A Story of Love (Among Others)

by TheMareWhoSaysNi

Merrily We Go to Hell

Two months had passed. I had been strong, faithful to my own promise. It wasn't a dream. A couple of days after Soarin's surprise call, Filthy Rich's young secretary called me to inform me they sent their agreement to Soarin's presence to Daring Doo's wedding, which was supposed to be happening one week after our concert.

The girls and I had rehearsed days and days for our concert and had just done our last run-through one hour earlier. We were a little late for hair and makeup but our manager thought we could do this on time. There was a real tension floating in the room, whether it was from Rarity, Pinkie or me. A very first concert, it was a lot of pressure even for someone as cool as me!

While someone was busy doing my hair, I tried to focus and not to think about the fact I didn't have a confirmation of Soarin's presence yet. Somehow, we were trying to ignore the clock on the wall that brought us closer to the moment where we would have to climb on a stage, for the first time in front of an audience who had paid tickets to see us, and only us. It was complicated but we could do it.

But because of this, a rock solid silence was reigning over the makeup rooms, the silence of concentration and professional consciousness...

Suddenly I was bothered by the appaling vibrations of my phone. Who was the fool who dared calling me in such an important moment? Despite my irritation, I took the call, without a look at the screen.

"Hello?" I said with echoes of soreness.

"I'm Soarin's manager, hello."

My hand clenched the phone when I heard him. The way my body tensed made the hair artist jolt and she had buried a pin in my head. Girls noticed something was wrong and looked up from their own phone to look at me, like frozen. Why was he calling me? My throat was so dry suddenly.

"What is it now?"

I heard him sigh before he stated with a foreign voice, as if he were talking to somebody else.

"No, I just can't do that!"

What the f*ck is he saying? Can't they stop their performance now? Some had to work to earn their crust!

Then ensued a whole freaky telephone cacophony I couldn't understand anything of and which seriously upset me. The atmosphere already was electric enough!

"Would it be possible to know what the f*ck is going on here?" I finally asked, my voice quacking from impatience and rage.

The manager sighed loudly through the receiver before he answered, between despair and irritation.

"Yes. It's about tonight's party. There's been a change in Soarin's schedule!"

Did that surprise me? Not in the least! From the very beginning, this whole concert and holiday thing was just too good to be true. But maybe it wasn't what I thought it was and I had put the cart before the horse.

"What change of schedule?"

"He has to be at a very important premiere in the presence of Queen Novo herself. Her daughter requested his presence or so I've been told. Mr. Filthy Rich doesn't want him to miss that for a, em, I quote, nickel-and-dime small concert!"

A what?!!

I hardly could swallow the lump in my throat. The pill was rather bitter! My heart and hands were playing drums against my skin. Suddenly, something climbed from the depth of my innards and I wanted to smash everything to pieces.

I held myself back by clenching my phone even more, so much that my hands turned blue. If I didn't do this, I could feel my brain was going to pop out of my nostrils. I was no longer at the "pissed off" level. I was on the edge!

"I'm sorry, I mean it. After this, he's going to have a few interviews and maybe some photo shoots, so..."

"Yeah, no holiday, I got it!" I answered, as rude as cheap toilet paper.

Oh yes, I have understood their message completely. There was no room for me in his life anymore. It was crystal clear. Clearer was the atmosphere itself.

"I'll say it again, I'm very so..."

His manager couldn't even finish his sentence. I had hung up to his face.

I carelessly threw my phone on a side of the makeup table and closed my eyes, focused on the work in my hair and on what I would have to do as soon as the concert would begin. Rarity and Pinkie were staring at me with anxiety, I knew but I kept my eyes closed, unshakeable.

"What's wrong, darling?" Rarity finally asked me with a gentle voice.

"Nothing. There's a joke and I'm the butt of it, once again, that's all. Our nickel-and-dime small concert isn't worth Mr. Filthy Rich interest, apparently. Who can refuse an invitation from Princess Skystar, after all?"

"So... We won't see Soarin tonight?" Pinkie Pie asked as well.

"Exactly! Come on, let me concentrate now."

We didn't have time to wallow in pity. Our first concert was going to take place in less than an hour and I needed to get together in order to be good on stage. Maybe after, I would be able to cry or smash things or punch people...

"And... What about Daring Doo's wedding?" Rarity asked.

The truth was that Rarity was in a similar situation. She hadn't seen Sandalwood since months and hadn't heard from him for a very long time since, obviously, he also was shooting in Ecuador and in all likelihood was going to be at the Queen's party as well instead of attending our concert. But it was only a nickel-and-dime thing, after all...

"I'm not sure... But I won't kid myself! And I don't want to talk about that right now. Focus, remember?"

And please, stop looking at me with pity! The only result it had was to make me drown even more under my nervousness. I've always hated to be taken by pity, it wasn't to start now and by my own best friends.

