7DSJ: Protection

by Shinzakura

March 26: She's Doing So Much Harm, Doing So Much Damage

“You know you want to,” the voice whispered.

Carrot tried to shut it out and pulled the sheets around her a little tighter. “Leave me alone,” she whimpered.

“Why should I? I’m just being true to myself, the way you used to be. After all, you’ve lusted after her for the longest time, you know. Don’t you want to taste the fruit between her thighs?”

“No! I don’t think of Derpy that way!” the redhead moaned. “Stop it!”

“Oh, just be honest with yourself.” Carrot could feel her alter ego sit on the bed next to her. “You want to fuck her hard. How hard is it to admit it? You want to be the one wearing the strap-on, railing her li—”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Carrot screamed, sitting up in bed, her green eyes blazing with fury. The Other her was going too far. Derpy was her best friend, like a sister and definitely not on her list of interests – hell, neither of them were even gay!

The door opened, and Chantenay poked her head in. “Is there something wrong, dear? I thought I heard you.”

Carrot looked to the empty spot on the bed, then to her mother, then to the mirror and back to her mother. “N-no,” she murmured. “Just…just a bad dream, Mom. Sorry.”

Chantenay looked at the clock. “Well, it’s almost time for you to take your medicine, sweetheart. Do you want me to get it for you?”

“If you would, please,” Carrot asked while looking at the mirror and seeing Other Carrot, waving in the mirror, fully nude and for an audience of one. But what it was that she was putting on right now horrified her. Even more so was the person, just out of her vision that Other Carrot was bidding come to her.

And as Other Carrot started foreplay with an imaginary Derpy, Carrot turned and shut her eyes, trying to cover her ears from hearing the lovemaking going on. It only seemed to get louder, and no matter how much she swore she would never, never think of Derpy that way, all she could hear was Other Carrot’s predations.

Please…I just want this to end….

Playing a lonely, empty bassline, Noteworthy stood on the small performance stage at the far end of the store, demoing a new guitar model that the store had just recently received. It wasn’t as good as his new one, but it was serviceable and would make for a great backup. Normally, his playing would tend to gather the teens around, especially those that were musically inclined. Hell, he even remembered a time when Vinyl Scratch jumped on the upright piano that had yet to be moved off the stage and started banging along, having a great old time.

Hard to believe those days were ancient history now – hard to believe that all the friendships were gone as well. Flash on the surface had been a pretty cool guy, all things considered; how did he turn out to be such a monster? His cousin Blueblood – suave, debonair, made Noteworthy feel more than a little jealous…while he seemed to have gotten away with much, something hinted that he hadn’t gotten away scot-free either. And so many of the folks he knew ended up being victims or criminals, with very few in-between. He wasn’t even sure where he was in the spectrum.

And yet he played, because he had nothing else to do. Hoping it would take away his pain and grief, soothe his problems and bury them where he wouldn’t have to deal with them ever again.

When he stopped playing, he was surprised to hear clapping. Looking down, he saw Primrose, one of Minuette’s friends. She looked as though she didn’t want to be there, but she at least had a smile on her face. “Wow, I didn’t know you were still playing,” she commented.

“Yeah, I do,” he said, removing the guitar and placing it on the stand. “Why’d you ask?”

“Well, I thought that your musical, ahem, ‘association’ with Flash Sentry woul—”

“Please, don’t remind me,” he groaned as he hopped off the stage. “Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Couple of things, actually,” she told him. “First, I wanted to get something for Minnie. You heard she’s in the hospital, right?”

His eyes widened. “She is? What happened? Is she okay?”

“Hey, easy, easy – it’s not like you’re her boyfriend,” Primrose commented, “so why are you so worried?”

Noteworthy flinched at her remark. “Sorry, I…I just feel guilty for what happened.”

“You probably should: she had a fainting episode due to something that happened yesterday. She was released from the hospital last night, but she’s at home today and I wanted to bring her something that would cheer her up.”

