Chapter 13: Parent Issues
Yes, it's been about a week since I've posted last. Finals will do that to you (especially a 200-level Spanish test and Organic Chesmisty). anyway, now that I am done with classes, I plan on doing a lot of writing over the summer, both starting some screenplays, as well as working on this bad boy here.
Also, this chapter will have no Ryan or Rainbow Dash in it, just a heads up. Don't worry, the next chapter will have a lot of her, and Ryan (if you like him too, I don't want to promote one of my OCs over another).
As always, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.
And, as usual, I own nothing except my OC characters.
Carl's Dream
"Carl! Carl can you hear me?"
Carl groaned and slowly started to open his eyes only to be met by a very bright, white light that immediately caused his eyes to throb in pain. He quickly shielded the light from his line of vision so he open them fully without causing him too much more pain. Once he started to re-gain his visibility, he began to make out a purple blur directly in front of him. He could tell that the blur was the one calling to him.
"Carl, come on get up, the Princess needs to talk to us, she says it's urgent!"
Once he heard that, Carl's eyes shot open to verify that the purple blur was indeed Twilight, who had a very anxious look on her face. Carl rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eyes and looked around to see that they were back in the Princess' castle as they had been a few nights before. Once he recognized his surroundings, he let out a groan.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me, we're dreaming again aren't we?"
Twilight nodded, "Yes. Princess Celestia brought us here."
Carl slapped his hand over his eyes and rubbed it down his face as if to fully display his irritation.
"This better be as urgent as she says."
"Come on." Twilight said. She extended her hoof to help Carl up. He grabbed it and pushed himself off of the ground as Twilight simultaneously pulled him until he was up and standing. Carl and Twilight then began to walk down the long corridor towards a door that led to the large room where the Princess' throne was. As they walked together, Carl couldn't help but look around at the stained-glass windows and magnificent architecture that was incredibly impressive. Even though he did see it the last time he was brought to this castle, he didn't really have a chance to fully appreciate it. For being from a cartoon it was amazing. Then again, he did think Twilight was beautiful and she was an animated pony, so he decided not to contemplate any further how amazing animated things could look in comparison to real things.
Once they entered the room, they saw that the large, almost gaudy throne before them was empty. No princess sitting in it. In fact, the Princess wasn't anywhere to be seen. Carl looked from one end of the room to the other for any sign of her, but she was anywhere that Carl could see. He looked down at Twilight.
"Um Twi, where's the Princess?"
"She said she'll be back in a minute." Twilight responded without taking her eyes off of the empty throne.
"Wait, how long were you here talking with the Princess before I woke up?"
"Long enough to know that she has bad news," she muttered. "though I'm not exactly sure what it is. She wanted to wait until you woke up so she could tell us together."
"Great, how bad could the news be where she needed to perform another Dom Cobb on me?"
"Discord knows who you are." said a familiar, powerful female voice that had a sound of absolute authority.
Princess Celestia appeared from another part of the castle the throne and started to walk towards the two, her eyes had a mix of fear and sadness. Carl would have bowed, but his heart stopped in fear after hearing those words come out of the Princess' mouth.
"Is that enough of a reason for you?" she asked, but she didn't seem irritated, just nervous.
"H-how does he know?" Carl asked, his voice shaking as if to reflect his fear.
Princess Celestia sighed, "He had one of his assistants extract information about your identities from your protector...and then killed him."
"My protector?"
Princess Celestia looked down at Twilight with a sorrowful look that made Twilight become even more nervous. The Princess sighed and said, "Yes...Bright Illusion is dead."
Twilight's eyes filled with a horror and sadness. She shook her head without blinking. "No, no...not my Uncle."
The Princess sympathetically closed her eyes and nodded, "I'm sorry Twilight."
That was all Twilight could take before she lay down on the marble floor and started to cry. Carl would have gotten down onto his knee and tried to comfort her, but he was in too much shock from the idea that Bright Illusion, or Mr. Courtie has he had called him for so many years, was murdered.
Carl swallowed a "How...how did it..."
"Obscure Darkness took his memory," the Princess replied, "and in order to extract someone's entire memory, their life force must be drained. It's a very powerful spell and besides Luna and I, only the most gifted of unicorns have the power to perform it. Unfortunately, Obscure is one of those unicorns."
Carl began to feel himself shake when he snapped himself out of it long enough to get down onto his knee to comfort Twilight, who was still lying on the ground, crying. Carl hugged her and leaned into her ear and began to try to calm her down by whispering "I'm sorry, Twilight, but it'll be okay. Everything will be okay Twi. I'm here for you."
Twilight looked up at Carl through her tears before she gave him an appreciative nuzzle. Carl looked back up at the Princess, who was still standing in front of them with remorse.
"What do we do?" Carl asked as he continued to rub Twilight's back to console her.
"First you need to warn the others," Princess Celestia muttered, "tell them to leave their homes and get to an undisclosed location where they cannot find them."
Carl nodded as he soothingly continued to stroke Twilight's mane and back. She had been there to listen to his sorrows about his father, and she had helped him get over his lack of faith in love. Now it was his turn to do the same for her.
