//------------------------------// // Bathroom. // Story: Love Me... I Mean, If You're Ok With Me // by elmago02 //------------------------------// “How… How much love did I drain from that pegasus?” Alice said with her buzzing voice as she slowly walked up to the mirror. Her cream coat was replaced by black. A pair of large, sharp fangs were poking out of her mouth. Two translucent wings buzzed on her back, one of them was missing half of it. There was a slight change in Alice’s eyes, but they remained the same color blue. She brought one of her holed hoofs up to touch her black sharp horn. It was emanating a low green light that dissipated the second she touched it a second. “Please... I hope nothing bad had happened.” Alice pulled out from the mirror when she heard a noise from the other side of the door. It sounded like someone had collapsed to the floor. She quickly made her way to the door, and pressed her ear to it. “Derpy! Are you alright?” a voice of a mare asked. After a second of silence the voice sounded again. “We need help over here!” Panic started to fill Alice chest. ‘What did I do?’ She gave a few steps back, she heard the voices of some ponies talking, but couldn’t discern what they were saying, she didn’t care for what they were saying. ‘I… I have to get out of here.’ She looked around the bathroom. There were three stalls on the left side of the bathroom, four sinks on the right, and a small window high on the wall opposite the entrance. Alice ran to the window and had to jump and flutter her wings a bit to reach it. Alice used one of her black hooves to open the window. Just as Alice was about to make use of her escape route, she froze in place at what she saw, a cold shiver ran down her spine. Two royal guards in golden armor were standing at the other side of the window, thankfully with their backs to her. Alice dropped to the ground. ‘No.’ The royal guards, Alice remembered how a year ago she had to escape from them, and now, they were here. The voice of the guard came through the open window. “There seems to be a problem at the party. Keep watch here while I go ask the others what’s happening.” Alice could hear the guard walking away. ‘T-The others? How many guards are out there?’ The panic that had filled Alice chest, moved to fill her whole body. The window was no longer an option, she had to go back to her earth pony appearance and go out through the door. ‘Yes, I will just turn back to normal and-’ “Is someone in there?” The voice of a full grown stallion sounded from the other side of the door. Alice was sweating panic, her body no longer able to keep it inside. “You sure you saw a pony entering the bathroom?” The voice asked. “Of course, how else would the door be locked from inside?” The muffled voice of another stallion said. “I saw a cream coated pony entering and shoving of that mailmare. She must have done something.” Alice gathered energy on the tip of her horn and tried to cast the green flames that would turn her back. It didn’t work, her mind was in such a state of panic that she couldn’t concentrate enough to make the transformation work. A loud knock was heard. “Open up, this is an order from the royal guard!” The loud bangs at the door continued for a moment. “Forget this, I need a unicorn to use it’s magic to open this door!” At those words, Alice ran to one of the bathroom stalls, the furthest one from the door. After getting inside, she gave a quick look at the mirror in the opposite side. She took a few seconds to give a second look at her appearance. Memories of guards chasing her surged in her mind. A single tear went down as she closed the door of the stall. ‘They are going to discover me,’ Alice thought as she pressed her back against the door. ‘I never wanted to do anything bad, I just want to-’ Alice thoughts stopped when she heard a click, followed by the grind of the door opening. Alice tried one last time to transform back to a pony, but with each step that sounded from outside the stall, her mind was slowly falling into desperation. It was a matter of seconds before the guards grabbed her and threw her in a dungeon for stealing the love of a pony. What could she say in her defence? “It was an accident”? No, they wouldn’t accept that, and… she wouldn’t either. ‘I promised myself I wouldn’t hurt another pony...’ She kept silent, dropping her head, the desperation in her head turned in resignation. A few strands of mane covered her eyes. “Alice?” Was her mind playing with her? She could swear that the guard that had entered the bathroom sounded like- “Darling, are you alright in there?” “R-Rarity?” Apparently, her last attempt to turn back into a pony wasn’t a total failure. Alice’s voice sounded normal, like her usual ponyself, without buzzing like an insect. “I… I’m sorry.  