Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores

by SupraMacPringles

Chapter 20: The Last Drop

It was a morning like any other, or so he thought. Everything felt the same. Even the same patch of sunlight assaulting his face. But something was different. The first thing Matt noticed was the chill in the air. It was colder than usual and he reached for his blanket, only to find his movement limited by a mass on his chest. It was warm. It was breathing.

He opened his eyes to find a sleeping Rainbow Dash nuzzling up against him. Oddly, it reminded him of the first time they met; which ended up with her tackling him to the ground. In any case, she was serving the task of a blanket quite well, so he opted to let her sleep and he would do the same.

Luck wasn't on his side, however, as the Pegasus began to stir. She let out a yawn and stretched out her forelegs before once again snuggling his chest. Seconds later her eyes snapped open and found his. Apparently she noticed he wasn't her bed. She promptly flew off of him in a flurry of 'oh my gosh' repeated at a rapid pace.

He sat up on the ever-soft cloud seat.

"Isn't it a little early to be scrambling around like that?" asked Matt while scratching his head.

She continued the 'scrambling' while Matt began to feel a terrible ache in the back of his brain. After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash had calmed down, seemingly able to recall the last night's events.

"So…" began Dash. "We just had a few drinks, right?"

"I believe so. My memory is pretty foggy regarding the whole affair."

"Mine too… Nothing… weird happened, right?"

"Nothing weirder than usual."

"Okay, good…" she trailed off while glancing outside."Whoa. What is going on out there!?"

Matt also turned his gaze and was shocked at the massive storm brewing outside. Large, black clouds were forming and a frightening chill was in the air.

"Wasn't there a blizzard just the other day?" he asked.

"I wasn't told about this… I need to go check this out. C'mon, I'll drop you off first." said Rainbow.

"Alright… do you have anything for this headache?" he said, rubbing the back off his head gently.

"You get used to it."

In minutes, they were off. The storm brewing in the distance was drawing ever closer. Matt was relieved he was going back to the warm embrace of the Golden Oakes Library. Rainbow dropped him off just outside the door and with a swift farewell gesture, she flew towards the storm.

He took a deep breath and opened the front door. He expected Twilight Sparkle wouldn't be particularly happy with him since he broke his promise.

He saw her in her usual spot and she was already glaring a hole through him.

He closed the door and raised his hands defensively. "I know, I know. But I can explain."

"I'm listening." She replied stoically.

"Rainbow and I were out a bit later than expected, so I thought it'd be easier to stay with her for the night." He explained.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Twilight responded.

"I see. So, you just… disregarded your promise because it was easier?"

"What? No, I… Look, I don't think either of us were in the right state of mind. Flying back was out of question."

"Why?" was the next question.

He waited a moment to try and disguise the fact that he and Rainbow were basically drunk late last night.

"… Applejack gave me this cider, and…"

Twilight let out an audible groan and rolled her eyes. "Of course. And Rainbow Dash is crazy for apple cider."

"Yes, exactly. I-"

"So, instead of fulfilling your promise, you and Rainbow downed the cider and had me worrying the whole night. How was I supposed to know you didn't fall through a cloud or something?" she asked, tones of seriousness leaking through her voice. She seemed to be genuinely upset.

"I understand you're upset, and I'm sorry. But I can handle myself. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

"Oh, yes I do. While you're here, you are my responsibility."

Though she probably didn't mean it, her response came off as a bit offensive to him.

"Excuse me? I am a living, breathing individual. I don't need someone to take responsibility for my actions."

"I-I didn't mean it like that… I just meant that if anything were to happen to you, I'd feel like it would be my fault since it's my fault you're here."

"So I can't have friends because you feel the need to dote on me?"

Another awkward silence ensued as Matt felt the pain in his head getting worse.

Twilight turned her gaze away and spoke softly. "I guess I might as well come clean…"she said as her face flushed a bright red. "I'm jealous."

He was already annoyed with this situation, but now he was near his breaking point. As far as he understood, her statement had nothing to do with what they were talking about.

"Please, explain what that has to do with this." He thought out loud.

Twilight's face was still red as her expression turned to confusion. "Y-you… you don't understand?"

"The only thing I don't understand is why you're acting like such a child about this whole thing. It's beneath you."

The blush in her face faded immediately and she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "… Excuse me!?"

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd be this upset about something so insignificant." He said.

Matt really had no idea exactly what kind of buttons he was pushing.

"Insignificant!? I, you… What!?" Twilight stammered.

"It's not like Rainbow Dash was inconvenienced. In fact, we had quite a lot of fun last night. I-"he said, before being cut off.

"Okay, that's enough! I don't want to here anymore about… whatever you were going to say!" exclaimed a surprisingly angry Twilight.

"You see, this is what I was talking about."

"I don't care if I'm being childish!" she exclaimed. "… You should leave."

He didn't know what he was doing to make her so upset, but it looked like it was too late now. The door turned a familiar purple color and opened by itself. Outside had turned into a whirling white vortex of frigid winds. He took a look back at her to see her still glaring expression. He sighed and began to march toward the door before stepping out slowly. The door slammed behind him immediately.

Inside, Twilight continued looking angrily at the door.

She hadn't noticed the silent observer in the room. "What was that all about?" asked Spike, who was sitting on the stairway the Twilight's room.

"You're better off not asking…" she replied

"… You really kicked him out into that blizzard?"

His question seemingly made her realize what exactly she had just done. She got up and ran to the door, looking out to find nothing but a storm of white.

"… Maybe I did overreact…"

Deep in the raging storm, the lone human walked. He couldn't even tell where he was and had no idea where to go. Since staying at a friend's place seemed to have negative effects in the past, his mind drew a blank on just where he could find sanctuary.

He trudged on, the pain in the back of his head spreading all throughout his skull. He didn't know many people. He had begun to think he wouldn't make out of this blizzard alive.

Just then, he heard a familiar sound over the howling of the wind. It was the same otherworldly sound he heard when he first saw that out-of-place blue police box. He looked harder into the wall of white and could make out some sort of pulsating light. He approached it, and saw it was in fact the police box, next to a large, shop-looking building. Running out of options, he quickly knocked on the shop's door.

When the door opened, he didn't get a chance to greet his salvation before collapsing on the floor, exhausted.