Cruel Twist Of Fate or (Friendship Is Tragic)

by SapphireWings999


Chapter IV: Of Songs And Shopping

           I woke up the next morning to find that Savannah and Ariel weren’t in the room.  I figured that just meant that they had gotten up before I did.  Putting my clothes back on, I made my way out of our room to look for the others.  Walking into the kitchen, I saw that no one was there.

           “Hello?” I called out.

           Silence.

           “Anyone there?” I tried again.

           Still no response.  Something wasn’t right here.  I then walked into the living room to see if anyone was there.  Upon entering, I saw that the front door was slightly ajar.  This struck me as rather odd because Savannah was always careful to close the door behind her and I was sure that the girls would’ve known better than to just leave a door open like that.  What were they raised in a barn?  O.K.  That was probably a poor choice of words taking Applejack into consideration.

           The thought then occurred to me that maybe they were all outside.  Walking over to the door, I opened it all the way and peeked outside, looking for any sign of any of them.  Upon looking outside, though, none of them were there.  It was in that moment when I began to think that maybe they’d gone to the beach and would be back later.

           Closing the door behind me, I turned around.  That’s when I saw it: a dark, cloaked figure hovering several feet behind me, its eyes glowing wildly like some kind of an animal and its jagged teeth glistening.

           “Looking for someone?” the figure asked in a slick, oily voice.

           Startled by this figure that was now before me, I struggled to come up with a reply.

           “Wh-Why would y-y-you care?” I managed to stutter.

           “That is none of your concern.  All you need to know is that they’re never coming back.  None of them.

           “You’re lying,” I spat out, defiantly. “They’d never leave me.”

           “Don’t be soo sure about that.  It’s all because your friends weren’t here that Savannah is gone.

           At the sound of those words, all the color left my face.

           “No.  It can’t be.  She can’t be gone.”

           “I took her myself and where I’ve taken her she can never return to you.

           The figure then grinned wickedly before continuing.

           “Some friends you have.  They couldn’t even be bothered to stay.  Had they been here, Savannah might’ve still been alive.  I seriously doubt that though.

           “Hey!  Don’t you dare talk about my friends that way!” I protested, angrily.

           “Say whatever you will.  It doesn’t change the facts.  Everyone you care for is gone, leaving you here by yourself.  All alone.

           It was then that the one figure split into five figures who began circling around me, taunting me with the chant “All alone.  All alone.” over and over.  They were relentless in their taunting as I covered my ears, trying to drown them out.  This didn’t do any better as I could still hear their chant ringing out in my ears.

           “Please,” I begged, “make it stop.  Make it stop!”

           But my antagonists showed me no mercy as they only continued my torture.  I closed my eyes tightly wishing this would all end as I let out a cry of agony.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

           I then woke up gasping in a cold sweat, realizing that this had all been a dream.  Looking over at Savannah, I saw that she was still sleeping peacefully.  It was then that I glanced at my watch and saw that it was now about 7:30.  Almost immediately, I was dragged out of my thoughts by Ariel crying.  Quickly getting my clothes back on, I went over to her crib and picked her up, holding her close against my chest.

           “Shh.  It’s O.K.  Daddy’s here,” I whispered softly while gently bouncing her up and down.

           This seemed to help settle her down as I gave her her morning changing before taking her into the kitchen.

           “Does someone want Cheerios?”

           She gave a soft sigh that I interpreted as a yes before I set her down in her highchair and poured out a handful of Cheerios onto her tray.  Ariel immediately began grabbing them by the fistfulls and shoving them in her mouth as I smiled softly.

           It was then that I thought to myself it might be a nice gesture if I were to make breakfast for Savannah and the girls so I got out a frying pan, a spatula, a bowl, a whisk, some butter, a carton of eggs, and a bag of sharp cheddar cheese in order to make omelettes.  Turning the burner on, I put butter in the pan, waiting for it to melt as I whisked eggs together in the bowl.  Once the butter had melted, I poured the eggs into the pan, sprinkling cheese on top of them after they had cooked long enough and folding one half over the other before plating.

