“I will not ask again! WHO. ARE. YOU?”
My Friday night was definitely not going to end like I thought it was.
It was disappointing, really. I had been in such a good mood coming home. Still feeling good about earlier, I was going to soak in the tub for a little bit, sit in bed and watch T.V, maybe even order a pizza somewhere in between?
It was safe to say those plans were going to have to wait. How long? Well, as long as it took to deal with the person who had tactfully snuck into my apartment while I was gone. What was worse is I had nobody to blame except myself. I was the one who had left the apartment unlocked that morning, and then chose not to come back when I realized my mistake. With my OCD it was almost impossible for me to forget something like that. I was one of the people who had those recurring nightmares about the killer sneaking into your house and gutting you while you slept. I usually checked twice before leaving my apartment, even if it was just a trip down the stairs to my car. It wasn’t like I was afraid of getting robbed or anything, there wasn’t really anything to steal unless you found cheap Walmart silverware and plates worth breaking in for. But just my luck, the first time I leave without locking up, I had an intruder.
Speaking of which…
I stood in my kitchen, wielding a metal spork, staring down the person standing in my living room, looking equally terrified as I was. I slowly made my way towards the living room, never breaking eye contact with the woman.
She was young, that was for sure. At least my age, maybe a little older. She was currently wearing one of my hoodies and pair of blue jeans, but they sure didn’t fit her. She was noticeably shorter than me, causing the jeans to drag on the ground. She must’ve been quite thin too, because the hoodie sagged on her to the point where her hands were not visible in the sleeves. As I got closer I saw she seemed to have what appeared to be rosy pink eyes (that were very wide at the moment mind you) But the feature that stood out the most, that almost made any other feature of her obsolete, was the rainbow hair. Her whole head of hair was dyed every color of the rainbow, without any sign of her natural hair color showing. Unlike me, she showed no sign of aggressiveness. Instead, she stepped back a little and held her hands out in front of her. I finally came within a few feet of her.
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I don’t know who the hell you are or why you’re here, but the police are gonna take you away anyway, so I suggest you give me what you stole now before this gets messier.” I realized by this point she definitely wasn’t here to jump-scare and kill me like from a horror movie. By her body language, I’d guess she’s probably an amateur thief who’d never been caught in the act before. She finally opened her mouth to speak.
“L-look…please…I-I didn’t take anything, I swear…j-just PLEASE don’t let them know I’m here.” I stopped my advance and cocked my head in confusion, although never lowering my trusty spork.
“Don’t let who know you’re here? This is MY home.” She gulped hard before continuing.
“I-I can see that, and I promise I’ll leave, but I just don’t want the fat hairy one to find me.” What? Fat hairy who? This was getting weird. I thought for a moment before I responded.
“Wait, do you mean Mr. Garrison?” I said, almost letting out a laugh. Mr. Garrison was my landlord for these past few months I had been living here, and despite his awful people skills, Mr. Garrison had been nothing but pleasant and respectful with me. That being said, he does look a little rough at first glance. He’s got quite the beer belly, and a scruffy beard that really needed a trim. Or a shave for that matter. Suddenly a thought from earlier entered my mind. He had been the one who had left me all those missed calls earlier, and I’d have put money on the fact that I figured out why.
“I have no idea who that is, I just-“ whatever she was about to say was cut off due to the fact that she teetered for a second before crashing back onto her ass in a really unathletic display.
“Are…are you drunk? Do you honestly have any idea where you are right now?” I relaxed a lot when I said that. I finally lowered the spork and tossed it onto the couch. I looked down at her and she shook her head.
“What? No! Okay…yes and no.” She leaned over and grabbed the couch before attempting to pull herself up onto it with her arms. I stood there watching her with an odd look as the she literally couldn’t even pull herself up onto the couch. She tried lifting herself with her arms, but her legs hung limp as if she was a paralytic. She finally gave up and just slumped back onto the floor with a heavy sigh.
Good lord she is more drunk than I thought. This is why I don’t go to parties and get wasted.
“I’m not drunk, but no…I have no clue where I’m at.” She looked down at her hands before looking back up at me. “I was being chased and I needed somewhere to hide…your door was the first open one I found.” I internally groaned. Good going dumbass.
“Why were you being chased? And by Mr. Garrison of all people? You got an apartment here?” I crossed my arms as I spoke, leaning my weight on the leg that wasn’t currently bruised up. She seemed to relax a little, laying her hands in her lap.
