Chapter 18- The Last Element
James' House
James finally woke up at eleven O'clock. His t-shirt was drenched in a mix of sweat and tears, both from the night before and his sleep. Not that his dreams were normally happy, but this night, they were filled with an even greater sadness.
The memory of his Aunt calling to tell him that Caroline had died returned. The memory pained him greatly, hitting him with the depression he missed out on as he slept. He wanted to burst into tears when he felt something warm and furry stir beside him. He looked to his left and saw Fluttershy pressed up against his side. Her forelegs were wrapped around him, her eyes were closed and her breathing was soft and serene, as she continued to sleep, most likely dreaming about her animal friends she left back in Ponyville. James still felt horrible about Caroline, but whenever he laid eyes on Fluttershy's cute face he couldn't help but feel a little better. Sighing, he tapped her on the shoulder, causing her wake up. Her baggy eyes gazing up at James, blinking the sleep away.
"Hm...oh James. I'm sorry did I wake you?"
"No Fluttershy." James said, "I was already up."
"Oh," she said as she looked away from James for a brief moment, as if to think over what she should say next. Eventually, she seemed to settle on something and let out a sigh.
"James, I'm so sorry about your cousin. It's so...so..." Fluttershy couldn't hold back anymore. She shut her eyes and buried her face into her hooves, starting to weep. James quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. He was upset as well, but was observant enough to put his own grief aside for the time being. It was now time for him to comfort her.
"Shh, shh, it's okay." He said, slowly starting to cry as well. He realized he was in no state to be comforting anyone. He looked away from Fluttershy, hoping to hide his crying from her. But she wasn't stupid, she knew his true sorrow.
"James, you don't have to hide it. I know it hurts you more than it hurts me." Fluttershy said, wiping the tears away from her eyes as she leaned closer to James' ear. "I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better."
"Thanks Fluttershy," James said with a sniffle, "you're a great friend. And your being here for me has helped me feel better. But you're upset too, and I'm here for you just as much as you're here for me."
Fluttershy looked up at James and gave him a weak smile.
Suddenly, the corded phone in James' room rang, causing both elements of kindness to break their hug. James grabbed and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey man how are you feeling?" Carl asked.
James wiped his nose on his wrist and sniffled. "Been better, I suppose."
"I'm really sorry about what happened."
"Thanks bro."
"Listen, I found the last element and we're going to get him. I called to tell you to stay home for the day with Fluttershy."
"A-are you sure?"
"Yeah, unless you're up for it. I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to; especially now after what happened to Caroline."
James closed his eyes and sighed. He really did want to come to help out his friends, but he knew that he needed a day to grieve so he answered, "Yeah...yeah I guess I'll stay home. I mean, unless you need me for anything."
"We're good for now man, thanks though. I'll call you back later after we get him and we can meet up."
"Word."
"All right man, stay strong."
"I will."
"See you."
"Peace." James hung up and put the phone back into the cradle. He walked back over to the edge of the bed and sat down, putting his face into his hands and rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eyes.
"Was that Carl?" Fluttershy asked.
James nodded, "Yeah, he suggested I take the day off, and I accepted."
"Oh, well...I think a day off will do you some good."
James nodded, "Yeah, but Caroline is still dead. I don't think any amount of rest can help me get over that."
Fluttershy thought for a second, looking down at her hooves. "Why don't we go out?"
James looked at Fluttershy, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, after all, Twilight's spell isn't in effect for you so if people saw you, they'd see a pony."
Fluttershy looked up at James and gave him a small nod.
"Yeah that's probably for the best. Besides, we can find something to do here, right?"
"Right." James said when he heard voices coming from downstairs. The voice belonged to Patrick. He was home for the day and James knew that his parents would be gushing about him all day, driving James to the point of losing his mind.
"You know what, let's go on that hike." James said, standing up.
"Really?"
James nodded, "I'll get my bike and we can go to the park, it's not too far from here."
"Oh a park, are there animals?" Fluttershy asked, "I mean...if they don't that won't be a problem it's just..."
James chuckled, "Yes Fluttershy, they have animals."
