//------------------------------// // What is That? // Story: A Second Too Late // by Thunder Seethe //------------------------------// *Authors notes Congratulate me for being the 'Derpy' today! I'm so mad right now I could just scream "Aaaaaah..." But seriously I had written the chapter and completed it, then I was about to send it to my editor my internet browser said, "Nah its fine. You should redo it. BOOM" so here I am once again. Lets start. And sorry for the really late update. Shayne’s birthday. Two days before the Gala. I awoke with Dashie on my side giving me a hug with her head on my chest... awkward? I don't know I kind of like it. Not wanting to wake her, I just laid there thinking about Sean and his current life. I once again dozed off into sleep and began dreaming. I was in my college, before it blew up. I saw everything. I saw Ronald... or Ron, who was apparently Sean's friend, he had been the reason, the cause for the explosion. He was the gunman... or one of them. He had brought pals with him, I had seen two. I saw him kill two people before the explosion. I saw him loot a girl in room 615. The room directly above me. I saw him jump out of the window and talking to himself. I don't know what to think of this, was this really just a dream? Did Ron even exist, doesn't matter. "What did I just do!" Ron was staring at his hands. He started to punch and slap himself until he started bleeding. "I'm such a fool! I did unforgivable things! I blew up a college for DAMN SAKE!! Why... why, why, why!" He started violently punching himself until he was unconscious. I was so wanting to punch him and beat him up at the time. But being that this was a dream, I had no control. I looked back at the building that was still blazing in fire, then I saw a Sean running in and out of the building grabbing them and running towards his car, which was far enough from the heat. But close enough so he could get back in the hell hole. He was literally running into hell and back. Just as he was about to go in for the ninth time, the building made a harsh screech and it collapsed on the rest of the living. Couldn't have been moments later, but when I turned around, all of Ron's items were left on the ground. His gun, his bag full of stuff, and his mask. The only thing that was missing was Ron. He couldn't have just gotten up and ran. There was a mysterious circle of black ash surrounding the rock that he was sitting on. The dream flashed to white and I awoke with Dashie still on my side, but not hugging me anymore. Her head was still on my chest, and she was smiling. I moved out of bed and started downstairs to the kitchen. I walked toward the kitchen table when I saw a room I've never seen before. It wasn't locked, but I was afraid of invading Dashie’s privacy. I wanted to go in, but I can't, if Dashie found out I was in here... she would never forgive me if it was supposed to be private. Fighting my temptation, I finally walked away and grabbed my cello. I started tuning, surprisingly it was pretty easy. I was able to hold it right and hold the bow. I started playing simple arpeggios and chromatics. When I got comfortable again, I started playing the first song I've learned. I heard hoof steps coming from the stairs, but I didn't let it phase me. "Hey Dashie." I stopped playing the cello, and turned around to see her smiling at me as she walked down the stairs. She had the bed head mane, and the baggy eyes. "Don't stop, keep playing." She demanded of me. I gave her a simple smile and nodded. I started playing her a song I've learned and memorized when I was in the Junior high symphony. She sat down on the couch and listened until the song was finished. This song in particular was made for a cello, so there were no violin parts in it, or anything. Strictly for cello. "That was really nice Storm, and by the way, happy birthday!" How did she know? The only pony that should know is Celestia and Luna. "How did you know it’s my birthday?" "Well it wasn't exactly MY fault that you told Octavia your birthday and I just so happened to be there." Now that explains it! "So... You're the only one who knows yeah? Besides Octavia. I really should be careful when I'm talking to other ponies." Sheepish face... 'on'. "Well I don't know why you're trying to keep most of your life a secret with us anyway." "Trust me. The less you know, the better for everyone. So you didn't answer my question... who else knows?" I walked up to her and poked her muzzle. "Well I told Twilight, so she probably told Fluttershy, who probably told Rarity, who probably told Pinkie... But I only told Twilight... so good luck." She smiled at me and gave me a little punch on my side. "So AJ doesn't know?" "Oh, she was busy at her farm the whole time, so I don't think she's even been near any of us since when we first met." Interesting. I want to keep it like that, but eventually it’s going to spread... Pinkie does have a rather big mouth after all. "Alright, fair enough. I'm going to practice some violin. I'm sure Octavia would want to be playing the cello at the practice session, so I'd best be working on that." I grabbed the violin and put the cello away in the case. I started at the door when Dash gave me a hug. "Whoa!" "Sorry... I don't know what got over me. Sorry..." she backed away and looked down and averted her eyes as much as possible. "Well I can't say I expected that, but I also didn't say I enjoyed it." She looked up nervously and looked in my eyes, and shot them away. I walked up to her and gave her a hug and I poked her muzzle again and walked back toward the door. "See ya soon!" I winked at her and then closed the door, then started flying away somewhere quiet. Somewhere near the Everfree would be nice. Nobody hangs around there, maybe that will be the best spot for me to practice. I'm not going to lie, I was a gamer back on Earth, so I did learn a few songs from Kingdom Hearts and Zelda. I would play improvised versions of 'The Song of Storms'. I remember once when I played it, it actually began raining and thunder could be heard from a distance. I couldn't do it again, but it was still a nice song to play. So I did, before I started working on actual music from my symphony. I couldn’t quite remember the names of the songs, but I could remember the tunes flowing through my head as I played. This was probably as relaxing as it could get. I'm surprised I'm not failing because I'm not using fingers to pluck, and tug with the bow. Amazing. Seans POV Clack!........ Clack!..... Today is Shayne's birthday and I'm chopping wood to make a spear. If Shayne were in my position, he would be exploring to find me. I should be doing the same. It's been a few days and I've eaten nothing but rabbit, and apples from trees. I should have enough to travel for a few days, maybe I should look for him. With luck I could find the town he's in. I started my walk going north. ... ... ... ... ... It’s been miles already and nothing. No sign of life, no sign of civilization. Well there’s no turning back now. Must keep walking... The sun was directly above the canopy, so it must be near mid-day or past. I got up when the sun just hit the horizon, so its been about six hours. Just keep walking... I climbed a few hills and I saw what I thought was a pegasus, but it probably was a bird. But if it wasn't... I must keep heading that way... so I did. ... ... ... ... I climbed a taller hill and saw a cloud that had multiple rainbows coming out of it from the bottom, almost like liquid. Then on the top of the cloud I saw a rainbow. A really short one. I kept walking towards it. I was admiring the surroundings as I walked, as there were new species of animals I've never seen before. There was an odd like chicken walking around. It had piercing red eyes, and I quickly ran away. Something told me to stay as far away from that creature as possible. I ran dodging trees and branches that got in my way, and eventually I saw the near end of the forest. I thought I heard a violin being played... it sounded really nice, so I followed the music. It led me to a lone pony with a gray coat, dark blue mane, and golden eyes playing the violin on a hill. "Shayne?" The music stopped as he turned around and his eyes grew ever so wide and he just stared at me pokerfaced. "Sean?" he finally spoke up. "What the hell are you doing here?" He placed his instruments down and flew up to me giving me a hug. He smelled like shampoo and he had a single strand of red hair on his mane. I picked it and showed it to him. "What’s this I see?" He turned red and spoke up. "Look, here is not the best place to exactly be talking. I don't know why the Princesses let you remain human but the point is, NOBODY CAN SEE YOU! Not like this. You're a human, humans don't exist here in Equestria. Everypony will freak out if they saw you. It'll cause trouble to the Princesses if you're seen!" Ouch... not exactly a warm welcoming. "Well, what do I do?" "Well firstly I apologize for the way I reacted when you showed up... And for a solution... I don't know. I don't think Dashie wou-" "Dashie? Who's that?" "A very close friend of mine.. She lives in the house up there. It’s a long story, but you need to hide. Uhh... maybe I can ask her if you can stay with her too." "Uhm okay?" Shayne’s POV I took off for Dashie’s house again, leaving Sean in the dust. Maybe I should tell the Princesses? Nah... I don't want Sean to lose his human form, he always said he liked being unique. Heheh... well this is going to be like hell when I explain this to Dashie... I reached her house and started searching for her. "Dashie, you here?" I was continuing to walk around. It was a Saturday, so she shouldn't have work today. Over the weekends, all weather pegasi have their days off. Unless there was some emergency of course. I walked up the stairs to her room and found her sleeping. I shook her awake. "Dashie, get up. There’s something really important I gotta tell you. Nobody can know and I'm going to trust you with this okay?" "Hmm? What is it Storm?" She looked up with her bed eyes, she was barely half awake. "My friend is here, and he doesn't have a place to stay. I also doubt he can get a job for a while, he's not injured or anything. He's just different, and I'm sure that everypony will need time to accept that he's here, and existing as one of us. So... I guess what I'm asking is... if-" I was cut short. "He could stay here? Well of course he can, if he's a friend of yours then I'm sure he's nice. Just make sure he doesn't screw anything up." "Thank you, but before I bring him in here, you need to promise to keep his existence a secret." "Okay I will, and I won't freak out either. I hope..." With that, I gave her a hug and flew out to grab him. I hope he could stand on clouds because I heard only pegasi could touch and move clouds. Sure enough, he could. I opened the door for him, and he was in awe of being able to stand on clouds. He was actually going to taste it, but I told him no. Weird. "Dashie, I'd like you to meet my friend, Sean." The cyan pony looked up at Sean and just went in awe. She just stared at him. We were still outside at the time, but Sean had to crouch to be seen and to fit through the door. He was about twice the size as me, and my head was already only two inches below the door. "Wha... Wha... What is he?!" "He's a human... look, we have a lot to talk about. I'm going to tell you about the real me." *Authors notes, sorry for the late chapter, I know it seems rushed and everything, but I really was out of it today. Believe it or not, I was on this for about 4 hours. Heh. My bad. Anyway, what do you guys think so far? Thanks AppleMLP for editing all my spelling and obvious grammar errors in the chapter. Pm him for thanks too if you guys got the time. Alright guys, see you on Tuesday, or if you're lucky Monday! I also apologize that this is hard to read. I screwed up a bit. But stick around for more chapters! UPDATE* FIxed