Jared sat at the small table. The noisy cafe was packed with ponies, there for the party. All of them paid Jared no heed. Twilight and Co. and wandered off to do party stuff, leaving Jared to sit alone at his table. He sighed and felt up the side pockets of his jacket. He pulled what was left of a pack of Marlboro Reds from his right pocket. He rarely smoked, but given he had no caffeine, little sleep, and a lot of stress, he figured now would be as good a time as any. He tucked it into the corner of his mouth and pulled his faded zippo out of his left jeans pocket. He lit the cigarette, and closed the lighter.

He flicked it open and shut once more. He remembered a time when it was new. When the hinge didn’t wiggle side to side. When the deep gouges, the dent on the spine of it, didn’t exist. A time when the American flag on the side wasn’t merely a handful of small colored flakes on the side, but a bright, brilliant design. The field of white and red, the corner of navy with white stars.

He bought it for $13.99 when he was 13, or, rather his mother purchased it for him with his money, claiming it was a waste for all those years, that BIC lighters were better. He never used it to light a cigarette until he was 21. She’d been wrong about a number of his choices in life. The lighter was one of them. When it came to her thoughts on his fiancé, however, she wasn’t so far from the truth.

Jared’s mind drifted. He wandered through the woods with his friend, they were both only 14 or 15. They found a nice spot by the creek, and made a small fire just inches from the babbling brook. The salmon were running, swimming upstream. The two played in the water, made some mud bricks to lay a better fire. They fished for lunch. It felt so long ago. A life time away. He remembered that spot. A cottonwood tree roughly four feet in diameter had fallen across the creek, making a pool about thigh deep. A wall of roots was at the end, making a neat crevasse against the small hillside. When the day was through they’d head back to his house. It was atop a ridge, down a long gravel road. The entire country around them was packed with dense foliage. Birch, Cottonwood, and Spruce grew around them. The alders, grass, and devils club littered the ground.

They’d reach home and sprint up the chocolate brown wood steps. Running through the arctic-entry front porch, they’d burst through the white front door, into the living room and kitchen. They’d get a glass of that crystal cool, Alaskan artesian well water and go off to play some game, talk to some other friends, make some other mischief. That was a great summer...

He remembered when he’d shown his crush a lighter trick, opening and striking the zippo in one swift snapping motion with his right hand. She was impressed. She was his best friend for years. People change, and grow apart. People leave people. People hurt people. Jared hated that. He missed her. His thoughts turned to the handful girls of the past 8 years. He wished he had one more chance to make things right, with most of them. He knew he’d never have a chance to make it right with any of them. He held back his tears. Staring through the lighter and floor beyond, he was absolutely transfixed on the past. His hand closed slowly over the lighter. He looked away and pocketed it. He glanced at his watch, he’d filled his 10 minutes. Jared stood, taking his shotgun, and stepped out the front door unnoticed.

His boots crunched on the gravel as he walked towards the hanger. His cigarette was burning low. He pulled the stub from his mouth, crushed it out with his fingers, and flicked it away.

“You sigh, look away...” He sung to himself, quietly. His thoughts drifted to one girl. She was never much for romance. Some how he’d managed to get her to go from a good friend, potentially interested, to annoyed with him in the span of two weeks. He had no idea what he’d done to make either thing happen. She was great.. He missed her.. That nervous little stressed out ball of weeb. She meant a lot to him. A handful of the nervous weeb type had been his friends, she stood out above them. “I can see it clear as day... Close your eyes, so afraid...”

He kicked an array of pebbles toward a nearby tree with his left foot, the boot was black and worn, scuffed and torn up all across the toe.

Jared looked up to see his hangar. He entered through the office door, and walked through to roll open the hangar doors. All was quiet, all was calm. It was a beautiful day. If only he didn’t have this heartache inside. He hooked up his stereo, to play the song stuck in his head. He then stared at the beaver for a while, opting to just sit on the nearby wooden workbench as the song played. He could’ve sworn he heard something behind him.

“I don’t understand.” Jared began. “How... Everything can hurt so much at once. I don’t understand why... I couldn’t have just been killed. I’ve done everything by the book my entire fuckin’ life, and now I’m here.”

He turned his head, looking over his shoulder. A tall white Alicorn, with a shorter pink one stood in the door. “Y’know?”

“I understand your frustration.” She slowly walked up. “I’m afraid the only cure for this kind of pain is time...”

“I know...“ He sighed gently.

“Jared, this is Princess Cadence.” Celestia.

“Of the Crystal Empire.. I’ve heard of her..” Jared nodded gently. He slowly hopped off the bench, walking over to the two. He held out a hand to the monarchs. Cadence shook his hand momentarily.

“A pleasure to meet you!” She smiled.

"You as well, ma'am." Jared replied. He looked from the plane, back to her. "I know you didn't come all the way down here for me... What brings you around here?"

"Just visiting some family." Was her reply. "Is this it? The miracle flying machine?"

"The prodigal broken machine." Jared quipped in reply. "If I had any motivation I'd have that skin off and pull the bulkheads out by tomorrow."

Jared paused for a moment, toeing the floor with his boot. "But I don't."

"I'm sorry to hear that!" She said, a downtrodden look on her face.

"Yeah." He stated, turning away. Jared leaned on his toolbox. "Was this just a PR meet the human thing or...?"

“Princess Cadence is on her way to Canterlot on official business. She has a layover while the engine fills its boiler and tender, I decided it a good opportunity for the princess to meet you.” Princess Celestia explained.

He studied her face carefully for a moment. “There’s more to it.”

“Twilight expressed her concerns for your mental health and your attachment to that ‘item’ of yours.” Celestia spoke.

“For god’s sake...” Jared sighed. “I’m overwhelmed, not a fuckin’ nut job.”

“Please, watch your language.”

Jared sighed. “You’re an ancient sun sorceress but you tell me to watch my language.”

“Did you just call me old?” She asked in mock horror.

“Your words, not mine, boomer.” Jared shrugged, turning back to his stuff piled under the workbench. He grabbed a clump of green cloth in one hand as he began taking off his jacket.

“What did you call me?” Celestia’s eyes narrowed slightly. He chucked his leathers onto the table as he rolled out the jumpsuit in a sweeping motion. It was an old green U.S. Air Force flight suit. On the left lapel velcro patch was an embroidered oval, “Jared” was in navy blue thread, on a white background, surrounded by red thread. Across the back was a “August’s Aircraft Service” embroidered in gold.

He zipped up the legs, and the front as he rolled the sleeves. He slowly turned to face Celestia. “Boomer?”

She was visibly pissed. Her eye twitched.

“As in, baby boomer, the generation after the G.I.s got home from World War Two.” He clarified. A look of confusion, then subtle anger passed her face.

“In our world it is a grave insult, you would do best not to call anypony such things. We will leave you to your work.” Celestia stated, Cadence was simply in shock. “Come, Princess Cadence.”

They teleported out of the hangar. Jared smiled smugly. “Boomer.”

Author's Note

Hey guys, sorry for the slow updates! Here’s a filler while I work on the bigger chapter! Sorry about the formatting errors, I’m still figuring that out..