//------------------------------// // A Wholesome Love Story // Story: Strings of the Narrative // by Grey Vicar //------------------------------// There is nothing better in this world than to wake up in the arms of the one you love. On this perfect Sunday afternoon, I gently stirred from my sleep as the morning sun’s rays fell on my eyelids. Flash Sentry’s arms were wrapped around my waist, holding me in a loving embrace. How lucky I am, I thought, to have such a sweet boyfriend. Boyfriend… Boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend! My eyes snapped open in panic. The arm around my waist should not have been there! This was my bed, my room! The back of my head met the stranger’s nose with a satisfying crunch. In the moment he released me to cry out in pain, I dove out of the bed and grabbed my bedside lamp, raising it over my head, intent on protecting myself. “Ouch! What the fuck Sunset?” I lowered the lamp, staring in disbelief. On the bed, a bare-chested Flash Sentry tried to stem the flow of blood from his broken nose using a wad of tissue paper. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?” I raised the lamp again, fury seizing my heart. I didn’t give a shit if he was a friend — Tartarus, more of a pleasant acquaintance really — if that creep had dared lay a hand on me while I slept… The thought almost made me vomit, and my heart felt like it was about to burst from disgust. “What do you mean ‘what are you doing in my room’?” Flash Sentry looked almost angry at me for some reason. “You’re the one who invited me to stay over!” “W-what?!” My eyes scanned the room. The bed was messy, covered in popcorn bits. The small television set facing it was playing static, and a few dvd sets of crappy horror movies were lyingabout next to it. Next to the bed, Flash’s unmistakeable jacket bearing a lightning bolt patch on the shoulder was draped over my desk chair’s back. On the seat, his guitar case was open, and the instrument leant against my desk. The crash of the bedside lamp on the floor dragged me back to reality. Through the confused haze invading it, my mind vaguely registered that I had dropped the lamp and it had shattered at my feet, the handcrafted porcelain littering a floor covered in socks. “W… what?” “Sunset, are you alright?” “Get out.” My voice was barely more than a shaky whisper. Too many thoughts and realizations spun in my mind. “Get out right now.” “Sunset—” “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!” “Sunny—” Something snapped inside of me. That was the name my mother used to call me when I was a foal. And no one, no one had a right to call me by that name except her. I grabbed a picture frame and wildly threw it at him. Flash was out of the door before the broken pieces fell to the ground. It took a long moment for me to stop shaking. Some time ago, Twilight — Equestria Twilight — had taught me a breathing technique she used to calm herself down, and I found it useless at that moment. My knees gave way under me as a bout of dizziness overcame my senses, and I crumpled into a shivering pile on the floor. I kept myself in a shaky hug, like it would be enough to stop my racing heart from exploding out of my ribcage. Flash wasn’t a bad person, and there was no way he would lie so blatantly about this. What would he have expected? For me to completely believe that suddenly I was in a relationship with someone I sometimes exchanged pleasantries with? Plus, there was the state of the room: the popcorn laying around, the movies we used to watch when I pretended to love him. His things in the corner—I couldn’t even bear to look at them— just like he used to— Seized by a sudden, frightening thought, I rushed to the calendar hanging on the wall. With all the Equestrian magic the girls and I had dealt with, could it be that… My hand slid on the calendar, my index finger underlining the date. I breathed more easily. Somewhat. Today’s date stared me in the face, just like I remembered it yesterday. There was no weird I-was-thrown-back-in-time-to-when-I-used-to-date-Flash-Sentry shenanigans going on. I slumped on the wall, my breathing finally calming down. The memory of waking up in someone’s arms was still fresh, but I could feel my mind actively walling it down behind a rampart of dissociation. Soon, it would become only a distant memory, like a stain on my mind that was always there, but would never really feel real, like so many other memories before it. My feet dragged on the floor as I approached the bed and redid the covers almost robotically, a hardwired routine taking over my failing mind. I kicked my trashcan down, and some tissues and a lot of candy wrappers fell off. I sifted through it absentmindedly, looking for something and not finding it. Before I knew it, I was in the shower, warm water trickling down my back and hitting the ceramic tub with a muted drip. I vaguely remembered feeling myself, looking for something inside me… A sudden wave of sickness