A Story of Love (Among Others)

by TheMareWhoSaysNi

The Serpent and the Rainbow

Snow had covered each streets of Canterlot and its white coat gave the city an elfic atmosphere. Each morning, I had a cup of hot coffee and a plaid and I sat on my balcony, watching at the flakes slowly falling down.

Now, a complete account on everyone's life seemed appropriate. With Hearth Warming and the end of the year approaching, came the time of the bills. Countess Coloratura, new superstar of Equestrian pop, was still having an affair with the king of rockers, Fire Streak from Lumiere and everyone knew but just pretended to be blind. Rarity was over the moon with Sandalwood, while Fluttershy was planning her wedding with Big Mac with the help of his sister Applejack, who turned out to be good friend with the whole gang. Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie formed a tornado they called a couple and were even louder than a Boeing 347. Promises made by Filthy Rich weren't just hot air. Soarin had shot his TV show for Netflix and planned on doing a second season, while hired in another very famous franchise of young adult literature that was the "Uglies and Pretties" series. We hadn't settled together but he was often sleeping at my place and we could see each other much more often. When there was an award ceremony, we were even invited together and our story hadn't meant the end of his career or anything.

It was almost seven in the evening and the girls and I were back from a long day of meeting at the record company, planning our second album. We were going to go shopping for Hearth Warming and have a mulled wine with bread pudding after that. I was in the toilets when my phone started ringing.

"Pinkie! Please, pick it up for me," I cried from my spot.

Dressing up again, I got out of the bathroom in a hurry and saw Pinkie Pie, already in the middle of a conversation. She looked very surprised and it took a lot to surprise her. Usually, she was the surprise.

"Argh, yeah, hold up a second."

"Who is it?"

"Filthy Rich!"

WHAT?!!! Why was he calling me? And what made him think that I'd like to talk to him? It was like he didn't know he was number one on my top list of the persons I'd like to see eating poison berries. Well, that was easy, he was the only one on the list.

"I'm sorry," Pinkie answered with a very secretary tone. "We cannot grant to your request."

Then she hung up. I swore I wanted to kiss her. On the mouth. With the tongue. Rarity was stunned, before she burst out laughing.

"Pinkie... You've just make one of my deepest fantasy come true!"

Upon this, she was the one bursting out laughing. But my phone vibrated in her hands once again. One glance at the screem indicated us it was the exact same number than a little earlier. Giggling in anticipation, she picked it up again and put the speaker on.

"Hello?"

"Can I please talk to Miss Rainbow Dash?" Filthy Rich asked at the other end of the line, sounding irritated.

"Understand us. We can't let anyone talk to her! She's a very, very busy person."

She held herself back from bursting out laughing again and was about to hang up to his face one more time when he replied.

"How funny! You're Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, aren't you?"

Pinkie's eyes widened and she stiffened, losing her smile on the way, like some little girl caught red-handed in the biscuit closet.

"That's me. Why?"

"I know about all Cheese Sandwich and you. It's a wonder how girls from your little... bunch all seem to drive my protégés crazy."

"Because we're the most awesome bunch on friends Equestria has ever seen. Simple as that."

How I admireed the grit with which she spoke to him. Although she wasn't a smartass when he recognized her voice, I didn't think she was scared of him and of what he could do. Though I think he would never try anything too risky since she knew every of his personal tricks and it would never work on her. Pinkie was way too... Pinkie for that.

"Now can I finally talk with Miss Rainbow Dash, please? It's important and I don't have time to play games."

Funny, I thought that was the only thing he was doing with his time...

Pinkie looked at me. I didn't want to talk with this bastard at all but he said it was important. If he tried to trick me into parting Soarin from me again, I swear I wouldn't stand for it.

Displeased, I smirked at the girls before grabbing my phone. Before talking with him, I made sure the speaker was now off. Brievity is the soul of wit.

"Hello?" I answered, sounding visibly too much unenthusiastic.

"Hello, Miss Dash. How are you?"

"I was great until one minute ago. What's going on?"

"Don't be so hostile, I won't bother you for too long. I think it would be a good thing if you and I had a short conversation. We haven't start off on the right foot and I'd like to clarify a few details. When would you be available to come to my office?"

"Well, I have professional meetings until at least seven each day so I'm available everyday after seven."

"It's perfect. Would next Monday fit you?"

"Um, yeah. Next Monday is fine."

"Excellent. I'll be waiting for you in my office next Monday around seven and a half. Please, don't be late. Have a good evening."

He hung up and I couldn't even return his salutations back. I had to admit I was very much intrigued. In theory, he only wanted to talk with me but he also said he only wanted to talk with me on the night he started to part me from so Soarin so I was a bit distrustful.

==============================================***==========================================

Thankfully he told me not to be late! I'd been sitting around in this waiting room for thirty minutes.

