//------------------------------// // A Father's Dilemma, a Daughter's Fury // Story: Bass Clefs and Sapphires // by Crispn //------------------------------// Rarity and I walked along the edge of the stream on our way back to her home. Everything here had such a different feel from what I was used to. The houses were smaller here, but at the same time the energy that they would give off lead me to believe that it was a much happier place. On the right were large mountain ranges, full of tall peaks and frosty caps. Something was off about the town though. There was no snow, and I mean not even a pile of old snow that had fallen a long time ago. It was incredibly chilly, as I held Rarity closer and wrapped my wings around her in response to the slight wind that invaded my bones. She cooed as she happily accepted the shelter. After a few minutes, the car and apartment came into view as we reached the destination. All the while, my mind was slightly racing about meeting Magnum. My blood started to rush through my veins faster, but all that was stopped when I felt the body in my wings leave. I stopped what I was doing and just watched her as she walked the ten foot distance from me to her car. What a lucky man I was. I felt my face flush as I noticed her purple hair flow up and down her back. My worrying about meeting Magnum was quickly replaced by a gut wrenching feeling. I felt my palms start to become clammy and my stomach churned. I tried to say something but my throat felt weird. The only thing that came out was a strained sort of mix between a squawk and a hiccup. The noise caused Rarity, who was getting a package out of the trunk of her car, to turn around and look right at me. I just stood there, mesmerized by the whole picture. And there was so much underneath too. I was so lost in my own little slowdown world that I hadn’t even noticed that Rarity had managed to close the distance between herself and me. “As much as I appreciate the compliment, you do rather look foolish standing there like that.” She laughed as she handed me the package, knocking me out of my small daydream. “It was supposed to be your Hearth Warming gift, but go ahead, open it. I made it especially for you. I know you love your peacoat, but it’s filthy and ragged and I won’t have you in such clothes. It just would not do for you.” I slowly opened it up to see a coat exactly like the one I was wearing. Bringing it out of the box, I could feel the thick fabric underneath my fingers. I know traditional peacoats are made of wool, but this felt softer and lighter, even if the fabric was a bit thicker. That could also be because it was new. The inside was lined with a very soft silk layer and a couple pockets. It also had two slits in the back. Usually WingSlits were just holes for wings, but I noticed an extra bit of fabric and put my hand through the hole, feeling the knitted wool and other material close around my hand. I put on the coat and slipped my wings through the holes. It became clear what the extra fabric was for, when I slipped my wings through, it slid down my wings and snuggly tucked itself into the joint area, keeping the cold out from my skin. After a couple seconds of admiring the wingslits, I noticed on the bottom right pocket was a stitching of a mark, a bass clef with an eighth note inside. My mark. I looked at the mark and and back to her. I grabbed her in a close embrace and held her there for what seemed hours. Rarity just giggled in my arms. “I based the design off of your old coat, as you said it was very important to you. Now, as I am not a peg, I am not sure how cold those drafty wing slits are, but I imagine they must be dreadfully bitter in the cold. The mark took some time as to not disrupt the integrity of the pocket it is stitched into and -” Rarity stopped talking as I placed my lips on her forehead, kissing her. I could feel her skin become warmer and I saw the blush appear across her face. I laughed silently to myself. “Thank you. This is truly wonderful,” I softly said, “I haven’t a lot of things to my name, and I know this is one thing that I will cherish forever, just like I will you.” The last part, another slip. But if it was what I was starting to feel, was it truly a slip? It soon didn’t matter though. The amount of pressure soon impacting my ribs was so intense I felt that my head was going to become a firework show of various fluids and organs that should stay inside. After a couple seconds, the very well mannered and ladylike girl that I had recently started dating officially started jumping around squealing, kind of like a fangirl running into her favorite actor. Rarity eventually jumped right at me with arms outstretched, glomping onto me and resuming her death hold on my ribcage while she snuggled into my chest and my new coat. “Well,” I looked deep into those gorgeous sapphire eyes “Are you ready?” I said as I pried Rarity off of my chest and picked up all the luggage, teetering precariously as the weight of all the bags threatened to throw to me to the ground. She nodded and grabbed her luggage and then my free hand with hers. “Yes, I think I finally am.” She squeezed my hand and walked me towards her home. As we walked around the corner, I could hear laughing and I recognized a couple of voices, Spike and Sweetie Belle. Well, at least I wouldn’t be alone with Magnum. Rarity walked up to the door, looked at me, smiled and told me that everything would be alright, even if it wasn’t the best. She placed her key in the lock and opened the door and walked inside. Inside were four people, three I recognized and one I didn’t. The one I did not recognized had to be Rarity’s mom, a