Infatuation

by Wheremymaresat

Chapter 9: Sleep with myself

I was stunned to say the least. ' Bon-bon's room-mate? Why would Bon-bon ever even talk to somepony as horrible as Harriet?' I thought to myself. Her white mane was slightly wet. More so than before. She had been sweating between the moment she left the boutique, and now. Her wings were ruffled, as if she had flown at a great speed for a short distance. Her nose was slightly bruised. Barely enough to notice though. Her hooves were wet, as if she had recently rinsed them off, but had not thought to dry them properly.

Harriet glared at me. "You know, it's very nice of you to bring over drinks." She said, with a slightly mischievous undertone.

I wasn't going to respond to her... Even if I was, I was too shocked to speak anything I hadn't already said. I looked to my cider, floating above me. I had practically forgotten that I was carrying it. I glared at her and decided to just turn around before things got any worse. Before she could figure out what Bon-bon was to me.

She said something that I couldn't hear.

I looked at her, still not speaking.

She giggled, and in her terrible voice, she said "I met your marefriend, by the way. She's a sweet mare... It's a shame she's stuck with you. Of course, I don't think it'll last too long.~" She said, mischievously.

I wasn't sure what angered me more. The fact that she was probably lying about meeting anypony close enough to be mistaken for my marefriend... Or the actual insult. Or maybe it was the idea that she might have figured out my feelings for miss Kyandi. Whatever it was, it got me looking for something to throw at her. The first thing that caught my eye, was a tomato plant. Long past its prime for sure. in the yard next door... The perfect way to end a conversation...

I set down my drinks, turned to Harriet, picked the rotten tomato with my magic... And tossed it at her, hitting her right in the mouth.

"GAH!" She yelped.

I took this time to run out. I wasn't about to head home... I wasn't about to do anything sensible.

As I looked behind me, I picked up my cider with my dark-red magic, and watched as Harriet shook her hoof at me before going back inside.

'Where to now? I could ask around for a place to get some quiet... But I suppose it can't be too quiet if other ponies knew about it...' I thought about this for a while. My running turned into walking the dirt streets. Nopony was around. It was getting dark, Lyra was probably home. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had been home for a few hours by now.

I walked on. Mumbling things to myself, on the empty streets. "What can I do?... I'm not going home, I don't want to talk to anypony at all right now... And I'm sure as hell not heading back to Fillydelphia. Where is a place I won't be bothered?"

Then it hit me. The one true place of solitude. The place where plants grew without the help of ponies. Animals roamed around without the need of a vet, or a caretaker. The place where mysterious things could happen, and nopony would even know. Right outside of town... 'The Everfree forest!'

I took a leaf from a nearby tree, and wrote into it with a stick, cutting the words in there. "Dear Lyra, I won't be coming home for a while. Go to bed without me. Don't wait up, please. -Your friend, Glass."

I smiled and focused my magic on the leaf, sending it to Lyra's bed in an instant. "I didn't think that would work." I said. I placed a hoof on my head as it began throbbing from the extensive strain that teleportation takes.

I kept walking after my head felt better. I had reached the edge of town closest to the Everfree. 'Here I am.' I thought to myself. I stood in front of the tallest trees I had ever seen, outside of Twilight's house. A dark mist was all I could see behind said trees. The grass surrounding the forest was tall, and a shade darker than the grass I stood on, looking into the darkness.

I swallowed my fear, and walked into the darkness slowly. The mist cleared within a four foot radius of me. And that clear radius followed me as I walked. 'I kinda wish I had been more prepared. I don't know what effects these plants might have on me... I don't even know what most of them are...' The flora of these woods was completely unfamiliar to me. There were vines, flowers, weeds, and even saplings all along the ground. The dark forest was quiet, but one could not say "Calm".

If anything, it was unsettling. I caught sight of a few animals aswell, but they didn't seem to see me. Most likely because of my dark color. I camouflaged well during the night time. One of these seemed at first glance, to be a chicken. But I noticed a reptilian body, and instantly turned my head away. I had read about such things. A cockatrice. Able to turn a pony to stone with one stare. I kept quietly making my way through the forest, being careful not to disturb a group of timberwolves.

I eventually came to a lake. There was no animal, or odd plant near it. Its shore had only grass on it. and a single, thin tree. Looking up, I could see the night sky. It was fantastic on that night. I almost got lost in Luna's sky that night, but I decided to stop basking in the glow of the stars and moon. I would instead take a soak in this lake, and clear my head. I stepped into the lake, expecting it to be cold. And yet... It was quite warm. I even started noticing some steam, as I walked in.

