The more time Twilight spent in this dark realm of her twisted counterpart the more she began to believe maybe she belonged there. Was it that she was getting used to the darkness or that it had always been there, creeping up on her? It was ready to consume her now, swallow her forever and extinguish what little light remained. There wasn't much light left anyway, so why should she fight anymore? As always, however, when these thoughts came to her mind the image of a certain butter-yellow mare came to her and renewed hope. She called on Fluttershy for strength, borrowing it to be able to go on even if it was just for a little while longer. Her light would go out sooner or later, but it would not be due to her own failings. She would fight this, until the end. The darkness began to fade, but as it did her laughing grew louder, causing Twilight's heart to speed up. Thankfully it was quickly replaced by soft, loving whispers and gentle hooves stroking her mane, each touch promising everything would be alright.
The unicorn's eyes fluttered open and finally the darkness faded completely and her heart began to slow at the sight of her lover, then pick up again but for a far better reason. Their gaze met, and despite Fluttershy being the one prone to shyness they both blushed but neither turned away, which for Fluttershy was quite a feat. She refused to look away until she was assured that her marefriend was okay, safe from whatever nasty nightmares haunted her. Assurance came in the form of a nod, and although Fluttershy believed her lover it was obvious it was beginning to take its toll on her. What was once perhaps a weekly occurrence was beginning to happen with far more regularity and she prayed that it would not become a nightly thing, deep down she knew it would. Fluttershy borrowed strength from Twilight, just as Twilight did from her, strength to remain composed and help her lover through to the bitter end, whenever it may come. Finally their eyes broke apart.
"It's getting worse."
"I'm fine." Twilight replied. She gave her lover a grateful smile and rolled to her hooves.
It was a short exchange. It took all of Twilight's strength to maintain any sort of composure so Fluttershy didn't press. That didn't, however, mean she didn't wish Twilight would let her in a little more. It hadn't been that long since Twilight had learned she was doomed to die and they had been together together even less time. The brevity of their relationship meant nothing to Fluttershy though, she'd loved Twilight since the beginning and regretted never telling her before hand. Under different circumstances the two could have found nothing but happiness, not the most their love could ever be was bittersweet. The shy pony shook such thoughts from her mind. She wanted to help Twilight, not make her feel worse.
"It's thanksgiving..." Fluttershy called out to her friend, who was now combing her mane and getting ready to face the day. A monotonous "Oh." was her only reply, so Fluttershy continued talking but the lack of responses was shredding her confidence. "I, um...Well, the leaves are really nice this time of year and I, um...I thought, um...Maybe...We could take a walk. I bet it'd be good to get out of the house." She swallowed hard as Twilight came back into view. "If you, um, want to, that is..." she added meekly.
A glance out the window confirmed what Fluttershy had said. Twilight hadn't even noticed, which was quite surprising but she supposed there had been an awful lot on her mind lately. The ground covered in leaves was quite beautiful, and renewed her with hope for some reason. She forced a smile and nodded.
**
The orange and yellow of the leaves mingled nicely on the ground, seemingly creating a warm glow that put everypony in a good mood. Everypony save a certain lavender unicorn. As they galloped down the path Fluttershy was trying to be more talkative than usual but the constant lack of replies from Twilight as well as the scowl she sported quickly got the shy mare quiet. The short conversations they were having faded into silence and their pace slowed. Secretly, Fluttershy hoped the slow pace was because Twilight was finally taking a moment to admire the leaves, deep down she knew otherwise. As bad as things were, they were about to get far worse.
A stallion who's coat was white as snow seemed to come out of nowhere, stepping between the two lovers aside and knocking poor Fluttershy to the ground with a loud thud. He didn't even turn to see if she was okay, he was focused intently on Twilight. A white aura surrounded his just now noticed horn as a quill and piece of parchment floated beside him.
"Twilight is it true you don't have very long to live?" All questions, no sympathy.
Fluttershy blinked, her jaw hung open as she forced herself back to her hooves and the look on Twilight's face broke her heart. The unicorn seemed torn, tears threatened to stream down her face, the only thing keeping them at bay seemed to be the shock she was experiencing that somepony would have the audacity to pose her such questions. She hadn't been expecting anything like this to happen but she supposed she should have. It wasn't everyday the Princess' student was dying, after all. Twilight took a hesitant step back as Fluttershy found her way back beside her lover and after taking a closer look at the stallion she recognized him as someone who had come knocking at the library many times asking for Twilight. She'd always politely said Twilight wasn't up to it or came up with some other excuse, had she known he was some sort of reported she never would have even allowed him near Twilight.
"I-I-Um, well...." Twilight stammered, before she could even begin to formulate a reply or ask him to leave he began to assault her with more questions.
"What is the nature of this illness? Do you know how long exactly you have left to live? How does it feel knowing you're never going to experience another thanksgiving?"
That seemed to be what sent her over the edge. With each question he took a step towards the baffle mare, and both her and her lover stared at the stallion in horror. Purple surrounded Twilight's horn but it quickly turned to black, and she howled in pain falling to the ground. As she did the quill went wild, scribbling back and forth as Fluttershy helped her lover up.
"Twil-" Fluttershy began but Twilight was already running off, presumably back to the library.
"Good grief, did you see her horn? First stallion to write about the Princess' #1 student's death! " He was clearly speaking to himself.
"How could you...?" It was almost a whisper. Fluttershy was now the one who felt like she was going to break down. This was after all her fault. If she'd never asked Twilight to go out with her she never would have been harassed by this jerk of a reporter. She knew when Twilight got back to the library it would be worse. She didn't have time to sulk, or even to tell the stallion off, assuming she'd been able too. She quickly ran as fast as she could, hoping she could get there to diffuse the situation in some way.
