Cracking the Elements of Harmony

“No, no, no, there’s nothing I could have done. Nothing at all.”

Rarity paced about the Carousel Boutique. It had been two days since the Trail Incident, as it had come to be known. The thoughts of what she could have done to prevent it were growing with every hour. When she had first arrived back home on that fateful day, the words she was now repeating were merely bursts of thoughts in her mind. Then they turned to streams; each carried a different line of actions she could have done to save Fluttershy. Then they went silent. And in their place formed a blank feeling of pressure, pushing on her skull as if she was submerged. After medicine failed, she had tried occupying herself with any and all chores she could think of, but the pressure mounted. She had sought help from Twilight, but there was no magic in her arsenal to combat psychological trauma. Without even realizing it, she had started murmuring the words that released the pressure. Their intensity grew with the mounting pressure.

There was a knock on the door.

“Sweetie Belle, could you get that? Sweetie Belle! Oh…”

She remembered Sweetie Belle wasn’t in the Carousel Boutique. She wasn’t even in Ponyville anymore. On the day Fluttershy died, her parents had come to see Rarity and offer a helping hoof, but her refusal to show any negative feelings, or the need for support, had forced them away. She just needs some time alone, they thought, as they took Sweetie Belle away so that at least one of their fillies could remain ignorant about the events of that day for a little while longer. The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders were also brought along to give them the impression that they were going on a quest rather than separating them and feeding each a different lie as to why they had had to leave Ponyville. Applejack had refused to talk to her sister at all that day, even as she learned of the plan. She knew she couldn’t tell a lie of that magnitude, even if the consequences of telling the truth meant pain for Apple Bloom. And as for Scootaloo; she was always ready to follow her friends wherever they went, and she had nopony to ask for permission.

The door opened ever so slowly and Twilight’s muzzle peered through the gap as she took a step in.

“Rarity? I was just-”

“Twilight, why hello!” Rarity jumped to the door, placing herself directly in Twilight path before the door could be opened enough to allow her in. She put on her best masquerade of joy and continued in the most elegant, yet slightly too fast-paced, voice before Twilight could talk. “How are you darling, you know you really need to let me know if you’re coming over for a cup of tea – you were coming over her for some tea, weren’t you? Anyway, I’m afraid I have just so much to do and so little time to do it that I simply can’t make any time for you today. I do hope you won’t mind me asking that we move it to another day?”

Taken aback by the bombardment she had received, Twilight wasn’t sure of how to respond as she stood in the doorway. She knew Rarity was the most visibly afflicted of her friends by Fluttershy’s death. Had it not been for her near nervous breakdown at the scene of the Incident, she would have followed Pinkie Pie and the Guards escorting her. Instead, she had helped Rarity to her home, as Applejack had escorted Rainbow Dash for a similar reason, only with a different possible outcome. Now, she was looking at a nervously excited Rarity, and she knew there was only one reason for her behavior.

She’s working through the pain, Twilight thought. Better not disturb her.

“It’s okay, Rarity,” she said with a reassuring smile on her face, but one that quickly changed along with the seriousness of her tone. “I just came to ask you if you were going to attend the hearing. It starts at noon. Now I know they say Pinkie has already –” she paused for a moment and put a hoof to her chin as she searched for an appropriate expression, “- told them what had happened. So they don’t need us to testify, but Princess Celestia has asked us to come anyway. Maybe shed some light on why she did it?”

It was only now that she noticed Rarity had stayed perfectly still while she was speaking. Her eyes were the only part of her body that had moved, having followed Twilight’s as she spoke. The rest of her body was taut, as if she was merely waiting for an opportunity to shut the door and get on with whatever she was doing. Rarity jerked her head downward, then back up before replying.

“I’m sorry, darling, but I simply haven’t the time for all that business.” She hesitated at the last word and pronounced it as if spitting it out of her mouth to avoid the aftertaste. “I’m sure they’ll get to the bottom of it and that those who might have done something are going to be able to explain it even if we don’t understand them right now and that they’re going to come to a sensible solution that’ll explain this whole mess.”

Twilight blinked. Rarity was once again staring directly at her, only now with a hoof on the door’s edge. Her pupils had shrunk slightly, but that was the only other change Twilight could see and at that point Twilight knew that there wasn’t going to be any reasoning with her and she still intended to stop by Rainbow Dash’s before collecting Applejack for the trip to Canterlot. She tried to contain the bitterness in her smile.

“Okay, then I’ll see you later.”

