//------------------------------// // Act II, Scene 11: Dark Reprise // Story: If You Give a Little Love... // by Quillamore //------------------------------// Rarity, I fear that this may be a lot to take in, because it certainly was for me. You told me a few weeks ago to send you a letter if anything goes wrong, and honestly, I fear that any help you might try to send me will end up coming too late. That is, assuming I’ll even ever work up the courage to send you this in the first place. If by some odd chance you receive these or any of the letters I plan on writing later, you have my word that my sending them to you means that there is no other way for me to avoid this situation on my own. I’ve already relied on you far too much, and have learned above all else that I should only turn to ponies like you in real emergencies. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to realize that when Scene and I were still friends. I also don’t want you to see this unless the situation requires it because what I’ve been doing in Manehattan isn’t anything you’d be proud of. I feel like, for all the changes you’ve made in my life, I’ve just ended up going straight back to how I was before, and I’m not sure if I can reverse them this time. But above all, if you read this, just know that I’ve failed you. I might just have ended up failing everypony around me. You see, I’ve found that when you spend long enough in the theatre, you begin to think of your life as a play in and of itself, and with what’s going on now, I mean this in the most literal way possible. One of the only ways I’ve been able to cope with the current situation is through remembering a particular production we put on years ago at the Midsummer Theatre Revival. To put it basically, it’s the story of a mare and a stallion, two lovers from noble families who got along fairly well until the family honor of one of them was threatened. In a desperate attempt to regain his reputation, the stallion kills his marefriend’s father and goes on to become the hero of the land. For all the glory he receives, the mare continues to struggle with her emotions, looking at him with a mixture of love and scorn, unable to choose between family and romance. Looking back at it, I always thought it was an awfully simple decision: if being with somepony means ignoring what they did to your family, any happiness that could come out of it wouldn’t be worth it. I always wanted to reach out to the actress on stage and tell her that she could be saved from so many struggles just by realizing this. But now I realize just how simplistic that way of thinking is, to assume that there would be no roadblocks stopping her from doing otherwise. If this isn’t the sort of story you wish to hear, about a distant friend who may have just sacrificed everypony she loved out of fear, then read no further and continue on with your life. I’ll do fine here, I’m sure of it. But if you really want to sink that far into it, know that in the real world, the hero of the play isn’t really a hero at all. He may groom himself like one, and even though he doesn’t have me convinced anymore, I know that most ponies don’t have the chance to know him the way I do. I myself almost never saw it. If the unavoidable emergency occurs, I’d like to request one simple thing. Please do everything within your judgement to keep your friend Applejack from seeing this. While you may see it as being necessary at first glance to inform her of the situation, please realize that she above all will likely still see the champion of Manehattan as the stallion he pretends to be. It’s beginning to sink in, just how terrible it is to go against one’s own family, and the last thing I would want is for Applejack to have to experience the same feelings I am right now, after seeing the real Mosely Orange. No, the last thing I would ever want is to hurt anypony. At least, more than I already have. --Coco Pommel **** At approximately eight in the morning, Rarity would receive the fateful set of letters which enclosed the dark details of just how far her long-distance friend had begun to spiral. A half hour went by just processing the details, and after that, everything else in her mind just went into autopilot. Anypony around to watch it would have seen the dressmaker packing her bags faster and lighter than had been previously thought feasible for her. Sweetie Belle, only barely awake from all this racket, was the only pony to notice her departure from the boutique. Upon being asked why she was taking off for Manehattan on such short notice, especially with the play’s world premiere only ten days from then, Rarity provided a single answer before trotting off. “Think of the worst possible thing that could have happened to the play,” she whispered. “Then multiply that by a thousand.” Only an hour and a half later, she was already on board the Friendship Express, having decided that Applejack needed to go along as much as anypony else did. Granted, she’d dragged her friend into the situation without much explanation, but hopefully, Applejack wouldn’t be too demanding of one. With all the despair Coco was going through, Rarity could only imagine how much the truth could impact the Apple matriarch. Going after a renegade family member would be one thing, but betraying somepony who’d taken her into his own house during the roughest parts of her fillyhood—not to mention somepony who basically had all of Manehattan under his hoof—would be another