//------------------------------//
// In The End 
// Story: Hikarus Freedom 
// by 20percentcooler 
//------------------------------//


Hikaru continued lying on the grass by the lake. 
"I'm so stupid." He whispered. "I ruined everything. I can't even do anything right! I just mess everything up! I'm already wanted here in Ponyville, and now I pretty much killed somepony else! They are gonna be after me and Ill be locked up forever! And nopony will care. I pretty much scared Sky and she'll never want to see me again. Probably same with everypony else. I have nothing. Ill probably be arrested soon. I can forget about everything in manehattan....Im so STUPID! IM WORTHLESS! "
Hikaru bit into his arm as hard as he could. 'I hate you....' he thought as he bit down harder. He soon tasted blood telling him that he had broken through the skin.
He started crying as he let go.
'What am I even doing? Am I really this hopeless?'
He hit the water with his hoof. "My life is basically over. There's not a soul in Equestria who cares about me now...."
He looked into the water in front of him and further out at the deeper end.
"Not a soul..."

Hikaru heard a small sound behind him and spun around quickly to see what had made it.
Sky stood there and jumped back a bit when Hikaru had turned around so suddenly.
Hikaru looked away. He couldn't face Sky. Not now, not ever. He had ruined everything and he knew that Sky could probably never look at him the same way again.
"Hikaru..." Began Sky. "Are you..ok..?"
Hikaru was silent. He wanted to just disappear and never be seen again. 
"Hikaru... I-"

"What are you eve doing here Sky." Hikaru said not wanting to look Sky in the eye.
"Its obvious that I'm too dangerous to be around. I bet all of Equestria is going to be after me now. I guess I'm just an angry guy with violent tendencies. I should just get away from everypony. And I sure as hay don't want you to have to deal with me."
Hikaru turned around and looked down into the water. "You should just go back. Don't bother with somepony like me..."

Hikaru hated himself. He wished that he was dead. And as much as he liked Sky, he did not want her to be there. 
He was surprised when he felt a head leaning on his shoulder.
"Wha.."

"I'm not leaving you here like that." Said Sky. "I never would."

Hikaru looked over at her. "Why would you still want to be around me? I saw the look on your face. You were absolutely horrified. You looked at me like I was a monster. I saw it clearly. And I wouldn't blame you. And even then, why would you want to even be here? I bet everyone called the police and the heat is on me even more than it was before. I bet I'm most wanted in all of Equestria. If you are seen with me, you would get arrested..."

Hikaru still couldn't look at her. He still wanted to vanish and never be remembered.

Sky put her arm over him and rested her head on his. "What kind of friend would I be to just leave you for them to take you?"

Hikaru felt tears streaming down the side of his face. 'I don't deserve a friend like this...'

"And.." Began Sky. "I realized something. First of all, you're wrong you know...about you being some violent dangerous pony. I have known you for years Hikaru, and this has only happened twice. But...I noticed something."

Hikaru sniffed and wiped his eyes. "And what's that?"

"You only snapped those two times, in defense of a certain pony."

Hikaru understood.

"You snapped at your Dad, cause of what he said about me and my family. And you snapped this time, cause of what that stallion was saying, right?"

Hikaru sniffed and nodded.

"Aw Hikaru..." Said Sky hugging him tightly. "I have never met anypony who cares about me as much as you do. I wish you didn't have to snap like this, but...I guess that just shows how much you care."

Hikaru sighed and looked up. "I don't know.....I'm...weird..."

"Why do you care about me so much Hikaru? Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve a friend like you..."

Hikaru couldn't help but laugh a little at the statement.

"What?" Asked Sky feeling a bit relieved to see a hint of happiness from him.

"Its just...I find myself asking the same thing. I mean, even after all I have done, you still went out to find me. You don't want to leave me. I think anypony would hate me after all I've done. I don't deserve it. You really are amazing Sky..."

As Hikaru rested on the ground with Sky, he thought back to the conversation that he had with Flash about him liking Sky as more than a friend. Flash had tried to convince him to tell her but Hikaru didn't want to do so incase it freaked her out. 
'I guess I mine as well tell her now.' He thought as he looked out over the water. 'I have a feeling that I might never tell her at the rate that I have been going at. If I ruin everything, oh well.'

"Sky..."

"hm?"

Hikaru took a breath and continued.

"Sky..I...I just want to say, that I really....ugh...I..."

"What?"

"Ok Sky.... I'm just gonna say it. I like you, like...I really do. I care a lot about you and...well...yeah, I guess thats why I flipped out those times. Ugh, I'm no good at this, I feel dumb. Im sorry, I probably made this...really awkward. Wow I fail. Ugh, Im sorry. Oh Celestia just kill me. Wow what am I even doing. Wow I just did that. Kill me Sky. Kill me. Take a sharp carrot and kill me. What the hay am I talking about. You can't kill anyone with a carrot can you. You know what, there's a lake here. Drown me Sky. DROWN ME! Oh nevermind......."
Hikaru flopped his head down into the water.

*Splash*

Sky stared at Hikaru who had his head halfway submerged under water.

"You really aren't good at this..."

Hikaru nodded, still partially submerged.

"Are..you ok?"

Hikaru shook his head, still submerged.

"Are you dead?"

*bubbles*

"Ugh Hikaru."

Sky grabbed Hikaru's head and pulled him out of the water. "You are horrible sometimes you know."

Hikaru flopped down onto the ground. 

Sky sighed and laid down by his side. "I knew by the way."

Hikaru froze. 'She knew? How? How could she know?' 
"Wha...how...wha?"

"Zen told me actually. A few days ago."

