Time to go
Chapter 8
The Somber Song
It was time to go, and so Blue said goodbye.
"Thanks a ton fer the delicious food and tips. I'll be sure to try those things on my crops.” Blue said, shaking Applejack's hoof.
“It was no problem, just helping a fellow farmer in need is all.” Applejack said, shaking his hoof and smiling.
“I guess I should be off then, it's late, and I can't leave my family in charge of the farm without me for too long.” Blue said letting go of AJ's hoof.
“Now listen here, you stop by anytime you're in the area, and Granny Smith will be sure happy to make you up another delicious meal, and some applesauce for them kids o' yers.” Applejack said.
She had talked with Blue at length about his family life, as she showed him the things they did around the farm, to make sure the vegetables they grew in the yard stayed healthy in the way of fending off bugs. She found that he had only started up his farm close to 5 years ago, and he had decided on wheat because he had experience in growing it.
Blue had married a beautiful light beige pegasus, whose beautiful dark brown mane, allowed her four leaf clover cutie mark to stand out. They had 3 kids, 1 pegasus boy, and 2 earth pony girls. He had met his wife after she had crash landed a runaway rain cloud into his wheat, and hurt her wings. Blue's farm was a good ways away from any real civilization. Blue took her inside, and patched her up, leaving her to rest in his guest room. Healing her wing had taken just a little bit longer than expected, but she didn't want to go to a hospital, she thought that the company of a nice colt and some country air was all she really needed.
After the first day of bed rest, she had started walking around, exploring. After she had done a walking lap around his farm, she decided that she might as well be useful if she was putting him to all that trouble. She started helping Blue collect, and sort the wheat. This wasn't a small wheat farm by any standards, and they had been working for a while. After a week, the bandages came off, and she could fly again.
She didn't leave however, because she felt it was her obligation to help Blue, for helping her. After the wheat was all harvested, she still seemed hesitant to leave his farm. They had breakfast together every morning since she had hurt herself, and they had become great friends. Something just seemed to click whenever they spoke, their conversations flowed nonstop, and when they did have to stop, they just picked it up the next time they had the chance. When it came time to go, she sighed, and stood at his door.
“Blue, I've really enjoyed staying here these past few weeks, the kindness you've shown me is really more than anypony ever has. Thank you.” She said, before leaning in and hugging Blue.
“Thanks miss... but uh... I was just doing what anypony would do.” Blue said, his face turning a shade of red uncharacteristic of his name.
“Not anypony.” She had said, suddenly gaining a stern look on her face. “Look Blue, I ran from my home. My family was cruel, and hateful and I can't stand them. Truth be told, I would rather stay here. With you.”
Blue hadn't known what to think. He had also grown to like having the company of another pony, not to mention a mare. He decided that he should let her stay, if she was running away from her family, then she must have good reason. He was reminded of his father, and knew that sometimes, getting away from family was a good thing. Plus, she was one heck of a hard worker. Rain wouldn't be hard to come by with a pegasus on the farm.
“I see no reason to make you leave.” Blue said, looking at her with a serious face, “Just so long as you pull your own weight around here, I'd be happy to have you stay on my farm with me.” As he spoke a slight grin reached his face.
She turned to Blue and smiled a giant smile. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She said, as she tackled Blue to the floor.
As she propped herself up on her front hooves, she looked down at Blue. He was the nicest colt she had ever met. Despite his name, he had brilliant yellow eyes. They seemed to shine with the full force of the sun, and she had to blink a couple times.
As Blue looked up at the mare that now had him pinned to his farmhouse floor, he looked at her features more closely. She was still smiling and he noticed that she had the cutest dimples. She lost her smile to make way for a more curious expression, as if she was studying him as well. He looked at her eyes, and saw that they were the brownest eyes that he had ever seen. As he peered into them he was reminded of plowing his farm, and the rich soil underneath.
She seemed to flutter her eyes at him. Blue moved his hooves up and around the mare crouching above him. She felt his arms around her and it made her heart skip a beat. Blue pulled her closer, and she crouched low.
Her first kiss was exactly what she thought it would be. Warm, inviting, and tantalizing.
She brought herself back up to standing and pulled Blue up off the floor.
“Thank you.” She said.
“You're quite welcome miss.” Blue had said. “Feel free to stay as long as you like.”
At this they smiled, turned the lights off in the farmhouse and retired to bed.
“Awwwwww” Applejack had said “That's the nicest story I ever heard. I'm so happy for you two.”
Blue walked his way to the ponyville train station, and checked his ticket.
That's what he thought. The train was going to take him almost straight home. Straight home to his darling Clover.
