Because She Could

by MidnightDancer

Rating: teen
Tags: Sex, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Romance
Length: 5870

Twinkleshine and Melliot's relationship seems perfect to everypony else, when it's anything but. When it seems impossible to get out, Twinkleshine reminds herself that she can.

Twinkleshine and Melliot have weathered storms together, but for the past year or so, the raging seas have torn them apart.

Twinkleshine, feeling suppressed and hurt with nopony to turn to, has to make her choice.

Because she can.

Published 2014-06-03 21:40:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-03 21:40:03 UTC

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Because She Could
By MidnightDancer

Twinkleshine trotted from the doorway of her coltfriend's house, making sure the door was secured before making her way, one cream colored hoof in front of the other, down the road towards the market. Melliot had given her money this morning, shoving a bag of bits brusquely her way with orders to bring home groceries. She had caught them in her magic, smiling still, and reached in for a hug even as he turned away and stomped towards the door, leaving her to awkwardly put her leg back down and scuff at the floor.

"Have a good day, babe! I love—" The door slammed, cutting off the end of her farewell.

She shook her head to clear it, pasting on her brittle-bright smile and making her way to market. Colts and fillies charged past her in the summer sun, the cool wind in their wake buffeting her slightly, her smile relaxing into a more natural one. Trying to put thoughts of her coltfriend's behavior—behavior, she was sure, had a perfectly reasonable explanation—out of her head, she trotted to Roseluck's stall.

"Good morning, Twinkleshine!" Rose popped up from behind her stall, the smudge of soil on her muzzle still not dampening her brilliant grin. "Let me just get these Victory Roses settled, and I'll be right with you!"

The unicorn waved a hoof with a nod. "Of course!" She let her aquamarine eyes slide over Rose's wares, fixing on the April Moons. Twinkleshine loved April Moons, their slightly tart flavor and how they melted in one's mouth. She jangled the bits Melliot had given her, thoughtfully. Some of the bits were hers, after all, even if Melliot insisted on being the one to handle all the money. On the other hoof, Melliot hated April Moons, and had suggested more than once that even if she liked them, she shouldn't buy them. Was it worth the fight? Could she eat them while he was at work and avoid the fight? But wouldn't he notice that he'd be three bits short on his change? Twinkleshine chewed her lip, considering.

Rose had straightened, blinking across at her friend whose eyes had become unfocused, staring at nothing. "Uh, hello? Twinkles?" She waved one yellow forehoof in front of the unicorn's face, who came back to Equestria with a blink.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Just thinking." Twinkleshine pasted her smile back on.

"No problem! I see you were looking at the April Moons. Did you want to get a bunch?"

Yes. "No, no... let's go with a bunch of the Icebergs." She levitated four bits from her saddlebags, passing them over to Rose, who bustled about to wrap up her purchase.

"So how is Melliot? Only see him once in awhile, going one place to the other—he's a busy pony, that's for sure!" Rose grinned, hoofing over the roses to Twinkleshine, who levitated them securely into her bag. "You two must be so happy together! And he's got that good job down at the office—do you think he's going to pop the question soon?" Rose leaned over, smile becoming something conspiratorial and excited.

Inexplicably, Twinkleshine felt her eyes begin to prick with unshed tears. She forced them down, and nodded. "Yes, he... is... does want to."

Rose squealed, throwing her forelegs around her friend's neck, heedless of the little pot of Victory Roses she knocked over in her excitement. "Oh, Twinkles! That's amazing! Is it official?"

Twinkleshine shook her head, still forcing a smile. It was not official, but he'd told her that he was going to marry her, and soon.

He hadn't asked. She had never brought it up to begin with, save for once, a year ago, before—well, before.

"I'll keep it quiet, then." Rose winked, a big, showy thing, then pranced in place. "I'm so happy for you. You're such a lucky pony."

And Twinkleshine, swallowing past the lump in her throat, agreed.

The saddlebags hung neatly on the hook by the door, and the unicorn stood before the stove, shaking a wide, deep pan filled with vegetables. He was out working hard today, she knew, so she had come home from the market and immediately planned his dinner. There was nothing, after all, like coming home to a filling, home-cooked meal after a hard day at work.

