My hand slammed down onto the alarm clock as it did its very annoying song of get the hell out of bed. Rolling over back onto my bed, I sighed to see that in fact Rarity had decided to not stay long after all. After the fiery inferno on the roof, we decided to join in the party, although neither of us were very active in the party. Just a couple drinks each and then went to sleep. Rarity told me to be ready around 7 AM, so my guess is she left shortly after I fell asleep. She was super organized so she probably already packed, but she most likely wanted to pamper herself with her morning routine.
I wanted to wake up around 5:30 so that I could pack, take a shower and eat, but alas that was not to happen. The alarm flashed 6:45. Oh crap. She never told me where to meet her, but it was probably at her place. And to be completely honest, I was not exactly sure where that was, since I had only been there once, and I was in a bit of a rush. Had a huge project to do at the time so I forgot to take account of it. Shit. Whelp, Dash should be up and I think she knows where Rarity lives so I will do that as soon as I am ready to go.
Jumping out of bed, I ran out of the room and into the kitchen. I grabbed a couple apples out of the fridge and leapt over the couch and zipped into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Munching on the apples with a speed that was bordering on the insane and deadly, I let the water flow over my body and wings. I felt my mind start to calm and my body relax. I slumped against the glass door of the shower, barely catching myself as it opened and I fell out of it.
Getting dressed in the bathroom, I ran back into my room to get the rest of my stuff ready. I quickly packed up some clothes and a laptop bag with my netbook and my roll-up keyboard so I could work on some commissions on the long holiday. I made most of my money doing small jobs here and there. It was a way to pay the rent. Wasn't great all the time but work was work.
Leaving my room for the last time of the year, I took a quick moment to reflect on just what had actually occurred since I first took step into the room. My mind danced from my now charred restraints to curtains of flowing purple hair to long hours of studying. It was different. I actually had enjoyed studying this time around, but that could be someone was making so much easier. Even if we sometimes got a little...distracted. I walked out into the living room to find Dash, sitting on the couch with a suitcase on the floor next to her.
“And just where are you headed off to?”
"Rarity's?" I replied, slightly uncertain.
“Why? Trying to see her before she leaves?”
“Well, yesterday we talked about how I was gonna be here alone for the holidays. She invited me to come back with her so i wouldn't be alone for once.”
“You’re going to be in town for Hearth’s Warming?” She jumped off the couch and flew over to me and hugged me tightly right around the waist. “So awesome! We are going to have so much fun. The town this time of year is beautiful when it’s covered with snow.” She was jumping up and down with joy. Well, as much as one could when they are carrying someone almost a foot taller than them.
“Yeah, I don’t know about the snow. I don't really have much in the way of warm clothes. All I have is this coat and the scarf, and my wings are still not used to being out in the cold so much...”
“Well, I’m pretty sure your girlfriend will have something made for you by now.”
“How did you know? we just..”
“And its about time too. I am just hoping that you uphold your end of the Pinkie Promise. I told you before and it is still holding true.”
I slightly flinched at the thought of the massacre on my wings that would occur if I should fail her, but Dash smiled, gave me a comforting hug, patted me on the head and picked up her suitcase.
“Well, shall we?”
“You’re coming too?”
“Well duh, how else am I supposed to get home. Rarity is the only one with a car that is large enough besides AJ to transport the 4 of us.”
“So you me, Rarity and Fluttershy.”
“Yep, should be fun, but I can't drive and neither can Fluttershy so enjoy that. It’s almost 500 miles north of here so its gonna be all day. And I hope you can drive in the snow and the mountains. We better get moving. She said that they would be here in a few minutes. Rarity was worried though. Thought you weren't gonna come.”
“You mean she talked to you about this beforehand?”
“Duh. I mean she had to make sure it was OK with me and Shy, and that was a week ago. So that it was probably even a week before that that she talked to her parents about it. She was super nervous about it too. I mean, all that work just for you to say no? Probably would have had another incident on our hands.”
I chuckled softly, just thinking about how Rarity would act in one of these incidents. If it was anything like her freak outs about her hair, then it would be quite the show.
“Well, shall we?”
She fluttered over to the balcony and gestured down to the street where Rarity and Fluttershy were standing next to her car, waving up and smiling at us. She looked even more beautiful today than she had last night. I locked the door, and followed suit up on the ledge. I smiled and looked down as I opened up my wings to their full extent.
“Lets do this.” I said as I jumped off the ledge and flew down into the waiting arms of Rarity, the girl that I would stop at nothing to make her happy now.
Dash and I placed our luggage into the trunk and took our seats in the car, Dash in the back with Fluttershy and me in the front with Rarity. She started up the car and we got on the road. Rarity popped in a Sapphire Shores CD and along with Fluttershy and Dash started singing her pop single, Equestria Girls. I laughed as I hummed along with them. Rarity attempted to get me to sing, but I kept saying no, that I didn't sing. Eventually, she gave up, but told me that it was not over.
Dash and Fluttershy spent most of the trip asleep, while I spent most of it admiring all the scenery. The mountains were covered in snow and trees, the clouds hung low in the sky as they carried their freezing load all over the mountain range. The farther north we got, the more snow we came in contact with.
