The First Steps of the Rest of Your Life

by Rhino

Chapter 36: Morning After

***Sunday, Day 29, 7:30 AM***

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggghhhh, definitely not one of my better sleeps…

I groggily open my eyes after a morning of restless sleep after last night’s excitement. My body goes on autopilot into the hall and downstairs while my mind just has that fuzzy feeling. As I arrive in the kitchen, I absentmindedly fix myself a glass of milk and wonder where Hydro is. A dark shape outside one of the windows catches my eye, but a glance reveals its red color and the location of my friend.

I walk outside to find the house’s resident earth pony engineer doing what can only be described as a patrol around the house. He walks at a normal pace but his eyes give him away as they seem to be constantly roving around for potential danger. All in all, he reminds me of the guards I remember from the more upper class and less public areas of Canterlot.

The fact that he’s carrying his sledgehammer he used on the wall remodeling strapped to his back probably has something to do with the guard feeling too.

I wait until he turns around in his patrol to wave him over before asking him the question Specter, whom I just realized was on my head, and myself were wondering, “What are you doing?”

He looked around once before replying, “Patrolling.”

I suppose obvious question deserves obvious answer…

I decide to try and clarify, “You got up this morning and decided to patrol because of last night?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep so I’ve been patrolling SINCE last night.”

I take a sip of my milk in understanding, “I see, and where might Atom be?”

Hydro raises an eyebrow at me, “Pacing back and forth from the living room to his room, how did you not see him on your way out here?”

To be honest, I’m not sure how I got out here, all I know is I was in there and now I’m here and I’m pretty certain I didn’t Blink out here.

I shrug, “Zoned out while walking I guess.”

“I’d say you’re still zoned out, considering you still haven’t put that down.”

I look down at my drink, “Why would I put it down? I’m still drinking it.”

“Not that. That,” he points to a spot on my right side.

I rotate my head to look at my side and see the shard of glass from last night levitating next to me covered by my aura of magic, the “handle” pointed forwards.

“Huh, didn’t even realize I had that.”

“I figured that.”

I look at the shard a moment longer before shrugging and continuing to hold it since I have nowhere else to put it until I go back inside.

“Guess I’ll go see how Atom’s doing, you need anything?”

Hydro shakes his head before turning around and continuing his watch as I head back inside the house. As I walk inside I see Atom looking particularly restless as he makes his way into the living room before turning around and going back towards the guest room. He seems extremely irritated as he goes back and forth in his endless loop.

I set the shard down near my saddlebags as I remark, “Looks like none of us slept well last night, how are you holding up?”

The black pegasus has a grimace on his face as he responds, “Considering I almost died last night and there’s nothing I can do right now… bloody fantastic.”

Yeah, definitely restless and irritated, nothing much I can do about that now though until we leave.

“So, how did that guy get in last night anyway?”

Atom stops pacing for a moment as he turns to face me, “Far as I can tell he just came through the window. I only really woke up when the wind blew through it and woke me, just in time to see him standing above me.” He shakes his head before continuing, “I don’t think he expected me to wake up, so I managed to get a few hits in, but as you guys saw, he still got the better of me in the end.”

I try and look on the bright side, “Well, at least we arrived when we did.”

He smiles briefly, “Yeah, thanks again for that.”

“No problem, we’re all in this together now.” I turn to the kitchen, “You need anything?”

“Nah, just gonna try and work off some energy.” He goes back to pacing as I walk into the kitchen.

I spend the next 15 minutes making and enjoying a nice egg sandwich. As I clean up afterwards I hear Atom’s voice coming from the other room.

“… come back later.”

Sounds like a conversation but I don’t hear the other side…

“Miss, I’m afraid you need to leave. Now.”

I walk into the living room to see who Atom is talking to, only to see my favorite yellow pegasus backing up against the wall as Atom walks toward her. He grabs her foreleg with his own, causing her to utter a cry… and that I cannot allow.