She glanced at the clock, seeing it was nearly five-thirty, and nodded to herself. Bustling around the little kitchen, she chopped some potatoes and tossed them in with the vegetables, adding splashes of savory sauces and some pepper and ginger. She covered the pan with a domed lid, turning the heat down slightly to let the potatoes soften. Satisfied, she busied herself with some last minute cleaning, sweeping the floor and wiping down the cabinets before removing the food from the heat and piling it upon the plates. The lion's share, of course, for Melliot.

She set them on the table, glancing at the clock again. Five forty-five. She shrugged, drumming her hooves gently on her seat, the combined smells of the food wafting towards her eliciting a growl from her stomach.

Six o'clock came and went, and Twinkleshine decided that it would be okay for her to eat. He wasn't here, after all, and how long was she supposed to wait, anyway? She munched her mostly-cold food, paging through a glossy magazine. The magazine was one of her few real treats, the pages covered in starlets and adverts for mane-care to get that same shiny bounce said starlets had.

It didn't quite work, of course, but it was still interesting to look at.

Seven o'clock, and Twinkleshine made her way to the window facing up the street that Melliot normally came down after work. It was deserted, save for a few foals and their parents making their way to the park to use up the last scraps of summer sunlight. She opened the window, poking her head out into the warmth, and looked both ways. No Melliot.

She secured the window again, before neatly putting his food away in a container in the refrigerator, trying to ignore the gnawing worry in her stomach. He was fine, she was sure. Just running late. Very late. Stupendously late.

Eight o'clock, and now she gave up, shrugging and trotting to take a shower. Sitting around worrying wasn't going to get him home faster, after all. It was out of her hooves. She stood beneath the scalding hot spray with her scalding hot eyes and imagined that it was only water running down her face.

She imagined a lot.

Dry now, she eased herself onto the large bed they shared together. Despite the summer heat, she shivered, sliding beneath the comforter. It was almost nine, and he still wasn't back, but she also still hadn't heard from any policeponies so she assumed he must be alright. He has to be alright. Sure, he was probably alive, but where was he? Who was he with? Why didn't he say he'd be home late? He knew she worried for him...

She wouldn't even care, she decided as she rolled to the side and snuggled deeper under the duvet, if he were with another mare. As long as she knew he was safe, that would be enough. Was that too much to ask?

She wasn't sure, but what she was sure of was that asking would start a fight. So, she snagged the book on her bedside with her magic, flipping it open to the appropriate page. Equestrian Gods. As she read, she pulled out a small piece of chocolate from her stash in the bottom of the bedside table. She knew she shouldn't eat it: Melliot always said it was bad for her and it would make her fat. She stole a nibble, and jumped as she heard the front door open.

Guiltily, as though caught with her literal hoof in the cookie jar, she slid the chocolate back and steadied her telekinesis as Melliot made his way to the bedroom. He peered in, hard blue eyes set in a gruff brown face, and blinked.

"So. I'm back."

"I see that. Welcome home. Your dinner is in the fridge." She kept her voice steady, even light, as she flicked another page over and let her eyes scan it, not absorbing the words.

Shuffling from the doorway. "Well. I was at the drugstore."

"For three hours?" Even as she blurted it out, she wished she'd kept it in. "Find anything good?" Desperately, she tried to reel it back in. The book shook slightly in her hold, and she tried to distract herself back into the world of Shadow and Anansi and Odin.

"What's that tone of voice for?! What's that doubt for?!" His stance was aggressive, filling the doorframe with his earth pony build as those hard eyes, like chipped ice, glared down at her.

She gave up, closing the book on Shadow's mad gallop south, and took a deep breath. "No. I believe you." No I don't.

But I don't care. You're safe.

He eyed her once more, huffing through his snout, and she looked back as steadily as she could. A moment later, he broke eye contact, and snorted. "So, what did you do all day? Sit around?"

Breathe. "No. I did the food shopping, and I cleaned the sitting room and the kitchen and the bathroom, and I made dinner." She smiled, willing it not to waver.

Grunting, he nodded. "Okay. Thanks. But I need this bedroom picked up tomorrow."

"I have work tomorrow, and I'm expecting a letter from that singing group..." She trailed off at his raised eyebrow. "I mean, of course I can clean up, but it might not be til evening."

