When we walked through the front door I made a quick trip to the kitchen, the once chilled meat already starting to thaw under the midday sun. I didn’t linger very long, though, since I wanted to put some distance between myself and the girls. Tam Tam’s words had cut a bit deeper than I wanted to admit, and I didn’t much feel like sharing with any of them. A quick trip to my bedroom gave me a chance to change into some swim trunks, and a ragged shirt. I grabbed my beach towel as I walked out of my room, and just ten minutes later I had found a nice palm tree to lean against. Rarity had caught my eye as I left for the beach, but she didn’t say anything.

The distant, rhythmic sounds of the waves lulled my thoughts into a sense of calm that betrayed the turmoil within the deeper recesses of my mind. I sighed as I let my head fall back to rest on the trunk of the palm tree. My eyes closed against the glare of the sun, even with my sunglasses on, and so I was plunged into a world of touch, sound, and smell. Taste too, if the faint saltiness of the air counts.

As I relaxed I let my mind run through all the myriad of events that I had dealt with through my life, each one seeming to linger longer than the one before it. It seems to me that for each good thing I do, or that happens to me, there’s some bad thing that happens to outweigh it. But the thing is, I can’t even do anything to stop most of it.

Tam Tam, for instance, knew Rarity. Not something I could’ve stopped. And then, because of their rivalry, I was dragged into it, and forced to endure another threat from the upper crust of Equestrian nobility. Granted, I did earn most of those threats with my actions, but that’s not really the point. Still, none of them had ever thought to throw my winglessness back at me. Even the ones that knew about it had the common courtesy not to bring it up.

Except for Blueblood. But he’s an asshole, so I can understand that...

I took another deep breath, slowly exhaling and trying to relax my body... It didn’t work. I opened my eyes to look down at myself and I noticed with a grimace that I had my hands clenched in the sand, my knuckles turning white under the pressure. With a conscious effort, I unclenched my hands, allowing the fine sand to run between my fingers and form small dunes.

By the Creator, why can’t I get over this?

I adjusted myself until I was lying down, and then I lifted my hands up over my head, simply trying to stretch myself out as much as possible. It made me feel a bit more loose, but it didn’t accomplish much else. I pulled the shirt off my body, allowing Celestia’s pride and joy to shine on my entire form. In this new position I tried, once again, to relax, and this time I had a bit more success. I didn’t feel any real tension coming from my body, but my mind still resisted the attempts at docility.

With my eyes closed I couldn’t see anything, but the subtle change in light filtering through my closed eyelids prompted me to open my eyes. Much to my surprise there was a fairly large tortoise looking down at me, it’s beady eyes glimmering with what I could only describe as curiosity mixed with just the slightest tinge of regret. For several long minutes I stared up at it, and it down at me. I knew that it could win a waiting game, so I decided to rotate, and sit up so I could get a better look at it.

That, sadly, proved to be a bit much for me to handle, since I didn’t expect to see someone sitting atop the back of the massive beast. Nor, for that matter, did I expect the tortoise to be quite as large as it was. The man looked at me with poorly concealed mirth in his eyes. “Afternoon. I was enjoying a nice sit here on Chelone’s back while she enjoyed a good walk, and I couldn’t help but notice you over here. Not that seeing people on the beach is weird, or anything. Just an observation. Frankly, I’m glad we came over here, otherwise my curiosity wouldn’t have been sated.”

I finally managed to recover my wits, and I simply looked at the man, trying to make sense of it all. “Is... Is that a tortoise?”

Nothing gets past me...

Another smile came to the man’s features, this one wider than the last. “Is it a tortoise? She tells me that she’s a tortoise, and I have no reason not to believe her. Not only that, but she’s the first one, if her bragging is anything to go by.” For just a moment the man looked down at the beast. “She doesn’t speak often... Well, at all, really, but she did tell me that her name is Chelone. And that she’s the first tortoise.”

“Right. And who are you?”

