"This story was written in memory to those that have been affected by tragedies that cause certain family members to be "so far away" in distance or memories. - Nugget"
“Ugg…. I’m bored.”
Sprawled out on the couch, wearing a stained, white t-shirt and blue jeans, it seemed to Aaron Knight that he was kicking off another typical Saturday night of doing nothing by himself. With a hand in a bowl of Cheetos and the other over his forehead, he lay on the mattress and groaned to himself over how bored he was. Nothing of interest came to mind about what exactly he wanted to do other than be where he was at the moment.
“Ugggh!!!” he loudly groaned.
He removed his arm from his forehead and draped it over his stomach, letting the light from the living room’s fan shine down upon him. With the glare getting into the eyes and bothering him, Aaron squinted his eyes before he blinked them a few times. Upon allowing to finally open them up and gaze at the room he occupied, Aaron could not care less for what surrounded him.
Standing in front of him was a small coffee table that had his TV remote, a few magazines, and a mozzarella-stained paper plate where the pizza that he ate once rested. A huge flat screen television hung on the wall opposite from where Aaron sat, giving him a good view of the screen. While it appeared to look crooked by how his head laid on the arm of the couch, it didn’t really bother him since the TV wasn’t turned on.
All the windows in the room were shut while the door lock to the front entrance was sealed and bolted. It allowed nothing to come in or out, so this situation left Aaron to be the only bored living thing inside the apartment. Thus, he was alone, by himself, with no one else around him, and bored out of his mind with nothing to do to pass the time.
“Uggggggggggggggh!” he grunted, looking the stand in front of him.
Managing to set his eyes faintly on the TV remote, he decided to watch television for a while until he either falls asleep or goes to bed properly. Removing his cheese covered hand from the bowl and reaching out for the remote, he realized that it was just a fingertip too far from him. This meant he had to roll his body closer to the remote, using some bits of muscle in his stomach that made him grunt in determination for the plastic device.
“Coooommmeee ooonnnn!!” Aaron painfully said out loud before he was able to grab the remote.
“Gotcha!” he cheered.
Hitting the power button, he turned on the TV right as he heard some kind of commotion coming from the kitchen. Aaron poked his head up, wondering what on earth caused him to hear small strange tapping sounds coming from that general direction. His living quarters had been prone to being home to rats every now and then, but the last infestation that he knew about was taken care of about a year ago. Since then, the whole apartment has been kept clean by him constantly picking up after himself and spraying the whole place down to prevent future rodents from inhabiting the place.
“What the?” Aaron asked himself, continuing to hear more tapping noises from the kitchen.
After turning off his TV, the noise seemed slightly louder as the taps and bumps continued to resonate throughout the living room. Curiosity began to set in as Aaron raised an eyebrow. Then the ruckus suddenly stopped for a moment, fell silent for another, and then continued on afterwards with more short series of taps and bumps. They were once again coming from the kitchen.
Oh please don’t tell me it’s those rats again, he thought to himself, not happy with the fact they might have returned. It was frustrating for Aaron to consider the possibility due what had happened last time they infested his household. He'd lost an entire month's worth of food to the rats scurrying through his cabinets, eating everything in sight.
Once they were gone, it became a financial nightmare for Aaron. He had to replace most of the groceries and cabinets he lost while still being able to pay the rent. He never wanted to relive those days again.
Getting himself off the couch and walking over to a nearby tool closet, he opened the door and grabbed a straw broom from within. Carrying it with the intention of sweeping out every single rodent he discovered, Aaron mentally prepared himself by slowing patting the handle into the palm of his hand like it was stick or club. Armed and ready, Aaron slowly proceeded towards his kitchen as the tiny taps from within fell silent.
Turning the corner, Aaron anxiously peered his head into the kitchen and looked above the countertops. Nothing seemed to be misplaced or broken. His aluminum sink was clean, the wooden doors were shut, and even his doggy shaped cookie jar sat perfectly intact beside his coffee maker. The counters themselves were spotless. This made Aaron wonder where the noise was exactly coming from.
