//------------------------------// // 8. One More River to Cross // Story: The Good Fight // by CoyoteXray //------------------------------// “Miss Lullamoon, would you please not antagonize her any further,” Rarity pleaded from the crouched position to Photo’s right. “May I remind you that I’m working with a needle here? If she gets any more amped up, I’m going to end up stabbing her.” She paused in her work and changed her position slightly, giving her best dirty look to the young lady in the magician’s costume. But one glance told her that Trixie wasn’t at all impressed as she gave a snort and glared back. “That is not Trixie’s problem,” she continued, “the fact remains that our friend couldn’t possibly have done this without a reason. You…you just don’t understand what all this means….” Photo rolled her eyes, and tried to stay calm. She could only thank God that most of the interrogation had been carried out at the emergency room. But all the paperwork, and all the photographs, and then in the end having to explain it all to her father…it all required a patience she only barely managed. She tried to straighten up, but her bruised ribs protested. It seemed like nothing she tried could bring her real comfort. She felt helpless, straddling her chair while Rarity made repairs to her dress, with only her friend’s coat to conceal her; stuck until her father returned since she couldn’t drive with her concussion. And now listening to the girl behind her drone on about a subject she so wished to be done with was just insult added to injury. She groaned, took as deep a breath as she dared, and once again moved her hand over her right pocket, and the pill bottle within. Where was some water when she really needed it? Suddenly the voice in the background went silent, and then asked, “What are you doing here?” Photo turned her head, and spotted Pip approaching, with his camera bag hanging from one shoulder and two bottles of water in his right hand, one of which he promptly handed to her. “Ahhhh,” she said with a smile as she took hold of the bottle, “my hero returnz at last.” She then quickly reached into her pocket, and retrieved the pill bottle, popped off the cap, shook out a single rather large pill and proceeded to quickly washed it down. “Uh, dear girl, I…hope you’re not holding out for miracles,” Pip said crossing his arms as he watched her, “Speaking from experience, most likely those pills will at best help take the edge off…if you’re lucky.” “Oh please,” Trixie answered with a snarky note, “What would someone like you know about something like that?” Pip scowled, set his bag down, turned to Trixie, and replied, “A little something picked up by way of boxing actually, not that you really need to know.” “Really?” Rarity queried, obviously intrigued, “were you any good?” The young gentleman was obviously surprised by the question, and was suddenly tongue tied. He looked over to Photo, who gestured towards Trixie, before finally answering, “Well yes…I was…fairly decent at it…at least till the others in my class got bigger, with a bit more reach…and I didn’t.” There was a pregnant pause, before Photo said, “I am very zorry to hear zhat.” “Oh…it’s quite alright actually,” he replied with a smile, “Actually I’m glad I quit. It eventually got to a point where my coach used to joke that I must have a glass nose.” Almost automatically, he paused for a minute to give his nose a dab with a handkerchief from his pocket. He carefully checked the handkerchief, then looked back to his audience, and added, “Uh...anyway...it cost my mum a mint to get the blasted thing straightened out.” “Oh that is so inspiring,” Trixie snarled, her mocking tone plainly evident, “but that is not my point! What about me!?! We want to know what will happen now that you’ve taken away our friend! He was very nice and sweet to Trixie!” She paused, and sighed sadly. “Hey Lulamoon!” came a voice from the right as everyone turned and saw Violet, accompanied by Pixel, Applejack, and her boyfriend, approaching out of the crowd, “What exactly is your major malfunction anyway?” “Yeah,” Pixel added, “and what’s the deal with that ‘we’ crap? I personally don’t think that you’re qualified to speak on behalf of that rabbit in your hat, you flake!” Trixie grunted and adjusted her top hat before replying, “Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie wasn’t talking to you. She has a legitimate complaint with your friend here, and