Psychedelica – Pastel Ponies
A pony story by Joseph Raszagal
As inspired by stuff best kept away from children
Chapter Seventeen – The OTHER Pink One

“Your wife really did take part in my rescue, didn't she?” I asked as we left the courtroom, my emotions finally under control.

Smiling, Shining Armor replied, “And I'm glad that she did.”

“As am I,” I retorted with a chuckle. “Methinks the pretty pink pony princess deserves a visit.”

“Well, lucky for you that I know just where to go.”

“Who'da thunk it?” I laughed again, feeling a mirth well up in my chest.

It's hard to hold onto aggravation when you're thinking about the people, er, ponies that bailed your ass out of the biggest fire it's ever been cooking in.

Even if they're kind of stupi~ No! No! Bad Jeremy! YOU ARE GOING TO BE NICE THIS TIME, GODDAMMIT!

With that mantra repeating in my mind, I followed my new buddy back down the twisting halls of Canterlot Palace, stopping every so often whenever Shining happened to cross paths with one of the guards serving under his command. They'd chat about as amicably as a soldier and his commanding officer could (like Twi said, protocol and all that) for a few minutes, then we'd get back into our groove and resume our trot. All in all, the place was rather overwhelming in scope, with its high, vaulting ceilings and mile-long corridors. Still, at the same time I'll admit, I was hard-pressed not to be enthralled by the beautifully ornate architecture and many lavish decorations. Marble statues of the princesses could be found around just about any corner, joined by what I assumed were other famous ponies from Equestrian history. I was familiar with Star Swirl the Bearded (let me put it to you this way, if you knew Twilight Sparkle, you'd be learning about Star Swirl whether you wanted to or not), but most of the others were unknown to me. Odder still were the several statues that looked a great deal like the girls I knew... but were not. Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, and few others that I didn't have much time get a close look at.

However, by the time we made it to a hall seemingly built up of nothing but stained glass windows, my attention was thoroughly stolen from the marble carvings.

…

…

…

Jesus Christ, beautiful doesn't even begin to describe them. Try mesmerizing.

“Fuck me sideways,” I muttered under my breath, my eyes wide with wonder as the bright sunlight outside sent an aurora borealis of colors dancing across every wall.

“Again, not sure I would have worded it that way, but yeah, gets me every time too,” Shining Armor concurred, grinning.

I barely heard him. Well, I mean, I wasn't trying to be rude and ignore him or anything, it was just that... two particular windows. They beckoned to me. Recognizing the six mares emblazoned heroically across both, I felt compelled to pace over and sit down in front of them.

Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic.

Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter.

Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness.

Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty.

Rarity, the Element of Generosity.

Applejack, the Element of Honesty.

When their powers combined, they didn't summon Captain Planet, they summoned the raw power of friendship. The bonds binding them, stronger than titanium, were in fact their true strength all along. They cared for each other, they would never let each other down, and because of that they never failed to stop a mighty foe when push came to shove.

They overturned everlasting night and brought both the Sun and the true Moon back to the world.

They dethroned the King of Chaos, restoring order to a land besieged by total anarchy.

…

“My friends are total badasses,” I whispered, eyes still as wide as saucers.

I'd cried much more than enough today, but I felt it coming again; the tears welling up in my eyes even as I tried and failed to brush them away in time.

These girls... these spectacular, amazing girls... they stood strong when no one else could. They stood defiant against the longest odds imaginable. They never backed down. They never fucking surrendered.

Takes balls, man, metaphorical or not.

“They're really something, aren't they?” came a musical voice that I immediately recognized.

Spinning around fast enough to give myself whiplash, I took a deep breath to compose myself and said, “That's not even scratching the surface, toots.”

If I'm gonna say something, I might as well add that little Jeremy flair.

Princess Cadance either didn't know what the word meant or just didn't care. Rather than reply, she simply strode over and knelt down beside me, draping a wing across my shoulders. Joining me on the opposite side, Shining Armor took a seat on the floor as well. Together, the three of us just craned our necks in silence and gazed upon these Equestrian heroes, these mutual friends and family members of ours.

“How do they do it?” I eventually asked, my voice remarkably controlled despite all of the emotions waging bloody-war inside my head.

“I think you know the answer to that question already,” the pink princess replied, a serene smile gracing her features. “It comes in many forms, some almost impossible to recognize, but behind true friendship there is always a deep and binding love. I'm sure you've seen it, or at the very least heard of it. The things those girls have gone through for each other... this hall lacks the necessary number of windows to commemorate their every deed.”

“Having heard a few pretty crazy stories already, I can attest to that,” I stated, still unwilling to rip my eyes away from the glasswork before me. “But love? I think I'm starting to understand what real friendship means, but I can't tell you one way or another if I'll ever fully understand love.”

“Then you're lying,” Cadance giggled.

“How so?”

“Well, just think about it. These ponies, these ponies who have changed your life... do you love them?”

“I... I don't know. I've only known some of them for so long.”

“Ah, but you've known one particular mare for quite some time now, haven't you?”

Blushing, I finally found the strength to rise from my position on the floor.

“Th-that's a loaded question and you know it,” I stammered, struggling to make sense of my own thoughts. “I mean, c'mon, I have her brother sitting six inches away from me!”

“Not to mention her sister-in-law,” Shining quipped, smirking.

Have I mentioned this yet? Because I think I have. Oh how I hate being messed with. And shit, here was Twi's brother joining in on his wife's fun!

“Look, she saved my life, gave me a roof, fed me and helped me when I was sick, showed me compassion when I definitely didn't deserve it, and~

Stopping in my tracks, the obvious dawned on me, just like it always did after I answered my own fucking questions.

“Go ahead,” Cadance urged, tears forming in her eyes this time.

