No, seriously. What did I do?
Slap!!!!
“OW!”
I stood there very confused and very, very much in pain. I looked up to see Roseluck with her hand still raised and looking incredibly furious with me. And in the corners of her eyes it looked like...tears? All of a sudden she turned away and marched off like a raging storm of fury. The two girls, Daisy and Lily, that are always around her gave me absolutely scalding looks before they went to, I assume, console their friend for whatever reason.
“What did I do?” I asked no one in particular. I was having a nice lunch in Canterlot High’s cafeteria, it was even taco tuesday. Then all of a sudden I get slapped by Roseluck for no reason? As I was pondering this chain of events----
“Dude,” my friend sitting across the table with me started, “not cool.”
“What?” I asked incredulously. “What do you mean ‘dude’? I didn’t do anything,” I implored to my friend.
My friend chuckled to himself and huge smirk appeared on his face. I hate that smirk; he always gets it when he acts like he knows something I don’t, and he usually does. “Man I’ve known you so long I know you don’t get it. You have that look on your face when you're trying to figure something out desperately but you just can’t put two and two together. It’s like I can see the wheels in your brain turning and turning desperately trying to come up with an answer that is obviously four,” he stated with that same smirk I despise.
That was Scholar Roads for you. The bronze skinned, copper haired friend of mine was always one step ahead of everyone. True to his name he was a genius; it even made him hard to approach at times. But I know the real Roady, he was a sweet, caring guy at heart, and he always stuck up for his friends. I just wish he would show some of that now.
“What!? What did I do!?” I all but shouted, wishing he would just tell me the answer one of these times instead of letting me struggle. He laughed out loud at this.
“Bro, as much as I love keeping info from you just to see you flounder, this time I actually have a good reason for it. This is something you need to figure out for yourself,” he said. With that, the bell rang out signaling the end of lunch and he got up and left me sitting at the lunch table just as confused as I was before. Even in the raging chaos of kids exiting the lunch room as fast as possible I just remained seated, racking my brain at all the things that could have lead to that moment. When I looked up the room was empty except for our resident lunch lady Granny Smith Apple who came over and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You look a might lost there young’n,” she said, “are you gonna be alright sugarcube?”
I looked up at her and took a deep breath. “No,” I began, “no, I think I’m going to need some help.” I got up and began heading toward the door. Before I left I looked back, “Thanks for asking Ms. Apple, say hello to Applejack for me!”
“Will do!”
“I need your help,” I said dramatically while slamming my hand down upon the desk of one gray musician who has been a good friend of mine since middle-school. Octavia Melody was Canterlot High’s local musical prodigy. It’s been said that her compositions could make even demons cry tears of happiness. Her smooth gray skin and luscious black hair made her the envy of girls, and the fantasy of most guys. Too bad for them, I happen to know Octi’s tastes in romantic partners. She appears like a sweet girl on the outside, but something in her eyes...it makes me glad I’m her friend and not her enemy.
She looked up at me from her magazine (Orchestral Today) with a raised eyebrow, “Is that really necessary?”
I grinned and rubbed the back of my head, “Well no, but I figured it would get your attention.” Then she looked at me with an expression I’d gotten very used to over the years; that expression that asked, “Are you really that stupid?”
She placed her magazine down on her desk, “What did you do this time?” She asked as if I only ever needed her help when I did something wrong, although to be fair…
“Look Octi there was this thing at lunch and-,” but I was immediately cut off.
“OH,” she said with a smirk (Why do all my friends smirk at me?), “you mean that incident.” For some reason her British accent made it sound even more condescending.
“Wha-, how did you know about that?” I asked.
“Well it was at lunch darling, and it made quite the scene if I do say so myself,” she said with a knowing smile.
I smirked back at her. “ It was a lunch,” I began, “however it was inside the lunch room, and a certain someone has been spending her lunches outside with a certain blue-haired DJ.”
“W-w-well,” she stammered trying to form an excuse. Heh, got her. She may have known me for 6 year, but I’ve known her just as long. “Anyway,” she finally got out, “I’ve already heard of your cock up from Roady, and might say it’s quite the pickle you’ve found yourself in now isn’t it. He also told me how you need to figure this out for yourself and I agree.” Damn you Scholar Roads, damn you.
“I”ll tell Vinyl you wet the bed until you were 14,” I threatened with as much intent as I could muster. Octavia’s face grew dark. Oh sh-
“You, Wouldn’t. Dare.” She was in my face glaring me down with the force of a thousand full orchestras.
