Shut Up And Dance

by TheVClaw

Chapter Twenty-One: The Morning After

“Nnnnnnghhhhhh… Buck…”

Despite Elusive’s efforts to make sure Blitz’s hangover wouldn’t be too overbearing, the pegasus was still huddled within his friend’s plush bedding like a cocoon of sickness. The curtains may have been closed to conceal the morning light, and Elusive may have left some bottles of water on the nightstand with a few ginger supplements, but Rainbow couldn’t even think without feeling like the room was going to spin out of control. He felt like he was going to throw up a few times, but luckily hadn’t in the hour he spent shivering in the unicorn’s bed. By the time Brunch was more appropriate than Breakfast, Blitz was able to comprehend that he wasn’t in his own bed.

Fortunately, the stallion’s pet tortoise was nestled in soundlessly against the pillow beside his own. Armour’s propeller was unstrapped, allowing the reptile to rest against the bedding more comfortably than she would’ve up at Blitz’s place. When Rainbow’s sickness was able to pass enough to let him focus on her with a faint and grateful smile. His mouth was dry and tasted like bile, and his nausea was still questionable at best, but none of his qualms kept the pegasus from reaching out to pull Armour in against his chest.

The tortoise was startled for a second before realizing it was her owner who grabbed her. At feeling his soft and fuzzy chin caressing her shell, Armour smiled and re-closed her eyes as she nuzzled Blitz in response. In the ten minutes or so spent in Rainbow’s embrace, she didn’t hear him say a single word while hugging her so tightly. She also didn’t notice that Blitz’s eyes were closed as well, even though it did nothing to keep several tears from pouring down his face to soak into the pillow.

Downstairs at the main floor of the Carousel Boutique, Elusive was trying his hardest not to let his worries consume him as he sat in the kitchen. He already ate a light breakfast himself, and he didn’t want to start cooking for his friend until he was sure he’d be good enough to try eating. It was usually at times like this that the tailor would try to alleviate his woes with stress-sewing, but he couldn’t risk distracting himself if Blitz needed him. Plus, if the two were to talk like he planned, Elusive did not want to do so while wearing his stress in the form of a technicolor nightmare-coat.

Granted, the idea of trying to get Rainbow to talk about the previous night was just as stress-inducing as anything else. Elusive knew that it was an uncomfortable choice to make, especially after witnessing how traumatizing Blitz’s past really was, but he also didn’t want his friend to bottle it up until the next time he got angry or intoxicated. He completely understood why the pony never told any of them about what happened, and why he was so hesitant to even bring it up in private. But at the same time, Elusive wanted to at least try to clear the air and avoid any awkwardness later on down the road.

Eventually, the unicorn paused while sipping his coffee when he overheard a faint whirring from upstairs. Realizing that Blitz was not only up, but stable enough to re-strap Armour’s propeller, Elusive was in slightly-higher spirits when he saw the tortoise zoom downstairs with expert precision. The reptile almost bumped into a couple walls on her way down the stairs, but was showing a lot more improvement than she did before. Holding a piece of paper in her mouth, the tortoise smiled as she landed on the kitchen counter and handed the note to Elusive.

“Well, thank you Armour,” said the tailor with a smile as he picked up the note with his magic. Despite how scraggly and uneven Rainbow Blitz’s hoofwriting was, Elusive was able to make out the sloppy words that were scrawled across the paper. The unicorn expected his friend to say something poignant, like “Thank you, Elusive,” or “You’re a good friend.” But instead, Elusive huffed through his nostrils with a flat expression after reading Blitz’s message:

Can you make me a Bloody Mary please? Extra hot sauce. Thanks :)

“Ughhhh…” The unicorn wasn’t exactly thrilled with that first response from Rainbow after the previous night, but he still decided to comply as he walked towards the hidden bar. “Well, at least he asked politely,” he muttered to himself, not noticing that Armour was helping herself to the remainder of Elusive’s leftover fruit salad.

---

By the time Rainbow Blitz finished his cocktail, as well as one of the water bottles, Elusive was finishing up his friend’s breakfast when he heard him come down the stairs. The pegasus was able to walk, but he still wore his sunglasses to help adjust to the brightness of the rest of the boutique and conceal his beat-red eyes. Fortunately, Blitz’s nausea was almost completely vacant, and he was able to actually look forward to whatever he smelled his friend cooking. Of course, it’d be hard to read the stallion’s enthusiasm as he parked himself at the kitchen table with a vacant expression and a sickly groan that escaped his muzzle.

