And in the middle of the desert, after days of a tiring trip under her scorching sun, appeared the huge walls of the Ghetto called Las Pegasus. Despite the oversize of its fortifications, it was impossible to miss the bolts of lights spat through the sky. Like a calling signal encouraging to come and get lost.
No one in the expedition had been expecting this, despite the fact they all knew this place possessed something like ten Angels.
According to Muffin, Las Pegasus was especially centered around pleasures and fun, the kind of place Pinkie Pie couldn’t just wait to visit. She planned the other Ghettoes not to be as entertaining as this one, although the reasons why they were here weren’t the entertaining kind at all.
By following the itinerary that the young Envoy had drawn, they were supposed to arrive in front of the huge gates which gave access to the Ghetto. Because of the past attacks, Canterlot was the only place all over Equestria not to have any walls or admission controls.
Or at least, that was what they all thought. Once again, what a surprise when they stopped their vehicles in front of a huge opening, towered by a neon panel twinkling with red and yellow, saying: “Welcome to Fabulous Las Pegasus”.
“Are you sure Muffin haven’t mistaken?” Rarity asked, staring at the panel just like the others.
“It seems like she hasn’t,” Sunset Shimmer answered. “This is Las Pegasus. As written there.”
Flabbergasted anyway, the whole team got off of their vehicles, that they started to push in the direction of what seemed to be the appropriate doorway. Their suspicions were confirmed as soon as they crossed the inexistent gate; there wasn’t even someone devoted to control who came in and went out, like in any other Ghetto, and this, even back when the Community Power was in charge.
Their fear to be headed towards a trap was easy to smell. This all was too good to be true, almost utopic, even…
Yet, by going farther into the Ghetto, they quickly understand that, as strange as it appeared, things were what they seemed to be in Las Pegasus. If they were looked out by the passersby swarming about in the streets, it only was because of their vehicles. As far as the rest was concerned, everyone kept on attending to their business without a care, and the eccentricity of their outfits were competing with the very psychedelic fairytale-like décor surrounding them.
For sure, the ten Angels were working at full capacity. Everywhere, there was lights, tackiness, attractions, music and laughter. The buildings, quirky, were painted with shimmering colors and the roads were sparkling with sequins.
It was hard to believe, going even farther into the Ghetto, that they were still in Equestria. For sure, when compared to the absolute despair that Canterlot represented, or the severity of the Underworld, the differences were noteworthy.
“I wonder what type of person could be the Leader of such a Ghetto?” Rainbow Dash whispered almost to herself.
She gasped and jumped when suddenly, appeared in front of her a girl, with violet and white hair full of wild curls, a funny propeller hat on her head. She looked like a mauve and completely insane clone of Pinkie Pie.
In fact, whoever that girl might be, she immediately got the sympathy of Rainbow Dash’s best friend, as if she could see herself through her.
“The Leader of our Ghetto’s Mr. Discord. You’re going to love him! My name’s Screw Ball and I’ve followed you all this time because these are funny machines you got here! By the by, have you ever ate mud pies? I mean, pies with real mud! It’s good but then, your tummy hurts a little… Don’t you think so?”
Alright. After further thinking and after she recovered from her scare, Rainbow Dash had to face the facts… This girl wasn’t just a Pinkie Pie clone. She was way worse than Pinkie Pie! Her speech made no sense whatsoever.
Actually, she kept on following them without asking for permission, watering them with questions they couldn’t even answer to, before she went on with anecdotes which were in nothing related to what she had asked before.
If there was a trap in this colorful Ghetto, maybe it was this one. By dint of staying among all those lights and sparkles, people were getting crazy.
However, the girl seemed to be very acquainted of the place and its Leader, and if she could finally let someone speak, she could be very useful to the group. It probably was the reason why no one had tried to get rid of her yet, though Applejack was showing advanced signs of irritation.
Their salvation could only come from Pinkie Pie, who was able to pick up by cutting her clone short, in the course of a silly anecdote about the man she told to be the Leader, Discord.
“Where can we find him? We have to talk to him. It’s very important…”
“Very important? Mr. Discord doesn’t like important things! Tell him you want to have fun and he’ll understand. He lives at the Chaos Hotel, where I’m going to lead you to and after that, we’ll have a mushroom shampoo!”
“A mushroom shampoo, so funny! It’s an assonance!”