made me stumble out of the shower and over the toilet seat, where I emptied the contents of my almost-empty stomach. Bile burned my throat, my mouths, my lips, and I heaved over the bowl, spitting out the remnants of the acid. Why? Just why? I never was someone for whom relationships and sex mattered that much, but I always did things at my discretion. I was always in control, always. But I knew what usually happened when Flash Sentry slept over before I’d left him, and I know that whatever had happened for him to end up in my bed, I definitely hadn’t been in control. But there hadn’t been any condom in the trash bin, and although I knew I would have probably felt nothing anyway, there hadn’t been any traces of… him inside me. I held my head in my hands, breathing slowly. I quickly washed my hands and mouth under the sink and glanced in the mirror mounted over it. A ragged, miserable Sunset stared back, her hair a mess. “Nothing happened, Sunset. Everything will be—” A loud bang at the bathroom door made me start in surprise, and a raspy voice called out. “Sunset, are you alright in there?” Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia, whatever had happened, the girls would help me get to the bottom of this. “I’m coming, Rainbow!” I put my brave face on and took a quick swig of water, spitting it out to get the taste of bile out of my mouth, before opening the door with a towel draped around me. Rainbow Dash was looking at me with a puzzled expression, her hair messy. She was breathing heavily. Had she run all the way from her house? Before I could question her, she’d put her hands on my shoulders so hard she knocked the wind out of my lungs. “Sunset, what’s wrong? I heard everything from Flash. Did you really throw a lamp at him?” I took a deep breath, holding myself back from shaking. “I know this might be hard to believe, since he’s your friend but you really have to believe me. When I woke up this morning, he— he was holding me and— and...” My words trailed off as a feeling of horror settled in. I’d expected her to be confused, upset, disbelieving… “Dude,” she snorted. “He’s your boyfriend. What’s weird with that?” The world spun around me, and a second wave of nausea hit me in the stomach like a hammer. I ripped myself out of Rainbow’s grasp and would have puked over her too had it not been for my stomach being completely empty by now. “Sunset?” “He’s—” Got the music in our hearts! We're here to blow this thing apart! And together we will never be afraid of the dark! “Argh, stupid thing! Hello?!” I blinked. Rainbow’s phone had rung, and it was like I wasn’t even able to speak anymore. Cold strings had wrapped around my throat, blocking any sound, and before I could get myself to speak again, Rainbow Dash had hung up. “I’m sorry, Sunset,” she said, and the worry in her voice almost made me forget I was upset myself. “Something came up… I— I gotta go.” And before I could stop her, she was out the door, leaving me alone in the quiet of my room. I went back to the bathroom and slammed the door behind me before slumping to the ground. What had happened? What had just happened? I shook my head and patted my cheeks. Come on, Sunset. Time to be strong. You were nervous, anxious, you probably panicked. I dragged myself under the shower and scrubbed myself thoroughly — somehow I managed to feel a bit cleaner afterward — and I was thankful that it was the weekend so I could actually take the time to try and make sense of what had happened. It wasn’t too complicated. Apparently, Flash Sentry was my boyfriend. It was almost funny how openly I accepted it, but I had more than enough reasons to believe that Equestrian magic somehow had something to do with this, and more than enough reasons to believe that my friends and I would—again—be able to make things right. For my problem, however, the solution was pretty easy. I opened my phone and— I opened my phone— I glared at the stupid thing that resolutely stayed off. Fine, batteries must have been empty. I shoved the plug into its stupid hole and waited. Well, if I were to wait, might as well make myself some breakfast. And by “make myself some breakfast”, I meant “shove a few pieces of toast into the toaster and wait with a jar of peanut butter on the counter”. I really had no patience to cook myself anything more complicated than that. And if my belly was going to complain later, it could go fuck itself. I joined my hands together on the counter, softly rubbing my thumbs against each other in a calming motion. The shock of the morning having passed, I found myself able to think much more clearly. My head still buzzed with confusion and anger, of course, but I imagined those would be normal after the rough wake-up I had. The toasts jumped out of the toaster with a tchink and were soon covered in peanut butter. I chewed thoughtfully on them. I needed to talk with the girls, to explain the situation to them. They knew what we’d been up against these last months, surely they would believe me if I told them flatly what had happened. In fact, I was still trying to understand what had happened exactly. Mind control maybe? After the act the Dazzlings had pulled, I would be ready to believe that. But most importantly, I had to warn Princess Twilight that something seriously wrong was happening. My pen glid across the magical journal’s pages. Dear Princess Twilight, I hope you are doing well. Here, things have gotten a little bit complicated. I don’t know what’s going on, but there seems to be some sort of spell at work here. When I woke up, I learned that Flash Sentry and I are apparently in a relationship, but My pen froze over the page. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move my fingers one millimetre. What was happening? Why couldn’t I just write or say that Flash and I weren’t in fact in a relationship? Was it all that was? A strange compulsion that stopped me from breaking up with him? That forced me to stay in a relationship that was entirely artificial? there is something that I can’t write. Or say. Or do anything about, really. As soon as I’d stopped struggling to write out what I truly wanted to write, my hand had unlocked as if by a miracle. Not wanting to question this any further for now, I pressed on. I only ask you to see if something feels off about the human world, and I’ll try my best to fix it. I know you have a lot of problems in Equestria, and I don’t want to bother you too much with what is ultimately a small issue. It wasn’t a small issue. It wasn’t a small issue at all, but last I’d heard, Equestria was caught up in the middle of some very… troubled times. I couldn’t bear to distract Twilight from her duties to fix my probably-magically-induced relationship. Or destroy it, to be more accurate. I slammed the journal shut and slid it into my backpack. Hopefully, she would answer soon. If not, I’d have to improvise. I freshened myself up and got ready to head out. But first, one thing remained to be done. I took my phone and held the power button. … “Really?” I let out with an exasperated sigh. This was not the start of a good day. Phone broke. Alright, I’d spent almost twenty years without even the concept of a phone before I’d arrived in the human world, I didn’t really need it. It just would have been very convenient to be able to simply shoot Flash a text and break up with him, but as luck would have it, I was going to have to do things the hard way. I slipped the broken phone into my bag and headed out the door. If my instincts were right, either Rainbow or Flash had contacted the girls, and they had probably gone out to the Sweet Shoppe for a meeting. I let out an irritated tssk. They had the best of intentions, but I could tell they weren’t completely trusting of me. They too often met just the six of them before bringing me in. I couldn’t blame them, especially with the situation at hand… And my instincts were right. The tinkle of the cafe’s doorbell hadn’t even died out when I spotted them talking around a table in a corner, sipping on half-empty milkshakes. Rainbow was the first one to notice me, and waved at me with an understandably guilty expression. I lazily waved back and joined them around the table, not bothering to hide my discontent at them not-conspiring behind my back. Their talking died down as soon as I came close, but I heard enough that I could easily tell they had been talking about me. “Heyyyy Sunset, how’s it hangin’?” Rainbow tried opening the conversation as clumsily as I’d ever seen her. “Fine,” I said curtly. “Just wondering why I wasn’t invited. Again.” “We tried to invite you,” Applejack said with a huff. “You just weren’t answerin’ your darn phone!” I took the phone out of my bag and handed it to her. “It’s broken. I don’t know why, but it’s broken. Worst part is this morning was probably the time I needed it the most ever since I got that thing.” Applejack quickly gave up on trying to make it function. She already had no patience for electronics, I doubted she’d have any more for broken electronics. Twilight, however, grabbed it excitedly. “Give it here! I’ll try to see if I can make it work again.” She plugged it into her laptop, and it was like we didn’t exist anymore. “Girls.” I pulled a chair and sat down between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the latter of which was positively devouring a pile of pancakes. “Something very strange is going on.” “You mean like you throwing lamps at your boyfriend?