//------------------------------//
// The Morning After 
// Story: Wilmont 
// by gmen15 
//------------------------------//

 
 The Morning After 


Ryan's House

Ryan slowly started to wake up as the morning sun crept into his room through the partially opened venetian blinds. Birds were singing beautiful music just outside his window, a sound so soothing it almost rocked Ryan back to sleep. But he knew that eventually he'd have to get up, with or without the soulful bird-songs.

Ryan then caught something cyan-colored out of the corner of his eye. Looking to his right side, he saw a rainbow-maned mare pressed up against his side, her forelegs wrapped around him. She was sleeping peacefully, her breathing, tranquil and rhythmic, seemed to give the bird songs competition for which sound was more beautiful.

Once Ryan laid eyes on her, memories from the night before re-surfaced. A smile grew on his face, not just at the sight of Rainbow Dash, but also at the thought of their kiss before they fell asleep.

Slowly, he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

She groaned and slowly opened her eyes to see Ryan smiling back at her.

"Morning sunshine."

Rainbow Dash responded with a small, tired smile. 

"Morning, Ryan. That was an...interesting way to wake me up." She giggled like a little school-filly, something that she almost never did, especially never around any guys.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it; you just looked so cute sleeping."

Rainbow Dash smiled back and leaned in to kiss Ryan on the lips like they did night before.

Ryan was just thankful that this had been the one-day where his parents decided not to come into his room to say good-bye to him before they left for work. Not only would they find their son sleeping on the floor of his room, but they'd see him sleeping with a cartoon pony in his embrace, their faces almost touching. Ryan thanked God for the reprieve in his parent's intrusions.

Ryan and Rainbow Dash continued to kiss and hold to each other closely as if they had been in a relationship for years instead of only one night. As they broke the kiss, Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan with "bedroom-eyes' and a dreamy smile, a smile that sent Ryan's heart a flutter.

"You know, I wasn't kidding when I said I wish that I could fly with you." She said as her head lay against the soft pillow.

"And I wasn't kidding that I wish I could be a Pegasus for you, Dashie…oh, I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

Rainbow shook her head, "Of course not; you don't have to worry about everything so much."

Ryan sighed, "I know. But, honestly, I'm just shocked that you actually like me."

Rainbow Dash gave Ryan a confused look, "Why would it surprise you?"

"It's just...you're so awesome and, well, I didn't think somepony like you could be into someone like me. I mean...let's face it, I'm not really what you'd call "cool""

Ryan looked down for a second, his face red in embarrassment from how weak he sounded in front of a girl he liked. Sure they had been kissing and she liked him, but he didn't want to ruin it by looking like a wimp.

Rainbow Dash took Ryan's hands and held them in her hooves before looking up at him, her eyes showing her supportive and encouraging side, re-affirming to Ryan why he loved her so much.

"Ryan, just because you don't think you're cool or awesome doesn't mean you aren't. You just don't have confidence in yourself." She said before moving closer to Ryan to now their noses were pressing against each other. "And I'm gonna help you become confident."

Ryan smiled at her, "The fact that you told me that you love me last night was enough to raise my self-esteem ten-fold." 

Ryan muttered as he kissed her again. He then broke it and looked back at her, "I just wish I could be as strong as you...and not hold you back."

"You won't Ryan, trust me." 

Rainbow Dash and Ryan lay back against the carpeted ground, both still hugging each other as they relaxed in each other's embrace. They were staying home for the day, so they could afford some alone time snuggling with each other. 

During this time, however, Ryan was still mentally beating himself up over his weaknesses, hoping that it didn't hurt the way Rainbow Dash saw him. After all, she wouldn't want to be with someone who exuded weakness now, would she? No, she'd want the person that she was with to be strong and cool.

Things Ryan, despite his best efforts to conceal, didn't feel he possessed.

"Ryan?"

"Yes Dashie?"

"I really do love you." Rainbow Dash looked up at Ryan and gave him a reassuring smile. It was as if she knew he still doubted himself about her.

Ryan smiled back, "And I really love you."

They kissed again and proceeded to get up and start the day.

James' House

James and Fluttershy were eating together. Their breakfast consisted of toast and some orange juice from a carton, which was surprisingly good. Almost as if it were fresh squeezed instead of simply coming from a carton at the front of the fridge. 

Patrick loved his OJ. 

