Name: Crystal Beth

Session Number: 2

“Hello?” I greeted the shifty and once again filthy mare.

“H-h-hey,” she struggled to say as her bleary eyes looked up at me.

“…You okay?”

“N-not r-really,” she answered as she shakily stepped through the door.

“…Are you on that Poison Joke?”

“’T-that P-poison Joke?’ Y-you sound l-like my dad,” she tried to chuckle but just went into a coughing fit.

“Jesus, you sound terrible.”

“C-can I h-have some w-water?”

“Sure,” I said before leaving and returning a minute later with two glasses. She drank both within a few seconds before attempting to lie on the chaise longue.

“Looks like you forgot what I said last time,” I said as I held her a few inches away from the longue.

“S-sorry. I-I just r-really need to l-lie down,” she panted.

“And another bath; you’re all sweaty and slimy,” I added with a sigh before taking her to the bathroom. Like last time, I rolled up my sleeves and washed the various substances from her coat and mane as she sighed with content. Despite the weird sounds she made, her body was strangely warm and trembled the whole time.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked when I was done.

“N-nothing m-more than usual,” she replied as she struggled to dry herself. Even though it was a dark joke, I chuckled lightly as I took the towel and dried her myself.

“I see, but seriously. We’ve only seen each other once before and I can still tell something is off.”

“…W-well, I-I thought I’d give that q-quitting thing another t-try.”

“What about your dealer?”

“I-I figured I wouldn’t m-make it through this a-anyway. I-I’m already c-cracking,” she said as she struggled to not collapse under my already delicate hands.

“…Guess you better lie down then,” I said as I picked her up and carried her to my bed, “how long does this usually take?”

“I-I don’t know. A-A few days, a w-week at m-most.”

“…Gonna be a long week, huh?” I sighed as I put the covers over her and turned to leave.

“I-I don’t have enough m-money t-to stay that long.”

“Don’t worry about it; I practically do this job for free now anyway.”

“M-my dealer m-might come l-looking for me.”

“I’ll deal with that when it happens.”

“…W-why are you h-helping me?”

“…I guess I’ve got a soft spot for girls in pain,” I answered flatly before leaving. The rest of the day went by pretty quietly as I like it to, especially since I planned on taking the week off. I also planned on traveling to one of the other cities or towns I’ve heard about, but I guess I’ll postpone that. I fed her whatever she was able to keep down and stayed by her side the whole time, being sure to keep a mop and bucket close.

The next day her condition didn’t change much; she was still bedridden and shaking like Dew Star in the presence of three or more ponies. Speaking of which, Dew Star showed up around lunch, interrupting the meal I was trying to feed Beth.

“What’s up?”

“H-Hi. I-I just wanted to see if you’ve eaten yet.”

“I’m in the middle of that right now, but shouldn’t you be at the castle?”

“I-I have the week off.”

“…What a coincidence.”

“Y-yeah…”

“…”

“…C-can I come in?”

“Uh,” I muttered as I looked back at my bedroom door, “…Sure.” Stepping to the side, I let Dew Star happily trot in and head towards the kitchen.

“W-what were you eating?”

“Soup,” I answered as I pointed to the pot on the stove.

“T-that’s it?”

“…My stomach’s been bothering me lately.”

“I-it’s probably all that m-meat you eat.”

“Yeah, maybe. You can have some,” I offered, causing her to make a semi-horrified face that made me smirk, “the soup I mean.”

“O-oh. O-of course.” With my permission given, she went about preparing herself a bowl, fetching everything she needed from around my kitchen with ease. As she was ladling the soup a loud gagging noise came from my room, startling Dew Star and making her drop her bowl.

“O-oh, I’m sorry! I-I’ll clean this up!” she said as she quickly grabbed a towel. As she was busy, I slid away to my room where I found Beth panting with a bit of drool on her chin and sweat all over her face. Picking up a washcloth, I started to wipe the drool and sweat away when she suddenly sat up and puked on me.

