//------------------------------// // 11. Recollection // Story: Gifts and Curses // by flamevulture17 //------------------------------// [Chapter 11] Recollection Celestia had been conversing with Lyra's parents and her sister Luna for the past half hour. She and her sister spoke about the mysterious magical surge that occurred near Ponyville just thirteen hours prior. They were surprised that no pony had heard of the news the royal sisters had brought before them simply because very few ponies were told that it ever happened. Some may have felt it themselves, but may not have taken it into much consideration. The only mention of an investigation was equivocally expressed that their daughter was one of the ponies making the effort to solve the mystery. As the residents of the house were brought up to speed with the information Princess Celestia had provided, it became clear that their visit was undeniably enlightening. As Celestia finished on their current standing on the case, Luna finally had an opportunity to voice her side of the story. “Sister?” she began. “Do you recall the details of a certain point in Equestrian history when our little ponies went through a revolutionary phase?” Luna was sure that it couldn't be that hard to remember, since, by alicorn standards, it wasn't that long ago. “What point in time are you referring to?” Celestia responded. “Well, it was no more than sixteen decades ago. Just before the founding of Ponyville.” “Oh, yes, I do remember it so. Though, why do you ask?” Luna turned to face Lyra's father, postponing an explanation for her sister. “Mr. Decimal? What do you know of your grandfather-in-law?” “Not a whole lot,” he said. “Mostly speculation. The ponies around at the time considered him a stranger to not only Canterlot, but of Equestria. They saw him as somepony who didn't fit in with social customs from the way he presented himself. They thought he was some crazy pony on the streets or just really lost. I know that can't be true, he was a good stallion.” “Did he have any relatives or family members before him?” Luna asked. “Not that I know of. He claimed to have come from some place no pony has heard of before.” “England,” Luna whispered to herself, looking down. She sighed and repeated herself out loud to Celestia, whom sat quietly, absorbing all this new information. “Sister, do you know a place called London?” “I don't,” she replied, confirming Luna's doubts. “That has to be it!” Luna said to no pony in general, almost shouting. She took a moment to think while each of them gave her a confused look. “What are you talking about?” Celestia said, still having her head wrapped in the mist that is Luna's ambiguity and secrecy. This would be a good time for her sister to speak her mind and tell everypony what it was that got her so excited, or at least, more excited than usual. “I went to Ponyville to meet with a source of information about the magical surge. Apparently, I got more than I bargained for.” Luna paused for a moment. She felt like she was giving a presentation to a panel of business ponies. “Okay, so the source I met up with happened to be the oldest pony alive and the oldest Apple family member, Granny Smith.” Celestia perked her ears up at the mention of a familiar name. “She already knew about the surge because it wasn't the first time she encountered the strange occurrence.” Right then, Celestia knew why she recognized that name. It was the same pony who co-founded Ponyville when she discovered Zap Apples, a very big deal back then. “She visited Canterlot with a friend back in the day,” Luna continued, turning to Celestia “She told me that your rule had some internal or social conflict, am I right?” Princess Celestia wasn't expecting that. The reminder made her feel a little more ashamed of her inability to maintain order in the past, seeing how her little sister was now fully aware of it. It wasn't her own fault that Equestria suffered a small depression, it was in the interests of her little ponies. It was a time when some of them were beginning to form unions and social orders. Not a bad thing, but when in large numbers, things can get ugly. Then the protests started. She wasn't sure what to do when some of her not-so-loyal subjects were beginning to see behind her leadership. Not only that, they believed that Equestria could function without her influence, forgetting that she provided the most crucial duty of raising the sun every single day. Without Luna by her side, it was difficult to keep Equestria from falling apart because she had twice the amount of work to do for the longest time, raising both the sun AND moon. Talk about determination. Then, in an unexpected turn of events, a mysterious force rattled the city of Canterlot. Maybe it was- “Celestia?” Luna spoke, her voice slightly muffled. “Are you alright?” “Huh?” The