"Alex, wake up," Twilight's soft voice said. I groaned and turned to my side, opening my eyes and looking up at Twilight, who was leaning over me with slightly concerned eyes.
"Mornin' already..?" I asked in a grumble, struggling to sit up. I hissed in a breath of pain, feeling my ribs, that were now way more sore than the previous day. My face felt fine, but my ribs got the brunt of the attacks.
"Yeah, AJ is making breakfast already. Get ready so we can go." She said, exiting the room. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, standing and looking through my closet. Feeling lazy, I threw on a plain white shirt, and dark jeans. I was lacing up my boots, when I heard my door open. I looked up to see who was entering.
"Hello, Alex," Rarity said with a small smile. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Shiny. Just shiny." I replied with a smirk. She had gotten more used to my nerd slang than the others, and shook her head in amusement.
"Well, at least you're still up and about." She said with a small sigh. She stood there in silence for a moment, before looking back at me. Getting more time to get a better look, I noticed something on her face, and raised a brow.
"Rarity, are...Are you wearing makeup?" I asked quietly. Her eyes widened just a bit, and she shook her head.
"No. Well, yes. I'm just trying new things, we don't have as much in Equestria." She said rather quickly, and began walking out of my room before I could question her further. "Well, I'll let you finish, then!" She said, exiting my room.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes one last time, before standing and going to the breakfast. The smell of fried potatoes and scrambled eggs greeted my nose, and I looked at AJ.
"Getting the hang of cooking here, aren't ya, AJ?" I asked with a slight chuckle.
"Heh, 'course I am. No different than on my farm." She replied, with a hint of longing in her voice. I placed a quick, comforting hand on her shoulder, before going to get a drink. We ate breakfast and chatted, then headed to school on time.
Fourth period went by rather uneventful, as per usual, and our first break did as well. Twilight and the others told me how Jake and Aaron were relatively quiet, and that caught my attention.
"Didn't even react when I called them chumps..." Rainbow said with a slightly disappointed sigh. I smirked in bemusement and shrugged.
"Maybe they learned their lesson." Gray guess.
"Pft. Fat chance," I retorted, and he nodded in silent agreement.
"They didn't even look at us..." Twilight added in a murmur.
"Well, best not to think about it. If they're not bothering you, that's all that matters." I said with a slight yawn afterwards.
"Not catch much sleep last night?" Twilight asked with a sad smile, as she was the one who joined me that night. I sighed and shrugged.
"Slept fine...Was the nightmares that got me..." I Sighed, whispering the last part of my sentence. It seemed like Fluttershy was about to comment on it, but the bell rang, making me sigh in relief. "Well, let's get to class, girls. One more, than the weekend - and spring break!" I said, getting up and adjusting my shirt.
Fifth period went by agonizingly slow, until finally, the bell rang. All the kids burst out of their seats, and practically sprinted out of the window. Fluttershy, Pinkie and I managed to take a slower and more civil approach, quietly walking out of the room.
Meeting with the girls at my truck, the drive was spent in slight silence. I was afraid that they were all still feeling depressed from being treated unfairly, and when I asked them, I was surprised by the answer I got.
"Oh, no," Twilight began. "I think we're all just exhausted." She explained. Quirking a brow in curiosity, I looked at Fluttershy, who was sitting at my side, between me and Rarity. She did look a bit tired, so I looked at Twilight through the rear view mirror.
"How late did you guys stay up?" I asked. She thought for a moment before replying.
"Twelve?" She guessed.
"Midnight? Jeez, that's why you're tired! You're barely getting any sleep! Twilight, you're supposed to get at least eight a night. Remember what happened to Applejack here when she stood up all those days straight?" I reminded them, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at Applejack.
"Hey!" She said, and was about to defend herself, but the look I gave her practically screamed, 'Am I right?'
"...Yeah, okay, he's right." Applejack admitted with a slight chuckle.
"Well, from now on, you're all going to bed no later than eleven." I said, pulling into my driveway, with Grayson following in his car right behind me.
"What are you, our dad?" Rainbow asked with a huff, stepping out of the truck.
"No. No, I'm not. But do you want to end up looking like me when you wake up in the morning?" I asked, gesturing to the small, dark circles under my eyes.
"...I see your point." She replied quickly. Grayson approached us, twirling his keys on his index finger.
"What's going on now?" He asked.
"The girls are developing sleeping patterns to match mine." I replied with a slight chuckle. Grayson looked over at the girls.
"Celestia be with you. That's a curse no man, woman, or pony should bare!" He said, in a mock doomsday-esque voice. I scoffed and playfully punched him in the side, and he returned it with a hit of his own. One thing led to another, and the two of us were playfully wrestling around in the grass of my front yard. We had fun, and the girls began to cheer one of us on, being an even three for each of us. I had the advantage on top, when a strange screeching sound threw my attention away for a moment, giving Gray ample time to throw me to the ground. Another screeching sound, and Gray heard it too. The girls stopped cheering, and we looked to the street.
