Brandon set the alarm and headed out, locking the door before heading to the driveway. He saw Chris leaning against his beat up Geo Metro with his arms folded across his chest. He stood up as Brandon approached.
“Alright, dude, spill it.”
“Spill what?”
“A whole bunch of ‘talking ponies’ show up out of nowhere, knock you out and give you some sob story about not being able to get home; and you just up and accept that?”
“I know! I should be downright pissed at them, but… I dunno I just can’t be. I mean, its like every time I’m around them, I just get this feeling that everything is going to be OK.”
“What a crock of shit.” Chris said, opening his door and getting into the car before starting the engine.
Brandon went around to the passenger side and climbed in.
“You know me, dude, I've always been quick to trust people.”
“Exactly, people.” He paused to back the car out of the driveway. “These aren't people, they’re some weird horse-alien things. How do you know they aren't going to eat your brains or some shit in the middle of the night?”
“Pretty sure if they wanted to, they would have done it while I was unconscious.” He said, giving Chris a deadpan look.
“Whatever, man. Don’t come cryin to me when things go south.”
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About an hour later they were pulling back in the driveway. Brandon hurried towards the door, unlocking it and holding it open for Chris, who had gotten the idea to carry all four 24-packs of beer by himself. Chris hurried into the kitchen and set them down on the table with a relieved sigh.
“I told you I would come back and help.” Chris just smirked at him.
“Psh, two trips is for pussies.”
Brandon face palmed.
“Really, dude?”
Chris just burst out laughing.
“Sorry, it was just too perfect to pass up.” He said still chuckling.
Brandon just shook his head and started unpacking the bags he had carried in. It was just a few things for the party tonight: some cups, ping pong balls, and ¾ the pièce de résistance ¾ two fifths of Bacardi 151.
He put the two bottles of Bacardi in the freezer as Chris finished up making room in the fridge for all the beer. Chris headed back over to the table, grabbing two of the cases and taking them over to the fridge to start loading it up. Brandon brought the other two over as well, taking away the empty boxes from the first two after Chris had finished with them.
He took the boxes over to the cabinet where the trash can was located, and crushed them so they would fit inside without taking up too much space. He opened the cabinet door, only to have a pink head pop out, causing him to stumble back a couple of steps and let out a cry of surprise.
“GAAH!!!”
“Hey! Whatcha doin?” Pinkie said with a huge smile on her face.
“I thought I told you not to do that?!” He snapped at her. “And get out of there.”
Her smile fell and her hair seemed to visibly lose some of it’s volume, looking a little less poofy. She made her way out of the cabinet and sat down off to the side.
“Sorry…” She said quietly, looking down at the floor.
He threw the boxes into the back of the cabinet and closed it, turning to face her with a sigh.
“It’s OK. What were you doing in there anyway?”
“I was just looking around for something to cheer Twilight up. She’s still being a sad, sulking, sulky pants over the whole ‘getting us stuck here’ thing.”
He was surprised when she mimed out the air quotes with her front hooves.
Chris let out a snort of disbelief and walked out of the kitchen. Brandon just watched him leave and shook his head.
“Well is there anything I can do to help you with Twilight?”
She sat in quiet contemplation for a moment.
“Do you think you could try and talk to her?”
“I don’t see what good it would do, but I’ll give it a shot.”
Her smile instantly returned and her hair returned to its normal poofy consistency. She jumped up and hugged him around his neck, letting him know just how strong she was as proved by his lack of airflow.
“Air…” He gasped out.
She let go and sat back down with a sheepish look on her face.
“Sorry.” She grinned back up at him. “Thanks for your help Brandy.”
Before he could say anything about her new nickname for him she was already gone. He could swear there was a faint pink mist that hung in the air for a brief second after she had gone.
Rubbing a hand over his face he began to wonder why he was going along with all of this.
‘Maybe Chris was right about the whole trusting them thing.’
Looking at the clock he noticed that it was almost 11. The fact that he hadn't slept last night caught up to him quickly and he let out a yawn. He decided that whatever he was going to do could wait until after he had gotten some sleep. He would need it to stay awake for the party anyways.
He told Chris that he was going to take a nap before heading upstairs. As he made his way up to his room, he slowed as he went past the guest rooms. From one of them he could hear what sounded like sobbing, as well as some quiet chatter that he guessed was someone else consoling the sobbing one.
Entering his room he shut the door, and after a second thought, turned back and locked it. Stripping down to his boxers he climbed in bed, making sure to set his alarm to go off in a couple of hours. Thoughts of what he could possibly say to Twilight ran through his mind for a while before sleep finally took hold.