//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: Standing up to Fashion // Story: The Recluse // by Live Light //------------------------------// For dramatic reasons, we'd like you to listen to this 'okay' soundtrack from a film we love to hate. It's kinda fitting, I think. Listen. I mean... if you want to... ________________________________________________________________ The hooded Fluttershy and the de-hooded Lone Light looked at each other. Fluttershy's look would be one of surprise if it could be seen. Light's expression was a cross between a look that said 'I speculated this might happen so I am not bothered,' and another look that said, 'Well, this was a perfect(!) idea, wasn't it. Ugh.' "..." "..." "..." "...?" "......" "...!" "...?" "........." "So..." Light began. "How have you been?" Fluttershy, probably dimming her eyes at his pointless comment, proceeded to drag him out of the building. He didn't really move a muscle, despite being dragged, so he wasn't willingly coming along, but wasn't resisting either. After they left the building, Fluttershy dragged him to a house that was a bit further from the building Photo Finish was occupied with, but not too far, so as not to get tired with dragging. She let him go, and spoke to him, keeping her hood down in case some fashion pony remembered her. "What are you doing out here?" Fluttershy demanded. "Taking a stroll. Keeping healthy." Light replied, before pulling his hood back up, and concealing his face again. "You don't seem like the sort to be taking a walk for no reason. Is there something interesting about Photo Finish's appearance? And where did you even hear about it?" She asked. "Snips and Snails gave me a pamphlet. Well, they called it a flyer, and I guess that's an okay name for it, but it sounds like it flies. Pamphlets don't fly, birds and pegasi do. Plus, 'pamphlets' is kinda fun to say. Pamphlets. Pamphlets. Pamphlets. See where I'm getting at?" "And you went there, 'just' because you were given a pamphlet?" Light shrugged. "Made a good point of interest for me to take a look at in my walk." "Why were you taking a walk anyway?" Fluttershy asked. "I dunno. Keeping healthy, I guess. Why were you there?" "I was out shopping!" "I know that. I meant, why were you in the building?" "I wanted to see why Photo Finish was coming back here..." "Alright then." "No. It's not alright. You went out for a walk, despite being sick! You never took walks before I found you unless you were shopping! Why would you be out here?" Fluttershy demanded. "Doesn't matter much, does it. Maybe I felt I wasn't living life to the fullest." "Last night, you were partying, kissing changelings, running from changelings, getting poisoned, hospitalized, and kissed. AGAIN. By a pony!" "Oh, sure. Because I was the one being kissed, against my will, it's my fault. Wow. Great." Light retorted. "Well, what's your side of the story?" Fluttershy asked unsympathetically. "Well, let's see. It was Pinkie's idea to go to the party, which you attended with me, I got dragged by evil-Pinkie, and poisoned, probably because it thought I was interested in that way with Pinkie, then that weird Sci-Fi Smith came over and helped me because we were pen pals, and when Real-Pinkie came over and kissed me, do you really think I was expecting that? I didn't want to do that!" "Well, you did a real good job resisting!" "I was confused! When have you ever been the object of two pony's interests? I -used- to be interested in Pinkie, but that was before I met... the other one." "WHAT OTHER ONE!?" Fluttershy yelled. Light flinched. His hood covered the slight fear in his eyes. Fluttershy quickly put a hoof to her mouth, noticing how loud she was, looked around, then took a moment to breathe. "What do you mean, the other one?" She asked, calmer now. "She was my marefriend before I was a hermit. I don't like to think about her." He replied. "Well, Light, now's the best time. Now. What's her name?" "Leemekallabelo Hannunakakamendahindrashim." "Charming. Just tell me her name." "No." "Tell me. Please." Light's head looked down for a moment. "...Her name... was Bright Flare." He said, finally. "How did you two meet?" Fluttershy asked. "Well... I was in a party that Pinkie thought up... Greg was invited... so he brought his sister, Bright Flare along. I talked with Bright a bit, and we started to walk to places we liked, and chatted some more... we soon started dating, and... we were happy." "What was she like? "She was adventurous, wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and sometimes a little bit arrogant. But she could be nice to others, sure." "Hm. Sounds like the perfect marefriend. What happened that got you two seperated?" "Not important." Light attempted to conclude. "Light... I need to know... please." Light cringed at the memory... "It was during Discord's return... we were on vacation at the time, in Fillydelphia, despite how much I didn't want to go there. After we'd gone grey-scaled and corrupted, we started arguing over little things... and the big things were obviously gonna be worse. We even had a big physical fight, once... eventually, it got to the point where she locked herself in her room... then, Discord was stopped. We were happy things were back to normal, but I could tell there was still something slightly off about her... we got back to Ponyville. And... she said that it wasn't working... that she didn't feel what she did before... So she said we should have some time apart... then most of the family left to go to Manehattan. Only Green Flare, A.K.A Greg, stayed." Light turned around, to look away from Fluttershy. "...After that... I didn't want anything to do with anypony, so I bought a house, and decided to stay in