           After several minutes, all the omelettes were made and dished up.  It wasn’t long after plating the final omelette that I heard footsteps coming from the stairs.  Those footsteps I heard belonged to Fluttershy, who came down wearing a sleeveless white T-Shirt and a light green skirt, her Azotic Topaz amulet still hanging from her neck along with the Aquamarine Teardrop pendant.  The towel wrapped around her hair implied that she had just showered recently.  Upon seeing me, she was quick to reply.

           “Oh.  Good morning, David.”

           “Good mornin’, Fluttershy.  How’d ya sleep las’ night?”

           “I slept great.  Thanks for asking,” she smiled sweetly. “How about you?”

           “I slept O.K.,” I lied.

           At this point, I didn’t really need any of my friends worrying about my personal problems.  I wanted them to be able to enjoy their time here with us.  It was then that I decided to change the subject.

           “Did ya enjoy yer shower?”

           “Oh yes.  It was beautiful.”

           “Any o’ tha other girls up yet?”

           “Well I believe that Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight were all awake when I got out of the shower.”

           “Good ta know,” I answered as I handed Fluttershy a plate with a warm, fluffy omelette on it as well as a fork. “Ah made omelettes fer breakfast.  Hope ya enjoy.”

           “It looks amazing!” Fluttershy beamed as she gratefully accepted the plate from me and went to sit down at the table.

           After taking her seat at the table, I noticed Fluttershy closing her eyes and bowing her head before eating.  I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of that.  Seeing Fluttershy being welcoming enough towards our beliefs was heartwarming.

           It was in that moment when Savannah walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

           “Hey, beautiful,” I greeted her with a soft kiss while handing her a plate. “Ah made breakfast fer all of us.”

           “Thanks, babe,” she smiled back, accepting the plate before turning to Fluttershy. “Good morning, Fluttershy.”

           “Good morning, Savannah,” Fluttershy greeted back after swallowing a mouthful of omelette. “How did you sleep?”

           “I slept great.  Thanks for asking.  How bout you?”

           “Same.”

           No sooner had the words left her lips then Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow came downstairs, Pinkie and Rainbow still looking a little groggy.

           “Hey, girls.  How’d y’all sleep?” I asked.

           “Wonderfully thanks,” Twilight replied.

           “I was still sleeping before they woke me up,” Rainbow groaned.

           “Me too,” Pinkie added.

           I chuckled as I started passing plates off to the rest of the girls along with forks.

           “Ah made omelettes fer breakfast,” I stated. “Hope you guys enjoy.”

           “Thank you, darling,” Rarity replied pleasantly. “They smell absolutely divine.”

           Grabbing my own plate, I silently prayed before digging into the cheesy, gooey omelette.  None of us said much as we quietly ate our breakfast together.  Finally, Applejack broke the silence.

           “This is incredible, Sugarcube.  Ah didn’t know ya could cook.”

           “Thanks, AJ,” I smiled back.

           “That’s David for you, always full of surprises,” Savannah remarked.

           “So whataya guys feel like doin’ today?”

           “I dunno,” Rainbow answered. “Did you have anything in mind?”

           “Well Ah was thinkin’ that maybe we could finish up tha first season of yer show, but, aside from that, Ah’ve got nothin’.  That’s one o’ tha downsides ta it bein’ tha offseason, not many places are open so our options of what ta do are kinda limited.”

           “Maybe, sometime later today, we could go to Wal-Mart?” Savannah brought up. “If I remember correctly, only Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash have actually been there so it only figures that Applejack, Pinkie, and Twilight might be interested in checking it out.”

           “It would certainly give us the opportunity to buy more clothes,” Rarity stated, finishing off her breakfast and bringing her plate to the dishwasher. “Our current wardrobe is rather lacking as it is.”

           “I agree,” Twilight chimed in. “If it’s O.K. with you, I think we might be ready to go right now.”

           “Are ya sure?” I questioned. “‘Cuz Ah don’t wanna rush ya guys.”

           “I’m ready,” Fluttershy replied as she removed the towel from her head and tossed her, now dry, hair back with a flourish.

           “So am I,” Rainbow added.

