//------------------------------// // Family Matters // Story: Wilmont // by gmen15 //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Family Matters Ryan's Car Ryan was almost back to his house with Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the back seats of his car. He had mixed feelings at the moment. For one thing, he was with his two favorite characters from the show, one of which he had a major crush on. The other feeling he had was extreme anxiety. Since Ryan was an only child, his parents had an extremely close relationship with him, almost like they were best friends. While this was a good thing in many respects, such as the creation of a feeling of closeness where secrets didn't need to be kept and openness was welcome, it also led to a lack of privacy. And in a situation like this, where Ryan volunteered to look after these two candy-colored, cartoon mares, a lack of privacy could be a huge problem. Another problem, however, arose almost immediately after the "lack of privacy" worry. He had to find a way to sneak the two ponies into the house without his parents noticing, and his room was on the second floor. And, unlike Carl's mother, he knew that his parents would be awake. The girls, however, seemed more interested in the giant houses that lined the street of Leigh Heights, Ryan's neighborhood. Just by looking at the homes, one couldcome to the conclusion that most of the people that lived on this street were wealthy. That assumption would be correct. Leigh Heights was the richest neighborhood in all of Wilmont, and while not all the homes were mansions, they were, on average, larger than most homes. There was also a plethora of expensive cars parked in the driveways of each home. BMWS, Audis, Porches, hell there was even a classy, silver Bentley that was just pulling into a driveway up ahead; an old man in a suit in the driver's seat. "Whoa, these houses are huge!" Rainbow Dash explained in astonishment, her hooves pressed against the window of the car as she stared at the houses. "Coming from the mare that lives in a cloud mansion?" Ryan chuckled before he continued, "anyway, yes girls these houses are big. Welcome to Leigh Heights." "You live in this here parts?" Applejack asked, looking out her own window in shock, not used to the large homes. "Yeah, just up ahead." Ryan said as he pointed to a house down the road. He pulled into the driveway of it. Once he did so, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both got a prime view of Ryan's house. While not a mansion, it is still very large. The walls are almost completely brick; the structure of the house makes it look larger than it was. All in all, it was a pretty nice place to live, according to the two ponies. "This is yer house?" Applejack asked in shock. Ryan nodded, "Yep." "Boy howdy, it sure if mighty impressive." Applejack said with a grin. "Dude, you really live here? That's totally awesome!" Rainbow Dash said, nearly falling into the front of the car as she leaned forward with Applejack, her own hooves on the back of the passenger seat while Applejack's was on the back of Ryan's seat. Applejack nodded with a smile at the house before she turned to Ryan, who suddenly had a look of worry on his face that the orange pony noticed immediately. "Ya'll alright there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, "Ya'll seem ta be worried." "I'm not sure how I'm going to sneak you girls into my house without my parents noticing." Ryan said, his tone showing signs of nervousness. "Can we get into your room from the outside?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I have a window, so we could," Ryan said before he remembered something, his hopeful expression falling back to depression, "but it's on the second floor." Rainbow Dash, however, seemed to perk up at this. "That's perfect! I can fly Applejack up to your window and you could let us both in once you get inside." The cyan mare said, playfully hitting Ryan's shoulder with a grin. Ryan looked at her, rubbing his shoulder before he chuckled. "Solid idea there Rainbow Dash." Ryan said with a chuckle as he turned the engine off. Ryan got out of the car and opened the back door to let the two ponies out. He gestured for them to go to the side of the house as he made his way to his front door. "Wait over there and I'll call you up when it's clear." Ryan told the girls. Applejack gave him a small tip of her hat before trotting off. Rainbow Dash gave him a small salute before following her best friend over to the side of the house to wait for Ryan to let them in. The teen couldn't help but laugh at both of their mannerisms. Just like how he imagined they'd act based on the show. Ryan then knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds until his mother opened it up. Mrs. Davis was a medium-sized woman with long, black hair and kind brown eyes. She had a face that looked somewhat young, while also showing he strain of age. Not to mention the stress from the job she held down. She gave her son a friendly smile. "Hi Ryan, how was your night?" "Chaotic and noisy, you know how high school parties are." "Yes I do, come on in." Ryan made his way into his