Monochrome

by A Man Called Horse

2

The front door of the library opened and Twilight stepped inside, gazing at the lifeless lengths of her home. Once upon a time, those shelves had been filled with books of every color imaginable. But not anymore. A shaft of silvery sunlight came in through one of the upper windows, falling on the horsehead statue on the center table like a somber spotlight.

Never before had the library seemed like a lonely place to her.

She made her way to one of the bookshelves, lifting a random book in the smudgy caress of her magic and opening it. Seeing the black typeface on the white pages, she gave a small smile, taking some comfort in the fact that some things remained unchanged. With a sigh, she returned the book to its place.

Enough distractions. She had work to do.

She was already in the process of gathering a few books to begin her research when the door opened again and Spike jogged in, panting for breath.

“H-hey, Twi. I’m… here…”

“And just in time, too.” She set the last book down on top of the stack on her desk. “It’s time to do some research—see if we can figure this thing out.”

“Sounds great.”

She trotted to her reading desk, moving a pillow to the floor and taking a seat. “So, what did the girls want to talk to you about?”

Spike, currently on his way to her side to assist her, froze in mid-step. “W-what do you mean?”

“You know, when Rarity called you over?”

“Well… heh, you heard her. She just needed help… uh, identifying some—”

“I’m not stupid, Spike.” She selected one of the thicker books, set it on the table in front of her, and opened it, beginning to peruse it even as she continued speaking. “That was obviously just an excuse. Rarity’s not as good of an actress as she thinks she is. And neither are you.”

Spike opened his mouth to respond, then stopped briefly to ponder her wording before shrugging it off and saying, “Fine. They’d just noticed you were acting funny this morning and wanted to ask me what was wrong.”

“And they couldn’t just ask me themselves?”

“Well, Twi… to be fair, you haven’t been giving off a very approachable vibe today.”

She looked over her shoulder and glowered at him. “What do you mean? I’m very approachable!”

A bead of sweat ran down Spike’s brow. “Well, of course you are, Twilight. Heheh. It’s just… I dunno, a matter of perception, I guess. One can seem moody, even when one isn’t—”

“Moody?!” This time, she turned her whole body to face him.

Spike took a step back. “Well… yeah! You know, like that!”

Twilight squinted at him, then deflated. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Spike. I guess I have been feeling kind of… ugh… ‘moody’. With everything last night, and all the craziness this morning, and this darn headache I’ve got going on…” She sighed. “Yeah, like I said: Sorry…”

“It’s okay, Twi,” he said, walking up to her and placing a clawed hand on her shoulder. “I know all this has been kinda stressful.”

“That’s no excuse, though.” She reached a foreleg around him and gave him a hug. “So… what did you tell them, anyway?”

“Who, the girls?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Well, you know… Just about how you were bummed that none of them came to the meteor shower, and—”

“Wait…” she whispered. Her eyes widened slowly. “The meteor shower?”

“Yeah. And Twi? I think they felt really ba—”

“The meteor shower! Of course!”

Twilight pulled away from Spike, slamming the book she’d been reading shut and moving the whole stack of books to the side before galloping off to one of the side rooms.

“’Of course’ what? Twilight, what’s going on?” he asked, running after her.

“Why didn’t I think of it before?” She raised up on her hind legs, propping herself up against one of the shelves—Spike recognized it as the astronomy section—and began rifling through the books with her magic.

“Think of what?!”

“The Haizum-Shabdiz meteor shower!”

“Uh… what about it?”

She selected a few books and brought them back to her reading desk. “Well, think about it! A cloud of magic-conducting meteors, known for causing a spike in the planet’s ambient magic when we pass through it. Then, the very next day, a mysterious, almost certainly magical phenomenon just pops up out of nowhere? It can’t be a coincidence!”

“But what if it is? Didn’t you say the meteor shower was harmless?”

“Well, so far as I know. But who’s to say?” She sat down again and opened the first book. “Maybe something like this happened the previous times our planet passed through. If nothing else, this is the first lead I’ve had all morning!”

“Well, I hate to be a downer, but wouldn’t you have read about it if something like this had happened before? I’m sure you studied the Hijinks-Whatsis cloud beforehand, right?”

