//------------------------------// // Saying Goodbye. // Story: Unexpected Roommate. // by Ditz //------------------------------// It was early morning, but John was already up and about, he was fancying himself up in ways he didn't even think he could. “I feel like I could just explode!… Somehow… I am not good with hyperboles…” he spoke excitedly to the silent Twilight. “Yeah,” she replied and he turned to look at Twilight with a smirk. “Twi, smile! Come on! Give me a smile!” she forced a weak smile and he promptly moved close with his phone and took a picture of them both. Twilight blinked in surprise and looked as if she had gone blind, but quickly recovered and glared at John. “You know, that’s not very nice,” she said lamely. “You know, your lack of excitement is killing my mood.” he replied with an exaggerated whine. This only made Twilight roll her eyes and she stared at him, he seemed to radiate some happy intoxicating happiness that might have caused her to smile, if not given the circumstances. “What are you looking at? Like what you see? Do I look ‘20% cooler‘?” Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at the horrible Rainbow Dash-ish pun. "That was cheap and you know it." “There we go.” he moved over to hug her and soon returned to his previous grooming back in the restroom. 'Oh John, if you only knew,' She moved over to his wallet and put the note on a spot he would probably not check while on his date at the very least. 'It is done,' she finally thought in defeat. As John combed his hair, he couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming burst of happiness fill his body, it lay there dormant for a while, but it wasn’t till the closeness of the coming activity hit him straight in the face in the shape of an early morning text from Dana. “I cant wa8 2 see u 2day, looking forward 2 see what u have planned 4 me,” he had ignored the atrocious grammar and misuse of numbers if only because it was her, still, he couldn’t help but shudder 'Everyone has flaws in some way, I can bear it.' Despite his excitement, what really had him worried was Twilight; she had been acting weird since the trip the day before, but he felt no need to ask, he expected it to be some personal struggle, or even an Equestria issue. Brrrr… He felt himself shiver as he thought of the world’s name, he had no idea what it was about it, but it brought him goosebumps for some reason. “John?” Twilight asked from the room, interrupting his thoughts. “What is it Twi?” he asked opening the door to hear her better. “Are you… Happy now?” her voice trembled as she said it. “… Yes,” he felt the hesitation in his answer but placed it to the suddenness of the question. “That’s… Good to hear,” he heard the sadness in her voice and made his way to the room, just to arrive to see Twilight with drooping ears and tears falling down her face. “Twilight…?” his heart sank at the sight, the mare silently bawled her eyes out, he had been lucky not a soul was there, but his mind was still set on Twilight, her crying coming from anguish that she obviously kept to herself, he didn’t waste a second and made his move and embraced her, letting her face rest on his chest, her now audible sobs becoming muffled, and minutes later, became silent. “Twilight, you know you can tell me anything.” he consoled her. “I-I don’t know…” she replied miserably. “I can cancel if you want, you know what? I am gonna call her a-” he was stopped by Twilight’s hoof gently brushing his hand and turned to see her disapproving look. “Don’t do that, I will be fine, we… Can talk when you are back.” she finished looking away as she said it. “If you say so, I’ll trust you on this, but if you need anything, call this number, it’s the number of the restaurant I’m taking her.” After leaving the number dialed on his phone and letting her practice on her own for a bit, he felt satisfied enough to let it go for the moment. “Good, now excuse me, I need to finish getting ready," he went back to the restroom trying to get himself back on track, he still had the nagging feeling but he would have to ignore it for the time being. Hours later, he was ready, he wore a tuxedo his uncle had let him borrow sans the tie. He was getting his stuff ready and turned to leave when Twilight called him back “Hey John.” “Yes, Twily?” he replied and turned to her. “Have fun, I love you, and goodbye.” he felt an urge to stay, an urge that was telling him not to go, as if it was the last time he would see her. 