Sun Princess was looking off to the side as she reminisced that unforgettable period in history that Luna brought into the discussion. As important as it was, she still didn't understand what it had to do with Lyra and her parents. “Oh, yes. It- … it was a complicated time, so it is hard to forget. I assure you that everything is alright now. I am not sure how that time is relevant.” “You said it yourself. Everything is alright now,” Luna stated. “Yes, but I don't see your point.” “The very same magical anomaly that occurred in the middle of the night near Ponyville, took place in Canterlot around the same time at the height of disorder. I lightly assume that it had somehow influenced social unrest to become more stable. I'm not sure how exactly, but it makes a lot more sense.” The home owners sitting across from the royal sisters took this history lesson as somewhat surprising and unbelievable. The idea that ponies were able to conduct themselves without the influence of their beloved Princess Celestia was unheard of. The reason no pony today knew about the civil turmoil was because so little was recorded in old texts. Most ponies at the time hardly knew that Equestria was going into a social shock in the first place, since most of it occurred among ponies in the capital of Canterlot. The remaining documents and books that elaborated its very existence were kept in Princess Celestia's private chambers. She feared that if such talk of anarchy and disorder were to venture into the minds of her subjects, and spread to neighboring cities, it risked Equestria's safety and stability. “Another matter still troubles me,” Celestia began. “We are not in a state of turmoil or on the brink of collapse at this time. Our country is in total harmony, as far as I'm concerned. So why did this recent surge happen at this present time of peace?” she concluded. Celestia wanted to test Luna if she was on the right track for the past ten minutes. The question seemed to contradict Luna's theories that the specific strange magic they were dealing with was an inter-dimensional response to the threat of chaos. A crazy thought, but a very real idea that both sisters have spent some time in searching for other realities other than their own, with no success. She believed the magic might had divine properties. Maybe even go as far as to say it was... sentient. Though, as far as her sister's logic was concerned, truth triumphed uncertainty. “I don't know. My only guess is... … random” Luna couldn't find a better word to respond to a question which she didn't have the answer to. “Oh, well that's reassuring.” Celestia rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with that analysis. “We could investigate a deeper explanation for your hypothesis at a later time.” She held out her right foreleg at Luna. “For now, please continue.” “Do you remember anything else that might have happened, sister? Any other magical anomalies in Canterlot to speak of following the days of the first surge?” “Not that I knew at the time. The first burst of energy was the only one. No other occurrences followed since.” It was easy for Celestia to recall how much it wasn't much a big deal back then, seeing how it only happened once with no damage to anypony in the city. Most citizens talked about it for several days, two weeks at the most, before most forgot it ever happened the months that followed. “Then you probably did not feel the instance when their grandfather made his first appearance. It was probably as weak as any other spell preformed by a unicorn.” Luna felt like she was on a fire, figuratively speaking, with how well she tried to catch her sister in a complete state of uncertainty. She tried her best to conceal her excitement from a very intriguing discovery. The more she did and said, the closer she was to she was to success. In order to move forward, she'd have to continue collaborating with the parents of Ms. Lyra Heartstrings. She turned to the stallion. “Your grandfather appeared in Equestria at the very height of the country's social disorder, who I believe has indirectly led the country in a more peaceful state somehow.” “What do you mean, 'appeared in Equestria'? he asked. “Oh, I don't think he was from Equestria at all,” Luna replied. Lyra's father and his wife leaned their heads in as she spoke to listen more attentively. Celestia showed interest, but wasn't a stranger to the way her sister put it. “I believe he originated from a different world,” Luna stated. Right then, Princess Celestia's eyes grew wide. “You mean, not of this planet?” Celestia questioned with a stronger curiosity form that piece of information. “Yes. When I visited Granny Smith in Ponyville, she told the most fascinating story of when she first met this strange pony, which happened to be your grandfather,” Luna gestured a hoof at the