Contrast

by Golden Cake

Opening Up

As me and Lucky ran on the dirt trail, after some time running, we made it to the train station with a few minutes to spare, as we were both gasping for breath.

Back at home, running was fun for me sometimes, but I never made it into an actual sort of exercise routine, so I nearly collapsed once we made it to the station.

I looked at Lucky, who was catching her breath as well.

“Wish I had some water or something to give her. I don’t want her caring for me and me not returning the favor somehow.”

I opened my mouth to ask her how expensive water was in Equestria, before three mares who’d just trotted into the station greeted Lucky enthusiastically, which caused Lucky to smile once she’d recognized them, as they struck up a casual conversation.

My mouth slowly shut before I looked into the distance, at nothing, and scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

“Damnit. Even in whole other worlds I’m still quiet with everyo-… or um, every… pony, I meet.”

I looked at Lucky and her friends, as Lucky laughed at whatever they were talking about, before I looked at the floor of the station.

“I wish I could make her laugh like that, make her happy. Or just get to know her more as an… individual.”

After a minute or so of them talking, the train’s whistle blew suddenly, as the conductor announced the last train to Canterlot was leaving soon, which snapped me out of my thoughts and reminded me why we were here in the first place, as I quickly looked back at Lucky, who stopped talking with her friends and looked in my direction once she heard the whistle.

She said goodbye to her friends and hugged them briefly, before she ran past me, into the passenger cart.

“Come on, James!!” She said quickly, looking back at me as she stood in the doorway of the cart.

I stood there, looking at her for but a second, before I came to my senses and ran into the passenger cart behind her, as the door shut behind me a few seconds later.

When we were inside, we found that the train wasn’t very busy today, as there were only a few other ponies aboard, which made it easy to find our seats.

Lucky asked if I preferred sitting next to the window or the middle, and I said I liked the window, so she let me sit first, before she sat next to me.

I rested my head over my arm as I looked out the window, just as the train started moving, and saw Lucky’s reflection, as she looked at me and then at the floor as she tapped a hoof on her seat, which I assumed was out of discomfort.

I gritted my teeth in frustration at myself, at the thought of me making Lucky Trail, the only creature in this new world who went out of her way to help me, uncomfortable.

I must’ve looked pretty down, because after just a few moments of silence between us, Lucky suddenly asked me if I was ok.

I looked back at her, being sure to not look angry or upset, as the first thought that came to mind was to tell her that I was fine.

But I then looked into her beautiful, imploring eyes, before I let out a sigh, as I shut my eyes.

“Can I… be honest with you, Lucky?” I asked, looking into her eyes deeply.

She looked a bit confused, but nodded earnestly nonetheless.

“Lucky… back in my world… I never really had any friends, aside from my sister, Avianna, I guess,” I said, as I broke our eye contact and looked out the window. “I was usually the kind of person to be in my own company, quite a lot of the time.”

I looked into the eyes of Lucky’s window reflection, as I continued.

“For a while, I felt like I was living a worse life than others just because I didn’t have any close friends, and that having friends like that is what everyone should do, and that it should be easy, or something.”

I then turned my head to look at her directly once again.

“But it’s not easy. I don’t know why, but it was never that simple for me to really connect to anyone enough to want to be friends like that.”

“I was usually pretty happy in my own company, reading comics or playing video games, and I know that being around other people is important for your mental health, but I never really feel the need to have casual conversation with other people I see day to day, except for my sister.

Lucky tilted her head slightly.

“Me and my sister talk casually and have fun together, but that’s because we’ve known each other so long, and we trust each other.”

I sighed lightly.

“But now I’ve met you. You’re not my species, but you seem like a sweet person, and I want to get to know you better, and I want to help you like you’ve helped me.”

I shut my eyes and looked forward, breaking eye contact again, as my hands squeezed my legs.

“I just want to have a real, understanding friendship with someone. I just want us to make each other happy, and enjoy each other’s company.”

I was silent for a bit, before I spoke again..

“But when I saw you with you’re friends at the train station, with you laughing and talking so casually, it makes me worry that I’m never going to feel a friendship on that comfortable of a level.”

I opened my eyes, as I kept looking forward, unable to look at Lucky, out of fear of me making her uncomfortable with everything I was saying.

“I know we’re obviously not friends at that level, since we’ve just met each other, and maybe we never will be, but I still want to try to be. I want to get to know you, and if you’d like, I’d like for you to get to know me, so we can have each other’s backs and enjoy each other’s company, as real, genuine friends.”

I gathered my courage and looked in her direction, and saw that she was blankly looking out the window, seemingly in thought, before she noticed that I was looking at her, and blinked as she shook her head slightly, and looked back at me with a brief, small smile.

