Chapter 7- Wishes of the Afterlife
City Hall- Later
"What do you mean they're here?" Brett asked a serious, yet disheveled, Lawrence looked up at Brett while Lance and Sean stood beside him, both with worried looks on their faces.
"The Elements of Harmony are in Wilmont."
"And how do you know this exactly?" Brett asked.
"There were six girls that looked like human versions of them." Lance said. "It was uncanny."
Lawrence turned around and gave Lance a look for daring to interrupt him. Lance took a nervous step back before Lawrence turned his attention back to Brett, "And one that attacked me had a cyan shirt and Rainbow hair."
"She made us look like complete idiots." Sean hissed.
"In our defense, though, she was fast as fuck." Lawrence said, trying to sugar-coat the fact that he got owned by a girl, even if it was a pegasus that had the uncanny ability to break the sound barrier with her speed.
"Yeah Mr. Obscure, sir, it was like facing a dog if you force-fed it cocaine and speed while injecting it with Red-bull and..." Sean started before Brett reached his boiling point.
"Enough!" Brett shouted in a rage before he turned to the Mayor, who was sitting at his desk, hands folded across the top and his face calm like he had nothing to fear.
"Sir, we need to find the identities of the people that they're staying with, and get of pairs of eyes down there to spy on them to make sure they don't try anything."
Drocsid nodded. "I'll send two of my agents when we find out who they're staying with."
Just then, Lawrence burst out into laughter as he realized that he knew something that the other two did not. Something that they wanted to know. For a moment, he felt a sense of power over his bosses.
But for only a second.
Brett, now annoyed beyond reason, turned around and grabbed Lawrence by the collar of his shirt. He then threw him against the wall, which caused him to stop laughing and stare into Brett's cold, silver eyes. He continued to press Lawrence against the wall with his fore-arm his chest.
"Boy, you'd better have a good reason for laughing." Brett growled like an alpha wolf putting a lesser member of the pack in place.
"That girl saved a little pussy I pick on all the time in school." Lawrence said, a small smile growing on his face as his feet dangled about a foot off of the ground.
Brett's angry expression falls, replaced by sincere interest.
"And who would that be?" Brett asked.
Lawrence gave him a sly smirk and small laugh.
Caroline's House
James and his Aunt Christie, a portly, kind woman, finally arrived at Caroline's house. Once they got there, James saw a black BMW parked in the driveway. He'd been coming over to Caroline's house long enough to recognize it as the doctor's car.
"Thanks for the lift Aunt Christie." James said as he unbuckled his seat belt.
"Anytime James." She said with a small smile.
They then exited her van and walked up to her front door. She opened it and entered the house. Inside, there was the unmistakable sound of vomiting coming from Caroline's room, the hacking, the gagging, the pain. James closed his eyes and let out a sad sigh before he turned to his Aunt.
"How has she been since yesterday?" James asked, already knowing the answer.
Aunt Christie let out a sigh, "Not too good, I'm afraid."
She then gestured towards Caroline's room for James to enter. He walked over to the door. It was slightly ajar, so he gently pushed it open so he could enter the dimly-lit room.
Inside, he could see Caroline hunched over the side of her bed, vomiting into a waste can while Dr. Bernstein sat on the bed by her side, rubbing her back and holding her hair.
James sighed and continued in, "What's wrong with her?"
"She's just had her chemo treatment." Dr. Bernstein said with a small smile before motioning for James to come over to her side, "Caroline, James is here for you."
Caroline looked up at James as he walked over to her side. Her bright eyes filled with tears, vomit dripping from her mouth, she was a mess and it broke James' heart to see her in such pain.
"Can I talk to James alone...please, Doctor Bernstein?" Caroline weakly asked Dr. Bernstein, who looked up at James.
"I've dealt with her before when she's been like this." James muttered.
Dr. Bernstein gave a small nod.
"Let me know if either of you need me for anything. I'll be right outside." He said before he stood up and walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving James and the sickly Caroline alone to talk privately.
Caroline looked up at James. James could now clearly see that her eyes were blood-shot and a little bit cloudy with tears. Her face was pale and she was covered in sweat.
She was also wearing her Fluttershy t-shirt, now covered in vomit and sweat.
"I'm sorry I forgot to take this shirt off before my chemo. Now there's all vomit over it. I'm so sorry." Caroline muttered sadly, looking away from James in shame.