Suddenly, with no apparent reason, Pinkie Pie threw herself on the makeup table, mimicking something that might have been despair.

"No, no, no! I don't want to go through such a hell! Please, Cheese, don't be famous! I won't care if you're not a superstar! You'll be my very own superstar!"

Then, she got it together, as quickly as she gave in. We were used to Pinkie's outlandish reactions so the scene didn't surprise us a lot but the same couldn't be said of the poor hair artists! They were surely thinking we were girls good to be locked up and that Rarity was the only normal one.

"Miss Pinkie!" one of them scolded her. "You scared the hell out of me! Stop fooling around, please."

"Hey, I wasn't even fooling around! I'm serious. Okay, I call him right now and tell him it's over!"

She grabbed her phone but Rarity snatched it off her hands.

"Before it could be over, it has to start one day, darling."

Indeed. Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich weren't even dating yet. Not really. Actually, they seemed to have invented a brand new kind of relationship. They were "kiss friends". They never missed an opportunity to visit each other's mouth but they weren't a real couple, like, at all.

"Moo, it's not my fault if I'm a shy little flower!"

Upon these words, her hair artist burst out laughing and we were so stunned on the moment we all stared at her blankly, the other hairdresser included. But in fact, I could understand her. Hearing Pinkie said she was actually shy, it was really funny. Seeing we were looking at her in a strange way, the girl quickly got it together and resumed her work on Pinkie's hair (and work there is to tame that giant puff of pink curls). End of the off beam parenthesis!

Well, at least, it relaxed the atmosphre, but I was no fool. I knew that once I would be done with the concert and the party, I would have to lash out my frustration. The play couldn't last forever and a moment came in life where the actors had to leave the stage. I needed to take a decision. A serious decision.

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I couldn't know how we made it to the stage nor the details of the concert. It happened so fast and we were so concentrate we hadn't fully realiazed what it implied until we arrived backstage for the small party afterwards. Our reinterpretation of modern standards with classic music was a big success and we even received our very first golden disk. None of us had a full comprehension of what our new status was. We weren't anonymous, unknown faces among other unknown faces anymore. Of course, our fame wasn't as big as the ones of big superstar like Sapphire Shores or Songbird Serenade but in the world of classic music we had reached stardom which allowed some persons who never listened to that type of music before to discover it. Now I had fans too and if a part of me told me it was only natural because of my awesomeness another part of me still couldn't believe it. I really hoped that, up from where they maybe were, both Mommy and Firefly were proud of me.

My pre-concert tension had decreased during the party, unfortunately it wasn't anything like the reception at the Queen and ours had ended up rather early. The girls weren't really reassured to let me go home alone but in fact, I wasn't alone. When my cab dropped me off, I had a surprise in front of my building. Fire Streak was waiting for me with a bottle of champagne.

The truth was that he hardly argued with Fleur de Lis and needed to find a refuge somewhere. Seemed like I was the only one available.

He was now on my balcony, talking over the phone to a member of his band about why he argued with his wife. The reason was simple, and it always the same one - jealousy. Fleur de Lis was the jealous kind indeed and unfortunately, Fire Streak was the kind to cheat on his women all the time. His affair with Coloratura wasn't the only one he had during their engagement, though she was the latest one of the list. So when one of his former sex friend gave him a booty call, she regretably got Fleur de Lis on the phone. And a huge argument ensued, with screams, a firework of insult and broken dishes. Their neighbors might like them a lot.

If only his presence was a comfort to me. I'd tried everything I knew to calm down but nothing helped. Even champagne wasn't enough to get me in another mood. And don't think about me taking these antidepressent I had been given at the hospital about a century ago! I had emptied the tube in the depth of my toilets. I swore when the pills went in the hole and disappeared in a frenzy waltz of water and antibacterial detergent, I thought it to be very much exhilarating. I wish I could do the same with Filthy Rich. I hated him so much!

Fire Streak was still on the phone and I was on my couch. In front of me, on my coffee table, there was my phone. Soarin was surely busy partying with the Princess to this moment. And here I was, as if on my own, biting my thumbs til it bled in order not to smash my whole apartment.

I couldn't take it anymore. It had to stop... Right now. Yes, it was the only thing I could do. No other solution.

This was a bet. All this time, calling that number had been impossible. I always fell ear to ear with the answering machine and never any reply.

My hands shaky, I grabbed my phone and found Soarin's name in the call journal. There was a knot in my stomach but I was convinced that I had to do it. While the ball of ringtones started, I tried hard to swallow my tears. I was going to stay dignified, though what I was about to make broke my heart into a million pieces. It was about my survival. Either I did that, either I'd turn insane very soon.

"Hello? Dashie? What's wrong?"

It even was difficult to speak. My body was trembling so much I wondered how I could sit still. My cheeks were scalding hot, like after I ran miles.

