Dear... diary?
Today's an off day. I mean, why wouldn't it be? We've been stuck inside all day. Mom said it was "a necessary precaution," or something like that. I get that, we were just attacked a few days ago for Celestia's sake. But today's the first day after the queen sent us a letter telling us to stay inside. "We'll notify you until we decide to take further action," I think is what it said. We just have to wait until then. Mom gave me this diary because she thought I wanted to document our time inside the house, but I think she just wants me to do something that'll take my mind off of everything. It's fine; I like to document things. My teacher said I was the best writer and had the neatest writing in the whole class before I was pulled out. I was supposed to teach Hurricane to fly today; I just don't know if I'm allowed to anymore. He's been looking forward to it for a whole week now. Maybe I'll just not bring it up and we can both read a story or listen to music instead, like a good sister. Hopefully, he's forgotten about it by now. I can hear him coming. I think it's time to wrap this up. I guess we can talk later.
- Aviator
Dear diary the eleventh,
Today's an... off day. I mean, more so than usual. Hurricane seemed to have run off yesterday. I asked Mom about it. "It's for something important," she said. She was scared, I knew she was. He was sixteen now and almost a head taller than her, but she still sees him as this little colt that could break at any moment. I can't blame her; I see him the same way. I remember him coming home before running off in a slight panic. I asked him what was wrong, and he answered in broken sentences I could barely understand through his heavy breathing. He packed some things and left after a shaky goodbye.
I found a letter on the countertop this morning. After reading it over, I soon realized what was happening. Whatever attacked us ten years ago was back, and Hurricane wanted to stop it for some reason. I talked to my parents about it this morning. Apparently, it was like he was recruited to go, being the child of an element bearer and all. I asked why I didn't go. It couldn't have been an age thing; I'm a year older than him. They said that the ponies planning the mission only needed one of us and they ran into him first. So, in a different set of circumstances, I would've been the one packing my bags.
I was going to ask why they couldn't just take both of us, but I didn't feel the need to. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that Hurricane was the better choice. I'm not sure how the others would've dealt with me. I think I just would've made the mission harder. Maybe I shouldn't focus on that. Instead, I should focus on the good thing that happened today, and what I was originally going to write about.
Hurricane came back today. He was scratched up and had bruises, but I think he was more exhausted than anything else. It was a little bit after 4 pm. He only had a bit of food and had his wounds tended to before he went to sleep, and I think he's not waking up until tomorrow morning. I get that; he went through a lot in the past couple of days. I think I'll just make breakfast tomorrow morning and let him explain what happened. You know, like a good brother.
It's starting to get late, and I'm feeling a bit tired myself. I'll write again when I have some information.
- Aviator
Aviator woke up that morning feeling refreshed, for once. It's been a week since his last diary entry, and he still can't find a reason as to why he won't write another with the new information his brother gave him. He thought he just needed time to process what he was told. It was new and scary. He mostly held on to the fact that they didn't catch these guys in the end; they're still out there.
He decided to do what Hurricane did and just try to move past that unnerving thought by focusing on the bright side of the situation-- they're not required to stay inside anymore. The weirdest thing is, he hasn't gone outside since Hurricane came back. He just didn't feel comfortable being in an environment where he's exposed to strangers. The week went by with him alternating between reading and mentally preparing himself for when the inevitable time comes to get out of his house, and he managed to throw in meals and sleep in the mix.
He got up from his bed and looked at himself in the mirror in the corner of his room. Despite feeling more well-rested than usual, there were still dark circles under his emerald eyes. His curly dark blue mane was terribly messy. He tried to fix it as best he could, but it still looked choppy around the ends. That's what he got for letting Hurricane cut it, but what else could he do? Grow it out? That was definitely out of the question. He made sure that his sky blue coat was scruffy to top it all off. He decided that was enough of judging himself through a mirror and decided to start his day off.
After eating a small breakfast, he looked around the house and noticed his brother was nowhere to be found. He was probably out with his new friends; he usually is nowadays. His friends... what were their names? Aviator had to admit that whenever Hurricane talked about those two days, he would be so caught up in the idea of the threat still being out there, he would mentally check out of the conversation when Hurricane started talking about the ponies he traveled with. He should probably listen to the entire conversation next time they have it.
