Chapter 7: The Crazy Thing About Rainy Days
"The sky started to grow dark, fitting for the mood..." Perry told himself, walking through the streets. The weather team said all the sunny days have started to have a negative effect on the crops, so a good downpour would be needed. The darkening noon sun gave Perry one final chance to find shelter from what would be coming, and he took advantage of it, heading to a small bar he heard about from Rainbow when he first arrived. It was a nice quiet place to relax after a hard day at work, and lack of sleep included, Perry's day was anything but easy. He entered and sat down at the bar, the bartender giving a small nod as he walked on over to him. He was a stocky man, middle aged, losing hair and sporting a handle bar mustache. His clothes were basic, a black shirt with matching pants.
"What can I get for you today?" he asked politely, trying not to stare at Perrys face.
"Nothing hard, I don't fair to well with alcohol. It tend to impair my already poor judgment," Parry said to him quietly.
"Hmm..." the Bartender poured up a quick drink, and handed it to Perry. "Today is slow, so if you would like to talk, go right ahead," he walked away, leaving Perry to his thoughts. Perry sat there, only staring into his drink. He kept replaying the events this morning, along with last night. He needed to pull himself out of this. Dwelling on these events would only bother him more. He heard stories of bartenders fixing problems, mainly from Soarin when he would be in a slump about his most recent failed confession attempt toward Spitfire. He laughed a little, remembering how the last time he almost did it at the last gala held at the castle, to only have a group of girls cause a riot, ending any kind of mood that would be set. At least he had his pie to curl up to that night.
"Barkeep!" Perry called out to the man who served him. He walked over and looked down at the drink.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, slightly annoyed.
"Not at all, though I would like a straw if you have one," he raised an eyebrow towards the masked man, handing him a soda straw to use. "Good choice, I always preferred the bendy kind."
"Is that it?" he asked as he watched Perry slip the straw under his mask and start to sip the drink.
"This is good! Anyways, is that offer to chat still available?" Perry asked him straw still stuck under the mask.
"Well, I guess it would be interesting to hear what could be troubling an interesting person like you," he said, smiling.
"Well it's hard to describe really, so let me explain it like this. What would you do if you wanted to distance yourself, but at the same time, felt as though being distant would hurt more?"
"Girl trouble?" the bartender said bluntly, giving a sly smile.
"No No, nothing of the sort...I think," Perry thought to himself. "Well a girl is involved, but the issue is mostly me here, so to speak. I feel...different since starting my stay here. I have a job that I like, and I do it well. But lately it hasn't felt the same from before. I know I still like it, and I normally couldn't be happier with it, but it just felt..."
"Like maybe you put yourself into it to much," the bartender added. Perry could only nod quickly.
"Yes! That's exactly it, I never made it personal, but recently I have, and it has confused me a bit."
"Well son, let me tell you. There is never anything wrong with putting your heart into your work, especially if you like it. I can't imagine how hard it is to be the royal jester for the princesses, but if you really care about making them happy, then there is no harm in doing your best," Perry chuckled slightly. Though he wasn't talking about that job, it does relate well. "I was at your welcoming party. Made some of the cocktails there. It looked like you enjoy yourself quite a lot. Didn't think you were even the same person walking in her all mopey."
"Yes, the weather hasn't helped either, my clothes are not the best for rain weather and getting them soaked would ruin them."
"Now you mentioned girl trouble, too?" he started up again. "You already steal some young ladies heart?" he smirked at Perry.
"No, I don't believe I fancy her like that, kind of the opposite actually."
"What do ya mean?" he started getting into the chat, taking a seat next to Perry.
"It is hard to say this without being rude to her because of what I think. She is almost my polar opposite, a truly different contrast to what I am. I honestly can't stand those qualities about her, but I can't not think about her as well."
"They do say opposites attract sometimes, but life is strange, maybe you just don't really have an understanding of what makes her unique. It's like with my wife. She loved to garden and would tend to her flowers everyday. Now I was still a strapping young lad at the time, so I was naïve. I would see her everyday during my morning jog, and could never understand why she loved those plants so much. Finally during one of those jogs I stopped to ask her. I said, 'Miss, why do you care so much about those things?' and she told me, 'It was an amazing feeling seeing the growth of life, and even more so nurturing it.' She gave me a seed to plant in a flower pot and told me that I needed to see for myself to understand. I still have old Wilfred to this day. Heck, he was even at our wedding," he smiled as he retold the beginning of his love for his wife. Perry listened to it all and it made sense. He got up and left some money on the counter.
