Outside of Anon: Final Entry

Occurs after "Vacant Niches" and concurrently with "Together Again" (which is now the first story this year to reach over one thousand views).

The first winter were I was the ringleader of the Guardians of Harmony, and with no help to be achieved thanks to an EMP throughout town, I, Cogsworth and the city police lead our charges and ended a gang war that’s been hurting this town for a long while. What do we have to show for it? Many of us have our red badges of courage and are lucky enough to tell the tale. Tremor took his time to patch us up as best as he could without a hospital. It will take a few sessions for the shrapnel removed out of me. For now I was given some disinfectant, some bandages and casts on my arm. But our job isn’t over; with no electricity, and maintenance doing what they can without any power tools to restore power to the city, many of us are going to freeze. We took the initiative, bought every blanket we can find in a thrift store, then bring them over via horse drawn wagon.

It became a little chillier than yesterday, but at least it wasn’t snowing as hard. Bundled to the tooth, I sat on the front seat of the wagon. I’m not new to riding horseback riding and have gotten my drivers license a year ago, but when my turn came to drive the wagon, I was a fish out of water. Trust me, trying to keep the wagon straight while keeping Fleabiscuit from panicking with one good arm isn’t easy. After we turn right from the plaza, it became Scootaloo’s turn to drive… Then Tex took over.

After we got every blanket we decided to camp out at Turtle Park. It wasn’t easy, but we got a campfire with all the fallen twigs we can find (it’s a public park after all). We sat in a tight circle after the sun sets over the mountains once again. Though we deserved some silence, it was a bit nerving.

“So…” I look to Snips tapping his chubby fingers, “Anyone got plans for Christmas Break?”

“Just, staying at home, I guess.” Chelsey’s answer bring my tired gaze over to her, “Can’t do much of anything with my writing arm busted.”

“Same here,” I hear from Scootaloo before hearing her back pop, “until Rainbow Dash comes home.”

As my ears pick up a few agreeable moans, I sense of guilt weighs on my shoulders. I did warn of severe injury as was happened just nearly a year ago, but under my leadership in the holidays… I take a deep breath and sit upright as I could.

“What’s the matter, boss?” I hear from Tex.

“I’m sorry.” I take another deep breath, “With everything that happened this semester. I wasn’t really expecting it to be this worst… So, if there’s anything you want to say about me, now’s a good time.”

I waited for an answer before I felt a tender nudge.

“Aw hell, Cosgrove.” I turn to Apple Bloom, “You think that any fight we’ve gone through gonna a hitch on our plans? There isn’t anything to apologize about, hon.”

“Yeah,” I look at Zipper scooching forward and lying on his back to look at the night sky before continuing in perhaps the slowest I’ve heard out of him, “we’ve all had hitches in our lives before this bullshit started, but what separates us from them is how much we’ve done. We’re still growing, and we’re doing things everyone else would run away from. No good deed comes unpunished of course, but for all we did, it’s a reward we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives. You didn’t drive into this, you pulled us out, we made it through.”

I look around the campfire, seeing everyone look at me rather warmly. It lifted my spirits; I almost felt like crying. It’s when I felt someone hug me, my own little brother, who I recall almost got killed three times in this one year, that I felt tears stream my cheeks. As everyone else comes over to give a hug, I look at the night sky. If she was here today, Night Dancer would’ve been proud.

I close my eyes just when I hear cheering. I look ahead; something catches my eye and draws me forward. Walking around the softshell turtle statue, I find the city once again lit up. I thought it would be a few weeks to get the power back on; sooner's always better than later, I guess. I hear everyone else next to me cheer. I look forward again when a couple lights shine on me, searchlights. And with good reason too; everyone in the plaza turns to us and cheers. In the bleating crowds, some voices are telling me,

“Do the roar!”

The last time I’ve done “the roar” was the past summer to remind anyone who wants to wreck my hometown, they’d have to go through us. Now they want me to roar to the public; if only the turtle shells aren’t covered with ice.

“(Oh, why not?)” I think before I risk a little pain to Pony up and roar.

Even with the power back on, it’ll take a while for us to get the ground bridge up and running and so the horse and buggy became of use again. Once Chelsey stepped off the wagon, it was just Dapplewood, Apple Bloom, and I just a walk away from my house.