           “Ah’m ready if you are, Sugarcube,” Applejack answered.

           “Me too,” Pinkie piped up.

           “O.K. then,” Savannah remarked as she grabbed Ariel out of her highchair. “Looks like all of us are just about set to go.”

           “We’ll need ta take both cars with us,” I commented. “There’s not enough room fer all 9 of us.  Ah can take Rainbow, Twilight, ‘n Pinkie in tha Mustang ‘n you can take Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, ‘n Ariel in tha Charger.”

           “Sounds good to me.”

           “Well then let’s get goin’.”

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

           Once we had cleared our plates away in the dishwasher and put on our shoes, we were quickly out the door, in the cars, and on our way to Wal-Mart.  Pinkie sat shotgun with me while Rainbow and Twilight sat in the back.  No sooner had we backed out of the driveway when Pinkie immediately spoke up.

           “Can we put some music on?  The quietness is soo boring in here.”

           I couldn’t help but smile at her remark.  Pinkie’s attention tended to shift frequently.  Sometimes she could stay focused and other times she could lose interest pretty quickly.

           “Sure, Pinkie,” I replied as I punched the dial.

           As the radio turned on, we were greeted by Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off.

           “Oh god not this one!” I protested as I changed the station.

           “What?  What’s wrong with it?” Pinkie asked.

           “Ah jus’… don’t like that song.  Ah don’t care that much fer mos of her newer stuff now that Ah think about it.”

           “But you did used to like her music once?” Twilight tried to clarify.

           “Yes.  Durin’ her first few years in tha music industry, Taylor Swift had some really great songs that she put out.  They were fun, catchy, ‘n even won her quite a few awards.  But, ‘bout 5 years ago, tha music she started puttin’ out was kinda meh ‘n then her mos’ recent album a few years ago was soo generic ‘n stale that Ah’ve lost interest in her altogether.

           “There’ve been a few artists that Ah’ve had similar reactions too, but, on tha other hand, there’ve even been artists that Ah wasn’t as crazy ‘bout startin’ off, but eventually grew ta like after a while.  Jus one o’ tha joys of music.”

           As I was surfing the stations, I finally came to one that was playing the song Sugar by Maroon 5.

           “Why does this song sound familiar?” Rainbow puzzled.

           “‘Cuz it’s one o’ tha songs Ah sang on our way to tha Crystal Empire tha las’ time Ah was in Equestria,” I answered back as I began singing along to it.

           “Oh yeah!  I remember this one!” Pinkie piped up, enthusiastically.

           “This is sort of a bittersweet song fer me.  Rainbow, do you remember how Ah mentioned that ma last audition fer American Idol ended terribly when ma voice cracked?”

           “Yeah?  What about it?”

           “This was tha song Ah auditioned with.”

           “Oh!” she reacted in a form of mild surprise. “I can see how that might be hard for you, twin.”

           “What’s even worse is that, tha day after tha audition, Ah went to a dentist appointment where Ah told 'em that Ah had auditioned fer tha show.  When they asked me ta sing fer ‘em, Ah sang that exact same song.  Tha only difference was that Ah sang it perfectly that time without ma voice cracking.”

           “That sounds like it must’ve been frustrating,” Twilight remarked.

           “It was.  Tha one time Ah needed ma voice ta work tha most was tha one time it wouldn’t cooperate.”

           It was in that moment that we finally arrived at Wal-Mart.  I pulled into the parking lot with Savannah in the Charger close behind.  The two of us managed to find parking spots for ourselves that weren’t too far away from each other and pulled into them before putting our vehicles in park.

           As we got out of the cars, Pinkie, Twilight, and Applejack looked at the vast size of the Wal-Mart that stood before us.

           “Wow!” Pinkie marvelled.

           “I know,” Savannah replied. “It’s pretty impressive.”

           “You girls got yer money with ya?” I asked.

           “Uh huh.  Got it right here,” Rarity replied, patting her handbag.

           “O.K.  Let’s head inside then.”

           And so, after grabbing a cart and putting Ariel in the seat, we made our way towards the entrance of Wal-Mart.  As we approached the automatic doors, they opened up much to the surprise of Pinkie, Applejack, and Twilight.

