Love and Tolerance

by Final_Draft

Values

Love and Tolerance
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic © Hasbro & Lauren Faust
By: TOO S0BER

Boredom.

I hated car trips. Ever since I was eight years old I hated riding in cars for anything longer than five minutes; and even then that was a stretch. I was not even sure why; maybe it was sitting in one spot and being unable to do anything but sit there and wait until we arrived at the destination. Maybe it was anxiety and anticipation, the fact that where we were going was a mystery. I had asked my driver, Marcus, where we were going and he kept his mouth shut with that annoying smirk of his.

So I tried a different tactic.

“Are we there yeeeeeet~?” I whined and prolonged the last word in my sentence with a higher pitch of my voice. This plan came to be since Marcus expressed his desire to avoid ‘whining’ just two days ago.

“Oh God,” Marcus groaned with a slump in his shoulders as he drove. “Ponies and your whining. Ugh,” he groaned a second time and clutched at his chest as he side-glanced at me. “I need a heart transplant, stat!” He chuckled and then grinned.

I laughed. “Well, I’m sorry, I don’t even have the entertainment value of watching stuff pass by.” I rolled my eyes but grinned despite the failure of my plan. The way I started to figure it, we’ll get there when we get there; I just wanted something to distract me. “I’m a damn mini-horse now…”

“Pony,” he corrected.

“Whatever,” I exasperated jokingly with a roll of my eyes. “Isn’t it the same thing?”

Marcus shrugged. “Probably, but the term ‘pony’ is more accurate.”

I guess that made sense, especially if we were going with that.

I waited a bit longer, studying the leather of the interior of his car until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I looked back at Marcus neutrally as we raced down… where ever we were going. “But really… where are we going, Marcus?”

He gave me a side-glance, that smirk still on his face. “You’ll see when we get there.”

I sighed heavily once more and rolled my eyes before glancing at the silent unicorn that sat in the back seat -- Ashley. “Stop being obnoxious, Sam,” she spoke up for the first time since we began the car trip.

I felt my expression droop along with my heart at her morose look; it seemed she was still very much depressed over what happened with herself and her parents. Along with that, I could not shake the feeling that some of that depression came about by me stopping her from a successful suicide attempt. The image of her on my bath tub’s lip with that noose around her neck flashed in my head, and it made me involuntarily wince at the notion.

“Sorry,” I said quietly, but still held my gaze on her as I felt my ears fold. All I saw was the most down person in the world. It wasn’t her face that gave it away -- her long, black and green striped mane hid all but her frowning, gray muzzle -- it was her tone of voice. The whole time I had known her, all the years of grade school, high school, et cetera, Ashley had never been this despondent. There were times when life would stress her out a bit, where she got a little tightly wound, but nothing like this.

I mean, Ashley was never so peppy that she was bouncing off the walls; not to the extreme of that one pink pony, but the Ashley I knew wouldn’t just sulk like this.

My body lurched an inch as the car come to a stop, and I briefly glanced out the windshield. Above the dashboard I could see the red of a traffic light, and decided to make my move. I hoofed at the seat belt button, and after a few pokes the latch clicked and the belt slid up; which the buckle whacked my nose as it went. A sniff and a wrinkle later, and I started climbing over to the back seat. Marcus slid his arm over to give me room, and I gave him a small nod of thanks before settling on the floor of the SUV by Ashley.

The unicorn made no sign of acknowledging that my presence had shifted in the car as she continued to stare at the floor, her one uncovered eye partially visible. Her beautiful brown orb was red; my guess was that she had kept herself up all night, unable to sleep for one reason or another. If that wasn’t enough of an indicator, from my closer vantage point I could see that her mane was a little bit of a mess; either Ashley couldn’t figure out how to brush her hair -- she can’t manipulate a brush quite yet with her magic -- or she didn’t bother. My money would be on the last one.

“Hey,” I started softly. “Talk to me? Please?” I brought my orange hoof up to her gray one, giving it a small rub.

She sniffed, but didn’t look at me. “There’s nothing to talk about…” Ashley said simple with a monotonous tone. My ears perked, and I immediately knew she was just trying to be strong about the whole thing. Her pain was clear to me though; I’m not sure exactly why, maybe it was the overly-expressive pony faces, or it could even be that stereotype that women have a better perception to emotions than men. Either way, I could tell she was hurting.