she will get to make it! “Girl, I think I’ve heard plenty. Now let me tell give you the lowdown here,” said Applejack, stepping forward to face the other girl, “Your ‘sweet friend’ just tried to beat the tar out of these girls, and there aint no excuse for that; that’s the bottom line. And if you had the sense that God gave geese, you’d realize that you’re not going to get any sympathy for that jackass from anyone here with your little pity party. So why don’t you just skedaddle, fore you end up looking even worse than you do already.” Trixie took one step back from her adversary, and answered, “We…” she paused, “I mean I…don’t have to take that from you…you…you…hick!” Applejack let out a snarl at this, and growled back, “Alright…that tears it!” And she lunged at the other girl, who let out a shriek and dodged right before running off as fast as she could in heels, pursued by the farm girl, who shouted, “You come on back here you nasty little varmint!” The pair proceeded to push their way through the crowd, while Pixel and Violet took off in pursuit. This left only Applejack’s date, who watched the whole show without moving. “Silver Charm…,” Rarity called out to the young man, “Aren’t you going after her?” The young man dressed like an oil field worker thought about it for a second, then turned to Rarity and smiled. “I suppose I should. Usually not a good idea to get in A.J.’s way when she’s pissed, but…I think we’ve had enough drama for one night.” He gave a shallow bow, and a tip of his helmet, and said simply “ladies…” before setting off in an obviously casual pursuit. Rarity turned back again towards her friend, and was surprised to see Photo still looking off in the distance. Rarity smiled and tapped her friend on the shoulder and said, “Penny for your thoughts.” Pip heard this and quickly went into his back pocket, and pulled out an obviously foreign looking coin and added, “I’ll even throw in twenty pence?” and handed it to his surprised friend. Photo looked at the coin in her hand and smiled. “It may seem rather schtrange to hear zhis, but…I can’t help but vonder if I should feel a bit zorry…even for that insipid perzon….” She paused and took a breath before continuing, “….and I zertainly don’t vant to zee her get beat up.” She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to Rarity and asked, “Vell my friend, will my poor drezz survive the night.” “Oh darling,” Rarity said with a smile, “I assure you that this particular work of art will indeed survive…in spite of some strained fabric.” She packed up the sewing kit she had been using and added, “ …but only if you bring it into the shop on Monday and let Miss Pommel do her magic. And I think that she will consider it an honor. It is truly exquisite. Is it from back home?” “Ah…vell, yes actually,” Photo answered, “It was made for me vhen I visited grandmamma last zummer.” She paused and looked over to Pip, who seemed to be barely hanging on. “Oh…but look Rarity…it appears ve are lozing our audience. My apologies my dear boy…it is just gurl talk, as it vere.” Pip said, “Oh that’s quite alright.” He took a deep yawn and smiled. “Well...custom made indeed,” he continued, “I would hope for nothing less for my favorite ballerina” and he raised his water bottle in a toast before taking a sip. “YOU WERE A BALLERINA!?!” came the voice of Pinkie Pie, who suddenly appeared from the crowd, her sudden outburst causing Pip to choke a bit in his water. “THAT IS SO COOL!! What was it like? Was it hard on your toes? Did you ever wipeout? Did you ever do that “Swan Lake” thing? How tough is it to pirouette?...” she blurted out before Rarity grabbed onto her and hand gagged her. Pinkie then turned her head and asked through Rarity's hand, “Urr…amm eye tooking too muff?” Photo let lose an exhausted sigh and asked, “Vhat is going on, you echtremely zilly girl?” “Oh…right,” Pinkie answered as Rarity let go, “I just wanted to bring you something to replace your glasses…since I was the one who broke them…after they fell out of your pocket…and I stepped on them…wow, twenty minutes after you guys left.” She then went behind Photo and produced something from her pocket, which she immediately installed. When she stepped away, the group was taken back as Photo now wore a black eyepatch over her injured left eye. “See guys,” Pinkie announced as she stepped to the side, “instant pirate costume!” Photo looked around quickly, trying to judge everyone’s