Violet gasped and leaned down to him. “What’s going on!?”
“The freaking landlord—” he started to say as he turned his attention to the mare. “Wait… Violet?” His astonishment was as plain as his pain when he winced and groaned. “Why are you here?”
“Nevermind me! What about the landlord? Why are you hurt? Where’s Zen!?”
All Sonorous did was point inside the tavern with his hoof before he slumped backward. He then noticed Solace and grinned weakly. “Hey, Sol. Looks like all that construction work didn’t make me that much stronger after all.”
Sol laughed in spite of himself and shook his head. “Vivi, I’m gonna stay with Sonorous and get the police. You go find Zen.”
Nodding, Violet looked at Sonorous and tried to infuse all of her regret and apology into her expression as she placed a hoof around his and squeezed tight. She had learned that she was as easy to read as anyone and, in that moment, she wanted to be as open as a book. She started to shed a few tears as she rose and could have almost sworn that Sonorous put on a ghost of a smile. He did, however, squeeze back. Turning with a little more reassurance, she galloped into the tavern.
There were several crushed tables and chairs strewn about the tavern. An innumerable amount of mugs, and shattered mugs, littered the floor. A few plates also decorated the floor along with the food they had been presenting. It was nearly empty except for a few ponies near the bar at the far end; at once, she recognized Zen. He was backed up against the bar and was holding one of his forelegs up. One of his eyes was closed, swollen, and bleeding. He wore an expression of pure hatred and scowled at the two ponies in front of him, one of which Violet recognized as the landlord. The other was completely new; though, that didn’t mean he wasn’t unintimidating. He wasn’t as large as the landlord; but still, he was a huge, brown earth pony with, quite possibly, the most muscle-toned back Violet had ever seen.
Her original plan was to creep up to them and try to do as much damage as possible before they could react. However, when Zen spotted her, he exclaimed, “Violet!? What in the world are you doing here?”
She swore in her mind and froze, staring at the two offenders as they turned to face her. Zen used the distraction to spin on his good foreleg and buck the chest of the unknown earth pony, launching himself off and away from the landlord. The brown stranger recoiled somewhat as the landlord growled and chased after Zen.
Violet herself charged into the fray and picked up one of the nearby, still-whole plates with her mouth. She jumped and smashed the brown pony in the back of the head with it and as he collapsed on the floor, Violet pinned his head with her hoof.
“Don’t. Move,” she said with a deathly even tone. Even when he nodded, Violet applied some pressure, shoving his face into the wooden floor. He groaned in agony and pleaded her to stop.
“I don’t even want to hear you squirm,” she insisted. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes, just please stop splitting my skull!” he said through clenched teeth. Only then did Violet ease the pressure and turn her attention back to Zen and the landlord. Zen was putting up quite the fight, dodging what he might of the landlord’s kicks. Still, his injury caught up with him and when the tan earth pony pivoted after missing his last kick, he couldn’t maneuver as well and ended up slipping. Zen collapsed on the floor with a pained grunt.
No!
The landlord chuckled and stalked up to him as Vivi cried out and sprinted toward them. She saw the landlord’s surprised expression just before she jumped but it was too late. He spun on his forelegs and held out his hind legs, catching Violet in them and, after giving a little, pushed them back, hard.
Violet soared through the air and landed on top of a crushed table as her backpack flew off and landed at a far corner of the room. She cried out in pain and arched her back at the glass that had embedded itself in her back. Rolling onto her side, she tried to push herself back up but couldn’t find the strength to do so, no matter how hard she tried. The mare did, however, lift her head enough to see the landlord walking toward her.
“What did you think to accomplish with that?” he asked with a chuckle and hiccupped.
“I just…” she had to stop as she grimaced at the sheer agony in her back. It was several moments before she could speak again. “…had to distract you…” she mumbled, saying whatever came to mind.
“Distract me from what?” the landlord inquired once more. He took care to step around the broken glass as he closed the distance to Violet and placed a hoof on her head.
“You’re so tiny,” he said. “I bet I could squish your tiny, little head right here, right now.” Violet’s stomach squirmed and she shuddered at the thought.
“Hey, I got Zen!” the brown pony said. Violet’s heart stopped and she mumbled, “No…” She tried to push herself up once more, terrified at the thought of Zen getting hurt any more. Despite the searing pain coursing through her back, she pushed herself up enough to push the landlord’s hoof back an inch. She looked down at herself and saw several streams of blood dripping from her back onto the floor. And just as she was about to get some real leverage to be able to sit up, the landlord shoved his hoof into the side of her face, sending her back to the floor. He dug his hoof into her cheek, keeping her pinned.
“That was cute,” he mused. “But try it again, and I’ll paint the walls with your blood.”
Violet whimpered and clenched her eyes shut. She didn’t regret coming back. She didn’t regret putting her life in danger. She didn’t even regret the shards of glass that were currently sending wave after jolting wave of pain down her back. What she would come to regret, she thought, was failing Zen. That thought, above all, made tears come to her eyes.
“I’m sorry…” she mumbled.
“What was that?” the landlord asked.
