Troy's Fate

As the morning sun blossomed, Rarity was already awake, tea in hoof.  She heard a high-pitched noise coming from the outside of her house. She knew what it was and groaned as Pinkie Pie barged in.

“Hello, Rarity!” Pinkie yelled. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing just fine, Pinkie Darling” Rarity answered as she sipped her Earl Gray. “In a few minutes, I have to finish off a dress for one of my clients and I need absolute concentration. Do you understand?”

“Ooh, ooh! Am I the client? Huh, huh, huh?”

Pinkie bounced up and down at fast speed, much to Rarity’s annoyance.

“No, Pinkie” she sighed. “It’s for somepony who planning to go to the Equestrian College Alumni Prom.”

“But that’s only in a few weeks! Did you get the date wrong?”

“Of course not! It’s just that she wants it early, just to make sure.”

“Ooh, so it’s a mare client! Who is it? Is it Troy?”

“What?! Troy’s a stallion, Pinkie. It’s not like he had a gender swap. Besides, he doesn’t even go to college.”

“Well, what does he do? Nothing?”

“To be honest, Pinkie, I don’t know. Although, Twilight did uncast that awful spell she give him two days ago. At least, that’s what Rainbow Dash told me.”

The room felt silent as Rarity finished off her tea.

“So…” Pinkie continued, “who is the client?”

“I cannot tell you that,” Rarity replied. “She preferred to be anonymous about it”

“Oh come on! You have to tell me. I promise to tell nopony.”

“How can I trust you?” Rarity exclaimed.

Before anypony said anything else, the door behind them opened. A grey Pegasus walked in, nearly hitting a vase while doing so.

“Is my dress ready yet? asked the Pegasus.

Rarity slapped her muzzle with her hoof. “You’ve asked to be anonymous and you still show up? I could’ve sent the dress to you.”

“Oops! I forgot.”

Rarity sighed in frustration. “It surprises me that somepony like you managed to not only go to college, but graduate as well!”

“I know. I guess I’m not all that dumb. So, is it ready?”

“No, Darling. It isn’t. I will finish it soon. I promise you that. I want to make sure that it looks absolutely gorgeous.”

“Okay!” said the Pegasus and she walked away.

Pinkie, with her mouth agape, stood in shock. “Your client is Derpy?!”

“Yes, Pinkie. She is. The only thing that concerns me is that she has Nopony to go with.”

The room felt silent once more.

***

The morning was beautiful and vibrant, but to Twilight’s eyes, it was dull and grey. It had only been a few hours since Troy had left for training. She already missed him and she wanted to see him again. However, Luna told Twilight to not visit him during his training. This disappointed her greatly.

Spike had recently left to buy more ink for Twilight. Only Owlowiscious was there to keep her company. She distracted herself with Daring Do books, but even the epic adventures of a fictional Pegasus didn’t stop Troy from appearing in her head. She simply couldn’t get him off her mind. She didn’t know what to do. Her ears shot up when she heard somepony knocking on the door. She excitedly opened the door with a wide smile on her face, only to find Rainbow Dash there.

“Okay, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said in a grouchy voice. “I finished it. Here’s your Daring Do book. I must say, that one was rather weak. Nowhere near as good as the last one I read, “Daring Do and The Lost One”.”

Dash was trying to contain her anger towards Twilight. She was still mad at what Twilight did to Troy. She looks around the room and notices that Troy was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Troy?” Dash asked.

“At the castle with Luna,” answered Twilight.

“What?! What the hay did you do this time?”

“Rainbow, please listen to me! I know you’re still mad at me, but it’s not my fault this time! Two nights ago, Troy was sleepwalking and choked me!”

Twilight had carefully combed the fur on her neck to cover the bruises. Dash spotted the faint patches of fur that showed bruising and she felt deeply frightened.

“We had Luna come over to see if she could do something about it,” Twilight continued. “She talked about a technique that could stop the nightmares he’s having. However, it stops good dreams from happening too. He’s currently training to get that to work.”

“When will he come back?” questioned Dash with a concerned voice.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said weakly.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!”

“I honestly don’t know, Rainbow. Training of this sort with an Earth pony is extremely difficult. It could take weeks for him to perfect it. I don’t even know if he’s even going to succeed. I hope he does, but part of me wishes that he doesn’t.”

“What in the hay are you talking about, Twilight? Those nightmares scared the living crud out of him! Now, you sort-of want him to still have them? Huh?! It doesn’t add up! You want him to continue sleepwalking and possibly kill you?!”

Twilight covered her mouth. She realized that she spoke too much. She didn’t want to talk about the fateful night when Troy faced the possibility of dying. Now, she felt backed into a corner. She removed her hoof off her face and spoke in a soft whisper.

“Luna,” Twilight began “realized that his nightmares were actually distorted memories. So distorted that even she couldn’t quite figure out what occurred in them. You see, stopping his nightmares is a good and bad thing. While it would prevent further incidents like what he did to my neck, it would also seal away the only outlet to his memories. Now, do you understand?”

