//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Torn Between Two Worlds // by Alex Barkhorn //------------------------------// When I woke up the next morning, I didn't bother opening my eyes. Instead, I sighed contently, and stretched my arms out, brushing upon warm and soft skin. My eyes burst open. I saw AJ laying over the covers next to me. "Wah!" I yelped sitting up too quickly, and losing my balance, falling over to the ground, flat on my face. "Wha, huh?" I heard a groggy Applejack mumble. She peered over the edge of the sofa and gasped. "Alex, y'alright? Can ya move?" She asked, stepping down from the sofa and helping me up. "I'm fine, but, AJ, what were you doing on the couch with me...?" I asked in a hiss. "Ah... Ah dunno. Ah couldn't sleep, so I thought...Maybe if I slept with you, it'd help..." She replied sheepishly, twiddling her sandy blonde hair around her fingers. "Ah'm sorry, Alex..." giving me a sad pout as she finished. ...Dammit. Not a pouty face. "It's alright, AJ. Just...Try not to let it happen again." I replied. My door handle turned, and Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all peeked in. "Hey, everything alright in here? We heard a banging noise." Rainbow inquired, and I shook my head in reply. "It's nothin'. Just, another bad dream." I lied, giving a shrug. "Oh. Wanna talk about it?" She then asked and, again, I shook my head. "Nah, not really. Thanks, though." I replied quietly, stepping out with the girls. As we made our way downstairs, I saw Gray on the couch, with a blanket draped over his head and body. Twilight and Pinkie were standing over him, poking and prodding at him. "He won't wake up..." Twilight said in bewilderment, poking at him again. Gray simply snorted, and turned over to his side. I sighed and crossed my arms, lowering my head in thought. An idea came to mind, and I’m sure the girls practically saw the lightbulb above my head. "Pinkie?" I said, walking over to the pink-haired girl. I whispered something into her ear, and she shuddered, but nodded, walking up to him and inhaling. "Wakey wakey, mister Gray!" She began. No response. "I was wondering if you could help me make some very special cupcakes!" She said with a slight hesitation. Gray immediately bolted up, falling out of his place on the sofa. He looked at Pinkie in horror, who was now rolling on the ground next to me in laughter. Hell, even the other five girls stifled some giggles. Gray shot me a very menacing glare. "Not cool, man, very not cool!" He growled, rubbing the back of his head and standing up. "Ha! Cupcakes! Oh, classic!" I managed between bouts of laughter, standing and hi-fiving a laughing Rainbow Dash. I sighed and wiped some tears from my eyes, helping a now calm Grayson up. "So! Spring break! I've heard a lot about spring break, what should we do first?" Twilight asked, moving the subject along. "Dunno. What do you feel like doing?" I asked. "Anything!" Rainbow Dash chimed in with a wide grin. "Alright, alright. Let's get a few ideas down, and we'll see what we should do." I suggested, and we all thought of our own little ideas. About half an hour later, we all settled on going to the beach. I had Pinkie call Dana to invite her along, asking if she could help provide proper wear for the girls. She was at my house within the hour, thankfully bringing along enough extra swimwear for the girls. "Whose idea was this?" She asked when she entered the house. "That'd be mine." Applejack suggested, packing the cooler with fresh fruit and vegetables. "Ah tried thinking of something that we could all do and enjoy, so I thought, why not go for a swim? Some girls from mah class were talking about a lake close by, so I had Twilight look it up." "Oh, you mean Toeha?" Grayson asked, placing his sunglasses atop his head. "Is that Vinyl Scratch's cutie mark?" Rarity cut in, as I slipped on my white t-shirt with the DJ unicorn's cutie mark. I nodded in reply as she looked it over thoroughly. "The very same," AJ said in reply to Gray. "Good idea. It's always nice this time of year. Water might be a bit cold, though." Gray said with a shrug. "Eh, won't be an issue, Ah'm sure." AJ said, closing the cooler. "And I'm sure you're right." I chimed in. "Well, then, Gray. Shall we?" I asked. He nodded, and we made our way to the beautiful lake. It was about an hour’s drive to the small city that