Light Shines Brightest When it is Darkest

by dmgd_mind

Chapter 2

Do ponies like pizza, Anon asked himself looking at the rows of frozen pizzas and other meals in one of the supermarket’s freezer aisles. He reached in and pulled out a vegetarian pizza by some knock off brand company, and briefly read over the box. Uncle Tony’s Vegetarian Pizza, fun for the whole family! Anon and shrugged and skimmed lower, finally seeing something in smaller print at the bottom of the page. Approved for consumption by human and pony.

Anon glanced at the price before tossing a few of the pizzas in his cart, adding them to the small pile of frozen dinners, canned soups, and dry goods. With that he began to make his way over to the deli counter, pausing briefly to grab some various snacks and sodas. He stopped and turned around, grabbing a package of Earl Grey Tea, and then finished making his way to the deli.

“What can I get for you?” the tired, middle aged woman behind the deli counter asked as Anon approached.

“Hi,” Anon started with a polite smile, “can I get half a pound of honey ham and half a pound of havarti cheese?”

“Sure,” the woman returned in a monotone voice as she grabbed the two items out of the cooler and started slicing them.

“Oh, actually,” Anon interjected as a thought came to his mind, “can I get a pound of havarti instead of half a pound?”

The woman finished cutting the ham and wrapped it up in a baggy before picking up the block of cheese. “Sure,” she answered in the same monotone. She quickly finished cutting the cheese and wrapped it up in the same manner as the ham, before weighing the two. “Alright, here you go. Half pound ham, pound havarti,” the woman stated matter of factly, handing over the two packages.

“Thank you,” Anon said with a smile as he took the packages and put them in his cart, turning and heading towards the front of the store, and going into the self checkout lane. He pulled out his phone and checked the time as he scanned the first item through. 6:40am. Anon groaned to himself. It had taken longer than he had expected to get over here, and he had dawdled in his shopping. It would probably take him half an hour to get back home, and by that time he would have been gone almost two hours.

“Shit,” he muttered, quickly ringing up the items and paying for them before hurrying out the door.

======

Anon opened the heavy door to his apartment, letting it swing wide as he put away his keys and stooped to pick up his bag of groceries. “Hello, Moon, are you here?” he called out into his apartment, receiving no answer.

He quickly moved into the kitchen, putting down his groceries and seeing the note still on the counter where he had left it. He frowned a bit anxiously and hurriedly put away the groceries, throwing them haphazardly into the fridge and freezer.

“Moon?” he called out again as he left the kitchen, looking around the living room for any signs of the pony, sighing with relief as he noticed her sleeping peacefully on one of the couches.

With a smile, Anon went to his room and grabbed a spare blanket from his closet, returning and draping the soft fabric gently over the sleeping pony. Moongazer didn’t stir at all, continuing to sleep softly, her sides rising and falling with her peaceful breathing. She looked much better now, her coat was noticeably lighter with all the grime washed out, her mane and tail no longer had clumps in them, and the aura of weariness surrounding her was gone.

The mare scrunched her nose as a small part of her mane shifted and fell across her face. Suppressing a quiet chuckle, Anon leaned over and brushed the strand out of her face.

Alright, now what do I do? He thought to himself, not wanting to wake the sleeping pony. He shrugged and headed into the bedroom she had taken her shower in, entering the bathroom with the intention of cleaning up after her. Moon had endeavoured to leave the place tidied up, placing her scraps of clothing folded against the wall and the towel hung to dry over the metal shower door.

Anon grabbed the towel and slung it over his shoulder, before bending and picking up the pile of clothing, grimacing at the smell wafting off of them. He quickly made his way out of the bedroom and to one of the doors on the opposite side of the living room, pushing it open and entering a small room with a washing machine and drier sitting side by side. A few moments later and the rank clothes were being washed at the most thorough setting the machine had, ultimate clean. He tossed the towel into the drier and walked out of the room, heading for his study.

The space next to the laundry room had originally been a guest bedroom, but since Anon had been living alone for a while he had sold the bed a few years back. A large desk sat against the left hand wall, and a bookshelf filled up the right. A mini fridge hummed quietly from under the desk. Anon walked over to the desk and pulled out the rolly chair, sitting down with a heavy sigh. He stretched and switched on his computer, quickly checking through his emails. With that done, he started up a game to wait out the laundry.

======

Out in the living room, Moongazer opened her eyes, having been roused by the noise of the washing machine. She smiled faintly as she noticed the blanket placed over her. After briefly looking around her, she got to her hooves, deciding to investigate. She cautiously made her way over to the laundry room door, slowly pushing it open with her hooves and making her way inside.

She frowned when she saw Anon was not there, turning and heading back out into the living room. “Anon,” she called out nervously.

“In here,” he quickly replied from the study next to the laundry room, “I’ll be out in just a second.”

Moongazer shifted uneasily from side to side as she waited, a faltering, nervous smile crossing her face as Anon came out of the study. “Sorry I went to sleep on your sofa, I... I didn't know where you'd gone, and couldn't open the door...”

“Oh, I had left a note for you on the kitchen counter,” Anon began apologetically, “I’m sorry, I should have left it in a more obvious place. And it’s fine, you looked happy, sleeping there. You probably needed it.”

Moongazer looked down at the floor and mumbled a quiet thank you.

Anon rubbed the back of his neck and glanced off to the side, a pensive look on his face. “Hey, uh, you want to hang out for the rest of the day? We could watch TV or a movie or something else.”