           “Wow!  How did those doors open up like that?” Pinkie questioned in amazement.

           “Special sensors can detect when people are coming which causes it to signal the doors so that they open,” Savannah explained.

           “It’s just like magic,” Twilight remarked.

           “That’s what I said last time we were here,” Rarity commented.

           We then made our way inside Wal-Mart as me and Savannah led the girls over to the women’s clothing aisle.  All the while, Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie were marvelling at how much larger the building was on the inside.  Finally reaching the right aisle, the girls had a hard time trying to decide which clothes they wanted to go with as the options were far more vast than they were originally expecting.  Well, maybe not quite as vast as they were to Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow as they’d already been to Wal-Mart previously and therefore gotten a better idea of the variety the store contained.

           Rainbow Dash was immediately drawn to the graphic T-Shirts as was Pinkie Pie.  The two of them began looking through all of the different designs that were on display like a pizza shirt, a Marvel Comics shirt, a Star Wars shirt, and even a “Raised By Mermaids” shirt with an image of Mermaid Princess Ariel on the front.  Pinkie swiftly gravitated towards the latter.

           “I really like this one,” she stated as she showed it off to the rest of us.

           “That’s Princess Ariel from The Little Mermaid,” I began, “tha one Ah told ya guys bout jus yesterday.”

           “She’s really beautiful,” Fluttershy commented.

           “That she is,” Savannah agreed. “A name fitting for our own little daughter.”

           “What are ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Marvel’?” Rainbow Dash asked as she held up the two shirts in front of us.

           “Only two o’ tha biggest media franchises of all time,” I stated. “Ah know what we’re introducin ya guys to next.”

           “Would either of you girls like to go try them on in the dressing rooms?” Savannah questioned.

           “Sure,” Rainbow replied.

           “David, why don’t you go take them to the dressing rooms while I stay with the others here and help them pick out their clothes.”

           “O.K., babe,” I answered, kissing her softly. “We won’t be long.”

           And so I led Rainbow and Pinkie towards the dressing rooms where a woman sat at a desk with door hangers containing numbers going from one to six.

           “How many?” she asked as we approached.

           “Two fer her,-” I pointed at Rainbow before turning to Pinkie, “-’n one fer her.”

           The woman then handed a one to Pinkie and a two to Rainbow before we went over to the dressing rooms.

           “Jus’ hang ‘em outside yer door ‘n then come out once you’ve changed ‘n we’ll see how they fit on ya.”

           The two of them followed my instructions as I waited patiently for them to finish trying the shirts on.  Before long, they both came out wearing their shirts.  Rainbow had chosen to try the Star Wars shirt on first.

           “You girls look great.  So, Robin, ya wanna try on tha Marvel shirt next?” I questioned, remembering to use her alternate name.

           “Sure, twin,” she answered.

           After a quick change into the Marvel shirt and seeing that it fit, the girls changed back into their old shirts before we returned the door hangers to the woman at the desk and rejoined the others.  By the time we got back, it looked like the others had half of the store’s clothing inventory in the shopping cart.

           “Whoa!” I remarked. “Looks like you guys got busy.”

           “Well that’s certainly one way to put it,” Twilight replied. “Savannah helped us out.  We even got some more clothes for Rai- uh I mean… Robin and Polly to try on.”

           “You guys wanna go try some of them on in the dressing rooms?” Savannah asked.

           “Absolutely, darling,” Rarity answered.

           “Definitely,” Fluttershy agreed.

           “Sure thing,” Applejack stated.

           “Sounds like a good idea,” Twilight finished.

           “You wanna go with ‘em?” I questioned, turning to Pinkie and Rainbow.

           “I guess so even though we just came from there,” Rainbow replied somewhat despondently.

           “Yes indeedly,” Pinkie piped up more enthusiastically.

           “Well, if ya guys don’t mind, Ah’m gonna head over ta tha movie section ta see if Ah can find anythin good.  Ah’ll meet ya at tha checkout line.”

           “O.K., babe,” Savannah answered.