Opening and closing every single nook and cranny found within the cooking area, the young man searched for any sign of the rats getting into his food. However, after he checked under and over his kitchen table and sink, Aaron found no evidence of anything getting into his groceries. His box of cereal wasn’t chewed through, the noodles weren't torn to bits, and his bread remained sealed within it's protective paper bag. At this point, Aaron began to assume he heard things.
Then his pantry door slowly creaked open.
Turning around to gaze upon it, Aaron sighed as he realized the pantry was the only possible place they could be hiding in. It was narrow, tall, and had deep shelf space. Therefore, any rat could run on top of the boards and avoid getting smacked by Aaron’s broom.
He took his time walking up to the pantry, preparing to lay his eyes on the vermin. If he found them, Aaron was determined to get rid of the rats and see to it that they didn't come back to eat his food and live off of his expense. He just absolutely hated that aspect, and swore to not repeat the same events.
He pushed aside the pantry door.
He found nothing. None of the food was missing, none of the cans were knocked over, and none of his bags were shredded. Everything inside the pantry was perfectly safe and not cluttered around by any slight disturbance. This left Aaron to be appalled while he frantically looked through the shelves. He found only the same style of cleanliness as the rest of the kitchen itself.
He sighed.
Just as Aaron was ready to give up and go back to his couch, it dawned on him to check the gap between the tile floor and the lower shelf. It was the only location left to search. If he didn’t see anything, then he knew either the noises have been imagined or his TV wanted to mess with him. Regardless, Aaron bent down to his knees ready to end this mystery and finally see nothing at all.
If only that were the case.
“What the?” he said to himself, looking up under the shelf and spotting something with a rather large dark mass to it.
While it certainly wasn’t a rat, it also wasn’t something he expected as well. Curled up in a ball and backed deep into a corner, Aaron could see what looked like a small whimpering animal trying to hide from him. This creature wasn’t any bigger than a small dog and it tried to remain as far away from Aaron as possible. Terrified, it had its head turned away from the young man.
At first glance, Aaron thought it was a black dog since the color of its fur was hidden by the shadow of the cabinet above it. Then as he tried to reach for the animal, he realized the creature wasn’t even a cat, ferret, or a lamb either. Instead it was something he had never seen before.
It was a small pony, but not just any ordinary run of the mill pony. Taking the small filly into his arms and cradling it like a baby, Aaron could see that it had a light purple mane with a dark blue coat. On its forehead was a small horn and pair of wings were tucked up on her back. Her rear area supported a mark that bore the shape of a crescent moon.
What on earth are you? he thought to himself as he held the trembling pony. Her eyes clenched shut since she was on the verge of crying over how scared she was. Aaron, looking down upon the filly as if she was some foreign object, felt the amount of shaking the pony produced and realized it needed to calm down.
To the filly, he whispered calmly, “Hey, there buddy, It’s going to be alright. I will be here for ya if you just calm down for a moment.”
He tucked her in a bit tighter. Aaron felt the vibrations of a pony that had absolutely no idea what was going on and where she was. All the little pony knew was that she was scared and held by the warm embrace of some type of kind animal. All Aaron knew was that she needed to calm down and not be so afraid of him.
After a moment had passed by with Aaron continuing to coax the pony into relaxing within his comfortable hold, the little filly showed signs of comprehending with what was going on as she opened her cyan eyes to see. Looking up at his face, she gazed upon his warm smile before peering around the entire room. She then turned her eyes back to Aaron’s face.
“Well, hello there,” he chuckled. “I see that we are a curious one, aren’t we?”
“Umm, ummm,” she muttered, barely able to vocalize any of her words.
“Huh? What is that buddy?” he asked, leaning his ear into the pony is if he thought it was going to talk to him.
“Umm, ummm,” she said once more, still nervous from being scared out of her wits.
“It’s ok,” Aaron still pretending to think that it could talk. He tried to encourage the pony to speak. Realistically, he was expecting either a small snort or whinny. Instead, he got an unexpected response.
“Where... Where am I?” she asked with about as much confidence as she could muster at that moment.
