7DSJ: Protection

Chapters

March 24: This Girl I Know Needs Some Shelter
March 26: She's Doing So Much Harm, Doing So Much Damage
March 27: But You Don't Want to Get Involved, You Tell Her She Can Manage
March 28: And You Can't Change the Way She Feels
March 31: But You Could Put Your Arms Around Her
March 25: She Don't Believe Anyone Can Help Her

March 24: This Girl I Know Needs Some Shelter

Fingers clattered against the keyboard, as line upon line filled the window on the monitor’s screen. After the ENTER key was hit, Derpy wiped the sweat from her brow, chugged the rest of her Coke, and then removed her glasses, rubbing her eyes to get the exhaustion out. She hadn’t left her room this weekend for anything save hurried runs to the bathroom across the hall, since school had let out for spring break. She’d spent the past forty-eight hours finishing up some coding, because the rest of her week was going to be spent…

I don’t want to do this, she mentally groaned, taking off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose. She’d been given these new glasses months ago by a very contrite Sunset Shimmer, though Derpy hadn’t quite adjusted to them.

A knock sounded at the door, and a second later, her kid sister Dinky came in, carrying a food tray holding a plate of donuts and a cup of coffee. “You’re supposed to be the older one taking care of me,” the younger girl said with a pout. “Here.”

Derpy took the tray gratefully, giving her sister a smile. “Thanks, Dinks.”

But the kid sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “When was the last time you took a shower?”

Derpy mock-glared at her sister. “Now you’re pushing it.”

The smaller blonde grinned in return. “Just kidding, sis. So, do you mind if I go over to Pistachio’s?”

Derpy looked away from her mass-processed food pastries momentarily. “Dunno, did Dad say you could?”

As if by rote memorization, Dinky said, “Dad said that while he’s on annual training I have to either listen to you or call Mom to see if it’s okay. And since Mom lives in New York City, she’s probably unavailable.”

Derpy’s eyes, normally corrected by her glasses, drifted into slight disarray as she thought about her sister’s comment. “And how does Mom living in Soho have anything to do with her not being available?”

With a grace, poise and faked accent that would’ve done Rarity proud, Dinky put her fingers against her upper chest and said, “My dear, dear Derpy, shurly you realize Ms. Artiste Boheme, pho-ta-gra-pher to the stars extraordinaire, shan’t have much time for her darling daughters lest a court order were involved.”

“Stop that,” Derpy warned, a frown coming to her face. “You know it’s not like that. Mom loves us just as much as Dad does; she just thought that we’d have a more stable home life with Dad.” Even Derpy knew that to be a lie; their father, Argent Lance, though normally a recruiter for the Army National Guard, still had to deploy for military training every now and then and this week was no exception. It had fortunately been planned around Derpy’s spring break, but the elder girl wasn’t about to say anything.

Besides, as smart as Dinky is, she probably already knows, Derpy silently admitted.

“So can I?” Dinky asked, leaning underneath her sister’s face and looking up, bambi eyes set for domination. “Puh-leeeze?”

Derpy smiled wanly. “Sure. And if she asks if you can stay overnight, that’s fine.”

Any other little girl would’ve been excited by that remark, but Dinky wasn’t a normal girl. “How is she?” Dinky asked instead, looking at her older sister with concern.

Derpy’s answer was to take another bite of the last crueler, then put on her glasses and focus back at the code. It was easier to lie that way. “She’s doing fine, Dinks. She just got out of the hospital yesterday and I’m going to see her today.”

“Tell her I said hi?” Dinky insisted.

Derpy reached over and mussed her sister’s hair. “Yeah, I will. You need a ride to Pistachio’s?”

“Naah, I’ll take my bike. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“No problem.”

For Noteworthy, it wasn’t turning out to be an easy day. It had been two months since his involvement with The Club, and he already was regretting it as he had every day between then and now. He’d lost his “Luvvan”, he was hated by everyone in the school save for a couple of long-time friends, and he’d lived a life on the worst edge of hell since he gave his deposition to the District Attorney’s office. He’d specifically been interviewed by one of their ADAs, a woman by the name of Mi Amore Cadenza, and for reasons he didn’t know, every time she’d looked at him it seemed as though she wanted to bore eyebeams through his skull.

I wonder if I ruined the life of her little sister, too, he wondered. And worst of all, I never “partook” in any of The Club’s wares…maybe that’s why they dropped the charges in return for testimony.

School hadn’t been much easier: he was getting the “fallen Homecoming Queen” treatment that had once been reserved for Sunset Shimmer – chances were, he was getting them because he was the only one at Canterlot High that had mostly escaped the legal repercussions of the whole issue – the only other student to be cleared for testimony, Vinyl Scratch, beat feet for a new destination far from Canterlot, maybe even beyond California itself. Even still, he knew when he was being bullied, and he was getting more than his fair share of locker pranks, ruined desks, and vicious stares as a result. The worst had been during music class: when he came in, he found his bass guitar had its neck snapped, though no one would admit as to who did it. Though Mr. Baroque Toccata railed at his students for damage, no one, unsurprisingly, came forth. Even a plea from Sunset Shimmer, who had somehow managed to work her way back to the top of the school pecking order, had fallen in vain…though she’d been honest to admit to him that though he disgusted her, her plea had been sincere.

At least with school out, he thought, things might just die down, with most students focused on spring break instead. At least that’s what he kept trying to convince himself while looking at the bass guitar string selection at the mall’s music shop. Not that it mattered much; like Flash, he’d been kicked off the band, and since word tended to get around pretty fast, he was mainly a solo act these days. Of course, that wasn’t any easier, either, given the stares he received from several members of the store’s clientele. Fortunately, he knew he wasn’t going to get kicked out of the store…if only because it was owned by his family. After a few minutes of practicing with the various bass guitars, he found one he liked and walked up to the cashier counter with it in hand.

“I guess I’ll get this one,” Noteworthy sighed. “Though I don’t think that this is going to make up for losing Beauty,” he told the man at the counter, sighing over his destroyed guitar.

“Hey, I know the feeling, Notes,” the man said softly. “Was the same when I lost Big Sound in the fire back in ’73. Never found a plucker worth plucking like that again, though my current git is fair. You might want to pick yourself up a set of strings, too – the ones that come with it come from the factory, and they ain’t worth a damn.”

“Thanks, Grandpa.” Noteworthy grinned; if there was anyone who understood what he was going through right now, it was his grandfather, Blue Note. A jazz musician by trade, he’d played with many of the greats before settling down and opening a store. He’d also been somewhat of an activist and had been run through the ringer more than once, as did his wife, Verve – Noteworthy’s grandmother. In fact, it had been his grandmother’s idea to start the store, and as a result, it had raised two generations of musicians, Noteworthy included.

Walking over to the string selection, he grabbed a pack of nickel-wound Super Slinkys. As he grabbed them, he saw another hand reach out to them and turned to see a kid with a Mohawk and blazing red hair look right at him.

“Oh…hi, um, Crimson….” Noteworthy stammered, not sure how this was going to go down. Crimson Napalm was the school punk rocker, though generally had an affable attitude…but his little sister, Winter Snow, had been a victim of the Vibe, supposedly one of the ones that had fallen prey to Flash Sentry.

“Fuck you,” Crimson said, flipping him off. “You’re so damn lucky you’re in this mall, because if I caught you outside, I’d curbstomp your pansy ass.” Letting go of his potential purchase, Crimson stormed out of the store.

“Looks like you’re not on the popular list,” Blue Note said to his grandson as he returned with the strings.

“Don’t remind me,” Noteworthy grumbled.

“Stay strong, boy,” Blue Note told his grandson. “You made a big mistake, but you’re working your way back towards the light. Your Grandma and I have faith in you, just like the rest of the family. Just prove it to everyone else.”

Noteworthy nodded, though inwardly he groaned. Yeah, prove it to everyone else. As if anyone’ll ever give me a chance.

“You’ll get over this,” he replied. “Now go ahead and get to work, okay? Those bass strings don’t grow on trees, you know.”

A few minutes later, he was able to relax, losing his cares and worries in his work…at least, until she walked past: she, meaning Minuette, the source of both his joy and pain. Joy because he’d held a torch for her since Fifth Grade. Pain because he’d never been able to admit it. Sure, he’d talked to her – it had been just a month ago that he’d apologized for his part in the whole affair…and then her best friend, Waterfire, kicked him in a very sensitive place. It had been Minuette that had helped him up, but…since then, nothing.

Blue Note caught the look on his grandson’s face and said, “Go. I know that look.” Not needing further prompting, Noteworthy tore off his apron, dropped the box he was carrying on the far side of the counter and sprinted out of the store for all he was worth. He knew he had to catch Minuette, to truly make it up to her somehow. He had no illusions that it would turn into a relationship instantly; there was still too much water flowing under the bridge, as his grandmother was fond of saying. But still, he had to try.

Unfortunately, he paid so much attention to her that he didn’t realize he had bumped right into Torpedo, the bulky quarterback for the varsity team. “Uh, hey, sorry about that,” Noteworthy apologized. “Didn’t see you there.”

Torpedo, in turn, gave him a nasty stare. “You’re the guy who got my girl pregnant, aintcha?”

“I…what?” Granted, he didn’t like to admit it, but Noteworthy’s experience in that department was, in his opinion, woefully inadequate; he’d never been on a date, much less become intimate with the opposite sex. Although, given what he just went through, he had to admit it was a sort of backwards blessing. “Who’s your girlfriend?” he asked, realizing too late it was the wrong thing to say.

“Don’t play like you don’t know!” Torpedo spat. “Starbright got jackknifed because you assholes…and you’re going to pay!” The wall of muscle in front of him gave a smile akin to a velociraptor greeting its next meal. “You know, I think you and I should have a nice little chat out in the mall’s private areas, right?” That was, if nothing else, a clue that Noteworthy was in for a world of pain.

“You know, that sounds like a great suggestion,” Noteworthy stammered, trying to come up with a statement, “but…I think I’ll pass, thanks.”

Torpedo’s eyes seemed to radiate nothing but sheer, blistering rage. “Oh, no. I insist.” Noteworthy suddenly noticed that Torpedo suddenly had been backed up by two other members of the football squad, and if the former future outlook hadn’t been bad enough, this made it even worse.

“You wouldn’t do that to a poor guy like him, wouldja?” Noteworthy heard the voice and suddenly prayed that maybe getting beat up in the back area of the mall wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all; it would save him the embarrassment of what would happen next.

“Trust me, this bastard’s going to get what’s coming to him,” Torpedo replied. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

“I very much assure you, it is,” the voice, silky and feminine said in a soft, thoughtful voice. “You see, if you hurt him? I’ll break you.” Suddenly Torpedo and the others laughed, but the laughter stopped the moment the dark-skinned reached down, grabbed Torpedo in a very sensitive place – Noteworthy, who feared it happening to him a second ago, winced in sympathetic pain – and squeezed. As he looked at her in panic, she said, “Don’t fuck with me, boy. I don’t play around, and if you really want to fight? I’ll be happy to provide.” She then let go and added, “Now, you’re going to let him go and step away, or you can write off being popular with the ladies.”

Seeing the look in her eyes, Torpedo threw Noteworthy to the ground. “I’ll get you next time your girlfriend ain’t here to save your ass,” he snarled, wincing as he finished his words. And with that, he gingerly walked off with his two teammates, but not before glancing at Noteworthy with a scowl and briefly raising two fingers to his eyes. The message was clear: I will be watching you, so you better watch yourself.

Noteworthy didn’t take the time to think about the rest of what that meant; he was too busy picking himself off the floor. He barely paid attention to the hand being offered to him…by the incredibly beautiful young woman slightly older than him. Sleek yet voluptuous, she had skin the color of tupelo honey, piercing blue eyes and shoulder-length teal hair.

“I could’ve handled it myself, Stony,” he told her.

“Hey, just looking out for my cousin,” she said with a smile. She then leaned on him and said, “Though I could pretend to be your girlfriend if you want.”

“Noooo, that’s okay. Besides, you’re not even my cousin.”

“Older sister?”

Noteworthy groaned. “Try again.”

“Aunt born just a few months before you because your grandparents had an ‘oopsie’ moment?”

“You’re really pushing it, Stony.”

She clapped her hands together and said, “Okay, then let’s just stick with cousin you’re having a sexual relationship with.”

Teeth were gnashed. “We aren’t having any kind of relationship! And we’re not cousins!”

She pouted. “But we are,” she said, her eyes going misty. “Don’t you remember when we were baptized together?”

“That makes your parents my godparents and vice versa,” Noteworthy grunted, facepalming at her really bad joke. “It doesn’t mean that we’re cousins.”

“Uh, your mom and mine are cousins. So that makes us second cousins or something.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. You win.”

“Yay!”

He sighed. Technically Sunstone was his second cousin – well, first cousin once removed or something like that; genealogy wasn’t his thing. In any case, even though she was a year older they had been practically raised together since their mothers were best friends, and despite the difference in age Sunstone had never treated him any differently than she would have a theoretical twin sibling. In fact, given that nobody knew of their distant relation, even though she was a junior at Canterlot High, she’d escaped all the hell that had surrounded him. Given that she was the captain of the school’s judo team, that kinda helped, too.

“So, mind telling me why Torpedo wanted to ventilate your head with his fist?” She looked at him with disappointment and added, “And you should’ve stayed taking martial arts with me! You can’t protect yourself for crap!”

He shrugged. “Sorry, I was more interested in the family trade, you know that. Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Would you believe that I was shopping in Victoria’s Secret for a lacy negligee you might like?” She smirked. “So, see-through or fuzzy?”

He facepalmed again. “You really like embarrassing me, don’t you?”

She leaned on him again. “Only because you’re cute when you’re flustered. Seriously, I was in the shoe store and saw you chasing Colgate—”

Noteworthy removed her hand and glared at her. “Her name is Minuette,” he told her brusquely. “Colgate is just a nickname – and one she doesn’t really like, either. Anyway, I missed her, so…fuck….” He started walking off, but then felt her hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see her with a serious look on her face.

“Look, Notes, I might tease you a lot,” she admitted, “but we’re friends, right? We grew up together, and we’re practically family. And I can tell right now you really want to talk to someone about your problems right now. Plus, Minuette’s a girl – and if there’s one thing that I know, it’s girls.”

He nodded. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she sighed. “C’mon. The coffee kiosk in the mall’s over there.”

“Thank you for letting me in, Mrs. Chantenay,” Derpy said to Carrot Top’s mother as she entered the house.

“No, thank you for coming over, Derpy,” the woman said. “Visitors have been…rare around here since Golden’s, ah, incident. In fact, you’re the only one of her friends that has stuck by her.”

Righteous anger raged in Derpy’s eyes; apparently neither Blueberry Pie nor Raspberry Fluff were as good friends as she thought they were. They damn well better have an explanation, or I swear I’m going to kick their asses.

Chantenay caught that and tsked, the clucking sound rolling off her tongue. “Don’t be too mad at your friends, dear. They wanted to come, but their parents kept them from visiting.” The woman herself got somewhat miffed as she added, “They feared Golden would ‘infect’ their daughters. As if my poor girl would ever harm her friends, or that all that occurred was even one iota her fault.”

“I know, Mrs. Chantenay. And frankly, if they honestly think she’s going to infect anyone? Well, I’d rather be with her than anyone else.”

Chantenay gave Derpy a smile, then a hug. “Thank you, dear,” the woman said simply. Derpy thought she saw tears in the woman’s eyes but decided not to press further.

In any case, that was her cue to head over to her friend’s bedroom. Walking down the hall to the second to last room, Derpy knocked on the door to the room for Golden Harvest, known better to her friends as “Carrot Top”. “Yo, Carrot, you decent?” A pause. “Well, not that you no—” Derpy paused, chastising herself. Way to fucking go, you bitch. Care to pour some salt in that wound, shithead? Yes, Carrot had been pretty much exhibitionist in front of Derpy, multiple times, even, but only because they were best friends; as far as either of them was concerned, it was like changing in front of your sister. But to remind Carrot of what she went through would be to stab her in the back.

It was then that she heard the moaning, and it didn’t sound good, either. Derpy didn’t bother knocking a second time, just heading straight in.

“And that’s right about the time that Waterfire kicked me in the nuts,” Noteworthy replied. “I mean, Minuette’s forgiven me and all, but…I have to seriously wonder if I’m just wasting my time going after the girl I like.” He set down the cup on the table. “I wish I’d never gotten involved with Flash and those idiots, but that’s something I can’t take back.”

Sunstone gave him a soft smile. “Well, you always have me.” She paused to take a drink before adding, “Seriously. You know I’m always going to be on your side, Notes. But what about Code and Wild?”

“They’re staying away after people kept accusing them of the whole thing. They were completely innocent, and they’re getting nailed by the fallout as well.” He looked at her with a bale gaze in his eyes. “Pencil Code? They spray-painted ‘Sooner or later, you’ll get caught’ on his laptop, while someone went to the effort to key the fuck out of Wildfire’s car – she was pissed about that. People are being vicious, and that’s why I’m hoping you’ll stay away from me after today. You’re a good friend and I don’t want you to get hurt, either.”

Sunstone slapped the table. “Then let me get hurt, dammit!” She coughed into a fist, calming down before she added, “Why are you pushing me away, Notes? This isn’t like you.”

“Because I don’t want anyone to get involved and put themselves on the firing line as a result – I barely survived this. You can’t. You’ve got college and shit to think about.” He looked her right in the eyes and said, “Counselor Will told me that a lot of people who were associated with the whole Vibe shit lost their college acceptances. And I can’t help but think that some innocent people got involved with that.”

Sunstone reached out and took his hand in hers. “Notes…you did something stupid, no lie. And you’ve suffered enough for it, in my opinion. But don’t make the mistake that you’re alone. You have your family, who will probably bust you for not coming back.”

Notes rose from his seat. “Fuck…Grandpa’s going to kill me.”

Sunstone shook his head. “Don’t worry; he won’t – he knew I was coming for you. Anyway, as I was saying,” she continued, playfully poking him in the chest, “You also have your friends, who would do anything for you – if you would stop pushing them away. And don’t say you’re not. I talked to Code and Wild. Code said he’s wanted to get a custom paintjob for his laptop, so he’s mailing it to some site that can do that. And Wild said it was her mom’s car that got screwed up, not hers, so insurance’ll cover it. They’re worried about you, Notes.” She then went over and hugged him. “And so am I.”

“Well, that still leaves my major issue: how I’m going to win over Minuette,” he told her as he broke from the embrace.

“I’ll help you find a way,” Sunstone promised. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll help you win her heart.”

“Thanks, Stony. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Oh, trust me, you do – you just don’t know it yet,” she said with a sly grin.

She felt the throbbing in her loins, even as it was unwanted. Her body rocked even as she screamed with her mind, yet no sound came out. Instead, she saw her boyfriend, Peppercorn, exhausting himself on her, before getting off her and turning to a fat guy, a friend of his.

“All yours,” Peppercorn told his friend, who immediately wasted no time in dropping trou and getting down to business.

She felt the same throbbing, the painful thrusts, and her mind screaming for help.

She felt something below her snap, heard it audibly.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—”

“—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Carrot Top screamed, pushing off the thin sheets of her bed and fighting the hands she felt pushing her down. It took a second for the girl to get enough sense to realize she was in her room, and a few more to comprehend that someone was shouting out, “Carrot! Calm down, please!”

Finally, the room stopped spinning and the carrot-haired girl felt herself pressed against another. “You’re safe, I promise, I promise.” Hearing Derpy’s voice, Carrot let the tears fall, not caring how she looked because she was safe in the arms of her best friend. She didn’t know how long she cried in Derpy’s arms, but after an indeterminate time, she pulled back, letting herself fall back on the bed.

“I must look a mess, don’t I?” Carrot sniffled. Normally, she took it as a note of pride to dress as every guy’s wet dream. She’d readily admit to dressing in tight clothing and flirted with every guy she knew. She knew sooner or later she’d settle down…but she always hoped that wouldn’t be anytime soon.

And look where that got me. Earned me a “bad boy”…and then a whole lot of….

“You look beautiful,” Derpy told her. “Better than I do.”

Carrot smiled. “Derpy, you’re naturally beautiful, and nobody pays attention to your eyes. I have to work at looking good.”

“No you don’t. You’re beautiful inside and outside, Carrot,” Derpy said with a smile in return. “And it just helps to come out in you. Lookit me. I’m just a nerd – a nerd who needs glasses, and not even for the usual reasons, either.” As a result, Carrot said nothing; the two had gone down this argument a billion times, and neither of the two budged on it, ever. As always, the silence became unbearable.

Finally, to break the awkward situation, Carrot started to get up, wobbling as she did so. It was then that Derpy finally noticed something.

“You’re…you’re wearing clothing? To bed?” Derpy asked. Derpy had found out the hard way that her friend slept in the buff. Even when it was that time of the month, it was strictly underwear only. Otherwise, her somewhat outgoing friend spent her night hours au naturel.

Carrot looked at her friend as though she’d been shot. “I…I can’t bear to see the scar there anymore, Derpy. The doctors did what they could, but all it reminds me is that I’m ugly – soiled, damaged goods. I have small steel screws in me keeping my pelvis together. I can’t walk without a cane, and the doctors don’t know if I’ll ever be able to walk normally again.” She turned away as the tears started to reappear. “Or, that if I ever meet the guy of my dreams, I’ll never have children.”

Derpy shook her head. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. You’re not allowed to be depressed. It’s spring break, so that’s against the rules, okay? Let’s go see a movie or something.” Derpy got off the bed and helped her friend to her feet. “Dinky’s staying overnight at her friend’s, so we can do something after, t—”

“No.” The response was kind, but firm. Derpy looked up at her friend, and there was nothing but fear in Carrot’s eyes. “I…I don’t want to be called a whore again. People keep looking at me like I’m some kind of slut or anything, but I’m not!” The tears flowed from Carrot’s green eyes like rivulets of pain and anguish. “I’m not,” she insisted in a broken voice.

