The Other Side of the Evening
Lying on a fainting couch, Rarity lay with a foreleg dangling, and sighed for the thousandth time that day, it seemed. Four empty buckets of ice cream lay around her, her face streaked with black lines as mascara had washed down her cheeks and was rubbed off onto her forelegs. Twilight had just let herself in and found the fashionista in her current state.
“Rarity? Are you feeling okay?” Twilight asked.
Rarity looked at Twilight’s hooves and sighed again. She moved and turned away, leaving a small smear of mascara on her couch. “No,” was all she said.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Twilight asked. Rarity didn’t answer that time, getting Twilight to sigh sadly, as well. “Rarity, I know that him being gone is going to be hard on you, but remember that we’re all here for you and each other. He didn’t leave hating you. He said so, right?”
Rarity’s body shook. Twilight prepared a box of tissues and considered leaving to get another tub of ice cream for Rarity, when she heard a little giggle.
“Y-you said ‘hard on’.” Rarity tittered. “Snickers would have loved to say that. My darling little prince,” she said and sat up. She glanced back at Twilight, noticed the tissues, and took them in her magic. Rarity wiped her eyes and noticed the mascara on the tissue. “Oh, I must look quite the fright. Twilight, darling, would you mind giving a mare some time to recover?”
Twilight heard alarm bells in her mind and shook her head. “No! I mean, no. I don’t think you should be alone right now, with how you feel, and everything. I don’t think you should be alone and have to suffer… alone.”
Rarity turned around and lay on her couch, letting Twilight see her anew. Rarity was still sad, but she had more energy than a minute ago. “Darling, I only request for your benefit. Might you give a mare some space and leave the room for a few minutes?”
Twilight looked determined and shook her head. “No, I’m here for you, Rarity. I’m going to be by your side through this, all the way.”
Rarity smirked. “Well, I did warn you.”
Twilight’s eyebrow quirked at the comment, then her nose twitched. She smelled something foul, something she didn’t expect to come from Rarity, of all creatures in the world. “Gah, gross! Rarity, did you--”
“Break wind? Yes, quite a bit, too. I did warn you, and I’ve eaten more than enough oat, hay, wheat, and mint ice cream for a mare of Granny Smith’s age to become regular.” Rarity giggled when Twilight covered her snout with her hoof. “Oh, Snickers would get me all the time; his laughter was the best thing, even if I didn’t know it.
“Why, I can still hear him in my mind,” Rarity said with a faint smile. “His voice has changed, if you haven’t noticed; he was so crass and rude, yet now, even though he won’t admit it, he speaks with an air of refinement, much as I once had when I was a filly, learning to speak as I do now.
“I’ve even heard him saying ‘darling’ and other words with my accent. He loves me, even if,” Rarity sniffled and her lips trembled, “he hates me for what we’ve done to him. Now, before you begin, Twilight, he did say he cares for me, but without trust, what is there for us to have as far as love?”
Twilight didn’t answer, instead she sat beside the couch in just the right way for Rarity to lean down and rest her head on her neck. Without a word, Twilight let Rarity know that she was not going to be alone through this all. Neither of them would have to ride the wave of challenges ahead as long as they had one another.
Rarity yelped when something behind her buzzed and she nearly fell onto Twilight with her legs scrambling away from whatever had tickled her in a most uncouth way. “What in Celestia’s name?!” Rarity shouted, then looked back to see the book she was gifted glowing slightly and making a buzzing sound as it vibrated on the couch.
Rarity pulled the book to her with her magic so fast it could have broken her muzzle. Instead, the book opened to page one and words were written in a foals mouth-writing. “Twilight…” Rarity sobbed into her forehooves, “...he’s writing to me.”
---
“Almost got laid?!” Rarity fumed and grabbed a sewing table, throwing it through the nearby wall while Twilight watched; a shield and teleport ready if needed. “Of all the grand places to go, he has to be seduced by some… harlot with eyes for a young colt?! I’m going there, Twilight. I’m going there to turn that mare into next season’s line of wear!”
