//------------------------------// // 63. The Cracks in the Shell // Story: Tales of the Oppressed // by Terran34 //------------------------------// The wind blows through my hair as Rainbow and I zoom through the clouds, the two of us relishing in one another's company despite our current lack of conversation. It's gonna be great, knowing that I can fly together with her like this every morning from now on. We land in the Ponyville square not far from Sugarcube Corner, which is our current destination. I certainly hope Rainbow and I will be able to carry all of this stuff back to her house. It occurs to me that I've never seen Rainbow's house. Maybe I've never looked high enough or whatever. “I'm diggin' the new mane cut, Seth,” Rainbow compliments me with a grin, as we approach Surgarcube Corner. I return her grin, running a hand through my freshly cut hair. “It looks like what it did back when I first met you. Now, put some colors in it, and it might even come close to being as awesome as my mane!” “Oh goddammit, must you turn every single compliment into a way to stroke your own ego at the same time?” I groan, though I'm not particularly angry. Rainbow's always going to brag. I don't like it, but it's just something about her that I've come to accept over the past few months that I've known her. “You know it! I just can't help being so cool, you know?” Rainbow returns, shamelessly continuing to boast. She flips the end of her mane with a hoof. “I mean, check this out. Nopony in Equestria has a mane like mine. It's one of a kind, baby!” “The only thing that's one of a kind here is your confidence. Can I just say that you're the only girl I know that isn't ridiculously insecure?” I comment as the thought strikes me. Rainbow's grin fades slightly at that, and she looks at me in confusion. “What are you talking about? What exactly do you mean by 'insecure'?” Rainbow asks, looking as if she seriously doesn't know. Are you kidding me? You're friends with Fluttershy, and she's like the textbook fucking definition of insecure. “Exactly what I said. Too many damn girls are always weak and constantly questioning themselves. It gets so bad that it becomes a hassle just to deal with them, because you have to watch what you say just to have a normal conversation with them,” I relate to Rainbow, shaking my head at my own memories of some of those types of girls I've run into. “I can see how that would get pretty annoying. I know I'm always bugging Fluttershy to be a little more assertive,” Rainbow agrees. Aha, thank you. She does know that Fluttershy is exactly the type I'm talking about. “Do you know what's even worse? The ones that constantly remind you of the fact that they're insecure to try and get you to feel protective of them,” I continue, as this is a subject that gets on my nerves entirely. “And it's extremely obvious! I had a girl once say, 'Oh, I'm just not good at anything,' and suddenly she's got all of her friends telling her how pretty she is, or how good she is at this, that, and the other. Makes me sick.” “You're talking an awful lot. This a thing you dealt with in your time?” Rainbow observes, though she does seem interested in what I'm saying. “Yeah, too much. To the point where I got sick of it. If you can't stand up on your own, I'm probably just going to hate you,” I conclude. I look at Rainbow, who seems a little shocked at that statement. “Thank you for not being like that.” “You're welcome, but I actually disagree with the last thing you said. About not being able to stand up on your own,” Rainbow informs me. I raise an eyebrow. Really? You're going to fight me on this? Amaryllis agreed with me on that point, back in my time. “We'll talk about that later though. We're here now.” Sure enough, we've reached Sugarcube Corner, which I've been dreading. Whatever, I'll just let Rainbow do all the talking, and then we'll get going. I won't give Pinkie enough time to fuck with me. Rainbow pushes the door open, the little bell ringing to let the proprietors know we're here. And by proprietors, I mean Pinkie, who is the sole pony standing behind the counter. “Welcome, Rainbow and Seth! I've been waiting for you. I have all of your snacks and drinks ready to go!” Pinkie greets us enthusiastically, fucking vaulting over the counter to come meet us. She runs behind us and uses her her head and hooves to guide us towards the counter. “They're in those boxes on the counter. One for each of you!” “I can walk on my own,” I snap at Pinkie, still mad at her for yesterday. I distance myself from her and approach the counter, noticing the two medium sized boxes resting there. The both of them are shut and sealed tightly with tape. “Oh wow, these boxes are huge! What's in them, Pinks?” Rainbow asks, tapping one of the boxes with her hoof. “Cakes, and cookies, and cupcakes, and fudge, and brownies, and...” Pinkie promptly starts spouting off multiple kinds of sweets. While her voice is still annoying as fuck, my mouth starts salivating with each new confection she mentions. “...oh, and you can't forget the drinks! I put in lemonade, punch, and bubbly cherry!” “...Bubbly cherry? Do I even want to know?” I ask wryly, turning to Rainbow. “Trust me, it's really good. It's like cherry, except it bubbles in your mouth. It's the strangest feeling, but it grows on you,” Rainbow explains to me. Huh, that sounds an awful lot like soda. I should have figured ponies would have an equivalent. I consider asking where it came from, but I doubt Rainbow would know. “Thanks, Pinkie. We're gonna take these and go.” Rainbow grasps a set of cords that's attached to the first box, which I assume is there to make it easy to carry while in flight. I do the same to the other box, finding it to be much lighter than I expected. It's still heavy, because there's probably jugs of liquid in there. Still though, with all of these sweets Pinkie's provided for us, this is looking to be one hell of an awesome night. Just as we're about to leave, Pinkie streaks up to me, depositing something wrapped in napkins on top of the box. “There you go! Have fun, you two!” Pinkie says to us, and then she returns to her position behind the counter, no doubt getting ready to close up the shop. Curiously, I pick up the object and unwrap it, discovering it to be a cookie. On the cookie is written a message in pink frosting. “Hi! This is from Pinkie Pie, and I wanted to say I'm sorry for making you mad by calling your night with Rainbow a date and that you should...oh shoot, I'm running out of spa...,” it read. Despite