Under The Blue Sky

"Hey, sleepyhead."

Alfred opened his eyes to see Rainbow sitting next to his head on the floor. He looked around to find that he was in the first room of his house and wrapped up in their bedsheets. He struggled to keep his eyes open but Rainbow gave him the motivation he needed.

"Uh, what time is it?"

"Late."

"What happened? Why am I on the floor?"

"After rushing that poor stallion to the hospital, I raced home and found you collapsed on the floor," Rainbow said slowly, rubbing her hoof against Alfred's head. He moved his tongue around and the thick, metallic taste of blood coated his whole mouth. He looked down to see he was still wearing his blood-drenched clothes underneath the covers.

"Oh, shit."

"Yeah, that happened. Care to explain?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Where is he? How is he doing?"

"He's pulling through, or at least that's what the doctors said. He looked really bad. What happened between you two?"

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I just lost it."

"Yeah, but why?"

"I don't know, I just..." Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door, and Rainbow went to answer. She opened it to find Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy all standing outside.

"Hi, glad you all could make it. Come take a seat in the living room while Alfred gets ready."

"Hi guys," Alfred said awkwardly while laying on the floor in front of them. The others budged past Alfred and made their way into the living room, leaving Alfred alone in the hallway. He immediately got to his feet, just realising how bloody his fight really was. The clothes stuck to his skin as he moved around.the house. He headed upstairs to get ready for the imminent ass whooping he was going to receive.

He stripped his clothes off slowly, being careful not to rip his skin off in the process. He gazed upon the bloody rags beneath his feet and sighed in shame. He was absolutely devastated about how he had acted. He felt like some kind of animal last night, but the most disturbing thing was that he seemed to enjoy beating the life out of that pony. Sure, he may of deserved it, but it wasn't right, and Alfred knew that. He climbed into the shower and watched the blood swirl into the drain below, and Alfred hoped that his sins were washed away along with it.

After getting dressed and making his way downstairs and into the living room, he took his seat against the wall. The others circled him with concerned faces. They just looked at each other, unsure of how to approach this, but finally Rainbow began to speak up.

"Alfred, what happened?"

"You saw what happened, I lashed out and beat him up real bad."

"But why? There has to be some logical reason, because I know you would never hurt somepony that bad for nothing."

"Alfred, that was crazy. You were all like BAM, and POW, and..."

"Pinkie!"

"Oh, sorry. I'm just saying that it was really exciting. You know, I think I may just start up a little fight club every week."

"Pinkie!"

"Hey, I'm gonna need to do something now that the parties are off."

"Twilight, Rarity, how did you two hear about this."

"Applejack came straight to us after it happened. Luckily, not many ponies know except for the ones at the party.."

"Darling, you have to tell us what happened. Surely you don't want this to damage your reputation."

"He was being insulted," Fluttershy muttered nervously. The group quickly turned to face her. Fluttershy was beginning to sweat with anxiety. "Right, Alfred? That's what happened."

"Alright, I'll tell you everything. I first went to look for Fluttershy because Applejack had told Rainbow and I that she wasn't doing good. So, I went looking for her and found her in the restroom." Alfred looked up to Fluttershy, asking if he was allowed to say what he wanted to. Fluttershy nodded shyly. "Fluttershy was having trouble trying to cope with being around that many people. It was too tight and claustrophobic for her. I stood outside the stall, asking her about it and trying to calm her when all of a sudden some pony busts the door down and starts yelling at me."

"What did he say?"

"He insulted me, saying that it was my fault for Discord coming back. He called Rainbow a slut, and a whore..."

"HE WHAT!?" Rainbow suddenly screamed at the top of her voice. "Okay, at first I thought you were crazy about knocking this guy around but now I'm totally with you." The others looked at her a little surprised. "What!? He called me a slut!"

"He also insulted my family."

"Oh my..." Rarity whispered, a little shocked with the rest of the group.

"He practically forced me to leave Fluttershy alone in there, and I knew I couldn't do that. So I headed back in and he continued to insult me."

"He then threatened you, right Alfred?" Fluttershy added.

"Yeah, well..."

"Did he start fighting you? Because that's what it sounded like."

"Umm, well actually, I started the fight."

"What?"

"I know that it wasn't the right thing to do, but I just couldn't control myself. I lost it, and I'm sorry." Rainbow got up to sit next to Alfred and began to comfort him. Alfred just put his head into his hands, desperately trying to forget everything. The others still looked unsure about what to do, but they did feel sorry for Alfred. Even after all of this shocking news, he was still the loveable and cute guy everypony knew. It wasn't fair that Alfred should be forever known for a mistake, besides the others have all done bad things before.

"Alright, Alfred," Applejack began to say slowly. "I think we're all willing to let this slide if ya head on down to the hospital and apologise."

Alfred looked up towards the group and nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

XXXXX

Alfred opened the hospital doors slowly with the gang following behind him. He was immediately greeted by Nurse Redheart, who had a worried look on her face. Twilight decided to talk to her about Alfred, hopefully to avoid any trouble. During the conversation, Alfred picked up on the stallions name. It was Midnight Snow. Alfred had never thought about who this pony actually was in the moment, the only thing he could focus on was beating him to a bloody pulp. It never occurred to him that he actually had a life, and a family to care for. Alfred remembered him talking about his kids, and this threw Alfred into an even stronger whirlwind of guilt. He panicked on the inside, thinking about what his kids would think of his father. No child would ever want to see their dad beaten and damaged.

