Fade Away

by JoeBobWhitney

Act VIII: Good Life

"Ugh... My head." Zeke groaned as he awoke. His eyes bolted open at the sight of a city, he was laying down on a sidewalk near water. Cars were no longer present and the city looked very proper. "This is... New Marais. What the hell? It looks different." He remembers the crazy city that was New Marais and now... It looks like a different city. Buildings were cleaned, streets had no litter and everybody walked proudly. It was quite a sight to see humans once more... But, Zeke was curious. He reared his arm and punched himself straight in the chest. He huffed at the sudden loss of air. "Okay. Not dreaming." Zeke checked himself and started walking.

"Where is Zeke?" Cole whispered to himself as he continued walking around the town. He stopped searching after so long and took a seat on a bench near him. Sighing, he looked up to see clouds forming getting eventually worse. Clouds started to grow dark gray on their vast bodies. He stared until he heard wings flapping beside him. Rainbow was there.

"Hey, s'up Rainbow." Cole greeted.

"Hey. Find Zeke?"

"Nope. Not a single trace. Every pony I asked said that they hadn't seen him since the party." He sighed once more.

"Think something happened to him?"

"Maybe. Hopefully, nothing bad." Cole laid back, reaching his arm across the bench.

"Hey, I got to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"They're having a big event in Cloudsdale and...-"

"You want me to go?"

"Fluttershy's scared and everypony else don't really have wings. So?"

"Sure, I'll go. I ain't got anything else to do. When is it?"

"About four. You get off work by then, right?"

"Yeah, I hope. I'll ask Rose about that. I'm just on break for now. Slow day. Nice for your first. Hey, I'm hungry. Want to go something to eat, real quick?"

"Sounds good. I'm starving too."

They got up and headed for a cafe that Rainbow had suggested. It was quaint, had good coffee related stuff and was cheap.

"So, listen. You can pay right?" Nod. "Good, cause I am still broke technically until I get paid that is."

"I don't care. It's not a date, so you're cool. Plus, I'm sure they wouldn't like charge the guy who saved him from 'certain peril!'." They laughed at that.

"I hope so." They arrived shortly. The scent of java, sweets and other foodstuffs hit their noses. "This place is making me drool. " He pushed open the door after ducking and they took a seat. The interior was a caramel brown with little brown cups with white outlines going up and down along the wallpaper. Like Rainbow said, it was nice and relaxing.

"Hello there, how may I help you today?"

"I'll take a dandelion sandwich with some hay fries. Cole?"

"Fruit Paradise with a side of Blueberry Yogurt. Thank you."

"What's with the fruit?"

"Humans eat meat." Cole whispered. Rainbow jutted her head backwards with a face like this. "Hey, we don't eat ponies or anything. Just cow, chicken and pig. In other countries and religions, other things such as goat, sheep and even frog. Humans however, don't require it. We are omnivores. That means that we eat both veggies, fruits and protein like meat. Alright?"

"Alright. I guess that explains the teeth. Oh, that was fast." As they finished their quick conversation, food arrived. A short meal, nothing much. Plus, Cole wanted to stay as he is. Being a Conduit doesn't stop you from becoming fat, sadly. But, this place seems to keep him going. They finished eating shortly and Rainbow paid, left a tip and they left.

"Hey thanks. I'll pay you back. Promise." Cole stated as he took off, Rainbow saluted him as he ran off. He approached the flowers hop and lo, and behold. There was Roseluck opening the door, looking for him.

"There you are. I was beginning to think you took off." She stated, Cole smirked.

"Just grabbed a quick meal. Anything happen?"

"Nope. Come in, I do want to show you something, however." She smiled and motioned for him to come in and he followed. She led him to the back of the shop where the a black cloak over a case on a pedestal.

"What's this?" She pulled off the black cover and in the glass case was a bright blue rose. Cole's mouth dropped. It was gorgeous, it had recently bloomed so it was new, fresh and ever so fragile. "What... Is that?"

"Crystal Rose. A rare type of flower that only grows during this time of the year and even then, the chances of it growing are one to one hundred. Luckily, I saw this on the bush behind my house and here we are."

"How much is it worth?"

"Five hundred bits."

"That sounds like a lot."

