What Draws Them Together

It was a single, swift and calculated motion. With over a decade of experience, every tiny muscles and fiber in her foreleg knew it's place, a tweak of the hoof here, a leveraging there and then the curl. After just a dab of gel and a few clouds of hair spray, her mane sat ready, awaiting her move.

With a glint in her eye and in one seamless movement she dramatically swept her brush upwards, downwards and then pulled it out, letting the tension build like a spring. She held it there for a half second and then let go, letting her mane bounce into it's trademark curl. She threw the brush to the other hoof and continued the elegance with another grand sweeping motion and curl. Almost if by magic, her lower mane bounced into it's normal, perfect, flawless curl.

In the span of five seconds she accomplished a style that would have taken most mares hours to even attempt. Maybe it was magic and maybe it wasn't. She liked to believe it was a different kind of magic.

Rarity ended with a stunning pose and caught eye of the beautiful mare in the bathroom mirror.

Fabulous.

She opened the door to release a nauseating blend of a half dozen body scents and hair sprays, nearly knocking out a very disgruntled Sweetie Belle.

"Finally you're done!" she said covering her nose.

"Yes, I am finished and looking utterly fabulous! Please do not refrain admiring me," Rarity said jokingly.

"Oh brother..." Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes with a chuckle. As she did, she fought to suppress a gag from the vapours and gave her a cross look.

"Sister. Oh sister." She corrected. "You know Sweetie Belle..." She sized up her sister. "The loving scowl on your face is giving me inspiration. Would you mind letting me indulge a little and allow me to style your mane today?"

"Oh yeah?" she replied cleverly. Sweetie Belle put on the biggest, warmest smile she could muster, effacing the aforementioned scowl.

"Yup, inspiration gone..." Rarity said flatly. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. "But seriously Sweetie Belle. In the right light you are just such a doll. Pleaseee?!" She playfully nudge her sister with a loud whine.

"I would, but I have some crusading to do today. I'd hate to ruin your hard work on that." As much as Sweetie Belle would have enjoyed spending the day with her big sister, their lead was too good.

Rarity gave her a quick hug. "Oh it's alright darling, I'm sure it will come to me again sometime. So where are you off to today?"

"We're all meeting up at Zecora's to try and be sorceresses!" She drew a towel over her head and motioned at Rarity more in the likeness of a ghost than and sorceress.

"Well that sounds like a smashing time!" Nothing that Rarity would personally partake in, but for the more 'outdoorsy' ponies, it seemed like a good bit of adventure. "You have fun dear and tell Zecora I said hi!"

Rarity patted her sister on the head and headed for the door. Sweetie Belle just smiled. Her sister seemed to be back to her old self. For the last few days she had moped about the house. Sweetie Belle had tried her best to cheer her up. She took her out shopping, she helped as much as she could around the house, she even made Rarity’s favourite quiche but nothing lifted the rainy cloud over her. Today though, she seemed completely normal.

It almost caught Sweetie Belle off guard when she heard her sister happily singing as she went about the boutique pampering herself as usual. Sweetie Belle sprung from her bed and picked up the harmony perfectly, much to the surprised approval of her sister. Neither of them were complaining in the slightest. If Rarity was happy today, who was she to ask why?

Cadance said she would have arrived today and Rarity was feeling lucky.

Unfortunately the storm wasn’t forgotten. They were about to pass out of the eye.

Rarity heard a commotion outside, a few ponies shouting here and there. They both walked over to the window to see if they could find the disturbance. Then bloodcurdling screams started. One particular scream stuck out to her and tore into her spine.

”Twilight!”

Ponies passing by looked in the direction of the noise and ran towards in, some straight up sprinting. Unsure of what to make of it, Rarity took the confident initiative.

“I sure do hope this isn’t another one of Pinkie’s failed baking excursions again,” she tried to play it down. Her sister was clearly terrified. “Stay right here and don’t leave, I’ll be right back after I figure out what everypony’s fussing over.”

Rarity trotted quickly outside to more screaming and ponies frantically galloping toward it. Rarity tried to remain composed, but the panic of the crowd carried her faster to the epicenter. The normally peaceful town would never be the same again.

*

Fluttershy had gathered her last ingredient for Angel’s newest, most ambitious demand when it started. First there was the shouting.

Her latest dreams had been leaving her a bit exhausted. As much as it dragged on her to wake up tired, it had been time well spent. It didn’t matter how long it was until they saw each other. Fluttershy and Luna had an entire day’s worth of time together as long as she could dream. That wouldn’t suggest that Fluttershy was fine with never seeing Luna again, because, for once, dreams weren’t quite as good as real life. They planned a much closer and intimate evening next time. Nothing to fast, but Luna had expressed a great interest in cuddling.

