//------------------------------// // 11. Questionable Endings // Story: Dysphoria, Arc 3: Canterlot // by thedarkprep //------------------------------// 11. Questionable Endings The Rhyme family living room was not the location of a natural disaster, but looking around the room it would prove hard to find evidence to support that claim. For starters, there was still a rudimentary blockade set up by an overturned bookshelf and a couch. The other bookshelves in the room were still standing and functional, but were bare of any books, as these were strewn all across the living room floor. On the floor one could also see the splintered remains of a table and a few chairs, kindling in their current form. Normally the destruction of this room would have induced an outcry of anger and blame, but today there were bigger issues to deal with. Rose stood, awkwardly staring at her family. For the first time since she boarded the train from Ponyville, she became completely aware of and engrossed by her appearance. Rose was currently wearing her black skirt and purple shirt, both of which were torn, tattered, and ripped in places from her fight in Canterlot, her escape from the changeling hive, and her recent fight with the changeling impersonating Slant Rhyme. Her clothes were also heavily stained with blood, as was her mane and various spots on the floor, both from the changeling she had fought and from her own injuries. She felt self-conscious for the first time in months, wishing she had her black cloak, and it was through great efforts that she refrained from fixing her messed-up mane. She did not want to risk movement, and it seemed that neither did her family. The Rhymes stood there, staring at the pony in front of them with an odd mix of confusion, fear, and understanding. No pony in the room dared to make a sound other than the soft breathing of the ponies that lived there and the labored breathing of the wounded pony that had just saved their lives. Rose could not help but notice that she felt more tension and restrained panic in this room now than she had during the changeling invasion. Eventually her mother spoke. “Are… Are you?” was all she managed to ask. Rose gave a slow nod before responding. “Yes, I mean,” her voice had come out at her lower register out of habit of seeing her parents. She coughed a few times, fixing her register in the process. “Yes, it’s me.” Another minute of silence passed before it was broken by her father. “Why are you dressed like that?” Rose let out an annoyed snort. Normally she would have shied away from a question like that, but today she was tired, hurt, and had suffered enough pain and shame to last her a lifetime. Instead she focused on another emotion, anger. “This is who I am, Dad. This is how I’ve been living. This is the real me, the one I tried telling you about last summer, before you made me leave,” she said with venom in her voice. “Why did you come back, Slant?” “My name is Evening Rose, and I came back to see who this impostor was and what he was up to. I also figured I might ask him how he got you to forgive him, but honestly, I stopped caring about that aspect almost immediately. I don’t need your approval.” Rose waited for any type of response, after a while, her father spoke again. “Did anyone see you?” The fury Rose felt was immense. “Seriously? The invasion of Canterlot just happened, I just fought a changeling in front of you, and all you care about is who might have seen your freak of a child?” She was practically yelling at this point. “You actually miss him, don’t you? The changeling? You’re probably mad that you didn’t get to keep him even though he tried to kill both your children!” Rose glared at both her parents: Rich, the stallion who cared more for appearances than the lessons from any of his rants about family, and Ilene, the loving wife who was content to watch horrors being committed without uttering so much as a word. Rose spat at the floor in distaste. “Don’t worry, nopony saw me,” she snarled. “And no one ever will. I just came here to save your lives. You won’t see me again.” Rose turned away from her family, with tears in her eyes and anger in her heart. “Why do you still care?” she thought to herself. “You didn’t come here to make amends. You weren’t planning on seeing them and you were perfectly aware that you would never be welcomed back. So why do you still care this much?” Rose took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts. “I guess I thought that maybe they would change,” she thought as she picked up the blade from the floor, putting it in her bag. “Everypony else has, even I have, so why haven’t they? Why won’t they?” It hurt to get to the realization that her parents would never accept her, but the sooner she did the less it would hurt. She opened the window to leave when she was stopped by a timid question. “Do you really have to go?” The voice had been soft, nervous, and frightened. For a second Rose imagined that if she turned around she would see Fluttershy sitting in the living room, looking abashed at having asked a question. Instead, she found her brother. Perfect Rhyme was sitting on the floor with a dark bruise appearing on his cheek. Both of his parents stared intently at him, mouths agape at the question he had just asked. Perfect, however, ignored them, instead focusing his attention at the pony by the window. He repeated his question. “I’ve missed you,” he said. “That other you wasn’t the same. He wasn’t caring, or fun, or anything you were. Do you really have to go?” For a moment Rose had been tempted to answer ‘no’. As she stared at her brother’s face, all she wanted was to move back and for things to be how they had been before she had become aware of herself. However, Rose then turned to look at her parents. Both of the elder Rhymes focused their attention on her with a pleading look in their eyes. Their stance looked like they were trying to shield Perfect from a threat and, judging from the fear on their faces, they may have been doing just that. Rose allowed herself a sad smile as she realized that even if her parents eventually came around to accepting her, the damage had been done and this place would never be her home again. She turned to face her brother with the most comforting look she could spare, while uttering the words she knew her brother least wanted to hear. “I’m sorry, Perfect,” she said softly. “But I do.” Rose saw tears form in the colt’s eyes before he stared at the ground. She hated doing this to him, but even if she stayed, it would be nothing but pain. She was no longer part of the Rhyme family and nothing could change that. However, that did not mean she had to shut her brother out of her life again. “I’m sorry, I really am,” Rose said. “But we can still talk Perfect, whenever you want.” Perfect raised his head, eyeing her with hope. “Really?” he said, a small smile forming in his lips. “Yes, you can write to me whenever you want and I promise to write back. I live in Ponyville; it’s a small enough town that, if you address the letter to Evening Rose, the letter will make its way to me,” she said. “You are also welcome to visit any time you want. I don’t have a very big place, but you could stay the weekend sometime or something.” Rose glared at her parents as if daring them to disagree. They remained silent. “I know it’s hard to hear, but I have to go, ok?” she said. “I have to go but this time you know where I am and how to find me. I’ll always make time for you, you understand?” Perfect dried his eyes before answering. “I understand,” he said. “Take care, ok, sis?” “You too.” Rose turned with a smile on her face as she left her family home once again.