“Garett. That’s with one r and two t’s.” He frowned for a moment, as if remembering something, but then his smile returned. “So, mind telling me what you’re doing here on this beautiful beach of mine?”

I snorted, before gesturing at the beach. “This isn’t your beach, but whatever. I’m here to get away from my problems for a little while. Just want to take some time to think, without having to worry about the distractions of life.”

“The distractions are what make life worth living, though. Without the distractions we’d all be spending our time working non-stop, doing the kinds of things that slowly drive us mad.” He paused for a moment, sinking into thought. “Unless the distractions are what you’re thinking about, in which case getting away from them for a bit might let you organize your thoughts.” I just sat there, unmoving, as the man ranted atop his faithful mount. “But if you’re trying to escape the distractions, so you can think about the distractions, aren’t you just distracting yourself from the distractions? Wouldn’t that make you as much of a distraction?” A smile came to his face. “But, I suppose that’s just wishful thinking on my part. So, tell me, what is it that’s got you thinking so hard?”

“Women.” My one word answer prompted no response from the mounted stranger, so I continued. “See, I’ve been living in this great little town for a few years, now, and there are these six stunning women who like me, and who I like.” The man nodded at me, his brow furrowing. “But I’m not the best when it comes to relationships. There are tons of reasons for this, but, the first among them, is my unwillingness to open up. To anybody.” I paused, realizing just what I was doing. “For some reason, though, it’s only when it really matters that I seize up. Clearly, right now, I’m talking about it just fine. It’s when the topic is forced on me that I have trouble.”

The man smiled a wide smile, as if he’d just solved an incredibly difficult problem. “Well you’ve just told me the solution to your problem.”

“What, bring up the topic myself?” He nodded. “No, that won’t work. Whenever I think about bringing it up I just seize up and push them away.”

“Well... Maybe a good first step would be talking to that fine specimen of female beauty that’s on her way here.” For a moment the man appeared to be looking off into the distance. “She’s well intentioned in what she wants to say, so don’t push her away.”

I raised an eyebrow, looking off towards the way he had come from. When, as I expected, I saw nothing, I looked back to where the man was. “Where is... What? Hey!” Quickly turning in place, to look back into the jungle, I spotted the man slowly making his way between the trees. “Where the hell are you going?”

A hand came up, and made a slow, casual gesture in the air. “Home, you know? Things to see. People to write. Stories to do. Or maybe some combination of the three.” He shrugged, the gesture nearly lost to the dense flora. “The usual assortment of things that one must do when in the comfort of one’s home.”

I slowly blinked as I watched the tortoise riding man disappear into the jungle, the dense foliage obscuring him from view. After continuing to watch the forest for another few moments, I finally let out a small sigh. “What an interesting person.” With that observation made, I turned back to my original position. Doing so revealed an approaching figure, a hand raised in greeting. I raised one of my own hands in return, reciprocating her wave.

Within just a few minutes she finally got close enough for me to make out who it was, and I wasn’t entirely surprised to see Rarity approaching. She was wearing the same bikini that she’d been wearing the first time we came to the beach, but she had wrapped a fairly sheer piece of fabric about her waist, crafting a good imitation of a skirt. The smile on her face was not one of happiness, though.

“Care to explain why you just stormed off?” She came a bit closer before she tossed a towel onto the sand, taking a seat atop it. “Hmm? Playing the wounded hero, or some other bizarre act of self-sacrifice?” I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t play dumb with me. I know how to mope better than any of you. And you, my dear Icarus, are doing an admirable job of making me appear level-headed.”

“Probably because you are level-headed. Sure, you’ve got your moments, we all do, but for the most part you’re able to deal with your emotions quite well.”

She let out a quick laugh. “Oh, hardly. Why don’t you ask Sweetie Belle, the next time you see her, how level-headed I am while working on a project with the deadline looming.” I opened my mouth to ask a question, but Rarity beat me to it. “Yes, I’ve just described my status quo. But I don’t simply hide from it. I know my shortcomings,” she smiled for a moment, “as few as they are. But, even a few is enough. I know all too well that I can’t handle all the problems I have alone.”