I didn’t wanted to harm that pegasus. It’s just… I couldn’t…” She said between sobs, “Please, don’t hate me.” “Darling, why would I hate you? It was an accident and there’s nothing to be sorry about.” Rarity said in a reassuring tone of voice from the other side of the door. “But… that pegasus. I-” “Nothing bad happened to Derpy.” Rarity reassured again. The bathroom was silent for a moment, so Rarity decided to keep talking. “We got really worried when Derpy collapsed but Derpy is fine. She just felt a bit dizzy after the… short encounter.” “But I-” “I’m sorry, Alice.” That caught Alice off guard. Why would Rarity apologize? “You told me that you were afraid of crowds of ponies, and I insisted that you stay at the party anyway.” Right, the lie, “I’m really sorry, this must have been such a bad experience for you. Take your time to calm down. I’ll wait until you feel better. After that, we can go back to the boutique.” “But… I did something to that pegasus. And what about the guards? I mean, won’t they-” “Relax, darling. As I told you, Derpy is fine.” Rarity interrupted. “And I talked with those guards. I know they have to keep an eye for any kind of problem that might appear while guarding one the new princess, but they overreacted right there. Don’t worry about them, Twilight is talking to her guards. And...” Rarity trailed off for a moment, but continued almost instantly. “I already explained to the girls about your fear and that I would take care of the situation. I hope that’s okay with you, maybe you wanted to be the one to tell them that. I needed to tell them so I could explain your behaviour.” “No, thanks for that, Rarity.” Not exactly for telling the others her little lie, but for saving her from the encounter with the guards. It was nice to have a… a friend by her side. They kept silent. Rarity stood next to the door, waiting for Alice to come out. Alice took her time, she took a few deep breaths that helped her get her mind back to a normal state. When she finally felt better, Alice was about to cast her green flames, just stopping a second before it. “Rarity, could you bring me something to drink? Anything is fine, I just need something…” “Of course, darling. I’ll be back in a second.” Alice listened the hoofsteps getting away from the stall, moving to the direction of the bathroom entrance. After she heard the door closing, she gathered energy in the tip of her horn. A strong green light covered the stall. When the light faded out, Alice took a look at her body. The cream coat was back and without holes in her legs. Her red saw cutie mark was back on her flanks. She brought one hoof to her head, there wasn’t sign of fangs or a horn. Hesitantly, Alice opened the stalls door. The mirror at the other side of the room showed an earth pony, which made Alice sigh in relief. Walking slowly out of the stall, Alice took a look around her; she was alone. No sign of guards, no sign of other ponies, no sign of Rarity. Now that she was back in her casual form, she felt secure... And she felt guilty. She had to apologize to that pegasus. Obviously, she couldn’t say “Hey, I’m sorry I drained some of your love. I couldn’t help it, being a vampire of feelings and that.” So just an apology for pushing her would have to do. The grind of the door caught Alice attention. She turned her head to see a white unicorn walking towards her, holding a glass of juice with her magic. “Here you go, darling.” Rarity said with a smile on her face, levitating the glass next to Alice so she could hold it with her own hooves. “Thanks,” was all Alice said, grabbing the juice. She drank it slowly, with a downcast expression that Rarity noticed. Rarity walked to Alice and took her in a hug that surprised the cream coated mare. The surprise moved to the side, to let happiness and security take place. “Are you feeling alright?” “Yes.” Alice slowly pulled away from the hug. She drank the rest of the juice in one go, it wasn’t as tasty as what Rarity had just gave her. “I think I have partied enough.” “Yes, of course. Let’s get out and say a quick goodbye to the girls, and don’t forget to thank Pinkie for the party.” Rarity lead the way to the door, opening it with her magic. The party had calmed down, there were a few ponies still chatting, but it seemed that a good number had already left. In one corner of the shop, Alice saw the purple alicorn talking with two of her guards. One of them locked eyes with Alice when she and Rarity walked out of the bathroom. Alice immediately looked away, changing her focus to the snack table, where some of Rarity’s friends were chatting. Fluttershy was currently taking care of a gray coated pegasus next to the group. Rarity walked up to them while Alice stood in place, watching the pegasus that was laying over a few pillows. After a short talk and some hugs, Rarity signaled Alice to approach the group, which she did slowly. “Hey, thanks for everything, especially to you, Pinkie Pie.” Alice said with a smile. “No problemo, Alice. I hope you enjoyed everything, well, except for the bathroom incident. I mean, why were those meanie guards even trying to go in the little fillies room. If they wanted to go, they should have used the colt’s bathroom.” Pinkie crossed her hooves and finished with a nod. “Pinkie, Ah already told ya that… Never mind,” Applejack turned to look at Alice. “Ah have ta say, Ah was about to go mah self and pull you out of there when ah heard ya did somethin’ to Derpy.” Applejack pointed at the named pegasus. “But Rarity told me about your little problem, and it seems nothing serious really happened.” Alice looked down at her hooves, her ears pressing against her head. “I know. I’m really sorry, I couldn’t help it. I just… I just… I’m sorry.” Rainbow patted Alice in the back. “Hey, don’t worry, we aren’t mad. But you should apologize