Twilight didn’t even register the door slam as she turned and walked away. Rarity was acting odd, but there was no way she was going to force her to go to Canterlot if she wasn’t ready for it; even if she never would be. Instead, she made her way to Rainbow Dash. Applejack was the next stop, but she had her family close by to support her, while Twilight had a feeling that Rainbow Dash needed the conversations far more than she let on.

While Rarity had secluded herself from the rest and Applejack worked on the farm from dawn to dusk, until she fell exhausted into bed, Rainbow Dash had spent most of her time in her home. Unlike Rarity, though, she never shied away from Twilight, or anypony else for that matter. She merely stayed at home, and if anypony wanted to come, they were welcome to do. Although welcome was probably too strong a strong word.

Twilight entered Rainbow’s cloud house without saying a word. The door was open and Rainbow had already seen her approach through the windows, and by the looks of things, her mood still hadn’t changed. From the Incident onward, Rainbow Dash behaved in the manner of a Royal Guard, with only one exception. She never spoke without being spoken to, she didn’t make a move unless it was absolutely necessary, and she looked as if she was ready to do combat at a moment’s notice. But she did show emotion. At all times, her eyes betrayed a mixture of scorn and pure, unbridled hate, for the one who had caused all of them so much suffering.

“I’ve been talking to Shining. He says Pinkie confessed everything, but didn’t give any details more than that.” Rainbow Dash stood looking at Twilight, showing neither joy nor anger at what she was hearing. Only the same two emotions as always. “They’re trying to figure out why, but they don’t even have any guesses so far.”

Twilight wanted to say that Pinkie Pie had only repeated the same words as the ones she was screaming as she thrashed on the ground on the day of the Incident, only in complete calm this time. She wanted to say that Shining had informed her of Pinkie’s quiet, monotone voice quietly saying “I killed her,”, while looking at the interviewer with sad, self-damning eyes, and saying the same thing regardless of what the question was, but repeating it only once, as if that was the only thing that mattered and the details would forever be known only to her. But she saw that Rainbow wasn’t interested in hearing any of that, so Twilight sighed and walked toward her with a lowered head. She stopped a few steps away from her.

“Why do you hate her?”

For the first time, Rainbow Dash twitched and her eyes widened ever so slightly. She visibly held back as she replied in a low tone, “You don’t?” Twilight didn’t make a sound and Rainbow took a step forward, eying her at an angle. “You don’t hate Pinkie Pie for what she did?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I don’t-”

“You don’t hate Pinkie for killing Fluttershy?” Rainbow was holding back, but the sudden raise in her voice came out as the shout it was meant to be. She was left standing, mouth partially open, looking at Twilight.

“No.” As Rainbow showed the first sign of genuine amazement, Twilight continued. “I don’t think that Pinkie Pie killed her. Not the one we know.”

Rainbow once again lowered her voice, this time to make sure to get the message across. “She. Said. So. Herself.”

“Yes, she did. She was also crying so hard that she didn’t even notice you stomping her teeth out.” Both Twilight and Rainbow twitched at that statement. Twilight had not meant to say it so brutally, but when she saw that Rainbow’s determination hadn’t been softened in the days gone by, she knew she would have to get her attention. Still, her choice of words was an involuntary reaction to Rainbow’s own. “I’m sorry, I-”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Rainbow surprised her, “I did stomp her teeth out. And I did nearly kick her skull in. And I would do it again.”

The blunt statement left Twilight shocked, but she wasn’t about to give up. Now she was growing angry at Rainbow’s blind obsession.

“You don’t understand. Yes, she did what she did but that wasn’t Pinkie Pie! At least I don’t think so.” Seeing that she had Rainbow’s attention, she began slowly walking toward her and around the room and continued. “Think about it. Remember the time we threw a surprise birthday party for her and she though we didn’t care about her? That we didn’t want to come to her party? She changed that day, into somepony else – something uncaring, self-hating and cynical. It lasted until we confronted her with the evidence to the contrary, and then she went back to normal.”

“So?” Twilight stopped walking for a moment and turned to Rainbow, surprised by the question.

“So? Don’t you see Rainbow?” Twilight grew a sad smile that held in it the hope that Rainbow would finally understand and cease her mindless hate. She put a hoof on her shoulder. “It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t kill Fluttershy. It was the hate-fueled Pinkie that did it.”

Seeing that Rainbow Dash wasn’t convinced, she put her hoof down and explained her argument.

