That Planet Earth Turns Slowly
That Planet Earth Turns Slowly
I decided to go to the kitchen a second ago. Chef Brown made some good fish n' chips the other day and there was supposed to be leftovers. There, I ran into Arty. It wasn't a surprise, he's the biggest night owl I've ever met, threat of impending death or no threat of impending death. Of course, he couldn't ever hope to do that alone. There he was, making a batch of coffee, and bein a nice fellah he offered me a bit. Now normally I would like a cup of that beautiful stuff but getting one at this hour wouldn't be such a bright idea.
"I'm just going to say screw it and stay up all night. There's no way I'm getting any sleep," he says.
"You're crazy," I says. "A little sleep is better than none."
"Oh just hush up and get back to writing about your imaginary friend."
Nope. I didn't just make that up.
I don't think there's any feasible way I could have been more shocked at that. Seriously? What the hell, Arty?
"How did you-"
He smirked at me. "I'm a bloody Wiccan, remember? I have eyes... everywhere!"
Alright, now that I think of it he was probably just joking, and he probably just peeked through the rec room's window to see what I was typing the other day, the nosey little hawk-eyed redcoat, but just in case.... I'm never messing with Arty. Ever. I just hope somebody doesn't take him seriously one of these days, though. There's still a lot of crazies in Cardiff who might throw him into Loch Treestone to see if he'll float. Honestly, I can't even remember how that whole joke got started now.
I do know one thing though: Arty is one crazy bastard.
Anyway, maybe I should just say screw it as well. I tried to sleep after the kitchen visit but my mind refuses to rest. Every time I think I'm about to stop depriving myself of REMs some new horrible idea about what could go wrong tomorrow pops up. I know we're going to be flying, too. The Germans bomb Cardiff's industrial zones nearly daily, there's no way I'm getting out of a sortie unless god smiles upon me and tries to keep the Germans at bay with one hell of a massive storm, and the weather forecast contradicts that hope.
Still, I won't be going alone. My flight and I are really good friends, especially since I've risked my redneck ass coming over here to fight for most of em', and Captain Harkness definitely respects me, too. We'll have each other's backs through thick and thin, and we'll always be there to encourage each other until the Reaper comes knocking on our cockpits.
However...
I still wish Dashie was here. I really do. I haven't seen her in years, though...
My memories of her will have to be enough for now, I suppose. However, there was a time when I thought that the universe's strange entanglement of our lives would only be briefly. It'd have to wait til after dinner, though.
Everything can always wait til after dinner.
"Ewwww, what are you eating?" Rainbow asked, gazing upon his plate loaded with fresh potatoes, steak, and green beans.
"What? It's steak!" Tom said, cutting off another chunk of it and gobbling it up, his face oozing with pleasure. He then chuckled slightly. "Oh that's right, ponies are vegetarians."
"You bet we are!" she said. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff." She then stuck a tongue out in disgust.
Tom smirked. "Well, I would say 'have you ever even tried some before?' but I think your stomach might disagree with your mind."
"Hey! My stomach can handle anything yours can!" Rainbow argued.
"But that's not how it works, though. Ponies are herb-.... herba-"
"Herbivores," Tom's father finished for him with a bemused smile, munching on a piece of steak of his own.
"What he said," the boy chuckled. "It's just how god made it. If you eat meat you might get sick er' something. Unless your kind of ponies are different..."
"Hmph," Rainbow grumbled. Her eyes then widened in horror. "Wait, what if I really am stuck here and can't eat!" she cried. Her stomach then growled slightly. "I'm already feeling kind of hungry..."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you're not stuck here permanently," Tom reassured her.
Rainbow nodded, though she was still visibly worried. She then glanced over his father's way curiously. He was digging into his food in a rather odd way. He used only one hand to do it, picking up his entire steak with a fork and taking a chunk off it instead of cutting pieces off with a knife. The reason for this was quite clear, however. One of his hands was flesh and blood, but the other was lost long ago. In place of it was nothing but a hook.
"Tom..." she whispered. "I don't want to be impolite but... your father..."