"Dashie... You're scaring me... What's wrong?"

At that moment, I didn't even wonder why he had picked up his phone so quickly when he was supposed to be partying with royalties. All I had in mind was that I had to pursue my decision.

"Sorry... I can't do that anymore, Soarin. I... I just can't. Tell Filthy Rich he has won this time. I want us to stop."

I heard him paused through the phone. Apparently, he was moved, shocked even. But I couldn't help it, I didn't feel I was strong enough to keep going on a road which led to nowhere. I chose to be suffering for a good reason now.

"No, no, no, no, you can't do that to us. You CAN'T!"

"Why? How would that be any different than what it is now? We're never together and Filthy Rich never keeps his promises. I'm so tired..."

"No, Dashie, I beg of you, don't leave me. I need you. You know I need you. Please, Dashie."

Suddenly, Fire Streak appeared in front of me. His conversation was over but mine wasn't and I intended to do everything I could to make sure I would finish it. But when he saw me on the phone, it only took half a second for him to understand the situation.

"What the f*ck are you doing now, Dash?"

"Shut up! Mind your own business! I'm a big girl!"

"Dashie?" Soarin questioned at the other end of the line, completely lost and helpless.

"Oh yeah, really? Stop that nonsense!"

At this moment, Fire Streak pounced on me and tried to snatch my phone off my hand. It made me fall off my couch. I wanted to resume my conversation but Fire Streak stopped me one more time, grabbing my wrist so I would give up the phone. But I didn't give in. Some sort of fight ensued, during which I could hear Soarin's voice through the receiver, calling my name with dread. The whole scene looked unreal to me, as if I was living it while not living it, out of my own body. Yet I knew I was the one fighting with Fire Streak over my phone.

But everything stopped abruptly when he caught my waist to prevent me from hiding in the bathroom and made me tumble down. I let my phone go and it smashed against my wooden floor.

I got off Fire Streak's grip and crawled to my phone as fast as I could in order to outdistance him. But it was too late. I had broken another one of my many phones.

End of the conversation. End of the story.

I looked at the pieces of my phone, stunned, put out... Now it was over for sure. Even if I recorded it, I couldn't realize completely. My wrist hurt and I wanted to cry but nothing was out. Fire Streak had left red marks on my skin.

While I was frozen in some sort of second state, he had got up on his feet again and I saw him taking his own phone, tapping a number. What was he going to do? Maybe he wanted to call a doctor or something like that...

"Hello, Rara? Don't start insulting me, this is no booty call. Sit down, I have something to tell you. You're siting? Fine. Dash has just dumped Soarin and it was ugly to watch, trust me. Yes, I agree with you and this is why I'm calling you. Do you have Soarin's number? Great! Tell Cheese to call him and tell him to call me. Tell him I have tried to reason his girlfriend and she broke her phone again. Yeah, she was tough. Remind me not to fool with a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do again. Thanks a lot."

Understanding what Fire Streak had in mind, all my destructive rage came back in my blood. I still wasn't exactly myself. But I rushed towards him, hoping I would fight him again, except this time he cut me off by pushing my shoulders. I fell on my bottom. But it didn't stop me. From the moment I was standing on my feet again, I attacked.

"I have to hang up, Rara," Fire Streak said, avoiding my blows. "She's blown all the fuse of the boxes! It had to happen one day... Bye!"

He stopped the conversation and made sure his own phone was safe before catching me and lifting me. I was fighting like never before, slapping my legs and arms, trying to bite him. He threw me on the couch and attempted to calm me by pining me against it.

"Are you going to calm down? Damn, Dash! Get it together!"

"Let me go, you jerk! That's none of your business! Deal with your own life and let me ruin mine if I choose to! Have you never heard of free agent?!"

"I'm your friend and I won't let you ruin your life, like you said! You'll regret it in the morning, you know that! Come on, Dash, calm down! Stop fighting and get it together!"

But I couldn't give up and kept on fighting. I didn't know why but I had to put my whole energy into it. It had been too long since I was holding myself back and keeping my frustration to me. Now was the moment to let it run free and unfortunately for Fire Streak, the blows were for him.

"Fine, if that's how you're taking it..."

Fire Streak got up, ran to my kitchen and grabbed the bottle of champagne on the counter. I leaped on my feet, ready to pounce on him again when...

He threw the rest of the liquid at my face. It made like a shock in my mind and suddenly, I was feeling like myself again. And the realization turned my blood to ice. I suddenly took into full account what had really happened. It felt like I had been hardly punched on the face with an anvil and I was all flat just like in a Wylie and the coyote cartoon.

I froze, staring at Fire Streak.

"There, you're calmed down now?" he asked me, putting the bottle back on my coffee table.

