Arbor and Dandy and the Meaning of Friendship
Author's Note
A little blood, just a warning!
Arbor and Dandy and the Meaning of Friendship
Arbor groaned as she rolled out of bed and slammed into the floor. An intense, infernal beeping filled the room. The pale silvery mare let out a loud sigh and slammed her hoof down onto the digital alarm clock. Arbor brought a hoof up to her forehead to brush her broccoli-green mane out of her eyes as she looked at the time. The clock stared back at her with two 0s. It was 8:00, and work started in forty five minutes. Arbor cursed and stumbled over piles of dirty clothes into the kitchen. Bags of Fiery Cheetos littered the floor of the kitchen, Arbor’s favorite food. Sadly, they also went hand and hand with her least favorite activity, cleaning up. Arbor reached into her breadbox and pulled out a single blunt. As she reached for her lighter, a banging at the door.
“Coming… gimme a damn second..” Arbor murmured under her breath, stumbling toward the door of her small trailer. She flung it open almost knocked a stalky, grey, and orange maned unicorn stallion on the ground. “Oh, I should have known it was you, Dandy.” Arbor rolled her eyes and trotted back inside, looking for her hoodie.
“Are you high? You have a serious problem, you have work in the thirty minutes, you're not dressed yet, have you eaten breakfast? Have you showered? Have you--” Dandy shot rapidly, Arbor cutting him off by raising her hoof toward him with a zen-like smile.
“Calm the fuck down, my dudling. Don't you have to be at school or something? Also, no, I'm not high yet, and I haven't done any of the things you asked me. Don't you realize I work at a cannabis shop, kiddo?” Arbor giggled, slipping on her white hoodie. There was a name tag clipped on that read, “Hello, my name is: Arbor.” Dandy muttered to himself as he thought of a reply.
“Don't call me Dandy, it's DANDELION. Also, I'm only four years younger than you. It's Saturday, asshole. No school.” Dandy replied, craning his neck to look behind him. “Whatever. I need a ride.”
“Oh, so you treat me like shit then want a ride?” Arbor teases trotting out the door and slamming it shut behind her. Dandy followed her as she hopped into her beat up Herd Explorer.
“I know you'll give me one anyway. I just need a ride to the library.” Dandy prodded her shoulder and glanced out the front window of the car. After buckling up, Arbor began to drive. She fell into the same routine she always did while driving sober, lost in thought. Dandy was droning on about his graduation in a couple of weeks, so Arbor tuned him out and thought about why she was even friends with him. When they had met, Arbor was a Senior, and he was a freshman. Somehow, they had become friends, and Arbor had a feeling that Dandy looked up to her in some odd way. She was no good role model, in her personal belief. She was unhealthy, didn't take care of herself, and lived in a shitty trailer on her little plot of land in Trampa, Florida. She snapped back to reality.
“Why doesn't your mom just get you a car? Isn't she like, loaded?” Arbor said, shooting a sideways glance at Dandy. Dandy rolled his eyes in response.
“I'm getting their old car as a graduation gift. Two weeks, and I can finally ditch this place.” Dandy said, before zipping up as Arbor tried to hide a frown. Dandy stuttered quickly. “I-I didn't mean you! You know that, Arbor, I just meant that I wish I could leave this place and my parents sooner. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like tha-” Dandy struggled to apologise before Arbor slammed on the breaks and leaned over him, shoving open his door.
“We're here. Get out.” Arbor spoke roughly and pushed him towards the door. Dandy tripped and stumbled out of the open door. Arbor shot him a hurt glance and closed the door behind him, speeding off into the distance. In her rearview, she could just catch Dandy holding back tears as he trotted into the library. Arbor was 10 minutes away from work and she needed to be there in 20. She slowed down when she realized she had been driving 10 over the speed limit, giving a frustrated sigh. There was a reason she was high all the time, she wasn't the best at interaction with other ponies.
As Arbor drove, thoughts swelled up in her head that fought for her focus. Why had she been such an asshole to poor Dandy? He just didn't think before he spoke. He was her friend. No! He meant to hurt her with that statement. Why had he tried to apologise? Just to cover up his true meaning. No, he wouldn't do that… Arbor shook her head and suddenly found herself parked at her workplace. She had found a job at a small pot store called, “The Greenhouse.” It was where she got her supply. She sighed and trotted out of her car, making sure her keys and phone were in her hoodie pocket, as well as her lighter. She locked the car and trotted into the building.