“Which is why you and the girls have your weekly get togethers, and bi-weekly spa visits.” She nodded and allowed me to continue. “And? What does that have to do with me. You’ve already made it clear to me that I’m not invited to any of those get togethers.”

“That’s because that’s a chance for the six of us to get away from the world for a while. A chance for us to talk about our various problems without anything held back.” I scoffed at that. “Alright, so we do hold back some things. But, to be fair, some things aren’t meant to be shared. Even with the closest of friends.”

“My point exactly.” Rarity sighed and shook her head. “Don’t give me that, Rarity. It’s not like I’ve got a group session waiting for me every two weeks. I spend a ton of time alone, and that’s how I’ve grown to be used to dealing with my problems.”

“And my point is that you don’t have to deal with it alone.”

“Yeah, because everyone wants to spend their time trying to make me feel so much better about myself.”

“If you keep talking like that, Icarus, we’re going to have a problem.” Her tone brokered no argument, so I shrugged and leaned back on the palm tree. “Now, for much of our trip into town you were doing just fine. Maybe even having fun. But then we see Tam Tam, and the two of you share some words and...” Her eyes brightened with recognition. “Oh.”

“Yeah, because being threatened is something that I can totally talk to all of you about. Fluttershy would just curl up into a ball and cry about it. Twilight would demand we send a letter to Celestia. Applejack and Dash would both want to go and beat the apples out of her. Pinkie would... Probably do something totally random, so no points for me there. And you’d try to resolve things in a diplomatic manner. At least, that’s what I think you’d do.”

Rarity let out a quick laugh. “Accurate on all accounts, save for one. Before I followed you out here, the girls and I had a quick chat. Dash and I laid out what happened, and you nailed everyone’s response, save for one of us.”

“Oh, Fluttershy’s self-confidence training showed? Did she spout another one of those ludicrous one-liners?”

“No, Icarus, Fluttershy... Well, she did pretty much what you described. Although she wasn’t crying, just shaking a bit, and hoping that you were okay.”

“Pinkie made a reasonable, and logically straightforward suggestion?” I smiled. “If that’s the case, AJ and Dash both owe me ten bits.”

“No, that’s not... Ten bits?”

“Yeah, I bet the two of them that Pinkie wouldn’t be able to make a logically sound decision until she was faced with a situation that forced her to act rationally. They think that she’ll be able to make a rational decision before then. Like, where she could either be her usual self, or she could act in a sensible fasion.”

Rarity returned my smile, a chastening look in her eyes. “And you were talking about us making a bet based on your emotions.”

“Don’t look at me like that. Pinkie knows about the bet, and even has some bits in the pool. She’s on my side, by the way.”

“Doesn’t that make the results...” She paused for a moment, thinking about what she’s saying. “Actually, that makes sense. In a Pinkie kind of way. But we’re not here to talk about that, we’re here to talk about you.”

I groaned as I adjusted my position, pulling myself into a more comfortable arrangement. “Fine. If you want to talk about me, be my guest, just don’t expect much contribution from me.”

A frown came to her face, but she quickly wiped it away. “Icarus, this won’t work without your contribution. I hope you realize that I’m not doing this to bother you, or to make you feel uncomfortable.” I nodded, agreeing with her. “Then why do you simply snap at me as soon as I offer to try and help.”

A short chuckle escaped me as I closed my eyes, bringing my hands to my face. “I’ve been fending for myself for so long it seems unnatural to ask for help, or to even have someone offer to help.” I kept my eyes closed, but my hands dropped down to my lap. “Do you know what the doctors kept asking me when I was in the hospital after losing my wings?”

I could hear her shift around some, but I kept my eyes closed. “I could probably make an educated guess, or two.” She paused. “Maybe asking if there was anything they could do to help you, or make you feel more comfortable.”