About an hour went by that mostly consisted of Aviator cleaning his not-so-messy room, reorganizing every shelf in the house, and rereading a book for the fourth time now. He would do new things, but most of those new things can be found outside. The book wasn't the best, but it was entertaining enough to keep his mind off of things. It's better than just laying on his bed and doing nothing. The house was the perfect amount of quiet and calm that Aviator loved when spending an afternoon alone. Well, at least it was before he heard the front door quickly open in close in the loudest way possible. Anyone else might've jumped at the sound and grow a little nervous at the thought of what someone might do if they were in the mood to open and close a door like that, but Aviator didn't flinch. He knew exactly one pony who always had the amount of energy it would take to enter every room like that.
"Aviator!" the pony said as they excitedly entered the room.
"Hey there, Hurricane. How are ya doing?" Aviator responded without looking up from his book. He looked up and saw two magenta eyes staring back at him. They had a little shine in them; he had exciting news. It probably had to do with the box he had with him. Aviator put his book down and scooted up to the edge of his bed to get a closer book at what might be inside. Hurricane set the box down with a loud thud. Inside there were different types of garments that were most likely costumes.
"Good, mostly," Hurricane started, "Did you make breakfast?"
Aviator was confused, "Yeah, for me. Did you not have any? I assumed you did because you were already out of the house when I woke up."
"Yeah, it was kind of urgent. I had to leave as soon as possible; no time for breakfast."
"What happened? What's so urgent that it required a box of costumes?"
"That's exactly it," Hurricane said with a big smile on his face, "The box of costumes was the urgent thing." Aviator couldn't help but have more questions lined up in his head.
"Okay... why?"
"You see, there's this quaint little theatre near the center of town that had some costumes that haven't been used for a production in a long while. I heard they were hosting some sort of yard sale this morning, and I just couldn't miss that. I woke up later than expected and had to rush out to make it before everything was gone." Hurricane took the few costumes that he was able to get out of the box and displayed them like sacred trophies.
"What're you going to do with these? I don't even think any of them fit you."
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure I can find a use for them in the future. I guess I just really wanted to buy something with the leftover money I had since the beginning of the isolation. The costumes were just in my price range, and I might've saved them from the trash or being potential food for moths."
"You've been doing a lot of that lately. Doing things you couldn't do the past ten years, I mean, not impulsively buying costumes."
"Yeah, I guess. It's not even big, significant things that I'm doing, but I still feel super accomplished by it. Maybe you should try it too."
Aviator knew this ploy. Hurricane's been trying to get him to go outside for the past week. He started by asking directly, but after Aviator turned down the offer multiple times, he took to more low-key ways of getting his brother to go into town. It was normally bragging about the exciting and new things he has been able to experience, and Aviator would be lying if he said he was completely uninterested in Hurricane's new adventures in Ponyville. But Aviator's fear of the public was just large enough to overtake his curiosity.
"Maybe someday, I don't know," Aviator responded, not trying to be too harsh. Hurricane's smile turned into a look of disappointment as he turned to leave the room. Aviator, catching the hint that this was the end of the conversation, grabbed his book again and opened it back up to the page he was on.
He might've been too distracted to notice Hurricane turning around again at the door, and that's what the younger stallion was hoping for. Aviator was known for being almost too immersed in the books he reads, that the entire world around him becomes irrelevant. Hurricane took this as a chance to do something without him noticing.
Aviator was snapped out of the current state he was in when his younger brother snatched the book from his hooves. He was confused for about a second before looking up and finding Hurricane quickly darting out of the room with the book. This has happened before, but the last time was when Hurricane was eight and really wanted to get Aviator's attention and play with him. Aviator always found that tactic to be childish and desperate, but he always thought Hurricane had since grown from that. Turns out he was wrong.
"Not this again," Aviator said to himself as he got up from his bed, "Hurricane, give that back!"
He was able to leave his room in time to see Hurricane close the front door. He went outside. Aviator didn't think much before following him out. Once outside, he saw his brother flying in place just a few yards away. The only two ways he can get him are if he can convince him to fly back or if he flies to his brother himself. Hurricane didn't look like he was going to be persuaded, so it seemed like it was going to be the latter. The one flaw with that plan: Aviator has not used his wings to fly in the longest time. Does he even remember how to fly? He's going to have to learn someway or another.