“No, I don’t live here…he saw me outside and started asking me stuff…who I was, why I was here. I’d never seen any creature like him or you, so I panicked. I tried to get away from him and I’ve been hiding out in here for a while.” Welp, things just got fucking weird again.
“Uhhh, never seen a creature like…the hell are you talking about?” She finally brought her gaze up to look at me in the eye. I could see small tears formed around her eyes. She no longer looked frightened, but sad instead. No, pleeeease don’t fucking cry on me, I don’t need to see that. I expected her to start unloading a whole bunch of emotional crap on me, but instead she responded with something else.
“Can…can I have something to eat? I haven’t had anything since I got here and I’m starving.” I answered that by standing a bit taller and giving her a harsh glare. She flinched under my gaze. “Okay, I promise to tell you everything you want to know, just give me something to eat.” I let out a groan.
“Fine. But then you leave, got it?” I said pointing a finger at her. No response. I shrugged and walked back to the kitchen. “One way or another you’re gonna leave, whether by your free will or the cops.”
Why wasn’t I already calling them you ask? Well, it’s not like she’s really going to hurt me. And as small as she was I’m pretty sure I could overpower her anyway. She’s probably pretty drunk and I’d feel a bit bad getting her carried off when she wasn’t thinking straight.
“What do you want?” I ask, closing the refrigerator door from before. I went over to my cabinet and opened it up. “I got pop tarts, chips, hell if you want a-“
“Can I just have some oats?”
“……..Excuse me?”
“Oats…I don’t care what flavor just-“ I started waving my hands around.
“Woah, hold it…did you seriously just ask me for oats?” She looked at me with an equally bewildered look as I was giving her.
“Uh, yes? What’s so hard about…oh…do you not eat those?” I continued to look at her as strangely as before.
“No I don’t eat oats, dafuq? Do I look like a horse to you?” She looked down when I said that.
“No…you’re definitely not a horse, or a pony for that matter.” I looked at her for a few more seconds before turning back around while shaking my head. I reached up and grabbed a pack of pop tarts. I turned back towards the living room and walked them over to her.
“Here, I know it’s late at night, but I really don’t want to waste good food on you. This should be good enough. I’d apologize, but you’re the one who broke into my apartment.” I held out the pack of pop tarts to her, expecting her to grab them, but she hesitated. Then, in a slow movement, she reached her hand forward and wrapped her fingers around it, her fingertips brushing my palm as she did. Finally, with an unnatural squeeze of her hand she took the pop tarts from me, somewhat crushing them. I stepped back and let out an audible groan as I sunk into my chair across from her. I really need that ice bath.
“Ok. You have food. Now talk.” She didn’t answer. Instead, she continued to move the pop tarts awkwardly around in her hands before leaning down and ripping it open with her teeth. She stared at them for a few seconds longer before finally reaching down and taking a bite. Not satisfied with her lack of response I loudly cleared my throat. She looked up from chewing to look at me. She nodded and swallowed.
“So…what do you want to know?” I leaned back and crossed my arms.
“Who are you.” She gave me an annoyed look.
“None of your business.” I let out a dry chuckle.
“You want to be sassy with me? Fine. I can kick you out right now. I gave you something to eat. Now talk.” Her expression changed to a glare, and for a moment, we stared each other down. She gave in first though, sighing before answering.
“If I told you, you’d just call me crazy. Believe me it’s been a weird couple of hours.”
“Try me.” She shook her head and cocked her head.
“Why do you care?” My mouth curled into a snarl.
“I don’t care. I just want to know who you are and why you’re here so I can figure out what to do with you.”
“I already told you why I’m here.” I shook my head and groaned, growing increasingly irritated with this conversation.
“No, I mean why you’re really here. Where do you live, and why are you sneaking around an apartment complex late at night?” She took the last bite out of her pop tart, and held the empty rapper out awkwardly, wordlessly asking what to do with it. I rolled my eyes and snatched it out of her hand before tossing it onto the end table next to me.
“If I tell you, will you promise to give myself a chance to explain it?”
“Yes. Just spill it already.” She rubbed her arm, suddenly looking increasingly nervous.
“Does…does the name Equestria mean anything to you?” I cocked my head. Dafuq?
“No, can’t say it does.”
“What about Griffonstone.”
“No.”
“Mount Aris?”
