TD's Little Rarity 1.5: This Time It's Personal

by BronyWriter

Going Home

"I still think you suck."

Celestia entered my room, followed by, thankfully enough, Luna and the Elements. Each of them wore one of the Elements of Harmony, with Luna wearing Rarity's. At the back of the group, the baffled concierge stood with her mouth and eyes wide open. When all of the ponies had entered, Twilight turned back to her with a comforting smile.

"Thank you, miss. We're not going to be long. We'll be out of your mane before you know it." Then, she levitated a few bits into the concierge's front pocket, and shut the door.

"So, to business," Celestia said, looking down at my collection of guns. "I assume that these are some weapon to defend yourself against harm?"

"Yeah." I sat down on the bed and rubbed my temples. "I wouldn't have even gotten to Rarity if I didn't have them."

"Do they kill, or incapacitate?" Twilight asked, leaning in to examine them.

"Depends on how good you are with using them, but their primary use is to kill."

Twilight flinched and backed away from the bed. "Oh... uh, I see. And you've used them to kill?"

My silence told them everything. However, before I said anything else, a tiny voice interrupted the calm.

"Father? Who are these ponies?"

All of us turned toward the bathroom door, where Rarity stood, all dried off and staring at us with uncertainty. I gave her a comforting smile and sat down next to her to keep her calm.

"Rarity, these are ponies from your world, remember? You watched the show when you were in my room at school. These are the ponies in the show. They've come to take us back with them where we'll be safe."

"Oh..." Rarity blinked owlishly at Celestia before slowly nodding. "Yes... I think I remember that now. I'd forgotten after..." Rarity's ear twitched, and I saw a shiver go down her spine. What the heck happened to her in there if she couldn't even remember Equestria?

"Do not worry, my little pony," Celestia said, putting a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. The moment she did, Rarity stopped her shivering. Good. If she felt safe around Celestia, even subconsciously, then that would help her a lot with reintegrating into Equestrian society.

"So I suppose it would be best if we left sooner rather than later, right?" I said, getting to my feet. "Because, ah..." I pointed to the TV, which showed more and more people with guns showing up. "They're not going to give us very long."

"How long do we have?" Luna asked, looking at the TV with curiosity. "How can you tell from this device?"

"Because those are images from outside the hotel," I replied. If you look out the window, you'll see the same thing, but I wouldn't. If they spot us looking out, then they'll know exactly where we are."

"Then we have no time to waste," Celestia said, pumping magic into her horn. "The spell to bring us back to Equestria is complex, and it will take a few minutes to make the portal stable enough for all of us to go through without incident. Luna, if you would."

Luna walked next to her sister and ignited her own horn, pouring magic out of it in tandem with Celestia. The two streams of magic began intertwining in the middle of the room, and after a moment, it combined to form what I could already tell was a small portal. Not nearly large enough for any of us to go through, but a start, for sure.

That's when we all heard a banging sound on the door.

"Open up in there and surrender your weapons!" said a gruff voice. "We have the place surrounded! There's no way out!"

"How's that portal coming, Celestia?" I growled, rushing over to my guns and collecting the shotgun, which I pointed at the door. "We've got seconds."

"We'll need more time than that, I'm afraid," Celestia said. I could already hear the strain in her voice.

I growled and turned to Twilight and her friends. "Okay, you five protect Rarity. Do whatever you have to." I turned the safety of the shotgun off. "I'll make sure that they don't get in."

"But how?" Rainbow Dash asked, worry in her voice. "They have those gun thingies too, right?"

"You have ten seconds before we're blowing the door down!" the voice shouted again.

"Yeah, but I've got this." I tapped on my bulletproof vest. "They can't hurt me with their guns while I'm wearing this. It's designed to stop bullets from hitting me."

"So your world does have some kind of magic then," Twilight said.

I shook my head. "No, this is technology. Almost as good."

"Three seconds!"

