Who's ya daddy?
First things first... I apololololololagise for the name of the chapter. Now enjoy. Or be disgusted, your choice.
He was just standing there… menacingly! Rarity had absolutely no idea what he was doing here, she hadn’t seen her father in over a decade. But here he was. The same; older, but the same. Light-brown mane and moustache, starting to grey a in a few places, though his tail was still the same colour. Light blue eyes. Three hoofballs on his flank, even a similar shirt the one she had last seen him in so many years ago. But… but this wasn’t him. The odds that he looked so similar where astronomical but this couldn’t be her father. This was an earth pony. And her father was a unicorn.
“Hello Rarity.” he said. This was her father… there was no mistaking it. His voice was engraved into her memory. Rarity’s mind would’ve wondered what happened to his horn but she was too preoccupied with everything else that was running through her head. “May I come in?” he asked but received no reply. She wasn’t saying no though, she looked stunned to him, though he wasn’t surprised. He slowly walked passed her as her gaze followed him in.
He hadn’t seen the boutique in so long. He’d tried to keep in touch with his daughter, at least at first, but he’d only ever received two letters from Rarity. The first around half a year after he’d left, more addressed to his wife than him, saying that Sweetie Belle had finally adjusted to living with her. And a second just after a year saying he should stop sending letters every month, that if Sweetie Belle found out…
It hurt him, but it made sense. He sent one last letter telling Rarity he wouldn’t send anymore but he still sent two letters a year. On Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s birthdays. There were also a few rare letters aside from that he would send, such as the one he had sent to her as a wedding gift, and the one informing Rarity of her mother’s death. While he never got a reply to any of those letters he still had an idea of what was happening in his daughters lives. An old friend of their mother’s would send them mail, telling them some of the more important facts about the two.
Sweetie Belle knew he was alive now. Or so he assumed. The letter had been sighed by her but he didn’t know for sure and thought he had best see Rarity first. To think your father dead for so long and to appear out of nowhere could be… damaging to say the least. Not that he hadn’t damaged her already. He regretted that nearly the most out of all he had gone to his loved ones. He was here to try make up to them. Not just Rarity and Sweetie Belle, but his late wife too. She had lost her children because of him. That was what he regretted most.
He took a seat on one of Rarity’s chaises, Rarity took a moment to follow him in and sat on another one just beside him. They sat in silence for just over a minute. Rarity wasn’t looking him in the eyes but she wasn’t intentionally avoiding him either. She had never prepared for this. She had years earlier but never thought it would come after so many years had passed and it eventually became something she never thought would happen.
She was about to say something, though she had been trying to ‘about to say something’ since she had sat down, but her father spoke first. “So how are you and your husband doing?” he asked. He could smell the meal Rarity had prepared from the other room, assuming she had made it for Flash Dance. The last he had heard they were engaged and he had received the letter from Sweetie Belle the day after they were set to be wed.
Rarity didn’t understand at first but after a few seconds she realised what he meant. “No, I’m… afraid it didn’t work out between us.” Rarity sighed, she wasn’t calm but her tone made it seem like she was. “W-we called it off at the last mi…” she was interrupted by a knock at the door “Oh no…”
Elusive!
“Where you expecting anypony?” he asked but it only seemed to frighten her more so. Rarity’s reaction, her not being married like he had thought, the smell of a home-made meal coming from another room. He realised what he had interrupted.
“He can’t see you! Quick out the back door!”
“Rarity? I can hear you. Who’s there?” Elusive called through the door. Perhaps Rarity shouldn’t have screamed it at her father…
“I’m sorry darling, I can leave if you want me to.”
“Yes!... no… I…” Rarity paused. She sighed and looked at her father then to the door. “It’s open, let yourself in.” normally she’d have worried about how rude she had sounded but that didn’t even occur to her right now. As Elusive came in he was greeted by Rarity’s father who stood up and gave him a firm hoof shake.
“Pleased to meet you. Name’s Magnum.” Elusive didn’t expect to see an old stallion at Rarity’s but he could tell Rarity was nervous, if not downright scared, about something and that put him on edge in itself. The name sounded familiar to him as well. Rarity must’ve mentioned him at some point or another. After he was done shaking hooves, he took a few more steps inside and took off his saddle bag. He had brought a rather fine bottle of wine with him like Rarity had requested.
