Chapter VII: Homecoming
I had always known this would happen at one point. No matter where I go and who I am, love would always happen.
Although not in the way I expected. I was starting to think that I had just been involved in a love triangle. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if the others weren’t ponies. I’m not saying that it’s wrong, but it just that it wouldn’t work! I’ve just got a feeling that this will get much worse before the better.
I continued driving forward, unphased from the query. I couldn’t exactly comprehend what he had just asked me. He had just asked me if I love… A pony! I could never. I mean sure, they are intelligent and capable of everything a human could do, but the anatomy? Society may look down upon the act of cross species relations. Hell, they may even get to the matters of persecution. I quickly glanced over to my companion and breathed in deeply, ready for the onslaught of questions.
“So… Do you like her?” He asked shrinking into his seat.
I remained unchanged from the question. Before jumping into things, I’d like a little trivia. “I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”
“Eh, well I’m just a bit curious after all. You know, it’s just a matter of curiosity!” He sputtered nearly swallowing his words.
I looked onward into the field of view. I could see that the twilight was coming onto us. Deciding that now was not the best time, I attempted to drop the conversation. “I’m interested in her, but not in any way you would care about.”
“Well, would you mind asking her if she’s interested in me?” He offered.
Somewhere in my head, I heard a little voice yelling at his situation. He had literally just broken up with his marefriend, and now he’s already interested in another mare. This mare being a complete mess at the moment! I haven’t a clue about love, but this was becoming a nightmare for where this was going.
“Could you just tell her something about me, just put out a good word or something?” He said with a shaky voice.
I could hear the desperation in his voice and I wasn’t taking pleasure in hearing it. I thought up a response, and shot at him.
“Why not talk to her yourself?”
He looked away from me, turning his voice out the window. “I want to, but I’m just a nervous wreck around mares…”
“We all live in the same house now. You’ll have plenty of chances to talk to her.”
He returned his gaze to me. “That’s the problem! Max, I know she likes you, I can tell.”
I flinched at the remark. A pony loving me, I couldn’t think what to respond to that. I had just hoped that this wasn’t getting worse. The atmosphere was turning into a thick haze of angst, jealously and love. I didn’t notice until now, but I had now found out that he was jealous of me. He had just broken up with a mare, which he could’ve married and then was kicked out of the house, and all he could think about now was whether or not another mare likes him. Sadly to say, I felt somewhat proud of him for jumping back into the crowd instead of sulking around for a couple of days. It may even be love for him, who knows?
“She couldn’t like me.” I stated.
He looked at me, deciding whether or not I was telling the truth. Honestly, I couldn’t have known the answer. I kept on driving the Machine until we reached the destination. I pulled a lever and shut down a valve and turned to my companion. “We’re here.” I said pointing to the old house.
He opened the door and exited the Machine. As he stepped down, he tripped up and fell onto his front hooves.
I leaned over my seat and looked at him. “You okay?”
He picked himself off the ground and patted himself free of any dust. Turning around he shrugged. “Yeah, I just fell, that’s it.”
I turned my direction and looked at the house. The windows were shut and the blinds were drawn. It was strange though, I could see a light emitting from the upstairs window and what seemed to be… silhouettes moving back and forth.
“Dear god!” I muttered under my breath.
I turned to look for Rough Sketch, but he was nowhere to be seen. He must have just walked into the house, unaware of what was going on upstairs. I could only sit back and wait for the inedible. In the meantime I looked up to the dashboard and found the black box. In that black box there was a hand radio, shades, and a spare key to something. I picked up the hand radio and started to dial in random frequencies. Breezing through the frequencies I heard several stations.
I kept browsing until I heard a crash coming from inside the house.
“Just keep the stuff then!” Somepony shouted from within the house.
I looked up from the radio and saw Rough Sketch exiting the house in a fit of rage. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t happy with whatever he saw. Rough Sketch was trotting up to the Machine, kicking up an excessive amount of dust from the ground.
“She just broke up with me and now she’s rubbing hoofs with someone else!” He shouted as he threw a bag into the backseat of the Machine. He stared at me, signaling me to start up the machine.
