Days of sailing and a train ride to Canterlot later, the three of us plus Cleo stepped out of the taxi to the welcome of the servant staff with Gustav at the front.
“Welcome home sir,” he said as he waves over at the Hoofcolts to grab our suitcases. “How was Neighpon?”
“It was quite interesting Gustav,” I helped Acrylic and Fleur out of the carriage. “You’ve managed to keep the house in one piece?”
“Of course,” he nodded. “I’m happy to say that everything is still running smoothly. Though there have been a few ponies that have come by the house while you were away, asking to get an appointment with Mr. Brush. I’ve made a list in the study, along with when they’ve been here and the price range they’re willing to pay for the paintings.”
“Splendid.” I nodded as we trotted into the house, “Is there any mail for us?”
“Apart from the bills in which I’ve taken care of, there is a few and one for Mr. Brush as well.”
My coltfriend’s ears perked up, “There’s mail for me?”
“It came a couple days ago,” my butler said. “I’ve put it on your bed.”
“Go get it,” I told him. “It might be the application letter.”
He nodded and trotted down into the servant’s quarters while I went into the study to check on my mail. As expected, there were a few letters of commissions for Acrylic and a hoofful of letters for the upcoming summit. Nothing that I already knew or needed to be done it would seem.
Then my red stallion came in with an envelope in his mouth. It had the blue stamp of “C. U.” with his name on it. The fellow did had a hint of nervousness in his eye as he trotted to my desk, “Here it is.” He said after he placed it down.
I picked it up in my aura, “Ready to find out if you got in?”
He rubbed his foreleg, “I-I’m still nervous about what they’ll say.”
“Here,” I offered the envelop up to him, “Let’s open it together.” He took one half with his hoof while I did the other with my magic. “Ready?”
Taking in a few deep breaths, we tore it in two until the simple white letter fell out onto the floor. I picked it up and unfold it. We both looked into what it said.
Dear Acrylic Brush,
Canterlot University thanks you for choosing us to be your next step in a higher education. We also thank you for filling out the application; this is because we must carefully examine each one to choose the most promising students to attend our university. Once we carefully check the backgrounds of our potential students, their level of education, their economic status, and a criminal record that we conclude by a committee of a majority vote, we inform that student of our decision by letter.
We are here to inform you, Acrylic Brush, that your application to Canterlot University has been rejected. The reason for this is because we believe that due to the fact you’ve never completed any grade above Elementary School, that it would be unwise to let a pony that has a very limited education in. Understand that this decision was made so that we don’t set you up to fail by the time classes’ roll around.
Please also keep in mind that our decision is not final. Until you receive a high school degree of some kind, we cannot let you begin classes here at Canterlot University.
Signed,
-The Canterlot University Student’s Committee.
'
I was shocked. I was so certain that he would get in without a problem. Looking up at my coltfriend, I could see hope itself die in his eyes. When I saw they began to water, I hugged him tightly.
“But…” he choked, “You were so sure.”
“There there,” I patted on the back, “This is not the end of the world.”
“What do I do now?” I could feel tears dripping on my shoulder. “I c-can’t get in w-without a stupid p-piece of p-paper!”
“We’ll just have to find you some teachers is all. Just to give you enough credits until you can get in.”
“What good will that do?” he questioned, “That letter said I can’t go because I’m stupid.”
“No no no! That’s not true at all! It never said that you were. Look, I can find you some tutors to teach you all the things you need to earn a High School degree.”
“Why?” he sobbed, “I’m just g-going t-to fail anyway.” Acrylic cried into my withers, “It’s not fair!”
I then saw something moved in the doorway, it was Fleur, “What happened?” she asked.
“He didn’t get accepted,” I said plainly.
“Oh no,” my bodyguard went into the room; she too gave him a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
Acrylic shoved her out of the way and went full gallop out of the room. We called out and ran after him until we saw him locking himself in a bathroom.
I knocked on the door, “Acrylic dear, what are you doing?”
“G-Go away!” we could hear him bellow out, continuing to cry.
“Now Mr. Brush," Fleur knocked, “Let’s not do anything rash. Just come out of there and let’s talk about it.”
“What’s there to talk about!” he questioned. “I’ve failed. Again!”
“We just need to try again,” I said. “There’s nothing wrong in fai-” Then I heard a cabinet door open from the other side. “Uh… Acrylic? What are you doing?”
There was no response from the other side. We heard something being moved and placed on the toilet seat. It sounded like that whatever it was had liquid…
I frantically knock on the door, “Acrylic, whatever it is you’re doing, stop it! Do you hear me?” This time, I wasn’t knocking, I was banging. “ACRYLIC! Open the door!”
There was the sound of a lid being unscrewed and dropped on the floor. On the other side, the crying still continued.
“Acrylic, please!” I shouted, “Don’t do this!”
When my coltfriend didn’t answer, Fleur looked at me, “Stay back, I’m gonna kick the door down.” I did. She turned around and gave the white door several swift bucks until there was a hole to see through. Now that we can peer through, we saw him wrapping his head in his forelegs, balling as he was crouched up against the toilet that next to his head was a white container of bleach.
