Broken Strings, Ch. 21: Please Don't Hate Me

"Wow! How did she afford all this stuff?! PL Audio Subwoofers, Onyxiaudio Speakers, EF Tweeters, Sweetie Boom programmable drum synth pad, Celestio Variable Wave synth keyboard, complete with dual modulation wheels, fine and coarse pitch shifter wheels, and a four grid, touch screen wave filter?! This is amazing!" To be completely honest, I don't think I've ever seen Ivory that excited over equipment. It was adorable, and, thankfully, took my mind off the situation at hoof. "Well, I guess we had a decent, steady amount of bits coming in, after the show in Steedston."

"Wow! Then, why didn't the two of you buy a nice, new house?"

"Simple. I like it here, in Ponyville. It's quiet… sometimes… Everypony takes care of each other. It's like… a large family."

Ivory smiled, and nuzzled into me. "That's sweet. It sounds very nice, here."

I nodded, and smiled back at her. "It really is." I thought about it for a moment, as I looked into her eyes. I saw something I hadn't seen before. It was nerve racking. I could tell that she sensed that something was off in my mind. My only worry was how long she had known.

"Bass," she began, as the look on her face completely changed. "Is there… anything wrong that you'd like to tell me?"

I was shocked. "I… um…"

"Bass. Please, don't hide this from me. I love you, and want to know everything. Please. I want you to be able to confide in me."

I looked deeply into her eyes. Her sky blue gems that seemed to project the very essence of her soul. I knew I couldn't keep it from her any longer. "Alright, Ivy. You remember Lunar Black, right?"

She looked me in the eyes, and nodded. "Yeah, the pony that took your place, after Sky did what she did?"

"You could say that, yeah."

"We never met, but I remember him. Why are you bringing up somepony else? Was he one of the ones that attacked you? Did he do something horrible?"

I sighed. "Ivory… I'm not bringing up somepony else… and yes, he did do something horrible. He hurt a lot of ponies' feelings, and he was just an all around monster… and furthermore… he was me."

Ivory's head cocked to the side. "What do you mean? There's no way you and Lunar Black could possible be the same pony. He was wild. He was a monster. You're just a wonderful stallion. You're two completely different ponies."

I shook my head, and sighed. "No, we aren't, Ivory. I pushed that part of me away after my friend, Rythm died. And now, I fear he may take over again."

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Finally getting the story of my nightmare off my chest, I looked over to Ivory, who was staring at me, something different in her eyes. "How… how could you keep that from me… for so long?"

I looked down at my hooves, thoroughly ashamed of myself. "I was afraid, Ivory. Afraid that you'd think I was a monster. I didn't want to lose you. If… if I lost you… I don't know what would happen."

"Bass… I'd never leave you over that…"

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… the other me… he's a monster. I'm afraid of what he'd do to you."

"Oh… But still. I won't let that happen. Not to you. You'll get through this… and I'll be right there with you."

"Thank you, Ivory… I…" I was cut short by myself. Why couldn't I finish my sentence? I had told her exactly how I felt about her before, but why not now? Maybe I was afraid. "Just promise me something."

"Only if you promise me something, first." She trotted closer to me, and kissed me, softly. "Promise me that if he does try to take over, again, you'll fight with everything you have to come back to me."

"I promise. And promise me that if I fail…"

I was cut short by a passionate kiss. I closed my eyes, and melted into her lips, a small tear rolling down my cheek. After what seemed like a few minutes, she broke the kiss, smiling lovingly at me. "You won't fail. Don't even think that."

"Just please, don't hate me."