Looking on The Inside

by HenryAnthonyCourtler

Just Leave Me Alone

Chapter 3: Just Leave Me Alone

Ever so slowly, Princess Celestia’s sun began to rise over the expansive land of Equestria. Inky dark valleys that were once as black as visually possible suddenly came back to life. The grass hidden in the darkness began to rise through it like sunflowers reaching for the sun, the wet dew dripping onto the dry ground. Trees seemed to bloom under the warm caressing heat of the morning sun. Every nook and cranny was bathed in warm sunlight, from the superdense town of Manehattan to the well plotted-out city of Canterlot. Even Ponyville was graced by its beautiful ray of orange, pink, and a light midnight blue reminiscent of Princess Luna’s mane.

The sun’s warm rays began to filter deeply into the suburban town of Ponyville, though it didn’t do much to cheer up the many pegasus and earth ponies who were busy cleaning up the town after the horrible mess of a storm that had violently raged throughout most of the day. Although the storm hadn’t done much damage to the homes of the citizens, the same couldn’t be said about their yards. Many a pony could be seen picking up scraps of fence posts, broken yard gnomes, and ruined patio sets.

A suburban home sat a fair distance away from the more populated part of the town on a large green hill that gently sloped inwards towards the town. Many homes sparsely surrounded the nearby area with enough distance in between so that it felt very calm and homely, similar to the country town of Appleloosa. In a spacious room on the second floor, a man slept in a wide comfy bed next to a purple unicorn. He slept deeply; a peaceful expression on his face as he rested his exhausted body. Sunlight streamed in from the balcony window, but he paid it no mind by turning away from the bright light, burying his face into the midnight blue mane of his friend. The lavender scent that wafted his nostrils seemed to put him even more at ease than what he was used to.

Twilight was the first to wake up, her large exotic purple eyes taking in the sight of her friend’s bedroom. She turned over and smiled warmly at the sight of her close friend. His peaceful expression, his relaxed breathing, and the overall relaxing aura he gave off was just so infectious. She stretched out her hind legs, feeling many of her bones comfortably pop into place, her muscles feeling relaxed and soft. With a light yawn, Twilight removed the covers from herself and got off the bed. She walked over to Aramis’ side and nudged him gently on the back.

He incoherently mumbled a reply in his sleep and ignored her. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn’t be enough to deter the purple unicorn. She backed up and lightly trotted up to him and jabbed her horn into his back, scaring the human awake.

“Celestia dammit! What the fuck is going on!?” Aramis yelled, his honey-brown eyes wide shooting open in alarm. He heard a loud giggle behind him and turned around to face the sound, only to come face to face with Twilight Sparkle, who ended up busting out in full blown laughter at his reaction.

He sat up in his bed and yawned deeply into his fist before groggily rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, good morning to you too, Twilight,” he grumbled tiredly, his speech a bit slurred after just being woken up.

Once she had calmed her laughing fit and wiped away the tears of mirth that dripped down her cheeks she gave him a cheery smile, “Good morning to you too, Aramis,”

“Great way to wake up in the morning, huh?” he commented with a hint of sarcasm.

“It was a creative way of handling the task, if I do say so myself,” she answered in a posh accent, a smirk tightly pulling at her lips.

“Hardy har, har. Now if we’re done with our sarcastic banter, mind telling me why you woke me up so early?” Aramis asked, slowly rubbing his eyes while yawning.

“It’s only nine thirty in the morning. That’s kind of late for me on a regular day. Why don’t you freshen up and meet me in the kitchen?” the purple mare offered.

“Sure, just give me like ten, maybe fifteen minutes at the most and I’ll join you there,” With one last yawn, Aramis threw the covers off his body.

With a grunt, he managed to push himself into a sitting position and got off the bed shakily. Cold hardwood floor graced the bottom of his bare feet as he stumbled out of bed, trying his best to control the hangover that seemed to throb from his very bones. He was struck by a sudden bout of nausea and dashed for the bathroom.

Twilight winced at his retreating figure, one hand clasped around his mouth as he nearly gagged in his attempt to hold back the urge to throw up, another wrapped tightly around his bandaged torso as if to comfort his contorting muscles. She took one last worrying glance at him and quickly trotted into the kitchen, an idea cooking in her mind on how to make him feel better.

The bathroom door was cracked open slightly and Aramis pushed past it and into the tiled bathroom, vomiting into the sink. He finished his retching and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Turning on the water, he looked at his appearance in the mirror. He was truly a sad sight: Dark bags under his eyes, hair twisted and knotted with mud, and a bloodstained shirt. Aramis looked down into the porcelain sink and watched as the last of his watery vomit travelled down the drain. Splashing water onto his face, the hungover man felt slightly more rejuvenated.

