Hurt

12. Epilogue

"Ugh. Where am I?"

You try to sit up.

"Hello, Anonymous."

"Celestia?"

You panic for a second, but she doesn't look or sound angry. You look around. You're laying on a bed. From the look of the room, you're somewhere in the palace.

"Why can't I move?"

"Well, you've been in bed for almost a month now. You're probably very stiff."

"A month? What happened?"

"Well, there's no way to sugarcoat it. You were possessed."

You manage to sit up.

"Possessed? By what?"

"A particularly nasty entity. Twilight noticed the signs after your... encounter. We believe it was in the cave you and Fluttershy sought shelter in. When she declined your advances, it took advantage of your vulnerable state."

Twilight? Fluttershy? The events of the past few months hit you like a bull. If you had any food in your stomach you'd have puked. You fall to your knees and begin to sob.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" You manage to wail in between your inelegant blubbering.

"I'm sorry, Anonymous," Celestia says. "But I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

The large door on the other side of the room opened. There stood all of your old friends. Your victims. The sight made you ill. Rainbow Dash's eye was still somewhat swollen, her wings in splints. Rarity was limping, and her mane was still short, and uneven.

You broke down again. You wished you could just will yourself to die. Something nudges you. You look up. It's Twilight.

"Anonymous."

You sit up and try to stop crying. You prepare for the worst.

"We forgive you."

"What?" Is all you can say, dumfounded.

"We know you weren't yourself when you did those... things. So we forgive you. Because that's what friends do."

You stare at her, wide eyed for a moment, then hug her. She jumps at the action. You don't blame her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been about a year, and things have gotten back to as normal as they're going to get. You never forgave yourself for what happened. And despite their claims, you get the feeling the girls never did, either.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie seem to have mostly gotten over it. Although, Pinkie now has somewhat frequent bouts of depression. And neither of them will be alone with you anymore.

Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack are much colder to you than before, and neither stay around you very long.

Rarity insists she's forgiven you, but you can hear the hatred in her voice on the rare occasions you talk. You just avoid going near her.

The worst of all is Fluttershy. She hasn't uttered a word to you since that day in the cave. She'll go out of her way to avoid you if she sees you in town. Most of the ponies do, really.

You rebuilt your house. You don't leave it unless you have to. You're out of food again. You don't think you'll be buying more.