“Daily Routine”
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The grass was moving slightly, due to the breeze in the wind. The area was lush, and the birds were flying above. The lake was crystal clear, though he could only see brief shadows of the fish down below. Neocros was squatting down on the edge of a lake. He was hunting for some fish that he could take home to cook. He would've used a fishing rod, but he found that he was rather unnerved about taking the hook out of a fish's mouth, the hook might harm him. He'd have visions about throwing his line, and having his hook snag on a loved one behind him, or even snag him! So he always resisted touching a line.
He shuddered to think of such things. He found that doing things the old fashioned way was more productive. The dragon scanned the surface of the water, keeping an eye out for any movement. His tail slowly moved side to side, eager to catch a nice juicy salmon. There was a long, slender fish that was moving slowly. He felt as though the fish knew of his presence, so he was extra cautious, and his eyes were pinned on the salmon like lasers.
Then, just when the salmon realized what was above it, Neocros quickly snagged it with his claws. His arms outstretched, and he took a moderate step forward, making sure to keep his balance, and to not fall into the crystal clear pond. His claws grappled the fish's sides, and Neo pulled it out of the water. He held the fish with one hand, having a vice-like grip on his prey. He secured his grasp on the salmon, with both hands. Neocros eyed it, and observed the aquatic creature, and quickly realized that it was a barracuda! He gasped, with his eyes wide with wonder.
“No bucking way... I didn’t...” He said to himself. Suddenly, Neocros felt eyes on him, and paused. It was risky to say such things in Equestria, a world intended for girls, anyway. The eyes that Neo felt were behind him, far in the distance. Thankfully, they left him, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. He angled the fish to where it was facing him. “Woah, you’re a big fish.”
He lowered the barracuda back into the water, where it then swam away further down. Neocros just sat there, observing the wildlife within the pond, seeing how the ecosystem seemingly compliments itself with various creatures and animals. He wasn’t an export at how Equestria works, but he knew that this world was twenty times cleaner than Earth’s. That then brought his thoughts to such a world, and how it’s ecosystem was being brutalized... He quickly tried to cut his thoughts off, trying to forget everything that happened there. Of course, he was different from Green, who almost never lets anything go. Then again, Green did forgive him for loving Dash... right?
He shook his thoughts away, and prepared to catch another fish.
Today was a rather casual one, some ponies were trotting about, going on with their daily lives. It seemed to be one of those boring days, where there are still those hard working folk, but most are either chilling out, or are having a good time at the spa.
Neocros had come into town, unsure what he’d be doing. Sometimes he would usually sit down on a bench, and listen to the ambiance of the communities. However, he wasn’t feeling such, today. He was pretty bored, which was evident on his face and motions.
He glanced around, watching as some ponies trotted about. The area he was in had a bridge which led to a more populated area in town. His surroundings consisted of a small fountain, and some grass. His gaze soon landed on a bench on the side of the road. It seemed rather lonely there, next to the grass off the path. He breathed through his nose, and walked over to sit on it.
As he was sitting down, he was having trouble getting his tail through the gap in the bench. He soon gave up, and moved his tail to the side of his leg. Neocros looked up at the sky, and wondered what these feelings were. The feelings were a mix of feeling bored, and kind of sad. He had heard of depression, but this felt like fatigue.
Why is he feeling this way? He has gotten what he wanted, that being Rainbow Dash. However, the feelings were giving off a vibe that almost felt like there was something missing. It also seemed to hint at something, but Neocros didn’t know how to describe it. He has been having a lot of nightmares recently, but hasn't gotten the chance to talk about it with Rainbow. Could the nightmares be related to this? He felt confident that they were, but there was a chance he was wrong. Earlier yesterday, he did tell Dash about one of his nightmares, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Neocros tried to focus on the sky, hoping to get his mind off things. As he was watching the clouds, he saw Rainbow Dash flying by, which made him eager to ask her.
“Oi!” He shouted. Rainbow Dash didn’t hear him at first, prompting him to shout louder. “Hey! Oi!”
She paused, turned, and looked down. Rainbow spotted Neo, waving his arm. She smiled, and flew down to him.
“Oh, Hey Neo!” Dash greeted. Neo pointed out that she hadn’t heard him first. Rainbow’s eyes widened, and she quickly apologized. Neocros smiled slightly, before glancing at the ground, falling back to his thoughts. Rainbow soon noticed his downed mood. “Something wrong?”
“Mh... sorry, guess I’ve been... feeling tired.” He said, feeling sluggish. He put on a fake brave smirk, as well as wagging his tail. Rainbow smirked, and placed her hoofs on her hips.
“Heh, you seem to be.” She replied, taking her hoofs off her hips. “So what’re you up to? Just sittin’?”
“I uh... don’t know. I feel... bored, but I mostly feel like something’s missing...” He replied. He glanced up, and saw something far behind Rainbow Dash. There was a Popsicle stand, and it seemed like some customers were happy with it. Neocros pointed towards it, and suggested that they may have some.