The boy sighed at that. "It's alright. But... I'd rather not talk bout it for now."
Rainbow nodded.
"Talk about what?" Tom's mother asked.
"Nothin' ma'." The boy said with a fake smile.
"Well, alright," she said. She then smiled slightly herself. "Your sure your friend doesn't want any green beans? Ponies can eat them."
Rainbow nodded eagerly at that, her eyes open wide in anticipation for the quelling of her stomach's demand. However, her face soon sagged after a brief second.
Tom sighed again slightly, gaining a somewhat confused glance from his mother. "Thanks, ma', but she can't nething right now unfortunately. She'll eat when she gets home."
"Ugggggggh," Rainbow groaned, rubbing a hoof on the floor in annoyance. "When I get back I'm going to have the biggest breakfast of my life. Watermelon, hay... more hay. Lots and lots of hay."
"So I hear you like hay," Tom said with a slight grin.
Dashie threw him an annoyed glance. "Smartbutt."
"Sorry, couldn't help it," he said.
"Way to make fun of a starving pegasus!" she snarked.
"I said I was sorry!" he replied, stiffening a laugh.
"What in the world are you two talking about?" his mom asked.
"Oh I was bein a wise guy and Rainbow got back at me."
"Ahhhh, I see." His mother then chuckled. "That is a very unique name she has, by the way."
Tom narrowed his eyebrows slightly. "What, don't you like it?"
"Of course I like it," his mother replied. "It's very... creative."
"Hey! My name is awesome!" Rainbow grumbled. "You persons are the ones with weird names."
Tom turned towards Rainbow. "She said it was creative, though!" He then threw her a slightly offended expression. "And what's wrong with 'Thomas', anyway? It's mah great granddad's name."
Rainbow gave him an apologetic glance. "It's nothing, it's just different from our names. Your names are...." her eyes shot upwards, her entering a mode of thought. She shrugged after a second, apparently unable to find the way to describe them she was looking for. "They're just not like ours. Our names are made of words that are already things or... or can be used to describe things."
"Adjectimitives," Tom said, nodding slightly.
"Adjectives," his father corrected.
"What he said."
Dashie nodded at that. "Yeah, and sometimes they can be used to describe the pony. My name's Rainbow Dash cus I'm gonna be super fast one day!" she said proudly. "And well..." She brushed her mane slightly. "You know," she smiled with rosy cheeks. "I also know another filly named Ditzy who's... kind of ditsy. Her eyes are all like widdly widdly woo too." She demonstrated this by rolling her eyes in two sepperate directions somehow, earning a giggle from Tom.
"I think I see what you mean," Tom said. "Our names used to be like that too, sort of. Though they weren't as...." He grinned slightly. "Cute sounding."
Rainbow huffed at that. "Hey, my name isn't cute! It's super cool and awesome and... and... really cool!"
Tom laughed at that. He was really starting to learn the art of 'annoying the crap out of his new friend' down pat.
Alright... alright. I know I said earlier I didn't like making fun of people, but this is different! Everyone knows there's a line between hurting someone's feelings and just pushing their buttons slightly. Besides, Dashie was just too easy!
"You see, they'd have names like David Baker or Elizabeth Hunter, the first just being a word and the second describing what they did."
His father shook his head incredulously with a proud smile at him.
Rainbow tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "Why didn't you persons keep it that way? It seems like a neat way of figurin' out who somepony is easily."
Tom shrugged. "I'm not sure why we changed it. Now day names are just somethin' used to separate ourselves from others." A slightly saddened expression crossed his face at that. "I guess all they are are something used when you want to grab someone's attention..."
Dashie gave him a sympathetic glance. "What's in a name, anyway? My teacher always says it's our actions who describe who we are."
"Maybe... but couldn't other things define us, though?" Tom said. "My teacher always says that..."
His father lowered his eyebrows. "Tom..."
"I never said I believed her! At least not about that..." he objected. "What about the huns, though? Can't you say that they're all evil? Look what they did to your hand and lung, and that's the least of it!"
