//------------------------------// // Acceptance may vary // Story: Stacked Deck // by lightfox lowell //------------------------------// "No," Jessie responded flatly. "What do you mean 'no'? It's the perfect plan to get inside," Bat Pony asked. Jessie sighed and covered her face with a hoof. "You are not using my truck as a battering ram. It's a stupid idea, and it's likely to get us hurt... or killed." "Nah, we could rig something up to the pedal. We don't need to be IN the truck," Bat Pony countered. "THAT is not even half of what's wrong with this idea. How detached from reality do you have to be to even think of that?" Jessie asked. "That is hardly a fair question, and I don't see you coming up with any better ideas," said the Bat pony. "That's because I'm still in shock and not one hundred percent convinced this isn’t a really strange dream! Look, let me think about all this. Give me a day. I'm sure I can come up with anything better than trashing my truck," said Jessie, exhaustion laced into her voice. Jessie watched as the Bat Pony gave out a sigh. "Fine, fine. We can take a day. An extra pair of... hands? Hooves? Whatever-- it will likely put me ahead of where I wanted to be in the time frame anyways." "What time frame? You don't trust your friends will wait for you?" Jessie asked. The Bat pony shook her head in response. "Nah, they would wait a long time for me. It's more of an issue of WHEN a fire starts and this valley turns into a flaming cauldron of death. I don't want to be here when that happens." "You sound really sure about that," Jessie said. "It's California! Fires normally break out around here," The bat pony said. It took them some struggling to get Jessie into the golf cart, but they managed. Jessie watched as the bat pony awkwardly got into the driver seat. The dog that had been overly hostile at first was shying away from Jessie, but still got into the cart. Jessie looked around at the dead streets and let out a sigh. "This is all too strange." The bat pony gave her a slight grin. "Strange, yes, but ultimately something we can deal with." "I really wish I had your optimism. You know, I still need something to call you. Saying 'hey you' or 'hey bat-horse' doesn’t cut it," Jessie said. "Okay, okay, jeez. I guess you can call me ‘Light’ until I think of a more formal name," Light said, caving into the demand for a title. The drive was short, perhaps one or maybe two city blocks, before they then pulled up to the entrance of a gated community. "A gated community? Never got why these made people feel safer," Jessie said as they bypassed the entrance. "Same. You used to be able to wait outside the gate for someone else to pull in if you wanted to. Kinda pointless when you really got down to it. Anyways, time for the real challenge. I live upstairs." Light grinned. Jessie stared incredulously. "You're joking right?" As if to answer, Cotton suddenly jumped from the golf cart and bounded up the stairs. "Nope, it's right up there," she made a pointing gesture. "The stairs are not SO bad, but I suggest slow movements, and knowing if you need to stop and lay on a step." "You are going to get me killed, I know it," Jessie groaned. "Oh, don't be so dramatic!" Light exclaimed as she slowly ascended the stairs. Jessie gestured recklessly at Light, and nearly falling over. "I'M being dramatic!? Honestly, you’re not being dramatic ENOUGH! You turn into a Halloween costume and then you act like you’re not even phased!?" "Eh, my personal issues are lower on the list of worries right now. I have some friends out there dealing with the same-ish stuff,"  Light said. Jessie stared at the stairs and the pony at the top of them."That's... not a normal way to look at a situation like this." The bat pony gave Jessie a half shrug from the top of the staircase. "It's how I am. Anyways, take it slow and you should be fine." Jessie had never looked at stairs with so much fear. "Yeah, look, I think I need to practice before trying to walk up stairs. I don't know if you can tend to a head injury, and I don't want to find out." Light gave them a nod. "Sure sure, you do that. I'm going to cook one of the frozen pizzas we got. I don't know if the power grid will hold overnight. Don't want them to go to waste. Call out if you want any help! I'll leave the door open." As Light left her to her own devices, Jessie briefly contemplated ditching the clearly crazy pony. From wanting to use her truck as a battering ram to planning to steal an RV, everything Light had said was tinged with delusions of grandeur. She continued to mill it over as she took some uneasy steps around the apartment's streets. "Where else would I go? Crazy or not, she seems to have made plans