Derpy reached over and wiped the tears from her friend’s eyes. “You’re not,” she agreed, “and nobody’s going to call you that. If they do, they’re going to have to deal with me, okay?” When Carrot nodded, Derpy said, “Let’s just go out and have a fun time. I promise you that if anyone ever says anything to you, I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to say a word, okay?”

“But Derpy—”

“It’s a muffin promise,” Derpy suddenly said, with sober seriousness. The moment she uttered the words, Carrot nodded in agreement. A remnant from Derpy’s childhood, it had been a silly thing where if the person broke the promise, they wouldn’t be able to eat muffins for the rest of their lives. Even as goofy as it was, it was something that Derpy cherished…just as Carrot knew her best friend cherished her.

“Okay.” Carrot’s voice sounded unsure and fragile. “We’ll go.”

Minuette looked at the barely visible scars. She’d almost killed herself…and had it not been for her parents, she would have been another statistic, unable to help Sunset Shimmer put the bastards away. Plus, she wouldn’t have found out about Sunset’s change, as well as her friendship with the former bully.

It’s too bad Sunny’s in LA, Minuette thought to herself. I think she’d like the movie we’re going to go see.

“Hey, Minnie!” a voice called from behind her. Minuette turned to find a dark-skinned girl with blazing orange hair running towards her.

“Heya, Wai!” Minuette waved to her best friend Waterfire, as well as a couple of other girls. Both Minuette and Waterfire had been through rough times – though Minuette’s had been arguably harder, both admitted – and had the misfortune of being victims of Waterfire’s now-former boyfriend Stylin’. But Waterfire was horrified to learn what had happened to her friend and had been there for her every step of the way as did their mutual friends Evening Primrose and Autumn Leaves. “Glad you girls could make it, too.”

“Well, it was that or babysit my kid brother,” Primrose groaned. “No comparison.”

“Hey, I’m just glad to be out of the house,” Autumn answered. “Since the whole…you know…the ‘rentals are practically afraid to let me step one inch outside. They only agreed to this because we’re with friends, we’re in public, and oh, I told them that I’m here to give you moral support.”

“Yeah, believe me, girls, you are,” Minuette said with a response. “Well, let’s go get the tickets, grab way too much junk food, and then find our seats.” The other three girls nodded and with that, they walked towards the theater’s ticket booth.

“Hey, Minnie, can I ask you a question?” Autumn spoke up.

“Sure, Autumn, what’s up?”

“Well…I heard a rumor: you started dating Noteworthy?”

Before Minuette could even respond, Primrose spoke up. “Minnie’s not dating anyone, Autumn, especially not an asshole like Noteworthy. Fucker’s untrustworthy, anyway. Hung around with those monsters and then turned on them? Don’t know why anyone would believe a single word he says.”

“Don’t worry. I kicked that bastard in the nuts last time he tried anything with Min,” Waterfire said proudly, thrusting a thumb towards herself as a smug smile came onto her face. “He ain’t going to step anywhere near our Minnie.”

“Wai, he did apologize,” Minuette pointed out, “and I think you were a bit too rough on him.”

“I don’t think you were rough enough on him. Look, if he tries something again, Wai and I’ll be there for you, or if not, sic Sunset Shimmer on him,” Primrose commented. “Although…I’m still surprised that bitch changed her ways. Maybe I guess seeing her ex for what he really was put a soul in her after that shit with the Homecoming dance,” the golden-and-green-haired girl said with a shrug.

“Well, let’s not worry about that fucktard right now,” Waterfire said. “We got a film to watch, girls!”

Author's Note

Here we go. This one is gonna be a little on the dark side (so you're forewarned) and will focus mainly on the characters here, so no Sunset - besides, she's in LA during this time. I will forewarn you all now that if you're expecting shiny happy people (or even shiny happy Derpy), that's not going to happen.

March 26: She's Doing So Much Harm, Doing So Much Damage

“You know you want to,” the voice whispered.

Carrot tried to shut it out and pulled the sheets around her a little tighter. “Leave me alone,” she whimpered.

“Why should I? I’m just being true to myself, the way you used to be. After all, you’ve lusted after her for the longest time, you know. Don’t you want to taste the fruit between her thighs?”

“No! I don’t think of Derpy that way!” the redhead moaned. “Stop it!”

“Oh, just be honest with yourself.” Carrot could feel her alter ego sit on the bed next to her. “You want to fuck her hard. How hard is it to admit it? You want to be the one wearing the strap-on, railing her li—”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Carrot screamed, sitting up in bed, her green eyes blazing with fury. The Other her was going too far. Derpy was her best friend, like a sister and definitely not on her list of interests – hell, neither of them were even gay!

The door opened, and Chantenay poked her head in. “Is there something wrong, dear? I thought I heard you.”

Carrot looked to the empty spot on the bed, then to her mother, then to the mirror and back to her mother. “N-no,” she murmured. “Just…just a bad dream, Mom. Sorry.”

Chantenay looked at the clock. “Well, it’s almost time for you to take your medicine, sweetheart. Do you want me to get it for you?”

“If you would, please,” Carrot asked while looking at the mirror and seeing Other Carrot, waving in the mirror, fully nude and for an audience of one. But what it was that she was putting on right now horrified her. Even more so was the person, just out of her vision that Other Carrot was bidding come to her.

And as Other Carrot started foreplay with an imaginary Derpy, Carrot turned and shut her eyes, trying to cover her ears from hearing the lovemaking going on. It only seemed to get louder, and no matter how much she swore she would never, never think of Derpy that way, all she could hear was Other Carrot’s predations.

Please…I just want this to end….

Playing a lonely, empty bassline, Noteworthy stood on the small performance stage at the far end of the store, demoing a new guitar model that the store had just recently received. It wasn’t as good as his new one, but it was serviceable and would make for a great backup. Normally, his playing would tend to gather the teens around, especially those that were musically inclined. Hell, he even remembered a time when Vinyl Scratch jumped on the upright piano that had yet to be moved off the stage and started banging along, having a great old time.

Hard to believe those days were ancient history now – hard to believe that all the friendships were gone as well. Flash on the surface had been a pretty cool guy, all things considered; how did he turn out to be such a monster? His cousin Blueblood – suave, debonair, made Noteworthy feel more than a little jealous…while he seemed to have gotten away with much, something hinted that he hadn’t gotten away scot-free either. And so many of the folks he knew ended up being victims or criminals, with very few in-between. He wasn’t even sure where he was in the spectrum.

And yet he played, because he had nothing else to do. Hoping it would take away his pain and grief, soothe his problems and bury them where he wouldn’t have to deal with them ever again.

When he stopped playing, he was surprised to hear clapping. Looking down, he saw Primrose, one of Minuette’s friends. She looked as though she didn’t want to be there, but she at least had a smile on her face. “Wow, I didn’t know you were still playing,” she commented.

“Yeah, I do,” he said, removing the guitar and placing it on the stand. “Why’d you ask?”

“Well, I thought that your musical, ahem, ‘association’ with Flash Sentry woul—”

“Please, don’t remind me,” he groaned as he hopped off the stage. “Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Couple of things, actually,” she told him. “First, I wanted to get something for Minnie. You heard she’s in the hospital, right?”

His eyes widened. “She is? What happened? Is she okay?”

“Hey, easy, easy – it’s not like you’re her boyfriend,” Primrose commented, “so why are you so worried?”

Noteworthy flinched at her remark. “Sorry, I…I just feel guilty for what happened.”

“You probably should: she had a fainting episode due to something that happened yesterday. She was released from the hospital last night, but she’s at home today and I wanted to bring her something that would cheer her up.”

“Well, okay, any thoughts?”

“She likes classical music – she’s really into it for some reason.”

“Well, we’re not exactly a record store, but we do have a supply of classical CDs for musicians who are trying to memorize certain compositions. Maybe that’ll do it? Actually, you know what? I’ll give you a couple, on the house, just so she can have them. My way of making it up to her.”

Primrose grinned. “Well, that’s nice of you, thanks! Anyway, the other reason is that I remembered that my dad’s birthday’s coming up. He plays the piano now and then, but most of the stuff he plays by heart and I thought it’d be a nice idea to get him some sheet music. Got anything in stock?”

Hopping off the stage, he said, “Yeah, we got a lot, actually. What’s he interested in?”

“Stuff from the 70s and 80s, mostly – got any Atomic Dog or Wonderland?”

“Yeah, actually, we just got in a new shipment of songbooks for Wonderland’s Songs in the Key of Life.”

Primrose squealed. “Oh, that’s his favorite album! Sure, give me what you got!”

“Well, let me show you what else we’ve got in stock; you might want more than just that.” Pointing to usher her in the right direction, Noteworthy gave himself a small smile.

Maybe things’ll work out after all, if I say the right things to her….

“Goddamn noobs,” Derpy groaned as she took of her headset and threw it on her desk in disgust. “Last time I play with some newfag in Call of Duty. Swear these idiots have nothing better to do than to gunk up a good game.” Logging out, she opted to look at the code that Pencil Code had brought over.

Firing up the notepad, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary; it seemed like it was more than serviceable enough, and even contained a few tricks that caught her attention. He actually asked me out, she thought as her eyes scanned over the lines. I mean…nobody’s ever done that before and he is kinda cute when he doesn’t decide to take the ultra-caz option. Then again, I’m little better. She then blinked. Wait – didn’t I have this conversation with myself already? She groaned. Derpy, get your head out of your ass, girl!

She went back to looking over the data pouring onto the screen, when the phone rang. “Yeah, Lance residence. How can I help you?” Derpy answered in a cheerful, earnest voice that she’d learned to fake over the years.

“Heya, kiddo, how’s things going?” It was her father, Argent Lance. He was a US National Guard major, and currently doing his two weeks of active duty assignment over at Fort Hood in Texas. Argent had always said that if he went full-time Army that he’d move the family over there; that desire had been part of what had led to her parents’ divorce.

“Heya, Dad,” she said, the smile on her face infectious even though he was hundreds of miles away. She and Dinky were daddy’s girls, and they knew it.

“Hey, Derpy, I need you to do something for me. Just as I was leaving, I was having a problem with the lock on the safe. Can you look into that?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” she said. “I’ll also have Dinky stay out of your room until then, just in case.” Argent kept his gun safe in his bedroom, and while he’d taught gun safety to his older daughter – another thing that had led to his marital split – Dinky was still too young, in his opinion. So he bought a gun safe, along with a digital lock for it that Derpy would be able to repair in the event that something like this happened. “What do you want me to do with the guns?”

“They should be fine, so long as Dinky stays out of the room,” Argent commented. “Go ahead and do whatever you need to do, sweetie.”

“Yeah, let me take a look at it and I’ll see what I can do. Worst comes to, I’ll just head down to the locksmith and order a new one. I should be able to replace it myself.”

“And that’s my little genius at work.”

Derpy blushed. “Daaaaaaaaaaad….”

“Well, that’s the cue that lunch’s over and I gotta get back to the field. I’ll be home in a couple of weeks. Ask Mrs. Chantenay if you need help next week when you go back to school.”

“I’ll be fine, Dad; don’t worry. Dinks and I will be perfect until you get back, promise.”

“That’s my girl. Talk to you later. Bye.”

She’d hung up the phone again, when her cellphone rang this time. She got up from her seat and walked over to her nightstand, picking it up. “This is the Goddess of Tech, what can I do for you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the voice on the other end said. “I was looking for Derpy Hooves?”

Derpy shook her head. “Yeah, this is Derpy. What’s up?”

“Oh, hi, Derpy, this is Blossomforth. I got your number from Pinkie Pie. I…I’m having a problem with my tablet, and I was wondering if I can bring it over to you.”

“Oh, my place is a total mess right now,” Derpy said, looking around the room and figuring that the place was a disaster zone – Even more than usual, she internally groaned – “and I need to get out and eat something. Are you working today at the Sugarcube?”

“Yeah, I’m on the afternoon shift today. Maybe we can meet up just before my shift? Mr. and Mrs. Cake won’t mind.”

“Lunch it is then. See you at noon.”

“Yo, Notes!” Sunstone walked into the store, happy as a clam. She’d decided to take Noteworthy out to lunch and have a nice long talk about her feelings. Maybe he’d be squicked out, or maybe they’d be doing the horizontal bop by the evening…or maybe they’d just kiss; she liked that idea, and wasn’t about to complain if that was all that happened.

Yeah, I’ll have to tell Wildfire this was a great idea, she said. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as sure about that the moment she saw Noteworthy’s grandfather, and he was eyeing her with curiosity.

“You know,” Blue Note commented wryly, scratching his scruffy chin with his thumb and index finger, “I cannot, for the life of me, recall the last time I saw you in a blouse and skirt. With makeup.” His nose crinkled as he added, “And with perfume, as well. Is that Cocoa Channel No. 5 I smell?”

Sunstone groaned. “Yeah, it is.”

“The little girl’s been raiding her mother’s makeup kit, I see.”

“No,” she said, leaning against the counter. “I do have my own supplies, you know; I don’t always look like a tomboy. Besides, sometimes I just want to get the attention of Mr. Right, you know?”

“Well,” Blue Note commented, “I think I saw him down in the music sheet aisle. You want to surprise him or should I let him know that I expect you to run off with my best employee again?”

“I…uh….” Sunstone looked fit to be tied. “No…let me handle this. I’m already more than mortified by this whole thing.” Taking a breath to gather her courage, she strode over towards her destination, slinking down the previous aisle, when she heard his voice – and another girl’s:

“Wow! It’s so big!”
“Yeah…largest one available.”
“Can I touch it?”
“You? Sure! Go right ahead.”

Running around the corner, completely horrified at what she was hearing, she was about to chew Noteworthy out when she saw what was going on: Noteworthy was showing her The Great Songbook (Piano Edition), the largest music sheet book the store carried. With him was Primrose, one of Minuette’s circle of friends. That couldn’t be good.

Noteworthy looked up at her. “Oh, heya, Stony. What’s up?” He then noticed what she was wearing and asked, “So, date?”

Primrose noticed as well. “Oh, that blouse is nice! Where’d you get it?”

“I…uh….” stammered Sunstone, who seemed to not even have been expected to give a full response given how the other girl immediately turned her attention back to Noteworthy.

“It’s perfect. I’ll take it.” A thought came over Primrose’s mind, and she suddenly asked, “Oh, and about those gifts you were going to give to Minnie?”

Sunstone felt as though she was going to die of utter mortification at that exact moment. “Latergottagobye!” she blurted, blanching as he did so, and without another word, ran out of the store, looking for some place to hide.

Noteworthy watched her run off with concern. “Wow, she’s usually not like that. I guess she must have pre-date jitters.”

“Guy must be special if he makes her react like that,” Primrose observed.

Sunstone managed to virtually fly halfway through the mall before she came to a stop, looking behind her with anxiety and confusion. So did I just make things worse or did I stop them from…? She sat down on a bench by the escalators and tried to catch her breath. Stupid! You couldn’t just wait until he was alone, no; you could’ve just noted by the sounds that he was with a customer and then you had to go and make a fool of yourself, Stony!

But that wasn’t a customer, Sunstone sighed. That was Primrose, one of Colgate’s best buddies. And what the hell is she doing in the store? She doesn’t play any kind of instrument I know. Unless she’s…. The realization burned through Sunstone like the flames of hell itself. Is she acting as a middleman for Colgate? But…but why? How? I….

Sunstone forced herself to her feet. No, this couldn’t be how it ended. She loved him, and she couldn’t let him go, especially to someone like—

“Sunstone?” The girl felt someone tapping her on the shoulder, and when she turned around, she saw Waterfire standing there.

Whatever courage Sunstone had just gathered melted in the presence of Minuette’s best friend. “Oh, hey, Waterfire. What’s up?”

The other girl groaned. “Looking for Primmie – we were shopping and I turned around and poof! She was gone. I swear, never go shopping with a store ninja like her. You seen her by any chance?”

“I…uh…well….” Sunstone was suddenly stumped for words, having run into Minuette’s best friend. She and Waterfire weren’t exactly tight, but they did get along. “I think I ran into her on the other side of the mall?” she finally managed to utter.

“Thanks!” Waterfire chirped, waving as she headed off. “Oh, and great skirt! Date today?”

“Not at this rate,” Sunstone sadly murmured.

“Oh, good, you made it!” Blossomforth chirped as Derpy walked into Sugarcube Corner Café. “What do you want? It’s on the house.”

“Sure, thanks! I’ll have the roast beef and gruyere on the baguette and chips, if that’s cool with you. Oh, and a mango-pineapple smoothie.”

“Sure, let me go put that in and I’ll be right out. Can you find us a place to sit down?”

“On it.” Derpy chose a table by the window, where it would be easier to use the sunlight to work on Blossomforth’s pad in case she needed to take it apart. Slipping off her backpack, she opened it and pulled out her trusty portable driver kit, as well as one of her own tablets that she’d set up with a diagnostic program. That settled, she pulled out a second tablet and continued to look over Pencil Code’s work from the other day; it turned out to be a lot more ornate than expected, yet was still pretty tight.

I am impressed by this. Wherever he’s going, he’s going to be taking the express elevator to a C-suite in no time flat. She drummed her fingers against the table as she continued to run her eyes over each bit of otherwise indecipherable text. She became so engrossed in what was onscreen, that she didn’t even notice someone plopping into the chair right across from her.

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie said, practically getting into Derpy’s face, making her jump out of her seat and almost dropping her tablet.

“Jesus Christ! You almost made me drop my shit, Pinks!”

“Sor~ry! Anyway, I just wanted you to go easy on Blossom. It took her a long time for her to build up the courage to talk to you, okay?”

“Really? All I’m doing is fi—”

“—xing her tablet,” Pinkie said, leaning back in her chair and idly fiddling around with a tablet. The tablet’s protective cover had a floral motif on it as well as words engraved on it that said PROPERTY OF BLOSSOMFORTH. “Well, you did such a good job that it was fixed before you even got here!” the cotton-candy haired girl said with a grin.

“Sonofa—” Derpy began angrily, but Pinkie clamped down on the blonde’s wrist with surprising strength.

“Please, Derpy. You were the only one I knew who could answer her question. If Sunny were here, she’d ask you the same thing. Blossom’s best friend is gone and she’s nervous around Minuette and Waterfire. But she could use your advice.”

Derpy looked right into Pinkie’s eyes and swore. “Catch a falling star, you’ll go far,” she sang under her breath.

“In the pageant of the bizarre,” Pinkie finished for her. “Thanks, I knew I could count on you.”

“Yeah, well, that’s exactly one of us, Pinks,” Derpy groaned.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Derpy!” Pinkie said as she bounced up from the chair. “Gotta get back to work – talk to you later!”

Derpy merely nodded, then looked back at her tablet until Blossomforth showed up a few minutes later, lunch in hand. “Here ya go! Enjoy!”

The hacker teen decided to just get everything right on the table from the start: “Look, let’s get something straight: I know you lied about your tablet. Not happy about that, but Pinkie told me that something else is really up, and I’m more than willing to listen. But I want the truth, Blossom.”

The smile disappeared from Blossomforth’s face. “I…I’m sorry. Normally I’d talk to Sunny about this, but she’s not here, and I don’t want her to think I’m dumping everything on her. Likewise, Kicky’s in Europe right now and it’s a little harder to get a hold of her.”

Derpy leaned back in her chair. “Yeah, I gathered that. So what’s up?”

A tear slid down Blossomforth’s cheek. “How do you do it? I mean, for years, kids called you the stupid one, muffinhead, dain bramaged, and all that. I remember third grade and there was that one girl – Clockwork Flower – always picked on you.”

“Yeah, well, she picked on a lot of people,” Derpy replied. “Then she picked on the wrong person, Applejack beat her up, and she didn’t bother anyone else. Then her family transferred her to that Catholic school in Everfree Glades.”

“Yeah. Mom and Dad want to send me to Holy Cross after the school year finishes. Apparently it was the only school in the area that wasn’t touched by The Club.” Blossom wiped away her tears, and then continued. “But how did you deal with it?”

“Why, is someone bugging you?”

She patted her stomach. “Everyone knows by now that I’m pregnant by Flash, and that I want to keep the child. My parents have been supportive. Flash? Not so much – only time he talks to me is when his parents make him, and that’s not often. But that’s not the problem. I have friends that support me and I don’t worry about that. It’s everybody else – everyone who looks at me and thinks, ‘Hey, there’s the pregnant whore!’ Or ‘She took it, maybe I can get some after!’” The tears continued to pour as she cried, “Did you know there was this one perv from Canterlot State who kept hitting on me specifically because I was pregnant? I mean, how did he even know, and yet there he was, just trying to talk to me in a very not-nice way. I mean, if it wasn’t for the fact that Waterfire just happened to be there, he wouldn’t have left me alone!”

“Sounds to me like your problem isn’t with Wai, then,” Derpy said, before she took a drink from her smoothie.

“Except I could see it in her eyes: ‘You damn whore, you can’t even stick up for yourself, so what good are you?’ She hates me. Really, really hates me. I don’t even…I mean…I just don’t know what to do, Derpy!” Her tears fell onto the table, minor splashes of lacrimation soaking the tablecloth. “I don’t want anyone to hate me.”

Derpy sat there for a moment, then took off her glasses. “Did you know that when I don’t wear my glasses, my eyes can really get out of whack? I mean, most people think I’m a retard because of my eyesight. Just because I have an eye issue, I’m an idiot. Life isn’t fair, Blossom.” Derpy put her glasses back on, then took a bite of her sandwich before continuing. “You have a mother and father who love you more than anything – and I know your old man’s a fire-and-brimstone kind of preacher, so for him to not condemn you…it’s a lot.”