“Well, okay, any thoughts?”

“She likes classical music – she’s really into it for some reason.”

“Well, we’re not exactly a record store, but we do have a supply of classical CDs for musicians who are trying to memorize certain compositions. Maybe that’ll do it? Actually, you know what? I’ll give you a couple, on the house, just so she can have them. My way of making it up to her.”

Primrose grinned. “Well, that’s nice of you, thanks! Anyway, the other reason is that I remembered that my dad’s birthday’s coming up. He plays the piano now and then, but most of the stuff he plays by heart and I thought it’d be a nice idea to get him some sheet music. Got anything in stock?”

Hopping off the stage, he said, “Yeah, we got a lot, actually. What’s he interested in?”

“Stuff from the 70s and 80s, mostly – got any Atomic Dog or Wonderland?”

“Yeah, actually, we just got in a new shipment of songbooks for Wonderland’s Songs in the Key of Life.”

Primrose squealed. “Oh, that’s his favorite album! Sure, give me what you got!”

“Well, let me show you what else we’ve got in stock; you might want more than just that.” Pointing to usher her in the right direction, Noteworthy gave himself a small smile.

Maybe things’ll work out after all, if I say the right things to her….

“Goddamn noobs,” Derpy groaned as she took of her headset and threw it on her desk in disgust. “Last time I play with some newfag in Call of Duty. Swear these idiots have nothing better to do than to gunk up a good game.” Logging out, she opted to look at the code that Pencil Code had brought over.

Firing up the notepad, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary; it seemed like it was more than serviceable enough, and even contained a few tricks that caught her attention. He actually asked me out, she thought as her eyes scanned over the lines. I mean…nobody’s ever done that before and he is kinda cute when he doesn’t decide to take the ultra-caz option. Then again, I’m little better. She then blinked. Wait – didn’t I have this conversation with myself already? She groaned. Derpy, get your head out of your ass, girl!

She went back to looking over the data pouring onto the screen, when the phone rang. “Yeah, Lance residence. How can I help you?” Derpy answered in a cheerful, earnest voice that she’d learned to fake over the years.

“Heya, kiddo, how’s things going?” It was her father, Argent Lance. He was a US National Guard major, and currently doing his two weeks of active duty assignment over at Fort Hood in Texas. Argent had always said that if he went full-time Army that he’d move the family over there; that desire had been part of what had led to her parents’ divorce.

“Heya, Dad,” she said, the smile on her face infectious even though he was hundreds of miles away. She and Dinky were daddy’s girls, and they knew it.

“Hey, Derpy, I need you to do something for me. Just as I was leaving, I was having a problem with the lock on the safe. Can you look into that?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” she said. “I’ll also have Dinky stay out of your room until then, just in case.” Argent kept his gun safe in his bedroom, and while he’d taught gun safety to his older daughter – another thing that had led to his marital split – Dinky was still too young, in his opinion. So he bought a gun safe, along with a digital lock for it that Derpy would be able to repair in the event that something like this happened. “What do you want me to do with the guns?”

“They should be fine, so long as Dinky stays out of the room,” Argent commented. “Go ahead and do whatever you need to do, sweetie.”

“Yeah, let me take a look at it and I’ll see what I can do. Worst comes to, I’ll just head down to the locksmith and order a new one. I should be able to replace it myself.”

“And that’s my little genius at work.”

Derpy blushed. “Daaaaaaaaaaad….”

“Well, that’s the cue that lunch’s over and I gotta get back to the field. I’ll be home in a couple of weeks. Ask Mrs. Chantenay if you need help next week when you go back to school.”

“I’ll be fine, Dad; don’t worry. Dinks and I will be perfect until you get back, promise.”

“That’s my girl. Talk to you later. Bye.”

She’d hung up the phone again, when her cellphone rang this time. She got up from her seat and walked over to her nightstand, picking it up. “This is the Goddess of Tech, what can I do for you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the voice on the other end said. “I was looking for Derpy Hooves?”

