A good night's rest.
That's what I got last night. A good... a perfect night's rest. And it felt amazing.
Unfortunately, my brain decided it'd be a good idea to wake up after a normal eight hours instead of letting me sleep in! As such, I stared at the ceiling for a good while, before I had an idea. I got out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping Twilight Sparkle who was out cold with a content smile on her face. The sight caused my lips to curl into a smile as well, and I made my way towards the kitchen to get started on breakfast for the girls.
Almost half an hour later, the pitter patter of bare feet along the kitchen tile caught my attention. "Alex? What're you doing?" Fluttershy asked, yawning quietly and rubbing her tired eyes.
I smiled and motioned to the eggs and potatoes on the stove. "Thought I'd make you all some breakfast." She looked at the food then back at me, the smile on her face nearly melted my heart.
"How sweet. Thank you." She said, giving me a hug. "I'll go tell the others." And with that she turned and walked off down the hallway. Not too long afterwards, Fluttershy brought back a sleepy bunch of girls. And one very awake one.
"Oh, gosh! This looks absotively posolutely scrumptious!" Pinkie exclaimed, observing the food with incredible detail with a giant grin plastered on her face. I laughed aloud, finishing up the eggs and throwing them onto individual plates. After I finished with the eggs I pulled the toast out of the microwave, where I had put it to preserve the warmth, and we all dug in.
During breakfast a thought entered my head as I watched the girls eating. How long would they be here? How long until Celestia found a way to bring them back? I didn't want to think about it, especially not after all that's happened in the last couple days, but I knew, deep down in my heart, that nothing lasts forever.
"Alex?" Twilight asked, breaking me out of my daze. "Everything alright?"
I smiled and nodded. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Thankfully, they didn't push the matter further, avoiding what could have been an awkward conversation.
After breakfast, I noticed how beautiful it was outside and asked the girls if they wanted to simply hang out in the backyard. I introduced them to a bit of frisbee, as it was the first object I saw when I went outside, and we had a blast. Dana and Gray came over right around lunchtime. I decided to fire up the barbecue, cooking up veggies for the girls and some cutlets of chicken for Gray and myself. Though the ex-ponies didn't entirely agree with our choice of meals, they didn’t protest much. They understood that things were different here on Earth. I remained quiet throughout most of the meal, the thought of the girls leaving me still fresh in my mind.
"I'm gonna head inside for a sec," I announced, standing up. "Gonna grab a drink."I opened the sliding door and entered my house, grabbing a soda from the fridge before sitting down on my couch. What if that day came too soon? I don't think I'd be able to handle that. I mean, things were just now starting to go right, everything was starting to come together. And prom was right around the corner-
"Alex?" Dana called out, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I blinked and looked up in surprise, seeing Dana staring at me with a slightly annoyed, yet slightly concerned face. "Christ, I've been calling your name for a while." She stated with a slight giggle.
I chuckled and shrugged. "Sorry." I replied, as I started looking past her again. She leaned over a bit, placing her hands on her knees, to meet eye level with me.
"Something the matter?" She asked, quirking a brow. I looked up at her, and opened my mouth to tell her everything was fine.
But this was Dana. I could trust her with anything. So, I spilled it all. My fear of losing the girls, of losing my best friends. Thankfully, I managed to keep a straight face, even though my heart was throbbing in pain the more I thought about the dreadful situation.
"Well...I don't entirely know what to say." Dana said quietly, now sitting at my side on the couch. I sighed heavily, shaking my head.
"I don't think there's anything to say. It's inevitable. At least, I'm sure it is. On the one hand, I lose my best friends... the people that helped me find some happiness. On the other, they're condemned to a life away from their homes. Either way, someone loses." It was a rather bleak outlook, but, hey, I felt it was the truth. Dana nodded, trying to think of a reply that would relieve me. But, Dana, being one of my best friends, told it like it is.
"Well, Alex. You're right about one thing. It can't last forever, and I'm sorry to say that... But, hey. You got this much time with them, right?" She said, placing an arm around me. "You should cherish the time you get with them. Learn from them. Enjoy it all while you can," smiling up at me while she finished. I gave her a thankful smile of my own, placing an arm around her as we sat there in silence. Eventually we got to chatting again, mainly about the sudden appearance of the girls.
