Potency
Part Three
"So are you girls going to tell me exactly what—HURK!" Twilight found herself rendered suddenly speechless as Applejack gave the ropes one last tug. The farm pony's rear hooves pressed against the side of the unicorn's bed as, rope clenched in teeth, she pulled it the full length of her body. The purple unicorn wasn't going any place if Applejack had anything to say about it.
"Sorry, Twi, but I can't have you going off like that again," the work pony stated as she finished the final knot before dropping to the floor, the unicorn tilting her head up from the pillow as her face took on a reddish tinge.
"But I can barely breathe!" the unicorn gasped, eyes bugging out as Fluttershy grasped lightly at the ropes that bound her.
"Applejack, surely this is a bit extreme," Rarity chimed in as she looked over the tied-up unicorn, the fashionista's eyebrow raised as the farm pony simply snorted in response.
"You saw what happened, Rarity. Not that I don't trust your judgment," now it was Rarity's turn to snort derisively, "But like you said earlier, we jus' don't know how well that ring of yours'll hold up."
"Speaking of which, what's on my horn?" Twilight broke in as Fluttershy tugged the coil of rope down the unicorn's body a bit so that it would rest on her stomach rather than her lungs, the unicorn's hooves still free to point at the ring.
"It's an inhibitor ring, I'm surprised you didn't know immediately..."
"Oh...and why do I need an inhibitor ring?"
"You lost control of your magic again..." Fluttershy muttered softly as she looped a few bits of thin, soft fabric through the ropes so that they wouldn't dig into the unicorn's flesh so much.
“Yeah, you dragged us through most of Ponyville. Almost right through the mayor's office too! You should have seen everypony...uh,” Rainbow declared excitedly before her excitement was replaced by an embarrassment beneath the icy glares of her friends, “Er...sorry. A little bit of hoof in mouth, heh, heh...”
"Oh..." Twilight's face fell, her head flopping down onto the pillow as she stared straight up at the ceiling, "I was afraid you'd say that..."
"Don't worry Twi, we're all her for you... an'... an' we'll just..." Applejack stammered, glancing around the room for some hint of an idea before her eyes finally brightened, "We'll send a letter to the princess. If any pony'd know what's going on, it'd be Princess Celestia, right?"
"I...I guess you're right," Twilight replied, managing a small, wry smile as Spike dashed over to the bed from his place on the window sill, the little dragon just glad to finally be of some proper use.
"I'll go get you some water," Fluttershy murmured as Rarity levitated over the purple unicorn's quill and ink along with a small bundle of parchment.
"But what do I say to her? I can't control my magic and I don't know why?" Fluttershy could hear Twilight ask frustratedly as she descended the stairs.
"Well, perhaps not in those exact words..." Rarity chimed before the yellow pegasus found her focus shifting to the Library's kitchen, where a very bouncy Pinkie Pie and a surprisingly monochromatic Rainbow Dash resided, having both gone to prepare a late lunch.
"Rainbow? What happened?" The typically blue pegasus looked confused for a moment before glancing down at her flour coated body.
"Oh, Pinkie's teaching me how to bake!" the pegasus stated, puffing out her chest as she rolled out a bit of dough before grinning a bit sheepishly, "Annnnd a bag of flour might have gotten a little bit away from me."
"It was so cool how you dove all the way across the kitchen to catch it!" Pinkie chirped, the pink pony surprisingly clean given the state of the rest of the kitchen, "It was like one of those spy movies, except instead of a detonator it was a bag of flour!"
"Yeah, it was...kinda cool..." Dash smiled before looking over to the pink pony in confusion, "What's a detonator?"
"Y'know, for a bomb,” Dash simply stared at the earth pony quizzically, “Those little round black things or, or the bundles of little red sticks that go BOOM!" At this last word, the pink pony appeared in between the flour-covered pegasus and her ball of dough, sending Dash crashing back to the floor.
"Well...don't let me stop you two," Fluttershy said, stepping carefully through the disaster area that was Twilight's kitchen before grabbing a tray and filling it with a few glasses of water.
"Pinkie, stop doing that!" Dash exclaimed from the floor, wings flapping limply in agitation.
"Doing what?"
"Th-that...whatever that is!"
"Bye, girls..." Fluttershy bid farewell as she exited the kitchen, tray balanced between her wings as the pair of bakers simply ignored her.
"Well, how can I stop it if you don't tell me what it is, Dashie?" Pinkie countered with a giggle.
