MLP: The Portal
Chapter 21: Intervention
Alex raised his head up a little bit, breathing in strongly through his nose as we woke up suddenly, just as he had earlier. It was clearly morning now, and he already knew that he wasn't gonna be able to go back to sleep for any longer.
He adjusted himself and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He cleared his throat a bit, and turned to reach for his water bottle on the ground next to him, and that's when he noticed that Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all sitting on the couch, fully dressed, looking at him.
"Hey there. Morning." Alex said to them, sitting up a bit more and beginning to rub his eyes and fix his nappy hair.
"Good morning, Alex. How are you feeling?" Fluttershy asked. Alex brushed a tired hand back through his hair.
"Fine, fine. I assume Rainbow Dash told you about last night?" Alex hummed.
"She did." Rarity nodded.
"Yeah. You don't have to worry about me. I'm okay, really, I am. Everyone has a rough night every once in a while." Alex said, getting comfortable lying somewhat on his side.
"We're glad you're feeling better. It seemed pretty bad." Rainbow Dash said.
"Yeah…what's up?" Alex asked, sensing that there was something else going on here.
"Um…well, we've been kind of worried about you lately." Fluttershy admitted. Alex squinted a little bit.
"Worried about me how?" Alex asked.
"We understand that we're still fairly new here, and it would be inappropriate for us to try and impose our views on you, but we're simply voicing some concerns of ours." Rarity started out.
"Yeah…?" Alex raised an eyebrow.
"We think you should change your job schedule." Rainbow Dash said.
"Huh?"
"As I was saying, Rainbow Dash, we don't mean to impose, but we do feel that you should at least take it into consideration." Rarity reiterated.
"And why would I do that?" Alex asked.
"It just seems to us like you're hurting yourself, Alex. When you come back from a late night, you look really tired, and then you don't sleep well, and it just seems like more harm than good." Fluttershy explained how they all saw it.
"Even you know it isn't good for you, Alex." Rainbow Dash added.
"I never said that it was. I know it has a negative effect on me. My options, however, are very limited, and I'd much rather suffer through this than completely cut off my income while I try to find another job." Alex said.
"You don't have to quit your job, but couldn't it be possible for you to acquire a better shift?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, I could, but then I'd have to work an extra day or two each week in order to make up the difference, just so I'd be making the same. They pay me extra for working nights, plus the overtime that I typically add onto it." Alex explained his reasoning.
"But you're trading off your health." Fluttershy argued, maintaining a calm and kind tone.
"The extra off days gives me time to recover, and then I'm able to get my groceries, and I even have quite a bit of free time to shake it off, spend time with my friends. Is it ideal? Nah, but it works, and I've made it work for me." Alex said conclusively.
The three girls chose not to continue the debate any further, nodding silently. Rainbow Dash let out a slight sigh.
"We just wanna help." Rainbow Dash said.
"I understand that, and I appreciate it, but I'm fine as I am. Really, I'd prefer to do this and suffer from time to time than where I was at before I started living out on my own like this, so from that perspective, I'm happy here." Alex said.
"Alright. We just hope that you're okay." Fluttershy said quietly.
"Thanks. Don't think I'm trying to be rude when I ask this, but why the sudden concern about how my schedule is affecting me?" Alex asked curiously, sitting up fully now.
"It isn't really new; we're just bringing it up now." Rarity said.
"We really wish we could help you, and find a way to thank you for all that you've done for us since we got here, but we can't do anything except wait until Twilight gets here." Rainbow Dash said with a sigh.
"I guess when you're not used to it, it is concerning. I apologize if I worried you. I'm still not all the way adjusted to this, but that's life. You take out what you put in, you know?" Alex said.
"I suppose so. Things are just very different here." Rarity said with a slight shaking of her head.
"Yeah, well we can't all live on a pony planet." Alex said, getting up now and going to his room. The girls were silent until he went into the bathroom to shower.
"Well, that could've gone better." Rainbow Dash grumbled.
"Yes, well, we only hoped to get him to consider it, not to change his mind." Rarity said.
"I don't think we even did that." Fluttershy said honestly.
"I just don't get it. Why is he doing this to himself?" Rainbow Dash asked. The girls could only shake their heads.
"Whatever the reason, it must be of serious concern to him. It seems that making a living is the only way to really live in this world." Rarity said observantly.
"It's really stupid," Rainbow Dash said frankly. "Why is money so important anyways?"
"Money is important in Equestria too," Fluttershy said. "We just have never had to worry about it."
"And Alex does, clearly," Rarity continued off of Fluttershy's thought. "And it seems that's just the norm here."
"Yeah…" Rainbow Dash said, finding no other argument.
Alex came out a few minutes later in exercise clothes. He entered the kitchen, untangling his earbuds. The girls all glanced over at him again.
"Are you going on a walk?" Fluttershy asked.
"I am. Just gonna grab a quick bite before I go." Alex answered, looking through his pantry and grabbing two bars of food and water.
"Do you want us to come with you?" Rainbow Dash asked. Alex hummed.
"Nah, that's alright. I'mma be going down the street this time anyways, so it's not as exciting as the nature trail. I'll be back in an hour." Alex said.
"Okay. See you then…" Rainbow Dash responded quietly.
"See ya." Alex said before exiting the apartment.
Shutting the door behind him, he began walking out from the complex towards the road, just as he had told the girls. Once he hit the sidewalk, he began walking up the road.
He began to reflect on the conversation he'd just had with them. It was strange to him at first, that they would all of a sudden bring this up him, as if he were hurting himself and needed an intervention, for that's what it felt like to him.
However, as he began to reason on the intentions behind their actions, he came to the hard-to-believe conclusion that they were simply doing it out of concern and care for him. This was something that he certainly wasn't used to, having been living on his own for quite some time now.
It was strange really, he'd only really known these girls for a short two weeks, and yet he'd already grow kind of fond of them, and, as evidenced by what had just occurred, they seemed to care for him as well…
He could only imagine how that would play out when their friends arrived to take them home.
Although, he realized, that didn't necessarily have to be the end. Perhaps they'd be able to come back. Alex certainly would welcome them back if they ever did return. He would miss doing things with them otherwise:
Walking with Fluttershy, putting together outfits with Rarity (she made it fun), gaming with Rainbow Dash, going to the movies with them, so on and so forth. After considering how much time they'd spent together, their concern for him suddenly made a lot more sense.
His thoughts were interrupted by him and someone else accidentally bumping into each other. They both stumbled back and caught themselves.
"Ah! Jeez, I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention where I was going." Alex said quickly. His eyes met that of a girl with a dark tan and straight black hair with a purple highlight in it.
"That's okay, I wasn't paying attention either." She said, brushing her hair to the side.
"Okay. Well, I'll get out of your way then." Alex said, maneuvering around the girl and continuing on his walk, putting his music back in.
The girl turned, eyeing him strangely before her attention was again redirected.
"Twilight, come on!" Starlight shouted to her.
"Coming! Sorry!" Twilight shouted, running after them…