entirely. Regardless, Rarity had already vowed that, should her companion ever find out the truth behind their sudden departure, she would still do everything she could to oppose Mosely—with or without her. Unfortunately, she would soon discover that as impossible as it is to keep a dirty secret from anypony, the difficulty would only increase tenfold if said pony is a friend and a hundredfold if said friend happens to be the Element of Honesty herself. Halfway through the journey, after seeing Rarity read over the letters for the third time, Applejack finally worked up the courage to ask the unthinkable. “Do ya mind if I take a gander at those for a bit?” “Oh, I’ve already told you most of what they say, Applejack,” Rarity replied, laughing nervously in response. “Poor Coco dear has gotten herself involved with somepony in Manehattan who appears to take delight in separating her from those who care about her, tricking her into feeling terrible about herself, and stealing every last bit of her time. He’s even gone so far as to threaten her job if she doesn’t stay with him, and had something to do with Babs getting fillynapped all these years ago.” “All I know is, no matter who this here rascal thinks he is, I ain’t about to stand for it,” Applejack responded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we went there and it turned out bein’ that Svengallop fella out for revenge. Sounds a bit too much like what happened to Rara, if you get what I’m saying.” “After reading all these letters, I can only say that I almost wish it was just that. If that were the case, we could just go straight out there, tell the authorities we’d personally witnessed him using another budding celebrity for his own gain, and it’d be done just like that. But problem is, all we have are these, and the culprit has far more influence than just some demanding manager. And then, of course, there are other complications…” “Like what? Now you’re just makin’ me more curious. Just say who it is and I’m sure it’ll be fine.” “Are you really sure about that?” Rarity questioned ominously. “Because it isn’t just coincidence that this stallion knew about Babs. He was able to do what he did because he was a relative of hers. Which makes him one of yours, too.” As Applejack surrendered to silence, pondering the full gravity that the situation could very well entail, Rarity could almost hear the pounding of the wind moving through the train. She had no idea how Coco would react to both ponies knowing her secret, considering she hadn’t even wanted to tell Rarity in the first place. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was really necessary to go along this route, one that could splinter the Apple family for good for all she knew. More than anything, she wished she could erase the last few moments from her friend’s mind so that Applejack would never have heard the impulsive outburst she’d just said. “Who’d have done this?” Applejack finally questioned, her voice barely audible with notes of indignant sorrow. “You’re sayin’ one of my own kin is doin’ all these awful things under my nose? All these years of reunions and meetings and I never caught it, not even once?” “That’s what he would want you to think: that you were any worse of a pony for not being able to see through his conning.” “I know, but it still hurts. Anyway, it’s still my job as Babs’ aunt and Apple family liaison to get to the bottom of this, no matter how much it may end up killin’ me to. That’ll have to start by you tellin’ me who I need to go after.” “That’s where it’ll get complicated, because if this pony is who I think he is, I’ve got a bad feeling about where all of this is heading,” Rarity confessed. “You told me that the Oranges are technically a part of your family, am I correct?” “Depends on who you’re askin’. Granny’ll deny them to her last breath, and last time I asked why, it was because one of them lured her daughter off to their side. She still hasn’t forgiven the lot of them. But with me, it’s a bit different since I lived with them, after all. I may not have liked my time in the big city, but there’s a part of me that’s always missed the two of ‘em. We got real close back then, and we were never able to get back to that.” “I’m afraid you may never be able to, even if the one who was found with Coco wasn’t one you lived with. Because this could be enough to completely distance you from them forever.” “If it means finally gettin’ to save Babs and Coco from everything they’ve had to go through, it’s worth it. This is gonna be my last time askin’, and I regret nothin’.” “I hope you keep thinking that way even after you find out. But it seems I can’t delay it any longer. There’s nothing more to hide; the one who was caught doing all of this is named Mosely Orange.” “Mosely?” Applejack repeated, almost dumbfounded by the word itself. “My own uncle was behind this? He was the one who set everything up for my stay before I got my cutie mark. Even when I first figured out how empty Manehattan was for me, he was the reason I stayed. He helped me sort out through everything, even if the decision I made wasn’t what he would’ve wanted.” “I’m sorry, Applejack. That’s why Coco and I didn’t want you to get involved. We knew that there might be a part of you that might want to take his side, and—“ “I’d never side with somepony who treats foals like that, family or not,” the orange earth pony replied, trying her best to hide the cracks in her voice. “But that doesn’t