reaction. Then she gestured to Rarity with her hands. It didn’t take her friend more than a second to understand what she needed, and she quickly retrieved a compact, and handed it to Photo. Photo opened it quickly, and carefully studied her face. Then she lowered it to the tabletop, her look of disappointment plain in her expression. “Uhmm…too much?” Pinkie asked, her concern plainly evident, and then suddenly shouted, “Oh wow, I’ve got another idea. This one’s going to be great!” and then bounded away. Photo didn’t respond immediately, but her expression made her feelings plain. In the background though, something caught her eye, and she stood up for a better look. It was her father, standing back towards the back of the room, signaling her. She quickly turned to her audience, and announced, “Vell my friends, it iz time to depart.” She moved to go, but Rarity caught her hand and pulled her close and gestured to Pip and said to her, “Darling, you’re blowing this…” Photo seized up for a second, looking totally lost. She looked to her friends, but couldn’t say a word. She just took a step back, and then quickly departed, heading for the stage. She moved through the crowd quickly, not looking back once. She got up on stage, came up behind the d.j. and worked her way in to retrieve her purse and camera bag. She then quickly moved back to the stairs and down to the gym floor, hoping for a quick exit, until she heard the music suddenly quit and a familiar voice come over the loudspeaker. “Hey everybody!” came the voice of Pinkie Pie, “How’s it going out there! Listen up…I know that we don’t have any royalty at THIS dance, but I just wanted everyone here to give a well-deserved round of applause to one of our friends! As most of you know, she’s had a really rough night after having to save one of my best friends from a real first class jerk! So everybody…lets here it for our Honorary Queen of the Morp….Photo Finish!!” In an instant, a spotlight on the stage caught Photo in its light, and a round of somewhat tepid applause came from the crowd. What the crowd saw was Photo standing there, her expression one of obvious shock, followed by red faced embarrassment. And it only got worse as the Vinyl added music, a song that Photo recognized instantly, ‘Deutschlandlied’. Her head went forward, and her hands went over her face. Watching from a short distance, Pip and Rarity could only stand back and watch in disbelief. “Oh dammit all,” Pip said to Rarity, “She’s going to lose it.” ‘Oh, not really darling,” Rarity answered glumly, “But I’m sure that the poor girl just wants to crawl into a hole and die right about now.” Photo just stood there as the song played through, afraid to even look up and see what was happening, when she heard a familiar voice and felt someone’s hands on her shoulders. She didn’t catch the words that were said, but when she looked up, she was not surprised to be face to face with Twilight Sparkle, who asked “Are you alright?” Photo looked about quickly, and was happy to see that the song had ended and the spotlight had moved off of her. She closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath, and answered, “Of course.” “Oh,” Twilight answered skeptically, “uh…well, glad to hear that. You had me worried there for a second…you know. You kind of had that ‘deer in the headlights’ look…and then it looked like you wanted to crawl under a rock…or something.” “Oh…vell, it is nothing really,” Photo answered, ‘it has just been a hard night…and I am just not feeling particularly vell…and zhat gurl plazes ze wrong zong… and thiz patch zhing makes me look like my faze should be on a blazted vanted poster…and now everyone getz to ZEE IT!!” She closed her eyes tightly, and her teeth clenched. “Oh,” Twilight replied, clearly distressed, “I’m so sorry…I’m sorry I got you into all this.” Photo looked up and met Twilight’s gaze, and shook her head. She reached out and grabbed hold of both of Twilight’s hands. Then she closed her eyes, and took a moment to clear her throat before she said, “No Tvilight…zhat is not necessary….in fact zhere iz no need vhatsoever; It vas my choice to intervene, and it vas entirely worth it. You of all people zhould never have to put up vith anyone treating you like zhat. No…no regrets vhatsoever!” Twilight listened, and smiled. Then she let go of Photo’s hands, and went to reach for her, till her stiff skirt got in the way. She then took a step back, and held out her