Laughter Died

by Leafdoggy

2: Party Time

I must have fallen asleep again, because I found myself being shaken awake later that day.

“Hey, Twilight?” Starlight was looking down at me with a warm, gentle smile. “It’s about time for the party. How’re you feeling?”

I yawned and pushed myself upright. A dull ache in the back of my mind protested, but I pushed it aside. “I’m better, I think,” I said. “Good enough for the party, at least.”

She grinned. “Well, let’s get going then! Knowing Pinkie, there’s probably a pre-party we’re missing.”

She slipped my sunglasses onto me and practically dragged me out of the school. Not that I didn’t want to go, I was just being too sluggish. I suppose she thought giving me too much time to get lost in my thoughts would end with me deciding not to go, and honestly, she was probably right.

It was late evening now, and the sun was nearly to the horizon. Still, it burned at me. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get used to that abysmal heat.

Starlight pulled me through town, declining any ponies who tried to stop us to talk. Starlight was a lot of things, but she was definitely not a patient pony. It kept her punctual, but it also made her, well… A little rude.

Nopony seemed especially put off by it, though, and we made it to the castle without incident.

I could hear the distant sounds of partying as soon as we stepped through the doors. Loud music, laughing ponies, cheers and yells. It was nostalgic, to say the least.

I mean, it wasn’t that Pinkie had stopped throwing parties after everything that happened. She was still Pinkie Pie, after all. She had to keep ponies laughing. But, well, after Honesty and Generosity, Equestria was just a different place. Pinkie’s parties stopped being just for fun. They became an escape, a distraction from the fear in all of us, and a party like that just feels different.

This, though, was just a party.

Starlight noticed I’d gotten lost in thought and gave me a light shove. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just… Remembering the past. Or the future, I suppose.”

“Do you need a minute?”

“No, I’m fine,” I told her. The look of concern on her face made it perfectly clear that I didn’t sound fine, but she decided not to press it, and we ventured further in.

She stopped us right outside the library. The sounds of revelry were clear as day now, and they beckoned for me to join in. “I’ll go get them ready first, so you don’t freak them out too much,” she said.

She walked through the doors, and I was alone.

I was used to being alone, but I’d learned long ago that trying to keep your thoughts at bay when nopony else is around is a fool’s gambit. Trying not to think about something would just make me think about it more. So, it wasn’t a surprise when my memories decided now was a good time to catch up to me.

I remembered another time I was alone in this hallway.

It was years ago, for me, right after Starlight’s village got hit. It had been long enough for things to calm a bit, but everything still felt frantic. Fluttershy was doing… Poorly. None of us understood what she was going through. None of us could understand, not yet. I still can’t.

She was alone in her suffering.

One day we were in a meeting and she just… Walked out. No reason, no goodbye, she just left. Of course, I followed. I had asked the others to stay behind, I think so that she didn’t get overwhelmed.

She locked herself up in the library, shut everypony else out. I knocked, I called out to her, I waited, and I knocked again, but she never replied. I was there for hours, pacing back and forth, knocking every so often. Even if she wasn’t going to respond, I wanted her to know I was still there. I didn’t want her to be alone, and couldn’t understand that she already was.

Eventually, she did walk up behind the door and talk to me. It was an immense relief just to hear her voice. She wouldn’t talk about why she was in there, though. She wouldn’t answer any of my questions, and she definitely wouldn’t come out.

She just wanted to make sure I had gotten something to eat.

It broke my heart, honestly. I told her I had. I lied. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but—

The sound of the library door broke me out of my memories, and I saw Starlight waving for me. “Come on in,” she told me, still smiling so kindly.

The music had been turned down, and nopony was talking. All their eyes latched onto me as I entered the room. I was immediately thankful it was a small party.

Then, Pinkie ended the silence. “Happy birthday!” She sprang at me and wrapped me in a tight hug, and just like that the dam came crashing down and the party was back on. Twilight waved at me from the back of the room while Pinkie squeezed all the air out of my lungs.

Pinkie let go, and I wheezed. “Actually,” I said in a breathy voice, “I don’t think it is my birthday. It wasn’t when I left, at least.”

Pinkie gasped. “You’re right! Oh, I’m gonna have to reschedule everything! I need more streamers more balloons, less glitter…” She walked away, muttering to herself, and I chuckled.

