//------------------------------// // Free // Story: A Shadow Hangs Overhead // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// Rarity blinked slowly and tilted her head, her expression carefully neutral as she regarded her beaming doctors. She looked down at the papers floating in Dr. Mind's magical glow, then back at Dr. Mind. "Er... so sorry, I'm afraid that I misheard you." Rarity gently cleared her throat. "I thought I heard you say that those were my discharge papers and... that I'm going home today." Dr. Mind chuckled and put the papers down on Rarity's desk. "In fact, you didn't mishear me, Rarity. These are your discharge papers, and you are going home today. As a matter of fact, your parents and Sweetie Belle are on their way to the institution to pick you up right now. They should be here any minute. You just sign these papers, and you can go home with them." "Go... home," Rarity whispered breathlessly. She gently laid a hoof on the discharge papers and stared down at them. "I'm sorry, it's just that... I never thought this day would come." "I know, but it has, Rarity." Dr. Mind levitated a pen out of the front pocket of his coat and laid it down next to the papers. "We just need you to sign on the line at the bottom of the first page, initial the lines on the second page, and sign and date the third page. Once you do that, you're free to go." "Free to..." Rarity shakily pulled the pen over to her as her lower jaw began quivering. A pair of tears streaked down her face, and she slowly pushed the pen away. "Rarity?" Dr. Mind frowned and took a step towards her. "What's wrong? We just need a few signatures. Don't you want to be released?" "Yes," Rarity said in a small voice. "I want to be released more than anything. I want to wake up in my own house with Sweetie Belle just down the hallway in her own room where I can see her as much as I want instead of during visiting hours. I want to go downstairs and see my mother cooking b-breakfast and father reading the newspaper." A single sob escaped Rarity's throat and she wiped her eyes with her forelegs. "But I know that this isn't real. I'm just having a lucid dream, one that I've had countless times over the nearly six years that I've been here. I can't suffer that disappointment again. I just... can't." Dr. Mind sighed and gave Rarity a quiet smile. He sat down next to her and put a hoof on her back. "But it isn't a dream, Rarity. This is completely real, I assure you. Your family is probably already here." Dr. Mind pushed the pen back to Rarity. "Just sign and you're out of here forever. No offense to you, Rarity, but we don't want you back. I am of the opinion, and the rest of us agree, that you won't ever hurt anypony ever again." Dr. Mind tapped the papers and gave Rarity a warm smile. "This isn't a dream, Rarity. Sign the papers and you're free." Rarity took a deep breath and slowly began nodding. She illuminated her horn and lifted the pen in the air, scrawling her name on the necessary pages. When she was finished, Dr. Mind nodded and put the papers in a folder that Dr. Merrin was carrying. Dr. Mind got to his hooves and motioned for Rarity to do the same. "You're free, Rarity. I have a few boxes waiting outside the door. Let's get your stuff packed. * * * * The next twenty minutes were spent packing all of Rarity's meager possessions. The doctors gently took her designs off of the wall, took her few books off of the bookshelf and put them in two small boxes outside of her room. The entire time Rarity had a blank expression on her face, part of her still believing that this was just a dream; that any moment she would wake up and be disappointed just as she had been for the past six years. But it wasn't a dream. She was going home, never to return to the institution. They believed that she would never murder again. Dr. Mind helped her carry the boxes out of her room and to the front entrance of the institution where, sure enough, her parents were waiting with Sweetie Belle. All of them had wide smiles on their faces, and when Rarity came through the door to the front room, they rushed over to her and wrapped her in a group hug. Sweetie Belle giggled and crawled onto Rarity's head. "You're comin' home, Rarity," her father said. "How does it feel?" "It feels..." Rarity blinked once and slowly shook her head. "We'll talk about it later. Right now I just want to get out of here. I've spent six years in this place and I can't spend another moment." Rarity glanced back at the doctors who were watching her. "No offense to you, of course." Dr. Redheart chuckled and waved her hoof. "None taken, Rarity. We don't want you spending another moment here either. You go on home." "Home." The word felt foreign in Rarity's mouth, but at the same time she felt a wave of comfort wash over her. "Yes. Home. Let's go home." Rarity's parents broke away from the hug, and Rarity stood up, lifting Sweetie Belle onto her back, much to the delight of the filly. Her father illuminated his horn and lifted the two boxes of Rarity's possessions into the air. Rarity turned to the doctors behind her and beckoned them. "Follow us outside. I have something to say to you and I'd rather not say it in here." The doctors nodded, and the seven ponies filed out of the institution. When the front door opened, Rarity felt a cool breeze of clean air wash over her, and a smile crossed her face. Somehow it felt purer now that she was free; more so even than when she had her trips with Applejack. She turned