Chapter 50
The next morning, Rick wasn’t sure he wanted to wake up. He had heard one pony leave, thus ending their relationship, and he was afraid. Were they the only one? Were they only the first? Would he come downstairs to an empty house? In the last week, he had been turned on by his closest friends, faced a monstrous creature with enough power to take on Celestia, lost his horn and only real means of protecting those closest to him and last night, one of them walked out on him. He hadn’t felt like this in nearly two years.
As he tried to roll out of bed, he felt something else. One thing he felt was hope starting to rise. The second thing he felt, was Fluttershy. Looking down, he saw the butter colored pegasus draped over his barrel. Pegasi are already light, but Fluttershy seemed to have no weight to her at all. Her pink mane cascaded across the sheets. While she seemed to be sleeping soundly now, there were streaks from her eyes down her face showed that her sleep did not come peacefully.
Rick reached down and very gently stroked her mane. The soft touch caused her to stir. Her big, aqua eyes opened slowly and quickly fixed on Rick who smiled at her. “Good morning. Thanks for staying.”
Fluttershy pounced on him and wrapped him in a tight hug, “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Rick. Please forgive me.” Her face was buried in his barrel and he could feel the tears.
Rick brushed the fallen hairs from her face and lightly kissed her forehead. “I forgive you, Fluttershy, and I’m very glad you stayed.”
She smiled and went back to hugging him. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.”
“C’mon, Shy. Let’s go get some breakfast,” Rick lifted her chin so they cloud look into each other’s eyes, “that is, if it’s okay with you.”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle a little and nod as she climbed up and out of the bed. Rick followed her out of the door into the hall and to the stairs. Rick was still very nervous about what he would find, or more accurately, what he wouldn’t find.
“One, two, three, and… oh.” Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity could all be seen sleeping in various places in the living room, but Applejack and Pinkie Pie were nowhere in sight. While four of the six where still willing to consider him family, it seemed Applejack and Pinkie had given up on him and left. Rick could almost feel his heart split. The only thing he was certain of at this moment was that Fluttershy wanted to stay in his life and it would appear that, with two exceptions, the others did too. Rick sat down in his chair and leaned his forehead onto one hoof and sighed deeply. His life right now wasn’t as bad as it could have been, all things considered.
Suddenly, the sound of a pan on the stove got his attention. Then the smell of pancakes came floating into the living room. Rick got up and walked over to the kitchen and saw Pinkie Pie. She was wearing an apron and chef’s hat and cooking pancakes. She was still here. Rick was slightly relieved, but that still left Applejack gone. He slipped back into the living room and reassumed his seat and placed his head back on his hoof.
“You alright there, Sugarcube?”
Rick’s head shot up from its resting place. His vision was filled with orange fur spotted with white freckles and topped with golden hair and in the center, two large, emerald eyes. He got out of his chair and embraced the country mare as fast as he could. The others started to rouse from their sleep.
“I’m so glad you’re still here, all of you. I thought you left. Where were you?”
Applejack wrapped one of her forehooves around his neck, “there now, none uh that. Pinkie went ta cook breakast ‘n’ ya didn’t have any apples, so Ah went ta get some. That’s all. None of us are goin' anywhere.”
“That’s right, Darling, if anything, we should be so lucky to have you want to have us in your life,” Rarity said while rubbing his back.
“Yeah, we’re sorry about what happened. You’ve been awesome since you got here and we shouldn’t’ve acted like that.” Rainbow Dash was uncharacteristically downtrodden.
“Please forgive us,” Twilight leaned her head against his shoulders, “we all love you so much and want to be in your family.”
“I was so scared you all wouldn’t want anything to do with me anymore.” Rick finally released his hold on Applejack, “but you still want to be with me? All of you?” The corners of his mouth were twitching and starting to form a large smile.
Pinkie bounced over and landed bodily on his back and squeezed as much of him as she could. “Yep, all of us.”
“But, I heard someone leave last night.” Rick was looking from one pony to another, trying to find an answer.
“That… that was me.”
Rick turned and looked at Twilight, he would have looked into her eyes, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was watching something float up from the cushion she had been sleeping on. It was small, rectangular, and black.