"That thing you do with the appearing and the disappearing and, Celestia, I've got a migraine now..."
Fluttershy simply shook her head at the pair as she stepped up the stairs carefully, head twisted to the side so she could keep an eye on her cargo.
"—that will be enough?" she heard Twilight ask, a block of silence following before Fluttershy made it to the top of the stairs in time to see Spike gripping the newly drafted letter to the princess, "All right, Spike, send it."
"Can do," the little dragon replied and in a burst of green fire the letter disappeared into the air, off on its journey to Canterlot.
"So...now all we do is wait, I guess..." the purple unicorn muttered sullenly. The room was uncomfortably silent for a moment, the only sounds being those of the pair of ponies still arguing downstairs. As Fluttershy looked from pony to pony to dragon to pony, she saw the same look of helpless nervousness on each one's face.
"Maybe a distraction would help?" Fluttershy offered, shuffling the tray of water off her back and onto the unicorn's nightstand.
“Oh, that sounds like a splendid idea!” Rarity declared, clopping her hooves excitedly, “We could make it like our slumber party!”
“Jus' with a few less trees through the window, eh, Twi?” Applejack replied, giving Twilight a nudge with her elbow, drawing a smile out the sullen unicorn.
“I guess a few games could take my mind off all this... all our minds, really,” the unicorn replied with a shrug, “I guess Spike can be my hooves for the time being.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Spike saluted, hopping up by the unicorn as Rarity began to levitate out several board games that had been stuffed beneath the guest bed.
“Let's see what we have here...checkers, chess, pony-opoly and Candyquestria?”
“Whoa!” Applejack yelled out as she was knocked aside by a sudden blur of pink.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh! I love Candyquestria!” the pink pony exclaimed, trotting excitedly in place.
“Pinkie, h-how do you always do that?”
“Always do what?”
“How do you always...” Rarity began before simply shaking her head, “Never mind, I choose to accept that you are, and always will be, Pinkie Pie.”
“Well, duh! Who else would I be, silly filly,” the party pony stated, drawing a laugh from the still fallen work horse.
“So, Pinkie, what exactly is Candyquestria?” Twilight asked, catching sight of soft blue glow before all light in the room suddenly disappeared as curtains were quickly closed. Everything was shrouded in darkness a moment before a lantern clicked on to reveal the pink pony with a rather serious look on her face.
“Candyquestria, my little pony? Do you not know of, do you not recall the legends of this most legendary and mysterious of places?” Twilight opened her mouth, presumably to answer that no, she indeed did not know nor did she recall, but was quickly silenced as Pinkie continued, stalking about the room. “Do you not know of the grand adventures, the great sorrows and greater triumphs to be hand in this land, this most fabled land of Candyquestria?”
“Um, no?” Fluttershy admitted, having hidden behind Twilight's bed when the light had suddenly been blocked from the room.
“Then you also do not know of the mythical beasts that stalk these lands. The great treasures that lie in wait for an adventurer most cunning and brave. And it is this cunning and brave adventurer whom you shall be if you choose to accept this most epic of quests. A hero to all of ponykind large and small,” as the party pony began to wrap up her speech, she strode on her hind legs to the side of Twilight's bed, the bound unicorn beginning to squirm beneath the ropes as Pinkie drew closer and closer.
“Uh, Pinkie?” Twilight squeaked out as Pinkie stopped just next to her, looking at her with a hard stare.
“You! Twilight Sparkle!” the pink pony declared, pointing a hoof directly at Twilight whilst striking an oddly heroic pose, “Do you, Twilight Sparkle, choose to accept this role as hero for all of Candyquestria?” Pinkie demanded before falling silent, hoof nearly pressed to the unicorn's nose as Twilight felt herself going cross-eyed staring at it.
“Um...yes?” Immediately the curtains swung open, the room taking on its more natural warm glow as Pinkie, flashlight gone, dropped back to her hooves.
“Goody! There's also candy! That's why it's Candyquestria instead of just Equestria... or maybe that's because of copyright law...” the pink pony sat down on her haunches, pondering this a moment before bouncing right up again, “But still! There's candy!” She exclaimed, clopping her hooves together excitedly as she bounced side to side on her hind legs.
“Candyquestria it is,” Rarity declared as the glow faded from her horn, earning a look of incredulity from Applejack as the work horse got to her hooves, “What? I told her I'd help her do her perform her introductions with style next time we played.”
