//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Aftermath // Story: The First Steps of the Rest of Your Life // by Rhino //------------------------------// ***Sunday, Day 10, just past midnight*** **In the ship, in the hallway leading to the cabins** *3rd person* Hydro makes his way to his room, Rhino was the first to go to bed and the others weren’t far behind. Blue took the spare room. Hydro is the last one awake. “Hydro?” Or not. Hydro turns to see a familiar yellow pegasus looking like she was steeling herself up for something. “Fluttershy?” he replies. She scuffs the ground for a moment before taking a deep breath and starting to speak, “I... umm… I wanted to ask you about Rhino… if that’s okay…” Hydro flinches slightly, “Is it about what happened in that apartment?” She nods, “It just… it didn’t seem like him, and he didn’t say a word after it happened. Since you’ve known him for a while… I was wondering if maybe you could tell me what happened and if he’ll be okay.” Hydro thinks about how to answer for a moment before replying, “I’m pretty sure I know what happened, some things about Rhino are pretty easy to read if you know what to look for. But I can’t really tell you exactly what happened and the only thing I could tell you about it I would need his permission for.” Fluttershy looks down at the ground, “Oh…” Hydro continues, “As for whether he’ll be alright… actually I think you could help there.” She picks her head up, “What do you mean?” “Fluttershy, I think it would be good for both of you, if you were to go talk to him.” Her pupils shrink a little, “But… you’re his friend and…” “Fluttershy, you’re his friend too, and I think you are better qualified than me to help him right now.” “Why?” “That’s another thing you need to ask him.” Hydro turns toward his room. “You’ll do just fine,” he says half to himself and half to her. Fluttershy stands in the same spot in the hall, thinking. **Rhino’s room** *1st person* I guess I finally understand what Mom and Dad talked about when they said some nights they couldn’t sleep because their minds wouldn’t shut up. I’m trying my hardest to sleep, but every time I do… the thoughts just come forward. What did happen, what could have happened, what might happen now. All these scenarios flood my mind when I try to clear it. I’m doing my best to not brood on it… I know I usually get over things in time or at least learn not to think too hard about it… but I feel like I’m fighting myself. A gentle knock and the quiet sound of the door opening cause my ears to perk up. A familiar aqua eye looks in before seeing that I’m awake and the rest of the yellow pegasus walks in. I sit up a bit as she closes the door behind her and looks at me. “Rhino… I wanted to ask you some things… about what happened…” “What did you want to know?” “Well, I only saw a little so I guess… what happened to you?” She seems genuinely concerned. I think about how to say this, “I… got angry.” “Rhino,” she has a tone that suggests that answer wasn’t good enough, “That seemed more than just getting angry, you seemed intent on hurting them, it was almost like you lost control of yourself…why?” She sits on the edge of the bed. I have to make her understand *breath* okay, all out in the open. “Because I care.” She stiffens slightly at this, “Just seeing you with that knife against you was painful enough, but when I saw him going towards you and you crying as he came closer… it was too much." I close my eyes and put a hoof up to my temple. "I saw all the things they could and probably would have done to you and… I couldn’t let them hurt you. The very thought of you crying hurt, but the thought of what might have happened… pushed me over the edge. I saw them as the sources of both physical and emotional pain for you, for that I wanted to make them pay." I let out a sigh. "I care about you, and so I did what I thought I had to in order to keep them from ever even thinking about hurting you again. I’m not really a violent pony, I actually try and avoid most conflict, but… I only regret how far I would have taken it, but I do not regret my intent. I will protect those I care about, and I care a lot about you.” She stays silent for about a minute, probably one of the longest minutes of my life. I only hope she won’t hate me for what I did. “I… understand.” What? She continues, shakily at first but stronger as she continues, “I don’t like the thought of anypony being hurt, especially if my friends are the one being hurt or hurting others, but… I understand why you did it. I’m glad you regret how far it might have gone and actually, I want to thank you for saving me from those stallions. I really do appreciate it.” She starts to blush a bit, “And maybe… well, maybe… I care about you too.” My eyes widen at her words. She… likes me too? Even after… well, one thing for it then. “Fluttershy… you think after this mission is over, we could hang out some time? Maybe have dinner?” She smiles that wonderful smile of hers, “I’d like that.” She starts to