“I’ve seen glimpses of it before. Whenever Pinkie Pie was disappointed – and I mean really disappointed – she changed. She never said something was wrong so that she wouldn’t offend anypony, but she changed until things went back to normal. I heard it in her voice. I saw it in her face, but I always thought – hey, that’s just Pinkie Pie!” Twilight looked down, every word she was saying making her feel just a little bit more guilty that the moment before. She looked back to Rainbow. “But it wasn’t. I should have seen it before, but I didn’t. But I’m sure now that there’s something wrong with Pinkie, something that changes her personality until it’s brought back by some kind of cure – I think when the cause for it is resolved.”

“So you’re saying,” Rainbow started, unsure if she was hearing Twilight right, “That Pinkie went insane and killed Fluttershy and that’s why we shouldn’t hold it against her?”

Twilight looked away. She knew how absurd that sounded, but the alternative was far too terrifying. At the same time, saying it like that was oversimplifying matters by more than a reasonable margin. She didn’t mean it quite like that, so she couldn’t say yes, but Rainbow’s statement was technically true, so refuting it would mean lying to her. Between the two options was a lengthy explanation that she knew Rainbow wasn’t going to listen through, so she chose the better of the two clear-cut options.

“Yes.” She looked back at Rainbow, more determined than ever. She made a promise to herself to explain it to her in more detail when the time was right. “That is what I’m saying.”

Rainbow’s wings were slowly unfolding, no matter how much she tried to hold them back. With Pinkie Pie in Canterlot, Twilight was now the prime target for her rage. The words that she had said resonated in Rainbow’s mind; they were the words of an accomplice. She saw the look of fear growing in Twilight’s eyes as she noticed Rainbow’s wings and the expression of anger growing on her face. With all the strength she could gather, Rainbow spat out one sentence.

“Get out.”

Twilight didn’t object. She turned around and trotted over to the door, then looked back at Rainbow for a final time before flying off to Sweet Apple Acres to meet up with Applejack. Not far away, Rarity’s mentality took a turn for the worse. Despite the constant reminding that she wasn’t to blame, or perhaps because of it, she felt the pressure returning. Before she started shouting and running around Carousel Boutique, however, she stopped suddenly. A carrot was floating by the window on the side of the building. She ran to the door and threw it open, but by the time she made it around to the window, the carrot was gone. Am I losing my- her thought was stopped by an association to the carrot.

“Angel.”

Those poor animals, she though as she galloped to Fluttershy’s cottage, how long has it been since anypony has fed them? Rarity wasn’t one for taking care of woodland creatures, preferring instead the company of more luxurious pets, such as her prize-winning cat Opalescence, but the sudden realization that there were starving pets at Fluttershy’s cottage had reignited her spirit of generosity. She didn’t even notice the pressure evaporating and her thoughts realigning themselves with the details of the new quest of feeding those animals. Having spent the last few days in near isolation, she also didn’t know that the animals were long gone, and that it was Applejack that had taken them in until a more permanent solution could be found.

The path lead her past the site where Fluttershy had died, and she turned her gaze as far away from it as she could without losing her sight of the path itself. Once she arrived at the yellow ropes that cut-off access to the small bridge to Fluttershy’s cottage, she merely jumped over them and opened the door to the abandoned building. She had expected to find somepony guarding it and had practiced a plea she would use to get inside, but the stigma of death was considered enough of a deterrent and no guards were posted.

The emptiness of the cottage took her by surprise. There were remnants of a wild party all over the walls, floor and even the ceiling, and a mass of ants had descended onto the countless leftovers of food, animal and pony alike. She stood for a moment in gentle disgust at the sight of the living streams of red and black that ran in apparently random, yet perfectly maintained patterns all over the cottage, before she finally realized that the animals weren’t there. I might as well - A creak from the basement startled her. She didn’t know what Fluttershy had in her basement, only that a creak was likely coming from an animal forgotten there. Maybe it had slept through the evacuation or it got stuck there after returning to an empty home and frantically looking for Fluttershy. Either way, she had to investigate.

Moving slowly past the streams of ants, taking care not to trample any – Fluttershy would never have forgiven her for hurting an animal through carelessness – she reached the door to the basement and opened it. Darkness greeted her from below and she instinctively lit up her horn to illuminate the way ahead as she made a few steps down the stairs, only to see them end in a room filled with every imaginable item one would need for a thorough animal care center. There were cages for transport of varying shapes and sizes, locked boxes of medicine, worn-out playtime equipment waiting for refurbishment and some in the process of it, and a large assortment of crates directly in front of her, by the end of the basement. Before the moment of amazement could pass, the sound of the front door shutting snapped her out of it. She turned to look behind, only to see something coming toward her at speed.