Chapter Six [Text]

[thebestseller]

Who: Richard Castle and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Windrose if you really want?
When: RIGHT NOW

It was my birthday on the first of the month, and normally I'd have celebrated it, but having my first birthday here and this planet having deadly air have made me want to come clean about something.

I think I might be dead back home.

I don't know for certain, and I never will know unless someone from back home shows up AND they're from further down my timeline. Which is looking less and less likely the longer I'm here.

I'm not asking anyone else to share if they're in the same boat if they don't want to, but I'm still figuring out how to process it, and like I said, it's been hitting me hard lately. So I had to get it out somewhere.

Comments

Action; there is no escape

[preformthisneigh]

[Okay he was getting the belated birthday streamers ready but then Castle went and said that and that gives him reason to pause. Okay. No parties. This required the good old fashioned way of making people feel better. He's not exactly GREAT at it, but he's been getting better, and he really, really wants his friend to feel a little better, so off he goes to the Windrose.

It doesn't matter where Castle is on the Windrose, Cheese is going there. He doesn't even have the very present rubber chicken on his back this time, either. Because this? This is serious pick-up-a-buddy business. Even more serious help than even Boneless Two can provide.

So hey, Castle, have a tiny pony walking over to sit beside you.]

So. That's a whole lot of sucky you're dealing with right now.

[thebestseller]

[Castle had been in the cargo bay at the time with some outdoor gear, thinking about going out and picking a fight to let off some aggression, when Cheese arrived. Setting the stuff down, he smiled at his friend.]

That's about the size of it. I feel a little weird being so public about it, but I figured I might as well just... put it out there. Find out if I'm not alone.

[preformthisneigh]

[His ears fold back, sympathetic as he paws the ground sadly with a forehoof. ]

I can't help you in that, buddy, but if you need somepony to talk to, I'm here.

[thebestseller]

[Castle threw a friendly arm around him in return.]

You're a good friend, buddy. I'm mostly worried about my family- if something happened to me back home... well. I mean, my daughter's old enough to take care of herself, and she'd still have my mom and Kate would look out for her, too... but... picturing them without me...

[preformthisneigh]

[He'll lean on in in a pony hug. Pony hugs are the best ok.]

That's got to be very hard. I knew a few people in Paradisa who would have been dead back home. It was always sad to see, like that the place they were kidnapped to was their last chance at life. So they just...found a way to live as best they could there.

It's still hard, though. Knowing you have people back home that you care about. Knowing that they might never see you again.

[thebestseller]

[weeeeh Cheese you're the best.]

Yeah... my future is a question mark right now. A mystery I can't solve without more clues. I'd like to know for sure, but at the same time, if I DID die and one of them showed up? Sheesh. That would be a mess.

[He sighed.]

I do have a bit of a reprieve either way, though, right? Maybe someone from home WILL get here some day- or if I have an "after that moment", I'll get those memories. It's happened before, hasn't it?

[preformthisneigh]

It would...but they'd also have you back. For however long that would be, it would mean something right? Something they wouldn't have otherwise.

[He offers a small smile, trying to be encouraging. ]

That's the spirit! Of course it's happened before, you never know who Atroma will bring in next. Or even if they'd update your noggin and suddenly give you memories from past that point.

[thebestseller]

Mmhmm. And that would mean a lot... to both of us. Because then I'd know, and they'd at least know that I'm still alive SOMEWHERE in this crazy universe.

[He nodded.]

I should start petitioning Atroma to give me more memories. Maybe they'll listen if I make impassioned pleas to the audience and tug on their heartstrings a little bit, eh?

[preformthisneigh]

And that's always a comfort, right?

I'm pretty sure playing nice gets you to exactly Dead End, Nowheresville. But hey, I guess it's worth a shot. Maybe this one time they'll actually be merciful.

[thebestseller]

Yeah... I feel like I have to do SOMETHING. When there's a mystery around, well, I need to investigate it. Especially when it involves my future.

[preformthisneigh]

Well, yeah. If you were a pony, your cutie mark would probably be a magnifying glass or something. Investigating mysteries is what you do. It's not fair the biggest one you got right now is your own future.

[thebestseller]

Oooh, I like that idea. I could wear a pony-sized hat, too. ... But yeah. It's really not fair, is it? I know I'm probably going to get nowhere before I try, but that's not gonna stop me from trying.

[preformthisneigh]

You would absolutely wear the hay out of a pony-sized hat.

That's the spirit! Never say die!