He began to brush his teeth in an effort to get the awful taste out of his mouth. Several minutes of hard brushing and repeated mouth-washing ensued from his attempt to clean up his image a bit. Once he was satisfied with the freshness of his breath, he took off his clothes and threw them in the hamper, almost pinching his nose at the stink that emanated from them. With a small sigh, he stepped into the shower and cleansed himself, taking extra care to get rid of any debris or blood from his hair and skin. After a somewhat long hot shower, he dried himself off, put on the pair of briefs he took with him, and wrapped a towel around his waist, scratching his messy stubble with a yawn as he went back into his room to put on a change of clothes.

Aramis looked through his closet and decided to dress a bit differently from the expensive suits and fancy clothes he usually styled himself in. At random, he managed to pull out a black long-sleeve shirt with a slight turtleneck, blue capri's, and a pair of flat-bottom sneakers with a black and white checkered design on them. Afterwards, he put on his clothes, made his bed, and went to join Twilight at the breakfast table. As he sat down to join her, his peripheral vision took notice of several long necked bottles. He craned his neck behind and almost felt his blood run cold.

The collection of various kinds of high class liquor he had worked hard for had been neatly piled together in his sink; their content emptied out and drained. His eyes dangerously twitched as his hand curled into a tight fist; the boiling anger heating him up like an oven inside. However, it only made his throbbing head hurt even worse than it had been aching when he woke up. With a deep sigh of resignation, he leaned his head into his forearms, resting his throbbing hangover. Although it really irked him that she had done it without even talking to him about it, with his current hangover, arguing about it seemed pointless. For now he’d forget about it and save that argument for another day.

“Aramis?” Twilight asked in a quiet, concern-filled voice.

“Yes?”

“Would you like some tea? I wasn’t able to find any food in your fridge or your cupboards, so I made some and I think it’ll help you relax,” she offered, hoping that the tea would help him with his hangover.

“Sure, it’s not like I have much to lose,” he answered her with a toneless expression.

She quietly walked over to the stove and levitated a cup and the pot over to the table. The cup floated over to him and gently stayed in place while the pot caught up and slowly poured its contents into the cup. Once the cup was full enough, he grabbed it from her telekinetic hold and took a long sip from it.

His bored and frustrated expression molded into one of pure and simple bliss. He kept drinking the tea until he emptied the cup. Aramis wiped some excess tea off of his mouth with a napkin and placed the cup down.

Twilight watched him drink the tea with an amused grin at how he seemed to enjoy it when moments before he seemed on the borderline of losing his temper.

“That was a really fantastic blend of tea you made there!” he complimented sincerely.

“It’s a secret recipe I created a couple of years ago,” Twilight admitted with a small grin.

“You gotta tell me how you make this blend Twi! My hangover is almost completely gone and this would be a lifesaver for me!” Aramis begged, hoping to get his hands on the recipe and save himself many days of alcohol-related migraines.

The purple mare merely smiled demurely at him with a sly grin, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Hmm...” she seemed to consider his request for a moment before responding, “No, I don’t think I will. After all, it wouldn’t be a secret recipe if somepony else knew how to make it, now would it?” the same cheeky, yet mischievous grin was still on her face as he pouted childishly and crossed his arms, huffing indignantly at her.

Aramis’ stomach grumbled loudly and his face immediately flushed slightly in embarrassment. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, his eyes avoiding the purple orbs nearly overflowing with mirth.

“I would have made us some food... but there wasn’t anything I could have used to make a meal with,” she confessed shyly, not sure if he would be offended with her going through his kitchen after pouring out his collection.

“Eh, it's fine. I sorta got used to eating out and the rest was history,” he laughed a bit awkwardly at admitting the lazy attribute he had acquired.

“Why don’t we go over to my place and have some lunch, since we missed breakfast,” she offered. Taking a glance at the clock proved her assumption correct, as it was quarter to noon.

“Alright Twi, I’m down,” and with that the two cleaned the few dishes they had used and exited his home.

The day was slightly colder than the average day, but it felt comfortable either way with the sun’s warm rays. It was a silent trek for the most part, but it was an enjoyable kind of peace, one filled with plenty of peace and tranquility. Townsfolk went about their business, but some stopped to say “hi” and make some minor small talk. After a half-hour or so, they had finally arrived at the town library, which also served as a home for Twilight and her number one assistant, Spike.

She unlocked the door with her magic and Aramis followed her inside. He took a seat at one of the few tables not completely cluttered with books dealing with Twilight’s studies.