surrounded the lake, but the beautiful drive had the girls mesmerized the entire way. It was a road winding up the side of a mountain, passing by bright, tall pine trees that covered the entirety of the mountain formation. It was nothing but green, lush forest, with wildlife abundant in its depths. We passed the occasional deer, and even saw a few horses along some of the trails. A strange déjà vu followed the girls, seeing as how the stallions looked so different from the ones in their world, though once the lake came into view, they all had their gazes locked in the same direction. The mountain path we took directed us to a beautiful mountain view that overlooked the lake. It was very big, almost twenty miles across, and ten miles wide. It was a brilliant, shining blue, clean as can be. The occasional boat or wave runner would skim across the water, making very subtle, but noticeable, waves travel to the shore. "Oh, my...This is beautiful! The lakes in Equestria aren't nearly as big as this!" Fluttershy said in amazement. "Lake Toeha is a very famous lake, and a great tourist spot." Dana informed. "I can see why! Look at it, it's huge!" Rainbow said in excitement. "And it's so clean and blue!" Pinkie added with a wide smile. Gray and I chuckled at their excitement, and drove closer to the beaches, looking for a place to park. Oddly enough, that wasn't too hard, considering only a few people thought of coming to the lake at this time of year. Probably because the weather down at home wasn't as nice as up here. "Oh, my, this feels lovely! The wind in my ma- I mean, in my hair, the fresh forest air, Applejack, sweetie, this was a wonderful idea." Rarity complimented. "She's right, this was a wonderful idea." Twilight added with a smile. "Aw, shucks, girls. No need to go on with complimentin' me, I just wanted us all to have a good time." AJ said honestly, giving us all a smile. "Alright, you girls should go get changed. We'll remain out here." I said quickly, adjusting my sunglasses. The girls nodded in understanding, following Dana to the women's changing room. By the time they finished up, Gray and I had gotten all of our supplies together. We turned around, to see the girls exiting in their swimwear. "Oh, my, this feels much better." Rarity said with a smile. Gray and I struggled not to stare at the deep purple two piece she was wearing, complete with a skirt addition to the swimwear. "Hey, AJ, can ya help me? I don't think this is on right." Rainbow asked, pointing at her sky blue bikini top. "I'll help," Dana insisted, placing a light white sweater over her own white bikini. "You're about my size, so I know the trick to these," Dana added with a wink and a soft chuckle. "Well, hey, where's Fluttershy?" AJ asked in her red bathing suit. "She was right behind me..." Twilight mused, wearing a lavender colored two-piecer. "Uh, yeah, 'bout that...She's really shy." Dana said. "Well, her name is Fluttershy." Gray pointed out. "No, I mean...I only had one bathing suit left, and, it, er..." Dana trailed off. Gray's eyebrow's quirked up, but it took me a little longer to realize where this is going. "You're joking." I whispered in fear when I finally clued in. Dana shook her head slowly. "Sorry, it was the last one left, and I don't have money to buy her a new one! Besides, it was the only one that...Fit." She finished slowly. "Fluttershy, sweetie, come on out. You look fine." Rarity insisted. I saw Fluttershy poke her head out of the changing room, and slink back in. Seconds later, she slowly walked out, with her head hung low. Wearing a school swimsuit. "Fluttershy, you look great!" Grayson exclaimed, walking over to her. "Not that stupid swimsuit fetish..." I grumbled, facepalming as Gray approached Fluttershy. Though, she whimpered, intimidated by his advances, and quickly walked over to my side. I chuckled at Gray, who sighed and shrugged, following me to the beach. We recognized a lot of the beach-goers as students from our school, and figured that many of the others were most likely from other surrounding schools. "Alright, there's still a few vacant spots. Let's find a spot, and-" I began, but got cut off by manic screaming. "Geronimo!" AJ screamed, ditching her hat atop my head and sprinting into the water, followed by Rainbow and Pinkie. They dove into the water, and Twilight scoffed. "They would." She huffed. "Oh, just wait." I said with a smirk. "What do you mean?" Rarity asked, and I held up a finger, insisting she wait a moment. Sure enough, the three girls emerged from underwater. "Gah! Cold! Coooold!" Pinkie cried out. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow stuttered, shaking and hugging herself, then Pinkie, for warmth. "D-dagnabbit, Alex! Wh-why didn't you t-tell us it was c-c-cold?" AJ asked through chattering teeth, obviously not amused by the smart grin on my face. "Shoulda let me finish my sentence, but no, you insisted on jumping in the water like a crazy person. How's it feel now, though?" I asked. The three let go of each other and blinked in surprise. "Actually not that bad, now that Ah think about it." Applejack said honestly. "Well, that's the thing. Toeha's water is freezing, but you get adjusted to it in only a few minutes." I said with a shrug, setting down a couple chairs and a few towels. It really was a great idea, coming to the beach on a beautiful day like this. The girls were in an out of the water, occasionally socializing with the people they recognized from class. Hours passed, and the sun was beginning to set. Some of the people around started a bonfire, Gray and I found a spot near it, with the girls trailing close behind. We were now all dressed, as the water was a no-go in the coolness of the approaching night. With Gray and Dana around, I felt much more comfortable socializing with our other friends. To be honest, if one of them weren't there, I probably would have hung back, playing guitar by myself. In fact, I felt like a completely different person. Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity and Dana were crowded around as I began to play my acoustic. A friend of ours, Cris, harmonized as I sang, and it turned out to be a good night overall. "Wow, Alex. You're really good at that." Fluttershy complimented. "I would hope so. The dude's been playin' for, what was it, five, six years now?" Cris asked, banging two twigs against his lap like drumsticks. I nodded in confirmation, playing a few random chords. "That's a big ten-four." I replied with a smirk. "Where are the others?" I heard Twilight ask. "I think Rainb- I mean, Raven is with Patience, accompanying Gray over there," She pointed out, looking over at Gray who was indeed with the two pranksters, most likely planning some type of gag. "And Allison is over there with some of her friends." She finished. The two girls Applejack was hanging around with gave me a weird vibe, but, for the time being, I decided to ignore it. Over with AJ and her friends... “So, how you girls been?" Applejack asked with a smile, biting into an apple. "Oh, pretty good, had a bangin' day, if you know what I mean." One of the girls, Katie, replied with a wink, though it seemed to be aimed at the boy behind AJ. Confused as to what she meant, Applejack followed Alex's advice by smiling and nodding. "Ah, I see." She replied half heartedly, producing another apple. "Wouldja like one?" She offered politely. "Uh, no thank you." The other girl, Cassie, replied with a raised brow. Applejack nodded, throwing her apple core in the trash, and getting to work on the next one. "Boy, lemme tell ya. I sure do love apples." She then said with a small smile. "Uh, we can tell. Is that all you eat?" Katie asked. "Well, not really. 'course, there isn't much else I do eat, though. I'm a vegetarian." She said, to which the two girls scoffed. "Really? So you don't eat, like, chicken or burgers?" Cassie asked. AJ shook her head slowly. "Why not?" "Well, cuz it's not good for ya." AJ replied simply, figuring it was a sufficient enough answer. "I...see." Katie said flatly, observing as Applejack then produced a small bottle of apple juice. "What are you, twelve?" Katie snorted, reaching inside of her sweater and producing a small metal flask. "Here, drink this." She insisted. Applejack took the flask with a smile. "What is it?" She asked, taking a moment to twist off the cap and giving it a sniff, immediately pulling away. "It's...You don't know what it is?" Katie asked, dumbfounded. "No, Ah don't." AJ replied honestly. Katie and Cassie exchanged quick grins, before looking back at AJ. "It's a new kind of apple juice, distilled with other ingredients." She said with a friendly smile. "Ya sure? Don't smell like apples..." AJ replied skeptically. "C'mon, Allison. Drink