"Move into position!" I shouted, pointing the gun at the crack of the door. "Make sure Rarity's okay! It's gonna get loud."

I heard the order to go from the other side. Now or never. Success or death.

The door opened up, and the people on the other side tossed three canisters in, which instantly went off. Tear gas. I flinched back, expecting to be completely blinded by the stuff, but Twilight ignited her horn and dispelled the gas, something that came as a rather big shock to the enemy coming through the door. My shotgun and I made sure he didn't really have long to think about it. He fell to the ground, allowing me to see the other people in the security force behind him. My second shotgun blast didn't hit anyone, but it sure as heck made them all scatter down the hall. I picked up one of the tear gas canisters and tossed it out the door.

I figure I'd bought us a few seconds at most.

"We almost ready, Celestia?" I shouted. "I'm not going to be able to stop them for long!"

"Just a few more minutes, TD!" she replied.

I could already hear the sound of footsteps thundering down the hall to our position. I put a few more shells into the shotgun to top it off.

"We're not going to make it like this!" I replied. "I'll go hold them off!"

"Father, no!" Rarity moaned. "They'll kill you!"

I turned back to her with a smile and tapped my chest. "Bulletproof vest, remember? They can't hurt me." I ran over to the door, my gun pointed to the hall. "I'll be back in a few minutes once I've driven them off. Just keep it open until I get back."

"Hurry back!" Celestia cried. "We can't keep it stable forever!"

"Won't need to. I'll be fine."

* * * *

TD ran out the door and shut it behind him, allowing me to focus my attention on opening up the portal. I could already see the interior of my throne room becoming clearer on the other side. We would not require more than a minute at most now. I tried to ignore the loud banging sounds outside the room. They were unlike anything I'd ever heard before.

With one more burst of magic, the portal expanded until it nearly filled the room. My throne room became plainly visible on the other side. My staff would be there to ensure Rarity and TD were healthy, and treat any wounds that they may have incurred.

"It is time, Twilight. Take your friends and leave this place."

"But father's not back yet!" Rarity moaned. "He said he'd come back!"

"What are we going to do if TD doesn't come back in time, Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. "We can't just leave him here!"

"We won't!" I insisted. "I will make sure that TD is okay, I promise! Now go!"

Without another word, Twilight levitated Rarity onto her back and leaped through the portal. Her friends followed quickly, though Rainbow Dash spared one last look of worry before returning to Equestria.

"They're safe, Luna," I said.

"Yet TD has not returned," Luna replied.

"I know. I made a promise to keep him safe. How long do you think you can keep the portal open?"

"As long as it takes, sister," Luna said through gritted teeth. "Find that stubborn being and bring him back here!"

I severed my magical connection with the portal and turned to the door. I encased myself with a form fitting shield spell and entered the hallway in search of TD.

The carnage before me... I could not believe it. These human weapons that TD wielded frightened me. I'm not ashamed to admit that. I hoped my shield spell protected me from them. I'd never come across such things.

A few dead bodies and a lot of blood lined the hallway. None of the corpses belonged to TD, so I simply followed the trail of blood. I turned a corner and saw a group of enemy soldiers coming down the hall, and more blood. The soldiers instantly stopped at the sight of me, and one raised his weapon to attack me. I heard that loud noise again, and felt something bounce against my head, but once my ears stopped ringing, I realized that I remained unharmed. I glared down at the soldiers before me and shot a beam of magic at the one who'd attacked me. He flew against the opposite wall, and I heard bones crack on impact.

"Holy crap!" one of them yelled. "Retreat!"

The remaining soldiers ran for their lives. I doubt even Rainbow Dash could match their speed. Content that I would not be bothered, I ran down the hall, following the trail of chaos before me.

"TD!" I called out. "We must leave! If you can hear me, it's time to go!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it is."

I spun to my right and gasped when I saw the sight before me. TD sat with his back to some metal container labeled "ice" in a small outlet of the hallway, two dead bodies before him. He gave me a weak smile and a small salute.