couple. “She was the first to meet him and she gave details about his unusual behavior. I never thought a pony like Granny Smith was alive at the time, let alone meet the very peculiar pony that I believe indirectly caused Equestria to stabilize.” “Are you sure it was him that made Equestria come together?” Celestia asked. “I have reason to believe that, despite being a foreigner in our land, he had knowledge of certain things that no pony at the time had ever thought was possible. Like the railroad, for example, Granny Smith told me he knew how they functioned even before ponies came up with such a mode of transportation. I've done my research and we've only had trains of the last hundred years, and the mysterious surge that brought him here occurred fifty years prior to our first railroad prototype. Many more new things followed years after, having been first described by him, for example, the electric light bulb, the camera, and even an engine powered by steam.” Celestia was almost shocked that Luna was able to explain the one time in Equestrian history when the country began to revolutionize with a wave of inventions that improved the lifestyles of ponydom. For the last century, most of her scholars couldn't quite figure out the cause of this new pony society. This was new information to her and eagerly wanted to know where the exact location the couple's grandfather came from. “Where did this foreign unicorn say he was from? You asked me about a place called London, but I am not familiar with such a land. “I'm not either, he also spoke of another name, England?” “Is it the name of his world?” “I don't believe so. It sounds like the name of a country, but surely there isn't such a place, as far as we know. The rest that was spoken of his past was deemed as nonsense by the ponies around him, including the talk about humans.” Again, Celestia was exposed to new words she had never heard before. It was as if Luna herself was from some other world. Another crazy thought, but only a joke. The word humans definitely sounded alien to all of the ponies in the room listening to Princess Luna's elaboration, including to the subtle pink face hiding in the shadows of the dimly lit staircase. - - - A minute prior... The small second-floor bedroom housed a sleeping dragon and two unicorns exchanging friendly stories with each other, but lacked a certain spontaneous pink Earth pony whose informal orders were to stay upstairs until the royals sisters were finished. Apparently, Pinkie Pie had quickly grown bored of having to wait forever for the important talk be over and disappeared out into the hall without anypony noticing. Ever since Pinkie knew what her friends were up to, she had even more reason to help her bestest friend Twilight and her other bestest friend Lyra on their investigation. It was Pinkie Pie's first visit to Lyra's childhood home and it looked much different from regular modern houses back in Ponyville. This one had an older interior design that was now considered old fashion, a term for which her friend Rarity appreciated as an inspiration for dress designs. She'd like this place for sure, Pinkie thought. After strolling through the halls in an unusually relaxed state, Pinkie heard the faint voices of the Princesses and of the nice couple she met earlier before her friends arrived. Maybe it was curiosity that compelled her or just in her nature to be omniscient. Pinkie reached the top of the gloomy staircase, poorly lit by insufficient ambient lighting. With half the steps obstructed by a wall, cutting through the second floor at an angle, and the living room directly to the left of the stairs, Pinkie cautiously kept to the shadows. She leaned in a little bit further to maximize audio clarity of the conversation. It was not like it was the first time she eavesdropped on somepony, but secrets were being kept from everypony that were just begging to get out of their candy coated cages. - - - As Princess Luna spoke, she eyed each one of her companions, including her sister, as if giving a lecture to a class of elementary school fillies. “He was highly convinced of that he was in a lucid dream during most of his stay in Canterlot. Granny Smith and a friend of hers offered him hospitality till he got his back on his hooves. I can only guess that he stayed for his first few months. Granny Smith mentioned that he joined her to look for a new place to settle after staying with her unicorn friend. I have reason to believe that this is the very residence which he first stayed, previous owned by Granny Smith's friend,” Luna put her hooves in the air, confident that everything she was saying was the truth, or very close to it. “May I ask, how did your family come to own this house?” Luna turned to the couple. Dewey paused to think for several seconds before answering. “My- … I mean, my wife's