“Would you like anything to drink, Aramis?” the purple mare offered as she walked towards the kitchen.

He cupped a hand near his mouth and called after her. “Yeah! Lemonade would be fine if you have any! If not, then surprise me!” She imagined the smirk that played tightly at his lips and giggled before shaking her head. Twilight heard him laugh shortly after and snorted in response.

After a few minutes, she came back with a tray, a pitcher of lemonade, two glasses, and some cookies balanced precisely on it. She set them onto the table, took a seat across from Aramis and looked at him with a cocky grin.

“Lemonade has been served,” she said in a posh accent.

“Indeed it has, my good lady. May I have the honor of serving an astounding young mare such as yourself some ice cold lemonade?” he requested in a British accent, similar to the old formalities he had always been accustomed to.

“Why yes you may, my fair gentleman,” Twilight said with a flash of her eyelashes, her purple eyes looking even more exotic than normal, if that were possible.

He carefully filled her cup and gently gave it to her with an outstretched hand, but not before suddenly grabbing her hoof and kissing it delicately, “Only the finest for you milady,” he said in that same posh voice, the happiness that slowly flowed from his eyes seemed genuine. It was as if some life had been returned to those intricate honey-brown eyes.

She giggled and took the glass of lemonade from him, placing a straw in it and taking a slow sip. Aramis did the same and relaxed calmly in his chair, absentmindedly eating a cookie which conveniently turned out to be his favorite type: chocolate chip. He wiped off the crumbs on his mouth with the back of his hand and took a deep sip of his lemonade.

“Say Twilight, what are we making for lu—”Aramis was interrupted by repeated knocking that came from the door, “I’ll get it. Without a doubt, it’s probably Pinkie with some obscure new party she’s devised in her evil lair of party making,” Twilight giggled at the cynical way he had described Pinkie’s party planning, especially with the manic grin he had used throughout it.

He calmly opened the door, only to be tackled to the ground by a nearly invisible pink blur. Aramis became winded the moment his back slammed into the hardwood floor and began gasping for breath. The young man laid there for several seconds while the pink blur that had slammed into him worriedly chattered away at him.

Her lips moved, but no sound seemed to come forth at all. Dazedly, Aramis shook his head and suddenly his eyesight and his hearing came back into focus.

“...So sorry Aramis! I totally didn’t mean to knock you down like that! I mean I was just so excited to come see Twilight, but when I first came by she wasn’t here and then I went to your place and you weren’t there so I assumed you two were here and I got so excited that I jus—” the disorientated young man shoved her off of him and sat up, softly rubbing the back of his head from the throb he still felt after the hard impact with the floor.

“Alright, alright Pinkie Pie! I get it, you’re sorry. Can you please relax and just let me sit down and catch my breath for the love of Celestia?!” Aramis gritted his teeth in frustration at the eccentric party pony.

She helped him up by allowing him to use her as a boost and sat down with them at the table.

“So what exactly brought you around here so excitedly, Pinkie Pie? Twilight asked her bluntly, trying to dissuade the rather bashful run-in she had with Aramis, who was now glaring at Pinkie.

“I’ve been so excited for this and it’s finally time for it! I’m having a super duper fun Weekend Breakfast party and I was wondering if you two would be down for joining all of us party girls and have a great time!” she cheered excitedly, pulling two invitations out of the blue and placing them on the table.

Twilight grabbed one and read it over.

Dear Twilight,

I was wondering if you would love to join me for a super duper fun Weekend Breakfast party! There’s gonna be so many fun things to do like decorating our breakfast platters, pin the tail on the pony, and even bobbing for cupcakes! I’m just so excited and there’s no way I could fit all the awesome things we’ll do together! It’ll start Saturday morning around eight o'clock and it’ll run till we drop! Hope to see you there!

With all my love and fun,

~Pinkie Pie!

She read it over once again, taking note of how elaborate the design Pinkie had used truly was. It was so extravagant that it seemed like she had brought pieces of the party with her! The purple mare thought it over, and as far as she knew, there weren’t any plans she had committed herself to. Twilight nodded at Pinkie before responding, “I don’t mind joining you on Saturday, since I don’t really have anything planned,”

“YAY! I’m so glad you’ll go Twilight, trust me it’s going to be so awesome! What about you Aramis? Do you wanna go?” Pinkie excitedly said in her loud indoor voice.

Aramis stared off into the distance and made no effort to acknowledge that he had been spoken to. She waved a hoof in front of him and one of his eyes shifted over in her direction. He slowly closed them before sighing quietly. He folded his hands and allowed his chin to rest on top of them.

