//------------------------------// // A Sweet Man Made Bitter // Story: Anonymous and The Nightingale // by Daedelus //------------------------------// It had been a full month since the ordeal had happened and you tried your absolute hardest to avoid Rainbow Dash. As a matter of fact, you just avoided interaction with anypony in general. The only times you dared to leave your house was to go to work, get food, or stock up on beer. Other than that, you stayed home often. Yesterday was your last day of work for the month since the snow had begun to fall and temperatures dropped. Today is your first day of vacation, but how were you going to spend it? In the house of course, what else what you do? Instead of waking up from the annoying rays of the sun, you were stirred by the frigid air in the house. As you took in the room's surroundings, you saw that the sheets were away from your form. You must have kicked them off of you while you slept. Grabbing them and wrapping yourself up, you huffed in annoyance when you noticed that sleep drifted farther away. After a few minutes passed, you threw the sheets off of you, "Dammit." was the only thing you said as you sleepily trudge toward your bathroom. Opening the door and flicking on the lights, you faced the mirror to observe your features. You had a full beard now, even though it was getting cold and a beard would play a great part in keeping your face warm, you just did not care much about your appearance anymore. Sure you'd do some grooming and cutting but you saw no need or no reason for cutting it all off. You managed to gain some weight too. It wasn't a big amount, around 10 or 20 pounds, still, your body was noticeably more full than it had been before. Once you finished your business in the bathroom, you made your way to the kitchen. Pulling open the freezer door, you went over the available options of food, "Sausages? No. Frozen waffles? Nope. Bacon? Yes." you say, yanking the boxes of bacon out of the freezer. Hm? It seems there is another ultimatum you must face. "Now, Black Pepper or Hickory?" This decision was a whole lot harder to make. You promptly stood there, having an internal battle while the taste buds on your tongue took sides with each other, one half wanting the Black Pepper and the other, sweet and smoky Hickory, your stomach rushes your decision by rumbling, "Hurry up and pick one man, my acid is reaching critical mass!" Deciding on Hickory, you toss the opposing box into the freezer and turn on the stove. Placing the frozen strips on the pan, you stood back, not wanting to be burned by the popping grease. Reaching back into the refrigerator, you pulled out a glass of beer. Checking on the bacon, you cautiously flip the strips over. Sadly, a few drops of hot grease still jumped onto your arm, "Hoho shit that burns! Ow, fuck!" Before you can finish the stream of obscenities that were planning on leaving your mouth, a knock came through the door. Probably Derpy letting you know you had mail. You stood there waiting for an envelope to slide through the mail slot in your door. Nothing. Setting the stove to low and grabbing the bottle Buckweiser, you swing open your door to reveal Rainbow Dash, the last pony you'd wanted to see, at all, "Anon! where have you been?! Barely anypony has seen you in so long!" "Oh, I wonder why." you quipped, your words drenched in sarcasm, "What do you mean?" There was no way she didn't know why you flew under the radar for so long. You didn't feel like explaining this to her, in fact, you were amazed that you had the patience to speak to her at all, "You know what, I'm not dealing with this. Leave Rainbow, I don't want to speak to you right now." Rainbow recoiled, struck by your remark, "What do you mean, "don't wanna speak to me? Is something wrong?" Oh, something was wrong alright, "I meant what I said, now leave." You begin closing the door until she sticks her hoof in between, jamming the door, "What is up with you," she says, raising an eyebrow, "...Wait you aren't still mad about what happened that night are you?" Once she asked that question, you just stopped moving and closed your eyes. Of course, it would take her this long to realize it. Nipping things at the bud, you place your hand on her chest, push her back and close the door, making sure to lock it. Turning your attention back to the bacon, you had seen that it was ready to eat. plopping down onto your couch, you took a bite and moaned very loud. "Damn, I'm good!" you screamed, tiny bits and pieces of bacon rocketing out of your mouth. As you shoveled down the strips of bacon, you heard a sound behind you, *POOF!* Slowing your rapid cow chewing down to a sophisticated closed mouth chew, you cautiously turned around to see Twilight. Like the dumbass you are, you hold up the plate and smile with bacon wedged in your teeth, "Hey uh, you want a piece?" You could feel your brain practically kick your mouth, soliciting a giggle from the purple alicorn "No, I'm fine, I just came to talk." "About?" "Well, Rainbow came to me just now-" Before you could even let her finish, you promptly get up and mosey on over to the door, unlocking and opening it, "Get out of my house. Don't make me repeat it." You said the words with cold rage, "Why? what's wrong? Whatever it is, we could get the girls and talk about it." Heh, good old Twilight, always trying to make things right, "No, it isn't anything I want to talk about right now." "...Are you...hiding from everypony because of what happened with Rainbow." There it is, on the money, "..." "That is it isn't it?" "Twilight, just...please leave." Not wanting to upset you any further, she hung her head low and wandered out of the front door. Now she'll tell the others and then they won't leave you be.