Author's Note

Chapter title comes from the song "Achilles, Come Down" by Gang Of Youths.
This is a two parter, so I'm uploading them on the same day. That way, no cliffhangers.

Also, one character says words wrong, so if you see that know it's the character and not the story with spelling errors.

16. How you will heal and rise above Part 1

Nettle had a routine.

Every day, she would choke down oatmeal.

A few years ago, when she had dropped out of school, her parents had kicked her out.

She ate oatmeal every day when she had lived at her parents' house, and so she ate oatmeal every day in her house too.

Nettle had a job at Hamburger's fast food restaurant. She wasn't friends per se with Hamburger, but she did try.

Several times a week, Nettle went to see her therapist, and she would supposedly update her on her life. Supposedly.

She never told her therapist everything. Not how Nettle was losing herself, not how she had so many knives in her room, each one with Misty's name on them, especially not how she dreamed of slitting Misty's throat or her own.

Her therapist was a kirin, and that was what mattered. But, it was so stupid to be so afraid of a kirin.

"I can feel an improvement," the therapist said. "Same time next week?"

Nettle nodded.

On her way home, everything reminded her of Misty Flare: the guards swarming around Ponyville's streets, the magic barrier tinging the sky pink and the construction that was still going on because of the asteroid.

But, Nettle had a routine, and that was good.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Gina tried to love her life.

She had lots of friends.

She was so...

She lived with Yafa.

They had fun.

Sure, Savarin had cast a spell on her brain, and sure, it had ruined her relationship with her Dad. When Savarin had run away from the School for Gifted Unicorns, she left Gina's scarf behind, but it grew mouldy in the dark and damp.

But now, Gina had a new scarf -just the same as her old one-, and that was all that mattered.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Leafy had moved to Ponyville. He made time for lots and lots of walks. Even as a walking plant, he still needed sunlight and water.

He knew all his neighbours, and he would wave at them in the morning.

It made him feel good to see his neighbours smiling.

But, there was one thing weighing on his heart. (Did plants have hearts?)

He had booked the train ticket before the whole fight with Misty had happened, and right then, he sat in the park, staring at it.

He knew he shouldn't go; the risk was too great.

Misty could attack the train.

Savarin could attack the train.

But, he so wanted to go.

"Ooh, a train ticket," said a familiar voice. "Where you off to?"

Leafy lifted his hand in a wave. Gina flew over, landing next to him on the bench and peered closely at the ticket.

"I'm going to Kirin Grove," he answered.

"Can I come?"

"There's only one ticket."

"I've been saving my bits."

Leafy shrugged. "Why not? Let's go. It'll be so much funner with another creature."

Gina cheered and danced around, and Leafy couldn't help but join in.

He needed this.

"What are you doing?" somecreature asked. "You look like idiots."

"So? We're having fun," Leafy said, boogying around. He gasped when he saw Nettle.

She was still dressed in her fast-food uniform, and her hat was hovering in mid-air near her.

Both Leafy and Gina glomped onto Nettle to give her a big, big hug.

"It's going be so much fun, and-and-and stuff," Leafy babbled.

"Yes, yes, yes," added Gina helpfully.

Nettle squirmed out from their grip. She patted off her hat and set it on her head. It sloped to the side because of her horn. "What are you two idiots going on about?"

"These two idiots are going to Kirin Grove," said Leafy, pointing at himself proudly.

Gina kept saying yes over and over.

"Isn't travelling dangerous?" Nettle asked. "Misty's still..." She paused, shaking her head.

"We need to live our lives," Leafy said. "We can't let one little villain stop us."

Gina said yes even louder, causing a passing earth pony to frown at them.

Nettle made a face. "I'll be going home now. Have fun dying."

"Hey, hey, I have an awesome idea," Leafy said. "It's the awesomest idea ever."

"What?!" asked Gina.

Leafy spread his arms. "Nettle, you should come with us-"

"I'm... honoured," Nettle said, as she turned around to go, "but I need to get home."

Leafy ticked every item off with his fingers, "-and I'll pay for your ticket, food, room and board. You really, really need a holiday, right?"

Nettle stopped. "I'm in. When are we leaving?"

"TOOOODAY," sang Gina, spreading her claws and wings as she rose in the air.

"My ticket's leaving day is for tomorrow," Leafy said.

