Love is Strange

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“No! We’re not interested in another story.”

“But sir-”

“You go back and tell all your reporter buddies to bug off!” Mindy heard the door slam from where she was curled up on the couch.

“You’re coming home with us, Mindy, and that’s that,” Cheese had told her shortly following the incident. “And don’t even try to argue.”

Mindy hadn’t, considering that she was too numb to do anything. She was too dazed to even walk on her own, and Paw Print had had to guide her to their house. For three days straight, Mindy didn’t eat, didn’t speak, and hardly moved. The couple had done everything they could for her, providing moral support in addition to caring for her physical needs, though they rarely received any reaction for their efforts.

After those three days, Mindy became slightly more active, at least in that she ate without being prompted and now even prepared her own food. She didn’t speak without first being addressed. She hadn’t left their house for two weeks, the typically hard-working mule avoiding her workplace like the plague. Black Lace had disappeared, never heard from by Mindy or the Cheese family again. At first, Mindy’s coworkers raised a fuss- everyone in the city, possibly in Equestria had heard about the incident by now- and wondered if she had quit, or better yet had been fired. Cheese threatened to fire them all if they didn’t drop the subject, and so no more inquiries were made. Three Cheese had, in fact, put her on paid leave.

The stallion now strode in, trying not to look too ruffled from the encounter.

“Can you believe how nosy those news reporters are? Can’t even get peace and quiet around our own home anymore!”

“I’m sorry.” Mindy’s words came out in the same lifeless, monotone voice she had grown accustomed to using since Alleyway’s death.

“You know it’s not your fault, Mindy,” Cheese amended in a more serious tone.

“If I wasn’t here, the reporters wouldn’t be, either.”

“I wasn’t talking about the reporters.” Mindy inhaled sharply, and closed her eyes.

“I know.”

“It’s getting cold outside,” Paw Print commented as she quickly descended the stairs. “We’ll have to break out the winter clothing, soon.”

“It might be breezy, but I think ‘cold’ is exaggerating things. Autumn has just started.”

“Those pegasi get a little more ahead of themselves every year,” Paw shook her head.

“It’s just you, honey,” Cheese laughed with a shrug, fondly pecking his wife.

“Mindy, you be the tie-breaker. Do you think it’s cold?” There was a long moment of silence.

“It’s cold,” she finally said, sinking further back into the plush couch. “Very cold.” Both ponies got the sense that she wasn’t talking about the weather.

“You know, Mindy,” Paw started, seeking out a scarf from a nearby hook, “The ladies at the shelter and I made arrangements to go out to dinner, tonight. You’re welcome to join us.”

“No, thank you.” Paw got the hint and eased off, but didn’t stop trying. Rather, she took a more indirect route, no longer addressing Mindy specifically.

“We recently received a couple of new rescues at the pet shelter the other day,” she said, situating the scarf around her neck. “The puppies went quickly, of course, but we’ve been having trouble finding homes for the older dogs. There’s one bulldog in particular I’m worried about. He has a terrible overbite and looks fierce, but he’s as sweet as anything. The ladies are calling him Gruff. And I was thinking... maybe we could take him in.”

“Whoa, you mean here? In our house?” Cheese hacked, spitting out a bite of bagel before he choked on it.

“Of course I mean here in our house. Come on, Cheese, he’d be delightful company.”

“No. No! Absolutely not!”

“Help me out here, Mindy.” The mule was quiet for a moment.

“I can’t tell you how to run your household.” Paw sighed, then turned back to wearing Cheese down.

“Cheese, I know the two of you would become fast friends. Just give him a chance!”

“We’re both gone all day. Who’s going to play with him? Let him outside? Feed him?”

“Well, Mindy is here during the day. We’d figure something else out when she leaves but... who knows? I think he’d be good company for her.”

“Oh,” Cheese finally realized what his wife was getting at. “Well... I wouldn’t mind housing someone else’s pet, but I don’t want any animals staying here permanently,” he eyed his wife suspiciously. Unfortunately, Mindy also caught on.

“I don’t want a dog.”

“What about a cat?” Paw hopefully inquired. “We acquired one of those recently, too. A gorgeous white female called Marshmallow-”

“No, thank you.”

“Mindy,” Paw sighed, “I think you need someone. Or something. You’ve been like this for two weeks, and pets have been scientifically proven to help those in mourning-”

“You can’t replace Alleyway with a dog, Paw Print.”

“No one’s trying to replace anyone,” Cheese hurriedly assured. “But... I do have to agree with Paw, Mindy. We all know how important Alleyway was to you... is to you. He took a part of you with him when he passed. I think you need someone else to fill that gap. Alley wasn’t the only one-”

“THERE IS NO ONE LIKE ALLEYWAY,” Mindy thundered, jumping out of her seat. The ponies stepped back, stunned by such a response. She hadn’t been so animated over anything since Alley. “THERE IS NO REPLACING HIM. DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“I know that, Mindy,” Cheese recovered and stepped forth. “No one’s replacing anyone. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying-”

“He was the only one,” tears trickled down Mindy’s cheeks as she slumped back into the cushions. “The only one. He was special. And they just destroyed him, like... like garbage.”