“Eli, this is… m-my father. Father this is Elusive.”
“Your father?!” Elusive reared back in, suddenly understanding why Rarity had been on edge.
“Elusive?... Elusive.” Magnum may not’ve known everything about Rarity’s life of late but he knew of what had happened five years ago. This stallion who was set to be his son in law had done… what he himself had done… to Sweetie Belle. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did to my daughter.” he said as he moved in close to Elusive.
“Look who’s talking old man.” he replied boldly. Elusive’s initial shock had worn off almost instantly, he was prepared to make piece, for the time at least. Seems Rarity had let him into her home, he would show that much courtesy to Magnum as well. That will was weak however with what he thought about this older stallion and it didn’t take much to break it. Of course telling him he had done nothing to her didn’t cross his mind.
He moved forward to counter Magnum’s movement and shoved him back. Magnum too had come here in hope of quelling what was going on between himself and his daughters but it didn’t take much, not from THIS stallion, to set him into the same mindset that Elusive was in. “What the hay are you doing at my daughter’s store. Last I heard you weren’t even allowed in Ponyville.”
“Father, Eli, please! Calm yourselves.”
“And last I heard you were in another country!”
“Eli?” Rarity said as her father struck him. “What are you doing!?” Elusive swung right back, knocking him to the floor. Magnum got up and tackled Elusive, smashing him into a chaise. “Father!” Elusive rolled off and pulled Magnum down with him but took a hard hoof to the face that he then repaid in kind. “STAHP!!!” Rarity finally screamed. They both stopped and looked at her.
Tears rolled down her face. Neither of them liked each other but they both cared for Rarity, and Rarity cared for both of them. Whether she would admit it about her father or not, she didn’t want to see him get beaten to a pulp.
“Rarity… I’m sorry” Elusive said as she stood up and moved towards. He put his head against her neck and she grabbed on to him. Magnum stood up not long after. He had taken much worse than his opponent. He’s taken far worse in the past but he was old now and getting back up, it took some effort.
“Rarity, I’m sorry to, for what it’s worth.” Elusive turned his head to look at him while Rarity buried her head deeper into his neck. Elusive’s stare convey ‘It’s worth very little’ before he turned back to the crying mare wrapped around him. “I should leave. I, I’ll see you tomorrow. We have to talk.”
“You’ll see US tomorrow” replied Elusive. “IF you see us at all.” Magnum didn’t like this guy. What he saw now told him that what he had heard must’ve been wrong. He thought this stallion had hurt her five years ago. Perhaps he had. Perhaps if she could forgive Elusive then she could forgiven him too. But it wasn’t really Rarity’s forgiveness he truly wanted from this visit. So tomorrow… tomorrow he would meet Elusive.
~ ~
It was early morning as he awoke to the sound of a light sniffle. Rarity was crying, not surprisingly, as Elusive lay beside her in her bed. He knew doing this would’ve been a bad idea and he had refused completely. At first. Truth be told, she had practically forced herself onto him. Rarity had drank maybe half a glass of the wine he had brought but he’d stopped her from drinking anymore the only way he could: by drinking the whole bottle himself.
“Rarity, do you… want to talk about what happened last night?” he asked in vein, knowing she wouldn’t. By the end of the night, after a lot of crying, a small bit of talking, very cold meal and a warm bottle of wine, he was rather tipsy and only put up so much resistance to the mare of his dreams demanding he sleep with her. Who wouldn’t? But he had no idea it would end as badly as it did: with her calling out her father’s name. Elusive would’ve liked to think he stopped instantly after that but he didn’t exactly realise for a good ten seconds afterwards.
Rarity didn’t answer. She turned her head to him, her eyes were unfocused as she stared at him for a moment before just rolling over and putting her hooves over him. He pulled her close and didn’t say anything more. Even if he wanted too, Elusive wouldn’t be able to think of anything to tell her that he either hadn’t already or he thought would even help in the slightest. She kept quietly sobbing for a while but eventually they both fell back to sleep.
~ ~
“Looks like you struck out last night, Gid.” Gilda laughed as she joined the two for breakfast.
“Right, well looks like I’m only making breakfast for me and Scootaloo then. And who says I struck out.” he said as he winked at Scootaloo. She had been out here, sitting on the couch when he’d woken up and thought she had slept there.