Applejack merely shook her head as Fluttershy crawled out from her hiding spot as Pinkie tossed open the box and began to furiously set up the game's many pieces in a blur of pink hooves.
“Now,” Pinkie began as she finished her rapid set-up, a devious, almost sinister grin appearing on the party pony's face, “Let us begin...”
---
“Seriously, Pinkie, how do you keep doing that?” asked a very frustrated, but now much cleaner and colorful Rainbow Dash as she seemingly resisted a growing urge to toss the board out the window.
“Years of practice, Dashie me lassie,” Pinkie replied with a nudge to the pegasi's ribs, drawing out a grimace as Dash begrudgingly moved her piece back a dozen or so spaces and out of the dungeon she had been making steady progress through.
“That's like, the fifth time, though... it's just not possible,” Dash pouted as Pinkie maintained a sly, all knowing grin.
“In the lands of Candyquestria, Rainbow, all things are possible,” the pink pony mused mysteriously as the rest of the ponies stared on with various levels of bemusement written on their faces.
While most of them had been at least fairly successful in their own campaigns versus Pinkie's oft-times diabolical dungeon mastery, the rainbow-maned pegasi's strategy of rush all comers had been a bit of a flop, resulting in her avatar moving backwards far more often than not.
“Rainbow, dear, you really should slow down and pace yourself,” Rarity suggested, her own avatar having made it through to the third dungeon where much of the rest of the group resided, waiting for the impatient pegasus to finish the second.
“I'm a gonna have ta agree with Rare on that one, sugar-cube,” Applejack smiled, taking a bit more pride than necessary in being out in front of her competition, “You're never gonna beat me at the rate you're goin'.”
“Oh yeah, then I'll just have to go faster,” Dash declared, eliciting a groan from Rarity as she rubbed a hoof on her forehead.
“That's exactly the wrong thing to do, Rainbow.”
“Oh I'll show you all,” the impatient pegasus replied, ignoring the white unicorn's audible groan as Twilight and Fluttershy both choked down a chuckle.
The game had been going on for quite a few hours now and the purple unicorn's spirit's seemed to have greatly improved in the company and antics of her friends in spite of the rope binding her down. They had broken only once for a late lunch that was surprisingly edible and even tasty considering the state Rainbow had been in when she brought it up to the rest. Since the lunch they had found themselves ensnared in the intricacies of Pinkie's Candyquestria, which the pink pony had taken to raising to the level of ancient Equestrian theater with bouts of dramatic monologuing. At the moment, with the sun beginning to set on Ponyville, the pink pony had taken to wearing a dark, flowing cloak and affected the persona of some devious dungeon master with a nigh impronouncible name.
“C'mon, Dash, make your move,” Spike moaned as the cyan colored pegasus mulled over the board, the dice balanced precariously on her hoof as she did so.
“I'm going, I'm going. Don't rush me,” she replied, ruby eyes focused intently on the board before her. She shook the dice lightly before juggling them with a hoof and rising dramatically onto her hind legs, eyes never leaving the board as she prepared her roll.
“Rainbow, stop trying to—BRAAAAAP!” a sudden and rather large belch drew all the pony's attention as a scroll materialized in a burst of green fire, the baby dragon having been knocked onto the floor with a thud by the force of it before another crash split their attentions.
“Aw, Rainbow, now the boards all messy,” Pinkie pouted, the rainbow-maned pegasus now splayed across the board, having lost the dice and her balance due to the scroll's arrival.
“Heh...” she laughed nervously, before flapping into the air, many of the game's pieces coming with her only to fall back down in a series of soft tinks, “Um...new game?”
“Hold up there, Dash,” Applejack waved a hoof dismissively as Spike grasped the scroll and climbed back up to Twilight's side, “We best be seein' what the princess has to say about this here situation.”
“Spike, if you will,” Rarity said with a flourish of her hoof as the five unbound ponies huddled around the little dragon, Twilight twisting towards the side of the bed so she could read the letter over her assistant's shoulder.
“Ahem. My dearest, most faithful student Twilight,
“I regret that I cannot come directly to you at the moment in your time of distress. As there is a diplomatic crisis in Canterlot, I have found my schedule to be dominated by the affairs of state despite my wish to help you personally. I have, however, passed along your rather detailed list of symptoms to my personal physicians.