Hikaru was surprised. "Zen? But how did she know? I never mentioned anything to her, that doesn't make sen-..... FLASH!"

'I'm gonna kill him.'

"Sky..I...umm...oh kill me. Just kill me, I can't live anymore."

"Don't be ridiculous Hikaru." Said Sky with a smile. "I was wondering if you were gonna tell me."

Hikaru looked up at Sky, barely able to look her in the eye. "Are we still friends?"

Hikaru felt horrible, he felt like he was going to throw up. Maybe this was all a big mistake. He wasn't thinking, his mind was all stressed and he probably made some bad judgement. 'Why do I do this..'

Hikaru suddenly found himself being kissed by Sky.

!!!

"I.....um..." Sky had backed away and looked quite red.

"Wow...Uh....." Hikaru was equally red in the face.

"That was....." Began Sky. "I...I don't know what I'm doing. Sorry? I mean...I.."

"No....I..um..." Hikaru rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Its great....I never....That was..."

"Yeah..."
Sky sighed and hugged Hikaru. "We're hopelessly awkward aren't we."

Hikaru laughed and welcomed Sky's embrace. "I don't even know...I think we're the most ridiculous ponies of all of Equestria right now though."

Sky laughed. "That rhymed." 

"Eh....."

"I don't know Im trying to say anything to make this moment less awkward honestly."

"Do you like spaghetti?"
"What?"
"Spaghetti."
"Well yeah but....what?"
"I don't know! You were trying to make it less awkward so I decided to help!"

Sky looked at Hikaru with a confused look. "That honestly makes things even more awkward."

"Oh and the fact that you have had your arms around me for this whole time doesn't?" Said Hikaru with a smirk.

"Wha-OH!" Sky dropped off of him. "Heheh, sorry."

Hikaru laughed. "Yeah....um...you know, I don't know what we should do now. Do I dare go back to the party?"

"You know, I don't think that anypony would even notice you. You didn't have your hoody on, and there are literally hundreds of others that look just like you with the hoody. I think we should be ok. And I know that the others are worried about you. 

"They are?"

"Yeah, you gotta stop thinking that everyone is gonna hate you. We all care about you for real. And no matter what you do, thats not gonna change."

Hikaru smiled and looked back in the direction of the event. He couldn't see the tent itself, but he could see the faint aura of light filling the night sky and the distant sound of house. He then looked back toward the lake. It was a really amazing sight. The moon was reflected off the surface along with the stars. The night sky was absolutely incredible. 

"Or..." He began. "We could stay out here for a while..."

Sky smiled and leaned up next to him. "Thats totally fine with me."

-------------


After an hour of hanging out and talking, Hikaru and Sky headed back to the rave.
They were surprised to run into Iris on the way back. 
She was overjoyed to see Hikaru again and was glad to see that he was safe.

Hikaru and Sky found the others pretty quickly. They were going to go out to try to find the two when Sky hadn't come back. Hikaru was nervous about confronting them all, but he found that they were all quite understanding and didn't hold what he had done against them.

They all enjoyed an amazing night as many other DJ's went up to the stage. Flash and Zen spent quite a bit of time at the bar area and ended up getting very drunk. While Neko and Beam stuck around Hikaru and Sky, as well as Iris who had decided to join them. Cobalt kept vanishing throughout the night, and Flash soon found out that he had been going to the back to hang out with Vinyl. Apparently they seemed to be hitting it off pretty well.

The night ended with a massive DJ collaboration and fireworks over the tent. It was a night that nopony would soon forget.

Hikaru said goodbye to Iris and wished her the best. He knew that finding a job wouldn't be easy. But with the level of experience that she had, She would have an easier time that most.

The group took a carriage back into manehattan where they went their separate ways.
Hikaru and Sky had to basically carry Flash and Zen to their apartment as they were in no condition to be walking. They spoke in slurred speech and were spouting off random phrases as they went. After a somewhat difficult time in getting them into bed, the two went back to their own apartment.

"Well..." Said Hikaru falling onto the couch. "That was some night."
"Sure was!" Said Sky sitting down next to him. "I don't think Ill ever forget it."

Hikaru glanced over at the clock on the table as saw that it was 3:30 in the morning.
"I guess we better get some sleep, we gotta get a better sleep schedule for when we start working at the window factory."
"Ah yeah, we're working adults now, gotta make our priorities." Sky said as she looked at the glowsticks around Hikarus neck that still had some glow left in them.

Hikaru slipped them off from around his neck and hoofed one to Sky who looked at it curiously. 
'Never got how these things can light up like that.'

"Hey sky?"
"Sup?"
"I just want to say, that I am so happy that you are in my life. I don't know what I would do without you."
"Aw..." replied Sky as she nuzzled up next to him. "I wouldn't want to be with any other pony in the world."

Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"HIKARU!"
"AAA!!!! WHAT? WHAT?"
"YOU HAVE A CUTIE MARK!"
"You just noticed that?"
"YES! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!"
" I thought you would have seen it by now, I had it almost all night!"
"WHAT?"
"What..."
"WHAT?
"What?
"WHAT!"
"WHAT OH MY GOSH WHAT!"

Sky sighed. "Oh nevermind...."

Hikaru laughed and held her close. "Love you Sky."

Hikaru didn't know what the future held for sky and him, and he didn't know how anything was going to work out. Whether the two of them would be able to keep their jobs and support themselves, and if they would forever live in the apartment or eventually move out and get a place of their own. But one thing was for sure. Hikaru was now living a life that he truly enjoyed. No more being forced into doing what he didn't want to do. No more stress and anger. He had found freedom from all of that. He had found a new life that was his own.

This was it.

His moment.

His time.

His freedom.