Interlude N - A Visit To An Old Friend
Under the light of Luna's night, two sisters discuss their plight.
“Is this necessary?”
“We were wrong about all of this. We had assumed its meaning incorrectly. We must address this predicament.”
“But this is madness! What you are attempting to achieve – if anypony were to find out…”
“The stars will aid in her escape. We cannot take any chances. We must... take care of these ponies. Each of them have a chance of presenting the threat to Equestria. We cannot allow this to occur.
"Besides, our… method is willing to keep this a secret. Despite his unpredictable nature, he does value his word.”
“But… she is so innocent…”
“And we may not have to resort to our contingency plan. For now, we shall merely observe and interfere if necessary. I place my faith in him to do just that.”
"...For now it is."
>>>>> Solitude and isolation are painful things, beyond pony endurance. – Jules Vermane
She knocks on the wooden door, the thuds echoing throughout the lit interior of the home. A scuffle and a shuffle later, a face decorated with a dozen scorch-marks greets her, accompanying the eerie creak of the opening door.
“What is it– Oh, it’s you. It's been a long time since your party. How have you been? Here to humiliate me even further?” the homeowner snaps with a frightening glare. Two clear lines run either side of her smoky face, glistening with fresh moisture.
The visitor mumbles with a guilty tone, “Hey, I just wanted to…”– she lowers her head in shame – “…apologise for everything. I should have realised that you would be upset, and if it really makes any difference, I just wanted to say sorry. Truly, I am sorry.” Her voice by now is in the barest of whispers, but it is loud enough for the homeowner to hear it.
She mulls over her plea in her mind, considering its worth.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t forgive me. I don’t think I deserve it at all. But– “
She interrupts the visitor’s remorseful apology.
“You’re right. You don’t deserve forgiveness.”– hearing this, the visitor raises her head, her eyes saddened with her hope shattered – “So if you wouldn’t mind… Leave. I never want to see your face again.”
With that statement, the door slams shut in her face. The visitor waited for a few seconds, before turning around and walking back; the sound of her hooves on the broken granite pathway in symphony with the slight drops of water falling to the ground. Her mind numbs a little more with each step she takes away from the wooden house. She could not feel the warm rays of sunshine on her back as she did when she had hope in rekindling their friendship.
So she continues on her way with an even gait, occasionally stepping aside as to avoid the ever-increasing number of puddles on the ground. For a while, she occupies herself observing the urban landscape before her. That is, watching the noble and headless chickens scampering around as to not get their suits and dresses wet. But it came to a point where she is the only one walking outside. Her mane, drenched as if she took a dip in the Luna Seas, protests against this cruel treatment.
It didn’t take long for her to get bored of observing the now-somewhat empty cobbled lanes. So her thoughts take her to a different world. Everything around her blurs out of focus, dimming in brightness; she is in a void of her own subconscious.
Normally she uses this mental construct to peacefully debate on the meaning of life with herself – after all, intelligent conversation is never starved when she can talk to someone of her own level of intelligence. This time however, she uses the space to process what had just happened.
She pitches out, “Where did I go wrong?”
It didn’t take long for a reply to answer her.
“Isn’t it obvious? You should’ve let her some more time to herself before apologizing. She was practically humiliated with her emotional breakdown at the party yesterday.”
She considers the suggestion. “True, but I… I can’t let herself get holed up in her home after all this! I had to do something quickly, or she’d be gone forever.”
“Well, what difference would it have made now? She’s gone now anyway.”
She sighs in defeat.
“Listen, just… forget about all this okay? You don’t want anything to burden you down, and besides, you managed make amends with the rest of the girls.”
She casts aside her net of turbulent emotions to see where her body has taken her in its auto-piloting state.
Still in the rain. Under a streetlamp. In front of a café.
The warmth inside the building contrasts against the gloom of the night. The only occupants inside are a group of ponies, unwinding the tense day with cups of flowing, molten hot chocolate. Despite what had just happened in the past hour, she could not help but raise a smile onto her face.
At least the rest of them were a little more forgiving.
She moves inside, her body drawn to the warmth of the building. The patrons notice the new arrival with a soft clink of the bell.
“You look absolutely drenched! What were you doing out in the rain?” One of them says, concern etched across her face.
“Hey there, how’d it go? No splinters from broken timber now, am I right?” Another giggles at her joke.
“Anyway, are you both friends now?” Yet a third asks.
She takes some time to think of a suitable response. Curious eyes stare at her while she does this. “No.”
Agape mouths stare back at her. Perhaps she was too blunt?
Attempting to remedy the awkward situation, she hastily draws a follow-up to her one-liner. Before she has a chance to speak it however, a barrage of questions fly at her. Her eyes widen in a daze, overcome with the amount of inquiries.
“Keep it calm girls, you’ve got more questions than the book: A Pony’s guide to the lost art of conversation: 1001 questions and liners to spice up your sayings, which I totally didn’t read on the journey here form Ponyville.” She blushes furiously at the realisation of her slip-up.
Luckily for her, the ponies don't notice this, dragging her down to one of the seats surrounding the wooden table, as to better position themselves as detectives interrogating a murder suspect. She answers them honestly - point ticked off for honesty - well, except for her reason for visiting them all in the first place.