“That’s it pretty much exactly.” I opened my eyes, smiling as I saw that Rarity had moved herself next to me. “They asked me what they could do to make me feel better. And every time I answered them as honestly as I could, and they’d just offer me a smile, and ask what they could really do to help.” I forced out a laugh. “I answered their questions as honestly as I could, and they just passed it off as a joke.”

“What did you say to them?”

“I asked them if I could have a new pair of wings. Or, failing that, some way to fly again.” I felt my hands clenching again, so I forced myself to relax. “Not even one doctor took me seriously. The only person who I ever got a reaction from was some nameless nurse who came in one night when I was awake and reading a book at three in the morning. All she did was tear up for a moment, and apologize that there was nothing that she, or anyone, could do to help.”

“And what about now? Do you really think that any of us are going to do the same thing?”

I surged to my feet, a fairly loud curse escaping me. “No, Rarity, I don’t think that. But it’s hard for me to just walk up to one of you and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got all these feelings of unrequited love that I’m dealing with. Oh, and I also have a metric fuck-ton of mental hang ups that I’m trying to deal with. Would you be just the bestest buddy ever and help me out?’” I stopped myself, realizing that I had been shouting at her. “I’m sorry, Rarity. It’s... I don’t really know. There’s all this stuff going on in my head, and sometimes it gets to be a bit too much.”

She just offered a smile as she patted the towel beside her. “Sit.” At first I didn’t move, but her smile quickly faded, a frown coming in its place. “It wasn’t a request, Icarus.” With an indignant grunt I plopped down beside her. “Now, why don’t we start with something recent. Something that affected you, even if you didn’t say so.”

“Nothing gets to me. I’m like a rock.” I smiled for a moment. “I’m like Tom.” Rarity laughed at that. “Hell, I wish I could be half as tough as Tom was.”

“But that’s just what I’m saying. You don’t have to be that tough.” She grabbed my hands in her own. “You don’t have to deal with all the problems you have on your own. You can share with any of us.”

I didn’t say anything as I looked down at my hands being held by Rarity’s. It was such a small gesture, but, for some reason, right then, it felt right. Anything more would’ve been too much, and anything less would have kept this moment from occurring. In a voice too quiet for her to hear, I thanked her.

“Icarus, all you need to do is start talking. The rest will come as it does. The hardest part of life is simply getting started. Once you’re going you’ll find that things will fall into place.”

I sighed as I gave her hands a small squeeze. “You remember what Tam Tam said, right?” She nodded. “It... It hit me harder than I let on.”

“I don’t know about Dash, but I could see it quite clearly. I have to be able to do all manner of fine work on the dresses I make, and that takes a fine eye for detail. When she was talking to you, I could read your reactions as clearly as if you had simply told me.”

I chuckled softly. “Am I that easy to read?”

“No, actually. You have a remarkable ability to keep most of your thoughts off your face. It’s when you try to hide your feelings that you become easier to read. But now that it’s out, I want you to just talk about it. Whatever comes to mind, say it. We’ll work from there.”

“Without my wings all I have to get around are my legs. Back when I had my wings I flew pretty often. Not as much as Dash, but still quite frequently. I often wondered, what would I do without my wings. Now I know. I don’t want to have to think about what I’d do without my legs.”

“Dear, it’s an idle threat. She’d never do something like that. But, if she tried, she’d have six very angry Elements of Harmony to get through first.”

I chuckled at that, the mental image painting a nice picture in my mind. “Imagine Fluttershy trying to stand up to Tam Tam.” Rarity didn’t join in my laughter, so it quickly died out. “Yeah, I know. Sometimes, though, I can’t help but crack a joke. At anyone’s expense, really, not just Fluttershy’s.”

Her eyes widened for just a moment before they narrowed, a small smile coming to her face. “Oh? And what kind of jokes do you tell about me?”

