The Jack of All Trades

by Lord Zalgo

Of Mice And Men

“Well, that’s everypony. Hard to believe I got through them all.” Phoenix said to himself. He was set the children’s files down and rose to his hooves. He arched his back and twisted his neck, causing the room to fill with the sound of his bones cracking numerous times in succession and the satisfied sigh that escaped his throat. He looked to the clock to see that the time was drawing ever closer to three o’clock. Phoenix walked out of house once again only to nearly bump into Rarity.

“Oh! Well, darling; I was hoping I’d see you, but not that closely.” Rarity said with a titter. Phoenix chuckled as he began to lock his door.

“Well, here I am. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you today, Rarity?” Phoenix said with a charming smile. Rarity’s cheeks turned a very faint shade of pink as she giggled.

“Oh, stop it, you. I’m here to give this back to you.” Rarity said with a smile as she handed Phoenix’s fedora in her magic. Phoenix gave a smile that was larger than she’d ever seen from him, which still wasn’t that large. He placed the hat onto his head and suddenly wrapped his hooves around her, surprising her.

“Thank you, Rarity. You didn’t have to do this for me, but you did. I… I don’t know what to say.” Phoenix said, clearly over the moon with joy, despite his face not showing it.

“I-It’s perfectly alright, darling. I must say… you’re a lot more huggable than you look. It’s like I just want to hug you more now.” Rarity admitted. Phoenix chuckled in his usual quiet way.

“Everyone is like that after their first hug with me. Ponies assume that I don’t even want to go near others, but truth be told, I love hugging.” Phoenix stated. Rarity looked a little more surprised.

“Really? I wouldn’t have seen that coming. Well, dear, I hate to cut this short, but I must pick Sweetie Belle up from school.” Rarity said as she began to walk. Phoenix trotted to her side.

“I was going to see if Apple Bloom needed picking up. Walk and talk?” Phoenix offered as he matched her pace.

“Of course! You needn’t ask, darling.” Rarity smiled.

---

Phoenix and Rarity approached the schoolhouse where several children were waiting for their parents. From the crowd, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran towards them. Sweetie jumped into Rarity’s forehooves and hugged her.

“That’s the second time today that somepony’s taken you by surprise with a hug, isn’t it?” Phoenix said with a snicker.

“Actually, I’ve always known how affectionate Sweetie can be. You, I had no idea.” Rarity said. Phoenix chuckled. He then proceeded to greet Apple Bloom and take her back to Sweet Apple Acres. When they arrived, they saw Applejack and Big Macintosh breathing heavily outside of the farmhouse, glasses of apple juice in hoof. Apple Bloom immediately ran to them and hugged the two of them.

They remained that way for a moment before Big Mac looked to Phoenix.

“Did she behave herself, Mr Phoenix?” Mac asked. Phoenix let out a single quiet chuckle.

“Good as gold. And you can drop the ‘Mr’, Macintosh. I’m not a teacher… yet.” Phoenix replied. It earned a confused expression from the Apples. Phoenix then winked at Apple Bloom, causing her to chuckle.

“Well, sorry, Apples. But, I have to go. Hey, AJ, you haven’t seen Caramel around have you?” Phoenix asked.

“No. Ah think he’s in town, though. Why?” Applejack seemed less chipper when Caramel was brought into conversation.

“I wanted to apologise. Maybe treat him to a trip to the casino.” Phoenix replied.

“Seriously? He doesn’t deserve it.” Applejack replied. Phoenix, for some reason really hated seeing Applejack so down. He decided to be honest with her. He motioned for her to follow him as he walked further into the orchard. When they reached a far enough distance from the farmhouse, Phoenix sighed and turned to her.

“I’m going to be honest with you, AJ. I was going to tempt Caramel to cheat on you and then record the evidence, that way you would be justified to break up with him and you can stop being saddened by his actions…” Phoenix stopped speaking for a moment. Applejack was looking at him in disbelief.

“Yeah, when I say it out loud, I sound like a fucking dick. I didn’t think of it that way. Please, feel free to hit me.” Phoenix closed his eyes and braced himself for a hit.

It never came.

He opened his eyes to see Applejack simply giving him a sympathetic smile.

“You haven’t had much experience with friends, have you?” Applejack asked kindly. Phoenix got over his confusion induced speechlessness and shook his head.

“Even less with relationships.” Phoenix replied.

“You don’t need to worry about me. Ah already planned on breakin’ up with him. You don’t need to make up a scheme to do it for me.” Applejack said with a little chuckle. Phoenix seemed to lower his head slightly. His eyes were directed to the ground.

He didn’t want her to see.

He then felt a hoof gently push his face to make him look at Applejack. That was when she saw them. The tears. Phoenix’s eyes were filled with tears. Not tears of sadness, not tears of happiness, or anger. But, of shame.

“I’m so sorry. How can I make it up to you?” Phoenix somewhat pleaded. Applejack immediately recognised the situation. One desperately trying and practically begging to get something from the other, be it information or forgiveness.

‘If he feels anythin’ like Ah did. Ah can’t keep him in suspense.’ Applejack thought. She then wrapped her forelegs around Phoenix who flinched at the contact.

“You were tryin’ to look out for me. And you were honest with me, too. Ah forgive you. It’s not your fault.” Applejack simply held him in her forelegs and she saw that he was restraining himself from something. But, eventually his tears escaped his eyes and he silently sobbed into her chest. She’d never seen him so expressive as long as she’d known him, however it saddened her to know that the biggest emotions she saw from him were sorrow and shame.

Phoenix eventually let go of Applejack and looked at her with his blue eyes being tainted by a puffy, red hue.

“I’m going home. I need to be alone for a while.” He began to walk away, but Applejack grabbed his hoof in her own.

“Wait, you don’t have to! Ah’ve forgiven you!” She said, trying to cheer him up.

Silence fell. It was like all the sound in Equestria had stopped for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Applejack. But, I haven’t…” Phoenix said sulkily as he continued to walk. He walked slowly from Sweet Apple Acres all the way back to Ponyville. Phoenix was surrounded by happy faces, a complete contrast to his own. He eventually reached his house and shut himself inside.

He wasn’t expecting his annual choice to be changed to that day.

He walked to his room, shut the door, shut the curtains and turned out the lights. He then looked to his right to see that his father’s gun wasn't on his bedside table. He’d discovered it was in his jacket pocket when he put it on the previous day. Using his magic, he lifted the gun, checked its chambers for ammunition and pointed it to his left temple.

Time seemed to slow as he contemplated his annual question.

‘Should I?’

He kept the revolver locked on as he looked around the room for anything he thought added to his worth. For the first time in a few years, he was having trouble. Until something golden caught his eye.

His ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala.

His depressed thoughts were interrupted by a mental image of the girls. He may not know all of them or most of them that well. But, one thought was overtaking his mind. They would miss him. He thought about each of the girls and realised that they would all miss him if he did it.

For the first time in forever, he had numerous friends and realised how much it would hurt them if he ended his life. The dark part of his mind tried to reason that they would be better off without him, but he found that those thoughts were much quieter than usual. The gun slowly hovered away from Phoenix’s head and onto the bedside table.

Phoenix’s gaze remained on the weapon for a moment before he heard something by the doorway.

A sigh of relief.

Comments

[Dodo Of Chaos]

...Well...
...that was tense.

[Lord Zalgo]

5691261
Why, thank you. I did try to make this seem realistic and a little tense, but to me, I thought I could have done it better. Don't know how, though.