Truth

"And that's how I found them," Pinkie concluded, jumping back onto her hooves to continue pacing around the circular room. As tired as she already felt, she simply could not sit still, not with the storm within her head.

Rarity shook her head. "A mess, that's what this is. I take it you've already confronted her?"

"She denied everything and flew off. I don't know what to do, Rarity." She gazed out the window as if looking for a distraction which never came. "I feel like I wanna believe her, but the evidence is right there." She pointed a hoof towards the small table nearby where the photographs lay, "Can't speak against those."

Rarity bent down until her face nearly made contact with her newest project as she set a few manual stitches. While she was adept at hiding it, it was obvious that she was as uncomfortable in this situation as anypony. "No, I'm afraid you can't. If there had been magic involved, there should be traces of it left, but I can't feel anything. You showed them to Twilight, right? She of all ponies should be able to find out. So I suppose the question is less of what happened," Rarity's eyes rose away from the fabric, towards her friend, "and more of what will happen now. You must look into your heart and see if you can muster it to forgive her, or to end it. I can't tell you to do anything here. But whatever you must choose, I can promise you the pain will fade, eventually."

"How can I forgive her if she isn't even honest with me? What else is she hiding?" The door chime rang, drawing their attention. Just as quickly however, Pinkie recognised the visitor and her hope for diversion faded, replaced only by cold pain. "You. Get out unless you've got something."

Despite her rather clear orders, Rainbow remained in the doorway and even dared to take a few steps inside. She tried to maintain a controlling flair, but her ruffled mane and feathers hinted at her true feelings. She approached her love, though she kept a safety distance of farther than kicks could reach. "Pinkie, I never did stuff like that with anypony but you. You know that I couldn't."

Pinkie turned to face away in hopes of hiding the pain which was masked with anger in her voice, "Then how do you explain those pictures?"

"Pictures? I don't- how can there be pictures of something that didn't happen? Listen." She came closer until her hoof made contact with Pinkie who slightly shivered from the unexpected touch. "I swear, I can't remember any of those things, but you know what? Even if they did happen, we'll work over them, together. If you can forgive me for what I might have done, we'll solve this."

Pinkie pushed the hoof away with force, but more gently than she'd expected herself. "I'm not sure I can, Rainbow. I'm sorry."

She shied away again, eyes racing back and forth. "I... what could I get out of Applejack that you can't give me?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me."

Rainbow opened her mouth, but Rarity intersected, "I think you may want to give both of you some time to think right now."

Ordinarily, she would've fought back, but Dash simply obeyed this time and trotted towards the still open door. On the doorstep, she turned one last time and said, "You've always had my trust. All I'm asking for now is a little of yours. I'll be waiting if you come to your senses," before taking flight.

Nopony spoke or stirred for long minutes afterwards. The only movements in the boutique were the needle dancing in Rarity's magic, sometimes accompanied by a drop of liquid impacting on the otherwise immaculate floor.

"Come in, Rainbow." Twilight was always glad to help out her friends, although there may be more required than usual now. As the pegasus entered and took a seat at the round table, she shut Illusions For Realists and slid it aside to signal where her full attention lay. "I'd ask you how I can help, but I think we both know already."

"So? What do you say?"

Twilight ran a hoof across the back of her head laid back slightly in her seat. "Well, first off, I'm glad to see you consult me despite what ponies like to say about me and love..."

"Rarity was taken," Rainbow grumbled before her friend's ego could grow too big.

She did well at hiding it, but the impact of Dash's words wasn't entirely invisible. "Ah. Yes, naturally. Anyway, why have you come to me?"

"Because Pinkie won't believe me that I didn't cheat her?" Rainbow said with a hint of annoyance already present. Everypony had been speaking in riddles to her recently, she didn't need to have another do the same. "Good question, actually. How much experience could you have just from reading a library's worth of clop?"

Twilight's face seemed to catch fire, in colour and heat equally. "It's romances, Rainbow. But to the point, I don't think that's what we have to figure out right now. I can't help you with that. You need to ask the right question."

"Alright, I guess it's about how I can convince Pinkie I'm not lying." Dash didn't expect this conversation to bring them anywhere, but she certainly couldn't just fly off, as much as she'd want to. She looked around for distractions, but the library was just as ordered and tidy as ever. Nothing moved or changed in between visits, seemingly even outside the windows.

"Is it that?" Her disappointed groans only further fueled Twilight's interrogative curiosity. "I can't help you with that. You need to ask the right question."

"Sure it is, I -" Realisation hit her with the weightlessness of a speeding freight train. "- I don't know what to do... if I can trust myself to not hurt her again, if it's not time to move on and let time heal the wounds."

"That," Twilight said as she rose to accompany her to the exit, "is the right question. Find the answer to it. Take care."

Thus, mere minutes after entering the library tree, Rainbow was airborne again. She wasn't sure if her problems had improved with this brief meeting, but at least she now knew what they were. She had to think about them, alone, over time. She barely registered when she set hoof in her cloud home, too distracted with the one question that tore her up from within.

Minutes whizzed by, as did hours. Eventually, the moon stood high over Ponyville while Rainbow's pacing hadn't come to a stop yet. She hadn't eaten or drunk since arriving, but completed at least one hundred laps around her own house. Yet all throughout, the answers eluded her. She strode onto the balcony, into the moonlight that was the only source of light around her. The sky was clear without her effort to it, and the stars shone brightly. It might have been just twenty-four hours since she and Pinkie had last parted in love. She didn't feel tired in the slightest.

She sighed and began round number one hundred and one. There had to be some way she could prove her innocence, she thought. Or perhaps there simply wasn't meant to be one. At long last, her stomach reported its desires and she took a detour into the kitchen to satisfy it. Through a solitary window, the light fell in, illuminating a single utensil in the otherwise gloomy room. It reflected the light onwards, momentarily blinding her as she approached. However, while her vision was hindered, her mind was suddenly clearer than ever.

Dash knew exactly what she had to do, to what end. She took it into her mouth, inspecting it with the innocent curiosity of a small foal. It wouldn't hurt much, not compared to what she was already going through. The insanity of her own ways came to her, but so did its necessity. She was a broken mare, there was no denying it. She took a deep breath and went to work, her thoughts never leaving Pinkie Pie until her consciousness eventually faded. It felt as easy as going to sleep. The clouds turned light red as her liquid flooded over them.