"Carl you and Twilight must wake up now and evacuate before they come for you, there isn't much time." the Princess said. Carl nodded and finally bowed. "Thank you Princess Celestia."
"Carl you don't need to be so formal around me."
Carl nodded and pulled the now quietly crying Twilight closer to him before the Princess spoke up again.
"Oh and Carl," She said before she closed her eyes. Her horn glowed and a small, green box levitated to Carl from behind her. Princess Celestia opened her eyes to look at Carl as the box continued to levitate in front of him. Carl slowly reached out and grabbed the box, As he pulled it closer to his eye-level to examine it, he could see three of the four sides of the box had the images of each species of pony. One had a unicorn with a horn that was glowing, one was a Pegasus in mid-flight above the clouds, and the last image was of an earth pony running. The fourth side of the box that was not the top of the bottom, in two rows of three, had the images of six the cutie marks that the mane six had. The strange thing was that all of the marks were currently emitting a small glow except for one, and that one was the diamond. Rarity's cutie mark. Even more astonishing was how much more Rainbow Dash's cutie mark glowed in comparison to the others. Carl didn't really understand any of it so he slowly looked back up at the princess.
"What's this?"
"This small chest contains a prophecy that you and the others must read, but it will only open when all of the elements are in perfect harmony, hence the glowing. And based on what the box is showing, the Elements of Generosity aren't in harmony with each other."
Carl nodded, remembering Louis and how he had still not come back to help.
"Yeah, I...I know we need to convince him to come back."
Princess Celestia nodded, "Do so quickly Carl, because we're running low on time."
Carl nodded and the Princess' horn began to glow again and she muttered, "Good luck you two."
Slowly the image of the Princess and the castle began to disappear into a white abyss until Carl was stuck in a white nothingness with only Twilight by his side still.
It was strange, the fact that Twilight was still visible in his arms even though the rest of the dream had disappeared into nothingness. Twilight looked up at Carl and gave him a small, thankful smile.
That's when he woke up.
Carl's House
Carl slowly opened his eyes to see Twilight still in his arms, though he realized that he was now in reality. She looked up at him with her still tear-streaked eyes that drenched the pillow-case that her head was on. Carl knew that Twilight and Bright Illusion really haven't seen each other in a while, but he assumed that he still meant a lot to her. After all, they were still family, no matter how far the distance was between them.
"Twi are you okay?"
Twilight wiped some tears off of her cheek and nodded, "Yes...I'm just...I know I haven't seen him in a long time but, Uncle Bright still meant so much to me."
Carl nodded, "I understand."
He leaned in and kissed the top of her head, careful to avoid her horn, and felt her press into him again and rubbed her face into his shirt. As they broke off she looked up at Carl and gave him the slightest smile.
Carl smiled back before he realized that he was holding something in his right hand. He looked down to see the tiny, green chest from the dream. Twilight looked down at it too and saw the six cutie marks glowing. Well, except for Rarity's that is.
"Do you know where Louis lives?" Twilight asked as she looked back up at Carl.
Carl shook his head, "No, but I can get his number off of Facebook, right now we need to get the warning out to him and the others." he said.
Twilight nodded. Suddenly Carl froze when he had the sudden realization that he was going to have to reveal Twilight, Spike and Rarity to his mother.
"Oh boy, that should be fun." Carl thought before he spoke.
"I'll call the others." Carl said, "except Ryan, he's in a hotel so he should be okay."
Twilight nodded and got out of bed before turning to Carl, "Are you going to show me to your mother then?"
Carl shrugged, "Do I really have a choice?"
With that, both of them left the room. Carl pocketed the box, which fit even though he now had a large bulge in his pocket. It looked like he was carrying his wallet, car keys, and his phone all in the same pocket. He nodded in confidence that he had everything under control and knew what he was doing.
What he didn't realize was that Alex was the only safe one at the moment as he was at a hotel that not even Carl knew about, and therefore Mr. Courtie didn't know about when he died. But Carl forgot one detail, much more vital than the one regarding Alex.
Carl forgot that he told Mr. Courtie which hotel Ryan was staying at.
Louis' House
Louis slipped his sleeveless work-out shirt and red shorts on. He put his earphones in and clipped his iPod to his waistband, ready to burn himself out on his daily three-mile run. He hoped that running would help him feel less guilty about badly he treated Rarity and the others two nights before, but he wasn't counting on it.
Since he left Carl's house his conscience and his desires were going through a civil war in his mind. His conscience was scolding him for abandoning his duty, while his selfish side kept finding ways to push his conscience into the background through excuses. But as time went on, his desire-loving side was having a much harder time satisfying the arguments that his conscience put forward.
The main reason that his conscience was bothering him however was because of how God awful he felt after leaving Rarity sobbing on Carl's lawn. Not only was it a cruel thing to do to anyone, or anypony, but it was especially cruel for him to do to his favorite character on the show.
He never would tell anyone that he liked My Little Pony, but he certainly would NEVER admit that his favorite character was Rarity, as she was the most "girly-girly" one.