Two cars, one an SUV, and the other a pickup truck, were surrounding my driveway. Out of the SUV, Jake and Aaron stepped out. Of the truck, two of their friends, of whom I couldn't identify.
"The hell are you two doing, each other?" Aaron asked with a scoff. Gray got off of me, and helped me up.
"What are you doing here?" I asked quickly, calming my uneven breathing. I felt my fingers began to twitch lightly, and my breathing continue to stay quick and uneven. Glancing at Gray, I could see his breathing slow, but become much more deep, and his eyes were darting around.
"To kick your asses, what else?" Jake snapped.
"What, retaliation? You two in some kinda poser gang now?" I snarked. One of Jake's friends lobbed a rock at me, and it connected with the top of my head. I hissed in pain and stumbled back a bit, and Rarity and Rainbow caught me before I fell.
"Alex! Are you alright?" Rainbow asked worriedly. I opened my eyes, which began to change from their usual midnight blue to a gunmetal-grey.
"I'm fine." I growled, standing up. The four approached me and Gray slowly, removing their jewelery and other accessories. Me and Gray entered a fighting stance to meet theirs, but knew this wouldn't take too long.
Gray and I had training prior to this. That's all thanks to my uncle, who was a long time role model in my life after my brother was deployed. The guy was an ex Marine, and insisted on training me to help 'distract' me from troubles. Worked, too. Catharsis is a crazy thing, and it did help for a few years. Gray, well. He was just a natural fighter, and was a boxer. The dude could soak up punches like a sponge. Made me worried sometimes.
Like, for example, how he was the one to enter the fray first. One of Jake's friends threw a punch at Gray, who weaved, and retaliated with a right hook square to his jaw. I quickly turned to look at the girls, tossing them my keys. Unfortunately, Twilight dropped them, which didn't really surprise me, considering she isn't used to them.
"Get inside, quick! Lock the doors, and open the garage door!" I shouted. They all quickly complied, grabbing the keys and sprinting inside. I turned around, but caught a punch to the jaw from Jake, snapping my head to the side.
"Alex!" I heard Fluttershy yell.
"Go!" I barked, turning around to give Jake a quick front kick, effectively shoving him away from me. I entered another fighting stance, ready to ward off Jake and his unnamed friend. They both came at me with sloppy attacks, that I easily parried and blocked. But, there was two of them on me, so I didn't have much time for any counter attack, save for a jab here, or leg sweep there. But the majority of jabs landed their mark, and the leg kicks were causing them to stumble. I looked over at Gray for a moment, and he seemed to be doing just as well. More blocks and evasions than actual attacks.
I heard the garage door open, and went to retrieve a bokken and bo staff from inside, but Aaron was running for the door, with Gray momentarily in a hold. "Forget it, shut it!" I yelled out. In the distraction, Jake landed a fierce blow to my still sore ribs, causing me to double over for a minute. I heard a piercing scream, and in the corner of my eyes, I saw Aaron begin to crawl under the closing garage door. The laser detection system got him, and it began to reopen.
Everything then went red.
Jake went to kick me, but I stepped back, and threw his leg up, sending him into the air. I brought my leg down in an axe kick, and he crashed down to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of him. I felt a sharp pain on my back, and tumbled to my knees. I was being held in a chokehold by Jake's mook, and he dealt some mean hammerfists to my chest and ribcage. After a moment of finding my grip, I grabbed him, and threw him across from me, right onto a writhing Jake. This all must have happened in only a few seconds, as when I turned around, Aaron had fully entered the garage, and was banging on the door that goes into the house. He turned around to attack me, but I quickly spun, kicking him and pinning him against the wall.
"Don't you ever come onto my property again! I'm tired of kicking your asses!" I shouted in pure anger. A sharp pain was sent down my back, and I stumbled to my knees. Bringing my hand to the back of my head, I felt something liquidy and warm. Bringing my hand to eye level, I saw small traces of crimson blood. My assailant was quickly taken out by Gray, and the four limped towards their vehicles. We had won that little skirmish, and I struggled to stand.
"Alex, stay still, you're bleeding!" Gray said, though his voice seemed...Hollow.
The lights...Did someone close the garage?
"Oh my gosh, Alex! What happened?" Another echoey voice asked, and I think it belonged to Twilight. The rest of the voices were muffled. My eyesight became blurred.
Then, darkness.
( A/N
Hey, guys. Sorry about not updating at all this weekend. Life caught up with me -_- Anyway! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Pretty soon I'll delve deeper into what my main plan is, but for now, I kinda want Alex to enjoy break with the girls and Gray. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and supporting this! I really appreciate all of your support :]
Also, if you haven't done so already, please check out my tumblr account. There, feel free to ask me anything, and follow me, just to see how things are going on my end, and I'll be giving you updates on Brave New World, and other projects I'm working on!
alexbarkhorn(dot)tumblr(dot)com
That's the link, just FYI :P Anyway, later! )