“Yeah G, what makes you think I didn’t come into his room for a bit last night?” Scootaloo egged on Gidian, he had no idea he was just getting set up, he just thought she was playing along.
“Well. It could be ‘cause he’s making you're breakfast and still trying ta get points with you. Could be I saw his protection still unopened on the side of his bed when I walked passed. Could be I just don’t think he’s good enough for ya.”
“G Thanks…”
“Or it could be she came inta my room last night.” Gilda finished with a smug smirk.
Gidian just looked at his sister for a moment. Then looked towards Scootaloo. “Nice…”
Scootaloo sigh-laughed and shook her head. Gilda came over to her and put a claw around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Looks like I stole another from ya… and no, this isn’t the first time. Remember Summer Gale?”
“No…" he said sarcastically. Of course he remembered her. "But feel free to explain.” he added lecherously. He’d been uncomfortable last night when she’d hit on him and was pretty sure she’d been joking… he hoped so at least. Well there was a small part that hoped she wasn’t. Why not try to make her feel as awkward now in turn. She had just ‘stolen’ Scootaloo from him. “Fact, why don’t you show me with her.”
It worked. Gilda honestly thought her brother was hitting on her and a slightest blush came to her face. She didn’t act any different and thought she hid it well. In body language she did but the blush went into over drive when Scootaloo added “How ‘bout it? Give him a show.” and pulled her into a kiss. Just as sloppy as the one from last night, not loving and just for show. But just as Gilda started to get into it, a little more than Gidian even was, Scootaloo pulled away. “So, breakfast?”
Scootaloo got up and walked past Gidian, giving his rump a quick slap with her wing as she took a seat at the dining table. Gidian was a bit surprised by that but had gotten the result he wanted from Gilda at least. She was completely flustered and blushing as she looked at him and Scootaloo. Almost an exact role reversal of what they’d done to him last night. He thought he could make it a bit worse for her though. “It’s not cool to leave me hanging like that, so… I’m just ganna use my imagination to finish that scene… ooh… oh that’s nice.”
Gilda got over it, as her cheeks started to fade. “You about done, Gidiot?”
“Almost… oooo…” was all he got before Gilda walked past him and slapped him too. Only she slapped him across the face. It wasn’t hard but it still conveyed the message ‘shut up...’. He’d had his eyes closed as well so the blow was a complete surprise.
After that they ate breakfast, and as he’d said, Gidian hadn’t prepared anything for Gilda who ended up making her own. Once that was done they all stopped hitting on each other, to EVERYONE’S approval. Scootaloo had been doing so jokingly towards both Gidian and Gilda yesterday and Gidian had been hitting on her almost non-stop. That was over now. Scootaloo had made up her mind and while Gidian still liked her, he wouldn’t try pick up a chick that was already with someone. He just forgot about it… and he hoped to completely forget about how he and his sister had acted towards each other. Nothing a little… a lot… of therapy won’t fix.
They kept talking and eventually went out to hang around Cloudsdale. Gilda had offered to try set Gidian up with another one of her friends but he declined seeing this one had gone SOOO well. It was about lunch time when they stopped on got lunch. Go figure right? They had a small meal which Gidian was the first to finish. He had to leave that day and headed off. That, and he had started to feel like a third wheel to those two. They finished their food shortly after and just hung around for a while longer.
“How much did that thing cost you anyway?” Gilda asked about the dress Scootaloo had arrived in yesterday. Rarity had made it so there was some sorta discount for her but it was a high-end gown and must’ve been dear.
“Ugh… too much. Way too much. And that was half price.”
“Half price? What’d ya do, sleep with her?” Gilda joked… remembering the last time she’d gotten something so cheap.
“Ha, she wishes. I just made a deal with her. She’s a total gossip. I don’t know how well you know her but she just HAS to dig into everypony’s personally life and begged me ta tell who her it was for. Knocked three-sixty bits off of it just for telling her it where for you. Then she started blabbing on about how cute we were and blah, blah, blah… she made me so panicked when she suggested you were introducing me to your brother like I was getting to meet your family.” Scootaloo laughed not noticing how much she had really just said.
“You got a seven-hundy bit piece of clothing for me? You really thought we were that serious?” Gilda laughed both shocked with amusement. And completely flattered.
“Yeah well… I’m glad I did, I guess. I mean, we are now right? I haven’t really seen anypony other than you for years. I mean I’ve hit on a few stallions and made a few passes but I…
“Uh… didn’t you say Rarity was the one who made you think we were getting together?”
