Night Ride

>It's a nice night so far
>Crystal clear skies, no gusts of wind dragging the winter chill with it
>This new album is pretty nice
>Downright groovy, actually
>You've been listening to it all day actually, since you picked it up this morning
>Saturdays are great
>You flick your mouse across the screen and go back to look across the updates for your quest threads when you notice a notification
>It's from...
>Sigh
>Standing up, you toss on a jacket and sneakers and your usual leaving the house necessities
>And you step outside
>The early spring air is a little chilly, but in a good way, it feels good just standing around and locking your door
>"Sup, nerd."
>You look away from the door
>There's a huge dark blue car squeezed in the front of your house
>You roll your eyes at the owner of the beast. "Nerd, really?"
>Indigo Zap shrugs, tapping her fingers along to the beat of the loud classic rock rolling out of her oversized speakers
>She's smiling nice and wide, and she's wearing her leather rebel outfit
>Yeah
>She wants to drive around all night
>Taking out your phone, you quickly text yourself a reminder to stop her around 12 AM
>You sigh, holster your phone and walk closer to her, popping open the door of Zap's huge car and sliding your rump into the leather seat
>As you reach for your seat belt, you ask her "What happened to bae?"
>"I dunno." She sneers and pops her brow. "What happened to ya?"
>You slowly look at her and give her the most loathing gaze you can
>She just snorts and starts laughing
>Freaking asshole. You can't help but smile and relax back against the seat as she peels out of the driveway and on down the street
>Indy bobs her head, her hair bouncing under her goggles as she drives down the streets of Canterlot
>She's got that big, dumb smile on
>The one she wears when the day's fucked her over nice and good, but it's Saturday night and she doesn't have to put up with bullshit from managers, her parents, school, or anyone else at all anymore
>She's got that smile
>On the surface, it just looks like a dopey smile
>Which, you guess is accurate. She's just being dumb and happy despite what's been happening
>You get your own smile going and look away from her, to the road
>She's going to take you out of the city, you can feel it
>But today's special
>You're both probably going to go far out of the city and into the farmlands or maybe the coast
>With the speed Indy's driving, you doubt anything like distance or fuel will get in her way to getting where she wants to go
>And you don't mind one bit
>"Yo, bae."
>With a soft jerk, you look over at her, away from the mesmerizing flying stream of buildings passing by
>She grins at you, looking away from the neatly paved street and nodding to the glove compartment
>Sighing, you reach into the compartment, pulling out a few custom CDs
>She's had the same five discs for ten years now, save for remaking broken ones and getting HD tracks
"Indy, are you ever going to improve your library?"
>She scoffs at the notion and you hold up 'Nighttime ROCK II'
>As soon as she nods, you remove the album in the radio and slide the disc in
>Soon, the ancient Rock and Roll starts rumbling out
>You grin at Indy's old as hell taste in music, but don't bother making fun of her for it
>You have an idea how bad today's been for her
>You look at her again
>Even with only the glow of the speedometer and the output of the radio, you can see that dumb smile
>So you smile with her and recline in your seat
>The scenery shifts, as fast as Indy can drive, but still fairly slow
>Indigo raced as fast as she wanted, knowing no one was out this far to watch a speed demon like her burn up the pavement and tear up the gravel
>Which is fine with you
>Normally, you didn't like cars, or driving, or had any kind of need for speed, but when you're with Indy, it all actually puts you at ease
>You trust her to drive as fast as she wants. The safest place to be when she's driving is next to her, after all
>Looking out at the landscape, you see the last house of the outskirts of Canterlot fly by
>Leaving Indigo and you by yourselves, far away from civilization
>Just you two and the road and the stars and the moon
>You wrap your fingers over your belly and sigh
>Indy glances over at you and turns the music down
>"How's your week been, bae?"
>Glancing at her, you see she's got a smaller smile on as she's leaning back
>Casually going 80 with one arm out the window and her head bobbing to the drumline
>You look back at the road ahead, watching the hills and valleys bounce on the horizon
"My week was pretty okay. I had to deal with you girls and school at the same time, so it wasn't perfect." You smirk
>She snorts and shakes her head
>You reach over and tap your fist against her shoulder
"Tonight's pretty relaxing though."
>She smirks at that but doesn't say much else
>You wrap your fingers together again, still smiling a bit
"...What happened to your week though?"
>Indy frowns, and you instantly copy her
>She takes a deep breath and sighs, her brow knitting together
>"I had a couple bad days, is all." She eases up on the gas a bit, and her machine slows to about half speed
>Which is still fast
>You hum softly. "What happened?"