James' parents were out with Patrick, getting him soccer lessons with a personal trainer that had flown over to Wilmont from Stanford. He might have been a huge prick, but Patrick was a very good soccer player. Even James, as much as he detested his older brother, had to give him credit where credit was due.

But he'd never give Patrick the pleasure of hearing such praise come from his lips, oh no. He'd go to the grave with his lips sealed about how impressed he was with Patrick's soccer abilities. It may not have seemed like it, but James still had his pride and he felt that saying anything good about Patrick would only make him look weak.

He talked a bit with Fluttershy. In fact, they were talking so much, James forgot just how timid she was normally. In fact, he mentally patted himself on the back for bringing the shy pony out of her shell. 

"So you're a vegan?" Fluttershy asked with a smile as she took a sip of the orange juice that was placed in front of her, a straw dipped into it that she used to drink. And when she did take her dainty sips from the straw, it was freaking adorable.

James shook his head, "No Fluttershy, not quite. I do eat some meat, but I try to limit it. The only reason I don't eat more is because I hate the way slaughter houses treat animals. I hope the fact that I eat meat doesn't frighten you." he said, knowing that it did frighten the ponies in many fan-fictions, especially Fluttershy..

Surprisingly, however, reality proved to be quite different than fanon. 

"I don't," she said as he took another bite of her toast, "I work with all sorts of animals, and many are carnivores and omnivores. It doesn't bother me one bit."

Fluttershy gave James a small, reassuring smile to show that she wasn't kidding about the whole "being an omnivore" thing, before she lifted up her toast and took another bite.

"Yeah, I know you work with carnivores. Like bears that you beat the crap out of to give a massage." James asked with a sly smile.

But Fluttershy didn't seem to get James' joke, and just looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I….uh… forget it, it's just a joke from the show."

"Oh." She said before she took another sip of the juice. James ate some more of his toast before Fluttershy finally worked up the courage to ask what she'd been meaning to ask for a while.

"Wait, didn't you say I was your favorite?"

James nodded, "Yep."

"Really?" she asked, seeming like she didn't believe him. James nodded.

"Yeah, you were. Do you doubt it?"

"Well I just…I don't know why somepony would think I was more interesting than Rainbow Dash or Twilight or Rarity or anypony else."

James smiled and put his hand onto her hoof reassuringly, "Look, each of you six have bronys that think you're the best. I think you're the best, some people like Twilight the best, and some like Rainbow Dash, it varies."

"Then what is it about me makes me your favorite?"

"Because you're cute, kind, great with animals…" James started, but he stopped when he noticed her blushing and looking down, embarrassed at the praise he was giving her, "…Fluttershy you don't have to be embarrassed about this, these compliments are all true and you deserve them."

She looked up at him with her blue eyes and smiled, "I know, it's just nopony has ever said that about me before and..."

James didn't listen to what she was saying, he was too lost in her eyes, just like Ryan was with Rainbow Dash and Carl was with Twilight.

"James?" Fluttershy asked as she noticed James' lack of attention to what she was talking about.

He shook his head and looked around nervously, "Huh? Sorry, Fluttershy I didn't hear you, I sort of zoned out."

"Oh, that's okay. I was probably just being boring; I'll try to be more exciting when I talk."

"No, Fluttershy you're fine. It was my fault, I was rude and I apologize for it." James said. "So, what were you saying?"

"Nothing, I just said I really appreciate you giving me such compliments." she said with a small blush.

"Don't mention it, you earned them." James said with a smile as he gently rubbed her mane. She looked up at him and smiled.

James looked down at his food and began to eat. Once they were both finished, James looked at his watch.

"Carl should be here soon." James started to stand up and grabbed his dish, "I should clean up."

"Let me help you." Fluttershy offered quickly.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly accept your help."

"But I want to." She said merrily as she clamped her teeth down onto the dish she ate off of and flew it over to the sink.

James had to admit, even if the flight from the table to the sink was only a couple feet, Fluttershy made it look both graceful and majestic. A striking combination that went with her like butter on bread. 

Once there, she gently placed the dish into the tub portion of the sink. She grabbed the blue sponge that was in a small dish at the side of the faucet, covered it in liquid soap, and began to use it to scrub off the dirty dish. She left  the water running from the tap to rinse the leftover crumbs and toast-crust down the drain.

Her hooves were surprisingly dexterous, it was like she actually had fingers on them to grip things.

James was amazed at how polite she was acting, which was incredible since he already knew she was a polite pony. She was the element of kindness after all. 

And, still to his disbelief, so was he.