it, it'll make you feel better, too." Cassie chimed in with a smile. "...Ya sure?" AJ asked again. "C'mon, Ali. We're friends, right? Would we lie to you?" Katie said with a sweet smile, and that was enough to convince Applejack. "Well...You're right. Down the hatch." AJ said with a smile, taking a swig, and immediately sucking in a hiss of breath. "Ooh, boy, that's strong apple juice!" She said hoarsely. "Keep drinking, it gets better." Cassie said, suppressing a laugh. AJ nodded, and kept drinking. Back around the bonfire... I looked over at Rarity, who was holding Fluttershy who was nodding off. Checking my watch, I saw that it was already ten at night. I was about to go look for Gray, but he found me before I could move. "Hey, man. I think we should get going." He suggested, and I nodded in agreement. Rainbow and Pinkie yawned, which surprised me, and I looked around. "Where's AJ?" Gray asked quietly, looking around. We heard a small ruckus, and looked over, seeing a small plate of food on the ground. "Oh, A-ah'm sorry, it was a mistake, honest." A slightly slurred voice said. "...No." I breathed, standing up and walking over to the girl that knocked the food over. "Allison, are you alright?" I asked the girl, who turned to look at me with tired eyes. "Alex, tha' you?" She asked, her voice still slurred. "Um, yeah... AJ, what's wrong?" I asked. Applejack stumbled against me, using me as support, and beginning to cry. "Ah, Ah dunno...Mah friends gave me some weird applejuice that musta made me sick, 'cause now I have an awful headache and I don't feel too well...Ah can't even stand straight..." She said, fear lacing around her words. I held her close as I led her to the others. "Wait, weird applejuice?" I asked. "Yeh, it was in a little silver container. Smelled awful strong, but they were mah friends and Ah believed 'em... Maybe it was just made with old apples..." She said ignorantly. "AJ, that wasn't applejuice. That was alcohol." I explained quietly. "What?" Gray hissed. "Someone gave AJ whiskey, I think, and now she's got a good buzz going. Dana, do me a favor and take AJ to the van. We'll be there soon enough." Dana nodded, grabbing a hold of AJ. "C'mon, sweetie, you'll be alright..." She said gently, leading a swaying Applejack away to the parking lot. I sighed and rubbed my temples in annoyance. "Who would give AJ alcohol?" I hissed in anger. "I think it was Katie and Cassie, I saw AJ hanging with them earlier." Grayson informed me, as we headed back to the van. I heard gagging, and the sound of something splattering into the ground. "Ah, seven hells..." I grumbled. Behind the van, AJ was hunched over, vomiting into the trees and bushes. AJ seemed scared, and helpless. The sight caused my heart to clench up, and the other five girls crowded around Applejack, giving her words of kindness, and gently leading her into the car. "What happened?" Twilight asked, when everyone else was in the van. "Someone gave her alcohol." I grumbled. "Oh, my...You think she'll be alright?" Twilight asked worriedly. "I'm sure she'll be fine tomorrow." I replied with a sigh. "What bugs me is that those girls lied to her. They told her it was some kind of apple juice. Taking advantage of her like that... Makes me very angry." I said, barely keeping my emotions in check. "Oh, that's what happened?" Twilight began. "Makes sense enough. She is the element of honesty, after all. Thinking they were her friends, she probably thought there was no reason to doubt them..." She finished sadly, sighing and settling into the van. I sighed in exhaustion, shaking my head and getting in as well. Twilight was right. Being the element of honestly, AJ really had no reason to doubt those girls. I tried to push the thoughts away, and occasionally glanced back at the grimacing Applejack. The sight, again, made my heart ache, and I looked away. This was going to be tougher than I thought. ( A/N Hey, guys. Sorry for that little hiatus. Things kinda got...Overwhelming, to say the least. But,t hanks for being patient. I really appreciate it, and all of you. Big thanks to Pissfer, once again, for being my editor for these chapters. It really makes a difference. At any rate, remember to check out my Tumblr account at: alexbarkhorn.tumblr.com It'd really mean a lot if you checked it out, followed it, asked a few questions, etc. Thanks, guys and gals. )