//------------------------------// // Chapter 1- Broken // Story: Now You're Gone // by Havokwithak //------------------------------// "Don't worry, Twilight." Sunset Shimmer said as the smaller girl continued to cry in her arms. "I'll be back someday." "I don't want you to leave..." Twilight sobbed. "We're supposed to stay together. All of us... W-we're family." she cried as she gripped the girl's jacket more tightly. Sunset smiled, a small, broken smile. "The seven of us are still family, even if we're apart. We'll always be a little family." "No!" Twilight yelled through her tears as she balled her fists around Sunset's shirt. "You can't leave me!" she cried."You're the one who showed me how important friendship was, you can't give me something so amazing and then just leave me behind!" Her tears streamed down her face and fell on the larger girl. When Twilight had heard the news she had immediately grabbed the girl and fell to the floor crying. Sunset sighed and smiled again. "This is why I wanted to tell you first." she said. "I knew you'd react this way. You have to understand, Twilight. I don't want to go. I have to." "No, you don't." Twilight pleaded burying her head into Sunset chest. "Nobody is holding a gun to your head. No one is making you leave. You could stay here with me forever." "Trust me, Sparkles, I want nothing more than just that." Sunset said as she began stroking Twilight's hair. She hadn't seemed to mind being dragged to the floor or her friend crying all over her. She had honestly expected Twilight to have the biggest outburst of the six of them. "I have to go, though. I have to fix everything I messed up there before I can live here." "Please." Twilight begged once more. She raised her head to meet Sunset's eyes and asked again. "Don't go..." Sunset felt her own eyes growing wet as she pulled Twilight's head into her chest and she whispered the last thing she wanted to say. "I'm sorry." Twilight woke up and stared at the wall. The only picture she had on her wall smiled at her. She smiled back as she stood and got dressed for the day. Today was the second weekend of summer vacation. The last summer vacation before going to college. Twilight and her friends had all been accepted to Canterlot University, so they had all been excited to spend the summer together before going to school together once more. This would be their first weekend together that they could enjoy themselves, considering they had said goodbye to their seventh friend the previous weekend. Twilight frowned and shook her head to banish the thought. Yes, she was devastated at the loss of her best friend, but she knew that she would be back and everything would be okay. She could be sad later, if nothing else, today her friends deserved her at her best. She smiled again at the picture hanging on the wall before continuing her morning ritual. She hummed a tune as she pulled on her favorite T-shirt, smiling at the red and yellow figure on the front. The shirt had been a gift and she had loved it enough to wear it at-least once a week. Satisfied at her appearance, Twilight gave a final nod before heading out. She smiled and hummed a quiet tune to herself as she bounced out the door. Twilight plastered on her largest smile and waved to everyone she saw as she walked to the bus-stop. She noticed some odd reactions from the people she passed. Octavia gave her a sad look as she waved. Lyra smiled weekly and silently patted her on the back. Derpy even gave her a quick hug as she passed her. Twilight put down as simple small town behavior. They must have found out that Sunset left and were just trying to be supportive. She shrugged as she rode the bus to Applejack's farm. That was where they had promised to meet. She stared out the window and continued to hum, ignoring the fact that everyone on the bus seemed to stare at her with pity. She was happy. Sure, she felt something in her chest ache every time she thought about Sunset Shimmer, but that was to be expected. Her best friend in the entire world just left for another universe with no idea of when or if she'd be back. It wasn't like she couldn't function. She was still getting out of the house and spending time with her other friends, her heart just ached. The bus stopped about a block away from the Apple's orchard and Twilight smiled politely at the bus driver as she departed. She bounced up the street with a spring in her step, it would do her a world of good to spend some time with her friends this weekend. They had originally planned on going camping together, but Applejack had called at the last minute and told them she couldn't make it because of work on the farm. Big Mac had evidently fallen ill and she had to stay to keep the work on track, so the girls had decided to spend their first weekend working on Applejack's farm. The plan was to get her work far enough ahead that the next weekend they could go camping. Twilight had never excelled at physical labor, but she guessed that enough hands working would make up for the fact that she had no idea what she was doing. Twilight smiled as she spotted a familiar group of girls working near the front gate to the farm. Her smile grew as she heard the laughter of her friends. She stared into the sky as she walked, marveling at the beautiful sky and the cool breeze that blew through the trees. It's going to be a good day, she thought. She continued smiling and humming her song as she