Whiskey Lullaby

by Smitty91

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rarity let out a yawn as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She smiled wearily, spotting Sweetie Belle happily eating her cereal. With the vast quantity of bits that she made from her work, Rarity had been able to get the kitchen reparied in no time, and the constructio works had done it at half the cost as a show of their gratitude towards her for fixing up their uniforms. She made her way over to the coffee pot and fixed herself a mug. She was grateful that Sweetie Belle had been sure to make a new pot and get it heated up before starting on her breakfast. She looked back at Sweetie Belle and frowned. Her little filly was growing up.

The two of them didn't talk much as the morning progressed. Rarity guessed that Sweetie Belle's silence had something to do over the fact that she was still somewhat traumatized over the events that had occurred two weeks ago. The poor filly was still having nightmares. Rarity wished that she could do something for her little sister to make her feel better, but she wasn't about to escort her to Twilight's and request that her egghead friend initiate a therapy session. That certainly wouldn't make her feel better, not in the least bit.

They went their separate ways after that. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came to pick up Sweetie Belle and they were off, with Sweetie Belle promising Rarity that she'd be careful and not to get into too much mischief. Once she saw that Sweetie Belle was off, Rarity turned back into the Boutique and approached the room where she did all of her work in. Mannequins went about the room, with the floor decorated in ribbons, sequins, bits of string, and all manner of ornaments and various gemstones and rubies. As usual, her work room wa a complete and total mess, and that was just the way she liked it. Had Applejack or Twilight been here, they would have fussed about the mess and busied themselves with trying to tidy up the room, just like Sweetie Belle had. It made sense, really. With all of her things neat and organized, it would make things easier to find. That had probably been why she couldn't find her ribbon that one day when Twilight was stressing about her report to Princess Celestia, because her work room was a pigsty. If other ponies could see the way she kept her work room, they'd no longer think of her as the prim and proper pony that she portrayed herself as. But, it was the environment that she was most comfortable with.

She let out a dejected sigh, scanning the room. What was wrong with her? Ever since Spike had died, she hadn't felt like doing any work? Were her friends feeling this way too? Or, was she the only one since the pain and guilt that was eating away at her made it hard for her to concentrate on her work, much less get motivated to do any? She didn't know and she was too depressed to find out. She lifted her mug to her mouth to take a sip in hopes that it would make her feel better, but only cringed and spat out the beverage when she discovered that it'd turned cold. She could easily reheat it in the microwave, but she dismissed this action and simply poured the rest down the sink. Coffee was bad for one's teeth, anyway.

She collapsed on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her hooves crossed at her stomach. She did nothing but stare up at the ceiling. Ugh! She flailed her hooves in frustration. What had her life become?! Before Spike had died, she had been a very upstanding pony in the community, talking with others, getting clients, designing clothes for them, and really enjoying her life. Now, with Spike gone, all she could think about was him and how her rejection of him had led to his demise. Maybe coming clean would make her feel better. She had done that, sort of, with Twilight not too long ago. Then again, she had proposed it as nothing more than a hypotetical question. Her life had become dull and boring and she couldn't stand it! She thought that maybe if she just tried designing again, it would renew the happiness in her life, but any time she did try it, she just felt a lakc of energy, inspiration, and motivation. Designing had become a chore for her, not unlike before where she had fun doing it.

She turned on her side, turning her attention to her dresser that was sitting across from her bed. She figured that she might as well get out of her pajamas and start her day. But that might getting up and actually doing something, and she didn't feel like doing anything, much less getting up. If she could, she would just lie in bed all day, surrounded by the warmth of her covers. She couldn't do that, though. She had a business to run and friends to interact with. Plus, she had a younger sibling to take care of. But with no motivation and her depression doing nothing but weighing her down, there was only so much that she could force herself to do. She simply couldn't find a good reason to get out of bed in the morning. That in itself was downright depressing.

Sighing dejectedly, she finally managed to convince herself to get out of bed. She did so rather slowly, just to see how it would affect her mood and mental state. She allowed a small smile to come across her face. This wasn't so hard. So far, so good.

Somehow, she managed to get downstairs and outside. She couldn't bring herself to do any work today. Maybe tomorrow she'd try getting some work done. She figured that as long as she was outside, she might as well go see how Twilight was doing. The poor dear was probably faring worse than she was in terms of Spike's passing.

When she arrived at the Golden Oaks Library, she spotted a young filly walking out with one of Spike's teddy bears. That was odd. Why in Equestira would that young filly have something that belonged to Spike? She certainly wasn't going to find the answer just standing around. She proceeded to enter the library and made her way upstairs to Twilight's bedroom.