He hesitated a bit before stepping off the cloud he was on. He fell a few feet before eventually catching himself by flapping his wings rather aggressively. Slowly, but surely, he made himself to his brother with his flawed flying technique. It felt weird to use his wings like this after a long time of inactivity. He probably should have stretched them first. Once he got to Hurricane, he was a bit out of breath but managed to fly in place next to him.
"You're overthinking and panicking. Try calming down and slow down your flapping. It's easier to fly like that," Hurricane said, noticing how his brother was struggling.
"You know, I probably wouldn't be like this if you didn't fly away with my book," Aviator said back in an annoyed tone. He tried to reach out for the book, but Hurricane held it back, taking it out of his reach.
"I'm not letting you have it until you fly steadily."
Aviator rolled his eyes and gave out an exasperated sigh. He closed his eyes and thought to himself, most likely thinking of ways to calm himself down. He started to take deep breaths and tried to slow down the flapping of his wings. He felt himself struggle less and his wings weren't hurting as much. Before he knew it, it almost felt like when he was still flying all those years ago. He just needed to relearn a bit. Aviator opened his eyes to find an almost proud looking Hurricane.
"There, happy?" he asked. Hurricane silently nodded and handed him the book. Aviator accepted it and was about to head back to their house when Hurricane called out to him.
"You know, now that we're out here, going to town wouldn't be a terrible thing to do."
Aviator turned to face his brother, "Nice try. You know you can't make me do something like that."
"I mean, maybe, but I made you fly. You haven't done that in a long time, but here you are. I promise that if we go, I'll do all the talking if needed. I'll also make sure that we don't have much attention drawn to ourselves if it makes you more comfortable."
Aviator stopped and thought to himself for a moment. He turned around a flew back to Hurricane with an unsure look on his face, "Do you really promise?" Hurricane nodded. Aviator sighed and looked defeated.
"Fine, but if anything gets out-of-hoof, I'm leaving. Let me just put this back real quick," Aviator flew back to the house while Hurricane waited. The younger stallion couldn't help but feel a little excited.
As Diamond Glow made her way down the center of Ponyville, she couldn't help but notice the sympathetic glances from strangers walking by her. She honestly hated it. She's always hated being pitied. She couldn't do anything about it. Unless her leg heals miraculously quick, she's going to have that cast and sling for another month or so. Her other wounds were doing just fine, with the only real visible one left being her black eye. It's really the cast that she's so frustrated with. That and having to walk around with only three legs.
She walked with her head up, but her eyes were looking down. It's what she thought was a good compromise between not making eye contact with anyone but also not looking small or weak. Her eyes caught two shadows of flying ponies on the ground and looked up to see who they were. She made eye contact with the one flying in front, but quickly looked back down and walked faster when she realized who it was.
"Diamond Glow! Wait up!"
Diamond Glow groaned and stopped in her tracks. He never really did notice social cues, did he? She turned around and saw Hurricane starting to fly down. The pony behind him stopped with a worried look and told him something that Diamond Glow couldn't quite make out. She saw Hurricane turn back around and said something back to the other. There was a small nod in response and they both proceeded to land on the ground in front of the unicorn, the unknown pony still looking unsure.
"What do you want Hurricane, and... other?" Diamond Glow asked as she scanned the both of them.
"Nothing. I just saw you and felt the urge to talk. I thought we could do that now," there was a small, awkward pause, "Anyways, I thought you guys could meet each other. Diamond Glow, this is my brother, Aviator. Aviator, this is Diamond Glow, my... fr-"
"Acquaintance," Diamond Glow finished.
"Acquaintance," Hurricane reiterated. He paused for a moment, "What does 'acquaintance' mean?"
"It just means you know each other, but aren't that close," Aviator answered quietly. Hurricane turned back to Diamond Glow with a dejected look on his face.
"What were you expecting? We've known each other for a week," Diamond Glow said as she began to walk away from the two of them. Hurricane kept walking to keep up with her, and Aviator hesitantly followed along.
"Where are you headed, anyway?" Hurricane asked.
"Sugarcube Corner. I need to talk to CC."
"Sugarcube Corner! That's a great idea!" Hurricane turned towards Aviator, “That’s a great place to stop. Cream Cheese makes some of the best sweets!”