"It's just crazy. I never thought this would be possible." Dana said with a chuckle.
"You're telling me. Man, when it happened, I was thinking, 'No way. This isn't happening.' Sure enough, it was. Damn, sometimes I still can't grasp it." I replied with a laugh.
"Yeah... Hey, so. You've been getting close to them too, huh?" Dana asked, her question coming from far left field. I quirked a brow and looked down at her with a look of realization on my face.
"Uh... I guess you could say that. Why do you ask?" I asked carefully. She shook her head and shrugged.
"Oh, I was just wondering..."
"...Wondering what?" I inquired, thoroughly curious at this point.
"Wondering, if... Ya know. How close you'd be willing to get with them." She explained. It took me a second, but my eyebrows rose and my eyes widened.
"Oh, god, you mean, like...?" I asked, and she nodded her head. "I-I dunno...I mean, I haven't really thought about it...And haven't really ruled it out either, to be honest..." I replied truthfully, before shaking my head vigorously.
"It's fine, I was just curious." Dana said defensively, averting her gaze slightly. We fell into silence again, and even though this silence had taken hold, we didn’t hear the sound of the sliding door opening.
"Um, Alex? Dana?" Fluttershy called, walking closer to us. I saw her looking at the way Dana and I were sitting, quickly taking my arm from around Dana and stuffing my hand in my pocket.
"Yeah, Fluttershy?" I asked. She hesitated before her smile lit up her face again as she looked back at me.
"Gray says the food is ready." She replied before quickly making her way back outside. I huffed and took a drink of my soda, before standing up. Dana remained on the couch.
"We should probably go out there." I suggested, motioning my head to the back door. She nodded, but the look on her face threw me off for some odd reason. Like her mind was on something else. I didn't think about it too much, as I made my way outside, ready to eat.
Dana acted very similarly for the rest of the night. She was relatively silent, not even making any snarky comments. I knew it was due to the conversation we had earlier, so I figured the feelings would subside in time, especially with time to think about it. I thanked Dana and Gray for coming over and cooking as they left, taking some leftovers with them.
"Alright, girls," I said, standing up from the chair I was sitting in. "It's ten at night, tomorrow is Saturday, meaning school's coming fast, so I wanna start getting some good sleep in." A yawn escaped my lips as I finished, emphasizing my point. I stepped into my room, Fluttershy following right behind me. I assured her I didn't need anyone to crash in my room, but she insisted that I let her. Since it was Fluttershy offering, it didn't take me long to accept her offer. Unlike the previous time, though, she also requested that we slept on the same bed. Odd, but, hey, who was I to decline?
Saturday went by perfectly- completely lazy. The girls and I did not a damn thing all day, and it felt good to just lay down and enjoy myself without all the crazy antics. Sunday on the other hand, it didn't go by so perfectly.
It wasn't that late, probably just around nine at night, maybe a half hour after. It was raining, too. Not too hard or cold, but it was coming down all the same. Rainbow had offered to sleep with me that night, thankfully letting me sleep on the couch by myself, when I heard a scream pierce the silence - Fluttershy's scream. I bolted up and ran into the room with the girls, fearing that I might find something horrible.
"Fluttershy, what is it?" I cried out, turning on the light. Fluttershy was staring at the window facing the front yard in horror, and pointed at it.
"J-J-Jake! Aaron!" She stammered in fear. I looked up, and saw someone outside of the window- two someones, wearing dark hoodies and darting to the front door. I noticed cracks on the window, so it was either a scare tactic, or they were trying to actually break in. Either way, I was pissed, and very tired of these two. The numbers may be two on one for them, but I was fully capable, and in top condition this time. I tore my door open and the two of them turned around, ready to book it.
Except I stopped them.
"Hey! Dickheads!" I barked, stepping out into the rain with only my black tanktop, silver sweatpants, and grey sneakers. "How many times do I have to beat you shitheads before you leave me alone?"
"Can it, Barkhorn." Aaron growled, clenching his fists.