'It will be fine,' uncertainty filled his thoughts despite his reassuring. “I love you too, Twilight, and thanks.” both approached each other and hugged one last time before John made his way outside the house and into the car, then into the street, and finally, out of Twilight’s visual reach. “Goodbye…” she felt the finality of the moment hit her and succumbed to the bed’s minor comfort hoping to get some sleep before her leaving. She got no rest as her thoughts kept going back to him, she opened her eyes and looked around, the room she had spend most of her stay was now a very familiar sign, she remembered how they had first met, the doubt John had when she explained her visit, the embarrassing moment she had gone through when her curiosity got the best of her, and the most vivid memory; yesterday’s ‘Twilight bagging’. “It’s only been a week and I already feel the waves of nostalgia.” she spoke sourly and decided to get out of bed. She inspected the room, she examined everything trying to keep it in mind, she looked at the bed that was his, then hers, and finally, was shared by both (to her sudden realization), she analyzed the close relationship they now shared, she felt as close to him as she was with Shining Armor himself, but she couldn‘t figure out how they hit it off so well, how even the least likely choice for roommates could give her such bliss, could another human have given her the same happiness she had felt? 'Probably,' she thought in response. But that doesn’t change the good times we had.'. “And now, I am leaving him behind,” any hope of seeing him again now gone, she stared at the phone John had left and unlocked it with her magic, she looked at the it and noticed the photograph of them he had taken was now on the phone, she stared at the picture smiling sadly and decided to silently wait, the picture providing a sort of awkward company in the otherwise lifeless room. ~~~~~ “Are you gonna order or what?” Dana asked looking annoyed, a waiter standing by his side waiting for his order. “Huh? What? Oh, just give me what she is having,"e returned the menu to the waiter and returned to his thoughts, his “perfect date” was becoming anything but. In fact, it seemed to be heading straight into disaster zone, but in truth, John couldn’t focus on it, Twilight occupied his thoughts every step of the way, he felt guilty for leaving her to deal with her seeming depression alone. “John! What’s the matter?” John turned to see Dana but saw no worry in her features, instead he saw annoyance, and hint of boredom. “Eh, I am sorry, I’m having some family issues at the moment, didn’t mean to ignore you.” he quickly explained and moved to “questions to ask on your first date 101”. “So, want to tell me about yourself?” he asked awkwardly. “Not, really,” she replied bluntly. 'Well… Okay… This isn’t going well.' His thoughts were interrupted by their waiter placing the dinner on the table and noticed the bottle another brought. He looked at it and had a vague idea of what it would have been. The waiter served them a glass each and left them to their food. “Oh boy, maybe I should have just ordered juice or something,” he heard a sigh and looked at Dana who was staring disapprovingly at him. His brow raised asking for an answer. “Seriously? Come on. Drink it, it’s good.” she motioned him to drink and took her own glass to her mouth. “I don’t drink, I have a thing against alcoholic beverages,” he remembered, or technically ‘tried’ to remember the time he had gone out for drinks, but after waking up in his front yard with only a shirt and his underpants, he didn't really have a keen affliction to the stuff. “Besides, I drive, remember?” He added in his defense. “John, stop being a wuss and drink it,” he could place it, but from that moment, Dana seemed less radiant than before. “Excuse me, but whatever I enjoy or DON’T enjoy is my problem, not yours.” he responded coldly and winced as the last word left his mouth. 'Crap.'. She stared at him for a few seconds seemingly unimpressed before replying. “Here I thought you were a fresh breath of air, you are rude to me and a you won't even drink, I guess that moment with Michael was a one off,she shrugged and took another shot from her glass. "You seem different than before," he stated causing a beautiful grin to appear on the girl's face. "You mean the 'nice' me? Sorry, but I like keeping appearances with others, something I thought you would notice," he stared at her trying to picture when she had acted nice, he remembered Michael's warning. Girls like her only like guys like me. Then, it clicked. ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover.’ He felt the saying appropriate at the moment. "Damn it." "What? Got something to say?" Dana wondered, taking another gulp from her glass. “I… Think we are done here,” he sighed and he got out of his seat ready to excuse himself, he abruptly took out his wallet, the force of the act forcing a folded paper to fly out of it. “What’s this?” He bended down and picked up the small parchment, he sat back down and opened it to read the small message that was written, in fact, he read it again, and then again, and again, allowing the message to sink in. “No… NO!” the last word coming out loud enough for everyone on the restaurant to hear, causing them to turn towards the source of the voice. “Yes, you blew it, no point in feeling sorry for yourself,” he turned to her and felt angry, not at her really, but at himself for not having figured out what Twilight had been going through. 