“Yeah?”
“Then why’d you get her ta make ya such a pricy dress BEFORE you thought we were… whatever this is.”
“I think I love you Gilda.”
“Well that escalated quickly…” Gilda laughed, then noticed Scootaloo was being serious. “Uh geez… you’re ganna make me say it too aren’t ya? Well, I don’t.” Gilda said, expecting to crush her mare’s heart. Instead Scootaloo just shrugged it off. That made it so much worse. Gilda new Scootaloo was just like her, if she was hurt she wouldn’t show it. “I think… I don’t know what love is. Never been in love. You? Ever been in love?”
“Yeah I have. Long time ago, just a little filly’s crush but uh… Rainbow Dash. Totally got rejected.”
“Ha!” Gilda laughed and then felt like crap for doing so. “So how’s she doing anyway? Haven’t seen her since she woke up.”
“She’s good, seems a little down but that’s probably just cause she can’t fly with the kid in her.”
“Y-yeah… I’m sure that’s why.” Gilda said, her nerve breaking a little.
“Actually, she told me ta tell you thanks for what you did, whatever that is… and sorry for at the hospital… whatever that was too.” Scootaloo said. She didn’t exactly want to talk about Rainbow Dash, especially seems she had been brought into the conversation as an old crush. “So uh, what did you do anyway?”
“I let her stay at my place for like half a year. And… we kinda had another falling out at the hospital. She’s sorry huh? She shouldn’t be. I had a go at her for saying she still didn’t want her foal and I refused to take it.”
“She doesn’t want her kid? Didn’t know that parta the story. Guess that’s why she’s been so down.”
“That ain’t why. She’s known she wasn’t keeping it for as far back as she was living up here. She may’ve changed her mind for all I know, now that’s she’s back with that Pink-Squeak. But she’s… she’s ganna die Scootaloo.” Gilda said as she looked directly at her. She’d seen her medical record when she’d visited at the hospital. It had been what made Gilda so mad that she’d ended up fighting with Dash.
Scootaloo wasn’t sure how Gilda somehow knew this, she didn’t know this herself and considered herself closer to Dash than Gilda was. Of course that was just because she hung around Dash more than Gilda. But if she thought about it, Gilda was probably closer to Dash than she. Gilda also had no reason to be lying now and Scootaloo didn’t think she was. “Why’s she going…? Are you sure?”
“I don't know… she might, giving birth. Her heart’s weak. I wanna go see her before she does…”
“Well, we should go see her. Like I said, she says sorry so I bet she’d be excited to see you.”
“I can’t, I got work. I got like five days in a row after getting today and yesterday off.” Gilda said with an obvious crack in her voice. “Besides, she’s not even that gooda friend. Never saw each other for years then just she rocks up at my door needing a place to stay… pfft.”
“Y-you mean that?” Scootaloo asked. It was obvious she didn’t. Gilda had been scared for Dash at the hospital when she found out about her heart condition, and had gotten into a fight with her because of it. Now she was scared for her friend again. Gilda didn’t like showing fear so she was channelling it into hate. “Listen, Gilda. If you can’t go down there and see her, then… maybe I should stay up here with you for a few days. I’m worried about her too, we could take care of each other. And if you wanna say anything, you know I’d feel the same about her.”
Gilda sighed and nodded. "She'll be fine anyway. Take more than that to kill Rainbow Dash... believe me I've tried." she didn’t have to admit she was scared for Dash, though she knew she already had in a way. Scootaloo felt the same, worried about Dash now. They could worry together. As a couple that they now where. “You know, if she keeps the foal, she’s ganna name it after me.” Gilda said with the slightest hint of pride.
“You ask her to?”
“Na, she’ll do it because I asked her not to.”
~ ~
Rarity,
I know you mustn’t want to see me but we need to speak.
If you feel Elusive needs to be there with us he is welcome to join us.
I would like for you, he and Sweetie Belle to join me for lunch at your old favourite shop, Neighsinwary’s.
I’ll be there at noon. I’ll wait as long as I have to for you.
Love, your father.
They’d found the letter earlier this morning when they’d finally gotten out of bed. Rarity, as always, went into the bathroom and prepared her make-up and once again Elusive had put his ear against the door to make sure she was ok. She was, for the most part. For her own safety, she didn’t use mascara today. She knew it would end up running if she did. There was no way today wouldn’t end in tears.