“Yes ma’am,” I squeaked out. Octavia’s face immediately went back to her usual smile.
“Well then I’ll be off, this little chat has nearly made me late for my next class, oh bother. I wish you the best of luck.” She walked off with casual grace as if nothing has happened.
“Vinyl is at least using protection right?” I quipped after her trying to get in the last laugh.
...I never saw the book coming.
I sighed leaning against my locker holding my hand to my face. Is it too much just to want some help? What did I even do to deserve this?
“Um, hello”
Huh?
“Do you need any help?”
Is that...the wind? Then I felt the tap on my shoulder.
AHHHHHHH!
I jumped into the air and immediately spun around trying to get a glimpse of the evil monstrosity that was here to devour my soul.
It was Fluttershy...and she looked like she was about to cry. Shit.
“Oh I’m sorry Fluttershy! I didn’t know it was you and you startled me! Please don’t cry!” I kept apologizing in an attempt to make myself feel not like an asshole.
She wiped the forming tears from her eyes, “Um, that’s okay.” Damn, she was doing the quiet voice thing again. I could hardly understand her. Good thing this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with this.
“Hey Fluttershy, what times were volunteer hours at the animal shelter again.” Her eyes visibly brightened. She ripped a flyer out of her backpack and shoved it in my face.
“Oh we have flexible hours so anyone can come help. It’s everyday from 8am to 5pm, so even students can help out a little after school. I go almost everyday and help with all the animals. Molly, that’s a german shepherd, just had the cutest litter of puppies…” There she goes; just bring up one thing about the shelter and she’ll drop her usual shy demeanor and rant for hours. Fortunately, there were only 5 minutes till the last period.
She stopped suddenly, “Oh, um, it’s only if you feel like helping out. You don’t have to,” she said shyl brushing away the hair in front of her face. Yeah, she was still Fluttershy.
I answered, “Yeah I was planning on coming this weekend.” No it was not a lie; I like animals too.
“Wonderful! Thank you so much!” she exclaimed with sheer joy. Yay, I felt like a good person again. “Oh,” she began again, “but, um, I was wondering if you were ok. You were clutching your head in pain.”
“Yeah, heh heh,” I chuckled, “just a small accident.” Small...that music book was the size of Big Mac’s forearm.
“Oh well here,” she said reaching into her backpack, “I always carry a bag of ice around, just for um, emergencies.” I took the bag she offered and placed it against the rather large lump on my head. Ahhhhh, so much better.
“Thanks for this, it’s a lot better now,” I said to her with a smile.
She smiled back, “I’m glad I could help. My parents always taught me to be kind to everyone.” She suddenly looked downcast. “I wish I could’ve helped her though,” she said sadly. Huh?
“Who…” I tried to ask, but then the bell rang cutting me off.
“Eeeep!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “I’m late to class. Sorry, I have to go, I already missed last period.”
“Wait,” I said with a sinking feeling in my gut, “Who couldn’t you help?”
She looked back at me, “It was Roseluck, she was crying in the bathroom all last period. Oh, I hope she feels better soon.” After that, she ran off to her class.
I felt like a total asshole again.
I sat outside the band room door listening to the Rainbooms. I usually did this on days I was feeling down. They weren’t particularly good, being a high-school rock band after all, and they were a bit too pop for my tastes, but their songs always seemed to lift me up. They always sang about the brighter sides of life, how as long as they had their friendship they could overcome any obstacle, and how their friendship would survive no matter how much time passed. I could feel the confidence and sincerity in their words every time they sung, and it always filled me with my own confidence. It was almost like magic how their songs affected me. Knowing them, it probably was.
Today was different. Today not even Sunset Shimmer’s sweet voice or Rainbow Dash’s mad guitar skills could lift me out of this slump. All of a sudden the music stopped.
“Shaky left foot! SHAKY LEFT FOOT!”
“Wha- Pinkie what in tarnation are you goin on about?”
“Seriously!? I was in the middle of my awesome guitar solo!”
“But guys this is super totally serious! Shaky left foot means there’s someone really superduperultramega sad nearby!”
Suddenly the band room doors burst open and Pinkie’s head popped out and looked in the opposite direction of me. Then her head suddenly turned 180 degrees and faced me with wide eyes. I tried not to look directly at them, sure I would go mad if I did.