"So Mr. Grumpy Pants, what's been bothering you so much for the past couple of months?" she asked as she poked him lightly, her voice still holding the same amount of enthusiasm she had come to be known by.

"It's nothing... just some stuff that's been on my mind is all," his eyes couldn't meet her inquisitive, piercing blue eyes and found more interest in inspecting his glass of lemonade.

"If it was nothing, then you wouldn't be so grumpy about it to the point of drinking all the time you silly filly! You would be working hard and having fun with us, instead of locking yourself away in your home and drinking yourself sick," the energetic pink pony pointed out, causing him to further lower his head in .

"Look," he begun gruffly, "I don't want to talk about it, okay?" It was clear that he didn't want to speak with anypony about it yet, but Pinkie felt it was her obligation to help, even if he didn't want it.

"You never had an issue talking about your problems until a couple of months ago," she said, a confused gaze on her face as she racked her mind for an answer as to why he became so distant and closed off.

Twilight recognised the warning signs of anger and decided to speak up, "Pinkie, I think you sho—"

"Nonsense Twilight! He needs our help, and for it to work he needs to talk about his problems," Pinkie Pie interrupted her, blue eyes a lit with determination to get to the bottom of things.

"Can we please talk about something else?" Aramis begged her, the discomfort of the topic at hoof clear on his face.

"Not until you ta—"

"It's nothing alright! I don't know about the problem you so badly feel I need to talk about, but... I'm fine," he insisted, his hands clamming up nervously.

"You were fine until you had that last talk with Ryan a couple of months ago... was it abo—"

"Don't you dare say her name. She has nothing to do with it," the young man warned in a low growl, a torrent of emotion about to break through the oh-so-fragile dam he had carefully built around himself.

"Who exactly are you talking about? Did it have something to do with Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked with a tilt of her head.

His blood ran cold... honey-brown eyes were frozen in shock and fear that someone might know what had been happening to the cyan blue mare. He hyperventilated as sweat trickled down his forehead in a steady rush. The young man's legs were paralyzed to the spot he sat in. A blank expression covered his face for several moments. It seemed as though time had frozen for him at the mere mention of the name Pinkie had just said. Pinkie Pie had finally realized she had pushed him too far, though it was far too late to do anything about it. Twilight felt horrible at failing to keep Pinkie in line.

The young man stood up from his chair, and glared intently into Pinkie's eyes.

"I told you to stop pestering me about my problems. To stop trying to ask me about them; to just drop it…. but you refused to listen to me... and then when I tell you, no, beg you not to say or involve her name in this, what do you do? You go ahead and involve her anyways! You don't know when to stop, and that's always been your biggest flaw. I really hope your hap-ppy," he stammered, tears freely pouring down his face, "I really hope you're happy, you insensitive, heartless, BITCH!" he yelled at her, his eyes burned brightly with the nearly uncontrollable rage he felt towards her at the moment. He stood up and briskly walked out of Twilight’s home, slamming the door on the way out.

"Aramis! Wait!" Twilight called after him, throwing open the door and dashing after him as she tried to get things under control.

Pinkie sat there in the chair quietly, an empty expression etched on her face as tears rolled down her face, not because of how insensitive or brash she had been with him, but because of how mean he was to her.

(V) (;,,;) (V)
~Line Break~

Aramis set off into a run the moment he heard the purple mare call after him, his feet pumped forward on their own like a well-oiled machine. His arms swung tightly to his sides to reduce wind resistance and to maintain a stronger center of gravity for sharp turning. Everything around him blended into a slanted blur of colors as the adrenaline pushed him further ahead. At the moment, he wanted to get away from everyone and anything, unable to cope with being around other intelligible life. The wounds he had tried so hard to keep closed, despite the pain they caused him, had been heartlessly ripped open by Pinkie Pie, who insisted that she was trying to "help him", but had only managed to further deepen the guilt and the emotional scars that had been created over his life in Equestria. A giant range of Oak trees loomed in the distance and he changed his direction towards it, in hopes of losing his pursuer.

Twilight tried her best to keep up with him, but was finding it increasingly harder to maintain the human in her line of sight. It was as if the harder she tried to stay hot on his trail, the faster he would go. What he was doing was dangerously unhealthy for his mental state of mind. He couldn't keep running from his problems like he had just done at Twilight’s house, even if Pinkie Pie had foolishly provoked him. She hoped dearly, that he wouldn't do anything reckless and get himself severely injured.

He finally reached the stand of Oak trees, sliding behind the first one he saw and slid to the ground, breathing heavily, his face flushed from the nonstop sprint he had done. All his senses were going wild as they tried to stabilize and return to a more controlled state. His heart thumped loudly in his ribcage, almost reminiscent to the sound of pounding drums. Aramis' head throbbed achingly in his cranium, the blood rushing sporadically as his blood pressure tried to simmer down. All his muscles burned and twitched uncontrollably, his fingers cramping up randomly and his legs kicking out at odd intervals.

