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Serenade

by Bandy

Chapter 11: Moonlight Serenade (Finale Part 2)

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The ring of ponies surrounding you blocks any chance of escape. Your assailant, the same stallion who beat you senseless no more than a week ago, now circles you like a shark. "Nowhere to run, pipsqueak. Whatcha gonna do?"

You chuckle nervously. "Well, judging by the abnormality of your stature and your absolutely atrocious grammar, I'd say you aren't very intelligent. So, my plan is to steer you into a battle of wits rather than a physical engagement, therefore tilting the odds of this tousle in my favor."

Your opponent just stares at you, mouth agape slightly. "Wait... what?"

"Exactly," you continue. "so if you would be so kind as to let me go, I will be on my way-" No sooner have the words left your mouth than a pair of powerful hind legs smash into you. Thankfully, you remain conscious, but you note a disturbing amount of pain coming from your head.

"Okay," you mutter, shaking off the blow, "guess that won't work."

The smirk returns to your attacker's face. "You ain't gonna fool me with all that fancy vocabulur... vocabular... all that fancy talk of yours!" He begins to run towards you. "Time to fight," he spits out.

Thinking quickly, you slide to the left at the last possible moment, leaving a hoof jutting out in the stallion’s path. Just as you expected, he misses you completely, running into your outstretched hoof and falling flat on his face. The crowd lets out a collective 'oooh!'

The fall only succeeds in making him angrier. He immediately returns to his hooves, a look of pure rage in his eyes. You only have time to stutter "Uh-oh," before he is upon you again, swinging his hooves blindly. However powerful he is, he is still too angry to make coordinated blows, and you dodge them with ease.

"Come on!" he snarls. "Hold still!"

"Not a chance, bub," you quip, tripping him once again. Despite being able to fend him off, you are in no position to actually beat him. He is simply too big for you to handle alone. You silently thank Celestia that he doesn't have backup.

The stallion cuts your thoughts short by rearing up on his hind legs and bucking you square in the chest, throwing you backwards into a table full of food. Pies and cakes of multitudinous shapes and colors sail up into the air, raining down on the assembled crowd. Wild boos fill the room as ponies cover themselves from the airborne confectionery assault.

You reel from the hit, barely moving as your adversary rises to his hooves and pants heavily. "I'm gonna kill you, pipsqueak!" he spits as he staggers toward you. Desperate for some sort of advantage, you simply stare blankly as he comes closer and closer.

Just as he reaches you, you lash out violently with your left hoof, hitting the stallion square in the family jewels. His face contorts in agony, and he lets out a subdued squeak as he collapses to his knees. The crowd lets out a collective “oooh”. You stand up and shove a pie in his face, eliciting cheers from the crowd. The stallion, realizing he has lost, falls over to the ground. He curls up in a fetal position, moaning softly in pain.

The crowd goes nuts, ponies whooping and hollering excitedly. You pay it no mind, however, as you only have one thing on your mind: Rarity. You push your way through the crowd, desperately scanning the throng for any sight of her.

You burst out of the building and onto the street, throwing your head from side to side in a search for Rarity. Finding nopony but a few odd couples talking quietly amongst themselves, you run up to the first pony you see.

"Have you seen Rarity? Unicorn, purple mane, white coat?"

The pony is a bit offset by your raggedy appearance. "Uh, yeah. She got tossed out here a little while ago. She ran off that a way over there," he points in the general direction of Carousel Boutique. "Looked like she was cryin'."

Your heart sinks as your blood turns to ice. You've caused all this craziness, all this heartache. You and your stupid grudge match may have just cost you the best mare all of Equestria. Tears brimming from your eyes, you gallop off towards the Boutique, ignoring the pain from the multiple injuries you have sustained from the fight.

Injuries will heal. Her heart won't, You speed through town, the late night blanketing the houses in an inky blackness. Of all the stupid, terrible things you could have done, this has to be the absolute worst possible thing.

You feel like you have ice dripping down your neck. Why did you have to just dump her aside like last week's trash, all for what? The chance to hurt another pony. Rarity wanted to help you, and you just left her. Your own ignorance and gall stings you as tears begin to stream down your face. She was really something special. WAS something special. You went and screwed it all up, remember?

You finally spot the boutique, not stopping to regain your composure as you burst through the door with a clatter. "Rarity!" you struggle to speak as all the running finally catches up to you. "Hello?" You stand in in the foyer for a moment, coughing and forcing your lungs to take in the air your body craves. You straighten as your breathing steadies, looking around you. The place is completely dark save the sickly light of the moon weaving through the curtains and throwing several iridescent shadows across the room.

That's when you hear the crying.

Soft sobs emanate from upstairs, their mournful tones causing more tears to well in your eyes. You caused that. It's all your fault.