“Huh?”
“Where am I?” she asked with a bit more clarity in her voice.
“Uhhhh...” was how Aaron reacted, completely dumbfounded by the pony’s ability to speak clearly.
Did it just talk? he asked himself. Did this little pony just now speak to me in plain English?
He shook his head. Nah, It cannot be. Horses, let alone ponies, cannot talk to humans! That’s just impossible.
Aaron stood in place for a moment as he tried to come up with an answer to her question. Here. Let's see if she responds to this.
“You...” he cleared his throat. “You’re in my kitchen.”
“Really?” She tried to move her neck in order to gaze out into the room.
“Yeah,” he replied.
Turning around to let her see the entire kitchen, Aaron watched the little filly tilt her head up in order to get a better view of the room. As she studied it’s plaid theming, Aaron was still in awe with how much intelligence the equine seemed to have. Not only could it speak, but it could ask questions and respond to them as well.
Holy crap! What on earth did I just find in my house?
“Oh, well I’m sorry then.” She was still timid, knowing the fact that she shouldn’t be there.
“It’s alright, buddy….” he responded. “Tell me, do you have a name?”
“Yeah…” She turned her body towards his chest. Tucking herself in, she stuck out her head and looked upward. “My name is Luna. And you?”
“Aaron.”
“Cool...” There wasn’t any slight indication of enthusiasm with that response. She was still timid, not wanting to look around anymore.
“Well, I'm not really thrilled by it either.” Aaron adjusted his grip on the pony so that it could rest comfortably within his arms.
“Anyway, how did you get into my house?” he asked.
“I don’t really know.” She recalled, “all I remember was Tia and I trying to steal some cookies and then poof!”
“Poof?”
“Poof!” she said. “As in I somehow managed to end up here. I was really scared.”
Aaron was befuddled. While he did hold within his arms a talking filly, it was a bit hard for him to believe that she was magically teleported into his world by mistake. However, since he couldn’t think of any other logical explanation as to what was going on, he decided to just roll along with her story. “So, this Tia just teleported you here by mistake? How?”
“We were hungry,” Luna explained. “...and she tried using her magic to lift me up so I could grab cookies from a jar in our castle.”
Aaron still wasn’t believing her story. “So that is how you ended up here?”
“I guess so.” She confessed, “My sister isn’t good with her magic yet.”
He huffed, Figures, a magical talking pony was whisked away into my apartment all because she and her sister wanted cookies. Really? Well, then. While I am convinced that this would be the making of some good fantasy story, I still don’t believe this.
Aaron continued to go along with what the equine said. “So where is this castle?”
“In Equestria…near the Everfree Forest.” She shivered at the mere mention of the place she lived by.
Aaron still had no idea what she was talking about. “And where is this Equestria?”
“I don’t really know…” She tucked herself deep into his arms, cradling herself in the warmth of his embrace. It kept her calm despite the fact that she still didn’t have the slightest clue towards where she really was. All Luna really knew was where she wanted to be.
She said, with a slight whimper, “...but I want to go home.”
Aaron couldn’t help but feel pity for the young filly. Here she was, in his house, ripped far away from where she lived, and being held by a kind stranger simply trying to understand who she was and what exactly happened. A young unicorn-pegasus hybrid that ended up in his place by accident, all because her sister was apparently bad at magic. As a result, it subjected Luna to a terrible experience within mere minutes.
It also made her extremely hungry.
While being held, her tummy kept on rumbling loud enough for Aaron to hear it. I guess she is hungry then. Well, she did say that she was trying to get some cookies from a jar before the incident, so I guess that’s what she wanted to eat. Hmmm.
He looked down upon Luna and spoke to her softly, “Well, I might not be able to help you get home, but I can help you out with another problem.”
“And that is?” She asked.
“Well…” Aaron dragged his word. “Since your tummy is rumbling louder than a full house, do you want something to eat?”
She looked up at him like a starving animal. “Yes, please.”
“Do you want a cookie?” Aaron smiled.
Luna seemed to beam at the idea, despite how upset she was. “Oh! Please, please, pleaaassseee!!!”
