//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Tragic Magic // by Twinkletail //------------------------------// Rarity's illness that night was one that needed no explanation, yet opened itself up for far too many. Physically, it could have been contributed to the alcohol. She wasn't normally a big drinker, but she couldn't stop putting Cosmarepolitans away at the club. She couldn't help it; just the idea of having to deal with what she was dealing with necessitated it. She had hoped the alcohol would wash her worries away, but to say that this idea had gone catastrophically would be an understatement. It was far more likely that her illness was a mental thing. Her actions earlier at the club were terribly unlike her. She loved Twilight Sparkle with every bit of her being, and would never want to hurt her in any fashion. Yet she did. She did, in possibly the most horrific manner short of physical harm. In fact, what she did might have even been worse that physical abuse. Rarity's inkling that her illness was caused by her mental anguish was validated in short order. Just the thought of the despair on poor Twilight's face when she walked in on the scene was enough to send her straight back to the bathroom. What made the pain so much worse was the knowledge that it was she who caused all this heartbreak. She had never seen anything in Trixie. The thought of that blue beast disgusted her, but in that moment, her alcohol-induced haze must have made her find something attractive about her. It was the largest error in judgment that she'd ever made, and now it looked to have cost her the love of her life. That was another thought that caused her to wretch. Sleep came eventually for the sickened seamstress, but it didn't last very long. Her actions haunted her dreams relentlessly. She would see Twilight in her dreams, just staring at her with that same crestfallen gaze. She would ask her why she did what she did, and Rarity would never have an answer. She wanted so desperately to blame Trixie for all of it. She was the one who inserted herself into their life, the one who stressed her out so much, even the one who was giving her her drinks. To blame her for everything would be wonderful, but unfortunately unrealistic. She may have given her the drinks, but one could not rightfully shoot the messenger for delivering bad news. It was she who had drank the drinks, and she who had committed the terrible deed. As soon as she would acknowledge this in her dreams, Trixie would appear, shaking her head in disappointment and pulling Twilight into her embrace. "Trixie will never let that beast hurt her sweet Sparkle again," the nightmare would coo to Twilight as her horn lit up, surrounding her with magical tendrils. "Now we can be together forever." Rarity would then wake up and have herself a short cry before falling asleep again, and then the process would begin again. Soon it was morning, and the poor pony was frustratingly fatigued. It was pointless to try and fall asleep against this point, when the sun was up and the birds were singing. Rarity cursed the singing birds under her breath. It was not at all fair that they could be so happy and carefree when she was a festering pile of misery. She needed to get out of her house and get her mind off of her troubles. Such an endeavor would be difficult, but it was what she needed and she knew it. She briefly considered her usual preparation routine, but she couldn't even find the inspiration to put makeup on. She did not deserve to reach her usual pinnacle of physical beauty; her actions were too ugly to justify such a thing. Rarity should have known that a walk through town was not going to help her get her mind off of things. For one, nearly everything in town reminded her of Twilight. It was to be expected; in her time here, Twilight had gotten herself so intertwined with the town that even the smallest things likely had some manner of story involving her. Twilight really changed the town as everypony knew it. Even more unfortunate for Rarity was the fact that Twilight was also very well known and loved by the townsfolk. Ponyville was not a particularly large town, and as such, it did not take long for news to make its way around. Every so often, Rarity would cast her gaze in the direction of another pony, only to be met with not-so-pleasant reactions. The more polite ponies would simply look away. Some would whisper things to their friends, trying not to look like they were staring right at her as they did so. A few would even scowl or glare at her, muttering nasty things under their breath. These were certainly not reactions she wanted, but as far as she was concerned, they were reactions she deserved. The unicorn spied her good friend Applejack on the other side of the market. Perhaps she would be willing to listen and let her speak her mind? She made her way through the crowd, approaching her dear friend. "Applejack..." Rarity said, some relief in her tone. "Could we talk?" The farmer looked up from the purchases she was making and met Rarity's eyes. Applejack hesitated; a brief silence that spoke volumes to Rarity. If Applejack, of all ponies, was not immediately jumping on the opportunity to help a friend, something was wrong. "Uh..." AJ said, looking down. "Ah'm...mighty busy right now, Rarity. Doin'...somethin'." Applejack then trotted off, unable to look back up into Rarity's eyes. She was a terrible liar, that pony. She acknowledged that Applejack was at least making an attempt at being polite about it, but a rejection from the most dependable of ponies was tough for Rarity to take. Perhaps she'd have better luck with some of her other friends, she thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy heading towards the asparagus stand. She quickly galloped in front of them before anything else could grab their attention. "Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy!" the unicorn exclaimed. "Thank goodness I found you...I simply must talk to somepony about this." The two exchanged worried glances, and Rarity knew already that she was losing them. She turned her focus on Fluttershy, knowing that she was the weakest-willed of the two. "Fluttershy, please..." Rarity begged. "You must understand...everypony is turning their backs on me...I need good friends to talk to!" Fluttershy shook a bit, and Rarity could sense her beginning to waver. The Element of Kindness could never bear to hurt a friend. Rarity opened her mouth to speak again, but Pinkie put a foreleg around Fluttershy, pulling her away. "We'd...really