The pursuing unicorn had seen him hide amongst the Oak trees and looked for him, trying to pick up any sign of her best friend. After several minutes of looking, she heard the sound of heavy breathing emanating from behind her. Twilight slowly walked around, attempting to pinpoint the location of the sound with her sharp ears. She followed the sound until she had found Aramis in a tired mess at the base of one of the many Oak trees that filled the orchard. His long dark brown hair was strewn about and stuck to his forehead in several places. The young man's clothes looked disheveled and were covered in dirt from top to bottom.

"Aramis… please, calm down…" Twilight breathed out heavily, sitting down on her haunches across from him, sweat profusely pouring down his face.

He gingerly moved into a sitting position, careful not to stress his tired muscles, finding the trunk to be a comfortable backrest, "What do you want Twi? I went away from you guys to spend some time alone. I didn’t ask for you to follow me," his voice sounded raspy from how hard he had pushed himself to get away from her, as his lungs tried to their hardest to get a steady supply of oxygen in his system.

"You need to calm down and actually think about what just happened," she started quietly, looking him straight in the eyes, "I understand that Pinkie Pie pushed things too far, but you also have to understand that you can't just waltz off and walk away from your pro—"

"I'm not going to fucking calm down! She knew damn well I don't like talking about it and all she did was press the issue. She had it fucking coming her damn way, and you know it!" he seethed, fresh tears dripping from his eyes.

"I know Aramis, I know. It wasn't right of her to go after you like that, but I don’t think there was any real nee—" he cut her off again, the rage building even more intensely.

"Quit defending Pinkie Pie as if she's in the right! If you all truly cared so much about me getting ‘better’,” at that he made air quotations in an over-elaborate manner. "On top of that, you throw out my entire collection of alcohol and don’t even have the common courtesy to ask if I’m okay with it. Then you girls wouldn't get off my back about my problems and try to persecu—" A loud slap resonated clearly in the Oak grove, his face twisting away from the hard blow.

He stared back at Twilight, a blank expression on his face, as hot salty tears poured down his cheeks even faster, his right cheek beginning to flush red from the hoof to the face he had just received.

The human pressed a hand against his right cheek and quickly retracted it from the burning sensation he felt, "Why…" Aramis asked in a hushed, almost inaudible whisper.

"Because, I'm sick and tired of this! All you do is bottle up your feelings up and whenever anypony tries to talk to you about it, you clam up or get angry. I understand that the way Pinkie handled things at my place was rude, insensitive even, but she's your friend for Celestia's sake! If you keep bottling your feelings up, all you're going to do is hurt yourself even worse than you did last night. All we want to do is help, that's why we pester you, that's why I poured out your alcohol. I know you want to find some sort of relief or release from all the pent up pain deep inside your heart, but if you won't let anypony in, how can we possibly help you?” Twilight was crying, the pent up frustration at her inability to help her close friend and his stubborn attitude had become too much for her to handle and she broke down, refusing to look at him.

"…I deserved that… I'm a horrible friend Twilight. I'm just a sc-screw up!" he sobbed bitterly, his fist smashing into the soft soil in anger. Aramis pulled his legs up to his chest and just angrily stared at his feet, the tears stinging bitterly at his eyes. The two cried for their own reasons, the silence created between them only broken occasionally by a sniffle or a choked sob.

The guilt ate away at the young man until he shakily crawled towards Twilight and wrapped his arms around her neck, shoving his face into her mane and sobbing quietly. Her anger had slowly subsided, but she didn't want to be near him until she heard him whispering a small phrase over and over to himself.

"…I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" was all he repeated in a quiet chant. She hugged him back just as tightly and the two sobbed quietly onto each other, both feeling guilty for what they had said and done.

They cried together for a long while before Twilight broke the hug and wiped away at her tears with the back of her hoof. She looked sullenly at Aramis before she quietly spoke. “I’m really sorry Aramis. I—I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you like that. It was uncalled for to some extent, but I just felt like I wasn’t reaching out to you and it was just so frustrating!” she stated, said frustration clear in her voice.

“Yeah... I see your point Twi...”

“You really need to think about what you’re doing to yourself Aramis. If you really wanna get past your problems, you’re going to eventually have to open up you know.”

“...”

“I’m gonna head back to the library. You mentioned you wanted some alone time to think about everything so...”

“Thank you Twilight.”