She woke up and mindlessly droned to and from the market. Her thoughts were in her dreams again as the world didn’t hold as much interest to her anymore. At first she didn’t even hear the shouting as she went about her business. Normally these ponies didn’t get into fights, but every so often shouting would be heard in the market as a deal turned sour.

So the shouting continued. It wasn’t until the screaming that Fluttershy snapped back to reality. She desperately looked for the source of it. She followed other ponies eyes to the distant structure, but after seeing it she wish she hadn’t.

Her eye barely caught a glimpse of the sight she would never forget. The sight that shattered her and made her remember that life wasn’t a dream. It would remind her later that sometimes dreams are merciless.

It threw her back into an panicked haze. She might have screamed but she didn’t remember it. All she remembered was running towards it while getting tripped and knocked over, not caring in the slightest.

*

Cadance authoritatively ran to the front of the panicked crowd. Everypony made way for her, half their eyes hopefully on the Princess, the other half still on the figure inches from the edge of the roof. She met up with the mayor and guards who had been directing everypony. They graciously handed control over to their monarch.

It was her time to lead.

The waiter, Time Turner, stood on the roof of the local hotel, hesitantly inching closer and closer to the edge. His intention was clear. Even from the ground anypony could see the anguish and strife on his face.

While suicide was always startling in itself, Cadance wasn’t sure exactly how he planned to get away with it. One of the only unicorns she would trust with her own life  was standing right next to her and the legendary flier, Rainbow Dash, had already started hovering closer and closer. Given the countless ways to save a fall, it felt like more of a publicity stunt than anything else.

Still the Princess proceeded with caution.

“Hey, I know what you’re thinking right now... I’m not going to try and stop you, I just want to talk.” she projected calmly.

He shouted through tears. “O-oh yeah?! Tell me, what am I thinking?!” He took a step took a step towards the edge quickly. Cadance knew he was just playing games. He’d take one threatening step and get the crowd riled up.

Cadance nervously bit her lip.

“Get me someone close to him. Now.” She commanded quietly to the few ponies around her. “Friend, family member, anyone.” They ran off.

“You’re thinking that maybe you’re out of options... That you can’t make everypony happy. Hey I know what that’s like. I know exactly what it’s like to be hated no matter what decision I make.”

Twilight was amazed by how genuine the Princess sounded. Even more so than that, she was surprised by the assertion she made. Cadance had made a rather far-fetched assumption about the stallion’s life without even knowing his name.

An assumption well found, the stallion started backing off.

“Yeah... well...” he sobbed.

Cadance watched him antagonistically, she had dealt with more than enough suicide attempts in her life than she was willing to admit. The Princesses represented a spiritual trifecta in Equestria, Celestia was the body, Luna the mind and Cadance the heart. Being the element of love, she had a certain dominion over all emotional impasses and had been called to intervene in matters such as this countless times.

She had seen this before and was almost annoyed by ponies who threatened to jump off tall things. She’d never lost a pony in an attempt and she refused to. She could tell he wasn’t serious and was doing it for the attention, but it was always good to be prepared.

“Yeah... well...?” she empathized. “Come on down sweetheart. We can find some of your friends and all talk about this together. Maybe you can tell me what’s wrong, I might be able to help,” she said with an impossible sweetness.

He stepped down from the ledge.

And just like that Cadance seemed to have the entire situation under control in an instant. Twilight never really thought of Cadance in the same way she thought of Celestia or Luna, but right now she glimmered and radiated brighter than either. She had just saved this pony’s life.

The air loosened around them and a small applause even broke out. He just sat there crying pathetically as Rainbow Dash approached him cautiously. He was still unstable and could lash out at any pony, but for the most part he appeared self-contained. Just as soon as Rainbow was about to reach he looked like he threw an invisible toaster at her, spazzing wildly, much to Cadance’s surprise. She didn't expect that and would have to reevaluate the situation.

“You? You can’t help me! There’s nothing any pony who can! I’m just swell as you can see, look nothing wrong here.” His tone was liquid hatred and spite, he shouted as if he loathed every single pony in front of him. Rainbow backed off. “I guess that means you can all just go home!”

Cadance considered her options. “Look, you’re going through some rough times, we all do, but you have ponies who care about you.”

She was short with the ponies around her. “You all have sixty seconds to find his damned loved one...” she said harshly in stark contrast.

He overheard her. “Find somepony who cares about me?!” he laughed. “No pony cares about me! See?! You can’t find her, you’ll never find her! Because she’s.... she’s...” his voice cracked. “Oh s-sweet mother... I-i...” he choked.