to be somewhere with more people... and there is safety in numbers," Jessie sighed. She was stuck, but maybe she could keep Light from getting both of them killed. Jessie practiced for more than an hour, and while she had walking slowly and stumbling on lock, any type of grace was optimistically days out. Not wanting to stay outside all night, she made uneasy progress to the stairs and gave them a dreaded once over before making her way up. They weren’t too tall and were situated between two walls, but the narrow enclosure did nothing to make the empty space underneath each step any less frightening. Despite this, Jessie was doing well until she neared the top of Stairs Mountain. As Jessie approached the summit she was hit by a horrid smell. Unprepared for it, she gagged and nearly lost her footing, but managed at the last second to wrap her legs around a stair instead of taking a nasty fall. Jessie pulled herself up, trying only to breathe with her mouth. She made her way to the door, where the smell only got stronger. She saw Light doing her best to eat slices of pizza while the TV provided background noise. "What EARTH is that smell!? It's horrid!" Jessie yelled, trying to use talking as an excuse to not breathe. "Hm? I only smell the pizza. Well, mostly the pepperoni. I will give you that-- it smells and tastes a bit off from what it used to. Though, nothing I would call horrid..." Light said in between bites. Her face was covered in sauce. "A bit off!? It smells like something crawled on your pizza, died, and is now rotten!" Jessie shouted, trying not to throw up. "Well, I can totally take this outside if you want me to eat the half I saved for you as well," Light said with a beaming smile. "What? Yeah, sure, fine, just turn on a fan or anything else to air this place out!" Jessie said. Light took their plate and the remaining pizza into their mouth and withdrew outside. Jessie went on to locate the oven fan, and central house fan in order to remove the stench from the apartment. It didn't take too long for the smell to vent out of the apartment. Jessie found herself with little else to do since her current company was busy eating. The apartment was decorated in a cozy fashion. Trips to Home Goods and the like were evident in the place. Family pictures were displayed prominently. Most featured an older son, and a younger daughter just out of junior high. Jessie heart sank. "Ah, jeez... no wonder the change is the least of her worries. Her kids vanished." She looked towards the outside patio where her host was still munching on slices of pizza. How she managed to cut it eluded her. Jessie drifted towards the door, unwilling to venture too close to the toxic-smelling food product. "Hey, look... I think I owe you a bit of an apology," Jessie said, turning Light's attention away from their pizza. "I didn't know what you were going through. I guess when you rack up the chips, losing your body is nothing compared to your kids not being there when you woke up." Jessie had expected a heavy-hearted sigh or some sort of statement of acceptance. Not the violent choking and spitting of small food bits. "Gah! What!? No, how did you... oh the pictures!? That makes sense, but no! No, no, no. That's my mother with us in the pictures! I am NOT her," Light said while she gasped for air. Jessie looked at her confused for a moment. 'The daughter?' She thought to herself. "Wait, how old are you?" "What? I'm 25, why?" Light said clearing their throat from the hostile pizza invasion. "You... look a lot younger in the pictures is all. I'm guessing they were a few years ago. You... don't seem like you're in junior high," Jessie pondered aloud, slightly embarrassed about the mistaken identity. "What? Oh, you mean my sister? Not her either." Light said as she nibbled on a new slice of pizza. Light watched as the gears turned in Jessie's head. The whole event had amused them to some degree. No point in hiding details. "Wait, but that would mean you're the... son? Jessie asked. "Yep! Or daughter now, I guess. Hell if I know. Pronouns are really hard. I mean Tumblr would say you get to pick your own pronouns. Other people disagree. Personally? I don't care," Light said as the pizza continued to be nibbled on. Jessie opened her mouth only to slowly close it. "I’m not dealing with this right now. I'm going to bed and hoping this is some type of taser-induced nightmare. I never thought I would want to wake up in a jail cell!" Light watched as Jessie retreated back into the apartment and gave a shrug. Too much needed to be thought about. Tomorrow, they needed to find a good way to get more supplies and transport out of town. "It's going to be interesting," Light said to herself.