Garbled
By Drizzle Quill
The final story in the Misconception Trilogy
Spike
One
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes! I told you, Twilight, I'm fine!"
Spike pulled his knees closer to his chest and sighed, rolling over on his bed and tipping his head back so that he was face to face with his sister-figure, Twilight Sparkle. Her wings shuffled nervously and she lay down next to him, laying one across his back, violet eyes boring into him. As a result, Spike shut his own. She didn't need to see the emotion in his eyes, 'else she'd never leave him alone.
"I don't think you're okay," she said to him.
"I'm fine." The words were muffled; Spike had pressed his face into his pillow.
Twilight scooted a little bit closer, attempting to wrap her wing around him in a comforting way, but seeing as the new additions to her body were still awkward, it didn't quite work. Instead she placed on hoof on his back; Spike sighed, realizing she could probably feel the shudders racking down his spines.
"You're not okay," Twilight announced.
"Gee, amazing prediction," came the muffled reply.
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Spike. I want to know what happened. Why are you so upset?" Her voice lowered, just a little bit. "Does it...does it have to do with Rarity?"
Rarity. Even the name alone sent shivers down Spike's spine. She was the most beautiful mare ever to walk the planet. Once, not so long ago, she had claimed she loved him. She had actually dated him. He couldn't have been happier.
And then the fiasco happened.
He wanted to blame it all on Applejack, he really did. But that just wasn't fair. AJ had been as unknowing as he. Moaning, Spike pushed his head farther into his pillow, starting to actually feel a slight lack of air. There was a sudden sound of magic in its purest form, and the pillow was pulled out from under him, almost causing the dragon to fall flat on his face; luckily, the aura caught him as well, turning his dreary face around and forcing him to stare up at Twilight, who was now less than pleased.
"Now listen here, Spike," she said sternly. "I understand if you don't want to talk to me. If you want to keep it personal, I'm fine with that. But can you at least give me a little hint about what's going on?"
When he stared at her blankly, searching for an explanation, she explained sheepishly, "I don't want to be in the dark forever, Spike. I love you, and I want you to know that I care."
Spike opened his mouth to say something, but simply found he couldn't do it. Those shimmering violet eyes...gee. Her parents must have had a hard time resisting something from her when she was younger; he was too young to remember most of those days, but he did remember a lot of begging for cookies. Chocolate chip, Twilight's favorite. So instead of speaking, he let out a sigh of defeat. "I'm upset because Applejack, Pinkie Pie and I just had a crazy day."
So true.
So, so true.
Twilight, true to her word as she always was, nodded firmly and, as promised, left him alone, returning his pillow and allowing Spike to grin and snuggle up in his sheets, closing his eyes, trying to suppress tears and trying to forget. Maybe if he thought about happy things, it would all go away.
So Spike thought of happy things. He thought of days when Twilight insisted on giving him a day off, and he was free, free to do whatever he wanted for a whole day. He thought of Peewee, and the little phoenix's contribution to his life, and helping him realize who he was.
He thought of Rarity's smile.
Her smile was so much prettier than her frown, but this wasn't saying that she had an ugly frown. It still had a ladylike quality about it, the way that the corners of her lips turned down ever so slightly and she gave a little pouting sound, pushing her chin out and curling her top lip. It was, in a way, beautiful.
But that was all gone now. She hated him. She hated Applejack. She most likely hated Pinkie Pie, though Pinkie hadn't done anything wrong.
Spike clenched his fists tighter. Now everything was ruined.
The first tears fell before he could stop them, though he wiped them away quickly. They were getting his blanket wet.
"Spike?" came the voice of Twilight from downstairs; she sounded concerned, but she wasn't prying. Thank goodness for that. Twilight somehow always knew just what to say. "I'm going out to Sugarcube Corner, alright?"
"Alright."
A hint of question lingered in Twilight's tone. "Do...you want to come with?"
"No."
Confusion. "Alright, then. Bye, Spike. Watch the books while I'm gone."
As the sound of the door slamming shut reached Spike's ears, he rolled over and grunted, "Because they're totally just going to get up and walk away all by themselves."
Nopony was there to hear him. Now he was alone with those horrible thoughts.
The dragon shut his eyes, and slowly he drifted into a restless sleep.
Dreams had never really been a big thing in Spike's life. They were just...dreams. Sometimes they were really random and strange, and made no sense at all. Sometimes they were upsetting. Nightmares. Those he didn't like. But all in all, a dream had never made Spike say, Gee, this dream has changed my life for the better and now I'm a better dragon. Nah, dreams were just dreams.