“Hem, Pinkie,” Rarity intervened. “I think she speaks seriously…”
This last detail made the young woman laugh harder, while they all walked behind Screw Ball, rushing at full throttle through the crowded and still colorful streets of Las Pegasus.
If, in the beginning, it had been a bit difficult to get adapted to Pinkie Pie’s dynamic and cheerful nature, contrasting with the seriousness Rainbow Dash seemed to be displaying all the time, after a few days’ trip, those who didn’t know her well finally got used to it all.
She brought a dash of freshness and casualness to a mission which was in no way cheerful. Their mission was too important, and, most of the time, being aware of that prevented them from envisioning anything under a positive angle. Yet, they all knew it – it wasn’t by feeling defeated in advance that they would win the struggle they had to fight, conversely.
Maybe all they really needed was to have a little break in this absurd place. It could be a small bubble of oxygen where to breath in completely before they had to hold their breath for a very long time.
Rarity, walking behind without the possibility to see where Screw Ball was, leading from afar, even farther than where were Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash and Soarin. She leaned next to Applejack.
She could have thought this place to be fantastic if it hadn’t been so tawdry.
“Seeing the rest of the décor, I admit I’m a bit scared to discover what could a hotel called Chaos look like.”
“Well… Maybe like this,” the young woman replied, showing something with her chin.
Rarity looked up and her eyes opened wide under the shock. The Builders who had built this place might have been extremely plastered on the day they drew the plans and started the construction site! She couldn’t find no other explanation to such a muddle of walls and glasses.
Two towers like one of a castle were surrounded blocks of multicolored bricks on which had been added hexagons of iron painted in canary-yellow. All this with windows of various shapes and sizes. There even was flight of stairs leading straight into a wall… A metaphor of the Ghetto, in some kind of way.
In the front of the group, although none between Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash or Soarin regarded themselves as judges of the good taste, the amazement wasn’t different. The Hotel Chaos seemed to be the icing on the cake of the strangeness of the place… And most importantly, it scared them because of what they were supposed to do next.
Obviously, if the Ghetto and the Hotel were similar to the Leader, their task wasn’t going to be the easy kind. Although anyone could penetrate into Las Pegasus they were sure that nobody there, their Leader included, seemed to be worried about a potential cybernetic attack.
************************
The most complicated detail was to find a place where to park the Flying Vehicles, without taking the risk of a wreckage or worse, a theft. The eccentric Screw Ball girl proposed the stables and if the suggestion could theoretically sound really stupid, in fact it happened to be the safest places of all. In the boxes kept for the master of the house who, yet, didn’t own a horse, locked up thanks to a secret code, their only means of transportation were sheltered.
The whole team agreed that, since they were here for the night, they might as well sleep at the hotel.
The place, just like the rest of the Ghetto, was discordant with the idea they all had in mind about the other fortresses. After the War, Equestria’s inhabitants all turned very distrustful, and everything apparently foreign was regarded with a strong suspicion, if not a rejection in due form.
Nothing like this went on in Las Pegasus. Here, it was as if everything what was going on anywhere else didn’t exist. An alternate universe, in which all troubles about pollution, hunger and violence were imaginary, where everything was only extravaganzas and luxury.
If this atmosphere fit some of them, for Rainbow Dash these happy faces and smiles were hiding a truth that was gloomier. Who could feel happy to be obliged to get by with the rest of a depressed civilization? Where did the money they all spent with these smiles come from? What were the sacrifices these people had made in order to spend a few hours of good time in this palace of debauchery?
Whole families were torn apart because of the War, thousands of persons were still missing, supposedly dead. An insidious threat was weight on the Continent’s fate, and there they were using four Angels to operate this strange palace, pretending none of that ever happened.
She just couldn’t help it. She had to keep her guard on. She had to observe everything with distrust and uncertainties. She wasn’t that different from other Equestrian inhabitants, in the end.
Or was it because she meddled with people again? They were influencing her unconsciously, making go up to the surface memories she took so much time to bury deep inside.
They all settled in some of the cheapest rooms. They all were scattered all over the hotel, which never bothered to follow any level of social ranks. In fact, the numbers on the doors were mixed up as well, and the room twelve was just beside room thirty-eight and room forty-two.
Spacious yet very humble, they were everything they needed. One bed, one closet, one desk. No embellishments, no luxury. It would have been inappropriate, to make the most of the highest comfort when their fellows stayed in Canterlot had to be satisfied with the bunker’s collective bedrooms. And it would be especially inappropriate when compared to the reason of their visit.