I leaned back in my seat and let out a breath of air. “This may sound bad, but you’re not in the position to talk either.”
He glared at me. “What!” Jumping up onto the seat, he slammed the door shut. “I’m nowhere in her position. Last time I checked, I wasn’t being rutted out by a stallion!” He said furiously slumping into his seat.
I checked the ignition on the Machine and toggled a switch, turning it on. Shifting a gear, the Machine lurched forward and picked up at a fast pace. I glanced at him to reassure that I was paying attention. “I know that but you’ve also fallen in love with a mare you just met.”
He flinched at the remark. “That nothing like what she’s doing!”
“It’s still pretty similar. If she was a bit looser, I’d imagine that’d you pounce her.” I said ending my case.
I looked over to where he sat and saw that he had a surprised expression on his face. “What! I would never!”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sure everyone would want that tail.” At this point I could tell I was purposely instigating him. I wasn’t sure why, maybe I curious on what he would do or that something would slip from him, but something did eventually.
Rough Sketch looked at me, staring at me with deep intentions and said the most startling thing I’ve ever heard. “I’m still a virgin.”
I was then forced from that point to tense up my jaw muscles to keep from laughing. “How is that even possible, you dated her for two years?”
“Well, I’ve got standards you know!” He said pounding his front hooves upon the dashboard.
“Yes, but I imagine you also have hormones.”
He fumbled with his front hooves as if he was unsure what to respond with. “I’ve actually got a medical condition…”
Hearing his reason, I pulled the Machine of the main road and off onto a side road. Doing that would give us a bit much more time to talk. “What kind of medical condition are we talking about?”
“I’ve got a…” He spoke too softly to hear.
“I’m sorry what?”
“I have an… Ego issue.” He said nervously
I stopped the Machine at an intersection allowing a party of ponies to pass by. Turning my attention to my companion, I listen to what else he has to say.
He started turning red. “I’ve never gotten very far with her, and anytime we got close, she would just laugh at me.”
“That’s terrible!” I wasn’t sure what to think about that. I’ve never had an issue like that. I don’t want to sound like a Gary Stu, but I’ve had problems, just never like that!
“Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it. Could we just go home?” He offered.
I looked ahead of us and saw that the passing ponies were gone. Taking the opportunity, I drive forward and continued for a couple of more blocks, until finally arriving at a disgruntled house. From outside I could see a single light emitting from the first floor window. I toggled a switch on the Machine’s dashboard and dismounted. Rough Sketch was already a couple of steps ahead of me and was already heading up the steps into the house. I followed shortly after him immediately after I locked the door s to the Machine with the newly acquired keys from the black box.
I took one step inside and was already buffeted by a cloud of lingering smoke… Wait smoke!
“Gah! Where there’s smoke, there’s fire!” I looked ahead and saw that I was in a small entrance hallway. Directly in front of me there was a staircase leading up to a second floor and on the right and left of me were doorways that lead to possibly a kitchen or a living room. Seeing the smoke coming from the left, I ran into there .
“What’s going on in here?!” I yelled as I ran into Thomas.
Thomas was carrying a plate of some charred food to a nearby table until I knocked into him. This caused him to panic throwing the plate up into the air. During this time, time seemed to slow down at a standstill. I didn’t know what that stuff was on the plate, but it fell right onto me, splattering onto me and covering my jacket and shirt. I don’t know if you remember or not, but I have a faded white leather jacket thanks to the Doctor. This incident didn’t end well for my jacket, neither did it end well for Thomas.
“What on all that’s heavenly were you doing in there!?” I yelled at him, expecting a good reason.
Thomas and I were in the living room. He was sitting on a couch as I was standing, clearing my jacket of the filth that supposedly his dinner.
“I was making food, that’s what.” He said in a mocking tone.
I face palmed with my free hand as with the other hand held a dirty rag. “How do you burn something so simple as a?” I stopped wondering about what it could have been and dumped the idea. “Well then… Where’s Berry?”
He thought for a moment and spoke. “I think she’s up in her bedroom.”
“Really, that’s odd.” I pondered for a moment. “Did she walk up there as soon as I dropped you two off?”
