At this point, I don't even think we were anywhere near my house. She wasn't listening to any of my directions, and kept telling me to relax and enjoy the fresh air. Fresh air? This city wouldn't know fresh air if it came up and slit its' throat. The only thing fresh about this town were the posters on every flat surface of random shows and clubs, stores and products, and companies. We've been going down this one street for what seems like an hour. The sun had felt like is was getting closer to Manehattan, because there was no sense of cool on these sidewalks. You could see the vapor of the heat rise from them, I honestly wouldn't be surprise if you could cook eggs here.
Summer didn't seem to mind, though. She still wore her jacket with the hood up, and that same smile she greeted me with that morning. I looked up while she stared across the street to a billboard, her eyes were bright yellow. Almost as yellow as the sun. I found myself staring longer than necessary and looked away. What was she thinking about? What was her point? Why is she putting everything out of the way to take care of me? Was it guilt? Did she really feel like she owes me her services? She doesn't, really. Summer could stay even without having to help me...where did that come from? Ugh, never mind.
As we walked across, I believe, the twelfth block, I couldn't take the silence anymore and decide to take this opportunity to ask Summer about herself. Maybe find out why she's helping me. Or more importantly, where we're going. "Hey."
She looked down at me, still pushing the wheelchair. "Yeah? Heh, you look like your getting a tan."
"Right. So, what's your story? Do you live here in Manehattan?" I asked. She thought about for a few moments before answering.
"No." She said. "I was just passing through."
I thought. "Where do you live?"
"I don't live anywhere. I travel a lot." She spoke.
Interesting... "So, you travel from town to town, city to city, no place in mind, and then what? What if you find somewhere you want to stay?" I was really interested, but still wanting to know more about what happened two days ago. But I have to take it slow.
Summer skidded the chair to a stop and leaned it back, her face was a mere inches away from mine. Ponies who were walking by gave us some strange looks. "Then...I'll stay." Her canary eyes looked right into my psyche, maybe even deeper than that. I gulped loudly. "Hehe, if only there was such a place."
Is she bucking with me? "What is it with you?" I asked. "You switch from one personality to the next. What are you, bi-polar?"
She gasped sarcastically at me. "How dare you? I thought we had something special!" She waved a hoof to her forehead in dramatic fashion. "You are so going to get it later, but now...Aha!" She looked over to the right and saw a bright blue building. "There! Come on, Dove! Get up!" Summer flipped the wheelchair back up and rushed us across the street. Carriages were skidding to a stop as we crossed.
"Ahhh!" I screamed. "Summer, look out-Oh crap!" We nearly missed a carriage that had not even bothered to slow down, let alone stop.
When we reached across the street, my heart was having a heart attack. Summer walked in front of me and patted a hoof on top of my head. "That'll do, Dove. That'll do."
I swear to Luna, I will end you. I spoke in my head. She just risked our lives for what?! I looked to the top of the building and read 'Curve's Bar'. "You pushed me half way to the center of town...for food?"
"No, dork." Summer said. "I'm thirsty."
"Whatever. Let's just hurry this up, I'm cooking out here." I said. It's probably only one in the afternoon and I'm already tired and drained. She grabbed my chair and pulled us into the dinner. As we made it through the doorway, I instantly smelled alcohol and cigarettes. My stomach churned upon the smell reaching my mind. "Ugh...This place sucks. It smells like the inside of a dragon's bowels."
Summer sighed. "You know, you can eat here." She said. "Just not, like huge stuff. Your stomach still needs to heal. Like, you see that chair? Don't eat that."
I grew angry. For some reason, my 'bullshit meter' was full and I was going to let her have it, but she poked me in the muzzle. "Ow."
"Hehe, you get mad way too easily." She pushed me over to a table and sat in a chair on the opposite side. "Hey, can I get waiter? A barmare...Or something?" She yelled towards the counter. The other ponies in the place looked at us with stares that predators give their prey. Or assassins give their targets. "Hey, It's impolite to stare."
The ponies looked away, but she kept her gaze on them.
I looked out the window. Two days. What's today, Wednesday? I began to think about school, which led to Rose Thorn, of course, and that led to Darkstar. My head went faster and faster as I thought about what could happen if I saw him again. All of his friends are dead, and Summer was the cause of it. Would he blame me? Ugh, why couldn't I have lived somewhere simple...
"What do you want?"
"Huh?" Summer mumbled as she looked up. A unicorn with green mane and yellow fur stood above us, a note pad and pen levitating beside her. "Oh! I would like a glass of light cider."
The waiter wrote down Summer's order and turned to me. "And what would you-Wait a minute." She looked closer at me. "How old are you?"
