Equestria's First... Russian?

by I Brained My Damage

Chapter 6 - The Grieving Process

A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I'm quite busy with summer school work at the moment, and sorry that it isn't longer. SPOILER: There will be some conflict later in the story. New chapter will be out later sometime. Also, this helps me think more clearly to write; helped with most of this chapter.

Equestria’s First… Russian?

Chapter Six

The Grieving Process

The night at this time was the most peaceful for anybody to ask: The sky was cloudless, the stars shone like bright candles in the window, the moon shone brightly, and the wind blew ever so gently across the town, creating consuming tranquil feelings to whoever’s skin it brushed. Absolutely nothing could ruin the night’s peaceful feeling; nothing at all.

All residents of the town were fast asleep and in their own individual dream lands, save for two humans, six ponies, and one baby dragon.

The door to Twilight’s library was opened by Alexander as he just stood in the doorway, looking out into the night. “I’ll return when I find him,” he said.

“Good luck,” Twilight responded. And with that, Alexander walked outside, gently closing the door behind him. As he stood outside, right next to the door, he closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled deeply, and heavily sighed.

Alexander walked slowly into Luna’s night, absorbing all of his surroundings while still searching for Solovyov. “He couldn’t have wandered too far,” he spoke to himself.

* * * * *

Solovyov was walking through the night, looking up into the stars as if he would see his parents’ smiling faces once more. He was sobbing quietly, careful not to make too much of a scene to wake up everybody else in the neighborhood. Some shops were still open, even at this late hour, but he didn’t care. He only wanted and needed some time to himself, which was usually all he needed to overcome the sadness created from thinking about his parents’ deaths.

“I know there is no need in grieving over it any longer, but… I just can’t let it go…” Solovyov sobbed quietly to himself. He stumbled across a building that appeared to be a restaurant of some sort. He didn’t care where he was at this point; he only wanted to be away from everybody for a while, so he entered. To his surprise, the thought-to-be restaurant turned out to be a small bar.

“Ponies have bars? Wow, never saw that one coming,” Solovyov said to himself quietly.

He decided to stay for a while, and walked up to the only other pony in the bar, the bartender.

“What’ll ya have?” The bartender asked. “Wait… You’re not from around here, ain’t cha?”
Solovyov sighed, both from his own depression and the bartender’s arrogance. ”You don’t say? When was the last time you saw a six-foot-six Russian walk into your bar at…” He took a quick glance at the clock above the shelves filled with liquor. ”Three-thirty at night?”

“Uh… Yes, I’m not from around here. May I please just have a glass of ice water?” Solovyov asked politely and in a saddened voice.

“Sure.” The bartender grabbed a medium sized glass and filled it with three ice cubes and water.

“Thanks,” Solovyov replied as he received the glass of water.

“Are you all right?” The pony behind the counter asked.

Solovyov sighed, “Yes, I’m fine. Old memories just… came back into my head, and I just want a moment to get away from it all.”

“Eh, Okay. I’ll just leave you to yourself, then,” he said as he walked into the back room of the bar.

Solovyov sat in the red-cushioned bar stool staring at his water for what felt like the longest time, his mind swimming in how own thoughts.

”I know, I know,” he thought to himself, ”Why I am still depressed now, I have no idea. Maybe because of my love life situation? I mean, sure! It’s a terrible thought knowing my parents were assassinated, but that was twenty-nine years ago! The assassin was killed for his crimes, but… I don’t know… it’s not something I like to bring up. All I just wish is to see their smiling, happy faces one more time-“His train of thought was run off of its tracks as he heard the front door of the bar open behind him.

* * * * *

“Where the hell is that man?” Alexander asked himself, frustrated. It’s been about two hours now since he left Twilight and her friends to go look for him, and has not had any luck in finding Solovyov after he stormed away. He left virtually no trace of his presence anywhere, and that made it all the more difficult to find him.

Alexander stood in the street, eyes closed, thinking where Solovyov could have gone. ”If I were upset over my parents’ deaths, it’s late at night, and I storm out into the night in a town, where would I go?” He face palmed when he figured out the what seemed to be obvious answer. “A bar.”

Alexander picked up his pace and walked to Ponyville’s one and only bar. Since Ponyville was a relatively small town, and it didn’t have many drinkers, the bar was often bypassed and didn’t get many customers.

“Would he even know if a bar existed in this world?” Alexander asked himself as he approached the bar’s front entrance. He opened the glass front doors, causing a small brass bell to ring, signaling a customer had entered. Solovyov turned to see who had entered, and seeing Alexander somewhat did and didn’t surprise him.

The bar was beginning to feel slightly too humid for Solovyov, so the fresh breeze of air from outside was a pleasant feeling on his skin.

“Hey Andrei,” Alexander greeted.

Solovyov sighed, “Hello.” Alexander took a seat on the stool next to him. “Look, I’m sorry for just getting up and leaving like that. I know I said that it wouldn’t be a problem telling them about my parents, but even after twenty-nine years, I still can’t get over it.”

“Here; let’s get out of here and go to one of my favorite resting spots. I think on a night like tonight, it’s just what you need.” Alexander said.