Derpy shook her head. “Yeah, this is Derpy. What’s up?”

“Oh, hi, Derpy, this is Blossomforth. I got your number from Pinkie Pie. I…I’m having a problem with my tablet, and I was wondering if I can bring it over to you.”

“Oh, my place is a total mess right now,” Derpy said, looking around the room and figuring that the place was a disaster zone – Even more than usual, she internally groaned – “and I need to get out and eat something. Are you working today at the Sugarcube?”

“Yeah, I’m on the afternoon shift today. Maybe we can meet up just before my shift? Mr. and Mrs. Cake won’t mind.”

“Lunch it is then. See you at noon.”

“Yo, Notes!” Sunstone walked into the store, happy as a clam. She’d decided to take Noteworthy out to lunch and have a nice long talk about her feelings. Maybe he’d be squicked out, or maybe they’d be doing the horizontal bop by the evening…or maybe they’d just kiss; she liked that idea, and wasn’t about to complain if that was all that happened.

Yeah, I’ll have to tell Wildfire this was a great idea, she said. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as sure about that the moment she saw Noteworthy’s grandfather, and he was eyeing her with curiosity.

“You know,” Blue Note commented wryly, scratching his scruffy chin with his thumb and index finger, “I cannot, for the life of me, recall the last time I saw you in a blouse and skirt. With makeup.” His nose crinkled as he added, “And with perfume, as well. Is that Cocoa Channel No. 5 I smell?”

Sunstone groaned. “Yeah, it is.”

“The little girl’s been raiding her mother’s makeup kit, I see.”

“No,” she said, leaning against the counter. “I do have my own supplies, you know; I don’t always look like a tomboy. Besides, sometimes I just want to get the attention of Mr. Right, you know?”

“Well,” Blue Note commented, “I think I saw him down in the music sheet aisle. You want to surprise him or should I let him know that I expect you to run off with my best employee again?”

“I…uh….” Sunstone looked fit to be tied. “No…let me handle this. I’m already more than mortified by this whole thing.” Taking a breath to gather her courage, she strode over towards her destination, slinking down the previous aisle, when she heard his voice – and another girl’s:

“Wow! It’s so big!”
“Yeah…largest one available.”
“Can I touch it?”
“You? Sure! Go right ahead.”

Running around the corner, completely horrified at what she was hearing, she was about to chew Noteworthy out when she saw what was going on: Noteworthy was showing her The Great Songbook (Piano Edition), the largest music sheet book the store carried. With him was Primrose, one of Minuette’s circle of friends. That couldn’t be good.

Noteworthy looked up at her. “Oh, heya, Stony. What’s up?” He then noticed what she was wearing and asked, “So, date?”

Primrose noticed as well. “Oh, that blouse is nice! Where’d you get it?”

“I…uh….” stammered Sunstone, who seemed to not even have been expected to give a full response given how the other girl immediately turned her attention back to Noteworthy.

“It’s perfect. I’ll take it.” A thought came over Primrose’s mind, and she suddenly asked, “Oh, and about those gifts you were going to give to Minnie?”

Sunstone felt as though she was going to die of utter mortification at that exact moment. “Latergottagobye!” she blurted, blanching as he did so, and without another word, ran out of the store, looking for some place to hide.

Noteworthy watched her run off with concern. “Wow, she’s usually not like that. I guess she must have pre-date jitters.”

“Guy must be special if he makes her react like that,” Primrose observed.

Sunstone managed to virtually fly halfway through the mall before she came to a stop, looking behind her with anxiety and confusion. So did I just make things worse or did I stop them from…? She sat down on a bench by the escalators and tried to catch her breath. Stupid! You couldn’t just wait until he was alone, no; you could’ve just noted by the sounds that he was with a customer and then you had to go and make a fool of yourself, Stony!