I laughed once more. “Oh, I never make jokes about you, Rarity. A woman as beautiful as you could never be the butt of a joke as crass as those I tend to make.” A small blush came to her face. “But flattery? Few get it from me as much as you.”

She blushed a bit harder before she regained her composure. “Enough of this, Icarus, I came here for a reason. As I said earlier, the girls and I spoke about what happened between you and Tam Tam. You guessed what we’d all do, and you were right about all of us. Except me.”

“You? What do you mean? You wouldn’t do anything, or you’d resort to violence, or...”

“None of those things. You see, back when I was much younger I had to deal with a bully back in school. He was a nasty and vicious child, the oldest in our grade. He was among the first to get his cutie mark and he took no small pleasure from holding that above the rest of us.” She paused for a moment. “For whatever reason, he seemed to think that I was a good target for his aggressions. He never hit me, he’d have been a fool to do so, but he still made a mockery of me in front of the rest of the class.”

“My guess is that he had a crush on you, or he was simply an ass.”

“The latter. He was just an ass. But, eventually, he went just a bit too far. Unwilling to take the abuse any longer, I finally lashed out at him. I spent almost five minutes simply tearing him apart verbally. By the time I finished I had used almost every insult I could come up with, and some I made up on the spot.” She let out a small chuckle. “I have to admit, for a child of thirteen I was remarkably creative. Once I finished, I noticed that I had reduced him to tears. Less than an hour later and I was having a long conference with the principal and my parents.”

I shuddered in an exaggerated fashion. “The dreaded parent teacher conference.”

“Exactly. No small thing when you’re that age. We spent about half an hour in his office, just my parents talking to the principal. Eventually, though, the bully came in. All I remember is that I was forced to apologize, and then I was sent home. I’ve never forgotten that horrendous walk home. Neither of my parents spoke to me, and I simply ran to my room when we got home.” I wanted to say something to her, but she kept going. “Hours later, well after dinner, my mother came up to see me. I’ll never forget that talk she had with me for as long as I live. It’s something I passed on to Sweetie Belle as soon as she could understand it.”

My curiosity had been piqued. “What did she say?”

“Much of it wouldn’t help you, since it was a girl to girl talk. But one thing that stuck out to me, and has helped me so much when dealing with people like Tam Tam, was a simple suggestion. ‘Always take the source into consideration.’” She gave me a moment to think. “At the time, I didn’t really understand it. My thirteen year old brain didn’t follow the thought process required. But then, two years later, I finally got it. If some bully insults me, it means nothing, since they mean nothing.”

“So what Tam Tam says shouldn’t have any bearing on how I live my life because she means so little to me?” Rarity nodded, a smile coming to her face. I laid back on my towel, the clear blue sky drawing my eye.

“Well I do hope that you manage to make as much use out of what she said as I have.” She looked over her shoulder at the ocean, a frown flashing across her face. “Enjoy this while you can, Icarus. It’s supposed to rain tonight, and all through tomorrow. A real downpour, from what I’ve heard.” She slowly stood, her gaze remaining fixed on the ocean. “And do be sure to come back to the house soon. Dinner’s not going to make itself.”

I paused outside the door to the house, gathering my thoughts for whatever might be waiting for me on the other side. I had waited about half an hour after the departure of Rarity to make the way back. I grasped the handle for a moment, before I tried to turn it.

What?

“Stand aside, door. I’m a person, I command you to stand aside!” Once again I grasped the handle, putting my weight into it once again. “So, it seems that you yield for no man... I have no quarrel with you, but if you keep this up I’ll have no choice.” I tried again, this time putting a bit of weight behind the motion. Still nothing. “Am I really being beaten by a door?” I heaved a massive sigh before I grabbed the handle firmly with both hands. “Alright, door. Have at you!”

...

“Right, we’ll call it a draw.” I stepped back, a hand coming to my face. “It was a fair fight, and I’ll be the first to admit that you’re the better combatant. But, I have to say that gloating really doesn’t suit you.” The door was unmoved by my convincing position, so I just threw my hands up, an unflattering noise escaping me. “I’ll just go around, and go in through my balcony. Let’s see you stop me from doing that!”