“Nope, although don’t hold me to that I’m terrible at geography.”
“How about Saddle Arabia?”
“You mean Saudi Arabia? I do know that one.”
“No, Saddle Arabia.” I shook my head.
“Then….no.”
“Yakyakistan?”
“Ok what the fuck even are these?” She rubbed her hands together.
“I kinda knew it already, but I had to be sure.”
“Sure of what?” She hesitated. She seemed to be choosing her next words carefully. After a few moments she opened her mouth to speak.
“I’m…not from this place. Like, this world. At all. I’m from another world completely. And somehow I ended up here with absolutely no idea how to get back. This building was the first place I showed up at, and I was so confused. Not long after was when I was chased…and I ended up here in your place.”
She let out a deep exhale at the conclusion of her revelation, then looked to see my reaction. I stared at her for a second before folding my arms and looking up at the ceiling. I sat in silence for around a minute before finally looking back down to meet her gaze. She was still looking at me in the eye, now with a hopeful look.
“You’re insane.” And with that, the hopeful look fell.
“I have no idea what you’re on, but I can make a call and get you some help. I understand you being too embarrassed to ask for it yourself.” With that, I stood up to make a call and finally end this. I walked over to my phone sitting on the counter.
Well, I would have if I wasn’t yanked back by a pair of strong hands.
The lady had gotten on her knees and reached forward, latching onto my right arm.
“Listen!” She shouted, jerking me back and pushing a wide-eyed me back into my chair. “This is serious! I have no idea what this place is! And I need to find a way to get back to Equestria!” I shook my head.
“No, what you need is a doctor.” She snarled.
“GRRAAA! I. AM. SERIOUS. What can I do to prove to you I’m not from this world?” I decided to humor her for the moment.”
“Alright, if you’re an alien, then show me some alien shit. Levitate, change colors, I dunno. Surprise me.” She raised her chin high and scoffed.
“Fine!” She began to ponder something before a bit of an awkward look appeared on her face.
“I uh…I don’t know how.” I nodded.
“Yep, thought so. We’re done here.” I went to stand up again, but she reached forward and put her hands on my chest.
“No! Just hold on! I’ll prove it, I just gotta think for a minute.” I looked down at her kneeling on the floor.
“Can you stand up please? It’s a little weird, you crawling around on your knees like that.” She looked down at herself. She was on her knees right in front of my lap. To an outside observer it might’ve looked a bit suggestive even. She blushed lightly.
“I’ll try, not exactly used to this body.” I rolled my eyes.
“Uh-huh.” She huffed, then slowly used the arm of my chair to stand up, wobbling quite a bit as she did so. When she finally got herself to stand she looked at me.
“Happy?”
“Very.” I stood up and walked over to my phone. “Look, this had been one of the weirdest fifteen minutes of my life, but this needs to end. I have mandatory film with the guys in the morning, and I can’t pull an all-nighter beforehand.” She looked at my phone curiously.
“What is that?” I held my phone up.
“The 8.”
“The what?” I put my finger on the home button, unlocking it. I navigated to the phone app and opened it.
“Iphone 8.”
“I have no clue what that is.” I just shook my head.
“Of course you don’t. Now, do know anyone around here you can call to pick you up?” She glared at me.
“I told you. I. Am not. From here.” She said through clenched teeth. I’d had enough. I clicked my phone off and began walking over to the door. I really do not want to call the cops. I’d be so much easier to just have her leave, I don’t want to be answering questions for half and hour.
“Look, I’m sorry, you actually don’t seem like a bad person. But I can’t entertain a crazy woman in my apartment. You need to go…now.” I opened the door and stepped back, giving her an open exit. She still stood in the same spot, panic setting in on her face.
“You can’t kick me out! I have nowhere to go!” I shrugged.
“Sorry, but that’s not my problem. You said you’d leave after I fed you. Now go.” Her mouth fell open a bit at that, then she moved to take her first step towards the door. She took awkward, wobblily steps, nearly falling with every step she took. She slowly made her way across the room until she was standing just in front of the doorway. She looked at me and I looked back at her in the eye. Panic and sadness were clearly evident in those pink orbs.
Such an odd eye color.
I rubbed my hand down my face.