the fact that this isn't enough to make me any less angry about that argument, it makes me chuckle nonetheless. “Apology accepted. Mind your own damn business next time,” I call back to Pinkie, and then I throw the cookie into my mouth, chomping down on it with relish. It's baked by Pinkie, so of course it's delicious. “Oki doki loki!” Pinkie responds cheerily, and then Rainbow and I leave the shop. Rainbow looks curiously at the remains of the cookie I just ate. “What was that all about?” Rainbow queries. “Pinkie do something to make you mad? Apart from the usual, I mean.” “It's just something stupid she said without thinking last night, after I met her in the streets,” I answer, though I make sure to keep the details from her. That's a conversation I'm certainly not telling Rainbow. “Right. Well, enough about that. Let's get going! I've already moved the house someplace secluded,” Rainbow exclaims. With a little hop, she takes to the air so she can test the weight of the box she has to carry. Judging by her confident smile, it's light enough for her. “Oh, I've got this.” I shake my head wryly, but I follow her into the air with a burst of magic, carrying the box with me in one hand. The two of us ascend into the skies, our spirits rising with our altitude. “Hold that for a minute,” Rainbow requests, but then she proceeds to hand me her box without waiting for a reply. I take in, bemused, wondering why I have to carry all of the food. Seconds later, I would facepalm, if I had a hand free to do it with. Rainbow is now executing flips and dives, showing off her aerial prowess. “Yeah, check this out! Whoo!” “Okay, show off. That's great and all, but where the hell are we going anyway?” I ask, looking down at Ponyville, far below me. “North! I moved the house pretty far. It's over where the river meets White Tail Woods!” Rainbow answers as she executes a skilled corkscrew. White Tail...that's pretty far away. I guess Rainbow was serious when she said she didn't want us to bother the ponies of Ponyville. Still, this'll be great, because it means I can blast my music as loud as I want. It actually doesn't take us as long as I thought. As soon as we pass over the hills just north of Ponyville, the woods come into view, as does the flowing waters of the river. Unlike the Everfree south of Ponyville, White Tail Woods looks healthy and green, as a forest actually should. Above the trees is a large cloud formation. As we get closer I can make it out. “What the fuck...that's your house!?” I demand, looking at its features in equal measures of shock and wonder. Rainbow does what looks like a fucking midair backstroke, looking entirely too pleased with herself. “Like it? It's totally awesome, isn't it? Don't be shy, tell me how awesome it is!” Rainbow responds, her ego shining through now more than ever. Though at this point, I think she deserves a little bit of it. I mean, look at this place. The best way to describe it, in the simplest terms, is as an elaborate tower sitting atop a base of clouds. Except that wouldn't be doing it justice. There's about three layers of it, which I assume means it has three stories. Each layer, for lack of a better term, is surrounded by fancy cloud pillars, or trippy cloud formations. Finally, the tower is topped off by a rounded roof. Of course, that's just the basic structure. Probably the most eye-catching feature of the whole damn thing is the giant rainbow that starts from the roof and curves downward, running parallel to the tower before finally hitting a cloud structure near the base...where it then flows down a channel as...liquid rainbow? What the fuck? “Is that...liquid rainbow?” I ask incredulously, watching the liquid flow down the channel and pour down into a pool further down. “It totally is! It means I can have as much rainbow as I want, whenever I want. Also it just looks cool,” Rainbow replies, looking way too pleased with herself. “Okay, I have to find out for myself,” I state flatly, and then I fly over to the path at the base of the cloud, that leads up to the tower itself. I snap my fingers, casting the cloud spell on me and the boxes, and then I lower the boxes onto the path, freeing myself of that particular burden. The next thing I do is land on the clouds, which deform slightly under my weight, and then stomp over to the pool of liquid rainbow. I plunge my hand into the pool, but quickly find the liquid to be hot for whatever reason, so I quickly jerk my hand back out with a yelp. “Ow, what the fuck?” I cry out in pain. Bits of rainbow are on my hand, and it looks fucking weird. Behind me, Rainbow is laughing her ass off. “Don't stick your hand into the rainbow, you idiot!” Rainbow teases me, landing next to me. She looks entirely too amused by this situation, so I turn around and smear the rainbow on my hand across her side. “Hey, what the...!?” “Think you could have warned me first? Blasted pony,” I grumble, though I'm grinning as she tries to reach the smear of rainbow on her side. “Annoying human!” “No, we're not doing that!” I say in a ridiculous voice, which gets Rainbow to laugh. “What, are you chicken?” Rainbow shoots back. “I said no!” I say again, and then the two of us break out into mutual laughter. Ah, this is what I came here for. Dumb bullshit, music, and sweets. “Let's just go inside. I'm eager to see what the inside is like.” “It's just as awesome as the outside. Trust me, I made it,” Rainbow assures me. I chuckle, and the two of us pick the boxes back up and move towards the door. “So, did this cost you any money? How exactly did you make this? Did you just find some clouds and throw them together?” I inquire, looking up at the tower as we near the door. “It didn't cost money, but it was a lot of work. Like, a lot,” Rainbow says, emphasizing her words with funny hoof motions. “I had to get these clouds from somewhere. Honestly I lived in a cloud hut for a while until I pinched enough cloud material from the storms we whipped up to make it look better. This is the product of months of work!” “It definitely looks like it. Sheesh,” I comment. I have to admit, the idea of living in a cloud tower reminds me a lot of...huh, I wonder if Rayquaza is living at the top of this thing. Get it? Because it's a sky tow...shut up. Rainbow opens the door and leads me inside, to a small entrance area, where there's a few chairs and an end table or two. Mostly everything is in shades of white to black, and multiples in between. I have to say, magic is really cool sometimes, especially if Rainbow can use it to affect