"Right." He started walking away, then, throwing just one parting shot over his shoulder. "You should be looking for a real job, not this singing nonsense. Nopony is gonna hire you to sing, so just get over it. You're only ever gonna be a waitress."

As his hoofsteps faded down the hall, she looked with stinging eyes down at her cutie mark. Three beautiful stars, the same shade of aquamarine as her eyes. She ran a hoof over them with a watery smile. In barely a whisper of a whisper, she breathed, "But I'm going to try."

Later that night, he fumbled into bed beside her. And despite her tail firmly wedged between her legs, he coaxed it out and she allowed him to have her, wrapping her legs fully around him as though that would keep him there. She took every scrap of love and affection out of it that she could, even stealing a kiss or two as they moved against each other in the night. When he finished, and flopped over, snoring, she curled up against his back to sleep.

But she laid awake a very long time, regardless.

The following day dawned clear and bright, and Twinkleshine, regardless of her lack of sleep, was up at the still hour of six in the morning. The world outside her window was quiet, as though time had stopped completely. A low fog hung at the ground, which Twinkleshine knew would burn off once the weather ponies woke up and the sun rose.

She pulled on her uniform quietly, tip-hoofing to the kitchen, careful not to wake Melliot. He could sleep for another hour, and waking him up was... well, not advisable, let's say. Quietly, she ran the coffee maker, running a brush through her candy-pink hair as she yawned hugely. The coffee maker burbled cheerfully, and she pulled a travel cup to her impatiently.

At the sound of hoofsteps in the hall, she whirled, eyes springing fully open. "I'm so sorry, Melliot, I didn't mean to wake you, I'll be out of your mane in a minute, I promise..." She backed slightly, pulling out the half-brewed coffee and pouring it as carefully as she could into the travel cup with her shaky telekinesis.

She had to admit, though, that he did look cute in the morning. His mane was mussed, steps sluggish and slow as he made his way to her slowly. He brushed his lips against her ear with a small kiss, a sleepy smile on his face. "No, it's cool. Hey, you get off early today, right?"

Looking up into his half-lidded, sleepy blue eyes, she relaxed slightly. In her head, she had divided up Melliot—there was the Melliot that she got most of the time: brash, bossy, and controlling. Then, there was Good Melliot: loving, sweet, and playful.

Good Melliot, she had decided, was worth staying for. So she did.

"Yes... I should be off by three, it's the breakfast shift today." She pulled the travel mug to her, adding a splash of cream and a generous helping of sugar. Her eyes darted to Melliot again, instinctively—he hated when she put too much sugar in her coffee.

He ignored it this time, though, and smiled his sleepy smile again. "Well, I can get off from the office early today. How about I swing by and get you, and we can go to dinner?"

Her chest gave a funny little tingle, and she smiled shyly. "Like a date? That would be really nice..."

"Something like that." He chuckled, nuzzling her neck and grinning when she giggled. "So I'll come get you, yeah?"

She looked into those eyes, so soft now after last night's hard and piercing accusations. "Yeah."

And she trotted off down the slowly waking street, her uniform skirt flouncing behind her, smiling and blushing for all the world like a filly with her first crush.

"Twinkie!" The tan earth pony bounced up to Twinkleshine, grinning through a lock of hair that flopped across her face. "You did really awesome today! Thank you so much for coming in!"

Panting, collapsed on a booth, Twinkleshine waved a hoof. "It was nothing. Just. Hah. Where did they even come from?"

Coconut Cream collapsed on the other side of the booth, stretching out. "I have no idea."

Laying comfortably in the booth, Twinkleshine's eyes roamed the destroyed dining area that the buscolts were doing their best to clean up. "Just us. In this whole restaurant. That was insane." She spied her manager, a pale blue stallion, wandering towards them with a grin. "Hash Slinger, can we just... never do that again?"

Fluttering his wings, he nodded. "Hey, I'm all for that. My wings can take a lot of heat, but with ten plates balanced on them at once?" He flapped the right wing, and a secondary feather fell out. "It was too much." He drew himself up, gesturing for the mares to rise.