The smell hit her like a wall. Normally she was high before even trotting into work, but today was an exception. Arbor found her place behind the counter and clocked herself in on the digital display, reaching under the counter and grabbing the blunt she has left there yesterday. She lit up and took a long drag, sighing happily as smoke filled the room. She was the only pony scheduled for today. The entire store was only run by three ponies. Arbor, Raggedy, and Zekki. Raggedy was a Pegasus, and Zekki was a Zebra. Zekki had set up the store, and had full control of stock. She had originally been Arbor’s dealer, and had offered her the job in the first place.
It was around a week before Christmas, and much to Raggedy and Arbor’s dismay, Zekki had established a “Christmas Season” mandatory outfit. It consisted of a Christmas light necklace and reindeer horns. Arbor sighed and put them on. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day.
Arbor relaxed in her seat, propping her hooves up on the counter as she settled into her natural, high off her ass state. There were no customers for quite awhile, which was odd. The store was half weed shop, half café. There were tables and chairs set up to relax and enjoy yourself with electronics or books while you smoked Zekki’s product. Arbor shrugged regardless, closing her eyes and attempting to settle into a sleepy, but not asleep, peace. Much to her dismay, the doorbell jingled. Even more to her dismay, Dandy trotted in carrying a small box. Arbor sat up and groaned.
“Welcome to the Greenhouse. What the fuck are you doing here, Dandy? You don't smoke.” Arbor said with a hint of distaste in her voice, obviously still hurt from the incident this morning. Dandy sighed and coughed from the smoke filling the room.
“I really didn't mean it.. I promise. It just came out wrong, I swear. I got you something to make up for it.” He blushes, holding out the present box out to her. Arbor giggled and took it from him, slowly opening the top. Inside was a DVD box set from the show “My Little Human.” Arbor raised her eyebrow and Dandy rushed to explain. “I thought maybe we could watch it together since you mentioned it to me last month.”
Arbor was silent for a moment before reaching forward and wrapping her hooves around Dandy’s neck. She hugged him tightly for quite awhile.
“Hey, I'm sorry about this morning, kid. I.. I got out of control. Will you forgive me?” She smirked and pulled back as Dandy sighed with relief.
“Of course I will.” Dandy whispered and hugged Arbor around the neck. He slowly turned around to hop up on the counter. Arbor let the moment sink into her soul, delighted at the feeling of peace that filled her. Unfortunately, before she could totally relax with her friend by her side, the front glass door exploded open.
“Put your fucking hooves up!!” A commanding stallion’s voice shouted as he stormed in. He was wearing a ski mask over his face and a black hoodie. He extended a pistol at the two ponies. Dandy whimpered and raised his hooves up, Arbor bringing her blunt to her lips and getting into the same position as Dandy. The robber narrowed his eyes and trotted closer, nodding his pistol toward Dandy. “Get on the ground.”
Dandy complied with the robbers demand. Arbor bit her lip and spit out her blunt. This guy meant business.
“You… 'Arbor.’ Open the register and give me everything inside.” The robbers demanded angrily, bringing the pistol to Arbor's forehead.
“I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that. Are you seriously fucking robbing a pot store?” Arbor shot back, snarling. Dandy began to cry softly under the desk, Arbor groaning. The robber nodded and banged the gun on the counter.
“LETS GO!” He shouted. Arbor sighed and began to slowly open the cash register. The air was so tense, you couldn't have cut it with a buzz saw. There was silence as Arbor fiddled with the lock.
“911, what is your emergency?” A voice spoke clearly. Dandy winced as he realized he had speaker phone on. Arbor winced as she realized Dandy had probably just gotten her face blown off. The robber snarled and hurried behind the counter, taking aim at Dandy, who scrambled to his feet. The robber motioned for him to hang up. Arbor was relieved there was no longer a gun to her head, but was less than happy that said gun was now trained on innocent Dandy. Dandy backed up slowly, standing next to Arbor and shaking. The next series of events happened very slowly from Arbor’s point of view.
