//------------------------------// // Undying Loyalty 2 // Story: The Hag, the heroes, and a few other things // by Amaranthine Thought //------------------------------// Rose and Honest had made a home in Ponyville, in a small cottage purchased by Honest’s savings, which weren’t much. A small cottage, with little room, but Rose was hoping that one day they could expand. Honest was truly trying to change his ways, and spent the time trying to get and keep a job. He was on his seventh, helping the Cakes, the bakers of Ponyville, who needed it due to Pinkie’s absence. There was always bits, but it was mostly the compassion of the town that allowed them to live comfortably. They had arrived and it hadn’t been long for Rose to notice the slight strain that the town had. One of its residents had been… willing… to tell her about Pinkie’s apparent demise. And their undying hate for the pony who apparently did it. Me. Hearing that, Rose had wisely decided to keep her mouth shut. If they knew Pinkie was alive, it would bring great cheer, but it would also tell them that I was alive, and that would be very bad. Nopony could really tell her why they hated me beyond the apparent death, but Rose suspected that there was something deeper hiding; the description they gave her of me was of a monster allied with Discord. She spent part of her time trying to figure it out, meeting ponies and trying to fish for information. The girls had been very willing to help, but they were mostly ineffective at anything beyond keeping Rose in good spirits and reassuring her of my goodness. She was sure that everything was all just a massive misunderstanding. So it came that she went to the Carousel Boutique, looking for a new garment as she slowly began showing signs of pregnancy. She knocked on the door, and Sweetie let her inside. “Hello Sweetie.” She said. “My sister’s waiting for you miss Rose. Just over there.” “Thanks.” Rose hadn’t met Rarity yet, but Sweetie had prepared her for the sight of Rarity. She oftentimes took great pleasure at trying to strike ponies speechless with design and form, but Rose had a strong will. When Rose entered, Rarity was posed, her mane and tail in perfect condition, her coat shining, and she had on her very best smile. Other ponies would be stunned into immobility, but not Rose. All Rarity got was an appreciative whistle. Rose told me that Rarity looked distressed by that before she recovered. “Hello darling. You must be Rose Bush, correct? Welcome to my humble shop!” Rarity greeted as she walked over to her. “It is nice to meet you Rarity, Sweetie’s told me a lot about you.” “I’ve heard something about you from her as well. We can chat and enjoy one another as I measure you, if that’s alright.” So they did, Rose humoring Rarity’s passions and hobbies as she stood and moved to the mare’s requests. Mostly, it was simple chatter; weather, life, husband, normal things. Rose would often try to gently steer the conversation toward the past, trying to get Rarity to tell her something without Rarity knowing that she wanted her to tell her it. It would work on most ponies, but Rarity, as I said before, was a master at the battleground of words. When Rose asked her about the past, in particular if she enjoyed places like Manehatten, Rarity was struck with suspicion. She didn’t outwardly show it, and she was very unsure, but hadn’t she seen Rose on the hill when I had vanished to my death along with Pinkie? “I do love Manehatten.” she said, without any indication of her inner suspicion, “Such a lovely city.” “It is.” Rose said. “I went there once, for a few days, and I even met my husband there.” “Manehatten is the city of romance.” Rarity commented as she went to her table and began jotting notes. “It really is. We went and saw most of the sights there. And you know, just before we left, the princess herself visited the city?” Rarity thought she might have something, so she acted with great care. Surprise writing itself on her face, she said “I didn’t! Did you get a good view? I never have seen her myself, and I would adore it if you could tell me the details.” she finished with a smile and an exceptionally interested look, appearing as though she was holding herself back. That tipped Rose off. Rarity didn’t know, but Rose knew who the bearers were. There was no way that Rarity would never have seen Celestia. But she thought she had something, so she put on her best act. “Not much of one, we were too far away to really see anything. She came in on her chariot, with several of her guards and the entire sight was breathtaking! The gold shining in the late sun, the pegasi flying in perfect harmony, the princess sitting so tall and regal…” Rarity took the last of Rose’s tale, late in the day, and simply leapt to the conclusion that Rose was the pony who had been with me on the hill (Rose didn’t mention that part). But what did that mean for her? Weren’t we all supposed to be dead? Was this a good thing, or a bad one? Instead, she simply sighed happily, and looked back. “That’s it darling. I’ll have it ready in two days. Delivery or pick up?” “Pick up. A pleasure speaking to you Rarity.” “The pleasure was all mine.” Rose left happy. She felt like she was finally getting somewhere, and Rarity had responded quite well. Even if Rarity did lie about herself, Rose had a good chance to find something out about why they hated me. At least that visit had gone far better than the others. The farm mare, Applejack, was constantly busy, didn’t like being interrupted during work, and Rose reminding her, however faintly, of Pinkie’s ‘death’ had made her shut up and refuse to speak