//------------------------------// // Happy Independence Day // Story: The Quiet Kid: Day by Day // by aegishailstorm //------------------------------// "Hmmm..." William pondered his thoughts as he sat once more on his couch. As motionless as he could be, when it struck him. " Holy ####! It's-" He rushed over to his calendar, and checked the date. "July 3rd! Of course, how could I have forgotten?" He stumbled back into his couch, and buried his head within one of it's pillows. The fourth of July, was one of, if not William's favorite holiday of the year. Back on earth, it had been the only time he had been permitted to ,'play,' with explosives. If only miniscule ones, it had still brought him much joy. And, what with his newfound powers. He intended to make this 4th a day for all Ponyville to remember. "Hey William-" He pulled himself up from the couch, and bounded towards the door. Stopping only to peer the the window to ensure that it was indeed his friend. " Ah, come on in bud." He swung the door aside, and the alicorn stepped inside. As usual, with a smile on his face. " Morning William. What's got you in such a good mood today?" He chuckled. "Well Joey, tomorrow's the 4th of July. And you know what that means, right?" His friend pawed the ground with his hoof, " Fireworks, streamers and food?" William nodded. " That's certainty part of it, but just like Christmas, that's not the most important part of it. It's about celebrating the birth of dear ol' uncle Sam!" Joey rolled his eyes, " Knowing you, I'm sure you've got something interesting planed. " "Yeah, I do." William cracked his knuckles, and went to grab his laptop. " William, one thing, are you sure that this isn't going to cause any harm to the residents of our dear town?" They both looked at each other, and laughed, " No, probably no." They laughed again. Joey, with a slight tinge of awkwardness. William was fond of taking his favorite hobbies and holidays overboard. Sometimes, literally. And considering that this was one he respected, he knew that he was in for a treat. What he was not expecting was for William to say this, " I need Twilight's help." "I'm sorry, did you just say-" "Yes, I'd like some creature other than me... And you, to appreciate my work." He jumped up from his laptop, and rushed out the door, leaving Joey alone in the room with the laptop. Out of curiosity, he peered over at the screen. Almost as soon as he had begun to move his head, William rushed back inside, and slammed the screen shut. " Nope." Was William's only response, before rushing out again. Joey hung his head, and followed him out. "I will never understand him, will I?" He almost half expected a response back, but no. All that he was greeted with was silence. And, through all the commotion of the town. This distant sound of boots repeatedly hitting cobblestone. "Hey, Twilight?" William repeatedly tapped on the front door of the castle. " I need help with something." He paused, and waited, " Yes? Oh, William! What is is?" "A few years I told you about a certain holiday my nation celebrates back on earth. The 4th of July?" She shook her head, " I don't remember, it's been quite a while. " William scratched his balaclava clad chin, " Well, the 4th of July is a very special holiday which only the United States of America celebrates, it's meant to commemorate ate the founding of our nation. There's usually a lot of fireworks involved. Think you can help me with that?" "You'd have to ask Pinkie. " William rubbed his neck up against his shoulder, " Well, her and I aren't exactly on good terms. Thanks anyway." "No problem." William turned and walked back down the long dirt pathway leading back into town, "It's alright, I'll just have to improvise. " A 40 millimeter grenade appeared in the palm of his hand, he looked it over. And tosses it up a few inches, catching it with no real effort. "Yes, no problem at all..." "So, how did it go?" Joey asked, trotting up next to William as his boots tore miniscule holes in the tall grass at the edge of town. He stopped next to an old oak tree. " Well, Twilight can't provide me with what I need, but I think she's ok with it. Besides, why go go bug a bunch of ponies for fireworks, when I can acquire ordinance 10 times as powerful with a snap of my finger?" William continued on, tweaking his rifle optic as he headed out of town, towards the Everfree forest. " What about lunch!?" Joey called out. "I'll figure it out!" came a response. William had already disappeared behind a veil of woodland. Roughly one day later... "Hey, William! C'mon man, I know you're out