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“DIIIEEEE!!!!” Trixie yelled, “Taste my missiles you alien scum!”
Michael had been teaching her how to play Halo for a while now, and Trixie had really caught on fast. Pretty soon, her skills had become sufficient enough that he decided to award her with the privilege of piloting the mantis.
She had the war cry down too.
“Charrrrrge!” Michael yelled, rushing a group of knights with a fuel rod cannon. Immediately the knights who survived were pelted with a spray of bullets as Trixie moved to back him up.
“This is exhilarating!” Trixie squealed, waving her hooves around before sitting upright and leaning forward again, “I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life!”
Michael was happy to have another convert, but this was even better. He had a unicorn here playing Halo with him. If this wasn't some kind of heaven he didn't know what was.
“Alright levels done. You keep playing alone, I have to continue getting ready to go.” Michael said, signing out, and grabbing up his bag to pack.
“Awwwww,” Trixie moaned “Are you sure I can make it on my own?” Trixie asked, starting up the single player campaign again.
“Definitely.” Michael said.
Michael had already gathered everything Hunter had told him to gather. The essentials, everything he couldn't live without, his game, Hunter's game, a controller, and now he was just working on getting his clothes.
He had to wash what had been dirty for that week, but he had thrown it all in one load. It was all fine anyways, he had seen his mom make a load of just his clothes without separating anything.
Now he just went into his room, and made sure he didn't forget anything. A couple things here, and the rest of his clothes were all that needed packing. He picked up the teddy bear from off the floor. He had kept this teddy bear from when he was a very young boy, and he had never given it a name. Trixie had loved it so much he decided to give it a nickname in her honor. Something cute. "Twixie" he said slurring where the 'r' in her name into a cute 'w'.
“DIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!” Trixie yelled from the other room.
That wasn't exactly cute. Yet he loved her enthusiasm.
Michael just had to wait.
><><
By dinnertime Twilight had the hang of this whole typing thing.
Hunter had left her alone to type along with the typing instruction site he had found for an hour, and then when he checked on her, she had mastered the site and he had to move on. At that point he decided to try something. He started a timer and opened a word document.
“Just type whatever comes into your head.” Hunter had said
“Alright.” Twilight had answered back.
Typing wasn't that hard, Hunter had to use his fingers to laboriously press the buttons all over his keyboard, but with magic typing was a breeze. All the keys just seemed to press themselves down in the correct order whenever she thought of a word.
This lead to an impressive typing speed, of over 60 words a minute, said the website she had practiced on. She thought that 60 words a minute was all the website could handle as it seemed to stop there every time she got into it.
Hunter came back in an hour, and said that dinner was almost ready.
“I'd be happy to set the table again.” Twilight said, leaning back in her chair, slightly bored with all the typing.
“That's fine,” Hunter said, “My timer went off anyways, now I need to conclude my test. Were you typing the whole time?”
Twilight thought for a second “I think I've been typing the whole time, I don't remember stopping.”
“Good,” Hunter smiled, “You go set the table then, I'll 'grade' you.”
Twilight hopped from the chair and went into the kitchen. Smells of all kinds made their way into her nose. Potatoes, onions, garlic, crisp lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, ranch dressing. Hunter sure knew how to make food smell good. She got out the plates as she started salivating. The potatoes she realized were in the oven, smelled extremely good and she was starving since she skipped lunch.
Twilight moved the salad bowl to the table and moved the plates and glasses into the place settings. She opened up the fridge and found the apple juice. After she poured herself some into the glass from her place setting, she set the rest on the table. As she sipped her apple juice she noticed something on one of the plates.
“Set 3 places at the table please.” The note said. The handwriting was very tall, but short length wise. It didn't speak wonders, but it was decent and legible. “Hunter must have written this, but why?” Twilight thought. "Was he expecting a visitor?" Then it dawned on her, his mother. His mother would be home and Hunter wanted them to meet. Twilight blushed for a moment, surely not for that kind of reason. She decided that it must all be part of his plan to leave.
“I hope it goes as well as he has planned.” Twilight sighed as the glasses and plates set themselves on the table. She trotted back to the room. As she reached the door, she was about to enter when she heard music.
It was slow, soothing, and sometimes slightly upbeat. It was a somber tune. Yet it wasn't the tune that caught her ear. Hunter was singing. She listened. He had a deep voice that rumbled throughout the room. It shook her soul almost. As he sang the words to the low sad song, it brought a tear to her eyes. The song reminded her of her father, a low voiced man who enjoyed singing slow lullabies to her as a child. The low rumble that emanated from Hunter's throat was just like her fathers. It sounded like it had great power and authority, and yet, as it wrapped her in it's soft sounds she felt safe, and at peace.
