The Horror of Happiness

by CrackedInkWell

Chapter 15: Party Favor’s Newest Letters

The doctor was in his kitchen, although he already had breakfast, he was finishing with the broth on the iron stove. He was removing the boiled vegetables and herbs from the pot and into a cup where he placed some of the vitamins that he was trying to dissolve. Once this was he crushed the pills and stirred it until the liquid was clear, he picked up the cup and some of the rationed water down to the basement.

As he expected, the first thing he noticed as he came down the stairs was the pungent smell that was coming from the chamber pot. Looking into it, he commented, “Urine is a little too yellow… fesses liquefied.” He went over to the feeding tube and put a hoof over the hole, Lovejoy sighed in relief, “But still breathing. Now then Mr. Trek, time for breakfast,” the old stallion said as he put a spout over the mouth of the pipe and proceed to pour the broth into it. There was a gurgling, coughing sound as if the hornless unicorn had just been woken up.

“Well, good morning to you too,” he said pouring the ration of water. “Let me just collect your waste and I’ll be on my way.”

But before he could wrap his magic around it, there was a knock that came from the front door. “What?” Lovejoy looked upward in confusion, “Already?” He looked down at the salty mound, “I’m afraid that I have to come back later.”

The doctor trotted up the stairs, through the kitchen and into the Living Room to this front door. There he found a blue unicorn on his front steps, “Party Favor? What are you doing here so early?”

“Forgive me for coming here on the last minute,” Party apologized, “But something’s come up that… I just really need somepony to talk to.”

“By all means, come right in,” the elderly stallion waved a hoof as his guest entered, “I just finished breakfast. Could I interest you in some tea or-”

“No thank you, doctor. It’s just that I have a lot on my mind that I was hoping you would help resolve a private matter.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Lovejoy sat on the couch, in which the younger stallion took up the other end. “So, Party Favor, what’s been concerning you?”

“Well, do you remember when I told you that I have a secret admirer? The one that’s been giving me notes for a while now?”

The doctor shrugged, “A little, why?”

“Well, ever since Hidden Trek went off, something interesting happened.”

Lovejoy raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Well you see, on the very night he left, I got a note that compliments me as usual, right? Well, not an hour later, I got another note again, only this one was tear-stained. As if that pony was crying their eyes out saying that, whoever it was, is afraid that they’ve lost me now that they’re paired up now. It was so out of place when you think about it. One note was as happy as can be and the other was heartbroken. So, I looked at them closely, and I noticed something interesting.”

“Yes?”

“They have different hoof-writing,” Party explained, “Which means-”

“It means you have more than one secret admirer.”

The younger unicorn shook his head, “Not quite, it means that I think I’ve figured out which one those letters belong to. I think the tear-stained one is Sugar Belle’s. But as to the other… I have no idea. It’s been keeping me up at night, I mean, on the one hoof, I’m surprised, if not flattered that I have two mares that like me but-”

“Excuse me, Mr. Favor,” the doctor interrupted, “Can I ask you a serious question?”

“What?”

“Now, I don’t know how you’ll feel about this, and I’m trying to upset you if it does. Yet, I think I need to point something out that I think you really need to consider here.”

Party Favor tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

The doctor coughed for a moment before saying, “Ask yourself this, how do you know if this other admirer is even a she?”

“What makes you say that?” Party wondered, raising an eyebrow.

“Mr. Favor, as I said, I’m not trying to offend you, but when it comes to these things, you have to open up to that possibility that maybe, and is only a maybe mind you, that perhaps this other anonymous letter could belong to a stallion in the village. Perhaps it is a mare, but what I’m really asking here is how do you know if this other letter belongs to a mare?”

Party’s mouth opened and closed several times, “I… I don’t know. Doctor, I really don’t know. I just assumed-”

“I’d be careful with assumptions if I were you. Because sometimes in life you’ll find something that will turn everything you once thought about something is transformed in a new light. But I’m afraid we’re getting off topic. You were saying about what’s been really bothering you?”