further. Fluttershy… well, no stranger could get two words out of Fluttershy . Rainbow Dash was simply gone for some reason, and everypony suggested that she was on a vacation, not knowing where she had gone nor when she would come back. And Twilight, the princess of friendship, was simply unapproachable. She was royalty, and one ‘does not just walk up and talk to royalty as if they were normal ponies’, as Rose told me later on. But Rarity had finally given Rose Bush an opportunity to get into the bearer’s collective opinions. She was already planning what would happen when she returned. Unfortunately, so was Rarity. Rarity had gone to Twilight after Rose had left, and asked her if she could help her with something. An observation that might lead to something good. Twilight had agreed, having little else to do and curious as to what Rarity was planning. We had gotten a fair ways down the chasm when Rainbow finally woke. She groaned, and Pinkie stopped, gently laid the stretcher down, and went to her, leaning her face in close. “Dashie?” she whispered. I know that Rainbow must have been in agony from her injuries just from merely lying still. And yet, at Pinkie’s soft voice, her eyes opened and she jumped up and grabbed her in a hug. “Pinkie! I found you!” she said, tears falling, from emotion or pain, I wasn’t sure. “You did Dashie!” Pinkie told her, gently supporting her back down. “But you’re really hurt, so don’t move too much for Pinkie, O.K?” “You don’t understand…” she stopped as I came into view, peering at her to try and determine if she was in too much pain. I had been going to give her something for it, but Rainbow convinced me she didn’t need any as she sprang up again, between me and Pinkie, set for battle. I saw her try to hide a grimace as one wing twitched under its wrapping. She was in a lot of pain and she was bluffing. Willing to go that far for Pinkie. “Hag!” she yelled with ferocity. “I knew it! You’re not going to get Pinkie, or me, or anypony else, do you hear me!?” Pinkie was saying something to Rainbow to no effect, and I sighed, half expecting that. “Rainbow, you are very hurt, and will be hurt more if you keep moving.” I said, trying to be soothing. I suspected that it wouldn’t work, and was readying the para shroom. She growled at me, and like I expected, jumped at me. With a quick toss, I threw the yellow spores in her face. She coughed exactly once and then froze, her eyes darting about in anger and fear. Pinkie went over to her, and looked into her face with a faintly disapproving frown. “Rainbow! Hag is trying to take care of you! You need to listen to her, so that you can get better again.” Then she looked over at me. “Why is she all stiff now?” “Para shroom spore.” I told her, “Keeps her still so she doesn’t hurt herself.” or me for that matter, but that didn't have to be said. Pinkie nodded happily, and carefully put Rainbow back on top of the stretcher. “Can she hear me?” “Yep.” “Okie dokie then! I can start from the beginning. Well, after I jumped into Hag’s spell…” Pinkie began recounting every little thing that had happened after she had left her group to join mine. I stopped listening, and instead began hoping that she would finish quickly, that we would find a good place to camp, and that I would find more para shroom quickly. I had used my last, and it wasn’t going to last more than a few hours on somepony like Rainbow. I had been right as to when it would wear off. We had stopped to camp, and taking my chances, decided to start trying to treat Rainbow as a patient instead of an enemy. While she was still paralyzed, I mashed up thorn vine, and then fed it to her, the same way I had done to the girls. Pinkie had helped me out after that, consider I could no longer communicate well. She could understand my mumbles, and would tell everything I said to Rainbow. Simple instructions, like ‘don’t move’. I was trying to get some sleep when I heard Pinkie; “Stay in bed Dashie! You’ll be fine!” I didn’t hear the response, but Pinkie continued, “It was so you didn’t hurt yourself…” a pause, “Hag says that that way is the best way when the patient can’t act on their own! I’m going to try it next time!” A much longer pause, and I heard Rainbow moving. I got up and headed over, before Pinkie filled Rainbow’s head with who knew what. Rainbow was mad, for several reasons. She still hated me. I had paralyzed her and Pinkie had done little more than confuse her and give her a headache with her story telling skills. But she was mostly mad because I had tied her to the stretcher, foreseeing the trouble. I should have tied the stretcher to something, because Rainbow was capable of moving it while tied to it. Pinkie was trying to hold it down as Rainbow grunted, but when I came into view she stopped and glared. “You… You… What are you!? I don’t get it! Why does Pinkie like you so much! You’re evil!” I decided to get at the root of the problem. “Why am I evil Rainbow?” I asked as I went over to her. “You foalnapped the CMC, broke the elements, attacked us, and lied! A lot!” I sighed. “And should I tell you why and how those things happened, would you listen?” “You’d just lie again!” “No she won’t.” Pinkie said. Rainbow gave her a questioning look. “I’ll make sure of it Dashie, you can count on me.” Pinkie turned to me and gave me the most intent stare I had ever been subjected to. Those giant eyes seemed to stare at my soul. Rainbow stared at her for a moment, before deciding to trust her, and turned back to me. “Pinkie can tell if you’re lying.” she said. “...I know. Now let me begin.” “I did not ‘foalnap’ the girls. I found them in the Everfree, attacked