there!" William was awoken to the sound of wings flapping over head, in a daze, he looked up. Oddly enough, he was still in the forest, "Damnit, I must've fallen asleep. How did this happen?" William had been out wandering the woods since mid day yesterday. And, being that he had been far to lazy to walk back, simply collapsed out in the woods behind his home. And now his friend had found him, all achy and ready for breakfast. Then, he looked at his watch, " 11: 28!?" He called up to Joey, " Uh, yeah! I mean, I don't have a watch but I just looked up at the sun and its out about halfway!" Joey called down. With a groan he pushed himself up off the ground, and stumbled forward, he set his sore gloved hand on... something, upon looking down, he noticed that he had been leaning on his friends wing. " Ah! How did you get down here?" He pulled his hand way, and looked though the woods. And recognized his location immediately, he was about a quarter mile from his house. " So, how'd you sleep?" His friend asked with a degree of sarcasm, William rubbed his neck, and took a few steps forward. " Alright, hey, fun fact, did you know that liminal spaces make for an excellent gunnery range?" Joey raised an eyebrow. " I'll explain it to you on the way. Happy Independence day." He began trudging forward again. "See you tonight Joey." William slammed the sliding glass door to his house. " Uh, ok. Do you at least want breakfast?" "I'll make it myself." He pulled the curtain back, and reeled around, " Now, food!" Joey blinked, " He's been acting weird lately, actually, nevermind. He's just acting normal. His normal anyway." Joey took off, leaving William on his own. Several hours later... "Hey, Rainbow!" "Uh, what?" "You wanna know the great thing about the day-night cycle in Equestria?" "What?" " There's never any time changes. Unless Luna, or Celestia sleep in." "Huh?" William had tried to strike up a conversation with Rainbow Dash as she passed over his house. Curious as to what he was doing setting up a set of lawn chairs on a small improvised deck. He had spent the entire day, or rather, half day. Walking around town setting up modified rotary anti aircraft batteries. And, stranger still, nopony had questioned it. Most in fact, had had steered clear of what he was doing. Those that didn't just stopped by to say hello, he had even had another encounter with Derpy Hooves. Which had brightened his mood. It was nearly impossible to be unhappy around her. And he had gotten back home just in time for the sun to go down. " So, what are you doing up here?" It was about then when Joey came flying up, sitting right down next to William. " So, you ready?" "No, not yet, I'll be back in a moment." William climbed down from from the roof into his bedroom window. "So... How was your day?" Joey questioned Rainbow, " It was good, yours?" "Well, I would've spent the day with him, but William insisted that I leave him alone, so I did." "Is he alright?" Joey smirked, " William? The Quiet Kid? It's complicated. " The 2 watched as William climbed back out of his bedroom window, gabbed onto the edge or the roof. And pulled himself up, just narrowly avoiding getting his vest caught on the gutter. With one final push, he swung himself up over the ledge, and onto the rooftop. He looked straight up, and was met by a pair of ponies. "Heh, I could lay here all night. But that's not what I'm here for. Let's get this show started!" William set a duffle bag off to the side, and unzipped it. Revealing a bag of potato chips, and a bottle of root beer. He slumped back into the chair on the leftmost side of the roof. "Go on, sit down. Get comfortable. We're gonna be here a while." "Why did you go through the effort of putting these chairs up here William?" Rainbow asked, looking out at the town, " Well, good question. Keep watching!" He reached into his pocket, and extracted a small detonator with a radio antenna attached to the end. "Happy fourth of July!!!" He cried out, he gave the button a single gentle tap with his thumb. For a few seconds, nothing happened. "William, are you sure you wired it correctly-" In an instant, the entire night sky was lit up by dozens of fireworks. Fired from launchers all across town. All in shades of red, blue, and white. Together, the detonations formed the vague silhouette of the American flag in the Equestrian night sky. Followed by scenes of the revolutionary war. All across town, ponies looked up at the sky, wondering where the beautiful display of pyrotechnics had come from. None, except Twilight, knew it's true meaning. But they enjoyed it nonetheless.