“You know you can talk to us, right?” I asked again, and chose to include Marcus in this. True, I was the one that had romantic feelings towards her, but I didn’t want to forget that he was Ashley’s friend too.

She glanced up to the car seat, where Marcus gave a quick, smiling glance back at us before turning his attention back to the road. The light must have turned green, as the car lumbered forward and my side was briefly pressed against the seat’s cushion.

This time she looked at me, her one eye -- the other still obscured by her long hair -- looking back and forth as she searched my eyes for something I could only guess at. My love’s expression was just so dour that I could feel the tears ripping into my heart; she was hurting so very much. “Can I, Sam?” she questioned, her tone nearly carried an air of accusation to it.

Huh? What is that supposed to mean?

I blinked, caught completely off guard by the statement. “I don’t understand?” I asked, my head tilted a bit to the side and I felt one of my ears follow suit.

Her one visible brow furrowed and her frown deepened. “Can I?” she continued in that same tone, and briefly her eye glanced in the direction of Marcus in the driver’s seat.

Okay, I thought bemusedly. I do not like where this is going. Instead of replying I remained silent, waiting for her to continue with her point. All the while I had a rising knot forming in my gut.

She sighed and then turned her gaze to the car door. “Your parents still love you, Sam,” Ashley began somewhat quietly, though the building strain in her voice was apparent. “Your family accepted you… despite what happened.” As she spoke, her eye drifted down to her gray hoof and she frowned.

The phone call I had with Ashley’s mother immediately came to my mind, and it replayed within my skull like it was happening now. I felt myself bristle, and the muscles in my forelegs tensed. I knew about their opinions of my friend, their daughter, all too well. The dad was black and white; as far as I could tell he wasn’t about to accept this. Her mom, though, was somewhat of a different story. Now that I think about it with a somewhat level head, it was apparent that she did not want to turn Ash away. The distraught tone, her worry and concern, the fact that the first thing she asked me was if Ashley was okay; her daughter’s safety first and foremost on her mind.

Even still, Ashley’s mother had made me just as mad. It was the fact that she didn’t stand up to her husband. It was the fact that she didn’t stop Ashley from leaving. It was the fact that she obviously let this happen that made me condemn both of them.

I could feel my face heating at the thought of those two, and I immediately took a deep breath and then took a few mental steps back in an attempt to check my temper. Now was not the time to lose my shit.

“Ash,” I began softly. “They will come around.” I managed a small smile. Did I really believe that? Not as much as I would have liked to. I would love to wholeheartedly believe that they would take her back, no questions asked and without hesitation. But I had a feeling it simply would not happen. Or at the very least, not quickly and definitely not smoothly. Still, I wanted to give Ashley some kind of hope to latch on to.

The dour unicorn brought her eye back up to mine, and as soon as she did, I knew that my words had not helped at all. She huffed as her ears folded. “That’s easy for you to say, Sam!” She jutted a hoof at me as her tone rose, and I recoiled out of surprise. “You don’t have hardly any hardship to deal with here! Your parents still love you, your sister still loves you.” Ashley rolled her eyes as her head turned away from me again, the curtain of her long mane concealing her face from me. Her shoulders heaved once in a quiet sob as her ears remained pasted to her scalp.

“Not all of my family…” I interjected a tad heatedly. “My brother hates me now more than ever. And my own dad doesn’t even know yet!” Unless mom told him. I unsuccessfully fought back a snort. “And what is that supposed to mean, huh?” I sat up a bit straighter, my wings rose up slightly on my back. “‘I don’t have any hardships,’?” My eye twitched as I started to glare. “What!?”

I heard Marcus say something, but it was lost in a blur as my temper grew. “I wasn’t born a female, damn it! You know how to deal with these hormones and mood swings and all this bullshit, but I don’t!” I yelled, my wings standing up as much as the back seat foot area allowed.

Her head dipped a little, but I kept going on my tirade. “And do you have any idea what that did to me when I saw you trying to commit suicide!?” I jutted my hoof at Ashley, in the same way she had done moments before.