He chuckled. “Well, alright. But I am going to have to set you down in order for me to get you one.”
“Ok,” she slowly replied, not wanting to leave the warmth of Aaron’s grasp.
After putting the little filly down on her four hooves in the middle of the kitchen, Aaron walked over to where his cookie jar was with Luna down by his feet. Popping off the top of the jar, the young man reached into it and pulled out a chocolate chip cookie that looked as good as Luna’s expectations were. Licking her lips, the filly was eager to have the baked good within her reach as Aaron lowered it down to her level. He was soon caught off guard by her using her magic to levitate it within eating distance.
Taking a nibble out of the cookie, Luna tasted its flaky goodness before chewing into the chocolate chips. She moaned, letting Aaron know that she was enjoying her generous treat. She then took a big bite out of it, making sure her tears didn’t get into its taste.
Aaron could only smile at the scene he was witnessing. While most people see Luna as just a small filly enjoying a little delicacy, the young man looked at the filly as a small girl who needed the comfort from something genuinely frightful. As for Luna, she couldn’t just pass off what had happened as a bad nightmare. She was ripped away from her home by complete accident, out of her comfort, and out of a place she was familiar with.
Out of a world she knew.
At that moment, Aaron could only do what he could. He tried to comfort the filly and make her feel a bit better. If that single chocolate chip cookie could help to mend the pain, then it was a victory for Aaron. To hear her at least enjoy something pleasurable as a cookie made him feel that Luna could somewhat recover from what has happened.
“Enjoying it?” he asked.
Luna could only stifle out a Mmmhmm! as she shook her head “Yes.”
Aaron chuckled. “Well then, buddy, there is plenty more where that came from. Now go and finish that one up if you want another.”
She could only nod another “yes” as she bit into her cookie once more.
After about the fifth cookie she ate in the living room, Luna was beginning to feel full as she laid on the floor with a broken half-eaten cookie beside her mouth. With most of her hunger gone along with a bit of her sorrows, the next thing she was thinking about was wanting to catch some sleep. Though, while laying on the floor is mostly an option for the common household pet, she had a different idea in mind as she looked up at Aaron.
Looking back down at her from his couch, Aaron held a grin on his face since he knew sooner or later that every young thing, regardless of if it was a small child or a small-child like horse, would grow tired after a good meal. The young man enjoyed her company and was happy to see that Luna was at least eating something to fuel her through the rest of the evening. Aaron never thought about what she asked next.
“I'm tired,” she declared.
“Well, that is what happens after you eat so much, Luna,” Aaron stated, looking back up at the ceiling while patting his belly. He enjoyed a bowl of noodles while Luna was too busy eating away at the cookies he baked earlier in the day. He would never have guessed someone else was going to eat them.
“Can I climb up there next to you?” she asked, wide eyed like a puppy dog wanting another treat.
Aaron looked back down at the little pony and saw her lip quivered, tail wrapped around her as she curled up by her lonesome self. She remembered how warm he was as she pretended to be shivering as if the room’s temperature was below its seventy-two degree comfort. It seemed to Aaron that she would die of hyperthermia unless she gets the warmth that she desires.
He grinned at the little filly’s act, trying to manipulate him into wanting him to grab her and hug her to sleep. It was a very innocent in its nature, yet Aaron just somehow just had to bite for it. Whether or not it had to do with Luna continuing to present herself as helpless as she was, it didn’t matter to Aaron since it was too cute for him not to pass up.
Rolling his eyes, he averted his gaze back at the little foal. “Come here you!”
Quick to her hooves, Luna got up and took a few steps over to Aaron’s couch. After hopping up and onto the synthetic upholstery, she immediately laid down beside Aaron with her head up against his chest. While Aaron’s left arm was buried underneath her head and wrapped around the front of her body, his right arm draped over her mane and across her neck. He held her with enough of a grip to hug her and feel her fur brushing up against his shirt.
“You feeling any better?” he asked, peering at the ball of azure hair.
“Sorta,” she said, feeling a bit calm as Aaron’s hug was providing a soothing comfort over her body.