"TOOMMOOORROW," Gina sang instead.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"Kirin Grove is great," said Leafy, leaning back on his train seat. "There's lots of wildlife and-and tasty fruit to eat. The trees are so nice too, which is always tricky. Some of the trees in Ponyville can be mean. Like, we all need sunlight; you're not the only one, Jerry. So much stuff to do in Kirin Grove. The tourists all love it. I was there last year."

"Please stop talking."

"Aw, I'm not bothering you, am I Nettle?"

The world passed them by, and the train went along towards Kirin Grove. Houses, forests, and other landmarks flashed by.

"I wonder if we're there yet," Leafy said, scratching at his flower petals.

Nettle crossed her arms and adjusted her skirts. She was wearing her best but rattiest, wine red dress. "No, we're not there."

Leafy peered out the window. "Hm, doesn't look like it."

"That's what I- Oh, never mind."

"I've never been," Gina said suddenly. She sat opposite them, preening her feathers. "Tell me more about it. Please?"

Nettle groaned and slumped against the window.

Leafy was talking animatedly, moving his hands around as he spoke: "I grew up in Kirin Grove. I didn't really grow up, but I appeared because of Misty's magic. Just one day, pop! There's this huge farm Oak Flare ran and stuff. It was awesomely epic! I never saw a lot of it because pots have no legs, but Misty would sometimes carry me around-"

"Misty," interrupted Nettle. She sat up straighter, her fur tinging a darker green.

Was the train going too fast?

Or not fast enough?

"Yeah, I grew up with Misty Flare. I told the gang about it a few years ago and how Misty killed her mom and all that jazz. It was really traum-traum- bad for me."

Nettle swallowed. In the last few years, she had stopped hanging out with Luster and her friends, including Leafy. So, she knew the bare minimum details about Misty's life from Leafy, but not that he had lived in Kirin Grove.

Not just kirins lived in Kirin Grove. It was a simple mistake.

"We're going to where Misty Flare grew up?" she asked.

"And where I grew up." Nettle glared at him. "Okay, yeah, where Misty grew up."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

Leafy's hand reached over as if to touch her, but Nettle leapt out of her seat and into the aisle, knocking over somecreature in the aisle. It was a surprised zebra, who quickly scuttled towards his seat.

Nettle couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe, her throat was closing up, and her heart was pounding its way out of her chest, but more importantly, she couldn't breathe, and no one was bucking helping her.

"S-stop the train," she begged.

Passengers whispered among themselves.

"Nettle," said Leafy in a calming voice. "I think you're having a panic attack."

Nettle spun around to face him. He stood with a placating gesture, nibbling at his lip.

"Don't you dare tell me what I need," she said, and the rest of the words were coming out whether she wanted them to or not. "I don't need your pity. I'm better than both of you, you bucking Pinkie Pie rip off and you sentient compost heap. I'll never be your friends, so go back to Luster Dawn."

Leafy didn't look surprised, but Gina had the most hurt expression on her face, a tear starting to roll down her beak.

Nettle's windpipe was still closing, and she grabbed her luggage from the rack and tripped down the aisle toward the front of the train.

She needed to turn the train around, and she needed to get off the train. She couldn't be going to Kirin Grove.

She would get a ticket back to Ponyville and forget any of this ever happened.

She'd sharpen her knives, and all would hunky-dory.

Nettle didn't know her trains. She knew there was a front end, where the engine was, and a back end. So, she kept trotting toward the front, hefting her skirts, with her luggage hovering just behind her.

She stepped and hopped through the various cars and finally reached a very official-looking door that led to the front car.

She pushed open the bejewelled door very slightly to peek in.

There was the room, the yellow conductor with his cap on his head, and two other creatures: a changeling and a unicorn, who were in the middle of threatening the conductor.

The changeling was holding a gun against the conductor's throat.

Nettle knew about guns. They were a recent invention, appearing in the Old West.

On the floor was a dead pony, who she assumed was the driver of the train.

Nettle carefully closed the door, sighing when it had closed fully, and neither of them had noticed. She pressed her ear against the door to listen.

"Nice an' easy, you're going to stop the train," drawled one of the train robbers. "Any funny business, and we'll kill more creatures, along with the passengers."

"Please don't kill the-" said the conductor.

"Shh," continued the same robber. "It's all part of the fun."

And both train robbers burst into delighted giggles.