/*
I don't own MLP:FiM, or any of the characters contained with in. I also am not making any profit from this fic. The only gain I may achieve is the enjoyment to my self from writing it, and the enjoyment of the ponies who want to read it.
*/
The Curse of Loyalty
By Dracarrion
I sit in a dim room, the only light coming from the dying fire in the fireplace. I’ve found myself here far too many times over the past few years. Alone, as if forgotten. I stand and stretch, my old joints popping from disuse. I walk over to the fireplace and take the poker in my mouth. I gently nudge the wood, making the fire flare up again. After I return the poker to its stand, I let my eyes scan the mantle, and they quickly fall upon a photo of two mares, one winged mare with a cyan coat and brilliant multicolored mane, the other a lavender unicorn with her purple mane cut and styled in away that kinda gave her that school filly look. They both… We both looked so happy then.
I’ve probably looked at this photo millions or billions of times, but tonight, with the rain falling against the house, it’s just too much. I raise a hoof, and smash it into the photograph, shattering the frame and sending shards of glass flying. As I pull my hoof back, the fractured picture falls to the ground and lays in front of the fireplace. “You said you’d be back in a few months!” I scream at the broken frame. “You promised!” I sink to the ground, where the picture had fallen. “You promised.” I say again, starting to sob. “You promised.” I whisper at the frame. “And you lied.
“So long ago. You promised you’d come back, and that we’d be together forever. “ I cry at the picture, frustration, anger and loneliness pouring out from a place that once only held love. “Then months became years, and years became decades! And like a foal I waited for you." I start to truly cry. "I waited, but you didn't return. I let go of my dreams, I gave up part of myself for you! And you left me!" In my rage and torment I take a hoof and kick the photo into the fire. "Oh no!" I quickly try to reach in and pull it out, but the fire is too hot, and my joints are too old. "No no no no no no," I can only watch as the last remnant of what we were burns away. And as the fire consumes the last evidence of how we had been, i think back to that day at the train station.
“’Don't worry,’ you started, ‘I'll be back in a few months, you'll see.’ And then you waved good bye to everypony and left.” I look at the partially consumed photograph. “You left, and I waited. Forty years of waiting for you, only seeing on your ‘down time’ and it took tonight to open my eyes.” I silently laugh to myself. “It took you not coming tonight for me to realize what I should have done so long ago.” I look into the fire, only our faces remain now. “I've been loyal to you for so long, but tonight was the last straw. I’m tired of waiting. Tired of seeing my dreams lay unfulfilled. And so, I'm moving on.” With that, I turn and head for the door. "Goodbye," I say, starting to feel better than I have in ages, "Twilight Sparkle."
/* This was written because the main story is too short to publish. This is the other side of events.*/
I look up from my book, the white room I lay in is brightly lit, accented with gold and radiant colors. A light rain patters against the glass, it was leftover from a storm that hit Ponyville last night. I have a small fire going because of the cold night, but the flames have started to die. I shift the logs with my magic from where I lay, then pull another blanket over me. I don't know why, but something tonight just feels off. It's as if I'd forgotten something. And not something trivial like leaving my book on the desk. No, this was big, like a dinner I was supposed to attend, but Celestia only knows what it was. I swear, if my mind slips anymore... I return to my reading, my eyes glancing over the near incomprehensible text arcana before me.
Hours later I looked up at the mantle above the warm fireplace. Pictures of friends I could never forget rested there. The group photo was off to one side, it was taken the day that Princess Luna returned. That one always made me smile. But tonight, the one in the center. A picture of me and Dash, the mare I loved. The mare I left behind to come here and teach. Looking back on the night I left, and even thinking about the argument between us, it physically makes me sick to think that I treated her that way.
I stand before her, so proud of where I've found myself. "You remember that teacher I was standing in for? Well it turns out that he's going to be out the rest of the year! Isn't that great? Well not for him, but it means that I'll be there a few more months!" I never considered her feelings. "Isn't that great?"
"What's so great about it?" She asked, her voice bitter. "Is it great that I end up alone?" I never though that would happen to her. "Is it great that I passed up my chance at the Wonderbolts for you, and then for you to accept this job a week later?" I can't believe the venom in her voice, the sheer anger pouring out of her. It degraded to name calling and accusations after that. On both sides.
But now I know that I deserved every word. The names she called me, the accusations she made, they all turned true. I'd done the one thing I swore to Celes... the ONE thing that I'd promised her I would never do. I'd abandoned her. This was supposed to be temporary, and she's promised to wait for me. "I'm so sorry." I say.
I could swear that she was in the room with me.