“Th-that was…” she choked a little, her voice quiet. “That was my… ch-choice…”

“Choice!?” I shrieked, appalled. “So you just decided that Marcus didn’t matter any more, that everything you’ve done didn’t matter any more!?” I grit my teeth and barely stifled a scream of outrage. “That I didn’t matter any more? What about the rest of your family, huh?” I barely noted the few tear blobs that splattered on the leather seat. Ashley’s head dipped more, and now her whole body was trembling.

“Then that was a poor fucking choice!” I stomped a hoof, emphasizing my statement. My own eyes close to tears as it felt like the interior of the car had reached sun level temperatures. “You’re a selfish idiot, Ash!” I screamed out. “You matter to us! To me!

“A-And,” I still went on, the water that had been building in despair at my eyes finally flowing freely. “H-how dare you make th-that choice without so much as talking to us first!” The anguish and rage in my chest overwhelmed my ability to speak any further, and I just hung my head between the back seat cushion and the hard plastic of the front seat. I was at war inside myself as I tried to regain control, but right now I would have had better success at fighting a hurricane with a spear gun.

I heard words, yet didn’t hear them. Instead I shook my head and tried to climb my way back over the cup holder center and sit back down in my seat up front. I stumbled and tripped over my recently acquired limbs, the short amount of practice I had had with them left me stupefied. I barely felt the pair of hands gently grasp me by the shoulders and set me on the car seat.

I looked up and blinked in surprise, and saw Marcus looking at me with a mixed expression. I don’t entirely know what it was supposed to be -- in large part because my own head still throbbed from just a few moments ago. I could tell that some of what I’d said must have annoyed him, as I saw that much in his dark eyes. But for the most part he just seemed sad, his normally jovial and joking smile turned upside down.

I sighed and tore my gaze away from him, and for once I felt like I needed to shove the thoughts of Ashley out of my head. I laid down on the seat on my side, not bothering with the seatbelt again; the thing was a pain in the ass to get on the first time, and I simply did not want to deal with it right now.

I closed my eyes to think better, an attempt to stave off the incoming headache.

Maybe I didn’t understand what Ashley was going through, maybe I couldn’t fathom the loss of my parents’ love or my siblings. Truth be told, Dan wasn’t such a huge loss. When he changed, it was gradual fighting and it had continued up until I moved out. It started off as small stuff; things that should have been just brushed off of our shoulders, but the thing is that those seemingly insignificant skirmishes tend to build up and accumulate, and then the pot boils over.

Our fights became more common and their intensity grew over time until we could barely stand each other anymore. He became so defiant and rebellious that I pretty much sided with the rest of the family. In retrospect that probably just made everything worse, since that gave Dan all the evidence he needed to fully believe that the ‘world was out to get him’.

My heart ached a little at the thought of our squabbles… and it puzzled me. Back in the day I never really regretted any of our fights, simply believing that it was all him and such. I would cool my jets with distractions, and time would dull the edge and then I would just forget about it.

But now…I’m suddenly recalling every single confrontation and argument… and wondering. Could things have been different? Could they have been better? What could I have done to avoid or defuse the situation at that time? My heart tugged at me in almost the same way it does when I think about Ashley breaking the news to me that she wasn’t interested.

I let out a small sigh that subtly broke the silence of the car. Marcus and Ashley had remained deathly silent after my breakdown.

Damn, I thought dourly. I already broke my promise to not to blow up at my friends. I don’t know if it’s mare hormones or not. It doesn’t matter though, the effect is still the same.

I’m such a jerk.

The rest of the car ride went on in silence as we continued down the road. My mind essentially went blank, as I did not want to think about what just happened. I knew I owed Ashley an apology, but I also knew that she owed me one too.

The only question? Do I wait for her to apologize, or do I make the first move.

I continued contemplating that query, and didn’t notice that the vehicle came to a stop. All the sound was there; the slight screech of the brakes, the clack of the keys as the idling engine died off, and the clicks as the emergency brake was put into gear. Except I just wasn’t there.

My head kept replaying what had just happened only a short while ago. Ashley had been sad, depressed, and bitter. We said things; things that, perhaps, should not have been said. We both needled each other with the things that were causing us grief since the transformation had taken place.

