Tuesday, January 5, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Past mistakes may come back to haunt you when you least expect them.

After School

Trixie walks up to me the second I enter the Music Club room. She looks excited.

"There's something I want to tell you, but...it'll have to wait until Thursday," she says. "I have a few things to take care of first and I don't want to jinx it."

"Umm...okay?" I look her over. "You seem happy."

"Oh, I am! I really, really am!" She bounces away to grab her guitar and starts happily shredding away.

I shake my head and tune my own guitar. Octavia walks up to me. She cocks her head and frowns. "You need new strings," she says.

"Yeah..." I sigh. "I've been trying to get as much mileage out of this set as I can, but I'm gonna have to restring it tonight." Shaking my head, I set my guitar aside. "How are things with you and Vinyl?"

Octavia sits down on the desk next to me. "I..." She trails off; her brow knits. "I've been enjoying talking to her and spending time with her when I can. I'm also worried about her..."

"So am I."

"The thing is..." Octavia looks down at her feet. "Mother met her by chance the other day. She...doesn't approve of her as a friend." She frowns. "Heaven knows what she'd say if..."

Ouch. "Yeah..." After letting a silence hang between us, I ask, "So...what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Octavia says. "I'm not even sure how I feel about Vinyl yet. Or if...if I even can feel...that for another girl." She sighs. "And if I do..." She shakes her head. "Mother and Father will be absolutely furious if..."

"If you decide you're a lesbian?"

"Yes, that." Octavia picks at her skirt. "They're not very open-minded."

"That sucks..."

I don't really feel like playing anything, so I decide to leave early.

Evening

I walk through the front doors of the dorm and hear crying.

I find Rarity sitting alone in the dining room, eating ice cream. Her mascara has run, her eyes are puffy and bloodshot, and she's sniffling.

I sit down across from her. "What's wrong?"

Rarity sniffles. "Everybuh-buh-body huh-huh-HAAATES me!" she wails.

"Is this about the party?" I ask.

She nods. "I..." She picks up a handkerchief and blows her nose. "I..."

I reach across the table and take her hand. "Come on, settle down," I say.

"When...when we were in Zodiac..." She pauses to shovel another large spoon of ice cream into her mouth. "I s-saw those...h-horrible messages...abuh-bout my party..." She sniffles again and rubs at her eyes with the other side of her handkerchief. "Was it ruh-really th-that buh-buh-bad?"

I grimace. "It...wasn't for everybody," I say. "But what's important is whether or not you enjoyed it."

Rarity sighs, hanging her head. "No," she says hoarsely. "It...it wasn't what I thought it'd be at all."

"Why didn't you say something about this sooner? Talk it over with all of us?"

"Because...." Rarity sniffles. "I refuse to be seen as anything less than elegant and...and refined. That's who I am..."

"Bullshit," I say. "That's the mask you wear. That's not what the rest of us really see."

Rarity looks up at me. "What...what do you mean?"

I take a deep breath. "Rarity...you're amazingly strong-willed. After everything that went down, it was you who pointed out how messed up our little team is. And don't forget...if not for you, Rainbow and Pinkie would be dead. I had no idea what to do. All I could think about was that Twilight was almost killed..." I look down. "God, I'm a terrible person..."

"Not at all, darling...she is, after all, your true love..." Rarity sighs. "I...I do try to remain...unruffled when life doesn't quite go according to plan—"

"I've seen you throw a tantrum over dropping your fork at dinner, Rarity."

"—alright, yes, I can be a bit of a drama queen over minor things," Rarity says a bit testily, "but when serious problems arise, I do my best to keep it together. Because that's what a true lady does." She sighs. "And I do so wish to be a truly elegant, refined lady..." She looks down into the ice cream tub. "But...yesterday and today, I've...I've endured a lot of whispering and snickering behind my back, and..." She bursts into fresh tears. "I'm a laughingstock!"

"So what?" I ask. "One thing I've learned since I moved here is most of the kids at CHS are dicks. It's even worse when...when you've been to Zodiac enough to see some of the really nasty things they say."

Rarity's face pales. "Gah."

"Did you know last year, some assholes were talking about wanting to rape Cadance? And she found out about it in Zodiac."

Rarity gasps, covering her face with her hands. "Oh my God..."

"Yeah. And...fighting alongside us, you're going to find out just how ugly things really are around here," I say. "But it's just talk. Talk can't hurt you. Not if you don't let it."

Rarity takes another bite of ice cream. "Y-you're right, of course." She sniffs. "So what if...if my party was a complete fiasco in every conceivable way? I'm stronger than this. I...I can move past this." She smiles faintly at me. "Thank you, Flash. Really."

"What are friends for?" I ask.

---

Rarity dabs at her face. "I...should go get freshened up," she says. She gets up, puts the rest of the ice cream back in the freezer, and goes upstairs.

Shaking my head, I pick my stuff up and head to my room. I have homework to do...

After I finish my homework, I head downstairs for dinner.

"It's wonderful to be back in this dorm with all of you again," Luna says.

"Vice-Principal Luna and Principal Celestia have been alternating weeks staying at the dorm for a while now," Twilight explains to Sonata and Apple Bloom, who seem surprised at her presence.

"You get used to them," Rainbow says.

Luna looks at Apple Bloom. "You're Applejack's sister, are you not?"

"Y-yes ma'am," Apple Bloom says nervously.

Luna smiles. "I look forward to seeing you at Canterlot High in a couple of years," she says.

"Why's this squirt livin' here again?" Rainbow asks cheekily.

"Hey! Ah ain't no squirt!"

"Sorry. I meant to say turd."

"Ah'll turd you...!"

"Ewwww," Pinkie says.

Luna laughs. "I'd forgotten how lively this dorm can be!"

"We all decided Apple Bloom needs t' go t' school instead'a jes' homeschoolin' online," Applejack says. "An' since it makes more sense for her t' live closer t' her school, we worked it out so she could live here at th' dorm."

Apple Bloom glares at her sister. "Tell everyone th' real reason," she says.

Applejack blinks. "Ah...don't rightly follow, sugarcube," she says. Her eyes are looking anywhere but at her sister.

"Y'all don't want me t' hafta watch Papa die," Apple Bloom says. "Ah know that's th' real reason Ah'm here."

Applejack sighs and closes her eyes.

Apple Bloom looks down. "Ah don't wanna watch Papa die neither," she says softly. "So...thanks."

Dinner is a quiet, tense affair after that. As soon as I'm done eating, I head upstairs to change my guitar strings.

Twilight pokes her head in just as I'm about to get ready for bed. "Don't forget, we're going to Zodiac tomorrow."

I nod.

She sighs. "Poor Apple Bloom..."

"Yeah..."

"We should do something to cheer her up," Twilight says.

"Maybe see if Pinkie has any ideas?"

Twilight smiles. "Yeah...well, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Twilight goes back to her room.

I'm just about to turn off the light when my e-mail alert goes off.

Attached is a video...

...oh my God...

...it's from that night when I had sex with Cadance...

This is bad...!