Curiosity

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEeee... The aggravating sound of an alarm clock trailed off as a fist promptly crashed into it. A figure rolled around in a bed that had a blanket with a picture of clouds on it. That figure sat up in the bed, ruffling the blanket. That figure is me, Seth Arbitross, mailman extraordinaire. I attempt to get out of bed but end up rolling off and promptly landing on the floor with a loud thump. Well, could things get any worse? Lightning cracked outside as I heard rain pounding on my windows. Why did I just ask that? I expected a tree to come crashing into my house like it did in one of the episodes of ponies. I heard footsteps of my daughter pounding towards my bedroom door. There was then a number of things that happened: One, There was an attempt to knock on the door, but it ended up a thump as my daughter crashed into the door. Two, the door then blasted open, breaking the lock on it. Three, Kate, my daughter, skidded across the floor and crashed into my side. I just sighed, my side throbbing from the rock-hard head crashing into my side, picked up Kate, and nudged her side.

"Oowwww..." Kate sighed.

"You have to slow down, little wrecking ball." I replied. She giggled at that, then winced in pain. "You okay? Do ya need medicine?"

"Nah, I should be fine." Kate groaned, flopping on my bed and curling up into a ball like a filly. This had become a habit of hers ever since she watched the season finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Unlike me, she didn't get the pleasure of watching through the episodes as they came out, like I did, being seven and all. It has been five years since the finale aired, and she doesn't even remember watching the episodes as they came out because she was only two years old at the time season five finished. Season Five ended at a terrible point, when Discord unleashed a wave of havoc and betrayal. The episode pops right back into my head at a moments notice:

Discord and Celestia were allied together in an epic battle against a huge hellspawn from Tartarus. It’s a pretty amazing battle but then takes a strange turn in the middle of the fight. Celestia took a bad hit from the hellspawn and is lying down next to the edge of a cliff of this volcano. She cries out for help and Discord teleports over. Discord then kneels beside the defenseless Celestia and you can hear her cry out for help and explain she can’t move her legs. Just when you think Discord is going to save her, he instead laughs and kicks her limp body over the edge of the cliff. The Goddess-pony give a blood curdling scream and fall into the lava below. Discord then laughs maniacally and explains to the camera that he played her for a fool this whole time, and he waited over a thousand years for this day.

Discord is then shown traveling to meet Twilight, where he surprises her with some sort of magical attack which eliminates her. Then there is the scene where Rainbow Dash comes up and there is an epic battle. After Rainbow gets hit by some kind of magic spell from Discord, Derpy and Dinky try to fight the chaos surrounding them. When they couldn't take watching their city become the "Chaos Capital of the World"  Derpy and Dinky attacked Discord. Dinky only knew how to levitate thing wit her horn, so she could repel the spell if Discord casts it. She makes an attempt to pick up something heavy while Derpy is keeping Discord distracted. She found something, one of her mother's anvils. Just as she manages to pick up the anvil with her magic, Discord casts a spell that he cast on Rainbow Dash. "Mom! No!" Dinky cried out in suffering. She got outraged and threw the anvil at Discord, just before he could teleport away, it hit him smack in the face, leaving a bruise and a very angry Discord where it hit. Discord cast some sort of spell and the world around her begin to crumble into darkness.

I shivered at the memory of the last episode of the best show ever. "Well, if you need me, I'll be downstairs making muffins." I said jokingly.

"Ooo, muffins! Okay I'm coming down with you!" Kate replied as she clung to my leg. She had a thing for muffins ever since she started looking at fan-made Derpy pictures, and then became her favorite food over the next two minutes of trying them. I didn't necessarily want her to find the internet yet, but I promised that she could go on the internet when she learned to read. Lets just say that she was a fast learner.

I had to peel her off my leg as I walked down the staircase to prevent me from tripping over her and tumbling down the stairs. When we got downstairs she ran over to the living room and turned on the TV as I prepared a dozen muffins. She eats so many of them in one sitting, a dozen normally isn't enough. She hadn't had breakfast yet, so a dozen should cut it. As I was preparing the muffin dough, I heard episode three of season two of MLP, Lesson Zero. It had just gotten to the part of which Twilight picks up the cupcakes, so I sneakily fill a 13th cup with the extra dough to surprise Kate.