Rarity refused to even acknowledge him as her ‘father’ and used ‘Magnum’ with her most disdainful tone. Noon had passed nearly an hour ago now and they were still in the boutique. They were going to go. Eventually. But there was no way she was going to bring along Sweetie Belle like Magnum had requested. Elusive fought for Sweetie Belle’s right to see her father however. Of course what Magnum thought of Elusive, and had said he was welcome with herself and Sweetie Belle only put horrible things into Rarity’s mind despite how it had actually been meant.
She knew it was most likely the letter Sweetie Belle had sent him that had encouraged him to come back to Ponyville in the first place. She knew most of his motivations for what he had said in the letter, again despite how she may have perceived them after thinking about them too hard. What she didn’t know about him was… he was no longer a unicorn. She assumed it had been broken off, similar, but more severe to what had happened to Twilight’s. She even wondered, and even dared to hope, that it had been happened in a similar manor.
His magibetes. Surely he would’ve been smart enough to come during a time it would not cause issue. Surely…
~ ~
Very rarely have I thought about you.
In the times I did, they weren’t always good thoughts.
Sometimes though, I missed you.
It doesn’t really matter though, because no matter what happened, you’re my father.
Thank you for what you did, it must’ve been hard to leave us.
Unfortunately, I guess it was for the best…
Sweetie Belle.
The area was mostly empty; just a few other ponies out for lunch. A couple eating lunch together over the other side of the foyer, another mare near them just relaxing as she ate her hay-fries and two young colts messing around with their food closer to him than the others. Magnum was, as always, wearing a tacky hawaiineighn shirt and a straw sombrero. He hadn’t worn the hat last night, because it had been night and what kind of poser wears a hat at night?
Magnum had been waiting there for three hours now. Of course he’d shown up an hour and a half earlier than midday and didn’t expect Rarity to show up exactly at midday, but he said he would wait. He doubted Sweetie Belle would be coming as well but he had to hope. It had been her letter than drew him here. He had ages to try and prepare but he didn’t really know how his daughters would react to him. He didn’t know them anymore, hadn’t known them for so long now.
He kept waiting as he said he would and another half hour passed before she arrived. Elusive walked alongside her as she approached. He gestured for them to take a seat on the bench; Elusive took his much faster than Rarity but eventually they were both sitting opposite Magnum. Elusive was the first to speak. “I’d like to apologise for taking a shot at you last night.” he said, though it sounded forced, as if he was saying it just to try clear the air between them all.
“Uh, yeah. As am I. We were both out of line and said some things we regret. I’m sure.” from what he’d heard, or rather, what he’d remembered of what he’d heard about Elusive, he was a charmer still. He hated to bring it up as the first thing they’d speak about but he still didn’t know what had actually happened between Elusive and Sweetie Belle. It must’ve been something different to what he’d heard for Rarity to be here with him now. “Rarity, may I ask you about Elusive?”
“What you heard didn’t happen. He’s not… like you. Let’s leave it at that.” she said, not looking either of them in the eyes and glancing around. There was only silence between them for a moment before Rarity added “Should we order something to eat?” she, much like her father, had no idea of what to say.
Elusive however wasn’t as disorientated by all of this as both of them where. “Why are you here? It’s obvious Rarity doesn’t want to see you. Sweetie Belle doesn’t know you’re alive. I didn’t know you were alive not long ago.” he said sternly. Even if Rarity didn’t want to see him, Magnum wanted to see her. He obviously wanted to make amends and to Elusive that was reason enough. He wanted to help them heal old wounds and felt saying this would drag something meaningful out of him.
Instead of answering he just handed Rarity a piece of paper. She took it reluctantly and looked it over as Elusive leaned over to read it as well. “It’s from Sweetie Belle, isn’t it?” Magnum asked.
“Yes.” Rarity replied. “I was there when she wrote it. I let her send this one letter when she found out you were alive. Only this one though. I, I don’t understand though. Wh-what in this makes you think she wanted to see you? That you should see her? I told you to never see us again, I still mean it.”
“I can see she wanted me to come home. It’s there, she asked, she wanted to see me didn’t she?” Magnum said. He felt it was true, but he had come all the way across the world on what was only a hunch.