But that wasn’t a customer, Sunstone sighed. That was Primrose, one of Colgate’s best buddies. And what the hell is she doing in the store? She doesn’t play any kind of instrument I know. Unless she’s…. The realization burned through Sunstone like the flames of hell itself. Is she acting as a middleman for Colgate? But…but why? How? I….

Sunstone forced herself to her feet. No, this couldn’t be how it ended. She loved him, and she couldn’t let him go, especially to someone like—

“Sunstone?” The girl felt someone tapping her on the shoulder, and when she turned around, she saw Waterfire standing there.

Whatever courage Sunstone had just gathered melted in the presence of Minuette’s best friend. “Oh, hey, Waterfire. What’s up?”

The other girl groaned. “Looking for Primmie – we were shopping and I turned around and poof! She was gone. I swear, never go shopping with a store ninja like her. You seen her by any chance?”

“I…uh…well….” Sunstone was suddenly stumped for words, having run into Minuette’s best friend. She and Waterfire weren’t exactly tight, but they did get along. “I think I ran into her on the other side of the mall?” she finally managed to utter.

“Thanks!” Waterfire chirped, waving as she headed off. “Oh, and great skirt! Date today?”

“Not at this rate,” Sunstone sadly murmured.

“Oh, good, you made it!” Blossomforth chirped as Derpy walked into Sugarcube Corner Café. “What do you want? It’s on the house.”

“Sure, thanks! I’ll have the roast beef and gruyere on the baguette and chips, if that’s cool with you. Oh, and a mango-pineapple smoothie.”

“Sure, let me go put that in and I’ll be right out. Can you find us a place to sit down?”

“On it.” Derpy chose a table by the window, where it would be easier to use the sunlight to work on Blossomforth’s pad in case she needed to take it apart. Slipping off her backpack, she opened it and pulled out her trusty portable driver kit, as well as one of her own tablets that she’d set up with a diagnostic program. That settled, she pulled out a second tablet and continued to look over Pencil Code’s work from the other day; it turned out to be a lot more ornate than expected, yet was still pretty tight.

I am impressed by this. Wherever he’s going, he’s going to be taking the express elevator to a C-suite in no time flat. She drummed her fingers against the table as she continued to run her eyes over each bit of otherwise indecipherable text. She became so engrossed in what was onscreen, that she didn’t even notice someone plopping into the chair right across from her.

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie said, practically getting into Derpy’s face, making her jump out of her seat and almost dropping her tablet.

“Jesus Christ! You almost made me drop my shit, Pinks!”

“Sor~ry! Anyway, I just wanted you to go easy on Blossom. It took her a long time for her to build up the courage to talk to you, okay?”

“Really? All I’m doing is fi—”

“—xing her tablet,” Pinkie said, leaning back in her chair and idly fiddling around with a tablet. The tablet’s protective cover had a floral motif on it as well as words engraved on it that said PROPERTY OF BLOSSOMFORTH. “Well, you did such a good job that it was fixed before you even got here!” the cotton-candy haired girl said with a grin.

“Sonofa—” Derpy began angrily, but Pinkie clamped down on the blonde’s wrist with surprising strength.

“Please, Derpy. You were the only one I knew who could answer her question. If Sunny were here, she’d ask you the same thing. Blossom’s best friend is gone and she’s nervous around Minuette and Waterfire. But she could use your advice.”

Derpy looked right into Pinkie’s eyes and swore. “Catch a falling star, you’ll go far,” she sang under her breath.

“In the pageant of the bizarre,” Pinkie finished for her. “Thanks, I knew I could count on you.”

“Yeah, well, that’s exactly one of us, Pinks,” Derpy groaned.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Derpy!” Pinkie said as she bounced up from the chair. “Gotta get back to work – talk to you later!”

Derpy merely nodded, then looked back at her tablet until Blossomforth showed up a few minutes later, lunch in hand. “Here ya go! Enjoy!”

