//------------------------------// // Loose Friends // Story: Duskfall // by Celestial Swordsman //------------------------------// Chapter 25 Rarity carefully picked her way through the woods in search of her feral friend, dodging branches that menaced her special dress. She made for the thicket where she saw Fluttershy go into hiding. As Rarity approached she found the wall of poking sticks impenetrable. “Fluttershy?” she hailed. “Don’t follow me, you’ll get dirty,” came the still, small reply. Using her magic, the unicorn pushed aside the brush to clear herself a path into the thicket. The yellow pegasus was suddenly exposed and took a startled jump into the air. Her wings carried her over a ditch and into the crook of a leafy tree. Rarity followed, but illuminating the ditch showed that it was full of mud. “You’ll be a mess, just like me,” Fluttershy warned, dejectedly. Rarity paused a moment. She drew a deep breath and put a hoof into the mud. A low gasp came out of the tree. She continued forward until she was standing completely in the mud. Fluttershy noiselessly dropped down in front of her, motioned to her dress and worried, “Oh no, I’m so sorry.” The fashionista considered the brown stains on her clothes. “It’s nothing,” she assuaged. This dress was not nothing, but instead of being upset, she saw the poetic fulfillment of what it meant to her. “Why did you hide?” “Because I’m messy,” Fluttershy replied, still looking at the ground. “Now I’m messy too,” Rarity comforted. “What is it really?” The shy one glanced into her eyes, signaling she was ready to be transparent. “Because everypony is still mad. A few winters ago all my friends and the whole world got angry with each other, and wanted me to fight, so I ran away. I knew I should do something, but I was too shy. It’s my fault,” she whimpered. “It’s not like that,” Rarity said gently. “We all played a part in what happened. We made it hard for you, tried to make you all sorts of things. I know you tried to make us happy, but you couldn’t. That’s our fault.” “I wasn’t too shy,” she related. “I tried to tell them to stop being themselves so we could still be friends,” she confessed. “I tried to make Rainbow Dash not loyal, Twilight not a student of magic, and Applejack not honest. I tried to keep them from fighting for what they believed in, but in the end, I forgot what I believed in. I gave up on friends and went after my own selfish goals. When Twilight came to my door I realized I had become too caught up in things to be generous.” “Oh no, but that’s who you are!” Fluttershy exclaimed quietly. “I mean, if you want to be… What did you do?” Rarity continued, “I remembered what was important and that a gift isn’t given because someone deserves it. So I gave up my dreams to help her and here we are.” She shrugged her soiled dress. “Now all we can do is be ourselves and be generous and kind.” “You’re right. But I’m not sure, I mean, all those ponies will be looking at me…” Fluttershy trailed off nervously. “And you’ll look fine,” Rarity said, taking out her jeweled brush. She began to comb the leaves and tangles out of the pink hairs. Fluttershy twitched at the sensation, which she hadn’t felt in years. When she was finished, the unicorn invited, “Now let’s do our thing together, like we should have. Only I’ll make sure I’m the center of attention.” The prisoners had been brought behind the Lunar position and were under guard while the officers discussed the situation. Big Mac had left Pinkie Pie’s uninvited cuddle, but she still sat by the road disconsolate. She looked up and found herself in front of old friends. “Rarity? Fluttershy?” They smiled at her. She hid her face while she wiped a tear and summoned a grin. Popping back up, she piped, “Oh yay, I’m so happy to see you!” “Don’t,” Rarity interrupted. Pinkamena slumped her shoulders and looked down. She was always so cheerful when she met ponies she liked, but she wasn’t this time. “But I was trying to be Pinkie,” she sobbed. “It’s okay. Don’t try to be any different for us,” Fluttershy reassured. “It’s okay to be angry and scared. We’re your friends, and we’re here for you anyway.” She confided in a whisper, “I’m scared too.” Rarity reinforced the timid pony with a gentle pat. “Are you upset because of Rainbow Dash and Twilight?” Fluttershy prompted. Pinkie nodded. “I don’t understand. How could they be so bad? They were my friends, and I thought they were good. How could they do all these bad things?” Fluttershy summoned the nerve to ask, “Did you have to do any bad things?” A lump formed in Pinkie’s throat. She couldn’t bear to watch her memories where it actually happened, but she could see her and Applejack meeting afterwards. They did what they were supposed to do, but when they saw each other she was ashamed to be seen that way. Her thousand-yard stare turned to a pained but resolute frown. “Yeah, but we had to,” she defended. “Applejack said it was good because we were right.” As if to make it true, she pleaded, “I was good!” “You’re right,” Rarity validated. “You should have done those things.” Fluttershy admitted, “We didn’t do anything,” and shifted nervously. Rarity opened her mouth but restrained herself. After a moment she subtly agreed, and the two bowed slightly, laying themselves under Pinkie’s judgment. “Do you forgive us?