With much moaning and groaning, they did, stretching their aching backs and shuffling their hooves. He eyed them, proudly. "Ladies, you did a wonderful job. I can't even begin to describe how utterly screwed I would have been if you two weren't so fast and efficient." The two mares giggled, nodding. "I will, of course, be sending a scathing letter to head office. They're supposed to warn us when things like this happen. The next time two schools book this place for a field trip, I'll make sure I have advance warning."

Coconut Cream bobbed her head. "And thank Celestia for that. Alright, boss, I'm off. Cool?"

He waved a wing at her. "Yeah, get outta here. See you tomorrow!"

The earth pony nearly galloped from the restaurant, and Twinkleshine turned to join her. "Twinkleshine, a moment, please."

She turned slowly, almost fearfully, towards her manager. She stood in the doorway, a few hoofsteps from freedom. "I... yes? Did I do something wrong?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No. I wanted to say, I know that you're new, but you did a great job, like a seasoned waitress. I was really impressed. Your three-month evaluation is coming up soon, and I wanted to let you know that it'll be positively glowing."

Warmth filled her chest, swelling out with the pride of a job well done. "Thank you, sir! I guess I can stick around, then." She chuckled, and he patted her withers with his wing.

"Glad to hear it. Hey, there's your coltfriend." He nodded out through the glass door to Melliot, who stood stock still aside from one hoof pawing at the ground. Hash Slinger turned back to Twinkleshine. "He looks like he's ready to go. See you tomorrow!"

She waved once as she trotted through the door, pressing her neck to Melliots as she arrived. "Hey, babe. Ready?"

He nodded, and gestured to her uniform. "Take that off, first." She obliged, stuffing the polyester skirt and vest into her saddlebags. He began to walk, then, and she hurried to keep stride with him.

"So, where are we going?" Smiling brightly, she waved to Lyra Heartstrings as she passed by, laden with apples.

A small look, a flash of Bad Melliot, came from the corner of his eye. "Well, I thought maybe that bistro on Main. They have really good food. Hey," he continued, smiling slightly, "maybe you can apply there. Seems like it'd be more bits." Twinkleshine said nothing, her own bits from tips filling most of the right saddlebag.

"I really like where I'm at. It was crazy today, but Hash Slinger said I did a great job! And my review is coming up, so I want to see how that goes... it doesn't look good to leave a job so quickly, I'd rather build up a bit of time and experience." Smiling up at him, she recoiled slightly from the look on his face.

Bad Melliot was back.

"Uh huh." He stopped in the middle of the busy street, eyes drilling her. Keeping his voice low and dangerous, he continued. "And do you like it so much because of that pegasus? That scrawny little thing?"

She shrank back, shaking her head, mane flying wildly. "No, no, Melliot. I mean, he's a great manager! But I'd be happy working for any great manager."

"Right. Doing any of that work on your knees?"

Ice pierced her chest, replacing the warmth that was so recently there. Her head drooped, and the usual stinging came to her eyes as she tried to hold it back. He was talking quietly enough that nopony around could hear him. She drew herself up as much as she could, looking into his eyes with her own watery ones. "No. Why would you even say that?"

Putting his muzzle close to hers—for all the world like a lover whispering to his beloved—he nearly growled. "I think you're fucking him." He pushed his snout into her mane. Twinkleshine shuddered as he breathed in deeply. "You smell like sweat. Fucking whore."

Trembling, she tried her best to stay stock-still. "N-No. I'm sweating because I haven't stopped moving since eight this morning. The place was packed, Melliot. I'm not fucking him, and I wouldn't have had time to even if I were."

He drew back, eyes burning into her own wide, wet ones. Suddenly turning, he began to trot back up the street. "Come on. We're going to be late."

Her hooves carried her to his side, and she pleaded with him. "I really don't want to go anymore. This is all messed up. I just want to go home."

"You can't. My boss and his wife are meeting us there. Pull yourself together. I won't let you embarrass me." Sneering, he continued on.

Of course, Twinkleshine could just trot home regardless. But a tug in the pit of her stomach told her that she needed to go with him, sit with him, make nice with the boss and the wife and pretend that Good Melliot was the only one there was. And maybe if she did a good enough job, Good Melliot would be the only one there was. For awhile.

Choking back a sob, she followed.