She wasn't sure how they would react to if she states that she believes one of them had been possessed by an evil spirit. Or that a Princess had told her of this belief.
Still, she refuses to let her spirits down, and so downs a spirit of another kind served by the solitary bartender. The warm, golden liquid flows down her throat, cooling the raging fire in her mind with a fuzzy numbness.
She has a 5.12% chance of making it through the entire night without collapsing down onto the floor. The odds are statistically unfavourable towards her now. Why did she have to inherit her father's genes?
It didn't take long before the five mares are laughing and joking together, as if they are just old friends catching up with each other. She casts her doubts and fears away in the nightly breeze as she joins in on the serenade, much to the displeasure of the barkeeper. The worn-out stallion is just about ready to buck the crowd out into the streets as to allow him a moment of sleep, when the chime of the bell rings again.
He curses under his breath, and prepares another round of shots for the newcomer. "Ah, swear to my ma's grave..."
The tipsy mares turn around once again to greet the newcomer in a warm embrace. A short and stubby dragon, carrying a regal letter in his claws, panting beside the open door in an effort to catch his breath. He gazes around the building, before landing his eyes on the mare to which the letter is sent to.
Between breaths, he shouts, "Letter... important... read... now..."
The earlier-arrived mare uses her magic to carry him across to the group. Despite hating being carried around with magic, he is in no mind to argue as the energy flows over him, smothering him in a magenta aura not unlike a smooth blanket. His eyes droop, succumbing to deep sleep as the other mares come round to hug him.
The mare disrupts the flow of magic, releasing the hold on the dragon, who falls onto her back face-up with a groan. She frowns however, after hearing what appeared to be a snore coming from him. She smiles, partly from the sweetness of her companion and partly from the seventh shot she is taking right now.
Mostly from the alcohol.
She glances around to notice her friends already asleep, piling on each other like a cart of hay. She frowns again, but it leads to an extended yawn.
"Huh, I've beaten the odds..."
Within a few moments, she also lays her head on the table, snoring peacefully in a midnight slumber.
"Well ain' this just great? Now ah'll haf'ta look ou' for 'em. Goddamn these uni..." The barkeeper falls asleep.
The dragon wakes his companion with a vigorous shake.
"No, I swear I'm not a changeling, please not The Plunger- Eeek!" She launches off the table at Mach 2 velocity, crashing into the shelf containing ninety-nine bottles of alcoholic drinks on the wall. One of them falls down, the others pass around and soon they all end up on the ground.
Broken and shattered that is. But the bottles aren't the only things in the bar that is cracked.
"Ah have ha'f a mind to come 'round an' buck ya all straight to goddamn Tart-" The barkeeper is interrupted however, when the mare fires off a succession of spells in his face.
She would apologise that one later.
"So, what was it then that had you worked up so much last night?"
The dragon replies, "Oh, it's a letter given to me by somepony, who I don't seem to somehow remember. I think his name was 'Bartholomew' or something. Anyway, he said the message was of utmost importance to you." He hands her the letter, which she tears open.
After a moment, she places the letter into her saddlebags and prepares a simple teleport spell.
"We need to go now."
"Wait, what about Moon Dancer? Have you mended friendships with her?"
The mare stops in the middle of casting with the dragon's words. She slowly turns her face around to meet his bewildered expression. How should she respond to this?
"No."
"Wha- why? What happened? How could you not fix things up with her? Wait, you didn't give up on her now, did you?" After seeing the mare's stiffened gaze, he gasps, "...No, you can't do that! She was your first friend! She was your only friend for years, and you are just leaving her? Why?" The pony turns away from his glare.
Had she given up on rekindling her friendship?
No.
She shakes her head in discontent and resumes a hardened gaze. The letter had told her of a friendship emergency back home and she needs to resume her princess duties. Besides, she can let the others take care of the matter, as Celestia herself had mentioned in her letter.
"I said no. Someponies just... don't want to be friends any-"
"You're the Princess of Friendship for crying out loud! You're supposed to fix these things!"
She grits her teeth in frustration. She was getting fed up with the constant whine in her peripheral vision, and in a fit of exasperation teleports them both back to their castle.
She would not have to apologise for that one later.
The homeowner sees a brief flash of light across the town, through her window. Sitting in her musty chair, she sips on wheat-herbal tea while she processes her observations - which only lasts a moment as she soon figures out the pony who could produce such an iconic aura.
Her nostrils flare at the thought of the visitor from the day before; anger returning in full force from a dam bursting in the back of her mind. She closes her eyes and breathes evenly, as to calm herself.
She would not lose herself over somepony who had lost her.
Stats
Page generated in 0.015 seconds
Total duration
1,013 users online
285,994 hits today, 2,205,040 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hmm... interesting and mysterious beginning, if a little confusing at times. Even if you don't use names, it's mostly clear what's going on and you pay nice attention to details in descriptions. My biggest problem here is the scene in the café after Spike had entered. I have no idea what happened here, how long it took or why did everypony fall asleep
8459287
Thank you!
I didn't use names because I didn't think it seemed right this chapter. Still, it's kinda obvious who is who anyway.
Hmmm, I think you're right about the café scene. I might need to extend that a bit.
Or maybe not. *Mystery*