it, and make no contact with others... I wanted to be alone." Fluttershy looked rather guilty, even with her face concealed behind the hood. Although the story itself was probably not what got her saddened... it was the fact that she'd realized she'd brought up a painful subject, just because she wanted to know who 'the other one' was. "I-I'm sorry..." Fluttershy said... Light didn't answer. The two stood there for a while. "..." "..." "..." "..." "...Let's just... go home..." Light said. Fluttershy just nodded, and started trotting over to a path, with Light following. "Light... if it's alright with you... why did you really go outside?" Fluttershy asked along the way. "...I saw the pamphlet. And I was reminded of your story when Photo Finish had you as a model... I didn't want that to happen to you again... you said how you hated it... I... I still care about you..." Fluttershy stopped in her tracks for a moment... Is he serious? She thought. Maybe I overreacted at the hospital... oh... I should just find out when we get home... They followed the path leading to the cottage. In front of them was a rather large crowd, some of them fashion fans who came for the Photo Finish event. Fluttershy went forward, trying to walk past the crowd. Light followed, still. The crowd was increasingly difficult to walk through, the two sometimes collided with other ponies. Some parts were painful, uncomfortable, and some were so narrow it was hard to get through. They eventually made it through, breathing heavily after getting through that ordeal. The sounds of hooves meeting the ground stopped, as did the chatter of the crowd. The two looked back there, and found that the fashionistas were at the front of the crowd, looking at Fluttershy. Light looked to Fluttershy... her hood was down. Must have been the crowd. And those fashion fans seem to recognize her... Uh oh. The crowd began to part, and the pair saw as the two Earth ponies carrying the platform, which in turn, was carrying Photo Finish, was walking closer to them. The Earth ponies were now at the front of the crowd, a short distance away from the pair, close enough. They sat down, and Photo Finish jumped off of the lowered platform. She walked in front of Fluttershy, then started walking around her in circles as if examining her. She stopped when she was, again, in front of her, and put a hoof to her chin. "I'm pretty sure I've seen yoo before... do I... know yoo?" She spoke. Oh, vhat a familiar ack-zent, Light thought. "U-u-um... n-no..." Fluttershy responded. "Hmm... okay. Anyvay! I hev a propozition for yoo..." She began, Fluttershy's reflection visible in her oversized sunglasses. "Vould yoo like to become ze primary model for mein company?" It's like square one again... Photo Finish apparently doesn't remember Fluttershy, but she still sees beauty in her. She's basically repeating what happened before... fortunately, Rarity doesn't need her to do this anymore. "U-um... n-no th-thank you...." Fluttershy responded. "But don't yoo vant to become a star? Like ze sort from Outer space, vhere no-vone can heer yoo scream?" She insisted. "N-n-not really..." Fluttershy replied... "Ov course yoo do! Nopony says no to zis opportoonity until zey are convinced by Photo Finish!" "W-w-well... I don't w-wanna be c-convinced... i-if th-that's o-okay with you..." "It izn't okay, you hev true beauty, ze sort zat only exists in ze fiction! Ze sort zat should be documented! Von't you let me document yoor beauty, mein freunde?" ... Can't take it anymore. Light reached into his coat pocket, and threw a bouncy looking ball at the ground. The bouncing caught the attention of everypony. Then, he took his hooded cloak off, and revealed himself, in his party pony uniform. Everypony looked in his direction, as he stood, averagely. Then the bouncing ball hit him in the head, and proceeded to bounce elsewhere. "Ow..." He said, rubbing his head. Everypony, including Fluttershy, looked surprisedly at him. "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." Gotta love these awkward silences... "...Hai. I'm Live Light, the Party Pony from yesterday who's a friend, emphasis on the word FRIEND, of Pinkie Pie. And I'm also dying, but I choose to ignore this fact!" "..." "..." "..." "Anyway! I'm here to express my distaste at this display here!" "..." "..." "So... I don't like this one bit. Mostly because my friend... bit less emphasis on word friend, is uncomfortable with this prospect." He said, turning to look at Photo Finish. "Now, what YOU'RE doing, is practically trying to force her to work for you. Why should somepony work for a second time with a forgetful employer? That's right, she has worked for you before. But you're not gonna know her name. You just know, that some time ago, she's worked for you. Now, as supplied in the pamphlet here, are the lyrics to your 'Picture Perfect Pony' song. And... they're vaguely threatening." He pulled the pamphlet out of his pocket. "Now, in the first part of the song, you tell them that anything they want, they know you can give it... that's anything in the world of FASHION, correct? You should mention that, because if you were offering that to me, I'd say, 'I want you to leave me alone.' You insist that by working with you, they'll shine above the rest. I mean, look what you did to poor Ditzy there. She seemed happy enough when you were telling her, but now she's noticed how hard it is to see through those entirely golden shades." Right on cue, Ditzy was walking around behind him, in confusion, sniffing the air, probably hoping that the scent of muffins would guide her to safety. "And yes, I am no fashion expert, that is true. But Bon-Bon's hair now, it looks a bit too... wavy... did she tell you to