clouds enough to make colors like these. “This is just the entrance area. It's where I entertain official guests. Sometimes I get visitors from Cloudsdale or the Board of Weather Control, since I'm the head of the weather team here,” Rainbow begins, indicating the room with a sweep of a hoof. “Oh, am I getting a tour?” I ask in annoyance. When Rainbow looks at me oddly, I explain. “Time's a wasting. Let's go ahead and get settled. We can do the tour later.” “Aw, but my house is awesome!” Rainbow protests, but she does see the sense in what I'm saying, because she opens the door to short hallway that leads to a set of stairs. “Come on, I'll take you to the most awesome room in this place.” “Aw, I have to lug these boxes up a set of stairs?” I complain, because I'm again carrying both boxes, because Rainbow can't carry them while she's on the ground...or cloud, in this case. “Two sets. Now quit complaining and put your back into it,” Rainbow teases me, which makes me want to hit her with one of these boxes. That's fine, I'll get revenge once we've reached the spot we're going to chill. Rainbow leads me up a set of ornate cloud stairs to the second floor, but I don't get very long to look at it before she takes me up yet another set of stairs to the top floor, where there's only one room. “Rainbow, did you just take me to your room?” I ask incredulously. Because sure enough, on the far side of the room, there's a bed made of clouds, where there's the image of Rainbow's butt tattoo emblazoned on the comforter. Next to the bed is a nightstand, with a picture of what looks like Rainbow's family...huh, she's never actually talked about them. Moving on, there's two couches on either side of the room, with a carpet in between them. Lastly, ornate cloud pillars are set in the wall at regular intervals. “Yeah, it's cleaner than my living room. Not to mention larger, since it doesn't have a clunky staircase in one corner,” Rainbow reasons, averting her gaze. I shrug. “I couldn't care less if your living room is messy or not,” I express. I mean, it's not like I care either way. It just doesn't make any sense to me. “But I'm also not carrying these boxes down those stairs again. So this is good for now.” Rainbow appears relieved as I set the boxes down and throw myself onto one of the couches, sighing. This is the first time all day that I've been able to sit down. “You open up the snacks. I'll get some music going on,” I tell her. Rainbow nods and eagerly rips open the first box. “Oh wow, there's so much food in here!” Rainbow declares, pulling out an entire cookie cake. “How did she even fit all of this in there?” “Cookie cake? Oh fuck the hell yes,” I comment, practically drooling. I haven't had cookie cake in forever, which is sad because it tends to be ridiculously delicious. “Cut me a slice of that!” “Starting with cookie cake, are we? Sounds good to me!” Rainbow agrees, and she sets the cake on the floor and produces a knife from the box to cut it with. While I'm waiting, I pull out my phone from my pocket, powering it on for the first time in a while, since I've never really had cause to use it. As it's booting up, I remove a crystal orb from my pocket as well. I set it near my phone, and sure enough, the start-up sound the phone usually emits is magnified enough to where Rainbow can hear it, loud and clear. “What the hay was that?” Rainbow asks, jumping slightly in surprise. She notices my phone, and then understanding crosses her face. “Oh, it's your phone. I did say it right, right?” “Yes, it's a phone. I'm looking for a song to start us off with. We probably shouldn't start with something heavy,” I muse, opening up my music library. Maybe I should start us off with some soft orchestral music? Or would that put Rainbow straight to sleep? “Nah, dude, play something like you did that one time in Canterlot. Whatever that was, it was rockin'!” Rainbow argues. Heh, fair enough I guess. But even so, I don't want to start with that particular band right off the bat. They're usually super heavy, and are great once your blood is flowing. “I think you'll like this then,” I say, deciding on a female metal band that I'd grown to like. Eh, I might as well tell Rainbow, considering she already knows who she is. “Amaryllis showed me this band. They're pretty good.” Rainbow nods, but then her eyes shoot wide when the song starts, because unlike the one song I showed her, it doesn't have any build up. It goes right into the main guitar riff after the female vocalist kicks things off. “Wow, this already sounds awesome. That girl's voice is so cool!” Rainbow comments as she finally finishes cutting pieces of cookie cake for the both of us. I grin. I figured Rainbow would like this. This style seems like it would be right up her alley. “You know, I never got to ask before, but how come I can understand them?” “You're actually right. It is rather odd that both humans and ponies speak the same language,” I respond. I never actually thought about this, but it's been over three thousand years since humans were around. So why do ponies speak English? “But it's not like I have an answer. Now give me some of that damn cookie cake before my mouth drowns itself.” “How can your mouth drown itself?” Rainbow retorts, laughing, but she does give me the cake I requested. “Fuck you, that's how,” is my genius response. Rainbow huffs, but chuckles soon after that. I bite into my cake and immediately go to sugar heaven. I fucking love cookie cake. That's how things go for a while. We don't really talk much at first, because we're busy gorging ourselves on sweets and listening to some kickass music. Still though, this is something I've wanted to do for my entire life. It's nice, having someone sit with you, listening to your music and appreciating it as much as you do. Sometimes more than me, because at one point, while listening to a particularly upbeat tune, Rainbow gets up and dances, dragging me into it at as well. And you know what? Since it's just the two of us, I don't feel any qualms about acting as stupid as I want. I also get to try the drinks Pinkie prepared for us. The lemonade and punch are pretty much what you'd expect. The Bubbly Cherry, however, tastes a lot like cherry coke, except not really. Basically, it's got the cherry flavor and the carbonation, but that's about it. There's no coke flavor. So it's essentially just cherry soda, if that's even a thing. It's not bad. I like it a lot. Finally, after eating a rather large brownie, I lay back, groaning in contentment. “You know these