Coming here, without with an appointment was a real obstacle course. When you stopped in front of the building, a security guard controled your identity and looked inside your bag then you had to go to the reception where they asked who you were and who you had an appointment with before they gave you a card to pass by the security gate. Once at the right floor, someone came to pick you in front of the elevator and made sure you wouldn't start to visit the place. Finally, they stopped you at the waiting room and they completely forgot about your presence.

Filthy Rich's office occupied the whole floor. Earlier, a young secretary with glasses, purple hair and purple eyes had welcomed me and offered me a cup of coffee. She wasn't much older than me, if not the same age. Her coffee was way too bitter but I drank it all because I was polite and it gave me something to do. But I took so long it was cold in the end, and even more digusting.

Each time the secretary went out of her office, I thought my turn had finally come but it was never my turn. I saw her coming back with files, coffee, newspaper, books but she never came in and say Mr. Filthy Rich was ready to host me.

Suddenly, in a recess of the room, apparently giving way directly on Filthy Rich's office, I got scraps of a conversation on the phone. It was a girl and she had a very posh English accent. I was pricking my ears in order to hear clearer but she was whispering lower and lower, as if she knew I was listening. I was all crooked on my chair, trying hard to spy on what was said when the secretary stepped into the room.

I sat up back straight, caught red-handed and tried to act casually.

"Mr. Filthy Rich apologizes for the delay and his ready to host you in his office," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

And here we were. F*ck, I was nervous! If he said anything that I didn't like, I would tie him to his chair and thrust his golden watch in his throat until he begs me for mercy.

I gathered my coat and bag and left the waiting room to step into his office. The secretary closed the door behind me but instead of leading me to the desk like I thought she had just disappeared.

Here I was, face to face with the person I hated the most in the world. Talking about a tricky situation...

"Don't stay there hanging," Filthy Rich suddenly said. "That armchair won't bite you."

As my steps were coming closer to the desk, the features of his face slowly got clearer: these dark severe eyes, thick brown hair, square jaws, fake olive tan, and arrogant smirk. I had forgotten that he could be a little impressive, with his crushing charisma and disdain.

Staring straight into his eyes as a sign of my bravery, I sat down on the indicated armchair in front of the desk.

Before the conversation even started, the young secretary appeared again. Her presence was a delay which comforted me a little and I told myself that if someone that young was able to work for him and not be afraid, there was no reason why I would deny my own nature and act reserved.

In silence, she put a tray in front of me, then got away as fast as she was arrived. On said tray, there was a coffee pot with two cups, cream, milk and sugar, mochis and fruits, along with a variety of mini-pastries.

"I've taken the liberty to ask Soarin about your tastes... Is that to your satisfaction?"

"Yes, thank you. Except for, uh, almonds. I'm allergic."

Was he sure he asked Soarin and not Thunderlane? I thought I was going to be distrustful of that tray too, it was suspicious. Maybe he asked me to come here because he planned on killing me and pretended it was nothing but a silly accident. I could picture him patiently waiting for me to start throwing up blood like that girl in the "Battle Royale" first movie.

"I'm sorry. It's a regrettable misunderstanding."

"Forget about it," I answered with a shrug. "I doubt you asked me to come over here just to have coffee."

The thing was that I hadn't been through all this military organization to chat over tea and biscuit like some grannies in a retirement home...

"Of course not. As I said on the phone last Friday, you and I haven't started off the right foot. I would like us to start again from scratch. I'm sure you're mature enough to have a conversation with me, from adult to adult. Don't you agree?"

"Yeah, sure," I said, still not enthusiastic.

So, he thought I was mature and adult, fine. Here was a sample. While he was talking, I had taken the two cups on the tray and poured us some coffee. It was the least of thing to try on what was offered to you (although it might be poisoned). When I'm done, he took his cup, nodding as a thank you, all while always talking.

"Fine! I've built my name on my own, without any help. All I had was a degree in marketing and movie theory. I'm what they call a self-made person. I've worked hard all my life to be where I am today, even neglecting my private life. That's why I think hard work is the hinge of a career. I know you understand. I heard you were very much committed to music."

I wasn't sure what was his point. If he was trying to tell me that I owed him respect, I agreed. It was not going to make me like him but I could recognize he was someone important in the entertainment industry. I respected the businessman but I loathed the man.

"This is why, when I hire someone I believe in, I'm expecting this person to be greatly committed as well. Soarin is this kind of persons."

"And so?" I asked, crushing half a sugar in my coffee. "Are you trying to say Soarin wasn't committed to his work enough? Because I don't see things this way."

"No, you don't get my point. Maybe I haven't been clear. What I mean is... I want people I hire to listen to me because I trust them. I regard this as the least one can do. I didn't mind that Soarin didn't listen to me and started dating you anyway. He's not the first one to do it so and he certainly won't be the last. My problem is that I've asked him the greatest of discretion and he haven't stopped public displays of affection and doing compromising things. And this I cannot tolerate."

