Note: this chapter does get a bit emotionally heavy near the end. Like "My Filly, Nightshine" by The Abyss, this story does have a lot of cute moments (albeit not as well-written), but just like that story, it does have some sad moments too, though in this case, said sad moments are much less frequent (I plan for it to happen, at most, two more times), and much less detailed than what happens in that story; this is probably the darkest it's ever gonna get in this one. If it's enough to at least warrant a "T" rating, I'll make the change... but enough of my rambling; onto the short-but-sweet fluff!
[/hr]
The next couple of hours were spent introducing and explaining my world to my guests; technology, history, the current state of things, all of that. They naturally had many questions, and though I couldn't answer all of them, I at least answered what I could. I familiarized them with the guest room where they would be staying in for who knew how long. I showed them my assortment of games and retold some of my favorite, scariest, or frustrating moments, which all of them listened to with intense interest, Sil in particular.
The normally quieter colt asked the most questions when it came to the games, taking a particular interest in Mad Max. He was a little bummed when I explained its lukewarm reception, and he was well aware that he couldn't play it, but that didn't stop him from using the puppy eyes on his brother, sister, and to an extent, me, to convince us to let him watch me play.
I only played to the point after I retrieved a body for the Magnum Opus, but all three of them were practically hypnotized the entire time.
It was after they had wound down that Sil asked a surprising question seemingly out of nowhere.
"Can you take me for a ride in your car?"
"... Come again?" I asked back.
"Can you take me for a ride in your car?" He repeated.
"Uh..."
I turned towards his siblings for the answer.
"We've got some unpacking to do, so I don't have a problem with that." Pyra said.
"If you really want to bro, and it's okay with Zach, then you can go." Raven added.
"Pleeeeeeeeeease?" Sil almost begged me while giving me his best puppy eyes.
Ugh, foul play...
"... If you really want to that badly, then let's go." I said finally, half-expecting to receive a hug that effectively doubled as a tackle.
I instead received a very excited squee and almost received a dent in the living room's ceiling when the colt jumped into the air.
"It's still snowing, so I suggest you bundle up." I said while slipping my jacket and boots back on and grabbing my keys. It was when I opened the front door that I realized something, only for Sil to almost bolt outside and stop by my little hatchback.
"Calm down Sil, I need to grab a few things before we can go." I said while heading back to my room. I noticed the confused looks I received from Raven and Pyra when I came back with a few pillows.
"If he's gonna ride with me, he's gonna need these to be able to see out the window." I explained before exiting.
Sil remained still by the passenger's side door as I unlocked the doors and arranged the pillows on the seat, before motioning for him to get in. After showing him how to put on the seatbelt, I closed his door, opened the driver's side, got in, buckled up, and fired up the motor, the little four breaking the silence with its now very familiar tone, amplified by the sound system that seemed to be common on so many performance-oriented cars nowadays.
I moved the shifter into reverse, a stick shift, naturally, though that was the Fiesta ST's only tranny, backed out of the driveway, and started off. Sil was borderline hypnotized as we trundled along the side streets that had no traffic. We continued like this for about five minutes before the colt spoke up.
"Can we go someplace fast?" He asked me.
"That depends on what you mean." I responded while turning around in a cul-de-sac.
"I mean can you go someplace where you can drive fast?" Sil clarified.
"I know of one place that my friends and I go to during this time of the year, but in weather like this it's probably going to take about thirty minutes to get there."
"Can we go there?" My passenger asked eagerly.
I steered onto the street that ran by the cul-de-sac where my house was.
"... I'll have to run it by your brother and sister first, and if they're okay with it, then yes we can."
[/hr]
Raven and Pyra were still unpacking when Sil and I came back, and though they were understandably hesitant at first, the excitement in their little brother's eyes won them over.
The colt's excitement didn't wane the slightest when we drove along the highway; if anything, it actually grew. It still didn't waver even when I steered off the actual road.
I guided my car through the snow to a clearing, and stopped before putting the shifter in neutral.
"Just so you know Sil, you can always tell me if things start getting too fast for you." I said while the still very excited colt turned his gaze to the invisible path ahead of us.
I started one particular song on my phone.
"..."
Through the speakers, a soft rhythm started. I revved the motor a few times, listening to the turbo's whistle.
I depressed the clutch and shifted into first.
The background rhythm was joined by a second rhythm that started soft but gradually increased in volume.
