Cruel Twist Of Fate or (Friendship Is Tragic)

by SapphireWings999

Chapter V: Ponderings Over Pasta

The next several hours went by pretty quickly as we spent the majority of that time going through the remainder of Season 1 before finishing off with The Best Night Ever. With that season out of the way, I turned to ask them what their thoughts were on the first season as a whole.

“So how’d ya guys enjoy tha first season of yer show?”

It took a few seconds for them to answer, supposedly getting their thoughts on all 26 episodes together first. Finally, Twi broke the silence.

“It was pretty enjoyable. At least as far as I thought. I’m not sure what the basic structure is of TV Shows here, but I kind of thought that the finale could’ve been something a little more interesting. With that said, the continuing arc of the season centering around the Grand Galloping Gala was entertaining as were all the songs.”

“Ah take it that tha songs in tha show were pretty accurate ta tha way y’all sang em back home?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely,” Rainbow replied. “Just out of curiosity, how many seasons did you say there were of our show?”

Savannah, holding Ariel in her arms, cut me to the quick before I could answer.

“Six. There’s also a seventh season that’s coming out within the next 2-3 months. Possibly even an eighth season come next year.”

Her answer caused Applejack to let out a long, impressed whistle.

“Who’d’ve thunk that this simple look inta our lives would be this popular?”

“Ah honestly don’ think anyone could’ve predicted it,” I answered back. “When tha show first started, many thought that tha primary viewin’ audience would be little girls, but, ta tha surprise of er’body who ever lived, tha vast majority of viewers were teen ta young adult males, ma demographic. Any male who enjoyed tha show was considered a ‘Brony’.”

“Brony?” Fluttershy asked, confusion evident on her face.

“I’m guessing that it’s supposed to be a portmanteau of the words ‘bro’ and ‘pony’, right?” Twilight questioned.

“Precisely,” I stated.

“There are even some females within the teen to young adult area that enjoy the show too,” Savannah added. “We sometimes call ourselves ‘Pegasisters’, though not too frequently. Regardless, I don’t think it really matters what age, gender, or any other category you fall under. People should be able to enjoy this show in spite of that and any haters are just insecure about themselves to the point that they think attacking others makes them come off as more intelligent or superior when, in actuality, they just come off as childish and petty.”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Hold the cider!” Rainbow started. “There are those out there who hate us and our fans?!?”

“Sadly yes.”

“Why?!? What’s there to hate about any of us?”

“Unfortunately, twin,” I began, “mos’ people 'round here tend ta make judgements ‘bout others before they even bother ta learn anythin’ ‘bout ‘em first.”

“That hardly seems fair,” Rarity protested.

“Tell me about it,” Pinkie agreed.

“Such is tha closed-minded society we humans live in,” I sighed, sadly. “Judge first, learn tha truth never.”

“I think that we all have a part of that prejudice inside each of us,” Twilight affirmed, placing a hand on my shoulder, “not just humans like you.”

Ariel then started to get fussy so Savannah set her down on the floor. It wasn’t long before she was set down that she crawled over to her toys and began playing with them eagerly. Looking at my watch, I realized that it was getting very close to dinner time.

“How do ya guys feel ‘bout pasta fer tonight?” I proposed.

“Sounds good ta me, Sugarcube,” Applejack affirmed.

The other girls were quick to voice their approval too.

“O.K. then. I’ll get started on that,” Savannah stated.

“Oh no, muffin,” I calmly objected. “Ya leave that ta me.”

“Are you sure? Cuz it’s really no problem at all.”

“Of course Ah’m sure. You jus’ sit down ‘n let me handle it.”

“O.K.,” she replied as she sat down on the couch with the others.

Stepping into the kitchen, I pulled out a few boxes of spaghetti, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a bag of sharp cheddar, a container of parmesan, a salt shaker, a pot along with its lid, a strainer, a skimmer, a ladle, and a cup. With everything gathered, I filled the pot with water before putting it on the stove, lidding it, and turning the burner on high.