“…Goddamnit,” I muttered as I looked down at my ruined shirt and pants.

“A-are you alright?” Dew Star called from outside, “Y-you don’t sound too good.”

“Yeah, like I said, my stomach’s bothering me,” I answered as I stripped the foul smelling clothes and grabbed a towel before stepping out of my room.

“W-w-where are your clothes?” she stuttered.

“They got a little dirty, but I’m going to take a quick bath.”

“A-alright.”

“And don’t go in there; it kind of got everywhere,” I said as I went into the bathroom. After a minute or two, I was soaking in the warm and sudsy water sighing and moaning to myself about how much work this had ended up being.

“D-do you want me to leave?” Dew Star interrupted.

“No, just give me a few minutes. Go ahead and eat if you want.”

“…I-I came to eat with y-you.”

“…”

“…C-c-can I come in?”

“…Why?”

“I-if you’re not feeling well, y-you shouldn’t be alone.”

“…Why not?” I sighed as I sunk lower into the water. I guess that’s what I get for lying. The door slowly creaked open and I watched Dew Star walk in and sit next to the tub, her eyes focused on her hooves.

“So, what have you been up to since I saw you last?”

“N-not much. A-are you alright?”

“Besides my stomach, I’m fine. I’m glad healing magic works just fine on me like every other kind, otherwise I’d still be hurting.”

“…Y-you never told me who did that to you.”

“Because I did it to myself.”

“…I-I don’t believe you,” she muttered.

“…As expected of a former Royal Guard; your attention to detail is pretty keen. Then again, I wasn’t trying that hard to hide it.”

“T-then why did you lie to me?”

“Because it doesn’t have anything to do with you. I don’t want you wasting your time thinking about it or me.”

“…I’ll spend my time how I want,” she muttered, making me raise a brow.

“Excuse me?” I asked with a smirk.

“N-nothing!”

“Did you just sass me?”

“I-I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean it!” she said as she turned away defensively.

“I’m just fucking with you,” I said as I petted her head, “I keep telling you, you can say whatever you want to me; literally everyone else does.” She quickly relaxed from my touch as she leaned into it with a content sigh.

“Y-yeah, but… I-I don’t want to treat you like everypony else does.”

“Hmm… well, a good first step would be leaving so I can dry off.”

“O-of course.” After taking minute to dry, I headed back to my room where I opened a window to vent the disgusting smell.

“N-nice,” I heard Beth croak as I dropped my towel, “h-how often y-you use t-that?”

“Not very,” I answered as I got dressed, “need anything?”

“W-who’s t-that o-outside?”

“…Another customer coming over to say hi.”

“D-do all your c-customers d-do that?”

“…One or two,” I answered as I sat on the bed and wiped the sweat from her head, “you good?”

“C-could be b-better.”

“Let me entertain her for a little while and then I’ll go get you something to help with the pain.”

“T-take your t-time.”

“Hey, I forgot, but I actually have someone coming in in a little bit,” I told Dew Star as I rejoined her.

“O-oh. I-I thought you were on vacation.”

“Well you know what they say, no rest for the wicked.”

“…Y-you’re not wicked. I-if you were, you wouldn’t be helping ponies.”

“I know a few that would say what I’m doing isn’t helping anyone and is only causing more problems.”

“That’s not true!” she exclaimed, making me chuckle inwardly.

“Thanks, Dew Star. It’s nice to be reassured every so often.”

“N-no problem,” she replied with a bashful smile, “b-bye.” That day and the next went by just as quietly, save for the occasional puking and swearing from getting covered in said puke. It wasn’t until the forth day when Beth finally stopped puking and gave me a chance to clean my sheets, that a certain pony visited me.

“Hi, can I help you?” I greeted the black unicorn mare at my door.

“Hello, I believe a friend of mine is staying here,” she answered.

“Sorry, she’s bedridden right now. I don’t think she can see you.”

“That fine, I’ll just see her,” she said before trotting past me into my place, “where is she?”

