The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 86 - Laments Tick On

Pinkie sighed while laying on the floor in one of the drawing rooms of Twilight’s castle. The room was lavishly decorated with streamers and pastries. But unlike other times where ponies would smile in awe of her party decorations this time her work would now go unappreciated. No pony would be popping her party poppers or ringing her noise makers. All her glittery ornaments would go unadored and her party cannons unexploded.

It hardly roused the mare as at all as a soft knock came from the door followed by light spilliing from the hallway to the sparsely illuminated room. “H-hello? Anypony in here?” Asked an orange mare as she stepped in inquisitively.

“Oh, hi Applejack. Yeah, I’m here.” The party pony sulked as she sat in the corner slowly rolling up an over sized ‘congratulations’ sign.

“Heh, I figured I’d find you in here.” The country mare sighed as she took off her hat and stepped over to wrap a hoof around her friend. “Alright, come on now. You know it ain’t helping no pony just sitting alone in the dark like this.” She said while trying to sound encouraging. “How’s about I stick ‘round here and help you get all this cleaned up? Would you like that?” She offered with a hopeful tone.

Pinkie gave a sniff and then wiped her nose with her hoof. “Yeah, I would. Thank you Applejack. I could used the company right now.” Pinkie replied as the two tried to distract themselves from their feelings by being productive.

- -

Over in the map room the scene there was no less morose as Fluttershy sat beside a commiserating Discord. “I just don’t understand. How could something that seemed to be so right possible go so wrong?!” She asked aloud as the disheartening news filled the Mare with frustration.

“I don’t know. I really don’t.” Discord replied with an air of genuine dismay. “I might enjoy a good dramatic turn of events as much as anyone but even I couldn’t have seen this twist coming.”

“Discord! I respect that you are… well... you! But there is nothing about this situation that I find funny! Right now is a very inappropriate time to be making jokes!” Fluttershy gently snapped.

For his part Discord gave a calm and melodious expression saying, “Oh no, you are absolutely right dear Fluttershy. There is nothing funny about this situation at all.” Swiveling around to her other side he said, “Honestly, I was rooting for our little friends and was just as surprised as you to hear how things turned out!”

- -

Despite the castle’s somber morning there was a sigh of relief to be had in Twilight’s bedroom. While one mare lay still in the princess's bed, another mare sat watching while speaking to a third individual in the room. “Is she finally asleep?” Twilight whispered out.

“T’ch, well she’s finally stopped crying. As long as she’s still breathing I’d call that an improv-”

“Rainbow Dash!” The princess scolded while attempting to avoid disturbing the mare that lay beside her. Peering down now while moving ever so gently they both could see that Starlight had finally exhausted herself after a long night of anxiety over the previous night's events. “Okay, I think the coast is clear.”

The mares nodded together as Twilight slipped out from the bed. “Come on, let’s go.” Dash urged as Twilight was quick to race after her and close the door behind them as gently as she could.

“Well excuse me! But you weren’t the one having her hooves fall asleep from Starlight leaning over your shoulder for half the night!” Twilight continued to whisper even as she reprimanded the pegasus out in the hallway.

“Oh yeah, heh, heh.” Dash chuckled as she and Twilight started to move away from the door. Once they were safely down the hall both mares stopped to stretch and let out a loud yawn from having been up all night. “Geeeewhiz! That took soooo long!” The pegasus complained.

Brushing that off Twilight straightened up and said, “Yeah, it did… but she needed it. I really want to thank you for coming over to help last night.”

“Ah, don’t even mention it. You know I’d never turn my back on you guys.” She said with a wave while being in between another large yawn.

- -

Once the two of them had made their way back to the map room Twilight was surprised to see that several of their friends had already gathered there. “OH! Um, hello everypony. Are we having a meeting or…?” But several of the others just shook their heads.

“Pinkie and I stayed ‘round here cause we just got done cleaning up what was supposed to be the surprise party for, well for… well you know.” Applejack trailed off as she also was feeling blue over the news.

“Yeaaaa…” Pinkie whined like a deflating balloon as she laid her chin down to rest on the map table. “It seems like the only party that we’re going to be having today is a pity party.”

“Oh I see.” Twilight responded as Fluttershy and Discord simply waved. “Then I guess Rarity was the only one to go hom-”

“No, we’re here darling.” The pale gray mare called out as she walked up from hallway with a dragon following close beside.