were supposed to be snacks...but I ate them like they were a meal,” I mention to her. Rainbow is in a similar situation, as she's lying on the couch next to me, her stomach bloated from eating so much. “Yeah...why did we do that? Snacks, what a joke. They're only snacks if we have some measure of self control,” Rainbow laments, rubbing her stomach. “Eh, who cares. Pinkie probably knew we'd pig out on these things.” “I hear that. I regret nothing. This just means I won't be moving from this spot for a while,” I declare. “It's good thing I have such a hard job. I'll be working all of this off later.” “Yeah, heh,” Rainbow says lethargically. There's a short contented silence between us, broken only by the sound of the music playing from my phone. Rainbow eventually turns her head to me, looking a bit uncertain. “So...tell me about your brother.” “What? Where did that come from?” I ask, taken by surprise by the sudden personal question. “And why the hell does it matter?” “Well, you said you'd talk a bit about your family, when we were talking about this in the sewers of Canterlot,” Rainbow reminds me. I remember that conversation, much to my chagrin. Rainbow sneakily got me to agree to talk about my family with her then, on the condition that we both made it out of the attack alive. At the time it hadn't been that big of a deal, but now, I'm a bit reluctant. “Besides, I can't help but be curious about the humans that were important to you. I figured I'd ask about your brother, because he looked pretty funny.” “A pain in the ass is more like it, but I cared about him,” I admit, resigning myself. Rainbow is probably the only one I'd ever be comfortable talking to about all of this. I might as well tell the story. “He's not that bright, either. He used to be all about sports, and that always pissed me off. I never really spoke to him, because I hated all the attention he got for being a sports player. We didn't have anything in common either.” “A sports guy, huh? I respect that, though it seems you don't. What changed your mind?” Rainbow asks curiously. She seems like she's really into listening about this, so I might as well tell her the full story. “It's complicated. Sit back and listen, because I'm not going to repeat myself,” I warn Rainbow, and then I start the story. “It was back in early high school, when my brother was still in college...” I sat in my room at my parent's house, completely alone. It was usually like this on weekends. My brother always had soccer games on Saturdays, and my mother and father would always go and see them. They used to drag me along too, but eventually they stopped taking me, because I never showed any interest, and eventually I fought with them about it. They've never bothered to ask me since, and I was fine with that. My room was somewhat large, because it had enough room to fit a small couch, a big screen TV... “Uh, what's a TV?” Rainbow interrupts not long after I got started, causing me to stop and give her a stare. “Sorry, I'm curious.” “It's like a projector, except the image comes from the inside,” I explain. Rainbow's eyes widen at that, but before she can ask anything further, I continue to tell my story. ...and a queen sized bed. I don't mind saying that I was a bit spoiled, because my father was very well paid from his job in the military, and my mother also had a pretty well-paying job. It was...difficult for me to be open with them all that much, but I'll give them credit; they wanted me to be happy. I eventually grew bored of playing a fighting game on my computer, so I hooked up my computer to the TV, so the computer display would show up on the TV. “Wait, hold up a second. What? I'm confused,” Rainbow interrupts once more. I huff in annoyance. “It doesn't matter, dammit. All it does is make the image on the computer show up on the TV,” I explain grudgingly. “Now will you shut up and let me tell my story?” “Sorry,” Rainbow says sheepishly. Then I started watching Soul Eater. That's the name of an anime series, which is basically just like a set of pictures shown one after the other so fast that it looks like the pictures are moving. By the time my family returned home at around six in the evening, I was deep into a combat scene that was intense, because it seemed hopeless for the heroes. I didn't bother going out to greet my family, because all they'd want to talk about would be the dumb game they went to. They sound happy out there though, so Adam must have won the game. A few moments later, there was a knock at my door. “Yo, Seth, you in there?” Adam called uncertainly. I glanced at the door for a split second, but soon returned to my anime. It was obviously nothing important. My brother was just a dumb jock, after all. Who the fuck cared what he had to say? If I ignored him, I was sure he'd leave me alone. Though he's slow, so it might take him a bit. “Oi!” To my shock and anger, Adam actually opened my door despite the fact that I didn't give him an answer. He looked pretty sweaty, his hair (which was similar to mine, except blond, like my mother's), hanging in strands down his face, and there were sweat stains on his shirt. “What the fuck, Adam? When my door is shut, you stay the hell out!” I immediately shouted at him, angry that my anime was interrupted, as well as the fact that he wasn't respecting my privacy. Adam raises both hands as if to show that he didn't mean any harm. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were in here,” Adam replied, acting apologetic. I grunt and turn away from him, hoping that he would just leave now that he knows I don't want to talk to him. Of course, that wasn't the case. “What are you doing, anyway? You rarely leave your room these days.” “Clearly that should tell you something, then. Why don't you get the fuck out already and celebrate your sports victory with mother and father? They clearly desire your presence more than I do,” I snapped scathingly at him. Adam winced, but even that doesn't get him to go away. Instead, he walked around the corner so that he could see what I'm watching. I groaned and glared at him. “Why are you still here!?” “Whoa, what is that?” Adam exclaims, ignoring my rude question and instead staring at the image of the two girls on the screen, who were fighting hard against one another. Great, now my brother was just going to make fun of my “nerdy” pursuits. He's a jock, that's how they act. “Holy crap, that looks epic.” “Yes, well, I don't get up in your face about your sports, so don't talk shit about...wait what did you just say?” I had