mother, Pearl, was the only offspring of his. She was born in Ponyville and lived there with her father, which you're saying he wasn't from this world to begin with. That is bizarre to me. Hon, did your mother come to back to live in this house?” he asked her. “No, she stayed with her father for the majority of her days,” she answered. “She was all he had. I don't exactly know the relationship he had with Pearl, but she was by his side most of the time, like he had a strong connection with her. When she had me shortly after he passed away, I grew up in Ponyville, but I came to the capital to begin a city life. I met you here in Canterlot after completing the Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, remember dear?” “Oh yes, I remember.” “After school, I searched for a place in the city and one of my classmates recommended the house where my grandfather used to live. Fortunately, she recognized that I was a decedent of his and the house was up for rent. So I decided to take the opportunity.” Luna and Celestia gave their full attention to the story Lyra's parents were telling, like foals listening to a bedtime story read by a loving mother. As they continued with their story, Princess Luna thought she noticed a pattern in their history, but could quite put her hoof on in. “What did your mother do for a living?” Luna asked. “Well, it's hard to say. She didn't really have a special talent.” Celestia tipped her head a little at that statement. Cirrus gave notice, but continued to explain. “You could say she was a pony of many talents, like the Cutie Pox, except not an illness. A prodigy, if you will.” “She did earn her cutie mark, right? Even being the daughter of a potential... alien.” Celestia almost stuttered at that last word. “When you put it that way, yes.” How does that work? Celestia thought to herself. Luna asked herself the very same question. Even as power alicorns, rulers of Equestria, there are still so many unsolved mysteries. It was unclear if Pearl's father had a cutie mark, or special talent, but their only bet was to assume so. Things started to add up. Now all they needed was to fit Lyra into the picture. “Where does that put Lyra?” Celestia generalized. “Surely she is just as normal as any other pony, correct?” “We aren't entirely sure,” Dewey began. “The last time she lived with us was several years ago before she went off to study at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.” Princess Celestia smiled at that remark. “Later, she moved to Ponyville. When she was a filly, she seemed as normal as any pony, but from what Pinkie Pie has told us, Lyra has completely changed.” “She had been very helpful with our investigation, I thank her for that, but I haven't noticed her acting strangely,” Celestia said. “Is there something she does or knows that make you believe she is different?” Lyra's parents looked at each other for a moment, then back to Celestia and Luna. “We're convinced there is, but we don't know what it is?” Princess Luna was rather unsatisfied with that answer. They got so far as to put the puzzle pieces of a family together, but realizing that the finished product was incomplete. She felt eager and nervous to break it to Lyra that her family was not of Equestria. It was probably the first time Luna had ever felt nervous on giving unexpected news to an intelligent pony such as Heartstrings. “Should we speak to Lyra about it, sister?” Luna turned to Celestia. - - - “...so when Bon-bon came home, she flipped out and almost fainted.” Lyra started laughing. “I was trying something new, but I never knew that baking could be such a challenge.” “What happened to the stove?” Twilight asked, trying to calm down after laughing herself. “Oh it was fine, but the entire room was a mess. The moment Bon-bon walked in the room, I was so embarrassed. I didn't know how she'd take it. My first time making sweets and it became a hilarious disaster. Don't worry, no pony got hurt.” Lyra and Twilight went silent for a moment, then continued to giggle at Lyra's ridiculous story on trying to bake a batch of muffins for the first time. Before both of them could regain their composure, Pinkie Pie strolled through the bedroom door in her usual bubbly personality, humming a soft tune to her self as if she discovered something new. True enough, she couldn't keep it a secret for too long. Pinkie trotted right up to Lyra, who sunk her head back, hoping the pink pony wasn't presumed hostile. “Why didn't you tell me?” she squeaked, looking straight into Lyra's golden-yellow eyes at a dangerously close distance. “Tell you what, Pinkie?” Lyra recoiled. “That you're an alien thingy.” At this point, both Lyra and Twilight were lost. Even Spike was awake and curious at Pinkie's creepy grin as she continued to stare at Lyra with intense bewilderment. It scared and confused