This dream seemed different from the start.
It started in Ponyville. That was where most of his dreams started. Spike wandered aimlessly along, looking about him at the chatting villagers and the happy ponies. Everything seemed so carefree and light, just how he wished his life was at that moment.
There was Twilight. She and Fluttershy were having a conversation while sharing a lunch.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie appeared to be in some sort of argument, but it wasn't a serious argument - Spike could tell this because they were all smiling; occasionally AJ would let out a snorting laugh.
Spike felt the urge to grin. Everypony was so happy...there was no fighting, there were no stupid arguments, nothing!
However, one pony was missing.
Where was Rarity?
That was when he heard her voice; she called out to him like an angel from the doorway of Carousel Boutique. There she was, with blue eyes alight, no trace of anger or wariness whatsoever. Spike was hesitant at first, but she called again and he gave in, sprinting to her and burying his face in her chest as they embraced in a deep hug.
"I thought you hated me," he whispered around her fur.
"Hate you? Spikey, how could I ever hate you?" was her whispering reply. "I love you, Spike!"
He pulled away and narrowed his eyes at her. "Like a friend?"
Rarity gave him a peck on the forehead; Spike felt his heart flutter and he had to grab onto the side of the entrance to stop himself from falling.
"Like a lover," she replied.
"Not Applejack?"
Rarity, for the first time, looked genuinely confused. "Applejack? Why in the world would I love Applejack?"
At this point, Spike couldn't even tell this was a dream anymore. His heart was going in circles, beating as fast as a rabbit's, and he felt like screaming to the sky his joy and excitement. Instead he had to settle for hopping up and down wildly. Rarity chuckled, a ladylike chuckle, not a big, loud, obnoxious chuckle.
"You are so funny, Spikey!"
That's me. Spike grinned goofily, tempted to spin in place and faint right there on the spot. I am so funny.
There was a call from farther down the road; Spike looked up to see Twilight waving, wings for once not bent and awkward looking, a larger smile on her face than he'd seen in months. "Rarity! Spike!" she yelled. "Do you want to go hiking with us?" As she spoke, the remainder of the Elements of Harmony came up behind her, all with equally large smiles and excited waves, all looking better than they had in a long, long time.
Rarity gave an excited little giggle. "I would simply love to!" she replied. "And I'm sure Spikey-Wikey would love to accompany us!"
Halfway through eagerly nodding, Spike paused as something seemed to grip his chin and prevent him from answering. He opened his mouth to reply verbally, but no sound came out. It was as if his body had been frozen where he stood.
A voice spoke in his ear, undoubtedly female, but unrecognizable if it was somepony he knew.
Not yet, Spike. If you want to continue this dream, this perfect world, this utopia, you'll have to sleep once more. For now, you are needed in the waking world.
Spike's eyelids wobbled sleepily. "B-But I wanna stay...I wanna stay with Rarity..."
Sorry, the voice replied coldly and unforgivingly, but then, in a quieter tone, Soon, I promise.
The world went black. No dramatic fading-out of the screen. No wavy images. Just a dark, sudden, unforgiving black.
Spike's eyes snapped open.
Garbled
By Drizzle Quill
Applejack
One
Applejack hovered nervously by the edge of the door, biting her lip but being careful not to pierce the skin and draw blood. One ear twitched as she attempted to hear what was going on inside her sister’s room, though she knew it wouldn’t change. She could still only hear crying. Crying and crying and crying.
She took a few steps towards the door, then stopped and backed away. She inhaled and stepped forward again before faltering, not for the first, or second, or even fifteenth time.
But somepony had to do something. The fillies had been in there for hours, and as far as Applejack knew, the crying hadn’t stopped. It was a wonder there wasn’t water leaking out under the door by this point.
Lifting her trembling hoof, Applejack knocked, loud and hard, three times.
The crying hesitated, followed by a loud sniffle. “W-Will you tell her to g-go away?” came the trembling, high-pitched voice of Sweetie Belle, trying to speak in a whispering voice but failing horribly.
“She’s mah sister; she needs to know.” This was clearly Apple Bloom; Applejack tipped her head to one side, mouth curving into an even further dissatisfied frown. What exactly were the two fillies hiding?
“B-But what if I d-don’t want her to know?”
“Shh, she’ll hear you!”