He stood up from where he sat and started walking to the doorway. “Yeah, she looked as if she was in a rush. Then again, I could have been wrong.” Finishing his statement he exited the room, leaving me alone with the lingering smoke.
I let out a puff of air to clear a smoke cloud directly above me. Doing so just sent the cloud a farther into the air and dispersed it. “I guess I’ll just open a window then.” I whispered quietly to myself.
I strolled up to the nearest window and opened it. The window was in a state of disrepair and was falling apart. It was a miracle that it didn’t shatter as I touched it, but it did its job. The smoke cleared the room pretty fast after that. It’s kind of weird though, normally smoke is dangerous to breathe in, but something was different about that. Maybe it wasn’t very even smoke, but who knows, it’s gone now.
I walked back to my jacket and checked the condition. My jacket was clean now but there was still a slight black stain around the chest. Nothing that bleach couldn’t handle though! I reached into my jacket and started digging around for an item. I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings because Berry managed to sneak up on me.
“What’re you up to?” She purred.
I was startled by her but I responded with ease. “Oh nothing, just cleaning my jacket.” I said with suave.
“Really, why?” She said as she got uncomfortably close.
“Thomas burnt some food, and then threw it on me.” I exaggerated.
She sighed. “So that’s why I smelled smoke.” She walked around me for a moment studying me, only to stop to look up at me. “Are you planning on anything tonight?” She offered.
I set my jacket down and patted myself off, just to clear any lingering dust off. “No, I wasn’t planning on anything. What about you?”
She jumped up onto the couch next to me and sprawled out across it. “I was thinking of staying here, maybe watch a movie?”
I noticed she raised her tail and started to wrap it around my leg. Unsure what to do, I sat down by her. “That sounds good.
Maybe we could gather everyone else.” I suggested.
She drew back her tail from me and sat up normally. “Oh that’d be fine. I guess I’ll make something up real quick.” She said depressingly. She got up from the couch and started to walk to the kitchen. Walking off I can hear her sigh as if her attempts at flirting went to waste.
On the other hand, I was still in the living room with my jacket. I surveyed the room just to see all of what was in here. There wasn’t much but the couches, coffee table, and the small television set up against the wall. I wasn’t too sure what technological tier Equestria was in, but they seemed to advance in certain aspects. They had advancements in electricity but it seemed used very seldom here only for lighting and such, but they did have some sorts of vehicles going around.
There were automated carts driving about and I think I even heard a train whistle at one point. The technology here was all out of whack. They had most of the technology you’d expect to see in the fifties, but then it would jump to a current age or even further. This time period was a whole mix of tech.
While I was busy thinking to myself Berry had came up behind me and nudged my back. Unknowing that she was behind me
I jump a bit. “Ah, please don’t sneak up on me!” I beckoned.
She responded in a low voice. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She had a bowl of popcorn and set it down onto the table. “I just made some popcorn.”
I put my stance in a relaxed state to show no worry. “That’s fine. I’ve just got a bad history of people sneaking up on me.” I said unaware of the following question.
“Have you been jumped by people before?” She said worryingly.
I slumped down into the couch and crossed my legs. “No not at all. I’m just jumpy, that’s it.” I said quirking my face.
Obviously destroying any poker face I had just held.
She looked at me briefly and turned the other direction. “Okay… So what movie would you like to see?” She pointed her hoof off by a cabinet next to the TV.
I looked over at my jacket for a minute. “You know… I’ve actually got a movie we could watch.” I offered.
Curious she fixed her gaze on me. “Really, you’ve got some movies?”
“I’ve got a few.” I pulled my gaze vision away from my jacket and looked back at Berry. “Why don’t you get the others, okay.”
I stood up and stretched my limbs, yawning in the process. “I’ve got to find the movie anyways.”
She walked away from the cabinet and then started to walk back into the entrance room leading to the stairs. “Sure, I’ll get them real fast.”
Waiting a moment for her to leave, I looked around the room to make sure no one was still around. Once I was sure no one was around, I walked toward my jacket and reached inside, pulling out a metallic cube.
