The Road Not Easily Traveled.

by Mes Amis

Drinking Anger & Sorrow

Scarlet, Dante, Slide and Micky all made it to the dorms. scarlet put the key in the lock and turned the key. She opened the door to find her parents, Marcy and Reda sitting on her couch.

"Mom? Dad? What are you guys doing here?" Scarlet asked in wonder.

"Why else sweetheart? We've come to celebrate your birthday." Treasure said as she hugged her daughter.

"My baby girl is now twenty four years old."

"Seeing as I'm twenty four, maybe you can stop calling me your 'baby girl'."

"No matter how old you get Scarlet, you'll always be our baby girl." Treasure said to Scarlet's displeasure.

"Don't worry scarlet my parents are the same way." Slide said as she entered the dorm room.

"Mom. Dad. This is Rockslide, my roommate."

"You can call me Slide."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Slide. I'm Life's Treasure and this is my husband Stonewall."

"Don't forget about me sis." Marcy yelled as she jumped onto Scarlet.

"Hey! Marcy I thought I told you jumping on ponies is rude." Scarlet said pulling the orange filly off of her.

"I'm sorry big sis."

"It's alright Marcy. I forgive you."

"Hey big sis what's that in your hair?" Marcy asked pointing at the Phoenix feather.

"That's my family's Blue Phoenix feather. The last time I saw it was when my father gave it to Dante when you two were foals. Where did you get it Scarlet?" Treasure asked.

"I'm telling you Micky, hot dogs were invented by a German, not the hamburger." Dante said as he walked into Scarlet's dorm room with Micky in tow. "Da-, I mean Stonewall what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see my daughter on her birthday." Stonewall growled.

"I suggest we let them talk things out as a family." Micky whispered into Slide's ear.

"Agreed." Slide said. The two ponies walked out of the dorm room.

"Why are you here, Dante? I thought I told you to stay away from my family?"

"Scarlet is my sister, so I have the right to visit her when I feel like it."

"Please dear, Dante is still our son. Why can't you two just stop arguing and forgive each other?"

"Mom is right, Dad. Just stop this stupid argument and apologize already."

"Thank you Scarlet." Dante said.

"Oh shut up Dante, you're just as much of the problem as Dad is." Scarlet responded. "Now are you two going to make up or not?"

Dante and Stonewall stared at one another for a couple of minutes until they both started laughing hysterically. This left Treasure, Scarlet and even young Marcy dumbfounded.

"Tell me son, how many times does this make it?" Stonewall said with a hearty laugh.

"I think the twelfth time. Six times on her birthday." Dante chuckled.

"What did I miss?" Reda asked as he entered the living room.

"Reda, what are you doing here?" Dante asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here because this little, how do I put it?"

"Pest?" Scarlet added.

"Yeah, pest wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to come." Reda said putting his left hoof on Marcy's head.

"Hey! I'm not a pest!" Marcy yelled. With Marcy's cry of anger, everypony in the room busted into a laugh. After a long laugh with the family, Dante's stomach started yelling at him for some food.

"How about we got get something to eat? I'm starving." Dante said as he stopped laughing.

"Wasn't your friend going to..." Scarlet stopped as she noticed two ponies were missing. "Right."

"Come on, I know just the place." Treasure said as she walked towards the door.
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After a good walk through the city, the Wings and Reda had made it to an extravagant resturaunt. They were soon seated. Dante sat next to Reda and Marcy, while Scarlet sat across from Reda and next to her parents.

"Good evening. My name is Bustle and I will be your server today." said a white stallion with a forest green mane. After ordering their drinks, the group of ponies started conversing amongst each other. Dante looked over to his left and found Marcy staring out the window.

"Marcy, is something wrong?" Dante asked, wondering what she could be thinking. She didn't respond but instead gave him a look he'd seen many times before. It was a look that he read as 'Leave me alone, I don't want anything to do with you'. "Marcy, did I do something to upset you?"

"You came back." she answered, barely audible.

Dante sat there, contemplating what she had just said. He searched every possible place in his mind where the answer could be. 'I wish you'd just disappear!' That memory jumped at him like a timber wolf on its prey.

"Marcy tell me, do you hate the fact that we're related?" she sat there, not even looking at him. That was more than enough to answer his question. "Excuse me." Dante said as he stood up and began to walk away from the table.

"Where's he going?" Scarlet asked.

"I don't know. I'll go see where he's heading." Reda said as he stood up and followed Dante. Reda caught up to him seconds later. "Where are you going Dante?"