She stopped and took a long around. There were several boxes piled up in the room, so much so that it took her a while to actually spot Twilight. There were so many boxes that she didn't see how Twilight was able to manuever around the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She cleared a throat and swallowed a bit of saliva, noting that her throat felt dry, then tried again. “Twilight?”

Said unicorn turned and gave her friend a weak smile. “Hi, Rarity. What brings you here?”

Rarity glanced around once more, observing the various boxes. “Twilight, what is going on here?”

“Oh. I'm getting rid of some of Spike's things. With him gone, it's become too painful to hold onto them.” She nodded her head towards one corner of the room. “The girls are helping me with the sorting and putting stuff away. You know, all of that junk.”

Rarity looked at the corner specified and saw Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all carefully going through Spike's things and putting them in the correct boxes. It was only now that she noticed that the boxes were labeled. For example, one box was labeled as “stuffed animals.” Another one was labeled as “books.” She walked over and looked through the latter. She smiled to herself. Most of the books were books intended for fillies Sweetie Belle's age. She remembered her mother and father reading her such books, and herself reading the same books to Sweetie Belle when she was little. She imagined that Twilight or Princess Celestia or whoever had raised Spike had done the same with him when he'd been a little bitty dragon, when he'd literally been a baby dragon, unable to talk or do any of the other things that he'd been able to do while living with Twilight.

“Maybe we'll get our cutie marks in packing and sorting,” Scootaloo said excitedly to the other two fillies.

“It's worth a hot,” Apple Bloom agreed, putting a small pillow in a box labeled “Miscellaneous.”

“Would you mind helping out?” Twilight asked Rarity. “If you see something you'd like to have, just say so.”

Rarity frowned as she began looking through the various items scattered on the floor. She started putting them in the boxes that they belonged in and said, “You're really comfortable just giving Spike's things away?”

Twilight smiled weakly. “I know it's a bit harsh and radical, but these things just remind me of how much I miss him. It's much better to give them away to ponies who will cherish and take care of them rather than them serving as a painful reminder of what I've lost.”

“So you're basically saying that these things have no sentimental value for you whatsoever.”

“No, that's not what I'm saying. They do have value for me, but it's just that I feel it's time to move on with my life, stop living in the past and attempt to finally get over it.”

Rarity blinked. “Twilight, darling, are you sure you're all right? You've hardly given yourself time to grieve. You know, bottling up your emotions like that isn't good for you. You should talk to someone about how you truly feel about what's happened. Stop hiding from the rest of us. You barely talked or showed any emotion at all at the get-together we had a few weeks ago.”

Twilight smiled warmly at her friend. “Thank you, but I assure you, I'm fine.”

Rarity sighed and put a blanket in the “Miscellaneous” box. “Whatever you say, Twilight. Whatever you say.”

The three little fillies walked out with a little something of Spike's, a gesture from Twilight to show her gratitude for them helping her. Apple Bloom walked off with Spike's costume that he'd worn during one celebration of Nightmare Night. Sweetie Belle walked away with a photograph of Spike that she passionately kissed (this only served to confirm Twilight's suspicions that she and Spike had something more going on between them besides just being friends). Finally, Scootaloo walked away with a sack of marbles that Spike had played with when he was younger.

When it came time for Rarity to pick something, she declined, stating that she wasn't comfortable taking Spike's personal belongings without his permission. Twilight persisted, encouraging Rarity to only choose one thing. It wasn't like she was stealing or anything. Rarity sighed and finally walked away with Spike's personal journal. As she did so, she noticed that Twilight appeared to be somewhat depressed by this. Perhaps Twilight felt a strong connection to the book more than the others, most likely because it was Spike's personal thoughts and feelings that were kept enclosed in the book. Therefore, the book was probably something of a sacred tome to Twilight. Nonetheless, Twilight thanked her for her help and sent her on her way.

On her way back to the Boutique, Rarity jumped nearly ten feet in the air as Pinkie Pie leaped out of a nearby bush and stared at her. Rarity could do nothing but blink. “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?”

“This, silly,” Pinkie Pie replied, giving her a scroll.

Rarity read it out loud. “You are invited to a small get-together this Saturday at noon. Don't tell Twilight.” She gave the scroll back to Pinkie Pie and blinked once more. “I'm confused. Why can't I tell Twilight?”