“He was furious that I had a boyfriend behind his back. My older sister wasn’t allowed to date until she left for college, and my parents drilled the same into me. The fact that I disobeyed…both my parents were livid when I told them everything. But they knew I was a victim of what Flash did, which is why they accepted what happened.”

“Then you’re doing better than I did. My own mother can’t accept me.”

Blossom blinked. “What?”

“Yeah. My mother, Artiste Boheme, had this idea of a lifestyle that completely clashed with what my father does for a living – how those two got together much less married, is beyond me. Anyway, when I was born with my birth defect and my twin was stillborn, Mom freaked out about having a ‘cursed life’, which did not make Dad happy in the least. Dinky was born as a last chance attempt to save their marriage and Mom has mentioned this in front of her before.” Derpy briefly removed her glasses again, but this time to rub the bridge of her nose before slipping them back. “The point is, my mother’s a stuck-up bitch who barely speaks to us since the divorce and her move to New York.

“So you’re saying that you have life hard because everyone thinks you slept around, when the truth was that you were either naïve or drugged, probably both. And you’re afraid that Waterfire, who sounds like she’s more worried about Minuette than anything else, gave you the wrong look at the wrong time. And you’re afraid of everyone – and that’s not a healthy way to live life.” Derpy leaned forward and said, “Stop. Don’t do whatever it is everyone expects you to – because if you do, that’s just justifying whatever bullshit they think about you.”

“So what do I do then?” Blossomforth asked.

“What you want to do,” was Derpy’s answer. “In my case, it was proving that this head isn’t just my eyes. That it’s my brain that rules this roost. In my case, I think I make more money than my Dad does from my projects, and my family’s support means the world to me. For you? Maybe it’s your kid and your parents and everyone else you love.

“So use that as your weapon of choice, Blossom. Next time they call you a whore? Tell them that at least you’re one going places. What excuse do they have?”

Blossom looked at Derpy as if trying to comprehend the other girl’s words. Certainly, Derpy had to know what she was talking about; given all the things she’d put up with in her life, especially given her eyes, it was small wonder she was as cynical and jaded as she was. And yet there was something about her that refused to give up, denying any advance her foes could try to steal on her. She would continue on, by force of will, because she refused to give in to her maladies. She would prove that she was far more than her eyes, and that Derpy was no less of a person, no less of a woman, just because of circumstance.

Could Blossomforth ever hope to be as strong? Her hand went down to her belly. It wouldn’t be much longer before she would start to show, and then there would be no denying it. She hoped that Flash would turn around and have some involvement in her life; she held out hope for that, as dark as the cloud seemed. But she had her faith, she had her family, she had great friends in Sunset and the others, and she had this growing joy within her. Compared to Derpy, right until now, she’d led a charmed life. But now the situation was flipped, but not the attitude.

Blossomforth continued to punish herself because of her mistake.
Derpy refused to give in and people that had once insulted her now praised her.

Could she learn to be as strong as the girl before her?

Wildfire opened the door to see a distraught Sunstone standing there, in a nice outfit and looking completely shattered.

“Woah, Stony, you okay?” she asked as her friend all but glomped her, tears running down her eyes.

“He’ll never love me, Wild,” Sunstone moaned, tears flowing free. “He’ll never love me at all.”

She’ll never love me at all, Noteworthy realized as Primrose wandered out of the store, a sizeable amount of books she’d purchased. But that was all: she’d been friendly, but not flirty. After a few minutes of relaxing, Primrose and Noteworthy got to talking and he’d found out that Minuette had a boyfriend, and the only reason Noteworthy hadn’t been grounded into paste was because Minuette had asked him to let it go.

The rest of the conversation was subdued as Noteworthy spent more time trying to pick both his jaw and the broken pieces of his heart off the floor. To make matters worse, as Primrose reached the store’s entrance, Waterfire arrived, looking at her friend briefly with worry before turning to glare at Noteworthy himself. But that paled in comparison to the fact that his heart had just been shattered.

She’ll never love me at all, the thought echoed in his mind as he sat down on the stage, clenching his hands.

He then felt a comforting arm around him. He turned to see his grandfather there, a smile on his aged face. “There’s others, kid, let me assure you that,” he told him.

“But th—”

Blue Note grinned. “What, boy, you think you’re the first man since Adam to feel that the world slammed him hard? You’re not the first guy to feel heartbreak, and you won’t be the last. Hell, this might not even be the first time. But you know what? I’m bettin’ that there’s a girl out there for you. You just have to follow this—” he said, pointing towards his heart, “and this,” he said, tapping his head. “Follow those two and don’t let one override the other, and you’ll do fine.”

“You think so?”

“World ain’t changed that much since I was a kid, you know.”

Noteworthy shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Blue Note said as he rose to his feet. “Now get back to work – I don’t pay you to lollygag around here, do I?”

Noteworthy gave his grandfather a slight smile. “No, sir.”

Headphones blaring, Carrot tried to block out the taunts in her head from Other Carrot. “Oh, she tasted soooooooo good,” her evil doppelganger said. “You know you want her; you’ve felt it in the way she touches you, how she l—”

“SHUT UP!” Carrot roared. “Derpy is my best friend and nothing else! Don’t you dare insinuate otherwise!” She looked around the wooden spaces, hoping here would be the best place to hide: after all, this treehouse in her backyard had been a treasured place that her father had built for her so she and Derpy could have more than a few overnights camping in the backyard. And even though she didn’t use it as much since she became a teenager, her father kept it in good condition in the event they ever sold the house. The last time she genuinely used it was last year, when she and her potential boyfriend at the time pretty much spent the night making out and a couple of other things; it never proceeded as far as sex, though.

Now, part of her wished it had, while another part was glad it didn’t. She was tainted now, and the last thing she needed was for someone like Dreamy Smile to tell others that he’d been the first to sample Carrot back when she was pure and not before….

“Before what? Before all those boys loved you just as you wanted to be loved?” Other Carrot taunted. “They’re just men; it’s in their nature to want a beautiful girl. It’s certainly not their fault that you’re no longer beautiful, is it?”

“Leave me alone!” Carrot begged. “Please!”

“Just trying to help you restore your beauty,” Other Carrot said, nibbling on Carrot’s ear. “You can be forever. It’s still in here, isn’t it?” Other Carrot took Carrot’s face in her hands and paused her lips just before hers. “All you have to do is just do it,” the doppelganger breathed. “Do it for once and for all.”

Other Carrot kissed Carrot and though the latter fought it at first, she soon relented. A few seconds later, when the two broke, Carrot’s eyes were glassy, as if she was no longer entirely in control of herself.

Other Carrot reached out and pulled her to her feet. She then shed her clothing, showing her body. “Don’t you want this body again?” she cooed. “Don’t you want to be Golden Harvest, the most beautiful girl that lived?”

“Yes….” Carrot slurred, the word almost choking as it tried to force itself from her lips.

“Then you know what to do,” Other Carrot said, helping Carrot out of her clothing before vanishing. Now in the nude, Carrot stumbled her way over towards the old dresser on the far side of the treehouse. Mostly used as a tool cabinet for the stuff used in the making of the treehouse, it had plenty of things in there that weren’t of the tool variety. And a second later, as she pulled out her father’s KA-BAR knife from his days in the Marines, she noted it was sharp as the day it was made.

“A single thrust in the heart,” Carrot could hear her doppelganger whisper in her ear. “Just one quick movement and it will all be over.” Carrot brought the knife to her heart, the tip of the blade stinging slightly as it poked into her flesh, drawing a droplet of blood.

“Golden? Sweetie? Are you out here?” Though muffled, she could hear her mother calling her from the back door.

Green eyes seemed to clear, and Carrot shouted, “Yeah, I’m in the treehouse.”

“I’m going to the store, is there anything you need?”

“Just the usual,” she called back, slightly louder than normal.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon. Also, your cellphone rang, so I’m assuming that’s Derpy. You’ll want to call her back.”

“Will do!” Carrot said, not moving an inch until her mother went back in the house. Only then did she drop the knife, the blade clattering against the ground as a rivulet of red ran down her chest. Her hands shaking, she ran over to her clothing, digging for her phone as her blood stained her clothing.

“Yeah, Your Glorious Goddess of Code here, what can I d—”

“Derpy? Help….” Carrot moaned as her vision began to haze.

“Carrot? Where are you? Look, I’m on the way, I just—”

“Derpy, help me, please!” Her vision faded to black and she could barely feel herself hit the floor.

“Carrot?

“CARROT!”

“Sorry, Mom,” Minuette said to her mother as she sat in bed. “I just….”

Sweet Tooth looked at her daughter, her husband Enamel standing behind her. “You’ve had a rough time, honey,” Sweet told her daughter. “I only wish I’d known about it sooner in order to help you better.”

“What’s done is done,” Enamel said in a soft voice. “We can’t change the past, no matter how painful or hurtful it was. All we can do is just keep moving on, and we’ll move on together as a family, okay?”

“Sure thing, Pop,” Minuette said.

“Now, that’s my Minnie,” Sweet commented. “Oh, and if you’re up for guests, Wai’s downstairs.”

Minuette nodded. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I’ll go get her,” Enamel said, as he left her room.

“Thanks, Pop,” Minuette gushed. Part of her still felt guilty for how they found her, weeks back when this all began, and they had blamed themselves just as much as she did. They were all healing, her physically as well as emotionally, but they would find their way back to steady ground together.

A few minutes later, Waterfire was in her friend’s room, seated on a chair, with a vastly concerned look on her face.

“Is…is something wrong, Wai?” Minuette asked.

“Yeah…we have a problem, and it’s about Noteworthy,” Waterfire began.

“I’m sorry,” Carrot said in hushed tones.

“You should be,” Derpy snarled, as she sat against the wall of the treehouse. “I just had to lie to your mom to cover for your stupid stunt. Seriously, Carrot, what the fuck were you thinking?”

“I…I was—”

“No, you weren’t!” Derpy snarled. “Hell, I don’t even know why your dad keeps these up here.” She stared at the knife as if she could melt it through disgust. “So, want to tell me why you’re up here, naked, playing with a knife?”

“I just….” Carrot turned away in shame.

“Hey, look at me, Carrot.” Derpy walked over to her friend and hugged her. “You’re the prettiest girl around, got that? A little scar isn’t going to change things. You’re the most beautiful girl I know, and you have no idea how many times I’ve felt kinda jelly.” Carrot bristled at that.

“Derpy, don’t tell me you—”

The look on the blonde’s face was almost laughable as she thought about what Carrot had implied before realization kicked in. “Oh, fuck no! Look, Carrot, I’ve seen you naked and in some pretty compromising positions, but that does not mean I want you in them! Sorry, but you’ll have to be a lot more male to catch my attention, got that?”

Carrot’s response was to lean back and start laughing uncontrollably. Derpy sat there, completely confused, before Carrot said, “Oh, Derpy, don’t ever change, okay?”

“Didn’t plan on it, why?”

“Because I don’t know if my sanity could ever take that.”

“Yeah, okay. Whatevs. C’mon, let’s get outta here. I need something to drink and your fridge has a Coke with my name written on it. No, seriously, it does – didn’t you see the one can with the ‘Share a Coke with Your Bestie’ written on it?”

“No, but I’ll take your word for it,” Carrot said as she started to put her clothing back on.

You can’t give up yet, Carrot, Other Carrot seemed to say from nowhere. It’s only a matter of time before you become the immortal beauty you were destined to be.

“Derpy, did you…?” Carrot asked.

“Did I what?”

Carrot sighed. “Nothing. It’s…nothing,” she replied to her friend as she could hear the laughter of Other Carrot in her mind.

Author's Note

Yeah, I managed to break the block. Going with two stories at once, yay!

March 27: But You Don't Want to Get Involved, You Tell Her She Can Manage

After staying the night and talking things over with Minuette, Waterfire knew what she had to do. Minuette was being far too soft about things, especially when it came to that reprehensible monster, Noteworthy. It burned every atom in the girl’s body that a jerk like Noteworthy was able to escape his fate while so many she knew, her best friend included, was suffering because of this piece of human filth.

Someone needs to deal with him, she thought, a grim look coming onto her face. Then, seconds later, the answer came to her. It couldn’t be that simple, could it? Instinctively, she reached for the phone sitting in her purse. When she was younger, she’d done something stupid and had not only managed to get out of it without getting in trouble, she’d learned something that would give her an advantage.

But if he’ll help…. Part of her winced at that. Somehow, the former alpha bitch, Sunset Shimmer, had managed to change her stripes without sacrificing any of the principles she’d managed to gain over the past few months. If I were to do this, I’d be no better than the way she used to be. She looked at the phone as if it was a giant black widow sitting in her hand. Is it worth losing my soul over?

Her eyes closed for a fraction of an instant. This is for Minnie. She’d do the same for me, I just know it. And with that, she dialed a number she hadn’t called in years.

After a couple of rings, the phone on the other end answered: “Hello, this is Sunnytown Gym – 24/7, your number one place for a better body in the Greater Canterlot Area.”

“Heya, I’m looking for Ground Pounder. Is he there?”

“Yeah, he’s here all day. Who should I say’s looking for him?”

Waterfire breathed a soft, anxious sigh. In for a penny, in for a pound, she realized. “Yes,” she said. “Let him know that Cookie’s looking for him.”

Sunstone was sure she got the grapple. But her target moved out of the grasp as if she was made of water, and Sunstone was barely able to dodge the kick; the foot’s owner was fast – on the verge of video-game-character fast. However, said owner was slow in retracting the kick, and that gave Sunstone the opening she needed. Grabbing the retracting leg, she clamped onto it like a vice, then spun it – and the owner – before slamming her opponent onto the mat. Bending the leg slightly to be inconvenient but not injurious, the victorious girl grinned and said, “Looks like you lose,” before letting go of the leg.

Laying on the mat, Applejack blew a strand of her blonde hair out of her eyes. “Yeah, well you judokas are better at grapplin’ than us TKD folks. Ah was afraid that Ah wouldn’t be able to retract in time, and sure enough, Ah was right.”

Sunstone offered her friend a hand up, which Applejack took gladly. “Yeah, well you guys are monsters at kicking – I barely dodged that strike of yours. If I’d known you were gonna get that close, I’d have worn headgear.”

“Toldja, sugarcube: mah sah-bu-nim doesn’t mess around when it comes t’ training. Sparred last week against a guy from Colton. Nearly broke a rib with one of mah kicks ‘cause he didn’t want to ‘take it easy.’”

Sunstone looked at the bruise from blocking one of the girl’s earlier blows. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

Applejack laughed. “Don’t worry, Ah pulled mah punches.” Both girls walked over to the wall, where bottles of water and towels were. “So, wanna tell me ‘bout what’s buggin’ ya?”

Sunstone winced at that. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, AJ,” she replied calmly.

Applejack wiped the sweat off her brow with her towel. “Ah wasn’t born yesterday, Stony. We may not be the closest friends, but Ah’d like t’ think you can count on me when needed. Ah don’t bite, honest.”

Sunstone reached down to grab her bottle of water, then took a swig. Toweling off her face, she asked, “What if you loved someone you could never have, that you wanted with all your heart and body, but it seemed so wrong?”

“Mah brother’s taken, y’know,” Applejack replied off-handedly.

“You know what I mean, AJ.”

“Yeah, that Ah do.” The blonde slumped against the wall until she sat down. “Rarity and Ah once fought over a guy. It was stupid, and he ended up gettin’ in the pants of another gal, but at the time, Ah was a total asshole to one of mah best friends. That kinda what you’re feeling?”

“Sorta. I’d do anything to make him mine,” Sunstone said, running a hand through her sweat-soaked teal hair, “but I don’t know if that would make things worse. He’s in love with someone else, and he doesn’t think of me that way, and he never will.”

Applejack just looked at the far wall of the gym room they were sparring in and gave a lazy grin. “Maybe you’re just not tryin’ hard enough to win Notes over.” Stunned that Applejack had figured out so quickly, Sunstone was about to say something, but Applejack waved it off. “Again, not stupid, Stony. Ah got a natural way of sussin’ things out, you know? Just a natural knack for honesty, Ah guess you could call it. Ah’ve never known you to talk about any guy – or gal – in breathless terms before, but you talk ‘bout Notes as if he’s something special. Someone special.”

“That obvious?”

“Only t’ those who are paying attention,” Applejack replied. “And yes, Ah remember you said you and he are cousins. Biologically? Ah guess it’s okay, if you go that far; none of mah business in that regard anyway. But as for the heart? Love is what it is, and if ya really want him, you need to step up to the plate, sugarcube. Minuette don’t love him, in any case.”

“How’d y—”

“One of mah best friend’s the school’s go-to gal. Ya kinda learn things just by being around her.” Applejack smiled. “Besides, Ah wouldn’t know what to do with the info and Sunny wouldn’t let me even if Ah did.”

“But he doesn’t love me that way, AJ,” Sunstone sighed. “Trust me, with all the hitting I’ve done on him over the years, he just thinks it’s a joke.”

“Then maybe it’s time you make your feelings clear. Have you ever told him outright you love him, or just hints and jokes that the most dense guy’ll never get?” Sunstone was about to comment, when Applejack waggled a finger. “Don’t. Ah already know the answer to that one, sugarcube. So tell me: Do you really love him?”

“With all my heart,” was the other girl’s soft, haunting answer. Applejack looked into her friend’s violet eyes and saw nothing but pure, unadulterated truth.

“Tell him the truth,” Applejack said. “If you really love him, Stony – you’ll tell him the truth.”

“So is it okay?” Dinky asked her older sister. “Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?”

“Are you sure this is going to be okay?” Derpy asked. At the moment, she had her glasses off and was looking at her sister in stereo. It bothered her slightly, but she was cleaning the lenses at the moment after she accidentally spilled some grease on them removing the lock from the gun safe. Sure enough as she predicted, it was a complete loss; making it worse, the local gun store was out of the particular safe lock until next week, so she simply had to bar her sister from going into their father’s room. That wasn’t hard, but Derpy did not like the fact that the guns were not protected in any way shape or form.

“Der~py!” Dinky pled, breaking out her secret weapon: going over to her sister and giving her a big hug and bambi eyes. “Please? We’ll be back by Sunday night, promise!”

Done wiping her glasses, the elder sister slipped them back on and crossed her arms. “Yeah, and how much is it going to cost?”

“Only about $100. Mrs. Skydance says she won the tickets to Discovery World, so we don’t have to pay for that. The money should just pay for my food, hotel and whatever I want to get. I really want to go – all my friends are going!”

Derpy tried to frown; but couldn’t – she couldn’t deny her little sister the joys of childhood. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a wallet – she was never really a purse type of girl – and pulled out five $20 bills. “Okay, but you’d better be on your best behavior, okay? If I hear from Tapestry that you were a little brat, you’ll be in big trouble, got that?”

“Roger that!” Dinky said as she shoved the bills in her small purse.

“Are you guys leaving tonight?”

“Why?” Dinky asked in catty tones. “Is your boyfriend coming over? Are you gonna kiss and hug him?”

Derpy’s eyes narrowed. “You sure you want to go on that trip? This is coming out of my pocket you know.”

Dinky’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t!”

“Then shut up and go pack while I call Tapestry’s mom and let her know you’re going, got that?” Dinky, already worried that her plans were going south, brooked no argument as she raced for her bedroom. Allowing herself to snicker for a second, she texted Tapestry about her sister’s intent to go; the other girl said her mother would pick Dinky up around 8:30. That being done, Derpy went into her room and settled in on what to do next: Dinky was going on a road trip to Vallejo, and that meant that she had the whole house to herself. The teen squeed inwardly a bit as that meant that Carrot could stay over and they could have a nice weekend to themselves.

Her fingers did the dialing before she could even think of what to say. “Heya, Derps,” Carrot’s voice sang over the line.

“Hey, pack your bags, because you’re staying the rest of the weekend with me!” Derpy began before going on to the part of her sister’s vacation and the like.

“Cool! I’ll bring over my games – I don’t know if you’ve played some of them! This is going to be great!” Carrot said. There was something about her voice that bothered Derpy for some reason, though she couldn’t quite pin it down. Maybe she was going through some issues still; if that was the case, Derpy would absolutely be there for her, without a doubt. Carrot would do the same for her if the situation was reversed.

Plus, I’m sure she can give me some dating tips if I ask, Derpy mused, while also remembering that she’d have to ask while not ramming the metaphorical knife in her friend’s back. Under normal circumstances, Carrot would absolutely be ecstatic for her. But these were, Derpy sadly admitted to herself, not exactly the most normal of times.

“That’s wonderful, dear!” Chantenay told her daughter once Carrot had divulged her plans to stay at Derpy’s for the weekend. “Just don’t drink too much alcohol, dear.”

“Mom, you know I don’t do that!” Carrot gasped.

Chantenay smiled wryly. “Golden, honey, you have to remember that I was a teenager myself once. I know what kind of things go on at teenage parties.” But the woman’s face became serious as she said, “I just want you to be careful and while I know neither you nor Derpy are the kind of girl that misbehaves, there are still plenty of dangers to get into. While I know you’re going to drink – and as long as you two are careful, I don’t mind – I just want you two both to look out, okay? And if something goes wrong, you can call us.”

“Nothing’ll go wrong, Mom, I promise,” Carrot vowed, though admittedly she wasn’t as sure as she presented. Derpy would protect her from everything, she knew that – but Derpy was only human and humans had to use the bathroom, sleep, step away for a bit and anything that would make sure that Carrot would make that mistake that would cost her. It was only a matter of time.

Feeling defeated, she walked into the room, where the mirror shone brightly. It didn’t even matter that Carrot knew she’d covered this morning. Other Carrot wanted her attention, and clearly wanted it now. “Hello, ugly,” she said, standing there brazenly naked within the mirror. “I was just going to have a little fun today. Want to join me?” She held up something that horrified her: double-ended, with multiple nubs on the end. “Or maybe I can get Derpy on the other side. We can go on a little ride.” She grinned sultrily. “Or maybe you two and my Derpy can join me? I have one more. We can trade off and then when it’s done….” Other Carrot gave the real Carrot Top a look that made it blatantly clear what was on the mind of the mirror double – before turning to a sneer of utter contempt. “Or...you can just sit and grow old, fat and ugly. Oh, wait – you’re already one of the three, I forgot!” she said, cruelly pointing and laughing.