Tourism wasn’t on the order. They had a mission to fulfill. And as soon as they were settled, Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash hurried to go and meet with Las Pegasus’ Leader, this famous Mr. Discord, whom Screw Ball couldn’t stop talking about.
What they knew about him was that he was a former Crafter who denied his Caste, and now introduced himself as a pleasure-seeker. He had been chosen by Las Pegasus’ inhabitants – the Ghetto was completely destroyed at the end of the Uncivilized War – a little while after the battles stopped, and helped by the important capital at his disposal, he had entirely recreated a Ghetto in a short time, a Ghetto that was among the most advances ones.
His office was at the last floor of one of the towers, and to get there, people had to… climb a wall. In fact, it was one of the favorite attraction of those who came in the Ghetto of pleasures, and they were very few to be able to climb all the way up. Of course, the current owner got there thanks to his private elevator system, but it seemed like he had thought it funnier to welcome his visitors in an absurd manner.
Unless it was actually to make sure they would never be courageous enough to climb up in order to complain.
Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer were two athletic young women, in perfect health.It would have been easy for them to climb the wall completely. However, they didn’t want to become another attraction for the hotel’s costumers, and instead, they gave a few coins to the lady who was surveying the boss’ private elevator.
Since there was no other room at this floor, there neither was a door to get to the office. At the threshold, the two young women introduced themselves and could only notice the place seemed to be as empty as Screw Ball’s messy brain. And, taking a few steps forward, they discovered a man lying on the floor, passed out.
Or at least that was what they thought…
“Boo!” He shouted, opening his eyes.
Sunset Shimmer, who was the closest, yelped with a high-pitched voice and jumped back, her heart thumping. Her reaction started a laugh that was almost hysterical to the man on the floor. The latter, now sitting, held his sides, obviously unable to stop his hilarity. The young woman was red of embarrassment and didn’t dare looking in Rainbow Dash’s direction, afraid to see she was laughing at her as well.
And she would gladly have, a few years ago. She always liked pranks and jokes, whether it was making them or when others did them to her. Even back at the Military Academy, she was really enjoyed putting glue on the instructors’ chair, fake spiders in her fellows’ sheets and pepper into Soarin’s orange juice glasses. Her sense of humor, yet, seemed to have desert her at the same time than life deserted from her father’s body.
It probably was her inability to laugh of the prank – which she regretted bitterly – that convinced the man to stop laughing himself. He got up and went to sit behind his desk, on which he lied his two legs. One of them probably was an artificial limb… Rainbow Dash recognized it by the way it dragged a little compared to the other one.
“I suppose you’re Mr. Discord,” she questioned.
By her side, Sunset Shimmer did her best to stop feeling embarrassed, despite the fact her fellow had not even giggled.
“Depends what you need him for,” was the man’s answer.
And they immediately understood it was him. Who else could it be, anyway? He had to be able to climb up here and they figured out everyone wasn’t lucky enough to meet the chatterbox named Screw Ball to give them as much information could be.
His lanky attitude clashed with his very classical suit, composed of a shirt, a jacket and pants, not the type of clothes that fit with life in a Ghetto planted in the middle of a desert. His forehead was going bald and his hair was brushed back as if constantly loaded with static electricity.
But what was the most striking to Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer was that he had another artificial limb, an arm this time. These transplants were expensive, since it was a very advanced technology, dating back to the end of the postmodern era. Only excellent Masters of Elements could conceive them and there were only a few left. Which means either the Ghetto held these Masters of Elements neither these surgeries had been made before the Uncivilized War, thus explaining why he wasn’t able to fight when civilians were called to enroll in the Resistance Army.
“We need your help, Sir,” Rainbow Dash started.
“What’s happening? You don’t like your room? Are the buffet’s grasshoppers still hopping? No, you wouldn’t have such a look on your faces if it had been the case…”
“Indeed, Sir.”
“I can already feel boredom taking over me…”
As weird as she was, Screw Ball had told them so. Discord wasn’t the type of persons to feel inspired by serious matters and it was more than very likely that their problem wouldn’t give him a burst of strong emotions.
And yet, they had to tell him. His Ghetto had many Angels, which meant they were among the most probable targets of Chrysalis. If her Butterflies took over Las Pegasus, they weren’t sure that even with the help of other Ghettoes, they would be able to get rid of the threat that would represent.