“James… I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said, as I looked away.

My hand squeezed my leg again, before she gently put her hoof over my hand, which made me look at her.

“Friendships like that take a lot of time and trust to build, and… they’re never perfect. But, from what it’s worth, I’d like to get to know you too. You’re a perceptive, nice gentlecolt, and it’s pretty hard to find pony’s like that these days, at least in Canterlot.

I smiled, as I looked into her eyes, before I looked down and frowned slightly.

“But… I just don’t know WHY I’ve always felt that way. Like I’ve always NEEDED close friends to be happy.”

I looked back at Lucky briefly as she scooted a bit closer to me.

“Can I be honest with you, James? And tell you why I think you feel like this?” She asked slowly.

I looked at the floor for a second, before I looked her in the eyes and nodded.

“…Based on what you’ve told me…”

She put a hoof to her chin, as if she was gathering her thoughts.

“…you seem to just want friends you really emotionally connect to and who you can really rely on in hard times,” she said, before she looked me in the eyes. “I can understand it. Not everypony needs multiple friends to just have small talk and do little activities with, sometimes we just need those few that we can REALLY talk to, about our problems and everything, if you catch my meaning. Friendship is about compromise, acknowledging your differences and working through them, and building trust because of that, and finding joy in your similar interests and in each other’s goals and pursuits.”

She then let out a small giggle a moment later, before she looked at me, smiling.

“And with my friends at the train station who I was talking to, I consider them friends, and I can have fun with them when we go shopping or when we go out for a coffee, but I would be lying if I said that we often talk to each other on an emotionally deep level. I guess the definition of friendship sort of varies from pony to pony. But it’s just important to accept that they are never perfect, even if they look like they are...”

My eyes widened slightly as she said that, which only prompted her smile to grow bigger once her eyes met mine, as she scooted close enough that she was laying her head in my lap, as she shut her eyes.

It made me tense up at first, but after a moment of thought, I relaxed, and slowly put my hand on her side.

“Small talk can be fun for some ponies,” she started, as her smile faded slightly. “But other ponies just need somepony to really be there for them, and to have the most important, real quality time with, and I think you’re that kind of po-… I mean… erm, what are you exactly?”

I smiled slightly.

“I’m a human, Lucky.”

I looked down at her, as she had a small grin on her face.

“Well, then you seem like the kind of human who just needs somepony to connect to, not just to have small talk with, y’know?”

I smiled, as I felt a bit more at ease about my perception of needing friends, for the first time in… well forever, really.

“Yeah, I know.”

I patted her back, and rubbed it soothingly, which prompted Lucky to sigh contently, nearly inaudibly.

“And to be honest,” Lucky said suddenly. “I think the idea of having a good friend where we’re both dedicated to each other on a deeper level of friendship sounds… really lovely, actually.”

I looked out the window.

“Yeah it does.”

I then felt a bit more anxious, and gently squeezed my leg with my left hand, which Lucky seemed to notice, as she asked me what was wrong.

“It’s just… I-I don’t want to sound rude, but don’t all friendships and relationships need a common bond?” I asked.

Lucky’s ears perked up.

“Yknow, like something they both like doing, or another reason to be around each other? So they can enjoy being in each other’s company and feel like connecting to each other because of that?”

I looked back down at Lucky, as she opened her eyes and looked back up at me.

“Yeah, I guess any strong friendship would need that. Friendship can be complicated, but I’m sure we can find some things we both like doing,” she said confidently.

“You said you like comic books and video games, right? Well, I really like reading books.”

I scrunched up my nose, as I thought to myself.

There were some books back home that I’d been forced to read for my school classes, that were actually pretty interesting after a while of reading.

I was feeling pretty sure that me and Lucky could find some activities we liked doing together.

“Lucky?” I asked.

Lucky looked up at me.

“Yeah?”

I scratched my neck awkwardly.

“Sorry to still be on this subject, but, one more thing…”

“What if… what if it doesn’t work out? What if we don’t find a common bond? What if I never find true friendship?” I asked anxiously.

Lucky took her head off my lap and looked at me, placing her hoof on my leg, as she looked at me assuringly.

“Hey, relax. You’ll be living with me until I can get you back to your world, remember? We’ll be around each other often enough that learning about each other should come naturally to us.”

She then looked at me a bit more seriously.

“But just know, that friendships happen naturally. As long as you have an open mind to meet new ponies, and the confidence to be your true self, things will work out. So if a deep friendship doesn’t form between us immediately, we still shouldn’t try to force anything. It would just hurt both of us.”

