That night, I didn’t think at all about the nightmares I’d had previously. Instead, I had one of the most pleasant dreams I’d had in a while. I dreamt that I was with my family and friends hanging out at the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day with no clouds in the sky as we enjoyed each other’s company. Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, and AJ were swimming in the ocean while Rarity and Twilight were reclining on beach chairs next to me and Savannah, who was holding Ariel close in her arms.
But, as I looked over at Savannah, there was something noticeably different about her: her belly was looking a little bit rounder than usual. Was she pregnant again?
“Babe?” I began.
“Yes, David?” she replied.
“Are you pregnant again?”
“Of course I am, silly,” she laughed. “What else did you think it could be?”
“That’s wonderful news!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “I can hardly wait for us to finally meet the new little one.”
I just sat back and smiled. All this time, I’d been worrying about nothing. I now knew that everything would be just fine.
* * * * * * * *
Our party awoke the next morning fully revived and relaxed. Probably none moreso than me. Even the fogginess outside couldn’t dampen my mood. It was now Saturday and Friday was gone with no deaths having transpired. As we sat at the table eating our bowls of cereal, I took it upon myself to check with the girls about what plans, if any, they had in mind for the day.
“So whataya girls feel like doin’ today?”
“I dunno,” Rainbow stated after swallowing a mouthful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. “Maybe go for another walk on the beach for a bit? We haven’t done one of those in a while.”
“But Rainbow Dash, how would we be able to see where we’re going through all of that fog out there?” Rarity questioned.
“Oh that’s not a problem at all,” I answered.
“It’s not?” Fluttershy puzzled.
“Nope. Ah have an uncanny sense o’ direction. In fact, a few years ago, Ah’d finished up tha school year at a community college back home, but tha only buses goin out o’ there weren’t tha buses Ah normally took. So Ah got on one bus, took it a certain distance before gettin’ off, walked ta ‘nother bus stop, ‘n picked up that bus home with no problems.”
“What’re buses?” Pinkie asked.
“Well you know how there are cars around here?” Twilight began.
“Yeah?”
“Well buses are like larger versions of cars that can hold a lot of people. Some of the main differences being that buses are driven by actual bus drivers, not average citizens, you often need to pay to ride buses, and they follow a specific route.”
“Plus, Ah think that Dayvid’s sense o’ direction is purdy strong,” AJ added, “‘specially that one time he travelled all tha way ta tha Crystal Empire with us in his head despite never knowin’ how ta get there or even lookin’ at a map.”
“Hey, Savannah,” I started. “If ya wanted to, Ah could take Ariel along with tha girls ta give ya a little reprieve.”
“Are you sure, babe?” she replied, a little uncertain. “I wouldn’t want to burden you with her.”
“Babe, it’s honestly not even that big of a deal. Ah’m more than willin’ ta give ya some time ta yerself if ya need it.”
“Besides, we’re always willing to lend a hoof with little Ariel,” Fluttershy affirmed.
The other girls voiced their approval as Savannah let out a soft smile before speaking up.
“You guys are incredible, ya know that?”
“Anything for our friends,” Rarity stated pleasantly before putting her empty bowl in the dishwasher.
“Ya jus’ enjoy tha time ta yerself, Sugarcube. We’ll take care o’ tha little one fer ya.”
And so, with full bellies and empty dishes placed in the dishwasher, me and the girls got on our flipflops before heading out the back door with Ariel in my arms. Even with the coolness of the mist enveloping us, things were definitely looking bright and sunny from this point forward.
* * * * * * * *
Walking along the beach through the mist, the temperature fell somewhere around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, making for relatively pleasant strolling weather. Holding Ariel up on my shoulders, we walked along in silence for a good while, simply enjoying the peaceful crashing of the waves on the shore as well as the cries of seagulls overhead. Fluttershy was the first to break the silence after a few minutes.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over how relaxing and peaceful it is out here.”
“You said it,” Rainbow agreed. “I could spend months on this beach and never get tired of it. It almost makes me wish we didn’t have to go back to Ponyville after this.”
“Almost?” I puzzled.
“Well yeah. I mean, I’m not about to give up my wings forever just to stay here, but if it means getting to spend time with my twin, I’m O.K. with it being only a temporary thing.”
I smiled at Rainbow’s remark before Twilight spoke up towards me.
“You seem to be much more… chipper than usual. Is everything O.K.?”