"It's just a t-shirt kiddo, don't worry about it. I care more about the sweet girl who's wearing the shirt then the shirt itself." James said as he took a seat next to her. He placed his hand onto her shoulder, which seemed to calm her down. Caroline gave James a weak smile.
"I just feel bad that I'm doing this to poor Fluttershy." She said with a small, sad chuckle, looking down at her shirt, straightening it out a bit so Fluttershy's face was most visible.
"It's okay, I'm sure she'll forgive you." James said with a small chuckle of his own as he looked down into his cousin's sad eyes.
"James?"
"Hm?"
There was a brief pause as Caroline looked down sadly at her hands, as if she was still unsure about asking the question. She then looked up at James.
"What happens when you die?"
James was floored by this question, and his face showed it.
Caroline took note of how James looked taken aback by her question and let out a sigh before continuing, "I'm not in denial about my cancer; I know I could die and I've accepted that as much as I could."
"Don't talk like that." James said while trying to hold his tears back. Caroline looked up at him, her own tears rolling down her cheeks, before she looked away towards the opposite wall of the room. "Please don't, you're going to be fine."
"I think that when you die…you get to go to the one place that makes you the happiest."
"Like heaven?"
"Not exactly," she said, "Well, I mean, yes heaven but also you'd have your own personal heaven, someplace where you can have true happiness. Whether it existed in this reality or not."
"So what did you have in mind?" James said, still not really enjoying this conversation about death that he was having with his cancer-ridden cousin, but happy that he could comfort her in some way.
"When I die, I want to go to Equestria."
James gave a small, sad chuckle, "Yeah?"
"I have a lot of free time to read fan-fictions online. There is no genre I like better than the human in Equestria story because they give me the chance to imagine what it would be like to meet characters that I never could in real life, but that I've always wished to. That I could only possibly meet in death, after God judged me."
"I can understand that." James said, supressing his agnostic view on life for Caroline's benefit.
"There's no suffering, no corruption, and everypony is so innocent and kind to one another, as opposed to people here. Why do you think I watch the show so much?" She said with a small sniffle. "I watch it to forget my suffering for a short time and imagine myself in that land of peace, happiness, and innocence with those colorful ponies. A place that this world will never be. Besides you and my parents, watching the show is the only thing that keeps me sane."
James didn't say anything else as he mulled over the extremely deep statement that Caroline just made. He wanted to cry himself, but when he heard her vomiting again into the trashcan, he realized that he had to be the strong one. He held her over the waste can as the chemo "healed" her.
Eventually, once Caroline found another reprieve in her vomiting, James talked with her for a little bit longer before he said good-bye and started out to wait for his aunt to give him a lift to work.
As he exited the bedroom, he saw Dr. Bernstein and Aunt Christie sitting next to each other at the kitchen table. The Doctor was whispering to her about something that James couldn't make out. But he knew that it couldn't be good, because Aunt Christie was sobbing uncontrollably, clutching a tissue in her right hand and wiping her eyes with the back of her left.
He didn't listen, nor did he want to. He simply waited for them to finish their sad conversation so he could get a lift to work. He learned that sometimes denial was the best way to feel optimistic in this fucked up world.
He began to think about what Caroline said earlier and let out a huge sigh just before tears fell from his eyes. Now that he was no longer in her room, where she could see his emotions, he was able to his guard down and express his true sorrow. But he still didn't sob; he still had to be strong, strong enough to stop himself from doing such a foolish thing in the presence of his Aunt who was in the middle of crying herself.
Why is it that the kindest of humanity suffer the most? They always lose and the dirt bags always win. Even as an agnostic, all he could do was pray to God, if there was a God, that if Caroline passed away she would find peace in her own personal paradise.
He prayed that she would find Equestria, a land that James also wished he could be in. A place he wished he could spend the rest of his life, with Caroline by his side, healthy and happy as she once was.
A place that he felt was unattainable to both him and Caroline, in both life and death.
Once James made that realization, the unattainability of such a paradise, that's when he sobbed.
Carl's House- Night
Ryan and Carl were about to leave for Mr. Courtie's magic shop as it was approaching six O'clock. Lauren was cleaning the kitchen, while Anna and Lisa were relaxing in their room.
Carl and Ryan were in Carl's room with the six girls. All of them were extra quiet now since Lauren was still awake, and they didn't want to give her any reason to enter Carl's room.
Carl was just happy that he and Ryan were successfully able to sneak all six girls into the house without anyone in his house noticing. Either they were like ninjas or, as Carl assumed, his mother and sisters were as oblivious as the mother in E.T.