“Oh, Mindy,” Paw’s wing began to curl around her again.

“He was something special. There’s no denying that,” Cheese solemnly agreed. “But he wasn’t the only one. The fire reignited in Mindy’s eyes.

“I’d like to be alone, right now.” Paw sighed, retracting her wing.

“I know you’re hurting, Mindy, but let us-”

“I’m going to take a walk, now,” Mindy abruptly stood and headed for the door.

“Mindy!” She was already gone.

---

A sharp wind bit into and ruffled Mindy’s unkempt, gray fur. Her messy curls were already battered, and the barrette did little to buffer the lashes inflicted by the wind. She made no attempt to fight back or even escape the beating. Her unblinking, glazed eyes were devoid of their usual sparkle and, well, life. She was standing in the middle of a bustling sidewalk, so it was expected that she would be knocked about a bit. The bodies colliding with hers didn’t faze the mule or cause her to lose balance, and any request for her to move fell on deaf ears. She stared dead ahead, the gentle heaving of her chest the only sign that she was still alive.

Nothing would bring Mindy out of this stupor, at least not here, at this place. The place where it all began. The alley.

Mindy had visited this place many times when her son was alive, just to bring back the happy memories. She hadn’t come since he died, and let’s just say that the place no longer had the same effect. That’s not to say that the same memories didn’t resurface. Mindy’s first glimpse of Alleyway came to mind. How he’d kindly gone to fetch her purse, how he followed her home despite Mindy’s efforts to escape the changeling. How he used to snuggle up close to her in bed after he thought she was asleep (she had eventually caught on). She thought of all the toys she used to buy him, and how the ornery colt had become distracted with the feather duster instead. She remembered watching him grow into a beautiful young stallion with beautiful blue eyes.

Then she remembered the bloodstains on the cement.

Now the memories evoked no joy. They just ate at her insides, knowing that Alley was dead. He was gone. And she was alone.

How dare Cheese say he wasn’t the only one? How dare Paw imply that her precious boy could be replaced by a dog?! How DARE-

The screeching clatter of crunching metal set her off. She jumped, heart pounding. Every nerve in her body tingled with some emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Fear? Anticipation?

Excitement.

But why in the world did she have any reason to feel excited? Grief was normal. Fear was understandable. But excitement? What possible explanation did she have for feeling such exhilaration?

‘Because,’ she realized, ‘that was the exact same sound that first drew me to Alleyway.’

As she looked on, the scene from all those years replayed itself exactly, give for the time of day. The partially-crushed soda can rolled out from between the two hulking, filthy dumpsters. Even the sporadic flicker of green light bounced off the dented metallic surface. Mindy’s breath caught in her throat, and her body trembled as she journeyed forward. How could this be? Was this some kind of cruel joke? Could it be an illusion? Or could it be that fate was giving her another chance?

“Alley?” With a great creak, the dumpster gave way. A tiny gasp escaped a tiny mouth, and not one but three pairs of wide, frightened eyes blinked up at Mindy. Her spirits crashed, and her body sagged. This wasn’t her Alley. They weren’t even changelings. Just a few stray pony foals.

“What are you children doing out here?” she sighed, looking away and hoping they wouldn’t see her cry. “Don’t your parents know where you are?”

“N-No, M-M-Ma’am,” the closest unicorn shivered with a terrible stutter. He had a black coat sprinkled with tiny dabs of white, and green eyes. This was the one that had been giving off the green sparks just moments ago.

“Where are they?” Mindy got ahold of herself, luckily without spilling any more tears, and faced the colts head-on, now. There was a moment of silence as the youngsters exchanged glances, silently consulting one another.

“We don’t have any,” a solid white pegasus filly with blue eyes finally squeaked.

“You don’t have parents?” Mindy felt her heart, which had previously shattered in a defeated heap, begin reconstruction.

“Please, Miss,” the brown earth pony with a black mane and white socks timidly spoke up. “You... You aren’t going to call the police, are you?”

“We were just looking for food,” the pegasus hurriedly added. Mindy’s heart threatened to crack all over again. Orphaned, alone, scrounging for food and hiding from the police. This sounded familiar.

“No,” she replied after a long pause. All three foals heaved sighs of relief. “W-Why don’t you come with me? I work at a restaurant where we can get some really good food.”

“Really?” She hadn’t seen a foal’s eyes light up so brightly since... since...

“Alley wasn’t the only one.”

She suddenly realized what Three Cheese had been talking about. He didn’t mean that Alleyway was just another dime in a dozen. He’d meant that there were others out there. More orphaned foals who needed somepony- or some mule- to look out for them.

“Yes, really,” she gently smiled. “And The Barley Bucket has five different kinds of ice cream for dessert.”

“Lunch AND dessert? This is gonna be the best day ever!” the speckled unicorn cheered.

“Yes,” Mindy agreed, tears pricking her eyes. “The best day ever.”