“And Cream Cheese is also this ‘CC’ Diamond Glow’s talking about?” Aviator asked. The other two nodded.
Aviator refrained from making eye contact with both of them. At least he would only be meeting one new pony instead of two.
“Okay, that’s fine. Lead the way.”
There was a looming sweet aroma that quickly entered Aviator's nose as the door to the bakery opened. He couldn't tell if he liked it or not; he was never big on overly sweet smells and tastes. The door hit a small bell on the ceiling, signaling their entrance, but no one inside seemed to pay much attention. It was a lot quieter than what Aviator had expected. He wondered if that was the normal environment or if it was just a slower day. It didn't matter, he was fine with it either way.
He was led to a counter by the other two and was invited to sit on one of the chairs in front of it. Diamond Glow lifted her head and narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to look into the kitchen through the small window ahead of them. Her ears slightly perked up as she picked up something from the ground and threw it with her magic. A pink earth pony jumped and turned to face them through the window while rubbing the back of her head. She seemed a bit upset at first, but her frown quickly turned into a small smile when she saw who she was looking at.
The pony excitedly exited the kitchen and joined the other three; Aviator guessed that this was the “CC” Hurricane and Diamond Glow were referring to.
“Hi. What brings you guys here?” she asked nicely. Her eyes stopped on Aviator, who quickly looked down at the counter to avoid eye contact, “And who’s this?” she continued.
“Oh right,” Hurricane perked up, “CC, this is my older brother Aviator. Aviator, this is Cream Cheese or ‘CC.’ Today’s Aviator’s first day out, so I’ve decided to show him around town.”
“Well, nice to meet you, Aviator. I hope you and I could be friends.”
Aviator looked back up to find Cream Cheese giving him a warm smile. He smiled back, to be polite, and because there was a radiant friendliness that bounced off of her. It reminded him of Hurricane.
“As for me, I have something to talk to you about,” Diamond Glow said, getting everyone’s attention.
“Oh, what is it? Is something wrong?” Cream Cheese asked worriedly.
“Oh no. It’s nothing bad. It’s just, with the whole isolation thing out of the way. My mom wants to start up her dress business again, but she predicts things are going to be pretty slow at first.
“We also heard that the town is putting up higher security around the shops to prevent thievery done by, mostly, yours truly. So that’s going to start getting more and more out of the question.
“What I’m trying to say is I need a job in a faster business than my mom’s, and this is the first place that came to mind.”
Cream Cheese looked a bit stunned by the statement and looked around like she was trying to find something to say. She eventually faced the unicorn again and stuttered a bit before finding her composure.
"Diamond Glow, you kind of have- you kind of have a broken leg... and a bad eye... and-"
"I'm aware of my current state," Diamond Glow interrupted, "I have magic that I could use to carry stuff, and I can still see out of this," she gestured towards her black eye, "Trust me. I can at least wait on tables or take orders at the register."
Cream Cheese thought to herself for a minute, "I'll talk about it with my parents later. I should have the answer by tomorrow, so maybe you should stop by then. Are you only interested in waitressing and working the counter, or can you work in the kitchen as well when you're out of the cast?"
"You see, I can't work in the kitchen on the account that I have no idea how to bake anything."
"Okay then, let's just hope you have good pony skills."
Cream Cheese turned her attention to the two stallions who were listening attentively, "Oh, I'm sorry, can I get you guys anything? I actually just got done making some chocolate cupcakes before starting my shift. You guys can have the first ones."
"Alright then, we'll take two of those," Hurricane said, looking at Aviator to see any noticeable objections.
"And, I guess, I'll take one too. I didn't have breakfast," Diamond Glow added on. Cream Cheese politely nodded and went back into the kitchen.
"So, 'good pony skills,'" Hurricane started, "You sure you have those?"
Diamond Glow rolled her eyes, "Please, I can be delightful... when I want to."
"Didn't you start a fight with Jupiter during the mission?"
"Hey, you would've too. They were really pissing me off back there. I'm sure no one here could get me that riled up."
Hurricane felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Aviator with a small spark of curiosity on his face.
"Hey, what's up? Do you want to leave or something?" he asked the older stallion.