portly woman with a beehive updo, but she smiled and welcomed me inside and asked me to sit down. Sweetie Belle was sitting on the couch with Spike sitting next to her on the arm of it. Rarity gave her mother a hug and walked over to her father and hugged him as well. Magnum Filligree, large, built and gruff, he had a large mustache and bushy eyebrows behind slim rimmed glasses. His grimace was enough to have me bolt from the apartment right then and there, not to mention his blue eyes not leaving me for a second since I walked in the door. Before I could make my escape though, Rarity walked over to me and grabbed my hand. “Mother, Father, this is Crisp. He is someone I wanted you to meet for a month and a half now. Now Father, he is my very special someone. He is a very nice boy that has been nothing but a gentleman to me ever since we met when he moved in with Rainbow Dash two months ago.” “He lives with another girl. And this doesn’t worry you at all?” Magnum scoffed out. Great, the first impression I get to make and he already thinks I am going to cheat on Rarity with Dash. I mean, Dash has some good qualities sure, but she is not my type. “He has done nothing to warrant poor judgement from anyone.” Rarity quickly retorted. “And a peg too. Well that’s just great. He’s probably prone to violent outbursts. Looks as though he has spent some time away when he was younger.” “IF he has, then it is of no concern. As I have previously stated, Father. He has done nothing to warrant any distrust of any kind. I mean, the only thing violent I can think of that he has done is crash into me-” Magnum’s fists clenched against the arms of the chair he was sitting in, “Oh, so he has already injured you, Huh? Sounds like a real winner here.” “It was an accident, and it is not like you chose better.” Rarity’s face was turning a dangerous shade of red, one she wore when she was frustrated. I had only seen it a couple of times. Once on the night where she confronted me in the kitchen, and then one other time where her and AJ were in a heated argument. Don’t really remember what it was about though, but considering how many times they are at each other’s throats, the single fight gets muddled in the mass. Magnum had obviously also become incredibly furious with the comment his daughter threw into his face, although I did not understand the meaning behind it, I could tell that it was bad. Very bad, Ridger bad almost. Wonder if it has anything to do with him? Probably does, considering he put his daughter in the hospital. “Rarity, see me in the kitchen.” Magnum said with an incredibly stern tone, bordering on shouting, as he grabbed a cane. His injury must have been severe, he still had trouble walking around even after all these years. He did not even seem that old, barely 40, but he looked as though he was mid 50’s. Rarity and Magnum disappeared into the kitchen with her mother. I sat down on the couch next to Sweetie Belle, completely confused about what just transpired. Every once in awhile you could hear someone raise their voice, but never loud enough to make out what anyone was saying. “What...just happened?” I asked after a couple of minutes of sitting in the silence. Spike, hopping off his perch, walked over and in between Sweetie Belle and me. “Well, it’s been awhile since....” Spike paused, his green eyes darting from me to Sweetie Belle. “I know about Ridger, Spike. Rarity told me ten minutes ago.” “Oh thank heavens. If I was going to have to explain it, well, it would not be good. Anyway, it’s been what, three years?” He looked over at Sweetie Belle for confirmation, which she answered with a nod. “Yeah, well Sweetie and I started dating about two years ago, about a year after everything happened. Here’s the thing though, I have known the Filligree family for a good eight years, maybe nine. Magnum and I know each other, and he used to trust me as a friend, but when I became a interest of one of his daughters, it took me three months of proving myself to him for him to even consider not killing me.” “So I’m the first guy she has brought back to meet her father?” This time, it was Sweetie Belle to answer. “Actually, you’re the first person that I know of that she has thought of getting close to. Rarity has not made any friends since Ridger, so she keeps the ones she has super close.” A loud frustrated yell was heard from the kitchen, as Rarity bolted out of the door, her face crimson red and her fists white. She streaked past the party on the couch and ran up the stairs to her old room, slamming the door so hard the apartment shook. Rarity’s mom ran out after her, calling her name and asking her to be reasonable. Magnum slowly walked out of the kitchen and strolled over towards the front door. He turned around and shot a piercing glance right at me, Spike and Sweetie Belle. “Crisp, was it?” He almost barked, causing to jump out of my seat. “Yes, Sir.” I squeaked out. “Let’s go for a walk.” I knew that this was not something I was going to be able to pass. Spike looked at me and nodded reassuringly. He must have been in this position before me. The kid made it out relatively fine, but this was his little girl, so I was treading very thin ice. Once again outside in the cold winter air, I felt the wind pick up and start to beat against my body. At least this time I had a very warm coat that Rarity had made for me specifically. It was like being wrapped up in her arms. Very comforting, and I needed the extra comfort considering the man I was standing next to beat a man almost to death. But that guy did put his daughter in the hospital. After about 10 minutes of walking along the river, Magnum stopped