He brought over the rest of the plates and began to wash them off next to her. Squirting some soap onto a second sponge before scrubbing off his plate and drinking glass.

"I also like you because of my cousin." He muttered.

Fluttershy stopped washing her plate and turned to James. "Your cousin?"

"She's your biggest fan. She's the reason that I got into the show in the first place."

"How old is she?"

"Twelve." He muttered, "Honestly, watching your show is one of the only bright spots in her life."

"Oh my, what's wrong?" she asked with pure worry as her hooves went to her mouth, as one's hand would cover one's mouth when gasping.

"She has…wait, does Equestria have cancer?" Fluttershy shook her head, "You ponies are lucky, it's one of the worst diseases anyone could have, especially a kid as young as her."

"Oh no! How bad is it?"

"Well, if it gets worse, she could…" James shut his eyes and sighed, "…she could die."

Fluttershy's eyes grew to an even bigger size than they were, and that's saying something.

"No! Oh that poor girl! You've got to let me do something for her."

"Fluttershy, you don't need to do anything."

"But I want to. I'd be more than happy to help in any way that I can."

James was about to protest when he stopped and thought for a second. He then turned to her with a small smile, "Actually, there is one thing you can do for her."

Just before he could tell Fluttershy his request, both of them heard the horn of Carl's car as it blared from outside.

James sighed, "But not now, first let's meet the other elements."

Fluttershy nodded and flew off towards the door. James smiled, "Caroline, I hope you like what I'm going to do for you."

James then turned the sink off, dried his hands off on a scot towel, and ran off to Carl and the others. He opened the door and Fluttershy glided out to the car, which was parked right in front of his lawn. He was about to go outside as well, when he stopped, "Shit, my watch."

He ran upstairs and into his room and began to look for his cheap black watch. Patrick had a rolex, lucky bastard always got the most expensive of everything. But as he kept looking, he suddenly began to panic. His watch wasn't anywhere to be seen. Sure it wasn't the most expensive thing in the world, but he still liked it and he was almost completely dependent on it to tell the time without looking at his phone, it was just easier to look on his wrist. 

"Where is it?" he thought as he heard a car horn beep.

"I'LL BE RIGHT DOWN!" he shouted while he continued his search for his precious time-keeper. Suddenly he remembered what he did with it.

"Oh, that's right. Patrick borrowed it for his date Tuesday…and I let him. What's wrong with me, I shouldn't let that douchebag borrow any of my things. Wait, why am I thinking so much when I have people waiting for me? Focus, James, focus." 

He exited his room and ran into Patrick's. Once he got into it, he began to frantically look around. The red and white Stanford posters all over the walls were highly distracting to the frantic teen as he continued to search for the watch. Finally, he found it lying on Patrick's desk.

"Hah! Found you, you bastard." He grabbed it and put it onto his left wrist, clipping it into place. Smiling, he was about to head out when he stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw something in the drawer of Patrick's desk. It looked like a small, zip-lock bag, with something green inside of it.

He opened the drawer and pulled out the bag. Once he saw what was inside, his jaw dropped.

There, in his "perfect" brother's desk, was a bag full of fresh, green cannabis.

"Holy fuck." 

James' eyes were wide with shock; his hand trembling as he held the bag in front of him. He examined it in amazement, squinting at it like it was an ancient relic that had something written on it in some long forgotten language. 

Yet in reality, it was just weed, nothing more, nothing less. And certainly nothing that James hasn't handled or smoked before. In fact, besides thinking about how his brother was the possessor of the drug, James was also thinking about pocketing it and smoking it later.

But he decided against.

Still, James still couldn't believe that his brother of all people would be involved in drugs. He was always the "good" son, the boy that other parents would revere and tell their kids "I want you to be like him when you get older. He's smart, athletic and a good egg, unlike his drunken, hippy brother.". 

Not only was the fact that Patrick had a bag of weed in his room a shock, but James also noticed that this wasn't just a little bit of pot. It was a LOT of pot. 

"JAMES!" Carl shouted from downstairs. James snapped out of his state of being stunned and tossed the bag back into the drawer. He closed the drawer and walked out of Patrick's room, his head still reeling from what he saw.

After all, this wasn't a small amount of weed; this was an amount that could possibly mean that Patrick was a dealer. James wanted to tell his parents so badly, he did, but then he realized two things. First, he was no better with his drug and alcohol use, even though he wouldn't ever deal it. And two, it wouldn't do anything to improve his parent's attitude towards him. They'd find excuses for Patrick and blame James for snooping around his room. Once James reached the bottom step, he hopped down. Carl was just outside the open door with a very annoyed look on his face.