make it wavy? It looked perfect the way it was before. This is just like that time I got a manecut at a barber, and I wanted it a lot shorter (It was a really girly mane back then), and it was shortened only a little bit. Not what I wanted at all. That's why I started bringing pictures with me." "Anyway! After your two earth pony servants have finished their horrific rap moment, you pursue a mare, trying to get her to agree to your thingy, and it's obvious she doesn't want to go with it, because she's running away. And seriously! The part where you say, 'Where no one can hear you scream,' that was really creepy! Also, your pink assistant, why does she look like Pinkie Pie with a straight mane? Eh, no matter. Back to my point!" "There is a difference between a good employer, a bad employer, and a terrifying employer, and you are the latter two. As soon as you see someone with as much beauty as the mare next to me, you're going to go out of your way to make sure you have them, as if they were that teddy bear from that carnival claw machine that the creepy clown that reminded you of Pennywise rigged because they dropped a nickel in there inexplicably, and they were using up all the turns until the machine stopped work and THEREFORE WAS OUT OF ORDER FOREVER, AND YOU COULDN'T GET THE TEDDY BEAR! AGH!" Light yelled at the sky, or what he thought to be fate. Then he clutched his chest for a moment, as the poison in him started being painful, as he was over-exerting himself. "...*ahem.* Back to my point... again. You're going to go out of your way to make sure they'll receive your fashion adjustments, and you won't ever let them go. Ponies aren't exploitable objects, and they most certainly aren't your own Barbie dolls either! So stop treating them as such! Get it in your head that it's okay for most fashion-obsessive ponies to be really crazy (No offence to you ponies over there), but not for them to utilize it in a way that allows them to get what they want, so stop trying to make my friend your personal ragdoll, because, IT'S JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN. GOT THAT!?" Light yelled at Photo Finish, ignoring the chest pain he brought upon himself in the process. He just got a rather unimpressed and blank stare from Photo Finish. Those glasses were so freakin' big it was really hard to tell how she was feeling. Then, she just shrugged her shoulders, climbed on top of the platform, and pointed a hoof to the nearest exit to Ponyville, probably to find some other pony to utilize unfairly. Or just leave sadly without showing sadness. Probably the former. Light looked at the crowd. Some looked shocked, the fashion ponies just frowned, and some people looked amazed at his bravery... then they just walked off, like the event never happened. Light breathed out, and clutched his chest. "...Flutters... you alr-" He began, before being cut off by Fluttershy's lips meeting his. He widened his eyes, but seeing how this was the mare he truly loved, he gladly returned the kiss, pulling her closer with one foreleg and stroking her mane with the other. He didn't notice that his chest stopped hurting, and he felt a little more energetic. *Click* There was a flash, and the couple pulled back and yelped in fright. They looked at the source of the flash. It was a pegasus colt, Featherweight, with a camera. "...Err... Featherweight.." Light began... "What are you doing?" "Sorry, sir..." Featherweight replied. "It looked interesting, is all." ...Well, this is definitely an interesting moment... and I can hardly feel my pain. "Err... okay but... don't publish it until I think it's ready, or something?" "No, it's okay, I was doing this for my project. I was taking photos of anything interesting I find in Ponyville, such as the event we had just now, any celebrating couples I see, another photographer, maybe, Pinkie's strange antics, Ditzy delivering mail, that blue box with the weird stallion, Sweetie Be-" "Good to know, thanks for not publishing, Featherweight." Light interjected. "No problem!" He said, flying off. Light and Fluttershy shrugged, smiled to each other, and walked to the cottage. ----- Light and Fluttershy arrived at the cottage. It was great to be home again. And with our relationship renewed, even better... ...And I feel a lot better... I feel less dead... I'll ask Twilight about it next time I see her. The couple entered the cottage. Fluttershy took the cloak off, and walked over to Light. "Well, nopony here to interrupt, it seems." She said, before passionately kissing him. Light was ready for it this time, and immediately returned it. She slid her tongue into his mouth, while Light, not wanting to leave all the fun to her, did the same, getting a pleasurable moan from Fluttershy. She pulled away, and began dragging him to the stairs. "Err... Where are we going?" Was all Light could ask. "I want to show you how grateful I am..." Came Fluttershy's reply. ...Well, this is taking Flutter-Cuddles to a new level. _________________________________________________________________ AUTHOR'S NOTES And now, things are less sad. More happy. So is Light. I do not in any way think this happened too fast. P.S: Have you figured out the cure to the poison yet? If so, it was the best I could think of. It may seem like a pointless plot device after that, but at the time, I thought it was a good idea. P.S:S: I know the video links are a late addition, but I forgot to add them in the first time. Besides, they work, when you think about it. P.S.S.S: The Bright Flare origin story was the best I could think of, okay? It's not sad at all, but as long as I've gotten that out of the way, I'm happy. So happy I'm gonna get a balloon and float away from now. Anyone wanna come with?