I turned the key in the ignition, and my truck flared to life after a few weak protests. I drove out of Joe’s driveway, and onto the road leading to the highway. My ponies were getting restless, and I could tell they didn’t like being in the back. So now they are up in the cab with me as I drove home. Luna was still unconscious, Fluttershy was curled up into a little ball, and Scootaloo and Twilight are both looking out the window. I was worried about Luna. It had been about four hours since I found her, but she hadn't woken up. I wondered if she was in a coma or something. I hit a small bump in the road, which made Fluttershy whimper. I glanced over at her. She must be afraid of the noise of the car, but Twilight and Scootaloo don’t seem to mind at all. I got on the highway, and sped up.Twilight seemed to be analyzing everything, and once she got bored of that, she examining the truck. I had to fend her questioning hoof away from the steering wheel, which almost caused me to swerve off the road. I gave Twilight a withering glare, and she promptly decided to explore the back. She hopped over the center console, and I could hear her rummaging through junk I had piled behind me. Scootaloo eventually got bored of the scenery, so she lay down next to Luna and went to sleep.
After a few miles on the highway, Fluttershy seemed to get used to the noise, and stood up. She hopped up onto the passenger seat, careful to avoid stepping on Scootaloo and Luna, and looked out the window. She didn’t seem as impressed as the other two, and she flinched each time a car went past. For the next twenty minutes, Fluttershy stared out the window, Twilight rustled around in the back, and Luna and Scootaloo were fast asleep in the passenger seat.
I finally pulled off the highway, and began driving through the small-town of Rifle, Colorado. The town itself wasn't all the great, but it was home nonetheless. A few minutes later, I pulled my truck into the driveway of my house. It was big, but it had almost no land with it. And by almost none, I mean it had less than a quarter of an acre.
I pulled into my garage. Once in, I pressed a button on the visor, and closed the garage door. Having heard me turn off my truck, Twilight and Fluttershy pop up from behind and look at me questioningly.
“Hey, we’re here.” I said to them, even though I knew they wouldn’t be able to understand.
I then got out of my truck, closed the door, and walked around to the passenger side. I almost tripped on various pieces of metal scattered on the floor. I kept most of my blacksmithing stuff in my garage, so hammers, tongs, and pieces of scrap metal are everywhere. Once I got to the passenger door, I opened it and pick up the still sleeping Scootaloo and Luna in both arms. Using my head, I gestured to Twilight and Fluttershy to follow me. They clumsily hopped to the edge of the passenger seat, and looked at the daunting 2 foot drop before them. I rolled my eyes. Gingerly placing Luna and Scootaloo down, I then picked up Fluttershy and Twilight and set them down as well. I returned Luna and Scootaloo to my arms, and walked to the door leading into my house. Fluttershy stayed right next to me, and when I stopped, pressed herself against my leg.
“Are you scared? It’s alright.” I said as soothingly as possible.
She looked up at with her big eyes and then down again. She must be afraid of everything. Her name is FlutterSHY, I suppose. I turned around, looking for Twilight, and I saw her darting all over the place inside the garage. One second she was randomly pressing buttons on an air compressor, the next it was attempting to pick up a wrench that was laying on the ground.
“Twilight, come over here!”
She looked up, and then trotted over to me. That’s weird… she recognized her own name. I shrugged it off, and pushed open the door. I then stepped into my house, Twilight and Fluttershy close behind. Fluttershy stayed right next to me, but Twilight was off like a rocket. She galloped all over the living room, inspecting chairs, TVs, the curtains over the windows, everything.