Sunset Shimmer was the one with the clearest vision of what the danger was like. So it was her who took the initiative to explain it all to Las Pegasus’ Leader, who seemed to be more interested by the various gadgets on his desk than by her speech.
Once the situation’s explanation was over, Discord looked up with questioning eyes, as if he were expecting to see them burst out laughing, telling him this was nothing but an enormous joke. Of course, they didn’t and this time, the deception that followed was much anticipated.
“Let me guess… Military and Envoy?”
“Well… It has nothing to do with our problem, but yes, that’s what we are,” Sunset Shimmer answered. “How did you guess?”
“How? Just look at her… She’s as stiff as a bayonet! And you’re bowlegged, which means you’re riding a lot and only Envoy do such stupid stuff nowadays! Fall out, Sergeant!”
After this, he burst out laughing again.
This time, it was Rainbow Dash who blushed from embarrassment. She hadn’t even realized that, instinctively, her body had taken the mandatory position Militaries were taking when they were in front of a superior.
Yet, this Discord was anything but a warrior. If she was an open book, so was he as well. Everything in his behavior shouted indifference. The whole world could explode around him, as long as he wasn’t harmed or injured, it didn’t matter to him at all. And she would bet her bottom coin that their alarming speech had no more impact on his feelings than a small breeze brushing the branches of a millennial tree.
“I’m sorry. This is all so very sad but it has nothing to do with me. I haven’t taken part to the Uncivilized War so it’s not now that I’ll get involved in a guerilla with the Floating Ghetto, whether it’s a Hive or I don’t know what else. Chrysalis could send as many cyborgs as she wants, we won’t deceive her expectations. Las Pegasus won’t need anyone to defend her.”
“Do you mean you have a great deal of weapons and fighters at your disposal?”
“Who knows?”
It had to be the case. If not, it was pure madness. The right amount of Butterflies would make short work of Las Pegasus. Especially if they attacked by surprise. With their incredible human appearances, they could easily blend in with the crowd and the lack of surveillance at the Ghetto’s doorway wouldn’t help.
“Is there any way we could make you change your mind?” Sunset Shimmer asked.
“Absolutely none. I’m not interested. It’s better when handled by professionals.”
She glanced at Rainbow Dash. Equestria needed Las Pegasus, if Las Pegasus really held the strike force its Leader boasted about. However, nothing could let them know it was the truth. Also, if he refused to help, it undoubtedly was a knock and threatened their mission, but they couldn’t force him to accept.
With Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer had been able to notice that, sometimes, strong-arm tactics weren’t the best of solutions. What worked with Soarin couldn’t work with everyone else. He had much more to gain than to lose in all this. Which wasn’t the case for the rest of the population. And obviously, Discord considered it wasn’t the case for him, neither.
When she saw her fellow nodding, she knew that for once they both were on the same wavelength.
They would have to do without Las Pegasus’ precious help.
“Thanks for your time, Sir”, Rainbow Dash said, mentally swearing at herself for the Military way she had to talk to him.
“I should be the one thanking you. It was quite funny in the end… You know what you should be doing, Sergeant? Release some tension! Make the most of the Hotel, get yourself a pin-up boy and have a good time! It can’t hurt you.”
“Well… Thanks for your suggestion.”
“It was more than a mere suggestion.”
He searched through the jumble on his desk, a mix of toys, golf balls, food packs, and unearthed tickets he put into their hands, after he got up and skirted the furniture.
“These are tickets for the Hotel’s cabaret. Invite some friends if you have friends and get yourself drinks. Dance a little, and forget about Chrysalis only for tonight.”
“Thank you, but it’s not going to be necessary,” Sunset Shimmer claimed, giving her own tickets back.
“She’s joking,” Rainbow Dash stopped her, taking the tickets back. “Thank you. We’re going to use them astutely, trust me.”
“Well, this is unexpected! Maybe the Sergeant isn’t the most uptight of the two.”
Indeed, the young woman’s decision had surprised Sunset Shimmer a lot. Discord’s offer was tempting but she had regarded it as inappropriate and that they had more important things to do than “having a good time”… And here was Rainbow Dash, who until now never displayed any particular sunny mood, deciding it was exactly what every of them needed…
Actually, Discord’s comments and the offensive nickname he gave her, had deeply affected her. He was right. She was “as stiff as a bayonet”. And that wasn’t the way she had always been. Before the War, she used to be a pleasure-loving, who liked parties, laughing and having fun with her friends.