To this day he wasn't exactly sure why Rarity was his favorite character, but he felt like he had a connection to her as soon as he started watching the series. She had the type of personality he wanted out of a girlfriend. A girl that isn't afraid to act a little girly, but at the same time is smart, cunning, kind, generous...God too many good qualities for him to keep track of. Overall, he knew that she would never abandon her friends for anything, and that's what killed him. Rarity risked losing her popularity in Canterlot by admitting that the other five were her friends because she cared about her friends more than her wants and her desires, and now Louis realized that he wasn't living up to her character. More than anything, this feeling that he had let Rarity down by being such a prick was what made him feel the most depressed.
Louis went outside and began to jog as music blared into his ears. The afternoon sun shone high in the sky, beating heat down onto his' back as thoughts of Rarity continued to fill his mind.
"It's such a nice day," he thought, "Damn, I wish I didn't feel so guilty, but poor Rarity. Maybe I should at least go see her to apologize."
There was not many times in his life when he could just have some time to think to himself, so when he ran, he savored every second of it.
After a few minutes, he finally managed to push through the "wall" and was now enjoying his nice, easy jog, especially after he mentally decided to stop by Carl's to see Rarity. Just to see her, not to join them in their cause or fight, but he wanted to apologize. After all, any brony that caused a pony, especially one of the mane six, to cry would feel as if they just committed mass genocide.
Louis turned a corner and continued to run for another fifteen minutes, his shirt beginning to feel heavier as more and more sweat poured into it. It was around this time when he looked at his reflection in a window as he passed by a house, letting his narcissism prevail for a brief moment. Just before his image disappeared at the end of the window, however, the image a black sedan slowly following caught his attention.
His music had been too loud for him to notice the car was only a few feet behind him.
He suddenly got a little nervous, but he kept running as if he didn't notice anything. He ran by a few other houses, each time making sure to look at the windows to see if the car as still following him. Each and every time he saw his image, he saw the car not too far behind it.
He looked back forward, thinking about what he was going to do. He then saw a corner up ahead that he normally turned down. It was familiar territory, so he knew that he could find his way back home. He decided to go for it.
He casually jogged as he turned down the road, momentarily out of sight of the two people who were in the car. Once the car turned the corner, they saw Louis sprinting away; his distance already widened to at least twenty yards. The car sped up after him as they saw Louis turn and look at them with fear in his eyes.
Louis then quickly turned into a yard and ran towards the backyard. He stopped his music and heard the car screech to a halt behind him followed by two doors opening. He heard the two men order him to stop running. Louis didn't listen; he kept sprinting towards the backyard of the house that he was running towards.
That's when he heard a gun-shot ring, followed some bark off of tree nearby to get shot off in a small cloud of an almost saw-dust like material. He jumped to the ground in cover. He looked up at the tree and saw the area that the bullet had hit, "Holy God they're trying to kill me."
He quickly got back up and ran behind the house and, thanks to his athleticism, easily hopped the fence. He continued to run from back-yard to back-yard, the shouts and gunshots sounding further and further away, until he managed to find his way back onto the main street. He looked behind himself to see that the men were no longer in sight since he lost them in the backyards. He sprinted for about ten minutes until he reached his house. Once he got there, ran into his house and shut the door. He collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily and almost gagging from how dry his throat got.
He wasn't used to running like that, not even for soccer, and he ran A LOT for that sport.
He slowly picked himself back up and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His dark face had looked slightly less dark, almost pale, and he was drenched in sweat. He looked like he was exhausted and about to pass out, but he couldn't. Not when he was in danger.
"They aren't going to stop, it doesn't matter what I do, they're not gonna stop." he thought to himself.
Ironically, though, it had taken this moment of danger for his mind to finally declare a winner in the great "right versus wrong" civil war. He then knew what he had to do. He grabbed his car keys, left the house and went out to his car.
"That punk better have an explanation for this shit." He grumbled as he got into his sedan and sped off to Carl's house.
Carl's House
Lauren was stunned. She had just finished getting breakfast ready when Carl told her that he needed to show her something shocking and important. When she agreed, she thought it would be a new talent or something simple. She wasn't exactly sure where "two cartoon ponies and one cartoon dragon" came up on the list of possibilities in her mind, but she was sure that it was near the bottom of it.
Yet, here she was sitting at the dining room table with Carl, Anna, Lisa, and the three cartoon characters.
"Carl..." Lauren said, "what...what's...how...?"
"I told you Mom, this is Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Spike, and yes they are three characters from a cartoon that I occasionally watch."
"If occasionally is code for every day." Lisa muttered under her breath, which Carl ignored before he continued.
"They're here because Wilmont is going to fall to chaos and we need their help in order to stop it."
Lauren shook her head in disbelief as she rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. "This is impossible. I'm...I'm dreaming, I have to be dreaming."
"Mom you aren't dreaming." Lisa confirmed, "Carl is telling you the truth. Trust me, if he wasn't I'd tell you."
"I know, I just...they're CARTOONS! And they're HERE, what part of that is logical."