to do a double take, because it sounded an awful lot like my brother said something positive. “I said this looks epic! Who is that badass-looking girl with the scythe?” Adam asked excitedly, getting closer to the screen. I blinked, sitting there in utter shock, because my brother, the dumb jock that only ever talks about sports, was showing interest in my anime. “That's...that's Maka Albarn, the main character,” I revealed numbly, not sure how to take this. Adam turns around and looks at me in excitement. “This is a series? Dude, play it, play it!” Adam exclaimed, and then he plopped down on the couch beside me without asking. Because he was larger than me, I was disturbed a bit by him sitting down. “Are you serious?” I asked him incredulously, no nastiness present in my voice for the first time in a long time. Adam nodded excitedly, crossing his arms impatiently. Huh, well, I mean, I might as well. He would probably just leave in disgust the moment he hears it's in another language. I reached over to my computer and pressed the play button, and the fight between Maka and her opponent played out. Adam sat with me, riveted on the action as the scythe-wielding meister and the girl with the screaming sword battled, though one side had a very distinct advantage. “God, that's terrifying. I don't blame her for losing; I don't think I'd be able to do a thing if I was facing a sword that screamed at me,” Adam commented when the fight ended in Maka's defeat. “This is really good, but I don't really know what's going on. I got nothing to do tonight. Are you far in? Would you mind starting the series over so I can watch it with you?” “What? Really?” I demanded. My brother was really taking me by surprise that day. It's like sports didn't even matter to him at that point, as all of his attention was focused on my anime. “Yeah, that looked so cool and scary. You don't see that kind of stuff in live action films,” Adam replied earnestly. Huh...that was probably one of the exact same reasons I had for not watching that many live action films. Maybe...he was more similar to me than I thought. “Come on, it'll be great.” “Sure, I guess,” I ended up telling him, my bitterness towards him fading in light of his new-found interest in anime. So I went back and restarted the series from the first episode, because I wasn't really that far in. Adam was totally riveted by it. He responded in all of the right ways, laughing at the comic relief character's bullshit, sympathizing with Maka, and identifying with Soul, Maka's weapon, for whatever reason. “Hey, Adam, feel like coming out and talking to us about the game?” We're unfortunately interrupted by my parents, Elaine and Gerome, who poked their heads in. So imagine their surprise when they saw Adam and I sitting together. “Adam?” “Later, mom. I'm hanging with my brother right now,” Adam told them absentmindedly, and then he proceeds to laugh his ass off at an interacting between Maka and Soul. Elaine and Gerome look at one another and smile, before they retreated from the room, shutting the door. “And that's how I bonded with my brother,” I finish, and then I take a breath. I don't think I've ever told that story in such detail to anyone other than Amaryllis. It actually feels good to be able to tell that to someone else. Rainbow, ever since I told her to shut up, had been listening intently for the course of the whole story. Usually she gets bored with long detailed stories, but surprisingly I haven't seen her shift any. For some reason she finds my story important enough to warrant her interest. “You know, now I want to watch this Soul Eater thing,” Rainbow states as her first reaction to the story. “I mean, come on, a screaming sword? That just sounds awesome!” “It was awesome. That character in particular happened to be one of my favorites, just because of how she fought, and how she became the way she was,” I admit to her. “It was the first anime I ever watched with my brother.” “Your brother sounds awesome. I like how he threw aside the things he liked just to share something you liked with you,” Rainbow observes, and then against her better judgment, she bites into a brownie...and then regrets it a second later. “Agh, why did I do that?” “Idiot,” I remark, though I've done that myself in the past. One does not simply resist eating a brownie, even when you're stuffed. “Pinkie made us too many sweets. Anyway, what else did you do with your brother?” Rainbow presses. She's acting really interested in this for some reason. Well, I already told her that much, so I might as well finish. “Anime was what we bonded over, so that's what we did whenever we would hang out. We went through all of the major titles together, and whenever a convention would happen, we'd go to it,” I relate. “Convention?” Rainbow prompts. “Yeah, when a bunch of anime fans would get together to see some of the anime producers, buy anime merchandise, and other activities. I didn't care for all the people there, but it was fun meeting some of the voice actors, as well as hanging out with Adam...though he got way too into it,” I explain for her. I recall some of Adam's dumber costumes, and I shake my head. “He would dress up as his favorite characters whenever we went to one of these. Remember that picture I showed you of him? He was dressed up as Soul.” “Oh yeah! Did he look like Soul?” Rainbow recalls with a grin. “Nope,” I respond simply, and then Rainbow and I both chuckle to ourselves. “He was an idiot, but he was my brother, and I had some good times with him.” “Yeah, I don't have a brother myself, but yours seems like a totally chill guy to hang with,” Rainbow remarks. “All I got is my dad, really, and we don't keep in contact that much, apart from the odd letter here 'n there.” “Yeah? And did your dad have a ridiculous mane like you do?” I joke. “Yes, and it's not ridiculous, it's awesome and unique. No other pony has a mane like this. You're just jealous because yours has no color,” Rainbow shoots back, shoving me with a grin on her face. I shove her back, getting slapped by her hooves a few times, though all it does is make me chuckle. “I'm perfectly fine with my black hair, thank you,” I point out. “In fact, you should try it sometime. Dye your hair black and then revel in how much more badass you'll look.” “That's not happening. Why don't you dye your mane like mine, and experience what it's like being almost as awesome as me?” Rainbow counters, and then the two of us laugh at how stupid we sound. I can't picture her with a black mane anyway. “Actually, this