“Yes. She did. Sweetie Belle wanted to see you. But I said no. I’m, I’m more of her parent to her than you and I still to this day have to play that role!” Rarity didn’t see herself as Sweetie Belle’s mother like Twilight did to Spike, but she was more than just her big sister. “And what if you were wrong? You come here and she was completely truthful in her words. That you leaving was for the best and she didn’t want anything to do with you!”
“She said more than she said in that letter. Read it, read just the first letters.” Magnum replied. It had been there, a message that he now knew was intentional. If Rarity wouldn’t let Sweetie Belle say it directly, she’d said it discretely.
“V-I-S-I-“ Rarity paused and finally looked her father in the eyes. “Visit us. I, I suppose… she has always been smarter than me. I…” she broke her gaze with Magnum and joined one with Elusive. “She has, and I’ve been proud of her for that.” Rarity realise that Twilight, being the genius she is, must’ve seen it. Her father had seen it. Perhaps even Spike had seen it. She felt like an idiot because as her sister had always been smarter than her, Rarity had always been smarter than her father.
“You should be. We both should be. I heard she became a lawyer. She’s indeed smarter than both of us.” Magnum said as he took a moment to look around at who was at still sitting around them. The mare who had been eating lunch with the couple had left. The couple she had been near appeared to be trying to listen in on what the three of them had been saying to one another, as the two colts where doing so as well. Though more obviously.
“Yes, well, it makes me feels all the ‘less-smarter’ that you saw what I couldn’t.”
Elusive put his hoof around her shoulder and moved in close. “You’re a brilliant mind Rarity. You just missed something is all. He had the letter for months, you had it for seconds.”
“I didn’t see it actually." Magnum clarified. "I didn’t see it until somepony showed me. And I’m proud how smart they are too. Rarity… I’d like you to meets somepony.” he said as he turned to the two colts and nodded. They stood up and walked over to their table. Rarity looked at them, then to her father. He’d said he was proud that they were smart, the same way he was proud of Sweetie Belle. They couldn’t be… “Rarity, I’d like you to meet your brothers. Baritone and… Elusive”
“What?!” both Rarity and Elusive said in sync. “Elusive?!” they said together once more.
“It’s nice to meet you Rarity.” said Baritone, the older of the two, as he put his hoof forward. He had to be about twelve-odd. He had a Cutie Mark of a treble-clef, brilliant white coat and a horn with a blue-ish-purple mane and tail. Rarity took a moment to acknowledge him before she stared at the younger of the two, Elsuive, who was only about four, maybe five. No Cutie Mark obviously, white-ish-grey coat and a horn, and though his eyes where the same blue as his brother’s they seems more glassy.
She caught herself from staring, slack-jawed as Elusive, the adult one, nudged her. She took Baritone’s hoof and shook it hello. “I, um… I…” Rarity faltered. She let go off Baritone’s hoof and again looked at his brother Elusive. Her brother Elusive.
“Your mother and I named him after him, when he was set to be your husband. It was… disheartening, to say the least when I heard about your break-up. And the circumstances involved… I was going to change his name but it had been your mother’s choice. I’m glad, that you and he…that he didn’t… I’m just glad." he stopped and turned to his son. “Elusive, I didn’t expect you two to meet, but this is Elusive. You were named after him.”
Elusive took his hoof from over Rarity’s shoulder and moved over to his colt counter-part before extending a hoof to him as his brother had to Rarity. He didn’t really acknowledge the stallion in front of him. He didn’t make eye contact. “Hello.” is all he said.
“Baritone is…” Rarity cut in after it became clear little Elusive wasn’t going to say more. ”how old…? How soon was he… after you left?”
“He already was. I didn’t know. I’m not sure if your mother did either but she told me the day we arrived in Prance after the long boat there. And Elusive…” Magnum paused, remembering his wife. “I only told you that your mother had passed away. But, she died while giving birth. It’s why I kept his name despite what I had heard. One of the reasons at least. We had both agreed on the name. He was somepony important to our lives, even if we would never meet him. Your mother and I, we never stopped loving you, nor Sweetie Belle.”
Rarity turned from her father to her new brothers. One of the letters she’d received for her birthday years ago had mentioned how glad he was that she had Elusive, and wished them well together. She knew her parents knew that she and him where close, and had been so for quite some time. Magnum had even just said that he thought Elusive would be her husband back then. They’d decided to name their son after him, who they thought was the most important pony to Rarity. They hadn’t been wrong. They weren’t wrong now.