While waiting for the water to boil, I pulled out my phone, plugged in my earbuds and put one of them in my ear before pulling up Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake on Spotify. It was just one of those instant, feel-good songs that could make even the most menial of activities suddenly feel incredible. There are only a few songs that I could think of that had that kind of effect. Aside from this song, the theme to the Mortal Kombat movie was another; just hearing it made you feel ready to open up a can of whoopass on someone it was that intense.

Singing along to the song, I was sure to keep my other ear available in order to catch the water when it finally boiled as well as if anyone else needed me for something. There were only ever a few occasions where I listened to music with both earbuds in my ears. I used to do it whenever I was working on writing something, but, after Ariel came along, that was no longer conducive in the event that something happened. Aside from that, I’d do it whenever I went for a walk by myself, rare though those moments were.

Before long, the water came to a boil as I removed the lid, tossed in a palmful of salt, emptied the pasta into the water, and set the timer, stirring it all the while. As the timer got closer to going off, I checked the pasta every once in awhile to make sure it was cooked al dente, just the way me and Savannah liked it. Once it had reached that proper tenderness, I used the cup to scoop out some of the starchy cooking water before draining the pasta in the sink.

Placing the pot back on the, still hot, burner, I poured a thick layer of sauce into it before adding the cup of cooking water and stirring it with the ladle. This was a cooking tip that I’d picked up on Rachael Ray’s morning talk show years ago; she’d said that adding some of the water to the sauce helped serve as a glue to bind it with the pasta better.

After a quick couple of minutes, the food was all ready as I dished up several bowls before calling the girls in. As all of us gathered around the table, I kept on hoping and praying that our time together wouldn’t have to end. Little did I know that all of it would unravel before too long.

* * * * * * * *

Few words were spoken while we sat at the table eating, a sign I figured meant that everyone was thoroughly enjoying the meal. With that said, some of our guests did bring up a few topics of conversation as we ate.

“So, David,” Rainbow began, “just out of curiosity, what kind of work did you do before you became a writer?”

“Well, Rainbow, before this, Ah used ta work at an amusement park where Ah was a Security Officer. Ah was responsible fer makin sure no one brought in anythin illegal or hazardous inta tha park.”

“Hmm. Interesting,” Twilight stated.

“What?” I questioned.

“You previously worked as a Security Officer and I’m guessing that this happened before you came to Equestria, right?”

“Yeah so?”

“So I found it interesting that you’d previously been in a position of protecting others before coming to our world and protecting everypony there. It almost seems more than just pure coincidence.”

“Ah,” I replied, suddenly understanding what it was that she was getting at.

“Sort of like his time working in Security served as preparation for when he went to Equestria to save you all?” Savannah asked.

“Exactly!” Rainbow affirmed. “It’s almost like it was destiny that brought you to us.”

“Makes sense seein’ how Destiny was ma ancestor,” I added in, jokingly.

Pinkie gave a slight giggle at my remark before suddenly speaking up.

“Hey. I just realized something.”

“What’s that, Pinkie?”

“In that Running Of The Leaves episode, while me and Spike were commentating on the race, I brought up hot dogs in the conversation so I’m kinda curious as to why you didn’t think of that before when we first got here and you mentioned the Italian Meatloaf.”

I blushed slightly at that realization.

“Ah honestly dunno, Pinkie. Fer some reason, it didn’t come ta ma mind.”

“That’s alright, Sugarcube,” AJ spoke up.

As I finished up my bowl of spaghetti and brought it over to the sink to wash it out, I decided to ask the others if they were still hungry.

“Any of y’all want seconds?”

“No thanks,” Fluttershy politely declined. “It was delicious.”

“Indeed it was,” Rarity agreed.

Ariel, who’d been sitting quietly in her highchair eating Cheerios, let out a soft yawn before rubbing her eyes.

“Looks like someone’s ready to call it a night,” Savannah stated, while picking her up. “I’ll get her settled in while you guys get everything cleared away and then we can check and see what y’all wanna do next. O.K.?”

“Sure thing, ma love,” I replied, kissing her softly before kissing Ariel’s forehead.