back to the doctors, her smile still on her face. "I want to thank all of you for helping me these past six years. I couldn't have gotten through everything without your help. I know that I might have been a difficult patient at times, but do know that I never wanted to be." Dr. Mind widened his smile slightly and put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "You were never a bother to us, Rarity. We were happy to help you." He gave a single chuckle and motioned out towards Ponyville. "Now go on. Go home and rest. I don't know anypony that's deserved it more than you." With one final goodbye from all of the doctors, the three went back into the institution. Rarity turned back to her parents who were loading her possessions into the back of a taxi. Rarity slowly walked towards the taxi, being careful to not dislodge Sweetie Belle from her perch. When she reached it, she lifted Sweetie Belle into the air and entered the taxi. She scooted over to the farthest seat and put Sweetie Belle on her lap. "Big sister promised that she would be out soon the day you were born, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said quietly. She gently nuzzled her sister, who giggled and poked Rarity's nose. "Now I... I'm out." "You sure are, Rarity," said her father with a smile. He and Rarity's mother entered the taxi, and the burly earth pony stallion pulling it began moving towards Ponyville. "You're home for good. No more of this mental institution nonsense. You're coming back to where you belong." The twenty minute ride back to their home was spent in relative silence. Sweetie Belle would occasionally babble something to amuse herself, but Rarity merely stared blankly ahead. Soon enough her home came into view, and the driver stopped just outside of her doorway. Her parents exited the taxi first, her father hoofing fifteen bits to the driver. Rarity then lifted Sweetie Belle into the air with her magic and walked out of the taxi, getting a look at her home for the first time in almost six years. It was just how she had remembered it. A little run down, perhaps, but it was her home. The driver took off again after Rarity's mother took her belongings out of the back, and the family walked up to their house. Rarity's father trotted ahead of the family to the door, and opened it up for the rest of the family to walk in. When Rarity passed him, he bowed low to her. "Your palace awaits, madam. I trust you will find it satisfactory." Rarity gave him a smile and tilted her head back to him. "I'm sure that I will, good sir. More than satisfactory, no doubt." Rarity crossed the threshold of the doorway and into her home. Every inch of the house was completely spotless, and a large banner had been hung from the ceiling. Welcome Home Rarity. Rarity's parents entered behind her, and her father shut the door. Rarity's mother walked up beside her and nuzzled her daughter. "Welcome home, baby. We've missed you here." "I've missed being here," Rarity said breathlessly. She took a deep breath and alternated looks between her parents. "So, what now? I'm home. Do you have anything planned?" "Not at all, Rarity," said her father. "Today is yours. You get to decide what to do. It's your special day, after all." "Yes. I suppose it is." Rarity sighed and lowered her head. "I know that this is probably a touch rude, given how I've spent much of my time away from you, but... I think I would like to go to my room now. I'm quite... overwhelmed at the moment." "It's not rude at all, Rarity." Rarity's mother nudged her forwards and Rarity followed her down the closest hallway. "Like we said, it's your day. If you want to rest for a little while, that's perfectly okay with us. We don't see it as being separated from you, anymore." The group reached a doorway and Rarity's mother opened it up. "You're just down the hall. You're not in some evil institution anymore. You're here with us where you should have been all along." Rarity nodded and nuzzled her mother's neck. "I'm glad, mother. I can't imagine a place I'd rather be right now. I'll see you later, okay? At worst I'll sleep in until tomorrow." "Sleep in as long as you want, Rarity," her father said. "We'll be waiting for you when you wake up." Rarity's mother took Sweetie Belle off of Rarity's back and transferred her to her own. Sweetie Belle let out a noise of displeasure, and reached a hoof out to Rarity. Rarity gave her a comforting smile and gently nuzzled her sister. "Don't worry, Sweetie Belle. Big sister is just going to rest for a little while. I'll come see you when I wake up." With that, Rarity slowly walked into her room and closed the door behind her. As with the rest of the house, her room was immaculate, but Rarity hardly noticed. She vaguely registered that everything was still there from that fateful day in the woods. All of her old toys and designs were still around. Her room hadn't changed at all. Rarity walked over to her bed and laid down on it, relishing how much more comfortable it was than the one she had laid on for the past six years at the institution. No longer would she endure therapy sessions, talks about what she had done and where she was going to go from here. She wouldn't constantly be under the watchful eye of ponies who were worried that she would murder again. "Free." Rarity blinked twice and took a deep breath. "I... I'm free." All at once the emotions that she had been unable to feel since hearing the news rushed over her, and, not knowing what else to do, Rarity wept.