Rarity pulled the front door off its hinges, the bell bending from the force of the door striking it made a sound more like a cowbell after the second ring. She ran outside and dug deeper within herself than ever before, looking at the castle on the mountain with her target, the Royal Throne Room, in her mind.
Twilight ran outside just in time to sense the spell Rarity was trying to cast. Acting quickly, Twilight cast a counterspell, turning Rarity’s magic spell into a brilliant flash of light that temporarily blinded several ponies that were out and in the area.
Rarity stumbled slightly and held a hoof to her head. “Twilight, what did you do?”
“Stopped you from shattering your horn! What got into you just now? You can’t cast a teleport that massive without more magic than twice what you have, without killing yourself.”
Rarity whinnied in frustration. “I would not have done such a thing, I would have arrived in the throne room--”
“And you’d have died with a shattered skull, right in front of Princess Luna! Get back in your house, this instant,” Twilight shouted and pointed, “or I’ll have no choice but to tell your parents about what you just did.”
Rarity gasped, truly hurt. “Twilight, y-you wouldn’t?”
Twilight’s horn glowed and they both appeared back in the sitting room, where the book lay undisturbed, waiting for her to reply to Snickers. “Write back to him, or I’ll be sure to write a report to your mom about your part to play in Snickers’s leaving.”
Rarity took the quill in her magic, allowing Twilight her victory. Mommy and daddy haven’t met their grandfoal yet, and I can’t let them know that I may be the reason as to why he’s still absent.
Rainbow Dash laid on her belly in a bed, an earth pony bed; Applejack’s bed, to be precise. Applejack had tuned out Rainbow’s whimpering and whining, but the cyan mare’s sniffles and complaints still bothered her. “Rainbow, lift yer tail, Ah’ve gotta change the ice pack.”
Rainbow whined, overdramatizing the effort. “Grrr… ah-ah. There, Applejack. Hurry up, this hurts, a lot.”
Applejack moved, with patience, as she began removing the old ice pack for the new one, when she noticed how bad it looked. “Yeah, yeah, quit yer bellyachin’. Ah… dang, Dashie, yer still as puffy as a cloud and redder than a Red Delicious back here. Ah’m inclined ta believe ya. At least ya stopped bleedin’.”
“My clit feels like a grapefruit in a juice press, and you’re worried about a little blood? Tonight was gonna be our first night, Aj. Now you’re touchin’ me in ways I wanted, but I didn’t want it like this. I even took a file to my forehooves,” Rainbow sulked and whined, “I’ve been saving myself for a week, waiting for this.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ya know, Ah wasn’t plannin’ on havin’ relations with ya tonight, even with yer sweet talkin’ me fer all these months. Ya gotta thank that boy, though.”
Rainbow turned to look back at her marefriend, wincing at the flare of pain she got. “Thank him? Why the f-- heck should I thank him? He beaned my taco so bad, I’ve got hot sauce in my crack. I should take his burrito and wrap it with--”
“Alright, all done,” Applejack cut in. “And ya lost me with yer analogies, so why not just talk normal Ponish?”
“I’m saying, Applejack, that I’m not gonna thank that little prick. He hurt me where my marefriend has to fix.” Rainbow blushed and looked away. “And you shouldn’t tell me I have to like him, just because he finally got you to kiss me.”
Applejack giggled. “Took yer breath away, didn’t it?” Rainbow nodded, resting back into place with a pillow between her forelegs to rest her head on. “And that young stallion’s been through enough without ya havin’ ta throw yer two bits in, after all ya had us do.”
“Well, it should have worked. If he didn’t hear us, he’d be asleep with Sweetie and Kiwe soon, none the wiser that he was actually being normal, and not some emotionally screwed up colt that thinks he’s a character from a fillies adventure book.”
Applejack took off the hair tie holding her tail in check, making a slight show of it; for Rainbow’s sake. A swish of her tail, once it was free, and a little sway in her step shut Rainbow’s mouth. Applejack turned her head back to look seductively at Rainbow.