Deep inside, Rainbow Dash could feel it. She needed to take up again with the person she used to be. The real Rainbow Dash. Even for just one night… To breath. To put the pains of the past behind her and to stop worrying about the future. To live the moment.
********************
The Chaos Hotel’s music hall was situated underground and was as wide as the hotel itself. No place like these were to be found anymore in Equestria, since most of the Entertainment Houses closed their doors when the War began, and never opened again. The people’s leisure had changed, and were now more thinking about getting intoxicated in order to forget their condition than about having fun for pleasure.
But just like the rest, what went around elsewhere wasn’t a rule in Las Pegasus, where the landmarks were mixed up.
One large bar went all around the huge room illuminated by lights of various colors; pink, red, green or blue. The only gap was actually left for a mysterious door by which women came and went, often accompanied by men. At the back, there were tables for those who were hungry and wanted to savor many kind of dishes with vegetables and insects that were more sophisticated than the average. There was a stage on which musicians, dancers and singers, always the same, were taking shifts. What was left of the room was a giant dancefloor where everybody dashed willingly.
Sunset Shimmer finally understood… People who came in here also wanted to forget about the past and about a part of what was their present. It felt as if jumping back in the delights of forgotten times, made of carefreeness and enjoyments.
Yes, there was a threat hovering over all these persons, but they ignored it, and if they did their job well, it probably would go on like this. However, sometimes, living the moment without a care about the weight on one’s shoulders, even for a couple of hours, it felt good, she couldn’t deny it.
And she wasn’t the only one. Much to her surprise, none of the members from their expedition refused Discord’s present. It even was with some sense of cheerfulness that they all got prepared for this party that would probably be their only entertainment for the two months to come.
Especially for Rarity, it was a chance to attire herself with her most beautiful clothes and to make the most of a luxury she hadn’t enjoyed for years. She was the daughter of Crafters working for the Community Power, so the beginning of her life was more than comfortable and she spent many years without a care about any financial problems.
Like many others, she lost everything she had because of the Uncivilized War, which included her parents, and she had to adapt to a way of life that was much different from what she was used to. It was hard, in the beginning. But she finally had been able to make the best of this new existence, and got on with it.
This made her very enthusiastic about the night to come. She intended to make the most of it wholeheartedly and also, to have some good time with a man, if possible. It also seemed to be Applejack’s plans.
Both dressed to kill, they didn’t wait too long before going on the dancefloor, with a cocktail in one hand, partners in crime with a common ambition.
In theory, it seemed to be a bit strange but they were really close. Yet, Applejack came from a humbler though very powerful environment, since the Producers were respected by all the other Castes. If she lost everything she had as well during the War, her way of life used to be very different from Rarity’s.
The young man was raised with the intention to make her and her now deceased big brother the future managers of Sweet Apple Acres, the huge geoplant domain which used to feed all of Canterlot. The comfort which was her life was much simpler and unassuming than her friend’s, however it meant as much to her and had disappeared too.
Applejack and Rarity should have hated each other. If there truly were fights sometimes, especially when they first met, most of the time they were on the same wavelength and spent most of their free time together.
What happened at nights when everybody else was asleep was natural like a river going to the sea. Most of the girls in the shelter did the same, coupling by sympathy. It didn’t mean they felt attracted by the same gender. It only was the only option available.
Sunset Shimmer never gave in to this secret habit. There were no girls back at the shelter she was feeling close with. Of course, she got on well with everyone but she had found no friends there as precious to her as Twilight.
Though in reality, she had met face to face with Twilight only twice in her life. The first one when they were introduced by Sunset Shimmer’s mother and the second time on the day of her abduction. Yet, it was their letters, getting more and more intimate, which created the bond between them.
Why the young woman never told her cousin, who she yet was so close with, about this bond connecting them together, Sunset Shimmer didn’t know. What she knew, however, was that if Twilight hadn’t tried to keep an inner sanctum, maybe it would have been less complicated to convince her cousin to join them, and their relationship would probably be rather different now.
The waitress dressed in pink put a translucent cocktail decorated with a slice of lime in front of Sunset Shimmer, who thanked her with a smile.