“'Cause,” Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, “silly, it's a surprise party for Twilight. I've noticed that Twilight been feeling really super down lately.” She puckered her lips and made a sad face, looking down at the ground. “So, I thought that the best way to cheer her up would to throw her a surprise party!” She leaped up in the air and cheered, balloons floating upwards and confetti raining down, both seeming to come out of nowhere.

A warm smile came across Rarity's face. “Your kindness knows no bounds, Pinkie Pie.” In terms of kindness, Pinkie Pie gave Fluttershy a run for her money.

“So you'll come/” Pinkie's smile seemed too big for her face.

Rarity chuckled. “Of course, darling. What shall I bring?”

“Well, me and Applejack have all of the food covered, so I guess the only thing you'll need to bring is yourself, and maybe a present or two.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Present?”

“Of course, silly. What's a party without presents? Believe me, it'll make her feel better.”

“Well, okay, if you say so, Pinkie.”

“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are taking care of the decorations.”

Rarity frowned.

“What's the matter?”

“Well,” Rarity replied, “I guess I'm feeling kind of useless. You all are doing something for the party, whereas I'm just attending.”

“If you wanted to help out, why didn't you just say so, Rarity? You can help Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy with the decorations.”

“Good. Cooking isn't really my strong suit.” She remembered the last time she'd tried cooking.

“I'll see you on Saturday!” She gave Rarity a kiss on the cheek before speeding off like The Flash.

A surprise party? This was great! This was just what Rarity needed to get her out of her funk. Then again, the party was for Twilight, not her. Nonetheless, the cheerful environment would hopefully be enough to get her out of her foul mood. Naturally, Sweetie Belle and her friends would be attending the party. It did seem rather cruel to leave them out of the party simply because they were younger. It was only fair that they get to join in. Because of her love for children, Pinkie Pie had probably already invited them. It wouldn't have surprised her, not in the least.

But, wait. She had to get Twilight a present. She was certain that it wasn't a necessity, but she didn't want to arrive at the party empty-hooved. Knowing Twilight, she would just be happy with something as simple as a plain old book, but Rarity was smarter than that and knew her friend just as well as any of her other friends. She needed to get something better than a book, something not so superficial. But what? What? She tapped her chin in thought, but nothing was coming to her. Oh, well. The party wasn't until Saturday, at least a week from now. She had plenty of time to think of something to get Twilight in that amount of time.

***

For the next few days, Rarity was busy helping Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy with the decorations. She designed them and the two pegasi used them as decorations. Meanwhile, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and the Cakes were baking and cooking their hooves off.

Given that Twilight had pretty much isolated herself from the rest of Ponyville ever since Spike's death, keeping the party a secret from her turned out to be surprisingly easy, not that they needed to be secretive that much, anyway. All of the happenings for the party occurred within the confines of Sugarcube Corner. Transporting supplies, decorations, presents, and other necessities was quite easy. Of course, everypony in Ponyville was probably wondering what was going on at Sugarcube Corner.

Within no time at all, a week had passed by and the party was set to begin. Since Sugarcube Corner was relatively close to the Carousel Boutique, Sweetie Belle and Rarity left at a quarter to twelve. The trip would only take them ten minutes, if not five at the most. Both of them had their presents in their saddlebags. Rarity had found Twilight the perfect present: a very large ruby that she had been saving for Spike's birthday. She figured that it would be better to give it to Twilight than save it to put on some dress that she was designing. She could always find a way around using the ruby. It wasn't exactly like there was a shortage of gemstones around Equestria.

Everpony was already at the location of the party by the time the two mares arrived. They set their presents on the table that was already loaded with them, then joined the rest of their friends.

“All right,” Applejack said, glancing around, “everypony here?” A series of nods met her question. 'Good. Now, somepony's gonna have to go and get Twi. Who's up for it?”

“Well, I'm not doing anything,” Rarity spoke up. “I suppose I could go get her. The walk alone would do me some good.” She grimaced, realizing that she had put on a few pounds over the past few weeks, and this party certainly wasn't going to do her waistline any favors.

Applejack smiled. “Thanks, Rarity. We'll be waiting for you. Remember to knock when you get here, that way the rest of us have time to hide and surprise her.”

Rarity nodded. 'Right, then. I'm off. Wish me luck.” With a flick of her tail, she trotted out of the store and towards the Golden Oaks Library.