prefer not to get in the middle of it..." the pink party pony said, her voice missing its usual cheerfulness. Rarity couldn't believe what she was hearing. She looked back to her yellow friend, her eyes pleading with her. "C'mon, Fluttershy," Pinkie said, pulling her away. "I think we have asparagus at Sugarcube Corner in my drawer of foods with names that are fun to say." She pulled the pegasus away, Fluttershy managing to meep out a meager "sorry" before being extracted from the scene. Rarity sighed a painful, pitiful sigh. She couldn't say she blamed her friends for this, but it was still very painful for her. Then it dawned on her. There was one friend that would not turn her away. She was, after all, the Element of Loyalty. Thankfully for her, that very pony was just flying overhead. "Rainbow Dash!" Rarity shouted, some of her confidence returning. "Please, we must..." "Don't 'please we must' me!" Rainbow shouted right back. "How could you cheat on Twilight like that?" Rarity was taken aback by the anger behind Rainbow's voice. In retrospect, she would realize that this was not a matter to be discussed with Rainbow Dash. As well as being the Element of Loyalty, she and Twilight had been an item at one point a while back. At the current moment in time, none of this dawned on the fashionista as she was left speechless, an easy target for Rainbow's candor. "She loved you! She trusted you!" the pegasus shouted, not even caring that she was making a scene. "And you broke that poor girl's heart!" She scoffed, turning her back to Rarity. "R-Rainbow, please..." Rarity whimpered. "Please nothing!" Rainbow shot back. "You know, I would never in a million years have expected this from you. But hey, I guess I should learn to expect the unexpected sometimes, huh?" With that, the pegasus took off, whatever plans she had in the marketplace having been forgotten. Rarity had assumed this morning that she was completely out of tears after last night. As the unicorn broke down right in the middle of the street, she remembered that it was bad to assume things. Once she had recovered from her episode in the middle of town, Rarity decided that she had to talk things over with Twilight herself if things were to be solved. They had been very close, after all, even before they had started dating. As difficult as it would be, Rarity had to go attempt to speak to her. She briefly considered cleaning herself up some, but decided against it. Twilight needed to see how terribly her actions had affected her. Rarity approached the library with understandable trepidation. She honestly didn't even know what she would say to Twilight, other than the fact that whatever it was would be extremely apologetic and overdramatic. Her hoof reached out to knock on the door, but hesitated. Was she really prepared to see Twilight as emotionally distressed as she assumed she was? And what if SHE was still here? As little as Rarity wanted to see an upset Twilight, even that was preferable to a Trixie of any demeanor. Both of those, however, paled in comparison to how little she wanted Twilight to stay upset with her, and if she didn't knock on that door and attempt to make things right, the chances of fixing things would be very unlikely. Her mind was made up at that moment. She would knock on that door, no matter what the consequences. She lurched her hoof forward and failed to connect with the door, for it had just opened. "If it isn't the kissing bandit," sneered the blue menace who had thwarted the knocking attempt. "Trixie hopes you are not here for another taste of her lips, for she will have to decline." Rarity sneered right back, not even caring what havoc such an intense facial expression would wreak on her complexion. "I would sooner guzzle laundry detergent," Rarity shot back. "That certainly didn't seem to be the case last night," the blue unicorn responded. "But Trixie understands. Trixie is as beautiful as she is great and powerful." The showmare batted her eyelashes tauntingly. Even the usually-dignified Rarity could take no more of this. "Can it, loudmouth," the fashionista hissed. "I wish to speak to Twilight and apologize to her for my horrific and frankly disgusting error in judgment last night." "I'm afraid that isn't going to happen," Trixie answered after a callous laugh. "Twilight Sparkle does not wish to speak to you. Trixie has been asked to give you this message if you visited and to request your departure from the premises immediately." "Hah!" Rarity exclaimed. "Like I would believe such a thing from you! You just want to get me away so you can be alone with her!" She scoffed, a bit of her confidence returning. "I shall not believe such a thing unless I hear it from Twilight herself!" "Rarity...please leave..." came a pained voice from inside. Trixie stepped aside, nodding to the purple unicorn who had spoken. Twilight was looking absolutely miserable, as a pony whose trust had been betrayed by her love was wont to be. The bit of confidence that had returned to Rarity quickly absconded upon her realization that Twilight had indeed said those words. "K-kitten, please..." Rarity whimpered. "Let me speak to you...let me apologize, o-or at the very least explain!" She stared pleadingly at the pony whom she still loved, praying that she would come around. "Rarity..." Twilight said quietly, staring down at the ground. "It hurts far too much to see you right now...if you care about my feelings at all, you'll leave." Rarity could feel her heart shatter within her chest at those words. She opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Her gaze turned from Twilight to Trixie, whose steely stare persisted. She was crushed, but she knew deep down that after what she did, Twilight had every right to feel that way about her. "...Very well, Twilight," Rarity said softly, feeling her eyes well up for the umpteenth time in the last twelve hours. She kept her head hung low as she turned tail and dragged her hooves away from the library. She heard the door close behind her and sighed a pained sigh, unable to even look back. The white unicorn wondered how she'd gone so wrong as she trudged away from the library. Unknown to any of the ponies involved, a set of green eyes had watched the entire scene from the upstairs window. As quietly as he could, the baby dragon tossed a makeshift rope out of the window. Quickly, quietly, he shimmied down the blanket rope, landing as softly as possible on the ground outside. Someone had to make things right, and if no one else was going to do it, then it was up to him.