She felt the presence beside her before she could even see it, which probably prevented her from being trapped again and from jumping from scare. Once was enough.
“What are you drinking?” Pinkie Pie yelled in her ear.
When she turned around, Sunset Shimmer discovered the young woman dressed in red, with sequins on top and frills at her skirt, accompanied of Soarin, who wore a suit which seemed to be fresh out of Rarity’s suitcases. Where could she find such an outfit? It couldn’t be from their shack in the woods, where it was useless to keep trinkets for any occasion.
As if she had guessed what was on her mind, Pinkie Pie replied, while sitting at the bar.
“Dashie and I kept our ball gowns… We like to wear them for special occasions, like birthdays. I was right to bring them along. I want a pink cocktail!”
Immediately, they saw Soarin, which hadn’t uttered a word since he arrived, scanning the bar’s doorway with anticipation… There was no need to think hard to discover what he was expecting with such a feverish hope.
Since they first met, Sunset Shimmer understood there was only one person who would be able to get their way to his heart. And it wasn’t herself. Just by the way he was looking at her, his eyes illuminated by a glow like some precious gem, to guess how much he loved her.
She didn’t want to play that trump to convince Rainbow Dash to join them, since Twilight’s rescue had always been part of her plans, while Soarin’s hadn’t always been obvious. There were chances for him never to wake up from his coma. In fact, it probably was the reason why The Hive never tried to get him back, since it also was the case with every of those who fled and founded The Underworld.
To be honest, he was some sort of “backup trump”. If Rainbow Dash had kept on refusing, she would have get everything done with only one top brass Military. Although he surely would never be able to understand Twilight’s creations.
Rainbow Dash finally appeared as well. Her dress, of the same color than her hair, cracked at the thigh, aerial, seemed to be floating like a cloud around her athletic body. White sleeves made of three layers of muslin which hid the skin apparently had been added a long time ago, but perfectly matched the rest.
With her one-side braid, plaited from the top of her skull and falling on her shoulders, she almost looked like a different person. Usually, she only let her barely brushed hair linger against her shoulders or to arrange it in a high ponytail, and she dressed practical with dark colors, of the camouflage type.
When he saw her walking in their direction, Soarin’s eyes lit up with delight and Sunset Shimmer understood that, once again, she wouldn’t matter in the equation.
Rainbow Dash sat at the bar, beside them all, with a relaxed something on her face that Sunset Shimmer had never seen before and that the others had almost forgotten about.
“Where are Rarity and Applejack?” she asked.
“On the dancefloor. They decided to have fun.”
“And they’re right! I’ll do the same in a few moments… But first, I want a drink. Have you ordered already, Soarin?”
“No, not yet…”
“Do you think they have this something made of violets they used to serve at the Academy’s balls? I haven’t drunk one of those since ages!”
“Let’s see that,” he said while calling a waitress. “Would you like to try, girls?”
“Why not?” Sunset Shimmer answered. “Once I’ll be done with my current cocktail…”
“Thanks, but not for me,” Pinkie Pie said. “I’m way too intrigued by the door that’s over there. I’m going to see what it is.”
“Have fun!”
“You can count on me.”
And she leaped off her seat, after she completely gulped the tiny glass of pink alcohol she had ordered before.
If she had the least of common sense, she thought, Sunset Shimmer should follow her in order to let the two lovers take their romance up again. These two needed to be left alone, for a bit of intimacy. A lot had happened between them and they had to learn to get acquainted again, to put some things behind them, and focus on each other.
They were out for a commando mission, after all, and it was impossible to predict how much time they had left.
It wasn’t the only reason why Pinkie Pie decided to leave the bar. What was to be found behind this door really intrigued her. Of a curious nature, she liked opening lost boxes, she liked exploring forbidden places and what was hiding behind closed doors, of course… In fact, curiosity was an important Healer’s quality. The best remedies were found thanks to experimentations.
As soon as she went through the door, she was feeling aggressed by the thick smoke reigning there. It wasn’t easy to be able to see clearly where she put her feet, and all along the corridor she bumped into laughing couples.
Opium. Equestria’s citizens favorite drug, a true counterculture with its disciples in each and every Ghettoes, even the smallest ones. If Entertainment Houses had disappeared by the beginning of the War, Opium Smokehouses, on the other hand, had multiplied. It also often was the place where Courtesans could be found, both the parallel branches of a same tree, since the dawn of times.