***

“Come now, Twilight,” Rarity said, “you've got to get out of bed! The fresh air will do you some good.” She received nothing but a mumble as a response. She stomped her hoof in frustration. So much for getting Twilight to the party going smoothly. For the past fifteen minutes, she'd been attempting to get Twilight to get out of bed and go with her on a walk. Needless to say, she was beginning to get irritaed. She was about to resort to simply yanking Twilight out of bed with her magic and dragging her to their destination. Sadly, she wasn't as well skilled in magic as Twilight was, and so Twilight could easily counter her spell. “Oh, to Tartarus with it!” She stomped her hoof yet again and her horn glowed.

Twilight let out a frightened yelp as she was suddenly lifted up into the air, a turquoise aura surrounding her. She was dragged through the air while Rarity trotted down the stairs and outside the library. She struggled to regain control of her body, but found this almost impossible with the tight grip that Rarity had on her with her magic. She would have to resort to other means. She let out a deep growl and shouted, “Rarity, stop!”

The white mare did just that, and Twilight was instantly dropped to the ground. She let out a groan of pain before getting to her hooves and glaring at her friend. “Where in Equestria are you taking me?”

Rarity smiled and put a hoof around Twilight, pulling her close into a hug. “I told you, darling, it's a surprise. Trust me, you're going to love it!”

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “All right, fine, I'll go. But it better be worth it.” Without another word to Rarity, she galloped ahead, only for Rarity to gallop faster. She gave no objection to this and simply allowed Rarity to lead them to their destination.

Just as she'd been instructed to do, Rarity knocked on the door to Sugarcube Corner, loud enough for everypony inside to hear. When she received no response, she gently nudged the door open and led Twilight inside.

Twilight blinked, attempting to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. “Why is it so dark in here?” It only became darker when Rarity closed the door. She was about to illuminate her horn to provide some light for them when suddenly the lights flickered on and all of her friends jumped out of their hiding spots, shouting in unison, “Surprise!” Twilight could do nothing but blink in confusion, sitting down on her haunches and glancing around the room. She had to admit that the decorations were quite lovely. She assumed that Rarity must have done them. But, still, that didn't answer her question as to why they were all throwing a surprise party for her. She tapped her chin in thought, but came to no rational conclusions. This had to be the work of Pinkamenia Diane Pie.

As if on cue, Pinkie Pie came bouncing into view, smiling, her eyes seeming to bulge out of her skull. “Surprise, Twilight! Here you go!” She gave Twilight a slice of cake.

Instead of eating it, Twilight simply stared down at it before glancing up. “I don't understand. What's going on here?”

“Well,” Applejack spoke up, “Pinkie Pie and the rest of us saw you were feeling a little down, so we threw this party together in hopes that it might raise your spirits a bit.”

Twilight gave a grateful smile. “Aww, you guys didn't have to do that.”

“To be honest,” Rainbow Dash said, “I think all of us have been feeling pretty depressed lately.” She shook her head. “It really hard getting over something like one of your friends committing suicide.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “You're right, Rainbow Dash. It's going to take some time to heal, maybe even years. You can't expect to get over something like this overnight.”

“That's enough gloom,” Applejack said.

“That's right,” Pinkie Pie agreed enthusiastically. “Let's party!!” This walked over to a record player and music suddenly filled the room. She grabbed Rainbow Dash and the two of them began dancing together, while the others simply mingled and made small talk. Fluttershy and Applejack went to get some punch and try out a few snacks while Twilight and Rarity talked about how the other was doing with coping with Spike's death.

Apparently Applejack overheard this conversation because she suddenly butted in between the two of them, glowering. “No, no, no! No talking about Spike! No depressin' stuff of any kind! Here, have some fritters!” She stuffed a couple of apple fritters into their mouths and grinned. “There! Feelin' better already, aren't ya?”

In spite of herself, Twilight smiled. She understood what Applejack was trying to do. She was trying to create a happy, warm environment. It wasn't good to be depressed all the time. Now was not a time for reflecting on the past and the pain that all of them were going through. Now was a time for celebration, for joy and laughter. It was the only way that any of them were going to get over their ordeal. Then again, talking about it was also another way that they could get over it. But, like she had said before, it would take some time, no matter how much talking and laughter they shared with each other.

The afternoon was spent eating, drinking, talking, laughing, telling stories, music and dancing, and talking of memories past. They avoided the topic of Spike and his demise at all costs. It finally came to the presents. They gathered in a circle, each with their presents and Twilight in the center. One by one, she opened their gifts with glee, although she did tell them that didn't have to go through the trouble of getting her something. Their presence and the party was more than enough. Nonetheless, she did thank them and was impressed wih some of the gifts. For example, Rainbow Dash had gotten her an hourglass that, instead of sand, had some rainbow colored liquid inside. She guessed that the liquid was the same kind that was used to make the rainbows.