“While they are uncertain of an exact cause, they came to the conclusion that your magic's unpredictability as of late may be a stress reaction compounded by your tendencies towards insomnia. I do hope that you are not upset with me as I may have taken the liberty of disclosing some of your old library habits to the doctor. I hope that I have not overstepped my bounds in doing so, but I know that you would certainly be honest about this particular quirk, given the situation.
“The doctors have concluded that with some rest and relaxation you should find yourself and your magic back in optimal shape. Given some of the details you've included in your letter, it seems you may have been hitting the Equestrian medical journals a bit hard lately. I suggest you take a good long break from your studies in books and simply enjoy yourself with your friends as much as possible.
“Time permitting, I would like to come for a visit as soon as it is feasible. I hope that when I arrive I shall find my dearest student healthy and in good spirits.
“Your loving teacher, Celestia
“P.S. If what you've said is true, perhaps you should take measures to keeping yourself stationary while unconscious. Common sense, you know.”
“Common sense, indeed,” Rarity quipped with a small smile as Twilight blushed a deep purple.
“Well, if'n those doctors say so, I s'pose we just ought to get you a whole lot o' bed rest, Twilight,” Applejack confirmed before looking around at the group of ponies assembled, “Maybe we really should have a slumber party or somethin' tonight, keep you from goin' stir crazy an' all.”
“Ooh, ooh, a slumber party! I love parties!” Pinkie chirped, looking rather ridiculous as the once grim dungeon master hopped about like a filly on one too many cupcakes in her dark flowing robes, “I don't think I've ever had a slumber party...isn't it hard to party while you slumber?”
“I dun think most would be gettin' any slumber with you around, Pinkie,” Applejack joked, the pink pony's bouncing having shaken off most of her costume by now, “Maybe me an' Rarity'll take the lead on this.”
“I think we should make plans first,” Rarity stated, a worried look on her face, “Just so no pony wonders where we've gone. I've already closed the boutique for the day, but I think Sweetie Belle might worry if she drops by.”
“Ooo... Gummy'll be wondering where his Mommy Pinkie is. I can't worry him,” Pinkie said, bringing a sudden halt to her bouncing.
“I best tell Big Macintosh and Applebloom where I'm gonna be, too.”
“Oh, and I haven't been to my cottage since this morning. I should at least have Angel Bunny watch over things while I'm here.”
“All right so we'll all go make our plans, then come back,” Dash stated, brushing the last few bits of board game out of her hide.
“But, we can't leave Twilight here all alone,” Fluttershy reminded them, Twilight's slowly falling face brightening back up at the suggestion, “I'll keep Twilight company while the rest of you make your plans, then I can go feed my animals and get all of them ready for night.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Let's git started then,” Applejack said as the four ponies began to file down the stairs, “We'll be back afore you kin say Appaloosa, Twi.”
“Thanks guys,” Twilight smiled as they disappeared from view, the sound of a slamming door signaling their departure from the library after a few seconds. Fluttershy flew up to the window overlooking the front of the library and waved a hoof at the departing ponies, Spike joining the pegasus on the window sill.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked as she turned around to find that the unicorn was pressed flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling without a shred of emotion on her face.
“Mostly, I guess...” the unicorn muttered as Fluttershy flew up to her bed, putting a worried hoof to Twilight's shoulder.
“Mostly?”
“Yeah...I mean,” the unicorn closed her eyes for a moment, reopening to reveal a watery pair of lavender orbs, “I'm really happy you all are here and that you'll still be here, but...”
“But you're still scared?” Fluttershy offered as Spike leaned over the back of the bed, keeping silent as he cast a worried look at the unicorn.
“Yeah. I mean my talent is magic. My element is magic. I've practically lived, eaten and breathed magic since the Princess took me on as her personal protégé...” Twilight trailed off as she blinked a tear out of her eyes, Fluttershy moved to the bedside table to grab a towel that had been brought up with lunch. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”
“Think nothing of it,” the pegasus replied, giving the unicorn a soft smile as both fell silent, Fluttershy carefully wiping away the unicorn's tears.
“It's just...” the unicorn began, biting her lip as she tried to find the words, “It's just losing control like this. I want to understand it...I want to know what is going on. I don't like not knowing...not being able to prepare...”
“None of us do, Twilight. Nopony does, but it's one of those things every pony has to deal with sometimes, right?”
“I guess...” the unicorn muttered, unconvinced as Fluttershy bit her lip, mind racing for an example to soothe her friend's worries.