would be an awesome idea for next years Nightmare Night.” “Next year's what?” “Nightmare Night! It's a holiday dedicated to scary things, like Nightmare Moon. We all dress up in costumes and collect candy from the other ponies,” Rainbow explains. Huh, that sounds extremely similar to a holiday I know. In fact, fucking identical. “So, it's basically Halloween?” I ask. I notice Rainbow's confused expression, because she has no idea what that is. “It's the same damn thing. We dress up like dumb horror characters and get candy. I don't usually partake though. The only exception is last year, when I dressed up like a dumb movie villain with Amaryllis.” “Yeah, it's like that. You should totally dye your hair like mine, and I'll dye mine like yours, just for that day. We'll still dress up in horror costumes, though,” Rainbow suggests. Hah, that seems like it would be a laugh. I'll keep it in mind. Suddenly, Rainbow looks a little shifty. “Uh...yeah, so that reminds me. This Amaryllis girl. Can I hear about her as well?” “I...don't know. What exactly do you want to know?” I ask uncomfortably. I've told Rainbow before, but I loved Amaryllis. It would be a bit painful for me to talk about her overmuch. My question gets Rainbow to turn her head to one side, averting her gaze for a second, almost as if she's...shy. And that's not like her. “You...loved her, right? I just want to know a little bit more about her. What was she like?” Rainbow inquires tentatively, knowing that she's treading in dangerous waters with me. I hesitate at first. I've told her that Amaryllis existed and that I loved her, but I never really told her anything beyond that. I sigh deeply, calming myself down so that I can answer her seriously. “You realize I haven't told anypony about this?” I say simply, staring at her in the eyes. I'm serious. If it wasn't for Rainbow Dash, I'd have taken this secret to the grave with me in this world of ponies. It it wasn't Rainbow Dash asking me this question, I'd have kicked the offending pony's ass. This is a very personal thing to me. “Yeah, I know. But...I want to know. She meant a lot to you, so...I can't help but be curious,” Rainbow returns, recognizing the change in atmosphere and changing her tone respectively. “...I'm taking a risk, telling you,” I warn her. I can't believe I'm going to tell her about this girl. There's just something about Rainbow that makes me feel like it's okay to trust her. Rainbow gulps in response to my words, but she nods regardless. “All right. It's a bit of a long story, because we weren't friends at first. It started back in early college, two years after bonding with my brother. I was a...” ...second year student, still relatively new to campus, but I'd been there long enough to know my way around, as well as the people in my grade. I hated all of them, of course. Ever since my first year, I'd been building up a reputation amongst my peers. I was Seth Rogers, the man who hated everyone. I turned away everyone who tried to get to know me harshly, and even when I was placed in a team, I usually did all the work assigned to me on my own, and I never let the other members get their hands on my contact information, unless it was my school related email. The reputation suited me, because after a while, people stopped trying to get close. They left me alone to do my own thing, which I was grateful for. I didn't have to worry about anybody or anything other than my brother and my schoolwork, along with my own musical practices. And I was just fine, traveling on that path. Things changed, however, when I transferred one of my classes over, and joined a core class needed for advancement. I walked into the classroom, my headphones clamped onto my ears and drowning out the sound of the populace around me with music, giving me blissful peace. I recognized some of the students in the class, having had them in previous classes. Those that recognized me, upon seeing me, winced, scowled, or just refused to meet my gaze. They didn't like me, and I didn't like them. It was fine with me. There were only four seats open. Two of them were easily accessed, but I had to loop around to the other side of the room to sit there, so I ignored them. A third was in the middle of the upper row, but I didn't feel like pushing through them people between me and that seat. So the only one I was left with was one next to this strange girl that I didn't recognize, who was sitting against the wall. She had long crimson hair that fell to her waist, and baby-blue eyes that possessed an expression so cold, I could have sworn her irises were chips of ice. I didn't like the look of her, but I didn't feel like going anywhere else, so I sat next to her. I fail to notice the looks of horror from the other students until I've already sat down. The response is immediate. “Really?” the girl snaps, looking away from the book she's reading to stare at me in disbelief. I look back at her in surprise, because no one usually talks to me anymore. “Out of all the places to sit in the classroom, you pick the one right next to me? Fuck off.” “Okay, bitch, so that's the first thing out of your mouth?” I shoot right back. Since the professor isn't actually here yet, the other students are watching us curiously. “How about your turn your head back to your shitty book, and ignore me. Surely it can't be that hard.” The girl seems surprised that I actually said something back to her, as if she expected me to be scared off by her initial greeting. Of course, that surprise doesn't last very long. “Perhaps not. But getting and moving away from me can't be that hard either, yet it seems to be too much for your tiny brain. So how about fucking off now so I don't have to look at you?” she shoots right back. You know, nobody's ever been this vicious back to me before. “No, I'm going to stay here to spite you. So deal with it, you ass,” I retort stubbornly, remaining in the seat, unmoving. The girl growls in exasperation. “Ugh, I liked being alone. But clearly that's not something your feeble mind can comprehend,” she mutters, returning to her book just as the professor walks into the room. Next to me, I notice with some interest that some of the other students are passing money to one another. Were...they betting on the outcome of our conversation? Who was this girl? After class, the girl and I part ways, equally hating one another. I end up stopping a random student in the hallway and asking about her, to find out why people were making bets back in class. According to him, there was one