Twilight stirred awake, her wings twitching slightly. They were still sore from the flying lessons that Derpy gave her yesterday. She rolled over in bed, sighing into the sheets and relaxing into the mattress. She really needed to have Rainbow Dash make her a cloud mattress. They really were the most comfortable things she’d slept on. She nuzzled into the sheets again, willing the welcome embrace of sleep to return and whisk her away from reality.
But in the end, she rolled out of bed, resigning herself to another day. She stretched her wings, trying to work out the knots and soreness from them. She trotted down the stairs, smiling at the light-ness of the clouds beneath her hooves. If only she could have a house like this, Twilight thought, though it would make it hard to have a public library in it. Only pegasi would be able to visit her.
She moved into the kitchen and fixed herself a small sandwich. There wasn’t much in the way of food in here, but she made due. As she ate the sandwich, she wandered through some of the rooms until she found herself in a small study. It had a large window that overlooked Ponyville and she could see the library tree from the window. There was a cloud chair and desk set up with several pieces of paper spread out on it, with a stack of paper to one side.
Twilight sat down at the desk as she finished her sandwich and picked up one of the pieces of paper, spying mouthwriting. She read the first line, realizing it was a title page.
The Elements of Harmony:
The effects on the Bearers and Equestria
Prism Bolt
Twilight sat there for a second, mulling this over. The page was mouthwritten, she could still smell the faint odor of ink, but why was it in-? Twilight leapt up from the chair and moved over to one of the small bookcases around the room. She read the titles of the dozen or so books, pausing over the author’s name.
“Prism Bolt, Prism Bolt, every one of these books were written by Prism Bolt,” she muttered to herself, “but why does Rainbow Dash have a mouthwritten page from a book that I’ve never heard of?”
She froze as a thought dawned on her like Celestia’s sun. There’s no way it was true but, as Twilight headed for the desk again, her brain thought through the things she’d found in the room.
“Rainbow has mouthwritten pages from Prism Bolt’s book that hasn’t even been published yet. The bookshelves are lined with her work. This is a room that looks like it’s seen a lot of use. And the author’s name is Prism Bolt,” Twilight muttered to herself, her voice sounding in the empty study.
Then it all clicked. She stood there, stunned, then shot out the door and raced to the foyer. She needed to talk to Rainbow Dash about this. If it was true, then this was something to throw a party for.
She flung open the door to the outside and stepped out onto the landing, closing the door behind her. She spread her wings, trying to ease the tension and knots out of it, then she leapt off and headed for the library. She felt the wind beneath her wings and she could feel the small thermals around the house lift her slightly.
Then everything went wrong. She felt her wings crumple as pain shot through them, forcing one of her wings to her side and sending her into a steep dive. She tried to right herself by forcing the fold-ed wing open, but to no avail. She only had time glance forward before her view was filled with green and brown. She squeezed her eyes closed as she plummeted through the branches and she cried out in pain as she felt something grab her one open wing and pull it painfully backward. She didn’t hear it due to the sound of the leaves, but she felt something snap and pain course through her wing. Tears blurred her view and she could only barely make out a small window before she became intimately familiar with the glass. She felt pain in her head and she felt herself start to detach from her body.
She felt her body, as if from afar, slam into the ground amid the shattered glass and leaves. She could feel the pain pulse through her body, not once letting up. She whimpered, but couldn’t even move because the pain was so bad.
As if in a dense fog, she heard voices and felt a hoof rest on her body, only to send another wave of pain through it. She whimpered and mentally pulled away. She didn’t know how long she’d lain there, but it seemed like seconds as well as an eternity before she felt her body grow lighter.
Am I dying? Twilight thought. She felt her body move slowly and gently toward somewhere, then rest on something soft. Perhaps I’m in Elysia. I’d read that it was decorated with cloud cushions.
Then a slight jostle send a bolt of pain through her body and she quickly decided that if she was dead, she wouldn’t have felt the pain. She consigned herself to the fact that wherever she was, she’d hoped she would find some help.
She awoke feeling rested. She blinked as she looked around. The sun was setting, so she must have been unconscious for several hours, and she was resting on something soft. She tried to focus on whatever she was laying on, but could only get that it was dark, almost black. She tried to roll over, but found something blocking her path. She raised her head, feeling slightly woozy from the phantom pain that she expected, but was pleasantly surprised not to find, and looked around.
The room seemed decorated in dark blues, almost black, with banners of midnight blue hanging on the walls, each one bearing a silver crescent moon in the center of it. She looked over at what had prevented her from rolling over and saw a familiar, star speckled, mane waving in an ethereal wind. She looked up and saw the dark blue glow of magic wrapped around a game controller.
“P-Princess Luna!” Twilight cried and tried to move away from the Princess, but found her ef-forts inhibited by Princess Luna’s wing that was draped over her body.
“Rest easy, Twilight Sparkle. We have watched over you since you arrived in our room, deliv-ered by our sister’s guards,” Princess Luna turned to look at Twilight and smiled.
“What am I doing in your room, Princess?” Twilight asked.
“You were brought here severely wounded and we have tended your wounds,” Princess Luna gestured with her wing to Twilight’s body and she noticed for the first time that she didn’t hurt nearly as much as before and that her wing was wrapped. She also felt something around her head and she raised a hoof, feeling bandages around her head.
“How long have I been here?” she asked.
“You were asleep before you arrived, but you have been here for six hours,” the Princess replied.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Twilight stated, “I didn’t mean to intrude on your private chambers.”
“Nonsense, Twilight,” Princess Luna replied, “besides the time will soon come that you will be welcome in our chambers. Tomorrow will be a busy day, and so we suggest you conserve as much en-ergy as possible.”
Twilight stood up on shaky legs and moved around, her movements slow. She slowly trotted over to a bookshelf, noticing they held games of different kinds. She didn’t recognize many of them, but a few of them leapt out at her.
“The Legend of Celestia, Pony Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Maretroid Prime 3: Corruption, Mistborn: Birthright, Minecraft,” she read off several of the titles.
“You play?” Princess Luna raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve heard of those games, but never played them,” Twilight responded, “I’m afraid that I don’t have much time, what with all my studies and Friendship Reports.”
“Ah,” Princess Luna said with a twinkle in her eye, “Friendship Reports. How are you doing with your most recent Report?”
Twilight looked at her with a confused look, “my most recent one? I sent one a few days ago. I was unaware that I was writing another.”
Princess Luna smiled and nodded. “We think it is best that you get some rest. Your body is not quite rested, though almost. It will be an interesting day tomorrow.”
Twilight nodded, then curled up next to Princess Luna and slipped into sleep, her head resting on a soft, midnight blue pillow.