As a spike of anger floods my mind I Blink myself instantaneously across the room and in between the two, shielding Fluttershy from Atom’s sight. Both jump slightly at my sudden appearance, Atom recovering and then confronting me, obviously riled up.

“She needs to leave, now!”

I stare at him with cold eyes, my voice reflecting my displeasure at his actions, “And so you deem it your job to throw my marefriend out of my house?”

He looks slightly taken aback at my statement regarding who she was to me before continuing, “We can’t have everypony knowing about the situation!”

I work to keep my voice calm as I respond, but my voice still hardens, “Atom, you’re upset. I suggest you go calm down before you make another mistake that I assure you, I shall make you regret.”

Atom huffs before going out front where Hydro is, leaving Fluttershy and I to ourselves.

I turn to her still shivering form and ask softly, “Are you alright?”

She sniffs softly before slowly standing back up from where she had crouched down, “Y-yes… he just s-scared me.”

I feel my heart ache at her fear as I pull her into a hug, “I’m sorry about that, he’s under a lot of stress right now, but that doesn’t excuse him grabbing you. But enough about that, did you need me?”

Fluttershy squeezes lightly before letting go and answering, “Oh, ummm, well I was w-wondering if maybe you’d like to do something together today since it’s been a while since our last date.” She smiles hopefully.

I think carefully before answering, “Fluttershy, as much as I would love to spend the day with you, I can’t today.” I notice her crestfallen face and speak a little more earnestly, “But I do agree it’s been too long since our last date, how about we start making sure we spend time together every week at least, even if it’s something as small as dinner?”

She perks up at my offer, “I-I’d like that.”

My smile mirrors hers, “There’s the happy marefriend I remember.”

“Maybe we can do something tomorrow?”

I decide she deserves to know, not everything, but some things, “Maybe, I’m not sure when we’ll be back tomorrow though.”

She looks at me curiously, “Back? You’re going somewhere?”

I nod, “Hydro and I are going with Atom back to Canterlot to see if we can help him out. We’ll be rounding up Volt and Blue in a second and after that we’ll be going.”

“Alright…” She blushes slightly before straightening up and kissing my lips. “Promise you’ll be careful?”

“I promise.”

I walk Fluttershy out the door, giving Atom a look conveying my unspoken warning to him as he stands next to Hydro. After happily agreeing to watch Specter while I’m out of town, Fluttershy goes her way while I let Hydro know that I’m off to find Volt and to wait until Navy gets here to go look for Blue. I then cast Res on my hooves and start working my way towards Volt’s apartment.

***3rd person, Hydro and Atom***

Atom watches as Rhino goes off on his errand as he remarks to Hydro, “So like I said, I know now that I was being a bit of a jerk, but Rhino just seemed to lose all his trust for me due to that one mistake.”

Hydro stays silent a moment before looking out over the town, “Believe it or not Atom, it was nothing personal. Let me tell you a little story. One night when Rhino and I were hanging out, I got him to a point where he was comfortable enough to talk more than he usually does, but tired enough to not know when to shut up. That night he made it very clear to me, that when he got a marefriend, he would not let anypony hurt her. He told me that even if it was me, his best friend, that did it, he would not hesitate to beat me within an inch of my life. I told him that if he did that to me, I’d have probably deserved it. He responded by saying should the reverse happen and he hurt my marefriend, I was free to do the same to him. Rhino has always been the protective type, for a variety of reasons. From what happened last night, he probably still trusts you, just maybe not around her for a bit. Apologize, and it’ll be fine.”

The two sit for a moment just watching the town and thinking their thoughts.

***1st person, Rhino***

After an unsuccessful trip to locate Volt at his apartment, I find myself heading towards Golden Oaks library on the word of the resident party pony. I open the door to find the most casual scene I have seen in a good while. Volt and Twilight are both lying down in different parts of the library reading, while the rest of the library is so quiet I swear I can hear a dragon snoring in the upper floor.