"Honestly, what's the point of even coming here? Ooh, you scared the girls. Big fuckin' whoop, you want a cookie?" I mocked, crossing my arms. I heard my door open, and turned to see who it was. Rainbow, who was wearing the hoodie I bought her, stepped out and matched towards the two.
"You know, I'm getting sick and tired of you two!" She exclaimed in anger. "All you do is bother and pick on people! Why don't you two get lost, and get a life!"
"Piss off. We're not here for you." Jake snorted, pushing Rainbow to the side. A puddle on the ground caused her to slip, causing her to cry out in pain as she toppled to the ground. They looked at me with satisfied smirks. I darted towards them, fists up and ready, as were theirs, all ready to strike.
"Hey!" Someone shouted from my front door. I stopped in my tracks, fists still raised, shocked that Jake and Aaron hadn't tried to get a cheap shot in during the distraction. After a second's hesitation, I turned my head to see who interrupted.
Fluttershy was marching right up to the two, giving Jake and Aaron the worst Stare I'd ever seen. My heart froze in fear as she bravely approached the two, who seemed to have no problem pushing around girls. I was trying to move, to go and pull her away before they hurt her, but my legs were glued to the spot. I could only watch in horror as the events unfolded before me.
"How dare you! Look at you two! You're grown boys who do nothing but shove around people who can't even defend themselves!" She scolded. I hadn't seen her this pissed since she dealt with the dragon. "You two have no idea what you're putting people through! It's people like you that cause people to be depressed, to feel all this pain! You even have the nerve to hit a girl- Not just a girl, but my friend! You do not! I repeat! You do NOT. HURT. MY. FRIENDS... Ya got that?" She shouted, ending with a chillingly calm voice. To my utter surprise, it actually seemed to intimidate the two, and they promptly ran off into the night.
I looked down at Rainbow, who was grasping her injured ankle. I observed it for a moment, before looking at her. "It's fine, just rolled it a bit. It'll be fine in the morning." I said, helping her up and placing her arm around my shoulder before looking back at Fluttershy.
"Thanks, Fluttershy," Rainbow said with a smug grin plastered to her face. "You really know how to deal with jerks, don't you?" Fluttershy retracted back into her hair, allowing it to cover a good portion of her face. She sneezed, and shivered a bit, before I took her in my other arm.
"C'mon, girls. Let's get you inside." I got them both blankets and towels, and helped them to warm them up. After sending Dashie back to my room I looked over at Fluttershy.
"That was a really brave thing you did. Thank you for that, Fluttershy." I said sincerely to her, a smile still on my face.
"No problem at all, Alex." She replied with a small smile of her own. "Those two... They're such bullies. I don't like people like that... They think they can walk all over someone just because they're bigger, or scary. Well, They're nothing but big... mean... Jerks." She said, obviously frustrated by the persistence of the two mooks. I approached her, placing a hand on her head, my smile growing in response to her form of assertiveness.
"Hey. They're gone now, thanks to you." I said, kneeling down to meet eye level with her. We looked into each other's eyes for a few minutes, until a sound from the hallway caught our attention.
"Hey, is everythin' alright?" Applejack asked us, smoothing out her hair.
"Everything's fine. Fluttershy managed to drive those two off, so we're safe for the night." I explained, patting Fluttershy's back with a smile.
"Really? Wow." Came Twilight’s voice, obviously surprised as I was by this outcome.
"Anyway, you girls get some sleep. We have school tomorrow, so rest up." I said, and they complied, heading back to bed. "You too, miss." I then said to Fluttershy, winking at her. She nodded and stood up, but I pulled her into a quick embrace before she could escape to her room. "I'm very proud of you, Fluttershy." I whispered, looking down at her. She hid her face into my shoulder, to which I smiled before pulling away. "Now, c'mon. Let's get to bed."
( Hey! Was that a good update? I think it was :3
Thanks again to my pal Pissfer for editing and making sure I don't sound like a total Cloudcuckloolander =D
Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! I appreciate positive feedback and critiques, and also appreciate the lot of you. Make sure to check out my blog, too!
alexbarkhorn.tumblr.com
Thanks, guys! Barkhorn out! )