Dash still felt a bit angry, but she was also beginning to understand Twilight’s side of the story. Dash silently nodded to her.

“It gets worse,” Twilight continued. “Last night, we went to the castle to restore Troy’s memories with Luna’s help. However, the spell was known to backfire and…and…”

Twilight choked a bit and hesitated. Tears began to flow down her lavender fur.

Twilight continued to speak through her tears. “…and it could’ve killed him! I…I was so lost in my despair that I actually forced Troy to undergo the ritual! Luckily, he backed out at the last minute…I’m…I’m a monster! I nearly killed him and for what? To fix his problem and live happily ever after?”

Twilight fell on her hind legs, staring at the floor.

“Why did they make me the caregiver? I disobeyed the doctor by trying to get Troy’s memory back by force! I nearly killed him last night! Every single time I’m around him, it’s like he’s destined to die! I don’t even know why Luna didn’t just punish me for my actions. Clearly, I should be the one who should’ve died.”

“That’s bull!” screamed Dash. “You know that! Nopony deserves death! You are actually questioning why you’re his caregiver? Well, who rescued Troy when he crashed the plane? You and Zecora! Who distracted the timberwolves so that Zecora could take Troy to the hospital? You did! Who watched him by his bedside the most? You did! Who made sure that he felt belonged? You did! They chose you because you cared for him the most. Yes, I know you made mistakes, but so what? Everypony makes them!”

“Even you?”

“I didn’t say that! Just be lucky that Troy is alive and that he is getting his nightmare problem fixed. Sure, he might lose the only way to his memories, but it’s never too late to start a new life for him. Besides, somepony might come looking for Troy and he might get them back as a result!”

“But Rainbow, it’s been months since his accident. Nopony came forward for Troy.”

“It’s possible that Troy’s lives far away. It would make sense that ponies would have trouble getting to him. By the way, I heard that the ETSB are almost done reconstructing the plane.”

“Reconstructing the plane?!”

“Yep, they gathered up all the pieces and they want to know more about it. Maybe Troy might remember something if he came to visit.”

“Huh. I never thought of that.”

Twilight got off the floor and hugged Dash.

“Thank you, Dashie for the speech” Twilight whispered. “I’ve been feeling self-guilty all day. I feel a lot better now. Please tell no pony about this. I don’t want to ruin their day with my story.”

“Will do!” Dash yelled as she saluted.

Dash, then, flew away just as Spike arrived.

“What was that about?” asked Spike.

“Oh, nothing.” answered Twilight. “Just mare talk.”

***

15 days had passed since Troy’s departure. Derpy had just received her prom dress and was now heading to the library for a book about dancing. She had already read plenty of books on dancing but she felt that reading one more wouldn’t hurt. She was only a few steps away from the library when she saw a carriage being chauffeured by two royal guards. A blue stallion came out of the carriage and entered the library. Cheers of joy can be heard from the outside. Derpy wondered what was going on. When she arrived, the stallion and Twilight were hugging each other very tightly.

“Uhh excuse me?” Derpy interrupted.

Twilight and the stallion both turned their heads towards Derpy.

“Oh Derpy! I wasn’t expecting you!” Twilight said excitedly. “This is Troy, he just came back from his trip.”

“Oh! I didn’t know you had a coltfriend.”

Twilight blushed. “What?! Don’t be serious, Derpy!”

Derpy giggled and Twilight blushed even more. Even Troy blushed. Twilight then explained Troy’s story. All the while, Troy couldn’t stop staring at Derpy’s eyes.

“Oh!” expressed Derpy .“My bad! I guess that makes more sense. Anywho, can I borrow another book?”

“Another one?” quizzed Twilight. “Is it about dancing?”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, the last six books you took were all about dancing.”

“I promise you that this is will be my last one. I just need to make sure that I’m a good dancer for the prom, tomorrow night!”

“Tomorrow?! My goodness, does time fly by fast! Do you have somepony to dance with you at the prom?”

No response.

“Derpy?” feared Twilight.

Twilight give a worrying look at Troy. Derpy was about to leave with the book when Troy shouted: “Hold it!”

Derpy stopped dead on her tracks. Troy approached her with caution. He could see that she was crying.

“Let me guess…” Derpy started, “you’re going to make fun of me, are you?”

“What?!” argued Troy. “Where did you get that idea?”

“That’s why I’m going alone for the prom!”

“What?!”

“I asked a lot of stallions to go to the prom with me, but they were either already taken or don’t like me!”

“I…I don’t get it. Why do you think they don’t like you?”

“Because I’m stupid…”

“You’re not…”

“I am!”

“I can assure that you are not stupid, Derpy.”

“But I am, Troy! Look at me! Look at my eyes!”

“So they’re cross-eyed. That doesn’t make you dumb at all, Derpy.”

“But some of them made fun of me because of my eyes. They called me names…Why can’t my eyes just be like everypony else’s…I…I just want to be normal…”

“Screw what they say! They’re just a bunch of heartless jackasses. And you are normal, Derpy…like the rest of us. Discrimination is something I will not tolerate. If I ever saw those freaks, they’ll know what’s coming!”

“Really? Would you…”

“Hmmm? Speak up.”

“Would you like to go to the prom with me?”

Troy looked at Twilight, who nodded.

‘Yes!” Troy responded. “I will!”

“Well, well, well!” smiled Twilight. “Looks like Troy is going to need something to wear and I know just the pony for that.”

***

“You’re Derpy’s partner?!” exclaimed Rarity.

“Yeah…it’s a long story.” admitted Troy.

“Well then, let’s take your measurements.”

Rarity carefully measured every inch of Troy’s body and a smile showed up.

“Lucky for you, I have a few tuxes that can fit you perfectly.”

She brought forward a few tuxes for Troy to try on. This took some time and Derpy sat and waited. Eventually, Troy came out of the dressing room and he wore a black tuxedo with a white formal shirt. A small red rose was placed on his lapel and was held on by two safety pins. He also wore a blue bowtie with white polka dots on it.

“What do you think?” asked Troy.

Derpy let off a happy gasp.

“I love it!” Derpy complimented.

“How much do I owe you, Rarity?”

“Free of charge!” Rarity announced. “Consider it a rental. You’ll give it back to me when the prom is over.”

“Wow. No wonder they call you the element of generosity!”

“Of course, darling!”

Eventually, they went outside and went to an empty field. Derpy had brought the book with her. They practiced their dancing as best as they could. By the time they were done, the sun was setting. They agreed to do it again tomorrow. When Troy arrived home, he was tired.

“Wow! What a lovely tux you got there, Troy!” praised Twilight.

“I look like a penguin” joked Troy.

Troy undressed and went to bed. He told Twilight to watch him. He proceeded to close his eyes and control his breathing. He then made four complex gestures with his hooves. Then, he fell asleep at a sudden rate.

“So, this is what Clear Mind is” whispered Twilight.

***

It was now only an hour before the prom began at the Equestrian College. Derpy had arrived early and she wore a beautiful red evening dress. She even had a muffin shaped tiara on. She was getting nervous and was beginning to regret her decision. Then, she saw Troy in the distance, much to her relief.

“Shall we?” Troy said in a low voice.

When they entered the building, they were surrounded by nearly two hundred ponies. The first dance session had begun and they danced wildly. Derpy nearly tripped, but Troy caught her in time. Troy suggested less intensity and Derpy agreed. A few giggled behind them, but they decided to ignore them. Eventually, the music switched to a slow and relaxing song. Troy and Derpy held each other close and felt calm. They looked in each other’s eyes and Derpy gave a small kiss on Troy’s muzzle. He blushed greatly.

Then, the dance sessions were over and the ponies gathered around for conversations. Troy and Derpy were at the food table, enjoying fruit punch.

“Oh my gosh, this was such a lovely night.” expressed Derpy. “I really don’t know how to thank you!”

“Well, I would’ve felt guilty had I not come along.” remarked Troy.

“Thank you…Troy…thank-”

A male voice interrupted. “What are you doing here, Cross Eyes?”

They turned to the source of the voice. It was a grey Pegasus with a black Mohawk. He was surrounded by a few Pegasi and Unicorns, who all looked as twisted as he was.

“Leave me alone, Turbine! I had enough of you and your friend’s insults!”

“Daaawwwwww. Did I hurt Derpy’s feelings? Too bad you’re a stupid fly who has no future!”

Troy bared his teeth.

“Don’t you dare insult her!” Troy raged. “Stop it right now or you’ll face my hoof!”

“Please! What good can you do? You’re just a pathetic Earth pony who has no talent. You’re superfluous to us Pegasi and the Unicorns!”

The gang roared into laughter.

“Just ignore them!” Derpy pleaded in a soft voice. “Please?”

Troy approached Turbine with coldblooded eyes. He punched Turbine so hard that he fell to the ground, unconscious. The whole crowd’s attention turned to the food table.

“What the heck did you do?” one of the gang member asked.

The gang member tried to hit Troy, but he dodged it swiftly and kicked him in the gut.

The security guards came to see what was going on. A guard tapped him on the shoulder and Troy, who was filled with anger, punched the guard in the muzzle. By the time Troy realized who he punched, it was too late. The guard bleed profusely from his nostrils. Three other guards shoved Troy into the ground and hoofcuffed him with magic. Derpy couldn’t believe her eyes. A police carriage arrived shortly and Troy was taken away.

“Why are you arresting me?” Troy shouted.

“For assault!” said the policeman. “And you have the right to remain silent!”

Derpy ran away in tears and she arrived at the library in haste. She knocked on the door loudly and Twilight, with tired eyes, answered the door.

“Derpy? What’s the matter?” said Twilight, sleepily.

“It’s Troy.” Derpy wailed. “He punched some of my enemies and is now taken by the police!”