“I’m sorry!” she screamed, jerking her head up enough to shove the hoof off of her face. She turned her head upward and tried to yell back to Zen before the hoof inevitably pounded her back into the floor. “I’m sorry, Zen! I’m sorry I walked out! I’m sorry I’m probably the worst pony on the planet for hurting you but I was scared! I was scared and frightened and paranoid. I love you, Zen, and nothing will ever change that!”
A few moments of pure silence passed, save for Violet’s pained panting. “Zen?” she asked quietly. If she was surprised that she hadn’t been shoved back onto the floor, then she was astonished beyond belief by what Zen said next.
“I’m sorry, too, Vivi.”
“Wha…? Why?” she asked, having to put forth great effort to speak. The pain was making her woozy and she started to fade in and out of consciousness. Violet heard him say something but she didn’t quite understand what Zen meant it didn’t matter. The pain became too great to bear and she collapsed just as she started to hear shouting coming from behind her. She heard what she thought was Solace’s voice just as total blackness consumed her in its ever-loving embrace.
Violet didn’t know for how long she slept. Time became distorted and she lost all tack of it by the time she opened her eyes once more and stared at a pure, white wall. A light blanket covered her body and part of her back was propped up. She started to look around and caught sight of a counter with several tiny, orange bottles, a stack of books, and a clipboard. She quickly lost interest in those items, though, and started to wonder where Zen, Sonorous, and Solace were. Her mind wandered until she tried to recount what had happened.
I went into the tavern, fought them for a little while, got pinned, told Zen I was sorry, and…
She didn’t know. I think… shouting… and Solace… She tried to raise a hoof to hold her pounding head but found she didn’t have the strength to do so. All she could do was sit and watch as nothing happened around her. However, before long, another pony walked in from the side. The pony was a white pegasus with rose colored hair and the most curly mane and tail that Violet had ever seen.
“Violet!” she exclaimed with a wide smile and rushed to her side. "You’re finally awake!”
“Who are you?”
“Oh, goodness me, I’ve not yet introduced myself to you,” she said with a giggle and bowed. “Heavenly Hearts, at your service. I’ve been your doctor and caretaker for quite some time, Violet.”
Violet’s stomach dipped a little and unease wormed its way inside. “How long… exactly?”
“You were in a coma for a month.”
Her eyes widened and she tried to jump from her bed but Heavenly placed a gentle hoof on her chest and shook her head. “You’re not quite there yet, dear. I wouldn’t do anything seriously taxing for a couple more days, maybe even a week.”
Slumping back, Violet looked to her and sighed. “Where are Zen, Sonorous, and Solace?”
“Sonorous is probably dealing with the closure of the lawsuit, I’m not sure about Solace, and Zen…” she trailed off and gestured to Violet’s left. When Violet turned further than she had before, she spotted the edge of another bed and, resting on it, was a golden earth pony. His left foreleg was propped up and he seemed to be sleeping, given by the fact that his chest was rising and falling at a steady rhythm. For a long while, Violet watched Zen. She wanted to get up and tackle him to the ground, hug him, kiss him, and have him do all of that to her. And as she was fantasizing, she recalled something else.
‘I’m sorry, too, Vivi.’ What had he meant?
“You care about him a great deal,” Heavenly said, drawing Violet’s attention. When she turned to the nurse, Violet saw a gentle smile adorning her muzzle with two of the softest light blue eyes she’d ever seen. She couldn’t disagree, not with such a genuine expression.
“He’s special,” she said with a sigh, and immediately felt guilty because the description seemed far too short. Violet started to say more but just gave up and looked over to him, reaching out with a hoof. When she couldn’t hold her hoof up any longer, she retracted it and held it close to her chest, closing her eyes.
“And I messed up.”
“You weren’t the only one that messed up,” a voice that was far too familiar to Violet said. She whipped her head back to the left and broke into a wide grin as she saw Zen looking back at her.
“Zen…” she laughed and felt a great wave wash over her, easing tension in an innumerable amount of places. Despite the pain that jolted through her foreleg, she reached out once more. Violet couldn’t hold back the single tear that rolled down her cheek when Zen reached out with his right foreleg and touched her hoof with his own.
Zen wasn’t smiling, however. “Vivi… I really am sorry.”
“For what?” she asked, blinking.
“When you said you had to leave… I was being selfish. What I said, I said to hurt you and to guilt you into staying. I was so desperate about not losing you that I forgot who I was really talking to… somebody I love more than anybody else in the world and who deserves somebody far better than myself. And for that… I’m sorry.”
Inhaling sharply, Violet shook her head and fought back more tears. It was becoming difficult in the extreme to keep her hoof held but she did so. She didn’t want to let him go, not in this moment.
“I… Zen, I don’t know what to say.”
“I think we need time apart.”
Her eyes went wide and she retracted her hoof—both because she was surprised at what Zen said and because she thought if she had to keep it held any longer that it would fall off. Violet struggled to form any words and instead looked away. For the first few days she had known him, she had found the first bit of true happiness in ten years and she didn’t want to let that go. Not entirely.