Now they were all gathered together in their respective seats but none of the friends seemed to have much to say. It wasn’t until after Rarity paused in thought for a moment that any of them actually spoke. “Do we know how last night’s unfortunate fellow is fairing this morning?”

Twilight’s ears perked up as she looked over but all she could do was shake her head. “You mean Rayne? No, I don’t. Rainbow Dash and I spent all night trying to console Starlight from how upset she was. I never even got the chance to think about checking on how he must be feeling.” She admitted glumly.

Now there were several worried faces but Discord interjected somewhat crassly. “Yessss, about that... Why DID she reject him in the first place? If she was so broken up about it then why wouldn’t she just do herself a favor and tell him yes?”

“Well of all the insensitive-” Applejack began but Fluttershy raised a hoof for her to stop so that she could try a gentler approach than the perturbed scowls on the faces of everypony else.

“Now Discord, it was explained to you just like it was explained to the rest of us that Rayne’s cutie mark was changing.”

“Well of course it was.” The Draconequus said bitterly. “Rayne is a pleasure pony. Their cutie marks are supposed to represent whoever it takes to seal their hearts. Why shouldn’t it change to reflect Starlight if he really fell in love with her so much?” But then he noticed all the flat stares pointed at him from around the room. “What?”

Pinkie took this one while speaking as if the answer couldn’t have been more obvious. “Uh, because of her past! You know… with the town she enslaved? And changing all their cutie marks! Duhhh!”

“Ooooooooh, riiiiiiiight.” He groaned now realizing how out of taste his question had been.

Twilight looked back over explaining, “Starlight doesn’t want to be responsible for changing Rayne’s cutie mark or possibly robbing him from his purpose in life. Not even if it means having to turn down a stallion that she probably would be very happy with.”

“Oh fine, fine! I get it! Enough with the expositional backstory.” Discord shouted which all the ponies ignored except for Pinkie who looked up to him and frowned.

Now they all gave a sigh. Some worried about Rayne while others still had Starlight’s feelings in mind. But Dash was the one to slump across the table and ask, “So… What happens now?”

“Whaddya mean?” Applejack asked as she looked over.

Giving an exasperated sigh the pegasus groaned out. “What I mean is that this feeling sucks! None of us are happy right now. We’re all just sitting here feeling sorry about the situation.”

“Well there might not be anything we can do.” Twilight said as she announced the glum truth to her friends. “We’re all just going to have to feel bad about it for awhile, then move on with our lives. If our friends needs us then we can be there to support them. But otherwise, that’s really it.”

“Uggggh! But that’s not fair! And just how long is everything going to be like this for?!” Dash cried out in frustration.

- Three Days Later -

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Asked a monotone voice as a pair of gray hooves gently caressed through a dark stallion’s mane.

Rayne sighed as he held onto Maud’s hooves and shook his head. “No. I’m not sure of anything. But I need to do something.” He whispered back to her giving a worried look to his eyes. “I still don’t know what happened. It all went by so fast!” Rayne closed his eyes dropping his face into his hoof as he breathed heavily, struggling to not working himself up into becoming upset again. “I would like to know why she turned me down but more important than that... I need to make sure that she is okay. Or maybe I need to apologize. Or-”

His nervous ranting was interrupted as Maud moved her hooves to firmly take hold on his face. “I don't think that Starlight would say you’ve done anything worth apologizing for.”

“Yeah but-” Rayne began until her unwavering gaze pierced through him as she clenched her jaw with a stoic fire in her eyes. “Alright, alright.” The stallion relented and hugged her tightly. “Thank you Maud. What would I do without you?”

Feeling satisfied she let him go and took a step back. “If you need to go and see her then just go and see her. But don’t be nervous. Be your calm and understanding self that made all of us girls fall for you in the first place.” He nodded and left with a kiss before teleporting away.

- Later on, Outside Twilight’s Castle -

A small scampering rushed to the doors before they were opened by a dragon with a sour attitude. “Rainbow Dash! I already told you that Twilight hasn’t finished tallying the votes for… Oh, Rayne! Sorry I thought you were… well somepony else. How are you?” He asked uneasily.

“Heh, well you know. Just uh...” He tried but was finding it difficult to play his usual cool. “I was wondering-”

“Spike? Who is that at the door?” A mare’s voice called out. Despite the stallion's obvious level of unease, Twilight smiled when she saw him as if she didn’t notice. “Rayne! What a surprise, how are you? Please, won’t you come in?”