“Rainbow Dash? After all the good ya done fer that colt… ya had ta mess it all up by lyin’, and then tellin’ me it was Fluttershy’s idea…” Applejack flagged her tail, but her loose hair covered everything, “...makes me wonder if’n ya want me at all, or if this’s some kinda lie, too.”
Applejack lowered her tail, moved to the door, and flipped the light switch to off. “Goodnight, Rainbow Dash, Ah’ll see ya in the mornin’.”
With that, Applejack left Rainbow in the dark, on her bed, alone with her thoughts of how much her lies had made a mess of everything. She saw a flash of blue light from the other side of the house, but couldn’t see what made it.
She put the wonder of that event from her mind while thinking of what she could do to earn the trust and respect of her friends back. Then she realized, with horrible alertness, how Snickers had felt. The pain of betrayal, being untrusted, losing faith in those he counted on.
For the first time that day, Rainbow quietly cried; not for herself in any way, but for what her short sighted plan had done to an innocent and precious colt. A colt that had looked up to her once, and may never even listen to her apology, once she’d figured out how to show how sorry she was, that is.
After nearly an hour of feeling bad for herself, Rainbow got up with effort. More because she was being lazy and her hind legs had gone a bit stiff, than the ebbing pain under her tail.
“I need my best friend for this. Fluttershy will know what to do to help me be a better pony.”
Rainbow hopped into the air and opened the window a bit more, then flew out into the night sky and toward Fluttershy’s cottage at a relaxed pace. She wasn’t in a rush, after all, so she made one small detour, back to the farmhouse.
…
Applejack climbed onto the couch and pulled the quilt over herself, then smacked her lips. “Bit dry, gotta get the humidity up a tad.”
Applejack looked around the den, taking in the photos, paintings, and small knick-knacks from years gone by. She nuzzled into the pillow with a sigh. “Ah wish ya weren’t so darn fast, RD. Ah’d love ta keep ya company, but Ah’m not gonna encourage ya ta act so against yer nature. Lyin’ ta everypony, makin’ us all lie, lyin’ ta me… Ah swear, if it was any other pony, mare or stallion, Ah’d have had some harsh words with ‘em.”
Her moment of frustration dealt with, Applejack moved to get comfortable in bed and closed her eyes, letting sleep take her at its own pace while the silence of the house let in the sound of wind rustling the leaves of her apple trees through the open windows and carried with it the scent of so many things that she loved.
Silently, Rainbow Dash placed a feather that she’d been saving for Applejack between the farm mare’s cheek and the pillow, earning a contented hum as Applejack finally fell deep asleep.
“I will prove my worth, Aj, I promise,” Rainbow whispered, then left as quietly as she’d arrived.
Fluttershy held a small bag of feed on her back, casually carrying it over to its spot where, in the morning, she’d give it to the various critters that ate that particular type of food. With a small grunt, she toppled the bag from her back and smiled at a job well done.
“Alright, where’s Mister Fox?” Fluttershy asked the various creatures in the room. “Nopony knows? Come now, one of you must have seen him around here. I had Harry gather him for me, just for tonight.”
The bear in question entered the room on all fours with a fox, hanging by its tail, in his maw. He growled around the tail and Fluttershy smiled her kindest smile.
“Thank you for your extra effort, Harry. If it works out, I’ll make sure to give you a nice big meal, to show you how much I appreciate the work you do for me. Now, as for you...” Fluttershy said, widening her eyes and staring into the scared foxes own, “... just take a seat right where you are, and this will be over before you know it.”
The fox, unable to blink, think, or move under his own conscious will, sat as he was told.
“Hold out your foreleg for me.” Fluttershy commanded, and the fox obeyed. “You won’t remember how this happened, but you’ll need me, my love, and my caring support to make you feel better. Do you understand?” Fluttershy asked, and the fox nodded its red furred head.
Fluttershy took its foreleg between her own forehooves and began to apply pressure, when a blue light startled her, breaking her stare. The fox blinked back into reality and ran for the nearest exit, a small door in the back door for larger rodents and mammals to enter and exit at their free will.
