job. Well, this is something I'm really curious to ask. Did you guys like the ending? I've written and rewritten this epilogue five times, each time I was very disappointed with how things came to a close and this one seemed like the only way to make a happy ending; and since this is my first story, I really wanted a happy ending. I'm going to continue writing after this, in case you were wondering. So, stay tuned for some more fanfics! In the meantime, feel free to thumb up (Or down if you really, really want to) favorite, comment, watch; the works. I really hope you guys enjoyed this story, this is TheEngineer signing off, only to sign back on in a short time.
Prologue: Is this the real life?To Turn A Life Around A story by: TheEngineer Prologue: I stopped to take in my surroundings for the briefest of moments. Okay, most of this scenario is just perfectly normal to me: Dark sky with plenty of stars and a moon to match clearly visible since I am currently miles away from the city; and there’s also some grass, that’s pretty normal. So why am I three hundred feet from the road outside of my recently out of control car staring at the three most bizarre figures I have ever seen? There in front of me, a mere ten feet away from me lit only by my car’s headlights, lay three motionless and very colorful… Well, rather small horse… Things… How on Earth did I ever end up in a situation like this? My day started out perfectly normal. Brushed my teeth, took a shower, put my pants on one leg at a time, ate my breakfast and left for work respectively. Nothing wrong with that order! So what could have gone so wrong that… Ohhh, ponies; that’s what they are. Small horses are called ponies! Of course, how come I didn’t realize that at first? Was it that the bizarreness of this situation and all the pretty colors kept me from making that one coherent thought? Great, I am going insane, just going completely Looneytoons right now. And what does a completely insane person do when faced with this type of decision making? That person begins to take three colorful bundles of unconscious fur and puts them in the back seat of his car! It just makes perfect sense! -----------------Earlier that day-------------- Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! Beep!Beep! I slowly woke up to the tormentor that is my alarm clock. “uhhhhgh” Seemed to be the only sound that came out of my mouth as I blindly reached for the off switch on that dammed and yet career saving device. After about two minutes of blindly flailing my arm around in fruitless effort, I gave in to the alarm clock’s wishes and got up. I shut off the alarm and look at the digital display, 6:03 am ugh, Tuesdays. With an all too practiced motion, I hopped out of bed and walked across the room to my faithful bathroom to take a nice and awakening shower. A rather quick shower, I was out in 10 minutes flat and made my way to my dresser as I dried myself. Crisp white shirt and dark brown slacks with a black belt and matching shoes along with my trusty clip on tie (What? There is a reason for it!). I went to go brush my teeth and quickly went downstairs and made myself a hasty breakfast that was equally hastily consumed. By 6:45am I was making my way to the driveway. ‘Hmm, SUV or sedan?’ I thought happily as I made my way into the gray sedan and began the hour and a half commute to work, my line of work being located at a commercial airline overhaul base in Pennsylvania. Juuuust in case you haven’t the faintest clue of what an overhaul base is or what it is for, I’ll just take the liberty of explaining. An aircraft overhaul base is where major maintenance or repairs are performed on aircraft, this is where planes are stripped to bare bones and inspected for the smallest of flaws and fixed to “Acceptable Flight Capacity” or higher (Ha! The look on a civilian's face when I say acceptable flight capacity is just priceless! There is a reason a lot of things that are done to the planes that people fly in are put in friendlier terms or not spoken of altogether). What is my occupation you may ask? I work there as an AMT (its short for Aviation Maintenance Technician) and I specialize mostly with composite materials, which is good considering the rise in its popularity thanks to the Boeing777 models. … I arrived at the OB rather quickly that day, about fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Found my parking spot, walked at a leisurely pace and clocked in on my way to the lockers. As I opened my locker I noticed something was off… was it? No. Wait, the lock was missing? THE LOCK WAS MISSING? I franticly looked through my locker only to stop myself and realize that nothing was actually gone or out of place. Sighing with a mind full of personal embarrassment I pulled out my set of coveralls, slid myself in, and slowly shuffled my way to the office to get my assignment. “Hey, Anderson!” came a familiarly booming voice, I turned to meet a rather cheery foreman. “Mornin’ Mr. Simons” I called back as he made his way to me. “I am very pleased to see you come early today, your shift doesn’t start in ten minutes and we have a rather heavy job on our hands!” responded my foreman. I immediately knew what heavy job meant in his vocabulary, it meant someone in the previous shift messed up big time; this line of work isn’t as low as being a grease monkey in a garage, it pays well and the hours are good, but sometimes it can really give you a massive workload. “Ughh, what did the grave yard shift do sir?” I inquired. “Well, this 777 came in as a regular overhaul but somebody thought it was a perfectly dandy idea to leave the safety pins on one of the landing gears out. When we shut off the hydraulics, the portside wing got smashed on the ground. I tell ya’, that man is going to get a serious suspension for that”. Oh just perfect I thought, I hate having to laminate those layers of aramid. The panels keep getting so fuzzy, and when that happens you can’t actually use it anymore because it promotes corrosion….. … nine hours later Well, that was the end of my shift. Normally an overhaul takes about two weeks, between stripping the plane off all of its paint, skin and flooring and having it put back together, it takes time. But this mess, this is going to take much more, maybe four or five weeks. Whatever, that is not my problem until Thursday, and until then I will relax. It’s still five o’ clock-ish, I can go to the park for a bit, and then buy a new lock for tomorrow (that would be useful), maybe some groceries….. . . . . . … Wow, time flew by really quickly. I guess that happens when your day was, for the lack of a better word, boring. My thoughts began to wander- At least I got paid and there are no current tragedies occurring in my life anD HOLY CANOLE WHAT TIME IS IT?! A lot later than usual is what it is! Wow! 11:29pm , if I don’t hurry the lig- was the last thought that ran through my mind when all the lights in this back road to my home, suddenly but right as scheduled, shut off. It was really dark and there was nobody around, so I solved my issue by giving my headlights a little more juice aaaand there, crisis adverted. I was only thirty minutes drive from my destination, home sweet home, when my uneventful day decided to swap out its title for a shiny new ‘what went wrong?’ kind of day. At first it was only a small light off to the left side of the road, where there was a… There really wasn’t anything there, huh. At first I simply chose to ignore the light and continue my way home, for I was oh so very tired, but this rather persistent light wanted attention. The light suddenly grew both in size and intensity and I was both blinded and freaking out. “What the actual FU-!“ That last syllable escaped me as I ran over something I could not see and heard a loud pop of which I am sure originated from a tire connected to this car and I quickly lost control, swerving to the left. Once I got my vision back, the first thing I saw made me push on the brake as hard as I could, not caring if I were to slam my face into the steering wheel (which thankfully, I did not) and simply stared at the sight before me. With my mouth pretty much hitting the floor I staggered my way out of the car and I stopped to take in the sight before me… ----------------Present----------------- Lifting three ponies into the back seat of a sedan wasn’t all that difficult, they were actually surprisingly light. Each pseudo-pony thing weighed 70 pounds, give or take, which left me with enough energy to check the other side of my car and assess the damage. With an exasperated sigh I just muttered to myself “Today was just perfect, simply the one day I dreamed of since I was small. This just had to happen today huh? Of all days, you, the stupid tire had to pick the most bizarre to just explode out of the blu-! black.” I kinda finished that thought realizing how dark it is out here. I hastily replaced the shredded tire, what did I run over exactly? And then began my way home. Once I found my precious road to home, I stopped the car as I spotted what tore my tire to bits, one hell of a big piece of jagged metal that I can only assume was once the bumper of a really old car. I just drove around it and hoped nothing else would get in between me and my bed. Finally I managed to come home. I made my way to the driveway and gave myself some time to think in the car, after ten seconds of blank thoughts I shut off the engine and began hauling these colorful ponies into the house while making sure no one was looking. It really was not that hard to be discreet since the closest house to mine was a few acres away. After some struggling, I managed to get the three pseudo-pony things in the house and when the door was shut and the lights were off, I simply slumped on the nearest wall and drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Is this just fantasy?Chapter 2: Is This Just Fantasy? ........................... I'm not sure if I can really call this a dreamless sleep, it is more lucid than not. I mean, I don't see any images but that doesn't mean I don't have my thoughts... So, what did I just do today? Was it all a dream? When did the dream begin? Did it start when my shift at work ended or did it start on my drive home and nothing actually happened? I guess I could check the trunk of my car for products that I may have bought to prove that. Actually, I might be awake... I can feel a slight breeze on my cheek, it is rather comforting. Wait, wait just a minute there. I leave all the windows closed when I leave the house. With that final thought, I shot my eyes open as if they were being pried open with a crowbar. The only thing I saw was two gigantic, white and blue dinner plates floating in front of me, barely lit only by the soft moon light from under the nearby front door. That so-called breeze felt like it was originating from just under the two dinner plates, the source of which was a mere inch away from my face. That's when it hit me, and seriously, I need to be thinking much clearer soon or I will bash my forehead with a frying pan because this was a no brainer. "Gah!" I screamed as I realized that whatever this was it was alive, I simultaneously tried backing up to a wall that I was already pressed against (which must have looked pretty hilarious, if only I wasn't so scared). "Ahhhhhh!" The creature yelped back and disappeared into the shadows in a blur. I just sat there dumbfounded for just a second, and then scrambled for the light switch. If this is dangerous, I need to see it. Once I flipped the nearest light source to life, I managed to get a good look of what I was up against. Three figures huddled up in a corner, shaking from, well, fear. I chose this perfect moment (insert thick sarcasm) to take in their details, I am so smart. The one closest to me was, pink? It was completely pink, a coat of pink and a (mane was it?) mane and tail of darker pink. It also had what looked like tattoos on it's rump, identical on both sides, did someone brand them? Do they belong to anyone? The other two were similar, one was purple and the other one was sky blue. The blue one had a very interesting trait though (or fashion statement I really can't think or tell), it's mane and tail are, well, rainbow. "What is that thing?" I heard one of them whisper... Wait, whisper? The can TALK? Okay, okay I really am losing it. Without saying a word after several seconds of just staring, I just bolted upstairs to the bathroom. I splashed my face with ice cold water and looked my reflection on the mirror as if looking at my face is a way to check your own sanity. "Okay, same light brown hair and short beard. Same hazel eyes, but these aren't my eyes, these are the eyes of a crazy person!" I muttered quietly to myself. That was when I realized that if I don't want to be insane then I probably should not be acting like it in the first place. So I stood tall, dried my cold face and came back down to the living room where these creatures resided. By now they were all standing, their eyes dilated in what I guess was fear. "Okaay, I heard one of you talking before. So I know at least one of you can speak English just fine" I stated, "So, we should probably talk because I am sure you are just as confused as I am". The purple one spoke up first "What do you mean 'English'? You are speaking in fluent Equestrian! On a still important note, where are we and who are you?". I just stood there taking in that line of thought, they talk, they really talk. Are they aliens? Did horses somehow evolve without us knowing? Is it some kind of govern- HOLY COW it's a unicorn! What? And does that blue one have wings on it? "You are... A friggin' unicorn?" I responded in what was probably the worst first contact attempt made in history. "Um, yes? What exactly are you?" responded a somewhat agitated pony. That got me back to my senses, kind of. "Erm, let us have proper introductions first shall we? To try to minimize any confusion here" I said in my most diplomatic voice while motioning to a set of couches to the side. "Yeah, that sounds pretty helpful right now" said the talking rainbow. To which my response was to walk over to my favorite spot on the couch, and watching as they took their spots on the couch opposite from mine. Again, there was that awkward silence that filled the air... Letting go of a surprising amount of air that was being held for god knows how long, the pink one exclaimed "I wanna start!". I just stared in awe of how much air that pony could hold and then responded "Sure, you can go first". "My name is Pinkie Pie! I really like parties and baking and eating and enjoying eating and making anypony smile as much as they possibly can and itreallygetsmeexcitedwhenthereisapartyespeciallyabirthdaypartydidIevereverevermentionthat? Oooooo I love parties!" Pinkie Pie said... In a single breath, "Oookay, I got the Pinkie Pie part. So, who's next?" The purple one was about to begin her speech only to be rudely interrupted by (hehe, reading rainbow) the talking rainbow, "My name is Rainbow Dash! The fastest flier in all of Equestria! I doubt you will ever meet somepony as cool as me!" This one said with an impressively smug grin and jet black shade that came out of nowhere really. "Alright, now can I talk?" Said the aggravated ball of purple in a manner I almost sympathized with. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, we are all from the town of Ponyville in the great nation of Equestria and are here by complete accident, seriously, we had no intention of coming wherever here is. With that said, we really mean no harm if that is what you thought" The pony said in a slowly but increasingly nervous voice, and after a short pause added "You don't mean us any harm" *gulp* "Do you?". Alright, now was the time for me to speak. I really had way to many questions. But those questions would have to wait, these creatures are intelligent and they await my introduction. "No, I really don't mean any harm to anyone" I said, this made any trace of fear (or from what I could tell) go away; so I continued, "My name is Matthew Anderson, and I am a human being. Right now, you reside in my humble home in Pennsylvania and I really don't know what there is to tell about me so yeah, there's that.". There was that awkward silence, but it did not last as long this time and I could see a certain smile building up in Pinkie Pie. What an odd name... I decided to break the silence and ask the big question, "Where are you all from? I know you said Ponyville and Equestria, but I honestly do not know where that is". Twilight almost freaked out at that, "You don't know what or where Equestria is? Oh no, nonononono this is bad. Really really bad, we must be very far from home!" "Um, sorry to hear that but yeah. Equestria isn't a nation I ever heard about on this planet. Did you guys like, crash land from some ship like in a movie? Is there some way to 'call home' and be rescued?" I asked, feeling sorry for these three (mares? I think they are female, I don't want to ask though.) being so far from home, possibly with no way back. "Ship? How could we get here on a ship? There's no water near us for us to sail on. But that's just it, we don't know if we can contact anypony back home or if there is even a way back!" Rainbow Dash yelled desperately, not knowing what else to do about the situation. Okay, I would feel really bad if I just left these three stranded in a planet they don't know of with a possibility of having them run into people with bad intentions. What else could I do? "Well, while you are stuck here... I guess I could at least provide you with food and shelter." I said slowly and reluctantly. "YAY! Hes letting us stay!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. And that's when we had a very educating conversation on different worlds. At two in the morning. ........... "So, what you are telling me is that your world has no magic!?" Twilight gasped. "And that ALL of the clouds on this planet move by them selves!?", Rainbow Dash exclaimed in disbelief. "And that there are approximately eight BILLION humans on this planet that ALL potentially love cake!?" Pinkie commented giddily. "Yes, yes, and mostly yes" I responded. "And you are all telling me that you lived in a world with magic and weather control and you think my world is strange?" I responded to their descriptions of Equestria. Sure our worlds were vastly different, but there were a shocking amount of similarities. They have similar foods like cake and so on. They speak the same language too! They have farming and organized government, an economy, literature, sciences, some sports even! Who would have thought ponies could play Bowling ball? The image is pretty hilarious. "Yes, 'Earth' is very alien to us. I mean, look at these walls! How do you get them so smooth? And the electronics? Back in Equestria, we couldn't imagine having so much electrical power in one place!" Commented Twilight, who then proceeded to yawn.. Different species and yet very similar behavior, I can't get over that. "hmm, you all seem a bit tired. Wow, it's already four o'clock in the morning, we should get some sleep." I said, yawning myself. "Umm, not to be rude or anything. But where exactly are we going to sleep?" said Rainbow Dash. "Well, theres a guest bedroom upstairs and there are the two couches here. That should be enough, plus, I have extra bedsheets in a closet somewhere..." I trailed off as I went, well, bed sheet hunting. Some rummaging and random Pinkie Pie comments later, I had all of the couches ready for sleeping and I was ready to pass out. Twilight found the guest bedroom first and claimed her territory before it could be conquered, I'm pretty sure the others were way too tired to complain anyway. This was certainly a very interesting night, now to think about how on Earth I am going to hide a secret as big as three colorful pony mares.
Caught in a land slideChapter Three: Caught in a land slide Wow, I just really passed out on my bed. Seriously I *yawn* must have been really really ti- *yawn* tired.. ----------oooOooo---------- "Hey there son" "Daddy!" "what is that?" "This?"...... "It's a time piece. I've had it for a long time now" "It looks really really old.." "It is old: I had it, my daddy had it, and his daddy had it, and his daddy before it had it...." *sighing* *long pause* "My little Matthew, heh, look at you, you aren't all that little anymore. Twelve years old, twelve years I had the joy of raising you. I did raise you well didn't I? I sure hope I did. Now, tell me the honest truth, even if I told you time and time again that everyone around you has lied many times. Can you be held responsible? Can you take care of this one thing for as you as you live or as long as you can until you pass it on?" *another long pause* "Yes, daddy. You know me, I always take care of stuff!" "Heh, you sure do." *pause* "Here, I think you are old enough to have this." *Young Matthew receives old, yet still perfectly preserved and working time piece* *Young Matthew looks at time piece, then at his father. Both wearing a small smile* "Thank you daddy." "Take good care of it, one day you will truly understand how significant this is." ...... *Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.* "Just a minute!" *running* *door opening* "Yes?" "Hello sir, are you Mr. Anderson?" "Oh, you're government. Yes I am, what can I do for you?" "Well, may I come in first?" "Sure, come in. Care for some tea?" "Yes, please." *man come in and takes a seat* *older Matthew in the kitchen next to the living room in which the man is sitting in* "So, what was it that you came in for?" "This has to do with your family. They are... Well, they are in a better place now." *cup shatters on the floor, tea spilled* "What was that?" "Sorry?" *voice rising* "No, what did you say about my family?" "Well, Mr. Anderson, you see." *nervous pause* "It was an accident." "Tell me what happened!" *Massive sigh* "The remainder of your family.. Your father, mother, younger sister, uncle and aunt; they were in a family field trip but were unfortunately caught in an automotive accident on the way there. I am sorry to say, there were no survivors in the crash. Not even the other party." *Tears* "What? What fucking 'field trip'? When the Fuck were they going on a field trip? Why did I never know about it? why!" "Sir..." *More tears* *voice lowering* "How could this happen? What went so wrong that this had to happen to me? It's... It's not fair! It's not fair!" *sobbing* "I... I came to deal with the legal side with you, your family members all had their wills set out to you." "Deal.. With the legal side? Are you fucking nuts? Get the hell out of here! Out! I don't wanna deal with any legal side when I'm fucking mourning!" *sobbing* "Sir, I am so, so sorry for your loss. I will just leave me card here, when you feel ready to talk about the legal matters I will await your beckoning call." *Man shows his way out of the house and shuts the door behind him.* *sobbing* *sobbing* *sobbing* ----------oooOooo---------- *Gasp* I shot up from my bed, sweating, panting, crying. I just waited for my heart beat to slow down from that nightmare, that... That memory. I searched the night stand next to my bed and pulled out the object of my hunt, a brass time piece with a gold chain. I simply put it up against my ear and listened to the ticking and the tocking, and waited until I fell back asleep. I woke up from my slumber, mostly just forced out of bed by the sunlight coming in from my window. I looked at my alarm clock, 10:27 am. I managed to crack a slight smile at the realization that it was Wednesday, and that I don't have to work today. I decided to get up and go straight to making breakfast, remembering to make extra for the guests. Making my way down the stairs as quietly as possible, I headed towards the kitchen. Of course, since I only slept for 6 hours, the first thing that was to be made was coffee. I just assumed everyone drinks coffee so that I wouldn't have to go through the effort of waking up my new acquaintances and put enough for everyone in the coffee machine. "Good morning." said a sudden and groggy voice. I whipped around, startle by the source of the voice. It was Twilight. "Oh hey, didn't hear you coming." I said. Twilight sniffed the air a bit, "Is that coffee I smell?" she asked. "Yeah, you have that in Equestria too huh? Milk and sugar?" I responded. She simply shook her head and said "No thanks, black." I just blinked, "Wow, I didn't take you for the heavy weight coffee drinking type". She just smiled and decided to ignore that last observation. After a few quiet moments where only the coffee machine said anything, Twilight reared up and leaned against the counter and began the conversation again, "I am really sorry, but I barely remember the conversation we had ye- today". After a moment of thought, I realized that I didn't either. We must have been really tired, I stated as such. And we just stared blankly at the coffee machine, it was almost done. "So let me get this straight" Twilight began, in a slight and slow monotone voice, "I am currently on a different planet, Earth, where magic is considered to be a myth and so are unicorns and pegasi." "That you are." I responded, "And you are from a different planet in a nation, Equetria, that relies on magic, considers humans to be a myth, and consists of a dual monarchy that somehow maintained peace for over a thousand years" I remarked. Somehow Twilight found that last bit of info shocking, I dunno what I said that was so wrong. "You had recent wars?" she asked. I stared at her for a good ten seconds before responding, "This nation has been at war since the year 2001." I said simply, but the look of confusion told me that our calendars are a bit different, "And, right now is the year 2021. Yeah, two decades of pointless war on the other side of the planet. I don't like it either" I added before I received any trans world judgment. "Wow." was all that managed to come out of her mussel. Anyhow, the coffee is done, and I love it when the coffee is done! But I forgot to do anything else, so I quickly grabbed four bagels, cut them open and started feeding them to my toaster. Twilight, seemingly wanting to get past the topic of war, asked what toasters were and another now boring conversation ensued. Meanwhile, the groaning coming from the living room was telling me that someone else is waking up. "Somepony." Twilight corrected, what? I didn't say that out loud did I? I gave Twilight a confused look and the look she gave back to me told me that I did.. "Hey guys, what's for breakfast?" Rainbow was the first to come in and the first to ask, but she looked like a wreck. Her mane was tossed and she had bags under her eyes and the groggy-ness to her voice spoke volumes of how tired she was. Pinkie Pie came in behind her, and she looked perfectly fine. "Right now, coffee and some bagels coming right up." I said. "Bagels? Whats a bagel?" Rainbow asked a question that took me completely off guard. How could our worlds been so culturally synchronized to the point that we share similar holidays and traditions like breakfast and they don't know what a bagel is?! "Oh god, you're serious." I said in utter shock. Twilight looked up at me and added "Yeah, she isn't joking, we don't have bagels in Equestria. Are they good?" "Are they good?" I repeated in disbelief, "I don't think you know a good breakfast until you tried a bagel!" I exclaimed. With that said, all of the bagels were nice and toasty, and everyo-pony sat at the table in the kitchen while I served coffee and bagels with cream cheese and chocolate-hazelnut spread on the side. "What? No forks and knives?" Rainbow asked, yet again another shocking question considering, well, they have hooves! How were they supposed to use silverware? "How are you supposed to use silverware when you have hooves?" I asked Rainbow while handing everypony a fork and knife, and Rainbow simply picked it up! My mind was exploding in rage at the sheer rape and violation of the laws of physics! "No really, how are you doing that?" I half yelled. "Jeez, you don't have to yell", Rainbow said, "Look, your hands are similar to the bottom of my hooves see?" she showed me a hoof. The sides of their hooves were hard, but the bottoms were soft tissue with a small paw pad triangle close to the center of the hoof, odd. Rainbow continued, "You can pick up a needle by simply pressing your hands on it right?", before I could respond she continued her speech, "It's the same principle with us ponies" She said triumphantly. "But, but, your actually using force with it!" I said as she used a knife to spread the chocolate hazelnut spread on one half of her bagel. I continued, "I can't hold a needle by pressing my finger on it and then pierce a piece of cloth with it". Pinkie Pie just shrugged and said, "I don't know how none of you remember that we talked about this seven hours ago, this is when I tell you that it's just hooves logic, Matty". All eyes just stared at Pinkie Pie who throughout the entire conversation had said nothing until now. We all decided not the question it and went to eating. I watched Rainbow close her bagel and move it towards her muzzle (with hooves! how?!?!). She began chewing and soon her eyes widened to a larger size than they currently were (are they nocturnal? Why else would they need such large eyes?). She chewed excitedly while making an adorable puffy face. Rainbow didn't wait until she finished chewing to comment, "Wow! Matjuw yew weally wewen't gokinj vhen yew" *gulp* "When you said that these are good!" Rainbow exclaimed happily and continued eating. The rest of our breakfast was fairly uneventful until I started talking again, at this point, we were all pretty much done eating and just finishing our coffee. "I was actually thinking of taking you guys to the city today, would have been fun, until I realized that colorful ponies would cause quite the riot out there" I said. Twilight gave me a smug grin and said, "Um, I'm a very magical unicorn capable of more magic than most ponies out there. And, it just so happens that I have a transformation spell under my coat for everypony to use", she said before shrinking back and adding, "Oops, I didn't mean to brag, I'm so sorry, don't hate me please". "How could we hate you when you just made our stay on Earth a whole lot easier for us Twi?" Pinkie Pie retorted. I just decided to add on, "And possibly saved your friend's lives...". The looks I got were mortified, oops. "Saved from what?" Pinkie seemed to be the first brave enough to ask. "I dunno, I was thinking that the government would want to use someone", "Pony", "Sorry, somepony like Twilight or Rainbow as weapons against the world if not just to dissect you in an attempt to understand you. I just don't think any good would come out from being found out." I spat out. The silence in the air was chocking me. I know I had to warn them about this contingency eventually, but I didn't think I would feel so guilty for simply warning them. I did the next best thing to do: I skipped to the next topic, "So, about that transformation spell?". "We're in mortal danger?" they all asked in unison. "Well, not if you are all careful and act completely natural in public. It really shouldn't be that hard since there is a lot of craziness that could pass as normal anyway" I responded quickly. Twilight sighed in some sort of relief, the others still seemed somewhat tense. Twi moved on first and began to respond to my unanswered question, "I really only need two things: a human DNA sample, such as hair or something else, nothing too serious. And I also need some time to configure the spell." "You speak of magic like it's some sort of science" I said flatly. "It is! Magic is one of the five major forces in the universe, along with strong force, weak force, nuclear force and gravitational force" Twilight responded in a lecturing tone. "Huh, that actually might fill a few gaps in our understanding of physics", I commented. "Well I digress, now that I had time to sleep on the issue at hoof, I now realize that Earth has less magical leylines than on Equestria. But that means I can still do magic, however weak it may be. Meaning that this spell that would normally take five minutes to configure may take around forty-five give or take. It also makes simple telekinesis a bit more difficult" Twilight said, levitating her cup of coffee for what I only now realize to be around the tenth time and that every other time I must have simply blocked it out of my mind. I guess my brain is too tired to question reality anymore... Anyway, DNA huh? I guess my nails could do with some trimming.. I stood up from the table full of empty plates and cups, and went to the bathroom to get a nail clipper. I came back to the table now full of confused ponies and ceremoniously gave the nail clippings to Twilight, who giggled at the scene. I guess I made it a bigger deal than it was, but at least I looked cool doing it. ... Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and I just sat idly on a couch while Twilight labored over configuring her spell. After some time, Rainbow spoke up, "Hey, what is that black rectangle over there anyway? Looks pretty useless." She asked. Somehow, Rainbow's questions keep making me think or make my mind explode. We were simply sitting doing nothing when there is a TV right in front of me, and a gaming console. I swear, those lights last night did something to my brain. "Hey Rainbow, you strike me as the competitive type, no?" I challenged, and as expected, she immediately whipped around and retorted with a smirk. "Cmon and give me what you've got!" all the previous fear she showed before melted away with the mention of a competition. With that said, I stood up and walked over to the TV, turned on the console and picked up two white controllers. Helo 6, best game ever made, ever. I gave Rainbow the controller and she gave me a questioning look in return, "What is this?" she asked. "Oo!Oo! I wanna play!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, to my surprise since I fully expected to have to explain the entire concept of a video game. "Pinkie" I gasped, "You know what a video game is?". She rapidly shook her head, "Nopey dopey lopey! But I do know how to play though!" she said. "What? That doesn't make any sense.." I muttered. Rainbow just gave me a sad look and said, "If you want to keep your sanity, just stop questioning it and say that it's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Also keep her sanity and make sure to be a good friend, and keep her away from a combination of flour and party hats." "Okay, I'll keep that in mind", I said cautiously. The TV was showing the usual light show that is the intro of the console turning on, it's a whole lot of green and white and very pedestrian to me by now, but it seemed to captivate the attention of both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow. While Rainbow was staring at the screen before her, Pinkie snatched the controller away (again, I'm done asking how they pick things up with just hooves. I still don't know how they are going to play, but then again, hooves logic). I started the game, and decided to play the campaign instead of the multiplayer, make things easier for them. "Alright, we are technically playing cooperatively, but whoever gets the most points wins. Enjoy the best sci-fi shooter ever made" I said. "You're on!" Rainbow challenged, and then proceeded to snatch the controller back, using all four hooves to push the buttons (hooves logic!!). .........45 minutes later, give or take......... "Rainbow, behind you!" "Argh! What the hay is that?!" "It's a noble, an alien with power shields like ours." "Help! I can't take him down on my own!" *Explosions* *Gunfire* "You are very welcome." ... Twilight was making her way downstairs, ready to announce that her spell was ready, but paused when she heard all of the commotion. "Um, what are you all doing?" she asked. I paused the game, much to Rainbow Dash's disappointment, and turned around with a small smile, "Playing a game while you got yourself ready, speaking of which, is the spell ready for action?" "Yes." Twilight responded hesitantly, "I believe that it's ready, mostly sure. Well, 98.3 percent sure." she added. I jumped out of the couch at the news and then stopped myself at a weird thought, "Wait, you won't all look like me will you? Because that would be like too much like Brave New World for me too handle." "Um, no. Your nail clippings were used only as a human DNA template. So, our own features will be applied to that human template to create our new figures. It's almost like what we would look like if we were born human, and it's also completely reversible." Twilight beamed, soon adding after that, "What's Brave New World anyway?". "It's a novel." I responded, "I have it in my library upstairs if you want to read it.". This put a smile on Twilight that was so big, I was sure she was going to hurt herself with it. "You have a library full of books I haven't read once?" Twilight asked. I nodded, very slowly and unsure. Twilight's eyes dilated and she inhaled deeply before hopping around in a circle chanting "yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes YES!" The other three of us waited for Twilight to calm down, which took about a minute or two, and then we got right down to business. "Okay, sorry about that" Twilight apologized, "Well, the spell is ready. Is everypony ready?". Every mare in the room nodded, I just stood there. "Um, Matthew? You might want to stand back a bit, I don't know or want to find out what a human transformed into a human looks like" Twilight warned. With a grimace, I stood aside. Twilight's horn began to glow a soft lavender, and soon, so were the bodies of all three mares. That's when another weird thought hit me. Wait a minute, if they aren't wearing any clothes now, and they are turning human in front of my very eyes, doesn't that mean....? The room became a blur after a blinding flash of white consumed it. Sure enough, my theory was correct. Before I got a solid look at naked pseudo-humans, I covered my eyes and bolted up the stairs. "You didn't warn me that you would be all naked!" I called as I made my way to my room and took out the first sets of clothes I could find, I could wash them later anyway. "Um, sorry? We didn't really think about that!" one of them called back, "Argh! Two legs, how do you walk around like this?". I simply responded by throwing a bunch of clothes down the stairs and instructing "There, put those on, I think we are going to go shopping for some clothes". The response I got should have been expected, women will be women no matter what species. They all cheered and did what I can only assume from the sound was a high-five. High-five? Did they do high-hooves when they are in pony forms? You know what? I'm done, I'm done asking questions I later realize I never wanted the answer to. My mind is going numb from the impossibility of this situation right now, so I will do my best to give my poor mind a break. .... "You can come down now!" Pinkie Pie called from downstairs. I came down and stood in awe, they really did it, they really are human-looking now. "Wow." I commented. "Argh, my eyeballs are so tiny!" Rainbow complained. "Nuh-uh, your eyeballs were so huge!" I retorted, offended by her statement on the size of my eyeballs, their size is just fine. I took the time to take the details of the three. Pinkie Pie now had very poofy brown hair and startling blue eyes, Twilight had black hair with nerdy bangs that covered most of her forehead and soft pigeon brown eyes. They were all wearing mens clothes though, that would have to change soon. Rainbow however, still managed to keep her erm, her rainbow.. And hazel eyes too, but, the rainbow! How did she keep that? "Uhh, why did Rainbow keep her rainbow?" I asked. All eyes were on Dash. Twilight in very deep thought, "Well, as a pony, no one else had naturally rainbow hair like hers, I guess it's a mutation that made it through the transformation process. But as of right now, she is no less human than you. I guess that's pretty handy if we want to pass as humans in the outside world." Twilight said, following her train of thought out loud. "I guess that makes sense" I said in a low tone, I realized that Twilight also looked a little nerdy, Rainbow looked very athletic through all of the baggy clothing, and Pinkie Pie just looked wild.... "Rainbow, you have to make sure to tell people you dye your hair if they ask, and don't let them see the roots of your hair either." I said. "Fine, whatever." Dash responded, feeling somewhat in-dignified that even in a different world her hair gets pointed out. Rainbow Dash suddenly lit up, looked at her legs and then looked at mine. "Hey, your legs are pretty strong. Do you do any sports and stuff?" she inquired. Again, her questions are taking me off guard every time! How does she do it? "Erm, what?" was all I managed to say. Before she could say anything though, well before anyone could say anything, I managed to recover "Well, I skate. I guess that counts as a sport". I was having a really awkward moment right now. "Skate? What the hay is that?" Rainbow asked. Twilight was now blushing from embarrassment, "Rainbow! Watch your language! And please, don't ask such weird questions", she said cringing. I don't know why, but that just made me crack up. I got questioning stares from both Twilight and Rainbow Dash (and a weird look of shock from Pinkie Pie, dunno why and I don't feel like pursuing that subject). Once I got over my fit of giggles, I responded "It's just fine Twi, no harm done. As for your honest question, the honest answer is that I will show you later. It's a little hard for me to explain". Pinkie Pie is being strangely quiet, maybe she's just home sick. ....................... So we got in my SUV and as expected, all three of my new friends were flabbergasted from the fact that it's a wagon that pulls itself. Twilight shot me a million questions per second on how an engine works, to which I answered to my best ability. Rainbow occasionally (thank god) interrupted Twilight to ask what skating is and talk about other sports that our worlds somehow had in common. Seriously, how can our worlds be so different and yet be so connected with each other at the same time? Pinkie Pie was still strangely quiet, it's starting to make me a little nervous. ....................... When we finally arrived to the mall I was planning to go to and found a parking spot, we began our search for new clothes for the mares in disguise (MiD?). At first we were just looking for a suitable store, it was a mistake, I should have taken them to the first place we found. The very realization that there is such a large center of consumption made the 'MiD' very giddy, I soon lost Twilight to a book store and Rainbow to Sports Authority. We decided to meet at the entrance in thirty minutes. Now, I was alone with Pinkie Pie. "Hey, let's go find a place to sit." Pinkie Pie said, her expression darkening a bit. "Uh, sure. May I ask why?" I questioned. "Well, I'll tell you when we sit" she responded. How could I say no? I didn't feel like I could. We found a nice looking bench and she just cut to the chase, "You eat flesh don't you?". I suddenly realized the gravity of those words, ponies are herbivores, that would make me an utter monster in their eyes wouldn't it? But, the look in her eyes told me that she knew my answer, she just wanted to hear it from me. "I er well, you see..." I sighed, "Yeah, I guess I look like a terrible person in your eyes huh?". I felt guilty for some odd reason. "I saw your teeth when you laughed at Twilight's reaction to Dashie's question, then I felt the ones I have now. They aren't all the teeth of a carnivore, you have cutting teeth and canine but you also have maulers, so you must be an omnivore." Pinkie Pie said quietly. I must say I was surprised at Pinkie's knowledge of teeth, then again, she is a baker. If anything, Pinkie Pie knows food and it's consumers. "No, I don't think you are a monster for being what you were born as. I just don't know why you didn't tell us, why you had to lie to us." Pinkie continued. Did I lie? Was it really that bad? "Do you.... Do you eat ponies? Is that why you didn't want to tell us?" she asked. "What? No, no no no,I would never eat that kind of animal! Horses were always valued in human culture so it's really frowned upon to eat them. I only eat animals like chicken, cow, fish and stuff like that. Even then, I never killed an animal with the intention of eating it before, I promise". I really didn't want her to be afraid of me. "Oh, okay..." she trailed off. "Was this why you were so quiet lately?" I asked. "Yeah, I just wasn't really sure. I think the others will want to know before it gets out of hoof." "Hand" I corrected. "Yeah, that." she responded. We sat in silence for a short while until a shout caught both of our attentions, "Hey! Guys! Over here!" yelled an excited Rainbow Dash. Pinkie and I simply decided to wait for her. She got to us and began the conversation, "Hey, I was headed for the entrance when I saw you two." she said, cocking an eyebrow at me. "The guys in that sports shop barely know a thing about athletics! It's insane I tell you! Anyway, I got bored and decided that meeting up with the group would be more fun." She finished. We went to the mall entrance to wait for Twilight and Pinkie Pie took the time as an opportunity to tell Rainbow my 'secret'. ... "Omnivore huh?" Rainbow began after the revelation, "Well, I used to have a Griffin friend. She was a carnivore and ate meat around me all the time, so no biggie." she said. I relaxed for a while until I had to ask, "Griffins too? Are all of the creatures in your land mythical?" Pinkie quickly retorted, "Nope! I saw a few birds and dogs around here and we have plenty of those!" "Oh, at least thats normal." I commented. .................one hour later................. Twilight came back, and we were all bored as could be. "Twi, just where were you! We looked in the book store and you weren't there!" a very annoyed Dash queried. Twilight widened her eyes when she spotted a clock conveniently placed above us, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I must have lost track of time, I asked the nice man that ran the book store about a history book and he told me that there is another bookstore nearby that had better ones!" Twilight apologized and then made a sounds that I could only describe as a squee. "Fine, whatever, let's just do what we came her for. We got side tracked enough." I grumbled, only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie who reminded me about the 'I'm an omnivore' predicament. With a deep sigh, I turned to Twilight, "By the way, I'm an omnivore. I eat meat on a near-daily basis to stay healthy and I really hope that doesn't bother you too much." I said quickly enough to confuse Twi for a moment or two. "Ahhh, that explains the teeth. Sorry I didn't ask before" Twilight said after a short pause, leaving Pinkie Pie with an open jaw that almost slammed on the floor. "Am I the only pony that was upset that he didn't tell us before?!" Pinkie Pie asked, a little too loudly. Heads began to turn and I began to freak out a little. "What happened to acting natural, Pinkie?" I snarled. Pinkie shrank back a little before we all quickly, and unanimously decided to leave for the clothing store with haste. ... I picked up a dark gray AC/DC shirt and waved it at Rainbow Dash, "Hey, the rocker look suits you! Goes really well with the hair too!" I said on the verge of giggling. "Very funny Matt." Dash said with the thickest sarcasm she could muster, "Who are they anyway?" she ended up asking. "One of the greatest hard rock bands to exist is who they were, I'll share music with you later though." I said. ... After many hours of shopping for a weeks worth of clothes for the three mares in disguise (I really like the sound of that!), we were finally on the check out line and I was gently stroking my debit card to prepare it for the big dent on missing money that it would soon suffer. "Why are you doing that?" Twilight asked with a judging eye. "Don't question it and be thankful that you aren't naked in public." I said flatly. *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* *scan* ........... "That'll be $875.27" said an impressively emotionless cashier... Holy crap, that's a lot of money. "Goodbye my hard earned cash." I said swiping my debit card, I didn't want to use credit in fear of never paying that money back again. My prayer did earn a smirk from Ms. No-feels, which almost made my day, almost. .............................. That ride back home wasn't very chatty, besides the random but deserved thank yous I got every now and then. So, I decided to turn on the radio and the first song that came up caught my attention, I heard this song before... "Where is that music coming from?" Pinkie asked, while watching me rock out at the steering wheel. "Oh, there are speakers inside some of the SUV's walls. Sorry for the surprise, they are so pedestrian to me that I didn't realize you wouldn't know." I said. "Wow, these speakers are twenty times smaller than Vinyl Scratch's and yet just as powerful." commented Twilight. "Who now?" I asked. "Only the coolest DJ in Equestria! Wow, I really like that tune!" Rainbow jumped in. ............................... We came home absolutely starved, "Oh god, how did we forget about lunch?" I cried out in despair. "Oooooh no, this is a bad tummy rumble!" Pinkie commented. "I.... I am going to die if I do not get a bite soon." Rainbow added. "Is this really the first time any of you skipped lunch?" Twilight asked, with a hint of ridicule. "YES!" We all cried in unison. Apparently, Twilight has studied so hard before that her alleged assistant wasn't able to feed her until nine o'clock at night. "Well, I for one, am going to make us one big dinner to compensate." I said almost crawling to the kitchen as Twilight reversed the transformation spell, leaving behind three colorful mares in very baggy clothing. ................ "What's for dinner?" "Cheese tortellini with a tomato, spinach, cucumber, lettuce and pepper jack cheese salad." "Wow, looks good." "You can thank the chef after you eat, and excuse my steak." "Oookayy.." .................... Wow, long day. I am going to sleep well tonight, well, if I try to not think about how much money I blew off today...