"If you were a pony, I'd slap you. Yes, that is a LOT. That's almost what a Royal Guard get's paid on a daily basis."

"That's their paycheck? Fuck me, I'm sure I'd make a good guard then." Cole simply stared at it, admiring the curves, petals and even the beautiful stem. It was teal and was perfectly clean. No thorns, absolute crisp blue flower. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Either keep for my own or make a good deal."

"Selling this? I don't know. Maybe, you should keep it. However, if you find no sentimental value, then go ahead and sell it for the hundreds it's worth." Cole placed his hands around his waist, gazing at the elusive beauty.

"I plan on making sure you're worth it. Co-" She was interrupted as a fancy looking pony walked in. Tan coat, sleek black hair. Bags of money on butt, tie with a dollar sign on it. This guy was the real fucking deal.

"Hello there. Are you the owner of this fine shop, ma'am?" Roseluck's eyes drank to pin pricks.

"Yes, Filthy Rich. I am!" Cole suppressed a snicker at that name. He liked the Filthy part. You know, cause he was tan. Dirt? Brown coat? Get it?

"Is that a Crystal Rose I see?" He looked at her with a smirk.

"Y-yes."

"Then, I am prepared to offer whatever price you can name for it. I will not leave here without that divine piece of Equestria." He proclaimed. Roseluck just stared off into the distance, he then fell over. "Is... she okay?"

"God, I hope so. So, any price eh? I'm her assistant, so I'll give you a price. A thousand."

"Perfect. Excuse me." He motioned his hoof behind him and a faded yellow stallion walked in, holding a bag of bits in his mouth. He placed the bag on the counter. Cole opened it and saw gold for days. He gawked at that but smirked. He went behind him, grabbing the case of the rose. He carefully handed it to the stallion's "butler". He bid Cole farewell and left the store.

"Huh?... What happened?" Roseluck groaned as she regained consciousness.

"Made a sale that you'd be proud of. Thousand bits, one happy stallion. Here you go." He handed her the bag and a blue petal as she got back up.

"Petal?"

"One fell off. Don't worry."

"Cole. I can't take all of this. You helped and I at-least need to pay you."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden." She smiled and gave him a equivalent of half the bag, Cole the gave her back most so he had only one-third. She was going to protest but Cole told her it was okay. She told him it was okay for him to go home and he did. "So, that was my first day as a flower boy. Not that bad." He smirked. He slowly made his way to the City Hall. Approaching the building, he went over the bits inside. Two hundred and fifty. Not bad. He opened the door and was greeted by the desk manager.

"Hello there. How may we help you today?" The mare at the desk greeted.

"I want to buy a house, please."

"Left." Cole nodded and opened the door on the left, there was the Mayor sitting at her desk. She was going over some paperwork involving hospitals, healthcare and such.

"Excuse, Mayor Mare." She looked at the noise and saw the hero himself.

"Cole MacGrath. Hero of Ponyville, maybe even Equestria. What can I do for you?"

"A house."

"Finally moving up in the world, eh?" They chuckled. "But in all seriousness, what are you looking for?"

"Small. Just for one."

"Alright then. Here is the list of available residencies. Take your time." She gave a clipboard with papers on it, showing pictures of houses along with the said article of house.

"That one." He pointed to a small blue house. She smiled at his choice, nodding. She gave him the address and paperwork and he was off. 172 Cherry Meadow. He followed the map he was given and he found himself in front of the blue house.

"Nice." He made his way inside, the interior was dusty but very cozy. The couch still seemed new and there was a nice cherry wood table in front of the couch. He made his way upstairs after seeing the kitchen. The bedroom, bathroom and such were upstairs. Cole opened the bedroom door to see darkness. He felt along the wall and found a light switch. The light turned on to reveal a very empty bedroom. One bed, bed-stand and a closet. A few books lay on the bed-stand. "Simplistic. I like simple." He turned off the light and closed the door behind him. He cracked his knuckles as walked down the stairs.

"Time to get to work."

Author's Note:

Constructive criticism is always welcomed and highly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

FUN FACT: The original title for this chapter was... Fuckin' A. Not joking, whatsoever.

Comments

[electrocross]

That is NOT a small house...