           And so, I made my way over to the entertainment/media section of the store where I began browsing the vast number of movies they had on display.  When I was younger, and even still now, whenever I went to a store like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, or F.Y.E., my favorite section to check out was always the movie section.  Some of them would even have an Anime section that I enjoyed checking out just as much.

           Looking through the countless selections, there were several that caught my eye rather quickly.  Some of them I’d seen before like Dark City, The Secret Of NIMH, Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, and even a discounted Blu-Ray pack of the entire Matrix trilogy.  Others I hadn’t seen yet, but they had captured my interest like Wolf Children, Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Paprika, which I heard served as inspiration for one of my favorite movies, Inception.

           After several minutes of consideration, I finally settled on The Secret Of NIMH, Wolf Children, Paprika, Dark City, and Van Helsing for good measure.  With movies in hand, I made my way back up to the front of the store where the checkout lines were.  Upon reaching the lines, I couldn’t find any sign of Savannah, Ariel, or the other girls.  It wasn’t long though before I heard Pinkie’s high-pitched voice shouting out my name.

           “Hey, Davey!!!  Over here!!!”

           Turning in the direction of the shout, I soon saw Pinkie hopping up and down while waving her hand.  With a smile on my face, I walked over to join the rest of them in line.

           “So how’d it go?” I asked upon approaching.

           “It went great,” Savannah replied before noticing the movies I was holding and commenting with a smile. “I see you found some more additions to your ever expanding movie collection.”

           “That Ah did,” I chuckled back. “Ah hope ya guys weren’t waitin’ here fer too long.”

           “Not at all,” Fluttershy answered quickly. “We had just gotten in line maybe half a minute before you found us.”

           “Good ta hear.”

           Before long, the line had shortened and we were able to make our purchases.  The cashier looked quite astonished by the large amount of clothes that the girls were purchasing, but, when Rarity stepped forward and paid for them, the cashier simply shrugged it off as she accepted the money and gave Rarity her change back.

           “Have a good day,” the cashier stated as the girls started grabbing their bags.

           “Likewise, darling,” Rarity cheerfully replied.

           I then stepped forward to make my purchases.

           “You girls head out ta tha cars,” I stated. “Ah’ll be right behind ya.”

           The girls nodded as they made their way to the exit while I paid for my movies.  Upon paying for them, the cashier handed me the bag with my purchases.

           “Have a good day,” she said with a smile.

           “Thanks.  You too.”

           Taking my bag, I exited the store and swiftly met the others over at our cars where they were placing their bags in the trunk of the Charger.

           “You girls need any help with that?” I offered.

           “No thanks.  We’re good,” Applejack answered.

           “O.K.  So who’s ridin’ back with me?”

           “Well I was thinking that maybe Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy could ride with you while the others ride with me,” Savannah stated.

           “Sounds like a good idea.”

           And so, with our bags loaded up, we piled into our respective cars.  Applejack sat shotgun with me while Fluttershy and Rarity sat in the back.  As we pulled out of the parking lot and began our drive home, I decided to strike up a conversation with the girls.

           “So how’re you guys enjoyin’ yer time here so far?”

           “Oh it’s been absolutely wonderful!” Rarity exclaimed. “Personally, I’ve enjoyed getting to learn soo much about your culture and I’m particularly excited to see those musicals you and Savannah mentioned in about a month from now.”

           “I’ve enjoyed getting to see all those Disney movies as well as the show based off of our everyday lives that you’ve shown us,” Fluttershy added.

           “Ah’ve enjoyed tha sightseein’,” Applejack stated. “It’s not often that we get ta hang out at tha beach, much less live soo close ta it.”

           “Yeah.  Ah can see why ya might enjoy that,” I remarked. “So do ya guys feel up fer watchin some more of yer show when we get back?”

           “I’m up for it,” Flutters replied.

           “Sure thing,” Applejack agreed.

           “Definitely,” Rarity finished.

           “O.K. then.”

           And with that, not much else was spoken as we continued on our way home, looking forward to the time we would have together over these next few weeks.  What I never could’ve foreseen though was how within those few weeks things would change for the worse.