Disappointment clenched my heart as it hit me that my own troubles simply weren’t as profound as Ashley’s… and that quickly evolved to shame. I’m supposed to love her, it’s in my heart and has always been there, and I did that to her.

Yeah, I thought to myself. Except she’s not exactly innocent in this either. Images of her in my bathroom, bloody and hanging, flashed through my mind. The distant pangs of fear and terror briefly rose up at the memory, and my limbs wanly twitched of their own accord as I had to forcibly remind myself it was only a memory.

Innocent or not, though, I shouldn’t have said that to her. I should be supporting her through this, not trying to play up what I’m going through.

My guess was that I was still dealing with this whole ‘mare’ thing. I said I was fine, I felt fine -- as far as I could tell, anyways -- and it didn’t seem like that big of a deal after that initial hyperventillating shock wore off. And yet… I’m acting like this.

I huffed a little, still lost in my own thoughts. I need to grow up.

Before I got any further, the warmth of a hand gently shook my shoulder. For long seconds I just continued to stare at the glove compartment door of Marcus’ SUV. Shortly I brought my eyes up to him. He was standing just outside my car door -- he had gotten out and walked over to my side.

“Hey,” he spoke softly. “We’re here. You good?” Marcus asked. I glance to the side and noted Ashley standing off to the side, her back to Marcus and I.

I turned back to him and gave a wordless nod, then stood up and hopped down to the concrete.

We were in a neighborhood -- a familiar house with a colorful flower arrangement I had seen before. One that I knew tended to change every few months when their gardener saw fit. I shifted as my hooves felt the slight slant of the hard concrete of a driveway that I’ve been on many, many times before.

Great, I thought dourly. She must hate me now. I looked over at the colorful flowers, and they only partially raised my spirits as we made our way to the front door.

I stood back a little ways from Ashley. Part of it was to give her space, and the other was because I felt a little ashamed of what had just happened as the previous thoughts still wormed around inside my head. The obligatory fold of my ears accompanied that turmoil.

A moment later and my mother opened the door with a wide grin. “Hello you three!” She stepped aside so we could enter. I couldn’t help but smile a little -- she never failed to act cheery.

Although as soon as that feeling came over me, I also felt a pang of guilt as I briefly glanced Ashley. Her back was to me as she trotted inside after Marcus, but she greeted Mom nonetheless. It may have been my imagination, but I thought I heard a little strain in her throat.

I winced, but tried my best to hide it. “Hi, Mom…” I followed suit inside, my hooves joined in on the soft clop noises with Ashley’s.

Mom closed the door behind us and clasped her hands together, still with her grin on. “Excellent!” Mom began as she made her way towards the kitchen. “Anyone hungry? I wasn’t sure what to make, since you two are ponies now. So…” She started rummaging in the fridge. “I got these bistro-salad kit things from your workplace, Sam.”

I entered along with everyone else to peek at what she was retrieving. I blinked as I recognized the two-part tub she was holding. It was a curved, clear plastic bowl with a sectioned lid over the top. In the bottom was a variety of greens -- along with carrot and onion shreds. The top portion had toppings that could be optionally added; the one she was holding had what looked like chopped walnuts, small croutons and a tub of crimson sauce that could be none other than dressing or vinaigrette meant to be drizzled over the salad as a whole.

My mouth was instantly moist and my stomach chose that moment to speak up excitedly. Oh man, that looks good! Just about all I could focus on was the bowl in her hand… and I swear I heard an angel choir.

My ear twitched at a quiet slurp to my right, and that was enough to break me out of my trance. I glanced over in time to see Ashley turn away in a small blush. I smirked a little, but didn’t make any comment.

“Somepony’s hungry…” Marcus interjected with a chuckle as he folded his arms.

Ah, comedy. Save the day again, I see…

Mom quirked an eyebrow and took that as some cue. She reached back in the fridge and took out a pair more of the salad bowls and set them on the counter. “In that case I’m glad I bought a whole bunch of them,” she continued as she brought up a pair of empty cardboard boxes. “You’re taking these with you; I have a couple dozen of them.”

I gawked. “B-but Mom… you didn’t--”

She cut me off with a finger wave. “No buts, young mare. I know your pantry and fridge are sparse… and Marcus told me about how meat and other such products affected you and Ashley at the mall the other day.”