Opium’s properties never interested Pinkie Pie out of their benefits as sleeping pills and painkillers. It wasn’t her type of enjoyments. She preferred things which were more down to earth and most importantly, pleasures she could remember about and which weren’t only mere illusions…
The infamous opium smoking rooms were at the end of the corridor – small rooms into which people were lying down to smoke a long pipe, most of the time in company. Actually, men and women were intim The Chaos Hotel’s music hall was situated underground and was as wide as the hotel itself. No place like these were to be found anymore in Equestria, since most of the Entertainment Houses closed their doors when the War began, and never opened again. The people’s leisure had changed, and were now more thinking about getting intoxicated in order to forget their condition than about having fun for pleasure.
Pinkie Pie was a bit disappointed. Because of the Hotel’s atmosphere and various extravaganzas, she expected something more mysterious, much funnier or freakish-like. What lied under her eyes was nothing but a common place of debauchery.
And so, her first reaction when a young curly brown-haired man called out to her was to display how not interested she was… Until she saw his ridiculous get-up which immediately set her in better moods.
“This place is weird, isn’t it? I thought this was the backstage but I obviously was wrong. My name’s Cheese Sandwich,” he claimed, kissing her hand.
“I’m Pinkie Pie.”
“Nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie. Would you like a bit of company? There aren’t only smoking rooms here. There also is another bar that’s smaller and cozier.”
If he mistook this place for the backstage, how did he knew there was another bar here? Although he talked and behaved like someone from the Caste of the Entertainers, there was something about him which made her think he wasn’t what he pretended to be. She knew no Entertainer looking for backstage who would stop everything else just to keep company to a girl.
But after all… Why would she refuse the offer? She never came in here with that kind of intentions and only wanted to have a little fun between two exhausting travels through the red sand desert. It didn’t mean she couldn’t improvise a little. Actually, improvisation had its own charms.
And, it had to be said, she hadn’t been intimate with a man since ages and this Cheese Sandwich boy seemed to be the perfect person to have a good time and to relax in a different way, which she hoped would be both playful and delightful.
**************
Since the artists on the stage let way to an orchestra of brass and chords instruments, the whole space that was the dancefloor never got empty. Neither Rarity nor Applejack had reappeared, except to drink a glass of sparkling water. Though they didn’t seem they had found a male partner to dance with them, the two young women made the most of the night as much as they could, and were partying as if the world would end on the next day.
Maybe it was the case. But only a few of the persons around here were aware of that fact.
Leaning his elbows on the bar, by Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer’s side, who weren’t talking to each other at all, Soarin was envious of all those who had the chance to dance their night away. He really wished he could do the same…
And nothing prevented him from doing so, yet he couldn’t make up his mind about going on the dancefloor on his own. Especially as most of the dances were to be done in couple and he would probably get assaulted by the many female costumers if he dared going there unaccompanied.
Besides, he still hoped for Rainbow Dash to invite him. She said when she arrived she would only have one drink before having fun as well but she was there for at least one hour now and hadn’t changed her position.
Soarin couldn’t help thinking about their ultimate ball at the Academy, barely a few days before the Uncivilized War began. Rainbow Dash wore the exact same dress, except the fact that it was sure the outfit had no sleeves back then. In his eyes, she was the prettiest girl of the ball and they didn’t waste much time talking or drinking punch. They danced, and danced until the break of dawn, never exhausted.
He could never forget the way she used to tell him he was too serious, that he needed to relax and to stop taking everything at face value. Now the roles seemed to have reversed.
So, what was he waiting for? He was the man of the relationship, after all, and too bad if this was a very old-fashioned point of view.It was another one of his flaws, this tendency to let the others do the first steps. Yet, he was the first to come to her, in the beginning, and after some time, he got too much used to her daring and forward character.
A lot of things had changed since then, and maybe he had to see this as their new beginning. Which meant he had to take steps in her direction again, though it wasn’t the first one.
“I thought I was the one who was too serious… What the hell are you still doing at the bar?”
Rainbow Dash looked up curiously, before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face, the type of smile he thought he would never see again. She put down the glass in her hand, and without a look back, grabbed his own hand strengthfully, in order to drag him to the dancefloor.
He wished he could have made sure before they left the bar that Sunset Shimmer wouldn’t feel too lonely but as he had a glimpse at a young man approaching her, he stopped thinking about that immediately and only focused on the moment.
