//------------------------------//
// Day4 
// Story: Twilight's Time-off 
// by Aethraspex 
//------------------------------//


Day 4



-OR-



In Which the Skies Begin to Darken


Slowly, Rainbow Dash emerged from a deep, dreamless sleep. It was like emerging from a deep dark sea, and shaking off her thin blanket with a wing felt like letting the heavy water drain out of her cyan coat. She lay on her side with her wings outstretched behind her. The gentle morning coolness washed over her, bringing her back to life. Opening her eyes, she saw Rarity, still asleep, in the bed opposite.
        As silently as she could, she shuffled off the mattress and landed lightly on the floor.  She trotted over to the window and stuck her head through the curtains. The previous night they had closed off their windows to try block out the world while they tried to comprehend what had happened the previous day. Neither had known what to say to ease the grief and eventually Rarity had gone for a long shower to clear the salt from her mane. Long before the rain-like sound of her ablutions had finished, Rainbow settled beneath the sheets and escaped from the waking world.
        Now that the waking world was back, grey clouds blotted out the sky and muted the vibrancy of Bridle Bay. Whitecaps out over the ocean spoke of stronger winds than the day before and a fogginess out on the horizon hinted at approaching rain. Watching the movement and life outside felt like it wasn’t there, as if the world ended at this pane of glass.
        Rainbow withdrew from the window and trotted about the room’s half-light. She really had no idea what to do, as the impact of Spike’s death made everything insignificant by comparison. That was when she spotted the photo lying by the door.
        She went over and picked it up with her mouth. Fearful of waking up Rarity, she returned to the window and placed it on the sill where she could see it in the light. It was a photo of Spike and Twilight at the spa they had visited yesterday. Spike was hugging Twilight around her neck while she looked happily at the camera. Flipping it over, she found some writing on the back that said “Have the best vacation possible! You deserve it!” Rainbow didn’t recognise the writing on the back, but presumably it was written by photographer.
        “Rainbow, darling?” Rainbow heard from behind her. Even afflicted with drowsiness, Rarity’s elocution was precise. “What in the world are you doing?”
        “Oh, uh... Morning Rarity. I found this,” Rainbow replied unsteadily as she twisted out of the curtains. She held the photo between her teeth and let it float away in an haze of blue light. “I think Spike dropped it,”
        “Oh,”
        “There’s, uh, something on the back,”
        “Oh...” Rarity flipped the photo over a few times more, as if she were trying to memorise it. At last she looked back up to Rainbow Dash. “Darling... you’re crying...”
        Words do not do justice to the outpouring of emotion that followed. Suffice to say, there were tears. Rainbow confessed to having placed the vapour melons in the water that day and cursed her own idiocy. Rarity tried to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, and that it was she who had led Spike towards the shark. In the end, the words could not lessen their grief, but it helped them to get through the first of many hours when they thought Spike was gone forever.
        “Twilight can’t know.” Rainbow said suddenly as her tears began to recede.
        “No, absolutely not,”
        “What should we do?”
        “We should make sure she really does have the best vacation possible.”

Fluttershy didn’t know when she arrived, only that she did. She had gone out in the morning to get some air and gather her thoughts. Even with her thoroughly battered wings, the wind had picked her up and whisked her away. Fate or subconscious desire had drawn her to the dark stain on the ocean where she saw Spike die the previous day. Now she stood on a lump of coral at the edge of the atoll while the waves churned about her hooves.
        She didn’t mind the waves slapping at her legs or the wind pulling at her hair. Even now the water was warm and held a strange sort of calm. It was the calm before a storm, one she could discern approaching on the horizon.
        A vague purpose drew her towards the centre, to the exact spot she had last seen Spike. She dived into the turbulent water, somewhat tempered by the coral circle of the atoll, and groped about blindly. A hoof bumped against something round and smooth, then, returning to the surface, Fluttershy saw the green and off-white globe of a vapour melon bobbing in the water. She regarded it fearfully, as a weapon of destruction that could cause so much pain. It was utterly inert, slowly drifting away from her.
        With a renewed sense of purpose she dove, again and again. Soon the water was filled with a little flock of green and white balls, all drifting in the wind. But at times, the melons would not dislodge so easily and Fluttershy was forced to dig and pull in the mud until her will finally prevailed. These times Fluttershy rose to the surface gasping desperately for air. Her throat stung with lungfuls of seawater that came spluttering up and running down the corners of her mouth.
        She was cold, and her mane and coat were stained brown by the sand and dirt sifting through her hairs. In the wetness, Fluttershy could hardly tell she was crying. It was hard to tell if she had even stopped crying since last night.
        I just want to go home... She thought to herself, and suddenly that thought resonated. She didn’t care what forces were after her, she just wanted to be back in Equestria, back in Ponyville and far away from these sharks and these insane pranks.
        But despite all this, she couldn’t. She couldn’t leave her friends and she didn’t want to be alone if she did. Despite all this, she still needed Applejack’s help to hide her and needed her other friends for support. Despite everything, the fact of the matter was that they weren’t leaving so neither could she.
        Not unless...
        When Fluttershy watched the vapour melons, now a good way out of her grasp, she remembered Rainbow’s prank. She had wanted to scare Pinkie. She had wanted to scare her so badly she gave up her plans and ran back to Equestria. Had she succeeded and the prank had not gone so horribly awry, Fluttershy might now be on her way home. And if she were home, safe, and in the company of her friends, then it might be that she she wouldn’t be so overcome with guilt and grief. At the very least, she might escape that pony.
        She wanted to let the cursed fruit drift away forever, but instead she found herself gathering them up, one by one, and flying them away to somewhere safe.