Shaking her head, Applejack nudged the door partway ajar and cupped her hoof to her muzzle, calling out softly, “Girls? Are y’all alright in there?”
It took a few seconds for either one to reply, before Apple Bloom called out hesitantly, “Um, sis? Ah don’t think you can come inside right now. It’s just…it’s not a good idea.”
“Are you hurt?” Applejack felt a rush of panic surge through her at the thought of the two little fillies curled up, alone and hurt and sad, and nearly bucked the door down right there and then to zoom to their protection.
“No, we’re fine.”
The panic vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced by a nagging, dissatisfying upset deep in the bottom of Applejack’s stomach, weighing her down like a stone in a river. Unable to keep the concern from her voice, she called out again. “Is there anything Ah can do to help you?”
Sweetie Belle answered this time, in a high-pitched squeak. “No.”
“You just want me to go away, then?”
Her voice hesitated, but the answer was firm. “Yes.”
Applejack sighed, lowering her head. “Alright, then. Suppose y’all win. Ah’ll be seeing you around then, Ah hope.”
There was no response from the room except for the squeak of a door being closed and the muffled sound of a filly’s heartbroken sobs as Applejack slowly trudged away, feeling like even more of a failure than she was already.
She went to the kitchen, and there was Big Mac, resting with a glass of apple cider resting against one hoof; he stared off into space as if lost in his own little world that nopony else could see, which, most of the time, he was. With a loud, dejected sigh, AJ trotted over and gestured at the cider. “Mac.”
He looked up at her, lifting an eyebrow. “Eeyup?”
“Do we have any more of that stuff?”
Big Mac shook his head. “Nope.”
Applejack groaned. “Where’d it all go? Ah could have sworn we just made a fresh batch yesterday an’ it’s gone already? ”
Her brother shook his head in sad realization. “Rainbow,” was the only word that escaped his mouth.
AJ grit her teeth, annoyance flooding throughout her and making her head pound like crazy. “Of course it was Dash. Could swear she has an obsession with the drink. An’ didn’t she just get back from her trip with Fluttershy last night?”
Big Mac rolled his eyes and took a sip of the cider, staring up at the ceiling again. “Eeyup.”
Mumbling about how she would have to have a serious talk with that mare later on, Applejack frantically searched the cupboards for any other sort of apple-related relief. Cider would have been ideal – over years of making it, one soon discovered it helped drown your sorrows in a few sips of the jug, the sweet taste and glorious sensation soon overtaking any other emotions – but a nice fresh slice of zap apple pie would do just fine as well.
As Applejack began to cut her slice out of the rainbow-fruited delicacy, Big Mac snapped out of his dreamland once more to ask a single worded question. “Sweetie?”
Bucking the door closed with one well-placed kick, AJ shook her head. “Couldn’t get to her, and Bloom wouldn’t let me in. Such a sweet little filly doesn’t deserve to feel so sad, you know.”
Mac nodded, gulping another sip of his cider. Though he didn’t speak in words, Applejack knew her brother well enough to know that there were plenty of things he thought could be said – they just weren’t necessary right that second. That was the rule he lived by – only say the things necessary to the moment – and though it made him seem quiet and awkward to others, Applejack only loved him the more for it.
They sat together at the table, brother and sister, one with a drink and another a food, both lost in their own worlds, both not quite sure where to begin. For AJ, as she rested her head on the table, knew what would happen now. No matter how much she tried to avoid it, she would think of the train.
She always thought of the train.
Misunderstandings and upset feelings. Damaged friendships and hurt emotions. Scarred memories, scarred with a knife hungry for blood and ready for more at the drop of a misspoken phrase.
Applejack had not spoken to Rarity for three days.
It felt like three years.
And all of a sudden, she shook her head. “You know what?” she said to Big Mac, who blinked and turned her direction, lifting an eyebrow inquisitively. “You know what Ah’m going to do?”
He looked at her for a long while, and then said, a hint of hope in his voice, “What’s right?”
“Abso-pony-lutely,” she replied, and though her tone was humorous, no hint of Applejack’s trademark grin appeared on her face. “Wish me luck, Mac. Probably shouldn’t be doin’ this, but it’s right, you know?”
Big Mac looked at her and simply shrugged.
It was how most conversations between them went, and Applejack would never have it any other way. Feeling the adrenaline rush surge through her, pumping her hooves forward to the room of her sister, she felt determined.
Not happy. Not proud.
Just determined.
“Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom? Ah know you’re in there. Now let me in before Ah buck the door down. If something serious is going on, Ah need to know.”
There was no hint of the previous nervousness in Applejack’s voice; no hesitation. Just a firm rumble deep in her throat meaning she knew what she was doing and she meant it. When there was no response from the room she rapped the wooden door again. “Sweetie? Bloom? Come on, now.”
“Uh, can you give us a minute?” Apple Bloom’s rushed voice called out.
Applejack lifted an eyebrow. “A minute?”
“Maybe like twenty or thirty or an hour minutes,” Sweetie Belle replied loudly.
There was the sound of something heavy, perhaps a book, slamming into something else, perhaps a pony. “You dimwit,” Apple Bloom sighed. “There’s no such thing as hour minutes.”
“But Rarity told me-”
All motion in the room suddenly seemed to stop, quite abruptly. At the mention of the white unicorn, Applejack felt her chest freeze up; it felt as if she couldn’t breathe, and apparently the fillies in the same room felt the same way, because they had stopped all of their chatter. Sweetie Belle sniffed.
A silent invitation to enter.
Slowly Applejack nudged the door open and walked inside.
Sweetie Belle lay huddled in a tight ball on Apple Bloom’s bed, eyes puffy and red from tears, some of which were still hovering in her eyes. Her mane was tangled and looked worse than AJ had ever seen it before, and that was most certainly saying something coming from her, the pony who couldn’t care less about another’s appearance. As the orange mare came closer, the filly looked up, and her lip trembled. Apple Bloom sat next to her, a hoof on her back, looking as if she was about to burst out crying herself.
“Sweetie Belle, Ah need to know what’s going on.” It was a tone of voice Applejack used quite a bit – the gentle but firm this is important voice.
The unicorn filly trembled, teeth chattering. “It’s R-Rarity.”
Applejack’s ears flattened against her head; she narrowed one eye, lifting the other eyebrow: a perfect expression of confusion. “Rare?” The nickname hurt her to say, bringing back memories of misspoken phrases, words not meant, a train that just kept on going, but, miraculously, she continued without flinching. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s b-been acting d-different,” Sweetie continued, lip wobbling insecurely. “Locks herself in her room and cries for a long, long time. Hardly does any of her work. Ignores all of her visitors. And she…she ignores me! And she yells at me! And she…and she…”
Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked. “And I don’t know why , Applejack. Why does she suddenly hate everything? Why does she suddenly hate…hate me?”
There was another silence, a much more awkward and prominent one. Applejack swallowed, forcing the saliva in her throat to go down, and though the saliva was gone, the lump stubbornly remained. “Well, Ah…Ah sure don’t know. That sounds like quite the trouble you’re having, Sweetie. An’ Ah really have no idea why—”
“You knew her when she was little, right?”
The question startled Applejack; she even jerked back a little bit in surprise. “Um, yeah, Ah did. We were friends when we were…shucks, it had to have been when we were your age. Good times, those days.”
Sweetie Belle rolled over so that she could face Applejack more directly. “So don’t you know her super-duper well?”
“Ah wouldn’t say that… ”
“Please, Applejack! Isn’t there some way to make her go back to normal?”
AJ bit her lip and inhaled. Sweetie Belle’s green eyes wavered slightly; she glanced down at the bed, and Apple Bloom put a comforting hoof around her friend’s neck. “If you don’t, it’s okay, I guess. I just wanted to know if there was anything you or Apple Bloom could do. Well, actually, mainly Apple Bloom, but this could work too…I hope you don’t mind. I really hope you don’t mind.”
Those words hurt. They hurt a lot, and they dug deep into the mare’s heart, and for some reason, she couldn’t get them to go away. Apple Bloom whispered something in Sweetie Belle’s ear, and the unicorn lowered her head. Her eyes were watering again.
AJ had had enough.
“You know what? There might be something Ah can do.” The words erupted out of Applejack before she could stop them, and before it was far too late to take them back; feeling like her chest was being squeezed in a trash compactor she continued. “Yeah…Ah could talk to her. She has no right to be treatin’ herself and her sister and everypony else this way, and maybe…”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes, alight with hope, stared into Applejack’s now firmly set, rapidly receding, green ones. “Really?” She drew one hoof over her right eye, attempting to hide the tears still flowing in a steady river down her cheeks.
Applejack didn’t answer.
She was already out the door.
Author's Note
Hey, guess what! It isn't dead!