"So you actually mean you did it to... punish him?"

"More or less."

He was serious. Serious like death itself. Okay, Mr. Joe Black... You'd been defied and it upset you so you decided to stop breathing? Maybe I should start calling him Pepe from now on. I didn't know why, but I started to laugh. This was so ludicrous, there was nothing else to do than laughing... Really, it was pathetic!

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing!" I replied, curt. "What was precisely at stake that you absolutely had to "punish" him? Explain me, I'm a little stupid sometimes."

At this exact moment I realizeed that I was no longer nervous. I had grit, I had dignity and I screwed him. Yours truly, Rainbow Elizabeth Dash.

"Although I'm in no power to help my protégés from falling in love, I'm lying to the public because at such a young start, careers are very fragile and even the slightest detail is able to ruin them forever. And there's also money in the equation. Know that I'm never joking with money."

"Alright, why not? But you've been deceitful by not letting me know, for the whole first year of us dating, that this could pop up in my face. You've also been deceitful for all those broken promises. I haven't forgotten anything."

"Soarin knew what I was expecting from him."

"Are you implying he's the one I should blame? Like I've been through hell for more than two years and it's all because of Soarin betraying your trust. Is that what I should understand?"

"You can't deny he has taken many risks, like willingly showing his face in the streets when with you. Oh, please don't look at me like that. I know everything there is to know about you two."

Though still very much self-confident, I couldn't help blushing upon these words. If he knew everything, did it mean he also knew about my miscarriage?

Don't let him fool you, Rainbow! He's trying to get the upper-hand!

"To be honest, I could have make sure you'd see each other sooner. But when I've understood what have happened between you two the last time I've let him visit you... I got carried away."

"You got carried away? A child who eats a full bag of candies got carried away. You were just being an a**hole!"

"I haven't said I was perfect, Miss Dash, nor that my reasons were the best. I'm just explaining the hows and the whys. Yes, I got carried away and I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"You haven't hurt me. You've belittled me. Life has sometimes been a b*tch with me, you know, but I thought my time as an humiliated outcast was far behind me. Until I met you. Do you know what I remember? The "nickel-and-dime" concert thing. I have never felt so insulted of my life. I bet you don't even treat groupies the way you've been treating me for so long."

"We owe a lot to groupies, as you call them. They invest a lot of time and money for Soarin."

"Yeah but I've invested my whole soul for Soarin and I regard it as highly important. Each time, each time I had a glimmer of hope, you shut them off, making me think I was nothing, no one, only a burdening parasite, a nuisance. Do you know what that feels like?"

I'd looked straight into his eyes and I hadn't blinked. It was important that he understood what he made me go through, which seemed to be unimportant for him though it had destroyed a part of me, making me frustrated and furious all the time, ruining all chunks of what should had been the greatest moments of my life, crushing my pride and kicking my self-confidence in the butt. It sounded like it had been a game for him, as I'd always thought but it wasn't any fun for me.

And now I needed him to show me that this person in front of me was a human being, not a war machine with a calculator where others had a brain and a cash-register where others had a beating heart.

"No, you're right. I don't know what it feels like. I'm sorry for all the wrong I did to you. I've taken decisions that I regarded as fair at the time. However, I want you to know one or two more things. First, your birthday party... If I've said no to Soarin, it wasn't because I wanted to punish him for the risks he's taken with you but because it truly was important to add another date to his promotion tour. Do you understand that? And as far as your concert is concerned, well... A party at the Queen's is not something to be refused but the real reason is that I was expecting something from Soarin. If he had done that something, I would have set him free immediately and even paid a cab for him."

"What is it?"

It really sounded like he was always trying to put the blame on Soarin. That reminded of those who think a rape victim deserves what happened to them because of the way they dressed and how of late they've been out in the streets.

"I wanted him to show me how attached he was to you, to prove that he really wanted to be with you. Seems like he was too scared of me still to front me with this topic. But on that night, that concert night, you've cornered him. He had no other choice than to do exactly what I was expecting from him. He fought for you with all his might. You know, happiness isn't to be taken for granted. It doesn't fall from above. You have to deserve it."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

He got up from his chair and stretched a hand to me.

"I'm extremely sorry for everything I've put you through. I'm not the tyrant you're taking me for, Miss Dash."

Hm, if he said so... Yet I admitted, I was glad I'd been able to get things straight with him. It was going to help me to move forward. Deep inside, I knew I would never quite forgive him but let's say I had respect for his character and I knew that refusing wouldn't put the odds in my favor, so to speak.

"Apologies accepted," I said, finally shaking his hand.

Life was a funny thing, sometimes. One hour ago, I hated this man with all my body, heart and soul. Though I still hated him, I had now some kind of esteem for him. And I learned something very useful. It was always better to have this man on your side.