The hacker teen decided to just get everything right on the table from the start: “Look, let’s get something straight: I know you lied about your tablet. Not happy about that, but Pinkie told me that something else is really up, and I’m more than willing to listen. But I want the truth, Blossom.”

The smile disappeared from Blossomforth’s face. “I…I’m sorry. Normally I’d talk to Sunny about this, but she’s not here, and I don’t want her to think I’m dumping everything on her. Likewise, Kicky’s in Europe right now and it’s a little harder to get a hold of her.”

Derpy leaned back in her chair. “Yeah, I gathered that. So what’s up?”

A tear slid down Blossomforth’s cheek. “How do you do it? I mean, for years, kids called you the stupid one, muffinhead, dain bramaged, and all that. I remember third grade and there was that one girl – Clockwork Flower – always picked on you.”

“Yeah, well, she picked on a lot of people,” Derpy replied. “Then she picked on the wrong person, Applejack beat her up, and she didn’t bother anyone else. Then her family transferred her to that Catholic school in Everfree Glades.”

“Yeah. Mom and Dad want to send me to Holy Cross after the school year finishes. Apparently it was the only school in the area that wasn’t touched by The Club.” Blossom wiped away her tears, and then continued. “But how did you deal with it?”

“Why, is someone bugging you?”

She patted her stomach. “Everyone knows by now that I’m pregnant by Flash, and that I want to keep the child. My parents have been supportive. Flash? Not so much – only time he talks to me is when his parents make him, and that’s not often. But that’s not the problem. I have friends that support me and I don’t worry about that. It’s everybody else – everyone who looks at me and thinks, ‘Hey, there’s the pregnant whore!’ Or ‘She took it, maybe I can get some after!’” The tears continued to pour as she cried, “Did you know there was this one perv from Canterlot State who kept hitting on me specifically because I was pregnant? I mean, how did he even know, and yet there he was, just trying to talk to me in a very not-nice way. I mean, if it wasn’t for the fact that Waterfire just happened to be there, he wouldn’t have left me alone!”

“Sounds to me like your problem isn’t with Wai, then,” Derpy said, before she took a drink from her smoothie.

“Except I could see it in her eyes: ‘You damn whore, you can’t even stick up for yourself, so what good are you?’ She hates me. Really, really hates me. I don’t even…I mean…I just don’t know what to do, Derpy!” Her tears fell onto the table, minor splashes of lacrimation soaking the tablecloth. “I don’t want anyone to hate me.”

Derpy sat there for a moment, then took off her glasses. “Did you know that when I don’t wear my glasses, my eyes can really get out of whack? I mean, most people think I’m a retard because of my eyesight. Just because I have an eye issue, I’m an idiot. Life isn’t fair, Blossom.” Derpy put her glasses back on, then took a bite of her sandwich before continuing. “You have a mother and father who love you more than anything – and I know your old man’s a fire-and-brimstone kind of preacher, so for him to not condemn you…it’s a lot.”

“He was furious that I had a boyfriend behind his back. My older sister wasn’t allowed to date until she left for college, and my parents drilled the same into me. The fact that I disobeyed…both my parents were livid when I told them everything. But they knew I was a victim of what Flash did, which is why they accepted what happened.”

“Then you’re doing better than I did. My own mother can’t accept me.”

Blossom blinked. “What?”

“Yeah. My mother, Artiste Boheme, had this idea of a lifestyle that completely clashed with what my father does for a living – how those two got together much less married, is beyond me. Anyway, when I was born with my birth defect and my twin was stillborn, Mom freaked out about having a ‘cursed life’, which did not make Dad happy in the least. Dinky was born as a last chance attempt to save their marriage and Mom has mentioned this in front of her before.” Derpy briefly removed her glasses again, but this time to rub the bridge of her nose before slipping them back. “The point is, my mother’s a stuck-up bitch who barely speaks to us since the divorce and her move to New York.

