//------------------------------// // 10: Drenched // Story: Laughter Died // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// I clutched the back of my head with shaky hooves. I was at once tense, curled up, and filled with immense energy, a need to do something, anything. It didn’t make any sense. She was our friend! How could she do this to us? My lips trembling, I finally spoke up. “Why?” I could hardly get the word out, and my voice was hardly more than a croaking whisper. “I had my reasons.” Reasons. She had reasons. For betraying our trust, for making us all worry, for making an already stressful time that much worse. It was all perfectly reasonable. If I could just understand her reasons… “Was it you?” I had to ask, even if I knew she wouldn’t tell me. “Have you been doing this to us?” “Nope.” “Are you working with them?” “Nah.” “Do you know who—” “No, Twilight. I ain’t got anything to tell you.” I got up from my chair abruptly and walked a few paces away from her. “Surely you can understand why this hurts.” “Sure. I wouldn’t have lied if it wasn’t important.” “How am I supposed to believe that?” I looked back at her over my shoulder. My eyes were getting damp.  “Do you really think I’d lie without a good reason to?” “I didn’t think you’d lie at all!” I spun around and held out a hoof in a desperate plea for understanding. “Well, you were wrong.” “How can you be so calm?” I swiped a hoof through the air. I felt like I was going to explode, my body was so filled with tension. So much anxiety without an outlet. I wanted to run, to hit something, to do anything to get the energy out, but I couldn’t. I had to deal with this. “Your element is gone, can’t you see how bad that is?” “Sure, it sucks,” Applejack said, “but I’ve made peace with it. I had to.” “Why? What is so important that you’d give up your element and start lying to us all about it?” “You know I can’t tell you that.” “Augh!” I turned away from her and stomped a hoof on the ground. “You don’t know what you’re messing around with here! Magical artifacts like that are dangerous.” “I’m not messin with anything,” Applejack said. “I wouldn’t mess with this stuff.” “Then who is?” “You’ll find out soon enough.” “Tell me,” I snapped. I twisted and stomped a few steps closer to her. She stared me dead in the eyes. “I can’t.” I broke. With a shrill, frustrated scream I shut my eyes and blasted a ray of magic towards Applejack. It took her by surprise and knocked her out of her chair. The strands of magic wrapped around her legs to hold her tight and pulled her up against the wall so she couldn’t move. Tears fell to the floor as I moved closer. “Tell me!” “I. Can’t.” “Augh!” I couldn’t take any more. I stomped out of the room, and only after I slammed the door shut did I let go of my hold on Applejack so she would fall to the floor. As I walked away, not knowing where I was going, the logical part of me screamed to go back, that I couldn’t let her keep doing whatever she wanted, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Just one more failure to throw on the pile. Starlight, Twilight, now Rainbow Dash and Applejack. It was all falling apart. I’d completely failed at what I’d come back to do. What now? I could try and stop it from going any further, but what hope did I have in doing that? Whoever was doing this was outsmarting me at every turn. They were taunting me by giving me the book. I was entirely outmatched. Just as the thought of giving up crossed my mind, I heard the sound of pages rustling. I snapped my head that way, but all that was left was the sound of hooves racing away and a single sheet of paper floating gently to the ground. I went and picked it up; A page from the book. That was them. I ran after them. There wouldn’t be another chance like this. I locked my hearing onto the sound of their hooves, listened carefully as they twisted and turned through hallways and followed their every move. I knew the layout of this castle perfectly; this wasn’t like the caves, or the castle. There was no chance I’d get lost in here. Their steps grew louder as I closed in. Rooms flew by. Rain pounded outside. Our hoofsteps grew together into a frantic cacophony, one chasing, one being chased, one predator, one prey. Was I the predator here? Or was I a foolish prey, sprinting straight into the maws of my demise? It didn’t matter. I had to keep going either way. I pushed myself to run even faster. They heard me catching up and did the same, but I was still catching up fast. It was only a matter of time until— A door swung open somewhere, and a moment later the steps stopped. I turned into the hallway I’d last heard them in and glanced around. Doors on either side shut neatly, leading to bedrooms or closets or offices. There was nothing special about this part of the castle. One of the doors was open, though. I sprinted towards it and went inside. It was one of the spare bedrooms, kept neat and tidy and decorated neutrally. The lamp on the end table was switched off, and the covers on the bed were undisturbed.  