Twilight decided to pipe up. "Look, Carl's Mom, if I may..." Lauren, with uncertainty still in her face, nodded and Twilight continued. "...I understand how overwhelming this must be for you. And I understand the prospect of talking ponies in your presence un-nerves you a bit, am I right?"
Lauren let out a sigh and nodded.
Twilight gave her a small, reassuring smile before she continued, "But we are real, and we need you to listen to us because we're running out of time."
She still seemed to be a little distrusting of the little pony that was talking to her, that is until Twilight spoke up again. "Also, in my opinion, you really did a great job raising your kids."
Lauren's face suddenly softened, "You...you do?" she said in a way that seemed to hint that she was uncertain that the purple mare was telling her the truth."
Twilight nodded, "Absolutely."
"I also agree with Twilight on that Mrs..." Rarity said in a way that asked what she should call Lauren.
"Ms. Lewis." Lauren said.
Rarity stopped and chuckled a bit, "Ms. Lewis. I agree that you've done a simply marvelous job as a mother."
Lauren started to blush from the compliments, as she never received any of them before. "T-thank you girls." She looked up at them and gave them a small smile. Rarity and Twilight smiled back and nodded.
Lauren then turned her attention to Carl, "So we need to leave?"
"Yes." Carl said flatly, "and we need to now."
"Is someone coming for us?" she asked and Carl nodded.
"Yes, and if we stay we'll be sitting ducks."
Lauren nodded in understanding before she stood up and walked over to the fridge, "Okay everyone grab what you need and meet out at the car."
Carl nodded and everyone got up. Carl grabbed his cell phone and began to dial James' number as Lisa, Spike and Anna ran upstairs to get stuff from their rooms. Rarity went to help Lauren get her things together, and Twilight stayed with Carl.
"Carl what are you doing?"
"Calling James." he muttered, but just before he could press "call" he heard the doorbell ring. Carl and Twilight's hearts both seemed to freeze in fear at the noise, positive that Discord's henchmen were there. Carl and slowly began to approach the door while Twilight called after him.
"Carl! What are you doing, don't answer it."
Carl stopped and turned to her, "Just be ready to use your magic Twi."
Twilight nodded and stood in a position that made it seem like she was bracing herself from an attack. She pointed her horn at the door and had determination in her eyes. She gave Carl a small nod as if to tell him to answer the door. Carl slowly walked over to the door and stopped right in front of it. He leaned forward and peeked through the tiny peep hole that was on the door to see none other than Louis standing right outside, his shirt still drenched in sweat and his eyes wide in fear.
"Louis?"
Twilight let her guard down and looked up with a confused expression, "What? Carl, did you say that it's Louis?"
Carl nodded and opened the door, only to be pushed back onto the ground right in front of Twilight as Louis bolted inside and shut the door, locked it and looked out of the peep-hole to see if anyone had followed him.
"Louis, what are you doing here?"
"Those bastards found out where I live." he muttered as he turned away from the door and looked at Carl, "they tried to shoot me today when I was on my run."
Carl was speechless at this for a few seconds as Louis looked around, observing his surroundings, before he looked back at Carl, "Where's Rarity?"
"Upstairs, why?"
"If I'm in danger regardless of what I do, I'm not gonna sit around and let those bastards find me. I'm gonna help you out." and with that, Louis ran up the stairs, leaving a somewhat happier Twilight and Carl behind.
Carl sighed and finally got his phone out and pressed "talk" and held it up to his ear, waiting for James to pick up.
James' House
"I'm just saying you seemed to stutter a bit while you were speaking." James' mom scolded as James just stared down at his bowl of cereal, gripping the spoon he held tightly to relieve some of the stress he felt from his mother's criticisms. Ever since Fluttershy came into his life he had learned to somewhat ignore his parents' blatant attempts to put him down and let it go in one ear and out of the other.
But that didn't mean he still wasn't sick of it.
Eventually the phone rang and James mentally praised God, even if he wasn't entirely sure of his existence, for its distracting effect on his mother. She walked over and answered the phone, "Hello?"
There was a brief pause before she turned to James and held the phone out to him, "It's Carl."
Without hesitation, James grabbed the phone and ran up the stairs with it.
"I'd like to thank you for saving me from the wicked witch." James muttered at a low volume into the phone. As he walked by his brother's room, he could see some of his friends standing around as Patrick was holding a familiar little bag with some green plant in it.
"James listen to me this is urgent."
James ignored his brother and continued to his room, "What are you talking about Carl?"
James made his way back into his room and went over to his bed, while Fluttershy was laying down, asleep under the covers.
"Discord knows our identities, he knows where we live. Listen, you, Fluttershy and your family need to get out of there and meet us at a hotel."
"W-what!" James asked, now frightened. Fluttershy's eyes began to open as she looked over at James. She let out a small yawn that made James give a quick, mental D'awwwwww.
"James what's going on...if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked as she finished her yawn.
"Hang on Fluttershy," James said while he covered the mouthpiece of the phone before he removed his hand and addressed Carl, "Carl so what are you saying, that I reveal Fluttershy to my parents?"
"You don't have a choice."
James then heard an "eep" followed by Fluttershy jumping up and diving under the covers, shivering in fear.