As I was baking the muffins I got lost in the show. I found myself being sucked into the show so much that I walked over to the living room and sat on the couch.

~~~~~Thunder Rumbling~~~~~"...what did you do..."

I blinked my eyes open. It seems Kate fell asleep as well. Then I remembered the muffins. I sprinted over to the oven and opened it, forgetting to turn it off. A bellow of smoke comes out of the oven, and as a response, sets off the smoke alarms waking Kate up. I turn the oven off quickly and the alarm turns off. Now the alarm will need to be cleaned out because of the smoke that got caught in it. Great another alarm I need to fix.

"D-Daddy?" Kate wavered. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing dear, I just burnt the muffins-"

"THE MUFFINS!!!!" Kate shouted. "Not the muffins! You never burn the muffins!"

"Well, I guess I did this time, first time for everything, right? And you aren't one to talk, falling asleep with me, you could have woken me up!" I replied. She just sighed. I handed her a muffin, she blew it to cool it down, and took a bite out of it.

"Mwits swill taswy!" Kate swallowed the bit she was chewing, "A bit crunchy though..."

"That normally what happens when they get burnt." I joked. I took a bite out of one of them and, lo' and behold, they maintained their soft fluffy inside even though the outside was burnt to a crisp. Then I remembered what day it was. May 1st, 2020. My twenty-fifth birthday, and Kate's eight. Its amazing that she was born on my birthday. Seriously, how often does that happen? "Kate? You know what day it is, right...?" I asked. She looks lost in thought for a moment, then her eyes widen as she remembers and she starts bouncing up and down chanting, "It's my birthday! It's my birthday!"

"Don't forget that it's mine too." I remembered something that I saved until her birthday. "Hang on, I'll be right back." I walk up the stairs and into my closet, the one place Kate doesn't explore, and grab a pony-print gift bag. I walk down the hall and step down the stairs again, being careful to keep the gift bag hidden, and walk over to Kate. When she sees that I got her a gift, she snatches it out of my hand and tears all the wrapping paper out of it which then reveals a Derpy Hooves plushie. She bounces up and down yet again, this time having to have me place me hand on her head to get her to stop bouncing. She then grabbed another muffin, leaving only three for me because she ate six of them whilst I was away getting her gift. I ate another muffin, and they still tasted amazing, but still crispy. "I noticed that you ate all the muffins..." I asked.

"Oh yea, see, I got hungry and we haven't had dinner yet and-" Kate was cut off

"We haven't had dinner yet?" I asked nervously. "Well, I guess I'll have to fix that. But first, I need a nap."

~~~~~Strong Wind~~~~~If you are not here to use them...

"Are we there yet?" Kate asked for the seventy-second time.

"The last seventy-one times you asked I said no, but this time we actually are!" I replied as our car curved into the parking lot of our favorite restaurant. Kate was surprised that I was counting all the times she asked. We walked into the door and waited in line, though its late Friday, 11:04 PM to be exact. There was only one person in front of us so, we should get seated in a moment.

"Arbitross," The waiter called and we followed. We got seated at a small two chaired table and were given menus. "What would you like to drink?" The waiter asked.

"Waters are fine for the both of us." I explained. I read the menu as the waiter walked towards the swinging doors of the kitchen. As soon as I found out what I wanted to eat, the waiter came and handed us our drinks, and asked what we wanted to eat. "I would like a bowl of Penne Alfredo." I ordered.

"And I would like some Kids' Mac 'n' Cheese." Kate responded. We waited for the food to come and I started up a conversation with Kate, "So, what cake would you like to get when we eat dinner?"

"Blueberry muffins!" Kate bounced enthusiastically.

"Blueberry... Muffins?" I asked. "You sure that's what you want? We can have those any day, but this is our one and only birthday; It only comes around once a year."

"I'm sure! I want muffins!" Kate persisted.

"Alright... Muffins it is then." I checked the time, 11:13 PM. We have plenty of time before midnight, Kate's birthday bedtime. the waiter walked over to our table whilst holding two plates, one with Alfredo smothered penne, another with macaroni blanketed with cheddar cheese sauce.

After dinner we headed home and made some more muffins, making sure not to burn them this time. They tasted even better than before, like a cloud packaged in a chewy breading. Packaged. Shit! I forgot to do today's mail run! "Kate? Do you want to go on the mail run this time? I know your left at home a lot on Fridays, when I have to deliver mail." My mail route on Friday started right when Kate gets home from school, and it usually take a few hours.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Kate replied enthusiastically.

"Sorry to cut the party short, but my mailbag is calling." I rush over to where my mailbag used to be, but it isn't there.

"I already got it filled and ready!" Kate answered, holding the bag in her hands. The bag had a few envelopes sticking out of it, and several rolls of newspaper. I take the bag and walk out the door. I try to go through the mail run as quickly as possible because it is getting close to Kate's bedtime, and I myself am getting tired. On the last apartment building in our complex, I see a few cars parked outside, more than normal. Maybe someone is having a party? I dunno. I put down the weekly newspaper on the front doorstep and move onto the next apartment. We keep up this continuous routine until the last newspaper is placed. Or at least until Kate falls asleep on my shoulder.

We get home around 11:27 PM, and I just put Kate to bed. I decide that I should take a nice bath for my twenty-fifth birthday. I hardly have time for anything but a shower, so a bath is a nice reward for a good twenty-five years lived in my life. I walk over to the bathroom, climb into the tub, and get the water going. The rest of that time is pretty much a blur. The one thing I can remember is my head bashing on the back of the tub as my vision goes black.

~~~~~Unbelievable Speed~~~~~...for five score divided by four...

I wake laying in a bathtub full of freezing water. What happened? I can't remember... I rub my forehead as I try to remember what happened after dinner. I look at the clock on the wall, 11:34 PM. My hand starts scratching my thigh as if I had an itch there. I try to remember what happened after dinner again, and I have no luck at the fact, because the harder I try to think about it, the worse my headache gets. I look down at what my hand is scratching, and it isn't a bug bite. My blood changes to the temperature of the water that I'm in as I remember everything that happens after dinner, all the way up to fainting in the tub.

Seven magnificent gray bubbles are imprinted on my leg. Derpy's Cutie Mark.

Fuck.