“Of course Ah’m O.K.,” I replied. “Ah’m gettin ta spend time with ma closest friends. How could things not be O.K.?”
“It’s just that, over the past few days, there were several occasions where you seemed a little… distant and easily distracted. Are you sure everything’s O.K.?”
“Yes. Ah’m positive.”
“Alright then. Just know that we’re here for you to talk to if something is ever bothering you.”
“Quite right,” Rarity chimed in.
“Thanks guys,” I answered. “All o’ y’all are tha best friends anyone could ever ask fer.”
“Happy ta help,” AJ affirmed.
“Yes indeedly,” Pinkie piped up.
“Ah’ve actually been thinkin’ ‘bout quite a few things as of late,” I stated.
“Oh? Like what?” Twilight questioned.
“Well, first of all, Ah was thinkin’ that after tha Disney animated movies we could introduce ya guys ta The Wizard Of Oz in preparation fer when we go ta see Wicked in ‘bout 2 ½ weeks from now. Come ta think of it, we might actually skip some o’ tha lesser Disney animated movies, few though they are.”
“Wait. Why would we skip any of them?” Pinkie puzzled.
“Well,” I began, “like Ah mentioned before, there was a period where Disney movies really hit a decline in quality ‘n Ah purposefully avoided ‘em by any means possible. There’s one Disney movie that comes ta mind that Ah feel is particularly despicable ‘n mean-spirited. Even tha father o’ tha main character is soo humongously unlikable in tha way that he tries ta have nothin’ ta do with his own son even though tha son only wants his father’s love ‘n respect.”
“Oh my!” Fluttershy reacted. “That sounds horrible!”
“Ah can already think of quite a few movies that had better misunderstanding parents than this, parents who wanted ta connect with their children, but were jus’ unsure of how ta do that. This father doesn’t even support his son unless it’s with somethin’ that’ll indulge his or tha town folk’s selfish egos.”
“Sounds to me like something that would best be avoided like the plague,” Rarity disgustedly remarked.
“That it does,” AJ agreed.
“All Ah know is that Ah sure as hell wouldn’t show it ta Ariel or any other kid,” I continued. “Some o tha language used in tha movie, while nothin’ explicit, Ah still feel could scar mos’ children of that age.”
“Definitely sounds like it would be a wise choice to skip,” Rainbow Dash commented.
“Was there anything else that you were thinking of David?” Fluttershy asked.
“Oh right,” I started. “Ah guess Ah got a little too much inta ramblin against this movie that Ah almos’ forgot what else Ah was gonna mention. Anyhoo, Ah was thinkin’ that maybe you guys might be interested in me continuin’ more with our look inta tha Bible. We haven’t done it in a while ‘n Ah figured Ah’d bring it up jus’ in case ya wanted ta look inta it more.”
“Sounds good ta me,” AJ spoke up.
“Me too,” Fluttershy replied.
“Now that you mention it, I would be interested in learning more about that,” Twilight answered. “I’d kinda forgotten about it too until you just now mentioned it.”
“Time sure does have a way of slippin right by ya,” I remarked. “It’s soo hard ta believe that yer time with us is almost half over.”
“Indeed,” Rarity started, “but let’s not focus on that darling. Let’s focus on the here and now.”
“Sure thing, Rare.”
“Was there anything in particular that you were planning on sharing with us from the Bible?” Rainbow questioned.
“Well, since we went over tha Israelites claimin’ tha Promised Land, Ah was thinkin’ of goin over 1 ‘n 2 Samuel next. In those books, there’s actually a character named Dayvid who Ah was named after.”
“Ooo!” Pinkie beamed. “I’m sure that’ll be a lot of fun to go over.”
“Ah’m sure y’all’ll really enjoy it,” I smiled before looking at my watch. “Whataya say we start headin’ back now?”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Flutters replied.
“Same,” Twilight agreed. “My feet are starting to get a little tired.”
And so we made our way back home, all the while enjoying each other’s company and soaking up our surroundings.
* * * * * * * *
Shortly after arriving back home, we made our way to the living room where I got my Bible and began reading to our friends out of 1 Samuel. I read through several chapters all the way up to Chapter 10 where Saul was anointed as the first king over Israel before stopping to check with my friends about their thoughts on what was read.
“So what’d ya guys think?” I asked.