house as his mother shut the door behind him. Ryan's house was just as magnificent on the inside as it was on the outside. A large, carpeted stair-case led up to the second story, and the sheer size of the home dwarfed most people's. The floors were hard-wood, and the walls were covered in a layer of paint that looked fresh, though it hadn't been touched in years. "Tired?" Mrs. Davis asked Ryan, who gave her a nod. "Oh yeah." Ryan said. And it wasn't just a lie so he could get upstairs to let the girls in. Truth was that he was exhausted, and really did want to go to bed as soon as possible. "You can head to bed if you want." "I will, first I have to say good-night to Dad first." Ryan muttered, "where is he?" "He's in his office." Ryan nodded, "Thanks." He kicked his shoes off and walked over to his father's office, where he was placed in front of the computer, paying bills. Mr. Davis had short-cropped brown hair and a face that beamed intelligence, which was also due to his profession as a doctor. When he saw Ryan's face, he looked up over his round glasses and smiled. "Hey Ryan." Ryan smiled, "Hey Dad, what are you doing?" "Bills, you know, boring grown-up stuff. How was the party?" Ryan shrugged, "Some alcohol, drugs..."fun" teenage stuff" Mr. Davis then took his glasses off and sighed, looking down at them to collect his thoughts before he looked back up at Ryan. "You know Ryan, you don't always have to be such an angel," he said, "I'm glad you don't drink or smoke or any of that. But I just hope you aren't acting "holier than thou" about it." "No of course not." Ryan said. "I respect others' actions as long as they accept mine." Ryan's Dad smiled and nodded, "Good for you. Just remember, you're seventeen, not seventy. There's always the future to act like an old man." "Yeah." Ryan nodded. Realizing he's wasting time, Ryan let out a fake yawn, "Okay Dad I'm...yaaaawwnnnn...really tired. I'm gonna hit the hay, Good night." "All right, good-night Ryan. I love you." "Love you too." He then proceeded to go to the stairs when he called out to his mom, "Good night mom! Love you!" "Love you too Ryan!" Ryan jogged up to his room and shut the door, making sure to lock it. He quickly walked over to the window and opened it. He looked down to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking to each other. Ryan whistled to get their attention. They both looked up at him. "What took ya so long?" Rainbow Dash whispered harshly. "Sorry about that, I just had to say hi to my parents." He whispered to them. "Come on up." A few seconds later, Rainbow Dash flew through the window while carrying Applejack. Ryan quickly shut the window and locked it. "Ugh, AJ, you need to lay off the apple pies." Rainbow Dash complained as she stretched out her muscles. "Quit yer bellyachin' RD and put me down." Rainbow Dash let Applejack go with a grunt, like she was excruciatingly heavy. The pegasus let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, don't have to carry your fat flank anymore." Applejack looked up at Rainbow Dash and stuck her tongue out. Once the two ponies recovered from the brief flight up to the window, they looked around at Ryan's room. To summarize, there was a giant "Inception" poster on the wall, as well as three New York Giants pictures from Super Bowl XLII, one image showing the famous "helmet catch'. There was also a nice desk, a very cozy looking bed, and a great amount of space that wasn't present in Carl's room. In other words, Ryan's room was quite large when compared to the room of the average teenage guy. They both seemed impressed. "Wow, ya'll got a nice room here Ryan." Applejack said. "Ha-ha, thanks AJ." "Yeah," Rainbow Dash said as she jumped up onto Ryan's bed and let out a content sigh, "and I can sleep in this bed all day." "Now RD that there's Ryan's bed. Get off." Applejack hissed, her eyes showing that she wasn't kidding. "Oh no, AJ I'm fine with Dash taking the bed. You can have it too if you want." Ryan said with a friendly smile, gesturing to the bed that Rainbow Dash was already comfortably lying in, her front hooves behind her head, her rose-colored eyes closed and a small, yet blissful, smile on her face. "Then where will you sleep?" Applejack asked. "I have a sleeping bag." Ryan pointed over his shoulder to a blue bad in the corner of the room that held his sleeping bag, a sleeping bag that he had not used in years. At this, Rainbow Dash turned over so that she was leaning on her elbow while lying on her side so she could face Ryan and ask him a question. "So you're just going to let two mares that you just met take your bed while you sleep on the floor?" the tomboy pegasus asked with a mix of shock and disbelief. Ryan nodded and Rainbow Dash suddenly smiled with great enthusiasm, "Wow, that incredibly generous of you. Thanks Ryan." "Thank ya kindly Ryan." Applejack said with a smile as she slowly trotted over to the bed before pushing herself up onto the mattress. Ryan offered to help, but she, in her typically stubborn ways, refused and did it herself. "Huh, maybe Twilight got your element wrong," Rainbow Dash said jokingly, "maybe you should be generosity and Rarity should be your