“My wallet, I thought I’d lost it forever.” It landed gently on the floor in front of him where it opened to reveal its only remaining item. The item was shielded behind clear plastic which had four streaks of dry blood. The item itself showed three creatures, all of whom were smiling and holding each other. There was a small girl, an adult women and a man. The picture of his family caused Rick to freeze, unable to look away for fear that it would disappear. Tears were streaming down his face, a mixture of joy and sorrow. Joy that it was still here, sorrow that the people in the photo weren’t.
“It, um, it was all we found after the, uh, bear attack.” Twilight was struggling to keep her tears back and her voice steady.
Rick nuzzled her neck, resting his head on her shoulders. “Thank you for keeping it safe for me.” Twilight smiled and nuzzled him in return, though she couldn’t get her head on his tall shoulders.
Rick reached down and picked up the wallet with his mouth, it was an action he wasn’t used to but he would have to learn, he set it on the counter. Rick turned to the five mares, Pinkie was still on his back, “if you all would like, then how about we simply pretend none of this happened. I would prefer things go back to normal.” With a weak, hopeful grin on his face and tears still in his eyes, Rick looked around the room. All the ponies who weren’t already latched onto him gathered for a very welcome hug. “Thank you all. But now, we have another issue that needs taken care of.”
“ ‘N’ wut’s that?” Applejack asked.
“We need to talk to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.”
Chapter 51
Rick waited at Sugar Cube Corner with Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy for the other three to bring their respective sisters, both real and honorary. It had been decided that Sugar Cube Corner would be neutral enough ground that everyone should be on equal footing. It would be the best place to talk to the fillies about what Chrysalis had done and the false betrayal.
“I think I’m more nervous now than I was last night.” Rick told Twilight who was seated next to him.
“You have no need to be.” Twilight told him as she leaned against his shoulder.
“That’s right! You weren’t the one who made fun of them about not having their cutie marks yet and made them feel all bad and then tore down their tree house that they barely got out of in time and made them scared of you!” Pinkie’s innocent smile did not make the statement any more comforting.
Fluttershy, on the other hand, did. As she leaned against his other side, she told him, “don’t worry about her, we’re here to help you and those girls get back to the way things were before,” she shuddered at the memory, “the attack.”
“I know, and believe me when I say I am very thankful for that. It means a lot that you all decided to stay by my side and even more that you three came here with me. It’s always best to get something like this over with as soon as possible. No matter what the outcome, this is the best way to handle it.”
A small, familiar voice accompanied the little bell over the door that signified a customer entering the little confectionary. “… ‘n’ Ah can really order anythin’ I want? This is gonna be… why the hay is he here?” The absolute venom in Apple Bloom’s voice cut Rick to his core.
“None uh that, now. He’s here so we can talk about whut happened. As soon as thu uthers get here, we can get this whole mess straightened out.” Applejack lowered her head so it was level with that of her young sister. “Fer now, go get sumthin’ from Mrs. Cake and wait quietly ‘til Sweetie and Scootaloo get here.”
Apple Bloom had been irritably sipping on a milkshake when the other two Crusaders showed up escorted by Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo positively stared daggers at Rick when she came in, Sweetie Belle had a look of terror as she clung tightly to Rarity’s foreleg. The combined reactions of the three little fillies just made Rick’s heart want to break all over again. These girls may not be his little girls, but that didn’t stop him from seeing them as someone he should protect and nurture.
Thanks to the Cakes, and some urging from Pinkie Pie, the Corner had been cleared of customers for a short time so the group of ten could discuss their business in private. After Rick had helped save Pinkie after her snake bite, which cost him his truck long before Chrysalis tore it in half, and then he got himself hurt so the Elements could be gathered, the Cakes wanted to help him however they could and this was something they
could
do.
The ten sat around a large table. Each Crusader sat next to her sister while Rick sat opposite, thus giving them a barrier which made them more comfortable, Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie sat nearby but not directly involved in the conversation. Rick took a deep breath and jumped in with all four hooves.
“I know none of you want to be anywhere near me right now and I don’t blame you after what happened, but I can only tell you it wasn’t me that did it.”
“Pfft, yeah right, you expect us to believe anything you say?” Scootaloo scoffed.
“Yeah, after what ya did, we ai-”
Apple Bloom had been interrupted by a shake from her sister, “stop that. We brought ya’ll here ta talk, not fight.”