head for the door and turns when she gets there, “Good night.” “Good night, and Fluttershy?” She pauses a moment. “Thanks for asking.” She just smiles softly walks out. As I lay back down to try and sleep again I notice my thoughts have calmed significantly. I’ll still have them floating in my head for a bit, but for now… I think I can at least sleep easy. *** A knocking at my door along with Hydro’s voice wakes me up, “Come on Rhino, time for breakfast.” I rouse myself out of bed after that long night, the memories of what happened before I went to sleep bring a smile to my face, but the thought of what the others reactions might be fills me with dread again. I try to keep a neutral expression on as I grab some eggs and hash browns from the breakfast buffet, the boxes of which I can still see in Rainbow Dash and Blue Breeze’s saddlebags. We all eat in silence for a bit until Blue decides to break the silence for better or worse. “So, since I’m the new guy, I have to ask: does that little incident that happened last night happen a lot?” The girls and Volt shake their heads. Rainbow slams her hooves into the table with an angry expression, “What the hay was that anyway?! What you did to those ponies…” She trails off as if she doesn’t want to repeat it. Hydro intervenes, “Now hold on-“ AJ interrupts, “We ain’t holdin’ fer nothin’, we wanna know if what happened last night is a normal thing!” The other girls besides Fluttershy make their various forms of agreement, though less aggressive than Rainbow or Applejack. As I sink lower and lower in my seat Hydro looks at me, silently asking for permission. I nod to give him the go ahead. He begins “Alright, you want to know? I’ll tell you. First is this a common thing for him? Absolutely not. Quite the opposite in fact, I get angry fairly easily, especially compared to Rhino here. Mostly he’ll just get slightly irritated and just calm himself down in his head or laugh it off. But when he does get really mad, well you saw. Things have to get very bad for that to happen though, I’ve known Rhino for almost ten years now and it’s only happened one other time.” “It was actually back in high school a little after we first met. He was coming out of his last class getting ready to head home when one of the school bullies confronted him after school. Rhino tried to just keep his head down and walk away like he usually does but then the bully started pushing him and going on about his mother. Now, Rhino tended to tune others out when they start insulting him but this was the first time they had gone after her. He stood there a bit trying to take it but after a particular comment about his mom being a whore… well, his stripe turned red. This being the first time this happened to him, it didn’t last long, and he didn’t have quite the magical precision he does now so all that really happened was the bully getting slammed into the ground a few times before Rhino realized what he was doing and ran off. Rhino didn’t get into trouble because this particular bully was known to both parents and faculty alike. But he didn’t mess with Rhino anymore after that.” The group sits there absorbing this new information for a bit. A bit more silence ensues but, to me at least, it seems a bit more oppressive than the last one. I get slowly more and more uncomfortable until I feel a weight leaning on my right side. I look down to see Fluttershy with her eyes closed leaning up against me with a blush. The group notices this and it seems to relax some of them a little until Rarity realizes the implications. “Fluttershy darling, does this mean you and he are…” Fluttershy nods her head and Rarity lets out a high pitched squeal of excitement which set off a chain reaction. Pinkie starts talking about having a party to celebrate while Twilight asks how it happened, both of these reactions resulting in blushes from Fluttershy and myself. Applejack stares a moment before simply nods with a slight smile as if saying if Fluttershy forgave me then so did she. I could have sworn I saw a slight frown on Rainbow’s face before she turned to Pinkie so I couldn’t see her face anymore. The guys walk up to me as Rarity drags Fluttershy toward her to talk some more. Volt speaks first with a smirk, “So is that really all it takes to get a mare? Beat the snot out of some thugs? Shoot, somepony point me to the next nearest gang.” Hydro smacks him in the back of the head for his comment. I just smile and say thanks to Hydro for everything he did. Blue just shakes his head and chuckles, “I’m getting that same feeling I got my first day of high school, right before a pony threw a pie at the principal and the principal returned fire with a textbook. I think things are going to be very interesting hanging around all of you.” We all get a laugh out of that. Twilight, once again the voice of focus, brings us back down to Equestria with an important question: “Blue Breeze, now that we retrieved your notes, will you help us against Fluffers?” Blue nods his head once, “Yes.”