//------------------------------// // Sealing the Deal // Story: In Another Life I: Week One // by Bateman66 //------------------------------// It wasn’t difficult finding a suitable place to eat, and once the two had gotten past the blank stare from the single attending waiter that late evening, Twilight and Alistair found themselves sitting comfortably in a near vacant restaurant, scanning over their menus. It had taken Twilight less than a minute to decide what she wanted, but Alistair still held the three leather-backed pages with a concentrated glare as he flipped back and forth through them, clearly getting annoyed the more he searched. “Is something wrong?” Twilight asked. Alistair grunted and tossed the small booklet down onto the table. “They don’t have anything suitable here. Only vegetables and other non-edibles.” She smirked and spoke in a faux-scolding tone. “They’re good for you…” “I understand that,” he responded, not seeming to detect her veiled humor. “But a main course is still necessary. Not sliced flowers with molay sauce or grilled hay and melted cheese. I need protein, something with hearty and with substance.” Twilight giggled, entertained by Alistair’s overt objection to anything that he considered out of line, which she saw was nearly all the time. “Alright, why not the shrimp platter then. That’s protein.” Alistair grumbled at the unfortunate compromise. “Fine. Although I don’t enjoy eating the meat of creatures that skulk upon the surface of undersea rocks, I believe I do not have a choice.” When the food eventually came, Twilight courteously began into her food, savoring the delicate bits of cabbage leaves and shredded almonds that had been sprinkled across its surface, topped off with a light trail of honey mustard. Alistair, on the other hoof, stared for quite some time at the plate in front of him and wrinkled his nose in disgust at the barely noticeable fishy odor that came up from it. After much contemplation, he reached down and slowly propped one of the small crescent shaped crustaceans into his mouth. Grimacing slightly as he chewed, he slowly swallowed and began to pant. Face hoofing at the complete absurdity, Twilight shook her head with a smile. “Was it really that bad?” Alistair pondered this for a moment, then shook his own head in agreement. “Definitely not my first choice in food, but not my last either. Its consistency is an odd mix of soft and crunchy texture, yet the ending stimulation of taste is not a wholly vile one. Acceptable, in most rights.” “Fine then, what would you find acceptable then?” He didn’t even need to contemplate an answer as he responded, clearly thinking this over beforehand. “Meat, red meat to be precise. Preferably from either a rabbit or buck. But in most situations I’ll take what I can get.” Twilight’s eyes sunk back into her skull as the fork she levitated with her horn’s magic clanged against her plate. Looking around to see if any non-existent ponies were listening, she leaned across the table and whispered to him. “You eat…meat?” she said with an odd mix of wonder and disbelief, topped off by what he assumed was fear. “Of course,” he retorted at normal volume, “I’m surprised you find this to be strange. Has it not been obvious with my insistence on consuming available fish? Or munching on whatever eggs you have in stock? I require it, it’s my diet.” “But…” she insisted, “rabbits and deer? Do you really…?” “I did, yes. And to say I do not have a craving for them currently would be an utmost lie. I understand—or, at least have picked up on—your culture’s adherence to your natural surroundings, I respect that. But if I may point out, you find yourself in a much more comfortable position of judgment due to your bodies not requiring such sustenance. I, on the other hoof, do,” “But there’s alternatives,” she said indignantly, starting to get into the verbal spar just as much as he was. “You don’t need to do such things to animals when you acquire the needed nutrients through other means. Beans, eggs, the shrimp you’re eating right now, all healthy substitutes.” Alistair smiled, feeling himself warmed by Twilight’s stable but misguided argument (in his eyes anyway). “Don’t worry; you’re not going to catch me gnawing on the head of a cute little bunny as blood spurts out of the gash marks from my teeth. I can manage, for now, I’m just telling you how I really feel.” He leaned back in his chair while glancing around the empty dinning room for their pesky and illusive waiter. “Should we get going? It looks like you’re pretty much done.” “You’re not going to finish your shrimp?” “Nope.” “Then I say we are.” Placing ten bits atop the small wooden table, the two pals arose from their seats and made their way toward the