Crying in Perfect Harmony

by flutterdashforever

An affair of the heart

Derpy had never told Cherry why she was on the edge of the cloud that fateful day almost five years ago. Later in their relationship she had told Cherry of the events that had led her there the first time, of a life so full of bullying and getting beaten up, so destroyed by adults who didn’t care, so full of slurs on her appearance, intelligence and sexuality that the best option had seemed to be flinging herself off the highest cloud she could find. Cherry knew all this, what she had never been told was that every day after she failed, Derpy would stand on the edge of that cloud, staring down. She had never been told that one day, she had been so close to succeeding, but a heartbeat away from taking her last step, when a light pink mare with a white and pink mane had stood beside her, ready to make the same decision. She had felt something utterly new that day and, for the first time, stepped away from the edge, not only in the physical sense, but also stepped away from the edge in her mind. That was the first day, perhaps in years, where she decided, not simply not to die, but to live.

Cherry didn’t need to know that. All she ever needed to know was that Derpy would be there for her, no matter what.

Perhaps it was anticlimactic, perhaps it was awkward, perhaps it was just too strange to classify as anything but… well… Dash. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to say, but the only words that seemed to fit into the silence were.

“Hey Dash.”

Cherry had always thought distantly of meeting Dash again. Perhaps finally claiming the forgiveness the note had promised her all those years ago. It had been a fantasy, nothing more, but she had often thought mournfully of what she would feel. Would it be pain? Loss? Anger? Maybe even joy? What she felt was— what she felt was… nothing. It was Rainbow Dash; the filly she had been sweet on in high school, the filly who had almost completely destroyed her life and the filly who was now standing in front of her with abject shock on her face. She looked… cute?

Dash cleared her throat. “Are we supposed to hug?”

Cherry tried for a smile that probably looked horribly uncomfortable. “Uh, I was going to ask if we were supposed to attack each other.”

Dash smiled a little less awkwardly. “How about halfway?” she asked holding out her hoof.

Cherry stood up and bumped it with her own. She then turned to Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy, how’s things?”

Fluttershy had backed several steps back, managing to not quite hide behind Dash. “Hello Cherry.” Her face was friendly, if bashful, but there was an iron stare hidden under the gentle persona. “Things have been just fine, how are you?”
Remembering herself, Cherry turned to Derpy. “Oh, sorry. This is Derpy.” Her tone was hesitant on the next few words. “She’s been my fillyfriend for… how long has it been?”

At this point, Derpy stepped forward, ever so slightly threatening. Ignoring the question and turning her gaze on Dash, she said, “You must be Rainbow Dash. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

The air seemed to chill just a touch. “Oh, good things?”

Derpy stared hard at her, as if daring her to actually demand an answer to her question, saying instead, “And read things.”

Dash looked as though she were about to pursue that when Fluttershy chimed in. “How long have you been living here Cherry.” It was a diversion and Cherry knew it. They could both see Derpy’s increasingly hostile attitude. For her part, Dash merely looked confused and slightly intimidated.

“I moved here a few months after… uh, I moved here with Derpy about five years ago, after a, uh, after... well, the point is I’ve been here for a while now.”

“That’s nice, where are you living?”

“I moved in with Derpy, in a nice little cottage on the edge of town.”

Possibly Derpy heard the slightly desperate way the two chattered knowing it was just an attempt to defuse the situation, she continued to glare intently at Dash.

“How could you do that to her? You have a lot to answer for Rainbow Dash.” she burst out, finally dropping all pretence.

“Did what?” Cherry knew instantly that Dash’s temper had been flared. “Last time I checked, she had done more to me than I did to her. What do I have to answer for?”

“Are you really as ignorant as you seem?” snapped Derpy, stepping closer so she could glare at Dash with her wonky vision. “Do you have any idea what you drove her to? Do know how much you crushed her? Let me clue you in; when we first met, she was standing on the edge of a cloud preparing to take the step that would take her to the ground. I lie awake sometimes and wonder what I would have done if I couldn’t persuade her to take the slow way down.”

This time it was Cherry’s anger that flared. “Derpy! What are you doing?”