hand. Photo reached out to her cautiously, and Twilight took the outstretched hand, brought it up to her lips, and kissed it lightly, and said “Thank you very much.” Photo smiled at this, then gave a slight bow and answered, “Gern geschenen my friend.” The pair just stood there for a moment, till Twilight caught sight of Sunset, who had been signaling her from the side. She let go of Photo’s hand and said, ”Oh...uh…I’ve got to go. I’ll see you Monday…o.k.?” She stepped back and gave Photo a wave, which was promptly returned, and then turned and went back to Sunset. Both then turned to leave, but Twilight did look back and waved again as she disappeared into the crowd. Photo lingered there for a moment. As Twilight faded from view, Photo relaxed a bit, or at least she tried. It lasted only a moment, until she heard Rarity, Pip, and her father come up behind her. “Kitten, are you alright?” her father asked. “Of course,” she answered, but thought twice when she saw her father’s raised eyebrow, adding “it waz…just a bad moment.” “Are you sure of that?,” Pip replied, “It appeared to me that possibly the patch may have brought…oh...I don’t know…the ‘n’ word to mind.” Rarity cringed and turned quickly away as Photo just stood there, looking shocked. “Vhat !?!” she asked. All eyes focused on Pip, and he recoiled a bit. But he took a couple of deep breaths and continued, “Oh...uh, well…what I meant to say…is that I hoped that Venture’s childish name calling hadn’t affected you…because though Pinkie made you a pirate…I was concerned that your dress and the patch might have brought to mind…other…villains. And…that would be patently ridiculous of course. For…one’s appearance is almost never truly reflective of one’s character. And I was just going to say… that if that was a concern…that I believe…that you are much more of a Von Staufenburg than a Himler.” Photo could only stare back in disbelief. He was right of course; the color combination and the eye patch brought the Schutzstaffel to mind almost instantly. It was silly, but it happened. She shook her head and smiled at her boy. She had no clue as to where he had learned of that almost lost name from history, but it was exactly what she needed to hear. "Well..." Pip continued, "You did catch the metaphor I trust?" "Oh...uh yez...yez I did," she answered, a big smile on her face. But, she came back to earth instantly when she heard the voice of her father asking in her ear, “Is that what you thought Kitten?” She turned and looked to her father. She knew how protective he could get when she was in one of her moods. That was all she needed to force herself to straighten up and lift her gaze, her hands going behind her back, before answering after she cleared her throat, “No…no of course not. I waz…I mean, it is obvious of course…I am a pirate. You know…yo ho ho…or vhatever.” She then turned to Pip and asked with eyebrow raised and arms crossed, “Zo, is there a problem vith my dress?” Pip's jaw went slack, and his head tilted, totally dumbstruck for a moment. But finally he just shook his head, smiled and said, “Uh, no…not in the least. You look stunning.” “Well, and now that that is established,” Rarity chimed in from the sideline, “…what’s next?” Photo looked quickly to her dad, who nodded towards Pip and urged her on. So she turned to Pip and asked, “Ah, vell…are you hungry…becauze… my papa and I vere going to go to zhat nice little restaurant down the street and have a pizza. I know it iz late…and a little awkvard…but I am schtarving, and it may be our bezt chance for avhile,…since momma is coming home tomorrow. Cause when she zeez me, she will be oopzet…to zay the leazt” Pip only thought about it for a second before smiling broadly and answering, “I’d…uh well…I’d be delighted to!” He then straightened his jacket and took a deep breath, and then reached out towards Photo and said, “So…uh…that being the plan, Fräulein…may I?” This brought a raised eyebrow from Photo, who took his hand and said, “Zhat is a zomevhat archaic term. Keep that in mind.” “Oh…of course,” Pip answered. Photo’s father then came over and took the camera bag from his daughter as the pair started walking in the general direction of the door, pausing only for a moment to look to Rarity and say, “Ughh…finally.” This caused Rarity to shake her head and chuckle, as she moved to the side as the party of three passed her and worked their way out of the building and off into the night.