The stallion nodded trying to seem appreciative as he followed her back inside. Once there he looked around hopefully but there was nopony else beside for the three of them standing in the hallway. “Thank you Twilight. I’m sorry that I haven’t been around as much lately.”

“Around? None of us have seen you at all.” Spike muttered bluntly which elicited a scowl from Twilight.

“No, it’s okay. I’m just happy to see you on your hooves again. Your friends have all been worried about you.” The princess said as she tried her best to sound comforting.

Picking his head up a bit Rayne gave her a soft smile. “I didn’t mean to worry any of you like that. I did miss hanging out with the gang. I figured I’d stop by here first seeing as this should be everyponies day off.”

Twilight lead the way back to the map room where she took her seat. “Well I’m sorry to disappoint but the castle has been quiet all day.” Rayne nodded having a hopeful smile but Twilight continued on before he could respond. “Speaking of work schedules, what have you being up to Rayne? I know you haven’t been fulfilling your shifts at the day spa recently.”

“Yeah, I felt it best to take some personal time off due to recent events. But don’t worry, I’ve been keeping busy. You know, just trying to stay productive. I have a few side projects that I’ve been working on and had to meet with some friends of mine from out of town.” The stallion explained but it was clear on his face how uninterested in the conversation he was.

“Oh, you don’t say? Well at least I’m glad that you’ve been well. But you know, if there’s anything else you want to talk about? Anything more personal? I’m always here to listen to a friend Rayne.” Twilight offered as she tried to address the elephant in the room without sounding too pushy.

To her relief she thought she saw an honest smile from him for just a moment. “I appreciate that Twilight, I really do. But I don’t think it’d be right just yet for me to start talking to other ponies about what happened. I really need to talk to Starlight first, if she’d see me.” He explained as he gave an apologetic nod and then turned to leave down the hallway toward her room.

“You won’t find her there...” Rayne froze when Twilight spoke from behind him.

“What?” Rayne turned and asked.

“I said, you won’t find her there.” She said remorsefully. “Starlight. You were headed to her room right? Well she isn’t there.”

Now Rayne felt a nervousness slowly creeping it’s way up his spine as he asked, “Well if she isn’t here... then where is she?”

- Meanwhile in Sire’s Hollow -

A gentle knocking brought a middle-aged stallion to his door. The purple unicorn wore a short cut blue-green mane and had a gentle expression. But as he looked to see who was at his doorway he had not been prepared for the surprise that awaited him. “Pumpk-Er ah, I mean Starlight! Well, what a surprise! What are you-”

“D-dad?” The sobbing mare choked out as she looked to her father and then threw herself into his arms.

“Hey, hey now. What’s this? What happened?” Firelight asked with a heart full of compassion as he held his daughter close. “Shhh, shhh now. It’s alright. Whatever it is, you’re home now and we’re going to make it right.”

Starlight sniffled as her father helped her inside and closed the door behind them. “Dad… C-can I stay here? With you? Just for a f-few days?”

The older pony gave no hesitation at jumping for the chance to spend more time with his little girl. “Of course you can hun! You are always welcome here. You can take all the time you need.” But then he paused as he found himself stroking her mane back behind her ear as if she were still just a little filly. “And I promise that I’ll respect your space. You don’t have to talk about it if-”

“Actually dad, I want to talk about it.” She interrupted him which made the stallion blink in surprise. Firelight didn't move a muscle as he did not want to interrupt when she said, “I want to talk to you what happened, about everything actually. I… I need my dad right now.”

The old unicorn couldn’t help but feel tears of joy welling up in his eyes as he sat Starlight down on the couch and wrapped his hooves around her. “Well your dad is here for you. I can’t promise that I can do anything to help until I know what the issue is, but your old dad will always listen whenever you need it.”

“Thank you.” Starlight smiled as they both had tears in their eyes now. “And… could you call me pumpkin again? Just for old time sake?”

“Ah, my word. Well, of course. I love you Pumpki-Wumpkin.”

“I love you too dad.”

- Several Teary Eyed Hours Later -

Late that evening when most of Sire’s Hollow had gone to bed Starlight and Firelight were still sitting up with each other talking over her woes. The two of them had wrapped themselves up in an over sized winter blanket and each were sipping at a cup of hot coco together.

“And… after that I explained the entire thing to Twilight before crying my eyes out in her bed all night long. So now you pretty much know the whole story from start to end.” The mare said glumly as she turned away to look at the floor.