“But then, there is a way to solve that...one small problem, one tiny way to make yourself perfect again.” Other Carrot put two fingers together in a squeezing motion, then reached for something out of view. What she returned with, Carrot knew by heart. “You do know where Derpy’s father’s gun safe is, and Derpy did tell you that it’s broken right now.” Other Carrot raised the gun to her head. “All it takes is one shot of beauty and—”

The gun went off.

Other Carrot’s corpse fell to the floor in the mirror...and then blood started to ooze out of it, staining the carpet.

Carrot’s eyes went wide in horrific shock, then she turn and ran from her room, making it as far as the bathroom before she bent over and vomited.

Sunnytown Gym was, despite the name and description, a dedicated boxing gym, not a fitness center. That meant there were the bodies of men and women jumping rope, slugging bags, sparring in one of the two rings, and, above all, sweating like pigs. The acrid scent hit Waterfire and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She would never come here of her own volition, but she needed to protect her friend, and to protect Minuette from that asshole Noteworthy, Waterfire needed a weapon.

Fortunately, she had a weapon.

Crossing the length of the gym, and ignoring the occasional stares she got, she walked the length of the building, towards the gym in the back. There, sparring with total abandon, were two boxers, apparently in their early twenties. Both were built, and both were slugging away.

As Waterfire reached the ring, an old man looked at her. “I thought we’d seen the last of you,” he said in a tone that wasn’t quite disgust, but was tinged with sorrow. “Whatever you’re here for, Cookie, it’s not going to go well for you or him.”

“I’m doing this for someone I care about, old man,” she said without looking at him; indeed, she never took her eyes off the sleek boxer in the red shorts. He had dark skin, and close-cropped grass-green hair and goatee and soft yellow eyes. The firm toned muscles of his body caught her attention, but...that’s how she ended up here in the first place.

He noticed her – and was almost hit. Instinctively, her mouth went up in a gasp, but he recovered, and delivered a fierce blow that nearly brought his opponent to his knees.

“Okay, that’s enough, you two,” the old man said, ringing the bell to signal their attention. “Calling it a day. I’ll see you tomorrow, Fast Flurry. Oh, and as for you, Ground Pounder, you got someone here to see you. None of my business, but remember, she nearly cost you once before.”

“Heya, Poundy,” Waterfire said, waving up at him.

“Kid sister?” Fast Flurry asked Pounder. “‘Cause she looks a little too young for you, man.” Ground Pounder merely rolled his eyes, clapped his friend on the shoulder, then scrambled over the ring’s ropes, and hopped off the structure. “Help me cut these off,” he told her.

“Sure thing,” she said. The old man handed her a pair of scissors, and Waterfire wondered for a second if he was going to stab her with it. Instead, he dismissed her with an irritated wave of his hand and then went off to help Fast Flurry. Pounder gestured to the nearby bench, and both sat down.

“You know, I haven’t seen you in a while,” he told her.

She gave him a smile. “You know, I still love you,” she said. “I really didn’t want to date Stylin’; it was my brother’s idea.”

“Cookie—”

“Don’t call me that. That was what you and my brother used to call me when I was a kid. I’m a woman now.”

Pounder rolled his eyes. “No, you’re a sixteen year old girl – and I’m twenty-two, and I box for a living.”

She gave him a tender look. “I’m a patient girl – I can wait.”

“No, you’re an infatuated girl.” He groaned. “You know Old Man Prizefighter doesn’t like us boxers having girlfriends – and given your history, Cookie—”

“Waterfire or Wai. Not Cookie.”

“Fine. Look, Waterfire: your brother’s my best friend. You’re his kid sister. Maybe – maybe – if you were eighteen...but you’re not.”

She smirked. “You didn’t seem to have that issue three years ago.”

“Yeah, well, both me and your brother were drunk and may I remind you it was you that started it? Look, I don’t want to talk about this right now—”

“What, don’t want to tell the world that you made out with me and fondled my thirteen-year-old tits? Or that if I wasn’t so afraid, I would’ve slept with you that night?” A girlish smile came onto her face as she told him, “Trust me, I remember. And I don’t think that any of my boyfriends since were as manly.”

“Waterfire, do you even know what….” He trailed off when he remembered what she’d been through the past few months; he did care about her, even if not in that way. “Okay, let’s talk about that later. What do you want?”

“I need help. I’ve got this...pond scum…that’s fucking with me and my best friend. Now normally I wouldn’t care, but he’s one of the assholes from the case that got off scot-free. And now he’s after me and Minnie.”

That got Pounder’s attention. “What?”

“Look, I’m really scared, the cops aren’t too worried and this guy won’t leave us alone! And if we try something in the courts, we can’t afford that again. Hell, even the school thinks I’m making it up. Sooner or later, he’s going to do something, Poundy, and I’m really afraid.”

“I’m not stupid, Waterfire – you’re asking me to beat someone up. May I remind you that I’m not just some guy off the streets? I’m a professional boxer, and that means that what would be simple battery to someone is assault with a deadly weapon in this state? If I get caught….”

“Please, Poundy. I don’t know who to turn to.” She leaned forward and took his hands in hers. “Even if you don’t love me or want my affections, I know that you still care about me and want me safe.” She gave him her most devastating smile; part of her felt ill for using him like this, but he was her best hope. And besides, she trusted him completely.

He looked at her intently, then groaned. “I know I’m going to regret this. Look, come over my place at eight tonight. We can have dinner and you can tell me everything. And don’t get any ideas; this is just dinner and a talk and nothing else.” He rose from the bench, adding, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to hit the shower.”

“Need help?”

He shook his head. “You’re never going to give up, are you?”

She smiled genuinely. “You’ll know where to find me the day of my eighteenth birthday. Don’t make any plans, okay?” Despite everything he couldn’t help but smile, and as he walked away, she felt good about herself…

...until she heard Old Man Prizefighter from behind her. “And you know what the worst thing for a boxer is? Ain’t a girlfriend, missy – no, it’s a girl like you: the kind that wraps ‘em around their finger and then drains ‘em dry until they’re just a husk. I’ve known too many fighters ruined like that. If you really care about him like you say you do, you’ll never see him again.”

She turned and glared at him. “Fuck you, old man.”

“Yeah, whatever kid – that’s why I’ve been divorced three times.”

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that, Notes?” Wildfire looked across the table at him with a look of sheer disgust.

Sitting next to her, Pencil Code nodded. “I don’t always agree with her, but she’s right, Notes: what you’re talking about is absolutely stupid.”

“Look, it’s gotta work!” Noteworthy said.

“Yeah,” she scoffed. “Too bad this isn’t a Northbrook film. What next, planning to wear a longcoat and hold a boombox over your head? What was that film again? Say Anything?”

Code looked at her. “You actually know that film?”

She grinned. “Netflix and chill, baby.”

The three were having lunch in the Burger Shack, and discussing Noteworthy’s plan: given that there was a stream behind Minuette’s house, he’d play an acoustic guitar and serenade her. Granted, even he admitted that the idea seemed kinda silly, but then he told her that someone had once told him that Minuette had secretly discussed hoping to be wooed like that.

“Look, no offense,” Code told him, “but you’d have an easier time getting her if you did all that stuff you said that you didn’t.” Noteworthy’s eyes narrowed and Code asked, “What, too early?”

Wildfire semi-playfully slapped her friend on the back of the head and said, “Despite what dorktacular here says, Notes, this is pushing it, seriously. Colgate was a victim of a crime that you almost went to juvie for. And now you’re suggesting doing something that’s borderline stalking? Did you use your brains to make the strings for your guitar? As it is, you already have a girl that loves you and you ignore her every day!”

Noteworthy piped up at that. “I do?”

“Are you blind or just stupid?”

He thought about it for a second and realized who she was talking about. “Oh, that – you do know she’s kidding, right? Seriously. We grew up together, and while objectively she’s hot, well...so are you. And that’s objective, obviously.”

Wildfire rolled her eyes. “You suck at romance, you know that? Code, take a note: don’t be like this idiot.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I don’t want to make the same mistake with the girl I’m chasing.” The moment the words left Code’s mouth, he realized that was the wrong thing to say.

“Oh? Did our little Pencil Code grow up while we weren’t looking?” Wildfire asked.

“We’re not talking about me,” Code said defensively.

Noteworthy, glad to have the pressure off him, shook his head. “Oh yes we are, Code. So, spill: who is it?”

“Why won’t she answer?” Minuette said aloud after calling Waterfire for the third time.

“Maybe she’s busy?” Autumn suggested. The three were having lunch at the Sugarcube Corner Cafe.

“Actually, now that I think about it, she is,” Primrose commented. “Her mother asked her to run an errand down to Chico, so she texted me last night that she was going to be on the road for most of the day. Probably why she’s not answering.”

“Probably,” Minuette agreed as she put her phone back into her purse.

“So, week’s nearly over, and we’re going back to school,” Primrose sighed. “And here I was, just enjoying the week, relaxing.”

“I dunno, I’m looking forward to going back,” Autumn piped in. “Got an afterschool project I’m working on with Compass Rose, and she’s out of town right now.”

“Compass Rose? Isn’t she the one who has the hots for Sunset Shimmer?” Primrose asked. “You think she could make it any more obvious?”

“Well, that or Shimmer’s clueless,” Autumn piped in.

“I’m sure Sunny’s got something in mind,” Minuette commented. “She’s smart like that, and she’s a good friend to have.”

Autumn took a sip of her iced chai, then grunted, “Yeah, now if she could only help you get rid of that freak.”

“Who, Noteworthy? Look, girls, he made a mistake. I know he likes me, but he also knows I don’t feel that way about him and we agreed to just be friends.”

“Wow, Cinderella, think you could live in any bigger of a fairy tale? Seriously, Minnie, the guy’s a creep. You need to stay far away from him.”

“Look, I talked to him the other day,” Primrose replied. “He’s not that bad of a guy. Worst case scenario: he can’t take a hint. But there’s a lot of guys like that out there. He’ll be fine, Autumn. Besides, even if he was the worst, I trust Minnie here to take care of herself.”

Minuette nodded in approval. “Thank you, Primmie.”

“Fine, whatever.” Autumn threw her hands up in disgust. “Just mark my words: he’s going to do something stupid, and someone’s going to end up very, very hurt – and I don’t mean merely heartbroken. Warning you guys now; he’s probably up to something, and when it happens, it’s not going to be pretty in the least.”

Derpy walked in. “Hi, Mrs. Chantenay!”

“Hello to you, Derpy. How are things going?”

“Eh, a little shakin’ to the left and a little shakin’ to the right,” Derpy said with a laugh.

“Well, Golden’s in the shower right now. Would you care for something to drink?”

“If you would.”

Chantenay escorted Derpy to the kitchen. As Derpy sat down at the kitchen table, Chantenay took two Cokes from the fridge, passing one to Derpy before sitting down and opening her own. “Derpy, dear, do you have time to talk?”

Derpy knew that tone. “Look, Mrs. C, if it’s about the alcohol, Dad already—”

Chantenay merely raised a hand. “It’s okay, dear. Frankly, I trust you and Golden to be responsible and if you want to drink at your weekend getaway, as long as you’re careful about it, I don’t mind. And yes, I’ve already discussed that with your father; I know Argent to be an upstanding man. But that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about.” The look on Chantenay’s face became one of concern as she asked, “Have you...noticed anything unusual about Golden lately?”

That put the teen on alert. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Chantenay looked her daughter’s friend right in the eyes. “Dear, something’s amiss with my daughter, and she won’t tell me. I don’t know if she’s not taking her medicine, or if it’s a side effect or something else, but I’m worried about my child, Derpy. Surely, you can understand that, right?”

Derpy nodded. “Dad’s away oftentimes, even for National Guard, so I’m watching Dinky a lot. So I understand, believe me, I do. And I wouldn’t let anything ever happen to her. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with Carrot, but I do know that something is. So if I can help her, I will. You can count on me.”

“Good – I never expected anything less from you, dear.”

Stepping out of the shower, Carrot Top was shrouded in the steam from the hot water. She’d always taken long, hot showers, and she liked the feel of the mist enshroud her. Walking over to the full-length mirror affixed to the door, she wiped it off and looked at herself. She tried to imagine herself as the pinnacle of female beauty, but then there was that damned scar, that angry red line that the doctors promised would go away or be covered up in time if she let growth there. But that would be hiding the truth, admitting that she was no longer the perfect ideal that every girl aspired to and that she was defective.

Sighing, she turned away from the mirror and went over to the sink. Wrapping the towel around herself again, she opened the cabinet and started to put things together to make herself presentable for the weekend over at Derpy’s. She had just started slipping on her underwear when she felt a pair of hands slither from behind her and grab her in a very uncomfortable manner.

“Well, these haven’t faded away yet,” Other Carrot said, and Carrot screamed in fear. Other Carrot laughed and said, “They can’t hear you. It’s just you and me, and that’s the way it should be, right?”

Instinctively, Carrot grabbed her brush and brandished it like a weapon. “Stay away from me! Just go away!”

“Oh, but I can’t do that – I still have to set you straight!” Other Carrot commented, moving step by step closer. “I mean, look at me, then look at you! I’m beautiful and gorgeous, and you – you’re a broken wreck, a piece of shit that no man will ever love or want. Hell, you probably couldn’t even get a dyke to come near you at this point!” Other Carrot moved closer and ran a finger across Carrot’s chest; the latter girl shuddered at the touch. “You still have a chance, though – but that’s only if you listen to me.”

Carrot reached over and yanked her doppelganger’s hand away. “No! I won’t kill myself! And you’re not even real! You’re just a figment of my imagination.”

The answer to that was Other Carrot approaching and kissing Carrot, groping, feeling, and touching her in the parts that despite herself, Carrot longed for. After all, this was her body and she knew what pleased her – but this wasn’t right...it…wasn’t...right….

Other Carrot laid the true one onto the floor. “You know it’s true. You want to be perfect again. You can hide it from the world, from your best friend and your family, but you can’t hide it from me. You can’t hide it from yourself.” Other Carrot leered at the body splayed on the ground, the look in the girl’s eyes one of fear and comprehension. “How many times have you wondered what it’s like to make love with perfection?”

“Too many times,” came the subdued words from Carrot Top as her walls were breached, her defenses fell and the horrible truth poured in like a raging horde bent on sacking the city that was her mind.

“And you can have that,” Other Carrot said. “And you can have me, if you want. But you can’t have any of that until you’re perfect again.” The duplicate – the perfect duplicate, something Carrot was not, she realized – vanished into the fading steam, as if she was never there. But her words echoed away: “Just one shot, Golden Harvest, then...perfection. And the love you’ve missed, the perfection you’ve missed...will be yours again and yours forever."

Carrot blinked and when she did, the steam had gone away. She lay on the ground, completely naked, her underwear and towel removed. And as she looked at her body, she saw her scarlet letter – that surgical scar that would remain with her forever.

Unless I obtain perfection.

Getting to her knees, Carrot Top wept.

Author's Note

We're reaching the conclusion!

March 28: And You Can't Change the Way She Feels

Derpy adjusted her glasses, then checked the carrot cake she was making just for her and Carrot. Tonight’s going to be a blast, she thought to herself. It was the weekend now, and next week they’d have to go back to school. That in itself kinda sucked; Derpy liked the education but she wasn’t too thrilled about some of her fellow so-called students, though she’d learned to deal, but at least there was this weekend to enjoy the fun and the last days before the return to school.

Her laptop chirped; she hit the spacebar, bringing it out of hibernation. She’d received an email from Sunset, asking if she could do some digging for her on an individual named Musica Allegra. Derpy paused for a second, wondering why Sunset wasn’t doing it herself; the girl was no slouch in the Google-Fu department, and furthermore, she could probably get someone like Compass Rose to do it; Rose had the hots for Sunset so bad she’d probably enslave herself to the school’s former alpha-bitch just for a kiss on the forehead.

And, unfortunately, I owe her a few favors. Derpy had done some digging and found that Sunset had been central to the whole Vibe case; that had been backed up more by admissions from Minuette and a few other people who suspected. How a teenager suddenly cracked a case that adults hadn’t was probably surprising to the normal teenager, but after looking at what evidence had been made publicly available, Derpy figured that she could have solved the case.

But I didn’t – Sunset did. And my best friend suffered because I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. Plus, Sunset had been kind enough to make up for her misdeed years ago. Derpy had forgiven her for that; this added burden was, admittedly, not much of one. Derpy smiled; maybe it would even be the beginning of a friendship between her and the flame-haired girl; Derpy knew her circle of friends was small to begin with.

After a quick check on the cake once more, she plopped in front of the laptop and started searching. What she came up with, at least as far as Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo was concerned, was almost nothing more than historical facts. Is this the Musica Allegra that she’s searching for? Derpy looked at the Wikipedia article about a female musician who seemed to come from nowhere, married a nobleman, and charmed pre-unification Spain – and to boot, it was believed that Musica Allegra was a Moor, an Arab – practically a death sentence in Christian-era Iberia. And yet she was beloved and was even granted a title – “La Musica”, Spanish for The Muse, if Derpy remembered anything of the required Spanish she had to take – by the Court of Aragon.

That’s all well and nice, but I wonder why Sunset’s doing the search. Derpy made a note to ask her later. Right now, the oven was beeping, and that meant it needed to come out and cool for the next step.

In a room in a home not too far away, the air was permeated with the stench of sex and fear.

Clearly in her element and in charge, Other Carrot slithered over Carrot, both nude bodies seeming to intertwine. “You know what you have to do tonight, don’t you?” the doppelganger cooed, looking at Carrot with eyes that spoke of pure and unbridled hunger.

“No….” Carrot said in a weak voice, trying to fight it with whatever willpower she had left. “No…. It’ll hurt Derpy….”

Other Carrot nibbled on the girl’s ear; heat arose from Carrot’s body as she became aroused by her own delusion. “It’ll hurt more that you’re still ugly. Trust me, after we’re done, she’ll be appreciative. After all, you know she’s dating, right?”

“Derpy’s dating?” Carrot said, suddenly sitting up.

Other Carrot pushed her down gently, punctuating it with a string of kisses along her cheek. When she was done, she asked, “You didn’t know? I thought she was your best friend – aren’t you two supposed to be like sisters?”

“She would have told me,” Carrot mourned. She’d talked to Derpy about all her dates, and she knew Derpy used her as a sort of encyclopedia on guys. If it was true that Derpy was dating, did it mean she had no need of Carrot anymore?

“Of course she wouldn’t have told you,” Other Carrot said in-between kisses that traced a trail down Carrot’s chest. “She doesn’t trust you to tell her the truth anymore, because you’re ugly with that scar. If you were beautiful, maybe you could earn the trust of your best friend again.” Other Carrot sat up and pointed at a mirror. “Because otherwise…she doesn’t need you anymore.”

Carrot looked at the mirror and Derpy having sex with Forward Pass, the varsity Football team’s star quarterback. Carrot had a thing for him, and Derpy had once commented that Carrot “was too good” for a moron like him. But if this image was true….

Derpy and Pass went faster and faster, their moans and rhythmic moving bordering on more than just two people having sex. It was like something beyond Carrot’s reach, something she could never achieve….

Carrot turned away from the mirror, ignoring Other Carrot’s snickering. Her heart felt as though it has been ripped out of her. She wanted to feel anger and jealousy towards her best friend, but Derpy meant too much to her to do so. It was clearly one-sided, however.

Other Carrot reached around and cupped Carrot’s breasts. Nibbling on her neck, she said, “You know what to do to be perfect. You can be the envy of everyone alive, if you’ll just listen to me.”

Whatever was left of Carrot’s willpower shattered that moment. “Yes,” she said in a defeated tone.

“Good,” Other Carrot hissed as she slid down towards Carrot’s womanhood. “Then this is what we’re going to do….”

Carrot uttered a sound somewhere between a moan and a plea for mercy.

A second later, there was a knock on the door, and Carrot opened her eyes just as her mother opened it. “Golden, almost time for you to head to Derpy’s. Are you going to drive or walk over?”

Carrot sat up. She wore her favorite camisole and capri pants; a part of her mind had told her that she’d been dressed the entire time she’d encountered Other Carrot, but that hadn’t been possible.

Other Carrot had finally shown her the way. A broken smile came over her face; Other Carrot had been right.

Carrot needed to purify herself.

“I’ll walk, Mom,” Carrot said in a soft voice. “I don’t think I’ll be needing my car anytime soon.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, two people were discussing the plans of one of them – or rather, one of them was discussing. The other one was heavily trying to dissuade him from committing what she saw as an epic-level mistake.

“Notes, this is a stupid idea,” Sunstone told him, for once unable to hide the worry in her voice. “This is going to bite you in the ass like you won’t believe. I really think you should reconsider.”

“Look, I’ve made up my mind, Stony, and I’m not changing it,” Noteworthy told her. “This will win her heart, I’m sure of it. Aren’t you always the one who’s telling me that I need to stick to my guns?”

“Not if all you’re going to do is make an ass of yourself! She doesn’t like you, she won’t like you, and you’re going to end up getting the cops called on you, if not worse!” She gasped, throwing her hands up in frustration.

But he stood his ground. “She will. I’m completely sure of it.”

Sunstone walked over towards Noteworthy, looking him eye-to-eye. “Please don’t do this,” she implored. “I’m begging you not to.”

He looked at her with mild surprise: She’d never been like this before, and she was nearly always in his court, even when others weren’t or logic dictated otherwise. But if she was balking at his plans, did he actually stand a chance? He thought about it, then shook his head. No, normally he would listen to her counsel. But this was love – he couldn’t afford to give up.