It finally came to the last present. This one didn't have a name tag, so there was no way of telling who it was from. Twilight simply assumed that it was from all of her friends, doubly so when the present was revealed to be . . . “It's . . . a book?” she guessed, still unsure of what the gift was.

Sweetie Belle chuckled. “You gotta open it first, Twilight,” she declared. “Look inside. The rest of you do the same.” She gestured for everypony else to get closer, huddling them all close together so they could get a clear view of what was on the first page.

Twilight was speechless by what she saw. “A photo album? This is so awesome, you guys! Thank you so much!” She patted everypony on the head and hugged them closely with one hoof.

“Don't look at me, I didn't do this,” Rainbow Dash said, putting her hooves out in front of her. “I was busy all day yesterday gathering stuff for this party.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Applejack added. “I was busy getting food.”

Twilight looked at them, confused. “You mean, you guys didn’t make this together?" she asked, still wondering what was going on.

“Well,” Sweetie Belle spoke up, “I don't mean to brag, but . . .” Her gaze fell to the floor as she idly kicked her hoof against the floor. She glanced up at Twilight once more with a somewhat sheepish grin. “I did it! I made it all by myself for everypony, especially you, Twilight.” She was quite prideful and satisfied with how the book had turned out.

“Really?” Twilight asked, staring at the filly in surprise. “That’s really . . . wow! Thank you.” She felt like picking Sweetie Belle up and hugging her until the filly was breathless, but instead pulled her relatively close into a headlock with one hoof and began ruffling her mane “You little bundle of fur, how did you do this?” she asked, hugging Sweetie Belle even closer.

“Well, it wasn’t that hard, really,” Sweetie Belle declared, momentarily pulling away from Twilight’s grip for a breath of air. “I mean, I just took some pictures of everypony and put them in the little picture slot things.”

“I meant more like, what made you think of this?” Twilight asked, letting go of Sweetie Belle completely and starting to look at the next page.

“Oh,” Sweetie Belle replied, now understanding. “Well, everypony was thinking of stuff to do for you and I wanted to do something nopony else would.” She couldn’t help but be a little proud; she rarely had the chance to prove herself to everypony, let alone Rarity.

“Sweetie Belle, this is really good,” Rarity said, looking over a page entirely dedicated to her, Sweetie Belle, Applejack, and Apple Bloom.

“Aren’t there any of me and my Scootaloo in here?” Rainbow Dash asked Sweetie Belle, quickly searching through the pages. “Here's one. Aww, you even put a little heart frame around it.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said. “Well, I wanted to do something special for all of you, but, remember, it’s still Twilight’s.” She quickly closed the photo album and handed it back to Twilight, who took it gratefully, before Rainbow Dash was finished looking at it.

“Wow, Sweetie Belle, that was really thoughtful of you,” Twilight said.

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie agreed. “I never would have been able to think of that all on my own.”

For the next few minutes, the group simply sat and looked through the photo album with Twilight. At long last, the group got up and helped the Cakes and Pinkie Pie clean up the mess they made, despite the protests from the Cakes, who said that they didn't need to help. The group insisted that they help out, seeing as how they had made the mess. Eventually, the Cakes gave up trying to reason with them and allowed them to help out with the dishes. It was late afternoon by the time the group left.

As she walked, Twilight looked through the photo album. “Let's see,” she mused as she walked, slowly flipping through the pages, observing each one carefully. “These are of me. These are Applejack’s and Ranbow Dash's. And here it is, Spike's own personal page.” She scanned over the pictures of her number one assistant. Gosh, these are really good! It even seems like Sweetie Belle worked harder making Spike's pictures than everypony else’s. I still can’t believe she’d do something like this for me, especially by herself.

She let out a groan of pain, bumping into the front door to her home. She lifted a hoof to rub at her nose. The photo album falling to the ground, the sudden disruption in her concentration causing her magic to come to an abrupt halt. Once the pain wore away, she picked up the photo album with her magic went again and walked in her home. She'd need to put it in a special place. She figured that the best place to put it was by her bed. She opened the drawer to her beside table and gently set the photo album inside before closing it.

She yawned, stretching her jaw muscles and allowing fresh oxygen to seep into her lungs. All of that punch and food had made her tired. A full belly tended to do that. A nap would be lovely. There was no debating it. Without thinking about it, she pulled back her covers and climbed into bed.

Comments

[tgb089]

I'm just waiting for Rarity to 'expose' herself. Didn't she take a suicide note?