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie Pie softened again and sniffed, “Yeah.” Fluttershy related, “Rainbow Dash and Twilight tried to be good, but they were wrong. Will you forgive them?” Pinkamena knew she wanted to, but she couldn’t. “I can’t be their friend when they’re still bad,” Pinkie protested. “That would be bad.” “Quite right,” Rarity affirmed. “But they’re here because they know they were wrong, and they want to help. When you’re ready, let’s go see them.” Pinkie mumbled, “I already said hi.” “You greeted the ponies you wished they were,” Rarity corrected. “If you don’t welcome them as they really are, you haven’t welcomed them at all.” “But they don’t deserve it,” Pinkie reminded. “No,” Rarity simply replied. “You’ll only tell Luna?” Applejack repeated with rising frustration. “I’ve been through this before. If you don’t recall, Luna didn’t approve of what you had to tell.” Twilight shot Celestia an urgent “why didn’t you tell me” look, and covered her ignorance by again insisting, “This is about the sun. She needs to hear what we know.” “Well, she said this one isn’t to come near her again, and I assured her I wouldn’t allow it,” the major averred. “Now you’re put in with her and you say, ‘I’ll only tell Luna’! Are you tryin to make me a liar?” “Dusk” stepped in to assert, “Luna reacted that way because she didn’t believe me. It was crazy for a random pegasus to say. Surely you’ll believe that if anyone knows where Celestia is (emphasis added for Twilight’s sake), it’s Twilight Sparkle.” “This is awful fishy,” the cautious major complained. “Of course we’re not telling you the whole truth,” Twilight boldly admitted. “The real information is so sensitive that it would be irresponsible to tell anyone but Luna, if it’s not a mistake to tell her. Let her hear me and then do with us what she will, just please trust me.” “Trust YOU?” Applejack repeated doubtfully. Twilight acknowledged, “I know it’s thin, but that’s all we have.” Applejack withdrew to Big Mac’s side. Tipping her hat to hide her freckled face from the familiar outsiders, she whispered to him in low tones. Pinkie Pie in tow, Rarity and Fluttershy approached. Fluttershy seized up and wouldn’t move forward into the gathering of soldiers. The unicorn ringleader assured, “I’ll handle this.” She cinched her dress tighter around the waist, and flicked mud up onto her immaculate tail. She had learned that talent and fashion sense could only take you so far. She explained to her shocked companions, “Time to slut up or shut up. Only, be sure to make your move—there won’t be a repeat performance.” The voluptuous unicorn stumbled in amongst the units as if wounded. She wilted melodramatically with her hoof across her forehead and wailed, “Oh, this mud is awful! My dress is ruined, my favorite dress! What will I ever do?” All heads turned to her. Shortly, several gravitated towards the irresistible pull of a lady in distress. A dashing young rough rider was the first to offer, “Is there anything I can do to help, ma’am?” Another colt, middle-aged but suave, shouldered past him and said, “Of course there is, private. Go fetch this lady a pail of water and some soap.” He added insincerely, “And be quick about it,” as the private turned to leave and the two cut eyes at each other. As if too distraught to support herself, she leaned towards the officer and steadied herself against him with a hoof on his medaled chest. “It’s such a terrible wilderness, what a relief to find a gentleman out here,” she complimented glibly. She glanced towards the prisoners, and was satisfied to see Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie slip unobtrusively to their targets. Unsure how to begin, Pinkamena mumbled, “Um, hi.” “Oh hey,” Rainbow Dash answered. “I didn’t think you were coming back, either of you.” “We just wanted to say…” Pinkie began, and froze up. “Hi.” “…Hi…?” Twilight responded with equal uncertainty. At Fluttershy’s prompting, Pinkie uttered the touching sentiment, “I don’t really want Big Mac to shoot you.” Rainbow Dash huffed sarcastically, “That’s a relief.” Fluttershy worried to herself, “Am I failing again? Is everyone watching me?” They weren’t, for now. Rarity could see that Fluttershy was still intimidated. She would have to keep up a fuss until she could be sure nothing would interrupt her friends’ important moment. The private returned improbably quickly, sloshing the water in his helmet as he rode to Rarity’s rescue. The Manehattanite officer proposed, “Do you need me to help you out of that outfit, so we can wash it?” A less experienced temptress would have acceded, but with a sly smile she realized it would take longer to clean if she was still wearing it. “Oh, but