Not without a troubled pastChapter 4: Not without a troubled past ---------------oODreamingOo--------------- "So Matt, what do you wanna do when you graduate?" "Me? I guess something in management. This school is offering us FAA licenses,so I might as well put those to use and get myself a temporary job as an AMT to pay for college tuition and stuff." "Good for you, having everything planned out for yourself." "What about you, Ted?" "Me? I guess I will follow my dad's footsteps, work in the CIA. Nothing hardcore, maybe the archives or surveillance." "Sounds exciting." "I wouldn't count on it, but it should pay well." "Yeah, what we all look for in a job huh?" "Totally, so when do you want to meet up after your visit up in New York?" "Soon after, how's Tuesday two weeks from now? I'm planning to make this summer very exciting." "Sounds good to me, can't wait to see what you have in store when you come back." "Heh, see you later man." ..... *Heavy rain* *thunder* *knock* *knock* "Hello? Matt! Are you in there? It's me, Ted!" *Door opens* "What... Do you want?" "Jeez, man, are you okay? I heard what hap-" "If you heard what happened then why did you just ask you most stupid question know to man kind? I lost my entire family, I'm all alone now! What could you possibly want from a man like me!?" "What? No, dude, you are not alone, I'm here for you man. I don't want to take anything from you, I just want to make sure that you are going to be okay.... It's hard, losing someone." "I... Did not just lose someone, I lost everyone! Can't you see that I am going through enough suffering just thinking about it? And then you come and make me talk over my loved ones like they are just a memory?" "I don't see it like that I.... Just... You haven't been answering your calls, I'm worried for you is all." *Matthew takes out his phone, shows it to a soaked Ted, and crushes it on the floor* "I need to be alone." *Door slams shut* ---------------oooOOooo--------------- *Gasps* "You okay Matt? You seem to be having a little trouble sleeping." asked a concerned mare in the shadows. I glanced at my alarm clock, three o'clock am. I then tried my best to make out the features of the pony laying down next to my bed, a small glint of rainbow gave away this pony's identity in an instant. "Rainbow?" I asked, startled by her presence, "What are you doing here?" "I uh, I wanted to ask you if you could teach me how to skate when you woke up" Rainbow said humbly, "I guess you woke up a lot earlier than I planned on." This brought a small smile to my face, I gave a glance at the nose of my skateboard, barely protruding from my closet's door and barely lit by the soft moon light. I have enough spare parts to make two more whole boards, I guess I could take in a protégé. "Sure, I could give you a few lessons. I guess it'll give you something to do while you're here", I responded. "Thanks, that means a lot to me you know. Being here means I can't fly, I just need something that would give me a similar freedom, heh, otherwise I wouldn't have this lightning bolt as my cutie mark." Rainbow said, in one of the most thankful tones I have yet to hear. "Um, you are very welcome", I beamed quietly, "We could start in the morning, around seven in the AM should be fine. Until then, how about you stop sleeping on the floor and come into a comfy bed?" She seemed to get the invitation and quietly thanked me once more as she climbed into my bed.. So many thank yous, it's getting hard to keep tabs on all of them. Rainbow and I quickly dosed off, backs facing each other. I slept soundly from then on, time piece in hand, no nightmares. ..................... I shot my eyes open as a bit of yellow hair landed on my face, I stared at it for a while before trying to blow it away. After several failed attempts, I simply resorted to sitting upright. Rainbow was still sleeping soundly, but the clock said 7:14am and I said we would be up at seven in the morning, so I gently poked Rainbow on her ears in a futile attempt to wake her up (partially so I could leave my bed). "Mmmffm, not now Soarin" Rainbow mumbled. "Who's Soarin?" I asked with a mocking grin on my face. With that, Dash shot upright and stared at me in disbelief. "Y...Y...You didn't hear that!" she begged in a harsh whisper. "Fine, I heard nothing. But you need to get up because it's past seven and I promised you some lessons." I responded. Rainbow quickly agreed and we climbed out of bed. I went down to the kitchen and made four very crude and hastily created sandwiches as breakfast for everyone and everypony whilst Rainbow made her way to the bathroom and used the mouthwash (I should get them tooth brushes eventually). Pinkie Pie was snoring lightly in the living room and Twilight was presumably still asleep, so when Rainbow and I ate our hasty breakfast, I wrote a note telling Pinkie and Twilight that we are going outside for a bit. Then we went upstairs and got a hold of my spare skateboard stuff that I used and discarded (but soon will be reused once more) to build a board for Dashie. Hmm Dashie is a nice nickname... Nah, Rainbow is fine. ... "Okay, here, hold this deck while I put the trucks on." I whispered to Rainbow in an attempt to not wake Twilight from her slumber. "The what now?" Rainbow asked, obviously confused with my choice of words. I sighed, "Here, hold this piece of wood while I bolt these two metallic T-shaped things onto the bottom." "You don't have to be so mean about it.." Rainbow muttered. The trucks were put on and I picked out a random set of wheels and bearings for add on. Installation was a breeze thanks to my handy-dandy tool box. "Alright, just one problem." I said once we were done. "And what would that be?" Rainbow said to me in a slightly surprised tone. "You are still a pony" I pointed out. Dash looked at herself as if she hadn't realized that she was walking on all fours. "Weird, wasn't I human when we went to bed?" Rainbow asked. "Um, at first, but not when I found you lying next to my bed. I just assumed that Twilight reversed the spell." I responded. Rainbow went into deep thought for a while, "Hmm, I guess she did.... Why am I still wearing socks?" I smirked, somehow, all of her clothing from before fell off except for the socks. I tried not telling her until she realized because it looked so damn funny. "Hey, they look good on you." I remarked. "Yeah yeah, I get it, it looks hilarious." Rainbow retorted, only slightly annoyed. "I guess we could ask Twilight to turn you human now. " I suggested. The hairs on the back of Rainbow's neck stood straight all of a sudden. "Uh, yeah, you go do that. I'm going to pick out my clothes while you're at it." Rainbow said with a degree of uncertainty. I just shrugged and made my way across the hall to Twilight's room. I didn't bother knocking since it's my house and I didn't really expect ponies to have dark secrets when they are alone. And I wasn't wrong about that last statement, Twilight was sleeping soundly in her bed, with a book on the floor. Huh, Brave New World. Without giving it much thought, I prodded Twilight a few times. "Hey Twilight, wakey wakey.". I was suddenly punched with a hoof that came out of nowhere, right in the chest. I staggered back, and regained focus just in time to see a very pissed off Twilight growl a frightening set of words, "Nopony wakes me up like that". I stood there in awe, I didn't think the nerd had it in her! And that managed to really, legitimately scare me. That's when I saw a cautious looking cyan blur in my peripheral. I shifted my head and saw Rainbow peeking inside with a bunch of clothes in her mouth and a bra on her head. The sight seemed to confuse Twilight enough to shake her out of her madness. "What is going on? Why do you need me at.... Almost eight o'clock?" Twilight asked. "We need you to turn Rainbow human again, I'm teaching her how to skate and that's not going to be easy if she's a pony." I said quickly. Twilight looked at her own body and looked a bit surprised too, only to shake her head a bit and began to cast the spell as I left the room. There was a flash from under the door, and a few minutes later, Rainbow came out human and Twilight flopped back into bed. Rainbow put on some flat soled shoes, they were a really old pair of mine that I still had for some odd reason, they fit her perfectly. A few minutes later, we had made our way out of the house in an orderly and quiet fashion (skateboards in hand of course). We got in my car because there is nothing worth doing near my house, and headed towards a small village that I know that has nicely paved roads that no one ever uses. Perfect for learning on. ............. "Hey, Matt?" Rainbow asked, almost cautiously. "Yeah?" I responded, eyes still on the road. "I, um, I wanted to ask if you were... Well, if you were feeling okay." she said, stumbling over her words. This surprised me, I didn't expect that from Rainbow. Then again, in retrospect, Rainbow tends to do a lot of things I didn't actually expect, like ask all of the right questions. "Um, why do you ask that?" I asked back. "Well, it's really because of last night. The way you woke up, you looked really startled. I dunno why, but I feel that this wasn't because of any old nightmare." Rainbow said, the sadness in her eyes beginning to pour into me. "Well." I began. "You don't have to say anything to me right now Matt, but I want you to know that I am your friend. And that I'm here for you when you need me." She said in those impossible-to-argue-with hazel eyes. I paused for what felt like the longest time before saying, "I'm fine, no need to worry about me.". The rest of the conversation died at that point, so I turned on the radio. To my pleasure, the Foo Fighters were on and we listened to their music quietly the rest of the ride. We parked near a small bank and made our way to a paved, secluded road for us to use. ........ "Okay, lesson zero. The first thing you need to know is what position you are most comfy when you are riding." "What, like this?" "Do you feel confident pushing like that?" "Yeah." "Alright, you ride regular then!" "Regular? Then why are you riding the opposite way?" "Because I'm goofy." "What? Stop clowning around and teach me!" "No, that's what they call it when you ride opposite! You silly filly." "Oh, well why didn't you say so?" ......... "Alright, so remember, left leg stationary behind the bolts and right leg pushing and resting on the hind bolts." "You mean like... This?" "Wow, fast learner." "Well, I'm known to be fast!" .................................. Rainbow got the hang of riding pretty fast, I think she would be ready for long distance cruising in no time at all. I think I will teach her how to ollie soon. We came home at noon, so I could get lunch going and so I could get the mares ready for the task ahead of them.It's Thursday and I get the graveyard shift today. "Thanks Matt, that was really fun!" Rainbow said as I pulled into the driveway. I smirked and then said, "Just wait until you start bruising your shins and ankles." "What? Why is that?" Rainbow inquired. "When you start learning tricks! You are going to get hurt alot, but it's all worth it in the end. There's a sort of reward, a sort of self-accomplishment when you learn and later master a new trick." I said with a witty grin. "Can't wait." Rainbow said, to my surprise, with a hint of anticipation. We got out of the car and into the house. Pinkie Pie figured out how to play video games all by herself and was now immersed in some intense multiplayer combat, and doing surprisingly well too. "Wow, Pinkie Pie, you are quite the gamer." I said with a low whistle. "Sorry, what was that?" was the only response I got from the occupied fluff of pink. I decided to ask another question, "Whatever, did you eat breakfast?" Pinkie Pie was now sticking her tongue out in concentration, eventually she said "Yep! Yes I did, thanks for the sandwich Matty, but I could really go for some lunch right now." "Well, maybe I could show you how to operate my kitchen so you can start using it too." I said slowly. This caught Pinkie Pie's attention, despite how close she was to winning another round. "You would really really do that for me Matty?" Pinkie Pie asked in disbelief, eyes beginning to dilate. "I don't see why not." I responded happily, "Come, it's lunch time, let me show you the ropes." "I don't see any ropes in here, but I'm sure we'll manage without those!" Pinkie commented as she followed me into the kitchen. Rainbow stayed behind and started playing in Pinkie's place, but even with proper hands, she somehow couldn't play better than Pinkie did. ..... "So you were a baker, right?" I asked. "I sure was! Ooooh but I can cook so many other things I can't really call myself just a baker you know. That's just what I do to make some bits, I go more along the lines of: Allaroundsuperfantasticironchefmareden!" She responded.... In one breath. "Wow, you sure give yourself a lot of credit." I said folding my arms, "Prove it." A smile began to grow on Pinkie Pie's face as she turned towards the counter and began to work her magic. No, really, magic, she's holding stuff with her hooves right now and the fact that they can do that still claws at my brain. ...1:04 pm.... "Lunch is ready!" I called. Rainbow quickly vaulted over the couch to get to the table and Twilight came down the stairs soon enough. "Did you two have fun?" Twilight asked Rainbow and I. "Oh boy, I sure did. Those boards make so much noise, it's awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Yeah, she's a very fast learner. I was actually surprised that it came to her almost naturally." I commented. "I'm glad you two had fun, and uh, sorry about my reaction to you waking me up this morning. It was a little over the top of me." Twilight commented with an added apology, "So, whats for lunch?" "Apology accepted and Pinkie Pie made a delicious looking spinach casserole (I could never get those right) and theres salad and lentils. You all have a plate, so it's self serve for today." I announced. Twilight and Rainbow made their share of comments and compliments and we ate quietly for a while. Two humans and two ponies sitting opposite from each other, I have no idea why, but that strikes me as odd. Not just the pony part but the forma- ahhhhh forget it... ... "Anyway, today I have work. I get the graveyard shift, are you all going to be okay while I'm away?" I began. Everypony looked around the room awkwardly. "Wow, this is awkward. We never asked you what you do for a living." Twilight said, "Oh! If you don't mind us asking that is." Wow, I somehow missed that point too. How on Earth did that happen? "Well, I'm an AMT. That stands for Aviation Maintenance Technician"......... .... "That's fascinating." Twilight said after I finished explaining my line of work. "Are you kidding? That's awesome!" Rainbow added. "It's pudding!" Pinkie Pie said, putting the pudding desert on the table. "Pinkie Pie, we're talking about Matt's job... That pudding does look pretty awesome though." Rainbow said, defending both teams. "Wow, when did you make that?" I asked Pinkie Pie. "Oh you know, between all of the when-hows and the what-nows." Pinkie Pie said, as is that was a perfectly reasonable answer. Rainbow's advice really helps, that's just Pinkie being Pinkie, my brain is saved. "Oookay, anyways... Twilight, I take it that you browsed through my library already?" I moved on. Twilight seemed to shrink a little. "Yeah, I did. Are you okay with that?" she asked cautiously. "Heh, yeah it's fine. I doubt that you used my laptop though. I guess you could use it to keep you entertained while I'm gone tonight." I said. "I don't really need much more entertainment, really! I took out that novel you mentioned and a text on world history, well, Earth history." Twilight responded. Rainbow and Pinkie were nice enough to make their own conversations quiet, a few giggles now and then. "Well, that would keep you occupied for quite some time, but I guess teaching you now would be better than never." I said. With that, we stood up from the table and began making our way to the study. "Wait! What about your pudding?" Pinkie asked with the most adorable pouting face... D'awwwww. Twilight and I walked back awkwardly, took our servings of pudding, gave Pinkie a pair of sheepish smiles, and as we walked away, I told Rainbow that she is doing the dishes today. "Awwww... Fine." Rainbow said, muttering under her breath. ............... "Alright, so to turn it on you open the screen-" "Like this?" "Yeah, like that. And you push that button to turn it on." "This one?" "No, the big one." "Oh, this one!" "No, that's called the space bar.... Here, that's the button you push." "Oh, sorry." "Don't be, you're learning." ......... "Try using your magic here, I want to see if you can use the touch pad." "Okay...." "hmm, that doesn't work.. Wait a sec." *rummaging* "Aha, wireless mouse!" "Eeep! where?" "No, silly, this is called a mouse. You move it around to give commands to the computer." "How does it work?" "I fix airplanes Twilight, not computers." "Oh." ....... "And this is called a web browser. It let's you surf the Internet." "What's the Internet?" "The biggest virtual library in existence." *Massive squee* "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Why didn't you mention this before?" "Because I was afraid of a reaction like that..." "Oh, sorry." ......... I finished acquainting Twilight to the use of the computer, and also kept a few tabs open (things like Netflix, and Google) So that she doesn't get 'lost' or trapped in the dark side of the Interwebs. "Well, here is a list of my favorite movies and shows. I recommend that you watch Doctor Who, it's amazing." I said after I made sure Twilight was confident to go on by her lonesome. "Thanks! I'll look into it" Twilight responded. Did I just make a mistake by getting her involved with computers? Nah. It's currently 5:32 pm and my shift starts at 8:00 pm. But I decided to go anyway, there was someone that I needed to talk to. Someone who I haven't spoken to in some time. I said my farewells to the three mares, Rainbow had asked Twilight to turn her back to pony form to see if that was the secret to being better than Pinkie Pie at playing video games. I stifled a laugh as I left when I saw Rainbow's frustration, one form of frustration that I know way too well. ................ The drive to Ted's office was killing me on the inside, it's relatively close to where I work, and yet I haven't spoken to him in....? It's been almost five months. Five months of me being completely alone. Five months that I now feel have been wasted. Is he going to hate me? I hope not, he was my best friend after all. I wouldn't be shocked if he resented me for what I did to him, cutting him off like that. Maybe there's room for forgiveness, maybe there isn't. Arrg, but I need him! But, is that the only reason I'm going to him now? To use him? What kind of person does that make me? Or maybe that nightmare was a wakeup call, maybe it was a sign that I can't be alone anymore. At least not without ending up hurting myself, or worse yet, someone else..... This drive really felt like it was going to be the end of me. .......................... I stopped in front of a gray office building, it did not look inviting at all. With a deep sigh, I got out of my car and into that building, the building my old friend Ted works in. I stopped in front of the secretary that was sitting at the center or a rather lavish lobby. I just stood there, the words caught in my mouth. "Ahem, sir? Can I be of assistance?" The secretary asked. She looked like a terrible person, the kind of lady with glasses and a bun for hair that would betray you at the mention of a dollar. Nevertheless, her question slapped me out of my stupor and into reality. "Um, well, you see.... I'm looking for Mister Ted Kimell." I finally said. The secretary had gone back to her business, and without even looking at me continued her 'conversation' with me. "Well, do you have an appointment?" she inquired, I was sure that she knew the answer to that. "Um, no bu-" I began but was very rudely interrupted. "Well then, I don't see why you have any reason to be here. Move along now." She said, with a cold stare pointed at nothing in particular. "If you could just-" I tried to begin again. "Ep, what did I just say?" she rudely inquired, her soul-less stare now pointed at me. "If you would let me finish!" I began once more, "I would like you to call him for me, I am sure that he would want to see me." I said with a sigh, relieved that I could finally get that message through to this woman. She simply stared daggers into me, as if I'm the one who just did something rude! How rude of her! "Fine." she said at last. She didn't even look at the call list, she apparently had it memorized, and called Ted. "Mister Kimell, there is someone here to see you." she began. "Yes, I understand that you don't have any appointments and that you are busy at the moment." she responded as I listened to a one sided conversation. "He insisted." she said with another glare. She paused, and looked at me, "Can I have a name?" she asked. "Oh, Anderson, Matthew Anderson." I replied. "A mister Anderson wants to speak to you sir." she continued. "Oh, I see. Well not to worry sir. Yes, I understand." she said before hanging up. "Well?" I asked. "Mister Kimell wishes you to leave the building, so if you please." she said, motioning towards the door. "Oh. Well, have a nice day." I ended that part with sarcasm so thick you would need to water it down before you could try cutting it. As I was walking towards to door, I heard a ringing from the secretary's phone. I didn't pay it any attention, I just wanted to leave this failure behind. "Yes? Oh really? Changing your mind so soon, sir? Yes sir." I heard the evil secretary behind me say before she called to me. "Mister Anderson! If you would come back please?". I froze in my tracks. What? Did Ted really change his mind after ten seconds? Well, I'm not one to complain! "Yes?" I asked expectantly. "Mister Kimell would actually like to see you right now. Take elevator four to the sixteenth floor, room 1619." the secretary said with a hint of resentment. "Thank you very much." I said in an honestly pleased tone, and walked past her triumphantly. ..... I walked down the hall of the sixteenth floor looking for room 1619. hmm, 1613, 1615, 1617... Where the hell is 1619? I thought to myself before turning the corner and sure enough, there was office 1619. You are a genius I thought sarcastically to myself before walking towards my goal. I opened the door slowly, walking in just as hesitantly. There he was, "Ted?" I asked. He was looking out his window, but quickly turned around at the sound of his name. "Matt? Is that really you? Shit, it's been five months!" he began before taking on a more sorrowful expression, "Are you feeling better?" he asked. "Yeah, a whole lot better." I responded. I saw a quirk of a smile appear on his face, it wasn't one of happiness, it was one of relief. "I'm really sorry about what happened, I shouldn't-" he began apologizing before It interrupted him. (Is that evil secretary getting to me?!) "No, I'm the one that's sorry. I... I shouldn't have pushed you away like that when you were only trying to help me." I apologized back. Ted's expression softened and we went in for a brief man-hug. "It's been too long Matt." Ted said sorrowfully. "Way too long." I agreed. "So what brings you here?" He asked while motioning to a quarter of whiskey he had on his desk, "Care for a drink?" "No thanks, I have work today." I rejected. "Ah, the good ol' machinist is back huh? Did you get better hours like you asked?" Ted began for nostalgia's sake. "Yep, and pay too. My foreman finally pulled through with that seniority bonus. How about you man?" I replied. "I got upgraded to the sixteenth floor, I am doing s'well my friend... So, I'll ask again. What brings you here?" he said, cutting right back to the chase. I looked around the room, "Your office isn't bugged is it?" I asked. "Nope, they stop that stuff after the thirteenth floor. So what even you say is private." Ted announced before darkening his expression, "What is this about?" "Look," I began," I have these friends that aren't really from here, and I was wondering if you could sneak into the archives and add a few entries... I know that's asking for a lot here, but I really need this.". There was a silence in the room, Ted was examining my expression. "What do you mean by 'aren't really from here' exactly?" he asked, "They aren't criminals, are they?" "No, they are not criminals." I retorted in a somewhat bashful tone, "And, they aren't exactly human either". Oh man, I'm starting to melt here. Ted just burst into laughter, "Oh man! Good one! You come back after all this time and you still have that sense of humor.." he trailed off, paused to look at the seriousness of my face, "Oh god, you're serious." "Ted, do you still trust me?" I asked him. "Well, yeah. I also owe you as well." he replied simply. "You owe me? for what?" I asked in shock. "You are the one who helped me in all of my classes in highschool when I really needed it... If it weren't for you, I would not have made it into my dream career. This office here? I can only thank you for it." Ted said. "That's what you owe me for? But that's what friends do, I don't need thanking for that." I responded, still surprised. "Don't waste your favor, I'm saying that I'm going to do this for you just this once you numb skull." Ted spat out, "But first: aliens, what do they look like?" he asked quickly afterward. I gave him a coy grin, "Ponies, bright and colorful ponies." He sat there, blinking a few times before asking the big question,"How are they going to fit into society? Proper ID and paper work only helps so long as the person looks human you know." I gave him the simplest answer I could give him, one that wouldn't strain his frontal lobe like it did to mine. "Magic." I said simply. He kept staring, "Dude, if you want to go through the same headaches I went through, all you have to do is ask." I added. "Okay, I'm asking." he said. "Fine. " I said, preparing myself for a long and hasty explanation. ......... "Equestria?" "Yep." "Dual monarchy.." "That's what I said." "Over 1000 years of peace and counting?" "I wish it were over 9000, but yeah." "And the purple one can do magic?" "Uhuh." "And one of her spells transforms the three into humans?" "Courtesy of my nail clippings, yeah." "What?" "Nothing. Anyway, can you help?" "I will get you three sets of full paperwork back grounds, from birth certificates, work applications, to passports." "Wow, thanks." "Thank me later, when the tables are turned and you owe me Matt." "Well, it's been great seeing you again man, see you later, I gotta go to work." "Likewise, see you later." ........................... I clocked in and the foreman was in the locker room giving everyone a speech. "Welcome back everyone, everyone had a nice Wednesday I presume?" Said the foreman before continuing. "Well, here's the sit-rep on the grounded 777. The port-side wing has been successfully removed and taken to a composites shop for repairs two shifts ago, and now we have to strip the bird of it's skin covering. I want a quarter of the crew working on removing the engine cowls, get that done as soon a humanly possible. The rest of you, I need you all to start removing every skin cover from station zero to station six. The FAA is on our asses for what happened here on Monday and unfortunately for you, you all have to work harder because of an idiot in another shift! Go, and no pencil pushing!" With that, I was assigned to work on removing the engine cowls. One of the easiest jobs to do on this beautiful bird because it's actually designed to come off, just loosen the hinges and get one of the trucks to drag it away for inspection. The rest of my shift was tiring and relatively boring. I left work at three in the morning and made my way home a quickly as I could without being reckless. ....................... I got home at four o'clock sharp, somehow cutting an entire half hour from my commute. I quietly made my way into the house, through the living room and into the kitchen. I then served myself a glass of some whiskey I had hidden in the kitchen and went to the back yard to unwind for a few minutes before going to bed. To my surprise, Pinkie Pie was laying in the grass outside, she was just staring at the sky. "Hey there." I greeted Pinkie Pie as I sat down next to her, much to Pinkie's own surprise. "Oh, you're back!" she said quietly. "So, what are you doing staring at the sky all by yourself?" I asked. "What are you doing staring at the sky with somepony staring at the sky by her self?" Pinkie asked back. "I just.... I need to lay down and think." I said, now laying on my back. "Well, I'm just thinking." Pinkie said, and then laid down on he back as well. ... "It's just so hard to believe that I'm so far away from home. The moon is so small, the clouds are so high and the weather in this world is like one big Everfree forest." Pinkie said serenely, "Oh, and Gummy, my poor, poor Gummy. I sure hope Fluttershy is taking good care of him, I miss him so much." she added with a pang of sadness. "It's just so hard.... To live." I said, sipping from my glass. Pinkie pretended not to notice. ... "Matty?" Pinkie asked after a long moment of silence. "Yes, Pinkie?" I replied, almost lost in the zen of the night sky. "Do you think I weill ever see my home again?" Pinkie inquired. That made me look at her. She looked back, with big, sad blue eyes. "I don't think it's impossible Pinkie," I finally replied, "But you are going to have to keep hope that one day you will, or it may never happen." "Oh." Pinkie commented, as if my word was the only truth. ... "Pinkie Pie?" "Yes?" "We should go to bed." "We should... Hey, Matty?" "Yeah?" "This morning, I woke up and Rainbow wasn't there. Where was she?" "Oh, she was sleeping with me." "You what? Isn't it a little weird to do that with a different species? I mean, not that I'm judging or anything, but, really?" "What? No! Gross! I think that counts as bestiality, no! I meant that she slept in the same bed that I was in, no funny stuff involved." "Ohhh." *giggle* "Well, now that that's answered I can sleep okay." "Glad, er, to have cleared that up." ... We made our way back inside. I set glass down on the counter, I still had some drink left, but before I could think about drinking it, Pinkie Pie took it. "Cheers to going home some day." she said quietly before drinking the last of my whiskey. "Alrighty, sleep well." I said before we parted ways and drifted to sleep...