approached her friends who seemed oblivious to her approach. She walked towards Applejack first. A broken branch alerted the girl to her friend's approach. Applejack smiled as she turned around, but for some reason she faltered. Her smile fell and she dropped the bucket of apples she had been holding. "Twilight?" She asked. "You okay?" Twilight's smile grew. "Of course I am, Applejack. Why do you ask?" "Twilight, Darling." Rarity said as she approached the girl. "You look like you haven't slept in a week." "Well, I may not have slept that much last night." Twilight mumbled as she ran her hand under her eye, ignoring the bags she felt there. "You're also humming a break-up song." Rainbow said casually as she lifted Applejack's bucket and continued walking towards the barn. Twilight stopped her humming and crossed her arms. "I just like that song." she defended. Fluttershy appeared from nowhere and wrapped her arms around Twilight. "You're also wearing her shirt." she whispered. Twilight patted Fluttershy on the back quickly. "I'm fine." she said. "I'm happy, smiling, and ready to work." Fluttershy refused to release the girl she was holding as Pinkie looked over her shoulder. "Twilight, your eyes are bloodshot and you haven't smiled all day." "How would you even know that?" Twilight asked. "I just got here." "We just got here." Pinkie said, putting emphasis on the first word. "I stayed with you last night... we rode the bus here..." Twilight blinked. Had Pinkie stayed at her place last night? Why couldn't she remember? How did she not notice Pinkie on the bus? "I stayed in your room, Twilight. You cried all night and you didn't even seem to see me this morning. You just kept staring at the picture of Sunset on your wall." Pinkie said with a sniffle. Twilight stared, open mouthed, at the fluffy pink girl in front of her. Pinkie held none of her usual cheer and her hair seemed slightly flat. She wracked her brain as images popped into her mind. Pinkie asking Twilight if she could stay the night with her, since it was closer to the farm than her own house. Pinkie eating dinner with her family and using spoons to act like a walrus. Pinkie curling up in Twilight's bed. "You stayed in my room." Twilight said. Pinkie nodded slowly. "You still didn't even notice I was there. I woke up in the middle of the night... you were crying." "We've all stayed with you this past week..." Fluttershy whispered, stilling holding her grip on the girl. "You cried all night... every night..." Twilight attempted to end the hug with another pat on Fluttershy's back, but the small girl refused to let go. Twilight sighed, "Fluttershy, I'm fine, would you please let go of me?" Fluttershy stepped away with a quick, "Sorry, sorry." Fluttershy had tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy quickly shook her head and hid behind her hair. "I just can't stand to see you hurting like this." she mumbled. "I'm fine." Twilight said. "I've just been having some bad dreams, that's all. I guess I was crying in my sleep because of that." she lied. Applejack shook her head. "Whatever you say, sugar cube." she said. "I'm here to work." Twilight said firmly. "Just tell me what to do." "You're still wearing your pajama bottoms, dear." Rarity said. Twilight quickly looked down at herself. She smiled and laughed quietly. "It's the weekend, I can wear these, right?" Rarity smiled warmly before brushing Twilight's hair away from her eyes. "The fashionista in me says 'no', but the friend in me says 'yes'." "Just hope you don't mess 'em up." Applejack shrugged. Rainbow finally returned from the barn with two empty buckets. "Since we're all here now, why don't you tell us what needs done, A.J.?" Applejack nodded. "Well, Rainbow, you and me can keep harvestin'. Once we get all of 'em by the fence we'll be caught up. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, I want ya'll to fix the fences over on the other side of the farm by the road." Applejack hesitated as she looked at Twilight. "Please," Twilight said. "Just give me something to do. I can work." Applejack still seemed hesitant until Rainbow spoke. "Y'know, when I'm upset, the best thing I can do is throw myself into some kind of work, practice, or anything to keep me busy. If Twilight is upset like you said, you should give her some work." Rainbow then smiled at Twilight. "If she's telling the truth and she isn't upset, then there's no reason not to give her something to do." Twilight smiled back at Rainbow and nodded. Applejack merely shrugged. "Fine." she said, as if she had just lost a serious argument. "Twilight, you and Fluttershy can go feed the animals." Twilight smiled and mouthed a quick 'thanks' before heading in the direction of the animal pens. She glanced over her shoulder to see Applejack hug Fluttershy quickly before giving the timid girl a resolute nod. Twilight didn't understand what the exchange was about, but decided it wasn't important. Fluttershy quickly fell in behind Twilight, but stayed silent. It wasn't unusual for Fluttershy to stay quiet, but she had been acting weird all day. Twilight shrugged and put it down as nothing more than concern. Fluttershy gently tugged on Twilight's sleeve as they walked. "Twilight?" she asked. "What is it, Fluttershy?" "I stayed with you last Sunday night." she said. "Do you remember what we did that night?" Twilight did remember Sunday night. That was the night after Sunset Shimmer left. It hadn't been good. "Yes." Twilight said flatly. "You were in love with her weren't you?