Love is Like Gravity

Numb.

Not the same numb from a week ago, the one that felt warm and sleepy, but one that felt cold and embarrassing. After Rainbow dragged Swift's sorry rear to Golden Oaks Library, she then burst in the door loudly announcing, “Twi! I got him! He's gunna be ok!" rather than knocking and waiting for permission to enter like anyone else should. Then a purple haired unicorn burst out from what looked to be like a basement stairwell and stared at Rainbow shooting long swords rather than daggers.

"Rainbow Dash! What in Celestias name is so important that you barge into my home and begin yelling during a crucial point in my experiment!?!?" Twilight yelled before noticing the now terrified Swift Repairs. After looking to Rainbow, Swift, and back a few times, Twilight understood what she had meant when Rainbow shouted, “I got him!" Twilight turned to Swift, all but cowering behind Rainbow at this point, and began her string of apologies/introductions. "I am SO sorry, sir! I didn't mean to scare you like that! I hope that you can forgive me. (Sheepish smile plus awkward neck rubbing) Anyway, I am Twilight Sparkle. I gave you some basic first aid when we found you in that field... a week ago?" Twilight said at normal volume this time and a warm smile.

After a moment, Swift replied, "Uh, hi..." in a voice so quiet it rivaled Fluttershys. Twilight didn't seem to notice however, because she continued with her introductions.

"What's your name?" She asked, closing the door to her basement/laboratory.

"I'm... Swift Repairs..." Swift said still quiet, moving out from behind Rainbow, but still keeping Rainbow between him and this odd unicorn.

Twilight paused, her next sentence caught in her neck, and looked back to Swift with a grin that could (well, almost) beat Pinkie's. "Your Swift Repairs?!" Twilight returned to yelling as Swift returned to cowering behind Rainbow.

"Whoa there, Twi. Go easy on the poor guy. He doesn’t have a whole lot of friends." Rainbow said, putting herself between Swift and her friend, whose sanity was being brought into question by her mood swings today.

Twilight's expression went from grin to worry (further proving Rainbows observation) as she walked to Rainbow and Swift. "Why? He's one of the most famous people in the world, how could he not have many friends?" Twilight asked, looking around Rainbow to look at Swift.

"Come to think about it, he didn't say. What did happen?" Rainbow said, turning to Swift. Swift was still not entirely 'social mode activated' yet, so Twilight motioned him to a nearby chair while Rainbow and Twilight sat on a couch facing him.

"That's, uh... kinda personal... no offense." Swift said slowly, looking at the ground. Rainbow and Twilight shared a confused look then looked back to Swift.

"Well, is there anything that you can say? We're here for you, you can tell us anything." Twilight said in a soft voice. Swift looked up at the two girls, and saw... safety, compassion, and an open mind. Swift had never seen anyone give him the looks these two were giving him. Swift took a deep breath before he commenced doing something he had never done in his 24 years of life:

Tell someone about the night his parents were murdered.

[A/N: WARNING: the following paragraphs are going to describe some brutal violence and death. If this offends/disturbs you in any way, shape, or form, feel free to skip the following paragraphs. They will not be needed to understand the story, but will help tie it together. Reader discression is strongly advised.]

It had been a normal Wednesday for Swift Repairs. Elementary school was easy, as always for him, fourth grade being little more than trivial. In Cloudsdale Elementary, life was good and easy for Swift; great grades, nice friends, and he were going to try out for flag football (American football, not soccer/European football) on Friday. The bell sounded off, signaling the end of the school day. "All right class, have problems 7 through 10 done by tomorrow morning and we will review it then. Have a good day." Swift's teacher said, returning to his desk from the whiteboard. As easy as school was for Swift, he was happy like everyone else was when the schooldays ended.

He walked outside and looked around for his parent's car. After a few minutes of looking to no avail, he began to worry that something had happened. They were usually outside the school soon as the bell sounded, but he didn't see their car. They would never- oh, there they are. Whew, Swift needed to stop jumping to panic as soon as something went askew in his plans. A smile spread on him as he walked to his parents’ car, waiting by the curb. As he opened the door and climbed in he said, "Hey mom, hey dad."

His dad looked over his shoulder from the driver's seat, "Hey son. How was school today?"

"Easy. We learned about long division today." Swift said, buckling his seatbelt. His dad smiled warmly and turned his attention back to the parking lot.

His mom looked back to him, “Long division, huh? And was it as easy as multiplication?" She asked, knowing what her 7-year-old would respond with.

"Yeah, it's kinda like subtraction." Swift replied brightly. His mom chuckled and turned to look forward again. Swift loved his parents, they were always there for him, always helped him when he needed it. And most importantly, they loved him as much as he loved them; this he knew for a fact.

Once they arrived home, Swift went about his day as usual; play some videogames with dad, help mom out with household chores, read a chapter from the book he was reading, and have dinner prepared by mom. After another round of games with dad, it was off to bed so he could get ready for school tomorrow. Swift didn't realize he was this sleepy, and was fast asleep after his parents tucked him in. "Goodnight Swifty. I love you." His mom said, kissing his forehead.