Packing up his acoustic guitar in its case, he said to her, “Why? You haven’t cared about my romantic life before, Stony. Why now?”

Tell him! Sunstone’s mind practically screamed at her. It’s now or never, Stony! Tell him how you feel! Her mind swam – if she followed her heart, she would take him right now, rip off his clothes and do what came naturally, then put him in her car and head down to Vegas as fast as doing multiples of the speed limit would allow. He’s yours, and you deserve him, not Colgate! Prove it, you coward!

And yet she stood there, looking at him with eyes that implored, but never explained why. She couldn’t seem to get the words out, couldn’t provide clarification to her urgency. She tried to open her mouth, to process sounds that would turn into a language he would understand. But it just wouldn’t happen.

“Fine. If you’re not going to tell me, I’m going,” he said. “I just….” He looked at her. “Your word means a lot to me, Stony. We are friends after all, and we’ve been together since we’ve been kids. It’s just…if you know something, please tell me.”

She folded her arms and no utterance came from her, even as she stood there with those eyes.

“Look, either you can say something, or you can leave. But I’m not changing my mind.”

Finally, she managed a word: “Noteworthy…please don’t do this to yourself!”

He glared. “Get out,” he told her.

She looked as though she’d been slapped. Wordlessly, she left the room, calmly walked out of the house and made it as far as her car before getting in, gunning the engine and rushing down the street as the tears finally flowed. In the receding distance she could see Noteworthy chase after her, only to realize she was long gone, but by then it was too late.

If he’d only chased after me before…. If I’d only let him know I wanted him to chase me. But it’s too late…too. Damn. Late.

Her phone went off, and she knew immediately who it was. Reaching over, she hit the DECLINE TO ANSWER button, sending his call to voicemail before throwing it in the glove compartment. Her heart was broken, and she broke it herself. She couldn’t add insult to injury.

Standing there watching her car disappear into the horizon, Noteworthy hung up the phone and promised to make it up to Sunstone later. Once again, he knew he’d stepped hip-deep into shit – he’d never talked to her like that, never. He had to make it up to her when this was all over. He wasn’t sure how, but maybe he could meet her for lunch tomorrow after telling her about his successful venture. But for now, he had to plan a successful venture. And the only way that was going to happen was if he made sure everything went according to plan.

Alone in his room, Noteworthy read over the notes that he and Pencil Code had jotted down together. One way or another this was going to work, and this was for love – there wasn’t going to be a single thing on Earth that would stop him.

Waterfire and Ground Pounder inspected the small copse of trees that bounded the area behind Minuette’s backyard; just beyond that, there was a slight drop that ended in the Canterlot River, a small stream that fed into the Sacramento River downstream. It was the perfect place for Noteworthy to try his stunt, Waterfire concluded…and the perfect location where to put a cold stop to it.

Looking around, however, Ground Pounder had a different opinion. “Listen, Cookie, are you sure about this? From what it sounds like, nothing’s really going to happen.”

“And while that’s the best case scenario, I know that’s never going to happen,” Waterfire told him. “Poundy, this guy is bad news, and he needs to be taught a lesson.” She sighed. “Look, I’m sure what’s most likely going to go down is that you’ll scare the hell out of him and he’ll go away for good. I just want to know what will happen if he tries any shit?”

Pounder punched a fist into his other hand for a response. “Then I’ll finish it. I’ll do just enough to make sure that it’s self-defense, but that’s it – bruise the fucker, but not hospitalize him. You going to be ready with the camera just in case?”

She nodded. “Of course – I want this asshole dealt with, not you in trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that I get everything on video. I promise.”

“Okay, I’m counting on you, Cookie.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Waterfire said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek…but closer to the lips. “I definitely want to make sure you’re around and available.”

Meanwhile, in her room, Minuette sat with her two other friends, Evening Primrose and Autumn Leaves. “I thought Wai was going to be here a while ago,” Minuette asked.

Primrose looked over at Autumn, then gave Minuette a shrug. “Maybe she’s just running late, Minnie?” Primrose stated.

“Primmie, this is Wai we’re talking about – when has she ever been late for anything?”

Autumn piped up. “Look, Minnie, there’s been a guy as of late that’s got Wai’s eye, and I think she’s chasing him hard. So go a little easy on her right now? Yeah, I know that what happened to you sucked, and I’m not disputing that. But Wai’s in love, and if this guy’s as sweet on her, they’ll be okay.”

Minuette nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think she’ll make any stupid mistakes.”

“Trust me,” Primrose told her friends. “She’s making all the right moves.”

Despite what Chantenay thought, neither Derpy nor Carrot had any plans to drink. After all, Derpy’s father was an Army major, and her drinking could affect his career, so she didn’t push anything like that. Furthermore, drinking wasn’t really in Derpy’s character. Sure, she’d probably have a glass of champagne at New Year’s or something ceremonial, but Derpy confessed to not really liking drinking for reasons she never really admitted to. It was, admittedly, one of the things that Carrot admired most about her best friend; underneath her shell of snark and attitude, she could be a really sweet girl…and Carrot was probably the only one that noticed that.

I’m going to miss you, Carrot thought. Once she succeeded in her plan, she’d never see Derpy again. Never hear her laugh, or her jokes or the general positivity the blonde showed in those unguarded times when the two were together. But was it worth the price of reaching perfection? Carrot looked at her reflection in the glass she was drinking from and saw Other Carrot instead, holding a pistol in her mouth and nodding with approval. Carrot herself winced and looked away, instead focusing her attention on where it had been all night: the direction of Derpy’s father’s room. She hoped she wasn’t being too blatant about it, but Derpy was extremely perceptive, and – no pun intended – she practically had eyes everywhere. There wasn’t a thing that the young computer whiz didn’t seem to know, and she had a network that appeared to rival Sunset’s at times.

“Carrot? You okay?” She finally heard Derpy’s voice, and turned to see her friend looking at her with worry, tortilla chip dribbling nacho cheese and jalapeno slices back towards the plate. It would have been comical if Carrot could see the humor in it.

“I’m…fine,” Carrot said, curling into a ball on the couch. “I’m just…. Look, Derps, I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Derpy leaned back. “Carrot, please don’t shut me out. I’m trying to help.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. I’m just…I’m just going through a rough patch right now, okay?” The lie made her sick inside; she knew what she had to do, and it tore her up just uttering the words, much less who she told them to. “Still dealing with everything from my injuries.”

Derpy shook her head. “I thought I told you to forget about that. Nobody cares, okay? So you’ve got a minor limp.”

“Minor limp? Derpy, I walk with a cane now. I may never be able to walk unassisted ever again!” She nearly glared at her friend. “You know I was thinking about being a model – how am I supposed to walk the runway if I’m using a cane?”

“So what, you’re saying that nobody does modelling when handicapped? Carrot, you’re crazy – nothing can hold you back if you’re willing to fight for it. Trust me on that, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Carrot realized it was probably the worst thing to say to Derpy, given her eyes. Granted, when she wore her glasses her strabismus went away, so, it was hard to forget that she had a birth defect. But if there was anyone who embodied what she’d said, it was her. She’d even surpassed her ugliness; the glasses she currently wore were extremely fashionable and something she probably wouldn’t have chosen on her own. It was likely Dinky who helped her choose; Derpy’s sister already at her age had a great eye for style. “Sorry.”

Derpy smiled. “It’s okay. Believe me, sometimes I forget that I have the same issues. I mean, I wear my glasses all the time so I don’t have to be reminded about it, and yeah, I used to be sensitive about it, but I’ve gotten over it. So believe me when I say that you’ll be fine. Besides, your legs probably need strength training – have you considered asking someone on the track team, like Spitfire or Rocketfuel?”

“No, and besides, have you seen their leg muscles? They’re almost thicker than my waist! I don’t want to look like that!”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Way to see the forest for the trees, dipshit.”

Carrot looked at Derpy with sad eyes. Under normal circumstances, she probably would’ve shrugged off Derpy’s comment. But the tone underneath it just underscored the truth: even Derpy thought she was worthless now. Carrot wanted to cry at that point: she’d lost her last friend, and now her uselessness was complete – Other Carrot had been right.

But if you’re going to succeed, Other Carrot seemed to say in her ear, you know what to do.

Drinking the last of her soda, she looked at her friend. “Hey, I’m going to go get another soda. You want one?”

Derpy picked up another nacho, then reached for the remote control. “Sure, and I’m going to throw Netflix on. Anything you want to watch?”

“Just pick anything,” Carrot replied. “I’m okay with whatever.” She then headed for the kitchen, but not before Derpy caught her attention.

“Carrot…I promise that everything’s going to be okay in the end. You know I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”

“I….” Carrot didn’t know what to say. She knew in her heart of hearts that Derpy would never lie to her, but…was everything Other Carrot said a lie? Could she really be—

You know you’re useless and ugly without what you really need. Don’t listen to her lies – listen to me.

Going into the kitchen, Carrot grabbed a couple of sodas out of the fridge, and then reached under the cupboards where she knew Derpy’s father kept the sprits. Fortunately, Carrot’s own father knew more than a few drinks over the years, and his daughter had learned how to make them by dint of watching. One of those drinks was a “Malpractice”, an alcoholic drink that tasted exactly like a Dr. Pepper. Since Derpy had a preference for Dr. Peppers – she picked up the habit ever since she saw an anime where it was referred to as “the intellectual’s soft drink” – and if Carrot mixed it perfectly, her friend would never know.

With Derpy out of the way, Carrot would have enough time to get into the gun safe, especially since her father had insisted Carrot know the security codes in case of a break-in. Now, those codes would be used – but not for the original intent.

She really didn’t think about much as she mixed the drink. She mixed a few more, then put it all in a bottle to go into the fridge, so it would chill and give Derpy no reason to wonder why her fridge-cold soda was lukewarm. After that, she grabbed a Coke for herself, then walked into the living room, passing the spiked drink.

“So what did you find?” Carrot asked.

“French film that I’ve been wanting to watch for a while. It’s about a girl who gets into a car accident and is blinded by it. But she’s a world-famous pianist, and she’s afraid she’ll never play as good as she used to. She seeks help from a guy she once met in New York, and to her surprise, he’s…well, I don’t want to spoil the whole thing for you. You up for that?”

Carrot plopped on the couch and curled into a ball. “Yeah, sure.” She glanced briefly as Derpy took a drink from her “Dr. Pepper”. She had no reaction, then set it down and drank again, this time getting the whole thing. “Wow, that was good. Think I’ll get another.”

Carrot sat up. “Tell you what: let me get it, okay? Also, if you want, I’ll get us more nachos.”

“Thanks, Carrot,” Derpy said with a wide smile. “Sometimes, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The words and smile cut Carrot to the quick as she picked up the plate and entered the kitchen.

Minuette looked at Primrose. “Primmie, why are you looking out the window into the backyard with binoculars?”

“Um…birdwatching?” she said in a weak voice, while Autumn just rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I think I’ve had enough. First it was Wai saying she couldn’t make it tonight, then you doing…whatever it is that you’re doing.” She then turned to Autumn. “And you kept saying we shouldn’t go out tonight, that we should just order pizza and watch TV in my room and stuff. Well, we’ve done that, I’m bored – no, scratch that, I’m fed up – and I think I deserve an answer.”

The other two girls looked at each other, before Autumn sighed and said, “Look, Minnie, we’re just looking out for you.”

“Looking out for me? Why on earth would you need to look out for me?”

Primrose waved her over and handed her the binoculars. “Because of Stalker Boy there.”

Minuette looked through the binoculars, and just beyond the fence and towards the wooded trail behind the house’s perimeter, a boy began to set up with what looked like an acoustic guitar. He had a lantern of some kind flashing a light onto him so he could be clearly seen, and as she noticed him, her heart fell.

Noteworthy…. She’d forgiven him for what he did, mainly because he’d shown contrition and was willing to help Sunset take down The Club. But now he was here – how did he even know where she lived? – and her mind went into a panic, backing away from the door.

Primrose immediately moved to Minuette’s side and enveloped her in an embrace. “Don’t worry, we’re here to protect you, Minnie. And as for dickwad there, well….”

Autumn looked at her friends and smiled. “Wai’s got something planned – that’s why she’s not here. Because she wanted to make sure you were protected.”

He doublechecked the lantern to make sure that it was workable and that he wouldn’t be sweating underneath it – that would probably attract mosquitos, and he didn’t want to deal with that right now. He then checked the strings on his guitar; playing where he was, it would be just enough to get her attention; apparently from what he could tell, her parents were out of town for the weekend. Hopefully she wouldn’t have any of her friends over, because that could be a problem, but he could live with the embarrassment. Hopefully also, her neighbors would appreciate the gesture for what it was, and not freak out about this old-fashion serenading.

It suddenly dawned on him that maybe there were a few more variables to consider than he actually did, and that made him briefly pause. But then he steeled himself; he’d come too far to back out now. Slipping on his guitar, he strummed it once before a voice shouted, “Hold it right there, dirtbag!” He looked over to see Waterfire standing there, arms crossed and the look on her face as glaring as her day-glo orange hair.

“You interrupted me,” he told her simply, not sure of what else to say.

“Yes, I interrupted you, the stalker, from harassing my friend, the one who was victimized by you and your asshole buddies. It’s clear why you joined The Club, and while the others at least had the balls to try to go after the girls they wanted, you just wanted to wait until Stylin’ was done with us, you asshole!”

“Stylin’? I didn’t even—”

“LIAR!” Waterfire screamed. “IT’S YOUR FAULT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME AND MINNIE AND ALL THE OTHERS!” She then narrowed her eyes in utter hatred. “But I’m going to end it.” She then, to Noteworthy’s surprise, ripped off her top – literally ripped off her top – handing him the remains. Then, with her top exposed, she fell back, screamed and cried, “No! Stay away from me!”

As if on cue, a small mountain disguised as a human rushed out from behind the trees. Noteworthy had always wondered what it would be like to be like Bulk Biceps, the PE Teacher; or Iron Will, the School Counselor, both of which came from professional sports backgrounds to become school faculty. A new question was added today: what happens when you meet someone bigger. The man stood well six-and-a-half feet, and looked like there wasn’t anything on his body that wasn’t muscle; he didn’t wear clothing so much as it appeared painted on.

Moving to Waterfire’s side, he took off his shirt and gave it to her. “Are you okay?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, though from his angle the man couldn’t see the wicked look in her eyes. “I’m fine, now that you’re here.”

As she slid on the shirt, the mountain turned to Noteworthy and gave him a furious scowl. “What. Did you. Do. To her?”

“I didn’t do anything!” he answered, and it was the truth. Though when the man glared at the wad of cloth that used to be Waterfire’s shirt, that was nestled in Noteworthy’s hand, he suddenly realized anything he had to say looked very, very wrong. “Wait…I can explain!”

But Waterfire’s words damned him: “He said he was going to do to me what he wanted to do when he was with The Club,” she lied, though her acting was well enough to make it convincing.

Seeing Waterfire like this, Pounder gave her a calming look. He never wanted her to be in danger, and even though confronting this twerp with the guitar had been her idea, seeing what this jerk was like clearly underscored the danger that she was trying to prevent – the same danger that she was now in. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with this,” he told her, giving her a glance to indicate that she needed to get out of here. He then flexed his muscles and snarled, “And now to deal with you.”

“But I di—”

The answer came immediately as Pounder swung his fist, putting enough force behind it for Noteworthy to know it was going to hurt. He dodged, and the punch hit the tree behind him. The tree cracked, and while it wasn’t enough to snap it in two, the top half of it fell over, clear that it would be decapitated by the next strong wind that blew by.

“You got lucky,” Pounder growled, “but that won’t happen a second time.”

Noteworthy immediately turned to run, but he found that his options were limited: he could head into the trees, but the guitar would slow him down. Trying to run out of the path of the man was out of the question, and running down the opposite end would do no good; this guy was likely to catch him as he was in far better shape than Noteworthy (who wasn’t in bad shape, but not an athlete.)

The answer was taken out of his range of choices when Pounder started throwing a flurry of punches, and Noteworthy did the only thing he could think of, buoyed by instinct, to protect himself. Fists hammered against the acoustic guitar, reducing it to strings and broken wood in a matter of seconds. When the strings snapped, they lashed out and cut Pounder, briefly driving him back. Though the blow staggered Noteworthy, it left him mainly unharmed.

Noteworthy looked at the destroyed remains of his guitar and had an idea. It was a stupid one, he reasoned, but it was the only chance he had and swung the remains at the guy’s head. Maybe if I knock him out, I can get away, the teen thought, not realizing that his attacker had already recovered.

However, the punch to his stomach, driving the air out of him, was a good indicator, as was the follow up to the face. And as Noteworthy crumpled under the punches, he could barely hear the enraged screams of the man above him, now kicking him as he fell to the ground.

All he could see was the self-righteous and smug smile on Waterfire’s face as she laughed at what was about to happen to him. And his vision tunneled as he could see the backdoor open, with Minuette and the others coming out of the house…

…but he wasn’t sure of what else to think about as he blacked out from the pain of the repeated blows.

“Oooooh, my head….” Derpy opened her eyes to a blistering headache. The first reason was that she felt like shit, but she wasn’t sure why. The second reason was because her glasses were off, and so her vision was blurring and splitting as it did whenever she didn’t have vision correction. She found that she was lying on the couch, with her drink spilled and everything all a-buzz.

I vaguely remember drinking a lot of Dr. Pepper and laughing a lot at a drama film and…. Her brain screamed and she closed her eyes, wincing. Maybe it was too hard to think about things right now. Right now all she wanted was water. That and maybe some Advil or something….

Her mind changed when she heard the sobbing. “Carrot?” she called out in as soft a voice as she could; she felt noise would probably not be best for her at the moment. “You there?”

But there was no answer, save for the sobbing and a voice that murmured, “I’m so scared.” Derpy took a quick, bleary-eyed look at the TV, which simply showed the Netflix menu, waiting for a command to be put in and a new movie to be started. So that wasn’t the location where the voice was coming from.

Instead, Derpy painfully moved her eyes as much as she could in unison to focus on her father’s bedroom door…which was open…and a shadow that Derpy didn’t like reflecting off the wall.

Oh, no! Whatever was happening to her seemed to snap off in an instant, mentally; however, she was still incapacitated by whatever was happening to her body. God, I feel like I’m drunk…. Clarity suddenly settled in. Wait, Carrot was getting all my drinks tonig…son of a bitch! With a scream she nearly bit off, Derpy forced herself to her feet and lurched into her father’s bedroom.

“CARROT!” she roared.

Carrot held the gun in her hand. It was a 9mm, or maybe a 45, or a 3XS…she didn’t know much about guns, other than what she saw on TV and movies. Guns were more Derpy’s territory. Still, from watching said movies and TV, she did know how to load a gun and to her luck, the gun safe had been wide open, with the locking mechanism in various pieces, the apparent result of Derpy’s ongoing attempt to fix it, as she’d mentioned offhand earlier in the night. Regardless, the guns were now available, and Carrot wasted no time in loading one.

And yet still, she paused. She knew what she had to do…yet she committed to no such action.

“What are you doing?” Other Carrot screamed at her. She was nude, and looked as though she was a vibrant goddess, as Aphrodite herself. “You know what you have to do.”

Carrot lifted the gun towards her head, holding it to the side of her face. She could feel the coolness of the barrel against her skin, could feel the weight of the weapon in her hand as she tried to hold it steady. Her finger wrapped around the trigger, and all she had to do was to pull it to be beautiful forever….

No…this isn’t right…. a part of Carrot cried within. Begging her to stop. Reminding her who she would be hurting: the ones that loved her the most, who wanted her in their lives regardless of what she looked like or whatever her standing was amongst the world’s beauties. That her parents would be devastated. That she would be dying in Derpy’s house – and what would that do to said best friend, who couldn’t protect her.

“DO IT, NOW!” Other Carrot ordered. “Don’t you want enough dick and pussy to keep you forever fuckable?” She looked Carrot in the eye. “You do this now, and you can have me all you want, and I’ll do whatever it takes to please you.” Other Carrot snaked forward kissing Carrot as erotically as she could. “You know you’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to taste yourself, huh? Here’s your chance. Pull that trigger an—”

“CARROT!”

“Oh shit, here comes the retard,” Other Carrot said. “She’s gonna—”

Carrot pulled the gun away from her face, and there was anger in her eyes. “Don’t you ever call her a retard, you bitch,” Carrot seethed, anger climbing onto her face. “You can call me whatever you want, but the moment you start hurting her that’s a line you don’t have the stones to cross.”

“So brave. Well, let’s see if you’re brave enough to make yourself perfect.” With that, Other Carrot vanished just in time for Derpy to stumble into the room.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Derpy asked, leaning against the doorframe both for support and to stop the room spinning.

“Derpy…I can’t take it anymore,” Carrot admitted tearfully. “I can’t stand being ugly and crippled. So…I want to end it. I’ll be beautiful that way.”

“What? Seriously? What the fuck are you talking about, Carrot? You won’t be beautiful, you’ll be dead! I think you’ve seen enough horror films to see what happens to the dead, or do I need to break out the scientific explanation?”

Carrot gulped, raising the gun to her head. “My mind’s made up, Derpy. I’ll be beautiful this way, perfect in everyone’s minds. They won’t remember me as a violated waste of a girl, but as someone bright and wonderful. It’ll be better for everyone. My parents won’t be stuck with a crippled child. You…you can get a better best friend. You’ll be happier without me.”

“What. The fuck? Carrot, please put down the gun!”

“No! Everything will be okay – all I have to do is just end it, Derpy!”

Whatever hangover Derpy had – and now she realized it was just that; clearly Carrot needed her out of the way so she could do this stupidity – was completely gone, taken over by a mixture of cold panic and burning anger. The former because she was genuinely afraid of what Carrot would do to herself; the latter because she was stupidly vapid enough to think she could get away with this.