“So you’re saying that you have life hard because everyone thinks you slept around, when the truth was that you were either naïve or drugged, probably both. And you’re afraid that Waterfire, who sounds like she’s more worried about Minuette than anything else, gave you the wrong look at the wrong time. And you’re afraid of everyone – and that’s not a healthy way to live life.” Derpy leaned forward and said, “Stop. Don’t do whatever it is everyone expects you to – because if you do, that’s just justifying whatever bullshit they think about you.”

“So what do I do then?” Blossomforth asked.

“What you want to do,” was Derpy’s answer. “In my case, it was proving that this head isn’t just my eyes. That it’s my brain that rules this roost. In my case, I think I make more money than my Dad does from my projects, and my family’s support means the world to me. For you? Maybe it’s your kid and your parents and everyone else you love.

“So use that as your weapon of choice, Blossom. Next time they call you a whore? Tell them that at least you’re one going places. What excuse do they have?”

Blossom looked at Derpy as if trying to comprehend the other girl’s words. Certainly, Derpy had to know what she was talking about; given all the things she’d put up with in her life, especially given her eyes, it was small wonder she was as cynical and jaded as she was. And yet there was something about her that refused to give up, denying any advance her foes could try to steal on her. She would continue on, by force of will, because she refused to give in to her maladies. She would prove that she was far more than her eyes, and that Derpy was no less of a person, no less of a woman, just because of circumstance.

Could Blossomforth ever hope to be as strong? Her hand went down to her belly. It wouldn’t be much longer before she would start to show, and then there would be no denying it. She hoped that Flash would turn around and have some involvement in her life; she held out hope for that, as dark as the cloud seemed. But she had her faith, she had her family, she had great friends in Sunset and the others, and she had this growing joy within her. Compared to Derpy, right until now, she’d led a charmed life. But now the situation was flipped, but not the attitude.

Blossomforth continued to punish herself because of her mistake.
Derpy refused to give in and people that had once insulted her now praised her.

Could she learn to be as strong as the girl before her?

Wildfire opened the door to see a distraught Sunstone standing there, in a nice outfit and looking completely shattered.

“Woah, Stony, you okay?” she asked as her friend all but glomped her, tears running down her eyes.

“He’ll never love me, Wild,” Sunstone moaned, tears flowing free. “He’ll never love me at all.”

She’ll never love me at all, Noteworthy realized as Primrose wandered out of the store, a sizeable amount of books she’d purchased. But that was all: she’d been friendly, but not flirty. After a few minutes of relaxing, Primrose and Noteworthy got to talking and he’d found out that Minuette had a boyfriend, and the only reason Noteworthy hadn’t been grounded into paste was because Minuette had asked him to let it go.

The rest of the conversation was subdued as Noteworthy spent more time trying to pick both his jaw and the broken pieces of his heart off the floor. To make matters worse, as Primrose reached the store’s entrance, Waterfire arrived, looking at her friend briefly with worry before turning to glare at Noteworthy himself. But that paled in comparison to the fact that his heart had just been shattered.

She’ll never love me at all, the thought echoed in his mind as he sat down on the stage, clenching his hands.

He then felt a comforting arm around him. He turned to see his grandfather there, a smile on his aged face. “There’s others, kid, let me assure you that,” he told him.

“But th—”

Blue Note grinned. “What, boy, you think you’re the first man since Adam to feel that the world slammed him hard? You’re not the first guy to feel heartbreak, and you won’t be the last. Hell, this might not even be the first time. But you know what? I’m bettin’ that there’s a girl out there for you. You just have to follow this—” he said, pointing towards his heart, “and this,” he said, tapping his head. “Follow those two and don’t let one override the other, and you’ll do fine.”

“You think so?”

“World ain’t changed that much since I was a kid, you know.”

Noteworthy shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Blue Note said as he rose to his feet. “Now get back to work – I don’t pay you to lollygag around here, do I?”

Noteworthy gave his grandfather a slight smile. “No, sir.”