“Honestly,” Twilight began, “I thought that there was kind of a frustrating tragedy to all of it in the sense that Israel was soo eager to be like other nations by having a king that they completely ignored how God had provided for them previously. It’s not even as much the idea of a king as it was their desire to be like everyone else.”
“There was a period before Saul was anointed king where God raised up judges ta help direct Israel, but even then, when one judge passed away, Israel would turn on God until tha next judge was raised up ta deliver ‘em from their enemies ‘n it would repeat itself again. It was kind of a vicious cycle they were stuck in.”
“I was kind of surprised that we hadn’t even gotten to Davey yet after all those chapters,” Pinkie piped up.
I couldn’t help but smile softly at Pinkie’s reply before speaking up.
“We will get ta him eventually. Ah can promise ya that. Ah believe that he first shows up somewhere in tha nex’ 6 chapters.”
“In the Bible, David was known as being ‘a man after God’s own heart’,” Savannah stated as she walked in with Ariel in her arms. “Not that he was perfect by any means, but he would prove to be one of Israel’s greatest, well-known, and respected kings.”
“Wow!” Rainbow remarked. “Now you’ve got us really eager to find out about him.”
“Trus’ me,” I began, “that time will come very soon, but fer now, how bout we watch another Disney movie?”
“Sure.”
“Which one’s next?” Fluttershy pondered.
“Next one up is another favorite o’ mine, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, easily up there with The Little Mermaid as far as favorite Disney movies go.”
“Something you might want to know,” Savannah started as she went to put the movie in the PS4, “is that this movie tackles some pretty adult issues like religion, lust, and murder.”
“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasped.
“We don’ have ta watch it if ya don’ want to Flutters,” I stated.
“Yeah. We could always find another movie instead,” Savannah agreed.
“No. It’s O.K. I’ll be fine,” Fluttershy affirmed.
“O.K. then. Just wanted to be sure,” Savannah replied as she placed the DVD into the PS4 and we all sat back in our seats as the movie began.
* * * * * * * *
Before long, we’d finished the movie whereupon Savannah and I turned to our friends for their thoughts on what we’d seen.
“So what’d you guys think?” Savannah questioned.
“That. Was. AWESOME!!!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I just loved how much darker this movie was when compared to most other Disney movies. Not that other Disney movies didn’t have their own dark moments, but this was certainly the most ballsiest out of any other movie I, or any of us, have seen previously. Plus, I’d have to say that Frollo is my favorite villain to ever come out of a Disney movie.”
“Frollo certainly is the most complex and three-dimensional villain we’ve witnessed from any Disney movie,” Twilight agreed, “and the movie brought up some interesting issues regarding prejudice and acceptance.”
“As far as Ah’m concerned,” I began, “this movie is a prime testament ta tha fact that animated movies don’ hafta be strictly fer kids, but can jus' as easily provide plenty o’ thought-provokin’ ideas ‘n commentary fer adults ta pick up.”
“No doubt ‘bout that, Sugarcube,” AJ affirmed.
“My favorite part was the gargoyles!” Pinkie stated excitedly.
“Ugh,” Rainbow protested. “I thought they were really obnoxious to be completely honest.”
“I also felt like they were the weakest element of the movie, but I’d almost be more willing to accept them if they were just figments of Quasimodo’s imagination,” Twilight commented. “For a while, it actually seemed like that was the route that they were going with which I think could’ve added an interesting yet tragic element to Quasimodo’s personality, but then they decide that they’re really real in the end by having them fight off the soldiers.”
“That was such a major letdown in my opinion,” Rarity bemoaned.
“I found Quasimodo to be such a kind-hearted, likable character all throughout the movie,” Fluttershy stated, “and I was extremely shocked in that one scene at the beginning where Frollo almost drowned him as a baby, but I also felt kinda sad that Quasimodo didn’t wind up with Esmeralda at the end.”
“Ah’m of mixed minds when it comes ta that, honestly,” I started. “Much like you, Ah also felt sad that he didn’t get tha girl when Ah felt that tha two of ‘em had much better chemistry when compared ta her ‘n Phoebus who Ah felt they jus’ spouted off one-liners at each other. Not ta mention that Ah felt like her windin’ up with tha ‘good-lookin’, knight in shinin’ armor’ was super cliched ‘n kinda unnecessary.