mean I can bring myself to hate him right away. From believin’ that he used to be different. He had to have been, Rarity. He just…had to. A stallion like the one he used to be…he never would’ve hurt the two of them like that. Or maybe…even that was a lie. Maybe I’m the one who was wrong all this time.” “It’s not your fault he’s done all these things.” “I know,” Applejack whispered as she picked up the parcel full of letters for the first time, soaking in the darkness Mosely had shielded her so well from, still trying her best to piece together the image of him she’d never gotten to have. “I know, but it doesn’t stop me from feelin’ like I could’ve stopped all of this.” “You still can,” Rarity answered. “This time, you’ll have me to help you. You may have lost Mosely, but you still have all the rest of your family…and all of us, too. All of your honorary Apples. And we’re worth way more than some twisted uncle who almost kept you from your cutie mark to begin with.” “That’s not exactly what I needed to hear right now, but thanks. We’ve got time for thinkin’ about all this later. Now we’ve got to size up our competition and fight ‘em like they’re anypony else we’ve gone against. Much as I hate to say this, I can’t go easy on family. And besides—“ A look of new determination hit Applejack’s face, almost entirely blocking out the bits of remorse that were still there. “—I never have trusted chocolate-covered oranges.” **** Hours went by in the hospital without much response, or at least, that of the desired kind. Ponies came, ponies went, whether nurses, doctors, or insignificant guests, but one thing remained the same. Even into the morning, Coco had yet to regain any semblance of consciousness. While Bambi reasoned that her inert state was likely more out of excessive need for sleep than any sort of deeper illness, she and her sister watched over her with worried glances nonetheless. Any seconds they spent away from Coco’s bedside were used to keep vigilant watch for any undesirables about to approach the door of the hospital room, with one in particular topping the list. As visitation hours approached, no matter how much Bambi wanted to dismiss the thought, she spent more and more time watching the windows, in wait for what she already knew was going to happen. Mosely was going to play the innocent and concerned coltfriend, easily able to convince starstruck hospital employees to let him in with no second thoughts to be had. And even if she succeeded in dispelling him, he would only come back at another time in hopes that she wouldn’t be there to interfere. He would skip his Bridleway duties for as long as it would take for him to get into that room and, from there, it would be all too easy for him to get Coco under his control again. That, above all, could not come to pass if Bambi had anything to say about it. Now was only a matter of holding him off until Rarity came and the real confrontation would begin. Sure enough, by ten in the morning, Mosely had already attempted to enter the chamber, but was quickly stopped by a receptionist who informed him visitation hours had not begun yet. Breathing a sigh of relief for the time being, Bambi then decided to make extra precautions should he happen to reappear, knowing that there could just as well be a chance she would not be personally present to prevent a potential interference. Every nurse that appeared to check on the patient from that time onward would be carefully notified that her case had been intentionally incited by a particular pony who would reappear throughout the day asking for Coco’s room number. They would be drilled on the details of his personal appearance even down to his cutie mark, but by her own choice, Bambi did not divulge his name. Doing so, she conjectured, would only cause disbeliefs and laughs of skepticism. Much as she sought to someday change this fact, she could not deny that her father still had a shining reputation in most Manehattan communities. After about another half hour of waiting by the door, Bambi was finally stirred by two ponies rushing towards it at such speed that their figures could not be discerned. Thinking Mosely was trying to throw her off by bringing somepony else along this time, she did everything in her power to block off the entrance, only to find herself flung into the nearest wall from the impact. “So sorry about that, miss!” one of the ponies, a stallion, responded upon seeing the yellow earth pony with half her body in the air and the rest lodged into a corner. “Didn’t see you there, we were just so concerned and…” “We’re here now,” the other replied. “We came as soon as we heard. Made sure nopony else came in here ahead of us, either. Somepony was about to, but I led him to another room in the opposite direction. It’ll take him a while to figure it out.” Suddenly remembering that she had requested for one of the hospital’s unicorn receptionists to copy the set of letters with the intention of sending them to Coco’s parents, Bambi eased her hooves back onto the ground and began to switch her focus, mentally preparing herself for any questions they might inevitably ask her. “Fate, honey, that could have been another one of Coco’s friends for all we know!” the stallion scolded. “I know the situation’s tense on all of us right now, but we can’t just go pointing hooves at strangers. I told you that lying to him back there was a bad idea!” “You forget easily, don’t you, Terry?” his wife answered, rolling her