"Wondered if you might show up," he said quietly. "Is Rarity safe?"

"She is. She's back in Equestria with her friends." I walked into the room, being careful to not disturb the bodies. "Now it is time for us to return. Luna's keeping the portal open, but she can't do it forever." I nudged TD with my wing to get him standing, but all that caused was a hiss of pain from him. I frowned and sat before him.

"TD? Are you okay?"

He chuckled and slowly raised the gun he held. "So... you know how I said this vest would protect against bullets? Well, it does a great job of protecting against the bullets that this kind of gun fires." He set his arm down and motioned to the bodies, one of which had a much larger weapon in his hand. "Against those kinds of guns? Not so much."

My eyes widened at the implication, and I shot to my hooves. "How badly are you hurt? I can heal your wounds before we return to Equestria."

I charged up my horn for my most powerful healing spell, but as I did, TD looked up at me with an expression that I will remember for the rest of my days. He looked... tired. Sad, almost.

"Yeah. I guess you could."

I powered down my horn and stared at him blankly. "But you do not wish for me to do so."

"You said Rarity's back, and that's good enough for me." He coughed, and a trickle of blood came out of his mouth. "I worked for over a year to protect her and keep her safe. I failed for a long time. But she's back now. So I guess you could say that my work is done."

"You are young, TD. You can have a good, long life if you let me help you."

"Where? In Equestria?" He shook his head. "It's not where I belong. Like I said: Rarity's safe. I protected her in the end and got her home. That's enough. I don't need any more."

"Are you truly certain, TD? You never have to be alone. We can help you."

TD did not reply. He did not even move. Bracing myself, I scanned him with my magic and bowed my head when it confirmed what I already knew anyway. Using my magic, I closed his eyes and took the weapons from his hands and removed the vest. With a single spell, I disintegrated them. As one final gesture, I used my healing spell to mend all of his wounds. I couldn't bring him back, but I could do that much.

That much and nothing more.

"This is not the end for you, TD. I am sure of it. Go be happy now."

I walked out of the room without looking back.

When I reached the room with the portal, I went through without saying a word to Luna.

* * * *

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came through the portal a few minutes after the rest of us. My age and memories returned once I entered Equestria again, and the examination by the castle doctor revealed no injuries. I pushed him aside and stood up when the princesses returned, expecting to see TD with them, laughing about the insane adventure we'd just had.

But he wasn't there. I squeaked when Celestia shut the portal behind them, and ran up to her.

"Princess Celestia, where is TD?" I asked, desperation and fear in my voice. "He's okay, isn't he? You said you'd make sure he was!"

Celestia paused for a moment before looking down at me, that serene smile on her face that I knew well. "TD is okay, Rarity. He... he found a way home."

My initial reaction was one of joy. I knew returning home drove him above all else. The fact that, after everything that had happened, he still managed to find a way back to his parents and sister, well, I couldn't think of a being who deserved such a reward more.

But then...

But then I registered Princess Celestia's brief pause. Her smile, despite her best efforts, I'm sure, didn't quite reach her eyes. I quietly gasped and brought a hoof up to my mouth, tears brimming in her eyes. Princess Celestia instantly sat beside me and wrapped me in her wings for a comforting, warm hug.

"I did not lie to you, Rarity. What happened has hurt us all, but he found a way home."

Comments

[Abstract Indigo]

Yeah, but I've got this." I tapped on my bulletproof vest. "They can't hurt me with their guns while I'm wearing this.

Except for the fact that even when being hit with bullets of a calibre the vest is designed to stop, it still often leads to internal injuries due to blunt force trauma. The energy still has to go somewhere.

Better than a hole being blown in you, but not the magic anti bullet armour fiction often makes it out to be.

[Bronze Statue]

I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!!!

But seriously, we all know that the ponies wouldn't have let him go if he hadn't said he was bulletproof.

[**Beert]

That's... rather dramatic for you.