'i have to get home!' “Here is the money, pay for the dinner and call a cab, I’m outta here.” he placed all of the money he had taken to use for the date but felt no regret in doing it, ignoring the girl’s obvious anger he got out of his seat, his thoughts were only focused on Twilight, he was thinking about their conversation just a week before as he bolted out of the restaurant “Let’s say I am believing all of this is happening, and I don't question it, and I let you study me as you said, if so how long do you plan on doing that?” came the voice of his own memory, he heard the cynicism in his voice and held back the urge to punch his one week younger version. “A week at the very least, I need to get to know you, and since we are now technically roommates for the moment, we can talk about your world and mine, maybe get to know each other better!” the memory Twilight finished with an excited clap. 'She told me about it, she really did, and now she is doing what she said she’d do…' he made his way to the car and quickly started it, the timer flashed showing momentarily inaccurate numbers before the timer showed. six fifty pm. There was only one thought in his mind as he drove home. I’m not going to make it in time… ~~~~~ He reached his home 20 minutes later, after speeding through pretty much every red light, he would have to deal with his uncle’s rage and a high amount of bills later. He got off the car and walked towards the front door, he slowly opened it and made his way inside, he looked around at what was his living room, it was empty as usual, but felt the place strangely uncomfortable and made his way to the stairs cautiously climbing each step, soon, he was in the small hallway leading to his room and he stared at the door. The door led to a place where he spend most of his time, a haven, where he could escape reality, but also live in a very different one, he had never been so happy to have been a social outcast before he met the purple mare. He chuckled at the thought and how bad of an example that might be for others. 'Don’t leave your room! You are guaranteed to make a pony friend if you don’t.' without the right context that might have been a bad thing to say out loud. His mind came back to the issue at hand, starting with his fear of what he might find -or rather, not find inside- after this, he would probably move out of the house. He opened the door and, relief watched over his body like a warm blanket. Twilight was sitting on their bed looking miserable, she might have been an illusion caused by the stressof losing her, but even if that were the case, he was happy. “Twilight,” he began as he sat on the edge of the bed. “John…” he was happy to hear her voice, but illusion or not, he was not going to let her be miserable. “I thought you would have been gone by now,” he simply stated. 'So much for making her feel better.' “I thought so too, but the Princess hasn’t opened the portal. Delay, I suppose,” she deadpanned. “What about your date?“ she added soon after. “Eh, she was a bitch.“ he finished nonchalantly. They laid in silence for a few seconds but John had many things in mind and broke it “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked Twilight with some anger spilling in his voice. John felt wrong for asking, but felt justified to ask due to her lack ot dismissal. “I didn’t have the heart to tell you, besides, wouldn’t you have tried to stop me?” she said with a serious face but tears were already falling down her cheeks and around her snout. “Yes, I would probably have, and I would have succeeded,” he gave a dark laugh, he knew she would not dare hurt him, and even if that were the case, he could have come up with a good if desperate plan. “What is stopping you now?” she asked with simple look of curiosity. He stared into the roof for a while and weighted his choices. 'I could try to stop her, but what would that accomplish, she would never forgive me if I made her stay. But…. There is another option…' He turned his eyes back to Twilight with an answer already in his brain. “I won’t.” “See!? I knew y-… Wait, what?” she asked in obvious surprise. “I won’t stop you, but, I am doing something.” he stopped waiting for Twilight to ask. “And what is that?” “I’m coming with you,” he finished grinning as to how easily the words came out of his mouth. He felt the odd comfort of his wish, he had been happier in a week than he had been lately, sure, his sister was a part of most of those times, but she was gone, and there was no one besides his uncle who would care nearly as much for him, he was being selfish by escaping from the world, but he didn't care, his relationship with