“A... movie? I haven't seen a movie since... before I came through the gate...” she said, almost to herself as she considered the idea.

“Yeah,” Anon replied, smiling at her reaction, “my TV is hooked up to the cloud, so we can watch whatever movie you want.”

“Ummm... I don't actually know any movies...” she says, ashamed, looking down at her hooves.

“That’s fine, we have all day, so we can watch a few,” Anon stated, motioning towards the couches, and started to walk over to them, “Any particular type of movie you want to watch?”

“No, any type is fine... thank you...” Moongazer answers, looking up and smiling briefly.

Anon sits down on one of the couches facing the TV and grabs the remote, switching it on. “Go ahead and sit down wherever,” he states as he spreads out a bit on the couch, getting comfortable.

Moon moves over to the sofa and hops up, curling up beside a surprised Anon. He began to move a little bit to give her more room, but changed his mind and settled back in.

“You sure you don’t have any opinion on the matter? Would you rather watch something actiony or comedic? Happy? Thoughtful?” Anon asked again, opening up a menu and scrolling through lists of new releases. Deathkill Battle 23, Harry Potter: The Revengence, 9000 Shades of Grey.

“Something light and happy, please...” she asked timidly, eyeing the names as they passed by on the screen.

“Alright, how about this?” Anon asked, scrolling back into the classics menu and picking out a title, Up. The old Pixar logo flashed on the screen briefly, and then the movie began.

Moongazer nodded and settled in to watch. Through the first scenes she had to sniff back tears, but as the movie picked up pace her mood improved. She slowly inched closer to Anon as the movie went on, and soon she was almost resting against him.

With a light smile, Anon gently moved his arm to rest on Moon’s side, guessing that that was what the pony wanted. “Is this okay?” he asked, to be sure.

“Y-yeah, that's fine...” she answered quietly.

Anon smiled down at her briefly before returning to the movie. “Enjoying it so far?”

“Yes... it's a good movie...” she said as the two settled in and finished the movie, laughing quietly together and enjoying the experience.

“Alright, how did you like it?” Anon smiled as the movie ended.

Moongazer stretched out her forelegs like a cat before she answered. “I... ummm, it was a very good movie... thank you for letting me watch it with you...”

“I enjoyed it too, Moon,” Anon replied before a brief spark of realization hit him. “Ah, crap, I put your clothes in the wash while you were sleeping, they should have been done awhile ago, I’m sorry. Let me go get them in the dryer and then we can watch another movie, if that’s okay?”

“You washed my clothes? You didn't have to do that...” she said, furrowing her brow.

“I’m sorry, I would have asked but you were asleep and, well, they were rather...dirty...” Anon answered apologetically, frowning slightly.

Moongazer blushed. “W-well... there's no washing machines for the poor, and you can only go to a laundrette if you have enough money after everything else...”

Anon gave her a sympathetic look as he got up to go deal with the laundry. “I’ll be right back, alright?”

Moongazer settled into the sofa and began to wait patiently while Anon disappeared into the laundry room. He returned a few minutes later, the sound of the drier now in the background.

“Alright, ready for another?” he asked sitting back down next to Moon and resting his hand comfortingly on her side.
Moon nodded quietly, mumbling a yes as Anon picked out another movie. They settled in again, and by the time the movie had hit its halfway point, the mare had snuggled up to him and fallen asleep with her head resting against his leg. Anon gently petted her while he continued watching the movie, eventually drifting off and joining her in sleep.

======

Moongazer slowly opened her eyes, the soft glow of the TV and the dim evening light dancing over the room. She was confused for a second as she noticed a pressure against her side, but quickly realized that Anon had fallen asleep and slumped slightly onto her. She smiled softly as she gently removed his hand from her side. Slowly, so as not to wake him, she shifted away from his body and got down from the couch.

She tried to pad silently across the wooden living room floor towards the laundry room, wincing as each step made a soft clop. She successfully made it inside without Anon stirring, pulling open the drier and taking out her newly cleaned clothes. She pulled on her undergarments, socks, and saddle, then made her way out and headed towards the door to the apartment. She eyed it briefly, debating whether to try and open it again. There was a sound of movement behind her, causing her ears to point back towards it reflexively.

“Leaving?” Anon asked, now standing on the other side of the couch.

She turned back to face him and smiled. “I thought I'd show myself out... thank you, Anon, for all you've done... I wish more people on Earth were as kind as you.”

Anon walked over to her and knelt down, gently wrapping his arms around her neck, causing her to emit a soft squeak of surprise. “I enjoyed spending time with you,” Anon smiled, partially from her cute reaction, “If...if you ever want to spend time like this again, or need help, I’m here all day weekends and after 2 in the afternoon on weekdays. There’s an intercom at the front door, hit apartment number 6-1 and it will call me.”

The grey pony hesitantly returned the hug, before mumbling a quiet thank you. Anon smiled and waited a moment before breaking the hug and standing up. He moved over to the door and fiddled briefly with the lock before it swung open.

“Want me to go with you to the lobby or would you rather see yourself out?” he asked, holding open the door.

“I thought I'd show myself out... thank you, Anon, for all you've done...” Moongazer said quietly as she walked out the door and to the elevator.

Anon waited for the elevator doors to close behind her before he went back into his apartment, smiling about his day. A sudden thought hit him. Tomorrow was Saturday. This was looking to be a great weekend.

Comments

[EngageBook]

Can't wait to read it.

[Sorrowdemon]

The anticipation is already killing me! 0_0'