"The bar."

"Why? I thought we were going to celebrate together?"

"They don't need me to celebrate Scarlet's birthday. They've done it since I left, they can do it again."

"Okay what the hell's gotten into you? You were all happy and cheerful less than five minutes ago. Now you're acting like the day you left."

Dante stood there for a few seconds before looking at Reda. "Tell me Reda, what's the point of being an older brother if your younger sibling despises your existence."

"This is about Marcy, isn't it?" Dante nodded. "Come on back to the table so we can ask Marcy, why she hates you." Dante didn't say a thing but complied. They arrived the same time their drinks were. When they took their seats, Reda sat next to Marcy instead of Dante attaching her attention.

"Marcy there's something that you need to tell everypony here." Reda said quietly.

"What are you talking about? If its about what I did to Pipsqueak last week, I've already confessed. But he deserved it." Marcy said defensively.

"It has nothing to do with anypony besides somepony in your family, but we can speak about that some other time." Reda said as he only imagined what she did to Pipsqueak.

"Then who does it have to do with?" Marcy asked impatiently.

"Excuse me for intruding in your business Reda, but may I ask what you two are talking about?" Treasure intervened curiously.

"I was just about to ask Marcy why she despises her brother?" Reda said calmly to everypony at the table.

"Is that true Marcy? Do you really hate Dante?"

Marcy took a quick look at Dante who was staring out towards the bar, then took a deep breathe before she answered her mother's question. "Yes it's true. I hate him. I despise him. I just wish he didn't exist."

Dante put a hoof to his chest when he heard Marcy's words, each stinging like a hive of bees. He was about to leave again before Reda used his magic to sit him back down.

"Dante, Marcy is your sister and it will be easier to fix the problem if you stay sober." Reda said sturdily. "And If you learn to talk things out maybe you can fix your problem with Fluttershy."

When Reda mentioned her name, Dante seemed to have lost it right there. "Tell me Reda, who the hell asked you to help me fix my relationship with anypony? I know I sure as hell didn't." Dante said as he stood back up. "If 'she' doesn't want me around, then I'll make sure I don't don't show my face around Ponyville again." As he finished his sentence Dante walked away from the table and out of the resturaunt.

Reda turned around to see Treasure looking out the window, Marcy watching the floor, and Scarlet and Stonewall staring at him in a 'I can't believe you' face. Reda's ears dropped as he felt the guilt settle in. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'll be leaving now." he said as he walked away from the table. After walking a couple of blocks away from the resturaunt, Reda looked back in the direction he had come from.

'I can't pass magic school. I can't become a musician like my cutie mark illustrates. And when I want to help the family of the mare I've fallen for, I just make everything worse. If I can't do anything right then what the hell am I good for?' Reda was beating himself down with everything he failed at in life, slowly driving in the nails of depression into the crate known as his mind. 'How am I supposed to show my face around Marcy and Scarlet, and even Dante. I bet he's pissed as a manticore at me for saying those things. I think I should take some time off from the school and leave town for a while.'
_____________________________________________________________________

It was your average autumn evening, a cool breeze passing by every couple of minutes. The sun had gone down hours ago, leaving the moon to illuminate the sky. All was calm in Ponyville. Suddenly there was a knock on the library door. A lavender mare descended the steps from the second floor.

"Coming!" called the librarian. She opened the door find a cream yellow mare with a pink mane. Atop her head stood a snow white bunny, carrot in his paw. "Fluttershy, what are you doing here so late?"

The shy pegasus didn't answer the question right away, standing in thought of what to say. "I don't know." she answered quietly.

Twilight looked at Angel to see if he knew what the matter was. He shrugged his shoulders. "Come on in, we can talk inside." she said ushering her guest into the main room.

"Who is it Twi?" asked Spike as he descended the steps. He looked down and found Fluttershy and Angel bunny sitting on the couch.

"Could you make some tea Spike?" asked twilight.

"Sure." he answered as he walked into the kitchen.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?" she shook her head. "I guessed so. If you were fine you wouldn't walk into town in the night, seeing as you're terrified of the dark." Twilight said looking at her friend.

"He said the same thing." Fluttershy whispered to nopony in particular.

"Who?" wondered twilight.

Fluttershy didn't answer, but Angel found a parchment and a quill and started writing something down. He gave it to Twilight.

"Dante?" Twilight said in a surprised tone. "Fluttershy is this about Dante?"

Angel wrote down another note. 'She doesn't want to admit how she feels about him.'