Taking a useful bit of advice he learned from Blitz himself, Elusive had a chilled bottle of some citrus-flavored sports drink to go along with his friend’s breakfast. The meal itself was a basic plate of breakfast hash with scrambled eggs and toast, but Rainbow was quick to begin scarfing it down as soon as it was floated in front of him. In an effort to keep from appearing too intrusive, Elusive took the time Blitz inhaled his breakfast to wash some of the dirty dishes in the kitchen; it was a petty gesture since there were only a few items that needed washing, but the unicorn figured it was a better choice than sitting across from Rainbow with nothing but a silent look.

Elusive was able to wash exactly two spoons in the sink before hearing Blitz say, “Hey, what kind of potatoes are these? They taste kinda weird.”

The unicorn sighed worriedly, unsure of how to feel about Rainbow’s casual tone. The pegasus was bawling his eyes out about his dead Father less than twelve hours prior, but was now just acting like he woke up from a light nap. Alas, the white stallion merely breathed out before replying, “Well, it’s actually daikon radishes,” he said while rinsing off the cleaned silverware, ignoring the sound of Blitz’s grossed-out groan in response. “It has a lot less carbohydrates than the standard potato.”

“Dude!” shouted Blitz with an almost betrayed-sounding tone. “Who eats friggin radishes for breakfast?!”

“Well, technically you just did,” noted Elusive with a flat glance back at him. His eyes looked down at Blitz’s plate before adding, “And judging by how much of that plate you devoured, I’m surprised you even noticed any difference between the two starches. Most ponies don’t.”

“Whatever,” replied Blitz after pushing his near-empty plate aside. Slowly, the stunt-pony pursed his lips shut as he took off his glasses and sat in silence. Since he already ate, and his hangover had plateaued to a point where he was actually able to think coherently, the moment was starting to feel unbearable due to the thoughts rushing through his head. And despite how decent that breakfast really was, he really didn’t want to think about what must’ve been running through Elusive’s head right now. While his muzzle was pointed away from the unicorn, Blitz took a moment to huff before saying in a more withheld voice, “But ummm… I’m really glad you’re doing all this for me…”

Elusive’s brows rose when he looked back at the pegasus, noting how somber Blitz’s tone sounded. In fact, the way Rainbow’s ears were lowered made it look like he felt guilty about receiving any gesture. But before Elusive could say anything in response, his friend glanced back at him with a small nod while his lips were pouted shut. “So, ummm… thanks,” said the stunt-pony in a less than enthusiastic tone.

“I-It really wasn’t that big of a deal, Rainbow…” After quickly placing the cleaned dishes onto the drying rack, Elusive went over to sit across from Blitz at the kitchen table. Despite his concerns, the unicorn managed to keep his expression and tone pleasant as he said with a huff, “I mean, you’re easier to cook breakfast for than my cat, believe it or not.”

He hoped that little joke would be enough to lighten Blitz’s mood, but all it did was make the pegasus smirk for a split-second. After that, Rainbow sighed softly and looked back down at his food. Elusive wasn’t sure what to say, but he could certainly see why his friend seemed so hesitant to look back at him. The signs on Blitz’s expression were as clear as the descriptions the unicorn read about in his mystery novels: the lowered ears, the hunched-over pose, the way his eyes were looking anywhere except to the pony directly in front of him…

Rainbow Blitz may have been silent, but he might as well have been wearing a sign reading “Guilt” around his neck.

Elusive bit his lip momentarily as he took a breath, and exhaled pertly before reaching a hoof out. “Rainbow,” he said softly with a hoof perched on the pegasus’ shoulder. “I know that a lot was said. And believe me, the last thing I want to do is upset you or bring anything up. All I’m going to say is that you’re still my friend, Blitz. Nothing at all has changed between us.”

Rainbow let out a bitter huff with his muzzle pointed away from the white stallion. Instead of making any snarky reply to Elusive’s assurance, he instead tried to yank his shoulder away from his friend’s hoof. Seeing the hesitant scowl Blitz had on his face, Elusive tried not to wince in worry. “Blitz, please,” he pleaded as he strengthened his grip on his friend’s shoulder. “I swear, I’m not judging you for what happened! And I’m certainly not going to treat you any diff--”

With a loud smack of his hoof, Rainbow swiped Elusive’s foreleg away from him with a bitter scowl. The unicorn reeled back for a second, almost expecting Blitz to hit him in the face if he said the wrong thing. But when Rainbow finally did turn back towards him, his teeth were gritted as he pointed a hoof at Elusive and sputtered angrily. “D-Dude, just… Just stop. Alright, just… just shut up.”

