Erebus: Episode 1: Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

by Honey Mead

Scene 11

Rarity’s mane was a complete mess. Strands of hair poked out from what was left of the elegant curl that it had started the night as. The creases and wrinkles in her dress made it appear slept in. Fortunately, the damage was mostly superficial, only a few seems having come undone, though the hem on the left side had given out and was dragging along the ground. Her makeup and mascara streaked down her cheeks in a mockery of the tears she no longer cried.

She didn’t register her dishevelled appearance anymore than the direction in which she was walking. Her mind was no more in the present than the sun was in the sky. Twilight’s calm, unspoken accusations rang between her ears, blocking out her attempts at coherent thought.

Once Twilight had begun unloading her tales, she didn’t stop. At first Rarity had been unable to move, her mouth gaping as she listened to her friend. Eventually, something broke inside her, and she ran, tears streaming from her eyes. She'd barrelled blindly through the palace halls, pushing aside any pony too slow to avoid her. How she'd found her way to the exit she would never know, but she didn’t stop running until her lungs burned and her heart fairly burst from her chest.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that these things weren’t her fault, that there was no way she could have known. That little voice was drowned out by the tsunami of doubts, self-recriminations, and the knowledge that things would have been different if she had stayed. Whether she could have stopped everything from happening wasn’t even important, she could have, at the very least, been there for her friends.

‘Are they still my friends? Do I deserve to call them such?’ The thought tore at her heart, even outweighing her doubts about whether she was still the Element of Generosity, or had she lost that too?

“Bits for a vet?” called a rough voice beside the distracted mare.

‘How could I have been so selfish?’ she asked herself for the hundredth time. Two golden bits rose from the purse tied inside her dress without a second thought, landing in the small tin at the pony’s hooves. ‘My friends needed me, but I wasn’t there for them. I abandoned them.’

“Thank you, miss.”

‘There was no excuse for that. I could have—’ Rarity stopped in her tracks, something tugging at the corner of her mind. Turning back, her eyes fell on the emaciated pony smiling up at her. She froze, her thoughts struggling to catch up with the scene before her.

Covered in dirt and grime, the stallion was huddled up at the entrance of the small alley. Broken down cardboard boxes were just barely visible in the glow of the street lamp at the edge of the road. Thin, hole-filled rags draped the poor pony’s back, providing little protection from the cold and wind of the Canterlot night.

The fashion world wasn’t based in Canterlot solely because of the elite ponies that called it home. Being so far off the ground—astride a mountain no less—meant that, even at the height of summer, the night could have brisk temperatures. The shiver that shook her own coat told her that things had not improved in recent years.

All of her previous thoughts and doubts were shoved aside. Managing to find her voice, she asked, “What are you doing out here in the cold? Where is your jacket? Shouldn’t you be at home?”

The destitute pony’s face changed, anger creasing his brow, his voice came out harsh and heated. “Look lady, just because you gave me a few measly bits doesn’t give you the right to look down on me. I may be poor, but I still have my pride.” He tapped the tin, depositing the two bits onto his hoof. Drawing his foreleg back he hurdle them at the startled unicorn. Turning away, he disappeared into the dark of the alley, saying, “Keep your filthy money. I don’t need it!”

Rarity looked from the golden bits at her hooves to the now vacant space without comprehension. Unable to form words she looked around, hoping that somepony had seen what happened. What she saw only caused her eyes to open wider and her mouth to slowly close.

How she’d missed it before, she would never know. At least ten more ponies were visible on the block. Three pegasi stood around a barrel glowing with fire, warming their wings and hooves over the flames. Two more ponies shared a moth-eaten blanket as they slept at the mouth of an alley. The rest either sat staring into space or meandered in one direction or another seemingly without purpose.

The sight was like being dropped into a lake during Winter Wrap Up. Violently pulled from her self-loathing, Rarity took in her surroundings for the first time that night. Trash and detritus littered the streets, half the street lights either flickered or didn’t work at all, and, worse still, all the buildings had stained, broken windows, looking abandoned at best, condemned at worst. Without realizing it she had stumbled into the slums.

The thought twisted her gut. She’d seen slums before, even lived in one, Manehatten and Trottingham had them in spades. But Canterlot? Slums were unheard of in Canterlot; amid the wealth and prosperity of the capital, there simply was no excuse for a pony to be without a home. There had been a divide between the rich and the rest of the ponies living in the Capital city, certainly, but this... this was wrong.

The disgust and surprise on her face faded, shifting into a visage of determination. She could not allow something like this to stand. Spinning around, she began to trot back the way she had come. Her trot didn’t last long before it became a canter. The strength of conviction burned in her chest as she sped up, now galloping back toward the castle.

Comments

[Steel Wing]

No problemo! BTW, it's "Steel Wing", no "s" at the end.

[Honey Mead]

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