"What's up?" James said as he continued to the car, Carl right behind him, and the brown-haired teen was not going to let his black-haired friend off the hook that easily.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I needed my watch." James said, pointing to his wrist which now had the black demon that caused him to find his brother's drug stash.

"Okay then. We need to get to the mall. It's almost eleven."

"Right." James said in an attempt to hide the shock in his voice. He got into the back seat of the car. Noticing how cramped it was with the five girls, James offered Fluttershy a spot on his lap. She obliged and after Pinkie Pie climbed onto Rarity's lap, without her permission, all five of them could fit in the back.

Carl got into the driver's seat and shut the door. Twilight was in the passenger seat, looking back in annoyance as Rarity scolded Pinkie Pie for sitting on her.  Applejack was also in the back, her face showing irritation from being in the middle seat, squished by the two parties on either side of her. She pulled the brim of her hat down over her ears to try to drown out the argument, but it wasn't working. She could still hear her two friends bickering through the straw material.

"Knock it off you two!" Twilight scolded like an angry mother.

"She started it!" Pinkie Pie said, pointing her hoof at Rarity.

"That’s only because you decided to turn me into your personal armchair!"

"Hey! It's not my fault! You're so soft and squishy and comfortable to sit on. It's like you're made out of a giant...!"

"If you dare say "marshmallow" I'm going to bite you."

"Ah have a headache." Applejack muttered, putting her face into her hooves in annoyance. James and Fluttershy watched from the sidelines, both keeping quiet on the matter. Occasionally, Fluttershy would try to say something, only to be cut off by the continuous fighting between the pink pony and white unicorn.

James, however, had to do everything in his power to keep from breaking out into a fit of laughter. In fact, when they brought up marshmallows, he almost lost it. The only thing saving him was his hand, which covered his mouth to hide the stupid smile that was plastered to it.

"Okay guys we're leaving." Carl said as he started to drive down the road.

But the fighting continued. Applejack's face was turning red in anger while James and Fluttershy were still watching, eyes unblinking. Twilight kept trying to interject, with no success. It would have to take one pissed off pony losing her mind to get their attention.

"Quiet!" Applejack shouted. This got Rarity and Pinkie Pie to stop and look at their friend, who was breathing heavily from her own rage-induced explosion. "Ah can't take this constant bickerin'. I'm already stressed enough about meeting Alex without all this dang hollerin'!"

Both Pinkie Pie and Rarity looked down in shame.

"Sorry AJ." Pinkie Pie said.

"We're sorry darling." Rarity added.

Applejack saw their guilt and all of her rage dissipated, replaced by her own guilt for yelling at them.

"Ah don't worry about it. Ah'm sorry for exploding the way I did."

All three ponies looked at each other and smiled before hugging. Twilight and Fluttershy smiled in satisfaction that their friends were able to make up so easily. Carl and James, however, were just stunned. Arguments never went over that easily in real life, and apologies were never accepted as quickly as Applejack had accepted theirs. Not to mention she blamed herself as well, something hardly anyone in her position would ever think of doing, even if they saw the shame in their friend's eyes.

"Wow, they're forgiving." Carl said under his breath.

"Of course we accept each other’s apologies, we're friends. And forgiveness it's what friendship is all about." Twilight said with a smile before she turned away from Carl to look out the windshield.  

"Well, one of the things anyway." she added with a small laugh.

Carl decided to let the matter drop and focus on the road ahead, both literally and figuratively. 

But then he started to stress out over multiple things. First, he was hoping that Ryan would be safe. Second, he was hoping they would be safe. Then, he hoped that they were meeting the three correct people and wouldn't have to keep going on a wild goose chase to find the other elements. Wilmont might not have been a huge metropolis, but it was still a large city. Not to mention the small towns surrounding the city, including the one that the boys lived in.

Through all this, however, Carl also hoped that his feelings for Twilight would start to disappear before they became a hindrance. 

He didn't know how wrong he was.

Forest behind Ryan's House

Ryan and Rainbow Dash were both taking a stroll through the woods behind Ryan's house. Well, Ryan was "strolling" while Rainbow Dash flew beside him at eye-level. The sun broke through the small gaps in-between the leaves of the surrounding trees. The grass was wet with dew, wetting Ryan's shoes as he continued to walk on. The same birds Ryan heard when he first woke up were still audible, their melody even more beautiful when listening to it outside and up close.