A creak sounded across the small home as Melliot pushed his way into his house, marefriend following behind him. Twinkleshine, feeling the burning in her legs that meant she had done far too much, nevertheless made her way to the kitchen to put away their leftovers. Dinner had been horrible... for Twinkleshine.

She had made nice, seating herself beside the wife of Melliot's boss. The dark-coated pegasus mare had been kindly, but aloof, speaking to Twinkleshine as if she were a small child. She could tell the old mare did not mean any harm by it, so she grit her teeth and kept on, cheerfully talking about everything and nothing.

Melliot's boss had appraised her with his eyes alone, aside from a brief greeting. She hated the way his eyes roamed over her flanks, down her body, up her neck, but never quite meeting her eyes. Feeling even dirtier than she felt before, she tried her best not to shiver as the courses were delivered.

After the meal, his boss had leaned back in his chair expansively, hoofing Melliot in the shoulder in that way stallions have with each other. "She's a fine looking mare, Melliot. Those hips, she'd have some good foals for you." As they laughed, Twinkleshine simply sat, cheeks burning, sweaty mane still plastered to her neck, as she was spoken about as if she weren't even there.

She had wanted to go home. Maybe not home. Maybe Lyra's home. Anywhere but there.

"You gonna make an honest mare outta her?" His boss chuckled again, taking a sip of his wine.

Darting a glance at Twinkleshine, one that only she knew, Melliot chuckled along. "Oh, I'm not sure anypony can make an honest mare out of any mare."

They laughed more. The boss' wife, finally sensing Twinkleshine's discomfort, took hold of the conversation and steered it towards numbers, facts, figures of the upcoming contracted jobs. Twinkleshine caught a kindly smile from the mare as Melliot's boss started describing the state of the plumbing in the town hall, and relaxed. It was short-lived, as she caught a glare from Melliot on her other side.

Bad Melliot.

Twinkleshine made her way to the bedroom, flopping down on the bed as Melliot followed. He cleared his throat, once, rather dramatically, and she peered up at him.

He gestured, incredulous, to the bedroom. "Uh, aren't you going to clean this up?"

And Twinkleshine, with her legs burning and dried sweat in her mane and coat, stood up on wobbly legs. Grabbing her duster, she cleared up the dresser's tops and used her telekinesis to fix the bedspread. Melliot watched, coldly. Gathering her courage, she took a stab in the dark.

"Why are you always accusing me of cheating on you? You know I wouldn't, and I haven't." She backed away slightly, out of hoof range, and trembled, but still looked him in the eyes.

He glared back. "I saw that manager of yours putting his wing on your withers. Right in front of me. Disrespectful."

"It was a friendly gesture. We had a really, really hard day."

"I bet it was hard," he spat.

Exhausted, frustrated, and now finally angry, Twinkleshine caught his eyes again. "You're the one that cheated on me. I should be asking you where you go and what you do. But I don't."

The distance between them was closed with unusual swiftness, the earth pony towering over his unicorn marefriend. "I go where I want. You don't like it? You can fucking leave. This is my house." With that, he whirled, stomping out of the bedroom.

A few moments later, she heard him settle on to the couch. She pulled herself into bed, not caring that she might stink up the sheets, and prayed that Hash Slinger would let her have the next day off.

She needed a break.

Hash Slinger was, in fact, a reasonable stallion, and one look at her bloodshot eyes and mussed mane the next day told him all he needed to know. He sent her home, watching with troubled brown eyes as she made her way up the street, nose nearly touching the dirt. "Hey, Coconut."

"Yeah, boss?"

"D'you know if everything is okay with Twinkleshine? She seems upset."

Coconut joined him at the door, watching her go and finally turn a corner out of sight. "I dunno, boss."

"Maybe she had a fight with Melliot?"

Coconut Cream scoffed. "Those two? Nah. They're stupidly in love. There's no way."

And a confident Coconut returned to serving her customers, and a troubled Hash Slinger tried to put it out of his mind. She was probably fine, he reasoned. Melliot loved her.

When Lyra called out to her, Twinkleshine barely raised her head to nod at her.

"Hey, Lyra."

The exuberant mint unicorn started a bouncy trot beside her, smiling. "What's the matter? I saw you out last night with Melliot and some other couple, did you have fun? Did you drink too much? I bet that's it."