The cube I had just pulled out was a storage device. When I said storage device, I meant an actual storage device. This cube can store an infinite amount of space and organize it very well, unlike my jacket which just holds things in a jumble. I’ve actually gotten things lost in the cube because I’d forget about it.
I held the cube and pressed the button on the underside. It made a small noise from the mechanics on the inside and then a projector popped up, emitting a small hologram from it and held it above the cube. This hologram allowed me to view the contents of the cube. Since I kept it highly organized, I just looked in electronics/entertainment/video players and then found a good device that’d fit in with the tech level here. I grabbed the little icon of the item and flicked it off the hologram. The cube then after started making a whirring noise and released a large cluster of atomic lights from the small port. These atomic lights gathered around the table and started to form the device.
“Hey Max, have you found a movie yet?” I heard Berry say as she started to decent the stairs.
I panicked and found a random movie in the cube. “Yeah, I found a good one.” I said nervously.
I could hear Rough Sketch also speak something inaudible to Berry, maybe flirting or just some harmless chit chat, but he sounded a bit scared.
I had just finished setting up the DVD player and hooked it up to the TV. Berry and Rough Sketch had both walked into the room and saw that I had everything set up. Rough Sketch walked over to the table and spotted a bowl of popcorn.
“Oh popcorn, Awesome!” He said excitedly.
Berry noticed his trance on the bowl and smacked his hoof away. “Not until the movie!”
Rough Sketch shrank back from her suddenness and sat up against in the lone seat farthest away from the TV, but reasonably close to the table. He slumped down into the seat and moaned. “Aw, why not?”
Berry stared at him with her big eyes and facehoofed. “If you eat the popcorn now, we won’t have any for the movie.”
“Pfft… That’s your excuse?” He mocked while also staring at the popcorn set upon the table. “Why not make more then?”
Berry had ignored the question and trotted over to where I stood by the TV. “So what movie are we watching?”
I was standing next to the TV fumbling around with the video player. I had finished connecting the necessary wires to the TV in order for it to work. I was about to put the movie into the player when I noticed what movie it was. “Oh, bollocks!” I said in despair.
“Uh, so what movie are we watching?” Berry had spoken up again, this time much louder so I could hear her.
“Well, we’re watching Transformers…” I said nervously.
I didn’t have the time to find a proper movie and I didn’t want to show this movie. I don’t dislike Transformers, but this movie was directed by Michael Bay. Sadly I had no choice but to play this movie instead of stalling and finding an excuse to leave the room and return with another movie. Did I mention that this movie was directed by Michael Bay?
I heard a soft crunching noise muffled by a slight cough and then a whoosh of returning to a seat. Apparently while Berry was distracted, Rough Sketch had gotten up from his seat and grabbed a hoof full of popcorn and shoved it greedily into his mouth, although his effort was wasted with Berry’s keen sense of hearing. Berry cringed at the attempt on her popcorn and turned around a stared at him.
I didn’t want the situation to escalate so I started the movie. I turned the volume up as much as the TV allowed it and returned to the couch bringing Berry with me, leading her away from Rough Sketch. I rested in a comfortable position and prepared myself for the amazing film that was about to be bestowed upon us all. Did I mention it was directed by Michael Bay?
It was only about an hour into the movie when I was forced to shut it off. Berry was terribly confused while Rough Sketch was severely disappointed. Berry had been pestering me with questions on what the robots were and why they were fighting. She also wanted to know about all the places and things she saw. I knew it had been a terrible mistake to show them the movie, but in all honesty… It could have been much worse. They could’ve seen the second or even the third film and may God help their soul if they even saw the intro for the fourth movie.
Rough Sketch was amazed by the film and stood there in awe. His eyes were transfixed on the movie the entire time it was playing and he beckoned for more. I would’ve kept playing the movie but Berry was ruining it by her barrage of questions. I also had to stop it because she eventually asked where it was. I made up a false statement and said it was a science fiction movie and wasn’t real. Although she didn’t fully believe me, she bought it anyways. Rough Sketch on the other hand might need some explaining.