Somehow, Rarity had managed to shuffle Twilight off Outpost island and onto Eternity island, the largest in the Neighchelles. For this simple thing, she was grateful. In all likelihood, she would be there all day, possibly checking their markets laden with treasures from far off lands or visiting the harbour to gaze at the ships that brought them. Either way, it was one less thing to think about. She was free to plan Twilight’s tomorrow and refine or expand her collection of disguises.
        If only she could actually focus on anything.
        There was nothing to distract her. Rainbow was away in a vain attempt to clear up the clouds with some of the island’s weather wardens. In reality, Rainbow was probably away doing whatever she liked, but cloud clearing was what she had told Rarity. Meanwhile the mayor and his officials had kept their distance. She had told them enough of her situation and then they muttered some apologies and ‘gave her space’. She wasn’t sure what she’d prefer, if they kept her busy or left her to her grief. So she stared at her rented workspace idly and tried to weave some ideas out of air.
        Behind her, out in the hall, she heard the groaning rasp of the hall’s door being forced open. Next, she heard slow hoofsteps advance into the building. Rarity got up to see who it was. When work was impossible, distraction was the only course. The pony she saw wandering into the centre of the marble floor was Pinkie Pie. Though she looked less energetic than usual, like a slowly deflating balloon, Rarity didn’t know whether she knew the news about Spike or not. She had seen another boat at the atoll, but hadn’t gotten a good look at who was on it. Hesitantly, she retreated back into the work room.

Pinkie Pie was just feeling the worst. Fluttershy had disappeared and Applejack wasn’t talking to her, even though she had totally not done anything wrong... right? She didn’t know. Thus she had been reduced to wandering. She had been talking to the locals, shoring up her plans for tomorrow and sharing a laugh. Most were excited to talk to a ‘questri’ and Pinkie Pie sure loved to talk, but for some reason it wasn’t working like usual. If anything, the smiles she received only seemed to add to the weight in her chest.
        And then she came to Town Hall. There was a why, that much she knew. Maybe she wanted to escape the strange, pointless smiles that seemed to press on her outside, or maybe she wanted to return to the last guiltless place she had in her memory, or maybe she was searching for something.
        Without noticing, she had her eyes cast down onto the smooth white tiles and the dirt clinging to the cracks. There was nothing there for her, so she looked up. Up on the second floor, near the right-hoof corner of the building, was a blue-coated unicorn in a flowing dress and a rather large hat. She was leaning on the railing and looked away when Pinkie noticed her. About her, there was a sense of purposelessness, as if everything she had tried to do had only added to her burden. There was also something about her face, tired and gloomy, that told her that the burden was large indeed.
        “Hey!” Pinkie called “Wanna hear a joke?”
        The unicorn seemed startled that this pony had chosen to address her. “Uh, well, um...” She stumbled over the words nervously. “Uh, yes... why not?”
        “Alright! So there’s this dog... or was it a marmoset? No, it was a dog and he goes into a telegram office. He takes out a form and writes ‘Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof.’ So the clerk, she examines it and says ‘There are only nine words here, you could send another ‘woof’ for the same price,’ “ Pinkie paused as she about to deliver the punch line. “ ‘But’ says the dog, ‘that would make no sense at all!’ “
        The unicorn chuckled softly, almost trying to hide her amusement. “Charming,”
        “My pleasure! You looked super bummed, so I just wanted you to know that even when you’re down, you never know what’s going to happen next! And that’s something to hope for.”
        “Oh, why... Thank you, I suppose you’re correct,”
        “No problem! Oh! I better be off, see ya!” And with that, Pinkie Pie trotted out of the room. Rarity watched her go as randomly as she had come. She wondered if, after all, Pinkie had seen through her disguise or whether she would have said the same thing to anypony. It didn’t really matter, because her words had helped in their own way. She dissolved the disguise spell and went back into the work room, picking out a roll of fabric as she went.