the purple mare was great, granted it had a rocky start, but it was great nonetheless. “John, what about…?” she was stopped by John reaching into Twilight’s satchel and grabbed a piece of parchment, he took the decoratory pen from the tux’s pocket and began writing. “What are you doing?” she asked with annoyance whilst fixing her satchel. Minutes later he showed Twilight the finished note and she gasped obviously finding its contents inappropriate. “John, you can’t be serious,” John’s stare told her otherwise. “What about your parents?” she asked, the concern in her voice clearly showing through. “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.” he replied giving her a sad smile. ”I never had a father, he left us when I was born, as for my mother…” ~~~~~ It had been 2 days since Frankie had died, John had not gone to school or spoken to anyone, not even the police who still required his statement, his mom not wanting to let it go any longer, took him to the station where they both waited for someone. “It’s okay son, I am here for you,” she was still depressed, it had been only 1 day since the funeral after all, and she still didn’t know the details of her death, she was reluctant, but she needed to know. “Good afternoon, Ms. Pennick, we will get this out of the way fast, I don’t want you to keep you longer than I should.” the cop who had arrived stated frankly, and looked at John. “Son, I understand that you must have gone through a lot, but I need to hear about what you saw.” he began, the words obviously directed to him. John looked at the cop with tears in his eyes, he took a deep breath knowing that there was no point in delaying and told him what he had recounted himself countless times since it happened. “I went out with my…” he choked a bit as he thought of her name “…sister at around 10:30 PM, we drove to the bank in order to pick some money she needed, as we made our way there, we were… Assaulted by a man, he grabbed me and told my sister to give him the money, as I warned her, I was hit on the side of the head, the rest is a bit of a blur, but when I came to, I hit the man with my elbow, Frankie took me and ran then I heard a gunshot… And she fell… And… I held her… And she died… She died in my hands…” John was sobbing uncontrollably as the cop wrote his report, he expected the cold, professional attitude from him, but his mom held a horrified look on her face. “You got her killed…” she began, her voice merely a whisper, her face turning from shock, to anger. “SMACK” the sound of the slap reverberated across the station and the cop held a disapproving look in his face. “Mom…?” John held his cheek trying to ease the pain and looked into his mom’s eyes. They showed no remorse. “You got her killed… You are no son of mine,” she was quickly subdued and after some strict talking to from the cops, they made their way back home. But the damage was done. ~~~~~ “She still blames me to this day, she didn‘t help my case either, at least till you made me see otherwise,” he patted Twilight’s head with a sad smile. “Your life hasn’t been easy at all,” she stated sadly and nuzzled John’s shoulder. “So, what do you say, Twi?“ he asked with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. Twilight closed her eyes trying to find a reason to deny it, he would have had a good life even if she left, he had in fact changed, but she knew what she wanted, and as much of a selfish wish it was, he was being selfish with her. After a few minutes deep in thought, she finally opened her eyes and stared at John who had changed and now wore a plain t-shirt and jeans, he also had a backpack filled with what she assumed to be more clothes of his. “You are really serious about this, aren't you?“ she asked with wonder as to how someone would give up the world they had lived in for their entire life. “Of course, I like to think that it’s a blank slate for me, besides, you‘ll be there,” he gave her an honest smile and she jumped to give him a hug, her eyes quivering trying to hold back the tears. “Thank you John, I still feel bad, but if you really want to I-” suddenly, a white light appeared in the room and hovered in place before becoming the shape of a door, both John and Twilight broke the hug and stared at it. He turned at his old room to give it a quick look and smiled. Goodbye, old friend. he chuckled at the idea of having an inanimate object as a friend, but he could only chalk it up due to what he was sure was madness by this point. “Are you really sure of t-WOAH!” she stopped as John picked her up on his shoulders, real or not, he had made his mind. John reluctantly stepped into the portal and closed his eyes before lamely replying. “Nope, but hey! Isn't life an adventure?" "... That was lame." "Hush, you." And with those final words, the pair made their way inside, and the portal closed, and no sound was heard on the now lonely room.