"Y-your...p-parents?" she whispered from her hiding spot.
"Carl man she's petrified. I can't just reveal her to them." James said with desperation in his voice, but this was too urgent of a situation for Carl to cave just like that.
"James, listen. If you don't show Fluttershy to your parents they won't believe you and you'll all be fucked, including Fluttershy. You don't have time, just man up and tell them!"
"All right!" James shouted, "All right, Jesus Christ."
James died a little inside when he heard Fluttershy's shaking increase and another couple eeps come out from under the covers where she was still hiding. James couldn't handle her fear and felt worse at that moment than he had at any point in his life.
"Just let me talk to Fluttershy and I'll meet you at the hotel."
"Great, okay we're meeting at the hotel off of 4-90."
"Yeah I've...I've got it thanks." with that, James hung up and put the phone down onto his mattress before he turned to Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy come on it won't be that bad."
That was when he heard her crying. His heart sunk and he reached out to slowly pull the blanket off of her. Once the sheets fell off of her face, he saw her eyes closed and tears running down her cheeks. She was shaking like she had just seen a ghost, or a dragon in her case.
"No...James please...I..." James reached out and put his hand on her head and began to stroke her hair to calm her down.
"It'll be okay Fluttershy." James said as soothingly as possible, "when I show you to them I'll be right there, and everything will be fine."
Fluttershy slowly began to open her eyes to look into James'. "You...you will?"
"Of course," James said with a chuckle, "you've been there for me whenever I needed you. So it's the least I could do."
Fluttershy gave James a small smile, "Wow, James I...nopony's ever said anything that nice to me before."
"Shame too," James said, "you're by far the kindest pony or person that I've ever met."
Fluttershy blushed at the compliment and looked away before she whispered something that James couldn't quite make out.
"I'm sorry what was that?" James asked.
Fluttershy whispered something else. James was suddenly having flashbacks to how she acted when she first met Twilight, as well as how she acted when she first read James' eulogy.
"Fluttershy I...can you speak up a little I want to know what you're saying."
Fluttershy looked up sat James, their eyes meeting. "I said you're...you're also the kindest person I've met. Pony or human."
They continued to look at each other with for a few more seconds before they began to lean towards each other, inch my inch their faces got closer and closer to each other until their lips met and they began to kiss.
Both of them suddenly felt their hearts explode at the same time, as if the kiss was a detonation device. James felt all of his worries wash away. His worries about his parents, his worries about his ability to be kind. All of those petty things became insignificant to the love that he felt for Fluttershy.
And she felt the same way for James. She was obviously a timid mare, hell using the word "timid" is an understatement, but she realized that she was in love with James. She felt like she could be herself around him and, while her friends understood her nature, a mare as quiet as her never really drew the attention of any stallions. James was the first boy that she was so open to, the first person she ever truly could say that she loved.
They continued their kiss for few more seconds until they slowly separated, still looking into each other's eyes with the pure love that they had for one another.
They were so entranced in each other that neither of them noticed the teenage boy standing in the doorway with his mouth agape until James saw the teen's shadow over Fluttershy. He watched Fluttershy's eyes suddenly widen while she looked behind James, and he could tell based on the look Fluttershy gave that something terrible was behind them.
Slowly, he turned around until he could see what she was staring at.
There, in the doorway with his eyes wide open, his jaw completely hanging, and his body frozen in shock, was Patrick, who had seen the two kiss.
James heart froze, "Patrick I..."
Patrick bolted away, screaming for his and James' parents. Fluttershy turned red and threw the covers over her head in shame. James closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
"Shit."
Carl's House
After Carl had finished calling James, Alex and Pete, he and Twilight both "kept watch" at the window as everyone else got ready to leave. Rarity had not accepted Louis' apology as he followed her, begging for forgiveness. Unfortunately, Rarity really wasn't one to accept apologies off a whim, so she just kept ignoring Louis or flat-out scolding him, as she continued to help Anna pack while Spike was helping Lisa in her room.
Lauren was in her room packing some clothes and toiletries, only what was necessary, before she made her way downstairs.
"Carl where are we going again?"
"Remember the hotel that we went to for Uncle Troy's wedding?"
Lauren thought for a second and nodded, "Oh yeah. Didn't they have a roach problem?"
"That was four years ago mom," Carl muttered, "and I think roaches are the least of our problems right now."
Lauren nodded and walked off. Carl turned to Twilight who said with a smile, while not averting her eyes off of the front lawn, "You know I still wouldn't tell Rarity about the roach problem."
"Don't worry, I know better than to tell her." Carl said with a chuckle as he continued to look outside.
"Are you going to tell your Mom about...you know?" Twilight said in a way so that Carl knew that she was talking about.
"Not yet." Carl said as he dug his hands into his pockets, "I still think she needs to know you better."
They continued to watch outside as they heard Rarity stomp down the stairs with Louis right behind her.
"I still refuse to accept your pathetic attempts to apologize to me Louis."
"Come on Rarity, please." Rarity stopped for a second as Louis walked up to her, "I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but if we want to defeat Discord..."