I guess being the Princess of Love gave you a greater, more profound understanding of the concept that you yourself represented than most others.

“It's okay,” Shining echoed, nodding for me to keep going.

“But...” I squeaked, my words catching in my throat as though it were filled with hooks.

Cutting me off again, the pink princess softly said, “It occurs in far too many ways to list. It can sometimes develop into things more, and other times it simply solidifies what was already there. Don't worry yourself over the fine details, those are still to come. Just focus on the here and now. How do you feel towards her, Jeremy?”

Looking back up at the window depicting the defeat of Nightmare Moon, I locked my eyes upon a lavender unicorn.

The words were there, but they were just... so hard to get out. And they felt so inadequate. Incomplete.

I knew that they were both urging me on, to say what was necessary to continue my growth, but that didn't make it any less difficult, dammit.

“Sh-Shining?” I questioned, my voice barely above that of a field mouse. “Is... is it really okay?”

“I've learned quite a lot from my dear Cadance,” he replied, his eyes glimmering with pride as he rose to place a hoof upon my shoulders. “One of those things is indeed what she just said. You can't quantify love. It just can't be done. Sometimes, there are just ponies that we hold close to our hearts. It can be romantic, it can be platonic, or it can be something that words can't yet describe. Life is... strange like that.”

“And it needn't be more than that love,” she added, smiling up at me. “It can grow, it can become more than what it was over time, but in the end it is still love. You need only accept it to begin with. From there, you can decide where and how that love will further blossom.”

Haha, hey, remember what I mentioned earlier about having probably already reached my crying quota for this evening?

Well, I was wrong.

When you get love itself thrown in your face, things change.

It happens.

Suddenly, I had to face something that I had been steadily realizing over the course of four months.

“I love her,” I admitted, hyperventilating. “I'd do anything for her. She... she works so hard, she's worked so hard already. And it isn't fair. She has the whole world as well as her own sanity on her own shoulders... and... and... I just~

Wrapping his hooves around me, Shining Armor hugged me tight and quietly stated, “There's a reason I told you that I would be willing to trust my little sister with you, and no, it has nothing to do with how you've failed to notice her current state or anything of the sort. You just... care. You care about her. It's written all over your face.” Taking a moment to step away from me, he added, “You asked me earlier if it was obvious how thankful you were of the princesses, and to be true, it was as clear as a bell. But with my sister, there's more. You feel like you owe your life to her, don't you?”

That was all it took.

Slamming my hooves into the perfectly tiled floor, hard enough to crack it, I screamed, “Because I do!”

I shuddered uncontrollably for a moment as the husband and wife duo held me close, but this one time, just this once, I made damn sure to regain myself quickly.

Sure, Twilight wasn't a princess. And, yeah, sure, she might well have been more crazy than I've ever been in my entire life, especially after having her mind sundered by a freaking rose-colored party that never ends.

But do you know what else?

And this is the really important part. The single most important part.

Though I may never have been as far down the road as she's gone across the Sliding Scale of Psychosis, I've still seen it nonetheless. I've seen what madness looks like. I've been there, with a noose around my neck and a death-wish in my heart. I knew firsthand what it felt like to fray around the edges and wonder what sanity really means from the outside looking in.

And even still, she couldn't bear to see me die.

So just this fucking once, I stayed strong. Even if all I had to say was something simple, something I had only moments ago just said, it was worth saying.

Catching my breath, I steadied myself for as long as was necessary before saying, “Yes... I love her.”

I... I didn't know in which facet or for, but I loved her.

About 20 minutes after we left Cadance to her own devices, which was pretty much the allotted time needed for me to calm-the-fuck down, Shining spoke up and asked me, “Was that really so hard?”

“The people that I love have a bad habit of dying,” I remarked somberly, apparently not as in-control of my emotions as I thought I was.

Interestingly, Shining replied, “Not an issue.”

“What?” I quickly asked, my thoughts suddenly left on the roadside in favor of confusion for a moment.

The stallion simply shrugged his shoulders.

“She'll tell you once she's ready.”

“I... suppose... I guess...”

“Feeling a little emotionally exhausted?”

“Hah, yeah, there's an understatement. You basically just spent the day with a guy who specializes in breaking down.”

Jabbing me in the side of the chest, the stallion smirked, “Don't worry, it can only get better from here.”

“Oh really?” I questioned incredulously, a single eyebrow rising.

“Trust me, I'm a military man,” he laughed.

Rolling my eyes, I scoffed, “Oh, great, that'll come in really handy when I have to wave my best friend off into a war.”

“Again, trust me,” he replied, completely nonplussed, “Twiley... she just can't be touched. Literally.”

Fearing that I'd get no further with him down this particular avenue of secret intelligence, I instead opted to cop-the-fuck-out.

Hey, it's what you do when you have no more train tracks to roll down. Or bridges to cross.

Fucking bridges...

“By the way,” I inquired, legitimately curious, “how'd you know she'd be here?”

Scoffing, Shining Armor replied, “I think I could scarcely call myself her husband if I didn't know where all of her favorite hiding spots throughout the palace were.”

Screwing my eyes shut in concentration, I eventually relented by way of logic and said, “Fair enough.”

To be continued in Chapter Eighteen – Slumber Party Fiasco...

Author's Notes:

It hurts sometimes... remembering those that you've left behind. But sometimes there's a purpose for that pain. It helps to remind you of how much you have, no matter how fleeting it might seem.

This one goes out to you, Sunshine. Life was unfair and cruel, but I'll always remember you for the happiness that you tried so hard to spread. Always. Kudos, you amazing little girl.

I'll never stop grieving, but I will stop bellyaching. You'd yell at me for that, wouldn't you? Heh...