Driving miss PinkieChapter 5: Driving miss Pinkie ---------------oooOOooo--------------- *Door opening.* *Young Matthew enters the house.* "Hey mom." "Matthew! What ever happened to you?" "I um... I kinda fell a few times." "A few times? just look at your arms! What on Earth were you doing?" "Well, let's just say I'm not ready to grind on rails just yet." "Come here, let's get those cuts cleaned up." .... *Older Matthew at his family's funeral.* *Raining profusely.* "Here we gather today. In loving memory of...." *Matthew looking at his parent's closed coffins.* I can't say goodbye, I'm just not ready yet. *White noise drowning Matthew's thoughts* ... Aunt: "Happy birthday Matthew! How's my little nephew doing?" Matt: "I'm good auntie." Aunt: "My, you're already eleven years old! It barely feels like any time has passed at all." *Short pause* Aunt: "Well, I bet you're wondering what your uncle and I have in store for you!" *Young Matthew stares at a large, red box with a yellow bow* Matt: "What is it?" Uncle: "Well, why don't you open it and find out?" *Young Matthew begins opening the box* Uncle: "It's a skateboard!" Matt: "Wow! But I don't know how to ride it." Uncle: "Don't you worry about that, I can teach you. In no time at all, you will be riding this around to wherever you please!" *Matthew's mom stands by the doorway* Mom: "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I don't recall you two asking for permission before giving him something like that." Uncle: "Oh, the boy needs something fun and reckless to do. He's almost a teenager now! Might as well give him a head start." Mom: "This we need to discuss later." Aunt: "But just look at him, he's so excited to learn now. Can you really take it away from him at this point?" ... *Matthew staring blankly at his Aunt and Uncle's coffins.* Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time?Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time?Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time?Why are they all closed? Why can't I see them one more time? *Tears running down Matthew's face* *White noise* ... *Teen Matthew playing with his little sister* "Haha! Do it again!" "What? You mean this?" "Yeah! How can you fly a kite so good?" "You mean how can I fly a kite so well? Practice is all." "Teach me, pweety pwease?" "Awww, can't say no to that face now can we? Alright, here, hold the string like this with both hands and don't let go." "You mean like this?" "Almost, try separating your hands a bit more." "There?" "Now you're getting it! Now pull the string with your front hand and feed or pull the string with the other." "Wow! Did you see that?" "Yeah, you're doing really well! Pull the string every time you see the kite begin to fall, eventually you will get the rhythm of it and you will be able to turn the kite where you want it to go." "Okay, just one wittle question." "What is it?" "What does eventually mean?" "It means that in time you will get there." "Oh... Matty?" "Yes?" "Thank you for playing with me today, this sunset is very pwetty." ... *Matthew crying in front of a small coffin, fellow mourners beginning to depart* "I am going to miss you so, oh so much, my little Sadie." *Man in uniform puts a hand on Matthew's shoulder* "Matthew?" *nodding* " I.... I cannot begin to imagine the pain you must be going through right now, your father was a good man. Gregory was a great man actually, both in the CIA and as a human being." "He... He sure was Mr. Kimell." "I just wanted to give my condolences." *White noise slowly becoming deafening* ---------------oooOOooo--------------- I shot up from my bed, panting quietly and my heart racing like I had just ran a marathon. I could also feel the dried tears on my face. Nopony in my room this time though, I dug out my father's time piece and waited for the calming sound to bring me back to the subconscious world. .......... The sweet scent of pancakes and apples wafted it's way into my nose and into my brain. It was tempting to the point that I almost got out of bed, that is until I saw the time. 10:28? It's too damn early, was my last thought before closing my eyes once more. .... I woke up groggily, yet no longer capable of sleeping anymore. I hate that feeling, what time is it? 11:56? Meh, I might as well get up. I shuffled my way into the bathroom and took a quick and revitalizing shower. I am so glad I only work three days a week, that graveyard shift on Thursdays is always the one that gets me. But now I am fully awake, courtesy of my lovely shower, which means that I get to do... Stuff. Huh, that train of thought might have left me. What am I supposed to do today? I told Ted about the mares, I guess I should tell the mares about telling Ted about said mares. But besides from taking a bunch of photographs of the three, I don't think there's anything to do but wait for the results in a few weeks. With that thought, I idly put on the first pair of everything in my drawers, not really caring for looks. Worn blue jeans and some random, plain, light green T-shirt. Where did I get this shirt from? I thought to myself after I put it on. With a shrug, I headed downstairs. The first thing that I saw was Rainbow playing the same game as last time, I may have accidentally hooked her on gaming. With that thought, I sat down next to Rainbow with a yawn. Apparently she wasn't aware of my presence until then and did a slight jump from the place she was sitting, to about three inches away from her original spot. "Well, good afternoon to you, sleepyhead", Rainbow greeted. "Good afternoon to you too, miss gamer-hooves", I greeted back. She just went back to her game, in which she wasn't so bad at anymore. Out of boredom and hunger, I stood from the rather interesting match Rainbow was involved in to get myself some delicious consumables. On my way to the kitchen, I got a peek into my library. Surprise surprise, Twilight was sitting inches away from a laptop screen, stacks of books on either side of her. "G'day Twi, how long have you been here?" I dared to ask. "Oh, hey Matthew", Twilight greeted while pausing whatever she was watching, "Um, wow, since six o'clock I guess." "Six? What were you doing this whole time?" I dared to inquire even further. "Well, there's that show that you recommended, Doctor Who, it's amazing by the way. And I was also looking through some human related history, Genghis Khan was an evil but very intelligent general", Twilight went on. I smirked when I realized that Twilight already finished the first season of my favorite teenage hood show. "Alrighty then, just make sure to get some air every now and then. Doesn't need to be too long, just some five minute brakes between episodes", I said idly while resuming my trek to the kitchen in my honor-bound quest for food. Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen, seemingly sitting and doing nothing, but the sweet smell of apples told me that she was just waiting. "Hey Pinkie, what'cha doing?" I asked. "Good afternoon Matty, how'd you sleep?" Pinkie asked back, seemingly ignoring my question apparently. "What smells so good in here anyway? I'm famished!" I said, passing the proverbial ball of conversation. "Oh, I just made some apple pie and then made some pancakes with the leftover flour", Pinkie responded nonchalantly. "I could sure go for either of those right now.." I trailed of hungrily. "Wellll, we ran out of pancakes", Pinkie began, that's when I noticed the slight bulge in her belly, "But I saved some pie just for you!" Pinkie continued as she pulled a place with a neat slice of apple pie... From under the table. "Pinkie Pie... You are so... Random." I managed to say as I reached for the plate. I just ate and Pinkie Pie just droned on about something. I was starting to simply block out non-essential conversations from Pinkie Pie in a subconscious effort to not sprain my frontal lobe. I should probably work my way against that, I don't want to be rude, and god knows what kind of trouble that could get me into. After I finished eating, I thanked Pinkie Pie and excused myself to the bathroom. I finished all of the necessary steps of personal hygiene, and then came back out to see that the only pony that actually moved in all of that time was Pinkie. Rainbow was still on the couch and Twilight was still on the chair inches from the screen. "Um, guys?" I began, "Do any of you want to, you know, do something?" Rainbow looked away from the game at least, "Aww c'mon, I'm on a winning streak here!" then Rainbow lowered her voice and continued, "I love to win." "Okay, one no. Twilight?" I asked. "Huh? What? But I'm in the middle of the second season!" she said biting her hoof for the briefest moment, "And I need to see how the Doctor is going to get out of this one, I mean, he has to right? He regrew a hand, I'm sure he can beat a few Cybermen. Right?" Twilight droned on doubtfully. I was sure I made a mistake introducing computers to these mares at this point, but I will deal with this later. "That's two nos, Pinkie?" I asked, and yet almost begged. "Sure! I don't see why not." Pinkie said, much to my relief. "Alright, let's get out of here." I said. "Um, Matty? Aren't you forgetting something?" Pinkie said, motioning towards her pink self. "Oh, yeah. Hey Twilight? Could you come here for a second and turn Pinkie human?" I called in response to Pinkie's reminder. There was a slight delay in her response, but eventually Twilight left the library and turned Pinkie human before going back to watching her new favorite show. I seriously need to talk to these two when I come back, there is so much to enjoy in the city before becoming a couch potato! It's just too soon! ... After Pinkie Pie got all of her clothes on(which took a surprisingly short amount of time), we got in my car and started our long ride to the city. Now we had about an hour and a half to figure out what to do when we get there. "So what do you wanna do?" I asked Pinkie. "Well, It's past noon. How about we start with lunch? I like eating." Pinkie suggested. Well, now we have some more common ground, we both like eating. "Sure, I know this great burger joint... Oh wait, herbivore, sorry." feeling a bit sorry on what Pinkie Pie is missing out on. "Well, do you know any other great places to eat at?" Pinkie asked. "Actually, that same place has fairly awesome salads. I'm sure you would like them." I suggested since I really had a craving for a burger right now. "Okie, sounds like a plan", said Pinkie Pie while eying my radio. "Hey Matty? How does this thing work?" "What? The radio? Just push the volume knob inward." I responded. I watched Pinkie poke the knob in my peripheral, keeping my eyes on the road. I smiled at the song that was just beginning, I recognized that intro immediately. "Oi. Oi. Oi. Oi." I began singing along, not really caring what Pinkie Pie thought of me. "See me right out of the sunset, on your color TV screen. I'm for all that I can get, if you know what I mean. Women to the left of me, and women to the right. Ain't got no gun, ain't got no knife, don't you start no fight." I sang along. "Cuz I'm TNT, I'm dynamite. TNT, and I'll win the fight! TNT, I'm a power load. TNT watch me explode!" I continued what would probably seem embarrassing to others, but one glance at Pinkie Pie told me she was enjoying the concert as much as I was. I continued singing until the guitar solo, and just listened to the music from then on, bored from singing. When the song ended and the radio talk host took over, Pinkie gave me a starry look, "Wow, I really like your singing voice! Much better than that mister gravel voice on the radio!" Pinkie complemented "Me, a better singer than the Bon Scott? Thanks but you're giving me way too much credit, I'm okay at singing, but not great." I retorted. ... Most of the ride was mostly music talk. An awesome song comes up and Pinkie would ask what band that was and so on. But then a question came into my head followed by the thought, why didn't I ask this in the beginning? "Hey Pinkie? Sorry that I never asked, but how did you three end up here? Or, what were you doing before you ended up here?" I asked cautiously. Pinkie gave me a sad look that lasted a fraction of a second. "Well, as much as I would love to say that Twilight was doing an experiment and that Rainbow and I were helping when something went terribly wrong, that would be both silly and a terrible lie. Actually, I dunno why I would love to say that at all!" Pinkie began, "What we were doing was walking through the Everfree forest. A whole lot of ponies were spreading stories that there were tall monsters made of stone in the forest! So many ponies were so terribly scared that Celestia sent the Elements of Harmony to see exactly what the problem was", Pinkie Pie paused and looked down for a moment, "Twi, Dashie and I got separated from the rest of the gang once we were inside the forest. That's when everything went dark and the next thing the any of us remember is, well, you know that part of the story." Pinkie Pie trailed off. "Oh... That's definitely very strange, I'm sorry that you don't know anymore about what caused this." I said sorrowfully. "It's fine Matty, you yourself said that we have to keep hope, hope that we will come back home one day." Pinkie responded. The rest of the ride was quiet albeit the music on the radio. .... I found a spot to park the car and began undoing the seatbelt. "Alright! we're here." I said excitedly. "Yay! I'm starving!" Pinkie commented. We both got out of the car and I locked the doors behind us as I walked Pinkie to our destination. The restaurant's name was Billy and I's . Pinkie and I walked through the aluminum double doors, I love the retro look of this place, and waited to be seated and looked through the menu. "So, what are you getting Pinks?", I asked, half testing if I could use new nicknames. "Ummmm, I'll take the chicken cesar salad, without the chicken." Pinkie concluded, and I concluded that 'Pinks' is a safe nickname to use. "Hey Pinkie? I understand that ponies can't digest meat properly, which is why it should naturally taste terrible to you. But, right now you are human. Would that mean that your taste buds changed as well?" I asked in a low, conspiring voice. I was trying to not let anyone else hear what I was saying as to not arouse any suspicion. Pinkie stared at me for a while, then scratched her chin for a bit before grimacing slightly. "I guess, but I don't want to hurt any animals just to feed myself." she concluded. I don't know why, but I wanted to pursue the subject further. "Well, I don't either, but the poor animal in question is already gone. Wouldn't it be worse that he or she died for no reason and let them waste away?" I said tentatively. "Hmm, you do make a good point", Pinkie began, "It feels wrong though." "Tell you what, you order your salad and I'll let you try my burger to see if you like it. If you don't like it, just spit it out and you haven't actually eaten any meat." I concluded in a triumphant tone. "Well...." Pinkie trailed off before continuing hesitantly, "Okay, I guess." .. "Hello handsome, sorry for the long wait. What can I do for you and girl?" said the waitress in an almost seductive tone. I tried my best not to blush, I think I succeeded with my poker face, but I can't tell for sure. "It just so happens that you can help us", I began, playing along with the restaurant cliché question of the year, "I'll have the cheese burger, well done, with sautéed onions, tomato, lettuce and a slice of avocado with a side of fries. For drinks, I'll have an unfiltered ginger ale. What about you Pinks?" I ordered in a well practiced manner. "I'll have the cesar salad, without the chicken please, and a sparkling cider. Thanks!" Pinkie ordered at a quick pace. "Okay, I'll be back soon with your orders." the waitress said with a wink. That almost gets annoying, but the food is totally worth it. Pinkie and I watched her walk away. "I think she likes you!" Pinkie said to me with a look I couldn't quite decipher. "Nah" I began, leaning back, "They get paid to do it". I then added with a growing ego, "But then again, who could resist this body?". That got Pinkie to giggle, then we just continued with some small talk. ... The waitress came back after thirty minutes or so, carrying absolutely everything we ordered in one tray which sat on one hand. How do they learn to balance those tray like that? I thought to myself. We thanked the waitress and began eating, Pinkie Pie seemed to be mentally preparing herself for what I signed her up for. I just waited without needing a verbal instruction, I was pressuring her to begin with after all. "Alright, I think I'm ready." Pinkie said after a few minutes of background noise. "Okay, here." I said, pushing the plate slowly to her. She stared at the burger for a bit. "Omnivore is right, you sure added a lot of veggies to this dish." she commented slowly. Before I could respond, Pinkie Pie picked it up and took a relatively small bite and chewed tentatively. To my pleasure, the pace of her chewing began to increase. "You know?", Pinkie began, "It's actually not bad. It tastes different from anything I've tried before, but I can see why you like it." I smirked, "I win then." "Win what?" she asked, looking up from the table. "Oh nothing, two parts of my brain were betting on whether or not you would like it." I said as if that was perfectly normal, but I was talking to Pinkie Pie, so she may have found that perfectly normal. She certainly didn't bother to point out anything wrong with that idea. .. We were almost finished with our meals when I noticed the manager walking around with a tray. He was offering his creation to his costumers. Everybody quickly declined his offer, I emphasized with them. He eventually came to our table to offer his challenge, "Hey there, enjoying your meal?" he asked. I nodded, Pinkie looked up from her salad and did the same. This was it, "Well, would you like to meet the dude?" the manager offered. "Who's the dude? Sounds like a nice person!" Pinkie asked. "Uhh, Pinks? The dude a challenge, not a person", I answered. This got the manager to laugh a big hearty laugh. This man had the voice that is the result of decades of smoking tons cigars and drinking gallons of whiskey. "Would you like me to introduce your friend to the rules?" the manager offered. "Yes please", I responded with a conspiratorial grin, "Hey Pinks, would you like to save me some money?" "Sure! What are the rules?" Pinkie Pie began excitedly. I almost felt sorry for her, but I was going to suffer too. "Well, the dude is the hottest edible substance I have ever been able to create", the manager began the speech he has rehearsed thousands of times, "My challenge to you is to last as long as you possibly can before you drink the cure to the heat, which is plain and simple milk. If you last more than thirty seconds, I will discount the price of your meal by fifty percent. If you last more than a minute, your meal is free and you can get another free meal the next month if you last a minute the next time you accept the challenge. Now, if you beat the previous restaurant record, you get a special place of honor on the wall over by the entrance." the manager finished. Pinkie Pie looked a slight bit nervous, but she quickly changed that into the bravest face I have ever seen. "Alright, bring it!" she challenged back. "I'll do it too." I said, very unsure because no sane person would attempt this twice... Much less six times. The manager nodded and responded by putting the tray on the table, serving us both a tall glass of milk and a toothpick with his special recipe on the end of it. People began to turn their heads to watch and the room fell silent as two waiter took out a stop watch to count both of our times. I looked at Pinkie Pie, we exchanged looks of regret, but it was too late to back out now. "Okay, on the count of three." the manager began. I took a hold of the toothpick, it burned my eyes more and more the closer I held it. This stuff was close to the intensity of the standard issue pepper spray the constabulary uses. "One..... Two.... Three!" the manager exclaimed as Pinkie Pie and I jumped right into a metaphorical bonfire. Pinkie had a delayed reaction, as for me, my eyes began to water almost immediately. But when Pinkie's reaction came, it came hard. She started holding on to the table in a futile attempt to ease the torment. She began breathing through her mouth. "Pinkie, don't", I wheezed, "That only makes it worse." "Oh, Celestia, it does!" she exclaimed. We sat quietly as our faces turned bright crimson and started sweating. Our tongues screaming at our brains in confusion. The manager put on an almost sadistic smile and the other costumers began cheering us on as we neared the thirty second mark. "Keep on going! Keep on going! Keep on going!" they began cheering. Oh god, it spread to my nose! I thought in agony. And my throat!. I gave up and reached for the glass of milk, the relief was godly. Pinkie kept going strong though, I was surprised at her tolerance. I wonder what she's thinking right now... But, sure enough, Pinkie had to quit sometime. She began slamming her hand on the table a few times, but then simply reached for her glass of well-deserved milk. The look of relief washed over her. "One minute and fourteen seconds!" one of the waiters called out Pinkie's time to everyone else. "Heh, fifty-eight seconds!" the other called out my time. Dang, so close. Still, the crowd of costumers cheered. Pinkie Pie smiled triumphantly at me, I smiled back. That was really intense... ... Eventually we left the restaurant having paid only eight dollars, sweet. "Wow, that stuff was spicier than rainbows!" Pinkie commented once she was sure no one would hear her. "You... Tasted rainbows before?" I asked in a shocked tone that I should really stop using in Pinkie Pie's presence. "Yep! It was this one time that I visited the Cloudsdale weather factory and Dashie showed us how rainbows are made in vats! I made the tiny mistake of tasting the rainbow-filled vat and by Celestia's horn, it was spicy!" Pinkie explained. "Ah, that makes so much more sense." I concluded. We walked around for a bit to let our food settle down. "So, what should we do now?" asked Pinkie after some time. "Well, I still have some cash left over since I didn't spend nearly as much money in the restaurant as I expected to. How about a movie?" I offered. "Oooh! Where to?" she asked excitedly. "Ummm, there." I said, pointing to an Indie theater. I liked those kinds of movies more than that of the mainstream, those have way too many special effects now, and the editors do so many cuts that you don't really have time to think and process what you just saw. It's almost like the editors are afraid that if they don't cut every half-second, they would lose their jobs. "Hmm, we don't have any theaters in Ponyville. Usually Twilight hosts a movie night for the town where we all get together and watch in the town square with a projector machine she has little Spike operate", Pinkie thought out loud, "What movie are they playing?" she asked. "I don't know", I responded with a smirk, "That's the fun of it though." We walked in and bought two tickets to whatever. It was a drama of a police officer who's daughter was kidnapped. It had a few action scenes that were great, but I also really enjoyed the monologues, they were ingeniously written. When the movie was over, Pinkie and I decided to just go home. I was tired from yesterday, so some recovery sleep couldn't hurt. "Wow, did you see that part where Walter thought his daughter was in the gas station but saw it was a trap and while he was running away it exploded and he didn't look back at the fireball? That was amazing!" Pinkie recalled her favorite parts of the movie. "Yeah, I also loved that scene where the kidnapper called the father and how in his speech, he explains why some people have no interest in saving humanity. Whoever wrote that scene was very familiar with psychology." I responded. "It's sad that thats the case, I wish everypony was a good pony. I'm glad that Walter saved his daughter." she commented. That's when I got philosophical. "Well, if everyone or pony in the universe was good, then how would we be able to tell the difference between good and evil?" I responded, staring into nothing as we approached the car. Pinkie remained quiet at that question. ... The car ride was quiet most the most part, Pinkie Pie deep in thought. "We wouldn't." she concluded. "Pardon?" I asked. "What you said before, if everypony... I mean everyone on this planet were good, we wouldn't be able to tell the difference between good and bad. Everyone in one way or another would be perfect, and that just feels so... Wrong to me. I guess that's why ponies and people like that exist, to remind us that we can be better than that, and so that we could continue to try to reach perfection without ever actually reaching it", Pinkie Pie said. I was surprised at her insight of the world, who would have thought that such a random and spontaneous soul could be so thoughtful as well? "Wow, Pinkie Pie, you are much more intelligent than you give yourself credit for", I commented. "Thanks Matty, but I don't think it takes too much thought to see what is right in front of you." she said. "That's just it, sometimes we see what's in front of us and never once question it because it's been there for so long. It takes a certain kind of insight to realize what has been there all along." I said, pausing before continuing, "You, Pinkie Pie, have that kind of insight. Don't you ever forget that." Pinkie just smiled. ..... We arrived at home, and I was tired. I was oh so very tired, but there was still some business to handle. Pinkie and I walked into the house, and to my annoyance, Rainbow was still where we left her. "Did you even move?" I asked Rainbow. Rainbow jumped at the harshness of my tone, "Um, well, kind of... You see", she tried to begin. "No, I didn't think so. Did you even go out to skate?" I said, almost staring daggers at her, but holding that back for her sake. Rainbow looked down in shame, "No, I'm sorry." Twilight came out of the library, eyes somewhat bloodshot. "You too Twi, I told you to take breaks every now and then at the very least. Did you do at least that?" She was obviously caught by surprise, "Um.... No, sorry if I made you angry." Twilight apologized. "I'm not angry, I'm disappointed." I began, "Pinkie here got to explore the city a bit more today, and what have you two accomplished while she was away? I understand why video games and TV shows can be so immersing, I went through that phase too. But you're stay here is hopefully only temporary and I would like you two to at least enjoy what my civilization has to offer. Not only does your new obsessions keep me from doing that, it also tells me that you have already given up your hope in ever coming back home." I finished coldly. I saw that Rainbow was on the verge of crying, that softened my stoic stance in this situation. "Rainbow, I just wan-" I tried to begin. "No! You said it yourself! I already lost hope of coming back home! Why should I even try regaining it if it's only going to hurt me in the end?" Rainbow interjected with her own thoughts. "Dashie.." Pinkie Pie pleaded quietly. Rainbow didn't want to hear it, she flew upstairs and locked herself in a room. Twilight was tearing up as well, but the look on her face was different from Rainbow's. "I... I'm sorry, you're right. I'm not making any progress in trying to come home if all I do is sit on my haunches and watch somepony else's story. Thank you, for letting me see that Matthew." a saddened Twilight said apologetically. "Hey, what are friends for? I only hope Rainbow sees that soon enough." I responded, "Anyway, it's almost dinner time. What do you guys want to eat?" "Anything is fine, thanks." Twilight said quietly as she made her way to her room, a book precariously balanced on her back. Wait, if Rainbow didn't lock herself in Twilight's room, which room is she in? Oh well, she needs some time alone. ... After Pinkie Pie got Twilight to turn her back to her pony self, she decided to go to my library, pick a random book out of my collection, and sat at the kitchen table to read as I cooked. "What have you got there Pinkie?" I asked as I started chopping up some onions. "Oh, I just took a random novel from your collection, if that's okay with you." Pinkie responded. "It's fine by me, I meant which book." I retorted, now putting the chopped onions in a pot. "Um, it's called Flowers for Algernon, is it any good?" Pinkie inquired. I paused, "Yes, it's a very good book." I said before returning to my task at hoof.... Hand! I meant hand! ... "Dinner is ready! Rainbow, come down please." I called. Twilight came down promptly, followed by Rainbow a few seconds later. She looked like she was crying for a while, the sides of her face matted with dry tears. "I hope you're okay with steamed vegetables." I said with an underlying apologetic tone. Rainbow didn't even look at me, that hurt. "Um, Rainbow? Do you want to clean your face first?" Twilight asked cautiously, knowing that she may be treading on thin ice. "Yeah, I'll be right back." Rainbow grumbled before leaving for the bathroom. The three of us sat down and waited for Rainbow to come back before eating. "So, Twilight. Do you have any clue as to how to go home?" I asked Twilight while we waited for Rainbow. "Well, kind of. I figure that we are indeed in the same universe as before, but traveled an extremely long distance in a very short time." Twilight began. "So, you're saying that whatever sent you here did so by folding our universe and send you from one half to the other?" I asked, or maybe I interjected, I can't really say for sure. "Uhh, yeah. How did you know I was going to say that?" Twilight asked. I shrugged, "I always figured that there are multiple universes and that they are all stacked one on top of each other. Which means that, theoretically, it is." "It is possible to fold that stack in two and travel through the universes, eventually you would end up on your own universe but on the opposite side..." Twilight finished for me. We all sat in silence, staring at each other until Rainbow came back. "Erm, I heard you guys suddenly stop talking. What happened exactly?" Rainbow questioned the odd-ness of the scene before her. "What happened is that we may have an idea on how we came here." Twilight responded. "That's the first step to coming back home, Dashie!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. "Well, that's good new to my ears!" Rainbow said, her mood brightening up a little. The rest of our diner was silent, despite the hopeful news. ... Pinkie and Rainbow left once we all finished eating. Twilight and I cleaned the dishes and later sat down at the kitchen table to try some sort of progress in the coming home idea. "You do realize that the theory we made doesn't really help us, and might even be wrong, right?" I questioned Twilight once we sat down. "Yes, that point is perfectly clear to me." Twilight began as a smile began growing on her face, "But, I have proof that this theory is correct." "Oh? And what would that be?" I asked in slight surprise. "Last night, I did some focusing. I sensed the residual presence of a very powerful, and very complicated spell which originates where you found us. I first picked it up when we drove past it the day you took us to get new clothes." Twilight explained. "I'm a little lost, Twi. Care to explain a little further?" I inquired, feeling lost in her, quite literally, magical vocabulary. "Um yes, yes I can." Twilight began, "The real clue was when I managed to trace the spell back, back to wherever it was casted. I was able to sense the number of leylines on the other side," Twilight was getting excited but kept her tone quiet, "It's the same number as in Equestria!" "And it was done by actually folding universes in two?" I inquired further. "From what I can tell." her expression darkened, "Whatever caused this was a very, very powerful creature or source. It's power rivaling that of princess Celestia herself." I swallowed hard, does that mean that she can't come back home? "But," Twilight began once more, "This does not mean that I can't attempt to replicate and reverse the spell. If it was able to take us here, then I can make it take us back." Twilight said, beaming. "That's amazing news Twilight!" I said, congratulating her a bit early. "How long will it take you to cast the spell?" I asked. "That's the thing, I need to study it first. It's nothing like any teleportation spell I have seen before, it's almost like a gateway spell if anything. It's going to take me a few weeks just to understand it, and even then, I don't think my raw abilities alone could allow me to cast the spell. I may be a powerful unicorn, but I do not possess unlimited power." Twilight said glumly. "But there's still hope!" I began, "What materials will you need? I'll be happy to help out." "Thank you so much for your hospitality Matthew, you're doing much more than anypony has the right to ask of you, you know. Unfortunately, I don't know for sure what materials I will need, yet." Twilight said. "It's no problem," I said before remembering something, "Oh, I forgot to tell you! My old friend, Ted, I commissioned his help with your stay here. He says he can get all three of you authentic records, so if anyone ever gets suspicious, or if anyone of you gets sick or something and needs a hospital, you will look like perfectly normal humans." This caught Twilight's full attention, "You what? Matthew, can you trust this person to hold our secret?" she questioned, much to my offense. "I have known Ted Kimell ever since I was born. Our fathers were friends before us, and when we were born, we started out as friends. He would never even think about betraying me, no matter what I might be going through. He has done nothing but try to stick by my side", I said sternly, "Even when I was pushing him away." Twilight seemed to understand how much I trusted my friend, and questioned my judgment no further. "Thank you Matthew, for everything." Twilight said before going upstairs to her room to sleep. I made my way upstairs soon after, making sure not to wake up Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. Both of which were sleeping soundly. Eventually I climbed into bed, unable to fall asleep despite how tired I may have been. I was trying to process everything that happened today. After a few long moments, I drifted off into the dark comforts of rest and sleep.
Saving for a rainy dayChapter 6: Saving for a rainy day Well, I was resting, but I wasn't doing a whole lot of sleeping. Staring at my window into the darkness was the only thing worth my time while I tried my best to sleep, drifting deeply into my thoughts: So, my new friends can actually go home in the foreseeable future. That is great news for pretty much everyone, I just hope that everything goes soothly till then. Ah, who am I kidding? Nothing can go wrong, Ted is helping us out by making the mares legal citizens and no one else knows a thing about them. Take that negativity and throw it somewhere that you wont see, negative thoughts are just going to limit you and those around you. Hmm, I wonder whats for breakfast tomorrow? Meh, I guess I'll look inside my fridge and improvise. Is that some rain I see outside? I hope not, at least it only seems like a drizzle. Why wouldn't I hope for rain though? It keeps me alive and hydrated in a way, in a very *yawn* indirect kind of way..... Finally some actual, tangible sleep.. ---------------oooOOooo--------------- "Matty You're back! How was the exam?" "It went well, sis. I think the FAA will be taking me in the moment they see the results." "Thats great, so, what now?" "What now? Now we wait for that blue envelope to come in the mail. Until then, whats for lunch?" "I went ahead and made your favorite, I think it would be a great morale boost after taking a three hour long test." "Four hours.." "Whatever, are you going to sit and eat or what?" "Yes, yes I am. Uh, where are mom and dad?" "They went out, I don't know where, but they said that they would be back soon." ... "Mom, dad, welcome back!" "Hey Matthew, how was the exam?" "I aced it, plain and simple." "Wonderful, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to return this." "Dad... How much did you pay for this?" "Shhh, don't ask. I knew that you broke your phone in that little fall you took, so your mom and I decided to buy you a new one." "Do you like it? Oh, I don't think he likes it." "Mom, I love it. I just didn't expect..... You left the price tag on." "Oh, really? Don't look at it, just lemme take it off." "Dad, it's a little late for me to not look at it, six-hundred dollars? Are you two out of your minds? I mean, in this economy, it just doesn't seem like a good idea." "No, we are not mad. We thought that rewarding you for going so far in life would be nice considering all of our poor gifts to you in the past." "You guys really didn't need to do this, I'm only becoming an AMT." "Oh, stop being so modest and accept a gift from your parents." ... What the hell? Where am I? I thought as I looked at my surroundings, except there weren't any. Everything around me was pure white, no features or textures that I could see. I soon realized that I was laying down, I instinctively got up and started walking around cautiously. I couldn't feel a floor, and yet I knew I was walking on something. I must be dreaming, I thought. I mean, that's the only reasonable explanation to.... Whatever this is. Oh wait! I must be having a lucid dream, which means... I thought to myself as I began constructing my surroundings for myself. I started with sand, check. I added a body of water to my right, now I have a beach, with no end. I then started creating buildings to my left to make this area seem less... Boundless. Huh, I'm in Miami. I guess I sub-consciously wanted a vacation. I thought as I made a lawn chair rise from the sands along with a nice palm tree to create some shade from the sun I created. Well, this is nice. I continued thinking as I laid myself down on my new lawn chair. I sat around on that chair drawing things in the sky with clouds for what felt like an eternity, but I stopped at the sound of... Something. What is that sound? I thought as I began looking around, it was a dull, white noise. I eventually found the source of the disturbance, far away from me on the shoreline. It was a large, black stain in my world. Though I couldn't make out any of the details of said stain, I knew that I felt one thing, one feeling, when I set my eyes on the blackness. I felt fear, pure, instinctual fear. I stood up quickly once I saw the black shroud racing towards me. I began my attempt to flee, but the black shroud was spreading too quickly. Two shadows grabbed my legs from under the sand, the body of the shroud still twenty or so feet, towering above me. My frightened self stared at the darkness, instinct screaming at me to run, but my legs seemingly glued to the ground. And then, two small, glowing orange lights became visible inside of the shroud. I don't know how, but I knew that those were eyes, familiar eyes. "No." I uttered, the shroud's response gave the two glowing eyes a body, one that I couldn't mistake. "No!" I shouted at the figure that was slowly approaching me. The figure was a she, I knew it somehow. I knew her identity. She slowly rose her slender hand and pointed her index finger at me, and spoke with the voice of five souls, "Matty, why weren't you able to save us?" "I couldn't! I didn't know what was happening!" I shouted at the shrouded figure of my sister, wind seemed to be coming from nowhere. Suddenly, the figure began speaking in one solitary voice, "Why weren't you able to be with us Matty? I miss you so much." It was the voice of my younger sister when she was very little. "I... I'm sorry I wasn't there! You never told me where you all were going!" Now it was the voice of my father, "You can still join us Matthew, Join us!" The shroud suddenly lunged at me and everything went black, I felt myself falling and screaming. There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do, There was nothing I could do, there was nothing I could do....! ---------------oooOOooo--------------- *Kaboom!