"No, it's just," Aviator leaned over and made eye contact with Diamond Glow for the first time, "you mentioned Jupiter. Were they there? I didn't hear anything from them about the mission."
"Yeah, they were. It was hard to ignore them. Trust me, I tried," Diamond Glow responded.
"Shouldn't you know? I swear I mentioned them once or twice when I told you about the mission," Hurricane said.
"Well, to be honest, I wasn't listening," Aviator said before turning to Diamond Glow to ask for more information, but was interrupted by Cream Cheese putting cupcakes on the counter.
"Here they are. Three chocolate cupcakes," she said. Before anyone could exchange any more words, Cream Cheese heard a customer call her over. She left the others behind to enjoy their newly acquired treats.
Aviator had a hard time trying to eat. Aside from his general distaste in sweet foods, the conversation topic, before they were cut off, left him a bit antsy. He would ask the other two to elaborate, but he felt like he's already bothered Diamond Glow enough and he could always talk to Hurricane back home. So, he dropped it for now.
He also wondered why visiting an old friend hadn't crossed his mind until now.
It didn't take long before Hurricane and Diamond Glow finished their cupcakes and engaged in some small talk before the unicorn left. Aviator looked at his barely touched baked good before Hurricane got his attention.
"So, you don't listen to me when I talk?" he asked with a touch of sass, "It was only one of the most important things that happened in my life. No, I would get why you wouldn't wanna listen."
Aviator rolled his eyes, "Don't act like that. My mind wanders when I get anxious, that's all. I know about everything else, it's just the ponies you traveled with that I'm blank on. But hey, I know about Diamond Glow and Cream Cheese now... and I know that Jupiter was there. What's that? Three out of... eight?
"No, it's fine. I can always just tell you the whole thing again. You know how much I love talking."
"Yeah, I know, and I promise I'll listen to the whole thing this time."
The two chuckled a bit before hearing the bell ring again, signaling someone entering or exiting. They've been hearing it frequently throughout their visit, but this one was different.
"Oh, hey Jupiter! How are ya?" Cream Cheese said from the door that led to the kitchen. Hurricane and Aviator quickly turned towards the front of the bakery.
"Heya CC. I'm fine, but really need a sugar fix."
Aviator watched as Jupiter floated up to the counter and sat in the chair that was previously occupied by Diamond Glow. Cream Cheese walked up to the three of them, most likely to find out what Jupiter wanted.
The hybrid looked over at Hurricane to say, “Hi,” but trailed off before they could even get a word out. They looked surprised, baffled even. Their eyes widened like they just realized something.
“Avi? Avi, is that you?” they asked. Aviator looked up at them. They gave a small, silent nod.
“Oh wow- I-“ Jupiter stuttered on for another second out shock, “You look so different. I barely recognized you.”
Jupiter quickly got out of their seat and floated over to Aviator to get a closer look at him. They looked at him up and down before slowly showing a wide smile.
“Oh my Celestia! It’s really you! I haven’t seen you in ten years! You look amazing! I guess I shouldn’t be this surprised to see you! We have been writing to each other this whole time! But, to be honest, I’ve always hated that stuff!” Jupiter rambled on while all Aviator did was silently nod at the words they were spewing. He noticed they were taking rather loudly and shrank in his seat when he noticed other patrons in the bakery staring.
He couldn’t tell Jupiter to be quiet or straight up stop talking. They looked so happy to see him again, but he kind of wished he wasn’t there.
“So, how have you been?” Jupiter asked, snapping Aviator out of his thoughts.
“Oh me?” He fumbled in his chair and sat up straight, “I’ve been okay. Nothing’s been going on lately. This is actually my first day outside the house.”
“Well it must be, or else I would’ve noticed you a lot earlier,” Jupiter replied in a calmer tone. Aviator assumed they already burned through their initial excitement.
“And hello to you too, Jupiter,” Hurricane said, getting the hybrid’s attention for a split second.
“Yeah shut up, Hurricane,” Jupiter said jokingly. Hurricane scoffed and looked away.
Aviator didn’t know what to feel. Yeah, he’s happy to see his first friend after all these years, but he was still conflicted. He just wanted everyone to stop looking at him. He wanted to get out of there.