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at me, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Stars, how dense was that country bumpkin farmgirl— I took a calming breath. Now wasn’t the time to think awful things about my friends. Applejack wasn’t stupid, but she was simple. At times, her straightforward thought process helped us greatly, but she could be so infuriating. “Well, that’s the thing. Flash—” “Accidentally tickled you and you reacted by trying to defend yourself because you were still half asleep?” Pinkie lifted her head from the pancakes for a moment to shoot out her quick hypothesis. I shook my head. “No, actually—” “Orrrrr,” Pinkie started again to my greatest irritation. “You wanted to throw flowers at him but you grabbed the lamp instead!” “Pinkie…” I was about to tell her to shut up and please let me finish when she stood up and slammed her hands on the table, making the milkshakes rattle and Fluttershy cower in her chair. “Or you saw a super spooky shadow behind him and you wanted to defend him super romantically so you could spend the morning cuddling and stuff!” She patted her eyelashes at me and I felt sick just imagining it. “No, that’s not—” “Or maybe—” “PINKIE PIE FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA CAN YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH?!” My shout echoed painfully inside the Sweet Shoppe. If I still had pony ears, they’d be flat on my head in shame. Pinkie’s shaky, tearful look at me made my heart melt. “Pinkie, I—” “Alright, that’s it!” Before I could defend myself, Applejack had grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me away from the table. I couldn’t do anything but silently follow, feeling the concerned gazes of my friends boring holes in my back. The glass door of the Sweet Shoppe clattered as Applejack slammed it behind us. She pulled me away from sight and leant against the shop’s wall and glared at me. I appreciated she left my back open. “Listen here, sugarcube,” she said, her voice surprisingly soft but still with an edge of firmness. “I know that you’re still kinda new to this whole friendship shtick and all, and you’re clearly upset about something, but ya can’t just go around shouting at people. That… hurts. A lot.” I pictured Pinkie wondering why I was so upset at her and crying, her friends desperately trying to cheer her up, and my heart sunk. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t—” Applejack shook her head. “Don’t apologize to me, Sunset. Apologize to Pinkie. But first, ya gotta tell me what’s upsetting you so much you go around throwing things at your boyfriend and shouting at your friends.” “But that’s the thing! Flash isn’t—” A firetruck’s siren blared right next to us and I just about jumped out of my skin. Applejack started and hit the back of her head against the wall. Her hat fell to the ground and I picked it up for her. “You’re alright, Applejack?” She let out the end of a long string of very colourful expletives and rubbed where she’d hit her head. “Ah’m alright, no blood and all... “ She let out a pained grunt. “Hurt like a kicking horse though, why’d that idiot turn on his sirens? The road is empty!” She was right. Aside from the occasional car lazing away to one place or another, there wasn’t any traffic that would warrant the driver to hit the siren like that. Although from the timing with which it had happened, a terrifying realization dawned on me. “Applejack,” I said, gently taking her arm and leading her away from the wall. “Listen to me very carefully. Fla—” “Miss?” I started at a tug on my sleeve and looked down. A child had suddenly appeared to pull at my jacket, looking up at me with teary eyes. “Did you see my mommy?” That was just about the confirmation I needed. While I stared at him, dazed, Applejack pointed him to a woman on the other side of the street, and he took off giggling. “Well ain’t that just weird stuff after weird stuff?” Applejack readjusted her hat and stared puzzled at the now-reunited mother and child. I tried calming myself as best I could. I tried not letting fear invade my every pore, but there was not much I could do to stave it away when I knew I was right dab in the centre of some weird magical mishap that was wringing away any sense of control away from me. “Applejack. There is something I need to tell you — to tell all of you.” My fists were clenched, my nails digging into my skin. “It’s incredibly important, and I think there is something going on that is stopping me from saying it.” “What, you mean those two things?” She shrugged and chuckled. “Come on, Sunset, you’re just unlucky today, that’s it.” “Rainbow Dash got an urgent call and didn’t let me finish my sentence. My phone suddenly broke out of nowhere. Pinkie Pie kept interrupting me. Now, a random firetruck cut me off, and a random kid appeared just to distract us.” I shook my head. “I’m all for coincidences, but this is a bit much.” Applejack thought for a moment, then nodded with a grave look on her face. “Alright.” “Alright?” “I’ll help you. I know the other girls think this whole Equestrian magic thing is kinda cool and all, but to be honest…” Applejack shivered. “It kinda gives me the hibby-jibbies sometimes, and I have no trouble believing it’s got you under some weird magic curse.” I smiled, although I would find no pleasure in what I had to do. “Perfect. Then all I need you to do is bring Flash to me, and I’ll take care of the rest.”