“Man, you’re wise,” I almost whispered a moment later, slightly surprised that I’d said those words out loud.

Lucky gave me small smile, but I couldn’t tell whether it was from my slightly dazed expression or my blunt statement. Or if it was both.

“Thanks! I know quite a bit about friendship from… erm… past experiences...”

I was about to ask her what she meant but she raised a hoof to stop me.

“It’s…. its not worth talking about,” she said slowly, as she looked at the floor sadly.

I nodded, before I looked at the floor, as we had a moment of silence, aside from the sound of the train chugging.

“Thank you for listening, Lucky,” I said quietly, a moment later. “And… sorry for dumping all of this weird stuff on you.”

Lucky smiled, before she laid back down on my lap.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you were able to get it off your chest. And I look forward to getting to learn more about you!”

“Me too,” I said.

It seemed that we were talking for longer than I thought, as after a few moments of slightly awkward silence between us, the train came to a stop at what I assumed to be Canterlot.

As me and Lucky left the train station and walked along the sidewalk, I saw just how fancy Canterlot was.

There were rows and rows of tall, exquisite buildings, some of which were high class looking restaurants and shops.

There was even a giant castle higher up in the distance that seemed to reach up to the sky, as the sun was beginning to set overhead, blanketing the whole city in a crisp, orange aura of light.

“This place looks really nice!” I said cheerfully.

Lucky didn’t respond however, as she was looking to the left and the right of the street in front of us, to watch for traffic, I presumed.

“Wait, how would these ponies even use vehicles? Do they use carria-“

“Come on James, let’s go!” Lucky said, as she trotted down the walkway, with me quickly following suit.

As we walked for some time, we soon found ourselves in a bit more of a rundown, lower class looking part of the city.

I looked around for a few seconds, but when I was met with the cold glares of some seedy looking strangers, I looked around in random directions to avoid their eye contact. It was only when I saw a mare in an alley across the street, wearing clothes… rather inappropriate ones at that, give me a saucy wink as she licked her lips, before she motioned with her hoof for me to come over to her, that I blushed profusely, as my eyes darted forward blankly and I picked up the pace behind Lucky.

“O…k, this is uncomfortable.”

“Maybe this place isn’t ALL sunshine and rainbows like I thought.”

Lucky was looking down at the sidewalk, maybe to avoid eye contact with the strangers here.

“I doubt she CHOSE to live here,” I though as I looked down at her. “I won’t judge her for living in these conditions.”

After a little bit more walking, we made it to an apartment complex, which was thankfully a bit better looking than the rest of the buildings here, before we swung open the main doors and stepped inside.

When we were inside, the receptionist pony, a pretty unicorn with a white coat and a slightly darker white mane, was reading a book, and Lucky rang the bell at the desk, which made the receptionist’s ear flick, before she put down her book and looked at us tiredly.

When she saw me her tired eyes widened for a moment, before she returned to her normal weary expression, before she looked at Lucky.

“Evening, Lucky,” she said in a sophisticated tone. “Who’s your friend?”

”I doubt she even cares who I am. She probably didn’t even noticed the bandage I have wrapped around my head right now.”

”She’s probably just exhausted, in more ways than one. Working a most likely miserable job like this, I can understand.”

“Evening, Fleur. This is just my new buddy, James, he’s not a pony, but he’s a gentleman,” she said.

I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow humorously, as she gave me a wink and a look that said “just go with it”.

I then looked forward once more to avoid suspicion, before the receptionist reopened the book she was reading before Lucky rang the bell on her desk.

“Ok. You two can go now,” she said, rather impatiently.

Lucky didn’t seem to mind her tone as she walked past her desk and down a hallway, with me following behind her.

I gave the receptionist pony a disapproving look, not that she even noticed it with her muzzle stuck in her book, before I followed Lucky down the hallway and up a staircase for a few floors, and then finally up to her apartment.

When we were at the apartment, Lucky pulled a pair of keys out of her saddlebag with her hooves and used them to unlock the door.

“I’ll never understand how that’s possible to do with hooves.”

When her apartment door opened, I was greeted with a smell that seemed like a mix of mildew and slightly expired milk.

It wasn’t bad enough to make me gag, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

Lucky didn’t seem to mind the smell, as she flipped a light switch, revealing a not perfectly well kept, but cozy looking living room, before she shut the front door and locked it, and looked back at me.

“You can sit wherever you’re comfortable, James. I’ll prepare us some dinner, just give me a few minutes.”

I nodded and thanked her, before she went into the kitchen.

When she left the living room, I sat down on the couch, which caused it to squeak under my weight as I sunk into it.

I was a bit worried for a few seconds that it wouldn’t be able to support me, but it was fine, and it was pretty soft.