Pete's House
Pete just received the text from Carl, telling him to stay home. Carl would pick him and Pinkie up later once they found the last element. Pete was outside on his porch, watching as some birds flew by, chasing some insects that were buzzing around. The sun was bright and the day optimistic. His parents were both at work, and most of the street was empty, so he didn't have to be ultra-secretive with Pinkie Pie. In fact, he let her sit in the chair next to him. She was looking out towards the other side of the street, but her eyes were drawn up towards the clouds. Every now and then she'd point to one and said what she thought it looked like.
"Oh! Oh! Pete! That one! Right there! It looks like a giant cupcake!"
Pete squinted, "Which one?"
"That one!" she said, adding emphasis with her pointing at one of the clouds. Once Pete saw it, he had to admit, it did look a bit like a cupcake.
"See! There's the cake, and there's the frosting!" Pinkie said.
"Oh yeah, ha-ha that's great." Pete said.
Pinkie pointed to another cloud that was close to the "cupcake".
"And that one, right there, looks like a BIG, hungry pony, that's ready to eat the cupcake! Mmmm…" she rubbed her stomach and licked her lips, like she ate the cloud cupcake herself.
"Actually, that pony cloud looks a lot like you." Pete said.
Pinkie looked at the cloud again, noticing the "mane" had a slightly poofy appearance, most likely because it was a cloud.
She smiled in agreement. "Oh yeah, I see that! It even has my poofy mane!"
Pete sighed and sat up, "Hey Pinkie, before we go, do you want to eat? I actually do have some cupcakes in the fridge if you're interested."
"OH MY GOSH REALLY!?!" she asked. Pete nodded and Pinkie jumped into the air, pure excitement in her eyes.
"YAY! I'll meet you in there Petey!" With that, Pinkie sprinted off into the house, leaving a comical pink, cartoony trail behind her.
Pete chuckled a bit before he followed her. He walked into the kitchen. Pinkie Pie was already sitting at the table, a napkin tied around her neck and a plate, knife and fork in front of her. Where she got these things so fast, he wasn't sure.
"Probably some kind of emergency Pinkie Pie eating kit." Pete thought, walking over to one of the cabinets. He grabbed a white plate and closed it before going into the breadbox and grabbing a chocolate cupcake. He brought the cupcake and plate over to Pinkie Pie, gently setting the plate down in front of her, and putting the cupcake on top.
"Here you go Pinkie."
"Thanks Pete!" she said before she leaned back, mouth wide open, and tossed the cupcake in. She took one bite and swallowed the tasty treat. All Pete could do was gawk. Even if it should have been expected behavior from Pinkie Pie, it was still unbelievable to see something so cartoony done in real life.
Pinkie Pie looked down at her crumb-filled plate-she was surprisingly messy for eating the pastry in one bite- and pouted.
"Awwww, it's gone."
Once the initial shock was gone, Pete couldn't help but chuckle at her mannerisms. He eventually broke out into a haughty laugh that eventually caused him to become hunched over the table. It was the hardest he laughed in years.
Pinkie Pie became concerned about her friend's apparent convulsions.
"Pete, are you okay?"
Pete calmed himself down and wiped a tear of laughter away, "Yeah I am, you're just so...random."
Pete continued to laugh and soon Pinkie did as well. Pete was finally opening himself up and felt less like a wall-flower and more like how he was before everything changed for him. And he owed it all to Pinkie.
But she was far from done changing his life.
Wilmont Park- Afternoon
"Hey Gregors; pass me the ball!" shouted the six-foot two-inch, pumped up, soon to be Division I soccer player.
Louis Clarkson was playing a four v. four soccer game against some of his classmates from the year before. His eyes showed steely determination as the ball was passed to him. He trapped the ball at his feet before he started a sprint down the field. He weaved in and out of his defending friends; juking two of them so badly that they lost their balance. Louis took a quick look up. Once he saw someone open, he passed him the ball before sprinting towards the goal to receive the cross.
The player with the ball kicked the ball high into the air for the wide-open Louis, who only had the goalie to beat. He leapt at the same time as the keeper, but reached about half a foot higher than him. The front of his head made contact with the padded surface of the ball, sending the spherical object smashing into the net with force greater than that of most players had they kicked it with their feet.
