//------------------------------// // You Were The Last Good Thing... // Story: Where Is Your Dude Tonight? // by Captain Whatever //------------------------------// The next day after school, Fluttershy walked toward the music room, phone in hand, with a determined, yet nervous look on her face. Once the door was open, she opened the door. *SMACK* *CRACK* "S***!" Alex collapsed on the ground. When Fluttershy walked in, she was horrified to discover that Alex now had a big gash in his forehead. "Omygosh, are you alright Alex?" Fluttershy asked, worry in her tone of voice. "Honey, those mosquitoes went to Chattanooga and jumped through the slime buckets." Alex said before passing out, leaving Fluttershy confused beyond measure. The only other person in the room, Rainbow Dash, looked rather shocked, and immediately rushed over. She recoiled upon seeing the gash. "Ugh. I'm no doctor, but that should probably get checked out. Say, what are you even doing here, Fluttershy? What about the animal shelter?" Fluttershy was caught off guard, but quickly recomposed herself. "I found out some very interesting news about Alex that you might wanna see." She opened up her bag, and pulled out her phone. She played the last thing she had recorded, which was the news article. Rainbow Dash's eyes slowly got wider and wider. «"The last place he was seen was in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His current whereabouts are unknown."» After the video finished, Rainbow Dash was speechless. Fluttershy looked at her concern. "You see, Rainbow? He used to be a big celebrity, and he left it all for some reason we don't know. Doesn't this intrigue you in the slightest?" Rainbow Dash, however, was focused elsewhere. "He played METAL?!" Rainbow exclaimed as Fluttershy facepalmed. "That's not the point. He just left everything behind. Even I know that just doesn't happen for no reason. We gotta get to the bottom of this. Er, I mean, if that's okay with you." Rainbow Dash just chuckled. "Fluttershy, all you have to do is wait until he wakes up, and then we can just ask him." Fluttershy, glaring at Rainbow Dash, pointed to the gash still present on his forehead. "Oh yeah." Fluttershy facepalmed again. "If this gash is as serious as it looks, he could be out for days, maybe weeks." "Oooooh." Just then, Rarity walked in. "Hello—goodness gracious, what happened to him?!" Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment. "I accidentally opened the door too hard. What are you doing here?" Rarity chuckled. "I met this charming young boy, red hair, dark personality, but handsome as...well, as handsome can get. Anyway, he said he can play the piano so gracefully, and offered to play a little for me. He had to take a quick detour, but he'll be here soon. In the meantime, we best take a look at this poor boy. Do either of you know him?" Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash. "That reminds me, what exactly were you doing here, Rainbow Dash?" She shrugged. "I was coming here to play some guitar, because I wanted to. Blondie just happened to be here before me." The trio heard moaning, and looked at Alex, who was stirring. He opened his eyes, and Fluttershy looked surprised. "Ugh, is it me, or are the lights extra bright in here?" Fluttershy stuttered a bit before responding. "But...but...you should be—" Fluttershy was silenced with a finger to her mouth. "Please stop. My head hurts enough without your voice. *groan*" Fluttershy certainly was confused. However, she still had a job to do. She held out her camera. "Hey, Alex, I got something to show you." She showed him her phone. She showed him the video, and the whole time, Alex's face never changed. After the video finished, Alex wore a puzzled expression. "Why did you just show me video of my dead brother?" Fluttershy was shocked. "I know, he looks just like me. We were identical twins. Allen Showboat, the god of Goth. Poor guy got into bad stuff, and that was that and all. Never really did appreciate him or his emo band. We were both born in Vancouver, and he died in our home. When he left us, I learned he tried using my name as an alias, and I decided to skip town and head to New York. I met the other guys there at a music convention. The rest is history." The three girls were stared with open mouths. Alex pushed his finger on Fluttershy's chin and lifted upward. "Close your mouth, kiddo,you'll get flies." Fluttershy grumbled. Alex looked around the room, and noticed the other girl in the room. "Oh, how long have you been here? My name's Alex." He promptly stuck out his hand, which Rarity shook. "I'm Rarity. Pleasure to meet you, darling." Alex blushed. "So, Rarity, what are you doing here, at this particular moment?" Rarity blushed. "Oh, I'm here because—" she was interrupted by an English accent. "Apologies for