After a few minutes of me laying there, staring at the ceiling, and sort of soaking in everything that had happened to me in the span of a day, Lucky entered the living room with two bowls of red liquid, and handed one bowl to me, as she sat down next to me.

“It’s tomato soup,” she said. “You don’t mind tomato soup, do you?”

I waved my hand at her quickly.

“No, no! I appreciate it! Soup is nice.”

Lucky smiled and looked around her less than perfect looking apartment, then back at me.

“Sorry about the smell and everything, I wasn’t really expecting guests.”

“It’s fine,” I said.

Lucky then looked down at her soup bowl and started drinking from it, but before I dug into mine, I looked at her questioningly.

“Are you ok with us eating on your couch?”

Lucky shrugged casually, but remained silent, as her mouth was full of soup, before she took a few seconds to swallow it, and spoke.

“I’ve spilled so many things on this couch, I really don’t mind.”

I froze when she said that, which she noticed, as she blushed.

“N-no! I mean, um, yeah! This couch is totally clean, you could eat off these cushions!”

“Relax, Lucky, I won’t judge you for your couch, or for where you live.”

Her ears folded when I said that, as her hind legs moved up and down, maybe out of nervousness.

“Oh… you uh, you noticed the ponies in the streets, did you?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Mhmm. I’ll be honest… I umm, I wouldn’t really be comfortable living here myself, but I doubt you chose to live here, did you?”

After a second, she shook her head.

“No, that’s a long story. One that I’m not too comfortable with talking about.”

“Gotcha,” I said quickly, to assure her that I wouldn’t push any further for details.

I then took a spoonful of my soup and slurped it down, before my eyes widened.

I was actually really hungry.

I held my spoon in place on the bowl with my thumb, as I slurped the soup down as if it were a drink, as Lucky looked at me, her eyes slightly widened.

I was lucky that the soup wasn’t hot, otherwise I would’ve surely burned my mouth drinking it quickly like that.

When I stopped basically chugging my food, and gasped for air, Lucky gave a small snort of a laugh.

I looked at her, and she raised her hoof.

“Sorry, it’s just, I didn’t think my cooking was that good.”

I looked down at my bowl, which only had a small portion left, as my appetite was mostly satisfied.

“Yeah, I was just really hungry.”

I looked out the window of the living room, as the sun had already set and the moon was rising into the calm, dark blue sky.

I then looked at Lucky.

“Hey Lucky, where can I sleep for tonight?”

Lucky looked down at the couch we were sitting on, then back at me, and smiled sheepishly.

I rubbed my hand on the fluffy cushions of the couch, and laid my back further into it, as I got comfy.

“I’m cool with that,” I said, as I shut my eyes.

I then felt my soup bowl leave my hands a few seconds later, which made me open my eyes, as I looked at Lucky holding the tip of my bowl in her mouth, as she froze when I looked at her.

“My bad, I though you were done,” she said, barely coherently.

“I am, but I can take those bowls for you,” I said, as I sat up in a more polite position.

Lucky looked down at the bowl she had in her mouth, and her empty bowl which she was holding with one of her hooves, as she looked at me.

“I’ve got it, James, it’s fine.”

“No, no, I insist Lucky! You’ve done quite a lot for me today, you should get some rest.”

She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Says the person forced here from another world… I appreciate it James, but just think of this as me paying for my mistake of bringing you here…” she said, as she looked down at the shag carpet.

I leaned back on the couch and looked down when she said that, as she looked back at me.

“I-I mean, it’s my fault that you’re here. I’m not saying you being here is that kind of mistake, I just… I-“

“It’s fine, Lucky, I understand,” I said, giving her a smile to assure her. “But you… shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You didn’t mean to bring me here, and I’m not angry at you because of it.”

She looked into my eyes deeply when I said that, with an expression that I couldn’t read the emotions from, before she shook her head slightly and gave me a small smile.

“Thanks James,” she said simply, before she left for the kitchen, rinsed off our two bowls and turned off the kitchen light, then walked back into the living room, and opened a nearby door, which seemed to be her bedroom, before she looked back at me.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Lucky.”

She then turned off the living room light, before she went into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

It was dark now, but I could still see a bit from the natural moonlight pouring in through the window.

Luckily, Lucky already had a blanket draped over the couch, so I pulled it down, and laid sideways, before I moved the couch’s pillows to cushion my head with, and wrapped the blanket around myself.

As I looked out the window, at the moon, I felt a sense of comfort, before I slowly shut my eyes, and let sleep overtake me.

Author's Note:

There we go!! Chapter 3 done! Hope y’all like it, and hope you have a swell day/night!!