And so, while Ariel was put down for the night, the rest of us grabbed our dishes and rinsed them out in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher. I then gathered up all the leftover pasta and put it in a bag with a little bit of water in it. Rainbow was quick to notice this, questioning me out of curiosity.

“Why do you put water in the bag with the spaghetti?”

“Ta keep it from dryin out or hardenin,” I answered. “Jus somethin that ma mom taught me. Helps keep it nice ‘n moist.”

With everything put away, we then made our way back into the living room, the girls plopping down on the couches while I sat in my recliner. Savannah joined us shortly afterwards.

“So whataya guys feel like doing next?” she questioned. “We’ve got some time before calling it a night.”

“Why don’t we watch another one of those Disney movies?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Ah yes,” I started. “Ah think tha nex one would be Robin Hood, which is actually a fictionalized retellin of a real life figure from several centuries ago. You might actually enjoy it a lot, Flutters, cuz all tha characters in tha movie are anthropomorphized animals.”

“Oh my!!!” she beamed. “That sounds wonderful!”

“Ah thought ya might be interested.”

Getting up and popping the DVD in the PS4 before sitting back down, we all got settled in to watch the movie, none of us speaking a word.

* * * * * * * *

After the movie was over, I popped it out of the PS4 before returning it back to its case. Fluttershy was quick to speak up after it had finished.

“That was amazing. I think this might be my favorite Disney movie we’ve seen so far.”

“Ah figured ya might like it,” I stated with a smile.

“This movie actually reminded me of a question I’d been meaning to ask,” Rainbow remembered.

“What’s that?”

“After seeing the characters in the movie playing these sports like archery and badminton, I was curious as to what kind of sports your world has. Do any sports like those still exist today or have you guys invented newer sports?”

“That’s a good question, Rainbow,” Savannah spoke up. “There are actually quite a few sports that exist today. Some of the more famous ones being baseball, football, basketball, bowling, volleyball, and many others.”

“Wow. You guys have bowling too?” Pinkie piped up.

“Yup.”

“Football, huh?” Rainbow puzzled. “Sounds a lot like hoofball back home.”

“It might be. Ah dunno too much ‘bout hoofball maself,” I admitted. “With that said, football is one o’ ma favorite sports ta watch, which is really disappointin’ when ya take inta account tha fact that football season is only fer a few short months. You guys should’ve seen Super Bowl 51 ‘bout 2 weeks ago. It was incredible.”

“That it was,” Savannah agreed.

“What’s the Super Bowl?” Rarity questioned.

“It’s a championship game for football. Only the 2 best teams in the league get to compete.”

“Precisely ‘n this game was one fer tha ages. Tha New England Patriots, our team, were behind fer the 2nd ‘n 3rd quarters to tha Atlanta Falcons, but then, they rallied in tha 4th quarter ta tie tha game, resultin’ in them takin tha win 34-28 in overtime. This was tha firs’ time in football history that a Super Bowl win was decided in overtime ‘n tha largest comeback in Super Bowl history by tha Patriots scorin’ 25 points. Ya had ta be there.”

“Man. Really makes me wish we could’ve come here sooner in order to witness it,” Rainbow stated disappointedly.

“It’s O.K., twin. Maybe one o’ these days Ah can teach ya guys tha rules or better yet how ta play it.”

Rainbow smiled slightly at the mention of that.

“Anyhoo, we should prob’ly be gettin’ off ta bed by this point.”

“Sure thing, Sugarcube,” AJ replied.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Fluttershy yawned. “It has been a long day.”

And with that, we all made our way to our separate rooms to call it a night, looking forward to what the days ahead held in store for us.

Author's Note:

Whew. What a crazy past few weeks I've had. As promised, here's the latest chapter before I go off on vacation tomorrow. I'll still do some writing while I'm there, but I'm also trying to juggle an entry for a writing contest I'm taking part in so I might need to work on budgeting my time between the two. Anyhoo, hope you guys enjoy this and I'll see all y'all on the next chapter when I get back. Later.

P.S. Anypony who wants to participate in my upcoming Q&A still has until 11:59 PM on August 31st to message me their questions which will be answered in a future blog post. You won't wanna miss out.