"Come on Ryan, where are we going?" Rainbow Dash asked with a hint of impatience in her voice. Not that Ryan could blame her, she was used to the "fast life", and so anything that took too long without doing anything exciting was sure to bore her.

Ryan pointed up towards a large tree just up ahead. "It's right there."

Rainbow Dash stopped flying when she saw what Ryan was pointing at.  It wasn't just at the tree itself, it was at a large, wooden, aged tree-house perched high up in its canopy.

She put her hooves to her mouth and let out an excited gasp.

"Oh my gosh, is that a tree house?" she asked.

Ryan chucked at her cute gasp. "Yep, go on up I'll be right behind you. I just need to find the ladder so I can climb..."

Rainbow Dash didn't give Ryan a chance to reach the rope ladder that hung from the entrance. She swooped down and put her hooves under Ryan's armpits. With surprising strength, she lifted Ryan off of the ground and brought him into the tree house. She flew though the opening that served as the door and put him down onto the floor of the tree-house. Ryan looked down at her in awe.

She laughed, "Didn't expect me to be that strong, did you?"

Ryan shook his head. She gave a triumphant grin before she started to look around at the old tree house. It was pretty small, much smaller than the one that the CMC had, and much more run-down. In fact, it looked more like the CMC's clubhouse before it was fixed up.

Time had not been kind to it, that much was certain.

Ryan was a little embarrassed at how run-down it looked. Rainbow Dash, however, held the belief that the more run down it was, the more badass it looked. So as she saw all of the cracks in the wooden walls, the plants growing inside and all around the tree-house, her smile grew more and more.

"Wow, this place is so cool." 

"Oh, this is nothing. You should have seen it when it was in its glory days."

Rainbow Dash turned to him and smiled. Ryan knelt down and they began to kiss some, enjoying their time alone with each other. With each moment that their mouths were pressed against each other, Ryan began to feel more and more innocent, as he did the night before. 

He couldn't understand it, but he really didn't want to. All that mattered was that he was with the girl that he loved, and he would never let anything take that away from him. As they continued to kiss, Rainbow Dash caught site of something on the far wall and she broke the kiss.

"Ryan, what's that?" she asked, pointing her hoof to the wall.

He turned to look where she was pointing to see the engraving. He got up and walked over to it. When he got there, his eyes lay on two names that were carved into the wall, This Is the Fort of Ryan and Laurie, all who enter will perish.

His eyes went wide, "No way. I can't believe that this still here."

"Who's Laurie?" Rainbow Dash asked. 

Ryan shut his eyes and swallowed, "He's no one Dashie."

He tried to stand up but she put her hoof onto his shoulder. She could see the pain in his eyes and wanted to address it.

"Can you please tell me?" 

Ryan swallowed nervously and a tear fell from his eye and rolled down his cheek as the pain from his past came back. 

"He…he is a friend of mine...well...was a friend of mine."

"What happened to him?" she asked with her eyes wide. "Did he die?"

"Not physically." Ryan muttered, "but...actually I...I can't talk about this...not with you."

"Why not?"

"I just can't." 

Ryan looked down at the floor of the tree house. Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan and turned his head to hers before looking deep into his eyes, "You can tell me anything. Don't be afraid."

"I just…the story makes me upset to talk about...because it reminds me of when I lost my faith in loy…" he stopped himself from finishing the statement, but Rainbow Dash finished it herself.

"Loyalty?" she asked and Ryan nodded. 

Rainbow Dash wrapped her arms around Ryan and gave him a tight, reassuring bear-hug.  Ryan hugged her back.

"It's okay. I'm here with you now, and won't ever betray you." Rainbow Dash broke the hug and looked right into Ryan's eyes, "I want to hear your story, if you don't mind. I'll be here to comfort you if it becomes too much for you, but I think talking about it could help." 

Ryan smiled, "Thanks Dashie, you're the best friend that I could ask for." Rainbow Dash smiled in return before Ryan continued, "…but I have to warn you, this story is pretty emotional."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "I understand."

Ryan sighed, "Dashie, I'm going to tell you the story behind me…and Lawrence. The jerk you slammed into at the mall yesterday. He wasn't always my tormentor, hell he wasn't always a bully."

Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan with confusion on her face. 

"He was my best friend...Laurie."