by giestermen, timberwolves, and badly hurt.” Rainbow looked at Pinkie who nodded. She seemed off put by that as she looked back to me. “So I brought them to my home, and treated them. I fed them the things they needed to recover, and made sure that they wouldn’t hurt themselves.” “By tying them to a bed?” she asked, pointedly. I nodded. “Like you are right now.” she glowered at me for that, “Applebloom had broken legs, just like you got broken wings. Move a lot and they are going to never recover. Held true for her, holds true for you.” “Fine. But why did you lie to us then!? You told us that they were with Zecora and they weren’t! Do you know what that did to Rarity!? Or Applejack!?” I winced. “I do know. I saw it writ on their faces when I met them.” “Then why!?” “It… I…” I sighed. “I had messed up, and failed some ponies, ponies I was meant to take care of. When I found the girls, I didn’t want to fail them, and I thought of them like the ponies I failed to save before. Saving lives already lost. Have you ever failed somepony Rainbow? Somepony who counted on you to be there, and then you weren’t, and because you weren’t bad things happened to them?” She didn’t respond, looking away. “It’s a nasty feeling to have. I didn’t even…” I stopped myself and started again, “The girls made it go away a little bit. So I lied, so I could keep them until they got better, and didn’t need my help anymore.” “And the elements?” she said, most of the hostility in her voice gone, still not looking at me. “When I first found that tree, I thought it to be a bad thing.” “How?” both Pinkie and Rainbow said at the same time, with the same confused expression as they looked at me. I sighed again. “Long story, but I’ll try to give you the important bits. The tree… prevented some things from acting as they should. And I never realized that when those things acted as they should, they hurt ponies. Part of what I do is to make sure things are working, so I saw it as bad. I somehow broke the elements when I was fighting it. I don’t know how.” “And then we found you and you attacked us.” she said, but her heart wasn’t in the accusation. “When you and yours found me at the tree, I attacked you, but remember you did so first. I was hurt and confused, and you bucked an old mare in the head as hard as you could. Of course, I rammed you, so I kinda deserved it…” Rainbow wasn’t responding anymore. “I’m even out here looking for a way to make whole what I broke." I told her, sighing. "I have a debt to you ponies, and I intend to make it right again. So do you understand now?” She nodded, and looked over at me. “Yeah… I… um… Mighta jumped to a conclusion. Or several.” “Easy to mess up. I’m not the best at making others see me in a good way. So now you can tell me:” “Why, by all the spirits, are you out here, and why did you try to kill us all on the cliff!? We nearly died because of your recklessness!” “It wasn’t reckless! I was rescuing Pinkie! You messed up my flight!” I groaned. “If I hadn’t grabbed your tail I’d be dead!” “Well… fine! Sorry.” “You’re forgiven.” I said in an instant. I had several good examples of that, and I wanted to try and smooth this over. Rainbow and Pinkie didn’t see anything special about it. “But why are you out here?” I asked. “Pinkie is a full grown mare, and can take care of herself you know.” “I know that, but everypony else didn’t.” Pinkie and I gave her a confused look, and she seemed to realize something. “We need to go back to Twilight! I need to get you back, Pinkie!” “Why?” “Because…” she trailed off and looked awkward and mumbled something inaudible. Pinkie leaned in close, and Rainbow muttered something in her ear. Then she stood back up, nodded, and walked outside with her eyes closed in perfect calm. I watched her leave, confused. “What did you…” “I’M NOT DEAD!!!” Pinkie outright deafened me for a moment, as well as Rainbow. I had never heard anything approaching that noise, ever. Dragons didn’t sound that loud. Not even if they roar in your face. Pinkie returned in a rush of activity, and it took some time for me and Rainbow to calm her again. Her friends thought her dead, and the idea of their pain was near unbearable to Pinkie. If she had her way, she would have simply dragged us all the way back to Ponyville without stopping. Ever. I think she might have swum the distance if she had to. I eventually managed to convince her that we should take it slowly, so that Rainbow could recover, and my leg could heal, and so we could do everything we needed to on the way. We were getting close to High Peak, and she did want to help Feathers as well. She was still tense until I suggested she plan some kind of return celebration, which gave her an outlet. Never saw anypony write that much or that fast. “She always like this?” I asked Rainbow in a daze. “She’s normally calmer.” “Good to hear.” “Mind if I ask you a few more things?” “Yes Rainbow?” “How bad am I hurt?” “Two broken wings.” she sighed, but it seemed that she had expected something like that. “I can get them better. I promise.” “Thanks… I’ve done it before, but they feel… worse this time.” I didn’t tell her how bad they were broken, and based on the faint fear in her face right then, I was never going to. “And… well, it’s more of a… demand.” “Demand away.” I told her. “Never, ever, for any reason, feed me like that ever again.” I chuckled slightly as Rainbow glared and blushed. I sighed, wondering if I could deal with Pinkie’s newfound needs and Rainbow’s requirements at the same time. One or the other was fine, but both, while I had a broken leg? I wasn’t sure if I could without tying up Pinkie too.