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight simply curled herself up on her bed. She hadn't spoken since they had arrived at her house. "I know what it's like. To love someone who doesn't return the feelings. We all knew how you felt, even Sunset." "She didn't love me the same way..." Twilight said. Her voice was hallow and her eyes were empty. She couldn't have cried any more. "She didn't let how I felt affect our friendship though." "She may not have been in love with you, but she did love you, Twilight." Fluttershy said as she sat on the edge of Twilight's bed. Twilight's parents had asked what happened the minute they walked through the door, but Twilight had remained silent. She had trudged to her room and slowly closed the door. "She loved all of us." Twilight said coldly. "She was the best friend any of us could have hoped for." "She was." Fluttershy agreed. "She saved me..." Twilight whispered. "She saved me... from everything. From being lonely, from being hurt, from... myself." "I know." Fluttershy said as she gently rubbed Twilight's back. "Who's gonna save me now?" Twilight asked. She rolled over to stare into Fluttershy's eyes. Fluttershy hesitated before shaking her head slowly. "I-If you wanted... I c-could... I-I will... be here for you..." Twilight smiled to herself at the memory. Fluttershy really was the most kind of them all. "I'm sorry about that night." she said. "That night I just felt like something in me broke and I didn't know how to function." "I meant what I said that night, Twilight." Fluttershy said firmly. "I will be there for you... if you need me." "Thanks, but I'm okay now... really." Twilight said. "Besides, it's not your burden to bear." "Yes, it is." Fluttershy whispered. "You're my friend. I can't let my friends hurt." Twilight smiled over her shoulder at the girl and nodded. "Thanks." she said. "I'm okay, though. It's just taking me some time to adjust to her being gone." "I know." Fluttershy mumbled. The two finally arrived at the animal pens and Fluttershy quickly raced ahead to pet all of the animals, including the pigs, as Twilight looked for each different bag of feed. She had fed the animals with Applejack before and had quickly learned that every animal on the farm had their own food. Twilight grabbed a bucket from the nearby shed full of spoiled vegetables that Applejack referred to as 'slop' and handed it to Fluttershy. Fluttershy quickly fed the pigs and began to make cute squeaking noises as she watched them eat. Twilight found the sight of the pigs eating the slop as disgusting, but apparently her friend thought it was one of the most adorable things ever. Fluttershy's smile faded and Twilight noticed a tear fall down her face as she walked away, presumably to grab more food for the animals. "What is with you today?" she asked. Twilight hadn't meant to sound upset, but apparently she did. Fluttershy froze in her tracks and turned to face Twilight, tears streaked down her face, but she faked a smile anyways. "I'm fine." Fluttershy said. "I think I just got something in my eyes." Twilight stared at the girl for a moment before smiling herself, "Well, go wash your eyes out then. I can handle things here." she said. Fluttershy hesitated, but nodded firmly before walking towards the main house. Fluttershy continued to cry as she sat on the floor of the bathroom. She had closed and locked the door before running the sink and then dropping to the floor. She had seen the hurt in Twilight's eyes. The faraway look in them displaying all of her pain. Fluttershy couldn't take it anymore. She hated seeing the girl she cared so much about hurting, but there was nothing she could do about it. Twilight was hurting because the one she loved was gone, but Fluttershy was hurting because the one she loved was in pain. A knock at the door broke the timid girl from her thoughts. "It's occupied." she called weakly, attempting to mask the tremor in her voice. "Fluttershy." Rarity said calmly. "I know well enough to know you aren't using the bathroom. Either let me in, or we can talk about whatever's got you upset through the door. It is your choice." Fluttershy blinked. How could Rarity have already figured it out? Then again, when Applejack had hugged her earlier she had also whispered something to her. "It's gonna be alright, sugar cube." she had said. Had she also figured out what was truly bothering Fluttershy? "Alright." Fluttershy said as she stood and wiped her eyes. "Just a second please." Fluttershy had no sooner unlocked the door before Rarity was in the room and the door was closed and locked again. Rarity smiled a weak smile at the girl before hugging her quickly. "Applejack saw you run away from the animals to come in here." "I was just washing some dirt out of my eye." Fluttershy lied. "I'm sorry-" "Fluttershy." Rarity warned. "You will stay in this room and tell me what's wrong, and I want the truth young lady." "I'm older than you." Fluttershy mumbled as she sat on the edge of the tub. Rarity smiled before putting the seat down on the toilet and sitting on top of it. She faced Fluttershy and placed a finger under her chin. Fluttershy looked up at Rarity and felt more tears building in her eyes. "Do you remember when Twilight came out as bi?