“You okay?”
Quarter turned and looked towards the sound of the voice. He breathed deep when he saw that it was Crystal Scales who was watching him. The two had been friends for a hefty period of time. Back before The Great Rift War, they’d grown up together, in a way. Quarter had matured a lot in those days and Crystal had grown in a physical sense. Then, after Twilight had turned to another stallion to meet her romantic needs, Quarter had a bit of a falling out with Crystal. Well…to be fair…he had a falling out with everypony. The band nearly split up because of it.
In a lot of ways, The Rift War saved the band’s life. Quarter and the other members were able to find shelter with Crystal, Flurry Heart, and the rest of the small band of survivors. In time, all of them passed, yet the band and Crystal remained. Their lives stretched ever deeper into the sunsets of the future, trying to find some type of internal peace that just wouldn’t manifest. Their essences played games with them, dragging them into metaphysical Tartaruses of existential dread and self-harming psychological warfare. Death was inevitable…until Crystal and Quarter got into a fight and Crystal kicked them out of her castle home.
“You kicked my tail once,” Quarter said, “have you come to do it again?”
Crystal smiled. “You needed a good kicking, Quarter. You weren’t yourself, and it pained me to see one of my oldest friends in that way.”
“You knew of my emotional distress and you threw me out into a forest…into a hell of which I could have known no end. Why, Crystal?”
“Because you needed it, friend,” Crystal said gently as she trotted over to him. “I care about you, Quarter. I love you like my own brother. Sometimes, a little toughness is added in order to shift the balance of ethics in a positive direction.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Quarter said. “You knew how much I missed Twilight…you knew how desperately I loved our princess.”
“Yes, I did, and I still do,” Crystal said. “But, at some point, you’ve got to put Twilight in the past. After all, she’s dead now, and there’s nothing we can do to bring her back. Not even the strongest magic can resurrect somepony.”
“I still say we should’ve tried.”
“We took a vote, Quarter!” Crystal barked. “You were there!”
“I voted in favor of it, so how in the world does that help me?!” Quarter asked as tears stung his eyes.
Crystal saw his hackles rising and decided to back down. “I’m sorry, my dear friend. I know how much you miss her.”
“I can’t live without her, Crystal,” Quarter whispered as his pogon friend offered him a shoulder to weep on. “I…can’t. These last 1,200 years have been torture for me. But, what’s even worse is the knowledge that she chose somepony else. She didn’t even listen to my pleas.”
“Yes, she did,” Crystal said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I knew Twilight better than anypony, even her close friends. I was constantly with her and she-“
Suddenly, Crystal stopped, as if she had some big secret to keep. Needless to say, this intrigued Quarter, who leaned in close. He began reading the pony/dragon hybrid’s eyes, trying desperately to find the last part of the sentence. His mind raced and his heartbeat quickened. Could Crystal possibly have some kind of information that he’d been barred from? He needed to know…no…he HAD to know. Closer and closer he pressed, urgently beckoning his friend to continue with what she had to say.
“…I…no, I can’t,” Crystal finally sputtered.
“Can’t what?”
“Nothing! Forget I ever said anything!”
“Crystal Scales!” Quarter barked, grabbing his friend by the same shoulder that was stained with his tears. “You’ve got to tell me!”
“I don’t have to do anything!”
“Yes, you do!” Quarter said, eyes wild and wide in desperation. “Please! It might bring me some sort of closure! Please!”
“Don’t make me do this, Quarter!” Crystal said. “You won’t like it!”
“I don’t care, Crystal!” Quarter cried. “I wrote songs about Twilight! I loved her from afar for so many years! Please, tell me of my beloved’s true feelings for me!”
“I…er…oh, alright,” Crystal said, ears drooping. “But, I’m warning you, you will not be pleased.”
“Again, I don’t care! I just want to hear her words again. Please…please don’t deprive me of that.”
Crystal sighed and nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell you. Twilight said that…well…that she…”
“Yes, yes, go on.”
“She did love you, Quarter,” Crystal finally confessed. “In fact, she loved you a lot. But she worried about certain factors, so she never said anything.”
“Certain factors?”
“Twilight was so proud of your work with Armored Hoof, spreading friendship and the stories of the princesses throughout the land. She especially loved her album, Quarter. She even told me that it was her favorite out of all of them. But…well…she decided against pursuing a relationship with you.”
Quarter was shocked. “But…why?”
“Oh…Quarter…”
“Tell me, Crystal. I can take it.”
“The fact is, Crystal, she just didn’t see a relationship with you as being advantageous for your mission. As always, Twilight put friendship first. She knew that you had an important job to do, a job that you were sent on by Celestia herself. So, she just felt that any kind of a relationship between the two of you would hinder that objective.”
“Oh,” Quarter said, ears drooping. “But…I mean, there…you can’t be serious, can you?”
“I’m afraid I am,” Crystal responded. “It’s not that she didn’t love you, Quarter. She did. She loved you more than she ever loved that pegasus she was dating. But…again…she put friendship first.”
Quarter’s emotions began rolling around inside of him. He didn’t know what to feel. On the one hoof, he was overjoyed at the revelation that Twilight loved him. He knew that she’d always acted somewhat different around him. But, he never dreamed that she’d actually been in love with him. Yet…at the same time, he felt incredible guilt. For if he’d never accepted the job from Celestia, he’d never have been put on this path. Still, if he hadn’t done so, he wouldn’t have met so many amazing ponies and creatures to make friends with. In short, Quarter didn’t know what to think. His mind whirling, he stumbled over to his cot, lay down, and fell into a troubled sleep.