>Indigo slows down a bit more, until you were approaching cruising speed
>She looks over at you now that the car is a much easier to control pace
>She shakes her head and pulls over, into a parking lot
>The gravel flies under the tires, scattering and flicking everywhere
>She parks, and kills the huge engine
>For a moment or so, she just stares at the steering wheel
>The leather groans under her grip as she tightens
>She shakes her head again and sighs, looking over at you
>"You know what it is."
>You shrug, getting a small smile
>Yeah you know what it is. You reach over and wrap your arms around your friend
"Happy Birthday, Indy."
>She chuckles and wraps her arms around you. She goes still for a moment, but then just sets her head against your shoulder, nuzzling you
>When you pull away, she has a ghost of a smile, and the beginnings of some tears are forming
>"Thanks, bae." She mutters as she wipes away the undue moisture. When it's all cleaned up, she gives you a grin
>"Come on." She bobs her head to the building she parked in front of
>You both slide out and wander up to the window
>The young woman looks up from her comic (Power Ponies, fuck yeah) and smiles, blowing a bubble
>"Look it's the birthday girl and her bestie."
>You chuckle along with Indigo and reach into your pocket, pulling out some bills.
>Indigo seems a little uneasy, and looks away as you set the cash down
"The same as last year, Bubble."
>Bubble grins and puts the cash away. "One sec."
>As she walked away deeper into the building, you glanced at Indy
>She had her hands stuffed into her pockets, with her back turned to you
>You frown and before you do anything, take the double bubblegum in a chocolate cone in one hand and the vanilla soft serve in the other from Bubble
>Stepping closer, you hand Indy the big pastel pile of cream
>She smirks and gives you a funny look
>You giggle and hand her her soft serve, which she happily takes and starts eating
>Indy takes a step off the platform and walks back to her car
>You follow, steadily munching on your pastel treat
>She pops open the door and eases herself in, just as you do
>With a few adjustments, you take off into the night
>Indy drives not nearly as fast as before, instead going for a leisurely stroll through the country
>You watch the scenery
>When she turns off the road, you whip your head forward, smearing ice cream on your cheek
>Wiping that off, you see she's just driving up to the usual
>A bunch of hills you both love to relax on
>She drives up to the biggest one, the only one that can hold her car, and kills it, leaving the music playing.
>She smiles at you
>You smile back
>Both of you climb out and slide up onto the hood
>It's not that cold, it's actually kind of warm up on her car, but you still shiver in the night time chill
>That and your ice cream is making you cold on the inside
>There's a rustling, and you're warm again
>Glancing over, you see Indy, sans her jacket, eating her vanilla dessert, like nothing was amiss
>You giggle as you pull the jacket closer around you
>It smells like her. Blueberries and cola.
>You edge closer to your friend and lay your head against her shoulder
>The stars above shine down on you both as you sit together, eating your ice cream in silence
>There's Orion's Belt...
>Dippers, little and big.
>You smile as you chew your gum and ice cream while you stargaze
>"Hey, Twi..."
>You look around to Indy, still smiling
>But she's not. She's looking down at her car, and listlessly chewing on her cone
>You put your hand on the hand she's supporting herself on, and she looks up at you
>She takes a deep breath and leans in, pressing her head against your shoulder
>Once more, she takes a sharp breath and shudders, letting out a dry sob
>All you can do is wrap your arms around her, pulling your friend close
>Indigo moves closer, so she's almost on you, and lets out a whimper
>You sigh, eating the last of your ice cream so it wont get anywhere, and set down the cone so you can hold her right
>You lean in closer to her and whisper, "What's wrong?"
>Your friend breathes slower and shakes her head, opening her mouth a few times
>But she just locks up, whimpering again, like she's in physical pain from whatever's bothering her
>Slowly, you raise a hand and stroke her, starting with the back of her head, and trailing down her tank top and to her lower back, and over again
"Tell me what's wrong, Indy..."
>With a heaving breath, she collects herself as best she can
>All she can do is gasp out a few words at first. "E-everything. Everything, bae."
>You keep working as best you can to help her relax
>Just don't let her cry, Sparkle
>You close your eyes and rest your chin on her head, which is now comfortably nestled against your chest
>You both sit like that for maybe ten or fifteen minutes
>Just trying as best you can to keep her relaxed and comfortable on her birthday
>...
>Eventually, Zap sits up again
>You hold your hands out to her but she shakes her head and sniffs
>Silence
"So... Want to talk, birthday girl?" You do your best to give her a smile
>She looks back at you, looking disgusted and aggravated, but when she actually looks at you, you can see a lot of the aggravation evaporate as she smiles
>She nods and leans back, laying down
>You lay down too and listen
>"It's just a lot of shitty things that happened all at once."
>You nod, staring at the moon. "Mhm."
>"On Monday, I got my debit card stolen, and the bank told me to fuck off basically."
>You furrow your brow and let her continue.
>"On Wednesday, Cinch had the dean call my folks and tell them I've been failing some classes..."
