Chapter 5 Safety Dance

Chapter 5 Safety Dance

I sit there stunned as I try to grasp why my wings are holding themselves out like this. I've never had this problem before, why are they doing it now? And in front of Stephanie no less! She'll probably think I'm weird or something! No matter what I do they refuse to go back down, popping straight back up when I push them back.

"What's up with your wings?" Stephanie asks as she inspects my back.

"Uh... it jUUSST WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I yell as she grabs one roughly. A sudden wave of butterflies washes over me as she yanks my wing one way then the other. This is too weird. I pull my wing free, getting the weird feeling again, and back away from her.

"What's wro-"

"Why don't you show me around?!" I blurt out as I try to change the subject, keeping my wings as far away from her as possible.

"Are you blushing?" She asks with a giggle as she leans down to get a better look at me.

"N-no. I... I'm just... WHATS THAT!" I yell as I point to... actually, I don't know what that is. Stephanie looks at it and laughs a bit as she walks towards it.

"It's a juke box. They're not used anymore, explaining why Barbra would have one, but they were used to play music.... you know what music is right?" I have to roll my eyes at that.

"Of course I know what music is." I say, slightly offended. "Like polka and orchestral stuff.."

"Polka!?" Stephanie says with a laugh. "Okay, here. This one is a good one." She says as she presses a button.

The sound of music I've never heard the likes of fills the room. It immediately makes me bob my head as the drums begin to fill the back. I don't know what instrument could make this sound; possibly a guitar but I've never heard one so... not acoustic. It's also a lot faster than anything I've ever heard... where did I hear polka? What is-

"Come on!" Stephanie yells as she reaches down and grabs my forelegs. Before I could protest she pulls me up and begins to bounce around, throwing her head back and forth as our hops move about the room. I can't help but smile and join her antics. Jumping one way then the other as I drop all of my fears.

"GO, GO! Go Johnny go, go!" Stephanie sings aloud. "GO JOHNNY GO, GO! GO JOHNNY GO, GO! GO JOHNNY GO,GO! Johnny be good." Stephanie drops my legs and begins to dance on her own, tossing back and forth as her hair blurs about her. I couldn't help but gawk a bit before closing my eyes and letting the music take over.

This music felt... alive. Much better then what I think I remember of music. It just has this weird way of getting under my skin and making me want to move. I can't help jump, hop, and kick around as I throw my head from side to side, trying to match the same energy of the music.

Stephanie runs back to me and begins to dance with me again. I can't help but smile as I hold her... claws? Hmm... not hooves but not claws either. What ever they are, they're really soft and warm. I look up to see she's staring right at me, a large smile plastered on her face. I shrug and smile back as I try to keep up with her movements, finding it hard to do rearing up like this.

I feel the butterflies again, this is starting to get annoying. Why do I feel this around her so much! I don't feel it when I'm with Barbra or Rose! How does Stephanie do this to me almost every time we're around? Maybe it's because we're the same age?

Stephanie begins to giggle suddenly as she begins to spin around, still holding my hooves. I nearly trip over myself at first but stay standing by running with her. Faster and faster win spin around, the world around us becoming a blur as we focus on one another. She lets out a high pitched scream as we reach our top speed, nearly everything turning hazy as we let the music guide us. I let out a scream of my own as I feel my wings begin to flap along, trying to match her enthusiasm.

THUD

Stephanie trips over herself and falls to the ground. Due to the direction we were running, I follow right after her, landing on top. We both giggle a bit until Stephanie rolls onto her back. This proves to be a problem, because it puts us face to face with our chest against each others.

BUTTERFLIES!

WHOA! Okay, maybe not butterflies now. Now I think a couple of massive birds flew in, ate the butterflies, and then started dancing in my tummy.

"Uh..." UH!? Really?! That's all I can come up with! UH! I stare nervously into her eyes as I wait for her to respond. I'm unsure what to do here...

"You're weird." Stephanie says with a giggle as she begins to sit up. Weird... I quickly make my way off of her and sit to the side, too embarrassed to say or do anything else. "But that was fun. Come on, that's enough rock and roll for now. I'll show you the rest of the bunker."

"O-okay." I say as I follow her out of the room, giving one last glance to the bright music machine. Yeah... that music does things to you... gets in your head. That rock and roll....

--o-0-o--

Perspective: Rose

I can't help but pace about my living room as I wait for any word from the others. I know I won't hear from Lynn anytime soon, but Barbra was taken back to her trailer hours ago. And I haven't seen the other agent either... THAT'S IT! I'm going out there to take a look for myself. If I don't I'll have a heart attack! I run to the door an-

"Hey Rose-"

"GAH!" I yell as I nearly fall back. "Lynn! What are you doing here!? Where's Mathew? Is everything alright? Did they take him? What about Barbra? What happ-"

"ROSE! Calm down, everything is alright... for the most part." She says as she casually walks inside. I gawk out the door for a few seconds before turning back to her.

"What do you mean 'everything is alright for the most part'? What happened?" I ask as I follow her to the couch, where she drops down and sighs. She sits there for a few moments, eyes shut, and just relaxes. "Lynn."

"Huh? Oh right. Well, I took Mathew into the forest and tried to hide him in a tree, but then I was found by Agent Lewis. He asked me what I was doing out there and if I had seen anything. Of course I lied to him and made some bullshit excuse-"

"Language."

"... then when he decided that I was telling the 'truth' he took me to his car and ran a device over me. It beeped a bit, then he told me I could go."

"... and then?"

"And then I came here," she tells me matter of factly.

"... and then?"

"And then I scared you, and then I sat on your couch, and then I told you everything that happened, and then it's the future and I don't know what happens then." She says calmly as she sits there relaxing. "It's too early for all this crap."

"Watch your mouth!" I snap at her.

"You cussed in front of the kid!" She snaps back.

"Yeah! Because a damn horse started talking! Now the government is looking for him and are probably going to take him away! And because you and Barbra want to fucking lie to them we're probably going to go to jail for this! So forgive me for trying to-"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold it right there." Lynn says as she looks up to me. "You agreed to help us hide him. You didn't have to do any of that, but you did. And don't call him a horse, you know he's not-"

"I KNOW!" I snap as I begin to pace again. "I know... look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just... don't know how to deal with all of this." I say as I cross my arms and continue to pace around.

"I don't either Rose." Lynn says as she stands up. She walks over to me and takes a hold of my arms, holding me still. "But I want to keep him safe, and I know you want to as well."

"Is he safe?" I ask her. "Lynn, are you sure he's somewhere safe? Somewhere where they won't find him and take him away?" I ask her, seeing the uneasiness of the answer.

"Hi Rose." Mathew says as he and Stephanie walk by.

"Hey, Lynn you tell me- WHAT THE FU-U-I mean Mathew! What are you doing here!?" I ask as I run over and pick him up in a tight hug.

"GAH! Too... tight... can't... feel... lungs..."

"Sorry!" I say as I set him back down and back off. I didn't mean to hug him like that! I was.... just worried about the poor kid. That's all.

"Well Stephanie and I were in the bunker together, taking a tour, when she stopped at something called, a monitoring station. We watched Miss Lynn talk to somepony in a suit and then leave the area. The guy in the suit reminded Steph that she had to go to Sunday school and asked if I could be her, 'show and tell'. Whatever that means. I said yes, so we left. We stopped by here to let you know where I was going."

"I... I..." I stutter as I try to piece everything together.

"Give us one second!" Lynn says as she pushes me into the kitchen. "This is perfect."

"In what way is this perfect?" I ask her as she begins to pace about.

"Look, they're going to search this place high and low. So the best coarse of action would be to remove him from here. If we write a note to Ben explaining the situation I know Ben'll help us-"

"And why would Ben help us?" I ask as I cross my arms.

"Are you joking? Ben is a softy when it comes to children-"

"And that's another thing. I don't trust Ben with children."

".... are you kidding me? What is Ben going to do except tell boring stories. Look, this is our best shot. I'll take him-"

"And why do you get to take him?" I ask, getting her to stop and stare at me.

"Why are you being so defensive of him? We're on the same side Rose. I want to keep him safe just as much as you do." I turn away from her as I try to think why I am being so protective of him. I barely know the kid, not to mention the whole species thing.

"I... just want him to be safe Lynn. Okay, take him into town. BUT KEEP HIM OUT OF SIGHT! I don't know how the rest of the town will react to him so lets keep this on a need to know basis."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. But I'll need to borrow your truck." She says as she pulls the keys from her pocket. I nod to her and follow her out to the front room, where we find the two of them on the couch. "Alright, I'll go ahead and take you guys to Sunday school-"

"YES! No old people music!" Stephanie exclaims as she jumps off the couch and pulls Lynn out the front door. Mathew jumps off the couch and was about to run off, but walks over to me instead.

"It's alright if I go... right? You aren't... mad at me, are you?" he asks me. I drop down to my knees and rest a hand on his shoulder, trying to find the right words.

"I'm.... a little disappointed that you didn't listen to me." I tell him, getting a worried look on his face. "But, it's okay this ONE time. In the future, if I tell you to do something, do it. I only want whats best for you." I tell him, getting a slow nod from him. He takes a few steps towards the door before coming to a stop. "Mathew is-" I start but stop when he turns and jumps into my lap for a hug.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you Rose. I promise I wont do it again," he tells me as he holds on tightly. I lightly wrap my arms around him and stroke his mane slowly. I have to take a moment to catch my breath and find my voice before responding.

"I know you wont. Now get going before you make Stephanie is late." I tell him quietly.

"Pony-feathers!" He exclaims before jumping out of my lap and running for the door. "Don't leave me!" I laugh a bit before I realize what just happened.

"Take it easy Rose Cassaway. You're playing this one too close. Don't do it again." I warn myself as I stand up and head to the door. I watch as my truck leaves the yard and drives down the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust behind them. It won't be like last time... he's too different for it to be.

Author's Note

The song played this chapter was Johnny Be Good by Chuck Berry. Not Marty Mcfly. Thanks for reading and like always,
Brony on!