“She’s quite curious…”
I left Twilight to her exploring, and took Luna and Scootaloo up two flights of stairs to my room. My room wasn’t very big; most of the space was taken up by my bed and computer desk. I gently placed Luna and Scootaloo on my bed, and went right to cleaning up my room. Once there was actually some space on the floor, I was going to make some beds for them to sleep on. Fluttershy even tried to help, but I set her on my bed as well because most of the stuff on my floor was either knives or some other kind of weapon. I didn’t want her hurting herself. After about thirty minutes of cleaning, I declared my room as adequate. Hearing a soap opera being played on the TV, I decided to go down and check on Twilight. As always, Fluttershy was right next to me. Going up the stairs was easy enough for her, but she was taking forever to get back down. I scooped her up and walked back into the living room. Twilight was sitting a few inches away from the TV screen, while staring intently at the cheap actors in it.
“You’ll damage your eyesight if you’re that close.” I said to her. I thought about what I had said for a second. "Geez, I sound like my mom..."
Twilight, of course, ignored me. I sighed and picked her up in my other arm. I dropped both Fluttershy and Twilight on the couch, and I went downstairs into my basement to fetch some old blankets. A minute later I returned with a huge armful of blankets. Seeing them both sitting just a few inches away from the screen, I dropped the blankets and turned off the TV. I picked up the blankets again, and started walking back to my room. They both followed grudgingly. Once we were all back into my room, I began making little beds out of the blankets for them. As soon as the beds were done, I put Luna and Scootaloo on two of them. Still asleep, they snuggled into the blankets. I smiled, and then put Fluttershy and Twilight on the other two. Fluttershy kept getting off the bed to stand next to me, and Twilight was of course inspecting everything in my room. After about five tries, they eventually get the idea to stay in the beds, and they both drift off to sleep. Just as I was about to settle into my bed for a quick nap, Scootaloo wakes up and clumsily tumbles around my room. This of course woke Fluttershy and Twilight right back up. Twilight dashed out of my room to explore other areas of the house, but Fluttershy stayed in her bed. Scootaloo trotted over to her and Fluttershy pulled her into her own bed. Scootaloo snuggled up against her while Fluttershy preened Scootaloo’s tiny feathers and just generally fussed over her. It was adorable. Fluttershy, barely older than a baby herself, was taking care of Scootaloo as if she were her own. Fluttershy was about as big as a medium sized dog, and Scootaloo was the size of a small cat. I decided they would be alright for a little while, so I left my room to see what Twilight was up to. I heard crashing sounds from the kitchen, so naturally that was my first place to look. Pots and pans were scattered over the floor, and Twilight was trying to open the refrigerator. I quickly put away the cooking stuff, and scooped Twilight up yet again. Just as I did, her stomach growled. In my arms, she looked up at me and whimpered slightly.
“Ah, that’s it. You’re hungry aren’t you? Okay, I’ll get you and the others some food.”
I opened the refrigerator, and took out a head of lettuce. Seemed as good a guess as any as to what they would eat. I peeled off a leaf, and my suspicions were proven correct as Twilight munched on it. I took Twilight and the lettuce back up to my room, and put Twilight on her bed. I split the Lettuce into four roughly equal parts, and gave it to each of the ponies. Three of them immediately chowed down on it.
Luna did not. She was still unconscious.
I sat down next to her little bed, and checked her pulse and breathing. It was all there, so she was still alive.
“Why’d I pick the comatose pony?” I wonder aloud.
I shook my head, and tried to settle the ponies in for a nap. Even though they all had just woken up, they looked ready to sleep again after their little meal. In moments they were all fast asleep. The events of the day finally caught up to me, so I lay down on my bed, but not before closing and locking my door. I then closed my eyes, and drifted off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later, I woke up. Seeing the ponies all still asleep, I rolled out of bed and looked out the window. My window overlooks the driveway, and in it I see my mom get out of her van. It was almost dark, and she just got off of work. I carefully stepped out of my room, and closed the door. My mom works two jobs now, she has to. Ever since my dad walked out on us three years ago, it’s been hard. He never gave a reason, just left without even saying goodbye. At least our house was paid off by then; otherwise we’d be living in a little trailer in the trashy part of town. But to this day, it still boils my blood. Mom worked her fingers to the bone to pay the bills, and to send me to a private school so I’ll have a good education. If that prick ever came back, the first thing he’d get would be my boot up his ass.