“Hey, I have a great idea,” Jupiter said, once again pulling Aviator out of his thoughts, “Why don’t we hang out today? As a way to catch up. After I have something to eat, of course.”
“That sounds good to me,” Hurricane chimed in, “How about you Avi?”
Aviator looked at the two of them nervously. He just wanted to go home and pick up where he left off on his book.
“Yeah, totally. I’m down.”
Aviator didn’t want to spend more time outside, but he felt like he didn’t have a choice. Both Jupiter and Hurricane seemed so excited about the idea, and he didn’t want to bum them out.
Jupiter ate something from the bakery very quickly. They even invited Cream Cheese to come along, but she had to politely decline, saying that her shift had begun not too long ago. They still exchanged goodbyes before leaving the bakery, Aviator still noticing a couple of eyes on them. And with that, they were off.
“So, what do we do now?” Aviator asked as the door closed behind them. The entirety of Ponyville mostly consisted of shops and homes. He didn’t have the money to buy anything, and he sure didn’t want to intrude on other ponies’ homes.
Hurricane thought to himself for a moment, “We have other friends. We can stop by their places and you can introduce yourself.”
“No thanks. I’ve already done enough socializing with new ponies as it is.”
“Alright, that’s fine,” Hurricane looked at Jupiter who seemed to be caught up in their own thoughts as well, “What do you think Jupiter?”
“There’s a cool marketplace around here. I’m sure there are some good finds. Also, my mom sent me out to buy groceries,” they pulled out a small pouch filled with bits. Hurricane was quick to comply. Aviator took a moment before nodding.
“Alright then, let’s go,” Jupiter said as they started to float towards the center of town, “It shouldn’t be too far from here.” The two stallions followed after.
Once they got there, Jupiter quickly approached different stands selling produce. They picked up a tomato and scan it thoroughly.
“How do you know if a tomato’s good to buy?” they asked Hurricane. He shrugged in response.
Jupiter let out a frustrated sigh, “Why did Mom send me? Wind Chime’s the one who knows all this,” they muttered to themselves, “But it’s fine, ‘cuz if I hadn’t gone out today, I wouldn’t have run into Avi here.”
They gave Aviator a smile who gave a weak smile back. Jupiter eventually found some tomatoes that they deemed fit enough to buy and placed them on the table in front of the pony selling them- an elderly earth pony mare.
The salespony noticeably shuddered when Jupiter placed down the fruit. They sat in silence for a moment before Jupiter spoke up.
“Um, how much for these?” they asked. The mare jumped and nervously looked down at the tomatoes.
“That’ll b-be f-four bits,” she finally said. Anyone could notice that she was scared, anyone except Jupiter.
Jupiter slammed down four bits on the table, making the salespony yelp. Her shaky hoof extended out to take them.
“And don’t worry. I have a bag,” Jupiter said before snapping their fingers. A large bag appeared beside them.
Aviator looked around as Jupiter started putting the fruit in the bag. Everyone was looking at them. He quickly looked back down at the ground before anyone could notice him.
“Alright, that’s it for here. What’s next?” Jupiter said as they started to leave the stand. The other two followed after.
As Aviator left he heard the salespony mutter something to herself. She must’ve thought they were too far away to hear her.
“What a freakish thing.”
"Is that it?" Aviator asked, trying to hide his frustration. Jupiter was finishing gathering cucumbers and putting them into their bag.
The sequence of events that happened at the tomato stand repeated every time Jupiter went to buy something new, including the mass amount of ponies staring at the three of them. Aviator was starting to get sick of it and wanted to leave right then and there, but he didn't want to upset the other two.
"Almost, I just need some lemons. Why? Are you in a rush or something?" Jupiter asked as they started to leave the stand.
"No," Aviator said softly, "Hurricane, can I talk to you real quick? Over there?" he pointed to the outskirts of the marketplace.
Hurricane nodded, "Hey Jupiter, you can go on without us. We'll meet up with you in a bit." Jupiter gave them a small thumbs up with their paw and floated away as the two stallions walked to where Aviator wanted to meet.
When they got there, Aviator quickly spun on his younger brother.
"We need to get out of here," he said. Hurricane looked at him with a confused look.
"What? Why? I thought we were having a good time."
"Haven't you noticed that ponies have been kinda staring?"