She smiled softly at him, “You’re welcome. Come and talk to me about it when you feel ready.” Twilight hugged him tightly and slowly trotted off towards Ponyville, leaving him by himself.

He saw a large hill to his right and decided to go lay on it. Standing up, Aramis dusted himself off before walking away from the stand of Oak trees, climbing over a log fence on the way. The young man trekked up the hill and sat back on the side that faced the rest of Sweet Apple Acres and the surrounding Everfree forest in the distance. It was a very peaceful view and it relaxed him without him even noticing. Slowly, his eyelids drooped until they closed, his breathing slowing down to a long and steady drawl. Aramis slept peacefully on the hill until a slow voice gently nudged him awake from the nap he had taken.

“Hey there Aramis. What’cha doing all tha way out here? Shouldn’t ya’ll be down in Ponyville or sumthin’?” Big Macintosh’s voice drawled inquisitively at the human.

He turned his head to face him from his spot, “I’ve just been having a rough day is all, Big Mac. A lot to think about and I don’t know what to do,” the human admitted, as a worried frown formed over his features.

“Sumthin’ botherin’ ya brony?” he asked his friend as he took a seat next to him.

“I-its fine Macintosh...” Aramis sputtered weakly, turning away from his friend to look at the beautiful vista once again.

“If it was fine, ya’ wouldn’ look like ya’ jus’ lost the war there bud.” Big Mac countered bluntly.

“I... I just don’t know what to do anymore, to be honest. I don’t know who to talk to, or who I can trust, or how I can... love,” he whispered the last part more to himself so quietly that Macintosh hadn’t heard what the human had said.

“Well maybe if ya’ jus’ opened up and talk somepony, anypony, it might just help you find the right information to steer ya’ in the right direction,” the tall stallion wisely advised.

The human sat up in the grass, hands leaning behind him to keep him balanced. He breathed deeply before exhaling slowly, “Alright, I guess I’ll give it a try Macintosh...” he contemplated what to say before he pulled his knees up to his chest and stared blankly ahead, “I- I messed up, Big Mac... and on top of that, I’ve just not been in the mood as of lately and everypony just seems to enjoy going at my neck to bother me about my problems. I just don’t feel ready to talk about it, ya know?”

“Eeyup.”

“Thanks, at least you seem to get it,”Aramis sighed. He sat there quietly for a moment before continuing, “You’re a good friend,” Aramis looked back at the town, “But I’m not sure you would be able to help,” He turned back to face Big Mac, “But I’ll ask anyway. If you had a marefriend taken by a ‘friend,’ what would you do?” Aramis peered at Big Mac expectantly.

Big Mac chewed on the ever-present piece of hay for a moment. He finally responded, “ ‘Ah don’t know ‘bout you, but ah think it’d be best if you jus’ accepted it fer what it is.”

Aramis nodded slowly in understanding, “Exactly; you get over it. But what if you can’t, huh? What if it’s in your face the entire time and there’s no avoiding it?”

“Ah’d probly do sumthin’ about it.”

“Exactly! You have to do something about it,” Aramis was really on a roll now. “But... she won’t want to talk to me the way I am. I... I guess I need to get myself back together,” Aramis slumped back against the tree.

For a moment, there wasn't a sound but the wind rustling in the grass and Big Mac occasionally chewing on his ever-present piece of hay. Suddenly, Aramis stood up, eyes alit in sudden understanding of meaning, “Thanks for hearing me out Big Macintosh. I really needed someone to talk to and I think I got a pretty good idea of how to start handling the situation from here on out,” Aramis thanked the tall stallion with a small smile, holding his fist in front of Big Mac. Macintosh bumped his hoof with his hand, a successful brohoof being shared between the two friends. The two quietly split ways, Big Mac heading towards the apple orchard, and Aramis walking the dirt path back to Ponyville.

As Big Mac walked back to the farmhouse, he smiled softly, “Works every time,” he said, as he reflected on all the ponies who had come to him for advice over the years.

(V) (;,,;) (V)
~Line Break~

Aramis took his time walking back to town, enjoying the soft wind blowing through his long brown hair. The trees swayed lightly in the wind, almost pointing the familiar way back to Ponyville. After many minutes of walking he had arrived back in Ponyville, the late afternoon blaze warming his tan skin without making him sweat. He decided to head to Twilight’s tree first. He felt he should apologise for his behavior and arrange a time to come in and talk out his troubles with her.

He found himself in front of the library after walking around town for a bit. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He stood there for several moments and was surprised to see Spike answer the door, who peered at him quizzically, “Aramis?”

Aramis smiled at him, “Hey there buddy.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you!” Spike shouted gleefully, jumping at his friend and pulling him into a hug.