Turning to Cherry now, Derpy’s voice took on a pleading note. “She hurt you. What hurts you hurts me. Why are you two pretending like nothing happened.” Derpy’s eyes were begging, desperate.

Cherry wrapped a wing around her and drew her in for a slow, tender kiss. “Come on.” She threw a look at Dash, unsure what she was trying to say by it, but seeing that she understood. “We’re going home now. I’ll see you around, Dash.” She flapped her wings, supporting Derpy as they flew off.

Rainbow stood watching for only a moment before doubling up in agony, one hoof pressed over her heart.

“Rainbow,” gasped Fluttershy, rushing forward to grab her fillyfriend. “Are you alright? What happened?”

The pain was gone as fast as it had arrived, leaving Rainbow standing there, panting for air. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She squared her shoulders, trying to regain her composure. “I’m sure it was just some heartburn, probably all the ice cream.” She gave a less than convincing grin.

“Are you sure you’re ok? Do you need to see a doctor?”

Rainbow sighed. “I’m fine, Shy, really. Come on, let’s head home, there’s still some boxes that need unpacking.”

Fluttershy looked unsure but she relented. Rainbow knew she hadn’t heard the last of this but she was happy if, just for now, Fluttershy would drop it.

---

“But it was because of her that you ended up on that ledge in the first place,” had been the general shape of Derpy’s arguments since the pair had arrived home.

Cherry calmly sipped her tea, unfazed. “And I am the reason all the colts and fillies at our old school beat her up most days. She has more reason to hate me than I have to hate her. Did you see her attacking me?”

Derpy was pacing, her cup of herbal tea sitting untouched on the table. “But how can you just pretend like it never happened?”

Cherry sighed, setting her now empty cup beside Derpy’s. “You should drink your tea before it gets cold.

Derpy picked up the cup and hurled it through the window, sending shattered glass flying across the lawn.

Cherry didn’t flinch, merely said. “Feel better?”

Derpy scowled. “No.”

“Shame, that was one of my favourite cups.”

“How can you be so fucking blas̄e about this? You’re acting like this doesn’t change a thing!”

Cherry stood and began sweeping up the few shards of glass that had fallen inside the house. She wouldn’t let Derpy see how close she was to losing control, if she let her mask slip and reveal the turmoil beneath then she might break down. It was essential right now that she remain strong. “Does it? Name one thing this changes.”

Derpy stood, gaping for a moment. At last she managed, “What if she gets between us? I know how much you loved her.” The catch in Derpy’s throat and the tears in her eyes showed just how much this thought scared her.

Cherry’s anger flared at that. “Shame on you,” she snapped, finally losing her calm façade, only allowing this because anger was as good a mask as the tranquillity she had been wearing. “You can’t think of anything so you go and throw out a thing like that. I’ve lived with you in this house for just under five years. We’ve had fights, some real doozies, and we always make up in the end. We sing and we kiss and we go for walks and we have ice cream by the lake and after all that, you dare to imply that a brief crush I had in school would mean more to me than the love we have.” She paused to glare at Derpy, the look stinging all the more for the raw honesty it displayed. “Love, Derpy,” she said, accenting the first word for emphasis. “Not a crush, not a fling, not a phase. Love. Nothing is going to ruin that. I’m not in this for a bit of fun. Now, if you’d like to try again, be my guest but if you try another lame arsed excuse like that, I will throw this cup at you.”

There was a long pause as Cherry caught her breath. She brandished the cup, realising that, in the heat of the moment, she had failed to notice how comical that would sound. She gave a sheepish grin.

“It doesn’t help any,” said Derpy, cautions lest the rage come back.

Cherry only sighed and placed the cup on the table with a click. She flopped onto her favourite armchair and smiled wryly. “Look,” she gestured for Derpy to come and sit on her lap. Once they were comfortably cuddled together, she continued, “I know how you feel. To tell you the truth, I don’t know what her being here will mean.” She paused to kiss her fillyfriend on the nose. “But I do know that I love you and that I always will, no matter what happens with Dash.”

Finally relaxing, Derpy said, “Alright, fine, I’ll give it time and see what happens.” She wriggled a little. “I just hate to think that she hurt you.”