I stared at him for one more second before I fell on my floor, as if my legs weren't able to bear my own weight anymore. Gently, he helped me to get on my feet and sat me on the couch. A few seconds later, he was busy wiping my face with a hot towel. For a short while, I mistook him for Wind Wake but it didn't last... Wind Wake never cared after me this way.

No words came out of my mouth when I tried to speak and the only thing which came to me were tears. For the first time in ages, I allowed myself to cry in front of someone. And I wasn't even ashamed. I knew I needed them to flow. Finally. I had been strong for too long.

Fire Streak put my head against his shoulder like he were my dad.

"Let it all go. It can't hurt you. Soon your boyfriend's going to call back. I hope you ruined his party. Serves him right!"

I didn't know why but this reply made me burst out laughing. Well, I laughed through my tears... But I think it was exactly what he had tried to do.

"I'm aware this is no easy situation and Filthy Rich has pushed your boundaries a little too far but you love Soarin, I know it, and he loves you too. Maybe he deserves one last chance."

No time to answer. Fire Streak's phone rang and suddenly, something stroke me. His ringtone was a Countess Coloratura song.

"Hello? Yes, she's calmer now, everything is back to normal. This girl's small but she has strength. I'm going to have sore muscles in the morning. There's something I'll have to tell you after you've talked to her."

Fire Streak gave the phone to me and before I took it he whispered to me the words "one last chance"

"Dashie? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Forgive me, Soarin. I was so frustrated I couldn't find no other way out. But I've changed my mind. Fire Streak is right. I would have bitterly regret it in the morning."

"You have nothing to be forgiven of. I know why you did this. I am the one who apologize for indirectly hurting you so many times. But I can promise you, tonight has been the last straw. I also took a decision. It was about time."

"You're not lying? I couldn't take one more broken promise. I'm no superwoman."

I hadn't boasted, said I was the best or anything like that, not after all that had happened. It also was about time that I was sincere with him. Half of my self-confidence was in fact self-convincing.

"No lie. This time is real. Could you do something for me? Rest a little."

"I'm going to do this."

"Fine. I love you, kiddy."

Sounded strange but we never had the chance to say I love you to each other. There was one time when he tried but we were cut off before the words went out. I didn't need them to know his feelings but hearing them on this weird night, it felt good and liberating. So liberating I pushed away the pride and gathered all my courage in order to give him the answer he deserved.

"I love you too. And I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Please, rest and stop thinking about that. I'm taking charge of the problem."

"How?"

"You'll see. Just trust me."

Now the conversation was done, Fire Streak took his phone back. I had forgotten he wanted to say Soarin something before he hung up.

"Next weekend it's A.K's wedding, you know that, right? Fine. I suppose you don't intend Dash to go there alone? She hates wedding so much it's heavily annoying. That's perfect. But I'd better warn you, if you don't come, I'll make everything in my power to make sure she'll get over you and forget everything about you. Am I making myself clear? Good. Upon this, good night. And... rock it, Mr. Bigg!"

And he hung up. At this moment, I realized how I forgot that Fire Streak was highly charismatic and this was why back in the days, I was one of his fans. I thought he was nothing but a womanizer yet I could see now that he had always been good people. He did many mistakes, but who doesn't? No one, exactly. And especially not me.

Author's Note:

Please, don't hate me!
The story's almost over... Only a few chapters left!

Comments

[Midday Giggle]

WELP, THAT WENT SOUTH QUICKLY!

"No, no, no, no, you can't do that to us. You CAN'T!"

"Why? How would that be any different than what it is now? We're never together and Filthy Rich never keeps his promises. I'm so tired..."

"No, Dashie, I beg of you, don't leave me. I need you. You know I need you. Please, Dashie."

Pieces of my heart flying all arouuuund

Good heaens Fire Streak was there to knock some sense into Dashie, she really needed it. My poor baby Soarin must hae gotten the scare of his life.

"You'll see. Just trust me."

What are you gonna dooooooo?

"Next weekend it's A.K's wedding, you know that, right? Fine. I suppose you don't intend Dash to go there alone? She hates wedding so much it's heavily annoying. That's perfect. But I'd better warn you, if you don't come, I'll make everything in my power to make sure she'll get over you and forget everything about you. Am I making myself clear? Good. Upon this, good night. And... rock it, Mr. Bigg!"

Hm, turns out he isn't that much of a d*ck as I thought He's actually cool, I like him better now.

[CartoonNerd12]

Finally! It's 'ABOUT TIME! Not going to lie but even I thought this was the last straw. The moment he couldn't show up I thought RD needed to break up with him as painful as it would have been but they couldn't go on like this, it was too unhealthy for them. But thankfully Fire Streak intervened on Dash's behalf and glad to see that Soarin decided to do something to save their relationship. Now I really want his POV to see firsthand of what he's going to do because I got a feeling it will be awesome!

[Aether Spark]

Things are heatin up!

I hope whatever Soarin has planned works.