the mint-green unicorn. She didn't know how to respond. Whether Pinkie was truly crazy, or has concluded that Lyra is somehow this... well, not a pony. Certain that was just be a joke. “I'm no alien, Pinkie,” Lyra rolled her eyes. “But you are,” Pinkie said as she bounced around the mint green unicorn with dying excitement. “Your super old grandpa was an alien thingy, too. A creature of some other world in a pony's body. But no pony knew it because he looked like a normal pony. A regular pony. I never heard of anything like this before. Oh, this is a doozie. What did he really look like before. Do you look like that too? Where did he come from? How did he get here? What was his favorite color? If you are part of him and he is a part of you, that makes you-” “Pinkie Pie!” Twilight stuck a hoof to the hyper pink pony's mouth, stopping her mid-sentence. “Slow down.” Pinkie froze dead in her tracks, floating precariously in the air until she crashed to the floor. “Now, what are you talking about? How do you know all this?” Twilight asked with Pinkie's attention. “Oh, I heard the Princess talk about it.” “You eavesdropped?” Twilight said, almost shouting in anger at her nosy friend. “But we-” “I'm sorry Twilight, I couldn't help it. All this waiting and stories and history and secrets and waiting and stories and waiting made me do it,” Pinkie begged. “It's all so tempting, and cool.” “We were specifically told to stay here until they're done. For what I know, it is very important that we stay out of it unless they tell us themselves. Do you realize what-” “Let it go, Twilight,” Lyra cut it. “I'm sure the Princess doesn't know, or mind if she does.” “But-” Lyra walked up to her lavender friend and put her left foreleg around her neck to comfort her. Twilight went silent to recollect her delineated thoughts into a more optimistic order. She was afraid of being the one to blame for Pinkie running off and allegedly spying on the Princesses, but only needed to support of a friend to help her overcome that fear and use her company as solace. She let out a long sigh. “I'm fine.” Twilight and Lyra looked up at Pinkie with disappointment. Whether she was telling the truth or not, her little intrusion got their attention. Pinkie Pie noticed the eyes of both unicorn were staring daggers at her. “What?” “You were saying?” Twilight said, eagerly waiting for a response from her party-crazed friend. “Where was I? Oh yeah. So what are you? A scary looking monster? A slimy squid? A fish creature? A big-” “What are you talking about?” Lyra interrupted. “You don't know?” “Know what?” “That your old granddaddy was not from here?” Pinkie vaguely declared. “What do you mean, 'not from here'?” Twilight joined in. “Somewhere far away from Equestria?” “I think so. The Princess said he was like this super smarty pants that invented trains and pictures and things and stuff. Weird huh? I didn't know somepony could be that smart that didn't come from Equestria. ” “That was him?” Lyra questioned. She began to think that her intelligence ran in the family. Although, she still had doubts on if any of this was just speculation. “What did the Princess say exactly?” “Oh there was this one weird word Luna said that I've never heard before. It was 'humans'. Have you guys heard of it before? Do you know what it means? I don't.” Pinkie shrugged. … Twilight turned to her green friend to find her with eyes wide open, pupils shrunk into tiny beads, and her body frozen in place. A fearful blank stare was painted all over Lyra's face. *Zzt... zzt... zzt...* *Zzt... zzt... zzz...* Dale grabbed Andrew's duffel bag and started sifting though its contents for the noisy vibrating cellphone. Even for a small device, it was amazing how they were able to hear and feel the buzz it created. After a few seconds, he grabbed the annoying black phone and checked the caller ID. “It's Peter.” Dale showed the small glowing screen to his friend. “Should I answer it?” Andrew did not respond. He and Alex were too preoccupied with observing the green apple that appeared on the floor in front of them just moment ago. Alex slowly picked up the piece of fruit and took a bite. He chewed slowly, shrugged, then smiled to confirm it to be a tasty apple, mocking his brother with its delicious flavor. Andrew focused his attention back to Dale and shook his head in denial. “Just ignore-” Then, he squeezed his eyes shut in realization and put a hoof to his head. “Oh damn! I forgot we were supposed to meet him at Steven's house today. Damn damn!” Dale took surprise as well, also unmindful of their old plan for the day, but was quick to press the green button just before it went to a missed call and held the phone up to his ear. “Hellooo?” There was an awkward silence on the other end before Peter's voice muffled through. “My man Dale, what's going on? Where you