other individual that people tended to avoid apart from me, for fear of her vicious tongue. Her name was Amaryllis Meryl, known for being an complete and total ice queen. “Hold on a minute, that was Amaryllis? She sounds like a total jerk! How did you end up falling in love with someone like her?” Rainbow demands, a look of disbelief stamped on her face. I chuckle knowingly. Our friendship was extremely unlikely, but that made it all the sweeter. “Like I said, it's a long story. Our friendship didn't come easily,” I remark. Rainbow scowls, but she does sit there and listen to me as I continue the story. I couldn't help but laugh. It was ironic, knowing that the two most unapproachable individuals in my year had sat together. It didn't make me hate her any less, but it was enough to let me know a little bit about her. That class was a daily one, so I saw her every day. She always sat in the same spot, and I would always sit next to her, because no one else dared to. Every time I'd sit next to her, we'd exchange a few snipes, but would eventually settle into a sullen silence. Eventually we stopped bothering to insult one another, just sitting next to one another in silence. Since it was still early in the year, the professor assigned us a group presentation, and chose our group members for us. I ended up, much to my irritation, with Amaryllis, along with two other people. Hilariously enough, those two people promptly dropped the class, so it was just us two in the group. As much as we hated one another, we had to exchange our school emails. I was sitting on a couch at my dorm, everything I needed to work on the presentation on the desk in front of me. Our emails had been very short and snippy, because we both knew we had to work together in order to get a good grade, but we didn't like one another at all. She was supposed to meet me here so that we could knock this out of the way first, and then never speak to one another again. There was a sharp knock at my door, so I got up and answered it to reveal the ice queen herself. Amaryllis scowled and stepped inside, tossing her bag into one of my chairs callously. I shut the door behind her, and then return to the couch. There's an awkward silence, neither of us meeting the other's gaze. We both hate one another, so we don't know how to approach one another without causing an argument. “Look, I don't want to work with you,” Amaryllis finally said, glaring at me. In the previous silence, she'd removed the materials she needs for the presentation as well. “You're a total prick who doesn't know how to give a girl her space.” “And you're a bitch with a pole of ice so far up your ass the first thing you do upon meeting someone is tell them to fuck off,” I snap back at her. “I'm about as happy to do this as you are. But we don't have a choice.” “I know, and it makes me so mad. Who the fuck likes group work anyway? I can do this shit on my own,” Amaryllis complains with a helpless groan. “What's the topic anyway?” “Um, hold on a minute,” I say, looking through the papers given to us by the professor. It takes me a moment to find our group. “Hurry up, I don't have all day,” Amaryllis grunts. I shoot her an incredulous stare. “Calm your tits, bitch. We'll get it done when we get it done,” I snap right back at her. We glare at one another for a second longer until I turn my gaze back to the page. I soon groan when I see our topic. “The topic is how to properly give and receive favors. What even.” “Are you fucking kidding me? I hate this Communication class. Who the fuck cares how to properly give a favor?” Amaryllis complains. Now that is something I can agree with her on. “Favors are pointless. No one ever just hands one out,” I state. “Oh, they seem all nice at first, and it's all too easy to say yes,” Amaryllis adds. “It's always fake, though. It's never an even trade, unless you make it an even trade,” I tack on. “It's just a way for people to put you in their debt,” Amaryllis agrees. “So they can get things out of you later.” That last bit is said by both Amaryllis and I at the same time. We both stop talking immediately and look at one another in shock. We fall silent, both of us staring at one another, trying to make sense of what just happened. “...You too?” Amaryllis finally asks after a long and pregnant silence. “Yeah,” I reply solemnly, looking at the ground. “Wow, you two were exactly the same,” Rainbow comments, unable to decide whether she should facehoof or shake her head. So she somehow manages to do both. Then she points a hoof at me accusingly. “You're still like that!” “Yeah, yeah, whatever. But that's how Amaryllis and I stopped hating each other. It turned into something more like...actually, I can't even explain how we viewed each other at that point,” I reply, chuckling at Rainbow's comment. It was easy for us to finish the project after that. The two of us were much less argumentative about the whole thing, but that didn't stop us from sniping at each other whenever one of us did something the other didn't like. We ended up describing on how to make everything an even trade in our presentation, and while the professor thought it was a dark presentation, we got a good grade on it because we supported our main points with sufficient evidence. Class with one another after that was much less painful for either one of us. Now, it was easier for us to greet one another without pissing each other off so much. We'd sometimes hold conversations with one another about little things, like I'd ask her what book she was reading, or she'd ask what that button on my bag was from. Of course, we'd always seize every opportunity we could to make snappy insults or clever sarcastic quips at one another, but as time went on, it became less malicious and more joking. Finally, a little over a month after meeting her, somebody called us out on how friendly we were being with another. It forced us to look at our relationship, and...we admitted both to each other and to ourselves that we had become friends somehow. A running joke circulated amongst the students in our year after that. When they learned that the ice queen Amaryllis and the reclusive Seth Rogers had become friends, the joke was that the world would end in the wake of our combined cynicism. Soon, during a school break, she and I went on a trip together, to a beach several hours away. It was then that we truly started to enjoy one another's company. “Hey, Seth. I found an area back here where the lifeguards can't see us,” Amaryllis called to me. The two of us were