"Love you son, sweet dreams." His dad said tousling his hair.

"Night mom and dad. See you tomorrow." Swift said with a mighty yawn before he was softly snoring.

***

A loud *crash* from downstairs woke Swift from his dream. He looked at the clock and saw it was 2 a.m. With a yawn, he shuffled out of bed and slowly moved for the stairs when another *crash* followed by voices caused him to stop at the top of the stairs. He looked down to where his parents were forced up against a wall with a strange man holding... a gun?! at them. Paralyzed with fear and confusion, he only looked on as the scene unfolded.

"You know damn well what money you owe me." The strange man slurred.

"I told you, I've never seen you before!" Dad said.

"Bullshit!" The stranger yelled, bashing dad in the side of the face with his gun. Mom began sobbing.

"Shut up, bitch!" Stranger said. "I'll ask one more time before I get mad; where's the money?"

"P-please... we-we don't know who you-" Stranger backhanded mom with his gun hand.

"One more fuckin' lie, and I'm gunna lose my shit. WERE'S MY FUCKING MONEY?!?!" Stranger yelled.

"We. Don't. Have. Any-" Dad said before a loud *bang* sent brain, flesh, and bone onto the wall behind him.

Both mom and Swift looked in total, complete shock. Mom began to sob once more before another *bang* sounded off in the house. "Stupid fuckn' bitch..." Stranger mumbled before leaving the house, front door open. Swift stared at his parents crumpled bodies, small red holes in their foreheads with a trickle of crimson rolling down between their wide eyes. Entire lifetimes passed as Swift simply stared. This was all a nightmare. A really... real nightmare. He would wake up to mom gently shaking him saying, “Come on sweetie. Time for school."

Eventually, Swift began crawl speed down the stars, then walk, then sprint as he knelt in front of his parents. He looked dumbly at them, not knowing what to do. "...Mom...? ...Dad...? Wake up... wake up..." Swift whispered, shaking his parent's legs. "Come on... wake up... please..." Swift said, tears flowing like waterfalls from his eyes. Swift heard sirens outside followed by two more *bang*s and police officers rushing into the house.

"CPD!" The first officer shouted before looking at the small pegasus shaking his parents. "Oh, Celestia..." The officer said, holstering his handgun. Swift ignored all of this, his parents not waking up was beginning to worry him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a deep voice, “I’m so sorry, son. But you need to come with me." the officer said. Swift was then picked up and could only helplessly watch as his parents grew smaller and smaller as he was carried to the officer's patrol car and placed in the back.

[A/N: ATTENTION: Sad flashback over. For those of you who had no problem reading it (bullshlacka, you were tearing up inside and you know it) there it is, mom and dad are dead. For those of you who didn't want to read this, it's okay, you'll get filled in on the jist of it in the following (disturbing content-free) paragraphs.]

"After that, I was moved from foster home to foster home. I grew distant and reclusive from anybody, figuring that if I never grew close to anyone else ever again, I could never get hurt. I passed through school in AP classes, graduated from college majoring in engineering and began inventing things. If I had died last week, I would have at least been happy." Swift finished his story. It felt good to finally, finally tell someone about the night that played on replay in his dreams for most of his life. He focused on reality and saw Rainbow and Twilight both with tears running down their face, close to how he had, those 20 long years ago.

Rainbow was the first to jump out of her seat and throw her arms around Swift, followed quickly by Twilight. Swift was surprised at the sudden show of affection, but slowly placed his arms around the two as they began a fresh stream of tears down their faces. "I'm so sorry Swift. I can't imagine what you've gone through." Rainbow said. Swift felt tears flow down him as well, but not only tears of sadness (they were there, however), but tears of happiness, to have someone who cared enough to listen to his darkest demon and help him shove it back inside.

"I can't imagine life without my parents. I'm so sorry Swift." Twilight said, tightening her hug.

"...Thanks." Swift said to the two, placing his head between theirs. After a long time spent this way, Swift and Rainbow remembered they had business to discus, and disconnected from the group hug. After wiping his eyes, he turned to look at Twilight, who was back in her seat. "Uh, listen, Rainbow said I would be able to stay here for a while until my home is brought to ground level." Swift said, drying his cheeks.

"Absolutely Swift. There's a guest room upstairs. Feel free to stay as long as you need." Twilight said with a small smile.

"Thanks, it means a lot." Swift said, a small smile of his own.

Twilight giggled, “Of course. What are friends for?" Twilight said.

'Friends...' Swift thought with a smile looking at Rainbow and Twilight. He was going to voice his hunger when his stomach growled loudly. "Heh, guess I'm hungry." Swift said with a sheepish smile.

Rainbow jumped up, “I know! Let's go to Sugercube Corner! I'm sure Pinkie would love to meet you! Come on!" Rainbow said, dragging Swift against his will once more, Twilight in close behind them.