Rarity scoffed, "Exactly. That's why I refuse to apologize! You're only doing it to save your flank! If you weren't in any danger we wouldn't even be having this conversation because you'd still be lollygagging in your house instead of doing your duty to help us! "
Rarity let out a "humph" and turned her face away before she trotted off, Louis right behind her. They both continued this "dance" as Carl leaned into Twilight and whispered, "How much of this stubbornness is genuine and how much is it Rarity being Rarity?"
"You mean her "drama-queen" self?" Carl nodded and Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought, "I'd say...30:70."
Carl nodded with a small chuckle, "I'd think it was 10:90."
They continued to look outside until everyone was downstairs. Spike was carrying a very heavy bag for Lisa, which was making his legs wobble, "Ugh, Lisa. Why are you bringing so much stuff?"
"It's not just mine, it's Rarity's too." Lisa said. After he heard this, Spike straightened up and suddenly held the bag without showing any sign of struggling. In fact, his face was stoic and he seemed to puff his chest out a bit.
"I got this!" he said with pure determination before he continued to walk outside. Anna walked over to Lisa and tapped her on the shoulder, "Um, Lisa, Rarity doesn't have any stuff here."
Lisa kept watching Spike effortlessly carry the bag out and smiled, "I know, but Spike isn't complaining anymore, is he?"
Lisa then went outside as Anna followed, trying not to laugh at her sister's little trick. Rarity was next out, Louis right behind her. When he gestured Rarity into his car, she blatantly ignored him. She even went so far as to close her eyes as she walked by and got into Carl's mother's SUV. Louis rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and got into his car.
Lauren, Twilight and Carl were next out. Lauren locked the door and headed to her car, while Carl and Twilight went over to the sedan that used to be Carl's father's, but had been his car for the past few days.
Once everyone was in their cars, they started off. As they drove away, Carl looked back at his house through the rear view mirror and let out a deep sigh.
"Carl, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.
Carl shook his head, "I just hate looking back at my house and not knowing when I'll be able to go back."
Twilight put her hoof onto Carl's shoulder and rubbed it, "Don't think like that Carl, everything will work out."
After that, Twilight looked forward at the road ahead as they approached the end of the street.
Pete's House
"So where are we going again, Pete?" Pete's mom shouted from her and Pete's father's room, as Pete and Pinkie Pie were in Pete's room, packing. He had just told them about Pinkie Pie, and they took it quite well, considering she was a cartoon mare. No, he didn't tell them about their feelings for each other yet, he just showed her to them. After doing that, he found out was that his parents were much quicker in their acceptance of her being real than he thought they would be.
"Um, it's the hotel off of 4-90. You know the one that has the giant billboard right next to it?" Pete shouted back to answer his mother.
"Oh yeah, got it." she shouted back.
"Hey Pete! What's the place were going to like?" Pinkie asked.
Pete looked over at Pinkie, "Um, it's a hotel. Don't you have those in Equestria?"
"Of course we do silly," she said with a giggle before bouncing closer to him, "but how big is it? Do they have a pool? I just love swimming, hey have you seen my scuba gear?"
Pete looked back down at his clothes for a second, which was apparently enough time for Pinkie to throw on the most ridiculous outfit he could imagine. When he looked back at her, he saw her wearing scuba flippers, a snorkel, huge goggles, and what looked like those orange, arm flotation devices that kids wear when they're first learning to swim.
"Pinkie," Pete said as he tried to stifle his laughter, "do you really need to wear all of that?"
Pinkie nodded quickly before responding, "Owh ywah Iwts bwad wlwuck two..."
"Uh, Pinkie maybe you should take the snorkel out of your mouth before you speak?" Pete said with a chuckle at her attempts to talk while the mouth-piece was in her mouth. She looked down at it and spat it out.
"Sorry, I forgot I had that in. And yes I do because it's back luck to go swimming without all of the necessary precautions!"
"Yeah but there are necessary precautions...and then there's what you're wearing. It's a bit excessive."
"Yep, that's me though! Excessive is my middle name! Well, not really. It's really Diane, but excessive is better anyway! And it more appropriate!" Pinkie smiled and in one motion took all of the swimming gear off and shoved it into Pete's bag. Pete looked down at her to see her giving him a big, toothy grin. "Okay fine Aquamare, if you want all that stuff I won't complain. But just know you are by far the most random pony I know."
Pinkie giggled, "But that's why you like me."
Pete smiled back as he zipped his bag up, "That I do."
They hugged each other before heading downstairs. Once they reached the bottom, they saw Pete's parents already ready and waiting to go.
"You two ready?"
They both nodded and everyone headed out.
"So Pinkie where are you from?" Pete's father asked as Pete locked the door. He turned to see Pinkie conversing with them a huge smile on her face as she bounced to the car.
"I'm from Ponyville! It in Equestria, which is in a whole other dimension than here."
Pete's dad smiled, "I sort of figured that, you know you're very energetic."
"Yep!"
"Well, I think our son needs a friend like that." Pete's mom said with a chuckle as she got into the car.