Just a few minutes later and I saw that I wasn’t being stopped by the door, but by the lack of handholds available on the back of the house. Along with the remarkable absence of anything for climbing. With my shoulders slumped in defeat I trudged back to the front door, my head banging into the door a few times. “Don’t you dare say a word, door.” A moment later, and the door swung inward.

Rarity was standing there at the door, a small smile on her face. “Sorry, Icarus, I locked it when I got back. I totally forgot that you were still on the beach. To be fair, though, I thought that you took your keys with you.”

“Yeah, not this time.”

“Why were you knocking with your--”

“No reason. I’m gonna go hop in the shower real quick, and then I’ll get those steaks marinating.” Rarity stepped to the side as I walked past her, her smile growing just a bit.

“Don’t take long, Icarus, it’ll be dinner time soon.” I nodded as I headed up the stairs, my room quickly approaching. My shower didn’t take very long, and soon I was pulling on my jeans and a fresh shirt. As I passed the mirror on my way out of my room I couldn’t help but look at myself for just a moment. It really was just a fleeting glance, and soon I had reached the kitchen, and I was starting to work on preparing the food for our later consumption. I was working in the kitchen alone as the girls sat in the living room and talked. With the open space between them and myself I was easily included in what they were talking about.

The topic of the discussion was mostly the various mishaps that somehow seemed to happen to the, normally, peaceful town of Ponyville. A common observation shared by the long time residents, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack, seems to be that the town was normally quite calm. That it was oftentimes months without anything really happening to the town. Once Twilight showed up, just a few months after Dash had arrived, everything about Ponyville seemed to change, starting with the day she got there.

I offered up the valid observation that I had been in town for just a few weeks when Nightmare Moon arrived, but they all agreed that I wasn’t the catalyst for change in the town. I slowly faded out of the conversation as I started preparing some of the other foods for dinner, my desire to use the knife safely outweighing my desire to be a part of the conversation.

As I was cutting up the last of the meat, Pinkie’s voice sounded from much closer than I anticipated, and my hand slipped causing the knife to cut my hand quite badly. A sharp intake of air accompanied my mistake, and, for just a moment, I could only see the injury, not feel it.

Oh...

Pinkie, due to where she was standing, couldn’t see my hands, the shape of the counter keeping my hands out of sight. The pain started filtering into my awareness and I knew that I only had a moment before I’d start using my colorful vocabulary to make everyone aware of what had happened. “T... Twi?” She looked over at me at my hesitant, and strained, cry. “What, out of curiosity, is the range of your teleportation spell?”

She raised an eyebrow before she smiled, eager to explain. “Well, you see, it depends on--”

“Short answer.” It was getting harder to keep myself from crying out, but I was still managing. Somehow. “The short answer is, right now, infinitely preferable to the long answer.” A flash of purple light blinded me for a moment, and then Twilight was beside me, a self-satisfied smile on her face. “Impressive. Still need an answer.”

“It varies. Anywhere from a few hundred feet to almost a full mile.”

“Oh. Good. So you can get us to town in... Two teleports?” She raised an eyebrow, a look of concern coming to her face. “Because, right about now, I need to go to town.”

“Icarus...?” Her eyes widened rapidly as I raised my bloody hand. “By the Creator, Icarus! Why didn’t you say something?” Her exclamation brought the others over in a hurry, and soon I had all six of them rushing to aid me as I slowly felt more and more faint. A piece of cloth was quickly wrapped around my hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t help but laugh just a bit as I saw that it was Dash’s shirt that was wrapped around my hand. “Icarus, hold on to me. We’re going to be making three teleports in rapid succession.”

