//------------------------------// // Yet another night in the woods // Story: The Quiet Kid: Day by Day // by aegishailstorm //------------------------------// ...Previously on My Little P- "Hey, what's going on in here!? Get out of my house!" "Oh, where was I-" "Ah! ####! Not again!" William eyes snapped open. Franticly, he looked around his bedroom, sighing in relief at the sight of the darkness. His window was still latched shut, and no one- Nopony had broken in. "Ugh, I keep having nightmares of the past couple of day's, this friendship stuff is getting under my skin." He sat up, slinging his BDU clad legs over the side of the bed. Slowly, he stood up, looking around. The moonlight shone through the window, casting long shadows across what few things William had in his possession. He yawned, and stumbled over to the window, he pulled it open, and poked his head outside, looking out on the street. All quiet, not a single soul in sight. "Ah, as much as I hate it, this'll will never get old." He stumbled down the stairs. It hadn't even been 12 hours since that damned unicorn had shut Twilight's 'school' down. "Eh, I need coffee." He stepped off the stairs, and headed into his dark kitchen, switching on the single lantern on the countertop as he did, he swung open his cabinet, and reached inside. "Well, guess I'm out, ahhh!!!" William screamed in frustration. "Well, that's that, no point staying mad." He slipped into a pair of combat boots, and headed outside, being sure to lock the door after him. He went left, right out off town. His usual route. As he walked, he mind began to wander, as it always did. "I wonder how Twilight's taking this?" He chuckled at the prospect of once more watching her famous nervous breakdowns. "That's enough of ponies for the night, I know just the place to cure my boredom. And it sure as #### ain't near Ponyville." He gazed at the Everfree's treeline, and headed into it, though the forest, across a shallow river, once more across that precarious ladder bridge, back to that old abandoned castle. "My precious." He thought as he walked though it's courtyard. "This is by far the best place in the everfree, nice, dry, quiet, best of all, ponies hate this place, the think its haunted, I mean, can you believe that? Haunted! Well, given what I've seen in my travels, that might not be far fetched, but I ain't seen any ghosts yet." He paused, and sat down on a crumbling cobblestone divider. He had realized that he was talking aloud, and was immediately embarrassed by it. "Why should I be? this castle is mine. I don't care if the royal sisters owned it back in the day... Hell, Luna doesn't even deal with my nightmare anymore. My castle, plus, the weather can't be beat." He slumped back, watching as the clouds pasted by. On for the blackness of the night to change to blue in an instant, blinding William. "Gah, WTF Celestia? You couldn't be considerate?" He heard win flaps in the distance. Very familiar wing flaps. "Oh no, please tell me he didn't find me, not him, not now..." He looked into the sky, to see the vague form of a pony high above. "Damnit." William cursed under his breath, he jumped into a nearby patch of bushes, being sure not to ruffle any branches, he threw on a ghillie suit, and lay in the decaying underbrush as silently and unmoving as he could. He watched as the shadowy for above descended, and set down on the far side of the garden. "Found you buddy, don't bother hiding, I know you're out there." William lay silent as Joey continued on. "Listen, I just wanted to check and see if you're doing alright, I'll go if you want me to." William grunted, and immediately regretted it as his friend's ears swiveled around. "Got ya." He watched helplessly as the alicorn trotted over to his hiding spot, and poked his head in. "Why are you always hiding?" He heard him ask. "I'm not your friend, I'm a patch of grass, don't eat me." William mocked as he lay facedown. "Have it your way, by the way, Twilights thinking of reopening, she's gonna head down to the E.E.A later today, whatd'ya say?" William groaned, and stood up. "Fine, please never come here again, this is the only place in Equestria that doesn't actively repulse me. "Really? This place?" Joey looked around at the overgrown, crumbling ruins with slight disgust. "Listen, I don't care that you can fly, or that you can levitate things at a thought, I need my peace and quiet. But I'll go with you, the suns up, and these ruins ain't as pleasant with the sun beating down on 'em." "Great!" Joey smiled, and smiled, he flared his wings, and shot up into the air, hovering at about 6 feet. "You need any help getting back?" He asked. "No, and on second thought, I may be the slightest bit jealous, another time though." Joey nodded, he understood exactly what William meant by that. The 2 of them headed off towards Ponyville. "Hey, where were you guys this whole time!?" The both of them heard Rainbow Dash call from above them. She had spotted them walking back into town. "That's classified, where's the other five?" William questioned. "They headed off to try and convince the other kingdoms to send they're students back, I'm off to the griffons, wanna come with me?" The 2 of them looked at one another, and shook their heads. "No, Joey here doesn't have the energy, and I don't have wings, so no, we'll just stay in town." "...Alright... Don't break anything..." She eyed William, and took off in a flash of rainbow light. "Hey, physics, #### you!" William murmured." So, what now?" "Well... the six are off trying to earn the others favors back, we've got the town to ourselves!" "Well, what do we do with it?" "I haven't the slightest, I'm hungry, you?" "Yeah, I'm in the mood for some daisies." William scowled. "Please tell me you haven't actually tried flowers, much less liked them." "Yep, they're great, you should try them. No, really, you should!" The both of them chuckled. "I have, they taste like chlorophyll and green hell. And I sure as #### ain't changing my tastes any time soon." "You know, if I wanted, I could learn a few transformation spells-" "I'd like to see you try, pony." The both of them let out uncomfortable laughs.