Since the mall the seven of them had just hung out and talked about what was going to happen. All that the girls knew was that Discord was planning to get stronger and overtake Earth and Equestria, and that there were six elements, three of which were obviously Carl, Ryan and James. After that, they just talked a bit.
But Carl noticed something else. Ryan and Rainbow Dash were not with the rest of them. Instead, they sat on Carl's bed and talked with each other.
He was still confused about Ryan's behavior earlier after Rainbow Dash saved his butt, the hug that seemed a little too emotional to be simply driven by their friendship. Not to mention that his and Rainbow Dash's current behavior, secluding themselves from the rest of the group, was not helping Carl get over his questions at all.
Applejack was the only one who knew how Ryan felt, and she was nervous for him. She knew that he didn't want anyone or anypony to know about his feelings for her best friend, especially Rainbow Dash herself, but at the same time it seemed like he couldn't help but be near her every chance he got. Applejack felt conflicted between what she promised Ryan, and what she wanted to do, which was convince him to come clean to Rainbow Dash about his feelings for her.
"You acted surprised that I did that," Rainbow Dash chuckled, "you should know that I don't let anypony mess with my friends." she puffed her chest out a little with pride as she said this.
""Element of Loyalty, or course." Ryan said with a chuckle, "But I still really appreciate it Dash."
Rainbow Dash gave him a small smile back.
"Carl!"
Carl turned his attention from Ryan and Rainbow Dash and looked over at his own partner in magic, who had an inquisitive look on her face.
"Where are you going again tonight?" Twilight asked.
"Picking up James from work and bringing him back here." Carl said.
"Where does he work?" Applejack asked, taking her mind off the clearly lovesick Ryan's situation for the time being.
"Magic shop in town." Carl answered.
"Magic shop? I thought magic didn't exist here." Twilight asked.
"True, magic doesn't exist, but faux magic does." Carl answered, "No, humans can't do what you unicorns do Twilight."
"Do other people know that it isn't real?" Fluttershy asked.
Carl nodded.
"Except for really young kids, yes they do. Trust me, I know all about it." Carl said with a sigh that seemed to show how he was remembering something dark from his past. Carl didn't think any of the girls noticed but Twilight too note and remembered his reaction, as she would ask him about it later when they would talk about his father.
Carl looked at his watch, "Oh crap, Ryan we have to go!"
Ryan looked over at Carl and gave his friend a small nod before he stood up.
"Okay, we'll be back in a little bit." Carl said as Ryan checked his pockets to make sure he had his car keys and wallet on him, "While we're gone. I want you to stay well behaved. Now I'm going to get Anna to watch you six."
"What? Yer getting' yer sister ta watch us? Don't that go against yer idea of bein' "incognita'"?" Applejack asked with concern.
"Yeah man, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Ryan asked.
"We need someone to watch them." Carl answered.
"I don't know, maybe they'll be well behaved?" Ryan asked with some uneasiness.
And, as if she waited for the absolute right moment to prove Carl's point...
"Hey girls, you want to see my new party horn?" Pinkie Pie asked, pulling out a pink foghorn with yellow and blue ribbons.tied around it.
"Um Pinkie, why in Celestia's name do you have that gaudy thing?" Rarity asked, waving her hoof at the horn in disgust.
"For when a party cannon is too big or impractical." Pinkie Pie said with a smile.
Ryan and Carl stared dumbfounded before Ryan turned to Carl, "I think you should get Anna."
"I think you're right."
Carl walked out of his room to get his younger sister. He was careful not to make too much noise as eh crept down the hallway, so that he wouldn't get his mother's attention while she was watching some sitcom downstairs on the television.
He finally reached Anna and Lisa's room and entered. It was pretty standard for a girls' room. Posters of Justin Beiber, which Carl always wanted to torch, lined the wall on the side of the room that Anna slept on. On the other side were horror movie posters, clearly Lisa's side of the room. And, to top everything off, on the nightstand in-between the two girls's beds, was a single lamp and two figurines of Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.
"Carl? What do you want?" Anna asked from her bed. She was busy reading a book while Lisa sat on her bed, her laptop open and earphones in.
"Anna, I need you to come with me."
"Ugh, what for?" Anna asked with some annoyance.
Lisa finally caught sight of Carl and looked up from her laptop screen. She pulled her earphones off and stared at her brother, "Carl, why are you bothering Anna?"
"I need her help..." Carl began, only to be cut off by the older girl.