“Uh… Yes,” Party cleared his throat, “For the past week-and-a-half, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. I mean let’s face it, I’m caught in a love triangle that I wasn’t aware of until recently. So I guess you could say that I’m at a loss at what to do. As much as I respect Starlight, I don’t think she’ll really help with the situation. I mean, do I go talk to Sugar Belle about it or do nothing until my other admirer comes out to the open about this? For really Doctor Lovejoy, I don’t want to break any hearts when I don’t mean to. Besides, I’ve been thinking what if this other pony, would she (or as you point out, he) might be a better choice than Sugar Belle? What if I break her heart? What if I break the other pony’s heart? Doctor, I don’t know what to do.”

Lovejoy leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, and a hoof under his chin in thought. “The ye old Romantic in me says to go right ahead and try to contact both of them to confront the issue head-on. But reason tells me otherwise. If I were you, I wait until I gather up some more information about the issue before laying out a plan. For it is better to know what’s in the fog than to charge head-on without knowing what’s in it when it comes to matters of the heart, Mr. Favor, it’s best to know fully all the parties that are involved.”

Party Favor thought over the old stallion’s words, “But what about Sugar Belle? What if Hidden Trek comes back before I could find out who this other pony is?”

“I don’t know, but I have feeling that you’ll have all the time in the world to figure things out before hoof. Have I been any help Mr. Favor?”

The younger unicorn got off the couch, “I… I think so,” he turned to head out the door, but paused as a thought came to his head, “Say doctor Lovejoy, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Eyebrows and ears perked up when the old stallion heard this, “Sorry?”

“Did you ever have a special somepony in your life?”

Lovejoy coughed a few times before he could answer, “Only once. But we concluded that it wouldn’t work out anyway. I’m married to my job anyway.”

“Oh, okay, thanks for talking with me.”

“You too, remember, if you needed a friend to speak with, you know where to find me.”

Party smiled as he exited through the door.

Dr. Lovejoy returned downstairs and did empty the chamber pot before returning it to its rightful place. Afterward, he went upstairs to his room and opened a trunk by his bed. Moving some of the books and personal belongings aside, he reached out for the book at the very bottom, his Book of Memories.

Sitting on the bed and with the pages in his aura, he flipped to the near start of the book to a particular page to look at one of the photographs. Putting his hoof on the page, he caressed the image, “At least you were happy,” he muttered to himself.

Comments

[Mix-up]

Great chapter as usual, it is interesting to see that Doc had a lover at one time, would love to hear more, PF has two admirers that is also interesting. Just I thing that I thought about how can Trek bread while he eats if he only has hole to bread with? Also I would have thought that Trek was in a box full of salt not just in a mound of salt, where it would be a great wast of salt, and their would never be ever enough salt to cover the whole body adequately on a table to make a more then a sallow mound on him and he could move out of it when the paralytic wears off, where their at least he would be completely immobile shear amount of salt(that's my opinion at least). Is the paralytic that the doctor uses in permanent? than that would change things.

[CrackedInkWell]

7082790 He had him strapped down in the last chapter since he knew that the drug would have worn off yet still keep him in place.

[Mix-up]

7082801 wouldn't he be able to wigget the salt off after some time? I know he would have much strength left after some time,but still.

[CrackedInkWell]

7082867 And thank you for giving me an idea.

[Skye Mist]

Oh, the Psycho Doc had a lover at one point?
Party Favor X Sugar Belle (<—Best Equality Village Ship)
Continue...

[Mix-up]

I just had a weird thought, what happens to the Cutie Mark if its own is dead? Does it disperse when it owner is dead. Or does it actually stay in the cutie mark vault, unless it is freed. What is the cutie mark is it part of a pony's soul that is still on earth is there still a link to the soul of the deiced some how or a personalized brand of magic that is unique to its self and its owner and can it have any other, for starlight have any uses beyond decorating the vault for them? Doe they generate magic on their own? If it disappear after the owners dead then the folks of Our town would know which of their citizens are dead already. Starlight is probably one of the few ponies that regularly visit the vault, and she might have been already aware from the start that the first two victims are dead then and has been hiding it from the rest of our Town, for some reason. I wouldn't be surprised that the doc didn't even think about that detail, so self-assured that he isn't leaving any trail. hope this gives you ideas for the story.

[Glen Gorewood]

7085721
Hmm, this is an interesting concept.

Love this story so far, going to finish it tomorrow.

Glen Gorewood