Graycoat of Everfree

Chapter 6

He held her for what felt like an eternity. When he finally pulled away, he winced fearing the repercussions for his action. He opened one eye and looked up at the pink mare who looked deep in thought, her face frozen in a state of vague shock. The rain had soaked the pair, Graycoat's short mane had been splattered in mud and Pinkie pie's mane, no longer poofy, hung in his face. He was still pinned by the mare, waiting for any change of emotion. Time dragged on and he waved a hoof in front of her face hoping gain her attention. He received no response, he brushed her face with his hoof hoping that would work. The sudden touch brought her back to reality, she got off of him and started to walk away. He followed her hoping, but lost her among the dense foliage.

He soon exited the forest and found himself near the library. By now the sun had already set, and even though the rain had let up, the town was empty. He sighed heavily as he made the long walk back to his home, the light rain slowly washing the mud from his mane.

Vacation. He had never requested vacation time before, but ever since she had received the patent with Twilight's name on it, she noted a change in his work habit. His writing once formal and straight forward, started to vary in style and seemed like it wasn't written by a machine. His employer chuckled at the thought of him interacting with others and began writing the approval letter. She sent the letter and walked to the window, watching the magic aura make its way to the Everfree forest, and she hoped that he would enjoy his time off.

Graycoat lay on the hard wood floor of his home as he stared into the middle distance. Scattered around him were the charred remains of the numerous stacks of parchment he had tried to burn in a misguided attempt at erasing himself from existence. What he didn't burn was used to make a makeshift bed that did nothing to aid his attempts at sleep. It had been three days since the balloon incident, and two days since he asked for vacation time. Having never requested vacation time before his letter was extremely straight forward, but managed to roundabout in every way possible. He gave no indication of how much time he wanted, so his employer gave him two weeks with a note saying to make the best of it. He frowned in reflection, feeling that he was disappointing her by being miserable. He hadn't slept since that night, and any attempt lead to nothing.

His introspective was interrupted by a soft knock at his door. He rose slowly, and walked to the door opening it to find Fluttershy outside. She was obviously frightened about being in the forest, compounded by the fact that night was approaching. Her fear left when she saw the pony before her in his current state. He told her that he wasn't getting much sleep, and he added a light smile hoping she wouldn't pry. The yellow pegasus told him of a tea recipe that should help, and left hoping to get home before nightfall. He placed the ingredients in a cup and started boiling water. Many of the ingredients came from the Everfree forest, odd seeing as how Fluttershy avoided the forest as much as possible. As he poured the water an earthy aroma, accented by the smell of tree bark, and a certain dampness, entered his nostrils. He couldn't bring himself to drink it. He pushed the cup away, buried his head in his hooves and began to weep softly, as the sun finally set.

Pinkie pie hadn't left Sugarcube corner for three days. What little time she spent out of her room, was only used for eating. This new behavior worried the Cakes greatly, and they weren't the only ones to notice. By the second day her absence had been noticed and all of her friends had stopped by to check on her. She evaded their questions, saying that she was planning something and it was a secret. No pony knew for sure if she was actually planning something, but they knew she was hiding something. Yet no pony pried, knowing it was impossible to get information from her.

She wasn't known for stopping what she was doing and thinking deeply. But now her time was spent looking out her window deep in thought as the day progressed. She hadn't seen Graycoat since she left him alone in the Everfree forest. Everytime she thought back to that day she became more confused about his actions. She struggled with the new emotions she was feeling as she paced around her room. She returned to her window and watched as the sun set behind the trees in the distance. Her thoughts returned to the gray unicorn that lived there, but she pushed this away as she entered her bed and was soon asleep.

Graycoat had fallen asleep but only for an hour. He brought his head off the table and looked at the cup of tea. It had long sense grew cold, but the aroma persisted. It was still night time, and the forest was only illuminated by the moon. He lay down on the floor and looked out the window hoping to sleep, but it never came.

The sun rose above the tree tops and the sudden light blinded him temporarily. He stood up and walked to the bathroom. He frowned as he looked at his reflection, and turned on the shower. His mane had become matted and grungy, his eyes were bloodshot, and heavy bags from lack of sleep. He sat in the shower long after cleaning himself, thinking about how long it takes for him to dry completely. He toweled himself off and walked back into the other room. He looked at the remnants of the parchment he burned secretly wishing he wrote down everything he burned. He looked at his desk and noticed that the top wasn't fully closed. He walked over to it, wondering how he didn't notice it before. He opened it carefully not knowing what was inside. Inside the desk were three barely inflated balloons. He closed the desk, disappointed that he hadn't discovered it sooner.

He heard a soft noise, but wasn't sure if it was real. He heard it again coming from the door, and believed it to be a knock. He walked to the door expecting it to be Fluttershy checking on him. He opened the door but no pony was there, he rubbed his head wondering if had been hearing things, until he saw the small package in front of the door. It was light and had no post markings. He placed it on the table and started to open it, unsure of what it might contain. He removed the top of the box and looked inside only to find it empty. He looked the box over again hoping to find out where it came from. He flipped over the lid and found a singular word. Yes. Confused he turned back towards the door, only to be greeted by a shower of confetti, and someponie's lips embracing his.

The confetti settled and Pinkie Pie pulled away from the shocked unicorn. He started to speak but she placed her hoof on her mouth not letting him ruin the moment.