establishment’s exit. Holding the glass door for her, Twilight graciously smiled at him and stepped out onto the dark street corner with Alistair right behind her. “Very dark,” exclaimed Alistair as he looked around the streets. “Doesn’t appear as if anypony is insight, streetlights as well.” Twilight patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry we’ll find our way home, may take a little longer than when we got here, but we’ll find the way.” He shrugged. “Whatever you say.” The walked in silence for quite some time, wishing to preserve the stillness of the night and all its beauty as one should. A light breeze pushed past them, but they continued forward undisturbed. “I think I’ll stay,” he said randomly, his tone suggesting he was in the thick of conversation with somepony unseen. Twilight raised a confused eyebrow in response. “What?” “I think I’ll stay here, this place, this town, all of it,” he gestured out to the entire surrounding area to further his point. “It’s peaceful here and very quite enjoyable. I don’t believe I’d fair better anywhere else.” She looked at him uneasily. “You were considering leaving?” He bit the upper edge of his lip shamefully while answering slowly, his words carefully chosen piece by piece. “In the span of the first few days, yes…but I quickly reconsidered. I was scared, you must understand, out of my element. And although I enjoyed you and Spike’s company I still felt at unease.” “But no longer!” he added quickly. “My perceptions on things have entirely changed. Being with you, your friends, the rest of the populace, I enjoy it, I really do. Especially when I’m with you—I mean it.” Twilight’s pondering expression distressed him greatly, so much to the point that he felt the tips of his fingers begin to jitter in anxiousness. He’d never seen her with the face she wore, a disapproving composure that seemed to silently judge him from behind her large gleaming eyes. But what peeved him most was doubtful air of suspicion she held, as if his own credibility was now being put into question. That stung him the most. He’d just been trying to talk to her for crying out loud, to announce his final stance on an issue that must be put to rest. Things would feel unfinished if he didn’t, that he was still in between the two lives he lived, never fully committing to the new one he wished to accept. It was unfair to say the least. His experience with other’s emotions weren’t quite as rudimentary as they started, but his last conversation with her companion Applejack had involved the importance and emphasis on honesty, even when it didn’t feel right. If these instructions had been followed properly, why did the violet mare look so torn up on the inside? “Okay,” she finally said with an understanding nod. “I understand. Thank you for telling me. It never really occurred to me that you’d be considering that…but this is all very new to you. It’d be wrong of me to judge you on it.” Alistair smiled a small grin. “Thank you.” “You don’t need to thank me,” she said with a raised hoof. “You didn’t do a thing wrong. You spoke your mind and I admire that, everypony should.” He nodded, still smiling at the lightened situation. And then, without further warning or contemplation, Alistair reached forward with both arms and hugged Twilight tightly. She jolted in surprise from the sudden out of character contact but quickly realized it was only him. She could feel his grip tightening around her torso as his body inched in for a closer and more intimate grasp. But this felt different from a normal expression of friendship or affection (which she did frequently with her friends). This one felt scared, desperate, and just a little bit melancholy, taking away the normally positive conations she had with embracing a friend. Although his face was pressed deeply into the thick of her violet fur and further shrouded by the ruffled top of his cloak, the dismal feelings upon him seemed to emulate out through his being, reaching her own conscious and filling her with rightful pity. A light sobbing came from him, barely audible from where they stood, but close enough for Twilight to hear it. “Thank you…” he said softly, still grabbing onto her desperately. “Thank you Twilight…I won’t go…I’ll never go…and I don’t want you to go…” Cradling his head with her hooves, Twilight felt her own throat begin to choke up as she responded. “Don’t worry little guy…I’m not leaving anyone.” They stood like this for quite awhile, holding each other closely in the center of a darkened and empty street. And even despite the near lack of any light present in where they stood, they themselves seemed to brighten their surroundings in their long and genuine embrace. Friendship conquering over all.