All I’d wanted to know was what Pipp’s “sudden emergency” was about when she’d called in last Tuesday.
I had expected something bad when Hitch came by looking for Sparky, but not some ancient, evil alicorn plotting to take over Equestria! Even if Pipp was stretching the truth a little, Opaline sounded freaking terrifying! I was just glad everypony had come back safe and sound.
And one of them had even gotten her cutie mark.
“It feels weird being back here so soon,” Misty remarked as she looked around Mane Melody.
After how heavily that night had ended, yeah, it kind of was. Like finding yourself trotting back home next to somepony you just said goodbye to for the evening. It was much better than her not being here, though. I was glad she’d stuck around after everypony else had left to put Sparky to bed. It was thankfully a slow day like every Thursday was, so we could just hang out. It would’ve been nicer if Pipp had left too so I’d have Misty all to myself, but it was her salon after all.
“Honestly, Misty?” I said, looking back to her. “I’m just glad you're okay after all of that.”
“You mean you’re not mad either?” She looked absolutely floored. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Why would I be? It was like Zipp said, you did the right thing in the end, right Pipp?”
“Totally,” the pegasus agreed. She fluttered back to the stage to start cleaning up donut remains from Izzy’s creative addition to the retelling of the tale. “And besides being total besties, we just love having you around Mane Melody! You really know how to make somepony feel appreciated.”
“But I did so many bad things! I tried so many times to take the lantern and Sparky, and did a whole bunch of bad things around town. I lied to everypony, about everything, all the time.” She turned to me, her eyes glistening with regret. “I-I lied to you!”
Putting my work down, I strode up to Misty and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Listen, Misty. We both know you did bad things. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t matter because we forgive you. We both do.”
“We all do, Misty! The way I see it, it was all that nasty Opaline’s fault, anyway,” the pegasus dismissed with a wave of her hoof. “Seriously, Jazz, that evil lair of hers was like something out of a movie. Total villain vibe. Only thing missing was organ music to seal the deal. Wasn’t a total loss though. It did give me a few new spooktacular ideas for next Nightmare Night.”
I suppressed a shudder and put on a brave face. “Then I’m very glad that you were the ones on the adventure. I would’ve been completely useless in a creepy castle against a super powerful fire alicorn.” I turned back to Misty, my smile returning just seeing her face. “It’d probably be hard to say no to somepony like that. You shouldn’t blame yourself for doing what you needed to survive.”
“But it wasn’t like that,” Misty pressed as she quivered under the pressure. “I was the one that wanted a cutie mark. I was the one that wanted to have magic like everypony else. I-I just wanted Opaline to…”
“Wanted her to what?”
Misty’s mouth worked uselessly as it fought to put her thoughts into words. “Opaline was… she was all I’ve ever had, so…”
“Oh, Misty.”
“I know she’s evil and everything, but just once, just once, I wanted her to…”
I gently shushed her before she forced herself to speak anymore. Her outpouring of grief rattled my heart more than I could take. All I could do was reach my hooves out and pull her into a deep hug.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Anypony would want those things, and she was the only one you had for the longest time. I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s not your fault.”
Misty gripped my fur and cried. More than that, she wept. All of the ugliness, all of the pain, she poured it on my shoulder as I held her close. Her guttural sobs wracked her body, choking and heaving out the untold gallons of poison that had settled at the bottom of her heart.
“It was hard,” she wheezed between gasping breaths. “It was so hard. She was always so mean. No matter what I did. I just thought if… if I did something right, maybe she’d change.” She shook her head and squeezed tighter. “But I was never good enough. Never!”
“No, Misty. You always were. You’re better than her. So much better.”
As Misty poured herself out on my shoulder, Pipp wilted. I could tell she wanted to say something, but she just kept looking between me and Misty, unsure of what exactly. Finally, she darted to the front door and locked it, quietly switching the sign to closed before dropping off a tissue box. She mouthed “I’ll be in the back” before making herself scarce. I’d never been so grateful to have Pipp as a friend.
“The worst was when I failed. She always got so angry.” Misty sniffled and took a few more mouthy breaths to calm down. “And, when I finally got her the dragon fire, when I thought I did something right, she said it wasn’t enough. And then she saw the hooficure. And she got so mad… and so s-she scraped…”
“Please, Misty. It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about her anymore.” I could feel my throat tightening and my voice growing more hoarse by the moment.
“I’m sorry, Jazz!” Her sorrow cracked through, renewing her tears as she sank back into despair.
“No, Misty, no.” I stroked her beautiful mane, still tied up in the ponytail I’d given her. “You’re worth so much more than some silly hoof polish.”
My eyes stung with hot tears of my own, but for an entirely different reason. Right now, I needed to be here for Misty and was doing my best to hold it in, but I was furious. Livid. Enraged. I didn’t care how powerful this immortal evil was. If I ever met Opaline, I was going to give her face a makeover she wouldn’t forget. All I could do now, though, was hold onto Misty and shower her with as much love as I could. She deserved so much more than she’d ever received.
“You’re a good pony, Misty,” I assured her, softly in her ear. “You may not feel like it, but I know you are. You’re so kind and sensitive and beautiful. Just seeing you makes my day brighter.” I love you so much, I can’t stand it. “I’m… just so glad you’re safe and sound.”
Misty was wracked with another bout of cries as more sludge worked its way up. I held on. Holding was all I could do. I wanted to tell her more, so much more, but I couldn’t. Opaline might’ve been scary, but telling Misty how I felt was downright terrifying. I wanted to hold her until the tears stopped. And when they did, I wanted to keep holding her. I never wanted her to leave my side again. If she was here, then I wouldn’t worry if she was cared for or loved like she should be.
“You don’t know how brave you are, Misty,” I whispered and wiped an errant tear from my eye. “You’re so much more than me. More than I could ever be.”
Hopefully someday, if I keep you in my hooves for long enough, some of your bravery will rub off on me. Then maybe, just maybe, I can be courageous like you and finally tell you just how much I love you, Misty.