Louis returned to Earth and looked up. Once he saw the ball in the goal, he pumped his fist in victory. He then kissed his fist and pointed up towards the sky, just as he did when he scored in actual games.
"Hell yeah! That's my boy Louis right there!" shouted one of his friends.
"It's all in a day's work for the mighty Louis Clarkson!" Louis laughed before high-fiving his friend.
As the black soccer star celebrated his goal, out in the parking near the soccer field was a car, where Carl Alex, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight were watching the game from. They all saw the goal, as well as the events leading up to it. Their jaws all hung loosely in astonishment.
"Holy Mother of God." Alex muttered, still in awe of Louis' soccer skill.
"He's UNC bound man, what did you expect? He's got skill." Carl said, anxiously biting his nails.
"It's still impressive." Alex replied, "Hold on a second, since he is the Element of Generosity, does that mean he's a brony too? I mean, all of us so far have been."
"I guess it does, it would make sense." Carl said.
"If he is, he is as far from the stereotype as anyone could possible get."
"What do ya mean stereotype?" Applejack asked.
"When I imagine a brony I see a nerdy white kid who prefers the internet to sports. Not a hulking, six-foot tall African-American all-star soccer player."
"Wow, racist much Alex?" Carl asked.
"No! Dude, I'm not a racist, I'm just observant. Could you really see a guy like him spending his spare time watching My Little Pony?"
Carl thought about this for a second. The mental image of Louis staring wide-eyed at the computer, vomiting rainbows, and watching My Little Pony came up and Carl had do everything in his power to stop himself from bursting into laughter, just from thinking about it.
"Carl, I hate to interrupt, but do you think we should go out there now?" Rarity asked, a huge grin on her face as her azure eyes kept being drawn to the muscular hunk she hoped to be partnered with.
Carl nodded, "Yeah, but listen. You and Twilight can do this by yourselves. Ask him to meet you two at the mall in an hour, only you two. Don't say anything about us being there."
"Why not?" Twilight asked, Rarity too absorbed in Louis' glistening form to pay attention to Carl's instructions.
"He'll be more interested if two girls he doesn't know ask him to the mall than a group that includes guys." Carl said, "Twilight, make sure you use your spell so he thinks you're Tara and Raquel."
"Got it." Twilight said as her horn had the familiar magenta glow for a couple of seconds before it faded. "We're all set."
"Good. Now go get him and, oh Twilight!" Carl said as she opened both doors with her magic.
Twilight turned to face Carl. "Yeah?"
"Check him to make sure he's the element, but don't tell him anything about Equestria until we get to the mall."
"Carl I know what to do. You should know that organization and precision is my specialty." Twilight said with a wink and cocky smile. She then exited the car, dragging a go-go eyed Rarity along with her. They closed the door behind themselves.
Applejack and Alex leaned forward from the back seat. Carl leaned back against the driver's seat, watching the two girls walk off, a pony in his eyes, but two, stunningly beautiful human girls to everyone else.
Applejack watched them walk off, "Do ya think he'll agree ta meet us?".
"If he doesn't, you can go buck him AJ." Carl replied, still biting his nails.
Down on the field, Louis was about to take a corner kick on the side of the field that was closest to the parking lot, when another one of his friends called him.
"Hey Louis! Looks like you got some hot biddies coming your way!"
Louis turned around to see Twilight and Rarity heading towards him. Of course, he saw them as nothing more than two stunning, teenage, human girls with flirtatious grins on their faces.
His friends began to whistle and holler at the girls like typical goes while Louis simply kept grinning.
"I've got this." Louis told his friends, starting to make his way over to two, mysterious girls.
"Hello ladies." He said in a very flirtatious way, causing the girls to giggle.
"Hi, you wouldn't happen to be the Louis Clarkson, would you?" Twilight asked, trying to play on his ego, which worked.
"Been reading the newspapers recently I see." Louis said as he extended his hand to be shaken. "Yes, I am Louis Clarkson, future captain of the North Carolina Tarheels Soccer team and current star of the St. Mary's Cardinals."
"I'm Tara and this is my friend Raquel." Twilight said, gesturing to Rarity. The white unicorn batted her eyelashes in a seductively animated manner, causing Louis' face turned bright red.