“…Excuse me, but I don’t remember inviting you in.”

“If you know who I am, you’d know I don’t need an invitation.”

“Well around here, everyone needs an invitation. Even the princesses don’t get in without one… except that one time.”

“Princesses?” the mare repeated as she turned her attention to me, “You know the princesses?”

“All four of them, yeah. I definitely wouldn’t call us friends, but I’m sure they’d get a little upset if something happened to me or their citizens.”

“…Are you threatening me?” she asked aggressively as she tried to get up in my face, but came short by a foot or two.

“Of course not. It’s just a warning to anyone that might be listening.”

“…A wise guy, huh? I heard Princess Luna doesn’t take kindly to smart-asses.”

“She’s made an exception this one time,” I said before motioning to the door, “and I’ll make an exception this one time to not tell them about you if you leave quietly.” The anger in her eyes was obvious and if it wasn’t for my bluff, I’m sure I would have caught on fire right then, but she just stared me down as she slowly left. After closing the door, I let out a sigh of relief before returning to my laundry in the bathroom.

“T-thanks,” a voice croaked from behind me.

“I told you I’d take care of it.”

“I-I know, I-I j-just didn’t think y-you could h-handle it.”

“A little lying can go a long way.”

“Heh, d-don’t I k-know it. But s-seriously, thanks,” she said as I felt something touch my back.

“She’s probably going to show up again at some point, so don’t thank me until she’s gone for good.”

“T-then think of i-it as a-advance payment.”

“Heh, sure. Now back to bed; I’m come with some food in a minute.” By the next day she was up and walking again, even her usual stutter made way for what I guess they’d call a Manehatten accent.

“You look a lot better,” I commented as we ate breakfast.

“Sorry I can’t say the same for you,” she replied as she stuffed her face, “you look pretty tired.”

“I wonder why.”

“Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll be out of your hair for at least a little while.”

“Only a little while?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably relapse in a day or two.”

“I forgot about that being a possibility,” I sighed as I rubbed my face, “can you at least promise me you’ll try to fight it? I’ve kind of invested a lot of time into you and I’d hate to see my hard work go to waste.”

“…I’ll try.”

“That’s all I’m asking; that and maybe some kind of payment.”

“I thought my thanks was good enough?” she asked with a small smile and I just looked at her blankly, “…Of course it isn’t.”

“…Like I said before, don’t worry about it. If you-” I started but was stopped by a knock at my door, “one second.”

“Open up!”

“Alright, relax,” I said before opening the door, “what do you-” My words were cutoff by a sudden blow to my stomach, making me fall to my knees and receive another blow to the face, breaking my new nose.

“Arg, not again,” I moaned as I held my face, “what the hell?”

“Shut up,” a familiar voice commands as I’m kicked in the side, “if you knew who I was when we met the other day, you’d know this was coming.”

“M-mind informing me then?”

“The name’s Midnight Spice.”

“Of course it is,” I groaned as I sat up and looked at the black mare and her two guards.

“Now, you’re going to let me see Crystal Beth and not interfere with our conversation,” she said with her face in mine, the intimidation she was trying to convey not affecting me at all.

“N-no. We’re good.” The swift kick to my side from one of her guards told me that wasn’t the answer she wanted and the force of the blow was strong enough to send me sliding into the sitting room.

“I don’t like repeating myself,” the mare said as her magic sat me up against my filing cabinet.

“W-well, neither do I.” Once again that wasn’t the answer she wanted, so one of the guards bucked me in the chest, breaking a few ribs and making it hurt to breath. The force of the blow shook the cabinet behind me and made the unsuspecting rock on top fall into my lap.

“The longer you hold out, the more these two will have to hurt you.”

“T-that’s f-fine.”

“What?”

“P-pain is the l-last thing I’m worried about.”