You push off and run up the stairs, hardly flinching as you run through the door and into Rarity's room.

The moon shines brightly through an open window, creating a spotlight of opalescent light on the floor. The night darkens the rest of the room. You turn to find the form of Rarity laying atop her bed, crying softly into a pillow.

You rush to her bedside. "Rarity, I-" A pillow is shoved into your face by a blue aura of magic, silencing you.

"You just left me. Just tossed me out when you didn't need me there," she stammers in-between choked sobs. "All over some stupid grudge, no less!" She convulses slightly with sobs, but she quickly composes herself. "I needed you, and what did you do? You had me crowd surfed out of the situation! You left me when I so desperately needed you next to me," she said, "And that is unforgivable. Please, just leave." Her hand gestures over to the exit, and she renews her muffled sobbing.

All this is too much. Your voice cracks, and you start to cry. "I had a reason, you know."

Almost as soon as you say this, she puts your face to hers, her eyes shooting daggers into yours. "And what was that, huh? Abandoning your marefriend in a time of need so you can go off and duke it out with some thug? What reason could you possibly have for doing that?" Despite the darkness of the room, she practically glows with fury.

"Because I can't stand the thought of losing you!" you no longer attempt to hold back your tears as they streak down your face. "That thug wanted to kill the both of us... if anything happened to you under my responsibility, I don't know how I would ever forgive myself!"

"Oh, so that's how it is," she snarls. "I'm just the helpless mare, and you're the knight in shining armor come to save me? I have news for you, mister: I am perfectly well off by myself. I don't need you!"

The words feel like venom, poisoning your thoughts and actions. You hang your head reluctantly. "You're right. You don't need me." She looks up, surprised at your agreement. "You are independent, witty, beautiful... you are absolutely perfect in every way, shape and form. You don't need me at all." you pause, wiping away the tears on your face.

“Darling,” she begins, tossing around on the bed. The moonlight across her long mane looks so gorgeous. “I...” She sturggles for words, feeling just as emotional as you.

"I need you." you turn slowly. "I had no intention of hurting you like this. It pains me terribly to see you like this. If you really think you're better off without me... Then, I'll go. I just..." Your voice cracks again. "I love you, Rarity. I really, truly love you with every fiber of my being. I want you to be happy no matter what, even if that means being without me." you lean on the door heavily. "Goodnight."

"Wait."

Your eyes open at the word. You turn again to see Rarity standing at the foot of the bed. Makeup has smeared all along your face, and her cerulean eyes are still wet with tears. "Do you really mean all that? I've had the whole 'I love you' line played on me so many times..."

You smile sadly. "Absolutely. I want you to be happy, and if that means having me out of the picture, then I will oblige. I just want you to be the best you can possibly be. I'd probably just hold you down anyway." You squeeze out a final tear, then sigh. "I'll just go-"

"Don't." Rarity pulls herself closer to you. "Thinking back about us, I realized that I was truly happy when I was with you. Not just through the good times either. I was happy when I found you the morning after you got beat up over me. I was happy when my friends assaulted you because they didn't know we were dating. I was happy when I found out you slept in alleys. I wasn't happy because of what happened then," she squeaks, "I was happy because I was with you. What you did was bad for sure, but despite it all, I don't want to lose you over it. You make me happy, and I never want that feeling to end."

"So," you stammer, "Does this mean you forgive me?"

She laughs slightly. "Heavens, no."

Your face falls, but you perk up almost instantly as you feel the feathery softness of her lips connect with yours. "I'm willing to let you make it up to me, though."

Your eyes flit over the spotlight of moonlight in the corner. "I have an idea." Your horn glows, filling the room with a red light. With a pop and a fizz, your saxophone appears behind you, suspended by a red aura of magic. You move into the moonlit patch of floor before offering Rarity your hoof. "Would you like to dance?"

She giggles, walking over to you as she dries her eyes. "You are ridiculous." You lock eyes as the saxophone begins to play a soft, sleepy melody, filling the room with the sound. Slow and gentle notes fill the room as you gently sway with the rhythm. Rarity gently nuzzles her head into your shoulder, sighing as you softly stroke her mane.

You lose all semblance of time. You can only thought the mare snuggled against you, gently moving in time with the music. Dancing with the mare you love.

Dancing, in a moonlit serenade.
















Well, it’s over. I'd like to personally thank each and every one of you who read this story. It really makes me happy to see that you enjoyed my work so much.

I’d like to thank the following people who tracked the story:
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I’d like to thank these guys/gals for favoriting this story:

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I'd like to give a special thanks to SwiperTheFox, whose magical proofreading powers and encouragement helped make this story possible.

Thank you all.

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