Headphones blaring, Carrot tried to block out the taunts in her head from Other Carrot. “Oh, she tasted soooooooo good,” her evil doppelganger said. “You know you want her; you’ve felt it in the way she touches you, how she l—”

“SHUT UP!” Carrot roared. “Derpy is my best friend and nothing else! Don’t you dare insinuate otherwise!” She looked around the wooden spaces, hoping here would be the best place to hide: after all, this treehouse in her backyard had been a treasured place that her father had built for her so she and Derpy could have more than a few overnights camping in the backyard. And even though she didn’t use it as much since she became a teenager, her father kept it in good condition in the event they ever sold the house. The last time she genuinely used it was last year, when she and her potential boyfriend at the time pretty much spent the night making out and a couple of other things; it never proceeded as far as sex, though.

Now, part of her wished it had, while another part was glad it didn’t. She was tainted now, and the last thing she needed was for someone like Dreamy Smile to tell others that he’d been the first to sample Carrot back when she was pure and not before….

“Before what? Before all those boys loved you just as you wanted to be loved?” Other Carrot taunted. “They’re just men; it’s in their nature to want a beautiful girl. It’s certainly not their fault that you’re no longer beautiful, is it?”

“Leave me alone!” Carrot begged. “Please!”

“Just trying to help you restore your beauty,” Other Carrot said, nibbling on Carrot’s ear. “You can be forever. It’s still in here, isn’t it?” Other Carrot took Carrot’s face in her hands and paused her lips just before hers. “All you have to do is just do it,” the doppelganger breathed. “Do it for once and for all.”

Other Carrot kissed Carrot and though the latter fought it at first, she soon relented. A few seconds later, when the two broke, Carrot’s eyes were glassy, as if she was no longer entirely in control of herself.

Other Carrot reached out and pulled her to her feet. She then shed her clothing, showing her body. “Don’t you want this body again?” she cooed. “Don’t you want to be Golden Harvest, the most beautiful girl that lived?”

“Yes….” Carrot slurred, the word almost choking as it tried to force itself from her lips.

“Then you know what to do,” Other Carrot said, helping Carrot out of her clothing before vanishing. Now in the nude, Carrot stumbled her way over towards the old dresser on the far side of the treehouse. Mostly used as a tool cabinet for the stuff used in the making of the treehouse, it had plenty of things in there that weren’t of the tool variety. And a second later, as she pulled out her father’s KA-BAR knife from his days in the Marines, she noted it was sharp as the day it was made.

“A single thrust in the heart,” Carrot could hear her doppelganger whisper in her ear. “Just one quick movement and it will all be over.” Carrot brought the knife to her heart, the tip of the blade stinging slightly as it poked into her flesh, drawing a droplet of blood.

“Golden? Sweetie? Are you out here?” Though muffled, she could hear her mother calling her from the back door.

Green eyes seemed to clear, and Carrot shouted, “Yeah, I’m in the treehouse.”

“I’m going to the store, is there anything you need?”

“Just the usual,” she called back, slightly louder than normal.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon. Also, your cellphone rang, so I’m assuming that’s Derpy. You’ll want to call her back.”

“Will do!” Carrot said, not moving an inch until her mother went back in the house. Only then did she drop the knife, the blade clattering against the ground as a rivulet of red ran down her chest. Her hands shaking, she ran over to her clothing, digging for her phone as her blood stained her clothing.

“Yeah, Your Glorious Goddess of Code here, what can I d—”

“Derpy? Help….” Carrot moaned as her vision began to haze.

“Carrot? Where are you? Look, I’m on the way, I just—”

“Derpy, help me, please!” Her vision faded to black and she could barely feel herself hit the floor.

“Carrot?

“CARROT!”

“Sorry, Mom,” Minuette said to her mother as she sat in bed. “I just….”

Sweet Tooth looked at her daughter, her husband Enamel standing behind her. “You’ve had a rough time, honey,” Sweet told her daughter. “I only wish I’d known about it sooner in order to help you better.”