Elusive hated hearing such a strained and painful-sounding tone from his friend, but he promptly shut his muzzle in response. After all he heard Blitz say the night before, the last thing he wanted to do was upset him any further. He knew how thin the ice he was treading on really was, so if shutting up would keep him from breaking into unwanted territory, then to shut up he shall. After several seconds of uncomfortable silence, with Elusive perched in his chair with a bit lip and a fretful look towards his friend, Blitz’s glare back at him settled to a wary-looking scowl after a deep and lingering sigh.

“I-I’m sorry,” muttered Blitz faintly as he looked away from him. “I know you’re trying to help, but I just… I really don’t want to hear any bullshit right now.”

Elusive breathed out pertly and replied, “Rainbow, I Bubble Berry Promise that I’m not… b-bullshitting you…” After taking another moment to sigh and shake his head at saying such a vulgarity, the unicorn added insistently, “But if you don’t want to talk, I understand. I’m just saying that I would never lie to you. Especially now.”

Despite that stern tone clearly heard in the unicorn’s tone, Blitz still appeared apprehensive at best. Another pregnant bout of silence passed between the two at the table, with Elusive looking cautiously stoic while Rainbow carried an evident pout away from his direction. After closing his eyes for a moment, Blitz took a breath before stating meagerly, “I… I know you don’t want me to feel like shit for what happened, okay? Butterscotch has been trying that for years, but… But I’m really getting sick of hearing the same crap over and over! And… and it’s not like hearing those things are gonna change how I acted back then...”

Blitz’s head hung a little lower during that last sentence, and his muzzle tensed up like he was trying to keep his voice from sounding choked-up. Elusive felt like his heart was going to break as he replied sincerely, “I… I know it won’t change the past, but that doesn’t mean you have to carry the blame on your shoulders! It wasn’t your fault what happene--”

“DUDE!” After that outburst which caused Elusive to jolt back again, Blitz looked back at him with an even sterner pout for a couple of lingering seconds. His cyan hoof underneath the table was clenched hard enough to start shaking a little, not that Elusive was able to notice with how fretful he was looking at Blitz’s pissed-off expression. The stunt-pony only waited a couple seconds after Elusive stopped to say angrily, “Do not try to say it wasn’t my fault, okay?! I know I didn’t kill him myself, but I was still…” Even with how upset he looked and sounded, Rainbow couldn’t get through that last statement before pausing with his expression becoming more strained. He ended up closing his eyes before finishing meekly, “... I-I… I was still the reason he…”

When he saw how close Blitz was getting to crying again, Elusive had to try his hardest not to pull him in with his magic and hug him in the middle of the kitchen. Instead, the unicorn took a quick breath to keep from getting teary-eyed before saying, “Rainbow, you had no idea he would do something like that. There was no way you would’ve known. You had nothing to do with it!”

Blitz reopened his eyes to glare back at Elusive, not realizing he was already tearing up.“Oh, so he didn’t kill himself because of me?! So the fact that I ruined him and cut him out of my life had NOTHING to do with him thinking he had nothing left to live for?!”

Elusive sighed painfully and rubbed his eyes with a hoof. “Blitz, you can’t just--”

“YES I BUCKING CAN!” roared Blitz in retaliation, not even waiting to hear what Elusive had to say. Instead, the pegasus just looked even more pained as he yelled and tried his hardest not to start sobbing. “And I’m bucking SICK of having ponies like you or Butterscotch sugar-coating what I did! ‘Oh, it’s not your fault!’ ‘Oh, you weren’t the one who did it!’ ‘Oh, you couldn’t have known he’d do it!’ It doesn’t change the fact that he bucking DID! And if I hadn’t left him, he wouldn’t have done it!”

After that painful tirade, the stallion slumped back in his chair with his head hung low. His expression carried a mix of unfiltered anger mixed with obvious despair and guilt, leaving him to only scowl and sniff with his muzzle pointed away from Elusive. Meanwhile, the unicorn was left in stunned silence after hearing what Blitz had to say. He didn’t want Blitz to be so down on himself, but it was clear that none of his supportive statements would alleviate the stunt-pony’s mood right now.