"I mean, I have noticed a bit of that. I just kinda thought it was because we saved them last week and they were maybe... starstruck?"
"Those didn't look like looks of awe to me. I think they were judging us."
"Judging us? Why would they be-- oh. You're not talking about Jupiter, are you?"
"I mean, it seems like the most logical answer."
"Avi, are you even listening to yourself right now? This is our childhood friend your talking about. Are you embarrassed to be seen by them?"
"Not embarrassed. It's just," Aviator paused to find the right words, "Things were different back then. Didn't you notice that we always went to Jupiter's house to hang out? They never really went out that much either. I'm just saying that they might not be as aware of social cues as us, and we're not even that familiar with them."
"So? They look a little different, and that's fine. If other ponies have a problem with that, it's their problem, and I'm sure Jupiter's fully aware of that."
"It's not just that. Back at the bakery, they were loud and all over the place. I know I haven't seen them in a while, and their behavior changed over the course of ten years, but this isn't how I remember them being. I don't know if that's gonna cause any future problems in our friendship, but what I do know is that I wasn't feeling good, like, at all in that situation."
Hurricane took a step back and thought to himself for a second, "If you weren't feeling good, why didn't you say anything?"
"You guys started making plans to hang out today and I didn't want to upset you guys. Jupiter seemed so excited to see me too, and then everything got worse here."
"And you think that's Jupiter's fault?"
"Yes- no... maybe? I don't know. They're just too much right now."
"'Too much?'" a new voice said. Hurricane and Aviator turned their heads to find Jupiter standing about ten feet away. It looked like they've been there for a little while. Their face was almost expressionless. It took a moment before the corners of their mouth curved down and their eyebrows creased.
"I'm 'too much' to you?" they asked again, almost out of disbelief.
"Jupiter, no," Aviator took a step towards them, "I didn't mean that."
"Well, it sounds a whole lot like you did,” Jupiter responded in a much more upset tone. They reached into their bag and pulled out a messy notebook stuffed with papers.
“I was gonna give you this because I thought it was something thoughtful or sentimental, but I guess it might just be ‘too much’ for you.” They threw the notebook down on the ground between the two of them.
“Jupiter, wait-“ Aviator started, but they snapped and disappeared before he could get another word out. Aviator didn't know what to do now. He just did the one thing he was trying to avoid all day: upset his friend. He looked down at the notebook they threw down and went to pick it up.
The notebook was quite large in size, but Aviator noticed that it was heavy and extremely thick when he picked it up. The cover sported a large "J" in the middle of it. It couldn't have stood for anything other than "Jupiter." When Aviator opened it, he couldn't help but feel bewildered at what was inside.
"What's in there?" Hurricane asked as he approached his older brother and peered over his shoulder.
"Letters," Aviator responded quietly. Each page contained around ten letters addressed to Jupiter, stacked together. The earliest one being sent almost ten years ago. Each one was sent by himself. He skipped to the last page and pulled out the last letter. It was the one he sent two weeks ago.
"They kept every single one."
"I mean, didn't you keep all of their letters?" Hurricane asked. It was true. The bottom drawer of Aviator's dresser was filled with nothing but the letters the hybrid had sent to him. Whenever he felt upset, he would reread them to remind himself that he always had someone that had stuck by his side all these years, other than his family. He never knew they felt the same way.
"I was such a jerk," Aviator said under his breath.
"I'm not disagreeing," Hurricane added. Aviator gave him a dirty look.
"Now's not the time for snarky comments."
"Fine. Well, what are you gonna do now? They looked pretty upset. Plus, we don't know where they disappeared to."
"Well, what I'm going to do is apologize to them, and I think I have a pretty good idea of where they might be."
"Are you sure they're here?" Hurricane asked.
"Of course I am. They always hid here when they were upset, but they were five and didn't think anyone could find them," Aviator responded.
Aviator led his brother to Jupiter's home. He would knock on the door and greet their family, but the situation was too urgent to get sidetracked. He looked around the yard until he found a small creek with a bridge that went over it. He flew over to it and didn’t waste a second to look under the bridge. There he found Jupiter huddled under it. Hurricane joined him and also looked under the bridge.
“Huh, you were right,” the younger stallion said, getting Jupiter’s attention. They rolled their eyes upon seeing Aviator and turned their head in the other direction.