taking so bloody long, some bonehead tried to throw a paper airplane at me." Connor shook his head, and walked over to the piano in the corner. "—of him." Rarity pointed to the boy. "Hey, Connor, how's it going?" Alex got up, seemingly unharmed, and walked over to Connor. "Hey Alex. Other than the paper airplane, I'm doing good. You?" "Been worse. Whatcha doin' here?" Connor waved his hand in front of the piano. "Cool, whatcha gonna play?" Connor shrugged. "Probably 'that song.' Why?" Alex shrugged. "Curious." Connor turned away, and his fingers immediately hit the ivory keys in an effort to produce music. Connor heard clapping once he was done. He turned, and the fashionista was applauding him. "That was absolutely amazing. The lyrics could use some work, but still amazing." Connor blushed. "Thanks, but that wasn't my own song. It was copyrighted by a different person, so the lyrics are what they are. I do appreciate the applause, though." Alex and the three girls watched as he got up and walked towards the door and left the music room. Alex sighed. "Every time, I swear. Once he finishes a performance, he just exits the room. I just don't understand. Seriously." Alex watched in disgust as the door closed behind his red-headed friend. "Hey, what's up?" The four students looked towards the door, and there stood Johnny. "Hey, Johnny. Not much. You?" Johnny shrugged. "Jake's lecture on skipping classes and hitting on girls got boring, so I ditched him halfway through and ended up here. What're you girls doing with Alex? Any of you wanna hang with me?" He gave a wink. "Sorry, darling, but I already have a boyfriend." Rarity scoffed. "Sorry, buddy, I'm a lesbian." Rainbow Dash snickered. Johnny threw up his hands. "That's it, I'm outta here." As he left, Fluttershy noticed he had sort of a scowl on his face. Alex noticed her confusion. "Oh, don't worry about him. Despite being a player, he's very homophobic." Rainbow Dash just shrugged. "Well, I need to get going. The animal shelter is open, and Sandalwood is sick, so I gotta run the place while he's out." And with that, Fluttershy left the room, and then the school. At the animal shelter, Fluttershy was able to handle things fine. All the animals were fed, the customers were satisfied, and Sandalwood had called to let her know that he would be unable to show up for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, Alex showed up again, and she was unprepared. "Hey, Fluttershy, what's up?" Alex walked right up to her, until he reached the counter. Fluttershy immediately lost all of her senses as she began daydreaming. Alex sweeping her of her feet and carrying her to an ivory horse. Alex clad in Spanish-style dance clothing and doing the tango with her. Alex straight-up kissing her. Alex— "*snap snap* Hello? Bonjour? Hola? Guten tag? Konichiwa? C'mon, this is important." Fluttershy snapped out of her trance, and, to her disappointment, saw Alex in his regular outfit, not preparing to take her away. "Listen, this is important. I've heard from the grapevine that you have been staring at me. I heard others say you were staring at me from behind your locker door, in class, at the lunch table, and even during practice, I noticed you staring right at me. Care to elaborate?" Fluttershy sweated nervously. She had not seen this coming, and the only response she could think of was: "I like you." "Huh? Speak up, please." "I like you." "Sorry. Can't hear you. Could yo—" "I LIKE YOU!" She immediately covered her mouth. Meanwhile, Alex looked as if to say that she had two heads. "..." "..." "Oh...I see." He began to walk away. "Wait! Come back. Lemme exp—" Alex held up his hand, silencing her. "Hate to be the one to tell you this, but I'm afraid I'm not into clingy girls." And with that, he stepped out, leaving Fluttershy on the verge of tears. Later, she ran straight home, to her room, and began crying into her pillow. Why me? Why did it have to be me? Stupid high school crushes. Meanwhile, Alex walked toward the gas station, going behind the building, and seeing a cat and a box labeled "personal property." He sat right next the former, reaching out his hand to pet the cat, who gracefully accepted. "Well, Casanova, it would seem that I've officially had a bad day. I didn't even know it was possible to bring me down at all. Oh well, there's a first for everything. I know you can't understand a word I'm saying, but I just need someone to talk to right now. Johnny's not one for this kinda thing, Mike's going through his own stuff, Connor refuses to talk to anyone, and Jake...his positivity is a little creepy." Casanova indeed could not understand Alex at all, but that didn't matter to either of them. As night settled, Alex pulled a tattered quilt from his box and covered himself and the cat in it. Very soon, the two were asleep.