partner." Ryan rolled his eyes while both Rainbow dash and Applejack laughed at Rainbow's joke. Ryan grabbed the sleeping bag. He rolled it out next to his bed, turned off the lights to his room and slipped inside before turning to the girls. "Good night you two." He said with a smile. "Good night partner." Applejack said. "Good night Ryan, who is really my partner." Rainbow Dash said, mocking Applejack's little, southern mannerism, including adding a little southern accent to "partner" to complete the mockery. Applejack shot her a glare. "What? Can't handle a joke?" Rainbow Dash asked defensively, but with that trademark, cocky smile of hers. Applejack rolled her eyes and turned away from the cyan Pegasus, slipping under the covers on the side of the bed that Ryan was on while Rainbow Dash got under the covers on the other side, a decent space between the two ponies. With that, Ryan smiled before he let sleep take him, his mind still racing about the turn of events. But more than anything else, his mind was focused on Rainbow Dash, and how great his luck was that he got to be partnered with her out of anypony. Carl's House Everyone was asleep in Carl's room. Because his mother never went into his room without asking, and because he had a lock to his room, as Twilight so cleverly used before, he could afford to have Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity all lying on his bed with him. He initially wanted to sleep on the floor, but they refused to let him do so, and since he lacked a sleeping bag, this was his only option. The four colorful ponies that lay in different areas of his bed initially made him feel uneasy, but he eventually got used to it. Now it was comforting, if not adorable. But he was concerned about where Discord could possibly be, or rather who he could be. Was he someone in power? Someone he knew? A friend of his? He kept mulling these thoughts over when he felt Twilight tap his shoulder. He turned to see her looking at him. "Hey Carl." She whispered, "Look, I just wanted to apologize for tonight. I didn't mean to freak you out as much as I did." Carl smiled and waved it off, "Don't worry about it Twi." Twilight smiled and rested her head on the pillow before she asked another question. "Why am I your favorite anyway? I mean, it probably has something to do with us being connected by our elements but, I'm just curious what you did you like about me?" "Well let's see, where do I begin?" Carl began, Twilight looking at him with great interest; "You're smart, you're kind, you always seem to be the moral compass for your friends. I wish more people were like you." Carl then looked away and let out a sigh, "I wish that I was more like you." Twilight closed her eyes with a wide grin, satisfied that she meant so much to someone. "I bet you're more like that than you give yourself credit for." She whispered. Carl smiled back and reached his hand out. Slowly, he stroked her violet mane. She responded by gently nuzzling her cheek into his arm while his hand moved through her mane. Her violet eyes were open and looking directly into his violet eyes, both sets meeting and staring at each other for what seemed like forever. He then put his hand down and looked away. He was profoundly blushing as he realized what he was doing. Twilight giggled and closes her eyes again, "Good night Carl." "Good night Twi." Carl said, but he didn't go to sleep. He was too much in thought about why he just reacted like that. I mean, sure, he always thought Twilight was cute, but he never felt like there was anything romantic in his feelings for her. Now he wasn't so sure, and it made him feel uneasy. James' House- The Next Morning James let out a groan and put his hand to his forehead in pain. Ryan had been right, there was a jack-hammer pounding away at his brain from all the drinking, and it wasn't a good feeling in the slightest. "Fuck me, what happened last night." He mumbled. He felt like shit. His head felt like it was going to explode, he had pressure behind both eyes, and he felt a wave of nausea and dehydration. He stood up and stumbled over to the bathroom just across the hall. Once inside, he shut the door, locked it, and leaned against the counter-top where the sink was to re-gain his composure. Hands gripping the edge of the counter like it was the only think keeping him from falling over into a heap. He looked up at his reflection, seeing the image of a boy he didn't recognize. His log hair was strewn every which-way, his eyes sunken in and tired-looking, and his face pale. He let out a long sigh before he turned away from the mirror, ending the torture that was observing his current physical appearance. After pulling all of his puke-stained clothes off and throwing them to the flow, he cautiously stepped into the shower and began to attempt to wash the hangover away. Streams of water ran down from the top of his head to his feet, and then into the tub. It danced around his feet before going down the drain. James suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit him like a freight train. He crouched down and put his hands on the wall that surrounded the tub for support as he vomited bile. He