* "Gah!" I shouted, sitting up from my bed. Once I knew for sure that I wasn't asleep, I managed to calm myself down a little. I was panting lightly, I felt the cold sweat on my brow, and I saw the lightning outside my window. It was absolutely pouring outside. Once my heartbeat slowed down enough for me to be considered calm, I stepped out of bed and made my way across the room to my bathroom. I turned the light on and hastily began washing my face. When I felt I was done, I simply stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at myself. That was a really bad nightmare. Eventually, I dried my face and went back to bed, timepiece in hand. I listened to the calming sound of the clockwork until I drifted back to sleep. ... "Hey, you awake?" Asked an ignorant voice, clearly I wasn't awake. "Yeah, I'm awake." I said as I slowly sat up from my very comfortable bed, "Rainbow? What do you want?" "I was wondering if you wanted to go skate today, Twilight is awake now, I thought that starting early would be better than in the afternoon heat." Rainbow responded. Did I dream all of that rain? It must be really wet outside! "Uh, Rainbow? Did it rain last night?" I asked. "Yeah it did. It's annoying you know, I would never have my weather team make a storm on a weekend. Why do you ask?" Rainbow huffed. "Well, if you can avoid skateboarding on a wet surface, you should." I said matter-of-factually. "Oh." Rainbow began in a disappointed tone, "Well, in that case, you can go back to sleep." "Well, now that you woke me up, I can't. How about some breakfast?" I responded in my tired voice. "Yeah, I could sure go for something to munch on." Rainbow said as she headed downstairs. I hopped out of bed and followed suit. I'll get dressed later, it's Saturday and my pajamas feel very welcoming right now. I landed at the bottom of the stairs and saw that everypony in the house was awake, "What time is it?" I asked slightly surprised, since I normally wake up early. Then again, my situation right now isn't what one would call 'normal'. "Uhhh, it's about eight o'clock." Twilight said, looking at a clock on the wall. "Well," I began with a yawn, "Let's get breakfast done and over with, shall we?" As if on cue, Pinkie Pie trotted slowly out of the kitchen, holding a pan with her mouth. She set the pan down on the table of which I only now realize was already set along with glasses filled with orange juice that I didn't even know I had. "Breakfast is ready!" Pinkie called out from across the room. "I didn't know I had OJ." I commented, to which Pinkie Pie tilted her head in confusion. "You don't have OJ in your house, this is carrot juice!" Pinkie said, perking up with her own exclamation. "Okay then. Whats for food? I'm starving." I asked. "I made eggs and I cut up some fruit and put it in that bowl over there." Pinkie Pie answered. Rainbow then dashed out from behind the couch and quickly sat down at the table, tongue hanging out of her mouth. "Rainbow, what the heck were you doing behind the couch?" I asked, only now noticing that I lost sight of the pony I was following to begin with. "I was taking a nap." Rainbow responded simply. "A nap? In the few minutes that you were down here?" I questioned incredulously. "Well, obviously you haven't known me long enough. I am the nap master, I can take a nap anywhere, anytime." Rainbow retorted, ego readings off the roof. "Ookayyy." I said slowly as Twilight and I made our way to the table. ... "Wow, Pinkie Pie! These must be the greatest eggs I have ever tasted!" I complemented as I munched down on a piece of toast covered in an egg-paste the Pinkie made. "Thanks! you know what the special ingredient is?" Pinkie asked. "Umm, no?" I said, slowing down my chewing. Pinkie had a growing smile on her face, how does she not hurt herself with that massive smile? "Eggs!" Pinkie responded, now laughing hysterically. We all just stared at her, exchanging expressions of confusion. Eventually Pinkie Pie managed to calm down and continued after a few short breaths, "But seriously, just eggs and salt, nothing fancy." "Well, okay then. They're still great though." I commented. Everypony else nodded in agreement as we continued eating our meals. ... "So, what are we doing today, Matt?" Rainbow asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice. "Well." I began, looking towards a window, "It has been raining pretty hard so far, I guess we could stay in for today. We do, however, have one thing to do though." "Oh? And what would that be?" Twilight jumped in. "Well, Ted asked me to get a bunch of photographs of you guys, in human form, that he could use to put in your new 'records'. He needs several, and they need to look like they were taken in different years." I stated. "Just how are we going to do the last part?" Rainbow questioned. "Well, for starters, I was thinking hair dye..." I trailed off, I then saw Rainbow's eyes widen. "Oh no, nononono. I will not dye my mane! That's the second worst thing I could do next to a hoofacure!" Rainbow protested. "Well, sorry, but this has to be done. And I do not want to run the risk of you guys getting caught because we took half-measures." I said. "Or maybe we don't have to use hair dye." Twilight said thoughtfully. "What do you mean Twilight?" I asked, catching the hint of a plan coming from the lavender mare. "I remember learning an illusion spell that appears to change the colors of another pony. Of course, it's just an illusion and the spell would break once anypony touches the subject's hairs, but it would be perfect for a photograph!" Twilight said, thinking out loud. "Twilight, your spells always come in really handy." I commented as Pinkie walked out of the bathroom, "Oh, there you are Pinkie. We should get this over with quickly, I'll go get my camera." Pinkie Pie was clearly very confused, "Uhh, what did I miss while I was gone?" she asked. Twilight and Rainbow began to explain to her as I went upstairs to look for my camera. ... About two hours later, we had enough photographs that all of the three mares seemed happy with. Photo after photo was discarded because "It wasn't just right." And Twilight seemed to be the main suspect of the act. Sure, this wouldn't have been much of an issue if I were using a digital camera, but I wanted to make sure that everything we put into this effort seemed legitimate in other people's eyes. With that said, I was using a film camera from 1994, the kind that develops instantly. "Okay, that should be more than enough." I announced. Everypony seemed to relax at the news. As the three mares made their way to the couches to rest from two hours of rigorous photo shooting, I realized one small flaw in our plan. "Baby pictures.." I muttered. "What was that?" Twilight asked, not quite catching what I said. "Baby pictures! Twilight, can your illusion spells make you guys look like infants?" I said, realizing that someone might question why there is no photographic evidence that these three ever existed as infants. "I... Guess, I really don't know though." Twilight responded slowly, it seemed like she caught my drift though. "Well, that means we need to take a few more pictures then." I stated. Rainbow was just a hop away from the couch when I said that, the look of disappointment on her face almost killed me. "Awww, c'mon! It's not like anypony is ever going to realize a tiny detail like that!" Rainbow protested once more. "No, Rainbow. Matthew has a point, we have to make sure that there are no loose ends in our stories. This is something we have to do." Twilight responded, thankfully on my side. "Okay then. Twilight, can you test out the spell first?" I asked. "Sure, Rainbow?" Twilight responded and commanded at once. "Fine.. This is harmless, right?" Rainbow questioned while slowly trotting into position. "Absolutely harmless, if anything goes wrong, all we have to do is touch you and the spell would be broken." Twilight responded, Rainbow blushed at the poor choice of words. Twilight closed her eyes in focus, her horn glowing a soft lavender hue. The same hue soon engulfed Rainbow for a good three seconds before a flash of white consumed the room. I managed to covered my eyes before the flash, I got used to unicorn magic apparently. Once I knew it was safe to open my eyes again, I saw a small infant human Rainbow Dash with soft brown hair. "Ha, seems like it worked Twi, isn't that right my little Dashie?" I teased. Rainbow, despite her infant self, managed to look very cross with me, but either could not or would not say anything. I choose the foremost. "Huh, that went surprisingly well." Twilight commented on her own craftsmanship, innocently looking away and avoiding eye contact with anyone. ... The same was done with Pinkie Pie and Twilight and another hour later, we were finally finished with this tedious task. "That... Took too long." Pinkie breathed out. "You can say that again." Rainbow commented. "That took too long." Pinkie said that again. "Wow, that spell really did a number on my energy. I didn't expect that from such a simple spell." Twilight announced. "Didn't you mention something before about Earth having less leylines than Equestria, therefore making simple magic like levitation more difficult than before?" I questioned. "Yeah, yes I did." Twilight responded wearily as she flopped down on one of the couches. I took the time to look outside, it was still raining. I walked over to my TV to check out the weather forecast. The television flicked to life and after a few minutes of useless news information, the weather lady finally showed up to give me the information I wanted. "Well, this was certainly a surprise for this week. We are facing heavy rain showers from Saturday to Sunday night, which is just a shame since the entire week was sunny and now our weekend is ruined by this kind of weather." The weather lady announced. Only half of that sentence was useful to me, I only needed the facts from her, not her personal take on what mother nature had planned for me today. "Yeah, that kind of stuff would never happen if you had some weather ponies tending to this freaky weather." Rainbow huffed. Everypony ignored her as the lady on TV continued. "The rest of the week seems pretty decent, with only a fifteen percent chance of rain on Monday from five o'clock to midnight. And the rest of the week will be sunny, Wednesday and Thursday being partly cloudy." The weather lady continued. "How do they get such precise measurements?" Twilight asked, to which I simply shrugged. "I fix airplanes Twilight, I don't do weather forecasting. I do know however, that they do their measurements with a weather vane." I responded. "Oh." Twilight commented. After a few minutes of junk on television, I decided to take action. "Alright, TV isn't going to show anything worth my time today. Who wants to watch a movie?" I asked. With several nods of approval, I turned on my gaming console and went right to netflix. "You can access that site on this too?" Twilight asked. "Eeyup." I replied. This somehow made Pinkie Pie giggle. "What is it?" I asked Pinkie. "Oh, it's nothing." She said in response, I just shrugged it off as Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. That was actually a lot easier to do than I expected. "Alright, time for some oldies. Did any of you watch V for Vendetta?" I asked, mostly looking at Twilight for a response since she was the most likely to have done so. "What?" Twilight asked when she caught my stare, "I was going to watch it, but I never got around to it." "Oh good, so we can all enjoy it." .......... We spent most of our day just watching movies, it wasn't until around 3:30 pm that I got a phone call. What? Who could that be? I asked myself. I picked up my cellphone from the table nearby and answered the call, everypony was looking at me. "Hello?" I greeted. "Hey Matt, it's me, Ted." Ted greeted back. "How... How did you get this number? I mean, the other was destroyed, remember?" I questioned. "Yeah, I remember. But I do work in the archives, I have access to your files and therefore I have a frequently updated list of your phone numbers." Ted responded. I chose not to pursue the ethical issues that had been dug up from that. "Anyways, whats the call for?" I asked. "I was wondering if you were up for a drink, I leave work in about an hour, I could meet you at the old place we used to go to." Ted offered. "Sure, I've got nothing better to do." I responded. "Great, see you there. I could also give you an update on the thing we discussed." Ted mentioned. I picked up on his hint right away, I guess I could give the photos to him now. "Sure, sounds like a plan, see you there." I said right before hanging up. I looked up from my phone to see the three mare staring at me like some weirdo. "What?" I asked. "Who was that?" Rainbow demanded. "It was a friend." I replied simply. "Was it Ted?" Twilight asked. "Yeah it was, I was thinking about giving these photographs to him now since I'm going to have a few drinks with him." I responded. I thought for a moment that Pinkie and Rainbow would have been lost in the conversation right now, but then I thought, why would they volunteer to be photographed without know why or for who? I guess Twilight filled them in before. "Well, have fun!" Pinkie cheered. "Yeah, just don't come back too tipsy." Rainbow commented. "Okay I won't, I still have to be able to drive back, so I'm limiting myself." I said, only briefly realizing that I was going to be driving under the influence. "Be careful." Twilight added. "I will." I replied before adding, "Twilight, you know how to navigate netflix, right?" Twilight swiftly nodded, "Yes, we won't be bored anytime soon." With that, I left and went on my way to the city, photographs on hand. ..... I parked in front of the bar, Ted was standing on the sidewalk in front of it. I got out of my car and we greeted each other quickly before going inside. We grabbed a seat in one of the far corners of the bar. "So, pick your poison." Ted began. "I'm just going to grab a beer, I still need to be able to drive home." I replied. "How are things there anyway? With your new guests I mean." Ted asked, wanting to get a better understanding of my new friends. "Pretty well, they are getting used to the American way of life. Whether or not thats a good thing, I really can't say." I said. "Thats great. Anyways, down to business." Ted began, he looked around for a bit before taking out his phone and removing the battery. "Any electronics you have on you, just take out the batteries for now. I'm not taking any risks when I'm sticking my ass to a bonfire." Ted commanded. "Sure." I said as I took out my phone and removed the battery. "good, I just want to make sure no one but us knows about this conversation. Okay, I found three different family trees that died off in 2018. That is what we want, I can just stick the new profiles at the end of them and make it look like there is one more person to the family name, I will probably set the years of birth as 1996. We are mostly good to go with this, all I need is seven or eight photographs of the three, each one should be different. I also want to meet the three souls I'm saving before I go through the risk." Ted continued. "Well, awesome news. I already have the photographs." I said as I pulled thirty photos from a pocket in my jacket. Ted took them and scanned over them quickly. "That.. That is some good work. I see that you used your old camera, nice.... How the hell did you get them to look younger and younger? And.. Baby pictures?" Ted said questioningly. "Damn, this will do very, very nicely." He added. "Thanks, how long would it take?" I asked. "Depends on how tight the security is. Say, that rainbow haired one is quite the looker ain't she?" Ted commented. "Yeah, yeah, save it. I'm pretty sure thinking about that counts as bestiality. But, I digress, you can work with this right?" I said. "Work with this? Dude, you just made my job twenty percent easier with this handy work. How did you pull off the baby pictures anyways? They look like the same people!" Ted replied. "Magic." I said mystically with a hand motion. Ted gave me a strange look. "Alright, we can continue this later. Put your battery back on, they get suspicious if you take it out for too long." Ted said. "Sure. Wait, they do?" I asked, somewhat baffled. "Uh, yeah. They do." He said as if it were common knowledge. ... "So, how have you been hanging on?" Ted asked as he sipped from his drink. "What do you mean?" I asked. "What? You mean to tell me that after you've been off the grid for five months, you didn't expect me to ask you anything?" Ted complained. "Sorry. Yeah, I'm starting to cope, I'm pretty sure my dad wouldn't want me mourning him for every, ya know?" I replied. "Thats good to know. I know I can't really understand what you've been through, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, okay?" Ted said with a concerned look. "I'm fine now." I said sternly. I then softened my expression and finally asked, "So, whats the low-down on the rest of the gang?" "Well, since you've been living under a proverbial rock, I guess it's only fair to bring you up to speed with the old crowd. Alex got hired by British Airways about two months ago, now he's in London for a year of training. Leslie managed to start her own business up in New York city, she's got a nice bakery going on in Manhattan. And Jess moved to California with her girlfriend about three months back, I hear that they have it going pretty well, maybe a wedding in a year or two." Ted announced. "Wow, proverbial rock is right. So, you're the only one that stayed here?" I asked, he just nodded. "Well, I guess there are some visits I'm going to have to plan later." I replied. "I'll leave it up to you to tell them that you recovered from your mental breakdown, make the feel special." Ted offered. "Thanks, I'll be doing that soon." I responded. ... Some friendly chatter and banter later, mostly revolving around video games, zombies and twizlers, we went on our separate ways home. ... The drive home was very quiet. The radio was off and the only sounds to accompany my thoughts was the steady hum of the car's engine going at a steady fifty-five mph. We were approaching a milestone, I just know it. Once my friends have their paperwork in there, they would appear to be completely normal and completely legal citizens. That will give us the time we need for Twilight to ready her spell and bring the mares back home. That thought just made me smile, for the first time in what felt like ages, I was helping others out in their time of need, it wouldn't be me that needs saving this time. I suddenly felt the urge to drown out my thoughts, so I reached for the radio and tunes it to my favorite station. Whoever was running the station had great timing, I turned on the radio just as Big me by Foo Fighters came on. I smiled and continued my drive home. ... I pulled into my driveway at around ten o'clock, 10:13 pm to be precise. I hopped out of my car and made a calm pace towards the door. Once inside, I was greeted by two asleep ponies on the couches. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie were snoring lightly as I walked quietly past them and into my library where Twilight currently resided. "Hey, what's up?" I greeted quietly, but paused once I saw the concerned look on Twilight's face, "Erm, what's wrong Twi?" I asked. "Look." Twilight said, pointing at the laptop screen before her. I took a look at the screen, it was one of the weeping angels from the show Doctor Who. "It's a weeping angel, what of it?" I asked, still confused at Twilight's reaction. "Those are the things we were looking for back in Equestria right before we got sent to Earth, I watched this episode four times now and it makes sense to me! They are assassins that send their targets far away to other parts of the universe, maybe even on a different time line, and let time kill their targets for them. These are the things local ponies were spreading rumors about, these are the creatures we were looking for inside the Everfree forest, and I'm willing to bet that these are the creatures that sent us here." Twilight explained. "What? You're telling me that the weeping angels are real? This is just some TV show, how could they be real? How could a living thing turn to stone the moment any other living thing looks at it?" I questioned. "I don't know, but that's the only thing that actually explains how we got here." Twilight responded. I paused, "Do the others know?" I asked. "I haven't told them yet." Twilight replied. "Should we tell them, or keep it a secret?" I asked again. This made Twilight freeze, I knew this was a heavy question to ask, but I felt like it had to be asked one way, or another. "We can't keep it a secret forever, I showed them the first few episodes already. Rainbow doesn't seem very interested, but Pinkie Pie seems to have claimed a new favorite show to watch." Twilight answered, "We will have to tell them eventually." "This we will discuss later, I'm too tired to think clearly." I said, later noticing the books that Twilight had stacked next to the computer, "Doing some reading Twi?" I asked. "Uh, yeah." Twilight began sheepishly, "I was looking for a few academic books, but I got lost in the way you organize things." "Heh, sorry about that. My books are organized slightly differently, alphabetical order and what I use the books for as well. Recreational books there, the notes and texts I used during high school there, classics over yonder, etcetera." I informed. "Oh, that makes some sense." Twilight said, lighting up a bit. She made her way to where I keep my high school material. "Wow, your education went pretty far." Twilight commented. "What? No, not really. But I was a good note taker, so you're free to read my books if you want to refresh your mind on these subjects for some odd reason." I said. Twilight gave me a small smile before puling out two notebooks, one said 'Calculus' and the other said 'Chemistry'. "You know, Calculus is a very rare subject in Equestria. I've only read three or four books on the subject, and only a handful of ponies have mastered it." Twilight commented. I nodded, "I can see why it's so rare, it is a very rigorous course to take. I almost failed a few times and more than half of my class dropped out. I honestly hated that class more than any other." I responded as Twilight skimmed through the notes with surprisingly focused eyes. "But it seems to me that you understood the class." Twilight complemented. "I'm very rusty in my math now, but I used to understand what is in that book." I replied. "Well, I personally used to really understand chemistry, but I got very rusty at it as well." Twilight said in an attempt to stay even with me. I smirked. "That was the second hardest class I took, you know. You really have an eye for the complicated, picking those two particular books from the rest." I commented. "Well.." Twilight trailed off. "Just... try to get some sleep, I'm going to bed now." "Oh, okay. Good night!" Twilight called as she sat herself down with more reading material to keep her mind off from the weeping angels. Could they be here on Earth too?
Eighteen days laterChapter 7: Eighteen days later These days are starting to go by a lot quicker, I guess I'm starting to get used to living with three more souls walking about in my house. It's odd really, to think that someone could possibly get used to living with three colorful ponies that talk. But I did exactly that in less than a month. Twilight has been sleeping less and less because of her work on that spell that would take the three mares back home. She keeps talking about this being a 'composite spell', which is at it's very core, more than one spell combined into one. Not unlike the composite materials I work with, but I digress, she has been studying this spell and the residue it left behind, and somehow does so from the comforts of my library. It seems to me that she has made progress in her studies though, Twilight believes that she will require certain runes that will somehow assist her. Stuff that I will never fully understand really. Rainbow has made a surprising amount of progress on her skateboard. This is the mare's third week on Earth, and she already mastered cruising around and doing olleys. Honestly, I am somewhat jealous of her progress since It took me months to get to her level. Pinks has basically annexed my kitchen, it has now become her domain and she prepares our meals pretty much every day because she really wants to. If it makes her happy, why not? And Ted has finally pulled through with the job, now all three of the mares were technically born on Earth according to the law. I guess that's something that should be covered in a bit more detail, he came to my place a few days before delivering the paperwork so that a few things could be straightened out... ... *Knock**Knock**Knock* "Just a minute!" I called, signaling the three mares to go upstairs and hide. Once I saw Pinkie Pie's tail disappear around the bend, I walked over to the door to see who it was. I guess it was safe to say it was a pleasant surprise. "Ted! Good to see you, come in." "Thanks, great to see you too." "So, what brings you here?" "Remember? I said that I wanted to meet your new friends before I finish this." "Oh yeah, wait a sec. You can come out guys!" The three mare came down stairs and froze when they saw my friend, "This is Ted, the guy I told you all about before." Twilight apparently had the transformation spell done while they were hiding, clever girl. "Erm, Matt? They're human." Ted pointed out. "Ted, hows your memory?" I began incredulously, "I told you that Twilight can use her magic to transform the three into humans." "You say that like magic is a fact." "It is a fact! It's one of the univers-" Twilight began before I nonchalantly interrupted her. "It's a fact Ted, I asked the same question before." "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. If Matt thinks you three are worth protecting, then I'm here to back him up." Ted greeted. "Hiya! Thank you for what you're doing for us Teddy! I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way." Pinkie greeted while lunging for Ted's hand. Pinkie learned about hand shakes not too long ago, and she was now practicing by vigorously shaking Ted's hand. "Uh, nice to meet you too." Ted said awkwardly. In a desperate attempt to get away from the brutal hand shake, Ted began greeting the closest other mare in disguise. "You must be Rainbow Dash, dig the hair by the way." Ted said, while keeping a short distance from Pinkie. "Hey, I heard a lot about you from Matt. You sound like a pretty cool guy." Rainbow said with a smile. "Yeah, I get that a lot." Ted replied smugly before turning to Twilight. "So, that was miss hyper, and there's the athlete, you must be..." "Twilight Sparkle." Twilight finished for Ted while briefly, and properly shaking his hand. "Okay, those were the introductions. How about we sit down and have some tea?" I offered. "Oh, Oh! I'll do it!" Pinkie began. "No Pinks, I got this. How about you get to know Ted some more while I do the kitchen work this time?" I commanded. That didn't deflate Pinkie too much though. I came back a while later with a tray. Apparently Twilight reversed the transformation spell for Ted to see, and I got to see Ted's mouth hit the floor (metaphorically of course). "I know that I was mentally preparing myself to see something like this, but it's still very... Shocking." Ted began. "Yeah, and it's even more shocking to realize that you get used to it." I replied as I served everyone and everypony a cup of tea. The second Rainbow got her cup, she hovered her hooves above it, sticking her tongue out in concentration and rolled the steam into a small ball, courtesy of Pegasus cloud walking abilities. Rainbow then launched the small cloud projectile at Ted in what I assumed was a demonstration. The small cloud smashed into Ted's shirt and scattered, leaving Ted in awe. "That was awesome." Ted managed to comment. All the cyan Pegasus did in response was lean back in her chair with one of her signature smug grins. "Alrighty Ted, knowing you, I am sure that there's also a business side to this, right?" I said, cutting to the chase. "As always," Ted began, "Besides from coming here for a nice chat with your friends, I also want to make sure that we get the naming situation straightened out. You guys can choose a first name, but the last name thing is fixed since I'm putting you three at the end of different family trees." "Oh, right. Names here are different, Um... I got nothing." Rainbow said. "Ted? I don't think they are very well acquainted with human names." I pointed out. "Maybe you two could help us out?" Twilight offered. Ted and I glanced at each other and smirked. "Hey Matt? Does she look like a Kathy to you?" Ted asked, looking at Rainbow. "No, no. She's more of a Kaitlin, don't you think?" I responded, playing along with the opportunity that was given to us. "Yeah, Kaitlin sounds appropriate." Ted agreed with a nod. "Now, nerdy looking.... How about Gabriela?" I offered. "Nah, she's not that kind of nerdy," Ted began, Twilight seemed to be getting somewhat annoyed. Short temper, that one. "How does Ashley sound?" "Sounds perfect." I agreed. Ted and I just looked and Pinkie Pie for a few moments, she just waited with a smile. Only one person came to mind when I looked at Pinkie, Ted and I just looked at each other, apparently we were both thinking the same thing. "Leslie." We both said in mutual agreement, both of us thinking of a certain baker gal who is into similar antics. "So? What do you all think?" I asked. They all nodded in agreement, Twilight seemed a bit confused though. "Why did you two say Leslie simultaneously when you were choosing a name for Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked out of curiosity. "Well a friend of ours, her name is Leslie, has a rather hyper personality. Not unlike Pinkie Pie over there." Ted explained simply. "And, conveniently enough, she is also a baker." I added. "Oh." Twilight said. "Oh? That's a big oh!" Pinkie began, "Oh, I really really wanna meet this gal oh!" "Yeah, unfortunately, she moved out to New York. She started her very own bakery somewhere in Manhattan." Ted replied. "Wait, don't you mean Manehattan?" Rainbow questioned. "No... It's Manhattan, get it straight." Ted retorted. "Wait, is there a city in Equestria named Manehattan?" I inquired. "Yeah, there is." Rainbow replied. Twilight and I exchanged glances, our worlds may be more connected than we thought. ... And that was that. Most of the conversation afterwards was just Ted learning about Equestria, really. He came in and handed the paperwork to me himself a week later, saying that sending it by mail would have caused too much suspicion. Yesterday was Tuesday, three weeks since the mares came into my home. That was a special day at work, we finally finished our job with the damaged 777. Brand new port-side wing and all, and that was when the foreman called me into his office. ... "Mr. Anderson!" Someone called from behind me. I looked away from the paint job I was doing to see one of my crew members, Dobson, standing there. With a sigh, I put down the paint gun and walked over to him while taking off my mask. "What do you want? We need to get this done soon." I asked. "Simmons wants you in his office," Dobson began before taking on a harsh tone, "Now." "Okay, take over for me, will you?" I answered as I handed him my mask and motioned towards my paint gun. I walked towards the other end of the hangar where Mr. Simmons' office resides. What bone could he possibly have to pick with me? I thought as I neared my destination. I arrived at the door and knocked briefly. I was quickly answered with a, "Come in!" to which I complied with. Simmons was sitting at his desk, chin sitting on his fists. "Was there a reason for calling me over?" I asked. He simply motioned for the chair in front of me, I thanked him and sat down in front of him. "Mr. Anderson," He began very formally, "How long have you been working here?" "Since I graduated highschool. Six years now." "And how long has it been since you were given the task of being one of my crew chiefs?" He inquired. "Almost three years sir." I answered, not quite knowing where this conversation was headed. "You see, I have been given the offer to recommend one of my workers for an inspector's position. Now, I had to pull a few strings to make sure that I wouldn't lose a good worker and keep that inspector a local one." Simmons paused, "I also couldn't help but notice that your FAA record is completely clean, not one mistake since you started working here. Now, you sure haven't worked as long as some of these guys here. Some personnel in other shifts have been in this line of work for over thirty years, but you, you have one thing that they don't." Simmons stopped to take a short breath, "You, Matthew Anderson, have made no errors in this line of work, and the FAA smiles when they see something like that. I want to recommend you for the local inspector's position for this hangar as well as the local airports." He finished with a smile. I was shell shocked. I had not expected an opportunity like this to show up anywhere near the next four or five years! And yet here I was, being given a promotion that isn't expected to be had without seniority. "Sir, I would love to be given that opportunity." I accepted gratefully. "Now, don't get too far ahead of yourself. I said that I'm recommending you, you have to be interviewed first." "Okay, when will this interview be?" I asked. "It will be on Thursday, you don't have to work that day. Now, as for the interview itself, it will be with another inspector, an FAA representative and yours truly at this address." Simmons explained as he handed me a business card. "I don't need to remind you how much the FAA loves black, and do NOT under dress for this. Go, finish your shift before I change my mind." Simmons said with a small smile. "Thank you." I said as I left his office. ... So, that interview will be tomorrow at eight o'clock. I should be fine, I have a great record and a great work ethic. There's nothing to be worried about. I can't sleep, too much to look forward to tomorrow. Why does sleeplessness strike at the worst possible moments? ... I woke up slowly, my eyelids fighting to stay shut. Eventually I beat my eyelids into submission by rubbing my eyes a bit, when I could finally see, I saw a cyan blur suddenly move. "Oh hey, you're up." Rainbow said. "Oh hey, you were watching me sleep. That isn't creepy at all." I commented. "Hey, me watching you sleep is not the worst thing that could happen to you. Besides, it's actually kind of.... peaceful." Rainbow retorted. That last part did not entirely put me at ease. "Okay, I'm going to ask now. Why were you waiting for me to be up?" I asked. "Because... You promised me we would go skating today, for the whole day." She pointed out. Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. I actually did say that we would go skateboarding until our legs are screaming for no more... "Okay, you got me there. Just, lemme get ready, you should probably do the same." I said. "Got it." Rainbow said with a nod, and then she was off. I guess it was about time that I came through with this, she's been waiting for quite some time for me to take her skating again. I got out of bed with little struggling, and with a few stretches, I was off to the shower. I was now fully dressed with proper skateboarding attire, which is basically worn jeans and a graphic tee, and heading downstairs for some breakfast. I'm guessing Pinkie Pie beat me to the kitchen. I landed at the bottom of the stairs, and sure enough, the scent of pancakes wafted into my nostrils. Yep, Pinkie Pie beat you to the kitchen. I walked in to see that everypony was already awake. Pinkie Pie was quietly eating while reading a book and Twilight was absentmindedly sipping her coffee as Rainbow ate as quickly as Equinely possible. "Mornin' everypony." I greeted as I sat down at the table. "Gooooood morning Matty!" Pinkie exclaimed as she hoofed over my very own plate of Pinkie's pancakes, maybe I could call them Pinkiecakes?. "Thanks Pinkie." I said as I dug into my meal. After a few bites, I looked over at Twilight and asked, "How's the progress with the spell coming along?" Twilight looked up from her coffee and smiled, "Not long now Matthew, thanks for asking. I just need a few more days." Just a few more days? Has it really been that long? "That's... That's excellent news Twi!" I congratulated, "But I think that you could add some more sleep to your schedule, you don't look so good." "I'm fine Matthew, thanks." Twilight said, shrugging me off. "No, I think Matt has a point Twi. You really look like you need some rest. Besides, we aren't really in too much of a rush." Rainbow said in an effort to back me up. Twilight just stared at her coffee mug for a while longer, "You know what? I think I could do with some rest, it gets a bit hard to think after staying awake for four days straight." Twilight announced, mostly to herself. "Four days." I repeated, my face completely expressionless. Twilight nodded meekly and continued staring at the cup before her, I turned back to my plate after a few seconds. "Annnyway, what are you reading there Pinkie?" I asked between mouthfuls of pancake. "This other book I found in you library," Pinkie began as she looked back at the cover, "It's called: Of Mice and Men." "What's with you and mouse-related literature Pinkie?" I asked, recalling that her previous book was Flowers for Algernon. "I... Don't know..." Pinkie responded awkwardly. ... Rainbow and I finished eating and I packed a small bag with three water bottles and spare shirts for the two of us (just in case humidity gets the best of us), and I also brought my suit so that I won't have to go to and fro the city. I can't forget that my interview is today at eight o'clock. "C'mon Rainbow! The earlier we get there, the better!" I called from the front door. Mere moments later, Rainbow walked past me and into the SUV. "Nice get-up by the way." Rainbow complimented, motioning towards the suit I had slung over my shoulder. "Thanks." I replied. "Why all the black though?" Rainbow asked. "Because the FAA loves black." I responded simply. With that said, I placed the suit and the bag in the back of the SUV and we promptly set off to the city. ... Moments into the ride, the sun started getting into my eyes. "Agh, glare. Rainbow? Could you go into the glove box in front of you and pull out a pair of shades?" I asked. "Yeah, sure." She responded as she reached in front of her and eventually dug out a pair of aviators that I keep there, "Whoah, those are awesome." Rainbow commented in awe. "You think so? I think there's another pair in there." I replied. Rainbow did not hesitate to go looking through the congested glove box once more and soon took out a pair of aviators identical to mine. "Swag." Rainbow announced as she put them on. That gave me a hearty chuckle. ... After a short time of driving in utter quietness, a bored Rainbow dash leaning towards the window began singing to herself. I decided to keep quiet and enjoy the show. "Now Rainbow my dear, I cannot express my delight. It's abundantly clear that somewhere out here is a pet that will suit you just right." Rainbow sang in an abnormally soft voice. "I can't wait to get started, but first let me set a few rules: it's of utmost importance, the pet that I get is something that's awesome and cool!" Rainbow continued singing, but this time in her own voice. It's probably a duet, I wonder if she changed the lyrics of a song she knows to fit her name in it... I wouldn't be surprised if she did. "Awesome, cool, got it." Rainbow continued in that unnervingly soft voice, "I have so many wonderful choices just wait, you will see." "I need something fast like a bullet to keep up with me!" Rainbow sang in her normal voice. Something in those lyrics tickled a part of my brain. "Whoah, just hold on a minute there," I began, Rainbow looked back at me in surprise, "Did you just make those lyrics up now?" I asked. "Erm, no. Fluttershy and I burst into song one time when I was getting a new pet. Why?" Rainbow responded. "Because I had no idea that ponies understood the concept of a gun, that's why!" I retorted just a bit too loudly. "Oh, that." Rainbow began, "Yeah, when I was a filly, they taught us in school about how our previous war, like a thousand years ago, was when guns were banned or something. So yeah, I know of the concept, but it's not like I've ever seen one before." "Banned?" "Yeah, because they are way too unequine. Too deadly." "So, not even the princess's royal guards use them?" "Nope." "Well, that's one thing I learned today." I concluded, I increased the speed of the SUV ever so slightly as I reached for the radio. "Wait," I paused, "Did you just say that you and your friend Fluttershy just burst into song?" I asked incredulously. "Uh, yeah. It's not like I do that kind of stuff often, that's more of Pinkie Pie's thing." Rainbow replied. Remember, you are done asking questions revolving around Pinkie Pie's nature. DO NOT PURSUE THE SUBJECT! "How the heck do you just improvise lyrics like that?" I questioned. Damn it Matt! Your brain tells you not to pursue the subject and you do the exact opposite! Why am I even here? Rainbow simply shrugged, "I dunno, we just did." Saved! You got your answer, don't dig a deeper hole Matt. At least do it for the sake of logic and reasoning. "Okay then. On a side note, do you feel like listening to music?" I asked. "Sure." Rainbow replied excitedly. ... I parked the SUV in the parking lot of a park. "We're here." I announced. Rainbow looked around for a bit, "Where are we going to practice?" she asked in confusion. "There's a skate park not far from here, come on now." I replied. We both got out of the SUV and took our boards and the handy provisions bag, damn I forgot about food. "Alright, follow my lead." I called back to Rainbow as I got a running start before mounting my board, she began to follow close behind. After a short ride, three minutes give or take, we arrived at our destination. This was a brand new park, not even two years old yet. The cement was beautifully smooth, the ramps were perfectly positioned, and the rails weren't even bumpy. This was the perfect spot. There were only three other people in this rather large skate park, so congestion wasn't an issue either. "Wow, this place is awesome." Rainbow commented as we stopped in front of it. "It sure is, lets go!" I said as I flew past her, dropping off my bag at a nearby bench. Rainbow quickly recovered and followed suit. I made my way to a three stair and attempted a tray flip. Unfortunately, I messed up and bailed out before I hurt myself. "Damn, I need some practice." I commented on my skill work. I got a quick response in the form of Rainbow doing an ollie over a ledge, completely clearing it and landing on the other side without a hitch. "Damn, you're making progress. Took me a good part of a year to master my ollie." I commented. "Heh, thanks. I'm a really fast visual learner, or so they tell me, so it was easy to do it after I saw you do it a few times." Rainbow replied, awkwardly rubbing her neck. "Well, I for one think you're ready for your first trick." I smiled. "Okay, give me a challenge!" Rainbow said brightly. "Alright, these are easy. It's called a pop shove-it, and it looks like this." I said as I performed my demonstration. "You basically angle both of your feet like this, and it's pretty much like jumping forwards." I instructed. Rainbow then tried her first attempt at the trick, but the board went too high and she couldn't land on it. "Argh, what went wrong with that?" Rainbow huffed. "Hey, relax. You aren't expected to land it on your first try, and fortunately for you, I'm here to point out what you're doing wrong. You need to put a little more down force on your front foot, the rest of your maneuver was fine." I continued instructing as I attempted to calm Rainbow down. "Okay, more down force. Got it." Rainbow replied and in one short breath, she went for it again. My mind was completely blown away, she freaking landed it in her second attempt! "Wow, you're a natural!" I cheered, "A friggin' prodigy!" Rainbow gave me a sheepish smile, "Is that all you got for me?" she said in quick recovery, her smile now covered by a smug grin. "Okay... You really do learn quick, let's see if you can master that trick first though. Give me ten in a row!" I instructed. ... The ten in a row thing really got to Rainbow, she kept getting to about six or seven before messing up and having to start over. I was doing circuits around the skate park and checking in on her every now and then. For this moment right now, I was in the zone and grinding a rail into submission. I eventually succeeded and proceeded to head for the nearest ramp to make this a trick streak. Sadly, fate wouldn't let me have that and I somehow ended up flying past the ramp and onto the sidewalk outside of the skate park, almost running into two guys in suits. "Oh man, sorry about that." I apologized. One of the men smiled right before responding, "It's quite alright, no one was hurt." I decided that this was the time to check on Rainbow, mostly because I just made myself look like an idiot, but also because I didn't check on Rainbow for some time. "Seven!" *Swoosh* "Eight!" Rainbow was apparently almost there, I noticed that she hadn't noticed me yet, so I decided to just watch and see if she made it. *Swoosh* "Nine! C'mon Rainbow, almost there." *Swoosh* "Ten! Woohoo! Ten, I did it!" Rainbow cheered. "Wow, you just mastered a trick in one hour... You just gained all of my skater respect." I commented at her progress so far. Rainbow turned around slightly stunned, she hadn't noticed me until then. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, you saw that!? That was amazing!" Rainbow yelled like a little fan girl. "Yeah, it was pretty damn amazing..." I trailed off. "So, what's my next trick?" Rainbow asked eagerly. I looked at my watch, it was noon. "How about some lunch first?" I offered, "I'm pretty hungry right now." "Yeah, lunch sounds... Nice." Rainbow said, slightly out of breath. "Alright, let's go restaurant hunting." I announced. With that said, I grabbed my bag and we were off. It felt surprisingly light, a quick check revealed to me that all of the water had been consumed. ... Once we found our way out of the park, Rainbow and I stopped under a nice tree and began discussing lunch. "So, what's there to eat around here?" Rainbow asked. "Depends, what do you want to eat?" "What is that supposed to mean?" I gave Rainbow a look. "Just... Give me a few suggestions, there's a little too much variety around here." Rainbow said with an exasperated sigh. "Um... Are you okay with eating meat?" I asked, wanting to know how small of a range of choice I have here. "What?" Rainbow began before looking around and lowering her voice, leaning close to me, "I'm a pony, remember? Herbivore and such?" "Yeah, you are. But right now, you are human. Different metabolism and different taste buds, remember?" I replied just as quietly. "I dunno, it just feels weird thinking about it." Rainbow said, unsure of what to say. This was when I remembered that I did the same exact thing to Pinkie Pie. Am I converting these mares into omnivore-ism? "I just want to know what our options are right now." I replied simply. Nah, just opening boundaries. "Well, I did try some chicken in flight school thanks to my ex-friend Gilda.... I guess it wasn't so bad. Sure, why the buck not?" "Wait, buck? Isn't that a kick with your hind legs?" "Um, yeah, but we sometimes use it as a substitute for foul language. Curse words were really, really frowned upon when I was a filly, so we found small loopholes in the system." "Doesn't your friend Applejack like to buck apple trees?" I responded with a growing smirk. Rainbow's eyes began to widen right before she almost collapsed on the floor in laughter. "Ahhhhahaha! How come I never noticed that before!? She loves to buck apple trees, it's genius!" We both laughed for a while, Rainbow was in tears before she could recover. "Oh, oh that was a good one." Rainbow said once her laughter died down, some people were staring at us because of all the noise we were making, but I didn't really mind. "So, meat is fine then?" I asked. "Yeah, as long as I have other stuff next to it too. You know, just in case I don't like it." Rainbow replied. "Alright, Japanese food it is." I said with a clap. "What's Japanese?" Rainbow asked with a slight tilt of her head. "It's an ethnicity, Japan is a country and Japanese food is the type of food that originated from there." I explained. "Oh, well, I'm going to stop asking so I can save some surprises for later." Rainbow thought out loud. "Okay, I know a place that isn't too far down. Are you confident enough to skate in traffic?" I asked. "Uh, sure. Just, don't go too far ahead of me, okay?" "No problem, we aren't in any sort of rush." "Alright, so, how far is it?" "About ten blocks straight that way." I said, motioning down a street. "Okay, what are we waiting for?" Rainbow asked, I shrugged. "I dunno." I said as I mounted my board, timing it perfectly so that the traffic light was in our favor. Rainbow followed closely. "I don't know if you already noticed, but when those lights that are facing us are green, it means that we are allowed to cross, red means that it's the perpendicular lane's turn to move!" I announced as I looked back, she was looking down wards, probably keeping an eye on the ground for any pebbles and debris. "Also, it's probably a good idea to be aware of the cars that rush past you!" That snapped Rainbow out of her focus and she looked at me, "Oh yeah, sorry. Um, why are we riding against the traffic? It seems a little, you know, stupid." "It's precisely so that you can be aware of the cars around you, this way nothing surprises you from behind." I called back. After we covered four blocks, Rainbow suddenly rode past me, sticking her tongue out at me before overtaking me. I was caught by surprise and I watched as she used long, elegant kicks to push ahead of me. She has a really nice... I shook the thought away and gave chase. Rainbow wants a race, she's gonna get a race. With long, powerful kicks, I quickly caught up to her. "Wow, you're fast." Rainbow uttered, just loud enough for me to hear above the roaring of our boards and the cars around us, as I rode parallel to her. "I know." I said with a smirk before going even further ahead, dodging a red pickup truck by mere inches while doing so. I looked back with a slight grimace at what could have been. "Cutting it a little close there pal!" Rainbow called from behind. "Yeah, sorry! We're almost there anyway." ... We stopped in front of a sizable restaurant called Rising Sun Sushi. "Jeez, so much fancy." Rainbow commented. "Eh, not really. It's a lot more modest on the inside, but the food here is totally worth it." With that, we walked in. "Hi, table for two please." I said to the lady standing at the front. "Sure, come right this way." The greeting lady said with a smile. "Not too many people here." Rainbow commented. "That's because most people are working right now." I replied. "Heh,and you are getting a raise today." she remarked. "Well, it's more of a promotion. Different job, but it does pay much better." We sat down and looked at our menus. "What? Why are all of these dishes named so... Weirdly?." Rainbow questioned. "It's a different language, but since it's a name for the dish, that's how it's said in English too." "Whatever, at least they give you a description of the dish right below that." I didn't answer, I was busy choosing what I wanted for lunch. "Oh cool, this one is all veggies." Rainbow said quietly to herself. A waitress came to our table, and holy smokes she was hot, "Good afternoon, are you two ready to order?" she asked. "Erm, not quite yet." I answered. "Okay then, would you like some water in the meantime?" I then remembered how thirsty I was, we ran out of water a while ago. "Yes, please." She served us water and walked away. Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at me. "What?" I asked. "You don't actually think I didn't notice you staring, did you?" she said with a grin. "Hey, don't judge." "I'm not, she really is kinda hot." Rainbow said plainly. "Well, thanks for understanding. I replied awkwardly. "What do you think of those guys over there?" Rainbow added as she motioned towards two men in black suits, they were near the window seat looking the other way. "I dunno, I guess they could be called kinda handsome. I wouldn't know though." I replied, "So, any questions about what you want for lunch?" "Uh, yeah. What exactly is sushi? That's half the menu and all it says is 'with salmon and avocado and blah blah etcetera'." I grinned at her annoyed expression, the little hand movement was the real icing on the cake. "It's a roll that's held together with rice and seaweed. The center of it holds whatever is in the description." I explained. "Oh.. That actually sounds kinda good." Rainbow said with slight relief. Eventually, the smokin' waitress came back to ask if we were ready to order. With a nod of agreement, we began placing our orders. "I'll have the volcano roll special with the soup and teriyaki salmon with vegetables." "Okay, and you?" "Um... I'll have the California roll with.. Um, I can't pronounce that, number sixteen?" "Alright, what will you have for drinks?" "Coke please." "Um, do you have cider?" "We have apple flavored green tea, would you like that?" "Sure, not too hot please." "Okay then." ... Some small talk later, the waitress came back with a tray that had everything we ordered at once. How do they balance those trays? It looks so hard! "Volcano roll special for you, and these are for you. Enjoy your meal." The waitress said with a wink. "I really hope that wink wasn't for me." Rainbow said sickly. "You noticed the lazy eye too huh?" I asked. "Yuhuh.. I couldn't tell for sure if she was talking to me or you, it was so confusing!" Rainbow said quietly. "Well, she had to give up something to have such a glorious body." I remarked with a smirk. "Yeah, tell me about it." Rainbow said as she looked down at her plate, "Uh, where are the forks?" she asked. "Oh, I forgot to tell you," I began with a devious grin, "You eat this with chop sticks." I challenged. "What, this package here?" Rainbow asked, picking up the paper wrapping the chop sticks came in. "Eyup, with those." I smirked. "How the hay are you supposed to use these to eat?" she questioned. "Like this." I said as I swiftly picked up a piece of what I think was a piece bok choy, and placed it into my mouth. "It's easy." I said with my mouth full. "How... What? Show me how you're holding those." Rainbow demanded. I complied and showed it to her. "Just hold it like this, only this finger really moves. The rest of your hand is completely still." I explained, I think Rainbow got it now and she was about to try it. After several attempts of trying to catch a slippery steamed vegetable, she gave up and stabbed a piece of sushi with one of the chop sticks instead, "This is so much easier Matt." she said with a smirk before sticking the roll into her mouth. She chewed tentatively at first, looking around the room as she chewed. "Well?" I asked. "Not bad, I like the chewiness of it." Rainbow declared, "I mean, it's not amazing, but I can see why people would like it." "Okay then." I said as I swiftly scooped one of my own sushi into my mouth. I forgot about the name 'volcano' and my sinuses immediately opened up to the presence of wasabi. "Holy shit, that is spicy!" I exclaimed as I reached for my soda and chugged a good amount. Rainbow was holding her mouth, trying not to laugh. "You okay there Matt? Your eyes seem to be watering a little over there." "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't expect it to be so... Intense." I replied between gasps for air. It wasn't as bad as meeting the dude, that is a terrible experience that I go through with every time I go to that restaurant with company. This just caught me by surprise. "It can't be that bad, can it?" Rainbow questioned as she picked one of my sushi rolls and ate it. She had a slightly delayed response, giving her time to swallow it before realizing her mistake. She quickly covered her mouth, as if it would relieve the sinus opening assault on your mouth that is wasabi, and then lunged at what was left of her glass of water, since the tea would not have helped at all. "By Celestia's beard, that is spicy!" Rainbow managed to say after eliminating her glass of water. A nearby waitress heard all of the commotion and was kind enough to provide us shot glasses of milk. That was instant relief, I then gave Rainbow a challenging look and she needed no words to be said. "Um, miss? Can we have two glasses of milk please?" Rainbow asked. "Sure," The lady replied with a smile, she whispered into my ear as she walked away, "We'll just add that to your check." Clever girl. .. We had already finished the rest of our meal... "Okay, there's eight rolls left. That means there's four for the two of us, I don't need to tell you that the one who lasts the longest without touching the milk wins right?" "Right." "On the count of three.... Three!" We stuffed the four rolls into our mouths and had a stare down as we chewed. Soon enough, we were both tearing up from our screaming tongues. ... "I knew I would win! This stuff doesn't compare to Rainbows!" Rainbow Dash announced her victory, people began staring at our audacity, which didn't bother me in the slightest. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Check please." I called. "Oh good, the manager was about to ask you two to leave." the waitress said in an amused tone. .. "Oh, that was great! I loved the look on your face when you went for your glass. It was all like this!" Rainbow said as we walked, making funny faces at me that I am sure were not the ones I made when I desperately grabbed my glass. "Oh god, at least I lasted longer than I did in the dude challenge." I remarked. "Oh, that thing you did with Pinkie? She told me how she saved you some money on dinner." Rainbow began, "So, how much time until your interview?" I looked at my watch, "It's about 1:30 right now, I'll be making my way to the office that they are interviewing me in at around 7:00." I replied. "Oh, cool. We still have time to skate right?" "Yes, the prodigy still has time to skate today." I remarked. "Cool, but, let's walk there. I'm kinda full and I want my stomach to settle down before I get more practice" Rainbow said. I nodded sagely, "Words of a wise Pegasus." I said quietly, making sure no one heard that. ... We arrived back at the skate park, there were a few more people in it now. "Alright chief, what's my next trick?" Rainbow asked. "It is, pause for dramatic effect, front side 180." I said right before mounting my board to demonstrate. "This is your beginner's trick to grinding on things." I announced after I landed back on the ground. "Cool," Rainbow began, "So, any tips?" "Just ollie and shift your weight to your left." "But you went to the right..." "Your left because you ride opposite to the way I ride, Kaitlin." I ended with some emphasis on that. Rainbow gave me a look before trying the trick herself. She didn't land it, but then again, it's her first attempt. "Try using your shoulders to shift your weight." I offered before riding around and doing my own thing. .. I rounded about to a ledge and I successfully kick flipped off of it, I landed just fine, but I didn't expect to see a riding Rainbow to do a front side right next to me. "Gah!" We both crashed into each other and fell onto the ground. Rainbow fell on top of me, her face contorted in confusion, inches away from mine. "Are you okay?" "Yeah I'm fine, this concrete is surprisingly comfortable." "Um, yeah." "Rainbow?" "Yeah?" "I think I hear our boards rolling away from us." "I think I hear it too." Rainbow suddenly broke the awkward stare and began to get up. She offered to help me up, but I declined the offer, getting up quickly. We began making our way to our boards, but a fellow skater got to them and pushed them our way. "Dude, I saw that fall. Should have caught it on film, it was awesome! Seriously, sick kickflip bro." The random guy said as he continued on his way to do a 360 shove it and left the park. "That guy was certainly random.." I said as I popped the board up to my hand. "Yeah, weird." Rainbow said as she did the same. ... Rainbow was getting her front sides pretty damn high, almost landing them too. This dudette here just made as much progress that I made in almost seven months in a day. Eventually she landed the trick, and my mind proceeded to get blown to a proper proportion of the awesomeness. "You are a natural on that thing, Rainbow." I muttered. "I guess I'm pretty good at it." Rainbow said modestly. "You're kidding right? You are the best I have ever seen. Seriously, I don't think anyone has ever learned a quickly as you." I praised. "Thanks Matt." Rainbow said with a hint of sincerity. "Well, I think it's time to celebrate a bit. Would you care for some frozen yogurt?" I offered. Rainbow tilted her head a few degrees, "And what exactly is that?" she asked. "It's basically ice cream, but made with yogurt instead. It's actually really good." I replied. "Well, okay then. No meat, right?" "No.. That's just weird." ... We arrived at this place I knew for a while now. I tried it once and I've been waiting to go with a friend eventually, it's called the Green Mango. Rainbow and I walked in and sat down at what is essentially a 'yogurt bar'. "Hey there, what can I get for you two?" ... "Wow, this stuff is great! The fruit on the sides just adds on to its awesomeness." Rainbow complemented, I noticed the cashier dude nearby suddenly smile. "Glad you like it." I replied. We ate quietly for a bit. I was looking at the shiny trophies in front of me. Wow, they sure earned a lot of awards.... Wait, second place on a marathon? I think there are some personal trophies here too. Impressive. Something suddenly caught my eye, it wasn't what lay in front of me, but its reflection. Right there on a large, shiny trophy, was the reflection of two men. Where did I see those two before? I suddenly got a flashback of my incident in the skate park, I ran into two guys, the same two men in suits were at the restaurant too, and now right behind Rainbow and I. They were looking at us. Are they following us? Holy shit, why would they be following us?.... Oh no. "Rainbow?" I asked nervously and quietly, staring at the trophy, trying not to get the two men to realize I know what they are up to. "Yeah?" She replied awkwardly. "Do you trust me?" I asked. "Sure.... Why wouldn't I?" Rainbow replied hesitantly. "Look at the trophy I'm staring at and do not look back." Rainbow looked at the trophy and noticed the reflection. She lowered her voice and stared straight ahead, "Who are they?" "I don't know, but I think they were following us since we were at the skate park." "Why? Who?" Rainbow asked quietly. "I dunno, but we need to leave, now." I said as I left a tip on the counter and made my way for the door. Rainbow followed closely, trying her best to act natural. I think my smile was a bit too forced, but I can't change that now. Rainbow and I walked at a brisk pace, boards in hand, not looking back. "Rainbow, I need you to follow me closely, we are going to haul some serious ass right now. Maybe we can lose them, hopefully I'm wrong about them following us." I paused, I saw two dark figures in my peripheral as I looked at Dash, "Better safe than sorry though." I got a running start mounted my board, Rainbow did the same. We soon got off the sidewalk and into the street, and I kicked as hard as I could. Rainbow was right next to me, rush hour had just started but the streets were fairly clear. Just our luck, it would be harder to lose our mystery pursuers. I looked back at Rainbow, she was starting to lag behind. Her legs aren't used to this kind of use yet. I need to think of something, quick! I spotted an alleyway that we could use, I looked back at Rainbow and signaled her to turn right. She got the message when I swerved into the alley and she followed suit. "I..." I began, breathing deeply, "Think.... We lost them." "Yeah...." Rainbow was more out of breath than me, sweat was covering her brow and forearms, "I.... Think we did." We laid ourselves back against the nearest wall for a very much needed rest. We got back up after a minute of hard breathing and lazily made our way back to the SUV, trying our best to make sure we weren't being shadowed. I sat in the driver's seat with Rainbow on shotgun, simply staring ahead and still breathing a bit hard. "Rainbow?" "Yeah?" "You... Need to change your shirt." I said as I started to giggle. She looked at herself to see what I meant, her shirt was soaked with sweat and it made the shirt stick to her torso, but what she didn't see was the fact that the back of it was covered in jet-black dust, probably from leaning on that wall in the alleyway. That made me go into full on laughter, it was more than probably induced by exhaustion. "What? Seriously, what?" Rainbow asked in confusion, then she noticed something on my shirt. Her eyes widened in comprehension and she broke into full on laughter as well, "Matt, the same goes for your shirt too!" "Oh man, you're right... I need... I need to change my clothes," I paused, "Oh right, the interview." I then glanced at my watch, it was 7:00. "Rainbow, I think we need to get going, otherwise I'm going to be late for that interview." I announced. "Alright, let's get out of here." Rainbow replied. ... We stopped by a local thrift store where I changed into my suit and Rainbow changed into her spare shirt. We then hastily made our way out before anyone noticed that we weren't buying anything. We then climbed back into the SUV and went hunting for the address on the business card that I was given. "That suit looks good on you." "Thanks." "So, where is this place?" Rainbow asked. "Honestly? Some part of town that I never really visit." I replied. "Why?" "Because there's nothing fun to do in this part of town, and the FAA loves boring stuff and paperwork." I replied simply. "Oh, of course." Rainbow commented with a roll of her eyes. ... "Oh, there it was." "We passed this spot three times! How did we not see it there?" "I dunno, but it's a good thing that I gave myself an hour to look for this place. It's good to be punctual for these kinds of things, and ten minutes early is a green light for interviewers." "Okay then, how long is this going to take?" "I'm not sure, but you are welcome to come with me so that you don't have to wait in a car, bored to death." "Sure, if that's okay with them though." "Don't worry, they shouldn't mind if you wait in the waiting room." "Haha, I see what you did there. C'mon, stop wasting your time." ... We waited for a few minutes in a rather lavish waiting room on the eighth floor of an office building. It wasn't too long until three men came out to greet me, one of which I already knew. "Hello, Mr. Anderson I presume?" asked a tall, slender African man. His accent was heavy, yet cultured. "Yes, hello Mr. Simmons." I greeted. "Hello, these here are the two others I mentioned before. This is Mr. Naidoo, he is our FAA representative for today." "Mr. Naidoo? You wouldn't happen to be related to the Kumi Naidoo would you?" I asked lightly. The tall man chuckled briefly, "No, no, I am not a direct descendant of the great human rights activist. I'm just a regular man." we then shook hands. "And, this is Mr. Goldleaf, he is the FAA inspector chosen for this interview." Simmons then motioned to the other, shorter man. "A pleasure to meet you." Goldleaf greeted. "Likewise." I replied as I shook his hand. "And, who would this be, a friend of yours?" Naidoo asked. "Uh, yes. Is it okay if she waits here?" I asked. Rainbow stayed quiet the entire time, odd. "Yes, it's fine. Come, shall we begin?" Naidoo responded. ... "So, Mr. Anderson. What do you think makes you capable of undertaking a job like mine?" Mr. Goldleaf asked. "Well, I always know what I'm doing when it comes to the aviation industry. With my hands on experience, I am very confident that I will be able to know where defects and damages are most likely to occurs, especially since I will have procedures to guide me as I work." I replied professionally. "You certainly show a lot of confidence in your skill." Mr. Naidoo commented. "In this field, I would say that you have to be confident, lest you want to make a mistake. That is something that is unacceptable in aviation, lives are at stake when this kind of work is being done." "But, don't you think that confidence may ultimately lead to those mistakes, Anderson?" Mr. Simmons asked. "I respectfully disagree," I began, "There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness, I have found that line long ago and do my best to not pass it." ... More than an hour passed in this interview. It somehow took a detour of multiple aviation related pop-quizzes, as if they were testing my basic aviation knowledge, a test that I passed with flying colors. "Well, Mr. Anderson, I know that this is somewhat unconventional, but I believe that this has gone very well and your inspector's training in Colorado should begin soon." Mr. Goldleaf announced. Wait what? "What do you mean, Colorado?" I questioned. "What? An inspector's life is in the travel bag, you did not actually expect to stay here in Pennsylvania did you?" Goldleaf pointed out. "No, I was under the impression that this was exactly what this would be. I was told that I would stay here." I said, lowering my voice and silently staring daggers at Mr. Simmons, he gave me an apologetic look. "Well, I'm sorry, that is not the case. But, by my records, you have no family ties holding you here, so I don't see why you can't just move out." Goldleaf said, not realizing on how thin the ice he was treading on actually was. Simmons immediately picked up on what Goldleaf said, he already knew about what happened and what I went through. Heck, he was probably giving me this chance out of pity if anything. "What... Did you just say?" I asked threateningly. Back off, you could make this work. At the very least do not make yourself look like a fool! "I beg your pardon?" Goldleaf asked. "Uh, Mr. Goldleaf, I don't think you fully understand Mr. Anderson's situation," Simmons said, trying to keep the peace amongst gentlemen. "And what would that be?" He questioned in a tone that I picked up as 'asshole'. "The fact that my entire family died in a single day and the only thing that I truly have to keep them as a memory is the house my aunt used to live in and the places I used to spend time with them, that is what my situation is." I snarled. Goldleaf was ever so slightly taken aback, but did a commendable job of keeping a stoic pose. I then realized that I had stood up. "I'm sorry to hear that." Goldleaf said in a monotone voice, Mr. Naidoo is a sharp man, and decided to stay out of this conversation. "I'm so sorry, I was under the impression that Anderson would stay as a local inspector as well. Could we not make a compromise of sorts?" Mr. Simmons offered. "Sorry, but we cannot change all of this paperwork for one man. This was an international inspector's position." Goldleaf declared in a completely unsympathetic tone. "No, you sir are not sorry. And you made a much sorrier attempt at hiding the fact that you aren't. I believe that this interview is over." I said, walking away. I opened the door and made my way to Rainbow to tell her we were going, only to be stopped by Mr. Naidoo. "Wait, Mr. Anderson. Before you go, I just want to say for all that it may be worth, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. I... lost my daughter as well, to a vehicular accident. You may not be able to give you this job, but I can give you this advise, get up. Get up as quickly as you can and jump back into the saddle. Otherwise, you may never leave the terrible pit you may still be climbing out of." Mr. Naidoo said with a heavy sense of empathy. "Thank you, you're a good man Mr. Naidoo." I said as I firmly shook his hand. I then turned and signaled Rainbow that it was time for us to leave. The elevator ride and the walk out of the building was completely quiet. No sound, Rainbow did not speak and my mind blocked out other noises. Rainbow finally spoke when we left the building, "I guess I don't have to ask you how it went." she said quietly. I gave Rainbow a sad look before opening the door to the SUV for her. Rainbow climbed in and I made my way for the driver's seat, it looked like it was about to rain. "Well?" Rainbow asked when I got in, "Aren't you at least going to give me a response?" "Yeah, no, I definitely didn't get the job." I replied darkly, I still didn't start the engine. "Why? What happened in there?" Rainbow almost pleaded. "I... I don't really know." I began, "The guy mentioned that I would have to live on the traveling bag and I declined the offer, so to speak." Rainbow stared at me for a moment. I started the engine and made my way into the road, "Man, what is up with this traffic?" I said. The radio was on, it started with a familiar song: "What have you done? You made a fool of everyone. Sexy S.." I turned the radio off. "Matthew?" Rainbow asked softly, this caught my attention, normally she just refers to ma as 'Matt'. "Yeah?" I replied. "Is... Is everything okay?" She asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I responded. "Well, we could start with the almost daily thing where you wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. Then there's that the dude that spoke to you last said 'I am sincerely sorry for your loss'." Rainbow pointed out harshly before adding in a softer tone, "Sorry, I'm really bad with emotional moments. I don't normally discuss things that I consider sappy." I sighed, were all of those bad nights really that obvious? "Matthew, what exactly happened?" Rainbow asked. "I...." I began trailing off, holding back tears, "It's a long story." I sighed. "Looking at this traffic, I would say that we have time for a long story. More importantly, in private." Rainbow pointed out. She has a point, she's also on to you. "Well, you see..." I began... .... It took us more than an hour to get out of the city, there was some terrible car accident that blocked all major traffic and we were stuck at the worst of it. In that time, I managed to explain everything to Rainbow. And I mean everything, from my life before, during, and after the tragedy that changed my life. I even added the bit where I secluded myself and pushed all of my friends away, staying basically isolated for almost five months. It might have been longer if it weren't for the three mares coming into my life. It was now 11:30, how the hell did that happen? The road was completely dark albeit my headlights lighting the road ahead of me. "Matthew... I... I had no idea." Rainbow finally managed to speak as she fought back sympathetic tears. "Yeah.... I guess it's been kind of tough." "Kind of tough? Kind of tough?" Rainbow repeated in absolute disbelief, "I don't think I have ever met somepony that has gone through so much, much less somepony so strong to the point that they can hide their pain from others." "I... Really don't kn.." I was cut off by a brief flash of white. That surprise made it hard for me to keep control of the SUV, but I thankfully did. "That was weird, you okay Rainb-." I was suddenly stunned at the sight before me. Rainbow was back in pony form. "What.. In the hay?" Rainbow said, looking down at herself in confusion. "I thought Twilight said that the spell was permanent." I questioned. "Yeah, so did I." Rainbow said in shock. "Well, at least we're almost home. Just a few minutes left." "Oh good." Rainbow replied in relief. Moments later, the engine suddenly sputtered and then died, "Oh bad. That is really bad timing." I commented. "What happened? What's wrong with it!?" Rainbow asked, now very desperate. I switched gears to neutral. "I don't know, the lights are still on so the battery works," I began before noticing the dashboard, "Oh.... No." I said quietly as I tapped the dashboard in a pathetic attempt to fix the problem. "What is it? What is it?" Rainbow cried desperately. "Calm yourself down Rainbow! We're out of fuel." I explained. "Out of fuel?" Rainbow repeated in a defeated tone. "I don't know how this could happen... The tank was almost full when we left this morning." I said as I looked outside, it was pouring now. "What are we going to do?" Rainbow asked. "We aren't that far from home, five miles give or take. I could skate there, and you could fly there." I offered. "That is a little risky Matt, look how dark it is." Rainbow pointed out. "Rainbow, every automobile is required to have all of the necessary emergency equipment on board. I have a small floodlight in the back, it's conveniently waterproof." I declared. We then both got out of the SUV, Rainbow began shedding the now useless clothes at the driver's side of the SUV. "Okay, just put those in the back when I open it." I said. Rainbow picked up the pile of soaked clothes in her mouth when I saw a light behind us, I wasn't as stunned from the light as Rainbow. Acting as quickly as humanly possible, I tackled Rainbow to the other side of the road. That guy almost ran us over! "You okay Rainbow?" "Yeah, I think so." I looked over to the suspect car. Oh no, he stopped, he might have seen Rainbow. Quick Matt, QUICK! Think of something, now! No... That's just stupid, just stupid enough to work maybe.... "Rainbow, you still trust me right?" I asked quickly. "Yes." Rainbow replied without hesitating this time. "I need you to stand here and let me handle this." I ordered. She did not complain, she just stood there silently. I jogged over to my SUV, completely soaked, and dug out the two pairs of aviators. I put one pair on and dashed to Rainbow and gave her the other pair. When she put them on, I then turned to the confused man who was now approaching me, the lucky man had an umbrella with him. I was preparing to do the dumbest thing I have ever attempted. "Sir? Are you okay? I am so, so sorry, I didn't see you there!" The man was apologizing profusely. "And what was that blue... Thing I saw? Is that it over there?" He asked, just as I feared. "Sir," I began, fishing out my wallet from my coat and flashing him my FAA ID way too fast for him to read it, "I'm with the CIA, you may have noticed that you nearly caused a possibly fatal and costly incident." I said in my most authoritarian voice. "Erm..." the man was clearly more confused than before. "Right now, I do not have to state to you any of your rights if I were to detain you, for you almost destroyed a critical asset of our agency." I declared before looking around as if to make sure no one was watching and whispered to him in a mock-desperate tone, "Do you have a cell phone on you? Anything electronic?" I asked. "Uh, yeah. I think so." the man said, completely lost and terrified of what he got himself into, good. I continued whispering in the rain, "Please, take out the batteries, I don't want my bosses hearing this." I tried my best to look desperate. "Sure, whatever you say." the guy was trying his best to not 'disappear' courtesy of the CIA. He quickly pulled out a phone and some unidentified electrical gadget and removed the batteries from both before returning them to his pocket. I did the same. "Look, what's your name?" I asked. "Uh, David." "Alright, Dave, I need you to do me a solid here. You see," I began, my desperate mask seemed to be working, I removed my aviators for effect, "This isn't the first time I screwed up and almost revealed a really important government secret. If you say anything to anyone, losing my job will be the least of my worries man. I really, really need you to keep quiet about this, at least until this goes public." I pleaded. David's face changed from a frightened one to a sympathetic one, score. "Okay, on just one condition." he said. "Sure, anything." I said, nodding rapidly. "Just tell me what that blue horse thing over there is and I will leave without saying a word about this to another living soul." he offered. That stunned me for a moment, it almost seemed to help my disguise though. "Oh, god.. Oh my god you are serious aren't you?" I asked, he just nodded. "Okay." I said with a deep breath, "Just, please.. Don't screw me over with this, I really can't tell you anything about this." I began. David seemed to lean a bit closer, he was dying to hear what this was all about. "It's synthetic life." I said plainly. "What?" "It's a robot designed to mimic realistic organic behaviors." I explained. "Then why is it a blue horse?" he questioned. "So that we don't confuse it for a real, living thing." I said as if it were obvious, "It is all part of a project to have synthetic humans go in behind the enemy lines. We could assassinate key individuals without any human risk on our side." I said before turning to Rainbow, who was a mere ten feet away. "Subject 23, attention!" I yelled, praying that Rainbow would catch my drift. She miraculously did, maybe her hearing is better as a pony, she did a salute. "Direction, my position!" I commanded, and Rainbow trotted slowly towards us and stared at everything through her aviators. "Wow, it really does look alive." David commented. "Yeah, we finally got the blinking right." I replied, "Well, as promised, not one word." David nodded in agreement, "You can count on me." "No, I'm serious. I still have a few strings that I can tug at, and I can watch you very, very closely." I said, almost threateningly. David nodded and nervously walked back to his car, driving away until we couldn't see his car anymore. "Matt?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah?" "That has got to be one of the most amazing things ever!" she exclaimed as she proceeded to reel me into a tight, wet hug. We then walked back to the SUV, I changed into regular clothes. The spare shirt I had is already completely soaked. I also took out the small, crank powered flood light and my skateboard. "Didn't you say before that you shouldn't skate in the rain?" Rainbow asked incredulously. "Yeah, but does it look like I have a choice? New grip tape is only five dollars, I think that's worth the price if it means I'm getting home." I replied. I turned on the floodlight and made sure that my car was locked and completely off, I didn't want the battery to die on me later. Rainbow and I then made our way home, I was riding as fast as I could and Rainbow was flying at a brisk pace next to me. We arrived homeward eventually, I have no idea how long that took, but my watch tells me that it's one in the morning. Rainbow and I moved as quietly as possible, we didn't want anypony to wake up. I dried myself off and then helped Rainbow get dry in the places she couldn't really reach. Apparently, Rainbow normally dries herself off by flying around. How does Pinkie Pie dry herself? No, don't ask about Pinkie Pie! You know what happens! I eventually dragged my exhausted body into bed, Rainbow passed out on her assigned couch downstairs mere seconds ago. Man, today was just... Way too much.