“But, on tha other hand, sev’ral people Ah know have brought up tha fact that this was more indicative of real life in that tha protagonist doesn’t always get tha girl. Additionally, Quasimodo’s main goal in tha story wasn’t gettin’ a girl, but receivin’ acceptance from tha outside world fer who he was ‘n a girl would’ve distracted from that goal so, in tha end, Ah can kinda see both arguments ‘n how each one holds water in their own respective manner. Neither one is particularly wrong in all honesty.”
“Something that I really enjoy about this movie is the Latin choir that sings during the majority of it,” Savannah added. “David and I always enjoy movies that have that kind of choir utilized in their soundtracks.”
“Latin?” Twilight puzzled.
“It’s a much older language from tha earlier period o’ this world,” I explained. “In this movie, tha choir mostly shows up durin’ any moment regardin’ Frollo which Ah thought was a pretty interestin’ choice from a thematic standpoint.”
“It sure was,” Rainbow affirmed, “and I particularly liked a good amount of the songs that featured the choir like ‘The Bells Of Notre Dame’ and ‘Hellfire’.”
“Hellfire is among my favorite villain songs ever, mostly because of how different it was from other villain songs,” Savannah stated. “As many of you have probably noticed from watching previous Disney movies, almost all of the villain songs sung have been about the villain stating how evil they are and/or putting their diabolical schemes into motion.
“Hellfire, on the other hand, works differently. Instead of reveling in his evilness, Frollo sings about his struggle with lust brought on by his sexual desires and how that sin is eating away at him. It’s a much more tortured look at a villain that you don’t see as much. Not to mention that both that song and ‘The Bells Of Notre Dame’ have similar theming if you listen closely to the choir in the background.”
“Ah kinda noticed those similarities too,” AJ answered, “even if Ah couldn’t quite make out what they were even sayin’.”
I chuckled softly before speaking up.
“Whataya guys say we go through some more of yer show?”
“Sounds good to me,” Rainbow affirmed.
“Yuppers!” Pinkie piped up.
“Definitely,” Flutters replied.
“This season is much shorter,” Savannah started, “only 13 episodes instead of the usual 26, so we should be able to make it through the entire season no problem.”
“Well let’s get to it then,” AJ spoke up.
“Sure thing, AJ,” I agreed.
And with that, we all sat back to watch Season 3 of the show, enjoying each others’ company all the while.
* * * * * * * *
A few hours later, we sat around the kitchen table eating a modest lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, having flown through the entire 3rd season of their show a short while earlier. As one might expect, having seen 13 episodes all at once, there was clearly a lot for us to talk about.
“How’d you guys enjoy Season 3?” Savannah questioned.
“Personally,” Twilight began, “I felt like even though it was a shorter season than most that a lot of important information was brought up in that one season alone.”
“I’ll say,” Rarity remarked as she cut her sandwich into pieces before using a fork to dip the pieces into her soup, much like a fondue. “From the Crystal Empire reappearing to the bidding for them to host the Equestria Games, I’m surprised I could even keep up with it all.”
“Somethin’ Ah was thinkin’ of,” I started, “was when Rainbow Dash was jus’ a filly ‘n how devastated she was when Cloudsdale wasn’t chosen ta host tha Equestria Games.”
“Tell me about it, twin,” Rainbow commented before biting into her sandwich.
“It kinda made me think o’ tha same way Ah felt ‘bout a year ago when Boston, tha capital o’ ma home state Massachusetts, was taken outta tha biddin fer tha 2024 Summer Olympic Games.”
“Oh my,” Flutters replied after swallowing a mouthful of soup. “That must’ve been absolutely devastating for you.”
“It certainly was a disappointment ta put it mildly. Even though Ah’m not from Boston, there’s soo much that city’s been through recently with tha Boston Marathon bombing ‘n tha-”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!!!” Rainbow blurted out, taking a few seconds before speaking again. “Bombing?!?”
“Yup,” Savannah answered sadly. “3 people killed and over 200 injured.”
All of our friends looked at us with pure shock in their eyes at those statistics as if they themselves had a hard time believing what’d been mentioned.
“Over 200?!?” AJ finally broke the awkward silence.
“Sorry ta admit it, but it’s true. Tha world we live in is full o’ soo much hatred ‘n violence towards others who are different. But enough ‘bout that. Let’s get back ta talkin’ bout yer show.”
“Personally, I found it awfully fitting that the season we watched ended the way it did with Twilight becoming an Alicorn Princess,” Fluttershy answered softly.
