//------------------------------// // 44: Hotel Room // Story: To Err is Equine // by RLYoshi //------------------------------// DATE: March 6th/7th (it’s the middle of the night, okay?) LOCATION: Cloudsdale [Perspective: Asylum] Despite his determination to chase after the pony with the hoodie, Arrell seemed rather excited at the idea of just relaxing and walking around Cloudsdale after a bit. I had a feeling he was just in the heat of an adrenaline rush or something, and now that he was calmed down, his more lazy side was beginning to kick in. We spent most of the day wandering aimlessly, occasionally stopping by places for food. Now we were in a rented hotel room, trying to get some sleep. ...well, I was in the hotel room. Arrell had left, saying he ‘preferred clouds’, apparently not realizing that the bed was made out of clouds. ...the fact that there was only one bed in the room may have had something to do with it… Either way, I was lying in said bed. However, as tired as I was, part of me was forcing my eyes to stay open, locked onto the one window in the room. Even I wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe I was expecting the pony with the hoodie to come through the window for me next. Or maybe I was waiting for some signal from the guards that the pony had been caught. Whatever the reason was, it kept me from completely freaking out when somepony decided to knock on the window from the outside. After a small mental debate over whether to check on the sound or hide under the covers, I chose the former and slipped off of the bed, carefully moving over to the window. Peeking out, I expected to see the crazed face of the hoodie-wearing psycho. Instead, I saw Arrell, lying on a cloud and looking more than a little sheepish. I opened the window. “What’s wrong?” He didn’t answer right away, instead hopping off the cloud and through the window, landing on the floor. He turned and hastily shut the window, leaving his cloud abandoned to float around freely. “I wanted in.” “...there’s a door, you know...and why did you want back in? I thought you preferred clouds.” He shrugged. “I don’t have a key. And it’s too cold for me out there.” “...you’re a Windigo. You can’t feel too cold.” “...oh. Right. Then...it’s too warm.” I facehoofed with a sigh. “Arrell...” He sighed too, realizing I wasn’t buying it. He moved over to the bed and sat on it. “...I didn’t like being alone.” I raised an eyebrow as I sat beside him. “Don’t you go off on your own all the time?” “Yeah, but...I...” He looked away. “...I don’t like that guy.” “...you mean you’re scared of him?” “No!” he snapped defensively. “...yes...” I giggled. “I think everypony who knows about him is scared of him, Arrell.” “Yeah, but they’re scared of him. I’m scared of the article itself.” He fiddled with his hooves. “I assume I haven’t told you the origin of that article’s story?” “You mentioned something about Jeff the Killer, I believe…?” He nodded. “I’ll give you the condensed version of the story. It’s a horror story from Earth about a boy named Jeff. He went insane, killed some guys, and got his face burned. After getting out of the hospital, he...” He looked at me, as if trying to gauge whether or not he should continue. “He what?” I prompted. “...he cut a permanent smile onto his face so he could always smile, and burned his eyelids off so he could always see himself in the mirror without needing to blink.” Now I understood why he had hesitated. “...um...wow...that’s...” “Narcissistic?” he joked. I couldn’t help but giggle, even if it didn’t seem like the right time. “I know what you mean, though. After that, he killed his parents when they tried to stop him, and then his brother...just because he was there, I think. And since then, he would go around sneaking into people’s bedrooms and killing them...all the while wearing a white hoodie that, of course, now ended up in Cloudsdale.” I blinked. “Well...that explains what this article does...” “Yeah...” He swallowed nervously. “...it’s one of the few stories that’s actually scared me. I literally couldn’t sleep without a light on for several days after reading it...and now he’s real...” Finally, it all clicked into place. He had been so freaked out about even the idea of this article because he already knew about its story. The Royal Guard had been sent to retrieve articles that were, or at least seemed, harmless...and this one definitely was not harmless. Slowly, I wrapped my forelegs around him in a hug. He didn’t fight it at all; instead, he simply mirrored the action, hugging me back tightly. “...I don’t want to be alone when he’s out there...” I smiled and rubbed his back in what I hoped was a comforting manner. “You won’t be...I’ll stay with you...” That’s when I felt something on my shoulder. Something wet. He was crying. [Perspective: Arrell] I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was the fact that it was the middle of the night. Maybe it was my lack of powers. Maybe it was the fact that I was being reminded of the one physical thing to ever truly scare me as a human. Whatever it was, it made me feel trapped, as if the walls were closing in on me. Even with Asylum next to me, I felt alone. It was like I had a gun pointed right at my head, and even though there seemed like no way out of its range, I wanted to keep trying...but part of me knew it was pointless, and all it would let me do is accept it...but I knew there was a way...but it seemed pointless… All I could do was cry. I had my biggest nightmare come to life and roaming the streets within a ten mile radius of where I was; I had lost almost all the abilities I needed to combat this nightmare; and I didn’t have anyone I could go to for comfort without getting laughed at. Except Asylum. Finally, my mind began to take in exactly what was going on. Asylum and I were just sitting still, holding each other, with her hoof occasionally making soft movements along my back as I sobbed my eyes out into her shoulder. As my brain registered this, it began flashing red alerts, telling me to pull away before things got weird. Normally I would have listened, but this time, I didn’t. I worked on stifling my crying down to a sniffle, but I didn’t pull away. I stayed in the hug and instead managed to shut off the red alerts. Finally, Asylum pulled her head back, but kept her hooves around me. She looked me in the eye with a caring smile. “Feeling better?” I nodded. “...c-can I stay here? Please?” She didn’t even nod. She just giggled and pulled me down into a lying position on the bed, keeping the hug going the entire time. “Do you even need to ask, silly?” Then she kissed me on the nose. And I came to the conclusion that, yes, Windigoes definitely can blush. Slightly red-faced herself, Asylum just giggled again and pulled me closer as she closed her eyes. “Good night, Arrell...” I was a little stunned, to say the least. “G-Good night...Asylum...” Finally getting over it, I relaxed into the embrace, closing my own eyes and drifting off into a peaceful slumber. Again, he aimed for the window. This time, to his surprise and delight, it was already open. He flew in unhindered. “Freeze!” He turned. Three ponies in official-looking armor. One of them stepped forward. “You are under arrest for repeated cases murder and attempted murder!” he declared. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you-” He was cut off by a knife to the throat. “Get him!” one of the other guards shouted, pouncing for him. The third guard, instead, ran out the door, yelling for backup. The guard that pounced received a knife in the stomach for his troubles. He screamed and coughed up some blood before the knife was removed and plunged into his chest, shutting him up forever. The voices from downstairs were beginning to grow louder. “Evacuate the family!” “We need backup, now!” “Where’s the kid?!” “Contact the princess! This is an emergency!” He laughed as he began to slowly walk down the stairs. He barely noticed one guard ushering three ponies out the front door, and he growled. “Those are mine.” He was distracted when another guard came at him, this time with a sword. He swung it, but was easily avoided. The knife found its way to his neck, and he fell instantly. “This game is fun.” He turned to the remaining guards, who were all trying to get out the door. “Let’s play some more.” He spread his wings and flew at them. As the guards got outside, they all took off in separate directions. One unlucky guard became his target. This time, the blood didn’t spill indoors. Ponies walking around below screamed as the red liquid poured down around them, followed by a poor guard’s corpse. He panted, looking around. Unfortunately for him, he had lost the other guards, as well as the family. He growled. “I will find you...”