Elusive waited briefly before exhaling with a firm pout on his lips. Not wanting his friend to shoulder so much of the blame for what his father did, the unicorn barely thought about his words as he asked bluntly, “So what would you want me to say, Rainbow? Because I don’t think any friend would try to intentionally say things to make somepony they care about feel worse! And despite what you may think, the reason I’m saying those things is because it’s the truth! That’s not ‘sugar-coating!’”

“Oh, don’t give me that!” returned Blitz with an especially nasty-looking sneer when he pulled his head back up. “Butterscotch might say that stuff because he means it, but I KNOW you’re not being honest with me! If you really wanted to be helpful, you wouldn’t be tip-toeing around what happened and giving me the same shit I hear from Butterscotch all the damn time! The LEAST you can do is be bucking sincere, and tell me something I HAVEN’T heard a million times before!”

Elusive wasn’t sure if it was because of Blitz’s brash tone, or his own compulsive need to prove ponies wrong when put under frustration, but something in him snapped after hearing that rant. The tailor may have been a lot of things, but he did not want one of his best friends to label him as being dishonest. As his irritated scowl intensified, Elusive huffed through his nostrils before spouting angrily back at him, “Okay, so you want me to say something new!? You don’t want me to ‘sugar-coat’ what I think about what happened!? Then fine!”

The unicorn strengthened his posture as he took a breath, only needing a second to get himself in the right composure. Meanwhile, Blitz tilted his head with narrowed eyes while hearing his friend state warningly, “I just want you to know that this is purely a personal opinion, and I deeply apologize if it upsets you! But if you want to know how I feel, then here it is…”

The last thing Elusive wanted to do was say what was about to come out of his mouth, but he felt like it was something Blitz needed to hear from somepony else. After his lips pursed shut for a split-second in hesitance, the tailor breathed out before stating in a stern and very honest tone, “Rainbow… Please pardon my Prench, but...

“Your father was a complete asshole.”

Elusive cringed the tiniest bit after saying such a thing, and felt horrible at seeing Blitz’s eyes shoot wide-open in shock. The stunt-pony’s jaw hung low for that pregnant bout of silence, temporarily unable to come up with any feasible response to his friend’s words. By the time he was able to get his mind out of that stunned stupor, Rainbow blinked a couple times while gawking at Elusive. “... Dude…”

Elusive was briefly frozen as well, but only needed to breathe out sharply before adding, “W-What!? What do you expect me to say, Rainbow?! I mean, I’m unbelievably sorry for what happened to him, and I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for you, but… But do you seriously expect me to have THAT high of an impression of him after hearing how he tried to sabotage your future!?! He hid your scholarship, for buck sake!”

Before Rainbow could say anything while carrying a wide-eyed stare on his friend, Elusive huffed with a shake of his head and kept ranting. “I just… I can’t believe somepony would even think of doing something that low! Especially to their own child! I mean… I’ll admit your reaction was a little over-the-top, but I also can’t blame you in the slightest for how angry you were! If it was my scholarship that was hidden to keep me from going to college, I would’ve been just as furious!”

Rainbow blinked a couple of times as he glanced away from his increasingly pissed-off friend. Even though this kind of reaction was something he can safely say he’d never seen from Butterscotch, it was clear it wasn’t something the pegasus was expecting. Nor was it something he could process too easily while Elusive kept going.

“I mean…” After stopping for a moment to take a breath and purse his lips, the unicorn breathed out timidly and looked away from Blitz before saying timidly, “I… I remember my father wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of me being a fashion designer, but… but he never tried to keep me from my dreams. He knew how important it was to me, and he never once tried to stand in my way. He let me attend advanced design classes as early as middle school, and he and Mom helped me find a good liberal arts school. But I…”

Elusive’s face scrunched in for a second, and he closed his eyes as he confessed, “If either of my parents actually did something as low as what your father did, then I… I’d probably cut them out of my life in an instant too…”

Blitz stared back at Elusive in complete shock, and needed to blink a couple times as he realized his friend wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. And considering how close the unicorn’s bond was with his own family, the fact that he would say something so raw left Rainbow utterly speechless. Meanwhile, Elusive breathed in before looking back at his friend with pure honesty in his blue eyes.