eyes. “Three years ago, when we made that deal so the shop would carry exclusively Apple brand produce, does that ring any bells?” “You mean how there was some cataclysmic event that happened on the exact date when negotiations were supposed to happen, making it so that basically the entire Ponyville branch of the family couldn’t show up for days?” “Yeah, and how the pony we ended up making the deal with had nothing to do with the actual produce division. So unprofessional, but that's beyond the point." “Come to think of it, I do remember now,” Terry spoke. “I had a pretty good conversation with that stallion way back then. A bit too uppity for my taste, but I digress. What was the point you were trying to make?” “I never forget a customer’s face,” replied Fate. “And that pony we saw back there was most definitely the same as the one we completed that transaction with. Or, to be more precise, Mosely Orange.” “Wait, so we almost let that guy into our daughter’s room?!” “Well, technically, you almost did. Thankfully, we have each other to keep us on our hooves, and all the rest of that romance stuff. You’re welcome, by the way.” “Yeah, thank Celestia you’re so observant,” Terry replied, a tinge of hesitation in his voice. “More importantly, that could have been catastrophic. If he were to do anything else to her, I’m not sure how much more she could take.” As the ponies in the room fell into a state of silence upon realizing how close they had come to ruining the precarious peace they had tried so hard to keep, they only barely noticed that Coco was starting to wake up once more. Even after she opened her eyes, she only let out a few slight moans to alert the others of her consciousness, still visibly drained from the aftereffects of the past few weeks on her. “Shouldn’t I be at work by now?” she muttered groggily, her eyes now staring slightly above her at the clock. “Opening night’s in less than two weeks. I really need to get going.” Strangely unaware of her situation, Coco was about to raise herself off the bed when Bambi stopped her. “I went over to the theatre a few hours ago to tell them where you were,” she replied. “It’s going to be fine. You’ve been there almost every day since they started production, and as much as I hate to say this, you still have Suri to pick up your slack. Still hate that mare like nopony’s business, but I can at least swallow that grudge until you’re better. Besides, from the looks of things, she isn’t even your biggest enemy anymore.” “Oh, yeah,” Coco answered, rolling over onto the other side of the bed with her body now facing away from her roommate. “You saw the letters. And knowing you, they’re probably heading for Ponyville as we speak, even though the last thing any of them over there need is to get involved in my issues again. The way I see it, even if they did, it’d just mean more ponies for Mosely to trap in his schemes. But, well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. If only it’d been later.” As she said this, her eyes never once moved to make contact with the ponies around her, responding only by staring at different areas on the wall and letting out a few remorseful sighs here and there. “I know this isn’t going to be what you want to hear, but your roommate did the right thing,” Fate began. “Why did you even go along with it in the first place? I mean, I’m not trying to be judgmental or anything, but there had to have been other options. You could have talked to the director or--” “What would there have been for me to report?” her daughter responded. “When I first got the news, I thought Mosely honestly loved me. I didn’t know that he was the one trying to get me fired, or if I ever did, I figured that he was being forced to do so by his higher-ups. I know that feeling all too well, so I went along with it. Besides, what much of a choice did I even have? Give up the one good job I’ve had in years and have everypony remember me as one of those theatre ponies who always complains about their contracts? “And even if I could have reported it without losing my job…that doesn’t mean Scene would’ve been willing to listen. I made my director so mad last time I asked him for help that he’s avoided me for weeks.” Bambi was about to protest that that situation was just another one of Mosely’s schemes, but was interrupted just when she had opened her mouth. “Don’t be so hard on her, sweetie,” Terry chided to his wife. “She’s been through a lot, and she only just now found out a lot of this stuff. She’s as new to this whole situation as we are. The last thing she needs is you making it out like it’s her fault.” “I know, but I can’t believe this. Here I thought this job could at least have a decent boss, but he’s even worse than her last one. It wasn’t her fault either time, but Celestia knows she probably can’t take much more of this treatment. Maybe it would be better on her if she quit like last time—“ “I can’t do that again!” Coco replied suddenly. “Suri’s still mad at me about that. I certainly don’t need any more ex-bosses bearing grudges against me.” “I thought I told you not to meet up with that mare again,” Fate murmured, her usual strictness now replaced by resigned pain. “I thought you’d moved past that.” “I can’t, exactly. Before he started trying to lure me over to his side, Mosely was dating Suri, and he pulled strings to get her on as my assistant so he could have somepony spying on me within my own department. Once he realized I could be more