I turned my head back to Marcus, and he simply shrugged with a sheepish grin. I bemusedly stared at him and he then held his palms up defensively. “Hey… she forced me to, okay?” He still held that grin -- which meant it was likely a lie.

“Thanks then,” I said as I smiled back at him.

Well, it was kind of true. I’m certain that ‘sparse’ was an over exaggeration, but I could have done with some food; and this change in species does render some of said food inhospitable. I had chicken, bologna, and some other things that I would either have to throw out or give away to someone before it went bad. There were some canned things too, like ‘spaghetti-os and meatballs’ and other things with meat that I’d also have to part with.

I sighed a little as the realization again swept over me. I still wasn’t one-hundred percent sure that it would make me sick, but if the mall was any kind of hint… that answer would be a porcelain ‘yes’.

Mother prepared the four salads in actual bowls and set them at the table -- mixed up and ready with the vinaigrette on standby for the discretion of Ashley and I. As Mom pestered Marcus about what he wanted to eat, Ash and I climbed up to the table and began to eat.

I had been practicing with my wings a little bit and gained some dexterity in manipulating small objects. In my right wing I took up the vinaigrette and sniffed it appreciatively -- raspberry, extra-virgin olive oil, generic vinegar, and a hint of fresh rosemary. I drizzled the whole thing in, but held off on the second tub. The key here was not to add too much; things can always be added, but things couldn’t be taken back out. Once the dressing went in, it would stay in; so moderation was the secret to not overpowering the salad.

That done, I took the fork in the same wing and began tossing the salad as my forelegs braced the bowl. I grunted as the fork slipped from my wing, the force of stirring the salad almost too much for my feathers to grasp. My mind wandered a little bit and I made a mental note to ask Marcus how feathers could act so much like fingers, just with diminished strength.

How was Ashley fairing?

I glanced up to see her already half way done with her salad, the bowl noticeably empty. The same yellow glow enshrouded her unicorn horn as well as the fork; she seemed to be using her telekinesis effortlessly now. Or at the very least when it came to using a utensil to eat with.

“Hey,” I spoke up with a smile. “You’re getting really good at that.”

She looked up after taking another bite and swallowed. “Oh, this? Well, yeah…” Ashley managed a small smile. “I practiced non-stop when you two left, and I kept at it when I went home with Marcus…” The fork levitated over the center of the table, and with her mind and magic she twirled it elegantly as though she still had human fingers.

“I can only do it for so long, and I still can’t lift much more than an empty mug,” she paused with a sheepish grin as her ears folded back. “And, um, I’m sorry about breaking yours, by the way…”

I waved a nonchalant hoof. “I’m not worried about it. I have, like, three more and I barely use them anyways.” That was a lie, more or less, but I didn’t want Ashley’s rising mood to deflate over something so stupid as a replaceable coffee mug that I got from the dollar store some time ago.

She smiled weakly, then went back to her salad. Marcus joined up with a microwaved T.V. dinner while Mom took the other seat with some of the leftovers I observed the other day.

It still boggled me how good greens and such tasted now as I dug back into the salad with fervored gusto; well, as fast as I could manage with this new style of eating. I had to poke and prod to get a decent amount of veggies impaled on my fork before I had a satisfactory bite. I’m not sure how I didn’t notice it before, but chewing with flat teeth felt very different than before as well.

“So,” Mom spoke up, still having that small grin. “How have you been adapting sweetie?” I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me, Ashley, or both of us. Though her eyes were watching the floating fork as Ashley neared the end of her meal.

I waited a few seconds to see if Ash would speak up first, and when she didn’t I decided to do so. “Well, it hasn’t been too bad so far.” I blinked as I tried to mentally recall the challenges. “Um, walking seems easy. I don’t have that many complaints about lacking fingers… well, not yet anyways… it’s still a bit early to tell.”

“Have you tried to fly yet?” she asked, giving more of her attention to me.

I grinned sheepishly. “Uh, yeah… at the mall I tried to fly up the steps at the theater… and, um, I crashed…” I ended with a light chuckle, then hastily added, “I’m okay though.”

Mother stifled a small grimace, then smiled again. “Oh, I see. I’m glad to hear that you’re using your, um, wings… but please be careful.”