“No! Come back, Mister Fox! If you’re not hurt, I can’t heal you… then--” Fluttershy took a step and reached with her forehoof, as though she could will him back. He was gone, and she knew that fox wouldn’t return to the area ever again.
“N-o, I’m such a bad pony,” Fluttershy said as the thought of what she’d almost done again crashed into her. She fell to the floor and covered her head with her forehooves, shaking at the pony she almost became; a pony she thought was gone from her heart and mind.
Fluttershy sent all her animals to bed and then climbed the stairs to her room, where she climbed onto her bed and sat up, cross legged. She looked at her hooves in the candlelight, trying to imagine the fox’s leg breaking between them. She imagined the mouse, cat, bird, and rabbit that had met the same fate.
Fluttershy brought her hooves to her eyes and sobbed at the monster she was hiding within herself, and how she could let such a sweet and innocent colt fall so far as to remind her of the pony she truly was.
Fluttershy was many things, but she had never been a disappointment to a foal. She slapped her hooves into the mattress and grunted her frustration at herself. “Dumb, mean, dishonest filly. You don’t deserve to be a colt’s hero; you’re not Rainbow Dash. You’re not awesome, Fluttershy.
“Rainbow Dash is probably having drinks with her real best friend, and they’ll go to bed soon, and do things I’ve never…” Fluttershy whined to the ceiling. “You’re worthless, Fluttershy, and...” she hesitated and started to sob, falling to her side on her bed, “...you’ll never have a foal of your own to fix yourself.”
After minutes more of self recrimination, the area around her cottage was tormented by Fluttershy, wailing into the night. Fluttershy flew from her room to the kitchen, where she began digging through her drawers, looking for the one knife she preferred. She found it, hidden in Angel Bunny’s favorite hiding spot.
She took the knife and turned her foreleg up, ready to rend her flesh for the rush of pain it would give her; a feeling of excitement ran through her in anticipation.
The door behind her slammed open, and the knife cut too deep. Rainbow screamed at the sight of blood and rushed through the cottage to the upstairs bathroom, and back before Fluttershy could scream at the wound she’d given herself.
“Fluttershy, press this to the cut, I’ll get you to the hospital! Please, don’t die on me, Fluttershy; you’re the best friend I have. I can’t lose you,” Rainbow said, hugging her friend for a second before trying to pick Fluttershy up.
“Get off of me, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy shouted, getting the response she wanted. Rainbow hopped back, scared for her friend, but also of her. “It’s not that bad, I’ve done worse a few times. Ouch, you made me cut to the muscle that time,” Fluttershy smiled a little when she peeked at the laceration, then covered it again. “I haven’t done that since I was a young mare.”
Rainbow was aghast. “Fluttershy, what are you talking about? Weren’t you just… making something for one of your animals, and the knife slipped?”
Fluttershy frowned slightly. “And what gives you the right to break into my home in the middle of the night, hrm?”
Rainbow pointed behind her to the night sky. “Luna’s barely raised the moon, and I heard you wailing from the edge of town! I thought you were really hurt, and I was right. So, hang on while I get you to the hospital.”
Fluttershy shook her head and flew into the living room. “No, I’ll handle this myself.”
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy with shock. “Fluttershy, how can you do this to yourself? How can you cut yourself, like it’s nothing?!”
Fluttershy landed and spun, glaring at her friend. “Because, I am nothing! I’m nothing, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy’s eyes began to water, but she held her gaze. “I’ve never been successful at anything, when it comes to other ponies. Everytime I fall from a cloud, everytime I’m teased for being the weakling I am, and everytime a pony reminds me of how terrible I am at being a pony…”
Fluttershy turned her head so quickly, tears pattered on the floor before they reached her cheeks, but she went on. “This is the only way I can feel, Rainbow Dash. I can’t keep hurting my animals, because they said they’ll leave me. I can’t keep hurting my wings, because I already made myself a weaker flyer. I have to be able to fly to reach creatures that I can actually help.
“All I have left... is my body. No pony wants it, so what does it matter? That's also why I hurt my little friends, because of I don't matter, I can make sure they feel like they do.”