“Remember when you were researching Pinkie Pie?”
“Yeah, lot of good that did...still don't know what makes that pony tick,” Twilight replied with a chuckle, her face brightening a moment at the memory.
“I don't think any of us every really will, but that's not the point. Sometimes we don't have to understand things in order to be able to deal with them. If we did, I think Pinkie would have driven a lot of ponies to the asylum... probably in her Pinkie-copter,” the yellow pegasus admitted, drawing a smile out of the unicorn.
“Give her time, I'm sure she'll manage,” Twilight joked, “That or she'll throw a party so big the universe will have a second big bang.”
“It'd be the most fun Armageddon anypony ever attended.”
“Have you two been looking in my diary?”
“Aaahhh!” Twilight yelled out as a chaotic pink mane appeared just behind Spike, sending the baby dragon onto the bed as Fluttershy merely looked on with eyes seemingly too large for her head. “Don't do that.”
“How did you know about the Ponygeddon?” Pinkie inquired, squinting her eyes as she leaned uncomfortably close to the unicorn's face.
“Ponygeddon?” Twilight laughed awkwardly, eyes whipping back and forth between the party pony and Fluttershy.
“So, you don't know?”
“Know about what?”
“I was hoping you'd say that,” the pink pony stated, giving Twilight and Fluttershy one last stare before reverting to her normal happy-go-pinkie self, “It'll be the bestest, most awesomest surprise ever!”
“I'm sure it will be, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said as she and Twilight shared a sigh of relief as Pinkie bounced in place, eyes screwed shut as she presumably imagined the universe shattering awesomeness that would be the Pinkie Pie's Ponygeddon Party Palooza.
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered as the yellow pegasus began to leave for her cottage, prompted by the voices of more of their friends appearing downstairs.
“It was nothing, Twilight. Now, you just relax and we'll all be enjoying a nice, soothing slumber party in no time,” with that the pegasus took off down the stairs, nodding to her returning friends before emerging into the dusk covered streets of Ponyville.
As she trotted down the streets, Fluttershy found herself chewing her lip nervously, going over the advice she had just given her friend. She wasn't sure if she really believed her own advice, but it seemed to have worked for the unicorn so they had to have been the right words. Shaking her head to rid herself of her worries, the pegasus took to the skies and flapped onwards towards her home.
I hope it was the right advice... there might be plenty to be scared of... even if the doctors do think it's just stress... Fluttershy thought to herself as she glided on the last thermals of the day, watching as Luna's moon crept steadily into the sky. As the pegasus stared at the glowing white orb she couldn't help but feel a shiver course down her spine. Were her suspicions right? Were her feelings any more than just feelings? Maybe it was just all in your head, Fluttershy... everything will be fine in the morning. You'll see.
---
By the time Fluttershy had fed and taken care of her animals, the day had been subsumed entirely by the night. The glow of the street lanterns shining in the distance were the only sign of Ponyville as the yellow pegasus prepared to leave her home in reliable paws.
"So, you'll remember to change Mr. Mouse's sling, won't you? And rebandage Roby's wing?" Fluttershy asked nerously as she adjusted her traveling bags, the little white rabbit to whom she had entrusted the cottage and its inhabitants to giving a sharp salute and a vigorous nod of his head.
Fluttershy knew the rabbit could be trusted, he ran a tight ship after all, lording over most of the animals with a, surprisingly comforting, iron paw. She gave the saluting rabbit one last loving nuzzle before flapping her wings and hovering just above him.
"Okay, Angel Bunny, now you take care of yourself," Fluttershy began, truning to leave before looking over her shoulder at the now retreating rabbit, "And I don't want to hear about any wild parties when I get back, mister."
The rabbit stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face the pegasus from just inside the pegasus. He stood on his hind legs, giving his caretaker an aptly angelic grin beforing sign her promise to be a good little bunny scout. If an angelic halo could have appeared above the rabbit's head, it probably would have as well.
"Alright, Angel, take care." With that the rabbit shut the door softly, but firmly as the pegasus took off towards Ponyville, swearing for a moment that she could hear music playing behind her in the distance. Perhaps the little rabbit would at least remember to clean up this time.
Smiling softly, the pegasus began to follow the lanterns that lined the streets of Ponyville towards Twilight's house, the library looming large in the distance.