Dash concurred, “right, just listen to him for a minute would ya?”
The two chorused a ‘fine’ and turned back to Rick. “The truth of the matter is, when you girls were attacked, I was in the woods near Fluttershy’s cabin. Of course, since I was alone, I have no proof that I was there the whole time.”
“Then who did attack us, hmm, can you explain that one?” Scootaloo just couldn’t seem to be reined in completely right now.
“Queen Chrysalis, or one of her minions.” Rick answered plainly.
“Y-y-you m-mean that n-nasty p-pony who attacked th-the wedding?” Sweetie Belle finally managed to find her tongue.
“That’s right,” Twilight interjected, “I saw her myself. She had disguised herself as Lyra and tried to trick me into thinking Rick was… running around behind my back.” Twilight looked furious at the thought. “She was trying to drive us apart to get her revenge on me. If Rick hadn’t somehow been able to see through her magic we would have been in big trouble. We are all lucky he could and even more so because he was able to hold her back long enough for us to banish her again and he paid a hefty price for it.”
“What do ya mean ‘paid a hefty price’?” Apple Bloom ventured.
“His horn, Dear. Chrysalis tried to end his existence one and for all, Rick managed to shield himself from the blast but his horn was taken.”
Sweetie Belle looked up at the top of his head and started to cry, she knew how important a unicorn’s horn is to them as well as how sensitive it is, especially when in use, the pain must have been unbearable. When the two others saw her reaction, their expressions towards Rick softened a bit.
“Will he be okay?” Scootaloo finally asked.
“I’ll live, but we don’t know if my horn will ever grow back. For now, Shining Armor has agreed to train me to fight without magic so I can still protect your sisters as well as you three. I don’t know if you three believe me or not, and frankly, I couldn’t blame you if you didn’t. Either way, I will still do everything in my power to protect you.”
Apple Bloom climbed down from her seat and walked over to Rick and hugged him. “I believe ya.”
Sweetie Belle did the same, but Scootaloo didn’t make any move toward him. “I’m not as certain as them, but I will agree it’s possible. For now, I won’t hate you but I will still be watching you.”
“That’s fair, one should always be aware of possible threats, though I swear I’m not ever going to hurt you and I’ll help rebuild your tree house when I’m done with my training.”
“Fine, but don’t expect any thanks from me.” Scootaloo conceded.
“Good enough for me. Now, Pinkie, please get these girls anything they want and send the bill to me. I have to get ready for my training.”
Rick walked out of the store and headed for his home with Twilight and Fluttershy on either side. They entered the house and sat on the sofa together. “That went a lot better than I’d hoped. I think if you all hadn’t been there to help, I wouldn’t have fared so well.”
“We’re here for you, that’s what being a family is all about,” Twilight rested against his strong shoulder, feeling safe in the moment.
“That’s right,” Fluttershy snuck a kiss on his cheek before she also rested against Rick.
“May I share something with you ladies?” He felt them nod their consent. “Do you remember when Rarity asked what my cutie mark meant? I said that I had some ideas but never really shared them.” Both sat upright and looked up at him. “You both know my last name, right? Rhinestone. One earth, a rhinestone is a fake gemstone. Seeing as gems are rare and therefore expensive, costumes for plays and such used these rhinestones to replace gems. That would explain why the heart looks like it’s made of crystal. The broken heart should be obvious, after I lost my wife and daughter, I never thought I would find love again. That’s where the bandage comes in. You six, especially you two, Rarity and Applejack, allowed me to see otherwise. I love you, both of you as well as the rest, I love you all so, so much and your love has saved me. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you f-mmph…”
Rick didn’t get to finish his thought, Fluttershy tackled him in true lover’s embrace. She was pressing her lips against him in the most uncharacteristic display either Rick or Twilight had ever seen. When she finally pulled back, he stared at her, eyes wide in disbelief, her face was positively crimson “I-I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stop myself.” Fluttershy turned and his her face behind her hooves.
“No, no, don’t be upset. It’s perfectly f-mmph…” This, time it was Twilight.
When she pulled back, Rick was taking deep breaths to get air back into his body. She turned to see Fluttershy staring at her. “What? I couldn’t let you have all the fun.”