Firelight was quick to reach out and guide her face back to him with a gentle touch. “Now no daughter of mine is going to be allowed to look down in shame when I don’t think that any of this was entirely your fault to begin with. I’m proud of you sweetie.”

“But Dad I-” She began to complain but Firelight was having none of it.

“Ah but nothing. I think it’s your turn to listen now Sugarplum. I can understand why you’d feel weighed down from the things that you’ve done. I had no idea that when you left home that you had gone to such a dark place with your emotions and your magic. As your father I feel partially to blame because clearly you needed somepony there for you when Sunburst left and I obviously failed in my parental duties to do that.”

“Dad no, I-”

“Ah, but- but- but! Listen to me now. What I’m trying to say is that it sounds like you not being able to forgive yourself for your past is keeping you from really enjoying what’s good in your life here in the present.”

“But Dad I… I.” She trailed off for a moment and Firelight smiled proudly as Starlight pulled back to contemplate. “Actually, I never thought of it like that before.”

“Look hun, I’m your father so part of me is always going to be overprotective over you. I don’t like the sound of some fancy city pony coming in and sweeping my little girl even further away from me than she already is.”

“Dad!” Starlight complained bashfully.

“I’m just saying! This is a hard time for any father. But… If he really made you that happy then I don’t want to see you miss out on the joy that your mother and I had over some need to punish yourself for mistakes that are over and done with.” He told her with a knowing look.

“Oh dad, it’s not about that.” She groaned trying to deflect that point out of the conversation.

“Yeah, I know I know. You explained all about this Ryan fella supposedly having another destiny than you.” He said while waiving a hoof dismissively.

“It’s RAYNE Dad! Not Ryan!” Starlight argued but Firelight pretended to not give it much mind.

“Okay hun. But tell me something. Can you look me in the eye and tell me honestly that it’s not even a little bit about feeling like you don’t deserve this stallion after he's treated you so well?”

At this she paused and bit her bottom lip while she tried to think it over. “Huhh… No, I can’t. You’re right.”

“There, you see? A father knows his girl. No matter how old she gets or how far away she moves.” In a defeated sigh Starlight leaned forward and rested her face over her father’s shoulder. “Ah now there there. It’ll be okay. You just need time is all. You just stay here at home for as long as you need until you can sort yourself out again. Once you do I know that you’ll make the right choice.”

Starlight then huffed again and mumbled, “The right choice? And just what is the right choice in a situation like this one?”

It surprised Starlight when her father sat her up and gave her a serious expression. “Starlight, whatever it is that you choose to do is exactly what the right choice will be. I know because inside you there is a kind, loving, and honorable mare. You’re the kind of pony that I know your friends are proud to be around and the kind of pony that I am proud to be the father of. We all make mistakes, but when you act from the heart I know that any decision you make will be the right one.”

“Oh Daddy.” Starlight sobbed at how touched she was by that. “Thank you. I really needed to hear that.”

- The Next Morning -

Firelight awoke early that morning feeling excited at having his daughter home for the next few days. He busied himself with cooking a big breakfast for them both as he smiled hearing Starlight getting ready for the day. “You know, it sure is good getting to see you again!” He called out.

“MwHaat?” She mumbled while sticking her head out the bathroom door with toothbrush still in mouth.

“Oh, I said it’s just like old times! Having you home!” He yelled.

“Err ohh, ye- -eah!” She coughed out before returning to what she was doing.

A few minutes later Firelight stood with his hooves on his hips feeling proud of himself. “Well now. Doesn’t this just look like a proper father daughter breakfast?” He told himself while looking over the small feast he had prepared.

Just then he smiled at the sound of Starlight walking into the room but it soon faded upon seeing the rush that she was in. “Okay Dad, so I’m- Oh wow. Was all this for me? This breakfast looks great! I’m sorry I can’t stay to enjoy it.” She said in a rush, levitating some fruit onto a plate, magically bagging some sweetened oak crackers, and downing a mouthful of juice from the pitcher.

“Hey, whoa, whoa now! Where are you headed in such a hurry?! I thought that you and I could sit down and enjoy some more quality time together?” Firelight asked almost pleadingly.

“Oh, I’m sorry dad. Maybe next time! I’ve got to run to catch the train!” She stated while standing over the table stuffing her face with a pastry desert that Firelight had meant to save for after their meal.