"..."
I gave the motor another rev, and just as the music really started, dumped the clutch and nearly floored the throttle, unleashing the turbocharged torque and letting the real limited-slip diff I had installed sort it out.
Countless hours of practicing driving hard in poor weather had taught me well, and I delicately modulated the gas pedal to keep traction at maximum as we charged forwards. It was only after we were well underway that I went full tilt.
I unwound the turbo four to its perfect shift point then entered second gear. Ahead, a right turn loomed.
I braked hard, shifted down, and turned in fluidly, getting the front tires to bite and change the car's direction, feathering the right pedal to get us into a smooth, high-speed slide. About two-thirds of me were expecting Sil to want me to pull in the reins, but I was still more surprised than I probably should've been when he spoke over the motor:
"Faster!"
I didn't waste a moment and pinned the throttle back to the floorboard, getting the car to straighten out. Rapidly approaching the treeline, I slowed again and veered left, the little green Ford turning with an eagerness that many probably wouldn't expect of a car that was still partially in the vehicle category of personal transportation on a budget.
Studless tires scrambling in the snow, I went nearly full throttle on the corner's exit, performing a Scandinavian flick to get the little hatchback to swap direction for the right that followed seconds later. Surprisingly responsive in the snow for a front-wheel-drive subcompact car? Possibly.
Regardless, I was unable to stop a grin of my own from forming as I crested a slight jump, braking hard and steering hard for the left hairpin turn that shortly followed. Yeah, a Mazda MX-5 would be able to do the same thing to me, but it couldn't carry four people.
Sil's cheering mixed with the engine's sound as I straightened out and gradually pushed down on the accelerator, sending us hurtling down the road...
[/hr]
1 week later...
Sil had really enjoyed the ride I had taken him on; we ended up going for only about ten minutes before I drove back in the interest of not worrying his brother and sister, but when we got back, he seemed like a soft ball of energy. His upbeat attitude seemed to lift their moods a bit, too.
As the three of them settled in, each took a different interest in the various things (for lack of a better term) either in my home or in the world. Sil, curious as he always seemed to have been when he arrived, became enamored with the ins and outs of how autos and motorcycles worked, which also made me happy knowing that I could also chat with somebody about my favorite subject. Raven took an interest in computer programming and design, admitting that it only came along after watching me play Mad Max. Even though I was no expert on the subject, I still explained what I could and showed him a couple games my friends and I were working on in our spare time. Pyra quickly became attatched to literature; be it Stephen King's horror stories or sometimes outright ridiculous fan-made stories, it didn't matter to her as long as it was of good quality.
But there was more to them than appeared, as I found out one night after falling asleep on the living room couch after staying up late to finish some work.
[/hr]
I drifted back into the waking world when I felt something poke one of my arms. Gradually regaining awareness of everything around me, I could here shaky breathing.
... And... sniffling?
I glanced at the clock, seeing that it was 1 am. Turning towards the sound, I quickly spotted a quivering figure partially illuminated by the hallway light sitting on the floor next to me.
"... Sil?" I spoke softly. "What're you doing up at this time?"
"... I... I had a scary dream..." He shakily responded between sniffles.
I vaguely remembered his older brother mentioning that they were escaping when I found them; I wondered if that had something to do with it.
"Come on up." I continued to speak softly while patting the space next to me, feeling him quickly climb onto the couch and lay down. "Do you remember what happened?"
"I... I don't... want to..." Sil continued to speak in a shaky voice.
I paused, remembering something my parents told me when I was young.
"Listen, buddy." I spoke gently. "No matter how scary it was, in the end, it was still a dream, and dreams can't hurt you. Even though it may not feel like it at first, telling someone about it will help you feel better."
I rested a hand on his back.
"Now try to remember what happened."
He sniffed, hesitated, then started.
"It was a bad memory... of what happened just before we came here... *sniff*... years ago, us and our parents left the place we had been living near for so long, so we could go someplace where we'd be able to live among others that didn't care about our appearance... *sniff*... But shortly after we left... we were ambushed..."
He paused.
"Take your time, there's no need to rush it." I said.
After a short silence, he continued.
"We managed to get away from them for a little bit, but they eventually caught up... then my parents guided my brother and sister and I... *sniff*... to some ponies they knew that would be able to get us out of there..."