Think, Derpy, think – use that Goddamn brain of yours! Time seemed to go in slow motion, syncopated by the panicked breaths Carrot was taking while the two stared at each other. The blonde’s neurons fired into overdrive, blazing past the ethyl alcohol molecules in her system, rushing to the answer and bodyslamming it right into her mind.

It’s so stupid, it just might work.

Tamping down her fear and worry as much as she could, Derpy forced herself to calm down and look at Carrot – both of them, as far as her vision went right now – as calmly as she could. “Is this what you want?”

“I….”

Derpy casually sat down next to Carrot; part of her wanted to grab the gun away, but she knew better. She had to trust that she could get through to the other girl. “Fine. I won’t stop you. In fact, you’re more than welcome to do it – after you take care of one little detail, first.”

Carrot looked confused. “What?”

Derpy put on a lazy smile. “Well, you’ll have to murder me, first.” She pointed to her heart. “Right here should do it, don’t forget to double-tap.”

Carrot looked at her best friend as if she’d gone insane. “No! Derpy, I’m not going to kill you—”

“Yes, yes you are. Because you’re killing me now. We grew up together, we’re practically like sisters – the moment you kill yourself, I’m dead already. So if you’re going to kill yourself…put me out of my misery now.”

“Derpy, why would I—”

Tears started to stream down Derpy’s face; if nothing else about this plan made sense, at least those did, mainly because they were real. “Why on Earth would you ever think that any of us – any of us – would be happy without you? Your parents love you. Dinky looks up to you as a role model. And you’re my best friend! I don’t care about that cane, I don’t care about that scar – I care about you! And if you kill yourself…what kind of value do I have? The kind of person that can’t save her best friend…I’d be worse than shit.” She wiped her eyes; those, at least weren’t acting. “You have so much more to live for, Carrot – why give up now?”

“Derpy, I….”

“Give me the gun, Carrot. Please. If you love me as much as I love you, please, don’t abandon us.” The look in Derpy’s off-centered citrine eyes were one of love and strength. “We can make it through tomorrow and all the days after.”

Carrot held the gun to her head. It would be so easy to pull the trigger, so simple to end it all. She’d be perfect. She’d be free. And Derpy was in no condition to stop her.

“Make yourself perfect….” a voice called out in her mind.

“We can do this together,” Derpy said, offering her hand. “Please, give me the gun.”

“Derpy, I’m afraid,” Carrot confessed.

“Then we can be afraid together…because right now, I’m terrified,” the blonde admitted. She held her hand out, and interminable seconds passed.

“Free yourself!” Other Carrot shouted.

“Trust me,” Derpy pled.

Carrot murmured, “I’m so, so sorry….”

She handed Derpy the gun.

Derpy took the gun, checked the safety, then safely set it aside so that no one would see any harm. She then rushed over and enveloped Carrot in a hug as both girls broke down crying. Carrot lost it right then and started bawling hysterically while Derpy cradled her head, giving her kisses on the forehead and saying, “It’s going to be okay, Carrot. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

Ground Pounder kept kicking the stupid little fuck that hurt Waterfire. Clearly she was right about him and his actions proved it. He was going to hospitalize this punk and hopefully, that would teach him a lesson.

Minuette finally raced out of the house. “Stop! You’re going to kill him!”

Pounder didn’t know who she was, other than probably one of the girls that Waterfire had risked herself to protect. “Stay back,” he ordered. “This asshole’s going to get what’s coming to him.”

“And about time, too,” Waterfire said. To Minuette’s shock, she had a gleeful look on her face that seemed diabolical to her.

“What did you do, Wai?” Minuette asked.

With an angry look, she said, “Making sure that monsters get what they deserve. I don’t care if he didn’t actually ‘partake in the wares’ – it’s people like him that are the reason you, me, and so many others we know got raped.”

Minuette pointed at the beatdown going on. “And how does that make us better than him?”

“Because there’s such a thing as justice,” Waterfire said coldly, “and I’m going to watch it happen right now.”

And she did.
Just not how she expected.

Pounder picked up Noteworthy, whose face was a swollen mass of bruises. By some miracle, his nose was still unbroken, but he’d be in the hospital for a few days. “And now to teach you why it’s not nice to pick on those who can’t help themselves.”

“Indeed,” a voice hissed from behind the boxer. The next thing he felt was searing pain as two violent blows hit him in the solar plexus, followed by one in the chest and one to the chin. He dropped Noteworthy and automatically slipped into a defensive position for a second, before sensing his opponent was there and throwing the hardest punch at his disposal.

He heard the slap of flesh against flesh, and a split second later felt a strong hand envelop his own. He looked at his attacker: a young woman, not much older than Waterfire, with long turquoise hair, lilac eyes filled with rage, and a scowl that seemed to rival his own. He suddenly wondered if there was more to the story that was going on, but it was far too late to ask.

“What?” he said aloud. “A lady? I don’t hit ladies!”

“Too bad for you,” Sunstone barked, “I’m not a lady.” And with that, she swung hard, hitting him in the crotch has hard as she could. As he went down, she grabbed the sides of his head and with a scream of rage, smashed his head down on her knee, delivering a crushing blow. The next thing Ground Pounder knew was the darkness of loss.

“Oh, he’s got a thick skull,” Sunstone winced, feeling the pain of contact in her knee. She then looked at the girls assembled, and Waterfire in particular. “You have a lot of explaining to do. A lot.”

Waterfire looked at her with a scowl. “What the fuck are you doing protecting this dirtbag, Sunstone?” she cried. “He tried to—”

She shook her head. “Next time you film something? Make sure you don’t drop your camera.” Sunstone held up a GoPro, and Waterfire blanched.

“Wai, what’s going on?” Minuette asked.

“Yes, Wai, tell them what’s going on,” Sunstone sneered. “Oh, and if you’ll excuse me, I need to get Notes to the hospital. You might want to call an ambulance for this guy. Oh, and you might want to tell him the truth, too – he deserves it for being your patsy, you cunt.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Waterfire said, turning up her nose at Sunstone’s suggestion.

“Oh, I’m sure you will,” Sunstone said as she gently scooped up the unconscious Noteworthy. “And on Monday, I’ll make sure that the whole school knows.”

“Who’s going to believe you?” Primrose said. “You’re backing up the school outcast! That makes you just as guilty!”

But then Sunstone said the three words that put fear into the hearts of Autumn, Primrose and Waterfire as she left:

“Sunset Shimmer will.”

Author's Note

Next chapter: the finale.

Oh, also, won't someone take a look at the TVTropes page? It could use a little love.

March 31: But You Could Put Your Arms Around Her

“So how are you holding up, Derpy?” Sunset Shimmer asked her friend. It was the first day back from Spring Break, and as per Derpy’s request, the two were meeting at the coffee shop near Canterlot General’s West Side Clinic Annex after school. Sunset had wondered why they were meeting there, but it only took a brief look at the doctors who plied their trade in the building – mostly mental health professionals – and Derpy’s later explanation to make things all too clear.

“I feel like shit. When I told Carrot’s mother what happened, I feel like I betrayed my best friend. Now, she’s here, seeing a psychiatrist for what happened to her. They said she might have to take some extra medicine to counteract some of the effects from the Vibe. Some girls are reporting to have delayed effects, and I think it’s affecting her.” Derpy pointed a thumb behind her and said, “But all things considered I’d rather she be in there than four blocks away.” Sunset didn’t need clarification; during her bus ride here she passed by the main gates of Eternal Wrest Memorial Park, the regional cemetery.

Sunset gave Derpy a sunny smile and said, “All things considered? From what you told me, you saved her life, Derpy. That’s nothing to sneeze at.”

“So then why do I feel like a hypocrite? I told her that what happened to her shouldn’t impact her life, but I’ve let what happened to me impact mine. That’s Grade-A hypocritical assholery right there.”

“What, because you had a birth defect? Derpy, you—” She was cut off by Derpy’s shaking of her head.

“I…I don’t have a birth defect,” Derpy admitted, looking down at her coffee cup. “Yeah, I tell everyone that’s what happened and that the other problem was that my twin was stillborn in the womb, but…there was no twin, and I came out normally as a singleton. There are pictures of me as a baby with normal eyes, though I try to hide them.”

“Then can I ask…?”

“Promise not to tell anyone?” Derpy asked in a small voice.

“You know I won’t, Derpy. We are friends, you know.”

“I know.” The blonde sighed, and adjusted her glasses. “The truth is, my mother was an alcoholic obsessed with her looks, and when she gave birth to me, she started to resent me for that. Well, years later, when Dinky was born, Mom got fat again and she lost it. Punched me – an eight-year-old at the time – in the face, and I shudder to think of what she would have done to Dinky if I hadn’t been her target. As it was, she cracked my skull around the nose, and ruined some of the ocular nerves. Wearing glasses adds just enough pressure to straighten my eyes out, but the area’s too delicate to ever operate on.

“Anyway, it was my maternal aunt, Hazey Jane, who found out and shielded me and Dinky while my dad was on deployment at the time. Aunt Hazey told Dad and he forced my mother to accept an uncontested divorce, with him getting sole custody of us. Personally, I think she was happy with the conditions, because she rarely bothers with us now. I try to keep Dinky from finding out, but I think she knows. And so Aunt Hazey helped me develop the story that I tell everyone, because it’s better than ‘my mom abused me when I was a kid and got away with it.’”

“Sounds like your aunt really looks out for you,” Sunset stated.

“Whenever she’s in town, she’s like the mom we were supposed to have,” Derpy said with a tone of fondness. “Plus, I think she and Dad are secretly dating, but waiting until Dinky’s old enough to make it official. As it is, Aunt Hazey hates her older sister, so that’s a plus in my book. I hate the bitch, too, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“So, getting back to the earlier part….” Sunset looked at Derpy. “You should tell Carrot the truth. She needs to know, not only because hiding secrets is a bad thing that will catch up to you in the long run – believe me, no one knows that better than me – but because she needs to know she’s not alone. Yes, she might resent you from not telling her the truth sooner, but she’ll respect you for being upfront with her. Because that’s how best friends are.”

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about that.”

“Maybe – I’m still learning as I go along,” the flame-haired girl confessed. “But what’s going to happen to Carrot?”

“Well, for now she’s going to stay at CHS – it’s too late in the year to move her,” Derpy said. “But her parents told me that next year they’re seriously considering sending her either to Holy Cross or Zacherle. I know they want to talk to my dad about it, because I think if they do have her change schools, they’d want me to go with her.”

“And what’s your take on it?”

Derpy answered without hesitation. “She’s family to me, Sunny. If she needs me, I’ll be there, because that’s what I promised to do, no matter what.”

Sunset’s smile was wide and approving. “Spoken like someone I know who would do just that.”

Minuette sat in the farthest corner of Sugarcube Corner that she could find. Right now, she wanted to be left alone to do her homework and stew in her misery. Right now the only company she appreciated was her iced coffee – it was the only thing she felt she could be sure of at the moment.

“Hey, Minnie,” Pinkie said as she walked over to the forlorn girl. “How goes?”

“My life is shit, of course,” Minuette said, not looking up from her homework. She hoped that Pinkie would take the hint and go away.

Pinkie, of course, wasn’t one to take hints. “Awww, don’t say that! You’re alive, the world is bright and we’re enjoying a beautiful spring day, right?”

“Are you shitting me?” the azure-haired girl gasped, looking up from her paperwork. “My best friends turned out to have ordered a virtual mafia hit on a guy that I don’t like but don’t hate, and now he’s hospitalized – because of my friends, who were supposedly trying to protect me! Now Autumn and Primmie got suspended the first day back in school and Principal Celestia’s thinking about expelling Wai at the end of the year! As it is, all three of them have detention for the remainder of the school year, and their parents are probably going to be sued by Noteworthy’s.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “People are starting to wonder if I had anything to do with it, and if it wasn’t for you all sticking up for me, I don’t think I could show my face at school.” She turned her face away. “I didn’t want this – I never wanted any of this to have happened.”

Pinkie sat down across from her. “Sorry to hear that. What about your friends now?”

“I don’t know if I can trust them anymore,” Minuette admitted. “Wai…we grew up together, but I never would have expected her, in a million years, to do this. But not only did she tape all the evidence that Sunstone found and turned over to the school faculty, but she was trying to frame Noteworthy for attempted rape – she’s lucky she wasn’t arrested! And she did this supposedly to protect me, but moreso for a guy she liked! And for doing what he thought was right, he got his face caved in by Sunstone – I’m guessing that Wai lost any chance she had with him after that. So right now, I really don’t know what to think about her.” Pinkie gestured for her to continue, and after wiping her eyes with a napkin, she did so. “As for Autumn and Primmie…while Wai did all the groundwork, they helped her do it. And that’s what they say; how do I know they didn’t have ulterior motives as well?”

“Do you think you’ll still hang with them after this?”

“I really don’t know. I want to believe them – I grew up with them – but I don’t know anymore. I’m tired of all this, Pinkie! I’m so damn tired of everything!” She buried her head in her arms and started to cry, only to suddenly feel Pinkie’s arms wrap around her. “Please don’t,” she begged. “I don’t know if I’m worth it.”

“You are so worth it, Minnie,” Pinkie said in comforting tones as she held Minuette close. “You’ve been hurt a lot lately and it doesn’t seem like the pain will ever go away, right? Trust me, I know how it feels – you probably don’t believe me, but I do know what it’s like. So don’t feel that you’re alone. You will never be alone, okay?”

“You can’t promise that!”

“I can, and I will,” Pinkie insisted. “Trust the Pink. The Pink is wise. The Pink knows all.” Hearing that, Minuette started to giggle, which soon broke out into outright laughing. Seeing the joyful look on her face, Pinkie smiled along, continuing to hug the other girl and let her know that the world would still go on, and that sooner or later, a better day would come.

For the first time in a long time, Minuette actually believed that.

Chantenay looked at her daughter with eyes on the verge of tears. “Golden, are you sure you’ll be okay tonight? If you’d like to have Derpy stay over, I don’t think she’ll mind.”

Carrot shook her head. “It’s okay, Mom. Besides, Derpy’s gotta watch Dinky since Mr. Lance is still going to be gone for the week.” Carrot was still suffering the results of what Derpy had told her parents: while they weren’t angry with her for what happened, they made it clear as to how disappointed they were that she felt suicide was the only way out; likewise, they were saddened that she couldn’t turn to them for help. As for Derpy, she’d changed the gun safe lock the next day and it was likely that Carrot would never have the code to it ever again, which was fine by her – she never wanted to touch another gun so long as she lived.

But Carrot’s parents had always thought of Derpy as a surrogate child, and after this weekend, that had only increased. Not that Carrot blamed her; she owed her life to her best friend in a quite literal way, not that Derpy would ever think that way. It made Carrot realized just how blessed she was, and how privileged a life she led. Sure, she would have the scar for the rest of her life, but it didn’t have to be the end of her life. Especially when Derpy had revealed earlier today, that Carrot’s favorite model, Runway Star, had been in a car crash about five years ago and actually had a prosthetic leg, something Carrot had never noticed. It gave her much to think about.

Chantenay hugged her daughter. “Golden, sweetheart, if you ever feel that you need help, please, ask someone. It doesn’t have to be us. It can be Derpy, or someone at school, or someone.” Chantenay wept into Carrot’s hair as she held her. “You’re too precious to me to lose.”

Carrot couldn’t help but cry herself. “I promise, Mom. I promise.”

After dinner, Carrot walked up to her bedroom. It was funny how much her parents had removed from her room in the wake of her suicide attempt, though admittedly if she had been in their shoes, she would have done the same. Her father had put a few inspirational posters on the wall, which was odd, given that they were from his office downstairs and were more business related than personal fulfilment. The only thing that remained, surprisingly, was the full-body mirror that had been a replacement for the one that she’d broken earlier in the week. She looked at herself, posing in slightly different ways, and for the first time in weeks, she actually felt good about herself.

A second later, her phone rang. “Hey, is this Carrot Top?”

“Speaking.”

“Hi, this is Spot Kick. I know you don’t know me, but I’m on the JV Boys’ Soccer Team at CHS.” While Carrot didn’t know him, she knew who he was. Ruggedly handsome with medium-length two-tone red hair, friendly sienna-hued, almond-shaped eyes. He wasn’t as dreamy as Forward Pass or Chapeaux, but he was definitely no slouch in the looks department. He and Carrot traveled in different circles, though she didn’t exactly mind if he was stretching his orbit in her direction.

The question was, why? “Hi, Spot. What can I do for you?”

“Actually…it’s more about what I could do for you. Rainbow Dash asked me to check if you were interested in help with leg strength training, mainly because of your injury.”

She gasped, shocked that Rainbow had been involved. For her to be involved meant that Sunset was involved, and she would have only been involved if Derpy had gone to her. Why?

“Uh, Spot, I….”

“It’s okay, I know how you feel. It was only a couple of years ago that I finally got out of leg braces.” That had not been an answer she’d been expecting and as if he expected that, Spot continued. “I was born in Malaysia with extremely weak legs, and spent a good deal of my childhood in braces. But after we moved here to the US, the doctors said that it was possible to remove the braces, if I spent a good deal on strength training. Fortunately, our next-door neighbor happened to be a fitness coach at the local gym, so he made a plan with my parents to help me work on my legs. Took a long time, and yeah, wasn’t easy at all, but right around seventh grade or so, my braces finally came off for good. So trust me, I know how it feels.”

“I….”

He chuckled. “Tell you what: meet me after school at the Burger Shack, and I’ll go over the regimen with you. If you’re good with it, we’ll do it, if you’re not, we don’t. That work?”

“I….” She finally found her voice. “Why? Why me?”

“Well….” He hemmed and hawed for a second. “I…I guess I’m doing it because I think you’re cute, and I know that after what happened to you, it’s probably the last thing you want to hear. But I want to help. Maybe it sounds strange, but I want to show you that not every guy is bad, or ever condoned what The Club did. And every time I’ve seen you, well, you have this smile that just seems to brighten the day. But regardless, I want to help, no matter what.”

Carrot blushed. Someone knows what happened to me – and they still find me attractive? It completely surprised her. She was starting to accept herself for who she was, but to hear someone else – someone who wasn’t a friend – tell her that…. She felt warm inside, more than she had in a while.

“Carrot, you there?”

“Sure, I’d love to go,” she found herself saying, reaching towards the metaphorical offer like a parched woman reaching for a glass of water.

“Okay, meet by the statue after school gets out, okay? I don’t have practice tomorrow, so I’m free the moment school lets out.”

“Works for me. See you then,” she gushed, to her own surprise. As she set her cellphone down, she couldn’t help but giggle. Someone likes me – for me! She couldn’t help but prance around the room an—

“You stupid cunt.” Carrot paused to see Other Carrot standing there. Her eyes seemed to burn with an unnatural fury, almost as if she was filled with the purest essence of rage. She wore a see-through, diaphanous gown that gave clear attention to the fact that she wore nothing underneath. Her body, as expected, was flawless and pure, just as Carrot had once been.

“You stupid fucking cunt,” Other Carrot continued. “You could have had perfection. I would have fucked you until you reached paradise. You and me could have had every and any guy or girl we wan—”

“Shut. Up.” The look in Carrot’s eyes, to Other Carrot’s surprise, was filled with one of anger. “You didn’t promise me perfection, you bitch. You only promised me a sad end. It took my family to remind me of that, and that’s a mistake I’ll never make again.” She smiled softly, though it held no warmth for Other Carrot. “And I can always count on Derpy to be there for me.”

“Yeah, well, if you’d done it my way, you could have had her between your thighs, just like you know you wan—”

SLAP

Other Carrot reacted as if she’d been hit, which was unsurprising, given that she was. “You hit me!”

“You’ll get much worse next time.” Carrot gave a nasty smile, flexing her hand despite the fact that it stung.

“Unfortunately, for you, though, there won’t be a next time, because I finally realize who – what – you are.” The smile disappeared from Carrot’s face as she accused, “You’re nothing but my fears – the fear that just because Peppercorn and his fellow assholes used me, that I’ll never love or be worthy of anyone ever again.”

“You won’t, you scarred—” Carrot suddenly got right in her doppelganger’s face, and look on Carrot’s face could best be described as somewhere between “unfriendly” and “rage against the dying light”.

“You have no control over me anymore,” the amber-haired girl said, crossing her arms. “I’m not afraid anymore. And I don’t have to worry about you. You’re nothing more than a fever dream that my prescription will banish.”

“NO!” Other Carrot screamed. “I refuse to go away! You can’t get rid of me!”

Carrot then did something that, later that night, thought she’d never have the strength to do: moving forward, she reached over and pushed Other Carrot towards the mirror. The moment her oversexed double connected with the mirror, it started to suck her in as if she’d been trapped in quicksand.

Trying to free herself, Other Carrot reached out to Carrot. “You can’t do this! You need me!”

“No. I’m free now. I’m proud of who I am, and I refuse to run anymore.”

“You can’t get rid of me! I’m a part of you!” Other Carrot screeched as she was nearly absorbed by the mirror.

Carrot turned away as the looking glass fully assimilated her. “I know,” Carrot said, more to herself than anyone else. “But I’ll learn to get over that.”

With a final scream, Other Carrot vanished.

Chantenay opened her daughter’s door. “Golden? Honey, I thought I heard voices—”

Carrot looked up from her desk. “Oh, sorry. Was watching YouTube on my computer and thought I had it on headphones only,” she admitted as she removed her headphones.

“Okay, then. Dinner’ll be ready in a little while, sweetheart.” Chantenay closed the door.

Carrot got up from her chair, and walked over to the mirror, looking at it intently. For the first time in what felt like forever, she saw her reflection, and only that; no nymphomaniacal doubles, disturbing images of people she knew or anything of the sort. Just her reflection and the background behind it, a copy of her own.