"Why not mine?" Lisa asked, tossing her earphones off and hopping off of her bed, walking over to Carl and crossing her arms in defiance.
"Because I trust her over you, squirt."
"Now wait, why would you trust her over me? I'm a highly competent nine-year old with a brain that most thirteen-year olds would envy, and she still wets the bed."
"Hey!" Anna hissed. She closed the book she was reading and walked over, "that's only because you put my finger in a bowl of water you jerk!"
"Doesn't matter, you tinkled on the sheets and that makes you a baby." Lisa said with a smirk before turning to Carl, "I'm coming too, there should be one adult present."
"No."
"Fine, then I'll tell Mom that you punched me." Lisa said with a cocky grin.
"You wouldn't."
"You want to try me?" Lisa asked, taking a step forward. "I can use black and purple crayons to come up with very convincing bruise."
Carl let out a long, annoyed sigh, "Fine, you win brat. Both of you, come with me."
The two girls nodded and followed their brother across the hall to his room. Carl then turned to his two sisters and got down on one knee so he was at their level. He placed one hand on Anna's shoulder, and one on Lisa's, and act that made her roll her eyes and try to shrug his hand off.
"Now, what you two see in here, you cannot tell anyone. Especially Mom."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Lisa moaned, finally pushing Carl's hand off of her. She then stormed by him and entered his room, "What can be so secretive that..."
She froze mid-sentence when she saw the six ponies and Ryan. The same six ponies she watched every Saturday morning. She also spotted her favorite character, Twilight Sparkle, and Anna's favorite, Rainbow Dash, among the mane six.
While the sight stunned Lisa greatly, Anna had a different reaction, a reaction that Carl would never have predicted in a thousand years.
"Cool, the mane six are here!" she said somewhat excitedly, but not over-the-top like Carl expected.
In fact, Carl was flabbergasted by her almost nonchalant answer. He didn't know how she could be so calm about seeing six cartoon ponies standing in front of her. She did show excitement in her voice, but she didn't show any expression of shock or complete amazement. Carl didn't get this until he remembered that she was young and still probably thought stuff like this was possible.
Hell, she probably thought all cartoon characters existed and we were following them around during their adventures, like spies. Ah we were all at that age, weren't we?
She walked over to the six ponies with a smile. She introduced herself to them and they did the same to her.
Lisa just stared, too dumbstruck to do anything until Carl nudged her forward and introduced her to the girls. It didn't take long before she was finally comfortable enough to join her younger sister in chatting it up with six of her favorite cartoon characters, especially Twilight, who she seemed to talk with the most.
Carl looked to Ryan and smiled.
"You ready?"
"Yeah let's bounce." Ryan said.
With that, both boys left, off to Carl's old place of work to pick up James.
As the two boys went out to Ryan's car, Rainbow Dash peered out of the window in Carl's room. She watched as Ryan jumped into his car and drove off into the night, a longing look on her face as she sighed, causing the window to fog up from the condensation of her breath. She smiled and, almost without thinking about it, gave a small wave in the direction that Ryan had driven off in. She then turned around to see Applejack giving her a suspicious look.
"What?" she asked as she got all four hooves back onto the ground.
"Why are ya actin' so chummy with Ryan when ya'll just met yesterday?" she asked.
"Um, maybe because we're friends and have the same element?" Rainbow Dash said with a small eye-roll.
"Ya sure that's all?" Applejack asked like she wasn't convinced, and she wasn't. Rainbow Dash nodded and Applejack sighed and gave a small shrug, "Whatever ya say RD."
As she walked off to join the others, Rainbow Dash looked down and shook her head as she began to question herself now, "Why do I feel this way about Ryan?"
She didn't understand it much and decided to think about it later.
Meanwhile, with Lisa and Anna, all of the other ponies were talking to them about girly stuff that they couldn't with Ryan or Carl, such as clothes.
This interested most of them, except for Rainbow Dash, who hated talking about clothes. Besides, no matter how hard she tried and told herself that she'd stop thinking about Ryan, she couldn't. How kind he was to her, how much he seemed to care about her, how much he seemed to worship her like a Goddess.
No stallion ever treated her with such respect unless they were little colts that thought she was awesome because of her sonic rainboom, and because she was the fastest flyer in Equestria. Usually they were part of Scootaloo's little Rainbow Dash fan club.
But no guy her age made her feel as appreciated as Ryan had. Now she wasn't sure if she simply liked Ryan as a friend, or if there was something else that she felt. Something that was there, but she refused to acknowledge.