“I… I wouldn’t wish for what happened to you on my worst enemy,” he said in a strained and sincere tone. “And you know you have my deepest condolences for what happened to your father. But even with that being said, I just… I can’t look past what he did to you! I mean, being a Wonderbolt was your dream, Rainbow! That was what you were striving for your whole life! Even before the two of us became friends, I still knew that about you clear as day! You were Rainbow Blitz, the weather-pony who constantly did stunts and wanted to be a Wonderbolt!”

Elusive slumped back in his chair with a sharp huff as he kept going in an exasperated rant, his eyes looking down at the table instead of Blitz’s stunned silent expression. “And even back when we weren’t friends, I would’ve never thought of sabotaging you the way he did. Like… he was your father... You were his son, Blitz! And he… he just decided to try and dash your dreams away for his own selfish wants…”

The unicorn slowly shook his head, his lips briefly shut as a small bout of anger swept past him. He then sighed after a moment before saying back up to Blitz, “And just to think… if you had never found that letter… if you had no idea what he did to you… You’d probably stay at that place your whole life with your dreams forgotten. And he… he’d probably take that secret to his grave. And all the while, you never would’ve met any of us, and… we probably wouldn’t be here right now…”

After that last statement, Elusive crossed his forelegs and pointed his muzzle down at them while sitting silently. Meanwhile, Blitz had to wait a moment to register everything he just heard his friend say. The fact that such a dainty and upclass stallion like Elusive would actually carry so much malice and anger towards a pony never met (let alone a dead one) was shocking enough to Rainbow. But the fact that he said it with so much emotion, and so much sympathy towards Blitz’s struggles instead of anypony else’s, just left the stunt-pony unable to make a response for almost a full minute. By the time he finally was able to speak, the only thing that could come out of Rainbow’s mouth was a soft and stunned voice while shaking his head. “J… Jeez, dude…”

Elusive winced a little when he heard such a meager response from his friend, which prompted him to add insistently, “I’m sorry, Blitz. I know that’s a lot to hear, but I didn’t want to… bull-shit you, as you call it. I just wanted you to know how I feel about what happened between you and him…”

He then sighed again and kept going more honestly. “I mean, I… I completely understand why you feel so much guilt over what happened. He… probably was thrown into a depression due to your reaction. And… the lack of contact afterward most likely intensified it. But even with that being said, none of that would’ve ever happened if it wasn’t for his OWN selfishness!

“YOU weren’t the one who wanted to stay there! HE wanted that! YOU didn’t hide that scholarship letter! That was HIM! HE was the one who who decided his own aspirations were more important than his own CHILD’S! And in my opinion, the fact that he did that was much, MUCH worse than anything you did afterward! It was his own choice to endanger your future, and it was his own choice to endanger your trust in him by going behind your back…”

The unicorn closed his eyes briefly, not wanting to look back at Blitz as he added timidly, “Just… just like it was his own choice to end things the way he did… That was completely his own choice, and you had nothing to do with it. You made your decisions, and… he made his.”

Even though he may have heard reassurances from Butterscotch countless times about what happened (as well as from a trauma specialist shortly after Dusk’s sister’s wedding), Rainbow never heard anypony tell him their opinion about it as bluntly as Elusive had. It was certainly a rattling thing to hear, but at the same time, Blitz wasn’t sure if he was actually offended or upset by it. Granted, the pegasus knew that he definitely should be mad at his friend for calling his late father an asshole. But instead, Rainbow just sat with a bit lip while processing Elusive’s words, unable to think of anything said that was actually dishonest or wrong…

However, before Elusive could pick up Blitz’s plate and take it to the kitchen, Rainbow sighed painfully and lowered his head as he said, “I just…”

With his lips bit shut, it took Blitz a moment to take a breath before he said, “I… know I shouldn’t blame myself, okay? He bucked up first, and… there are probably a lot of sons who’d have done the same thing I did. I know that, but…”

While Elusive sat patiently with a concerned look on him, Blitz kept his sights pointed elsewhere as he tried to keep himself in control. “I just… I wish I read that bucking letter he left. I… I just can’t stop thinking about that. Like… I wish I knew what he wanted to tell me…”

Hearing how distressed Blitz’s tone got at the end of that statement, Elusive finally got out of his chair to go around the table. As soon as the pegasus felt his friend’s hooves wrap around his back to pull him in for a hug, it took everything in him to not start tearing up involuntarily. Meanwhile, Elusive held him tightly and said in a comforting voice, “Rainbow… you had no idea what that letter was about… Nopony can judge you for throwing it away.”