“This is who you are, Golden Harvest,” she told herself. “And for better or worse, I’m the only me I have.”

Since the whole Vibe incident, Minuette had become uncomfortable walking alone – there was always a risk, real or imagined, that she’d be attacked and made to suffer through hell once more. Today, she had – but she never had expected to see who her attackers would be.

“Minnie, we need to talk.” Standing in her pathway in the park down the street from Canterlot High School, was Waterfire, flanked by Evening Primrose and Autumn. Today was April 1st, and though Spring was well on its way, the mornings were still chilly enough to need a jacket, and breath crystallized in the air of the early day.

Minuette looked at her friends, and for the first time, she saw something in their eyes that she didn’t want to see, something she didn’t like. Both Sunday and yesterday had been hard enough on her, and Minuette had to deal with her unintentional role in all this. But with the looks on their faces, she began to wonder if their words of protecting her rang true or not.

“I…I’m supposed to stay away from you three right now,” Minuette explained. “Look, it’s not personal – you three are my friends, but my parents are not happy right now and….” Minuette started to walk, hoping to walk past them. “I…I just…. I’m sorry, girls.”

Her plan ended, however, as Waterfire reached out and grabbed the other girl’s arm. “Look, if you’re expecting me to apologize for what we did, that’s not going to happen,” she said in a frank tone. “None of us are sorry what happened to that asshole, and if I had to do it all over again, I would. You see, I thought I was protecting a friend, Minnie.”

“Yeah, and now that so-called friend is sticking up for a scumbag,” Primrose agreed.

“The very scumbag who fucked us over and then betrayed his own buddies – that’s the worst kind of traitor,” Autumn accused.

“One that got what he deserved, but probably not enough,” Waterfire finished. “He deserves to suffer for touching us.”

Minuette’s eyes went wide in surprise. “What? No! He never touched me, you, or anyone else! He was blackmailed into remaining in the group, and he apologized to us! Wai, you were right there when he did – you punched him in the nuts, for crying out loud!”

“And if I had known what I know now, I wouldn’t have let him get off so easy,” she seethed.

“Wai, please let it go,” Minuette asked. “I never wanted anyone hurt, not for my sake, and I don’t think I can live with what happened because an innocent boy was hurt because of m—”

“Innocent?” Primrose laughed. “Innocent? You call that asshole innocent?” The look in Primrose’s eyes became very unfriendly. “Noteworthy is far from innocent, you stupid skank!”

Autumn threw her hands up. “You know what? I’m done here, ladies. Looks like some people aren’t appreciative of what we do. C’mon, I’m done with this cunt.”

“No, we’re not,” Waterfire said, turning her eyes back to what was clearly becoming her former best friend. “We grew up together, Minnie. And for you to betray me like this? I thought I knew you,” the orange-haired girl snarled, jabbing a finger at Minuette’s chest. “I risked everything for you – my reputation, the guy I liked, everything! And this is how you treat me – treat us, your friends? We had a chance to get rid of the last member of The Club, and you fucking blew it!”

Minuette was wondering if her friend was losing all sense of sanity; this was not the girl she grew up with. She wanted to run away right now, as fast as she could. But Minuette had to try. “Please, girls, think about what you’re saying! I was a victim, too, but I learned to let go—”

“A victim? You weren’t a victim, Minuette.” There was a sense of finality in Waterfire’s mocking words, as if each syllable she spoke spelled the end of a life together as friends. Behind her, Primrose and Autumn looked at each other briefly, then at Minuette with disgusted looks. “Do you know what The Club did to Primmie and Autumn? Do you really know what they did to me? All you got was fucked by my ex-boyfriend and got laid by another girl! Do you want to know what they did to us?” Waterfire’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks of pure hatred as her anger got the better of her, her grip on Minuette’s arm tightening. “I’ve been ruined! Primmie and Autumn were just as wrecked, and you’re sitting there, talking about your morality, when we were turned into playthings!”

“But Noteworthy didn’t do any of those things!” Minuette said, wincing. Waterfire’s grip was increasing, and it was hurting like hell.

“It doesn’t matter!” Waterfire roared, catching the attention of several students walking past; a part of Minuette’s mind realized that she wouldn’t get any help due to the Bystander Effect. “The guy I like is in jail because of your bullshit ‘I don’t want my rapist hurt!’ excuse!”

“Wai, you’re hurting me!” she yelped.

“And you should be hurt!” Autumn replied, spitting in Minuette’s face. “I’m ashamed that I ever thought you were my friend.”

Meanwhile, Primrose got behind Minuette and held her arms in place. “Looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson,” she said, looking at Waterfire.

“You know, I’ve never hit anyone before,” Waterfire said, her eyes wild and any sense of propriety gone, Minuette noticed. “Fortunately, I’ve watched my brother and Poundy enough to know where punching someone is going to hurt,” she said, as she cocked back a fist. “You want to know what hurting feels like, Minnie? Now you’re going to find out.”

To Waterfire’s surprise, a strong hand clamped down on her own. “Nobody gets hurt, not while I’m around.”

A second voice spoke up. “What’s going on, girls? Thought you four were friends, unless there’s some weird ‘sucker punch your pal’ initiation that I’m completely unaware of.”

Waterfire yanked her hand back as Autumn and Primrose turned their attention away from Minuette and to the new speakers. Minuette did as well, glad to see that someone was willing to risk their necks.

Waterfire’s scowl didn’t go away. “Bon-Bon and Trixie Lulamoon.”

“Guilty as charged,” Bon-Bon said with a wolfish smile.

Trixie nodded. “Looks like it’s a good thing we didn’t get a chance to stop at the café, Bonnie. Besides, I think it’s more civic-minded of you to deal with the issue.”

“Oh, look – it’s the butch part of the girlfuck duo and the autistic wonder,” Autumn snarked. “What, you need more than one girl’s tongue in your groove, Ms. Ben-Wa Balls?”

The Vietnamese girl rolled her eyes. “So classy,” she muttered. “If you really need to know – not that it’s any of your business – the three of us usually get breakfast at the Sugarcube Corner Café before we head to school. It’s just that Lyra’s sick today and we fell a little behind schedule. Apparently a good thing, too.”

“Look, no clue what’s going on, but my best guess is that you four had a falling out, and now you’re trying to make Minuette take the fall. Not cool at all, you three. Not cool at all.” Trixie went over and grabbed Minuette by the hand. “Let’s get you out of here before anything gets worse, okay?”

“If I were you, Trixie, I would see your way out of this one before someone gets hurt,” Waterfire threatened. Despite it, Trixie stood her ground. Minuette was somewhat surprised; she’d heard a few rumors that when not doing her third-person-self-referencing shtick, Trixie was about as brave as Fluttershy – that is, absolutely not brave in the slightest.

“Yeah,” Bon-Bon said, stepping in-between Waterfire and her friends and Trixie and Minuette. “Of course, it’s a matter of who’ll be the one doing the hurting. And, since you threatened my friend, that probably means that if you try something, I guess I’ll have to hurt you. So back off now, because if you take the first swing, I’ll end this.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary, Ms. Bon-Bon,” a new voice said. Everyone turned to see Vice Principal Luna standing there. “Fortunately, there were a few students civic-minded enough to report a potential problem in the park here. It seems I arrived just in time to prevent any issue.”

“Ms. Luna,” Bon-Bon began.

“It’s okay, Ms. Bon-Bon. You and Ms. Lulamoon did what’s expected of you: stepping in when someone’s in trouble, and as an educator, I’m proud. You may go; let your teachers know that if they have any issues with your tardiness, they can contact me.” She then turned to Waterfire, Primrose and Autumn. “And you three are already in trouble; I expect to see you in my office in ten minutes.” Nothing more to say, Luna pointed in the direction of the school and six girls started walking towards their respective fates.

The gentle beeping in the room annoyed him. Of course, focusing on that was better than focusing on the pain throughout his body. He’d been lucky, the doctors told him: going up against a professional boxer was suicide, and he was fortunate that he only had the pains he did. Yeah, fortunate my ass. He still felt the pain of his broken rib at his side, still could feel the itching of his numerous welts and bruises all over his body. At least he’d be released tomorrow, and if all went well, he could be back at school by next week.

There was a knock on the door, and a nurse poked her head in. “You have visitors. Should I let them in?”

Noteworthy nodded, unsure of what he could say, and both Pencil Code and Wildfire poked their heads in. Noteworthy looked somewhat surprised; Code had apparently updated his look, ditching the Birth Control Glasses for fashionable frames, and the poindexter long sleeve shirt and slacks for a polo and jeans. He had a sneaking suspicion that the ladies in his social circle decided to use Code as their latest Cinderella project; they had a bad habit of doing that.

“Hey, Notes,” Wildfire said, a smile on her face. “You decent?”

“Probably not,” Code replied. “Actually, bud, you look like shit.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Noteworthy grunted, though it sounded slightly muffled due to the bruises affecting his speech.

“Hey, we heard what happened. Well, not about this part; we already got that word from Stony,” Wildfire said, leaning against the edge of the bed while Code took the adjacent chair. “That guy who punched you is going up on battery charges or something, if I recall what Stony said. Plus, it’s looking like Waterfire and her buddies are going to be paying hard for this. Like ‘probably not coming back to the school after the year’s over’ hard.” When he looked at her oddly, she shrugged and added, “You know me, I have my sources.”

“Shit.” He groaned. “I didn’t want Minnie to be impacted.”

“Well, she wasn’t,” Code explained. “Apparently her friends turned on her and Bon-Bon and Trixie saved her ass. I think there’s going to be a change in the social structure after today.” He shrugged as well. “Personally, if you ask me, I think Holy Cross is probably going to end up with three new students come September – they sure as hell ain’t good enough to get into Zacherle.”

Noteworthy coughed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Good thing Minnie wasn’t hurt.”

In a sort of response to his comment, both Code and Wildfire looked at each other. “I’m thinking now’s as good a time as ever to tell him,” Code suggested.

“Yeah, let me do it – delicate touch of a lady and all,” Wildfire said offhandedly.

“Good, I need to get going anyway. Got a date tonight – don’t want to be late for it.”

“You set up a date on April Fools?” Wildfire asked, surprised.

“Uh…forgot that was today,” Code sheepishly admitted. Wildfire gently slugged him in the shoulder and sent him off on his way.

“Wow, Code’s headed out with Derpy, I guess. Good for him – he’s been wanting her for a while now,” Noteworthy said with a smile.

“Yeah. It’s amazing what happens when the dense finally realize that there’s someone out there that likes them,” Wildfire said without a trace of irony. She then looked at Noteworthy and said, “Okay, Notes, going to lay it out for you: you need to let your obsession with Minuette go for once and for all. You have two reasons, and the first one is simply this: she doesn’t like you. She was probably impressed that you liked her, but given everything that’s just going on, not to mention the fact that you have been borderline stalking her, had probably shot down whatever chance you had. What, did you think this was one of those Northbrook films from the 80s? Did you think this was Ferris Wheel’s Day Off and that you were going to get the girl in the end if you lifted up a boombox?”

“I think that was a different film,” Noteworthy commented.

“You know what I mean, Notes!”

“Yeah, I do.” He looked away briefly, then back at her. “I’ve had a couple of days to think about it. And before I passed out, I recall looking at her, and I think the last thing I saw on her face was her looking at me with pity. You don’t date guys who you pity – well, maybe some girls do, but Minnie…Minuette…she’s not one of them. And even if she would, I don’t think I could ever get that look out of my head again. So yeah, I think this is it for me.” He sighed. “Not going to be easy, but yeah. I think I need to move on.”

Wildfire smiled. “You know, Notes, that’s very mature of you. I thought I was going to come in here and read you the riot act, but looks like it won’t be necessary.”

He smiled, or tried to as much as he could at the moment. “Hey, even I learn sooner or later.”

“Good to hear that.” She looked at the door and said, “Well, I need to get going. There’s still someone else who needs to see you, but the nurse is only letting in two people at a time. Hospital rules, she says.”

“Thanks for coming,” Noteworthy told her, before a thought came to him. “Just out of curiosity, what was the second reason?”

She gave him a sunny smile. “Because it’s considered in bad taste to chase after a potential romantic interest when you’ve been ignoring one. And she’s right behind the door. Best of luck to you both, and see you tomorrow.”

Noteworthy briefly wondered what Wildfire was talking about as she departed, but the curiosity soon disappeared as Sunstone walked through the door. She had her hair in a ponytail that went over her shoulder, and she wore a blouse and skirt today, a far cry from her normal tomboyish looks. She had light makeup on, something surprising since she usually never wore any. And she was looking at him right now with a very unguarded, nervous look. He’d never seen her that fragile before, and it made him wonder.

She sat down in the seat next to him. “Yes,” she said softly. “It’s me.”

“You?” he asked, finally putting some sort of two and two together and it not adding up to potato. “But you’ve been joking all these years—”

“Because what did you want me to say, Notes? That I’ve been in love with you for all this time? Your parents didn’t mind it, your grandfather’s pretty sure we’re going to get married someday…but it was always me – me. I’ve never had the courage to be honest about it, because I didn’t want to be turned down. I didn’t have the strength to hear the word no.”

Noteworthy looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Didn’t have the courage? The strength? Stony, you’re one of the strongest people I know!”

She shook her head. “There’s different kinds of strength. Yeah, sure, put me up against an opponent, and I can tear him apart – it was me that stopped that boxer dead in his tracks. But I didn’t have the strength to tell you the truth that night. I should have…but I wasn’t strong enough.” Her eyes started to fill with tears. “I’m sorry, Notes. It’s my fault you got hurt.”

“No,” he told her. “It was mine. I should have listened. I should have stopped being so obsessed with a girl I can’t have, and chances are I won’t ever. So it wasn’t your fault at all, Stony. It was something I needed to learn.”

The two sat there quietly for a few minutes before Sunstone spoke. “So what now?”

He sighed. “Stony, I don’t feel about you the same way you do me, and I don’t know if I ever will.” A sob seemed to catch in Sunstone’s throat, and she was about to say something when he added, “but I’m willing to try.”

“No, you’re willing to go on a pity date,” she said bitterly.

“No, not a pity date,” Noteworthy said. “A pity date is going out with someone you don’t respect and probably never will. And believe me, if there’s one thing that I’ve always had, it’s respect for you.”

She hopped out of her chair and losing control, kissed him. They were there in that position for at least a minute before she pulled back, realizing what she’d done. “Oh, Notes, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.”

For the first time that she could ever count, Noteworthy gave her a smile that absolutely made her heart go flutter. “Maybe there will be more where that came from, if you’re that good of a kisser.”

Carrot sat in her bedroom, looking over the plan that Spot Kick had given her. He definitely knew what he was talking about, and he was no slouch in the looks department. He was flustered about talking to her at first, but she got him to loosen up, and they agreed that they would work on her strength training this week – and then during the weekend, go on a date.

Yeah, that’s just what I need right now, she said, smiling to herself. She continued to pore over the notes Spot had provided for her right when her phone rang. “Derpy? How’d it go?”

“Is it possible for a girl to fall in love at first go?” Derpy asked her.

“Normally, yeah, but I think you’re a bit more levelheaded than that,” Carrot teased.

“No shit. Still…we’re going out again once my Dad gets back. As it is, I’ve got to thank Fluttershy for babysitting my kid sister. I know Dinky’s going to be annoyed, but hey, that’s how little sisters are.” She yawned. “Sorry about that, think I burned myself out on all the excitement.”

“Well, you owe me details tomorrow, got that?”

“Yeah, I know. You got it. Anyway, talk to you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Carrot paused for a second, and then said, “Hey, Derpy?”

“Still here.”

“I…I really haven’t told you how much I owe you for saving my ass that night. I—”

“Don’t, okay? You don’t have to thank me. We’re family, got that? You shouldn’t have to feel like you owe me or anything like that. You would have done the same.”

“No, I don’t think so. I was afraid, Derpy. I was afraid of my own self, and I was willing to blow myself away.” Suddenly she could hear Derpy laughing, and she was confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Carrot, you can be so dense sometimes. You should know by now, if something’s ever going to hurt you? I’ll stand in front of you, and take the force of the blow.”

“Wow, that sounds poetic,” Carrot said, feeling tears coming to her eyes. She should have known Derpy would have said that. They were family, after all.

“Probably from a song I heard once, really don’t remember. Anyway, talk to you tomorrow, Carrot. Night.”

“Night.”

Author's Note

And that's that!

Don't forget to give the TVT page a little love; it could use it.

Also, this chapter will have some repercussions down the line. Oh yes, it will....

March 25: She Don't Believe Anyone Can Help Her

Both Sunstone and Wildfire looked at the scratches all over the latter’s mother’s prized 2012 Toyota Camry. The crush-blue car was embedded in nothing but key scratches, many of them spelling out words and phrases like VIBEWHORE, DID YOU GET DRUGGED TO? and BRIANWAHED 2 B NOTES FREND.

“You know, I don’t know what’s worse,” Wildfire said, giving her friend an awkward smile. “That they did this to Mom’s car, or that half of them can’t spell.” She brushed taupe-colored hair out of brown eyes. “Soooo glad my car’s in the shop right now, or they would’ve done this to my Scion. Spent a fortune getting that and talking my parents into letting me have it!”

“Yeah, sorry about that, Wild,” Sunstone said, clapping her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Your Mom going to kill you?”

“No, she knows, and fortunately, the school district’s offered to pay for the damage. Dad’s half-tempted to pull me out and send me over to a private school, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Good. We’d miss you if you did,” was the reply.

The two continued to look at the car, reading such nuggets of wisdom as NOTEWORTHYS DRUGGIE SLUT, DID U SPRED 4 NOTS? and MY LIL SISTER GOT NAILED YOU HAG! Finally, without taking her eyes off the car, Wildfire asked, “How’s he taking it?”

“Well, he’s promised not to push any of us away anymore. Last thing he needs is to get kicked around right now because he’s by himself – and that almost happened yesterday.” Sunstone then explained their run-in with Torpedo and his teammates, finishing it with, “And if I weren’t there yesterday, I’d be by his bedside today.”

“So, did you tell him yet?” The silence was deafening, and that was more than Wildfire needed to know. “You shouldn’t hide the fact that you love him, Stoney.”

Neither girl looked at each other as Sunstone sighed. “I…can’t. He’ll never look at me that way, Wild! We were raised together, like siblings – ever head of RSI? And even if not…we’re cousins.”

Wildfire chuckled. “Kissing cousins?”

“I wish – and honestly, I’d do a lot more than that.” Though her friend didn’t see it, a shy grin broke onto Sunstone’s face. “Besides, I’ve told him before, and he’s never believed me.”

Wildfire broke out in laughter. “Because you always tease him about it! You make it sound like you’re harshing him over wanting to play tonsil hockey when you actually do! And besides, I wouldn’t worry too much about the cousin thing. Did you know my parents are cousins? Got married when they were still living in Mexico, and nobody gives them shit for it.” She then shrugged, admitting, “Well, truth be told it tends to freak out my older sister Wildstar, but Wildflower and I are okay with it.”

“Yes, but I’m not sure my family would react so well, even though Notes and I aren’t all that closely related. Even still….” She sighed. “I love him and I can’t tell him worth a damn to save my life. And here I offered to help him win Minuette.”

Wildfire winced. “Not sure that was a good idea. All you’re doing is cutting your own heart out, Stony.” Wildfire then looked at her friend, eye to eye and said, “Tell him. If he’s really the great guy we know he is, he’ll understand. Besides, you don’t know how he feels about you, do you?”

“I know – he wants Minuette, not me.”

“Because he doesn’t know you’re on the market, girl. Trust me: if he knew? Minuette wouldn’t stand a chance.”

In a move that seemed as though it were out of a film, Sunstone reached into her shirt and pulled out a locket necklace. Opening the locket, she revealed a tiny picture of her and Noteworthy at the New Year’s dance the town threw just months back. They had their arms around each other and while Noteworthy was smiling at the camera, Sunstone had her eyes on him. Though the person who took the pic didn’t realize it, Sunstone knew the look in her own eyes that night: love and desire.

Closing the locket and squeezing her fist around it, she closed her eyes to ward away the anguish. “If only I could believe that, Wild,” she replied in hushed tones.

“Earth to Minnie….” Waterfire waved her hand in front of her friend’s face. “You’ve been spacing out a lot this morning.”

“I…sorry. That news report we heard in your car a few minutes ago really unnerved me.” The azure-and-ivory-haired girl slumped in her seat, her deep-blue eyes focusing on her friend. “How many of us? How many?” Minuette sighed in her chair and said, “I’d give a kidney to go back to being called Colgate or Aquafresh or whatever, instead of ‘victim’. Or ‘damaged’. Or—”

“Minnie, we’ve been over this a dozen times. It wasn’t your fault. If anything I’m to blame for introducing you to Stylin’. And you weren’t the only one he victimized, remember? They found traces of the drug in my system, too; it was just that the batch they gave me was too weak to have an effect.”

“You know, I ran into Golden Shamrock and Blueshift? They used to be best friends, and now they don’t speak to each other anymore, because of that damn party! Goldie told me that she and Blue were forced to…. They used them like toys! Two human beings, and they were literally thrown together like robots just for the amusement of som—” As her voice rose, Minuette started to get stares, and it took several hand motions from Waterfire to get the hint. “But that’s not the worst of it.”

The tangelo-haired girl banged softly on the table. “That’s enough, Minnie! What did I tell you? I refuse to let you beat yourself up, and if that’s all you’re going to do, I’m going home. I took us out to lunch so we could relax, not so that you cou—”

Suddenly the bell chimed and a girl with short spring-green and fuchsia hair raced into the café. “Sorry, Mrs. Cake, I know I’m running a little late!”

“That’s okay, dear, I know it’s been a busy day,” Cup Cake replied as she looked at her employee. “Why don’t you take the orders for table five? Pinkie should be out shortly, but they’ve been sitting there a few minutes.”