Cadance’s heart plummeted. All the pity she felt for this individual turned strictly business. It was now only her duty to save this life, not her will. She knew exactly what he was talking about, but it was clear those around her didn’t. Whoever this pony he was talking about was, he had done something to her. He had killed her or set her on the path to death. Cadance had misjudged him horribly and she could feel herself losing control of the situation and letting it slip into the hooves of this ever maddening pony.

“Who is he talking about?!” she shouted.

Cadance was met with silence from the flock of scared sheep around her.

“Anypony feel like being a hero today?!” she glared at them, “A pony’s life hangs in the balance and none of you will be the pony who stands by and watches her die!” Cadance screamed in frustration. A few of them scattered, but most of them remained frozen in place.

She turned her fierce gaze to him. “Where is she?!”

“Neither of them are going to make it and neither am I... Our time is up...” He just laughed with pitiful sinistry before falling off the edge. Screams erupted as his body plummeted the short but lethal fall.

“Rainbow! NOW,” Cadance commanded.

Rainbow Dash didn’t need an order to know what to do. She had immediately locked on to her target and would there in a quarter of a second. She flew as quickly as her wings could carry her.

Twilight was still a bit hazy from the drinks, but she didn’t doubt what she saw. It all happened in slow motion. The stallion had jumped off off the building, but before he even got a quarter way down, Rainbow was already on top of him. She wasn’t sure if he planned to hit her or was just flailing and got questionably lucky, but Rainbow never got her hooves around him. She was sent flying by a stray bucking hoof, leaving a nasty gash on her flank. In the heart of the moment, it didn’t even faze the champion flier, but she spun out and recovered far too late to go back.

Twilight struggled to aim her spell. The drinks had gotten to her and she was seeing a little double. The Princess had probably magically cleared her system, but Twilight never took the time to learn such spells yet as she never imagined she’d be in this sort of situation.

Realizing she was going to most likely miss, she began casting as many spells as she could at him, completely unleashing herself. In a second and a half she probably cast a dozen spells in ultra-rapid succession. Every school she’d been to advised against fast casting, but the drinks had allowed her to forget such lessons.

Such an explosive magic storm instantly knocked her on her flat on her flank. Her vision whited out as she went into a magical shock. The last thing she remembered was the most disgusting sound she’d ever forget and screaming.

Endless screaming.

*

The Great and Powerful Trixie was busy putting the finishing touches on her makeup and mane. She always need to look her best for a performance. Now that ponies were actually lining up to see her, she’d give them a sight worth seeing. She was on hour three of her preparation when a loud obnoxious bang on the door caused her to smear a her eye shadow. She gritted her teeth in frustration.

“Can you not read?! The Great and Powerful Trixie requested not to be disturbed!” She turned around angrily to see the mare responsible for newfound success, casually leaning against the threshold.

“Hey chill, it’s just me,” replied Vinyl, “Oh look at you, lookin’ all pretty. You did that for me, right?” she smiled coolly.

“Oh Vinyl, sorry I didn’t mean to shout. I’m just so nervous... That’s a really big crowd.” Trixie admitted. She never had an audience of thousands.

“Trixie baby, you need to loosen up... Ditch the dollface, ditch the crazy hairdo, those ponies don’t want to see any of that.”

“T-they don’t?”

“Nah, look we have a half hour till we’re green. How about I help you loosen up? Get you in the right mindset. Help you do your makeup and mane, my way...” The world famous Dj had a devilish, sultry smile on her face.

Trixie giggled and blushed. “Oh my... Vinyl... the rumors really are true then. Right before every show?”

“Gotta find someway to relax.” She closed and locked the door behind her.

*

Trixie couldn’t remember the last time she partied this hard. Her head was spinning, beautiful mares, drinks that never stopped, one sensation after another, this was the way to truly live. They had all been teasing her a little for opting out of a few rounds, but she needed to pace herself or she’d wind up somewhere incredibly unfortunate. She needed to find somepony a lot less daring to relax with before dive-bombing back into the party.

She found a quieter looking pretty mare, lounging about in the corner. From the look in her eye, she was about on the same page as Trixie, but with a slight sadness looming over her. Trixie plopped down next to her.

“Hey, what’s with the sad face, not having fun?” Trixie was going to bait this one into a something steamy if her life depended on it.

Startled, she flipped her frown to meet this newest superstar. “Oh, I was just thinking about that suicide in Ponyville. It’s really sad that stuff like that happens. It seems to happening more and more lately.”

Trixie’s heart nearly stopped.

“Suicide...?” she replied almost in a whisper. If her voice had shown itself, it would have trembled in the wake of her words.

“Yeah I guess somepony decided to end it after their marefriend left them.”

Trixie was silent. It was hard to talk when her heart was shattering and the shards were tearing her soul apart. Next Chapter: Sandcastles Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 13 Minutes