“W-wait, the train?! But, but Chipmonk-cheeks! What happened to spending a few days to collect yourself?!”

“Nope, sorry! After last night I feel like I’m all collected! It was a great talk, you really gave me some great advice!” She replied as she picked up her stuff and started walking out the door.

Running after her until he was standing in his doorway Firelight shouted, “Wait, no! I’m just an old stallion! What do I know? What if I gave you terrible advice?!”

But Starlight just stopped and turned over her shoulder with a chuckle. Slowing her pace she walked back up to him and threw her hooves around his neck. “Thank you Dad. You really helped me out a lot. Thank you for always being there for me.”

With a defeated sigh he just hugged his daughter back and whispered out, “Of course hun. I love you Pumpkin. You’re always welcome back any time.”

- Back in Ponyville, In the Castle of Friendship -

Twilight looked up from a pile of student papers as the front doors suddenly burst wide open. “Whoa what’s going on?! Is that Starlight?” Spike asked after looking over and seeing the heliotrope mare racing toward them.

“Twilight! Spike! I’m back!” She called out and immediately rushed to give her friends a firm hug.

“Starlight, hi! I didn’t expect to see you back so soon! How did everything go with your trip home? Is everything alright?” Twilight inquired with her wings raised behind her from how startling Starlight was greeting them.

“Did your dad drive you crazy that quickly that you had to come back here after only one day?” Spike surmised but the girls just ignored that comment with a frown.

Now the excited unicorn was almost prancing in place as she said, “No actually it went great. My dad and I shared a really heart touching evening together and I got to get a lot of weight I had been carrying off of my chest. I guess you could say I’m just excited to see all my friends again.”

With a bashful smile Twilight perked up saying, “Well gee Starlight. It sure makes me happy to hear that you’re feeling so much better.”

“Yeah, after the way you left we thought you might NEVER be happy ag-”

“SPIKE!” Twilight shouted down to him in disbelief.

“No, it’s okay.” Starlight told them. “I know that I was a mess when I left. I honestly didn’t know how to feel about everything that happened. But I’m better now that my dad helped me to pick myself back up again.”

“Well I am relieved to hear it.” Twilight remarked. “So, does that mean that things will be getting back to normal around here? Our students have been missing their favorite guidance counselor you know.”

“Almost.” Starlight answered. “I’ve decided that my decision to turn Rayne down was the right one. Yeah, I love him. And I believe that he loves me. I admit when I turned him down it was partly out of me punishing myself. But more important than that I realize he has a destiny out there with somepony else. Even if Rayne and I could be happy together, it would be at the cost of somepony else never getting to know how great he is. They might NEED Rayne in their lives whereas I only want to be with him. And I could never take that away from whoever it is that he is meant to be with."

Now the other two both blinked before looking to one another. “Wow Starlight.” Twilight began. “That’s really mature of you, considering what you’re giving up.”

“Eh yeah, I’m just awesome like that.” Starlight smirked before both girls started laughing. “Alright well anyways, I was hoping that one of you could help me out.”

“Whatcha need help with?” Spike asked.

“Finding Rayne.” Starlight answered. “I stopped by the day spa before coming here but Lotus Blossom said that he hasn’t been working recently. What’s going on?”

Now Twilight’s demeanor became a bit hesitant as she tried to explain. “Yeah, you aren’t going to find him at the spa. Rayne has been taking some time alone to himself I believe. He did in fact show up looking for you after you left, but other than that no pony has seen Rayne around in the last few days.”

“WHAT?!” Starlight blurted out feeling completely taken aback by this. “What do you mean that no pony has seen him?!” Starlight yelled as Twilight and Spike looked to each other not knowing what else they could say.

It was just then that the front doors flew open once again as Rainbow Dash hooved excitedly over the heads of their other friends. “There she is! You see?! I told you that Spitfire was told by Fleetfoot, that she heard from Derpy Hooves, that the conductor of the Ponyville Express, said he saw Starlight get off the train that returned to town!”

With a heavy eye roll Applejack just nodded saying, “Alright, you was right. No need to go on getting a big head about it.”

Fluttershy spoke up next with as giddy of an attitude as the docile mare could manage. “Oh well I’m just so excited to hear how her trip was. I hope she’s doing much better. She was hardly gone for very long at all.”

“Only one way to go and seeeee!” Pinkie cheered as she bounced her way in behind the rest of them.