>You can help with that!
>...But you let her finish
>"Thursday was fucking shit though, I lost my fucking job, because my boss clipped his POS sedan on Blue Lightning in the parking lot." She slammed a palm against her car for emphasis.
>"He brought up some bs about me being rude to the customers and dressing provocatively, but dude, he was so wrong about both..." She groans and grabs her face
>"Since I'm still a minor, bs too, me being 20 and all, he called my dad about it."
>"Honestly, yesterday was fanfuckingtastic too..."
>She sniffs, and starts breathing faster
>You look over at her
>She grits her teeth and starts sobbing, clenching her eyes shut as tears start to flow
>You roll over and hug her, pressing her head against your chest
>She squeezes her fists against her own chest, her knuckles gently rubbing against your upper belly
>You don't mind. You just coo for her
>"Y-yesterday..."
>She takes a deep breath
>"My dad kicked me out of the house. He got mad, really fucking mad, and just started screaming about all this shit. My grades, my job, he blamed me getting my card stolen on me..."
>She shakes her head and takes a sharp breath.
>"Says he thinks I'm gay cause I don't have any guy friends."
>You pause.
>You pull her away and stare at her wet, vulnerable face. She's breathing really slow
>Her vibrant yellow eyes are puffy and red from the tears.
"...But you are gay."
>She grits her teeth and shuts her eyes. "That's not the point!"
>You pull her close before she can cry again and rub her back. "Okay, okay..."
>She doesn't start crying again, but she does sniffle.
>"Sorry... The point is that he thinks its bad, so he added it to the list of shit he considers me a failure at."
>Oh
>You frown as you feel the bottom of your stomach turn into a pit.
>"And this morning was great, right?"
>This morni-
>You shake your head. "Zap, stop."
>She just keeps going, shouting through the tears, "But happy birthday, right? Just a few hours early, but ya know. Tomorrow'll be here soon!"
>You place your hand over her mouth before she can say anything else. Warm tears slide over your pinkie and wrist as she goes to breathe through her nose
>But you slowly shake your head, feeling some warmth behind your own eyes now
"Don't bring that up..."
>She nods, and you take your hand away
>"Sorry."
"It's okay..." You sigh and inch closer to her
>She wraps her hands around you, and you do mirror her
>You both lay like that for a little bit longer before your phone starts playing music
>(Go Go Power Ponies!)
>You reach into your pocket and show her the screen
>She cocks a brow and smirks at the message
>"Indy, get me home by 12:30, please."
>You deactivate the alarm and pocket it
>"Hey..."
>You look her in the eye
>She tenses a little and traces her finger along the surface of the hood of her car
>She sighs and turns, splaying out across the broad surface
"You wanna like... Chill for a bit longer? I promise to take you home soon, I just need to be not by myself right now."
>With a heavy sigh, you lay down next to her, so her outstretched arm is under your neck
>Without moving too much, you weave your fingers together over your belly and watch the stars twinkle above
>It's a beautiful night
>The air is chilled, and there still aren't any clouds in the sky
>You smile and sigh, letting your eyes drift closed
>A few minutes later, your head starts bobbing back and forth
>You squeeze your eyes and open them, blinking
>Then Indy takes her hand out from under your head, dropping your noggin on the metal
"Gah!" You sit upright
>You go to glare at Indy, but she's just sitting, holding her legs to her chest
>Sigh
>Inching forward, you wrap an arm around her shoulder
>She looks up at you, and you smile
>She smiles too, but a bit smaller than you
>"You're great, bae."
>You giggle and hug her
>She chuckles too, her voice a little raspy from crying
>"Let's go home."
>Nodding, you release her and edge off of her car
>She saunters over to the driver's side and pops in
>The beast is already alive by the time your fanny is plopped into the leather seat beside Indy
>She wraps her fingers around the leather steering wheel nice and tight as the music starts up again
>In a flash, with one hand on the transmission, and the other on the wheel, Blue Lightning rolls through the countryside, tearing up grass and dirt all along the way
>Beyond confidant in your friend's ability to drive fast and hard, you relax back into your seat.
>After some minor adjustments, putting your hands over your belly, crossing your legs under the hot air coming in from the engine...
>You can feel yourself drifting off to sleep
>...
>The car eventually slows down to a lurch and stops
>You peek around, and see your neighborhood
>You sit up, ever so slowly, and smile to Indy
>She frowns, and kills the noise while looking away
>Crickets
>You don't know what to say
>Goodbye, probably, but you also kind of want to remind her that everything's going to be okay
>Will she believe you?
>You place a hand on hers, where it rested on the transmission
>She sighs and closes her eyes.
>She turns her hand over, locking fingers with you, squeezing gently
>You smile and press her hand into your other palm, running your fingers over her calloused knuckles and the back of her hand
>She knows.