and motioned for me to stand next to him. “Let’s get one thing straight, Crisp. I love my daughter. What she has done for this family, it means the world to me. So let me say this now. If you do anything to hurt her, and I mean anything. If I so much as get a whisper from anyone that my little girl suffered in anyway by your hand, I will not hesitate to put you in the ground. Are we clear?” “Transparently.” I choked. “Good. Nothing will ever hurt my girls again.” He glowered at me with such daggers that he could have killed me with his stare. “Bet Ridger didn’t have this kind of scrutiny.” I mumbled to myself, slightly frustrated being placed in the same place as that dickwad. “What was that?” Magnum turned to me, his eyes fierce and furious. “What did you say? Scrutiny? If it were up to me, none of you little shits would ever get near my daughter.” “Now, now Magnum, that isn’t the way you should talk to someone that your daughter has chosen to give her trust and love to.” A familiar voice said from behind Magnum’s and my back. Magnum’s face contorted quite strangly due to his rising anger and his newly found frustration at the new voice joining the conversation. It was a voice that I knew instantly, one I held close to my core dearly. Whipping around, I saw his familiar face and wickedly fun smile and confirmed my hope. Uncle Disc had once again appeared out of nowhere. “Uncle Disc,” I shouted happily and jumped forward embracing the tall slim man in my arms, “what are you doing here? I thought you would be in Berlin.” “Oh, I had some business to take care of in this town with a certain Miss Sparkle first. Besides, you know I am always here for you, Crisp. Now I need to have a few words with my dear friend Magnum. So run along, go back in and cheer her up.” He leaned down close and whispered, “Don’t worry, Magnum and I go way back, over 20 years, so I believe he’ll listen to my reason. I think if he gave you a word in edgewise, he would have listened to your’s as well.” I quickly chanced a glance at Magnum, who even though was noticeably distraught at the sight at Uncle Disc, gave me a nod and what seemed to be his approval. “Now go back inside, you may need to knock off a head of steam off that angry train. Nice to see you with your wings out finally.” “How did you know?” “The things that I know, would astound your mind, but this is neither the time nor place. Go go go.” He shooed me away with his own cane as I flew off in the direction of the apartments. When I got back inside, Spike and Sweetie Belle had pulled out a couple brochures of the school, planning classes for the both of them. Sweetie Belle had graduated early and was going in the spring. Spike had pulled me over and started bombarding me with questions about what music teachers she should take her freshman semester. I apologized because I had gone to community college in my hometown but recommended a couple teachers that she should take and that I would contact Tavi and Vinyl, who would be the ones to really talk to about this subject. I excused myself from the conversation, now that Pearl, Rarity’s mother, had jumped in talking about her classes at school and how she had met Magnum. I walked up the stairs to the door that had been slammed in everyone’s face. I stood there and lightly knocked. “Rarity,” I said softly leaning up on the door “Its me. Can we talk?” The door lock clicked open and the knob slowly turned as the door popped open. She barely poked one eye out into the opening. It was bloodshot. There were tear marks and mascara running down her cheek. “Come in,” she whispered in a strangely venomous tone, and pulled me into the room before I had a chance to react. The first thing I noticed about the room was the smell, lavenders and vanilla. Her room looked nothing as I had imagined it though. A mannequin in the corner next to a sewing machine. On the desk were small boxes of brightly colored gems next to an array of small blades used in cutting gems. Her bed was a small double bed with silky purple sheets and soft pillows. On her window there was a small box of cigarettes and a lighter. She pulled me to the window and had me look outside and pointed to the hills in the distance. “See those.” She growled, trying to not let her anger get the best of her, “Those are the hills where I mine my gems. All by myself. And my father can’t even trust my judgement on who I date or who I am friends with. It’s like he does not think I learned my lesson, after all I have been through and all I have done. He could at least trust me for once. I’m not going to let another person like Ridger into my life.” “I know, but he is just looking out for you,” as I took her into my arms and stroked her slightly messed hair. “You’re lucky that your father cares about you so much. Even though it doesn’t really look like it, he does. He just doesn’t want to have to wait and see if his daughter will wake up again.” “Well, it is not like you have to worry about anyone giving you gripe. You can be do whatever you want, whenever you want, and never have to worry about anyone else. You don’t have a family to care about.” Her face as soon as the words left her mouth, it was a face that tried to immediately tried to take back, but the damage had been done. It was true, I had no family, no one to care about me. I looked down at her with a face mixed with surprise, depression and my barely contained rage. “No. I guess I wouldn’t understand what it means to have a family, or for that matter, someone that cares about me, likes me. Likes me enough to even try to have him meet her parents.” I rushed over to and jumped out the window and bolted away from her.