“…I guess we’ll just have to make your life the first,” she said before turning away, “kill him.” I smirked slightly as one of the guards turned to buck me in the face, only to be shocked when her hooves were an inch from my face, making her collapse. Her stallion counterpart looked between her and me a few times before trying himself and ending up the exact same way.

“Decent help is hard to find these days,” Midnight Spice sighed as her magic levitated the rock away from me and examined it, “…Hmm, Princess Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark is on this. I guess you weren’t lying about knowing the princesses.”

“O-of course n-not.”

“Guess I’ll have to kill you before they find out,” she said as her magic lifted me off the floor.

“S-stop!” Beth’s voice exclaimed as she jumped out of a closet, “Stop hurting him!”

“Oh, there you are Beth. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Midnight Spice said as her magic dropped me, “can’t have one of my top customers going clean, now can I?”

“No…” Beth replied as Midnight Spice’s magic opened the door.

“Great! Then let’s get you back to my place; I just made a fresh batch and-”

“S-stop,” I groaned as I grabbed Midnight Spice’s back hoof. She easily slipped out of my grasp and stomped on my hand, making me yell in pain for the first time.

“Ah, there’s the scream I was looking for. Too bad I can’t stay and hear more, but I-”

“What’s going on here?!” a voice exclaimed from the door, but I couldn’t see who as the pain started to make me lose consciousness, “…I-is that-”

I awoke a few hours later to the familiar sight of a white hospital ceiling, accompanied by a steady beeping and smell of sterilized equipment. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my chest made me lay back and let out a loud groan.

“I-I think he’s awake!” a familiar voice said from beyond the curtain around me. It quickly shifted and revealed Dew Star, who quickly moved to my side, and Crystal Beth who stood a few paces away.

“Thank Luna you’re alright,” Dew Star said sadly, “I thought-I thought-”

“I’m fine,” I interrupted as I petted her, “a little sore, but that’s nothing new.”

“G-good. I-I don’t know what I’d do if you were… if you left.”

“Get over it quickly, I hope.”

“I… I don’t think I could…”

“…Me neither,” Beth spoke up as she took a few steps closer, “I… Thank you.”

“Unless Midnight Spice was taken in, I don’t know what you’re thanking me for.”

“S-she was,” Dew Star stated.

“Really? How?”

“She called the Royal Guard right after she took care of Midnight,” Beth said as she nodded at Dew Star.

“Wait-what?” I questioned as I stared at Dew Star, “You took down Midnight Spice?”

“Y-yeah,” she answered as she looked down at her hooves, “s-she wasn’t that tough.”

“Wow… thanks Dew Star.”

“I-I didn’t do all that much,” she replied bashfully.

“Except save my life and by extension hers,” I said as I sat up with a smaller groan than before and pulled her in for a hug, “thank you for saving my worthless life.” I don’t know if it was whatever the doctors had me on, but I was feeling strangely thankful for what Dew Star did. We held the hug for a while until a nurse came in to check on me. Dew Star stood frozen next to my bed as the nurse did her job and when she was done, she slid the curtains back, revealing to me a disfigured pony in the bed next to me.

“Damn, what happened to her?”

“She did,” Beth answered as she once again nodded to Dew Star. I looked between what was supposed to be Midnight Spice and Dew Star a few times before letting out a hearty laugh that hurt.

“Thanks.”

Final Observations: I don’t know; it’s been too long. I’m writing this a few days after being in the hospital and I’m still on this weird pain potion, so I’ll make it short. Beth is still off Poison Joke and proved it to me in the days I spent in the hospital and she’s supposed to visit me every so often so I can check on her. Dew Star also visited me everyday and stayed a lot longer than needed, but it was nice having someone to talk to other than Midnight Spice who wouldn’t say anything even after she could speak again. Surprisingly, Princess Luna stopped by after Midnight was taken in and thanked me for helping her out again. She said she and her sister were going to do something to properly thank me sometime soon and I’m not looking forward to it. But… it might be alright.

Author's Note

Happy Labor Day my fellow Americans! And a happy lame, regular Monday to everyone else.