“I know.” Cherry absentmindedly started running a hoof over Derpy’s pale grey coat. “If it’s any consolation, I think I hurt her a lot more than she hurt me.”

“Not really.”

Cherry sighed. “I just wish there were some way for you two to get to know each other. All you know of her is “that bitch who drove me to the worst part of my life.” If you knew the Dash I knew in school, I think you’d probably like her.”

“I know how important this is to you but does it really matter if we get along? She’s probably changed since then.”

“Then why do you find it so hard to forgive her?” The question hung in the air for a few moments, the silence making it all too apparent that Derpy didn’t really have an answer for this.

Cornered, all she could do was give her fillyfriend a prolonged kiss and say, “Alright, I’ll try this getting to know her thing. You know, I’m well within my rights. The new partner is always supposed to hate the ex.”

Cherry chuckled. “Well, maybe it is kind of sweet," she consented. "Just don’t take it too far.”

“I won’t.”

“I think you already have.” Cheery grinned weakly at her companion.

“What did I do?”

Cherry didn’t say anything, merely gave the shattered window a significant glance.
Derpy grinned sheepishly. “Uh, I’ll have that fixed tomorrow…. So, uh, when do I start becoming bosom buddies with Miss Dash?”

“I don’t know. I was going to visit her tomorrow, you know, while you’re fixing that window. I’ll talk to her about it then.”

Derpy sighed. “It’s a date.”

---

“How are you feeling this morning?”

Rainbow slowly blinked herself into waking. At first, all she saw was a large pair of teal eyes, staring down at her. “G’morning, Shy.” She sat up, yawning hugely. “What time is it?”

Fluttershy sat back, glancing at the clock. “Uh, ten twenty.”

Rainbow looked around, noting for the first time that she wasn’t in her bed. She had been lying sprawled on a bunched up doona. “I must have crashed unpacking boxes,” she said, yawning.

“I didn’t want to wake you.” Fluttershy hadn’t missed Rainbow’s evasion of her question. “So how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” It was the truth; Rainbow had slept fine, without even a twinge from her chest.

Fluttershy nodded, satisfied. “Well, most of the unpacking is done, is there anything you had planned for today?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Not really. At some point I’ll need to look for work in the area but I’d rather leave that for a while. I was thinking of just ambling through town for a while.”

“Well I’d love—” Fluttershy was cut off by a sharp knock at the door.

Rainbow groaned but stood. “Hold that thought for a moment, would you?” she said, giving Fluttershy an affectionate nudge en passant.

The door opened with a creak and Rainbow made a mental note to pick up some oil for it while she was in town. When she saw who it was, all thoughts of oil dropped cleanly out of her head. “Hello again, Cherry.”

“Hello Dash. I just thought I’d stop by to say sorry about what happened yesterday. Derpy can get a bit funny sometimes when it comes to protecting me.”

Rainbow waved a hoof. “Don’t worry about it, I get it. If I thought somepony had hurt Shy I wouldn't hesitate to do more than Derpy did.”

Cherry smiled hesitantly. “Would you mind popping outside with me for a moment?”

Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy, who nodded. Rainbow knew it was important to her fillyfriend that she reconciled with her ex. “Sure.”

Once they were a suitable distance from the cottage, Rainbow said, “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, I just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing.”

“Mhm,” said Rainbow, unconvinced. “Well I’m fine.”

Cherry smiled. “That’s good. Hey, would you like to come and get some lunch?”

Rainbow chuckled ruefully. “Better make that breakfast. Know any good places?”

It turned out the ‘good place’ Cherry knew was called Sugarcube Corner. A bell rang as Rainbow walked through the front door.

“Pinkie? You in?” called Cherry.

At that moment, there was an explosion of noise as a pink pony on a serious sugar high appeared in front of Rainbow. “Hi, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you new in Ponyvile? My name’s Pinkie Pie. You look hungry, what can I get you?” she said in one breath.

Rainbow took a few steps back, seriously disconcerted. “Uh,” was all she managed.