A Comedy and a TragedyChapter 8: A Comedy and a Tragedy ---------------oooOOooo--------------- "Now son, I know you might think that thirteen years old is too young to start learning, but my father started teaching me when I was just eleven." "But aren't you going to get into trouble if we get caught?" "Matthew, I'm teaching you how to drive. If we somehow manage to get caught, then I am willing to pay the small price for the reward of teaching you. Besides, no one ever comes to this place anymore." "Yeah, because it's really sketchy around here..." "Ha! New slang word I take it?" "Yeah." "And what, pray tell, does it mean?" "It means that this area is very spooky, suspicious and it makes me a bit uncomfortable." "Well, going out of your comfort zone is a good way to learn new things, no?" "I guess..." "Okay, first things first, let's switch so that the wheel is in your hands." ... "Now it's time for lesson zero, starting the engine. Many people think that it's just turn-and-go, but there's a little bit of timing involved." "Okay, what do I need to do?" "That's the spirit I wanted from you! What you do is turn the key all the way and wait for the electric motor to start the engine, you let go of the key the nanosecond you hear the engine come to life, alright?" "Sure, sounds simple enough." *Engine starts* "There! Now, the first thing you will notice is that the car is in park mode. To start moving forward, you first check all of your mirrors and then press on the brake before switching the gear to drive." "But there's no one here, why do I need to check the mirrors?" "We are talking safety Matthew! Always follow the safety rules when operating machinery, lest you want you or somebody else to get hurt. Now, do as I instructed before." "Okay." .. "You got it! You will notice that you don't actually need to press on the gas to start moving, just let go of the brake. Since this isn't stick shift, it's mostly just steering around. With that said, I want you to just do a lap around the lot without pressing on the gas yet, let the car do the work for you for now." "Got it." ... "You, my son, are a natural at this! I guess those racing games really are doing some good.. Now, I want you to do another lap, but I want you to maintain your speed at fifteen miles per hour. Later I will teach you how to park." ........... "Hey there boys! How did the lessons go?" "Our boy Matthew here is a star student, didn't have to yell at him one time!" "It was great mom! I can't wait until I can drive you guys around!" "Heh, and neither can I, I sure hope one day you will repay me for all of the lunches I've been preparing you." "Now, Florence, we all repay you by complementing on your amazing cooking every single day." "I was just teasing, Gregory." "And so was I." "Um, I'm going to do my homework now, if you two don't mind." "Yes, finish that before Sunday. Now, for us two, shall we find a place more.. Private?" "Agreed mister instructor, teach me some of those maneuvers of yours." .... I found myself half buried in... Sand? I quickly stood up to get a good look at my surroundings, sand, ocean and buildings.... Miami? No, not Miami, this was the place I created before.. I turned back to where I was originally facing, the palm tree and lawn chair had appeared. Wait, what happened last time I was here? I felt something cold, something very cold, touch my shoulder. I spun around to identify the source of such coldness, only to find nothing, just a boundless ocean. Once I decided there was no threat, I turned back to the palm tree. The second I turned back, I felt the jolt of fear. There, standing before me, were five shadows facing me. Five shadows... Five... "No.." "Matty, why weren't you there to save me?" the shortest one pleaded. "Matthew, I am so disappointed in you. You could have saved us." said a fatherly figure. "NO! I couldn't have done anything! I'm so sorry that I lost you all, you have no idea how much it tears me up that I wasn't there!" I screamed at the figures. "Oh, but we do understand, my little Matthew. We understand very well." said another figure, the gravelly voice told me it was my uncle. "What...? So, you all forgive me?" I asked confusedly. "Only if you JOIN US Matthew." the shell of my aunt replied. I couldn't handle it anymore, I pivoted in place and bolted to any direction that wasn't towards the torment.... If only shadows weren't so fast. "Where are you going Matty? You can't run if you want to join us." I ran, I couldn't feel my body but my mind knew that it was running. But it was a useless, pathetic and an utter waste of nothingness. I felt the coldness wrap around my ankles and I hit the sand face first. The sand gave some resistance at first, but then it caved in and I fell into an endless pit, screaming. "Join us Matt! Join us!" "Matt!" "Matthew!" ---------------oooOOooo--------------- "Matt!" a frightened voice whispered, something was prodding my ribs. I opened my eyes with a gasp and then searched my room for the source of the voice. I caught a slight hint of cyan next to my bed in the moonlight. "Rainbow?" I questioned in surprise, keeping my voice quiet as to not wake the others. "Are you alright? You started talking to yourself and I got worried..." "Why are you here?" "I..." Rainbow trailed off, "I wanted to try to comfort you, you know, because of all the stuff you've been through. Not just the stuff today, but, you know." "Why?" "Because we're friends.... And.. Because I kind of know how you feel." Rainbow explained, I refrained from getting angry at those words. I hate it when people try to turn sympathy into empathy, comparing their situations to mine. "What do you mean?" I asked. Rainbow began her response with a small sigh and a shift of her weight. Her face was caught by a small sliver of moonlight coming from the window. "My... My daddy was killed in a robbery when I lived in Las Pegasus. Mommy, she didn't handle it very well. She started drinking and doing other things before she decided that she needed to run away as far as we could. She and I took the express train to Stalliongrad where we lived with my uncles." Rainbow began, I could see that she was holding back tears. This shook me, seeing the last soul I expected to open up to someone doing so for me, somebody she only knew for a month. "But her drinking habits were quickly getting out of hoof, eventually, she lost it and disappeared on me..... I was supposed to be her everything, and yet, she managed to leave me with relatives that I didn't even know I had until then. But I was still a little filly, and those relatives of mine really had no interest in keeping me. So eventually, I got sent out to a boarding school in Cloudsdale, where I first learned to fly..." Rainbow Dash trailed off. I was completely taken out of my dream state now, she really did open up to me just now.... Why? "I... I didn't know, I'm so sorry you had to go through that at such a young age." I responded, saddened that no matter where you might be, tragedies still occur left and right. "I just thought that we should be even, since you told me your secret." Rainbow replied. "Wait, no one else knows about this?" I quired. "No... Even Fluttershy thinks I have family that I can rely on somewhere." I then sat up, crossing my legs and signaling Rainbow to sit. I waited for her to do so before I replied. "I guess we all have something to hide from another then...." I commented. "I guess so." Rainbow agreed in a forced tone. A few moments passed before she started talking again. "You know, you never answered my question." "Which one?" "When you woke up, I asked you if you were alright." "I'm fine now, thanks." I replied curtly, there was a long pause. "No, you're not. If you were fine, you wouldn't be having nightmares every time you slept." Rainbow retorted. I sighed quietly and stared into blackness. "If you knew the answer, then why ask?" I questioned, I then felt a familiar prod on my side. "Stop delaying what you can't avoid." Rainbow said, poking me with her hoof for emphasis. She has a point you know. "I'm not." I replied quietly. "What were they like?" "Pardon?" "Your.. Family, if you don't mind me asking." "No, it's fine. I guess that question was inevitable if you knew that I lost them." "Well?" I was quiet for a few moments, I just needed to gather my thoughts. "My dad, Gregory, was an amazing human being. He was the idol I always needed... Every morning I would come to the kitchen and he would be sitting there reading the paper, pointing out the stories he knew were false or made up. He would always teach me that you have to dig for the truth, that you shouldn't aspire to be someone else but you should aspire to be better than you are now, and so many other things." I began quietly, Rainbow remained silent, I could hear her soft breathing in the darkness. I continued, "My mom, Florence, she was the exciting one in the family. Every weekend she would have something in mind for us to do together. She has successfully drilled into my head that I should be curious, creative, impulsive and a bunch of other things because that generates the moments that make life worthwhile.... And her cooking... Was absolutely amazing, not one thing I can cook that she hasn't taught me first. I can smell her special pecan pie now." "And little Sadie, man, Pinkie would have loved to meet her. Always bubbly and curious, ready to learn something new all the time. She was my opposite in a strange way, I would be the one that follows all of the rules to the word while she just looked at rules as challenges, sentences that taunted her to do things. Not bad things of course, because that would have disappointed dad, and we both hated doing that..." I continued my reminiscing, at this point, I was mostly just talking to myself. "My aunt and uncle, man, they were the happiest couple I could possibly think of to date. Always up to something interesting too. Once, I came to their house after school to find that they were building their own coffee machine, saying that the key to the best possible flavor was in the air pressure while the beans are being pressed.. Can you believe that? I was surprised that they managed to have jobs and do more shenanigans than my sister and I combined.." I trailed off. "They all live in me in some way, I kind of adopted certain quirks of personality from all of them." I finished, I looked over to Rainbow and was surprised to see that she was sobbing quietly. "Rainbow? Are you alright?" "I'm fine. I just... I dunno, I almost feel jealous that you had a family to begin with, yet, I'm devastated that you had something so.... Precious taken from you." Rainbow replied quietly. I took that as a sign for a comforting hug, so I leaned forward to do so, but Rainbow beat me to it and hugged first... Really tightly. "Air... Air." I choked out. "Heh, sorry." Rainbow said as she loosened her grip. I'm not sure how long that embrace lasted, but it did for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Rainbow let go and sat on her haunches before me. "You know, you were the last soul I ever expected to open up to somebody else." I commented. "Well, life is full of surprises, no?" Rainbow retorted with yet another good point. "True, but I always thought that you were too proud to lower yourself to such tender moments." "Well, it's okay to do it once or twice a year." Rainbow replied, regaining her composure. "If you say so," I began while looking at the clock on my nightstand, "It's still three in the morning, we should go to bed." "Um... Could I stay here tonight?" Rainbow asked. "I guess, why? I questioned. "You will not believe how lightly Pinkie Pie sleeps, the teeniest sounds will wake her right up. I don't think I want to answer the questions she might have for me if I woke her." Rainbow reasoned. I shrugged, either not bothering or too tired to argue that point. "Sure, whatever floats your boat." With that, I climbed back under my covers and made room for Rainbow to sleep on. ..... I woke up slowly, finding myself staring at a wall. Eventually I gained the will power to turn my body around, finding that my legs were incredibly sore. "Owie." I whispered to myself as I wriggled in my bed. I soon noticed that my covers were not on top of me, they were wrapped around Rainbow Dash instead. I giggled quietly, she looked like a pony burrito. My eye then caught on to something curious, why are her wings half extended? I thought as I looked at the mare beside me, time for some questions. I poked Rainbow's ear, it instinctively flinched and Rainbow was now fully awake, "Good morning Rainbow." I greeted with a smirk. "Funny." Rainbow replied plainly. She then had a short struggle getting out of the roll she got herself into, I didn't help because it was so funny just watching. Eventually Rainbow was released from the trap that was my covers. "What's up with your wings?" I asked curiously. Rainbow, for some reason, immediately seemed alarmed at this information and looked behind her. Rainbow's wings were still stiff and half extended. "Oh... They are um... They're sore! Yeah." she explained nervously. I did not buy that explanation, but I didn't feel like pursuing the subject, I wanted food, "Okay, could you let me out? We should get some breakfast." Rainbow jumped out of bed, nodding furiously, "Yeah, breakfast! I'll be right down with you, see ya!" she said as I found myself out of my own room. She sure is acting funny... I made my way downstairs and saw that Pinkie Pie was still sleeping. She had her head hanging slightly off the side of the couch, a little bit of drool hanging from the edge of her mouth. Yeah, light sleeper. I walked to the kitchen with a slight shrug and started cutting up some fruit. .... I had four bowls of fruit salad ready for eating when Rainbow finally showed up, which was convenient, I wanted to ask her a few questions. "Morning once more miss Dash." I greeted. "Uh.. Hi again?" she replied confusedly. "So, what is really up with your wings? They're still kind of stiff by the way." I asked, cutting to the chase. "Wha..?" Rainbow began her confused attempt to answer my question when Pinkie Pie waltzed into the kitchen with a yawn. "Oh.. Good morning everypony." Pinkie Pie greeted with another yawn. "Hey Pinks, need some coffee?" I offered. "Yes please." Pinkie responded childishly. "So, Rainbow, I still didn't get an answer." I continued my previous conversation. "Well, um, it's hard to explain.." "What are you two talking about?" Pinkie asked, "And why did you go upstairs in the middle of the night Rainbow?" she decided to add. "Well, I wanted to sleep with Matt last night and..." Rainbow was cut short by a surprised Twilight coming through the doorway. I'm not sure what situation I may have gotten Rainbow in, but I can feel it in the air, this is getting awkward. "You wanted to do what with Matthew?" Twilight questioned in surprise, Rainbow was caught off-guard and her face was blushing furiously under her cyan coat. "Silly Twilight! Dashie wasn't actually sleeping-sleeping with Matty! She was just sleeping in the same bed as him!" Pinkie explained, both saving Rainbow from some awkward explaining and bouncing back from her previous tired state. "Oh, sorry for assuming something like that Rainbow..." Twilight apologized quickly, it was her tone to blush now, "But... Why did you want to sleep in Matthew's bed?" "Wow, this is extremely awkward..." I began, "But first, Rainbow: you still didn't fully explain to me why your wings were stiff this morning Rainbow." "I told you Matt, I'm sore from that flight last night." Rainbow pleaded. "Really? Because that looked more like a warm up to me." I retorted, pursuing this curious case. Twilight and Pinkie gave Rainbow a knowing glance, I'm being kept out of the loop. "Wait, what flight? I never turned Rainbow back to pony form." Twilight asked in surprise,it took her a few moments to notice that detail. "This is actually a story we are going to have to tell you two while we eat, yesterday was one hell of a day." I replied as I began setting the table for breakfast. ... "Men in suits were following you two, and you just shrugged it off for an interview?" Twilight questioned in shock. "Hey, that job would have earned me another twenty thousand dollars a year. So yeah, I shrugged that off for another moment of thinking." I retorted. "But Matty, you gave that job up and left really angrily." Pinkie added sadly. "Hey, take Matt's word for it, that Goldleaf guy was being cold hearted jerk. Matt didn't want those kinds of people around him." Rainbow defended. "Actually, there were two reasons why I couldn't take the job, that wasn't really one of the reasons. Yes, this Goldleaf fellow really pissed me off, but I didn't want to leave Pennsylvania because I would have to give up this house if I did, and I can't really travel with three mares in my luggage." I added. Everypony in the room was shocked by that line of reasoning. "We... We were the reason why you didn't take the job you wanted?" Rainbow recovered from her shock first, and was the first one to comment. "Well, I don't want you three to feel bad about it. I thought that I would get to stay when I came to the interview, so I shouldn't have taken the job anyway since I wasn't given all the details. Besides, I wasn't supposed to get that offer in another four years at least." I said in an attempt to not make my friends feel guilty. "Okay, and one more thing. Why in the name of Celestia did you think that plan to keep that person quiet would work? Why couldn't you have just ran?" Twilight continued her line of questioning, it feels like an interrogation. "If I did run, how could I know for sure that the guy, who almost ran both Rainbow and I over, would keep quiet?" I retorted. "Besides, you should have seen him! Matt was amazing! He totally had the guy fooled from beginning to end!" Rainbow praised. "Okay, I guess the ends justify the means in this case..." Twilight trailed off as she watched Pinkie balance a fork on her muzzle, it was actually very impressive, "So, then you two made your way here without your vehicle? How are you going to get it back?" "I'm getting on that today. I'm going to stop by a gas station and get enough gas to get it back to my driveway. I guess that I should tell Ted about what happened yesterday as well." I replied. "Can I come with you?" Twilight asked. "Um, sure. But it's just a trip to the gas station." I stated, Twilight still seemed interested though. "Are we doing anything else today?" Rainbow asked. I scrunched my face a little, deep in thought, "No, I don't think so." ... We all finished breakfast and I got myself ready to leave the house. Twilight was ready when I came downstairs. "Ready to go Twi?" I asked. "Sure, let's go." she replied. "Hold on, lemme check the weather. I don't want to get caught in a surprise rainstorm again." I said as I headed to my computer, Rainbow was already using it. "Can I check the weather forecast really quickly?" I asked Rainbow. "Sure." Rainbow replied as she hopped off the chair. I sat down and was about to type 'weather forecast' on google, but accidentally pressed 's' instead of 'w', and the first thing on the history made me stop. Stallions? "Uh, Twilight? Could you please explain this to me?" I called, Rainbow caught sight of what I was referring to before Twilight could get into the library and immediately began her uproar of laughter. "What's all of the commotion about?" a human Twilight asked as she came into the room, watching Rainbow literally rolling on the floor with laughter. I simply pointed at my screen. "Knowing that you're a pony, I really hope this isn't what I think it is." I stated plainly, trying not to laugh too. Twilight looked that the screen and was clearly taken aback. "I didn't know that it saved my history!... I mean, I had nothing to do with that!" Twilight said in a really cheap way to deny the evidence before me. Wow, ponies are really bad liars. "Twi, it's alright." I started chuckling when I saw her blushing face, "What you do in your private time is none of my business, but I have to ask, is this chair sanitary to sit on?" I asked, that just made Rainbow laugh harder, I finally gave in and began laughing as well. Twilight was clearly very embarrassed, poor girl. "Y-yeah, your c-chair is clean..." "Oh... Man, Twi, I really didn't think your urges would get the best of you first." Rainbow said once her giddiness died down, "I guess it's always the nerdy ones." "Sorry if I hurt your feeling Twi, I just found this opportunity hard to pass by." I apologized with a smile. "No, it's fine. Let's just go." Twilight said quickly. ... The car ride started off in silence, I felt like a real jerk right now... "Hey Twilight? I really am sorry for laughing at your expense, it was funny at first, but now I feel awful about it." I apologized. "I will gladly accept your apology as long as you try not to do that again." Twilight responded, she was looking out the window and nowhere else. "Well, I hope you will truly forgive me in time." I began, "So, how's the progress on your spell?" Twilight seemed to lighten up a bit, "It's going well actually, now I know a few things that I'm going to need for the spell to work. I actually have the list with me." Twilight said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. "Great," I began brightly, "It doesn't include anything that would be too expensive, does it?" "Um, no, not really. You can take a look at it if you want." Twilight offered. "Sure, but I'm driving right now. I'll take a look at the list at the gas station, alright?" I replied. "Oh, okay." ... "Hey Matthew? Who was Shakespeare?" Twilight asked after a long moment of silence. "You could have searched it up, and you ask me instead?" "Oh, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." "No, it's fine. I just never expected a question like that, where did you hear his name?" "I saw that you had an entire collection of this person's works in what seemed to be a special place in the bookcase. I was just curious is all." Twilight explained. "That actually makes perfect sense.. Where do I begin?" I paused, "Well, Shakespeare was one of the greatest play writers that ever lived. He was able to decipher many of the mysteries behind human behavior and put it into his work, he was actually more focused on revealing human behavior instead of improving it, I guess he didn't see the point of it. Shakespeare was so great because he was capable of creating so many characters in so many scenarios in both comedies and tragedies." I monologued. "Comedy as in funny, or comedy as in a happy ending?" Twilight quired. "Most of the works I read from him were tragedies, but he does add some comic relief here and there. He also did a few comedies with happy endings. So it's a little bit of both I guess." I replied. "Shakespeare sounds like a disturbed soul if most of his works were tragedies." Twilight commented, I simply shrugged. "I don't think anybody will ever know if he was disturbed or not, he has been dead for so long that only his work remains as his legacy. Pick up a few of the plays that I have, they're written in older forms of English, but it's still very entertaining and insightful." "Okay, maybe later.... What's that over there?" Twilight asked pointing towards a structure in the distance. "That's our stop actually, it's the gas station." I replied lightly. "It's shaped so.... Oddly." "I, on the other hand, have a hard time finding something more pedestrian than this." I replied. ... I filled a two gallon container and paid the respective price. Twilight also chose this moment to show me that list, I set the container down once we were out in the open and began skimming through the writing.... Something was off. "Pineapples, watermelons and kiwis? Twilight, do you really need those for a spell?" I asked incredulously, I mean really, who would have thought that watermelons have magical properties? "What?" Twilight asked, she was as confused as I was. Twi took the list from my hands and looked at it, she quickly took on a sheepish expression, "Oh, wrong list.. This was the list of exotic fruits that I wanted to try." Twilight explained. "Well, do you have the other one?" I asked curiously. "Yes, somewhere..." Twilight trailed off as she searched all of her pockets, "These things are nowhere near as handy as saddle bags." "You could wear a backpack if you really want to." I replied. "Very funny.. Oh, here it is!" Twilight dug out another neatly folded piece of paper. I took said paper and read it. "Chalk, okay..." "Four grams of quartz, odd, but doable." "Eight grams of crushed sea salt? I think I have that at home." "And.... Aluminum powder, I think I can get that from an etch-a-sketch." I looked at the list oddly, this was not what I expected to be shopping for. "You can get those for us, right?" Twilight asked pleadingly. "Yeah, I think I can get the chalk in this gas station right now actually." I turned and went back into the store without waiting for a reply. "What?" Twilight asked herself quietly before following suit. I walked around the small store, this was some sort of organized chaos that I can't really say was organized in my eyes. Nothing seemed to be in any particular order, but I eventually found some white sidewalk chalk next to a thermos and a can of turpentine, what? "Hey, Matthew? What was that thing you mentioned before?" Twilight asked from another aisle. "What thing? I found the chalk by the way." I replied. "The etch-a-thinggy, what was it?" "Etch-a-sketch? Yeah, it's a rectangular screen with two knobs on it, did you find one?" "I think so..." Twilight replied hesitantly. I walked over to the aisle Twilight was in and saw what she was looking at. It was an etch-a-sketch alright, but it was a cheap knockoff in the shape of a star. "Well, close enough." I said as I picked it up. We then walked over to the counter and began purchasing our toys, the guy at the cashier gave us weird looks but decided to keep quiet. "That went well." Twilight commented as we left the store and headed for the car. "I guess, but that old guy gave us some weird looks, as if I'm too old to be playing with toys, pfft." I replied playfully. With a short fit of giggles, we got back in the car and began our ride back home. I am going to have to walk to my SUV from my house so that I don't leave my car behind, that would just be a waste of time. .... Twilight and I arrived at the house, she decided to stay because walking six miles is not in her best interest. I decided to skate there instead, now that I wouldn't have to wait for a pedestrian to catch up, and now Rainbow decided to tag along. At least this gives me a chance to get her out of the house, I haven't seen Pinkie anywhere though... "C'mon Rainbow, let's go." I called. She soon came down, fully human and fully dressed. "How are you going to carry that thing and skate?" Rainbow asked incredulously as she pointed at the red gasoline container. "Because I can...." I trailed off, getting an idea. I put down the container and went to a seemingly random closet. After a few moments of rummaging, I pulled out a nice looking rope. Without saying a single word I went over to the container and started wrapping the rope around it. "What are you doing?" Rainbow asked curiously. "Watch." I replied simply as I concentrated on a knot that I learned long ago. Eventually, I managed to wrap the rope around the container so that I could wear it as a backpack. "Wow, impressive." Rainbow commented. "Well? Let's haul to the SUV!" I exclaimed as I sprinted out the front door, grabbing my board on the way out. Rainbow was kind of far behind, since she took the time to close the door behind her. .. Damn, she is fast and she is gaining on me. I thought when I looked behind me to find that Rainbow was less than twenty feet behind me. Rainbow caught up to me and gave me a challenging look and then stuck her tongue out at me as she overtook me. "You might be fast, but can you maintain your speed?" I challenged before she passed me. "Ha, you just watch. I'm the best athlete you've known!" Rainbow called back. Wow, my legs were a bit sore from yesterday and I was losing ground to Rainbow. I guess it's all of the extra weight, but that might help me since there is a short hill up ahead. I started pushing with everything I had to reach the peak of that hill with the most speed possible. I started catching up to Rainbow, probably because she didn't want to exhaust herself at this hill. I caught myself staring at Rainbow for a short time, but I quickly shook myself and focused on the challenge at hand. I suddenly flew past Rainbow in a burst of speed, the look of surprise on Rainbow's face was something I would have taken the time to laugh with, but I was really out of breath to do so. I gave Rainbow a short wave and a smirk as I flew into the hill's slope and started gaining speed. I must have been going a twenty miles per hour or so when I started getting speed wobbles, I started zig-zagging to tame them before they flung me off the board. I guess Rainbow wasn't so lucky, I heard a thump with an "Omph!" Behind me. I looked back to see Rainbow sliding down the hill side, her board following closely behind. I bailed out of my board and ran over to stop Rainbow's slide to the bottom of the hill, "Crap, are you okay?" I asked when I caught her. "Owww, I did not think my board would turn on me like that.." Rainbow managed after a few gasps. "Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot to tell you about speed wobbles." I apologized. "That's what its called? It felt like getting thrown off." Rainbow replied. "Yeah, the more you fall the more you learn, I guess. How's you road rash?" "My what?" "The scrapes you got from your fall, let me see them." "Um, let's get off the road first, I see a car way over there." Rainbow pointed out, I looked behind me to see a blue pickup truck in the distance. "Alright," I replied as I helped her up, "Can you walk?" "Yeah, I'm fine." We walked over to the side of the road, I spotted our boards on the sides of the road a little ways down the hill, they thankfully stopped. "Okay, let me see your scrapes." I demanded. Rainbow nodded and showed me her elbows and knees. Her left elbow and knee were scraped up a bit, but not much else seemed off. "Did you hit anything else?" "Yeah, I was sliding on my back for a while." she said as she turned around to show me, her shirt was a little ripped at the torso, her bra strap was in the way so there wasn't any road rash there. "Your back is fine, but I want to give your knee some attention later." I diagnosed, "Can you still skate? We still have about two miles to go." Rainbow nodded just as that blue pickup truck passed us, we made our way to our boards and slowly made our way down the hill. No racing this time, it wouldn't be fair since Rainbow was hurt. ... We cruised at a gentle speed, the road was clear of any other cars so we were riding at the center of the road, where there weren't as many cracks. We eventually found my SUV off to the side of the road where I left it. I went straight for the back and fished out a first aid kit and Rainbow sat so that I could properly disinfect her scrapes. "I only have rubbing alcohol, so it's going to burn a bit." I warned. "It's okay, just get this over with." Rainbow said with a hint of relief. "You know? You still never explained the wing thing to me." I said. Rainbow sighed heavily. "You aren't going to drop this are you?" Rainbow asked. "Nope." I replied proudly. "Well, if you simply have to know... A Pegasus' wings get stiff when they are um... Horny." Rainbow explained. "What?" I began in surprise, "Can I ask who you were thinking of?" "I'd rather you don't" "Fine by me." I finished. We got that over with and I fed my hungry SUV with its proper diet, two liters of gasoline. We hopped in and drove our way back. ... We were half way home when I noticed that something was off, "My tank is draining too fast.." I observed. "Is that bad?" "I really hope it's not what I think it is." "And what would that be?" Rainbow asked. "I might have punctured my gas tank... Odd, I don't recall running over any rough terrain recently." "Well, get home before we're out of juice. You can check there." Rainbow suggested. "Yeah." I agreed. ... I pulled up into my drive way and quickly got out to inspect my vehicle for damage, Rainbow followed out of pure interest. I got down on my belly and inspected my SUV's underside, I quickly spotted a leak. The leak was, of course, located at the gas tank. I saw two holes in the tank, both approximately 1/16th of an inch in diameter, they seemed to be placed so that one hole feed air as the other one drains. This was done deliberately, I could tell it was done with a drill, and very hastily. Whoever did this did not know that drilling at high speeds on steel would destroy the drill bit. The full reality of our situation hit me, hard. "Rainbow, we have a problem." "I can see that Matt." ... "Twilight! Pinkie! Where are you two?" I asked somewhat nervously as I entered the house. "We're here Matty, what's wrong?" Pinkie Pie said, coming out of the library. "I think we have a serious problem on our hands." I said. "And hooves." Rainbow added. I shot Rainbow I look, "What? It's true." My phone started ringing, I checked the caller ID. It was Ted, I picked up as soon as my hands would allow. "Ted? Is that you?" I answered. "Yeah, what's wrong?" He asked, I remembered that others might be listening to our phone call. "Uh, nothing. I was actually wondering if you wanted to have a few drinks with me at the bar." I replied. Ted must have caught my emphasis on the word 'bar', there was a short silence. "Alright, what time?" "Not too late, how about five o'clock?" I offered. "Lucky for you, I happen to be on break at that time. Sure, five o'clock." Ted replied. "So, why did you call?" I asked. "I actually wanted to see if I could come over tonight." he answered. "I don't think that would be a great idea for now, maybe another time?" I offered. "Yeah, sure. See you at five." "Yeah, see ya." I hung up. Every pony was staring at me. "What was that all about?" Twilight asked. "Matty? You look really really really upset, what's wrong?" Pinkie asked worriedly. "I think there are people that know who you all are, and I don't think they are the gentle kind either." I replied. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked nervously. "There are SPIES after us! Those guys in suits totally sabotaged Matt's SUV and we almost died in that car accident, if it WAS a car accident!" Rainbow blurted out. Pinkie and Twilight gave me shocked expressions. "I wouldn't say it like that, but the evidence points towards that general direction." I confirmed. "How can this be possible? We haven't spoken to anyone but you and Ted. That driver last night must have said something!" Twilight concluded. "Twily, how does that make any sense? That poor poor man couldn't have said anything if those guys were following Matty and Dashie before he saw them..." Pinkie reasoned. "Oh, yeah. Sorry for jumping to conclusions. But, how could anybody other than Ted know?" Twilight questioned. "Ted must have ratted us out." Rainbow growled between her teeth. "No, Ted would never give me up like that. I'm sure there is some other explanation to this, but the way I see it, theorizing how people found us out isn't going to make any progress. Twilight, how quickly can you get the spell ready?" I said. "Uh... I don't know, I still don't have the ground quartz." she replied. "I'll go pick it up today, how much time do you need?" I responded quickly. "Uh, I don't know. I could start calibrating the spell now, and I could finish calibration by Monday. The spell should take about five minutes to cast then." Twilight answered. "Good," I said, looking at my watch, 4:00 pm, "I gotta go, I have a meeting with Ted to go to." I said as I headed out of the door. "Wait!" Pinkie called, "You didn't have lunch." "That can wait Pinkie, this could be something very bad." I replied, Pinkie just shook her head and pulled out a large cupcake... Out of where? Where did that come from? No, I'm done asking questions, take the cupcake and run Matthew. "It's dangerous to jump into danger in an empty stomach Matty, take this." Pinkie offered. "Um, thanks." I took the cupcake, said my goodbyes and left. ... It was a very stressful drive, the road was completely empty except for my car and the occasional other. Paranoia was starting to seep into my mind and suddenly every other car was suspect to my judgment. They are not following you Matt, otherwise the same car would be behind you constantly. I turned up the radio to drown out my thought, I pressed a little harder on the gas to get off the road sooner. ... I arrived at the bar at 5:01 pm, close enough. Ted was already waiting for me inside, this time at another corner. I sat down in front of him and the waitress took my order. "One Appletini please." I ordered. Ted cocked an eyebrow at me. "What's with the fancy drink" he asked. "I dunno, I had a craving." I replied with a shrug. We then both exchanged serious glances. "So, what did you need to tell me?" he asked while pulling the battery off his phone, I did the same. "I think there are men who have been watching me and my friends. I caught two guys shadowing me the day of my interview." "How did that go by the way?" "Didn't get the job. Did you have any idea that these men are watching me?" "Can't say anything crossed my radar no, I was actually going to go to your place to celebrate our success on hiding your friend's secrets. Are you positively sure that they were following you?" "I was with Rainbow at the skate park, that's when I first saw them. We went for lunch, they were there too. When Rainbow and I went to a frozen yogurt place, I saw them there as well. Rainbow and I fled the yogurt place when we took notice," "You still eat that stuff?" "Don't interrupt me, I'm pretty sure that they followed us out but gave up the chase because we were skating away..... I suspect that they sabotaged my SUV after that." I explained. Ted leaned back on his seat, letting the information seep into his mind. "Damn." Ted concluded as he sipped from his beer. Before we could say anything else, the waitress came and gave me my drink. "Here you go sir, enjoy." the lady said plainly. Ted and I waited for the waitress to leave before we continued. "Matt, this could be very, very bad." Ted concluded once more. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." "Matt, if what you're telling me is true... This is only the beginning, if the guys that were following you were below my paycheck, I would have known. Whoever it is, these are people that are very high up in the ranks." "What if it's just the FBI? Maybe they're rookies, it wasn't too hard for me to spot them." I suggested. "Matt, have you been living under a rock? The FBI and the CIA are one and the same." Ted said as if it was obvious. "Oh." "Matthew," Ted began, leaning forwards, "I'm going to say this again, this is only the beginning. These operative are way above my rank in the CIA and they do not play nice." There was a pause before Ted continued, "Do you have a gun?" he asked seriously. "What? No." "Get one, learn to use it because you might have to use it." "Ted," I began in disbelief, I looked around to make sure no one was observing us and lowered my tone to a harsh whisper, "I've never even held a gun before, you expect me to defend myself with one?" "Learn as you go Matt." "Where am I even going to get one? Gun laws these days are really tight." I continued whispering harshly. "I know a guy, he's strictly small time and he doesn't interfere with the CIA's regular trafficking clients, so no one's busted him yet. I recommend a nice Glock, it's light, low recoil and easy to clean." "Ted..." I trailed off when he gave me the address of the man he mentioned, "I can't do this." "You have to, how long until your friends can go home?" "Not long now, just a few days." "This might give you enough time to get them home." "And what about me Ted? Buying a gun is only going to bring more attention to me." This seemed to diffuse Ted. "Sorry, you're right." "It's fine, will you be able to take care of yourself? I kind of got you tied up in all of this." I replied. "I'll be fine Matt, I can take care of myself if things get hairy. Plus, I still have a few strings to pull at that could get me out of this. Worry about yourself and your other friends, alright?" Ted reassured me with a smile. "Yeah, take care man. Drinks on me. Oh, and by the way, where can I get myself quartz?" I asked. Ted shrugged, "Internet?" he suggested. "Right." I said as we gave each other a manhug, I then put a twenty on the table and left. ... I came home, everything seemed like a dull buzz in my brain. I didn't even drink my appletini. I looked in my wallet, I had the gun dealer's address in there, I guess I took it without realizing. Rainbow sat down next to me. Oh, I'm sitting on a couch. "We're going to be okay Matt... Right?" Rainbow asked for reassurance. "Yeah, Twilight will get your spell ready and you will all go home... Everything is going to be fine once that happens." I said in my best reassuring tone. Rainbow gave me a sad look, "And you?" she asked. "I'll figure that out in my own time." "No! You can come with us can't you? Those guys can't reach you in Equestria." Rainbow offered. "And make the spell harder for Twilight? What if I do go and Twilight somehow messes up because I'm going too? Did you even think about Ted? I got him into this situation and now there are men going after him too, don't you think? If I get to go to Equestria, shouldn't Ted get to come with me?" I replied harshly, Rainbow seemed to shrink back from me... That softened me up. "Look, Rainbow. Equestria just isn't my world, I don't belong there. Despite everything that I've lost here, I still have things worth staying for. I have my dream job at the hangar, I have my Aunt's house, I have friends to back me up. I can't just leave the little I have left behind me." I said in a much softer tone. Rainbow just sat quietly next to me, eventually resting her fuzzy head on my lap. She didn't need to say she was sorry, I could feel it. ... Dinner was dull, even Pinkie Pie was grimly quiet. Eventually I just went to bed early....
ShadowsChapter 9: Shadows I woke up this morning feeling strangely refreshed, despite my current situation. Huh, no nightmares last night. I hopped out of bed and made my way to the shower. ... I came downstairs, ready to take on my Sunday morning... Except I didn't see anypony. Where could they be? I walked slowly towards the kitchen, choosing to not panic just yet. Maybe they're somewhere else in the house and I haven't seen them yet. I took a few steps past the kitchen doorway when.. "Surprise!" shouted three feminine voices. I jumped slightly at my obvious surprise, turning around to see the source of the shouts. I saw Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all standing next to the doorway, massive smiles plastered on their faces. "What?" I asked plainly as confetti came out of nowhere, landing on my hair and all over the floor. "We wanted to thank you for everything you did for us!" Twilight explained. "So we set up a little surprise party!" Pinkie added. "With one of Pinkie's amazing cakes." Rainbow added with the slightest drooling sound. I was dumbfounded. "What?" I asked again, not quite sure if this was reality. "Didn't you hear us, buddy?" Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head, "This is all for you!" "Guys, you really didn't need to do this for me." I said modestly, glancing at the confetti all around me. Pinkie Pie motioned towards the table behind me, I looked over to see a chocolate cake covered in white and pink frosting with blue letters that said: "Thank you for everything, Matthew." "What are we going to do then, throw away the cake?" Pinkie asked in disbelief. "No, no! This..." I trailed off staring into the cake-y frosting, "Looks delicious." Pinkie's smile grew even wider. "Well, let's get this party started!" Pinkie began, only to be cut off by Twilight. "Remember Pinkie, this is supposed to be low key. No loud music." Twilight reminded, Pinkie Pie's mane deflated ever so slightly before poofing back up again. How does she do that? We all sat down as we replaced our breakfast with an awesome cake. Hmm, the cake was not a lie after all. ... "Pinkie Pie, when did you even make this? I have to say it's the greatest cake I have ever had the chance to taste... Ever." I complemented between mouthfuls of chocolate cake. "I baked it over night when everypony was asleep! I tried really hard to not wake anypony up, but Twily and Dashie eventually came over to help me out." Pinkie explained, waving a fork in the air. Don't question it Matt, you know what happens when you do and you do not have enough Advil for that. "Really guys, thanks. This is more than I could have asked for." I said. "Hey, no problem big guy. You're the one who made the most sacrifices here." Rainbow replied. We had some small conversations until we were all done eating. Twilight and I got into planning out our next few steps after we cleaned up all of the confetti, of course, Rainbow was nowhere to be seen at this point. "So, Matthew. When can you get us the ground Quartz?" Twilight asked. "I was thinking of ordering it through mail, but that might take too long. Maybe I can find a store and pick it up today." I replied. "Okay, good." "So, how much more time do you need?" "It might actually take more time, It is really hard to tell at this point." Twilight said hesitantly. "Okay, as long as you're making haste." ... I looked up on a few stores that might sell quartz and found one that is actually relatively close to the overhaul base. It's a place called Gems and Minerals. I told the three mares that I would go buy the quartz that they needed now and that I would be back after lunch, and made my way to the car soon after. ... Another long ride to the city, for such a desperate time, there's one thing in my day that truly does not want to change. I switched on the radio and drowned out my thoughts as I drove to my destination alone. ... Damn, barely any parking spots around here. I thought as I neared the mineral store's address. I scanned for any potential parking spots, I soon spotted a large green van start pulling out of its parking spot. Bingo. I took the parking spot as soon as it became available, and was soon given a dirty look from some lady that wanted the same spot. Parking is such a competitive activity. I hopped out of my car and walked over to the store, it was just one block down. Sure enough, right where the Internet has pointed me to was the store I have been looking for. It just wasn't what I expected it to be. So much for modesty... I thought as I took in the lavish details of the glorified stone dealership. With a shrug, I opened the door and walked inside. There was a bald man behind a counter in a black suit with a rose red shirt underneath. "Welcome to Gems and Minerals, how can I be of assistance?" The man said with a practiced smile. "I'm looking for quartz." I replied simply. I was still taking in the details of the shop, the inside was decorated in an oriental manner. There were paintings of many cultures everywhere and the walls seemed to be made of... Bamboo? Why? "Well, I can certainly help you with that!" the man said with a small cheer. I'm not one to judge, but my gaydar is going off right is. "Uh, thanks. What's your name again?" I asked hesitantly. "Philip Twain at your service. Please, follow me." Philip said as he motioned me to a display case. Inside resided six sparkling gems, lit by a single light from above. "Here are our most prised pieces of quartz." he announced. I had no idea that quartz was so expensive looking, normally it's really cheap. "Uhh, how much would one of these dent my wallet?" I asked incredulously. "Well, the most affordable one you see here goes for around two-hundred dollars-" "Whoah, hold on just a minute there. I was looking for something more... Modest." I interrupted. Philip gave me a stern look. "Oh, I see. Follow me, right this way." he said as he turned to the back of the store, I followed. Philip then opened a panel on the back wall that contained a sort of container, not unlike those large craftsman tool cabinets. "Huh." I muttered quietly. Philip ignored me and shuffled through the codes on the drawers. "Ah, here." he announced as he pulled one of the drawers open, revealing a tray of dozens of white and clear stones, "I believe this was what you were looking for." "This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks." I replied happily. "Well, not that it's any of my business, but what exactly are you using these for?" Philip asked with the thickest tones of curiosity. I paused for the briefest moment before replying, "I'm... An Earth science teacher, I need some quartz for one of my lessons on crystal formations." I said with my greatest poker face. "Oh." Philip said, his expression brightening, "And here I thought you were getting married! I'm so terribly sorry for jumping to that assumption, I just never thought a person of your looks would be a teacher." "That's fine." I replied awkwardly, "How much for two of these?" I asked. "Well, for you... I'll give you a teacher's discount, how does twenty dollars sound to you?" Philip offered. "Perfect! Here you go." I said, fishing out a twenty at a surprising speed. "Ha! You certainly are a teacher, please, wait until I get these wrapped up for you and your receipt is printed out." Philip responded with a hearty laugh. He didn't even check for a teacher's ID.... Either he's stupid or I'm just that charismatic, I will probably never know. "Well, if you insist." I said lightly. Philip nodded, took two stones out, one clear and one white, and took them over to the counter. Philip wrapped the two stones in a practiced motion and put them in a small paper bag. The bag had the shop's logo on the side. I handed Philip the twenty and he handed me my receipt. "Thanks Philip." I said in a friendly tone. "No problem, do come again!" Philip replied. I then left the store and made haste for the car. I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to need more quartz, but I probably won't be coming back here. ... "I'm home!" I announced as I walked in through the front door. "Hey, how did it go?" Rainbow asked, being the first to see me. "I got the quartz Twilight needs, and nothing bad happened today... So pretty damn well, I'd say." I replied. Twilight came out of the library as if on cue. "Hey Matthew, you have it?" Twilight asked excitedly. "Yeah, here." I replied, handing her the bag. She took it in her mouth since she's storing her magic for later. "Wow, I can't believe it... We're actually going to go home aren't we?" Rainbow thought out loud happily. Pinkie Pie then jumped out of seemingly nowhere and attacked me with a massive hug, "Yay Matty! Remember when I said 'cheers to going home someday'? Someday is almost here, yay!" Pinkie exclaimed as she suspended herself of the ground. I giggled at Pinkie's antics, "Yeah, almost hard to believe huh?" I replied. "Well, that's only going to happen if I get back to work. So, if you will all excuse me." Twilight added before walking back to the library. ... Today wasn't so bad, no men in suits followed us today and my car wasn't sabotaged. Rainbow and I got to exchange music today as well, pony music is very vocal from what I've heard so far. Dinner today was more talkative than normal too, it almost felt like being with family... Almost. Pinkie Pie was also showing us some of her party tricks, including hoof shadows... How she managed to make a swan with just hooves I will never know. All in all, I managed to go to bed peacefully. There wasn't much in my mind to torment me right now, there was just the fact that I had to go to work tomorrow. ....... *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BR-!* I shut off my alarm and jumped out of bed and into the shower in a practiced motion. I was out five minutes later, drying myself quickly and putting on a pair of dark brown slacks and a crisp blue shirt with a black tie. I ate breakfast hastily and brushed my teeth as I packed a bag with casual clothing to change into later. By six in the morning, I was out of the house. Professional attire, messenger bag and skateboard in tow. I got in my car and drove off to work, successfully avoiding anypony from waking up. ... I drove into the parking lot of the hangar, humming happily to the Beatles. Once I parked in my respective spot, I hopped out of my car and made my way to the lockers, where I put on my coveralls and clocked in for work... "Anderson! Come into my office!" Mr.Simmons called from his office once I stepped into the work zone. I noticed that the previous shift had already hauled a new plane into the hangar. It was an A-320, a very old girl indeed, I shook my head and made my way to the foreman's office. "Yes sir?" I asked professionally. "We need to talk." he said softly, he motioned me to come inside and take a seat, and I did so. "What about sir?" I asked, pretending to not know what this was about. "It's about Thursday. Are you okay?" Simmons said, cutting to the chase as usual. "I'm fine Simmons, I just lost my interest in the position during the interview." "And made a fool out of me in the process, I was the one that recommended you to begin with, and you dared to show that kind of temper to men who have worked in the FAA longer than you have lived." Mr.Simmons said, tensing up a bit. "I'm.. Sorry, I kinda lost it when that Goldleaf guy turned out to be completely soulless." I apologized genuinely. "It's okay son, I understand what you went through and I'm willing to sacrifice myself just a bit for you. But, you have to understand that becoming a heartless person is simply what happens to man who does this line of work for as long as a man like Goldleaf." Simmons said. I looked up slowly at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" I asked. "He has a side job in the NTSB Matthew, he has seen a lot of failures and a lot of death in his lifetime... More than his fair share actually, eventually all of those things make a man numb to the rest of the world, make them look at everything objectively and only that. I'm sure that he didn't actually mean you any disrespect, he's just the product of suffering and torment." "Why are you telling me this, sir?" "Because Matthew, I don't want to see the same thing happen to you. It would break me to see such a promising man lose his humanity to his experiences. Listen to Mr.Naidoo's advise and move on before you are simply a copy of what Goldleaf has become." Mr.Simmons said genuinely, putting a fatherly hand on my shoulder. "Thank you sir, I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen." I replied. "Heh, you always do. Here" Mr.Simmons replied as he handed me the dossier on the plane in the hangar. "That A-320 needs its starboard flaps repaired before this aircraft get overhauled, the pilot asked for a change of tires and hydraulic fluid too." Simmons announced to me, returning to his normal, professional stature. "Consider it done, I'll tell the other crew chiefs." I replied before leaving the office. ... I gathered the other crew chiefs and informed them of our next job. We all split up the workload evenly and then we set off to gather our crew members to start the overhaul process. I had finished giving my crew members the situation report and we set of to repair the two starboard flaps that had apparently taken some damage during a landing. Three of my crew are going to remove the damaged skin, Dobson and I are going to get the rivet gun ready for when we are going to put in the replacement skin. I was at one of the work stations, connecting an air hose to the rivet gun we were going to use when someone approached me. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Mr.Anderson?" the man asked. I glanced at his identification on his left breast pocket, he was part of the NTSB. "Lucky you, that's me you're looking for." I replied, dropping what I was doing to see this conversation through. "Oh good, well, I'm in the process of an investigation right now. An Airbus 330 crashed in California two years ago, and your name came up in the paperwork." the investigator announced the alarming news. An A-330? "That's terrible, I don't quite recall the incident... Was everyone okay?" I asked. "Sadly, no. fifty-four people died in the crash and seventy-six people were severely injured. I came because two bolts that were securing the vertical stabilizer were signed by your name a month before the crash, but those same two bolts were nowhere to be found in the crash site." the man said. I gulped, this is very bad news. But I was never a pencil whipper! Shit, I could lose my job for this! "I see," I began, "I believe that we should be discussing this with the foreman present." I declared, the man nodded and followed me to Mr.Simmons' office. I knocked on the office door, "Come in!" Simmons called from inside. I walked in with the investigator in tow, Simmons' expression grew serious once he saw the NTSB was involved in this conversation. "Hello, are you the foreman in this facility?" the investigator asked. "Yes, Mr.Simmons, and you are?" "Mr.Witt, it's a pleasure." "Likewise, so, what's this about?" Simmons asked suspiciously. "Well," Mr.Witt began, motioning me to sit next to him, "An A-330 crashed in California around two years ago. While doing our investigation, we found that Mr.Anderson had signed for two bolts securing the vertical stabilizer just a month before the crash. Those two bolts were nowhere to be found on the crash site." Simmons leaned back on his chair. He understood what this meant if I couldn't prove that it wasn't my fault. "Well... This is quite serious." Simmons said in surprise. "Indeed, I came here to set the record straight." Mr.Witt replied. "Wait," I jumped in, "You said A-330 right? We don't get many of those here, what series was it?" I asked, putting a lot of hope into this one idea. "It was a...", Mr.Witt began as he searched through his case file, "Two-hundred series." Shouldn't he know that information off the top of his mind? He has worked on this case for two years after all. "Two-hundred.... I don't recall ever actually seeing the two-hundred series of an A-330 before, I remember working on the hundred and the three-hundred series, not two." I thought out loud. "That's some very compelling information," Mr.Witt replied, I saw a gleam of happiness in Simmons' eye, "Can you prove it?" Oh no... That gleam in my foreman's eye was gone. "I'm afraid that I don't have any paper evidence of that, sorry." I replied weakly. "Well then, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to suspend your licenses for some time until this investigation is over." Mr.Witt concluded, "You will not have permission to work on anything aviation related, power plant and airframe alike, for eight months. During that time you will rerun your training and you will either be allowed to return or be terminated. That last decision is for your company to decide." Witt replied. My heart sank when I processed that information, I will surely be fired if they somehow manage to prove me guilty. There are many other people just waiting to replace me, why would they keep me when they can have someone with a clean record? Mr.Witt left the office, left me to my thoughts until Simmons interrupted them. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through with this..." he said. "What now?" I asked glumly. "Now I have to fill out a whole lot of paperwork and you wait for a month or so until you get your training schedule in the mail. Sorry, but you're going to have to relearn everything in aviation. I wish there was something I could do to stop this, but this is something you're going to have to go through, they will probably lower your pay some." "Okay, I guess I will be seeing you sometime later." I replied, leaving to collect my belongings. ... It was near the end of my shift when I left, I changed into my casual clothing before leaving, and took my sweet time walking to my car. There's no rush anyway. I climbed slowly into my car and started driving, I didn't quite know where yet, but I needed to keep my mind busy. ... I drove aimlessly until I found myself at a park, I impulsively decided to find the nearest parking spot, got out of my car and pulled out my board. I soon found myself riding on a small, paved road with walls made of many trees. I may have lost my passion, but at least I haven't lost my release. I continued kicking along the road, following wherever it offered to take me, my passes slowly becoming more frustrated. I continued along until the path took me to a circle of bricks surrounding a small fountain with a statue on it, a war memorial. I jumped off my board and let it roll off to the side, there's no one around to steal it anyway. I have never seen this place before, but it had a familiar feel to it. There was a plaque on the statue, only somewhat hard to read because of that fountain. "We remember those who have fallen, but we cherish those who got back up and moved on". I read quietly to myself, the bottom of the plaque said: In loving memory of those who have fallen in Syria. I looked away from the memorial and looked around for my board, I eventually found it and picked it up, only to find myself sitting at the edge of the memorial circle. I was staring blankly at the blue sky. ... I eventually made some peace with the fact that I will lose my job, and passion, entirely and was now beginning my drive home. Get up and move on... That's one phrase I have heard people tell me far too many times, they don't understand how hard it can get to move on, how so much in life can go so wrong. Yet, I still yearn to move on, and still try my push forward because going back simply isn't an option. I've thought about ending it before, ending it all. It was actually a dominant though in my mind at one point, the day after I learned my family died. For a very long time, that thought would be a poison in the back of my head. Every time that I held a knife, leaned close over a ledge or worked near the power tools in the hangar, that one thought would linger: I could just end it now. The only thing that has ever stopped me from actually doing it wasn't fear, it was hope. Hope that one day I will be at peace with myself and the pain wouldn't be there anymore, and now I'm so close too. I spotted a flower shop and my mind stopped, how long has it been...? I found a place to park and bought fifteen pink roses, and then, made my way to the cemetery... ... The grave markers were right where they should be, still new looking. Mother, father, sister, aunt and uncle all in a single row... All so peaceful looking. "I'm sorry I wasn't there, I miss you all so much..." I spoke quietly. After a long moment of paying my respects, I placed three roses at each marker, reminiscing on cherished memories while doing so. I then turned around and headed home. ... When I arrived home, I found all three mares sitting on a couch and staring at the front door. What worried me was that they all had worried expressions on their faces. "What?" I asked innocently. "Where the hay were you? We were worried sick!" Rainbow exclaimed first. "Why didn't you tell us that you would be coming home late today? You had us thinking something happened to you." Twilight said in a much calmer tone. "Did something happen to you Matty?" Pinkie asked slowly, being the only one to notice that I was upset. "Well, I lost my job... That's what happened to me today." I said flatly. There was a unanimous gasp. "Why would they fire you?" Rainbow questioned sadly. "Well, apparently a plane I had allegedly worked on crashed a month after I worked on it. This was two years ago, and they recently found out that the parts that I had signed for were not present in the crash, so they could only assumed that I signed without actually doing anything and ended up killing... A lot of people." I explained. "Did you really do what they think you did?" Twilight asked. "No." Replied genuinely, "I'm not a pencil whipper." "That's not fair, you should go back and tell them that you did nothing wrong!" Pinkie suggested. "I told them that I never worked on that plane before, I've never even seen an A-330 two-hundred series before. But without solid proof, I've got nothing." I replied, defeated. "What are you going to do now?" Twilight asked. "Find a new job... Eventually. Technically my license only got suspended, but I know my company doesn't accept employees with a casualty count." "Matt, I'm sure you will get another job, somewhere where they will truly appreciate you." Rainbow encouraged. "Maybe... So, Twilight, how much longer?" I asked, changing the subject. "I know for sure that we will be ready tomorrow." Twilight replied confidently. "Alright," I began with a small clap, "Now that there's good news, let's eat some dinner." We all ate dinner happily, mostly happily. At least nothing tragic happened today. Ted Kimell was sitting at his office desk, rapidly going over files and reports. He knew someone was following his tracks, so now he had to cover them. The files of the three females that do not belong on this world sat in front of him, reports of certain and somehow connected covert ops and reconnaissance reports to the side. He knew how to find the people that were after him, and he could get them before they got either him or his friends. Ted knew that all he had to do was find his hunter and pull the strings he has to pull, the only factor he didn't have control over was time. He had to buy his friends time, blow the horn before the danger arrives. Ted jumped at the sound of his office phone, he picked up, "Yes?" "Mr.Kimell?" it was the lady in the lobby. "Hey Elizabeth, what do you need?" "There's someone here to see you." "Could you tell me who it is?" "Won't say." "Tell him I'm busy." "Okay." "Oh, and one more thing." "Could you hold a message for a friend of mine?" "Of course, who would that be?" "Matthew Anderson." "Oh." "Is there a problem?" "No, not at all! What would you like to tell him?" "Tell him that he will need to leave. He'll understand, and I trust you will keep this confidential." Ted Kimell said sternly. "No problem... When exactly do you want me to send this?" "When something happens to me." Ted replied. "Oh... Okay then." Elizabeth replied worriedly. "Thanks. By the way, would you like some dinner tonight?" "Me?... Of course, I think that would be lovely" Elizabeth replied quietly, Ted realized that there must be someone in front of her. "Well, see you after work. I won't hold you any longer." "By-" Ted hung up and got back to the task back at hand, he wanted to get this done soon. ... Ted continued working, he was the last man on this floor now, he was mostly sure of it. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard muffled footsteps just outside of his door, his heart began pounding at a concerning rate as he realized what this might be. Oh no, the boss. He thought quickly as he removed the three mare's files from his desk. He watched as the doorknob turn as he picked up a pen and pretended to be doing what he was supposed to be doing... The only problem was that the person who walked in wasn't his boss. "And who might you be?" Ted Kimell questioned his visitor suspiciously, he then spotted a pistol with a silencer being drawn from behind the man. Ted quickly reached for the gun in his desk, only to realize it wasn't there. He widened his eyes in realization. *pfft* The unknown visitor watched Ted Kimell's body slump forward on his chair, and then removed the silencer from the pistol and placed the weapon in Ted's limp hand before leaving with no witnesses.