“If we’re taking time apart…” she whispered, locking gazes with him once more. “…then promise me that, no matter what, we’ll still be friends. I don’t want to just boot you from my life, Zen.”
He nodded at once. “Of course. I don’t want to do that to you, either.”
Violet breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him once again. “And maybe… when enough time has passed… we can revisit each other.”
“Vivi,” Zen said and sighed. “I’m not saying that that can’t happen… but don’t hold out for me. I want you to find somebody who will treat you right. That’s just not me right now.” As he said the last sentence, Violet saw a couple streams of tears fall from his eyes. She lay there, stunned, for several moments. Only when she saw Solace enter the room from the corner of her eye did she remember her faculties.
“Violet!” he exclaimed and rushed to her side. “It’s so good to see you awake! How are you doing?”
She looked from Zen to Solace uncertainly and took a deep breath. “I’m okay.” When Solace breathed a huge sigh of relief, Violet smiled again.
“It’s good to see you, Solace.”
“Call me Sol,” he said with a grin. “All my friends do.”
Violet nodded to him and only then noticed that Heavenly had stepped out. She presumed it was to give her and Zen some privacy while they conversed and silently thanked her for that. Her attention was steered back to Zen, however, when he posed a question.
“Why did you come back for us, Vivi?”
“Oh,” she chuckled. “Well… I kinda forgot my backpack, and…” her sentence was forgotten as she remembered the letter. “Where is it?”
“Where’s what?” Solace asked.
“The backpack,” she explained. “The one that Zen and Sonorous gave me when I decided to leave. It had something important in it.”
“Did I hear something about a backpack?” a voice called out from somewhere outside the room. Heavenly reentered the room and presented Violet’s backpack with a smile. “The police ponies recovered it and when they asked Sonorous about it, he identified it as yours, Violet. It’s been sitting in my office ever since.”
Violet thanked her several times over and retrieved the letter Zen had written. Slowly, she returned it to him and watched as not only his eyes went wide, but his cheeks went red.
“As I was saying… I forgot the backpack. When I got back to the apartment, I saw the stack of papers with the eviction notice and pulled it again, wondering if I could help you two at all.” She waved a hoof and laughed. “Naturally, I couldn’t, but I saw another piece of paper underneath it… and I couldn’t not come find you guys. Zen… that letter touched my heart and I wanted to try to find you and fix… this,” she said, gesturing to the both of them. “But still, taking time apart might do some good for the both of us.”
Zen grinned, finally, but shook his head. “That doesn’t really answer my question. You could have ran when you found us in the tavern. You didn’t. Why?”
“Well…” she let her tone take on an airy feel as she looked far off into the distance. “A friend of mine once said that friends help each other even if it means hurting themselves.”
His grin widened, if it was possible, and he said, “I’m glad you did. If it weren’t for you and Sol, we would’ve been toast.” Violet looked back to Zen and giggled, blushing somewhat. Solace couldn’t contain himself and hugged the both of them. Just as Violet was beginning to wish that Sonorous was there, she heard some shouting in the distance. It was insistent and rather fed up, but just by what she heard, Violet could tell that he meant well.
“If Violet isn’t up this time,” he called out. “I’ll knock her so hard that she’ll have no choice but to regain consciousness just so she can slug me again!”
Violet laughed and called back out to him. “Don’t tempt her!”
Everyone burst into laughter as Sonorous exclaimed, “What!?” and bolted into the room, both surprised by everyone else’s presence as he was at Violet’s consciousness. “When did you…”
“Just recently,” Heavenly said with a bright smile. “You arrived at the perfect time, Sonorous.” The four of them embraced each other and caught up. The past month had been crazy, to say the least.
Violet learned that Zen and Sonorous had sued the landlord for aggravated assault and with the damage that had been caused by the bar fight—especially with the evidence of Violet’s and Zen’s hospitalization—they had won the case in a landslide. Zen and Sonorous had ousted the now ex-landlord and had received a sizable compensation for their troubles—more than enough to pay their rent to the new landlord with enough to cushion their time there for a long while as they searched for new jobs and commissions.
Solace had kick-started his new job at the news station and was busier than ever. He still visited Zen and Sonorous from time to time, though. They had their own tabletop role-playing game they played every Tuesday night and invited Violet to join. She told them she would think about it—she was more concerned about something else.
The very first day she left the hospital, she returned to the fire department with Solace, expressing a personal matter for which she needed him. As she stood in front of the doors, she turned to her newest friend.
“You recognized me the first time you saw me—when you ran into me,” she mumbled.
“I did.”
“There was only one way that could be true. You knew me from somewhere else. I had only been in one place before, and only one thing had happened that would make me recognizable.”
Solace nodded. “Very astute.”
“You knew me from the school fire,” she said without missing a beat. “The question is… does anybody else? And, if so, what do they think of me?”
“Do you want to find out?” he asked, gesturing one last time.
Taking a deep breath, Violet nodded. “I do.” She strolled up to the front doors of the fire department and, before pushing against them, looked to the side. The fire truck was still there and she smiled. With that, she pushed her way inside, Solace right behind her.