The curtains, though, were billowing into the room wildly, and heavy drops of rain were splattering on the floor and quickly forming a puddle. I walked over to the open window and looked outside, ignoring the cold rain that started to land on my legs. It was terribly dark out; Night must have fallen behind the clouds. Off in the distance Ponyville shimmered like a mirage, streetlights and houselights reflecting off of slick, muddy roads. The sky was lit up every few seconds by a new burst of lightning somewhere off in the distance, but the sound of the thunder was almost entirely covered by the pelleting the castle was taking from the rain. There was nothing to be seen. I watched for a long time, staring at a new section of grass every time lightning gave me a second of sight, but I saw no movement. I strained my eyes, looking for hoofprints, but the ground was too far away to make anything out. It was no use. They’d gotten away again. I shut the window too hard, making a dull thunk echo through the room, and walked back into the hall. A trail of water followed me, left by my dripping legs. Now what? I decided I should try and find the others. To see if they’d been affected, and… I hated to suspect my friends, but I had to know, and if I acted fast I might be able to catch whoever was behind this before they had a chance to dry off. I moved trancelike through the halls. I wasn’t going slowly, but I was hardly running. Everything was starting to take its toll on me, and I was exhausted. Something told me I needed to finish this quickly. A tremendous boom suddenly shot through the entire castle. I jumped back, crouched into a defensive position before I realized what had happened. Lightning must have hit the castle; that was the thunder. Somepony had yelped in shock at the scare, though. I made my way towards where I thought I’d heard them. The trail led me to the kitchen. The lights were on, and there were dirty dishes in the sink. Spike sat on a counter, kicking his legs as Rarity worked away on a sandwich. Spike saw me walk in and waved. “Twilight! Did Applejack send you?” “What?” I tilted my head. “Applejack said she’d tell you and Rainbow Dash where to find us.” “Applejack was lying, darling,” Rarity said without looking up. She sounded nonchalant, almost… Bored. “What?” Spike looked shocked. “Applejack doesn’t lie!” “Mm,” was Rarity’s only response. I frowned. This didn’t seem promising. Trying to be as patient as I could, I moved over to the little table Rarity was seated at and sat across from her. “Rarity…” I sighed. “Have you lost your element?” Rarity set her food down on a plate and looked up into my eyes. “Yes, I have. I assume you have spoken to Applejack, then?” I nodded. “Rainbow Dash, too.” She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “What a dreadful state we’re in.” “Are you… Okay?” I asked her. “No, I am not okay,” she said pointedly. “It feels like somepony’s gone into my chest and mussed up the place. There is no ‘okay’ after that.” “I’m sorry,” I told her. “I don’t need apologies.” I let out a tiny whine. “Alright, well… I’m gonna do everything I can to make you feel better. First, though, do you know—” “Library.” I blinked. “O-Oh. Okay. And, um… Did you see who did this?” She scoffed. “If I’d seen that, I’d have tracked you down.” “Alright.” I nodded. “Well, thank you anyway, and um… I’ll be back, okay?” “Mm.” I got up quietly and looked at Spike. “Look after her, alright?” He nodded. “Yeah, of course.” “I don’t need it,” Rarity grumbled as she lifted her sandwich back up and went back to work. “Spike shouldn’t waste his time on me.” “Well, too bad,” Spike said, “cuz I’m not leaving.” Rarity nodded. “I thought as much.” Without anything more to say, I quietly turned and made my way in the direction of the library. Towards my final stop. It was time for this to end.