“Please, celebrate me home,
give me a number,
Please, celebrate me home,
sing me one more song,
that I'll always remember
I can recall whenever I find myself too all alone,
I can sing me home”
Twilight wiped her eyes, and slowly opened the door to find Hunter sitting in his chair, tapping his phone that also had a calculator.
Twilight cleared her throat,
Hunter cleared his phone for take off.
Hunter had been so focused on singing along with the familiar tune, and his calculating, that he had been frightfully surprised when Twilight entered the room. He was also just a touch sensitive about his singing.
“GAH!” Hunter yelled, as he jumped up, catching his phone midair, throwing it towards his bed from behind his back, jumping onto his bed and catching the phone.
“Wah!” Twilight yelled, “Sorry if I surprised you!” Then she thought for a moment “Wait, what was that?”
“What was what?” Hunter asked, as he got back up off his bed and turning off his music, which had since switched to “20 percent cooler”
“That whole jumping act!” Twilight said, “You were surprised, but you looked like you had planned the whole thing!”
“Oh that,” Hunter said scratching his head “I take opportunities under pressure, I took a class, and it's helps me react quickly. You have to admit I looked pretty cool though right?”
Twilight giggled. Hunter was just full of surprises, “I guess you did” Twilight said smiling. “You have a beautiful voice by the way.”
Hunter burst into flames.
Not really, what, do you think this story is a joke?
His cheeks were so red Twilight called him the human beet whenever she told this story to anyone else.
“Uh... I... You... grck” Hunter stuttered until he simply froze.
“You okay?” Twilight asked “Hey Hunter you there?” Waving her hoof in front of his face.
If she didn't know any better she would have sworn he was smoking out his ears.
“Hey!” Twilight snapped invisible fingers, “Those delicious potatoes are going to burn if you don't go take care of them! And then where will I be! Missing the sweet smell of those delicious potatoes without matching them to an equally delicious taste!”
The color red slowly left Hunter's face and he relaxed.
Hunter sat down as he breathed slowly. Then he got up without a word, and went into the kitchen.
“That was... odd” Twilight thought. She looked at his phone. The final notes that he had taken told her the total number of words per minute that she had achieved.
Hunter had averaged her score at 120 wpm, double what the website said. Twilight did the math in her head. She had typed roughly 7200 words in one hour! She felt a sense of accomplishment. She had this down.
She trotted to the kitchen, where she got a warm blast in the face from the open oven that was mounted in the wall next to the fridge, and wedged between the oven and the corner of the kitchen. She immediately felt her stomach growl, and her mouth drool. The potatoes smelled, delicious.
Hunter was busy putting a hot pad on the table, and getting hot pads onto his hands, so he could put the potatoes on the table.
“Not exactly a balanced meal for us humans, but I suppose it'll suffice.” Hunter said, holding his arms outstretched towards the table. “Tada”
Twilight clapped lightly, “Oh man everything smells so tasty.” Twilight said, before going over to one of the chairs near the table.
It was at that moment, that Hunter's mother walked through the door.
“Welcome home mom” Hunter said lightly, walking to the middle of the kitchen.
“Thanks,” His mother said turning towards the kitchen “You made dinner? How ni... What is that?”
Twilight was slightly put off by this question.
“This,” Hunter said, politely “Is Twilight Sparkle. She's a unicorn whose come to visit us all the way from Equestria. She's come a long way, and I'm sure she would prefer you didn't call her 'That'”
“A unicorn?” Hunter's mom said, “Unicorns don't exist, where is Questrio?”
“I assure you miss, unicorns definitely exist.” Twilight interjected, still put off by her comments "And it's Equestria."
Hunter's mother's eyes widened slightly, “And they most certainly do not talk.”
“Sit down and have some potatoes, we're having a meat free dinner tonight in light of our guest, and I'm sure you're hungry.” Hunter said, pulling out the chair opposite Twilight.
She sat down. “What kind of a joke is this Hunter?” She said.
“I'll explain soon, first you should probably pray.” Hunter said “Twilight if you wouldn't mind crossing your hooves, closing your eyes, and bowing your head for a moment, it's tradition, and I would love if you would honor it.”
“I guess so,” Twilight crossed her arms, closed her eyes and bowed her head.
Hunter's mom prayed.
When it was over Hunter said, “You can eat now Twilight.”
Twilight picked up a fork with her hooves instead of her magic, not wanting to put off Hunter's mother anymore than she had to.
It was time to dig in, and so she did. She was starving after all.