I gave her a nod and a smile. “Of course. I can’t really say that I know what I’m doing, but, yeah… I’ll be careful.”

Even as I said that I knew that I wanted to get up there and soar. Immediately I began questioning. How high could I go? How fast? As well as questions with that show. Could I manipulate clouds? What about that sonic rainbow thingie, could I possibly do that? I could feel my grin growing at each question as I absentmindedly munched on my salad.

I paused as I felt eyes on me and looked up. Mom was smiling, but I could see the worry behind that kind look. I blinked and calmed myself down. “Hey, I mean it… I will be careful, okay?” I emphasized that point by reaching over my left forehoof and placing it on top of her hand gently.

That worry faded from her eyes a little bit and she gave me a nod.

A light chuckle made my ears twitch and I glance at Marcus. “What’s so funny?” I asked, one of my eyebrows quirked in curiosity.

He smirked and pointed at me. No, wait, he was pointing behind me. I blinked in confusion and twisted my head to look… and was met with my wings fully extended behind my back, as well as my tail as is swished back and forth out the back of my chair.

“Dangit…” I muttered sullenly as my ears pasted. I blushed hotly and groaned as I tried to lower my wings. Ugh, this was so embarrassing! Are they going to do that every time I get excited over something!? For the first time it dawned on me just how bad that’s going to be. It’s essentially the same as an erection, but it’s public and on display for everyone to see.

Ashley was smirking at me a little bit, as was Mom; my own mother! Ugh, God kill me now.

“You didn’t lose your manhood, Sam,” Marcus chimed in mirthfully. “It just moved.”

Wow… seriously?

My blush deepened to the point that I thought the heater had been turned up to full blast. “I hate you…” I muttered with my head still planted firmly on the table.

There was more chuckling from Marcus, but I didn’t respond further as I reminded myself that he was just lightly teasing. I didn’t need, nor want, to snap at him for it. Even if I had really wanted to, any desire for that would have melted away as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw that the hand belonged to my mother.

“Really, now, Marcus…” Ashley spoke up as she gave a mild scowl to Marcus. “Do you need to crack a joke like that every time at things like this?” Her tone was simply unamused, but she wasn’t outright chewing him out.

She came to my defense, I thought with a small flutter in my heart. Maybe… maybe she’s not as pissed at me after all.
Marcus shrugged a little. “I guess you’re right…”

I sensed an apology coming, so I spoke up first. “Hey, it’s alright, I guess…” I managed a smile with some ease. “I know you’re just joking.” I then turned that smile into a smirk. “And you shouldn’t apologize; it doesn’t suit the devil horns on your head…” I finished with a wink.

We all shared a laugh at the light jab and finished up our meal, then migrated to the living room to continue talking. During that time I noted two things missing. First, the muffled beats of heavy metal rock were absent, as was a pesky yet lovable blonde girl.

I looked over a Mom, still in the kitchen as she was finishing up the dishes. “Where are Shelby and Dan at?”

Mom looked up with a neutral expression. “Shelby is visiting with her friend, Terry. Dan is… out.” She finished with a roll of her eyes at the last word.

I nodded. That made perfect sense, I suppose. Dan never told any of us where he went. Any time we would ask, he’d simply respond that he was going ‘out’ -- and that was if he’d give any answer at all. I shook my head a little at the thought of his arrogant behavior. Still, I kind of wished he was here right now. I wanted to apologize to him for that kick. Warranted or not, I shouldn’t have really done that. In all likelihood he would just brush it off with either a threat or a ‘yeah, I don’t give a shit’.

I was glad to hear that Shelby was spending more time with Terry; although I wished that she had done so a little sooner. I wanted to know whether or not her friend was ponified as well. Call me nosy, but I wanted to know.

“And what about Dad?” I asked.

Mom sighed a little and eyed the ceiling. “Haven’t heard a peep from him in days. He’s still at work. My guess was that he is still dealing with a lot of backlash and chaos from all the ponification that’s been going on…” She scowled a little and huffed in annoyance. “He hasn’t even bothered to call me.” My mother crossed her arms as she said the last sentence in irritation.

I nodded once more.

That makes sense, I thought to myself. This would make Dad pretty busy.