“Hey,” I look up at Apple Bloom, “After school’s out, you want to go out for dinner on Christmas Eve?”

I pause; it’s no secret among my closest friends that I have developed feelings for Apple Bloom. We worked together on the farm, and I forgive her, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo after the whole “Anon-a-Miss” mess, and yet I didn’t take much initiative. I don’t like things handed over to me like a trophy, not after I found out between Sunset and Flash. It took some convincing from Applejack and Flash that got me to consider. There was a little mishap involving Tender Taps, but that turned out to be a misunderstanding. I look

“After all that’s happened, I’d love nothing more than a good meal.” I start walking around the wagon, “See you soon.”

After scratching Flea Biscuit’s ears, I enter my house, had Dapplewood help me unclothe myself before getting a well-deserved rest.

---

Those few weeks pass by quickly; For our efforts, like it was then, we did not have to take the semester finals; it’s the least we can receive after the gang war. Every three days, we go the hospital. My sessions involve getting as much of the shrapnel off as they can for the day. If I thought I got slaughtered by Predacons on Valentines Day, then I’m surprised to be alive after taking quite a bit of shrapnel; now my skin feels ticklish until the scars heal up. Getting anesthetics every surgery made me sleep often for the next four days.

I wake up with a loud yawn, twisting myself slowly as to not undo any of the stitches. A brief check of the calendar; it’s Christmas Eve once again. I carefully clothe myself so as to not rub off any of remaining shrapnel on my arm. I grab a small, green box, a little present I have for her, and leave my room, walking to the living room where my folks and brother sat. Dad looks at me, slowly drawing a smile.

“Ready?” He asks, rising to his feet.

“Yeah.” I look at the small present, shake it a bit, then join my dad to his police car. The town looks much better, though it’ll probably be by New Years before things get back to shape. I’m not keen on letting Ember continue running her father’s crime business elsewhere and neither are Mom, Dad, and Shining Armor, but I’m sure she’d know better than to harm my town.

Dad pulls over by an old country buffet. There are few other choices I have in mind, but those are still being reconstructed. Yet again, I’m not a person of high tastes like Rarity. Wherever I go, I eat just about anything.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to pick you two up?” I turn to my dad looking at me with a concerned face. “It’s probably gonna be freezing when you two step out of there.”

I look around the car; the clouds are still thick, the perfect conditions for a blizzard. But we did just went through a gang war in winter, I see no difference now.

“If there’s any trouble, we’ll call.” I answer nonetheless before stepping out of the car. In no time do I enter the place. The heat from the stoves in the back and the sweet smell of food is welcoming. After looking around, I hear a whistle and join with Apple Bloom at a table beside the window.

“How are you feeling?” I ask; she still has a few burns and bruises. Her clothes are fine, last I heard, they have at least nine copies of the exact uniform, the difference being the color of the collars.

“Same old.” She answers before looking away from my face. “How’s the arm?”

I look at my casted limb, shaking it a bit before answering, “Still hurts like hell.”

Without a moment to spare, a waiter approaches us, checklist in hand.

“Welcome to the Country Club Buffet, our special dinner tonight is roast turkey breast smothered in gravy.” He clicks his pen, aiming the inked tip at the paper. “May I start off with any drinks tonight?”

“Iced tea, please.” I answer.

“A bottle of fizzy apple cider, please.” I hear from Apple Bloom.

The waiter finishes writing our order and clicks the pen again. “Be right over with you.”

As he walks away from us, I reach into my pocket and pull out the present.

“You... got me a present?” She stammers, “But I haven’t gotten-”

“You have.” I turn the present around, “You never gave up this whole entire year. Your family’s crops saved our lives. You saved Cogsworth. You’ve made Dapplewood happy after Sunset left. Whatever he saw in you, I see it now.”

Not the most romantic talk, but it got her blushing. She gently cups my hand and just looks at me with a warm smile, the same smile I see whenever my parents or even Night Dancer are happy. It just feels right… when a slamming glass ruins the moment.

“Alrighty. An iced tea and apple cider for the couple.” He clicks his pen again. “So, do you plan to get the buffet or will I interest you with our special?”