I had just ejected the movie from the player and put it back into the case. Turning back to my party, I see that Rough Sketch had come back to reality and had been munching on the popcorn. Berry had just been sitting on the couch in confusion, unsure of the entire movie.
“What did I just watch?” She questioned.
“Well, there were robots, explosions and a hot girl.” I shrugged my shoulders. “That’s the movie in a nutshell.”
Berry had just sat there while I briefly described the abomination of a movie. She sat up and sat in an upright position, strangely similar to how Lyra sat if I might add. She didn’t hesitate very long because she reached into her tail and pulled out a bottle of wine, popped it open, and took a long gulp before I knew what was happening.
“Berry!” I shouted at her.
She continued to take another sip of it, this time a bit more slowly as if she was mocking me. “What, I can’t have a drink around here?” She said lowering the bottle.
Rough Sketch also pitched in. “Oh, could I have some of that?”
Berry had glanced at him and raised her hoof at him. I could tell that she was already starting to get buzzed and was starting to slur her words. “You… You can’t hav- *hiccup* This is mine!”
I signed up strolled over to Berry, yanking the bottle from her grasp and picking her up. “Hey Sketch.” I called to him.
His ears perked up at my call. “Yes?”
I tossed the bottle to him. “Here put this some place she won’t be able to find it.” I said as Berry struggled in my hold.
He smiled and caught the bottle. “Sure, I’ll put this somewhere safe.” He turned away from me, twiddling his hooves. “It’ll go right in my stomach.”
I was already in the hallway when I stopped to turn back to him. “I said somewhere safe, not to get drunk and be evil.”
His expression fell at the statement. “What the point then?”
“Just listen as I say.” I resumed my path, ascending the stairs up to another hallway.
This hallway had five doors, two on my left and three on the right. I was practically in a T shaped hallway, my side being the lower vertical line being the stairs as the upper horizontal line would be the hallway. Unsure of which room was hers, I started opening the doors to my left. One door was a led to a newly furnished bedroom. This one was what I assumed to be
Rough Sketch’s from the canvas panels covering the walls. I also saw a strange silhouette of a big hunk of metal.
Preserving his privacy, I shut the door to his bedroom and tried the door opposite of his.
The door held a closet and nothing more, so I went to the other side of the hallway and opened the closest door to the staircase. Apparently this was the right bedroom for the fact that the walls were strangely the same color as her coat. Berry at this point had fallen asleep in my arms and had been mumbling things incoherently. I didn’t catch much word but my name and Rough Sketch’s. I gently set her onto her bed and tucked her in. I took a moment to look at her. She was sleeping peacefully, even for how drunk she was. I decided to stop being a bit of a creep and left her room, only to be confronted by Rough Sketch.
“Where you in my room?” He stood unmoving, blocking my path like a brick wall.
Unsure of how to respond, I told a white lie. “Not at all, why do you ask?”
He stepped out of my way, clearing a path for me to my designated bedroom. “Okay then. Just stay out of my room.”
I walked over to my bedroom and turned to see Rough Sketch peeking into Berry’s bedroom. He noticed my eyes on him and jumped back. “Heh, yeah… I’ll be going now.” He walked of down the hallway disappearing into his bedroom.
Surprisingly I heard a deadbolt lock. I assumed that he installed a lock on his bedroom door in the matter seconds he had just been in there, but I carried on my own business.
I stepped into my bedroom. It was just a small room with a twin bed centered in the middle of the room pushed against the wall. The only other piece of furniture was a night stand. For my clothes, There was also a very small closet that a person, or pony could step into. That would be usefully to put my clothes in there, except for the fact that all I own right now are jeans, a t shirt and my leather jacket, not forgetting my shoes and underwear. I’d have to ask Berry or Sketch about where a clothes tailor would be. I knew that neither I or Thomas wouldn’t want to wear the same clothes for days.
I walked to my bed and sat down onto it, stretching out onto it and yawning. There wasn’t much to do but sleep now. I laid back in the comfort of the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Hey guys, sorry for the late update.
I’ve actually been busy doing other things but I promise I’ll dedicate more time to this story.
Like always, if you enjoyed reading this, like, rate and comment and such.
Thanks for reading.