“Elusive. Baritone. It’s nice to meet you both.” Rarity said, trying to hold back her tears. Whatever she felt against her father had faded. For now at least. She had two younger brothers, and knew that her mother had loved her until the very end of her life. “I’m your sister, I suppose. I’m one of them.” she added. She may not want Sweetie Belle to see her father but she sure as hay wanted her to meet these too.
“I’ve heard a lot about you.” said Baritone. “I don’t think Lucy has though. Only what dad’s said in the last few weeks.” now that he had said more than one or two words Rarity could distinctly hear he had a Prench accent. Not surprising considering where he grew up.
“I used to hate being called Lucy.” the older Elusive said with a smirk and a laugh. “I have a nickname too. You can call me ‘Eli’ if you want. Is that ok with you Rarity?” it was her pet-name for him after all.
“Yes, yes that’s fine. But neither of you two call me ‘Rare’.” she added, half expecting them to call her nothing but ‘Rare’ from here out, which she honestly wouldn’t mind at all.
“Ok.” was all Lucy said. He was a colt of few words. There was a reason for that however and Rarity feared she knew why. But she’s learnt her lesson, the hard way, she wouldn’t just make assumptions and go with them. She’d ask, even though she knew the answer.
“What you did to me, to mother, to Sweetie Belle. Have you ever…” she was cut off before she could finish.
“Yes. Once, just after Baritone turned six. Younger than you, both of you, when I first struck you.” he replied, visibly hurt by the memory.
“Only once though?” Rarity said. She’d meant it as a question but he took it as though she was accusing him.
“Once was too many. Only once, but Pearl… my wi… sorry, I forget who I’m speaking with. Your mother; she never faired any better. Even after we left to start anew.” Magnum was clearly distraught. He still missed his wife, even after five years. He wanted to say something like ‘if I could take it all back…’ but he wouldn’t be saying it for Rarity, he’d be saying it for himself. She most likely knew already.
Rarity could see all of this was hard for him. It was just as hard for her though, but she had to know everything. “You still abused her… I, I can’t say I’m surprised. When was, when was the last time you had an… shall we say ‘episode’?” Though it wasn’t what Rarity remembered when she thought of her father, for that 99% of the time, he was a great pony and loving family stallion. It was just that 1%, those ‘episodes’ that where heaviest in her memories.
“I need you to know this story. For all you’ve seen of me, and for all you’ve thought, I have sunk lower than that. It was… the darkest time of my life. When Elusive was born and your mother passed. He was, he died too, minutes before birth. They saved him, but he didn’t wake up. Not for a very long time, I’m not entirely sure how long exactly but it was weeks at the least. It was… it…” he stammered to a stop as he began to cry.
Baritone put his hoof over his father’s shoulder. “He’s told us about you and Sweetie Belle. Not a lot, but I could always see this in him when he mentioned you. I always thought he disliked you or something, but when the letter came… he’s been like this a lot. He never told me what he did. I can guess. What he’s said… it sounds like it was bad but, it’s clear he loves you, like he loves us.” Baritone said as he tapped his brother, telling him to join them.
“Thank you.” Magnum said as he took both his sons into his hooves. “When… my love was dead, my son was grieving over the loss of his mother, and my new foal may not live to see the world for the first time. It was the lowest I had ever been in my life up until then… and I couldn’t stop laughing. My wife was dead! My son was in shock! My new born on the brink of death! And I couldn’t. Stop. Laughing!” Magnum exclaimed as he pounded his hoof onto the table before letting out a loud sob.
“I… understand. I have a friend, who did the same thing not so long ago. She hurt someponies dear to her because of it and got quite hurt herself.” Rarity said, thinking of how Twilight had reacted to first seeing Spike and Sweetie Belle together. She thought it would be a good time to mention that Sweetie Belle was happy, and with someone whom Rarity trusted fully. But he continued before she could.