“How have you been holding up since we’ve last seen each other?”

The human pondered his answered and carefully chose his next words, “ I’ve been holding up pretty okay, could be better, but I’m not really one for complaining if ya’ know what I mean,” Spike nodded in understanding and ushered him inside, “Say Spike, is Twilight home? I need to talk to her about something for a while.” he asked, looking around for some sign of the purple mare.

Spike scratched his head, “She came back in a huff a while ago, but I think she got over it. Let me call her for you,” He walked over to the bottom of the staircase and yelled, “TWILIGHT! Somepony’s at the door for you!” This was followed by a surprised yelp and several thuds.

A moment later, Twilight stumbled down the steps after apparently having been surprised by Spike’s shout at the top of the steps. The two of them stared at her, as she laid in a groaning heap of limbs at the bottom of the steps.

“Ohhh...My head...Ugh,” Twilight shakily stood up, “Spike, did you have to be so loud? This is a library after all you know,” She shook her head to clear the hazy fog that crept in after her small incident and looked up, “Oh, hi Aramis. Come on in, I guess you decided to take me up on that offer, huh?”

Aramis smiled, “Yeah, I thought it over and I decided that if I really want to talk to Dash again I’ll have to get my act together.” He followed Twilight into the kitchen.

“Oh, Spike, I need you to go and get me some more quills, do you mind?” Twilight asked abruptly. “I’ll let you go to Rarity’s after that,” she gazed imploringly at Spike.

“Alright, Twilight. Whatever you say,” Spike shrugged, “See ya’ around Aramis,” he said as he walked out to the front of the library. Twilight and Aramis listened until they heard the front door slam shut on Spike’s way out.

“Ok, now that Spike isn't here, we can talk.” Twilight said.

“Alright, lets,” he took a seat across from her at the breakfast table.

“Before we start these ‘sessions’ if you will, I need to ask you a rather important questions. Have you been to a psychologist before?” the purple mare asked, notepad ready to jot down notes.

“Yeah, I use to see one for some years before I ended up here.” he responded honestly, looking at her with a peaceful expression.

“Okay. Well now that is out of the way, there are some things you need to know about the therapy I'll be putting you through. This is going to be far more different than the conventional method. What I’m going to do is use my magic to project us in your memories and we’ll sift through them until we can put things in perspective,” she explained diligently.

“One thing is certain, it sounds a hell of a lot different one than the conventional. I know most people or ponies, would be uncertain about this, but I’m willing to try anything to feel better, to be better as person,” his eyes were lit brightly in determination, the hope at getting rid of his sorrows instead of drowning them was a great opportunity unto itself.

“I’m really glad that you’re willing to try and better yourself. Like I told you earlier, i just can’t stand seeing you go down the path of self-destruction. Since today is Friday and tomorrow is Pinkie’s party, why don’t we start on Sunday or Monday? If you don’t want to start on either of those days, then just think it over the next two days and we can start,” Twilight finished, as she finished jotting down some notes on her pad, teleporting it away to another location to give her full attention to Aramis.

Aramis sat there for several moments and thought it over, “I’m not really sure when I want to start, but I’ll keep you posted on whens the best time for me to start these sessions,” he concluded with a neutral expression.

“That’s alright. Take your time and think it over,” she advised with a small smile.

Aramis suddenly stood up from his chair and walked over to the purple mare, “I’m sorry for being so rude and ungrateful to you earlier. What you said to me at the orchard along with the talk I had with Big Mac really helped getting the gears in my head spinning,” he admitted with a sheepish smile.

The unicorn smiled at him and stood up on her hind legs, tightly wrapping her hooves around his neck in a warm hug, “It’s alright Aramis. I already forgave you,” she pulled back for just a moment to softly nuzzle his face before sitting back down.

“Thanks Twi, I really needed that. I’m gonna get going home, relax, and try to get some rest for tomorrow. Celestia knows how much energy I’m gonna need to deal with Pinkie Pie tomorrow,” he laughed loudly, as he headed for the door; Twilight laughing along with him.

In between his bouts of laughter, he managed to stop momentarily to say something, “I’ll see you tomorrow at Pinkie’s party Twi!” he bellowed before shutting the door on his way out.

Twilight only shook her head at his antics, “I like it when he’s not drinking; he acts more like how he used to be,” a sad smile appeared on her face momentarily before a determined fire light up in her eyes. She was determined to not only get Aramis back on his feet, but Rainbow Dash too. The question was how and when.

(V) (;,,;) (V)
~Line Break~

He took the most direct route home, cutting across the town square and Sugarcube Corner. Foals and fillies scampered about the town, some playing hide and seek, others racing each other around parts of town, and others just animatedly talking with their classmates and friends.