**
"Why are you all here!?" Twilight's voice cried as Fluttershy burst through the door, everypony turning towards her as she did, causing her to stop in her tracks. She kneaded at the ground with her hoof, taking in the scene before her. All her friends were there, each doing a different task, most being food related, but there were a few decoration oriented tasks as well. Shining Armour and Princess Cadance were there as well, both of them also engaged in some form of Thanksgiving preparation. Whatever fun they had all been having had been interrupted at Twilight's return. Twilight was supposed to know they were all going to be there by the time her and Fluttershy returned, but Fluttershy hadn't had time to let her in on the surprise. With everyone's eyes focused on Fluttershy it didn't take a genius to figure out who had set this up. "Did you do this?" Twilight asked accusingly.
The way Twilight said 'you' almost reduced Fluttershy to tears. It was so full of anger and disdain, it almost sounded like Twilight was speaking to someone she truly despised, not the mare she claimed to love. Fluttershy took a step back and her eyes widened. Fear overcame her, and she began to stutter horribly. She had difficulties talking normally most of the time, but under Twilight's glare she wasn't even able to form a sentence. "I-um-well-I thought-No-I-Um-...." It went on and on but Fluttershy fell silent as Twilight stomped one of her front hooves down. Fluttershy flinched in response, much to the horror of their audience which now seemed forgotten.
"What made you think I wanted this?" Twilight growled, her voice distorted and with that sudden change Fluttershy cowered on the ground. Another string of desperate stutters left 'Shy's lips but not coherent answer was given, much to Twilight's annoyance. "Stop stuttering and answer me!" she screamed, stomping again to get her point across. At this point Fluttershy's face was covered by her forelegs, and she sobbed silently into them, unable to even muster a simple apology. Cadance took a step towards her sister-in-law, reaching a hesitant hoof out. Of course everyone was aware that Twilight was only acting this way due to her illness, they all knew of the moments when she lost control to that nightmarish version of herself. That didn't make them feel any less worse though, and Twilight's fit clearly wasn't over. She knocked Cadance's hoof away and shrieked.
Twilight continued, in a mocking voice now "Let's gather all of Twilight's friends together, let's remind her of all the people she's going to lose. Let's all show her how thankful we are for not being in her situation, while showing her she truly has nothing left to be thankful for!" she finished, panting.
A look of shock crossed her features and she immediately felt awful. The anger was still there but with nowhere near the intensity it had been mere moments ago. She looked around to all her friends, looking to Fluttershy last. Still hiding her face, it seemed unlikely she would show herself any time soon. Her friends obviously had nothing to say either and after what seemed like forever Twilight calmly trotted up the stairs to her bedroom, kicking the door shut behind her. She crawled into bed, buried her face beneath her pillow and did everything she could to shut her brain off.
**
Well over an hour had passed when Fluttershy decided it was finally time to check in on Twilight. The others were still there but all agreed it was best to give Twilight time to cool down, just as they all agreed Fluttershy should be the one to check on her. The pegasus opened the door and poked her head in. She saw her lover turned away, laying on the bed. It looked like she could be sleeping, but Fluttershy knew she wasn't. That meant it was time to talk. She trotted towards the bed, silent enough to believe she was gliding along the floor and crawled into the bed beside her marefriend. She nuzzled herself into the midnight purple mane, lavender immediately assaulting her nostrils and giving her a feeling of total calmness.
"I'm sorry..." Was all she could think to say. It was lame, but truthful. She couldn't hide her surprise when the response given to her was a sad chuckle. Twilight shimmied and shook until she was turned towards Fluttershy and wiped her eyes dry.
"I'm not surprised you're apologizing. You don't need to though, I should. I'm so sorry for freaking out on you like that, Fluttershy. I'm not normally an emotional person, I don't know what came over me, and I hope you can forgive me." Classic Twilight through and through.
"Yes you do." Fluttershy replied, and upon seeing Twilight's confuseion she continued. "You do know what came over you. It wasn't you Twilight...We both know that." she averted her gaze now. "Besides, you really, um, didn't seem to want this party after all I just thought..." she swallowed hard before continuing. Be strong... "Who knows how long you really have left? If this is going to be your last Thanksgiving I want you to spend it with the people who care about you the most. If you're never going to see the leaves change color again, I wanted you to really see them one last time. Last times are important Twilight and it's important you celebrate these holidays while you still can."
A smile formed on Twilight's lips and Fluttershy looked at her, confused. A purple hoof reached to stroke the fur on Fluttershy's cheek and Twilight whispered softly "You didn't stutter..." before pressing her forehead against Fluttershy's.
She realized this wasn't just her last Thanksgiving, it was her friends' last Thanksgiving with her. She needed this, just as much as they did. If she didn't do it she'd regret it for the rest of her presumably short life. Fluttershy saw it, and even knowing how Twilight would react, and how much worse it would be for her with her usual shyness and fear of confrontation she did it anyway. Another reminder of how much you care...Of how kind you are...
"We have food ready, um, if you want...And I, um, I know everyone would really like to see you..."
A nod in return was all that was needed. With a deep blush she gave Fluttershy a quick peck on the lips before getting up and heading towards her door. Twilight had only seen more reasons to give up when the very idea of this Holiday had been brought up. Now, as she paused at the top of the stairs, looking back and catching a glimpse of Fluttershy she couldn't help but think I guess I really do have something to be thankful for after all...