“I kept laughing… for nearly two days. And then, I don’t remember. I passed out and awoke in a hospital myself, with a cuff on my hoof, chained to the bed. It was over, right? I had stopped laughing and could start grieving, or taking care of my child? No. When Pearl died… they found… they found all the things I had done to her over the years. The marks she hid, the cracks she pretended where nothing. They saw them and… and they questioned my son. He told them the truth. I beat my wife. I beat him… they took him. They took them both. I, I lost them both… I lost my children. Again… I…”
He lost it once more. He couldn’t stop himself from crying. Minutes passed and Rarity came over to his side. It would be hard for anypony to have their children taken away. But for him, it had been the second time it had happened. While she thought it his own fault, she still felt for his loss. Had she been deemed ill-fit to take care of Sweetie Belle all those years ago, which had been a concern given her age at the time, she didn’t know what she would’ve done.
Minutes passed. Long, painful minutes, but eventually her father collected himself. He had to tell her this. She needed to know and he needed to say it. “They both went into foalster care. I didn’t even learn that Elusive had woken up for near six months after his birth and I had feared him dead all that time. But I wasn’t allowed to see him. I learned later that Baritone didn’t even get to see him. It was… the darkest time of my life. A full years, before the inevitable. I couldn’t take it anymore, I had nothing left…”
He wasn’t crying this time. He was dead calm, which worried Rarity even more. “You… you tried to take your own life didn’t you?” she asked, the similarities between her father’s ordeal and Twilight’s becoming even more comparable, if not identical.
“Yes. It was Elusive’s birthday, and the anniversary of Pearl’s death. And… the day I received a letter. The one that told me what had happened between Sweetie Belle and Elusive. I’d been out for a while and I’m not sure where I ended up, maybe three or four towns over form where I lived. I found a group, thugs… I went up to one of them and hit him as hard as could. He went down, but the rest jumped me. They beat me mercilessly, but I didn’t stop fighting back. They won, it was inevitable, but that didn’t stop me still. I’m not sure what exactly happened, I remember spitting in one of their faces and constantly insulting them as the ripped into me.”
Rarity was wide-eyed as she heard the story. She barely noticed as he stood up from his seat. However she instantly noticed as he took his shirt off… he was covered in scars. When he had said ‘ripped into’ he had literally meant it. They covered his chest and all along his right side to his back and down his forelegs where they ended, replaced with more surgical scars where there had to open hit limbs to fix a shattered bone. He then turned to the left and raised a hoof to his flank. He removed his tail. It was prosthetic. He placed it on the table.
“They broke both my front legs, cut off my tail and I ended up with 117 stitches, not counting the ones used after the surgeries and only three teeth left. I wanted them to kill me. If I had remained conscious, I would’ve begged them to finish me. But I lived” Magnum said as he turned back to Rarity. He looked like a broken pony… he didn’t even look like a pony, just a broken thing. But he smiled. “And it was the best possible thing that could happen.”
“You wanted to live. I, I’m glad. I…” Rarity was at a loss for words.
“As am I. though I wasn’t at first. I woke up the next day in my own blood and crawled for what seemed like eternity before I got help. Everything hurt every day for months. But I healed… eventually. It had been just over one more year before I left the hospital. For the first few months in there I wanted to die… but I never tried again, and I claimed that I had been attacked. They didn’t know the truth. And that’s what saved me. Another five months and I was back living and working on my cousin’s orchard. I was deemed fit to look after my children again. After more than two and a half years. I finally got to see my colts. And I got to see Elusive for the first time.”
Rarity felt for him, felt for Baritone and Elusive. She had asked if he had ever struck them, she hadn’t expected anything like this. But she had asked something else as well, and had never gotten her answer. “But you were deemed unfit to raise these children because you would beat them. Your magibetic episodes. Nothing changed in that regard. How did getting out of hospital change anything? You never answered me. You didn’t tell me how long ago your last episode was. Please tell me it wasn’t three months ago.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was four…” Rarity flinched at that. She remembered that if one was late, not on its average three month cycle, it would be much stronger. “Four years ago.” he continued as he removed his hat and brushed his mane out of the way. Rarity had all but forgotten that his horn was gone and now she could see a very disfiguring scar across his forehead, previously covered by the hair and hat. It had been broken off when everything else had been done to him. “When I lost my horn, I lost my magibetes. I was cured.”
“Cured?!” came a voice from behind him. He turned to see who had yelled it. The mare of the couple that had been listening in was now walking up to them. He hadn’t at first but now that he’d had more than a glimpse at her, he recognised the mare. It was one of Rarity’s old friends.
Twilight Sparkle.
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