The dinner table grew silent at that, the conversation having strolled into an awkward territory rather quickly. His father sighed slightly, glancing directly into his son's eyes. "I've told you this many times, kid. Evil, stupidity, good, and intelligence are about equally spread round the world and all its races and nationalities," he then glanced at his hook, narrowing his eyes slightly. "That even counts for the Germans..." he then glanced back at Tom, a slight smile forming on his lips to break the tension. "Your old man's been round a lot of parts. I aint just quoting a book, I know it as a fact. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or needs to open their eyes a bit more."
Tom's mother nodded in agreement,
The boy glanced to the side, however. "Well... I'm not sure if I'll truly believe it til I meet a few, but I'll trust your word for now, pap."
His mother's eyes then gazed upon his father with admiration before she chuckled slightly. "You and your cheesy speeches."
He threw her an annoyed look. "Yeah, yeah... better eat that before it gets cold," he said, glancing at her nearly uneaten steak.
With that, she smiled warmly and leaned over to peck him on the cheek, causing him to blush slightly.
"Awwwwww...." Rainbow and Tom cooed in unison before forcing disgusted looks. "I mean... ewwwwwwww!"
Both then looked at each other with rosy smiles before giggling.
With that, the dinner table returned to its usual jolly tone as if nothing had ever happened, everyone drawing near to the end of their meals. Afterwards, both him and Dashie made their way to his room. They began to chat for a bit, each sitting on Tom's bed, his lights off to save electricity leaving only the moon to shine upon the two through the child's lonely window.
"Are you still feeling really hungry?" Tom asked her, worried eyes fixated upon the pony.
Rainbow nodded her head at that, a slight frown on her face. "It's alright though. Ponies can last a long time without food."
Tom nodded, before a moment of silence passed as he entered a brief stint of contemplation.
After a moment, he broke it.
"I'm sorry...." Tom said, glancing away from her slightly with a light frown.
She narrowed her eyebrows. "For what?"
"I think I might have had something to do with you coming here..." he said, his face saturated in guilt.
"How do you think that?" Dashie asked.
"Cus...cus I wished for it!" he lamented. "I wished for a friend to play with." He then sighed. "People live so far away from each other in the country... and with gas prices so high these days... it's just really hard to get to know people."
He then gulped.
"Do you hate me?"
He half expected Rainbow to throw him a disainful look, but to his surprise, she actually smiled.
"Wanna know a secret?" she asked.
Tom nodded, his look of surprise not fading.
"I think we both made wishes. You for a friend to spend time with and me for just... well... just a good friend." She then glanced away from him and rubbing a hoof on his bed. "I mean sure.. I have friends but... they're mainly that out of..."
Her eyes began to grow moist.
"W-Wah?" Tom said, not knowing what to do. "What's wrong, Dashie?"
"It's... It's..."
Her eyes then widened.
"Dashie?"
She remained silent.
"Rainbow?"
A beat.
"I... think it's time for me to go," she finally said, her tone blank.
"N-No," Tom stuttered, his eyes joining hers. "Can't you stay for just a bit longer?"
"I can't... I'm waking up. I can hear a voice.... it's my mom."
Tom's eyes widened at that. "I can... hear it too," he said, his voice stunned.
With that, Tom noticed that his violin, it previously blocked by a solid pony head, was now visible. Rainbow Dash was becoming transparent.
"R-Rainbow!" he cried, attempting to wrap his arms around her in a hug, not only to try to keep her there, but out of friendship. However, his arms went right through her.
He growled in frustration.
"I'm sorry Tom..." she said, gulping. A look that could break the heart of Hitler came upon her. "I'll.... I'll...."
Before she could finish, she vanished right before his eyes. However, her voice still carried over from across the void for one last message.
"See you later."
The young boy then began to shake slightly, him taking a large, painful breath of air. A second later, his frustration caught up with his sorrow.
"Damnit!" Tom shouted, sending a fist into his mattress, his voice a mix between a growl and a sob. With that, he collapsed, bracing himself for loneliness once again.
I wasn't usually the kind of kid to cry, though my dad always said it was alright. I guess it was just my dumb guy pride. However, after that I truly thought I would never see her again, and I had no evidence to the contrary.