"Fluttershy if you don't share your feelings with any of your friends, than we can't help you."

"I don't know how I feel. A part of me hates him for what he said and did before he left, but the other part still loves him. I don't know what to think, Twilight." Fluttershy said as she broke down into tears.

"Fluttershy, there's only one way to figure out the answer."

'What does she have to do?' Angel wrote down, worry on his face.

"Fluttershy, you need to talk to Dante. Face to face."

"How am I suppose to do that? He's a famous musician on tour, and I'm just an average mare. There isn't any possible way for me to get near him, let alone start a conversation with him."

"You're not an average mare, you're the element of kindness and the only mare that Dante has ever cared for."

"What makes you say I'm the only mare he cares about?"

"Whenever we talked about you, I saw that Dante only had eyes for you. He said things about how he felt when you were together that made him sound if you two separated he would spiral into suicidal depression."

"Well I guess you were wrong Twilight." Fluttershy said quietly.
_____________________________________________________________________

Spike stood at the door to the living room listening to the mares conversing. Eventually he turned on the television twilight had put in the kitchen for when she wanted to what the news during dinner.

"Now let's go to Cub Goods for the story on famous musicians, ATTB." said the anchormare from the evening news.

"Thank you. Now many rumors around Canterlot say that Bassist Jason Mason from the famous music group 'Arm To The Bone', has been hospitalized after a violent fight with lead singer Dante Wings. The reason for the conflict has not been determined and fellow band members refuse to say."

"I've got to tell Twilight about this." Spike said as he headed for the door. "Twilight, turn on the tv."

"Spike this isn't the time for..." Twilight tried to say.

"Just do it! Dante hospitalized one of his band members."

"What!?" shrieked Fluttershy.

"...And here is one of the members of ATTB. Excuse me Mr. Stitch. After this incident, what will happen to ATTB?"

"Well with Jason in the hospital, we can't continue the tour."

"So what about the tickets that ponies have already paid for, what will they do with those?"

"If you own a ticket to our upcoming shows, return them for a full refund of your bits and forgive us for the inconvenience. Now if you'll excuse me, the rest of us have to go find where Dante has headed off to."

"Wait, are you saying Dante Wings is missing?" asked Cub.

"Of course not. We just have no idea where he is, but we suspect he is somewhere with a bar." Mitch said as he left the reporter to find his friend.

"Well that's all we have in Canterlot..." the reporter was cut off when the tv was shut off.

"Why would Dante do something like that? To his own friend." Twilight asked.

Angel wrote another note and handed it to her. 'To the same stallion that wrote Dante the letter to start touring again.'

"Maybe he got tired of it all." Spike said.

"But he loved his job. He wouldn't attack someone if he wanted to quit." Twilight reasoned. Fluttershy stood up and began to walk to the door. "Where are you going Fluttershy?"

"I'm going to Canterlot. If what you said was true about how he felt about me, then he wouldn't mind talking to me when he's had a few drinks." Fluttershy said as she flew towards the station.

"Spike, send Rainbow Dash a letter and tell her where she's going." Twilight ordered, looking extremely worried.
_____________________________________________________________________

"That asshole Jason deserved to get his ass kick for what he tried to do to my sister." Dante said angrily with a drink in his hand.

"If you don't mind me asking Mr. Wings but what did he try to do to your sister?" asked the bartender.

"Sister? What sister are you talking about? I don't have a sister, my family is dead. How dare you bring them into this!?" Dante muttered, obviously drunk.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wings. I didn't mean to offend you." apologized the barkeep.

"Ah don't worry about it, um, what's your name pal?" asked the drunken musician.

"Tuxo."

"Tuxo? Well how'd you like to be our new bassist? The money is great and mares will be all over you, if they already aren't." joked the star.

"A kind offer Mr. Wings but I was born to be a bartender not a musician."

"Alright, I guess you have a point. Hold on my phone is a ringing. Hello, who's this?"

"Dante, where the hell are you?" asked Mitch.

"I'm with my new friend, Tuxo. Say hello Tuxy!"

"Hello."

"Oh Celestia, you're drunker than my Scottish uncle. Dante can you put your friend on the phone?" Mitch asked.

"Sure." Dante said calmly.

"Um, hello?"

"Is this Tuxo?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm Dante's friend. Mind telling me where you are?"

"I'm in the Brick Bar in between Stone street and Loon avenue."

"Thank you. Please keep an eye on my pal will you?"

"Of course." and with that Mitch hung up.

"Dante what's gotten into you?"