Arbor saw the stallion begin to squeeze the trigger, and lept into action. Dandy didn't deserve to die so young, with the chance that he could die in this situation. He was actually doing something with his life. She forced her body in front of Dandy, as the sound of an explosion rocked the air. She shut her eyes tightly, and time sped back up. The bullet shot straight into her chest, Dandy screaming from fear, and Arbor shouting from pain. A horrified look filled both the robber and Arbor’s face as blood ran from her wound and began to cover her hoodie. The robber turned tail and sprinted out of the door, and Arbor slumped to tell ground in pain. The last thing she saw was Dandy removing her hoodie to help hold her wound as he shouted directions into the phone.
When Arbor woke up in the hospital, it was as if to the same infernal beeping she had woken up to a couple of days ago. The heart monitor sang a chorus of life, a sound that for once Arbor was thankful for. She quickly noticed Dandy sitting next to her with his headphones in. Her eyelids took a second to adjust to the light in the room, before she slowly attempted to sit up, and was met with a stabbing pain in her gut. She groaned, which grabbed Dandy’s attention. He turned to face her, and it was obvious he was the most happy he had been in days.
“ARBOR! YOU’RE ALIVE!” He cried, leaning forward and gently wrapping himself around her neck, avoiding the area of her injury. He sat back down and held her hoof tightly. His face was red, and recent tears still left their marks on his cheeks, small chasms running down his face. Arbor smiled softly and gently put her other hoof to her chest.
“Yeah, I suppose I am.” Arbor sighed happily and shook her head as she studied the bandages. Her hoodie had been removed, so she was no longer wearing anything at all. Dandy smiled at her and squeezed her hoof.
“Thank you.. I don’t know why you would save me even after we had argued that morning, but I can’t thank you enough.” Dandy whimpered, nuzzling against her cheek and studying her face.
Arbor thought for a moment and then giggled to herself.
“You can start with getting me a new hoodie.” Arbor teased, reaching up and thumping Dandy’s shoulder. Dandy chuckled and reached behind him into another chair, pulling over a newspaper.
“Hey, you at least got something out of this whole ordeal- check it out!” Dandy informed her, plopping the newspaper into Arbor’s hooves. She took a second to read the title, and then re-read it. The title read, “Homegrown Hero: Pothead Takes Bullet For Friend During Armed Robbery.” Arbor widened her eyes and smiled. The picture used was of the outside of the store. She moved the paper to the table next to her and shook her head, looking up at Dandy.
“I didn’t ‘Get Something’ out of this that I already didn’t want. I did it to save you, and that's the ONLY reason I did it.” Arbor smiled and reached out to hold Dandy’s hoof again. “Sure, being a town hero is pretty cool, but the real reward is seeing you happy and healthy.”
Dandy’s lip quivered, and he decided it was better not to voice most of the emotions he was feeling. He sighed and muttered another thank you under his breath even though it felt like it wasn’t enough. Arbor muttered softly, and when Dandy turned to look down at her, she was out cold.
Three days had passed since Arbor had gotten shot. Dandy was going to graduate today. Arbor had requested to be brought in to see him receive his diploma. She had been sober ever since the day of her accident, and it was really taking a toll on her mental state. She waited impatiently, balancing on her crushes every time she stood up to clap. Finally, Dandy made his way to the front of the line. Arbor stood up and smiled.
Dandy took his diploma and waved it high into the air, laughing happily and bucking his hooves as he ran off stage, heading straight for Arbor.
“I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT!” Dandy spoke excitedly, reaching gently to hug Arbor around the neck, nuzzling into her neck fur. For the first time in many days, he cried tears of happiness. Arbor held him and patted his back gently, blushing and looking away.
“Yeah, I knew you would, doll.” Arbor chuckled and nuzzled his cheek, Dandy’s parents calling him over with their phones up to take pictures. Arbor watched the stallion scramble off to his parents, gleeful smile plastered to his face, and delighted tears streaming down his face. Arbor shook her head and looked down at her wound, rubbing it gently, unable to suppress a smile.
Arbor had a feeling that no matter what way their paths went, this wasn’t the last she’d be seeing of Dandy.