"Thank you very much, old barkeep," he said to him happily.
"I'm not that old yet," he said back in his defense. "And why don't you remove that straw from your mask while you're at it, knucklehead," he laughed, pointing to the straw sticking out of Perry's mask. He laughed as well, pulling it out and setting it down.
"Keep this as proof of our meeting and new found understandings, kind barkeep," the bartender looked puzzled at the straw and then back to Perry.
"Your desire and passion is nice and all, but it is still raining, you know," he said to Perry, holding out an umbrella. "Keep this as proof of our meeting, and my new found reason to have to drink more," he grinned. Perry took the umbrella and gave a quick bow before leaving. The bartender went back to work, thinking about his meeting already, staring at the straw. "What a strange man..."
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It was a light drizzle now, beams of light poking through the sky, as Perry made his way back to Fluttershys house. He was passing his house when he noticed something flying at him, and fast. Not fast enough, however, as he purposely dropped a bit only to bend over to pick it up, causing the blur to fly right over him. It made a small crash landing into the ground, and when it stopped, it became the clear, yet muddy form of Rainbow Dash. She got up from her impromptu landing and quickly walked over to Perry.
"Ok, bub! What the hell happened?" she quickly asked him getting up in his face.
"Well, it appears you attempted to tackle me when I dropped some bits. as I picked it up you missed and did a somewhat graceful crash landing into the ground," he said, laughing at her still mud covered form.
"That's not what I mean!" she responded, anger in her voice. "What happened with you and Fluttershy. I seen you come out of her house this morning, and now she won't talk to anyone! Now spill it!" Perry sighed, hoping to have talked to Fluttershy before anyone else.
"I don't believe it's my right to tell the entirety of the events, but I will indulge you on what I was doing. My house is right here, why don't we get out of the rain so we can talk in private," Perry told her as he unlocked his door. "Bathroom is to the left. If you plan on using the shower, I am more than willing to lend you some of my plainer clothes," she stepped in and kicked her shoes off, walking towards the bathroom, obviously still angry. Perry waited in the kitchen for about a minute as she walked out holding a muddy towel.
"Ok, I'm clean enough, start talking!" she said as he sat there.
"Strange to see a woman that isn't a total clean freak, but that's not what you want to hear," Perry said, taking the towel and cautiously throwing it into a basket, not wanting to throw away the effort Rarity put forth. "Anyways, Fluttershy had a rough time last night, so to speak, and I kept her company to make her feel better," Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at that statement, earning a light chuckle out of Perry. "No, not that kind of company. That is not my style," she sighed in relief at hearing him say that. "As we were talking the next morning she said something that bothered me, and..." he stalled a bit at this part of the telling.
"...And what? Come on I haven't got all day!" she snapped at him. In his mind right now, it would have been much easier to kill her than it would have been to talk about his feelings openly like this. He pushed that option out of his head, as he did not believe she deserved that. Still a thought, though.
"I...said a few harsh words I regret now, and I was actually on my way over to apologize. I would tell you what I said, but it does have to do with the private ordeal, so again Fluttershy should be the one to tell you that," he said to her. She looked at him sternly for several minutes, her gaze piercing though him. Seriously, no one would find the body, but he had to take his lumps like a man, and he was at fault in this situation. She finally sighed and patted him on the shoulder.
"Ok, as long as you were going to apologize to her, I forgive you. But no funny business with her!" she said to him, poking him in the mask. "I'll be around, so just yell out. If I ain't sleeping, I'll find you," he sighed and walked to the door getting ready to leave again. He turned back around looking at her, waiting for him to move so she could get ready as well. Perry started speaking to her as he was walking out the door.
"Sorry again to trouble you. Let's go to Pinkie's later and get some fresh cupcakes. My treat," Perry said.