Rainbow saw what he was pointing to, and she shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
~ ~ ~
After they’ve gotten their popsicles, they sat down on the same bench Neo was on previously. As Rainbow Dash sat with him, she was eye level with his chest. They began munching on their popsicles, with Neocros not eating much of it. He’d keep glancing at his gal, and seeing her face as she was slurping it.
Rainbow Dash sucked on the popsicle, which she was enjoying to the max. Neocros couldn't help but watch her do so, with a calm and collected expression.
Rainbow turned her gaze to him, and gave him an adorable look. She muffled a "what?" through the Popsicle, which, from the cuteness alone, made Neo look away, however, it was not because he didn't like it, he just didn't want to come off as creepy.
“Uhm... I just wanna say... I thought of having Popsicles, because I wanted to see how cute you are...” He admits. Rainbow blinked at him, pleasantly surprised at what he said.
“Oh really? Am I adorable with this?” She teased. Neocros tilted his head to the side, thinking of something other than a popsicle inside Rainbow’s mouth. He blushed somewhat, as he thought about it.
“I... I guess.” He said. “I will say, the cuteness has seemingly given me a little boost. Not sure how long it’ll last, but okay.”
Rainbow Dash smiled, hearing such. “It’s awesome you’re feelin’ better, Neo!”
After a bit of a long day, they returned back to their house. Rainbow Dash briefly took care of the weather while Neocros prepared dinner. When Dash came back, she and Neocros started eating together. It was relatively quiet, as they ate in peace. As Dash was eating, Neocros' mind began to wonder.
After eating, the two immediately went to the bedroom, getting ready for bed, as the sun was coming down. As Neocros laid on his back, Rainbow flew over, and placed herself on top of him. She had her belly on his, and her chest against him. She stared intently into his eyes. She was so much smaller than him, which always excited her, whenever they were in these types of scenarios.
Rainbow Dash placed her hoof on his chest, smiling at him. “This was an awesome day...”
Neo smiled, as he felt Rainbow nuzzle into the crook of his neck. The feeling alone was enough to make his heart melt. His tail slithered, and wrapped around his adorable pony. Rainbow looked down, and gently pressed her cheek to his chest. His tail had coiled around her entire lower half, and was slowly advancing up her abdomen.
He gave soft, careful squeezes to her body, trying not to hurt her. Of course, he wasn’t going to, but there was something within him, this primal fear of harming her, that made him watch his actions with slow thought processing. Suddenly, the feelings he had today, had returned to him. He turned his gaze toward the wall on the right. Rainbow lifted her head, and she noticed his face, which appeared to be concerned about something.
“What’s up?”
“Uhm... I hadn’t told you this... until now but..” He shuddered to even say, but he thought that there was no turning back. "I know I told you that nightmare sometime ago.. right?"
Dash nodded. Neocros' mood dropped. "W-Well.. I've been.. having them a lot, even before that one time."
“What?” Rainbow said. “You have?”
“Yes, they’ve been haunting me for a while now. I’m not sure where the nightmares came from, but I’ve been having trouble maintaining any sort of progression.” He confessed. Rainbow Dash was surprised by what he was saying.
“Oh, Neo...” She said, feeling concerned for him.
“I’ve.. seen things that make me question my whole existence, that makes me terrified of what will happen in the future...”
She gently nuzzled into his neck. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“I.. don’t know why I’m feeling this way. I’m unsure if I will be okay... these nightmares getting worse and worse as time goes by...” He sounded as though he was on the verge of tears. The things he saw were things he wished nopony saw, including him. “Also... by the way... I was feeling this way, before we had ice cream. Since I was afraid of showing it, since it might make a huge scene...”
“Really? But, why did you think it’d make a huge scene?”
“I’m not sure... and I don’t know anymore...” His words now came out as a whisper. “All I know is... these nightmares won’t leave me...”
Rainbow Dash listened to him and felt bad for her boyfriend. She moved up, placed a hoof on his left cheek, and she stared into his eyes.
“Wanna talk about them?”
“Eh? No... not now...” He sighed once more. “I just wish... to sleep...”
Rainbow sat up, and pressed her hooves to his chest, and stared into his eyes.
“I don’t think I can get through this alone.” Neocros admitted, feeling like he just somehow foreshadowed something. Could be just his paranoia, right? Rainbow couldn’t help but chuckle at how corny that sounded, but she could sense the worry behind his voice. She lowered her lips to his. They both kiss for a couple of seconds, before they pull apart for air. “Sorry for coming off as cheesy about that last line...”
“You don’t need to apologize, I know you’re worried.” She replied. The sky blue pegasus proceeded to hover off him. They were laying on the blankets, and they needed to get into them, in order to sleep, of course.
Throughout the night, Rainbow would cuddle him, in hopes that he would be okay...