“Hey have you seen anyone superduperultramega sad around here?!” She all but yelled the question in her unique, high-pitched Pinkie Pie voice.
I mustered the most convincing smile I could, “Nope, just happy people around here with you guys playing your music.” Pinkie just started at me with her usual smile. Then she was gone.
“What?” I turned around and she was suddenly right there. She was close enough that our noses were almost touching, and she started at me with that same smile.
“Yoooouuuu’rrrreee lying!” she exclaimed with absolute confidence. “You had the biggest fake smile on just now, and trust me, I know smiles. So why don’t you tell Aunt Pinkie what this is all about,” she said as she grabbed me under her arm rather forcefully and rubbed my head.
“Aren’t I older than you?” I asked still wondering how she got behind me. She just kept humming some song lyrics to herself, waiting for me to unload on her. I sighed, “Well at lunch-.”
“OH,” she suddenly said cutting me off, “you’re sad about that? You did mess up pretty badly there,” she said giggling to herself. I just glared at her. “Wait!!!!! I know just who can help with this!” she said once again with a scary amount of confidence.
“How do you know that?” I asked her with disbelief after wondering about this problem myself all day.
“Just a hunch,” she replied casually. Suddenly she ran back into the band room.
“Pinkie what are you-”
Suddenly Rarity was shoved out of the band room and fell onto the floor in a very un-ladylike manner. I walked over and helped her up.
“Oh thank you darling, honestly I don’t know what Pinkie Pie was thinking, I could’ve easily chipped a nail,” she said as if it would’ve been the worst thing ever.
I smiled apologetically, “Sorry about that, she only did it cause she thought you could help me with something.” Rarity looked me over, as if she was assessing if I was worthy of her help or not.
“This is about lunch, isn’t it?” she asked. I sighed. No point in wondering how she knew about that.
“Yeah, yeah it is. I just don’t know what to do, or what I even did,” I said with a sorrowful tone. She looked over me once more.
“I’m going to tell you a story,” she began, “and I feel that by the end you’ll understand. Once there was a girl who was incredibly beautiful.”
“This isn’t about you is is?” I asked.
“Hush, no interruptions,” she said. “But no,” she continued, “it is not. Now this girl was always closed off from others. Her beauty made her the envy of all around her and she had a hard time making friends. The few friends she made she almost never let out of her sight because she was so afraid of losing them. Then one day, she fell in love.”
“She...fell in love?” It was hard to imagine a girl with such anxiety around people to fall for anyone.
Rarity gave a small giggle, “Yes darling she did, with her hero no less. See even though she had a few friends she was still bullied relentlessly out of jealously. It hurt the poor girl terribly every day, but one day a boy came and drove her bullies off. He tried his best to console her and cheer her up, and the bullies never bothered her again after that.”
“Wow,” I said, “sounds like a great guy.” Nothing like me.
“Yes I suppose so,” she said. She continued the story, “Now the girl was still incredibly shy and could never manage the courage to ask him out. Then one day she finally did. She managed to muster the courage for something she’s been trying to do for a very long time. So she went to the boy and asked him a question, and the boy said…” she drifted off.
“Well,” I started frustrated she wasn’t finishing, “what did he say to her?”
“I want you to tell me that darling,” Rarity said.
“What? How would I know?” I asked, completely clueless.
“Think about it hard darling. What did the boy say to the girl?” She asked again as if she was leading me to an answer.
All of a sudden I was back in the lunchroom.
“Damn Rhody, that was a killer game last night. How did you know the guy was going for that rune?”
“I predicted it.”
“You’re too smart for your own good you know that.”
“H-hey”
“Hmm, oh hey Roseluck. What’s up?”
“I, uh, I…”
“Hmmm?”
“I was wondering if, um, maybe you wanted to do something this weekend.”
“Hmmm, maybe if I have time I’ll let you know. So Roady about tonight’s game-”
Slap!!!!
I slapped my hand to my face. “Oh my god…”
“Get it now darling?” Rarity asked with a knowing smile.
“But, but I didn’t mean it that way,” I said making up excuses for myself.
“I know dear, but you never know how people will react to certain things, and you should always keep in mind everyone’s feelings,” she said.
I looked down at ground. How could I have messed up so bad? I really am an asshole.
No. Now was not the time to feel sorry for myself. I clenched my fists and looked up at Rarity, my eyes full of fiery determination. “Thanks for the help Rarity, I have to go. Hopefully I can make this all work out.” I ran off down the hall.