at buddy? Andrew's house?” “How did you know that?” he tried to joke. “This ain’t your phone, so I took a wild guess. Ha ha, what do I win?” “So, what's up?” Dale failed at avoiding conversation. “Steven and I decided to come to your house instead, but you weren't home.” Dale made a nervous expression. This was going so well. Why would they go there? Why didn't they say anything earlier, other than just showing up at his vacant house? “How long ago was this?” he finally managed to say. “Oh, about two minutes ago actually.” “Wait. Where are you now?” Dale quickly said, anxiously hoping for a different answer than what he had in mind. “Down the street. On our way to Andrew's house, yo. We know you're there and I know Andrew rarely leaves his house. We'll be there in-” *beep* Before Peter could finish, Dale hung up on him. He looked at Andrew and Alex, then heavily sighed. For a couple seconds, he had his head down and eyes closed. Suddenly, Dale instantly jumped out of his seat, ran to the bedroom door, violently forced it open, and disappeared out of the room leaving Andrew and his brother with clueless expressions. From listening in on Dale's end of the conversation, they had a vague idea what was going on. Either it was bad news, or really bad news. Andrew stepped back towards Alex's desk on the back side of the room, eyes on the open door. Both of their heart rates elevated in absolute fear. Seconds later, they heard Dale cry out from somewhere else in the house. “Andrew!” The small unicorn hesitated to walk forward. Instead of cautiously taking careful steps, he darted quickly out the door. Alex did the same, following close behind. They stopped at the top of the stairs and peeked around the corner. They found Dale at the foot of the front door, several feet from the base of the stairs. He looked too terrified to move, standing with his back against the large wooden door. “What is it?” Andrew shouted in whisper, enough to be heard though the silent house. “Peter and Steven.” At that moment, Andrew mouth hung open for a moment, then retreated back to his own room. Alex on the other hand, went the other direction and ran down the steps to join Dale, who was slowly hyperventilating. “Your friends?” he asked. “Yeah.” Dale struggled to calm down, but the status of their situation was too much. “What do they want?” Alex whispered. “We were going to hang out today, but I guess that didn't happen. They came here instead and didn't tell me. We can't just tell them to leave because they won't be willing to go if they came all the way here.” Dale explained. Alex then realized what that meant and started to panic. He was at a loss of words as he waited at the door with Dale. He put his head up to the peep hole. There wasn't a single person outside, only an empty street and a lone car in the driveway. “Where are they?” Alex whispered once more. “They should be here by now,” Dale replied. “They called a minute ago and it doesn't take that long to get here from my house.” The more Alex found out what was going on, the less he liked the situation. They had almost no time to figure out a way to hide Andrew and hoped that his friends were gullible enough to believe a terrible lie. As if on cue, they began to hear faint voices coming from around the thick brush of plants that obscured the north end of the sidewalk. Those voices got louder and louder, till Dale and Alex saw two figures appear through the blue-tinted window. It was Peter and Steven. They had their jacket hoods over their heads concealing their identities, but to Dale, the way the conversation went became easily recognizable. Dale quickly snapped back from looking through the side window as soon as they turned their heads in his direction. Without another second to waste, he took a deep breath and sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could, leaving the perplexed youngster behind. Alex felt heartlessly abandoned for second, then Dale came running back down the stairs at top speed. He almost lost control at the bottom, but regained his balance and avoiding slamming into the door next to Alex. “Go- … go upstairs … and hide your brother. I'll take care of this,” Dale panted, pointing up the stairs. Alex nodded and did what he was told. As Dale watched the boy leave and disappear around the corner of the second floor, all became quiet. Even the chatter of his friends had ceased. Dale could hear his own heartbeat under the ringing in his ears while holding in his breath. A quick rush of goosebumps enveloped his body, making him cringe as a reflex. The perfect temperature and undisturbed air in the house was almost unreal, as if his sense of touch no longer existed. Everything in his vicinity remained so still, it was like he was looking at a photograph. Dust particles were visible, silently floating around in the rays of