Blind SwingChapter 10: Blind Swing *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* BEE-* I instinctively shut off my alarm clock and got out of bed and into my shower in one swift and practiced motion. Mindlessly washing my tired body as I got ready for the day to come. I soon got out of the shower, all dry now. I started getting dressed: gray slacks, green shirt and a blue ti- oh yeah... No job.. With a heavy sigh I began taking off my professional clothing and slapped on a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain brown T-shirt. Wait... It's still 5:30 in the morning... I stopped and contemplated going back to bed, but soon realized that it's too late, that shower already woke me up. Well, you still have home entertainment... I thought to myself. I never thought I would feel like there's nothing to do the day after I got fired. I continued my train of thought as I quietly began heading downstairs, I could hear a faint noise from the other room and curiosity got the best of me. I walked over to Twilight's room, the door was closed and I quickly recalled the last time I woke that mare up. I shuddered at the memory of getting hoof-punched in the chest. Well, I'm pretty sure that she isn't asleep. I concluded from the faint noise of a turning page. With a deep breath, I turned the knob of the door and quietly walked inside. Twilight was sitting at her bed, books and notes scattered everywhere. Twilight noticed me come inside and quickly looked up with a faint smile. "Well, good morning Matthew." Twilight greeted. "Oh, hey. Did you happen to get any sleep tonight?" I asked. Twilight nodded, "Yes, I just woke up when I heard your shower turning on... Did you forget that you can't go to work today?" Twilight inquired. "Yeah, I guess I formed a habit after having the same schedule for six years." I replied nonchalantly. "Wow... That's a really long time to have a job." Twilight commented in awe. "Long time?" I questioned in disbelief, "Maybe in Equestria, but some guys in that hangar have held on to that job for over thirty years. Most of the teachers I've had during my school years have been teachers for more than a decade as well." Twilight's mouth hung open for a while, I guess it's shocking to find out that there are people out there that have had the same job for a longer time than you have lived. I guess I find it shocking too, but failed to have as strong a reaction as Twilight's. I waited a few seconds for Twilight to respond, when she didn't, I decided to change the subject. "So, still working on the spell I take it?" I asked. That snapped Twilight out of her reverie, "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm sure I will be done by the end of today." she replied with a grin. "That's great, I was actually thinking of inviting Ted over for him to say goodbye to you guys... You know, since he helped you, it's only fair that he gets to give you all a proper farewell." I said. Twilight simply nodded and went back to her work, "So... Coffee?" I offered before leaving. "Yes please." ... I walked quietly past a sleeping pink mare and an empty couch.... Wait what? I shrugged and continued my way to the kitchen. Rainbow Dash was sitting at the table, reading a book. "Rainbow? I didn't know you like reading..." I questioned before greeting. Very polite Matthew, you're a prodigy amongst gentlemen. Rainbow looked very startled, "M-Matt? Why are you up so early? It's only.... Oh." she trailed off as she remembered what day it was. I cocked an eyebrow, "What? It's not like being caught reading is embarrassing... Well, I guess it depends on what you're reading. What are you reading anyway?" "I guess you're right... But I still don't want to look like an egghead, it's okay to be seen reading every now and then, but not every single day like Twilight." Rainbow explained. "Rainbow, that is so... Odd. But I'm not one to judge, you still didn't tell me what you're reading though." "It's uhh... Cat's Cradle by some guy named Kurt Vonne-whatnow." Rainbow replied, unsure. "Vonnegut." I corrected. "Yeah, that." "I had no idea you would be into something like that." I commented, somewhat pleased. "Well, I was looking for something like Daring Doo, but I couldn't find anything that looked like it." Rainbow replied with a shrug. "Daring Doo? Who's that?" I asked in the thickest of curiosities. "Only the greatest adventure mare ever!" Rainbow exclaimed, trying not to be so loud as to wake Pinkie in the next room, "She hunts for treasure and outsmarts bad guys in the most awesome of ways!" "Huh... That actually sounds a lot like Indiana Jones." I commented. "Who?" Rainbow questioned with a tilt of her rainbow head. "Indiana Jones, he's a treasure hunter who thinks on his feet and has a witty attitude throughout his adventures." I explained in awe of one of the greatest adventurers in fiction. "Do you have any of his books?" Rainbow asked curiously. "His books don't exist." I began, noticing the look of disappointment in Rainbow's eye, "But I can show you the movies." I finished with a grin, she immediately lit up to the idea. ... Rainbow and I made breakfast, in that time we also accidentally woke Pinkie Pie up when I, in the most awkward way possible, dropped a frying pan. I made some coffee and brought it up to Twilight before Pinkie, Rainbow and I sat at the couch and began our India Jones marathon. ... "Hahahaha! Did you see that? He just shot his own plane and Jones had no idea!" Rainbow laughed hysterically. "Yes Rainbow I saw it." I replied monotonously, this was the hundredth time that she asked me that question after all. ... We had finished watching the entire series of Indiana Jones, I'm guessing they loved it because Rainbow was reenacting some of the action scenes while Pinkie kept pretending to be using a whip. "That was awesome, which one is the next one?" Rainbow asked excitedly. "That was the last one they made." I replied with a shrug. "Oh," Rainbow began with a tinge of sadness, "Do you have anything else?" "Actually... There one that you have to watch before leaving, Star Wars." I said as I reached for the controller and began searching for the right movie. ... We finished watching episode two, and I felt like I needed a break. We somehow spent pretty much the entire day sitting on this couch, and I'm starting to see a dent where I originally sat. "I think I need a little break..." Pinkie said, rubbing her sore eyes. "Yeah, agreed." I replied, looking at my watch, it was already seven o'clock in the afternoon. "Awww c'mon! We still have more to watch! Rainbow complained as she waved a magical hoof in front of us, probably trying to convince us with the force. "Rainbow, I have no clue how your eyes aren't begging for some sunlight right now, but Pinks and I need a break." I said flatly. Twilight walked downstairs as if on cue. "Hey Twilight, long time no see." I greeted. "Hey guys, sorry to keep you all waiting..." Twilight apologized. "Twi, there's no need to apologize. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be going home at all!" Pinkie soothed. "Thanks Pinkie." Twilight said as her mood brightened a bit, "I'm actually almost ready, I'm going to take a short break before triple checking my calculations a fourth time before attempting to get us home. We don't want to end up in some random place in space after all." "That's great Twilight." I commented, "I guess I should call Ted over any minute now." "Hey, did you guys leave any food for me? I'm famished." Twilight asked. "We left some leftovers in the fridge." Rainbow offered, "You're welcome to have it if you want." Twilight nodded and headed to the kitchen. ... We lounged around for a while longer when the sound of my doorbell made me jump. I quickly signaled Rainbow and Pinkie to go to the kitchen before approaching the door. I realized that I should be cautious as to whom I open my door to, I know people are after us and that we're on borrowed time right now, I looked through the peek hole in my door and was surprised at the sight before me. I opened the door. A woman was there, she was the person at the desk when I visited Ted's office and she looked like she had been crying all day. "Matthew Anderson" she asked with a cracking voice. "Yeah?" I replied uncertainly. "I'm Elizabeth Mcarran, I'm sure you remember me from the office building." Elizabeth identified herself, attempting to regain her composure. "Sure I remember you, how did you know where I live? What's this about?" I inquired. "It's... Ted. May I come inside?" Elizabeth announced. "Yeah, sure." I replied, motioning to the couch. Elizabeth sat down, and seemingly did not notice that the entire couch was warm, maybe she decided against questioning it. "So, what about Ted?" I questioned with increasing worry. "This morning... I'm sorry to have to bring you the bad news the way it was brought to me, but he was found dead in his office." Elizabeth said, she looked like she was on the verge of crying once more, but could not, she had no tears left to shed. Dead... "What happened to him?" I asked quickly. "I don't know. All I understand right now is that Ted knew what was going on and that the investigation only lasted five hours before they called it a 'suicide', of which I know is complete bullshit." I did my best to calm down. How could you possibly keep calm? You just lost your best friend! With a heavy sigh, I made my inquiry, "How do you know it was BS?" "Many reasons. He asked me out the night before, he also told me to send you a message if something were to happen to him. Also, the photo of his family was inside his desk when he was killed and there was nothing but case files on his desk, despite the fact that he only works the archives." Elizabeth reasoned. "Message? What message?" I asked. "That's entirely why I'm here, his message to you was: leave. He told me that you would understand." "That's it? Leave?" I questioned incredulously, I could feel my eyes begin to water. "That's all he told me..." Elizabeth began unsure before continuing, "When the investigation was over, I took the liberty to investigate for myself. All the forensics team took as evidence was photographs of the scene and a pencil! So, I looked through Ted's desk, I found this." Elizabeth then took out a small, yellow envelope from her purse and handed it to me. The envelope had Matthew Anderson written hastily on it. "That's certainly Ted's handwriting." I said observantly. "I know, what's in it though?" Elizabeth asked, I gave her a teary look. Don't get angry, she already cried her guts out, that's why she's not doing it now. I slowly opened the envelope, inside was a bunch of cash, nothing else. "Well?" Elizabeth asked impatiently. I pulled out the wad of money and showed it to her, "Wh-what does it mean?" Leave. He was giving me this money to leave, it's enough to buy a plane ticket to Chile. "I... I don't know." I lied. Elizabeth started shedding tears now. "So Ted Kimell was killed... Shot in the head with his own gun, for no reason?" Elizabeth questioned, standing from her seat, "I find that a little hard to believe... I'll leave that money with you since it's what Ted wished for, but I will keep looking for reasons as to why this wonderful man had to be so cruelly taken from this world. I can only hope that you do the same." Elizabeth said before heading for the door. I heard the door close and I turned to where the mares went to hide, they were already coming out. "Who the hay was that?" Rainbow asked. "And what did she say about Teddy?" Pinkie questioned, her eyes beginning to water. "He's... He's.." I couldn't hold it in anymore, I had lost my best friend and I needed to cry for him. My head rested on my palms as I tears began shedding freely. I couldn't see what the three mares were doing, but I could feel a wing being wrapped around my back. "Matty..." Pinkie sobbed a bit, "Teddy wouldn't want you to be so sad for him right now." she said, knowing that saying 'it's going to be alright' would only make it worse. I didn't look up from the safety of my hands, I tried to ignore the world around me, but I still felt three bodies hug me very tightly. "Matthew... I understand that this might be hard for you, but we no longer have the time for grief." Twilight said with a slow sob. A few moments passed before I could calm down, I looked up to see my three friends just as sad as I was, yet they were trying to comfort me instead of themselves. "Alright," I began with a deep breath, "Okay... Twilight, you need to get to work on that spell, now. Pinkie, Rainbow, I need your help barricading the doors and first floor windows." I finished, sucking in my grief for another time. ... I turned all of the lights off and we moved my couch into the front door and the refrigerator onto the back door, creating makeshift barricades that would hopefully buy us time if they are actually needed. Twilight was getting herself ready as Pinkie, Rainbow and I gathered the supplies. I was in the kitchen searching for the salt, but I couldn't find it... "Where's the salt?" I asked in a slightly desperate tone. Pinkie stood next to me on her hind legs and searched through the counter, quickly spotting the salt behind a bottle of olive oil. "Oh... Thanks." I said. "No problem!" Pinkie replied quickly. "Hey, how are you supposed to get aluminum powder from this?" Rainbow questioned as she lightly kicked the cheap etch-a-sketch. "Like this." I said, picking up the toy over a plate and tearing the thing open with the help of a knife. I then poured the fine dust into the plate. "Oh." Rainbow said. "Yeah, nobody dare sneeze now." I warned. "Yeah, that sounds fair." Rainbow replied. We headed upstairs to my room, Twilight had drawn an intricate rune on the floor with the chalk with the quartz at a corner of it. "Do you have everything?" Twilight asked nervously. "Yeah." I replied as I handed her the two ingredients. "Okay, place the aluminum dust on that corner over there and some of the sea salt on that corner." Twilight ordered, I poured the aluminum on the spot Twilight had indicated as Pinkie did the same with the sea salt. "There. Pinkie, Rainbow, stand here and there." Twilight said, pointing at two spots in the middle of the rune as she took another spot. This is it... My heart was racing a mile a second, my mind was racing through thought after thought, the sound of muffled footsteps came from the roof and... What? "Do you all hear that? I asked nervously. Everypony froze in fear as they listened to the sounds above us. I desperately looked for something to defend ourselves with, damn it, I don't have a gun. I spotted my skateboard in my closet. That is a stupid idea, I thought as I reached for it and waited next to the closed door. I barely even thought about it before taking my father's timepiece too, and stuffed it in my pocket. At this point, I guess luck is the only thing that might be on our side anyway. "Stop looking at me and finish your spell!" I whispered harshly, Rainbow was about to protest, but Pinkie shut her up with a sad look in her eye as Twilight continued her work, her horn glowing softly. I prepared myself to swing at the first thing that walked into my door. My heart was racing even faster, it was on the verge of bursting out of my chest at this point. *Thump thump* I heard the muffled footsteps stop. *Thump thump* I knew they were about to make their move, I mentally prepared myself for the worst. *Thump thump* ...The silence was deafening. *CRASH!* I turned to see my window shatter and instinctively covered my eyes when I saw what came through. A blinding light suddenly engulfed the room, it still managed to blind me, but I was not distracted. I faintly heard my door being smashed open and I quickly whipped around with my board, and smiled slightly when I felt it connect with something hard. I'm pretty sure whoever I hit yelped in surprise, but the ringing in my ears wouldn't give me the pleasure of hearing it. My vision was coming back, and I saw the intruder in front of me get ready to swing at me just in time for me to move my board in the way. I felt a fist connect with my board along with a distinct cracking noise. Damn, he broke my board. I dropped my now useless board and got ready for a fistfight, only to see the faint shadow of what looked like a rifle being raised towards my face. *Whack* I fell into a deep darkness, blacker than the darkness I was already inside of. I was unconscious, and I had failed the last of my true friends. .... How long was I out? I thought to myself, I was awake but there was nothing to see, I was in pitch darkness. Suddenly, as if in response to my thoughts, a bright light appeared. It was pointed right at me with the power of the sun, I could barely make out two figures behind the light. "Mr.Anderson, it appears that you have a lot of questions to answer."
End GameChapter 11: End Game The bright light that is currently pointed at my face is threatening to burn out my corneas, it's so bright! It makes it hard to think straight too. Okay Matthew, assess your situation here... Bright light, faint outline of two people... Are those ropes? Yep, I've been tied down on a chair. One rope on my wrists around my back and another on my legs to the chair. You have two options on how to react, Matthew: You can try to talk this out, or you can panic. Panic sounded very tempting at this point, but something was driving me towards the former. That guy said that I have questions to answer. "What kind of questions?" I asked innocently, trying to squint past the light. "Don't play stupid with me, we know everything." the same voice as before retorted. "Define everything." I called back, trying to buy myself time once I realized that the rope on my wrists wasn't as tight as it should be. "Mr. Anderson, do we have to fall back on more... Conventional methods of questioning, or will you cooperate with us?" the male voice replied in a disturbingly soft tone, "By everything, we mean that we know that your father was in the CIA, we know that you worked as an AMT until your license was suspended not too long ago, we know that your hobbies include skateboarding and we especially know about your relationship with three certain extraterrestrials." the voice mock-answered my demand, finishing in a very menacing tone. "Aliens? I don't know what you're talking about." I bluffed. I heard a metallic table being smashed, followed by the sound of falling tools. "Damn it! Will... You.. Cooperate or not, Matthew Anderson?" the voice responded, clearly aggravated. I felt the rope around my wrists giving some way. I huffed, "Does it look like I have much of a choice?" I said. I was starting to see through the blinding curtain. I could see two men, one was talking to me, and the other was standing by a door. The door had an aluminum table next to it, there were scattered tools on the floor around it. Behind the man that is questioning me I could see a tool locker, along with it, the faint outlines of a hacksaw, carpenter's and machinist hammers, pliers and other tools that didn't seem to belong. Why are all of those tools in the same locker... They're all for different materials, what purpose could they have other than... Oh no. They're planning to torture me aren't they? "I don't see you getting out of this any other way." the man replied. "Fine, if you raided my house, you must have known anyway. Can I at least have a name to call you by? I don't feel very comfortable speaking to a nameless shadow." I complied. "Call me Gregory." the voice replied maniacally. "Okay... Gregory, what do you want to know? I'll be happy to answer since my schedule has been so conveniently opened up for you." I replied, hating the fact that he's using that name of all others. "Tell me who you work for." "Work for? I used to work for the FAA; I've never had any other occupation in my life." I replied confusedly. "No, tell me who you really work for!" the man shouted. "Look, I don't know who you think I am, but I'm just a regular man with a regular life. Whoever it is you think I work for, I promise you, I don't." I responded. What? Do they think I'm a spy? There was a heavy sigh, "Okay, that's one truth. Now, where are your three little friends from?" "..... Equestria." I replied hesitantly. "How did they get here?" "Unknown." "Lies, tell me how they got here." the man said menacingly, I heard the distinct sound of a knife being lifted from a metallic surface. "Look, they seriously don't know how they got here, and I seriously only ran into them by accident!" I said desperately, I was hoping they would buy that since they definitely wouldn't buy the weeping angels story. "Okay, part truth." the voice began, I heard the knife being put back down, "They know how to get back, don't they?" "W-why do you want to know why?" I asked nervously. "Who exactly do you think is asking the questions here?" 'Gregory' began, there was a slight pause, "We want to know, Matthew, because we are at war with multiple nations. We can both prevent an invasion from another world and exploit so many possible resources from said world at the same time. Now, answer." This is bad. "First, I really need to know this... How did you find us out?" I asked, stalling for time. "I will give you this at least." 'Gregory' began, somehow giving in to my plead for answers, "We knew from the beginning, Matthew. We have satellite imaging of the day to ran into your new friends and we have had agents on your tail ever since. I even had a little fun with my task force and shadowed you in the most obvious way to get you a little freaked out. I dare say that you made this a little too easy for us." he finished. "What?" I questioned in disbelief. "Yes, did you really think that your friend's tinkering with the archives wouldn't go unnoticed? Even if we weren't actively watching your every move, we still would have found out. Ted Kimell's death was your fault." he said, his words stung, "Now stop stalling, answer." "I think they might know how to get back home." I replied, defeated. I felt the ropes on my wrists start to undo themselves. "Hey Ca- Greg, I'm going to be on the other side of this door before you start your thing, last time was a bit too messy." the other man spoke for the first time, and left the room. "Well, now we have some one-on-one time with each other." 'Gregory' said, and I swear I could see the faint glimpse of a sadistic grin on his face through the curtain of light. Okay, that guy left. One-on-one isn't too bad right? Better chances on my part. I thought as I surveyed the room slightly, it looked like it had been insulated to keep sound in. I recognized the padding from what we put in aircraft walls nowadays. "It appears we finally have time to have a bonding experience." I said in a mock cheer. "Stop fooling around, I know you are a bright man, much like Gregory Anderson was. How are your friends going home? Some ship maybe?" 'Gregory' asked, his previous statement stung me. "I dunno." I replied, feigning ignorance. 'Gregory' leaned in close to me, enough for me to see his sadistic face. He held a yellow folder in front of me, "Mr. Anderson, this is my last contingency before I fall back on using my toys." he said menacingly. Do I know him from somewhere? "And what, pray tell, would that be?" I questioned. "Tell me something," he began, "Have you ever found out about what happened to your parents, younger sister and uncles?" he said leaning back into the light. "They... Died... In a car accident." I growled. "Is that so? I am so terribly sorry to hear that." He began in mock sympathy, "Now, do you want to find out what really happened to them?" That was when it hit me; I knew where I had seen this man before. My mind went back to when I spent the day with Rainbow Dash; he was one of our followers... My mind went back to the day I got the news of my family's death; he was the man that informed me to begin with.... "What did you do to them?" I questioned desperately. "Me? Oh, it wasn't just me. This case file states that it was four agents on a mission to terminate a loose end. Those loose ends being your father, the rest were just... Witnesses." he said heartlessly. My hands were free now; I just had to wait for an opportunity, "Witnesses?" I repeated. 'Gregory' leaned in close, "Witnesses." he snarled back. I head butted him, hard. I then released my arms and pushed him back before he could react and went in to release my legs. I froze in my tracks at the loud sound of metal on concrete, with a yelp of pain following it. I looked up, but failed to see anything through the blinding light and decided to untie my legs first. I set myself free and stood up, ready for a fight. What I saw when my eyes got accustomed to the darkness, though, was not what I expected. The interrogator was on the floor, pinned by a locker that fell and caught him at the ribcage. I had pushed him into a locker that wasn't secured into anything, and it fell on him. The amount of blood on the floor was making me sick, along with the gargling that came from the man. "You... Will......Not.......... Esc-" he said before his gruesome demise. I stood there in utter shock. Luck is on your side today, and you just killed a man.... It doesn't quite balance out. I felt sick with myself; I never thought that killing would be so sickening.... Or quite so easy. I eventually came back to my senses and reached for the gun in the man's shoulder mounted holster. Ted, I've never even held a gun before. Learn as you go Matt. I fiddled with the weapon a bit to find all of the buttons and such, there was a safety, which I switched to off, and there was the release, which I found out was how you take out the magazine, it holds seven bullets... And I guess I figure the rest out as I go... I will learn as I go. My eye caught on to the yellow folder that now resided on the floor... Could what he said be true? I almost went to go pick it up and read through it, but decided that I didn't want to know. If it was true, it would lead to more pain and suffering. If it wasn't, the same thing would happen, only pain could come from that folder. I walked over to the door, the guy that left is now waiting on the other side. He mentioned four agents before... Could that be the number of people here too? Unless I'm in some sort of military base, but this room isn't exactly high-grade. Here's hoping there's three left, and that the mares are here too. I tried my best to open to door in a stealthy manner, and it seemed to be working. I found myself to be mere inches from this man's shoulder, and he didn't seem to notice me yet. I began to raise the gun slowly, but he noticed me. Crap. "Don't you move a single muscle." I whispered as menacingly as I could, he just raised his arms in the air and- *Oomph!* Holy balls he's fast! Whatever he did, I was effectively disarmed and had a gun pointed at my face. "Well, you sneaky son of a bitch." the man snarled, "How did you get out of your cage?" I didn't respond, I was too busy trying to mentally prepare myself to die. The agent moved towards the door, keeping the weapon fixed at my head, but was distracted by the gruesome sight of his partner's demise. "Jesus! Calvin!" he whispered, looking away. I lunged at the opportunity and grabbed at the gun and pushed him into the room, I managed to yank the weapon from the man's grip of steel, but not without letting a shot out that ringed my ear. "Hey!" he shouted in the room before I shut the door, thankfully the door has a deadbolt on my side. Why wasn't it locked before? Maybe because his partner was in there. The agent punched at the door fiercely, but to no avail. But I was sure that the shot got everybody else's attention. I took in my surroundings. I was at the end of a really long hallway lit by florescent lights, the hall gets narrower at one point and it seems like it goes in two directions at the other end. Someone turned a corner and spotted me, pulling out his gun without hesitation. I ran to the small wall provided by the narrowing hall. *Bang!* *Bang!* The man fired two shots at me, and thankfully missed. That was two. I thought, hoping that his pistol held as many rounds as mine. A few moments passed in silence, no shots and no footsteps. I crouched and peeked around the corner. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* Shots flew over my head; I looked at the wall behind me to see that they would have hit me in the face if I weren't crouched. That's five, and that was too close. I pressed against the wall, my heart racing with adrenaline. I needed to find a way to get this guy to shoot without putting me in too much danger... Idea. I fired into the hallway without looking. *Bang Bang!* Four left. *Bang Bang!* The man had fire back, that was seven! I took a deep breath and turned the corner, running at the guy at full speed. I saw him around the other corner, reloading. I only had a few seconds for this. I sprinted as fast as I could and threw myself to the ground as soon as I saw my enemy show himself. They are shooting to kill, they have only aimed at my head so far. I found myself sliding on the ground, the agent was clearly surprised and I intended to use that to my advantage. I pulled the gun up and fired, I wasn't ready for him to fire too. *Bang!* *Bang!* I felt pain shoot up from my left thigh; it was like nothing I've ever felt before. I yelped in pain, holding back tears as I watched the agent's lifeless body fall to the ground. I had shot him in the head, on the right temple. Blood was pouring profusely from my thigh; I desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Oh, this is bad. Matthew! Whatever happened to you? I um... I kinda fell a few times. A few times? just look at your arms! What on Earth were you doing? I limped towards the end of the hall, I heard a crash to the right as I approached the end. I looked towards the source to see another agent getting up from the floor; she must have heard my footsteps because she turned her focus to me. "Do not move." she said sternly. I stared blankly at her, I felt a little light headed and didn't feel like talking to a stranger. "Rargh! Don't you even think about hurting him!" Rainbow yelled fiercely before pouncing on the agent. The woman was clearly stunned, and dropped her gun. Seeing Rainbow gave me enough hope to regain my energy, I quickly limped over to her to help. I painfully caught up with the two fighters and pulled the blue one away, shooting the woman almost without thinking about it. "Matt! You're okay!" Rainbow cheered, not noticing my bleeding leg. "Are... You guys okay?" I asked. "Yeah, Twilight and Pinkie are in that room back there, the idiots also brought the materials to cast the spell." Rainbow replied happily. "Oh.... Good." I said, leaning against the wall and slumping down to the floor. It was then that Rainbow noticed my leg. "Oh, crap. Matthew, we need to get you some help." Rainbow pleaded. "No, you have to go now." I ordered sleepily. Rainbow started tearing up, "I can't just leave you here! You can still come with us, Twilight knows a bunch of magical healing spells and stuff!" she offered desperately. I saw the agent twitch in the corner of my eye. "Equestria is not my world," I replied sternly, suddenly remembering something and reaching into my pocket. I fished out my father's timepiece, and placed it around Rainbow's neck, "Go, before more come this way. I'll buy you as much time as I can." I ordered. Rainbow hugged me, not caring about my blood touching her, tears now flowing freely. "You stubborn fool; I'm going to miss you." Rainbow sobbed. "I'll miss you guys too... Go now." Rainbow gave me one last glance before going back into the room, I soon saw a soft purple aura coming from inside. I turned my attention to the woman laying face down in front of me; she was starting to get up. I tried lifting the gun to her, ready to finish another life. But my arm felt so... Heavy. The woman just laid back on the wall opposite from me, staring at me. "Well, what do you know? It appears that we have similar injuries." she observed. I noticed he leg was bleeding too. "I guess so." "Mr. Anderson.... It's been a great hunt, but I'm too tired to finish it." she breathed. I simply closed my eyes for a moment, opening them just in time to see a blinding flash of white. "I think it's finished now.... Miss?" "Hawthourne." she finished for me, "Was that them? Are they gone?" Hawthourne asked. I nodded. My vision was starting to get blurry, my eyelids became heavy and my hearing became dull. I closed my eyes and gave myself time to think. So, this is what dying is like. I thought to myself. It certainly isn't what I expected it to be, I thought it was all 'my life is flashing before me and I see the light'. All I saw was blurriness. Life doesn't flash by you when you're on the brink of death, no. It's actually something much more focused, it's one train of thought and a few number of people that you remember. You focus on that one thought as hard as you can, hoping that whatever comes after this, this is what you will remember when you get there. What was my thought? It was: I'm done, I'm finally coming home, I'm finally joining you all. Mother, father, Sadie, aunt and uncle, I'm coming. Goodbye world. Goodbye Rainbow, Pinkie and Twilight. I opened my eyes once more; I don't know how long I've been lying there... But I started seeing a golden aura around my vision, at the edges of my blurriness. I closed my eyes and it was still there, the golden aura. Then, I felt it. I felt myself take my final breath.... .... What now? All I see is darkness. I no longer feel the ground beneath me... Actually, I no longer feel anything, not even my body. I still saw the golden aura though. What is this? This can't be the afterlife.... Could it? Seriously, if this is hell, then I must say that it's disappointing. If this is heaven, then it leaves much to be desired. I silently thought to myself in this void. And what is that golden aura? Is it getting bigger? I think it is.... I observed the golden aura begin to engulf my formless 'vision', and then... Nothing. No wait... No. Not nothing, I can feel something. Is that... A floor? It's different from the one I was on before.... "Hey, is that him?" "It can't be, come on!" I heard rapid hoofsteps and flapping wings.... Wait what? I shot my eyes open just in time to see a cyan blur slam into me, the blur held me at arm’s length. "Those same hazel eyes...." a familiar voice muttered quietly, "It's him! He's alive Pinkie!" What? I shook my head rapidly, attempting to get rid of the blurriness, only to get pulled into a fierce, cyan colored hug. "Matty! Yay!" yet another familiar voice cheered before I felt another hug from my side. I started getting back my vision, and the sight before me was unbelievable. I saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie right in front of me, as hard as it was to believe, I could feel them in front of me despite my previous numbness. Eventually, my gaze wandered past the two. I saw smooth porcelain flooring, tinted windows and a massive white horse.... With a pair of wings, a really big horn, and majestic multi-colored hair that waved in a non-existent wind. Is that the princess Twilight told me about? "What...?" I managed to utter. Rainbow managed to release me, as did Pinkie. The teary looks on their faces told me just how worried they used to be; now it looked like tears of sheer joy. I tried to stand up, but quickly fell back to all fours. I guess that, whatever happened, I'm still tired. "You know, that color coat kinda suits you." Rainbow managed to say. "What?" I repeated my previous question, now looking down at my... Hooves? I stared down at myself, as much as I wanted to see my fur-less torso and legs, I could only see light brown hooves. "I believe that you might want an explanation." the princess finally spoke. "Yeah, that would be of some help." I replied quietly, falling back on my new haunches. "Well, Rainbow Dash here was, very luckily, transported into my sleeping chamber. She hastily explained to me the situation that you were in and how you were the one to take care of my little ponies when I could not. With that said, I tried my best to resurrect you. Unfortunately, even my powers are limited; your body was too fragile to bring through the wormhole that Twilight opened up. I did, however, managed to get a hold of your soul and preserve it before bringing it here and, in some odd way, put it into an equine template. So that body is technically yours, it's what you would have looked like if you were born a pony." the princess explained. "Soul? I didn't know souls were physical, tangible things..." I questioned. "Silly, you can't touch a soul, though I think they would be really really really squishy if you could! They actually exist in the magical realm more than they do in the physical." Pinkie suddenly jumped in. Pinkie just explained something to you, don't question any further! Pinkie just gave you your final warning! "Okay." I nodded at Pinkie before turning back to the princess, "What about Twilight? Where is she? Is she alright?" "Well, Twilight was found in the courtyard, unconscious. My dear sister, Luna, was the first to find out that my faithful student was suffering from a mildly serious case of magical exhaustion and began giving her proper treatment at once. Twilight Sparkle will be alright soon enough, but she needs her rest." the princess explained, and also hinted at me that she was Celestia and not Luna. Awkward situation avoided. I simply nodded, relieved that Twilight was going to be okay, I tried my best to not freak out at the words ‘mildly serious’. I turned to Rainbow, who was still just inches away from me and looking slightly past me, "What?" I questioned. "Look behind you." she smirked. I whipped around and saw nothing, "No