“Hey,” Aviator said quietly. Jupiter didn’t respond and just kept looking away.
“Look, I’m sorry. I was just overwhelmed and wasn’t thinking about what I was saying. I don’t mean the words I said. You’re not ‘too much.’ You’re just you, and I’m the one who has to get used to that. I will, I guess not seeing you in a while kind of made me think there was no way you could’ve changed over the years.”
Aviator got off from the bridge and joined the hybrid by sitting under it. They sat with an awkward space in between them, but Aviator felt it was needed.
“You think I don’t notice everyone staring at me everywhere I go?” Jupiter finally said, “I know my friends try to make me feel better by distracting me from it, but it doesn’t work, and it just makes me feel worse. No offense, Hurricane.”
“I thought I was doing a good thing,” Hurricane said.
“You are, just not well,” Jupiter fired back. They directed their attention back towards Aviator, “I’m aware of what ponies think of me because of appearance and... louder personality, but I didn’t care about that because at least I knew that my friends, the actually important ones, didn’t think of me like that. I guess I was wrong.”
“No, you’re not. I was just being a jerk and thinking about myself. I guess I care too much about what other ponies think of me.”
“But they weren’t judging you. They were judging me.”
“So what? Someone once told me that if ponies have a problem with how you look or act, then that’s their problem.”
“Hey, that was me,” Hurricane said.
“Yeah shut up, Hurricane,” Aviator said dismissively, “I admit, I was embarrassed, and I thought that maybe our personalities clashed too much now, but you helped me remember that we’ve been able to stay friends despite not being able to see each other for over ten years. If we can make it through that, we can make it through anything.”
“How did I help you with that?”
“With this,” Aviator pulled out Jupiter’s notebook, “I didn’t know you kept all of my letters.”
“Well, of course, I did, I always thought you forgot about me and got excited when you sent a new letter. I kept them to remind myself that I still had friends.”
“That’s why I kept all of the letters you sent me. Jupiter, please know that you’ve helped me get through some really tough times with those letters. I shouldn’t have let what other ponies thought get in the way of all of that. I can’t believe I’m so insecure to forget all of that history between us just because some ponies aren’t used to you.”
“Avi, don’t talk like that,” Jupiter moved closer to the stallion, “It’s also your first day outside and you’ve always been the nervous type. I should’ve thought about that before screaming and yelling at the bakery and dragging you to my grocery shopping. I guess I was just so excited that I also only thought about myself.”
They both made eye contact for the first time and gave each other small smiles, “I guess we both screwed up,” Aviator said.
Jupiter put their arms around their friend and held him close, “So much for a reunion.”
“No, I like this. Just promise me next time, we just hang out here.”
“If you promise me that you won’t let what other ponies think influence how you think of me... and that you don’t tell anypony about this.”
Aviator leaned back in confusion, “Why not?”
“Oh, I just think that the others and I haven’t been friends long enough for them to know that I have... real feelings.”
“Okay, I guess.”
“Hey this is great and all,” Hurricane interrupted, “but we only have so much time before Jupiter’s family finds out that we’ve trespassed on their property and have been hanging out under this bridge. So how about we actually, I don’t know, say hi to them.”
Jupiter and Aviator smiled, “That sounds good,” Aviator said.
He wasn’t lying this time.
After spending some time with Jupiter and their family. The brothers made their way back home before it got too late. Hurricane got pretty tired due to having woken up earlier and retreated to his room to go to sleep.
Aviator did the same, but, before he went to bed, he pulled out his diary and pencil. He opened to a blank page and started writing.
Dear diary the eleventh,
It’s been ten years since I’ve seen my half-draconequus friend. Their name is Jupiter, and I’ve known them since we were diapers.
I did a stupid thing today and let other ponies’ weird looks and awful opinions get in the way of my friendship with them. Here’s a note-to-self to never do that again.
I’m really grateful to have a friend like them to give me a second chance. I guess I finally have something to motivate me to go outside: to reestablish the few friendships I had before the isolation, starting with Jupiter.
I’ll wake up tomorrow and spend the whole day catching up with them, ya know, like a good friend.
It’s getting late, and this whole day has made me pretty tired. I’ll write again tomorrow.
- Aviator