Twinkleshine raised her head, fixing her aqua eyes on Lyra's happy golden ones, and seriously considered telling her that no, it wasn't the drink, it was Melliot. But then what? How could she explain what was going on? Lyra would just think she was whining about nothing, being ungrateful, because Melliot was a Good Stallion, with a Good Job and His Own House, all things mares wanted in a stallion in this gender-imbalanced town. And with so many mares around, could she really blame him for cheating?

She sighed. "Yeah. Too much to drink."

Leaving her friend behind, Twinkleshine pushed into Melliot's home, locking the door behind her. She drew a bath, so hot it was nearly scalding, and slid in. And as she cleaned herself, finally, of all the sweat and dirt and Melliot's breath, she thought.

"You don't like it? You can fucking leave." But could she leave, really? Twinkleshine knew, as she bobbed her head under the water to rinse out her shampoo, that her waitress gig was not enough to afford a place of her own. She also knew, scrubbing her forelegs with unusual viciousness, that she had no family that would take her in; just distant cousins out in Trottingham. Lyra and Coconut already lived together, and Rose lived with the other two flower ponies. They were out. And as she rinsed off her coat with clean water from the shower head, she knew that she knew no other ponies well enough to ask that.

Levitating a towel towards herself, she sighed, scrubbing the water from her mane and coat. A small headache was starting behind her eyes, the same way it always did any time she tried to see a future with Melliot. If he thought she was so awful, why did he cling to her, then, she wondered.

Her ruminations were interrupted by a cheery knock on the door. Twinkleshine hurriedly brushed her mane while dashing down the hall. "Just a minute!" The postmare, a sweet gray pegasus, had told Twinkleshine that she'd hoof-deliver the message from the singing troupe when it came. Desperately hoping it was her, the unicorn ran a pulse of gentle force down her body to smooth her coat, and opened the door.

Before her stood the imposing stature of Senior Mint, a guardspony—and also the leader of the Ponyville Choir. Heart in her throat, Twinkleshine widened the door with a friendly smile. "Senior Mint! What a surprise!"

"Is it, Twinkleshine?" He grinned widely. "We listened to your demo tapes."

"Y-Yes?" She cursed herself for stammering, but stood tall. She decided that whatever the outcome, she would not cry. Her dream job hung in front of her, wrapped up in the friendly stallion's grin.

"Well, I was so impressed that I decided to deliver this by hoof." He passed her the letter from beneath his wing. Trembling, she tore it open, eyes devouring the words.

They wanted her.

She beamed then, the first real smile of the day. "Oh, thank you so much! This is my dream, to sing with you all... you're so talented!"

Senior Mint blushed slightly, and cleared his throat as Twinkleshine moved her eyes back to the paper, re-reading it as though the words would morph or slip away when she wasn't looking. "Well, we're prepared to take you on. We have a much larger range of shows, and the demand has been growing, so the choir will actually have two parts now to travel to different places. You'll practice with both, so that you all know each other and can harmonize properly, and of course we'll have big practices together, too. As for compensation," Twinkleshine looked up, having forgotten in her excitement that it was a paid job, "well, it's on the second page."

And Twinkleshine looked. And grinned. The pegasus pulled a sack of bits from his saddlebag. "This is an advance. It'll get you set up with whatever you need to get started, and then just save the rest. You'll need the items listed on page three—Rarity can set you up with them, she's done all our outfits—and then you meet at the dates and times on the schedule. We'll give you specific gigs at the practices. Any questions?"

Shivering with helpless joy, Twinkleshine nodded. "Am I even awake?"

The pegasus chuckled. "See you Monday. Glad to have you aboard."

She realized, as she closed the door, that she had lied to herself earlier. She was totally crying.

Twinkleshine's careful accounting and habit of squirreling away whatever bits she could meant that she did, in fact, have a fair amount of money saved. With the addition of the bits from the advance, plus her new weekly salary...

She grinned.

A slam at the door alerted her to Melliot's arrival, and she hurried out to meet him in the living room, a plan formulating in her head. She did love him, after all. "Babe!" She crossed her neck with his. "You're home early."

He looked her up and down, a confused frown on his face. "Why are you so damn happy? The job was cancelled, something about the pipes."