Once the door was unlocked, I rushed in. “Acrylic, are you alright?” I lifted his face, sniffing it to make sure he didn’t ingest the poisonous substance. To my relief, there was none. I hugged him tightly, “Don’t, ever, do that again.” I told him, “Don’t ever scare me like that.”
“I can’t do it,” I heard him say softly. “I can’t do it.”
“Sir?” I heard Gustav’s hoofsteps approach us, “What the? Sir, what happened-”
“Get Dr. Bandage immediately,” I ordered. “Acrylic almost killed himself again.”
My butler and Fleur rushed out while I held onto the shaken up stallion.
_*_
“The good news is that he doesn’t have to go to the hospital,” the unicorn doctor told me. “I’ve run all the tests from blood to urine, and there’s no trace that he’s been poisoned.”
Thank Celestia, I slumped back against the wall. We were in the servant’s quarters with Acrylic’s room being across from me. The doctor closed the door behind him. “So he’s okay?”
“Physically yes,” he said. “But at the moment he’s mentally unstable. While we’re lucky that you're able to prevent it, I would make sure that he should be kept away from anything he could harm himself with that he could ingest, cut, suffocate, puncture, choke or burn with for the next twenty-four hours. So I want to make sure that he’s checked on often while you should contact a psychiatrist.”
“Wait a minute,” I stood up. “Psychiatrist? Acrylic isn’t insane, he’s just depressed.”
“I disagree Mr. Pants. Tell me, do you know what the legal definition of insanity is?”
Tilting my head, I answered, “Isn’t it that one does the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?”
He shook his head, “The law in Equestria states that a pony that should be committed to a mental hospital, or be given treatments that have to do with mental health is that pony has caused: harm to others; harm to self; or destruction of property. Considering that Mr. Brush nearly killed himself twice in the same year, what does that tell you about him?”
Although angry, I calmed myself down, “While I don’t agree that my coltfriend is mad, I do think that he does need help.”
“Again,” he picked up his bag, “I recommend that Mr. Brush should be kept under supervision for the next twenty-four hours to see that he doesn’t harm himself again. In the meantime, try to call up a psychiatrist to see about treating his depression. Also for his safety, be sure to put him on a liquid diet for the whole day and be sure to watch him while he eats so that he won’t use any sharp objects to stab himself with.”
Nodding, I thanked the doctor as he went away, and I went into Acrylic’s room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, all his paintbrushes, tubes, and whatever he could have used had stripped the room bare. Even his clothes were taken off of him, leaving him nothing but the pillow and blanket on the bed. He had his eyes closed, hunched over, hugging the pillow with the blanket draping over his back.
I sat down next to him. But he didn’t look up at me, “I’m sorry.”
Kissing his ear, I told him softly, “No. It wasn’t your fault.”
“How do you know? I nearly died at my own hoof, again.” This time he looked up at me, “Fancy… I don’t know what I was thinking. I let my emotions get the better of me and-”
“Shh,” I put a hoof to his mouth, “At least nopony was hurt, and that’s the important thing. But, Acrylic, you really did scare me back there.”
“I know,” his ears folded back. “By Celestia, what a complicated thing the pony mind is. That no matter how much you try to get to examine yourself, you may never fully understand why you do what you do.”
“But why did you stop?” I asked, rubbing his back. “You almost gulped that poison, but why didn’t you?”
Acrylic paused for a moment, “Because… I remembered something.” He sniffed, “Something you said.”
“What was that?”
“That you’re scared of losing me,” he squeezed the pillow tighter. “So again, you held me back from making the same stupid mistake.”
I moved my hoof to touch his mane, “Oh come old sport, I think you ought to give yourself credit too. The fact you didn’t give in should tell you about something.”
“Like what?”
“Well… that you’re much stronger than you believe to be. My father once told me that the opposite of fear isn’t courage, its faith. The faith that no matter how enormous the problems you face or how many times you see them, that you’ll see to it that you’ll overcome them in the end.”
“But I can’t do this alone,” my coltfriend said, “I need somepony like you from making me fall off the edge.”
I kissed him, “I promised that I will help you, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
He looked over at the door before back to me, “Please tell me honestly when I ask this – have I gone mad?”
Humming, I put a hoof to his forehead, “To quote a great line from a bad movie, ‘I’m afraid so. You’re crazy, bonkers. But I’m going to tell you a secret: all the best ponies are a little mad.’”
“Like van Go?” he asked, smiling.
“Now I wouldn’t push it that far, he never had such a compassionate coltfriend as you have.”
The both of us laughed until Acrylic said, “So now what? The university won’t take me, and I have a bunch of bits in the bank. What am I going to do with it?”
“Now now,” I patted his head, “first thing is we’ll need to gather some teachers together so you can get your degree. As for the bits, well, it is your money after all, so I can’t really say what you should do with it. Now then, are you feeling hungry?”
He shook his head, “I don’t feel like eating anything yet.”
I nodded, “I’m going to make sure the servants check up on you every so often. After all, I did promise that I would send my father that letter. But I’ll tell you what; you can sleep in my bed tonight if you like.”
My coltfriend then nuzzled me, “What would I do without you Fancy?”