really, what?" "I meant your back, silly!" I looked at my back and stared for a while, taking a few moments to process the information. "Wings?" "Yep." "Huh, I guess it's only appropriate since I've been working on aircraft for six years." Celestia gave a slight cough to get our attention, "Now that you're here, I believe that I would very much like a few answers. You all left a lot of ponies worried sick, you know." "Oh, I think I should start then, since the three mares were unconscious when I found them..." I began ... We gave princess Celestia the whole story. I had the strange pleasure of meeting the other princess, her name is Luna, and we discussed many things about things to come. Celestia, very generously, offered me a place to live in Ponyville since I already have friends who live there. Pinkie Pie already began making plans for the 'welcome back to Equestria Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow! And welcome to Ponyville and Equestria Matthew!' party. Celestia offered Pinkie a ride home, but she refused on the grounds that she "Can make much better time when I travel alone." ... Rainbow and I are now quietly finding our way out of the palace of Canterlot. Luna is busy taking care of Twilight, Celestia is busy taking care of a nation, and Pinkie is busy organizing a party. "So... What now?" I asked. I immediately felt a hard slap on my left cheek. "Ow! What the hell was that for!?" I complained. "That was for making me leave you like that." Rainbow explained in a heartbroken tone. "Okay, I guess that's fair enough." I trailed off, "So, will you answer my question?" "Of what now?" "Yeah." "Now, we get to live don't we?" Rainbow smirked. "Ooh, now you're getting abstract on me aren't you?" I teased. "Maybe, right now all I want to do is get out of Canterlot. This is a place where modesty died long ago." Rainbow almost seemed to gag. "Alright, what's the fastest way to Ponyville?" I asked. "We can take the train... We should probably ask Celestia for some bits, I'm broke right now." Rainbow added. We awkwardly came back to the palace and asked princess Celestia for some cash to ride the train, she gave us the counter offer of giving us a ride on a chariot, but Rainbow insisted on the train ride. I didn't complain. ... "Two tickets to Ponyville please." "That'll be twelve bits." "Here you go." We grabbed our tickets and waited patiently on the station. We waited for only five minutes before the train arrived, we grabbed a pair of seats by a window and Rainbow happily painted out and explained every single landmark there was along the way. "That's the tree I fell through when I busted my wing! Man, you should have seen the trick I was trying to do!....." ... We hopped off the train the moment it stopped at our destination, walking lazily through the empty streets. It was getting late. "Where did Celestia say I was living again?" I asked curiously. "Some place that's been up for sale for I-don't-know-for-how-long. The nice mare that was selling it even offered it furnished and nopony took it, lucky you huh?" Rainbow replied. "Yeah, very lucky me..." I trailed off, thinking off all the close calls I went through recently. "Well, there it is. You see it?" Rainbow pointed at a house about a block away. "Yeah, looks lovely." I commented. "The princess told us that the owner would be waiting for you, so I guess not having a key isn't a problem right now." We walked over to the house, a mare opened the door before we got there. "Hello! Are you.... Matthew?" she asked, having some trouble pronouncing my name. "Uh, yeah. I came to see the house." I answered. "Well, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Berry Punch, pleased to meet you!" the reddish mare introduced herself. "Likewise." I replied. "Please, do come in." she offered, Rainbow and I stepped inside. Berry Punch showed us around the house, it looked nice and the foundation looked pretty sturdy. "Why would you give up a place like this?" I questioned. "Well, I'm raising a foal with my husband, and it's a little nerve wreaking when some other pony manages to pull your house for many meters before finally stopping. My husband and I managed to get a small place where we can raise little Berry Pinch, it's at the edge of town, far from Sweet Apple Acres." "Pulled... Your house?" I asked in surprise. "Uh, I'll explain later, Matt." Rainbow intervened. "Okay then." ... Berry Punch gave us a full tour of the place, giving me the key and walking away with a big bag of bits. "Well, I guess I'll be going home now.." Rainbow said, looking at the sunset through a window. "Sure." I replied. "Uh, I guess I'll come back tomorrow morning to give you a tour of the town." Rainbow began. "That sounds awesome." I commented. "Oh.. And I guess I should be giving this back to you." Rainbow motioned to the timepiece around her neck. "No, keep it. My father always wanted me to pass it on to someone anyways." I insisted. "Well, okay. I guess I'll see you later." Rainbow replied awkwardly as she began making her way to the door. "Wait, just one thing." I said. "Yes Matt?" Rainbow turned around quickly. "You slapped me for making you leave, but what do I get for coming back?" I asked. Rainbow walked towards me, leaning in really closely. "Depends on what you want." she answered slowly, almost biting her lower lip. "Well what do -" I began, only to be cut off by a sudden kiss. Surprisingly, I didn't fight back, I just let it happen. Rainbow pulled away, looking at the ground, "Um, sorry... I shouldn't ha-" I didn't stop to think about it, I close my eyes and leaned in for another kiss. It was pure bliss. Rainbow didn't pull away this time, instead, her tongue started pushing outward, begging for entry. Who was I to say no? Our tongues danced for what felt like an eternity, only the two of us, with nothing to interrupt. I heard Rainbow's wings shuffle slightly before we pulled away. "So, um... Goodnight." Rainbow said dreamily. "Yeah, goodnight." I replied quietly. Rainbow then walked out of the house and left me with my thoughts... I didn't have any; my mind was on the fritz. I closed the door behind Rainbow, not bothering to lock the door; I don’t have anything of personal value in here anyway. I then found my way to the master bedroom since there was nothing else to be done today. As someone would have expected, I couldn’t fall asleep. There were so many thoughts sprinting back and forth across my mind. I actually died today… Not only did I die, but I somehow ended up coming back as a Pegasus in a really faraway land. I guess I would be patting myself in the back right now, since I managed to rescue my friends in the end, if only I had hands. At least an hour had passed by before I finally found a comfortable position to sleep on and drifted off into a deep slumber. This bed is really comfortable…
Epilogue: To Turn a Life AroundEpilogue: To Turn a Life Around I woke up to a sudden tapping noise that engulfed the room I resided in, I stood up quickly, getting out of bed only to fall face first on the wooden floor. Apparently it's a little hard to get used to having four legs; walking is easy, getting up is somehow difficult. With a slight groan, I got up and walked towards the source of the sound. It was my bedroom window... Well, my new bedroom window. This house hasn't been broken into and this window hasn't had a flash-bang grenade thrown through it. I couldn't see what was on the other side, yet, since there was a heavy drape covering the window and effectively blocking out any and all light from the outside world. I casually moved the drape to the side with a brown hoof, wincing at the blinding amount of sunlight that is suddenly pouring through the window. "Good morning, care to let me in?" a very familiar voice asked, I waited a few moments for my eyes to adjust before replying. I soon saw a hovering Rainbow Dash waiting for me to open the window. Was that thing that happened yesterday a dream? "Hey, you're up early," I began, "Wait, lemme unlock this thing." I fiddled with the small lock with my hooves with no success, I soon gave up and pulled on the small pin with my mouth and pushed the window open. I watched as Rainbow flew inside both quietly and gracefully. "Why couldn't you just use the front door like it is meant to be used?" I questioned. "Because I knocked five times before realizing that you weren't waking up." Rainbow replied, slightly annoyed. "Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought I was, sorry." I apologized. "Hey, no problem, I still got in right?" "I guess... What brings you here anyway?" "We were going to walk around town, remember?" Rainbow reminded me. Uh, I guess I'll come back tomorrow morning to give you a tour of the town. "Oh, right. What time is it?" I asked. "Uh, it was around eight last I checked." Rainbow replied. "Okay then, let's get going." I concluded. "Breakfast?" Rainbow offered. "I sure could go for something to eat, I don't have any money though." I said sheepishly. "Matt, it's not like I expected you to suddenly have equestrian bits on you. Besides, it's about time I started paying you back for those clothes you bought me." Rainbow responded. "Oh.... Yeah." I said with a slight blush of embarrassment, I then started making my way to the front door. I then noticed Rainbow wasn't following, she was simply staring at me, "Uh, Rainbow?" I asked awkwardly. "Matt," she began, now trying to contain her laughter, "Did you ever notice that your flank is blank?" Rainbow finished, now letting loose a giggle. "My what now?" I asked, glancing at my flank. Sure enough, all I saw was a plain, light brown coat. No 'cutie mark'. "Oh," I began in realization, "I still don't see how that's so funny." "You're a year older than me, and you have no cutie mark," Rainbow began, pausing to laugh for a short while, "And you just inspired me of a certain prank we could pull on three certain fillies." A devious grin appeared on my lips, "Fillies is the equivalent of girls right?" I asked, Rainbow nodded. "Alright, I'm in. But let's talk about that later, I'm starving." "Sure thing, let's stop by at the bank first." ... We walked lazily down the street, accidentally bumping into each other every now and then. We stopped at the local bank and we walked slightly faster towards the closest place that provided food. We were headed towards the market, but Rainbow immediately pulled me towards another direction, saying that she knew someplace better. We continued our path through an alleyway and found a restaurant as soon as the alley ended and the street began once more. "This place has some great daisy sandwiches and hay fries." Rainbow commented. "Uh, Rainbow? I don't eat that stuff." I replied hesitantly. "Matt, you have different taste buds now just like I did when I was human." Rainbow said plainly. "Oh yeah, good point." I replied in surprise. She always makes a good point.... ... Rainbow managed to convince me into eating a grilled daisy sandwich with an order of hay fries... As odd as it is to admit, it was pretty damn good. Daisies taste kinda like spinach only with a more citrus-y flavor. "Okay Rainbow, I think you got me hooked on daisies..." I announced between mouthfuls. "Ha! I knew you would like em!'" Rainbow declared victoriously. We ate peacefully for a few more moments, only a few moments. Pinkie Pie jumped out from under the table, a small party hat somehow holding on to her head without any string. "Ohmygosh! Matty, Dashie! Just the two ponies I needed to see!" Pinkie cheered abnormally happily before quickly pulling up a chair to our table and sitting down with us. "Pinkie.... Where did you come from?" I asked in the slightest tone of fear, Rainbow gave me a chiding glance. "From under the table silly! You saw me come out from there." Pinkie replied quickly. "Okay Pinkie, why is it that Matt and I are the two ponies you needed to see?" Rainbow asked, saving me from a migraine. Damn it Matt, you forgot the golden-pink rule: never question Pinkie Pie, punishable by brain aches and migraines. "You see, Twilight finally recovered from that nasty case of magical exhaustion and Celestia sent her here by chariot! She's waiting at her place and we should totally stop by to see how she's doing." Pinkie explained at an unbelievable speed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see how Twilight is doing." I said, standing up from my chair. "Uh, where exactly is Twilight's house?" "Heh, come on Matt, follow me." Rainbow motioned as she stood up from her seat. Rainbow walked towards Twilight's house, me and Pinkie in tow. I kept trying my best to look at the scenery as we walked, but the way Rainbow's tail swung from side to side was.... Distracting. I caught Pinkie giving me a coy smile, "What?" I asked innocently. "Oh, nothing." Pinkie replied dismissively. ... We were nearing the top of a slight hill when Rainbow looked back at me. "We're almost there." Rainbow announced. "Oh, good." I said, perking up slightly. I soon saw a large tree with a front door and windows. "Uh, it's not that is it?" I asked. "Yeah it is. Twilight's house is both a library and a tree." Rainbow replied. My mind childishly went back to a certain sponge that lived in a pineapple before his show got canceled. Oh, who lives in a li-bra-ry over a hill; Twi-light Spar-kle! I shook the thought out of my head, that was silly. "Nope! It was actually kinda funny!" Pinkie giggled. "What?" I asked. "That lyric about Twi that you just made up, it's kinda funny!" Pinkie chirped. "Bu-but.. I didn't say that out loud." I replied in disbelief. Wait, remember the golden-pink rule Matt! "Well, you see, the reason I was able t-" "No, I don't wanna know." I interrupted Pinkie, getting a slight glance of approval from Rainbow up ahead. "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said with a bounce. Now that I think about it, she was bouncing for most of the trip here... Odd. "Well, we're here." Rainbow said, stopping at the front door. Pinkie didn't hesitate before trotting past me and Rainbow, opening the door quickly and closing it behind her before either of us could say a word. Rainbow just looked at me and shrugged, she then knocked on the door and waited for a response. "It's open!" Twilight called from inside. Rainbow opened the door and let me in, it was dark in here... Really dark. We walked inside, hesitating on closing the door since it was our only light source. "SURPRISE!" a massive cheer greeted us, lights being turned on in the process. "What?" I asked once more, I seem to have been asking that a lot lately. Before me, I saw a sleepy Twilight, an overly happy Pinkie Pie and a grinning Rainbow Dash. But there were more ponies in here, ones that I didn't recognize; there was a white mare, and orange one and a soft yellow mare, and... A baby dragon, all smiling hesitantly. I glanced upwards, there was a banner saying 'Welcome to Ponyville Matthew!'... Why is it dedicated to just me? Wasn't Pinkie planning a party for Twilight too? "Matthew?" Twilight asked wearily, "Is that really you?" I nodded, not knowing which words to choose from. "Princess Celestia told me what happened... Did you really sacrifice yourself for us like that?" Twilight continued. "Wait, you didn't know?" I asked, now I was even more surprised. "No," Twilight shook her head, "When Rainbow came back to the room she kept saying that you were fine." Clever mare, she knew Twilight would have come for my rescue. "Well, I'm all right now, so no worries." I dismissed, "So, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" Twilight simply ignored my last question and trotted across the room towards me, tackling me into a fierce embrace. "You gave up so much for us, even your life... And you want me to simply forget that?" Twilight said, sobbing slightly on my shoulder. I hugged Twilight back, everyone in the room was quiet, I noticed the white mare put a hoof to her muzzle, holding back tears of her own. "Twilight, I'm alright now. There was really not much left for me back home anyway." I insisted, not wanting to see a friend cry for me at a time for them to be joyful. Twilight pulled away from her tight embrace, holding me at arms length, "Matthew, you really gave too much for us... I don't know if I will ever be able to repay you for the sacrifices you made for us." "Come on now, I already said you have nothing to worry about; we're friends for crying out loud, I was there when you guys needed me, I'm sure you would have done same for me." "Thank you..." Twilight said quietly before letting go of me. "It's all in the past now." I began darkly before brightening back up again, "So, introductions?" This brought Twilight back up to her normal attitude, "Yeah, sure. This is Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike." she said pointing a hoof at the orange mare, white and yellow mare and the dragon, respectively. "Howdy there." Applejack greeted in a heavy southern accent. "Pleased to meet you!" Spike said with a wave. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Rarity said in a cultured accent, giving me a slight wink when nopony was looking. Fluttershy just squeaked and tried her best to hide behind her mane, intimidated for some reason. "Hey everypony." I waved, "So, uh... What now?" I asked awkwardly, not sure on how to proceed in this situation. "Well, we heard a rather brief explanation of what happened from Pinkie Pie, I'm sure that you would understand when I say that we would like a much longer, slower, and more thorough story telling of this... Adventure you four had." Rarity spoke up, getting nods of approval from the majority of the audience. "I guess that's fair." I replied, I suddenly got hit with a ton of pillows. "Oh, sorry." Rainbow Dash apologized as she hovered over me, "I was getting pillows for everyone to sit on." she explained. "Er, RD? don't ya mean everypony?" Applejack asked incredulously. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I picked up a few bad habits over the past month." Rainbow dismissed. "Well," I began, working my way out of the pillow stack, "Everypony just grab a pillow and we can get this show on the road." ... "Your job is to do what?" Spike asked in surprise. "My job was to overhaul, repair and maintain aircraft." I replied. "Your world has machines that can fly? That's... Beyond ingenuity." Rarity said in awe. "Yeah, they are quite a sight." I replied. ... "You were in a what now?" Applejack asked in confusion. "Uh, it's basically a wagon that pulls itself." Rainbow answered for me. "And how the hay is that supposed to work? I sure could use a few of those on the farm." Applejack replied. "It works with an internal combustion engine, it's quite genius really. To think that you could harness thousands of tiny explosions and focus the energy to turn two axles..." Twilight droned on. "Okay, Ah'm lost now. Could we get back to the story now?" Applejack said, regretting that she got Twilight into her fascination mode. ... "Hold on just a minute there darling, did you... Just say that you lived in a world where everypony wears clothes... Every single day?" Rarity asked in a mixture of awe and disbelief, "I knew I should not have let Pinkie Pie take my place in that monster hunt." she said with a slight pout. "Speaking of which, Twilight, did Celestia ever tell you what happened to the weeping angels while we were gone?" I asked curiously. Twilight nodded, "Yes, she told me that she managed to speak to one of them. All she explained to me was that they aren't coming back to Equestria ever again, in a rather... Angry way." Twilight finished hesitantly. "I guess I will know more later." I replied, going back to the story at... Hoof. ... " What's a skateboard?" Spike asked after I mentioned that I was teaching Rainbow how to skate. "Think about Scootaloo's scooter, only without the handlebar, it's also not as wide and the wheels aren't as big. It's also much louder than scootaloo's scooter." Rainbow explained happily, Fluttershy seemed to cringe slightly once Rainbow mentioned the loudness factor. Should I explain that the loudness depends on the bearings? Nah. ... "Now why would ya think tryin' somthin like that would keep that guy quiet?" Applejack questioned. "Hey, I had to think of something quickly. And it seemed to work anyway." I defended. "Yeah, and you should have seen him, it was so awesome! I almost believed it too, if it weren't for the synthematic life thinggy." Rainbow added. "Synthetic." Twilight corrected, cringing slightly at the slaughter of vocabulary. ... "Y-your friend was killed? Who could possibly do such a horrible thing?" Rarity asked, her eyes quivering. "My own government... They saw an act of treason and acted upon it at once, even if it was my fault that he was involved to begin with." I said bitterly, remembering the painful words of the interrogator. Ted Kimell's death was your fault. I pushed those thoughts back, they were lies, painful lies. "I'm so terribly sorry for your loss, but rest assured, you can't possibly blame yourself for Ted's death, you couldn't have known." Rarity soothed. "Thanks." ... "So you barricaded the first floor doors and windows, but didn't expect them to attack from the second floor?" Spike asked once I mentioned the 'we got captured' part. Yes Matt, barricade the first floor Matt, they totally don't have the technology or the logistics to attack from the second floor Matt... "Yeah, I kinda slipped up on that part." I replied. "How did you escape?" Spike asked excitedly, clearly very much into the action. "Let us get to that part." I replied calmly. "Yes, and since we're almost done, that means we're just minutes away from starting the real party and serving cake!" Pinkie Pie added excitedly, seeing how she hasn't spoken in some time, I can tell that she's really eager to celebrate. ... "He questioned me for some time, it really didn't take me long to realize that they were planning on torturing me if I didn't cooperate. Now that I think about it, I don't think they were planning on letting me out alive since the interrogator was giving me more answers than I could have hoped for." I told, leaving out a few details. "What happened next?" Rarity asked quickly, she was now laying down on the floor, head resting on her forearms. "Well, I knew that my chances weren't very good. But the ropes on my wrists weren't as tight as they should have been." Applejack snorted at that, "So I tried my best to stall the interrogator while I untied my wrists. I was unbelievably lucky, the other guy by the door decided to leave before 'things got messy'. So that's when I decided to make my move, I managed to get the interrogator close enough for me to head-butt, followed by a really hard push once I released my arms." "No one wins the head-butt!" Rainbow whispered to herself. "I then... Untied my legs and used the rope to restrain the interrogator." I lied. "He... Died didn't he?" Fluttershy intercepted my lie almost instantly. "Don't be a silly filly Fluttershy, nopony jest dies from bein' tied down." Applejack responded, not entire understanding what Fluttershy meant. "No, nopony just dies from being tied down." Fluttershy repeated, shaking her head, "But that wasn't what happened, was it?" Fluttershy gave me an apologetic look. Everypony else stared at me in surprise once I didn't deny the truth. "No... It wasn't what happened." I answered darkly, "How did you know?" "That look in your eyes. It's the same look I saw in Mr.Grizzles' eyes when he came to me after accidentally killing his friend in a fight." Fluttershy answered sorrowfully. Well, no turning back now. "Do you all really want to know what happened?" I asked, there was a unanimous nod of agreement. , "When I pushed the man, he fell back into the locker filled with his instruments of pain. That locker was apparently not secured to anything and it just.... It just fell on him. I didn't do it on purpose, but there it was. When I managed to see what had happened... The blood, oh god all of the blood. That man spent his last dying breaths to tell me that I wasn't going to escape." I said, looking down at the ground, not daring to look at anybody in the eye. I heard the small gasps coming from all around me. "Hey, it was either you or him." Rainbow said, putting a comforting hoof around my neck. "Yeah, it was. it's still haunting, seeing someone like that." "Hey, don't beat yerself down sugarcube. It ain't like ya did it on purpose." Applejack tried to comfort some more. "Yeah, but the next two were." I announced, everyone except Rainbow seemed shocked to hear that. "Hey, you had to! It's not like they weren't trying to kill you!" Rainbow consolidated. "Yep, true." I replied simply. "Is that how... You perished?" Rarity asked hesitantly. I nodded. "I grabbed the interrogator's gun and managed to trap the guy that left inside of the interrogation room. Well, I trapped him inside, but not without him firing a shot off into the air, alerting another agent who came down a hallway. I managed to shoot him in the head, and he managed to shoot me in the left thigh." I explained briefly, "I was bleeding badly, but eventually the pain numbed away and I was able to limp towards the end of the hall. I found another agent who was headed toward Rainbow but saw me as a greater threat, pointing her gun at me. Rainbow took the opportunity to surprise the agent lady and I came up, pulled Rainbow away and shot the woman in the leg, almost without thinking about it." I said, that last part surprising even me. "What happened then?" Applejack asked eagerly, she didn't seem conflicted with the 'I have killed' thing. "That was when I started getting dizzy, I don't remember too much from then." I answered. "Yeah, he slumped down on the wall and told me to just leave him there." Rainbow took over the story,"I kept telling him that I couldn't just leave him there, but Matt proves to be too stubborn sometimes. He gave me his timepiece and demanded that I go." Rainbow paused, almost shedding a tear, almost. "So, I ran. I just ran back to Twilight and Pinkie without looking back and told Twilight that Matt was fine, knowing that she would try to save him if I told the truth." "I... I don't know what to say." Twilight responded in defeat. "Matty? Is it okay if I asked what... Dying feels like?" Pinkie Pie asked hesitantly. "Sure, I guess people would like to know if someone else went through it and came back to talk about what just happened." I began, trying to get my thoughts organized. "You know? It was actually a lot like falling asleep. I did start feeling numb and a little cold, my vision was also getting really blurry... But besides that, it was like going to sleep." I answered. Everypony in the room was quiet, letting that thought sink in. "Well, that certainly was not the answer I expected to hear." Rarity commented. "Well, it certainly wasn't something I expected to experience, but that's how it was." I shrugged. "Can we start the party now?" Pinkie Pie asked anxiously, shifting her weight from side to side. "I guess we c-" I almost managed to respond, only to be interrupted by Pinkie Pie jumping unbelievably high into the air, confetti spraying in all directions. "Whoohoo!" Pinkie exclaimed in mid-air. Where did all of the confetti come from? "Well, I guess the party started." Rainbow announced, her mood lightening up considerably. ... This was certainly a very interesting party, considering that all of the participants, albeit one purple dragon, were ponies. I also learned how to dance with four hooves, which was surprisingly easy to do. Put your left hoof out, put you right hoof in. Now, reverse and head-bang. The cake was amazing too, Pinkie managed to bake it this morning as soon as she heard that Twilight had woken up. She really lives up to her self proclaimed title of Allaroundsuperfantasticironchefmareden, seriously, this cake is beyond amazing; it's almost like it gets tastier with every bite! ........... The sun was coming down now and we all went our separate ways. Rainbow tagged along with me since my house was on the way to hers. "Your friends are really nice." I complemented, trying to throw around the proverbial ball of conversation. "Thanks, I've known Fluttershy since I was in flight school." Rainbow replied in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "A very perceptive one she is." I replied, recalling the fact that she saw through my iron curtain. "Yeah, that was actually very surprising. She never found out anything from me that I didn't want her to know, but she saw right through you." "And I'm some sort of experienced liar too, considering that I totally fooled that guy in the street." I said with feigned pride. "I really can't say this too often, that was amazing. It was like nothing I've seen before, you had him fooled all along." Rainbow said with an adorable giggle. "Heh, that was pretty hilarious from my point of view now that I look back at that." I commented. "You remember the face he made when you showed him your wallet?" Rainbow asked. We suddenly broke out in laughter. "He was so confused! I didn't even give him enough time to get a good look at it." I commented once I regained control of my laughter. "Heh, yeah." Rainbow replied, wiping a small tear from her eye. "This sunset is really nice." I said after a moment of silent walking, my voice dripping with awe. "Nice? It's one of the most beautiful things in Equestria." Rainbow replied, looking towards the sun. "Yes, but not the most beautiful thing in Equestria." I said quietly. "How would you know that? You haven't been here for all that long." Rainbow asked in shock. "Well, I just know, you know?" I answered lamely. "Look, I know this spot in the park where you can really see how beautiful the sunset is. Let me show you because you really don't know what you're talking about." Rainbow insisted, nudging me to the left. "Okay, okay, I'm turning left." I replied. "Good, the park is right there anyway." "So it is." I nodded. Rainbow and I eventually came to the park Rainbow mentioned. The park was marked by a modest fence, the only trace of interference inside was a dirt path and a few benches in the distance. Rainbow led me down the path, accidentally bumping into each other every now and then. I didn't mind too much, it certainly wasn't anything to make a fuss about. "Okay, follow me." Rainbow said, steering from the dirt path and into was seemed to be just woods. "Sure thing boss." I obeyed. We walked slowly up a slight hill, the trees started clearing up. We soon arrived to the top of the hill, it was occupied by a single tree and provided a clear view of the sunset. "Welp, this is it." Rainbow concluded. "Wow, you weren't kidding. This really shows off the beauty of the Equestrian sunset." I complemented. "So, does that mean I convinced you?" Rainbow asked curiously, taking a step forward. "Um, no." I said curtly. "Well, I guess that means we will have to stay here until you say so." Rainbow said, sitting next to the tree. "Try me." I said with a smirk, laying down next to Rainbow. ... "So, tell me; what exactly is more beautiful than this sunset?" Rainbow asked after a long moment of silence. "Oh, I can't say." I replied innocently. "Oh? Why not?" Rainbow asked curiously, ever so slightly scooting over towards me. "Because." "Cmon, I trusted you without question before, why can't you tell me one tiny thing?" Rainbow begged with a tinge of disappointment. "Well, if you really want to know." I replied hesitantly. "Yes?" Rainbow asked. "It's something really personal, really." "Yes?" "Are you super sure that you want to know?" "Yes..." This could be thin ice you are treading on right now. "You, Rainbow Dash." I finally said. Very thin ice. I cautiously looked over at Rainbow Dash... I was surprised to see a small smile on her lips. "That's... A surprise." Rainbow managed to say. "Well, now that we're in this situation, I'm going to ask... Do you, uh, want to be my uh... My girlfriend?" I asked awkwardly, I haven't done this in a long time. "I thought I already asked you." Rainbow said with a smile. "Wha-?" I began confusedly. "You do remember that kiss last night, right? That, Matt, was me asking." Rainbow explained. "So, that's a yes then?" I asked, I'm having some trouble realizing that this is actually working out for me. Rainbow gave me the most beautiful giggle, "Yes Matthew, I will be your marefriend." she replied slowly, as if making sure I understood. "Oh, well, that was kind of easy." I said, cheering up. "You saying that I'm easy to get?" Rainbow retorted with feigned insult. "No, not at all." I replied seriously, "Easy to get isn't the right words; easy to ask is more like it." I answered. "Yeah, I guess that's true." Rainbow replied with a bright smile. Nice save Matt. No problem, Brain; you saved me enough times for me to start saving back. What? "Hmm, it's getting dark; we should get going now." I eventually said, watching the last bits of the sunlight disappear. "Yeah, we should." Rainbow answered warmly, giving me a quick nuzzle. I looked at her in surprise, "What? We're a couple now, I should be able to nuzzle you when I want to." Rainbow defended. "I think the same goes for me then." I replied, giving her a playful nuzzle to emphasize my words. I then sat up, looking deeply into Rainbow's magenta eyes. "Well? Let's get going then." Rainbow said after a very long, yet comfortable stare. "Yeah, let's." I answered, waiting for Rainbow to get up before we started walking back. We were bumping into each other a whole lot more now, not sure if it was accidental anymore. ... By the time we reached my house it was nearly pitch dark, the sunlight went away really quickly. "So, this is it." Rainbow said, "See you later then." "Sure." I said, leaning in for a kiss. Rainbow beat me to it, pushing forward with an amount of passion that sent a chill down my spine and set my blood to a boil. I pulled myself out of the shock and started pushing back with just as much passion, our tongues now partaking in a moving dance, a dance that repeatedly sent pleasant chills up and down my body, my mind turning into a fuzz of thoughts too incoherent to remember. I heard Rainbow's wings flap a few times before we both pulled away. "Wow, that was certainly something." Rainbow commented in awe, a gentle blush on her face. "Yeah." I replied, pausing with a peculiar thought. "Wait, it's really dark right now, are you sure you can get home safely?" I asked. "Um, I dunno, it's actually really hard to see clouds in the dark." Rainbow replied with a peculiar gaze. "Well, would you like to stay the night?" I offered. Rainbow gave a soft giggle, "I would love to." I nodded, opening the door and motioning her to come in. I watched her walk past me, her rainbow tail flicking my nose. I gave a soft sigh of bliss. My thoughts once again becoming prevalent. Who would have thought that things could change so dramatically, so quickly, in such a short amount of time? Barely a month has passed by since I first met my three special friends. In that relatively short time, I learned of a new world; I taught a new friend how to skate; I tried the dude challenge, again; I was chased by secret agent men; I rejected a promotion; I lost my job; I lost my childhood friend... Still, there's one thing that rings in my mind, one phrase that keeps repeating itself, one phrase that had to be told to me countless times: move on. Ted told me, Simmons told me, Mr.Naidoo gave the same advice... It's about time I started telling the same thing to myself. Moving on... It's what Ted would have wanted me to do, he would hate for me to go on in grief once more like before. It's what dad would have wanted me to do, he believed that the only way to go is forward; because you can't go back and just standing there is just silly. So that's what I'll do, that's what I did do. I finally moved on and accepted, I could not have prevented their deaths, but I can preserve their memories. I should have a memorial built eventually, that should do them some justice... Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, Sadie.... Ted. Who would have known? At times where hope is but the smallest ray of light in a bottomless pit of misery, there is still that small hope. For me, that pinprick of light grew into the form of three mares. It was those three special friends that managed to shock me into the fast lane of recovery, and it was those three that finally managed to turn my life around. The End. Author's note: This was certainly loads of fun to write, I even surprised myself in a few parts of this story. I'm sure that many of you found Ted's death as a surprise, I'm almost sorry to say that I planned his death from the very beginning; his last name was actually a hint towards that, Kimell? The word kill is in that name, and you can only assume two outcomes from that. I did mention before that I would have very subtle foreshadowing! I would like to give a massive thanks to refferee for an outstanding job as my editor. You sir are a very awesome individual and I look forward to continue working with you. Refferee's work has been accurate, efficient and an overall stelar job. Well, this is something I'm really curious to ask. Did you guys like the ending? I've written and rewritten this epilogue five times, each time I was very disappointed with how things came to a close and this one seemed like the only way to make a happy ending; and since this is my first story, I really wanted a happy ending. I'm going to continue writing after this, in case you were wondering. So, stay tuned for some more fanfics! In the meantime, feel free to thumb up (Or down if you really, really want to) favorite, comment, watch; the works. I really hope you guys enjoyed this story, this is TheEngineer signing off, only to sign back on in a short time.