We look out the window, seeing the snow starting to pick up. The more snow there is, the more the wind becomes harsh. It only makes sense for us to fill ourselves with heavy food.

“We’ll take the buffet.” Answers Apple Bloom before we both rise and take to the counters. On an empty stomach, I just eat about anything my get my hands on. Even the most bitter fruits and hardest bones are never out of my jurisdiction. I haven’t lost count; seven dishes of food were easily devoured before I start to slow. We lay back on our sides on the booth, feeling bloated as pigs to the slaughter. We could stay here, but it’s not like it will get better this minute. It’s best to leave now.

Paying our tab, we enter the cold world once more. We hope to get a cab but decided to walk instead. The buildings sheltered us from the wind. But the still air bites, especially on my ears. We move slowly, getting faster as we build heat. The clock tower rings again, followed by the melody “Silent Night.” While we reach the riverside, we go into a huddle, shielding ourselves for any windstorm. It’s quite comforting until Apple Bloom’s bow gets into my face.

“Say, is that…?” She asks, getting me to turn my attention to a couple people on the bridge. One I can recognize as Twilight, our Twilight, embracing a man. While he did have blue hair and yellow skin, it’s not Flash Sentry, but another person altogether. Comet Tail, if I remember correctly. Speaking of Flash, I haven’t heard much from him lately, I hope he made it back home okay.

When we reached the suburbs, I looked around before turning into a full beast mode and lower myself to allow Apple Bloom to climb on my back. With a wounded arm, I can’t move quickly on all fours, and it would feel awkward hobbling on three. What I can do is keep on my hind legs and walk at a leisurely pace in frigid weather. In this form, I’m practically stark naked with sparse fur save for a long mane; weird as it feels, the warmth from Apple Bloom’s legs provides relief like a scarf.

One gust of wind has me tilt my head down, using my forehead as a breaker. I felt Apple Bloom shuffle to my shoulders, gripping my hair as she leans forward. I can move faster, but I fear the ice would make me slip and hurt the both of us. I at least move to a power walk, so to say, keeping a watch for any slicks.

Finally, we near Sweet Apple Acres, where the trees give a good refuge from the wind. I lift my head, snorting a few times and flipping the snow off my tail. As I turn to the road leading to the farmhouse, my wounded arm starts getting itchy. Like the risk of cutting open a bug bite, I scratch with my other arm. Some of the loose bits of shrapnel get free from my arm, the biting chill cauterizing the wound. The wind picks up again, but we reach the farm when it did. I lay down next to the front porch, feeling the wind chill my shoulders when Apple Bloom gets off me. After I return to being human, the front door opens. Applejack is standing at the front door, looking at the two of us smiling. While the wind blows against my cloak, I smile as well.

“Merry Christmas.” I wish for them.

“Merry Christmas, slugger.” Says Applejack, tilting her hat respectfully, “Sure you don’t want me to give you a ride home?”

“Nah, I’m okay. See you soon.”

Just when I turn around and begin my trek, someone grabbed my hand. I Apple Bloom looks at me while holding my gift to her: a necklace with an Allosaurus tooth I found one time during a walk home from here. After looking at the tooth, she looks at me blushing. She wraps her arms around me, eyes half closed. As if instinct overrode logic, I wrap my uninjured arm around her. We drew our heads closer, feeling a little bit of our breath.

My first kiss, my first honest-to-God kiss. I… just didn’t know what to say or what to do other than keep her close and place my forehead against hers.

“Breathe Deep…” She mutters.

“Seek Peace.” I finish, letting her go. As she looks at me one last time for the evening, I notice the flurry letting up. For the first time in December, the moon lights up the night sky. I give the house one more look before turning around, changing into my monstrous form again and continued down the road to Great Valley Drive. After I arrived, I turn to  a beeping sound. Sunset purposely stood there, giving me her coy smile. Whatever she’s feeling right now, I reply with a flick of my tail and went inside.

And so ends another chapter in my life, and I could really use some downtime. Wounds to lick, festivities to attend to, and plenty of bedrest. I personally hope the next bad thing would happen in Spring.

But after tonight,

There’s always tomorrow.