“Starlight, it’s so good to see you smiling again!” Rarity chimed as she took her seat at the map table. “You had all of us very worried when you suddenly took of for Sire’s Hollow like that. Did the trip do you some good?”

After waiting for everypony to file into their seats she replied, “Yes it did. And I’m very sorry for worrying all of you. I promise I’m doing much better now. But that also means it’s time for me to make things right with Rayne. All I did was run away after I rejected him. He deserves an apology from me and more of an answer than what I left him with. So please, can any of you tell me if you’ve seen him?”

All the girls were relieved to see their friend back to her usual self again but her request left an uneasy silence that began to fill the air.

“Uh...” Dash mumbled.

“Well, I can’t really reckon that I...” Applejack stammered.

“Ahem, Spikey wikey? Could you come over here and sit with me please?” Rarity deflected.

Starlight frowned feeling disappointed that nopony had an answer for her. “Really? None of you have seen him? Not once? Not in four days?!”

One by one all the girls either shrugged, gave an apologetic glance, or just fidgeted nervously. Twilight was the next to speak but already knew she would be less than helpful. “Like I said, Rayne did show up yesterday looking for you. But honestly, that was the only time I’ve seen him since we all went out to Manehattan together.”

“Manehattan?!” Rarity suddenly choked out which caused everyone to look over to her curiously.

Trying to find a solution Twilight suggested, “Well if nopony has seen him out in the town then why don’t you just try visiting him at his place?”

“Oh, that’s a great-” Starlight started to say until she suddenly froze as if she’d been struck by lightening.

“Starlight? Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uhh, eh heh heh. Yeah, you see... I can’t really visit Rayne at his place.” Starlight mumbled nervously.

“Why not?” Pinkie asked, completely missing the awkwardness that had been in Starlight’s voice.

Frowning a bit from being put on the spot Starlight lowered her ears saying, “Because I don’t know where Rayne lives.”

“What?!” Twilight remarked in disbelief. “You two got serious enough for him to propose! How could you not know where-”

“Look! He was always like a perfect gentlepony okay?!” Starlight shouted. “He would pick me up whenever we went on dates! And he would walk me home! We would go to amazing places together! And we just… never happened to go back to wherever it is that he lives. I already feel foolish enough as it is for not realizing this fact until now. So don’t make it worse okay?”

“Ugh.” Twilight sighed before tossing her mane back dismissively. “Alright well not to worry. I guess it works out now that Rayne had so many girlfriends at one time. I’m sure that either Applejack or Rainbow Dash...” Twilight started to say but then looked up in surprise. “Are you kidding me?!” She yelled as she caught Applejack trying to sneak out of her seat and Rainbow Dash already halfway to the door. “Rayne dated all three of you and not one of you knows where he lives at?!”

“Well… Rayne used a spell to be able to surprise me at my place up in Cloudsdale.” Dash explained.

“He was a good one for impromptu moon lit meetings out on the farm. But yeah, he never took me to his place neither.” Applejack admitted to which Twilight could not resist slapping a hoof over her forehead.

“Uh, Rar-ity? What are y-you..?” Spike called out, one by one distracting the others from the conversation. “Hey! Are you- okay?” He strugged to get out as the mare was absentmindedly stroking down his face while staring into the distance.

“Hmm? Oh, OH! Spikey wikey, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me, I’m afraid I was worlds away at that moment.” She stated while acting like she had just come back from spacing out. “Well anyways, speaking of returning to somepony’s abode… Spike why don’t you come back with me to the boutique? Hm? It doesn’t sound like we can be of much help around here anyhow.”

“Wait a minute!” Starlight yelled as Rarity was just climbing out of her seat. “I thought you just said you were world’s away? How could you know we were still talking about where Rayne lives if you were spacing out?”

Suddenly the pale gray unicorn backed away from her seat while acting very nervous. “Oh well you see… Uh, my ears must have still been listening whilst my attention was elsewhere. Yes, that must be it darling.” But she could tell from the expressions on the others that no pony was buying it.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked as if accusing her of something. “What are you not telling us?”

Then Rainbow Dash flew up into her face yelling, “You hiding something?! What is it?! Out with it!” But she crossed her hooves in annoyance as Twilight magicked her back to her chair.

Now the fashionista began to sweat as all eyes were on her. Speaking softly Starlight asked her, “Tell me Rarity, do you know where Rayne lives?”

With that the unicorn mare gave a huff of relief and replied, “No, I can honestly say that I have no idea as to the location of our dear Rayne’s abode.”