“But I!” After that blurt, Blitz sunk his face in tightly against Elusive’s shoulder. The unicorn felt how strongly Rainbow’s body hiccuped in his grasp, and started to feel the fur on his shoulder begin to grow warm as his friend began to cry again. Blitz slowly hugged him back, his sobs coming out very muffled through the unicorn’s white fur. Alas, he was still able to pull his muzzle back enough to say while holding him, “I… wish I knew…I… I know it wouldn’t change anything, but… I just wish I knew his l-last words…”

Elusive clenched his eyes shut and held Blitz even tighter, barely registering the tears rolling down his own cheeks. “Oh, Blitz… You had no way of knowing… It wasn’t your fault, I swear.”

Nothing much else was said for the next ten minutes or so, as Elusive hugged his friend tightly and let him cry into his shoulder softly. It wasn’t nearly as long or painful as Blitz’s breakdown the previous night, but his friend didn’t respond to it with any less care than he did now. Armour was standing at the nearby kitchen counter with a worried look on her face, but didn’t try to intervene when she saw her owner being consoled by his friend. So instead, the tortoise flew out of the room so that the two could finish up in peace.

By the time Blitz was able to breathe without it turning to a sudden sob, he slowly pulled away and wiped his eyes with his foreleg. Of course, Elusive already had a box of tissues floated in for both of them as he took a couple for himself. “L-Listen,” said Elusive with his voice still a little hoarse, “I know we have a lot to do this week, but… I really think you should take today off to tend to yourself, alright? Just do whatever you need to do, and we can talk about things tomorrow.”

Even though he nodded faintly, Blitz seemed a bit worried when he looked back at his friend with reddened eyes. “Ummm… are you sure? I mean, we have to leave for Manehattan in a couple days, and I--”

“Blitz, that is not a suggestion,” stated the unicorn firmly. Elusive stayed adamant about his decision while staring back at Blitz with insistence. “When you agreed to this competition, one of the measures you agreed to was that you would follow my scheduling and regimen. And right now, I’m telling you to take today off, alright? If you’re good to keep competing, then we can start tomorrow and work overtime before the Semi-Finals. But for now, just get some rest to help get your mind off of things.”

With that, Elusive lit his horn to pick up Blitz’s unfinished plate to take back to the kitchen. While left alone at the table, Blitz took a moment to process everything before deciding to comply. He felt a little crappy for putting off their next routine, but he already felt like complete shit since that Las Pegasus encounter with the Shim Sham Sisters. Plus, he knew he was in no state to try and argue with Elusive about the measures he agreed to. So after downing the rest of his sports drink, Blitz tossed it in the trash can across the room before getting out of his chair.

“Ummm, Blitz?” said Elusive from the kitchen after cleaning Rainbow’s plate. The pegasus paused as he overheard his friend say, “I actually wanted to give you something before you go…”

When the unicorn came back into view, he was carrying a couple pieces of paper and a quill in his magic. He floated the items towards Blitz before saying, “I know how this is going to sound, but… I was given this advice from my therapist shortly after my grandmother passed away, and I think it might help if you choose to do it too.”

Blitz was slightly confused as he took the sheets of paper and quill with a hoof. Elusive took a breath before saying cautiously, “You were saying how you never knew what your father wanted to say, and I… I do understand that feeling. I was at a summer camp when my grandmother was in the hospital, and... I wasn’t able to make it back home in time.”

Rainbow’s ears lowered as he cringed with a bit lip. He shrugged apologetically, but didn’t say anything while the unicorn continued and motioned to those papers.

“During my sessions, I carried a lot of that same guilt you had. There were things I wanted to say to her, and I also wished I knew what she would’ve said to me. At one point, my therapist said that I should write out two letters to help vent out what I was feeling. In one letter, I wrote out everything I wanted to say to my grandmother. And in the other, I wrote out everything I would’ve wanted to hear her say to me…”

After a sigh, Elusive looked back up at Blitz with an insistent expression. “Now, you don’t have to do this, alright? This is merely a suggestion. I just remembered doing it myself, and… I figured it might be something to consider.”