“Look, I’m doing you a favor and not calling the cops or Mr. Garrison. You’ll be fine.” She looked down, allowing her hair to cascade over her face, hiding her eyes from view. A quiet sniffle could be heard. I groaned. “I’m sorry, okay? But I can’t have you”- She looked up at me, hair falling back revealing her eyes. They were full of tears. She wasn’t crying, but she was sure close. A small bit of panic could be seen as well. As bad as I knew I should feel, I just didn’t. Sure, she might be a crazed, possibly high on some wild shit kind of person, but I still could not have her here. There was nothing that could change my mind.
“Please…I know I mean nothing to you…but I need help…I don’t know where else to go…I don’t have a purpose here, I’m just…lost.”
With that, something inside me sparked to life.
I had no idea why at first, but I felt something inside me, deep inside me, churn. I studied her face and let her words repeat in my head. I looked into her eyes and looked hard. And with that, I knew what I felt, why I felt it. I felt myself thrown back to a moment I had buried far back in my head, hoping I’d never have to think about it again. But when I looked down into her eyes, I remembered.
A rainy night. Freezing weather.
The muddy puddles splashed up onto my legs as I sprinted down the path. I caught up to them just as they were getting in the car.
“Please!” I yelled, panting as I finally reached the car. I leaned against it, looking into the open window. Nobody could tell in the rain, but tears flooded down my face. The person sitting closest to the window grunted.
“Stop crying and be a man for once. You’re fine. You’re a minor so they will find a place for you. You’ll find everything will work out.” I screamed in a fury and kicked my shoe against the tire as hard as I could.
“NO! YOU’RE WRONG!” He shrugged.
“Maybe, but we’ve already done way more than was asked of us. You’re selfish to expect any more than that.” I looked desperately at the other person in the back of the car, a woman.
“Please…” I begged. She gave me a somber look.
“I’m sorry.” I leaned back from the car and half laughed, half cried.
“Are you?! You expect to leave me like this and expect things to be fine? You’ll just go on with your life and I’ll never once sit on your conscience?” The man turned away from my look.
“Boy, we’ve talked about this long enough. We need to go.” I ran up and wrapped my hands around the frame of the door.
“Please…please don’t leave me like this…I know I’ve never meant anything to you…but I need your help …please.” I looked them both in the eye as I said this. The man opened his mouth to speak-
The memory came to a halt from the sound of my apartment door closing. I blinked, realizing there were now a few small tears forming in my eyes. I looked around and realized I was now the only person in my apartment. She had finally left. I reached up and quickly wiped the tears out of my eyes. The look I saw in her eyes a few moments ago burned into my head.
Without thinking about it much more I grabbed the door handle and swung the door open. She hadn’t gone far. Only a few shaky steps down the hall. I walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and spun around, nearly crashing on the ground again. I reached my other hand out and held her other shoulder, preventing her from falling. My mouth moved faster than my brain.
“You can stay, for now…not long, but for now.” She looked at my face, studying it. She carefully looked into my eyes before she spoke.
“You mean It?” I nodded.
“Yes, I do.” She smiled, then as if she had just realized she had tears in her eyes for the first time reached up and rubbed her yes quick.
“Heh, that’s awesome…I guess.” I nodded with a small smile, motioning back towards my open door. I let go of her and let her walk back in the room. I glanced at the clock as I walked in behind her.
1:15, holy crap.
She turned back around to face me as I closed the door and locked it, this time even jiggling the handle to check twice that it was secure. I looked back at her with a gentle look.
“You can sleep on my longer couch over there, it’s pretty comfy, sorta.” She looked over at it and walked over to it. I ducked into my room for a moment, returning with a blanked and a small pillow.
“Here, this should do for the night.” As I handed them to her she let out a yawn.
“Uh…thanks. What about you?” I sat down in my chair.
“I’ll sleep in this. I’m not letting you sleep here without me watching you. I may be letting you stay here, but I still don’t trust you…sorry.” She yawned again, laying the pillow at the end of the couch before tipping over and hitting the couch face first. Awkwardly she used her arms to twist herself around until her face was over the pillow. She then tried the pull the blanked over herself but all she managed to do was flail her arms around, as if she didn’t know how to use them. I rolled my eyes and stood up, quickly throwing the blanket over her before returning to my chair. She yawned louder this time.
“Thank you.”
“Yep.” As I sat there watching her slowly drift off into sleep I realized I failed to find out a crucial piece of information.
“Hey, I never asked, what’s your name?” She didn’t open her eyes but responded regardless.
“…..It’s Rainbow Dash.”