sunlight that shined through the windows. No other thought flooded his mind other than how serene the indoor environment appeared to be. Time seemed to stop while space yielded to it. For what felt like the longest three seconds in history... *TAP TAP TAP TAP* Dale flinched, stepping away from the door. His heart rate skyrocketed. The wood and stained glass door was the difference between trouble, and a whole lot more trouble. He only hoped that more trouble wouldn't be so bad on second thought. It all depended on how he could play it cool and hide his anxiety during conversation. He slowly held out his right hand, placed it on the cold silver knob, and took a deep breath. He hesitated. For the second that he paused, a flash memory in the back of his mind reminded him of another instance in his life when he was this scared. That vague memory soon vanished as quickly as it came. Dale twisted the doorknob and pulled the door wide open, letting in a rush of chilly air collide with his face. “What's up, guys?” Dale couldn't quite control the shaking in his voice, partly due to the cold air and partly due to fearful nerve. Peter was dressed in a brown zip-up sweater and a pair of black sweat pants highlighted with two white lines running down the side of each leg. Steven wore a faded black hoodie with a sixties peace symbol on the front and long blue jeans. “Yo man,” Peter took one hand out of his pockets and held up a fist. Dale had his arms on his elbows for comfort from the cool weather, but sacrificed a hand to brofist his friend in return. “What, you didn't have enough time to change out of your pajamas?” Peter continued. Dale had completely forgotten that he hadn't changed his clothes since Andrew surprised him this morning. He still had on a comfortable gray pair of plaid dress pants on. Because he didn't know what to say, he needed to improvised his lies. “Oh, this,” Dale looked down at himself and shrugged. “You know me. I'm just THAT lazy.” Even with both earphones in his ears, Steven chuckled. Without asking, Peter stepped forward to let himself in, but Dale closed the door in on him halfway, just enough to block anyone from entering. A terrible move on Dale's part. “You gonna let us in dude?” Peter looked at him annoyed. “Uh-,” Dale realized his mistake, remembering that who he was trying to protect, was none of their concern yet. So he revoked his action and opened the door wider and stepped out of the way to let his friends in. “Yeah, my bad.” Peter and Steven casually made their way to the living room to sit down and relax. Dale closed the door and joined them. “So...” Dale trailed off. “What made you guys want to come here instead.” “We tried calling you.” Peter said. “When?” “Right before we called Andrew.” Dale head dropped in realization. “Damn, I left it at home when we-” he stopped himself before he could speak any further. “Before you what?” Peter questioned. “Speaking of which, where is Andrew anyway? Why did you answer his phone for him?” The way the loquacious teen gave an unadvised demand quickly frightened Dale. His heart began to race again from the uneasy looks from his two friends that seemed to be concerned with not being greeted by Andrew himself. “He wasn't available at the time,” was the only legitimate excuse Dale could come up with. “And my first question?” Peter whirled his hand in a circular motion for him to continue. Even Steven took out his earphones, giving Dale a scary look. “Uhhhhh...” Dale backed away from his friends, inching slowly for the hallway. “Are you guys playing with us?” Steven said in an ironically sweet tone and followed with a weak snicker. Dale said nothing. He knew that every time he tried to avoid talking about Andrew, things got worse. He paused as Steven spoke, but resumed backing away while still making eye contact with them. He ran through his options of some way out of his heart pounding situation. Telling the truth would be the least desirable option. Escaping out the front door was just as bad, if not worst. Two ideas seemed promising. Considering he had no time to carefully chose, he went with the one that would take the longest time to preform. “Can you guys hang on a moment?” Dale held up his right index finger as physical representation of his intentions. “Can you just tell us, bro?” Peter raised both his arms and spread them out. “No.” “Why not?” “I just can't.” “Like I said, are you guys playing with us?” Steven repeated his question, now with a more serious look on his face. “No.” “Than what?” This war of denial began to feel like a verbal Cold War. Dale didn't know how much longer he could keep it up. The more he refused to cooperate, the more it irritated his friends. Every time he tried changing the subject, the more his friends felt challenged. “You guys really wanna know the truth?” They nodded. “Andrew is dead.”