"Well that's good because I am his friend! We're like icing and cake. Or, something like that."
Pete's mom and dad just laughed as they both got into the car.
Pete was slowly making his way to the car as well. As he listened to his parents and Pinkie Pie talking, he couldn't help but smile and let out a mental sigh of relief that his parents were already so comfortable with Pinkie Pie. It made him feel more confident about his eventual need to tell them about his love for her.
Motel
Alex just got the call from Carl as Applejack continued to sleep in the small motel bed that they had shared for the night, little snores coming from her as she slept on. He now was getting ready to go make a call to his mother and step-father to warn them. Sure he was still angry at them, but that didn't mean he wanted them captured or dead. Actually, he didn't care about his step-father, but he didn't want his mother to be in danger. Alex pulled on his street clothes and was starting to put his shoes on when Applejack finally woke up.
"Alex?" she asked as she yawned, "What are ya doin'"
"I'm going to make a call." Alex said, "I need to use a pay-phone in town so they can't track us on my cell. I want you to stay here and don't go out for any reason, understand?" Applejack nodded, "Good." Alex said as he finished tying his last shoe and stood up to leave.
"Just be careful Alex." Applejack said quietly. Alex turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I will, don't worry about me AJ."
"Ah'll be here when ya get back." Applejack replied with her own, loving smile.
With that, he walked over to her and they gave each other a quick kiss before Alex went out to his car. He drove off, not noticing as Applejack nervously watched him from the window.
After a few minutes Alex managed to get into down and found a phone-booth. He stopped the car right in front of it and got out. He looked in one direction to see if anyone was watching him. When he didn't see anyone that drew his immediate attention, he looked down the other way and saw no one acting weird or watching him.
When he was sure that he was safe, he walked over to the phone booth and began to put his change in. His hand was shaking so much that he dropped a few dimes onto the ground. He put his hands out and took a deep breath.
"Come on Alex, calm down." he said to himself with a sigh before he managed to pick the coins up and put them into the phone. He dialed his home number and waited for someone to pick up, preferably his mother.
After a few rings, his prayers were answered.
"Hello?"
"Mom it's me."
There was a brief silence before Alex heard his mother come back on, "Where are you?"
"I can't tell you. Mom, you need to get out of the house as soon as possible and get to a motel."
"I'm not leaving the house Alex, Mark is still hurt from last night. He hasn't even gotten out of bed since that...thing attacked him"
Alex clenched his teeth, angry at his mother for calling Applejack a "thing".
"She has a name."
"What?"
"Her name is Applejack, she isn't a "thing", Mom she's my best friend." he said in a tone that almost sounded like a growl.
"What? She's a...a cartoon horse!"
"Mom you aren't listening to me..."
"Why aren't you home. Alex I need your help to take care of Mark..."
Now Alex started to get angry, "Sorry I don't want to help you take care of the man who tried to kill me last night."
A few seconds later he heard his mother let out a deep sigh, "Alex you know he doesn't mean that he just..."
"Mom!" Alex shouted angrily, effectively silencing his mother on the other end. Alex could feel a mix of anger and pity welling up within him, tears began to run down his red-hot cheeks. He clenched his fist and pressed it against the wall of the phone-booth and leaned into it.
"Mom, you need to leave. And I don't care if you take Mark with you or not, but I want you out of there. I know you care about him but you've got to understand in doing so you're only hurting yourself and those who actually care about you. Mom, you threw Dad under the bus and now you're doing the same to me. You didn't help me last night because you're afraid of him, but you defend him at every opportunity, even with everything that he does to you."
Alex pressed his hand even more against the glass wall of the booth as he began to cry harder, not really sobbing but he was crying enough to know it over the phone. "I love you mom but...but if you keep pushing the people who love you away in favor of that dick...you're going to be alone. You've got to stop, please just...listen to me this one time mom. I love you, and I don't want to lose you."
Alex then closed his eyes and began to cry as he waited for a response over the phone. When he didn't hear any, he wiped his tears away and sniffled a little.
"Hello...Mom?"
Silence. Alex suddenly got worried that he hurt her feelings, "Mom...Mom I'm sorry if I..."
Then a sadistic, male voice came over the line.
"I'm sorry Alex she can't come to the phone now."
Alex's eyes widened as he heard the man's voice. He did know it was one of Discord's men, but he didn't know who it was because he never ran into him like Carl had.
But if Carl was there, he would have known it was Brett.
"Who..who is this?"
"Let's just say I'm a catalyst of chaos."
Alex started to get nervous as he slowly stood up, "Wha...what did you do to my mom?"
"She's a little "frozen", my magic will prevent her from moving for a long as I want her to remain in place. But I promise that if you turn yourself and your little element friends in I'll free her and your drunk step-father."
Alex's face was turning red in anger, his hand began to shake when he slammed his fist into the wall of the phone booth as he heard Brett chuckle on the other end.
"You'd better let her go." Alex hissed.
"I will! Like I said, all you have to do it turn yourself and your little pony friend in, and we have a deal. Perhaps you can even tell me where the others are?"