Blitz seemed apprehensive at best, but he still nodded at Elusive’s attempt to help. While he held the papers and quill in his hoof, he looked between them and his friend before asking, “So… were you wanting me to write them now, or--”

“Oh! No, heavens no!” Elusive huffed with a wave of hoof and clarified, “I just mean, that could be something to consider trying when you have the free time. You don’t have to write anything, Blitz. And if you do, you can do whatever you want with them. You can keep them, or throw them away, or even burn them if you wish. What matters is that you actually write it down, and you get out all of your feelings onto paper. But only if you think it’ll help. Okay?”

After a moment of silence, Blitz nodded as he glanced back down at the papers. “Well, ummm… I can think it over, I guess. So, uhhh… thanks.”

“No problem.” Elusive went in to give Blitz a hug, which he returned just as tightly as his friend. As he held onto the unicorn, Rainbow took a breath and added:

“I… I’m not just saying thanks for that suggestion, you know… Just… Thanks for everything, dude…”

While clinging to him with his eyes closed, Elusive smiled warmly and tightened his grip around the pegasus’ back. “I know, Rainbow. I’m just glad you let me in to help…”

Neither of them were crying, but their hug lasted much longer than either of them would’ve predicted. Blitz bit his lip while holding Elusive, hiding the slightest smile that was growing underneath his blushed cheeks. Meanwhile, Elusive’s cheeks were much noticeably redder. By the time the two finally pulled back, the white stallion slowly bent his muzzle in to press his lips against his friend’s cheek. It was the smallest, faintest kiss Elusive’s could’ve made, but it still made a notable noise as soon as he pulled away and smiled at Blitz. “Now go on,” said the unicorn with his head motioning towards the door. “I have a feeling Armour could use some sunshine.”

Blitz smiled back softly, nodding before he made his leave with the items his friend gave him. It wasn’t until he actually left the boutique with his tortoise that he paused with his eyes slightly widened. As he stood on the front lawn, the pegasus’ cheeks burned redder as he brought up a hoof to press against his cheek, just now registering that it was a legit kiss. After a brief bout of confusion, Blitz quickly shook his head clear and flew up into the skies while still blushed.

Meanwhile, Elusive was leaned against the kitchen counter with his face as red as a tomato, and both hooves covering his mouth. Much like Blitz, it wasn’t until hearing the door close that he realized what he just did. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and it was clear from his expression that he wasn’t going to shake off what happened nearly as quickly as Rainbow had.

However, while the unicorn spent the rest of the day (as well as a good portion of the night) understandably freaked-out over that kiss, his dancing partner was in much better spirits after spending the day with Armour. In fact, by the time night came and he was back in his home, Blitz was able to do a little writing after tucking his tortoise in for bed…

---

Early the next morning, Elusive was a little frazzled while waiting at the ballroom in Dusk Shine’s castle. The Prince and his drake thought he was just excited to get some practicing in, and didn’t seem to notice how fidgety the unicorn was acting while downing his second cup of coffee. Even though he was fortunate to get a few hours of sleep the previous night, the white stallion felt like he was wired enough to have been awake for three days straight. And while he paced around the room rapidly, Elusive barely paid any notion to his trotting steps as he tried to avoid any intrusive thoughts from entering his head.

When the ballroom door finally opened, the unicorn yelped in surprise with the fur on his back sticking upward. Fortunately for him, his on-edge state was fairly unnoticed by his dancing partner. Rainbow Blitz was carrying a small saddlebag on his back to hold his things, as well as a wrinkled muzzle as he avoided looking over at Elusive. After a small exhale, Blitz tried to give a casual-looking smile when he finally turned to face his friend. “H-Hey, Lucy. Ummm… you alright?”

It was clear from Elusive’s blush and nervous expression that he wasn’t, but he still lied and nodded his head quickly. “A-Absolutely, Rainbow! I… w-was just getting things set up.”

He then thought things over for a second before adding with a hesitant shrug of his shoulders, “That is… if you think you’re still up for it. Because I completely understand if you’re not.”

“N-No, it’s not that!” blurted the pegasus quickly. “I’m fine…” Rainbow rubbed the back of his mane with a hoof while looking elsewhere, not wanting to say much to his friend at that moment. He may have taken Elusive’s advice the previous night, but his mind still felt a bit overwhelmed after writing down so much on those sheets of paper. He felt like a noticeable amount of tension was removed from his psyche, but the pegasus knew that there was probably still a lot of problems remaining under the surface.

Alas, Blitz still sighed before stating, “But, ummm… I was wanting to talk to you about the routine…”

Elusive paused for a second while looking back at his friend, noticing his more timid-sounding tone. The unicorn may have been a bit fidgety due to his coffee and still-lingering worries about that… moment, but he was able to stand still as he asked, “Alright, so… is there a problem with it?”