treading water several meters away from the rocky shore. Amaryllis was wearing a black bikini, and I was wearing a similarly colored set of swim trunks. The ocean was relatively peaceful today, in that the waves were rough, but the rip currents were very easy to detect and avoid. In fact, Amaryllis and I had actually used a rip to get out this far in the first place. Before going out this far, Amaryllis and I had screwed around in the waves for a bit, letting loose around each other for the first time. But when it was nearly time for the beach to close, we weren't ready. “Really? Where is it?” I questioned, looking around. Amaryllis points over to a portion of the beach where a rock formation jutted out into the ocean. We were far enough out that it would be easy to swim around it. “Yeah, there's a bit of open sand just around that rock. If you want, we can stay there past closing time,” Amaryllis offered. I looked a bit pensive, since past closing time, it's technically considered trespassing. “You know if we get caught, we could get screwed with fines, right?” I reminded her, though I do swim over to her. Amaryllis scoffs. “Fuck their rules. This world needs to learn that if I want to do something, I'm going to do it,” she snaps derisively. Then she grins mischievously and looks at me. “Or is breaking the rules beneath you? I always knew you were a fucking goody-two-shoes.” “You are such an asshole,” I reply, having no other response to that. Though honestly, I doubt we'll get struck with fines on the first offense. I guess being a bit daring never hurt anyone. “At least I'm not a pussy like you!” Amaryllis shoots right back, backstroking past the rock formation. That part gets a vein to twitch in my forehead. “Bitch, I will drown you!” I retort, and then I swim after her rapidly, her musical laughter ringing in my ears. ~ “There's not really much to tell after that. We stayed on that beach until past midnight, just keeping each other company. It was probably the first time I was able to relax with someone who wasn't my brother,” I say, finishing up my tale. Rainbow had been listening the whole time in silence, except for the few occasions where she would laugh at the interactions between Amaryllis and I. “Wow...that's...it sounded like you two had a pretty strong friendship,” Rainbow responds at last, her expression filled with sorrow for some reason. She looks up at me, meeting my gaze. “That's what you gave up? To save my life, I mean?” “Yeah...” I reply, my expression soon mirroring Rainbow's. On one hand, it feels good to talk about this with someone else for the first time, but...on the other, it pains me to remember it. Because those good memories are all I have left of Amaryllis, along with a few old pictures on my phone. “...Can I see those pictures of her again?” Rainbow requests. I shrug and grab my phone, the music still playing. I've already shown her once. There's no real reason not to show her again. Because Rainbow can't interact with my phone with her hooves, I have to do it for her. So I navigate to my pictures folder, until the pictures of Amaryllis and I pop up again. I scroll through them for Rainbow, who peers closely at the screen so she can see Amaryllis. “Is that all of them?” Rainbow asks, once we finish scrolling through all of the ones I have of Amaryllis. “Yeah. My device can only hold so many pictures. It has a storage limit,” I explain to Rainbow. “That's dumb. If that's the only way you can store images, why can't you have as many as you want?” Rainbow demands, looking legitimately angry. “It's a technical thing that I don't have the knowledge to explain to you. I had a lot more, but they were lost,” I admit. Rainbow droops, looking disappointed. “Darn. If only there was a way to get them back,” Rainbow laments. Still don't know why she's so interested, though. Suddenly, it hits me. They're not lost. I can easily go and get my stuff now, because I doubt there's anything in the Everfree that can hurt me anymore. I can't go to my old dorm though, because that's buried underground. I can't dig that far on my own...on my own. That gives me an idea. “Actually, there is.” My words get Rainbow to perk up and look at me hopefully. “Goddamn, why didn't I think to do this before?” “What? What are you talking about?” Rainbow asks, thoroughly confused. I look around, searching for something to write on. Of course, there's nothing but clouds around. “I never told you where I appeared in this world when I was transported, did I?” I remark, standing up. I've kept this to myself for too long. There's nothing for me there apart from old memories, sadness, and the dust of my dead race, but it's something I should have done a long time ago. “You didn't...I always assumed you just...came out of the Everfree somewhere. I mean, nopony ever exclaimed where you came from. All I knew is that you came from the past,” Rainbow confesses, looking sheepish that she'd never thought to ask something so obvious. “I did come out of the Everfree...after crawling my way out of a buried human structure that's been abandoned for three millennia,” I reveal to her. Rainbow's eyes practically go as wide as dinner plates. “A human structure!? Seth, do you know how much money that's worth?” Rainbow practically screeches in shock. Come to think of it...I don't need to wait to buy a house if I use this. Goddamn, I'm been working for so long on that farm to save up for a house, and I never even thought to use my old school building. I'm such an idiot. “Sell that knowledge, dude. You'll make enough bits to buy practically anything you want! Is there electrical stuff down there?” “Yup. None of it is probably working, but I bet the bare minimum may still be intact,” I answer, getting a little excited now. Rainbow's right. Electrical objects cost millions of bits, and I have the location to a treasure trove of them. I could be set for life if I sell the location of that building. “Dear Celestia, Seth. You've been holding back a gold mine of information,” Rainbow tells me emphatically. “Any historian would pay great money to get their hooves on that building.” “I know, and I plan to use that, now that I've thought it up. Except I'm not going to sell that knowledge to some run of the mill historian,” I decide, a plan forming in my head. This is probably the most feasible get rich plan in the history of the human race. “What? Why not? Did you have somepony else in mind?” Rainbow asks, perplexed. I nod, and then I grin at Rainbow. “I'm going to sell it to the princesses of Equestria.”