“Ah enjoyed that too, but, strangely enough, Twilight becomin’ an Alicorn Princess is one o’ tha mos’ hated moments in tha show’s history ‘n Ah can’t fer tha life o’ me understand why?”
“Neither can I,” Savannah agreed. “I mean, all you have to do is look at the song that Princess Celestia sang to Twilight before her ascension for proof. Did she come a long way? Yes. Did we watch her from the beginning? Yes. Did she make us proud of how far she’d come? Yes. So why does everyone go busting their balls over something soo miniscule and non-offending as this?”
“I dunno,” Pinkie shrugged.
“Thank Celestia that nopony back home makes such a big deal out of that,” Twilight added. “Besides it’s not like something that I had complete control over whether or not it would happen. That’s just life.”
“Ah guess some people jus aren’t able or willin’ ta see past reality,” I stated.
“Well I’d say that we’re quite lucky to have friends like you who don’t make such a big fuss over something like that,” Rarity answered, wiping a napkin along her lips.
“Hey,” Savannah began, “it’s no problem at all.”
Rarity gave a soft smile back before I spoke up.
“Hey. Do ya girls know what tomorrow night is?”
The girls all had puzzled expressions on their faces as they looked at each other before finally shrugging.
“Tha Oscars.”
“Ohhh!” they replied simultaneously upon realization.
“Is it really that time already?” Fluttershy questioned. “Time here just seems to be going by extremely fast, much faster than even I would’ve expected.”
“Sure does, Sugarcube,” AJ concurred.
“And we’re going to make the most of every minute,” Twilight added with a gentle smile.
“Amen ta that sister,” I affirmed as we soaked up these moments with each other while we still had them. If only I’d known beforehand what lay ahead.
* * * * * * * *
True to what Fluttershy mentioned, time did go by quicker than any of us expected. One minute we were watching Disney’s Hercules and the next minute it was Sunday night with all of us getting set to watch the Oscars together. Just before the show officially started, I walked in with a large bowl of popcorn mixed with several boxes of Buncha Crunch for us to snack on while watching.
“Anyone up fer a snack?” I asked as I set the bowl down on the coffee table.
“Uh doi!” Pinkie piped up.
Applejack looked into the bowl, swiftly noticing the Buncha Crunch pieces scattered throughout before speaking up.
“Um… ‘scuse me, Sugarcube, but what’re those brown things in there? Are they like… burnt pieces o’ popcorn?”
“Oh no no no no no,” I quickly replied. “Those are Buncha Crunch, crispy rice puff clusters coated in chocolate. Ah jus put ‘em together ‘cuz Ah know of quite a few people who like ta combine tha sweet with tha salty. Trus’ me. Ah know better than ta give burnt popcorn ta ma friends.”
“Um guys,” Fluttershy started, “I think the show’s about to start soon.”
“Thanks, Flutters.”
And so we settled in to watch the Oscars while munching on our snacks. The girls seemed to enjoy it pretty well in spite of knowing absolutely nothing about any of the movies. Before long, we were treated to the first Best Original Song nominee performance of the night: Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake. This was the first time any of them had seen Timberlake himself and Rarity was the first to remark.
“Oh my!” she swooned. “Doesn’t he look like quite the dashing gentlecolt.”
“Justin Timberlake is famously known fer bein one o’ tha greatest entertainers of our time. He has a certain class ‘n sophistication that ya don’ often see nowadays. Much li-”
I was cut off immediately by the phone ringing in the kitchen.
“‘Scuse me. Ah’ll be right back.”
Heading into the kitchen, I picked up the phone and looked at the Caller ID to see that it was my mom calling. I instantly answered.
“Hey mom.”
“Hi David,” she answered with a shakiness to her voice.
“What’s wrong?” I asked out of concern.
“I was on the phone… with one of your aunts earlier,” I heard her swallow hard before finally speaking. “Your Grandpa Joe… was found dead in his apartment today.”
This news hit me really hard. Grandpa Joe was my mom’s stepdad, but he pretty much was the only father figure she’d had throughout her life and he never treated my siblings any differently just because he wasn’t our biological grandpa; we were all blood to him. My mom’s voice snapped me back to reality.
“Coroners say that he’d been dead for quite a while before they found him.”
That statement brought up a new wave of terror in me. He hadn’t, had he? I needed to find out from mom.
“Do they know when exactly he died?”
“Why would that matter?”
“Please mom,” I begged. “Ah jus' need ta know.”
“O.K. They say that he died… on Friday.”