Even so I also wished he was here. I had been feeling anxious ever since waking up in my apartment as a pegasus pony mare. In fact, with the exception of my coworkers at my job, only my family and closest friends knew about me; Dad being the only loose end.

“Does he even know?” I asked again. After a second I added with a hoof pointed at my chest. “I mean, does he know about me, yet?”

Mother quirked her eyebrow at me. “No, he doesn’t know. I just said he hasn’t so much as called me, remember?”

I facehooved. Oh yeah…

“Sorry,” I chuckled with a small grin. “Head still partially reeling from this whole thing…”

Mom nodded in response then joined us in the living room.

“Things seemed to have calmed down a little,” Mom said as she reached for the T.V. remote and flipped the screen on. Just like with my own, the channel was tuned to CNN.

We all turned towards the screen and was greeted with the same pair of newscasters; the same human male with combed back brown hair, as well as the dark pink mare with the blonde mane and tail. I smiled at the sight of her, glad that she still hasn’t been booted from her job because of what happened.

“The final death count is below what some experts expected,” the mare said with a small smile. “The initial estimation was greatly over-exaggerated. The same can be said for the number of injuries; most humans and ponified victims escaped their accidents with little more than scrapes at best, or a broken bone at worst.”

Her male anchor nodded. “Indeed. Due to the initial chaos and the short-staffed facilities all over the country, everything seemed far worse than what it was in reality. With the initial panic over, things are predicted to return to a semblance of normalcy and organization within a week.”

My smile grew a little more and I straightened up in my seat as my ears perked. That was good news! I thought the worst when Marcus and I made our way to Ashley’s that first day, thanks to all the wrecks we drove by.

“Oh thank heavens,” my Mother breathed a sigh of relief, and Ashley nodded in agreement.

Marcus crossed his arms and huffed. “Eh, they always over-exaggerate these things. There wasn’t a whole lot to worry about; most of the wrecks we saw the other day were little more than fender-benders,” he stated with a small roll of his eyes.

“Yeah, but there were some pretty bad ones,” I chimed in. “I remember at least one multi-car pile up.” Marcus simply nodded in agreement.

The news anchors continued with a few logistics and reports before moving on to another subject. “Police are still investigating the circumstances behind the ponified couples’ murder,” the now stoney-faced mare announced with a little bit of a dour undertone to her normally professional stature. “The investigation turned up very few leads.”

She nodded to her counterpart, whom continued, “That’s correct. The investigators involved are keeping tight lips over most of the details, but have released a few photos and statements regarding the crime scene. Viewer discretion is advised; these images you are about to see are not suitable for children below the age of eighteen. If anyone is hemophobic, we strongly suggest that such viewers look away.”

I blinked at the announcement and reflexively tensed. Must be bad if they’re actually warning people to look away; which made me wonder if CNN could actually show these images or not. In the end I decided to chalk it up to the usual craving for ratings. Typical.

The first picture showed up in the corner to the right of their collective heads, then zoomed in until it engulfed the screen as a whole.

Oh my God…

I felt my spine crawl as my jaw dropped. The scene was… bloody. The photo showed what could be anyone’s living room; sofa, couch, an entertainment system, et cetera. Except every surface has some splattering of red crimson. Most of it was long-since dried and darkened, but some of it was still fairly wet. On the three seat, blood-soaked sofa was a body underneath a black sheet. I squinted as I tried to make out details. The announcers already said that the victims were a pair of ponified people, but it was easy to tell that the body was equin as the sheet followed the unique curvature of the splayed hind legs and the contours of a pony’s muzzle. Just off the side of the couch was a tuft of tail, neon green with spark of purple with some matching long hairs sticking out from where the head was. Lastly, joining the partially revealed tail were some hemp ropes; whoever had killed those two had also tied them down.

As macabre as all that was, there was another detail that stood out to me -- and likewise it made my blood chill as though I’d suddenly stepped into a freezer. There was a small lump at the figure’s forehead; it wasn’t long enough to be a horn, but it was clearly there. I could only think of one possibility.

The murder had sawed off the horn of what used to be a unicorn.

I gulped as my ears folded and felt my wings twitch. Who the hell would do this, and why? What did they ever do to deserve that? An anger rose in my chest, but it was largely drowned out by the sheer horror of the scene. Even more so it seemed like the crime was made simply because those two had become ponies against their will. The memory of those white-robed individuals at the mall came to my mind. Could hey have been responsible, or someone like them?