But her relief was short lived when Twilight asked, “Then if not his house, do you know where Rayne himself is right now?”

That was when Rarity winced as if she’d been caught in some trap that there was no escape from. “Y-…. yes. I do.”

“I don’t understand Rarity.” Fluttershy spoke up. “You know how important to Starlight this is. If you knew where Rayne is at then why wouldn’t you just speak up and tell us?”

Now softening her tone to a pleading expression Rarity answered, “Well because, it’s… well it’s having to do with where he’s at exactly.”

“Whattaya mean?!” Pinkie called out. “Is he somewhere dangerous?! Ohh! Ohh! Is Rayne so wracked with guilt and heartache over Starlight that he traveled a MILLION miles away to an active volcano to throw himself inside because he couldn’t bare the pain of living one more day without Starlight by his side?!” She asked in a disturbingly cheerful voice. The effect of which definitely made Starlight’s eye twitch and stomach wrench at the thought of such a suggestion.

“PINKIE!” Nearly everyone in the room shouted angrily.

Feeling that this whole thing had stretched on for far too long Rarity spoke up saying, “On don’t be ridiculous Pinkie dear. Please, you can give Rayne more credit than that. He is simply working at another job. I’m sure he will return to Ponyville in a few days time, or so.”

“Working at another job? Well that doesn’t sound so bad.” Fluttershy stated.

Dash went next asking, “Yeah, what’s so bad that you wouldn’t want to tell us that?”

“Oh well you see… It’s not exactly at the most reputable of establishments. It certainly isn’t the kind of place that I believe he would want the mares who he cares about to come looking for him at.”

Several of them pondered as to why Rarity was being so secretive. But they were all stricken silent as Starlight firmly demanded, “Rarity... where, is, Rayne?”

Now returning to her nervous tone Rarity answered, “Oh, he’s uh… in Manehattan.”

“Rarity,” Starlight repeated, “where is Rayne?!”

“H-he’s he’s working in small establishment in the seedy end of Manehattan’s lower quarter.” Rarity whimpered out.

Then every ponies jaw dropped as Starlight stepped onto the map table and walked right over to lean down at Rarity from above. “Where, is, Rayne?!”

The frightened noise that came out of Rarity at that point as almost reminiscent of a Fluttershy squeal when pushed beyond her limit to withstand a social interaction.

Author's Notes:

Hello again everyone! I appreciate you being patient during my unexpected downtime so as a thank you I am releasing two chapters today to signify my return back. Please allow me to welcome you to what I am officially calling season two of my story.

We pick up during the following morning from where we left off. After the girls excitedly rushed over to hear the good news, they all had the harsh reality of last night explained to them. A little thanks to Discord for being the perfect character to insight a short recap of why everypony is sad. Also who liked the 'recognized 4th wall break' between him and Pinkie? I could just picture her thinking, "Hey buster! That's MY job!" Haha.

I really wouldn't mind hearing how I did on this one. The show doesn't really touch on epic sadness but I tried keeping everything within how their personalities would react. Twilight trying to be supportive, AJ trying to be productive to push passed her sadness, etc. Was the father daughter scene in Sire's Hollow touching? Being a dad myself I found it particularly moving to write.

Yes, I skipped over Rayne crying for three days. If you're into that sort of thing then msg me privately and 'maybe' I'll write a touching spinoff or something, but I skipped it because it was implied in the last chapter and didn't move the story along. I didn't want my first chapter back to be only a downer and nothing else. But yes I have to admit, Rayne is shaken. He's not shattered but this was a deep blow to him. If he didn't have Maud to help keep him together then he'd definitely be a hopeless mess.

Now for those who caught it, we've had some progress for this story in catching up on the show. We're now passed S8E9 Non-Compete Clause. And remember, the next episode is a Hearts and Hooves Day episode. So what does that mean? The show skips from this point all the way to the next year passing over a winter entirely. More on that here.

Oooh but what is Rayne up to? Traveling back to Manehattan alone? What ever for? Can anyone remember the hint that was dropped in an old chapter for what this could be? Hehe.

Finally, who caught on before reading this chapter about how little the girls actually know about Rayne? Remember that anytime Pinkie visited Maud, our favorite dark stallion wasn't there. Nopony knows where Rayne lives except for Maud, Zecora, and Discord. The girl's ignorance about Rayne is an important factor because it will be coming up again.