“Well, I…” Rainbow’s lips pouted for a second, and he huffed through his nostrils before using a wing to open a flap in his saddlebag. “I was doing a lot of thinking, and I… ended up looking through some of my old boxes…”

Elusive’s brows rose, not needing to be a detective to know what Blitz may have been doing the night before. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the pegasus was too emotionally-drained, so his friend was sure whatever he was doing wasn’t too taxing. The unicorn didn’t say anything when Rainbow used his wing to pull out two small things within his feathers. After dropping them into his hoof, he handed them to Elusive and said, “When Butterscotch first found out what happened, he made me a mixtape to try and help. I barely ever listened to it, but…”

Elusive held the old cassette tape and walkman in his hoof, blinking a couple times in surprise of Blitz having something like this. There was no writing on the tape, and it looked like it was about halfway through as judged by the rings of black tape seen on both of the spools. Meanwhile, Blitz had his face unseen by Elusive while rubbing one of his own forelegs with a hoof. “I know you probably have a few song ideas already, but… I was thinking of using the one on that…”

Elusive didn’t ask what the song was, and just inserted the cassette into the player for Side A. After putting on the old earphones, the unicorn made sure the device was working before pressing play. At first he only heard silence from the tape, with a few audible crackles due to the age of the medium. Just as he was about to eject the tape and check the other side, his ears perked up when the song began to play softly.

Rainbow couldn’t hear what his friend was hearing on that tape, but he could see Elusive’s reaction to it as the music played through those earbuds. The unicorn stood in silence for almost a full minute, his lip bitten while listening to the tape. Eventually, his eyes started to widen in understanding as he heard more of it play out. Before the first chorus could even finish, Elusive took off one of his earbuds while glancing back at his friend.

“Blitz, are…” Despite the music being heard at the faintest volume through that tiny speaker hanging from the wire, Blitz had his lip bitten in reaction from it. However, his attention was still focused on his friend when he heard him ask cautiously, “... are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I know that I said contemporary was supposed to be about emotion, but--”

“I know,” interrupted Blitz while his head was pointed away from Elusive. He took a breath to keep his voice from sounding too strained. “I know what this means, but… that’s my decision, okay? I just… I think that song can work.”

Elusive took a moment before sighing with a nod. After putting the earbud back in, and listening to the song in full a couple more times, the unicorn could already envision a good layout for how the routine could go. It would take a lot of effort and time, but he knew it could work before their train for Manehattan in a couple days. Of course, given what the song was about, Elusive knew that any amount of work he needed to do himself would be nothing compared to what his friend would have to go through in preparation.

Nevertheless, the unicorn breathed out before looking over at Blitz with determination. Even with all the monsters they faced, and all the obstacles his friend went through to be a Wonderbolt, Elusive knew that this would probably be the hardest thing Rainbow has ever done. But at the same time, he’d seen how strong the stallion can be, even at his weakest point. And if that cyan stunt-pony can still be standing after dealing with so much in the past few days, there was no doubt that he can do this.

As soon as Blitz heard the tape-player stop, he looked back at Elusive and heard him say, “Alright then, Rainbow. If you want to do this, I’m certainly not going to stop you.”

Seeing the firm nod of approval his partner gave him, Blitz smirked softly and nodded back. “Good.” He then took off his saddlebag and placed it aside before going out to the ballroom. “Let’s get this started.”

Comments

[fireflutterpony]

Well, this is going to have to be pretty spectacularly soppy. Looking forward to it.

[The_Commune_243]

I have but one complaint to voice against this entire story, this otherwise very well-made and top-notch story, this one complaint that keeps it from being pretty much pitch-perfect, and that complaint is:

Why doesn't this have more readers? It's better than a lot of the actual books I've read in my life!

I mean, this chapter actually put a smile on my face on how sweet it was, and that's more than I can say with plenty of other actual books I've read...

[Vectored Thrust]

I've just finished reading this in the span of about two days. Like, oh my god I love the pacing of this. The slow, steady buildup of a relationship forming between two previously heterosexual Friends who become close, learn more about one another, help each other through trauma and eventually fall in love, never realising exactly where that line was crossed between the two of them feels so natural and all the more satisfying to read.

I really look forward to the next chapter, I'm brimming with anticipation