Rainbow landed beside her friend and hesitated; all her reading and preparation had never put her in the position of actually having to handle a pony dealing with self harm. Rainbow was about to wing it, but remembered Snickers and everything she’d done wrong. From swearing at him, even in joking, to kicking him under the tail, to teasing him; none of it was right, so she had to play this safe.
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked the quiet mare beside her. “You matter so much to me. You’re the most important pony I have in my life, even more than my silly crush on Applejack. You’re my best friend, and I’ll never think less of you for what you think of yourself, or what you do to yourself.”
Fluttershy’s breathing halted and she stiffened. Rainbow prepared for anything she could think of as Fluttershy turned to look at her. Expecting a look of anger, rage, or apathy, it was a silent blessing when Fluttershy had a sad, yet hopeful, expression. Fluttershy, not wasting a second, pulled Rainbow Dash into a tight hug with her free foreleg.
Rainbow held her back as Fluttershy cried.
…
A nondescript nurse looked up from her magazine when the door opened and she greeted the newest visitors. “Welcome to Ponyville Hospital, how… oh, my! Fluttershy, did one of your predators bite you again?”
Rainbow shook her head, Fluttershy having entered a depression after breaking down with her friend earlier. “No, Blue Cross, we need to take a trip to the fourth floor.”
Rainbow draped a wing over Fluttershy’s back and hugged the yellow mare to herself.
Blue Cross looked at the placement of the wound and nodded, not saying anything as she left her desk and walked the pair to a medical room. “First, we have to have a doctor look at your injury. Then, we’ll have a special doctor come talk to you, okay, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy was led to the bed, then bit the gauze patch, that she’d let Rainbow apply, in her teeth. She yanked it off and flung it away. “Do whatever you have to, I don’t care anymore.”
Blue Cross, acting with years of practice, used her magic to hold the wound closed in a field of magic while determining Fluttershy’s blood pressure and pulse. “Code Purple! Room seven, code purple!”
Rainbow knew she wasn’t going to be any help, so she moved to the doorway and barely dodged two nurses that ran in. Looking back, she saw the disconnected expression Fluttershy had and made a choice, the best choice she’d made that day; she moved back into the room and sat by the wall, keeping her eyes matched with Fluttershy’s.
Even though Fluttershy didn’t show it, Rainbow saw a hint of appreciation cross between them, and Rainbow knew that she’d saved her friend, and with her friends, she could work to become a better pony, one worth a colt’s respect again, some day.
She also wanted to know how badly Fluttershy hurt her animals. It deeply worried her that Fluttershy, her best friend, may be a psychopath and not know it.
The ramifications staggered Rainbow, but she remained looking cocky and confident for her friend.
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Ooof. This chapter, man. There’s Feels, and then there’s FEELS.
Damn...that was heavy.
Ok, all caught up. Luna's & the foal's scenes tugged at the heartstrings as did Celestia's last scene. Man, the fates' meddling is really screwing with everypony. I'm glad Snickers has his little herd with him. He's going to need their support. I like Blueblood's portrayal here. Fluttershy not so much. The self harm I could see. It's a subject that hits close to home in fact. I can't ever see her harming her animals though. That's way too out of character for me.
10407496
I've talked to actual therapists and psychologists, and it is a trait.
But thanks for the comment, I'm just writing and if I get people in the feels, good deal!
10407893
That it is. I just can't see her doing it. The feels have definitely been poked though.
On a different note, a thought strick me last book and I'm becoming more sure of it now. The fates' original targets are the Royal Sisters if not just Celestia. Human Snickers really is the reincarnated Aquelis and the fates brought him back without resetting his human memories counting on the mayhem that could cause.
Thanks for the food for thought. I look forward to the next update.
10409505
Hmm, that wasn't in my conscious mind, but it may happen that way, in some way or another.
Maybe it's a plan from one of the three...
While the others have their own plans.
wow holy crap, how did fluttershy become a counselor Oo
psycopath indeed. she did show her true collors at the gala
11402429
I dunno,I just wrote this to show not everypony is prefect.