then gagged and slid down the wall onto his hands and knees into the mix of shower water and vomit. The yellow-brown, acidic bile circulated the drain along with the water before pouring down the drain. James began to cry to himself, not happy with what he was doing at the moment, not proud of what he did that led to him feeling this crappy. Long, sticky strands of vomit dripped from his mouth and landed in the water around him, following the rest of the bile down the drain. He didn't always feel so guilty about his drinking, but when he did, it came on out of nowhere and would often result in his sobbing. He didn't know why he was so into partying, so into drinking until he was barfing over the toilet the next morning, but he was. It was like he needed to do it to escape his life. James then slowly made his way back up to his feet and let the shower water rinse the vomit and tears off of his face, his long, black hair pressed against his face by the water, obscuring his sight while he let the water clean himself off before he proceeded to use shampoo and soap to proceed with the actual cleaning. When he finally finished, he dried off, got dressed, and made his way downstairs for breakfast. In the kitchen, already eating, he saw his two parents and his older brother, Patrick. Patrick was the gifted child, the one that his parents clearly favored. James always competed with Patrick, but it was no use. His parents worshipped Patrick and, in the same breath, would patronize James. "Why can't you be more like Patrick?" Mrs. Carson asked. James didn't answer, he saw no reason to, and anything he said would be shot down like a plane over Berlin in World War II. "You realize how horrible you look now?" Mr. Carson asked with an equally disappointed tone. James looked down at his bowl of cereal and muttered, "I had a rough night." "You know what Patrick is doing this summer?" Mr. Carson asked, "Jogging. Getting into shape for soccer next year; being productive." "And he's going to Stanford." Mrs. Carson said, turning to Patrick with a prideful smile, which her son gratefully returned. But his smile wasn't just simple pride, it was full of arrogance, the arrogance only a child put up onto a pedestal by his parents could have. "Yes, and I still have a year left of High school." James said, still looking down at his bowl of cereal, refusing to look at his family, "And I'm a straight A student." "Don't you talk back to us young man." Mr. Carson hissed, pointing an accusing finger at his son. James finally caved and looked up at his father, "Why do you always put me down?" "It's called tough love. You want it to stop? Well then stop being a disappointment and be more like your brother." Mr. Carson said sternly before going back to reading his newspaper. "But I'm not Patrick." James muttered. "Trust us, we know." Mrs. Carson said with disappointment. But she always had such a disappointed tone in her voice when talking to James that he barely even noticed. Even when his parents didn't literally tell him how disappointed they were in him as their son, James knew how they felt. He also had a feeling that any slip-up that he made while he still was under their roof, such as being caught drinking beer, smoking pot or, God-forbid, watching "My Little Pony", would result in him being thrown out of the house in shame. Not that he would be too upset, after all he hated his parents, and he ESPECIALLY hated his perfect, can-do-no-wrong brother. "Maybe I should tell them I'm a brony just so they will kick me out." James thought to himself before he continued eating. As he continued to eat, James listened as Mr. Carson started talking to Patrick about Stanford. He also discussed a new pair of soccer cleats that he was planning to buy Patrick for his first year of college soccer. Cardinal red cleats to match the school Patrick was so proudly attending. Yes, smart and an athlete; the stereotypical poster child of Stanford University. All of this family conflict James had was another reason he connected with Caroline so much. She was the only person who seemed to appreciate his presence in this world. Not only did his visits with her improve her attitude, but it also improved his as well. He always felt happier after talking to her, knowing that someone out there actually saw worth in him. After he finished eating, he went back upstairs and slammed the door to his room, happy to be done eating breakfast, and done with his family. James sat at his desk and got onto his computer, which had Call of Duty wallpaper on the desktop. He immediately went online to look at pictures of Fluttershy to recover from the stress that eating with his parents brought. Looking at her always made him happy, both because of her kindness, and because of how much it made him think of Caroline. Once the yellow Pegasus succeeded in improving his mood for the time being, he closed his laptop and looked out the window. As he looked at the near cloudless sky, the bright, morning sun shining through the window of his room. He silently wished that something would make his life better than it was. Not only that, he wished something would make Caroline's life better than it was.