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy blinked once before nodding. "We all loved and accepted her anyways." Fluttershy nodded again. "But, that night I noticed something. I noticed the blush on your cheeks and the smile you wore when you heard the news." Rarity smiled. Fluttershy paled. "That wasn't-" "Fluttershy, please." Rarity said in exasperation. "I'm hardly blind and I am not judging you, I just want you to be honest with me." Fluttershy felt the tears finally roll down her face as she pulled her chin away from her friend. "It doesn't matter." she said. "Oh, but it does." Rarity said. "She can't see it, but all of the rest of us caught on pretty quick." "She's in love with Sunset Shimmer, Rarity. How I feel doesn't matter. Besides, I would never take advantage of the way she's feeling now to get my way." The timid girl said quietly. "I'm not upset because she loves Sunset. I'm upset that Sunset hurt her." Rarity slid closer to her friend and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I understand, darling." she whispered. "Once she comes to her senses... you should tell her how you feel." Fluttershy couldn't fight back her tears any longer and she quickly buried her head in Rarity's shoulder and cried. Her sobs muffled by the other girl's shirt and the sound of the sink still running, she cried as she said, "I wish I could hold her... and just take her pain away. I would give anything for her to just not hurt anymore... I-I-I- aaaahhh." Fluttershy wailed as Rarity quietly stroked her hair and whispered encouragements. "That's it. Let it all out, dear. It's okay." She whispered. Fluttershy continued to bawl as she clenched her fists in her friend's shirt. "It's not right... How could she hurt her? How could she leave?" "There there..." Rarity said. Fluttershy finally stopped crying several minutes later, but did not release her hold on Rarity. She sniffed once before speaking again. "Do you remember when we all sneaked some drinks into the barn last summer?" she asked. Rarity merely nodded and stayed silent, continuing to stroke the girl's hair. "I almost kissed her that night..." Rarity's hand hesitated for a moment. "I think she knew it too, but she was too drunk to remember afterwards. She was going to let me and I had had enough to drink that I felt bold enough..." Another sniffle, "but, then Sunset walked in. Twilight pushed me away and tried to explain the situation to Sunset... that's when I knew how I felt wouldn't matter." she said. "I told myself it was okay... that I would be fine just with Twilight being happy, but then... then this happened..." "She was truly going to let you kiss her?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy nodded. "Well, you know what they say... a drunk mouth speaks a sober thought..." "I'm okay if she doesn't love me, Rarity." Fluttershy said as she nuzzled her face further into the other girl's shoulder. "I just can't stand seeing her hurt anymore." Twilight felt the sweat pouring down her face as she lifted another bag of chicken feed over her shoulder and slowly carried it towards the barn. Rarity had run by earlier and told her that a storm was on the way so they needed to store all of the things that couldn't get wet. She had then asked about Fluttershy and walked away. Twilight wondered why they didn't just keep the feed in the barn if it couldn't get wet, but she decided there must be a reason. She threw the next sack into the pile in the barn and sighed loudly. There was only one bag left and all of the animals had been fed, so she was almost done. Twilight quickly ran to grab the next bag, but as she bent over her vision began to swim and her head felt light. She fell forward and tried to catch herself before landing face-first on the bag of feed. Then her vision grew darker and faded to black. The storm was coming in more quickly than they had anticipated, so Applejack had sent Pinkie and Rainbow inside before trudging off to find Twilight. She muttered to herself, upset at herself for having Twilight work. Between the bags under the girl's eyes and the fact that she seemed to be constantly holding back tears, she knew that Twilight should not have been exposed to any physical labor. Still, she couldn't pretend that she didn't need the help and she knew that Twilight would not take 'no' for an answer. She shrugged to herself. She had done everything she could think of to pull the girl out of her slump and all of their friends had done the same. Now it was up to Twilight to recover. Applejack froze as she reached the animal pens. Twilight and Fluttershy were both missing. "Girls!" Applejack called loudly. She quickly ran around the pens, hoping that maybe they were already stowing things in the barn. Her heart stopped as she saw Twilight's prone figure laying on the ground. "Twilight!" she called as she raced as fast as her legs could carry her to the girl. Twilight wasn't moving and Applejack couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. Applejack fell to her knees as she reached the smaller girl and she quickly rolled her over to find Twilight's face blank. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed and Applejack checked her pulse before sighing in relief. Twilight had simply passed out. Applejack then frowned as she lifted the girl off the ground. She felt tears stream down her face and land upon her unconscious friend. She shouldn't have let her work, and she shouldn't have sent Rarity to ask her to put the feed in the barn. It was all her fault.