'What kind of lake could this be? To hold back the forces of the Everfree forest...' I looked around. It seemed like an ordinary lake. A little warm, sure... But that was the only abnormality I could see.

"Enjoying a nice swim?" Said a voice, from the fog. It was a nice voice. That of a stallion. It almost sounded like Remy, but not quite as deep.

I looked around. "U-Um... I'm sorry, if I'm intruding." I said, nervously.

The stallion moved out of the fog, and into the lake. "Oh, it's no problem." He said. I could now see him clearly. He had a blue-gray coat, and a short, blonde mane. With a tail that matched pretty well.

He had blue eyes, and a smile that Pinkie Pie would certainly approve of. He was a pegasus, and taller than me too.

I looked at him and asked. "What's your name?" I had my guard up, just in case. Anypony who hung out in the Everfree forest, must've been bad news. But, look who's talking.

He smiled. "I'm Charles. And what's your name?"

I mumbled. "Glass Pane..." I was not in the mood for a talk with a stranger in a lake, but something told me I wouldn't be getting out of it.

"What did you say?" He asked.

I sighed, "My name is Glass Pane. Just call me Glass." I waded to the farthest possible point from Charles, torn between my need to get away from all social activity, and my desire to stay in the comfort of this nighttime spring soak.

Charles smiled in a friendly manner. "You look troubled, what's wrong?"

'Nosey stalion, aren't you?' I thought. "It's not your business, because you don't know me!" I snapped. I looked to him, and despite my aggression; he was still smiling at me. Not an average smile though. His expression was the kind of expression that said "You should trust me. I want to help."

I sighed. "If you have to know, my terrible ex is now roommates with the mare I love, who doesn't even know I love her, and thinks I'm dating her best friend, who happens to be my roommate and landmare. I doubt you could help with something like that." I said, looking at him as his expression changed. He looked like he was thinking hard. 'Did I cram too much into what I just said?'

Charles smiled and splashed me with some of the we were wading in. I closed my eyes and tried to block my face, but to no avail. My mane and face got all wet, dripping as though it were raining two inches in front of me, but nowhere else.

I opened my eyes, to find that I wasn't in the lake anymore... But in front of a bar... "What happened? Why am I here?" I asked to nopony specifically.

Soon afterwards, Charles appeared next to me without warning. No flash, no sound, no warning whatsoever. I looked over to him and jumped back a bit, startled by his sudden appearance. "You didn't think it was a normal pond did you? It's a Placement Pond. It can take you anywhere you want to go if you get completely soaked in it. I wanted you to go here. So I splashed you!" He said, all too joyfully.

I couldn't place my hoof on this guy... He heard my story, and then took me to a bar. His smile though... It sickened me to an extent. I may have been getting used to Ponyville, but I was by no means ready to accept the existance of a pony who was always happy. At least, not one who wasn't named "Pinkie Pie"

"Why are we here?" I asked with a bit of resentment in my voice. I saw him take notice of my tone, but shake it off.

"We're here to take your mind off of things. You said you had mare troubles? What better way to stop troubles with somepony old than by meeting somepony new?" He said excitedly.

'Not quite the kind of thing I went to the Everfree to achieve...' I sighed and accepted that I wasn't going anywhere else for a while. Teleporting an object might take more than teleporting myself. I wasn't sure if I would get anywhere if I tried to teleport, but I wasn't going to risk looking crazy AND getting a magic headache.

I walked with him into the bar. The sign said "The fighting stallion". 'Is that a franchise? There's one of those in Fillydelphia too...' My eyes widened as I looked around me. I looked outside the door, and was shocked to see where he had taken me. The street was concrete... The buildings... All cookie cutter boxes... "No..." I said aloud. "I just left this fucking place..." I looked around the bar.

Mares and stallions with scars, or suggestive cutie marks on their flanks were all around.

Charles looked at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.

I looked at him. "Have you been here before?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I wanted to come here because this was the first real chance I got. Why?"

I looked down. "Take us back..."

He looked at me quizically.

"You don't know what happens in this town... TAKE US BACK!" I couldn't believe what I was saying. Just a few days ago, I was living in this town. It didn't scare me at all then... It just got so damn grinding... Depressing... Filthy... Had I already changed so much... That this was truly frightening now? To come back to this terrible place... was torture.