“It’s just that I miss my sister…” she remarked, held down by a burden that dampened her words. She almost wanted to cry.
“I understand…” He adjusted his grip on Luna, feeling her sorrow that consumed her body once more. “You know I had a sister once as well.”
Luna’s ears perked up, “Really?”
“Yeah, her name was Serena… But I just called her ‘Siri’ for short.” He huffed, “She hated that nickname I gave her.”
“I bug my sister all the time with name ‘Tia,’ though she doesn’t mind it,” Luna said, lowering her head down to her hoofs.
“That’s very interesting,” Aaron replied. “Well… My sister was very special to me and I loved her very much… Probably as much as you love yours.”
“Anyway,” he continued. “We grew up together for quite some time and we always, no matter how much we fought with each other, managed to make things up in the end with simple sweet gestures to each other… You know, like how a brother and sister would.”
“How so?” Luna curiously asked.
“Well…” Aaron’s word trailed off. After a moment of thought, he managed to remember a story. “One time she accidently bumped into me while I was trying to bake some cookies for the first time, and wellllll… Let's just say that my mom’s old kitchen suddenly became covered in flour batter as I nearly fell to the ground.
“Wow,” Luna giggled.
“Yeah, she was so sorry for what she did… even though it was just meant to playful. As a result, we spend an entire hour trying to clean up that room, wiping off flour from the floor and ourselves for that matter.”
He chuckled. “Anyway, after we cleaned up the mess, she admitted it was her fault. As a result, after I said that the cookies I was going to bake were probably not going to be as good as yours, she decided to take me step by step on how she made her cookies… which was a recipe she got from my grandmother. The same exact recipe that I make to this day, creating the same cookies that you ate.”
Luna smiled, knowing how much love was baked into what she ate. Yet she also asked, “Well, what happened to your sister?”
The question seemed to sting Aaron a little. He wanted to admit the truth about what happened to her, but he had to remind himself of Luna’s youth. To him, Aaron thought she might not be able to grasp the concept of which he was trying to get at, while at the same time he never wanted to admit what was the reality about his sister. Instead, he decided to dance around with his words.
“Well, let's just say that she moved on from me and my mother…” he answered.
“She moved away?” Luna thought out loud.
Aaron managed to gaze up from Luna and look across his living room. On a wooden mantle above his TV, a portrait stood with him and his sister on it. Within the metal frame was a photo of him hugging Serena while a silver pick-up was seen in the back. The words ‘Serena's 16th Birthday - 08/21/12’ were scribbled into the corner of the photo.
“Sorta...” Aaron admitted.
Just below the photo, a black rose was lying next to a set of keys. Tied to the set was a tag that read ‘08/22/12… I love my sister.’ Next to it was an apology note from a random drunk driver.
Aaron turned his attention back towards Luna. A thought came to his mind before he spoke, “But do you want to know one of the most interesting things about her? She always said she would be looking after me even if she wasn’t where I was… Since, I was the younger brother that is.”
Luna replied, “Tia sorta said the same to me when I got into trouble as well…”
“Well then,” Aaron grinned. “Then I am sure she loves you that much to say it then.”
“Yeah!” Luna perked up.”...Since she is my big sister. So I guess watching over us is sorta like their job isn’t it?”
Aaron laughed. “Yeah, I guess you can say that. But, do want to know why I said that?”
Luna was curious. “Why?”
“Well, this is sorta strange to admit…. But.”
Aaron was a bit hesitant with what he was wanting to admit. While it was true, it was strange to say to Luna only after just being with her for a short time. However, the little pony was a tid bit eager to find out.
“What! What is it?” Luna begged.
Aaron took in a short breath before looking down upon her. Suddenly, Luna was wrapped in tight hug as he began to cry himself. The truth was hard for him to admit, but he felt obligated to say it despite how much it hurted him to know the reality. To be reminded of her presence, and see something within Luna that was simular to Serena.
“You just seem to have her eyes.”
Yet somehow, Luna understood and hugged him back before they both both fell asleep holding each other close.