"It's an absolute pleasure to meet you Louis." Rarity said, extending her hoof to shake Louis' hand.
"Pleasure's mine." Louis replied dreamily, like a typical guy in the presence of an extremely attractive girl.
"Listen, we were wondering if you wanted to meet us at the mall in an hour for lunch." Twilight offered.
Louis chuckled, "Yeah, of course. I should be done here by then. Do you want to meet in the food-court?"
"Yep, that sounds perfect." Twilight said, Rarity still staring like Louis was a fresh daisy sandwich.
"Great! Well, we'll see you two there." Louis said with an excited smile.
"Wait, Louis, could you hold still a moment?" Twilight asked, doing her usual head-to-chest ritual that caused everyone on the soccer field to start hurling sexual statements, and everyone in Carl's car to burst into laughter.
Twilight backed away from Louis, who was blushing, and smiling. "See you at the mall."
With that the two girls waved and walked back towards the car. Louis turned to make the corner kick, "Hey guys, here it comes, look alive out there I want this ball in the net!"
With that, he ran up and booted the ball brilliantly, allowing one of his friend to head it into the back of the net.
On the way back to the car, Carl watched as Twilight whispered something to Rarity. After this, Rarity suddenly jumped for joy and strutted back to the car with her eyes closed and a huge grin on her muzzle.
Carl smiled and gave a small nod, "Looks like we've found the Element of Generosity."
Ryan's House
There was absolutely nothing to do for Ryan and Rainbow Dash as they waited for Carl's text. Since waking up, both of them sat at the couch and did absolutely nothing but watch television and eat junk food from the pantry. Ryan had his phone on vibrate so Carl could tell him when and where to meet.
"Ryan, I was thinking," Rainbow Dash said after swallowing a potato chip, "when do you want to tell everypony that we're...you know, a couple?"
Ryan shrugged, "I'm not sure. I'm still a little hesitant to tell Carl and those guys, but I think they'll be cool."
"What about your parents?"
Ryan sighed, "I'm not sure, but I don't think they'd be too happy."
Rainbow Dash saw how stressed out Ryan was and scooted closer to him, resting her head onto his shoulder as her eyes stayed on the television where a strange sponge and starfish were singing about camping.
"Is it because I'm a pony, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes." Ryan said.
"What if they aren't cool with it?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Ryan sighed, "If they don't approve of it, I'll be upset but I'm not going to stop being your boyfriend."
Rainbow Dash nuzzled against Ryan's shoulder. "Thanks Ryan, I'm glad I mean that much to you."
Ryan felt a little better now. Having her beside him always made him feel better. It was just like in the show. Whenever she was on it, he would suddenly feel happy and comforted. As he looked into her eyes and imagined that somewhere out in the vast number universes and dimensions that she existed, he would be happy. Now that she was here, Ryan's feeling of wanting something more that accompanied his romantic's personality went away. He felt like he was complete, like he didn't have the desire for "something more" any longer, and that was a feeling he had ever since he was very young. This also made Ryan thrilled because it proved that his love for Rainbow Dash was pure love rather than just a "you want something that you can't have" kind of thing.
No, he would never leave Rainbow Dash's side, and she would never leave his. They were equals; both sources of comfort for one another. It wasn't male dominated or female dominated, it was mutual, how a relationship should be.
That's the thing that made them both the happiest about their relationship, even if it was only about a day old.
BUZZ BUZZ
Ryan took his phone out of his pocket and saw that he got a text from Carl.
"Meet at mall in 45 minutes."
Ryan quickly replied with a "k" and pocketed his phone.
"Duty calls Dashie, come on let's clean up and get going."
She nodded and lazily got up from the couch, crumbs dropping onto the cushion.
"Oh crud." she said, sweeping the crumbs off of the couch into one hoof with the other.
"Hang on Dashie, let me help you." Ryan said as he began to brush the couch cushion off.
"I've got it." She said stubbornly as she swept faster so Ryan would have less. She then looked up with a smile, "I'll race ya to the kitchen!"
"You know you're going to beat me." Ryan muttered.
"But you'll never know if you don't compete!" she said with a big grin. "Besides, I'll stay on the ground so it'll be a little fairer."