"Uh..." I said.
Summer scoffed. "He's not drinking. Get him a small cheese and lettuces sub."
"Alright. We'll try to get your orders out as fast as we can." The waiter said. She walked away from us and went into the kitchen. I turned to Summer, her eyes fixated on me.
"What?"
"Nothing." She said. "Well...it's your wings."
"My wings?"
"Yeah. I've been meaning to ask you, why didn't you just fly away from those ponies?"
That question couldn't have been more painful if it had been attached to the knife Darkstar used on me. "I can't fly."
Her expression dropped. "You. You can't fly? Why not?"
"My wings aren't really...strong. They're like paper, which is why when Darkstar threw me at that dumpster, one of them broke." I sank back in the chair. "That leaves me pretty much useless." I stared down at the table top, a sour frown upon my lips.
Summer saw my face and frowned. "Aw, Dove." She got up and walked around the table, she sat in the stool beside me and wrapped a hoof around me. "You can't keep putting yourself down like that. You are not useless. Look at me." She took my face in her hooves and pointed my gaze into her's. "Say what I say: I-"
I did as she told. "I-"
"Am-"
"Am-"
"Not-"
"Not-"
"Useless."
I paused, before saying the last word. "Useless."
She smiled. "Now. Do you feel better?" I have to admit, having somepony like her have me say something like that and tell me herself was really relieving. I felt better, but not better, better. "Come on...give us a smile!"
I couldn't help it. A grin grew on my lips.
"There you go!" Summer smiled. "You're so adorable." She leaned in and touched her forehead to mine, her eyes once again on mine. Time froze around me. I had no idea what was going to come out of this moment, but I was completely lost in those sulfur gems.
"Ahem." A voice sounded behind us. Summer sighed and turned around, a big pony with one cup of what may be cider and one plate on his back was looking down at us with an eyebrow raised.
"What? Jealous?" Summer scorned. "Don't look at us like that. You're the peeping pony here, tubs. "
With a grunt, the pony threw the plate on the table and slammed the cup down next to it. He huffed and walked away. The other ponies in the dinner, I think, were still bearing the same expression since we got there. "Well that was nice of him, huh?" She said to me with a laugh.
"What a dick." I said truthfully. Summer patted me on the head.
"Chill, kid." She told me. "Here eat your sub. After this, we should probably head home."
'Head home.' The way Summer said that caught me off guard. Home for me is the place i go to when I'm tired, hungry. It's where I live. But what is home for her? I could never live out on my own, I kind of already do, but I'm not completely alone. No matter what she says, it either goes into one pile marked 'bullshit' or the pile marked 'worrisome'. Why am I so concerned about what she says? More importantly, why am I so concerned about her?...
~*~\~^~/~*~
After I ate and she drank, Summer and I made way back for my house. I looked to the skies, couldn't see the sun anymore. Or the sky. This city either has a really bad nicotine addiction or the factories in the dead sector are going to ended up filling the entire sky with it's fumes. Then again, we did spend a long time in that bar. The dead sector is a part of Manehattan that lost all control on night and burned to the ground, both metaphorically and literally. Many ponies died that day. The Mayor stationed a base over there for classified reasons. Nopony to this day knows what goes on there.
"Whoa." Summer said. I look away from the grey sky and towards a tall black building. It over shadowed the whole street, there were no windows, no signs. All it had were two armed guards out side its' only door. And two giant letters on the side of the building:P.G.
"That's the new organization that moved into the city two weeks ago." I explained. "I don't know what they're called, but I hear ponies say that they're here as back up in case another part of the city rebels."
She looked at the building, her eyes were like saucers. When I followed to what they were looking at, I too raised an eyebrow. What did P.G. mean?
"I think we should go." She whispered, and began pushing me right passed the overshadowing building.
"Wait! What happened? Did you see-"
"GET HER!!" The two guards by the door yelled and chased after us. I saw fear in Summer's eyes and knew something deeper was defiantly going on. She ran while pushing the wheel chair as fast as she could. Her breath was on the back of my neck. I felt scared. They shouted 'Get her'. What are going to do with me? With that thought now fueling the flames of my thinking, I started yelling behind me.
"GO! Go, Summer! Why are they chasing us?!" I yelled back at her. She didn't reply. When I turned around, I saw them again. Her glowing yellow eyes. Summer was looking right through me and only at what was in front of us. I didn't know what was going on, nor did I want to at that moment. All I wanted was to get the buck out of there. The guards behind us were falling behind and slowing down. Summer wasn't. She just kept running, pushing me. I felt woozy and sat back in the wheelchair. And eventually, passed out.