They all sat in the waiting room quietly. None of them wanted to speak, afraid of triggering something inside Alfred. They weren't scared of him, but rather they didn't want him to feel too bad. They all were willing to look past this little bump and move on, which Alfred was thankful for. Although he didn't feel proud about what he had done, he was happy that his friends had his back, no matter what.

The room was dead silent. There was no communication between any of them, except the occasional rub on Alfred's leg from Rainbow, reassuring him that everything will be fine. He smiled back gently, still feeling guilty. Alfred looked around the room and began to speak.

"Hey, Twilight, who else knows about this?"

"Just the ponies at the party, I think, unless they've spread rumours, which is likely."

"Don't worry about it, babe. It's gonna be fine."

"Yeah, hon. Just be glad things didn't get too out of hand."

"Okay, I'm just worried about what they all think of me."

"Are you kidding, Alfie Walfie! From what I've heard, no one liked him anyway."

Alfred raised his head slowly to Pinkie, with a curious mind.

"What?"

"You're not the only one he's been bullying. Most of the crowd was practically cheering you on."

"Hey, Pinke, come on. That doesn't matter," Rarity quickly responded.

"It's true."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Apparently he's a really nasty guy, treats his kids bad and everything."

"Pinkie, stop!" Applejack suddenly shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "We're not here to discuss Moonlight's faults, we're here to apologise to him, well Alfred you are."

"That's right. It's not about what he has done, it's about what I've done. And I'm ready to..."

"Moonlight Snow is ready to see you now. I'm sorry, we can't allow more than one visitor."

"That's okay, I'd like some one on one time," Alfred whispered as he rose from his chair, taking one last look at his friends. He gave Rainbow a small wink, which she appreciated, before entering the room.

The hospital room was dark, only lit by the sunshine that was coming through one window. Moonlight Snow's bed was in the corner and he was hidden by shadows, concealing his injuries. Alfred couldn't tell if he had been seen yet so he pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down slowly. Now that he was closer, he could see the aftermath of the previous night, and Alfred began to tear up a bit. His face looked as if it had been crushed and his muzzle was now at least twice as short. Moonlight's eyes were squinted and still stained red from the blood. Alfred was haunted by his breathing, which was very similar to the rattling sound from before. His coat was still a light pink colour since the blood had soaked deep into his skin.

As soon as Moonlight managed to see Alfred sitting before him, he started to panic and back himself up into the corner of the room. He was pulling off all sorts of medical cords in the process, desperate to get away from the monster sitting next to him. His breathing rapidly increased as he moved back and Alfred just held his hands together and stared to the floor.

"I'm sorry for what happened last night. That wasn't me, that's not who I am," Alfred said, slowly looking up to the terrified pony. "I hope you can forgive me."

Midnight nodded repeatedly, still scared of what Alfred could do. At this point, Alfred knew that he wasn't able to speak because of his injury. Alfred looked deep into his frightened eyes and realised how much damage he had actually done. Moonlight was now petrified of Alfred, which was a different experience for him. He had never actually been feared before. He had always been the one to run and hide, but now after seeing what he was capable of, he felt slightly proud. It wasn't something to be proud of, but for some strange reason, he did.

"Can we bury the hatchet and move on?"

Moonlight nodded his head frantically again.

"Good, I'm sorry," Alfred said as he slowly stood up and headed for the door, but while doing so, a small thought crossed his mind. He stood in the middle of the room with his back turned to Moonlight, contemplating what Pinkie had said. If it was true, and Moonlight really was a bad pony, then Alfred had an opportunity to change him for the better, knowing that Moonlight would do whatever he said. Suddenly, all of the strange memories that he had recalled the night before came flushing back. That familiar feeling of pride and anger returned. He didn't want to use fear as motivation, but at this moment in time, what other option did he have? He could've walked straight out of the room, avoiding any complications, but he chose not to. Alfred could feel his pride growing inside himself, as well as the fire from last night.

"Oh, and one more thing," Alfred said, returning to his seat. Moonlight immediately sprung back to his corner, wondering what he had done to deserve this. "Is it true?"

Moonlight Snow looked at him, confused.

"Have you been bullying other ponies?"

Moonlight nodded slowly.

"Have you ever hurt any other ponies?"

Moonlight continued to nod.

"Have you ever hurt your wife?"

"Have you ever hurt your children?"

Moonlight shook his head quickly.

"Now is not the time to lie to me, Moonlight. I'll ask again, have you ever hurt your kids?"

Moonlight nodded his head in shame.

"Alright, I need you to listen to me. When you get out of here, the first thing you're going to do is apologise to every single pony you've ever hurt," Alfred stared at him, coldly. "Then, you're going to become a better father. This means treating them regularly, and trying to earn back the respect that you lost. Then, and only then, can you walk a free pony," Alfred said beginning to stand. He towered over him again like before, only this time he wasn't overcome with rage, this time he truly meant it. "And if I ever hear that you've been at it again, I won't hesitate to send you back here. Do you understand?"

Moonlight moved his head up and down, reassuring Alfred that he would do what he said. Alfred began to walk towards the door and placed his hand on the handle, only to look back at Moonlight.

"You know, I originally came in here just to say I'm sorry and move on, but after looking at how pathetic you really are, I figured you needed this. Ever heard the saying 'what goes around, comes around'? You better learn it."

Alfred closed the door behind him, leaving Moonlight alone to face his fears.