It was good to be able to see everypony like this again.

I walked over to Twilight, who was at a table in the corner, and joined her. “I’m glad they’re all taking this well.”

Twilight nodded. “As soon as I told them you weren’t dangerous, there wasn’t a problem. I guess none of them mind having more Twilight in their lives.”

“Hey, it’s not like we’d have been opposed to it either,” I said. Twilight laughed.

“Twilight, dear!” Rarity called out and pranced over to us cheerily.

“Yeah?” We both answered.

Rarity blinked. “Um… New Twilight. Fluttershy wanted to speak with you when you get a chance.”

“Oh.” I looked past her, and saw Fluttershy looking nervously back. “Yeah, alright. I’ll see you two later, then.”

They said their goodbyes, and I headed across the room. Behind me, I could hear Rarity strike up a conversation with Twilight. “Now, about how to differentiate you two…”

Fluttershy smiled as I walked up, but she was clearly anxious, tapping a hoof on the floor and chewing on her lip.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” I said, and smiled. “What’s up?”

She was looking to the side of me, too nervous to make eye contact. “Oh, well, um… You’re from the future, right?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Well… I just, I know Twilight would never time travel unless something really, really bad happened, and so I guess I’m just, um…”

I frowned. “Scared?”

She nodded.

I sighed and put a hoof on her shoulder, doing my best to be comforting. “I can’t lie to you and say you’re wrong,” I told her, “but I came back to stop it. Not to make it less bad, or to contain it. I plan to stop it from ever happening. I know that those words alone can’t take away all the worry, but try to keep them in mind for today, okay? We can worry about it all tomorrow.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath. Then she nodded. “Thank you, Twilight. I’m glad that…” She looked up now, finally meeting my eyes, and smiled. “I’m glad that, even after whatever happened, you’re still Twilight.”

Looking into her eyes, my heart skipped a beat. They were filled with hope, with warmth, with shining brightness. They glittered with a shine I hadn’t seen since before everything started. It had been so long, I had forgotten just how bright she used to be, and seeing her now…

I always knew the Fluttershy I left behind wasn’t the same after it started, but I realized now that it was much, much worse than I ever imagined.

Fluttershy’s smile melted into a concerned frown. “Twilight, are you alright?”

I came back out of my thoughts, and realized I had started crying. I sniffed and quickly wiped my eyes, trying my best to hide it. “I-I’m sorry,” I said, and before anypony could stop me I walked past her and slipped out the door.

The last thing I expected was for her to follow me.

Fluttershy stepped quietly into the hallway and up beside me. Then, she wrapped a wing around me and pulled me close to her. “Do you need anything?”

I shook my head and, without thinking, leaned into her. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” I said. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine this is helping you at all.”

“Hey, don’t worry about me,” she said. Her voice was softer than I remembered without the edge of pain to it. “I’m just anxious, that’s nothing new.”

“I’m supposed to be here to help,” I said, “and all I’ve done so far is fallen apart.”

“Twilight, if it was bad enough for you to come back, then I can’t even imagine the things you’ve been through,” she told me. “It’s perfectly understandable that you’d be overwhelmed to be out from it.”

It’s not about what I went through, I wanted to tell her, but I didn’t. Instead I just gave her an affirmative hum and tried to relax in her warm embrace.

“Do you think you’re going to want to try to go back in?” she asked.

I shook my head. “It’s too much.”

“Well, let’s go find somewhere comfy to sit down, then,” she said.

“But—”

She put the tip of her wing to my mouth to shush me. “You know I don’t like parties, anyway. I’d much rather spend the time making sure a friend feels better.”

I relented, and let her lead me away. She was such a wonderful friend. A wonderful pony.

She didn’t deserve what was coming.

Comments

[Cyonix]

I love this

Can't wait to read more

[toshibafox]

what's the word for that typical time traveling trope where it turns out you going back in time is what caused the event in the first place?

[Leafdoggy]

10112152
Thanks Cy! ^w^ Glad to hear it. I'm actually a few chapters ahead with this story (instead of writing and then immediately publishing like the last few stories) and I gotta say, I'm really excited to get these chapters out.

[Sigmacipher]

10112169
Uh I think it's Bootstrap Paradox.

[toshibafox]

10112307
thanks.

[Nicknine]

10112169
Stable time loop.