A sudden, intense, sensation of vertigo tugged at the pit of my stomach and then there was a popping sound as the displaced air rippled around us. I cast a glance upward, frowning as I noticed the cloudy weather. “Twi... I think--”

Another burst of vertigo accompanied a familiar popping sound. “--that it’s going to rain. I... I’d really much rather it be--”

A third burst of light came hand in hand with a sense of vertigo. “--sunny. Rainy weather’s a real downer.” Twilight was panting at my side as she walked me into the small medical clinic in town.

For, probably, the first time, I was actually thankful for Twilight’s status as a Element Bearer. Normally she doesn’t bandy the title about, not much enjoying the attention it draws, but in this case she was willing to deal with it. Because of her, I had to wait just thirty minutes in the waiting room. After that, Twilight and I spent the better part of two hours in the clinic, several different doctors and nurses gawking at my rather impressive wound. I lost count of how many times I had to explain why my blood was showing up as that of a pegasus, despite my lack of wings. Despite the reason for our coming being one of fairly upsetting circumstances, I did manage to make Twilight laugh at a few of my mocking responses to the questions asked by the doctors. By the time I finally managed to leave I was able to wish every member of the staff a good night by name.

The cut on my hand wasn’t quite as bad as I had thought it was, but I still wouldn’t be able to do any manually strenuous activities with it for the next week or so. Also, there’d likely be a fairly impressive scar there once the cut healed up.

Just another for the collection, I suppose.

The trip home was, as I had pointed out earlier, a real downer. Despite Twilight’s spell protecting us from the rain I just didn’t much care for the downpour coming down around us. Neither of us spoke much as we walked, and it felt like quite a while before the house finally came into view. Twilight entered first, with my entrance occurring moments after hers. All the girls were waiting for me, and they quickly swarmed over me, eager to see that I was alright. Pinkie, though, seemed less energetic than she had been before.

After just a bit of fuss, and a simple dinner, since I had effectively ruined the food with my sanguine contributions, I finally took some time to relax in the living room, one of the couches acting as a de facto bed. I didn’t fall asleep, but I did manage to get some rest and some quality digestion time in. When I finally got up to head to my room I noticed that all the others had already gone to bed. I was just a bit disappointed by that, since I would’ve liked to talk to Pinkie for a moment, if only to tell her that I didn’t hold her responsible for what had happened. With a shrug, I turned out the lights, and I started making my way to my room.

The door to my room opened before me, the gentle coolness of the room welcoming me. My slow pace towards my bed brought me over in good time. I quickly pulled my shirt and jeans off, dropping them in a pile at the foot of my bed. Thusly attired I looked down at my bed, a small smile coming to my face. My bed seemed to suck me in as I fell atop it, the rigors of the day finally taking their toll on me. I slowly dragged myself up the bed, making for a position that was just a bit more conducive to rest. Sadly, just as I reached a position that I liked, a knock came at my door. With a bit of reluctance I walked over to the door, my clothing left on the floor. A quick glance down assured me that everything was in order, and then I opened the door.

Standing there, dressed in a tank top, pink, and a pair of short shorts, also pink, was Pinkie, her eyes wide, and just slightly bloodshot. That was enough to shake me from my stupor. I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room. I sat her on the bed, and then I sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me for quite some time before she finally adjusted her position to wrap her arms around me.

“Pinkie.” I tried to adjust my position without moving her, but it didn’t seem to work. “C’mon, what’s wrong?” She didn’t answer verbally, instead pulling herself closer to me. She mumbled some words into my chest, but I couldn’t hear them. “Talking works much better when you do it without something in the way, Pinkie.”

She pulled her head back, fresh tears falling from her eyes. “I’m sorry, Icarus. I... You were cooking and... And I got you hurt!” Her voice cracked just a bit at the end, and then she buried her face in my chest once again, her arms wrapping around my torso. Her anguish hit me harder than I thought it would, and I had to struggle to try and keep my composure as she softly sobbed into my chest.

Author's Notes:

Yet another chapter down. Hope you're enjoying it so far, since there's still plenty to go. BTW, next chapter is going to be titled The Second. I bet no one will be able to guess why!