Alex felt torn for a second. He would never turn Applejack over to this bastard, but he would turn himself in if it meant his mother would be free. He was having an internal conflict when he remembered how this man was not only untrustworthy, but Alex was needed to stop him and, if he turned himself in, Discord would be victorious. Not only that, but he knew if he turned himself in he'd be forced to reveal the location of the others, and he couldn't do that to them.
"I don't think so." Alex muttered into the phone with pure hatred before he slammed the phone into the cradle to hang up. He was fuming and after a few seconds of standing in the booth, his rage and sorrow building. He quickly grabbed the phone again and slammed it into the cradle another three times before he punched the glass and stormed off to his truck. Tears were streaming down his face as he felt like he had just left his mom to the wolves. He knew that the choice he made was the logical one, but he was so livid about leaving her that he wanted to cry. He could feel some blood trickle down his hand from the area of the knuckle that he had hit the glass booth with.
And once he was back in his truck, the door shut and the engine on, he pressed his head into the steering wheel and did just that.
He sobbed.
James' House
"I love her." James muttered as he stared at his parents with stoic eyes, hiding the fact that he was scared as hell after being caught in the middle of a kiss with Fluttershy, even if he did love her and think she was the most beautiful girl that he ever knew.
His parents both looked stern and disappointed while Patrick had a look that showed disappointment, but also smugness. The same smugness that James knew to expect from his brother after living with him for seventeen years. His real concern, however, was with Fluttershy. He looked over at her and saw her not looking at his parents. She was snaking and some tears were running down her face. He never wanted to see her hurt, and he knew that this situation was causing her pain that he just wanted to take away.
"This isn't normal James." his mother said in the same condescending tone that she always used when talking to him.
"Must you always be so...hard on your mother and I?" his father asked in the most rude, patronizing way. With each word that his parents uttered, his blood began to boil.
"I don't remember you getting this way when Uncle Dan came out of the closet." James hissed.
"Being gay is one thing, but you...you were making out with this...thing."
Fluttershy let out an "eep" and cringed a bit before James heard her whisper, "I'm...sorry."
"She's not a thing." Alex snarled through clenched teeth.
"She's a horse." Patrick said with wide eyes, as if he was just so ecstatic to cause James so much pain.
"She's more human than any of you three fucks are." James snapped back.
"Can...I say something...if you don't..." Fluttershy began, but James' father cut her off.
"Shut up you little demon." he snarled, making Fluttershy's eyes go wide. "and stay away from our son."
Fluttershy began to cry again and then she turned and flew out of the kitchen. James watched her go and stood up angrily, "You three are evil, do you know that? Can't I do ANYTHING in this house without you giving me a lecture on how I "could improve"! Every day I come home and every time I say something you shoot it down, anytime I do ANYTHING YOU SAY IT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH." James was red with fury as he looked down on his parents, who had indifferent expressions on their face, as if they didn't care what he had to say. James didn't care, though, he still wanted to get his point across "AND I FINALLY FIND SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY IS THERE FOR ME, WHO ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT ME AND YOU TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME! HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted.
"James don't talk to us like that!" James' father shouted, "and why do you think we're so disappointed? When we have a son like Patrick of course you're disappointing. He has a better work ethic than you and, hell, he does everything better than you. All you do is disappoint us, and now we hear that you're in love with a cartoon horse."
"Seriously we just wish you could be more like him."
"Wow." James thought in shock. He knew that what his parents were telling him was true, as he always suspected it. But to hear them come out and blatantly tell him these things, things that no decent parents would ever say to their son, surprised him so an unbelievable extent. And once he saw Patrick's smug smile he decided to finally spill the beans on his douche-bag brother.
"Well then maybe I should deal ganja out of my fucking room so I could be more like your "precious" Patrick!"
Both of his parents looked at him confused as Patrick's smile dropped and his eyes went wide in fear.
"What are you talking about?"
James smiled, "Ask you're "perfect" son what I'm talking about."
And with that, he quickly stormed out of the house to see where Fluttershy had gone.
As soon as he opened the door, however, he was met with the sight of Fluttershy being held down on his lawn by two men outside, her eyes wide in fear.
"Fluttershy!" he shouted before he made a dash over to her, only to be tackled by another man, who pinned him to the ground. He watched as several other men ran into his house before he could hear his parents scream, followed by a yellow flash of light. He looked up at the man who was holding him down, "What did you do! Let us go!"
The man smiled, "Nonsense, you and Fluttershy are needed down at the police station for some questioning."
And with that, the man pressed his finger to James' forehead. In an instant, a searing pain shot through his entire body, like he was being ripped apart from the inside. He closed his eyes and let out a scream before he slumped to the ground. He could feel blood trickling out of his nose and eyes as he looked over to see Fluttershy still struggling with the other men. He weakly reached his hand out towards her direction, his vision getting hazy. as he saw her eyes looking directly at him, pleading for his help.
"Fluttershy..." he managed to whisper out before the world became black and he slipped into the void of unconsciousness.
I hope everyone ejoyed that chapter. Like I said, I am going to most likely be posting more often now that college is done for the summer.
Anyways, thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.
And, as always...
Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!