"Well, I wanted to have a discussion with you." She settled on the couch, hooves primly crossed, and looked at him. Taking a deep breath, she began. "I know things aren't good with us most of the time."

"Things are fine," he snapped.

"For you, perhaps. But I've been unhappy for awhile now, and it hurts. I want to work on our relationship. You keep saying you want to marry me but you're not putting in the effort—" He cut her off, rolling his eyes.

"Look, is this even important? I'm going over to Lucky's to play cards." His hooves stamped impatiently, and in that moment, something inside Twinkleshine broke.

"No," she said, with a strange smile at him, "I guess it's not important. Have fun."

He grabbed his own bag of bits and stormed out the door, while Twinkleshine got started.

First, of course, she made her way to the realtor. Miss Merryhoof was a friendly, helpful sort, and by eleven in the morning, Twinkleshine was shaking her hoof in the living room of her new house. Bits changed hooves, and Twinkleshine, now with a shiny new key in her saddlebags, trotted lightly off to Quills and Sofas.

By noon, she had purchased a sofa (and some quills, because why not?), a small armchair, a bed, and a kitchen table and chairs. She led the delivery ponies proudly through town, drawing stares from the ponies selling at the market. Applejack raised her head, cocking one eyebrow. "Alright there, Twinkleshine?"

Grinning, Twinkleshine waved back. "Better than alright! Thank you!"

By one in the afternoon, her furniture was set up, and she was off again to the market.

She bought white sheets, the kind she loved but Melliot hated because they got dirty so fast, because she could.

She bought a fluffy blanket to drape across the armchair and curl up with on cold nights.

She stopped by Rose's and bought three large bunches of her best April Moons, happily sliding the nine bits across the counter to her, because she could.

She bought herself food, and apples, and a giant bar of Bon-Bon's best chocolate, because she could. Munching the chocolate, carrying her many bags in her magic, she bounced back to her new house.

By two in the afternoon, her food was put away and her sheets were on her bed, just so. "Now for the annoying part," she said to herself, and trotted back off to Melliot's house with her saddlebags empty of everything but Melliot's key and her own key.

He still wasn't home. She moved through the house, picking up the photos of her family, the small amount of clothing she owned, and her books. Hefting Equestrian Gods in a hoof, she smiled lightly. Maybe she'd be able to finish it uninterrupted, now.

As she left for the last time, she slid her copy of Melliot's key on the coffee table. She looked back once at the house, tears running down her face.

She had tried. So hard. And failed.

But, she wondered, did the failure really matter?

With a wry smile, she closed the door behind her forever.

As she relaxed, cozy in her new squashy armchair, a flurry of knocks interrupted her reading. With a groan, she set her book down, and headed to the door, pulling it open and blinking in surprise. Melliot stood before her, holding a bunch of daisies—she hated daisies, hated how they looked and tasted—and he tried a smile.

"Babe, hey. What are you... what are you doing in this house? Who lives here? You forgot your key." With a wobbly hoof, he tried to hoof her the key to his home.

She shook her head. "It's over, Melliot. I tried to talk to you about this. I got the singing gig." His eyes widened. "They pay really well. As for your questions: I'm here because I live here. Only I live here. And that key is yours, now, to give to whoever you want." She wanted to back away as his face hardened, out of habit, but reminded herself to stand tall. This was her house.

He stared at her. "This is all really funny, but you need to get back to the house." He leaned in, as imposing as he could, and was met with Twinkleshine's magic pushing him right back.

"No, I don't believe I do." She could see him, now, for what he was—a mewling, pathetic, blustering thing. She wondered how she was ever fooled, really.

He snorted, stamping a hoof, daisies forgotten and trod underhoof. "Who's going to take care of you? Who's going to love you now?"

And she smiled.

"I will."

And then she shut the door in his face—because she could.

Author's Note

"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you." -Jean Paul Sartre

Obvious shoutout to Hospice by Regidar is obvious.

Thank you to RainbowBob, JustAnotherTimeLord, and Regidar for pre-reading the first part.

<3

Twinkleshine and Melliot are both canon background ponies from Ponyville/Canterlot. I like Twinkleshine's mane and cutie mark, so I went with her :)