“What’s done is done,” Enamel said in a soft voice. “We can’t change the past, no matter how painful or hurtful it was. All we can do is just keep moving on, and we’ll move on together as a family, okay?”

“Sure thing, Pop,” Minuette said.

“Now, that’s my Minnie,” Sweet commented. “Oh, and if you’re up for guests, Wai’s downstairs.”

Minuette nodded. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I’ll go get her,” Enamel said, as he left her room.

“Thanks, Pop,” Minuette gushed. Part of her still felt guilty for how they found her, weeks back when this all began, and they had blamed themselves just as much as she did. They were all healing, her physically as well as emotionally, but they would find their way back to steady ground together.

A few minutes later, Waterfire was in her friend’s room, seated on a chair, with a vastly concerned look on her face.

“Is…is something wrong, Wai?” Minuette asked.

“Yeah…we have a problem, and it’s about Noteworthy,” Waterfire began.

“I’m sorry,” Carrot said in hushed tones.

“You should be,” Derpy snarled, as she sat against the wall of the treehouse. “I just had to lie to your mom to cover for your stupid stunt. Seriously, Carrot, what the fuck were you thinking?”

“I…I was—”

“No, you weren’t!” Derpy snarled. “Hell, I don’t even know why your dad keeps these up here.” She stared at the knife as if she could melt it through disgust. “So, want to tell me why you’re up here, naked, playing with a knife?”

“I just….” Carrot turned away in shame.

“Hey, look at me, Carrot.” Derpy walked over to her friend and hugged her. “You’re the prettiest girl around, got that? A little scar isn’t going to change things. You’re the most beautiful girl I know, and you have no idea how many times I’ve felt kinda jelly.” Carrot bristled at that.

“Derpy, don’t tell me you—”

The look on the blonde’s face was almost laughable as she thought about what Carrot had implied before realization kicked in. “Oh, fuck no! Look, Carrot, I’ve seen you naked and in some pretty compromising positions, but that does not mean I want you in them! Sorry, but you’ll have to be a lot more male to catch my attention, got that?”

Carrot’s response was to lean back and start laughing uncontrollably. Derpy sat there, completely confused, before Carrot said, “Oh, Derpy, don’t ever change, okay?”

“Didn’t plan on it, why?”

“Because I don’t know if my sanity could ever take that.”

“Yeah, okay. Whatevs. C’mon, let’s get outta here. I need something to drink and your fridge has a Coke with my name written on it. No, seriously, it does – didn’t you see the one can with the ‘Share a Coke with Your Bestie’ written on it?”

“No, but I’ll take your word for it,” Carrot said as she started to put her clothing back on.

You can’t give up yet, Carrot, Other Carrot seemed to say from nowhere. It’s only a matter of time before you become the immortal beauty you were destined to be.

“Derpy, did you…?” Carrot asked.

“Did I what?”

Carrot sighed. “Nothing. It’s…nothing,” she replied to her friend as she could hear the laughter of Other Carrot in her mind.

Author's Note:

Yeah, I managed to break the block. Going with two stories at once, yay!

Comments

[CryHavoc21]

Impressive, Shin! I don't have the kind of skill to write two stories at once, much less stories of this high caliber. You truly are quite the skilled author!

Also re-reading this story is making me want to go code again. As in, my IDE is booting up as I type this. Therefore any video games I make are 74% your fault.

[Shinzakura]

6246631
They probably convinced him at first there was a way to win Minuette's heart, but when he realized what was going to, they held him in place with a threat that now that he knew, he was going to jail as well.

[Trooper028]

6247280

I see, thank you.

[Fire Seeker12]

6247280 Okay Derpy is likable in this story. I mean she has made some logical sense into Blossomforth life, and able to stop Carrot top from killing herself. Also give Noteworthy some credit trying to find love. Love the Wildfire cameo. Three cheers for Derpy.