“Sure thing!” Blossomforth replied, reaching over and slipping on her apron, grabbing her pad and pen and then rushing over to the table. “Hello and welcome…to…the….” The teen waitress stood there, her mouth agape.

Minuette looked at her, with a look akin to a rabbit in the headlights. “Blossom?”

“Minnie?” the floral-haired girl cried out in a voice that sounded like it was being choked. Both girls stood there, completely transfixed, to the point that Waterfire had to wonder if time had stopped.

“Ah, I got this!” Moving to the rescue, Pinkie Pie grabbed Blossomforth and said, “Uncle Carrot needs help in the backside…I mean in the rear! No, I mea—”

Blossomforth just ran off in a random direction, not even aware that she’d run up the stairs into the Cake domicile.

Cup watched the whole display with surprise, but immediately realized what had happened. “Shit. Pinkie—”

“Don’t worry, I got this, Auntie Cup!” She turned back to Waterfire and Minuette. “Order’s on the house. What do you—”

Minuette stood up, and did the only logical thing she could think of: she passed out.

Thirty minutes and an ambulance later, Pinkie was upstairs, trying to coax Blossomforth out of her room. “Blossom? Do you want to talk?”

“No,” came the muffled reply under Pinkie’s bedsheets. “I want to hide from the world and if it wasn’t for my baby…I’d want to die right now.”

“Ambulance came to get Minnie,” Pinkie said, as she sat down next to Blossomforth in the bed. “Uncle Carrot and Auntie Cup closed for the day. They called your parents, explained everything and said you were welcome to stay the night; your dad will be by first thing in the morning to pick you up.” The cotton-candy-haired girl reached over and stroked Blossomforth’s head, trying to be comforting.

“I think I hurt Minnie,” Blossom said in a soft voice. “I…I remember what happened that night. And I think she does too.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Pinkie asked.

“No, I—”

“I’m not going to be offended,” Pinkie said with a smile. “I know people tend to think of me as this innocent thing that has no idea of what’s going on in the world, but I’m not dumb: I have breasts, I have periods, and I know what all that’s for. I’ve also….” She blushed, though it looked more girlish than anything else. “Anyway…I’m not as innocent as everyone thinks, and I’m not going to be offended if you have to say something that you think might otherwise offend my virgin ears or something like that.”

“Really?” Pinkie nodded, and Blossomforth then explained, in graphic detail, of her “encounter” with Minuette at the ill-starred party. “Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, Pinkie. I later found out that was my first sexual encounter. My first time, and I was with a girl I consider a friend, and neither of us swing that way and yet….” The floral-haired girl’s voice fell to a near hush. “They used us like meat, like our lives weren’t worth anything. I’ve…adjusted, had to adjust because of my baby, but Minnie doesn’t have that support.”

“Do you want a hug?” Pinkie asked, a look of concern slipping onto her features.

“No offense, Pinkie, but contact with another girl right now is the last thing I want.” Blossomforth then shook her head and added, “Besides, I’m fine. It’s Minnie that I’m worried about – does she have a support network, or is she hanging out in the wind with nobody to help her?”

“Look at ‘em sway with it,” Derpy sang out at the oven, opening it. A short blast of heat radiated from the appliance, signaling that it was ready to accept her incredible treasure. “Gettin’ so gay with it,” she continued, reaching over to the kitchen island and grabbing the priceless tray within its confines sat priceless works of art. She half-spun, sliding in the tray from her left hand, down her arm, past her shoulder blades, and into the oven via the length of her right arm, before shutting the oven closed due to a cute bump from her butt as she belted out, “Shoutin’ ‘Olé!’ with it, wow! Uuunh! Papa loves mamb—”

“You are sooooo weird,” a voice sang out, and Derpy froze. The teen turned to see her sister standing at the entrance to the kitchen, a sneaky grin on her face. “Who listens to that stuff? It sounds like Grandma’s music.”

“Because it is! You know how much I like Golden Voice,” Derpy said.

“Hello?! Sapphire Shores? Tequila Sunrise? Midnight Moondust? Ever heard of them?” the younger sister retorted.

Derpy shrugged. “You know I’m not into modern stuff.”

Dinky rolled her eyes and groaned. “Derpy, you are weird!”

“Whatever. Anyway, don’t touch these when they’re done, okay? They’re some cherry chocolate muffins I’m baking especially for Carrot.” She grinned. “Besides, I put a new batch of double chocolate chip cookies in the jar for you to share with your friends…which is why I’m guessing you came down here?” Dinky blinked in surprise, before her older sister laughed. “Call it an older sister’s hunch.”

Dinky went over and hugged her sister. “I swear, Derpy, sometimes you act more like Mom than she ever did.”

Derpy winked. “Maybe there’s some sort of alternate universe where I’m your mother instead of your sister?”

“Yeah, right – like that would ever happen,” the girl said. “Well, can you get me a plastic container? The girls’ll be here soon and I want to make sure we don’t make a mess in my room.”

“Smart girl.”

“Well, Dad did say that if I didn’t listen to you, I’ll be in deep trouble.” Dinky was about to say something additional, but then the doorbell rang. “Hey, maybe that’s them.”

“Well, maybe you should go answer the door and I’ll take care of the cookies,” Derpy replied, a grin sliding onto her face.

“Yeah, okay, whatever.” Dinky rolled her eyes again and raced for the front door. A second later, she called back, “Hey, it’s your boyfriend!”

My boyfriend? Derpy’s mind shut down on that thought. Even at the tender age of sixteen, she’d yet to go on a date and while she liked a lot of the guys at school, half of them were turned off by her eyes, even with the fact that her glasses corrected most of the visual error…and the rest of them were only interested in her because of Carrot. That probably had been the origin of her snarky and cocky outward attitude, something that she definitely wasn’t towards those who were close to her.

Hedgehog’s dilemma: always going to push away those who could get close, she sighed. Well, anyone who wanted to get close to her was probably doomed to have to navigate the hell that was her life anyway. “Who is it?” she called out.

“Heya, Derps,” a voice said as he came into the kitchen – it was Pencil Code, a fellow member of the computer club. The guy was an okay codebanger, Derpy had to agree, but he had no pizzazz or style when it came to scripting. He was cute, however, though he really needed to upgrade from the thick glasses and circa-1990s plaid shirts.

Then again, I’m little better, she thought mentally. Carrot’s always telling me that I’d look good if I clean myself up, an—

“Derpy?” Code voiced. “You okay?”

She blinked once, as though to let reality slide back into her mind. A second later, she narrowed her eyes as her trademark attitude kicked into gear. “Heya, Code,” she said, waving. “What’s up?”

The boy snickered. “So what’s with all the 50s Happy Housewife stuff?”

Derpy’s eyes narrowed. “You so much as breathe the concept in anyone’s general direction?” She got right into his face and hissed, “Expect really weird Yugoslavian porn to be dumped all over your pretty computer the next day.”

“Y-you wouldn’t dare!” Code stammered.

“News flash, stupid – who the fuck just had your house entirely networked since you don’t know shit about hardware?”

“Uh, my parents?”

She then grinned. “And who do you think they paid to do all the work?” When his jaw hit the floor, she added, “Honestly, I would’ve done it for free, but your mom insisted that she pay me. So naturally I’m going to set a backdoor in case I need to do some repairs from remote. Of course, you know as well as I do that back doors can be used for other things as well.”

“You know I’ll find it,” he countered.

“Not in time,” she insisted, folding her arms. “So?”

He sighed. “Fine, I get the hint.”

“Oh, stop being such a pussy. Here, have a cookie.” She passed him a triple chocolate chip, and while he munched, she asked, “So now that we got that out of the way, what brings you here?”

“Working on a new proggie for a commission and wanted to know if you’d validate the code for me. It’s going to pay quite a bit, so I want to make sure that I’m covered. Less bugs in it the better.”

She shrugged. “Well, you’re usually not sloppy with your code, so I’m guessing this is big. What do I get out of it?”

To her surprise, he blushed, “Well…I thought…um…well…maybe…you’d want to go out for dinner and talk about it?”

She blinked. Twice. Thrice. Then, in a hushed but surprised voice stammered, “A-a-are you asking me out?”

Pencil Code suddenly stood a little straighter, and looked at her straight in the eye. “Yes, I’m asking you out on a date.”

Derpy’s eyes suddenly went wider and choked off the comment that she’d planned to say. “Y-you’re what?”

“Look, Derpy…we’ve known each other for years. You’re cute – probably the cutest girl I know – and I’ve wanted to ask you out for the longest time. This just gives me the excuse to do so. So, do you want to go out?”

“I-I-I’d…have to think about it. I’m watching my sister this week and next while Dad’s on training and….” Derpy knew she could solve it in a heartbeat by having Dinky stay over a friend’s place that night. But that also brought up a huge issue: she was being asked out by a guy who thought she was cute. It wasn’t something that she expected in the least, and she didn’t know how to react to it. I’ve got to ask Carrot what to wear an—

Ice suddenly infested her veins. Carrot…if I bring this up to her, she’ll think I betrayed her. After all, Derpy was the one who never dated, while Carrot had her choice of the boys, right? But that had been before the Vibe and all those damn events…. Her eyes narrowed. Code was friends with Noteworthy, who was one of the ones who had escaped any responsibility for the whole affair. Maybe it was true that he was just as much of a victim as the rest of them, but it wasn’t something that Derpy believed to be true in any way, shape or form. But that wasn’t her problem.

No, my problem’s how to get dating advice from Carrot while not twisting in the knife further, she sighed.

Code heard that sigh and looked at her sadly. “Hey, so you don’t want to go out. I understand,” he said in a disappointed voice.

To her own surprise, she blushed. “Actually, I’d like to,” she admitted, “but…hey, gotta figure out what to do with my little sister, remember? I…look, let me call you later tonight after I look at your code and we’ll see do what we gotta see…I mean, see what go gotta we! I mea—”

The boy chuckled as he handed her the flash drive. “You know, I don’t ever think I’ve ever seen you this flustered before, Derpy.”

Momentarily recovered, she snatched the drive from his hands. “And if you want me to go out with you, you’ll forget about it, right?” she grumbled in a tone that indicated that him telling anyone else was at his peril.

“Uh…yeah.”

Noteworthy strummed on one of the demo guitars, trying to tune it in order to make it sing. He had nothing better to do today, with his friends all working on other stuff and he not wanting to be beat up. Plus, even he knew that if he chased Minuette around long enough, he was going to look like more of a stalker than a dating prospect. So here he was, on an off-day, working.

“Sounds like you got the tuning down flat, son,” Noteworthy’s father Blues Traveler said with an approving nod. BT, as everyone called him, was a travelling jazz musician and blues player, as well as an in-demand session musician. Though he traveled far and wide, he always returned to Canterlot and his family. This year, however, due to Noteworthy’s issues, he had returned early from a world tour that he’d been on and had just gotten in town a few days back. “So, you want to talk about what happened?”

“No, sir, but I’m guessing you already heard,” Noteworthy replied, focusing on the sounds coming from the guitar. One of the strings sounded a little more twangy than normal, even though he had it tuned the way he wanted it. As always, his grandfather was right; factory-issue strings were as cheaply made as possible, and he would have to replace these with a set of Elixirs, since they were on sale this week; or XLs, since they tended to be one of the better selling brands out there.

“Yes, but I want to hear it from you.” Noteworthy looked up and saw a look on his father’s face that he did not want to see: not anger, but disappointment – at himself. No doubt BT blamed himself for not being around and being a stable influence in his son’s life, and as a result, his son had traveled down a path that he wouldn’t have if he’d been there.

“Dad, it’s not your fault. It’s mine,” Noteworthy said, accepting the blame. “I should’ve known what Flash and Blueblood and the others were getting into. I should’ve been the one to say something.” He then slammed his hand down on the strings, giving it a loud twang and breaking one; the string snapped out and hit his cheek, drawing blood. “But I didn’t, okay? I didn’t until I couldn’t take it anymore, because the girl I like was targeted!”

BT reached into his pocket for a Kleenex, handing it to his son. “Little rough on the merch, Notes. You know that’s no way to treat a piece of art like that.”

Noteworthy took the tissue. “Yeah, and it bit me back as a result. Just another girl who don’t like me – and another blow I deserved.”

“You know, your mother and I didn’t raise you to be so defeatist.”

“Yeah, well I bet you probably didn’t expect to raise a monster like me, either,” Noteworthy began, but stopped before he could say his next part. He looked at his father and was hoping that there would be some response as well. Instead, he saw what looked like intense sadness in his father’s eyes.

“Son…I wished you never traveled down the same path I did, but…this ain’t the end. At least you got off clean.” Noteworthy’s face registered confusion, and that seemed to be his queue to continue. “When I was your age? There was this girl I was wild about, girl by the name of Saffron Blaze. Hottest girl in town, and best of all, she was with me. Your grandpa told me that she was the kinda girl that men by rights should stay away from, because they’re nothing but trouble. And you know what? He was right.”

“I don’t understand.”

BT grinned, but it was a melancholy one. “Remember son, I grew up in the 80s. Big hair, parachute pants, pastel and neon everywhere and everyone looked like they were trying to be the cover of a Duran Duran album. Saffron? No different. She looked as hot as could be, and never let me know differently. I know that you haven’t, ah, been with a girl yet, but when I was younger than you, Saffron and I? Wasn’t a time when we weren’t doing it ever since we started dating. In hindsight, we were doing that more than actually dating, per se, but back then my mind wasn’t really focused on that.

“It was a friend of hers that had gone on to college a couple of years before that had introduced us to coke. I tried it once, didn’t like it, swore that I’d stay clean and far away from it. But Saffron…she took to it like a duck to water. She did it on a regular basis and little by little stopped being the girl that everyone wanted and started to become really the girl that everyone stayed away from, even me. And then about two weeks after we stopped going together? She ODed. Her parents said when they found her, they found a key of coke – where the hell she got it from, nobody knows – and a picture of me and her in one of her hands. The other? Well…that’s private.

“Her parents blamed me for the whole thing; after all, if I’d known about it, why didn’t I say anything? Why did I just abandon her? And you know what? They were right. I did. I just walked away instead of helping her, and she would probably be alive today if I did – and if not, my conscience would be clear. So if you’re wondering why I’m not mad at you? It’s because I’m mad at myself – for not teaching you that there are people out there who get themselves in holes, and people like us are put there with them to help them out. And I didn’t teach you that. So, yes, while you’re suffering for what happened…you’re not alone, son. By no means, are you alone.”

Lying in the darkness of her room, wearing headphones, Carrot Top felt alone and empty. Nobody was home, and Derpy was busy taking care of her sister. Carrot didn’t dare to step out of the house for fear that something would happen again, just like it did last night. She hadn’t told Derpy what had happened, because she didn’t want to drag her friend down with her.

While the blonde had went to get them snacks, Carrot went off to the restroom to freshen up, and would meet her at the seats. Off into the restroom the carrot-hued girl had gone, without any issue, entering a stall. But it was when she was seated there on the toilet that she heard the voices of other girls just outside, at the sink:

“Did you see who’s here? Carrot cunt!”
“Who? Oh, you mean Carrot Top, right? Yeah, heard she gangbanged a bunch of guys while on that drug. Heard she liked it, too.”
“Figures. Goddamn slut’s already got the eye of every guy at school, and probably a few girls, too.”
“Yeah, bet she’s spent some time with that blonde chick who goes to County – the one they say fucks everyone she meets?”
“Dunno about that, but wouldn’t be surprised. Anyway, saw who she’s here with. The retard with the eyes – as if she thinks glasses are going to fix them.”
“Eh, they’re fuckbuddies anyway, I’m sure – just a matter of who wears the strap-on. Anyway, we’d better get to our movie, it’s starting in a couple of minutes.”

Shivering with a mixture of shame, anger and fear, Carrot made her way to the seat next to Derpy. Thankfully, the movie had a part that brought tears to everyone’s faces, or else she might have to explain what had happened.

“You know, she probably already knows,” a voice said in the room. Surprisingly, it was her own. Carrot sat up to find herself standing there, in the nude. “She probably stays with you out of sympathy, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Carrot asked her double, looking at something the other Carrot was missing: namely, the scar from the surgery. She was scarless and perfect in a way that the teen on the bed would never be ever again.

“You know that she sees you as nothing but a basket case,” Other Carrot said, sitting on the bed and looking at Carrot. “She may have thought of you as a sister once, but you know her mind. She’s analytical, logical and looks at things through a mathematical lens. And right now? You’re just an experiment.”

“That’s not true!” Carrot retorted. “She’s only like that to protect herself. With people she really knows, she lets down her guard and she’s the sweetest girl ever! Besides, she would never treat me like that!”

“Oh, really? Then why isn’t she here?”

“Because she’s taking care of Dinky!”

“That’s a lie and you know it.” Other Carrot reached over and caressed her duplicate’s face. “Dinky’s smart enough to take care of herself and besides, it’s spring break – she could easily stay over a friend’s. No, Derpy’s there because she doesn’t want to be here. And why should she? You’re ugly now.” Other Carrot gestured towards herself. “Meanwhile, look at me: I’m perfect, not a scratch on me, and worth the eye of every guy – and girl – at school. That girl over at County, the one with the rumors? Bet she only dreams of what you had.” An evil grin came onto Other Carrot’s face as she added, “Or should I say used to have?”

“That’s not true! Derpy said I’m still beautiful, my parents say so too!”

“And yet you’re lying in bed, wearing clothing, so you don’t have to see the mark of your shame anymore. And yet look at me. Pristine and flawless. Everything you want to be. Everything you used to be. And yet…there’s a way that you could still be.”

“No, it’s impossible.”

“Oh, really? Then ask Candlewind. Most beautiful woman, back in the sixties…until she started to get old and fat and forgotten. And you know what?” A sinister grin came onto Other Carrot’s face. “It wasn’t anything that death couldn’t solve. Look at her now! She’s on the list of The Most Beautiful Women in History! And she earned that spot by checking out early – no getting old, fat and decrepit like Hampstead Sweetheart or Roman Holiday.” Other Carrot leaned forward and said, “And you can be just like her – an immortal beauty, while you still can. Before anyone realizes how hideous you’ve become.”

“How?” Carrot asked, not sure if she should.

In reply, Other Carrot whipped her hand out, producing a small bottle of pills. “All you have to do is take these, instead of the ones the doctors have you taken. Trust me, your parents won’t miss them, just like they won’t miss you. They’ll be free of you, Carrot, and you’ll be free of the fear, the misery, the ugliness. You’ll get to be Aphrodite once, more, and all…” Other Carrot got closer, within Carrot’s personal space, adding, “…you have to do…” Other Carrot pulled off Carrot’s shirt, so both nude chests were mirrors of one another, as Other Carrot then pulled Carrot’s face to hers finishing with, “…is just take these.” And with that, two pairs of lips that were identical to one another connected—

—and Carrot opened her eyes, sitting up and breathing heavily, still wearing her shirt…

…and a bottle of her father’s prescription of sleeping pills. In her other hand, about ten of the pills, more than enough to overdose.

With a panic, she threw the pills away, burying herself underneath her sheets and shivering in panic. Did I…did I?

You could be beautiful forever, the voice in the back of her mind cooed, a siren’s song of suicide that repulsed her right now…and yet also spoke to her in a way that she never felt before.

Carrot reached over to her phone, and dialed a number that she knew would immediately answer. “Derpy?” she asked in a weak tone.

Derpy knew in a moment that something was wrong. “Carrot, you okay?”

“Do…do you hate me? Am I just an experiment?”

“No! Whatever gave you that idea? Let me guess: someone talk to you this morning? Let me know who it was and I’ll take care of it, I promise.”

“No…no just an unreasonable fear,” Carrot spoke, tears sliding down her cheeks. It was a lie. Derpy still cares about me. It was just a lie.

“Hey, I’m coming over. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, just as soon as I have Dinky’s friends go home. Maybe I can have Dinky stay over there.”

“No, that’s ok—”

“No. You need me and to me there’s little more important than that. I’ll be there no later than four. I promise.” Derpy hung up the call, and after a few minutes, Carrot set the phone down, then got out of bed. Looking at her alarm clock, she noted it was 3:03, and the afternoon sun shone through the window.

“She’s not going to save you,” Other Carrot’s voice seemed to echo in the room. Carrot turned to see Other Carrot standing in the mirror, naked and sweaty. “The only thing that will truly save you is death.”

“No. She’s my best friend. She’ll be there for me – and you shut up!” Carrot screamed.

“You know that’s the truth, Carrot Top – because at the end of the day, all you are is really just Golden Harvest, a girl with a stupid name that no one will remember. But if you take my advice…you’ll have everything and more.” Figures started to coalesce amongst Other Carrot in the mirror, and a second later, they became males, just as nude. A second after that, she recognized the faces as Other Carrot eagerly beckoned them to be with her, lie with her and do whatever they wanted to her.

Carrot screamed. The mirror shattered and—

“Carrot?” She felt arms around her. She was shivering like the room was frigid and she was cold and naked, goosebumps all over her body.

“What happened?”

“Derpy?” Carrot looked up into the citrine, bespectacled eyes of her friend. “How…how’d you get here so quick?”

“So quick? No, if anything, sorry I’m late!” she apologized. “And why on earth did you throw your phone at the mirror? Look – nevermind that.” Derpy went over to Carrot’s dresser, pulling out a t-shirt, sweatpants and underwear, then pulling her friend to her feet. “Go take a bath and relax – sounds like you need it. I’ll make some hot chocolate for us or something and I’ll clean up this broken glass.”

“Okay,” Carrot said numbly, standing up and making her way towards her bedroom door and the bathroom on the other side of the hallway. But as she did, her eyes briefly drifted to the clock.

It read 4:37.

Author's Note

In case any of you are wondering what song Derpy's listening to: