Second Chances

Second Chances
By Hero541
Chapter 10: It’s Not My Fault

Josh awoke in the morning, glad to finally be able to wake up without his head hurting. However, his back ached like no other. He felt a small weight crawl onto his chest and opened his eyes to see Sweetie Belle sitting there.

“Morning, Sweetie.” he said, yawning and stretching his arms above his head.

“Hey Joshie!” she said, smiling at him, her jade eyes shining, “Sorry I fell asleep in your bed last night…”

Josh stroked her mane gently, smiling back at her.

“It’s okay. The couch was plenty comfortable anyway.” he lied.

Rarity’s couch was, as everything in this world was to him, rather small. It was so small, that only his torso and thighs could fit on it, leaving his legs dangling and his head resting on the arm. This, as one could imagine, wasn’t the best for his back. It took him hours to finally be comfortable enough to get to sleep. However, he was so enamored by the sight of Sweetie Belle curled up on his bed last night, there was no way he was gonna wake up the sleeping filly, even if it meant he would be more comfortable.

“Oh good,” said Rarity, walking up to check on Josh and her sister, “you’re awake. Breakfast will be done momentarily.”

Josh nodded, then grabbed Sweetie Belle in his arms, slowly sat up, and placed her on the ground. She turned and smiled at him before darting off down the stairs to help her sister. Josh twisted his back to the left and right, feeling his spine pop several times, relieving some of the pressure. After awhile of shaking off his drowsiness, he stood and headed down the stairs.

“Sorry about Sweetie Belle.” apologized Rarity, setting several plates down on the table as well as some silverware, “I should have checked to see where she was before I waited for you.”

“It’s fine, Rarity, really.” said Josh, waving his hand dismissively, “If I had a dollar for every time I’ve ever had to sleep on someone’s couch…”

Rarity stopped what she was doing and looked to Josh.

“What’s a dollar?”

“Nevermind.” said Josh, rolling his eyes, as several serving trays full of food were placed on the table.

“Would you like some coffee, dear?” asked Rarity, levitating out a cup for herself as well as the coffee pot, “I made it fresh!”

“Afraid I can’t have coffee.” said Josh, grabbing the nearby bowl of eggs, and serving Sweetie Belle, “Caffeine doesn’t agree with me real well.”

“Very well then.”

After a few minutes, Rarity sat down with the two of them and began eating. They talked about Rarity’s day, which seemed to consist of more orders to fill than she knew what to do with, as well as making Josh another set of clothes, and Sweetie Belle relayed her plans to spend the day with her fellow Crusaders.

“Scootaloo thinks we need to try being stunt ponies,” she said through a mouthful of food before swallowing, “… But I think we ought to try bird watching!”

“Do you like bird watching?” asked Josh, taking a sip of his orange juice.

“Well… it’s a lot less dangerous than her idea.”

Josh stifled a laugh, and looked to Rarity who almost did a spit-take.

“Just be careful then, I suppose.” he said, watching the mare regain her composure and swallow her coffee.

A knock came from the front door.

“Who could that be this early in the morning?” asked Rarity, getting up to go answer it.

Josh and Sweetie Belle chatted a little as Rarity left, Sweetie telling Josh all about the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She had just started telling him about the time they went on a zip-line, when Rarity answered the door.

“Oh, hello Octavia. What can I do for you?”

“Where is he?!”

“What’re you doing?”

Josh and Sweetie looked up in time to hear frantic hoofsteps coming down the stairs and watched as a gray mare burst into the room. Her mane was sleek and black and she wore a pink bowtie and white collar. She looked around the room for a second before her gaze singled out Josh.

“YOU!” she yelled, charging him.

The mare stood on her hind legs and swung her left hoof at Josh, connecting with his chin, and dropping him to the floor from his chair.

“MOTHER FUCKER!” he yelled, rubbing his chin and looking back up at the gray earth pony who was rearing back for another blow.

Rarity came rushing in, grabbing the gray pony’s hoof in her magic and pulling her away from Josh. The human was standing at his full height now, his eyes burning with fiery rage at the mare who struggled to release herself from Rarity’s magical grip. Sweetie Belle was under the table, frightened by the sudden change of events, and was screaming loudly.

“Let me go, Rarity!” yelled the gray mare, struggling and glaring at Josh, “This bastard needs to be taught a lesson for what he’s done!”