Seemingly unaware of just how nervous she was making her quarry, Pinkie Pie continued “I bet you’d like a bee sting. Bee stings are my favourite pastry. Or maybe some kind of cupcake? Apple turnover? Woops, better not sell you anything with apples in it without crediting AJ for growing them, she’d have a fit if she found out.”

At this point, mercifully, Cherry decided to step in. “Give her space to breathe, Pinks,” she said, half smiling. “I’ll have whatever’s good, surprise me.” She turned to Rainbow “What’ll you have?”

Still not quite recovered, Rainbow stammered, “Uh, same.”

Pinkie grinned. “That’ll be two super special Pinkie Pie confectionary perfection platters coming right up.”

Rainbow sat in one of the booths that lined the wall, soon followed by Cherry who said, “Don’t mind Pinkie, she’s a bit excitable but she’s nice enough.”

“She certainly is… energetic...”

“Yes…” Cherry seemed to have something on her mind. “So how are you? We didn’t really get a chance to talk yesterday.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Same old, same old I guess. Couldn’t make it in Cloudsdale so me and Shy decided to come here. Well, that and it’s more peaceful. More space to stretch my wings.”

“You always did love to fly.”

“Yea. But what about you? Last I saw you was when… well, how are you?”

Cherry shifted uncomfortably. “Things didn’t go as easily for me. I ended up working in a cloud factory in lower Cloudsdale. I’m sure Derpy would be more than happy to give you the full story.”

Rainbow grimaced. “She really doesn’t like me, does she?”

Cherry shrugged. “A lot of stuff happened. I won’t bore you with the details but she has good reason to be protective.”

Rainbow nodded solemnly, she could tell there was something Cherry wanted to say.

“So look, I’m more than happy to just start over, leave this all behind us…”

It was at that moment that Pinkie came over bearing two plates laden with sweets of every kind. “Here you go, girls, eat up.” She bustled off, not pausing to see their reactions.

“Don’t worry about her, she’s probably just planning your surprise welcome party,” said Cherry, smiling wanly.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“Just that I want a fresh start. I want to be a part of your life again and I want you to be a part of mine. As friends.” Cheery clarified, hopeful that Rainbow would accept her proposal.

Rainbow nodded slowly. “I’d like that.”

Cherry seemed both relieved and nervous. “And, as part of that, I’d like you to get to know Derpy.”

Rainbow froze, she hadn’t been expecting that. “What? But she hates me.”

“I’ve gotten her to agree to give you a chance. All I’m asking is that you do the same for her.”

“Quite the little set up. That’s what you really wanted to talk to me about, wasn’t it?” said Rainbow, wryly.

Cherry flushed, caught. “Well, I did also just want to catch up.” She smiled sheepishly. “How’s Fluttershy?”

Rainbow laughed but said. “She’s fine. We got some work in Cloudsdale, singing in bars. She’s quite the singer now.”

“Oh yes, I saw you performing once.”

“When was that?”

“I don’t suppose you remember that gig you played years ago. It was in lower Cloudsdale. You quite put me off my drink, and a potential date.”

Rainbow merely shrugged. “I don’t remember. What was I singing?”

Cherry paused, thinking. “I can’t fight this feeling anymore,” she decided.

Rainbow remembered, she remembered a smoky bar, she remembered ponies who seemed to have given up on life, she remembered wondering what it would take to push a pony that far over the edge. She nodded slowly, just about to speak when blinding pain seared in her chest.

She fell forward, gasping in agony. Her heart was racing, throbbing and burning. The pain grew and grew, to the point where her sight went dim. She was vaguely aware of panicked voices, a sense of movement. Then there was nothing.

Author's Note:

Hey there, it's another cliffhanger. So yea, no songs in this chapter. The only thing I really need to say is a great big thanks to Flutterdash7 for beta reading this story for me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Rainbow: So, what, you're just going to leave me like this!?

Me: Well, yes, that is rather the point of a cliffhanger.

Rainbow: But what happened to me? Will I be ok?

Me: *sighs* If it's any consolation: when you wake up, Fluttershy will be there, odds are there'll be some snogging.

Rainbow: Well... alright then... just hurry up on the next chapter.