"Sounds good," Rainbow responded, nodding with approval. "By the way, I have an idea..."
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Never has a simple door seemed so hard to pass. Perry stood in front of Fluttershys cottage, just looking at the door. He couldn't figure out why this was difficult. He took a deep breath, knocking quickly and backing up. He waited for a few seconds before the door crept open. He looked but saw no one there until he looked down staring at the small bunny from before. It stared at him menacingly before slamming the door.
"...well, that just happened," Perry told himself after the door was closed. He started knocking again, waiting for a response, but there was none. "Ok, angel, was it? I just came to apologize to her about this morning, so if you could let me in, I will repay the favor," The door remained closed, making Perry slightly irritated. A rabbit was the only obstacle between him and his target, and he refused to accept that. "Well if you want to be like that..." he set down a long box he had brought with him and started to chant.
"Ashes fall, scatter, blowing through the endless skies. From the remains, born anew to begin again, life from dust," as his body started to glow, he finished the incantation. "Ashform," his body suddenly disintegrated into a pile of ash, the remains making there way under the cracks of the door, as if guided by an unseen force. The ash started reassembling, forming the outline of a body on the inside of Fluttershys house. Angel only watched from a distance at the sight he was witnessing, obviously afraid. Finally all of the ash reformed into Perry, coughing slightly while he brushed himself off. He casually walked over to the scared bunny. "Now I consider myself a reasonable person, so I mean it when I say no hard feelings, so let this one time go and I promise you a nice carrot cake," Angel only nodded at him as he went back to the door and grabbed the box he left outside. He walked back over to Angel and crouched down sticking his mask in his face. "I would like to be friends, and friends help each other out, so if she asks, you let me in, understood?" Angel nodded and pointed up the stairs to where she was. Perry gave a slight bow towards him as he started upstairs.
Perry walked over to Fluttershys bedroom door and knocked gently. "Who...who is it?" she asked softly from behind the door.
"A fool who spoke harshly, and wishes to make amends," he responded. It took a few minutes of just standing there, but eventually Fluttershy slowly opened the door, her eyes slightly reddened as she looked at him. It looked like she was crying for some time. Perry handed her the box through the door. She slowly took it and opened it as Perry started to speak. "I am sorry for how I treated you earlier today, and I would ask for your forgiveness," he waited as she looked inside the box. "Rainbow said you liked those, so I figured it would make a nice present," she quietly stared at the simple red rose she pulled out of the box. She spent a good amount of time looking at the beautiful flower. Her eyes started to water up again. Perry, taking notice of this, started to panic. "Umm umm, please don't cry! Was it a bad gift idea, because I wanted to go with balloon animals but she said that you loved flowers and I was ..." he was interrupted as she opened the door and hugged him tightly. He stood there, shaken by the hug.
"It's beautiful. Thank you so much. I am sorry as well for what I said earlier. I didn't know that would upset you," she told him.
"It's no issue. Just me being a tired and slightly moody jerk, nothing more," he told her, returning the hug. He almost forgot why he came back here, losing himself slightly in the moment. She may have not seen it, but he was smiling underneath that mask of his. A smile that was simply because he was happy, and nothing more. She finally let him go, blushing slightly.
"It's a surprise to see that Angel let you in, actually," she was still smiling as she looked at Perry. "He tends to be rather protective of me."
"It took some convincing but we are good friends now," he told her, scratching the back of his head while he laughed lightly.
"That's good to hear. He usually doesn't warm up to strangers so easily."
"Really? It was hard to tell, actually," Perry said to her. "This doorway is getting rather cramped though, so let's talk in the kitchen. I figure the best way to make up for what I said is to tell you a bit more about myself," he said has he moved out of the way for her.
"You don't have to... I mean, if you don't want to. I am happy just knowing you're not mad at me."
"I insist! I'll even make my famous omelette surprise for you!" he said happily.
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"Waters soak the world clean!" a wave of water came from the sink as a fire in the kitchen was extinguished, both Perry and Fluttershy running outside to get some air. Both of them coughing, Perry looked over sheepishly at Fluttershy. She looked back at him with concern in her eyes. Looking around at the mess he caused, he let out a nervous little chuckle. "Surprise?"