Ryan knew he wasn't going to get away with it, "All right, fine."
"Awesome." Rainbow Dash said, grinning competitively. She got into a starting position, still holding one hoof out to balance the crumbs, "Okay, ready..."
Ryan took his position. In his mind he already accepted defeat.
"...set, go!"
They both ran down the hall, towards the kitchen, something rather difficult inside a house. Ryan eventually saw her sprint by him with unbelievable speed and he knew there was no way that he'd win, and he was right.
Once she was in the kitchen she tossed the crumbs into the trash-bin. She then flew up, her hooves held triumphantly in the air.
"Ha! I won; the fastest flier in Equestria has won on the ground! I beat you!" Rainbow Dash said, still smiling like she just won the Best Young Flier's Competition again.
"You sure did Dashie." Ryan said with a chuckle.
Rainbow Dash then looked at Ryan, her competitive face melting a bit into a much more friendly, softer one.
"No, Carl, you're supposed to say 'you got lucky'." Ryan looked at her confused and she smiled, "In a playful way of course. But you don't need to completely give me a victory that's no fun. Say 'I want a rematch later' or something." She added.
Ryan shrugged. "You'd still beat me."
Rainbow Dash then grabbed Ryan by the collar of his shirt and pulled his face to her own, which had a pleading expression on it, "No, Ryan look. You have to be a little cocky sometimes; this is what I'm trying to tell you now. Tell me that you want a rematch later."
"But..." Ryan began but when he saw Rainbow Dash scowl at him he conceded with a sigh. "Fine, I want a rematch later."
Rainbow Dash smirked, "Um, what was that?"
"I want a rematch later." Ryan said a little louder.
"What?" she asked as she put her hoof to her ear to emphasize how quiet Ryan was.
"I want a rematch!" he finally shouted.
"Are you sure that you can take me? After all I am the awesome Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria! I can do anything! I can even go fast on the ground! I can defeat you with both wings tied again."
"Prove it then!" Ryan shouted as his face dropped. He suddenly realized how confident he sounded all of a sudden and it made him feel…good. Really good, in fact, something he hadn't felt in a long time.
Rainbow Dash smiled at Ryan and gave him a big hug, still looking into his eyes.
"You see? Being confident in yourself feels good, doesn't it?"
"It does," Ryan smiled and hugged her back, "thank you Dashie."
"No problem Ryan." She said right before she broke the hug. Ryan tossed the crumbs still in his hands into the trash bin; the sweat from clenching his hand into a fist caused the crumbs to stick to his skin. He brushed them off and turned to Rainbow Dash, who was back to her competitive self.
"I'm holding you up on that re-match. And I want you to believe that you can beat me, even if it is impossible." She said with a small chuckle.
"Deal." Ryan said before they headed out to the car, Rainbow Dash's right hoof in Ryan's left hand.
Ryan's head was reeling. Rainbow Dash had just given him a lesson in confidence, something no girl on Earth would ever do. Hell, most girls would probably take advantage of his lack of confidence, using it so they had the upper hand in the relationship. But not Rainbow Dash. She a wonderful, supportive friend and she wanted him to become confident like her.
Once they were into the car, both seated, Rainbow Dash noticed Ryan starting to tear-up.
"Ryan what's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just nobody has ever been so nice to me in my life, besides maybe my parents." He said, giving Rainbow Dash a small smile.
Rainbow Dash returned the smile, "No one loves you like I do Ryan, remember that. Now can we get going? I don't want any of my friends to see me this lovey-dovey. It would hurt my image."
"Right, sorry." Ryan said with a chuckle as he turned his car on and drove off, Rainbow Dash' head still resting on his shoulder as they both hummed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
They were both so happy that neither noticed a suspicious white van following them down the street.
The driver of the white van, a middle-aged, balding man in a black suit, picked up a radio and spoke into it: "They just left, I'm following them."
City Hall-Continuous
Brett sat at his desk, his own radio in his hands as he listened to his watch-man on the other end.
"Right, follow them and tell me where they go. Do not to anything until I arrive." Brett said.
"Got it Obscure. Hail Discord."
"Discorda est rex."
And with that, Brett hung up.