Twilight lay on a cushion with a book of poetry. She was positioned just inside from the balcony where she could see the ocean and the huge spires of rock that rose from Guardian Bay. Tiny flecks of debris flittered down from their leafy crowns and made a diagonal path downwards in the wind. The last crack of blue had long since closed up in the sky as the wind had grown stronger and stronger. She was somewhat glad that her friends had suddenly decided to settled down for the day, even if only so she wouldn’t get caught out in the weather. Their respective moods had puzzled her, however. They seemed sad, but about what she had no clue.
        In truth the book she was reading only contained one poem, but it was a long one. She had managed to extract it from the library in Town Hall. It was a copy of the book that lay on the lectern as, she had discovered, it had for many years. The poem within described much of the island’s history, from its first colonisation by a group of storm-tossed pegasi who were part of the exodus from the original pony homeland, to its annexation by Equestria many years later. Much of the poem was taken up by a struggle between a brave pony hero and vicious sea serpent. The serpent was said to rule the waters around the island and wished to drown all those who lived upon the land.
        Apparently the poem had quite an effect on the culture of the Neighchelles. For one,  the practice of high-hoofing as the traditional equivalent of an hoof-shake was introduced by the poem’s hero. It was meant as a symbolic gesture of seeking higher ground, safe from the threats of the sea, by working together. This was also the poem in which the term ‘Congregation Ichthyic’ was originally coined, as another one-off quip of the hero. It amused Twilight somewhat to be finally returning to her original reason for her trip.
        Behind her, she heard feather ruffling. She turned about to see Owlowicious quietly alseep on his perch. Since Spike had left, she had felt more comfortable letting the owl stay with her, instead of hiding him with Fluttershy. However, she had learned some very confusing things from the owl since. When she had received the princess’s letter summoning him away, he had expected the owl to give up his duty of spying on Spike at night. Somehow, Owlowicious had defied logic and spied just so.
        The owl had come to her with a map in the morning, a whirlwind of hooting feathers. When he had finally gotten Twilight’s attention, he pointed out three locations where he had followed the dragon. The first was a beach on the other side of the island, next was the Hibiscus hotel, and the third was the post office near town hall. Confirming his claims, Twilight received no newspaper that morning, a service the post-office usually ran. Were she on Eternity island as her mirror-clone was (whom she had hidden away at a movie theatre and put to ‘sleep’) she’d have had no chance to see the day’s news. As it was, the paper she picked up told briefly of some tragedy out at the ‘haunted’ atoll. With all her friends accounted for, Twilight didn’t know who it could possibly have been referring to.
        Twilight turned back to her book. There was a lot of interesting secrets in this poem, and she didn’t intend to squander this opportunity to plunder them.





When Pinkie Pie had left their cabin late at night, Applejack had followed her. She was sure the pink one was up to something, and this was the night she found out what. She had followed her out into the forest, to a seemingly random patch near the coast. Pressing her back against the gargantuan buttress root of a tree, she strained her ears to listen. She listened carefully, in more senses than one. If she moved, let a hoof but slip into the blurry mesh of leaf litter and small plants, she could give away her position. With it, any chance of finding out what was really going on would be lost.
        “Nope! She just came back all soggy from somewhere and trotted back inside for a shower. She’s not the talkative type, you know,” Applejack heard Pinkie say. Her high-pitched voice cut through the darkness and the roaring of the jungle insects like a needle.
        “...” By contrast, whoever she was talking to was altogether quieter and harder to hear. What she could gather from the conversation was Pinkie telling her mysterious correspondent exactly what had been happening that day.
        Finally the talking stopped and he heard two bodies moving in different directions through the leafy floor. The louder one moved with a four-beat swish back along the route to their lodgings. This she assumed to be Pinkie Pie, heading back to sleep. The bipedal other, heading on a slightly different trajectory, would meet with a forest path in about a hundred metres, one that would take it back to town. First, Applejack stayed perfectly still, waiting until the noises had passed, then she crept after the other hoping Pinkie wouldn’t notice her absence.
        It wasn’t long until she herself had reached the forest path. The clearer ground had a soft, moist covering of leaf litter that absorbed her hoof-falls like cushions. This allowed her to move faster and more comfortably as she sought to catch up with her quarry. When she got closer she saw a squat, somewhat pudgy shape and fell quickly into a low crouch. When she got even closer she...
        “Spike?” She whispered to herself. The thing before her was unmistakably a dragon, and definitely the one Pinkie had been talking too, but she saw Spike get eaten by the shark. Even if he had somehow survived those teeth he certainly should have drowned.
        “Hey, uh, you!” She called, unsure what to make of the situation. The figure turned, paused for a second, and ran. “Hey! Git back here!” Applejack cried, giving chase.
        The affair was over too quickly once Applejack had the fugitive pinned beneath her hooves.
        “Who are ya’? What’re ya’ doing?” She said, glaring down at her captor angrily. Even in the darkness, Applejack could see that whoever this was looked exactly like the friend she had though she’d lost.
        “Uh... I am a ghost! I have come to haunt you from beyond my watery grave! OooOOOooOOh!” The dragon moaned, undulating his voice theatrically.
        “Sugarcube, you ain’t fooling nopony. Now... Spike... can it really be you?”
        Spike nodded, then, realising the action might be difficult to perceive in the darkness, complimented it with a simple ‘yes.’
        “Ah... Ah don’t understand. What the hay was the hoedown at the atoll all about?”
        “Well, if I tell you, you’ve got to promise to keep it a secret, okay?”
        “Cross my heart sugarcube,”
        “Thanks, Applejack. You see, I got this letter from Celestia...”

Applejack let the door swing open almost of its own accord. She saw Pinkie in the room beyond by the light cast from the lantern behind. Pinkie stared back, wide-eyed and stunned.
        “Pinkie, we need to talk.”