“Ty, I’m home!” My mom shouted up the stairs.
“I heard you drive in, how was your day at work?” I call down as I descend the stairs.
“Usual.”
“That bad huh?”
“Yeah… I’ll have to work again this weekend.”
“I’m sorry…”
We hugged, and once we let go we both went to making dinner. I only got to see my mom at night once she got back from her two jobs, so us both making dinner was our bonding time. Tonight was tacos.
“So how was your day? Did you hang out with Bryan and Joe?”
“Yep. The usual spot along the railroad tracks.”
“Alright, anything interesting happen?”
I hated lying to her, but what exactly could I say?
“Nope, nothing. Didn’t even find any good spikes for forging.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Are you looking forward to school?”
“Actually, yes it’ll be great to see all my friends again on a semi-regular basis.”
The private school I go to is quite unique. They only have school two days a week, Monday and Thursday. Of course, there is a massive amount of homework, much more than a regular school. I still like it though; it’ll give me more time to spend taking care of my ponies.
The rest of dinner went by in silence. Mom is always tired at the end of the day, so she eventually excused herself and went to her room. I cleaned up the dishes, and walked back up the stairs to my own room. By now it was completely dark out; the sun had set twenty minutes ago. I opened my door, walked inside, and turned the lights on. I was instantly met with two surprises. The first being that Scootaloo, Fluttershy, and Twilight were all still fast asleep. The second much greater surprise was that Luna was sitting on my bed, staring at me. She was finally awake. I stared back at her. Her coat, which I had mistook for black, was actually a rich, deep blue. Her mane, which used to be light blue, was now black with a border of dark blue. Even weirder, it seemed to have stars embedded in it, and it was moving as if blown by an invisible wind. I then looked into her eyes. While the other three ponies were questionable, there was no mistaking the look of intelligence in her eyes.
“Um… hi? Good to see you’re up...”
Her name, Luna; the crescent moon thingy on her flank… She obviously had something to do with the night. That must be why she was completely out of it before. She must only awaken at night.
“You’re probably hungry aren’t you? Here, have some lettuce…”
I reached down and picked up the uneaten portion of the lettuce I brought up earlier. I took a step closer, and extended my hand towards her. Once I had gotten closer, I shivered. I could feel waves of power come off her. She wasn’t like the others, not by a long shot. At this point, I was almost scared of her. Once I had all but decided to drop the lettuce and bolt, she leaned forward and began to eat the lettuce. Once she was done, she looked me in the eyes again. Her eyes were happy for a moment, but when she saw the look of fear in my own eyes, she looked away.
“Hey… it’s alright… I’m not afraid of you.”
She looked back up at me, and all I saw this time was loneliness. While slightly older than the others, she should be far too young for a look such as that. If I had to compare her age to that of a human, I’d say she was barely a toddler. I sat on my bed and wrapped my arms round her.
“Really, it’s okay, you don’t have to look like that. I’m here.”
She couldn’t possibly understand my words, but she relaxed nonetheless. Still in my arms, she looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back, but it was half-assed. What exactly was this creature I held? Why did it exude such power? And most importantly, what was it capable of? I couldn’t answer any of this.
I let go of her, and went to the bathroom right next door to my room. I filled up a cup of water, and brought it back to Luna. She drank gratefully from it. I then went back into the bathroom to change into my pj’s. After seeing what time it was, I put Luna on her bed and got into my own. I turned out the light, and not three seconds went by before Luna jumped back up onto my bed. I set her back down, she jumped back up. This went on for about five minutes before I gave up. I laid down in defeat, and just watched Luna. She didn’t try to sleep; she just alternated between watching me and looking at the stars through the window. I eventually drifted off under her watchful gaze.