All the question he asked himself and which still were pending vanished away like dust in the air. All that matter now was Rainbow Dash and himself, back together like in the old good times. Nothing in the young woman’s attitude was there to remind him of the truth of things. She was the one he had always known once again – audacious, self-confident, playful and sensual, although it wasn’t on purpose. Or better, especially because it wasn’t on purpose.
It probably wouldn’t last, and once the sun would be back, truth would catch them, but as long as it was, Soarin intended to make the most of it. Finally, he could wrap his arms around her waist, knowing she was so close, without her stepping back or their complicity to be interfered with other factors.
It didn’t take long before the past reflexes came back, and quickly, they were behaving as if these seven years had never been real.
Which, much naturally, soon led them to leave the cabaret in order to get a bit of intimacy. To be honest, when Soarin leaned over, he never would have thought she would be the first one to kiss him but he was happy to notice she still had her personal way to make the first move.
All along the journey which led them to Soarin’s room, between two burst of laughter and kisses, they had to grope around in order to find their way back without bumping into a wall or worse, into costumers who always stared at them embarrassingly.
It didn’t matter neither. As long as Soarin was concerned, anyway, the only thing that mattered was that she was with him, not rejecting him and that pains of the past didn’t keep her at a distance anymore.
He was convinced that from now on, everything would be easier. Together, they had proved more than once they were able to achieve great things and that their complementarity worked on every level, and especially when it came to military strategies.
Though the negotiations with Las Pegasus’ Leader gave no result, though the negotiations to come would probably be even harder, though the mission was very dangerous and no one could tell what would be the finale conclusion of it all, he knew, deep inside, that he would have no regrets.
She was his sky, his nights, his sunny mornings. For her, he could give the little he still had and the rest of the world, even if it didn’t belong to him.
When they finally arrived in his room, not even trying to turn on the lights, and never leaving each other’s lips, they fell down on the floor, still laughing out loud the way they hadn’t laughed in ages and decided it wasn’t worth it to go to the bed which stood a bit farther.
Everything was a matter of course. Although the room was pitch black, it felt as if the sun was up in the sky, bathing them in its soft warmth…
Yet, Soarin could suddenly feel Rainbow Dash getting tensed under him, as one of his hand was trying to get its way on her stomach. As abruptly as a thunderbolt, she pushed him back, and in a flash, he saw that her magenta eyes had lost their sparks of happiness.
“I’m sorry. I… I can’t do that. Please, don’t be mad at me! But… I have to leave.”
“Wait, Dashie…”
But he couldn’t even try to know some more that she had already left the room and he could hear her running steps through the empty corridors.
Was it because of her lost baby? Maybe he shouldn’t have ventured around this part of her body. Yet… Yet, something told him there was another reason. An unaccountable reason, that he couldn’t understand, and that probably no one could understand, except Rainbow Dash herself.
As soon as she was back in her own room, the young woman, out of breath, locked herself up. Only once sure no one would hear her she let everything go and burst into tears.
She got carried away by her desire to get in touch with the person she used to be before the War. To be with Soarin without condition, the way they were back then, had been so pleasant, so comfortable she forgot about all the rest.
And because of this, she probably had broken his heart. But was there another way? The truth, the sad truth, was that she could never be the girl he had always known. She had turned into a monstrosity… A living nightmare. And it was irreversible.
As if the material was now scalding, she took off her dress, and threw it on the floor, as if it were some vulgar piece of rag.
Rainbow Dash looked up to the mirror which was in front of her bed. She couldn’t stand the image it reflected. Not because of her tangled hair, not because of her red eyes and her cheeks wet with tears.
Her back, and her whole left arm down to the base of her wrist was nothing but an awful reddish and whitish sketch, peppered with black, made of wrinkles, craters and burst blisters…. She had tried everything, but all the poultices and all the ointments of the world would never change that. Whatever she would do, the past would always go after her and the sweetness of yesterday would keep on haunting her in order to show her what she lost, in addition of her family, her friends, her baby girl, her personality…
Completely exhausted, she crept to her bed, on which she climbed the best she could, and still half-naked, without the courage to wait for Pinkie Pie’s return, she closed her eyes to sleep, in the fool hope that the past wouldn’t catch her even in her dreams.
But it caught her. As if she was going through it all again. As if it was trying to torture her soul a little more…