Another pause; despite the not-very-bright light coming from the hallway providing subpar vision in the area we were in, I could see tears start welling up in the colt's eyes.
"... My mom and dad died buying all of us enough time to flee... *sniff*... and we ended up here when the ponies that did it found us again..."
I could see he was struggling to hold back more tears.
"Come on now, let it out." I encouraged softly.
"... I dreamed that we died too..."
The dam that he had been trying to hold together finally burst. Without thinking, I scooped the little colt up in my arms and held him close as he wept. At this point, I tuned out any other thoughts that were drifting around inside my mind; all that mattered right now was that I gave the poor kid some level of comfort as thought back to things that he'd rather keep in the past.
After about five minutes of weeping, Sil had calmed down to the point where he could speak with relative coherence, and another minute afterwards, he had gone quiet, save the occasional sniff, though I could feel him still trembling.
"Hey now..." I continued to speak softly. "What will it take to make you feel better?"
I noticed his ears suddenly laid sideways.
"*sniff*... Well..."
I remained silent, letting the suddenly shy colt work up the courage to speak.
"... Usually, when this happens... if my brother is awake, he gives me back rubs... and if my sister's awake, she sings to me..." He said in a volume noticeably quieter than before.
Hmmm...
"... I think I have an idea that will give you both at once." I said.
Reaching over, I picked up my phone and opened the music app. Plugging my earbuds in, I started a random song and turned the volume down to the minimum, before putting one of the buds in one of Sil's ears and putting the other in mine. Shifting slightly to make myself more comfortable, I rested a hand on the colt's back.
"Just let me know if you want the volume turned up or want me to play a different song." I said before starting one particular song; as the music started, I began gently scratching.
It didn't take long before he began to relax. As he did, his eyelids began to droop. I always enjoyed this song; it was a favorite of mine growing up, and Sil seemed to like it, too. Of course, it was playing in only one ear; the other was hearing the sound of my fingers going back and forth across his back.
scritch scritch scritch scritch
[/hr]
By the end of the song about three minutes and forty-five seconds later, his eyes had drifted entirely closed, and he had a very sleepy smile on his muzzle. It was just then that a question arrived in my head.
"Hey Sil." I softly spoke while pausing the song after it ended, hearing him semi-coherently mumble in response. "What does your name mean?"
The now sleepy colt opened his mouth to speak, only to yawn instead, before he finally spoke.
"It's short for Silhouette..." He mumbled tiredly before yawning again. "... Could you please play that song again... ?"
Smiling, I tapped the song again, causing it to restart.
scritch scritch scritch scritch
After the song ended a second time, I made the cutest discovery.
Sil snored when he slept. It wasn't loud, but it was still audible.
"Sweet dreams, Silhouette." I whispered before letting myself drift off.
[/hr]
The next morning...
I awoke to a bundle of warmth in my lap. Opening my eyes to the sunlight partially blocked by the curtains, I looked towards the source of the warmth to find a certain little blue colt curled up in my lap, sound asleep and snoring softly. I couldn't help but smile at the adorable sight as I began gingerly stroking his mane, watching him shift slightly and curl up a bit tighter. I decided to let him sleep; after the rude awakening he'd had in the very early morning, the little guy undoubtedly needed to catch up some.
Eventually, Sil yawned sleepily before getting up and arching his back and spreading his wings, then stretching his legs, making a quick circle... and finally lying back down.
Awwww...
"Good morning." I said, receiving another tired yawn in response. "One day you'll give someone a heart attack with that adorableness."
The colt's cheeks flushed slightly as he curled up a bit tighter before he opened his eyes.
"... Do I have to get up?" He mumbled.
"Eventually, yes, but not right now." I replied. "It's only 7, so I say you've got a good half-hour before you have to get up."
That seemed to be an answer Sil was hoping for, as he closed his eyes and fell back into a light doze. Smiling, I resumed scratching his back.
scritch scritch scritch scritch
Author's Notes: Block finally cleared up enough for me to get back to working on this story; in a way, I'm glad that the block lasted as long as it did, because it meant I could think about and refine this chapter. Writing the heavy part took a bit more effort, not because I have difficulty writing it in general, but rather because it's in an otherwise generally lighthearted and fluffy story. Unfortunately, this chapter drained me of any inspiration that would help me come up with the events that will connect this chapter with the next... but just for the heck of it, can you guess which sibling is going to be the main focus of the next part of the story?