“What was that about Rarity?”
“Oh nothing Sunset, just another satisfied customer.”
I looked around at my destination. Canterlot Park, also happening to be home to one of the largest rose gardens in the state. I knew she would be here. The day all of this mess began. The day I saved her from Gilda and her band of bullies.
Canterlot Park is by all definitions of the word beautiful. The bright green grass and perfectly sculptured trees make this a wonderful place for any kind of outdoor activity. The best part is that all maintenance is volunteer. Canterlot Park has been a part of Canterlot for so long and touched so many lives that not a single citizen can bear to let be anything less than the perfection they experienced in their childhood.
Then there were the Rose Gardens. Rows and rows of all species of roses stretch out along the winding brick path, it makes for one of Canterlot’s most romantic spots. Every time the sprinklers come out and water the roses with an arch of glistening dew, a rainbow hangs over the entire area and stays for hours without fail. It’s truly a beautiful place in the spring.
Unfortunately, it was raining. There sitting on a bench in the downpour clutching a single dead rose...was Roseluck. The look of despair and sadness on her face stabbed at my heart in the most painful way possible. I had to fix this. I approached the bench slowly. “Roseluck?” I asked, my voice so quiet it was almost drowned out by the rain. She looked up, and as soon as she recognized it was me her red, tearful eyes gave a look of scorn and hatred.
“What do you want?!” she spat like poison.
“I just-,” I tried to start.
“Why are you even here?!” she screamed as if in pain. “I thought you didn’t have time for me!? Or do you have to go rearrange your schedule?!” These words hurt the most because I knew these were the words that cast her into the deepest of despair. “Just go away! Just go away and leave me alone forever!” She began sobbing uncontrollably, completely taken in by her sadness.
I sat on the bench next to her and hugged her. “What are you-,” she began furiously.
“I never forgot that day. I thought I did, but I never forgot that day,” I said before she could finish.
“W-what?” she asked, her voice hoarse from crying and screaming.
“The day I saved you. The day...you saved me. I had never done anything really special with my life up until then. I just went day by day, content with my simple life of not really doing anything worthwhile. Then I saw you surrounded in the park by those monsters, and Knew I had to do something. I got beat up pretty bad, but then I saw something that day that made it all worth it.”
Roseluck pulled away from me a bit. “W-what did you see?” she asked looking up at me.
I smiled down at her, “I saw your smile. After living my life of not doing much I had made someone smile after a horribly bad day. That feeling in that moment, that made me realize that that is what I wanted to do with my life, I wanted to help people smile. I decided to become a doctor and I’ve worked hard toward that goal ever since. And every time I stumble, every time I fall, I still remember that first beautiful smile that started it all.” I stared into her eyes. “I know I may never be able to make up for what I did, but I want you to know that I’m sorry and I hope that you can smile again.”
Roseluck stared u into my eyes...and let out a small giggle, and then a chuckle, and then she started laughing louder than she probably has in her entire life. “Did, haha, did you just end your heartfelt story with a rhyme?”
My ears turned red, “W-w-well I thought it would be cool for dramatic effect, ya know?” I said as I tried to come up with a cool sounding excuse. Roseluck just kept laughing. She kept going and my face got redder with every passing minute. “Well if you’re feeling better now I guess I’ll just-”
“Wait! Sorry, I just, ha, I’ve been really stressed all day. I really needed that,” she said with a small smile.
“Sorry about that,” I said still feeling bad. She looked at me with a hard expression.
“I’ll forgive you with one exception,” she began, “you have to answer my question correctly.”
“What question?” I asked, although I’m pretty sure I already know the answer.
She smiled at me, “Do you want to do something with me this weekend?”
I smiled back, “Of course, I always have time for you Rose.”
She looked like she was about to cry from happiness, then she suddenly looked up. “Hey,” she said, “it stopped raining.”
I looked up and saw the beautiful rainbow that I knew would be there. “Yeah it did,” I said.
I looked over to Roseluck at the same time she looked at me. We both looked into each other's eyes. Her beautiful, green eyes. I kissed her then and there. After the slight surprise, she kissed back with just as much passion.
“I love you Roseluck,” I said after breaking the kiss.
She smiled wide and beautifully at me, “I love you too Heart Mender.”
What did I do?
I made someone smile.
Author's Note
Second fic already out! I thought I would try to write a story with actual dialog this time and, ya know, a plot. Hopefully it went well!
Criticism is always welcome and appreciated!