"I can't," He said. "The pond only goes one way, we'd have to go back by wing and hoof, Glass!"

I was ready to punch him in the face, bringing heart into the name of this tavern. But as I glared at Charles, and his blue eyes that might haunt my thoughts every time I went to the pool for a week, I could hear two ponies behind me, one stallion, and one mare. They had just walked in and heard my name.

The stallion tapped me and spoke in a masculine voice. Like that of an old hoofball player from highschool, grown up. "Ass Pain? Is that you?" Said the voice. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I heard these words. I turned around to find an old highschool bully. His blue coat filled my teenage nightmares on a regular basis, his yellow mane was receding despite him being only twenty seven. His rugby cutie mark, and obviously injured front left knee, told me that he was still a jock, like always. His build was that of Big Macintosh almost. An earth pony who was buff without being all vein-y. His face was shaped somewhat like mine though.

I looked down, and sighed. "Rockin Trot... Yeah it's me..." He looked at me quizically and patted my back with his good hoof... Really hard. 'Ow!' I thought.

" Hey, I'm sorry for what I did in highschool. Being held back a year after having bad grades was really stressful, and I took it out on you. Can we bury the hatchet?" He asked. The honesty in his voice was clear, but I was certainly shocked at the idea that he would apologies to me.

I decided to take the high road, and despite my dark notions of taking revenge while his guard was down. I nodded. "Consider it buried, Trot." I held out my hoof with a weak smile, and he shook it happily.

He nodded to me and then introduced me to his marefriend. Her name was Silver Scope. She was an astrologist with a white coat and an orange mane. She smiled at me and I smiled back, politely. "She's definitely my special somepony. I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. How's your love life, Um... I forgot your real name... Sorry."

"It's Glass Pane. And things are complicated to say the least." I turned my head to see Charles looking for a non-alcoholic drink and smiled. I found it slightly amusing that he would go to a bar to have a soda. "I think I might pull through it though. The only reason I'm in Fillydelphia again is because my friend was trying to cheer me up." I said. I found myself surprised to call Charles a friend. I had only just met him, and he was a little pushy. But I suppose when you only know three stallions, you aren't picky with which ones are your friends.

It was at this moment that I zoned out. Trot was talking about how he met Silver, and I realized just how much I had changed since leaving... The old me would have just run at the moment I saw Rockin Trot. But I told myself to stay, and hope for the best. The old me would have punched Charles for making me leave my comfort zone in favor of meeting somepony, but I went inside, despite my fear and irritation. If I hadn't left Fillydelphia and met Remy, Pinkie, Lyra, Bon-bon, and the CMC... I might still be a shut in working a stupid job, with stupid ponies. Only leaving my house when I absolutely had to...

I became proud of myself for a moment. I forgot all about Harriet, the past, my worries... And this town... 'I-I've changed... For the better. And no matter what happens, I'm still happier than I was before! No matter what happens!' I thought to myself. 'The color, the change! The happiness of everypony around me! That's why I keep moving forward! That's why no matter what anypony say, thinks, or does, I'll pull through! Why should I care about what Harriet says? She's probably lying anyway! And if Bon-bon doesn't end up liking me, I'll move on. If Lyra still has feelings for me, I'll give her a chance. If I don't know what to do, I'll ask my friends! I have friends now!'

I snapped out of my thought-induced trance, and noticed that Trot had finished talking. I looked at him and said. "How interesting. You know, if you ever come to ponyville, stop by the turquoise house. You can't miss it. I have to go now though." I shook his hoof and ran over to Charles, leaving Trot quite surprised. Charles, I have to go now. I'll meet you by the pond some time. Careful who you talk to in here, Bye!"

I ran out the door and got ready to attempt a teleport back home. 'Dear Celestia I hope this works and I don't have to walk home.' I focused my magic into my horn, and thought of Lyra's house.

Charles came out the door, and yelled to me. "What about meeting somepony new?!" He asked, somewhat shocked by the flashing light coming from my horn.

I looked to him, waiting to teleport. "I'd rather sleep with myself tonight! Good luck to you, though!." I said just before flashing away, and ending up on Lyra's couch.

Lyra was asleep in her room, and it was probably some time around 10:00. I smiled and closed my eyes and chuckled as I fell into the best night's sleep I'd had since being a young colt.

Author's Note:

Charles is Captain Sir, in case you were wondering.