“Fuck off, lady!” yelled Josh, taking a step towards the mare, unable to control his anger now, “What the fuck did I do to you?”

“Why don’t you ask Vinyl?!” she retorted, giving up her struggle and watching Josh with malice in her eyes.

“What’re you, her crazy bitch bodyguard or something? I oughta send you to a fucking glue factory!”

“ENOUGH!”

Both Josh and the mare looked towards Rarity, whose eyes gleamed with anger. Sweetie Belle still sat under the table, tears streaming from her beautiful eyes. Rarity took her magical grip off the gray mare’s hoof and used it to now grab Sweetie Belle, gently shushing her and taking her upstairs.

“Neither one of you move, understood?”

Both begrudgingly nodded, still glaring at each other. Rarity carefully guided her sister up the stairwell and sent her outside, telling her to go find Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Maybe seeing them would make her feel better. Sweetie Belle agreed, then trotted off to find her friends as Rarity closed the shop door and made her way back downstairs.

When she reached the bottom floor again, she looked between the gray mare and Josh, unsure what to do now.

“Josh,” she began, drawing the human’s attention away from the other pony, “I’d prefer if you not use foul language such as that around my little sister.”

“What the fuck do you expect?” he retorted, throwing his hands up in frustration, “This crazy bitch just runs in and…”

Rarity cut him off, looking towards the gray mare.

“And, Octavia, I’d like to know why you rushed into my home and assaulted my guest.”

“This ass humiliated Vinyl last night!” she yelled, pointing an emphatic hoof at Josh, “She came home in absolute tears from her show and told me everything. He showed her up, stole the spotlight and made her look like a fool!”

“She should be fucking thanking me and kissing my goddamn feet!” said Josh, glaring at Octavia, “I saved that travesty of a performance last night. If I hadn’t gotten up there and done what I did, she’d look like even more of a fool now because nobody would’ve stayed around to hear that shit she calls music!”

Octavia took another step towards Josh, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get her to actually do that show?” she yelled, her voice shaking as she began to cry, “She’s never been confident in herself. It was a miracle that I even got her to hand out flyers for it! Then, here you come along and give her a feeling of hope, only to shatter it by upstaging her! How do you think she feels right now?”

Josh looked away from Octavia, determined not to let her tears get to him.

“It’s not my fault that she’s not a good producer.” he said simply, trying his best to ignore the sniffling of the mare behind him.

“How dare you!” yelled Octavia, resisting the urge to hit him again, “Who’re you to judge her?”

“Bitch, I’m one of the most famous music producers in North America!” he shouted back, turning to face Octavia once more, “I’ve had more songs go to number one than any other EDM artist! I’ve got millions of fans all around the fucking world! My last album sold more copies than any other dubstep album in history! So, keeping all that in mind, let’s just assume I kinda know what the fuck I’m talking about!”

“That’s enough, Josh.” said Rarity, rubbing her temples with a hoof, “You’ve made your point.”

“Apparently I haven’t.” he said, watching as angry tears rolled down Octavia’s cheeks.

“Octavia, I suggest you leave. The situation here isn’t going to get any better with you two yelling at each other.” said Rarity, looking cautiously back and forth between both the mare and the human.

“I’m not going anywhere till he apologizes for what he did.”

“Then I guess you’d better set up shop here too, cause I don’t have to be sorry for shit. Maybe Vinyl should apologize to me for assaulting my ears with that fucking noise she calls music.”

Octavia looked to Rarity, who gave her a look of concern. Unable to take much more, Octavia turned and galloped up the stairs, tears streaming down her face, and slammed the front door shut. An uneasy silence fell across the room. Slowly, Rarity trotted up to Josh and faced him.

“I know you’re an adult,” she began, her eyes becoming slightly watery, “and I cannot make you do anything you don’t want to. However, I think it’d be a good idea if you simply apologized to Vinyl. I think the last thing you want to do is leave here with ponies feeling ill towards you.”

Josh didn’t answer the mare, simply choosing to stare at her. After a few uncomfortable seconds, he turned and made for the stairs.

“Where’re you going?” asked Rarity after him, picking up his chair in her magic and righting it.

“To the bar. Don’t wait up for me.”

Rarity winced as she heard the door slam upstairs. A few tears fell from her eyes to the wooden floor. Hopefully, with time, she thought, picking up the plates from breakfast and levitating them to the sink, he’ll do the right thing.