I hesitantly glanced around the room. Mother looked pale and had her hand up to her mouth, her eyes glued to the horrible sight. Ashley likewise had paled, but like me her ears were down and she was retreating into the sofa cushions like she wanted to get as far away from the T.V. as physically possible. Marcus was the smart one and had his head turned away and his eyes closed; though there was a powerful scowl on his features that laid his opinion of the situation down clear as day.

I take it back; I’m glad Shelby isn’t here to see this right now. I had no doubt that this would have given her nightmares for weeks.

The picture disappeared and the morose visages of the newscasters reappeared in utter silence. The mare anchor looked especially disturbed, her ears bent back just like ours. She coughed a little and made to shuffle the papers in front of her. “Y-yeah….” she stuttered a little, then recomposed herself with a deep breath. “Police arrived on the scene to find the couple, bound and gagged, already dead. The, uh… victim on the couch had her… horn removed, sawn off with a hacksaw found in the kitchen sink. The other body was found in a similar state in the upstairs bedroom, with…” She paused for a few seconds and looked like she was going to be sick, but steeled herself and continued, “The second victim was found with a gaping hole in his chest, their heart missing.”

At that point she lost the will to speak and sat there quietly. She glanced a few times at her partner in a silent plea for him to continue while she tried to regain her composure again. “P-please excuse me…” She got up and left without another word.

“Alright Sylvia,” The male anchor nodded, then coughed a little as he turned back to the camera. “No further atrocities have been reported, but local police officials are staying vigilant. They ask that if anyone has any information leading to the perpetrators to please call this hotline, CNN directly, or the local police station. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated in bringing them to justice.” As he spoke a trio of phone numbers appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Alright, that’s enough of that. I trotted over and hoofed the channel button, and the T.V. promptly changed to a movie station showing a re-run of Red Dawn the remake.

I sighed and took a breath, “Well, what else are we down here for, Marcus?” I tried to change the subject -- anything was better to talk about than what we just saw.

Mom was the first to recover as she blinked several times. She nodded and stood up with her smile -- though it was a few notches lower than it had been earlier. “I have something you and Ashley might like.” She got up and moved off into the master bedroom.

I nodded as she went, and called after her, “We’ll be there in a minute.”

At that I moved over to Ashley and sat down on the floor in front of her. She was again staring at the ground, her forelegs trembling. “Hey,” I spoke up softly and put a hoof on hers. “I know it’s bad, but… we shouldn’t dwell on that, okay?” I managed a small smile and she looked up at me.

Ashley didn’t return that smile, but instead gave me a small nod.

I widened my own a little. “Okay, good…shall we?” I motioned towards the bedroom with my other hoof.

This time she did smile, and gave me a quick hug before trotting away to join my mother in the bedroom. My heart fluttered as well as my wings as a wan blush came to my face. I watched Ashley until her long tail disappeared around the corner, then turned my attention to the only other occupant.

“You alright Marcus?” I asked.

He was still brooding over the whole thing. Before I could say anything else, he suddenly stood up, his left fist balled. “I’ll be outside,” he said tersely, and I could tell his teeth were grit. Marcus strode his way out the front door, leaving me alone in the living room as I watched in partial shock.

I blinked. I’ve never seen him like that before. It was so unlike him to get so upset over, well, anything. I looked at the T.V., despite the fact that the channel was showing something different now, and couldn’t help but wonder. It was bad, there was no doubt, but did that really get under his skin that much? All evidence pointed to that being a confirmed ‘yes, it most certainly did’. This must have had something to do with him liking that show, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Well,” I said quietly to myself as my ears folded yet again. “Yay for another problem to deal with.”

I hated to see Marcus so upset, and it darkened my heart. Once he cools off I'll see if, maybe, I can cheer him up. A strong part of me wanted to go now, and I almost started off for the door to follow. My ears bent as I reminded myself that Ashley and Mother were waiting for me. Even still, I loathed having to choose like this, and it felt wrong to try and rationalize it by saying that he needed time to simmer down.

With another deep breath to relax my frayed nerves, I made my way to the bedroom to join my mother and love.