to the other pony.” “Yes, I will do that.” Alice walked up to Fluttershy and Derpy. She stood in front of the pegasus, thinking of what to say, when she saw something that made her chest go hollow, her eyes shooting wide open. ‘Oh no, Did I… Is this my fault? Her eyes are... But I have never seen something like this happen before. I-’ “Hey there.” Derpy interrupted Alice train of thoughts. “Sorry I caused some problems for you with the guards. I just felt a bit dizzy. And with the way my eyes are, I couldn’t help but trip over my hooves, like always.” Alice relaxed a bit, happy to know she hadn’t caused any serious problem to the pegasus. “No, I’m sorry for pushing you, I just… I just…” “Really needed to use the bathroom?” Derpy said with a chuckle. Alice smiled. “Yeah, you could say that.” She sighed. “It was a pleasure to meet you,” she looked at the group, “to meet all of you, but I guess is time to take my leave.” She focused her eyes on the white unicorn. “Rarity, I’ll be going.” “I’ll be with you in a second, Alice. I’m just going to talk something with the girls.” Alice nodded and made her way to the exit. She took a quick glance at the ponies who had shared hours of fun with her. When was the last time she had enjoyed a day with other ponies? Right, way before leaving Canterlot, her fears of being discovered and hated had created a wall between her and others. Today, those fears had been banished momentarily, but reappeared the second she made contact with the pegasus. That moment in which she was in the bathroom and the Ro- Alice collided with something, or more precisely, someone. She shook her head. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention where I…” She trailed off, pupils shrinking to little dots. Two Royal guards, both of them earth ponies, were standing in front of Alice, and she had collided with one of them. She took a step back. “Ma’am,” the guard in the left started. “We want to apologize for our behaviour. We overreacted, with the bangging and the yelling.” He finished, taking a look back. Twilight stood a few meters behind the guards, with a serious expression. She signaled something, which made the first guard look at his fellow guard, an earth pony, who hadn’t said anything yet. He was just standing there, his eyes locked in Alice. The first guard elbowed the second in the ribs, which pulled the earth pony out from his trance. “Uh, Yes, we are sorry.” He said, keeping his eyes on Alice. That look Alice was receiving, she couldn’t help but shudder. Thankfully, Rarity appeared just in time next to her, “Alice, let’s go.” She said before turning to the guards. “Gentlecolts,” she said with nod before the two mares moved to where Twilight was, giving a quick hug to her friend, Alice just shook hooves. They walked out the bakery, moving in the direction of the boutique. The second guard keep looking at Alice as she walked away. “Hey, pal, stop staring so much at that mares flank, you’re on duty.” The first guard said. “Huh? No, that’s not it. I just… I have seen that mare before.” He rubbed his chin, “Princess Twilight’s friend called her Alice, Right?” “Yes, what about that?” “Nothing special.” ‘I have only heard that name once before, but I don’t remember exactly where. I’ll have to investigate a little.’ With that, the two guards returned to their positions until their Princess was ready to leave the place. Alice and Rarity walked side to side as they made their way to the boutique. The earth pony took quick glance back at the bakery. At least four more royal guards were watching the surroundings of the store. Alice was happy to get away from there. The guards were to her like clowns are to certain ponies, a nightmare. And she was so close to live that nightmare. But thankfully, Rarity was there. Her friend, the pony that saved her from… from… Who knows what might had happened if Rarity wasn’t there. Rarity had done so much for her. She gave her a roof for the night and fed her, with love and real food. Even after the incident, she had to admit that she had lot’s of fun during the party, the most fun she had had in a long, long time. “Alice?” Rarity said, snapping Alice from her thoughts. Apparently, she had been staring intently at the unicorn for a while now. She shook her head and saw that they were already standing outside the boutique. “Sorry,” a little tint of pink adorned her face. “I guess I will just take my things and leave. I just need to take my saddlebags.” Alice tried to go inside the building, but Rarity was in the way. “Ummm, Rarity?” “Alice,” Rarity looked her right in the eyes. “Please, stay here with me.” The tint of pink got a shade darker, “S-stay with you?” Her heartbeat quickened. “Y-you want me to stay here with you?” “Of course, darling. I can’t let you go when the sun is about to set.” They both looked at the horizon. It was a matter of minutes before the sun gave place to the moon, and with it, the night. “Oh, right,” Alice said with a sheepish laugh. “I guess I can stay for another night.” ‘Am I crazy? After what just happened today? I can’t stay any longer, it’s way too risky.’ She looked at Rarity, who kept her eyes focused in the horizon. The light coming from the sunset brightened Rarity’s eyes and enhanced her coat’s pristine look. ‘One more day won’t hurt.’ “Perfect.”