Around noon, we stopped at a small restaurant on the side of the road. Fluttershy and Rarity went inside to grab some food while Dash and I threw a few snowballs around. Until I went to Procient, I had actually never seen snow, and even though I had lived in the city for a year and a half, I have never actually played in it. I dived into the mounds and made snow angels. Flapping my wings near the snow, I kicked up a good pile of snow into Dash. She was not very happy about it. Scooping up a ball in her hand, she chucked the small projectile straight at my head. Unfortunately for her and fortunate for me, the ball was ensnared in a blue aura. Rarity had come back out with a small box of food for each of us. Quickly eating our small meal, we got back on the road.
About an hour later, we started to climb into the mountains. The roads curved and twisted, and the road was precarious enough without the slickness of the snow and ice. Rarity seemed to know how to do this very well, but after a couple more hours of the slow driving and curvy roads, she started to get fairly exhausted. After another mile or so, I pretty much forced her to pull over and let me drive.
Oh what a mistake I had made. I was very lucky because the snow had actually let up. Made the driving much easier and after another hour, the snow actually completely disappeared. I thought this entire area was supposed to be covered in snow, but hey, whatever.
Eventually, after 10 hours, we finally made it. I was not particularly looking forward to the return trip. Did I mention that I hated driving in the mountain area? Driving out of the mountain pass, we descended into a small valley. The sun was setting over in the hills far to the west and cast a looming shadow over the small little town in the middle. The large forest on the east side of town marked our first destination, Fluttershy’s. Never actually had to drive into town, but from where I was driving, it looked like there were no cars in the main part of the town.
We stopped in Fluttershy’s neighborhood first and dropped her off, a small little house on the edge of the forest. She opened the door and disappeared inside. Then over to Dash’s house on the north side near the weather stations. It was a lot bigger than I had imagined, but she did mention that her father ran the county weather stations. She hugged me goodbye and told me that we would hang out tomorrow with everyone at Twilight’s.
Ten minutes later, we pulled up in front of a small apartment complex. Not a great place, but it was homey. Rarity just sat in the car, looking at the building. She looked....worried. Never seen her this worried before. I took her hand in mine and gave her a comforting squeeze. She looked at me, let go of my hand and got out of the car, gesturing me to follow suit.
“I need to stretch my legs before I go inside and sit down with my family. No doubt Spike is there as well. He has always been a sweetheart to Sweetie Belle. It’s just... well, I need to tell you something before we head in so please, indulge me.”
I nodded and offered her my arm. She gladly took it and cuddled up to me. I was happy too, still didn't have clothes really for this kind of weather, even if there was no snow, it was well below freezing temperatures. I looked ahead at the area. The apartments were on the edge of the river that ran through town. Frozen over, there were kids and teenagers ice skating over the lake down the road. The trees were bare but still had a sort of magical effect. It was a beautiful sight to see, and yet it paled in comparison to Rarity.
Her long white coat went all the way down to her knees, and her boots, a solid black half calf, covered most of the rest of her jeans. Her hair was styled in her wonderful curls, and bouncy as well. Her eyes sparkled in the dusk light. She smiled softly at the ground as we walked along the side of the river.
“Here’s good enough.”
“Beautiful.”
“It is, isn't it?”
“Not the scenery.” I smiled at her. She smacked me playfully on the arm and gave me a squeeze. She released her grasp on me and sat down, patting the ground next to her. It was going to be cold as hell, but if this is what she wanted.
“Thank you, for coming, I mean. It... it means a lot to me, darling.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“No but I must, you have done something wonderful. Well, the reason is my father doesn't really stand on good terms on anyone that he meets. A few years ago, I …. I ended up in a bad way. My father, was the first person besides Dash to arrive at the hospital. Something happened with an old boyfriend, a disgusting grease-ball of a peg. I refused to do certain things with him, and when AJ and Dash brought to my attention that he was partaking in and selling crystal meth, I had finally had enough.”
“But Ridger, he, um, he had other plans, I don't really remember everything after the first hit to the head.” Rarity’s eyes had started to tear, the thought of what had happened to her causing her even physical pain, as she grabbed for the arm that had been broken. “The next thing I knew I woke up in a hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines. My father had stayed with me the week I was in a coma, brushing my hair, taking care of me, singing me the song he always sang to me. The same song you played for me.”
“While I was in the coma, he was the one that found Ridger, and it was a good thing that the cops were right behind him. I'm glad my father only got a night in prison instead of going for life. He was just protecting his little girl. So please understand, my father is a hard man to please especially when it comes to his little girls. It took Spike 3 months to get into his good graces, so I am sorry.”
I looked down at her, and wiped away her tears and held her close to my chest. “Don’t worry. I will never hurt you or let anyone hurt you. And I will make your father see that not everyone is Ridger, that some guys are actually genuinely there for you. So please dry your tears, I cannot stand to see a face as beautiful as your’s sad.”
She started to cry harder. I held her close to my chest and stroked her hair. I lifted her chin up and looked into her eyes for a long time and smiled at her. She smiled back. I slowly pressed my lips against hers and I felt her relax in my arms. Even though it was freezing outside, she had always been warm and comfortable to me. I stood back up and held my hand out to her.
“Are you ready to face your fears?” I asked unfurling my wings and using them to shield her from the snow “ I am ready to face most of my demons, thanks to you.”
Rarity jumped up into my arms and planted another passionate kiss on me and in my arms she stayed. I picked her up and steadied her in my arms, with her arms around my neck. Placing her back down on the ground, I took her arm and with my darling, started walking back towards her family.
“You do realize, darling, that that was just about the cheesiest thing that has ever been said, right?”