I lost my suitcase and I don’t have anything else to wear.” The country soldier took the opportunity to advance, “That’s alright, ma’am, we can fix you right up,” and put a stained fringe of the garment into his improvised wash bucket. “Oh what a relief, it will come out,” Rarity remarked, observing his progress. He started farther from her body but worked his way close to her flanks and under her. As he rubbed at the mud underneath, he could have been milking her. The officer’s eyes bulged out with jealousy. Those who weren’t distracted with Rarity were interested in their comrades’ rivalry. The private finished and she thanked him warmly, before he was told, “Resume your watch on the south side, we can’t be complacent.” The officer’s move was soon rewarded, as Rarity requested, “My tail is all dirty! Usually I would use a mirror to fix it, but there don’t seem to be any in this awful place. Would you be so kind?” “Certainly, madam,” he eagerly replied. He took out a kerchief, dipped it in the water, and began to stroke her swirled tail. He gently eased out the impurities and to his credit managed not to disrupt its sculpted form—but he did spend undue attention on the base of her tail. A colt nearby turned and clutched loyally to a picture of his sweetheart back home. Applejack cocked an eyebrow and murmured, “Looks like the big city loosened her up. Never thought she’d get so tawdry.” Fluttershy nudged her pink companion. “You did a lot of bad things,” Pinkie Pie continued. “Yeah?” Captain Dash acknowledged gruffly. “It’s not their fault, it’s Celestia,” Dusk interceded. “She made them do it.” Twilight shot her a sideways glance with raised eyebrows. Celestia shrugged. “She tricked us pretty well,” Twilight recognized, “but sometimes we chose not to see the truth.” “Yeah, we know what we did,” Captain Dash agreed woefully. “Are you sorry?” Pinkie asked. “Yes,” Doctor Sparkle sincerely answered. “I’m sorry for all the dark magic I’ve done for Celestia, and I’m sorry for turning on you.” Listening to herself, she shook her head. “An apology just isn’t enough.” “Are you going to be good now?” Pinkie asked once more. Rainbow Dash decided, “I’ll try, but I don’t know what that means anymore.” Pinkie Pie cut her anger loose and said, “I forgive you.” “Me too,” Fluttershy added softly. “Really? Wow,” Dash marveled. Rarity allowed her new devotee a sultry gaze before a heavy-set engineer took her wandering attention. It was not his build but his cigarettes that drew her. The officer watched in consternation as she sidled up to the big colt and entreated, “Do you have a smoke for a lady?” He figured his first thought, “Hell yeah,” would be inappropriate, so he replied with a winsome grin and held out three of the precious rollups. He lit them both up and they sat smoking together. She pretended not to notice that he was scruffy and uncouth, or perhaps even let her demeanor suggest she thought it was charming. Taking a deep breath, he snorted a smoke ring out one nostril. She graced the strange behavior with a reserved laugh—and honestly, smoke-play did interest her. The males nearby were astonished that Humphrey Heaver could make a connection with a refined lady, and their faith was renewed that everypony has a chance. Pinkamena peeked up at her curly mane, which had somehow piled itself on her head again. “I’m Pinkie Pie again!” she exclaimed, and pulled Fluttershy into a tight embrace. “Eeep!” the startled pegasus cried, and wilted in Pinkie’s hooves. “We should be friends again,” Private Pie cheerfully suggested. Applejack, alerted by the pink one’s outburst, marched to the scene and demanded, “What’s goin’ on? I thought I told you to leave them alone.” Pinkie Pie unloaded, “I did, but Rarity and Fluttershy brought me back and I forgave them and I’m Pinkie Pie again!” The major was taken aback. “Whoa, hold on, they’re still Solars! How can you trust ‘em?” “They know they were bad, and now we can help them do the right thing,” Pinkie explained. “I don’t know if we should take them to Luna,” Applejack cautioned. “I don’t trust ‘em.” Rarity overheard the conversation and quickly excused herself from her male company to join her friends. “Do you trust me?” she asked Applejack. “Do you trust us?” The cowgirl could hardly believe her eyes as Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash looked at her plaintively, begging for a favorable ruling. “Oh no, we are not a ‘us’!” she protested. They were together again, and it had to mean something, though she was afraid to admit it. At last she half-conceded, “I’m gonna wait to hear what Luna has to say about them.” Celestia’s slight smile understated her reaction at seeing what she had torn apart coming back together. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash communicated privately. “That, uh, took balls.” Fluttershy blushed, and thought for a second. “Oh—oh, yes I know. Rarity helped me.” “I meant jumping in front of that ambush…?” the Solar soldier clarified. “Oh,” the timid pegasus understood.