The sheer casualness of the scene throws off my mindset for a moment, “Hey Volt… what are you doing?”

Volt looks up at me with a small spark in his eye as he answers excitedly, “Oh, Twilight invited me to check out the new book on integrated circuits she got, pretty interesting read so far.”

“I see…” I shake my head a little to get myself back on track, “never mind about that, I need you to come with me.”

Volt looks at me curiously, “Why, what’s wrong?”

I try to stay vague as I answer, “I need your help with something involving Atom.”

“Why, what’s up with Atom?”

“It involves us helping him.”

Twilight jerks her head out of her book at that statement, “Why would you want to help a criminal?”

I correct her, “First off, suspected criminal, and second, you do not know the full story.”

Twilight remains adamant, “I know enough, I know that the princess believes in the Canterlot judicial system and they have all but convicted him.”

Ugh, I don’t have time for a logic battle today.

I turn to the electric unicorn, “Volt, please just come on.”

Volt raises a hoof to his chin in thought, “I don’t know, this seems kind of shady.”

I try to persuade him, “Volt, please, I can’t explain right now, but I need you to trust me until I can explain it.”

Twilight, seeming still irritable on the subject of Atom, interjects, “You need to stop pressuring him into going with you; he can stay here if he wants!”

Volt looks to me, “If I knew more information I could probably make a better decision.”

Hmmm, idea.

I toss out what seems to be a compromise, “How’s this then, you come back with me and I’ll explain in a moment, if you don’t agree with what we’re doing, you can come back.”

Volt smiles, “That seems pretty reasonable.”

Twilight throws her hooves in the air, exasperated, “How is that reasonable? If anything that sounds even more suspicious!”

I turn to twilight and ask in a pleading voice, “Twilight, please, there are times when you need to trust your friends when they know something you don’t, surely you or your friends have been in that position?”

***3rd person***

Twilight opens her mouth to reply, only to shut it a moment later, look down, and put a hoof to her chin in thought. After a few moments she looks up with a softer expression, only to find herself alone in the library.

Twilight looks at the spots where her friends were in disbelief, “But, I didn’t hear the door open… wait….” Twilight’s eyes widen, “Rhino teleported them out while I was distracted!?”

As Twilight grumbles to herself, her distracted mind let’s go of the book she had been holding while she was reading it before this all started. As the book hits the floor pages first, it slides down to reveal another, smaller book inside it. While the book on the outside was a well-used copy of “The Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac of all Things Astronomy,” the book inside was titled “The Egghead’s guide to Romance Vol. 1.”

Comments

[(I*R) Surge]

Took a lesson from D-mite and READ A MOTHU FUQQQIN BOOK.

[darkironpony]

Twilight is wondering Rhino's Agenda! Agenda! Nice chapter.

[Atomic Vortex]

Ah Twilight...how did I not see that coming? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Pinkie_loool.png
And SHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIT!!! We must get to Canterlot ASAP!!! But...I'm lazy, and there's cake.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire_lazy.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_cake.png

[Navy Shadow]

1312515

DONT YOU DARE TOUCH FLUTTERSHY YOU BITCH

[Desert Storm]

1313285 thats no way to talk to atom, even though i would say the same...BUT IM SPECIAL, AND ONLY I CAN TALK TO HIM LIKE TAHT

[Navy Shadow]

1314918

MY BOYFRIEND I DO WHAT I WANT

[Desert Storm]

1315375 NIGGA PLEASE, IM ITALIAN, I DO WHAT I WANT

[Orion S]

1315596

*That
encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwE_La6ppmO0By3fUDGaAEg_ojbN0gwaQOt7c2WYcv6UD5bdXvaw

[Desert Storm]

1334318t.qkme.me/35k8h8.jpg
wrong person...

[Shadow Runner]

LOLOLOLOL