He walked up the slow slope to his house and turned around to take a look at the suburban town. Most of it seemed somewhat cloudy, with uneven patches of sunlight streaming in random areas. The human looked over the town for a moment longer before turning back to his place only to notice something rather odd. Most of the town was covered in uneven patches of sunlight, yet his small neighborhood and the surrounding area was completely devoid of any clouds. Aramis pondered it for several moments as he approached his home until he stepped on something that nearly made him slip.

Bending over, the young man grabbed the object he stepped on and was perplexed by it. A long sleek cyan blue feather lay in his hand and he just stared at it for a moment until something dawned upon him. There was only one pegasus he knew that had cyan blue feathers. The mere thought of whom the feather belonged to brought tears to his eyes. His face scrunched up, torn between a mixture of anger and sadness. Everything felt uncomfortably light as he barely had the strength to breathe. Memories he had long worked hard to repress came back at him like the breaking of a dam. A particular memory came to mind as the overwhelming flood of emotions, thoughts, and memories crashed over him like a wave.

(V) (;,,;) (V)
~Line Break~

“I’m really glad you were able to find some free time Dashie, It’s been awhile since we’ve hung out,” Aramis pointed out, a smile tugging at his lips as he looked out over the cliff edge at the beautiful forest that stretched out for miles before the memorable mountainside of Canterlot Castle could be seen. The sun’s late afternoon blaze was a rusty orange that bathed everything in a very relaxing glow
.

“I know Aramis, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make time. When your Equestria’s fastest flier, assistant manager of the Ponyville Weather Division, and constantly practicing for the Wonderbolts, time seems to be way too short, if you ask me,” Rainbow Dash said in a boisterous tone, laughing shortly after and snuggling into her human friend; causing him to blush ever so slightly.

“You make a fine point there Miss Dashie,” he teased back in a husky tone, causing Rainbow Dash to blush a bright red.

“S-s-shut up!” she stuttered weakly, trying to get away from him while he tickled her.

“Awww come on Dashie! Live it up why don’t ya!” he cheered as he kept tickling her.

Suddenly, Aramis was slammed onto the ground, clean on his back while Rainbow Dash stood proudly on top of him, as if laying claim to the slaying of an opponent, “Look who's living it up now Ara-chan!” the pegasus teased back. Aramis just sighed in defeat as he laid there and thought one thing: ‘I knew I shouldn’t have told her my nickname my friends used back at home,’

(V) (;,,;) (V)
~Lunch Break~

As the memory ended, so did the anger he felt at finding the feather that belonged to her. In its stead, the only feeling that remained was sadness, which evolved into grief and regret at what could have been. If only he had been bolder, if only he had come clean with it, if only— He stopped the train of doubt and second thoughts by squeezing his eyes closed tightly. When they opened, a single tear fell to the ground and he opened his hand to look at the pristine feather. With a sigh, Aramis walked into his home, feeling regretful at how he screwed up not once that day, but twice...somewhere deep in his heart.

With a slow creak, the door to his treehouse opened and he walked inside; instinctively shutting it behind him. He walked into the kitchen and was yet again greeted with the empty bottles of liquor. For a moment, Aramis felt that same anger he felt earlier well up inside him, but he didn’t allow it to truly boil. Although it was rude of Twilight to just empty out his collection, after that talk with her; he understood that she didn’t do it to spite him, but she really sincerely wanted to help him out.

Calmly, he opened the cover beneath the sink and grabbed a trash bag, carefully placing all the emptied bottles in it. Once he filled the bag to the brim, Aramis went out the back door and dumped the bag in the recycling. Just looking at the bottles filled him with a terrible urge that steered him away from home. He took a few steps down the road to town, to the comfort of the pub. He halted in his tracks, the memory of Twilight's tear-streaked face returning to him. He could still hear the desperation in her voice, the tone of watching a friend slowly destroy himself. He steeled his resolve and turned around, heading back inside. For Twilight and his friends. For himself.

For Rainbow Dash.

Comments

[Perception Filter]

*Squee*
A manly squee.

[HenryAnthonyCourtler]

755353 I'm guessing you read the chapter?

[Perception Filter]

755387 Yes. Like I said.
*Manly Squee*

[HenryAnthonyCourtler]

755393 What did you think of it?

[Perception Filter]

755400 Very touching. In a manly way.
*Manly Squee*

[ezio dementay]

the charecters are written well, twilight being british is rather funny and you've gotten the whole thing down rather well. here are 5 ditzy's.

and 5 pinkie's
and why not 10 moustaches?