"I hope I wasn't gone that long," Fluttershy murmured to herself as she realized that all the windows in the tree house had gone dark as were most of the windows in little town. As the pegasus made her final approach she landed just before the entrance way to find it ever so slightly ajar, the smell of burning grass reaching her nostrils.
Did Rainbow cook dinner for everypony? Fluttershy wondered as she made her way into the library, striding carefully into the darkened innards of the tree.
“Hello?” the pegasus whispered into the darkness, her wings half-extended as her body sent signals coursing through her body, telling her to flee the dark and mysterious depths of the tree, “I—is anypony here?”
There was no answer as the pegasus made her way up the stairs.
“Rainbow Dash, did you burn something?” she asked in barely more than a whisper as she came to the second floor of the tree, not making it another step before her hoof hit something soft and warm.
“Mmm...five more minutes, Sweetie Belle...” came a familiar moan as the soft and warm something rolled away from Flutterhsy's hoof.
“Rarity?”
“Huh, whu?” came the less than dignified reply. A short cough later and the room was suddenly covered in a soft blue glow as the unicorn's horn flared into life, revealing her confused face, “Oh, Fluttershy. What happened? Why am I on the floor?”
The pegasus didn't reply as she surveyed the scene, all of her friends lay scattered around the bottom of the second story awkwardly with the exception of Applejack and Twilight. Ignoring the confused fashionista for a moment, Fluttershy lifted herself into the air and gasped at what she saw curcled up next to Twilight's bed.
“Applejack!” she cried out and shot to the earth pony's aid. Applejack shook terribly, a bit of smoke rising off her coat, glowing eerily as it was lit by Rarity's horn.
“Fl-fluttershy? Where's Twilight?” the work horse asked, trembling as her legs clutched at her chest.
“Where's...” Fluttershy let out a second gasp as she saw the empty bed, the ropes laying on the floor, their singed ends still smoking, “She's gone!”
“Twilight's gone?” Rarity cried out before scrambling to her hooves and up to Twilight's bed, “Where could she have gone?”
“She w-went for the stairs...the bunch of you j-just kinda dropped when she went by...I-I tried to tackle 'er but she had this weird glow about her...” Applejack explained through clenched teeth as she tried to get to her hooves, Fluttershy acting as a brace for the injured work horse.
“Applejack, what happened to you?”
“S-same as yer hoof I r-reckon,” she replied, tipping over and slumping down against the bed to reveal a long burn running along the entirety of her underside, “I-I think it's mostly just the shock of it.”
“I-I'll go see if I can find some bandages,” Rarity asked, her complexion having taken on a rather green hue.
“I should have some in my bag,” the pegasus stated bluntly as she shimmied her saddlebags to the floor, “Rarity, can you help?”
“I...yes, of course, dear,” the unicorn seemed less than sure of the statement, but she held her ground as Fluttershy dumped out her supplies.
“Whuh—we can't waste no time, girls...we gotta go after Twilight. Somethin's got into her...an' I think it's somepony or somethin',” Applejack pleaded as Fluttershy began to set cool wet cloth over the wounds, sending shivers through the work pony.
“I know, Applejack, but we've got to get you ready to first...” Fluttershy trailed off as she noticed the smell of burnt wood amidst the scent of branded flesh that threatened to overwhelm the pegasus. Glancing down she could see a distinct line of hoof prints, glowing a soft blue in the glow of Rarity's horn. The unicorn glanced down, following the pegasi's gaze.
“It seems Twilight's left us a path to follow at least,” the unicorn stated before moving to follow the trail, pausing a moment to relight the bedside lantern with her magic before trotting down the stairs.
“G-good...now we just got to git following it,” Applejack stated as she tried to roll to all fours only to have a yellow hoof pin her in place with a surprising amount of strength.
“We'll get you bandaged up first, then we wake up our friends, then we all go after Twilight,” Fluttershy commanded, the work pony tensing before relaxing fully beneath her hoof.
“If it's any consolation, it doesn't appear that she was in much of a hurry,” Rarity murmured from the front window and from their vantage point, Applejack and Fluttershy could see the evenly spaced hoof prints disappearing into the dark of Ponyville, each pair spaced only perhaps a foot or so apart.
“Alright, get me fixed up so we can go figure this mess out,” Applejack relented as Fluttershy began to wind bandages around the work pony's abdomen, her hooves working instinctively from muscle memory as her thoughts drifted to the wayward unicorn.
In the morning, Twilight... Everything will be better... You'll see.