“Fine…” Solovyov said, leaving his half-full glass of water on the counter and getting up to Follow Alexander.

“Alcohol really isn’t supposed to help any form of sadness you know?”

“It was water,” Solovyov replied in monotone.

“…Oh.”

Alexander and Solovyov made their trek through Ponyville, taking in any and all sights and feelings around it. The peaceful breeze gently blowing, the cloudless sky, the bright and beautiful stars, the crisp and clean air, and the perfect temperature made tonight one of the best nights anybody has ever experienced. Alexander didn’t feel it was necessary to tell Twilight and the others where they were and what they were doing just because he felt he should pay more attention to his obviously still distressed friend.

Eventually, after leaving Ponyville and walking about a mile, the two humans saw one lone, tall, wise and proud tree sitting on top of a fairly lush hill. The breeze was rustling its leaves and the moon giving it a chance to cast its shadow on the land below.

“So what do you think about my own personal spot?” Alexander asked smugly.

Solovyov stood in awe of the breathtaking sight before him. “It’s… beautiful. I wish I could describe it more, but that’s the one word that fits it perfectly: beautiful.”

“I come here to think whenever I need to. Anyway, let’s go take a seat near the tree.”

Both men continued their walk to the tree, all while making slight indents in the short, green grass as they walked. After ten more minutes of continuous walking the two reached the tree and took a seat next to each other, leaning against the trunk as a back support. The trunk was thick enough for both of them to lean on it while sitting next to each other, and not face entirely different directions.

Alexander released a soft sigh, and both let an uneasy silence wash over. After a minute had passed, Alexander decided to break the silence, “This may seem like an obliviously stupid question, but how are you feeling?” Alexander asked in a low tone of voice.

Solovyov sighed, staring into the night sky before him. “I don’t know how I should feel at this point. Should I really still be distressed over my parents’ murders? That was twenty-nine years ago… I feel like such a child just wanting to clutch onto this and not letting it go for so long.”

Alexander could pick up every trace of sadness in his voice. “I’m right there with you.”

“Wait, what?”

“I said I’m right there with you,” Alexander replied and sighed. “I’ve been gone for God knows how many years, and I can hardly get over the fact I was never able to say goodbye to my parents before I was… killed.”

“I don’t know if you were able to, well, look down on me or not after you died, but I attended your funeral.”

“In Germany? All the way from Volgograd?”

“Yes.”

“Wow… I really appreciate that, though it really doesn’t make much of a difference now,” Alexander said before pausing briefly. “I’m still dead,” he said jokingly. Solovyov gave a light chuckle in response.

“That is one thing that still baffles me, even now,” Solovyov said with genuine confusion in his voice, “I’m still alive, and you’ve passed. How can we, for lack of a better phrase, physically view each other? How can I put my hand on your shoulder? How can I-“

“Yeah… that’s something I wouldn’t worry about too much,” Alexander said cutting him off. “Just be glad we’re able to speak to each other.”

Solovyov sighed, “Well, getting back onto the reason we came here, would you like to know what I do to remember somebody I’ve lost?”

“If you think it helps you, then go ahead.”

“I always try to view nature as my loved ones.”

Confused by this, Alexander asked, “What? How exactly do you accomplish that?”

Solovyov started to develop tears as he remembered every way he remembered his parents. “I used to always feel the sun’s warmth as my parents smiling and hugging me. Whenever the wind blew, I always thought of my parents giving me a hug, or holding my hand,” Solovyov explained as his voice was started to become choked with sadness.

“And tonight, as I look up at the moon, they show me along the right path, even in total darkness. It feels as if tonight my parents prepared this night just for me.”

Alexander sat in silence for a few minutes as he took in what Solovyov had said to him, and tried to view nature as his loved ones.

“Wow,” Alexander whispered to himself. “I feel like… they’re all with me. Thanks, Andrei.”

“Andrei?”

Solovyov had his arms crossed across his chest, and his held tilted downward.

Alexander sighed in comfort. “Good idea. It’s getting late anyway.”

The two fell asleep together leaning against the tree’s wide trunk almost effortlessly as the night cradled them in her loving arms.

Comments

[Jimmy Russels]

profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/41779_135737356458675_6724_n.jpg

[Kyi195]

So up at the beginning you wrote "moo" instead of "moon" but that's the only painfully obvious thing I could find. Great chapter nonetheless, and on a side note, that tree must've been pretty far away if it took ten minutes of continuous walking to get to it.

[Chill Mists(Chilly)]

Very first line, you typed, the starts shone like-
should say stars. Good chapter,

[I Brained My Damage]

731078
729423

I finished chapter six at around 1 am... and I edit myself so...

[Mexi-Can]

More... Write MORE!!!

[I Brained My Damage]

846450
I'm working on it; hold your horses (pun intended). If it takes a while between updates, I'm either A) Busy working on my other story that I'm not sure if it will be a long one-shot or multiple chapters, B) Extremely distracted by BF3, or C) I'm actually busy.

But the good news is is that I'm done reading Lord of the Flies for my summer homework. Now I just have to do the work that goes along with that. Hopefully I'll be getting more chapters out soon enough.