useful to him than she was, he basically cast her aside and even tore into her at a fancy gala where everypony was watching just because she wanted to know why he hadn’t been talking to her. She hasn’t been heckling me at work anymore, but then again, she hasn’t been doing much of anything really except trying to get Mosely to come back to her. Everypony on set knows now that she only got in for her connections, and now that Mosely’s done with her, the word on the stage is that he’ll finally get around to firing her any day now.” She paused for a slight moment before continuing, “That was when I first started having my doubts about him. At first he told me he just disliked Suri because he found out the truth about her, but even if that were the case, he wouldn’t have humiliated her like that if he was the pony he tried to present himself as when I first met him. Really, Babs is the only thing keeping him from doing the same thing to me, exposing me and all.” “What did I do?” Babs piped in innocently. “What do I have to do with this new coltfriend of yours? I don’t think I’ve ever even met him to begin with.” “Oh dear,” Terry sighed. “Does she even remember—“ “Yes, but it’s really not good to bring Mosely up in front of her,” Bambi explained. “See, she remembers him a bit differently.” “Wait, you keep mentionin’ this Mosely,” Babs realized. “If he’s the same one I’m thinkin’ of, then I can fix it for sure! Uncle Momo’s probably just bein’ mean to you because he thinks you hurt me back then. We do go way back, he was the one that took me in after Mom and Dad couldn’t anymore, after all. So if you’d let me tag along next time he tries to give you trouble, I can sort things out with him. That way, if he lets down his guard and falls in love with you for real, you could finally be related to me even without the adoption stuff.” Coco’s parents exchanged slight looks of concern and pity as the filly went on about her proposal to help her adoptive mother. “I oughta know better than anypony else how sometimes ponies act that way ‘cause there’s other stuff goin’ on,” continued Babs. “And I’m sure Uncle Momo can be saved just like I was. There’s no way he would’ve done those things to you if he’d known how much you’d end up bein’ hurt by them. As soon as you’re all healed up, we can go talk to him.” Fate was about to open her incredibly blunt mouth again to set matters straight and was met only with a harsh glare and a barely hidden “you can’t just tell a foal that” from her husband. “I’m really lookin’ forward to it, actually. I haven’t seen him at all the past few years, and I’m sure Uncle Momo will be just as excited to see me, and—“ It was at that moment Babs finally realized that everypony else in the room was refusing to look her in the eye. “Why are you lookin’ at me like that?” “It’s because, well, as much as you may want to see him,” Bambi responded hesitantly, “he doesn’t exactly feel the same way. There’s a reason why I don’t live with him anymore. It’s nothing you should feel ashamed of, it’s just that, well…” With a final cringe, she ended up swapping out her wording at the last minute. “Mosely hasn’t been the same since our mother left him.” That was a lie. On the contrary, he’d remained all too similar. All Cameo had really been in the grand scheme of things was a limiter, somepony to keep watch over her father to make sure he didn’t act too out of control, somepony to cancel him out. Bambi had noticed from the beginning that when the Oranges acted together, they were a neutral family who stayed out of trouble for the most part, but on the job and away from his wife’s influence, Mosely proved himself to be every bit as unpredictable as he was now. That, after all, was what would naturally occur when a negative charge like him was removed from the safe confines of his positive counterpart. To say that absorbing increasing amounts of negative energy would change a pony already affected by it was false in every way of the word; it would only intensify the norm. Ponies like Coco and Cameo could never truly nullify the effects of their opposites; they could only keep absorbing them until the change was too late to stop. They would keep on taking the negative energy into themselves, collecting more and more of it until they could no longer bear it. Of course, that wasn’t a truth Babs needed to know. At least, Bambi thought to herself, not if could be avoided. Some secrets were too dark to tell. “That’s all there is to it,” she continued, trying her best to keep her younger sister’s heart intact. “He wants a mare to replace his wife in his eyes. That’s why he’s harassing Coco. She reminds him too much of our mother, and that’s that. He may have had a chance to be good once, but all that changed when he lost her. He’s gotten to the point where he can’t even remember the pony he used to be. He’s completely lost himself and he isn’t the pony you used to know anymore. He’ll do anything to regain the life he used to have, and he’s dangerous now, to all of us.” “I get why he might have gotten this way at least a little,” Babs replied, “but there’s still so much I don’t understand. Why does it seem like I’m the one at the center of all this?” “Hopefully you’ll never have to understand,” Bambi whispered as the room went silent once more. “Because that’ll mean I was able to protect at least one pony from him…” Even as she said this, though, she didn't even know if she was powerful enough to mask this web of lies anymore...