Twilight sighed, turning away from the book with lowered ears. “Well, a little bit. Nothing too in-depth, though. Nothing beyond what you might read in a high school astronomy textbook.”

Spike raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“What?” she said defensively. “I was mostly looking forward to spending time with…” She trailed off, her eyes turning downward. “My friends…”

Spike winced. “H-hey, it’s okay, Twilight. You’re right! It probably has something to do with the meteors. Reading up on them seems like a good bet.”

Twilight huffed through her nostrils. “I hope it’s that easy. Though, even if the meteor shower caused it, that still leaves the problem of fixing it.”

“Well, we’ll climb that mountain when we get to it.”

“Thanks, Spike.” She smiled at him warmly. “I know I can always count on you.”

He sensed a second part to that sentence hanging somewhere in the air, but let it slide, watching as Twilight began poring through the astronomy texts.

“Do you need anything, Twi?”

“Well… I wouldn’t say no to another cup of coffee.”

He gave a tiny salute. “Coming right up!”

Twilight chuckled as he jogged off to the kitchen, then refocused her attention on the words in front of her, quickly losing herself to the winding roads of history and knowledge.

* * * *

Rainbow Dash hovered high above the ground. A small breeze blew through her grayscale mane as she looked off in the direction of Ponyville. From here, she could see the tip of Carousel Boutique, its gray flag flapping. There, Sugarcube Corner stood, never looking less like her crazy friend’s home.

It hardly looks like the same town, Rainbow thought.

Her gaze drifted, almost against her will, to the tallest tree in town, feeling a knot form in her gut as she thought of the lonely unic—… alicorn within.

A part of her wanted to dart off to that tree and talk to Twilight—apologize, something. But she wondered how welcome that would be right now. No, Applejack was probably right. Better give her some space so she could focus on the Graying. Besides, Rainbow had a job to do. Rainbow Dash might be lazy sometimes, but she was no slacker.

“Um, Rainbow? Are you gonna do your thing, or what?”

“Hmm?” Rainbow looked down, spotting Golden Harvest staring at her from the midst of her carrot patch.

“You’ve just been staring at Ponyville for, like… five minutes. You wanna get the rain going, please?”

“Oh. Sure thing…”

With a half-hearted kick, Rainbow activated the tiny cloud that Golden Harvest had requested from the Weather Commission, and a gentle trickle of rainwater fell on the carrots below.

“And that’ll be enough for two hours?”

“Should be.”

“Alright. Thanks, Rainbow!”

With a final, lethargic wave to Golden Harvest, Rainbow did an about-face and flapped towards the weather office at a leisurely rate, watching the town passing below her.

Even Rainbow had to admit that she wasn’t at the top of her game this morning. Whether it was the Graying, the situation with Twilight, or the remnants of her hangover—or even some chimeric amalgamation of the three—she couldn’t even begin to guess. She’d only done a few weather jobs so far, and already her mind was wandering all over the place. The dominant feeling was something like boredom, an infuriating brand of antsiness that supplied nothing to be antsy for. She couldn’t even enjoy the feeling of the wind through her wings.

Before she knew it, she was at the Weather Office. She set down and entered the cloudstone building, approaching the assignments desk.

“Hey, Wind Whistler,” she said, tapping a hoof against the floor in muffled thwumps. “I finished the Golden Harvest order. Whatcha got for me now?”

“That’s actually it, boss,” the mare replied with a shrug. “We’re all caught up.”

Rainbow blinked at her. “What, already?”

“What can I say? It’s Tuesday. You know how slow it is early in the week. And who knows? Maybe the Graying’s got a lot of ponies laying low.”

“Oh, come on! It’s just… colors…” Her words temporarily trailed off, but with an agitated twitch of her wings, she continued, “I know there’s gotta be something to do. Lay it on me!”

“There’s nothing, honest! A couple of easy jobs this afternoon, but that’s it!”

Rainbow’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well, what am I supposed to do all day, huh?”

“Calm down, Cap’n,” interrupted a deeper voice from off to the side. Thunderlane approached her and came to a stop. “It’s not Wind Whistler’s fault it’s a slow day. And besides: Since when have you complained about less work?”

“The hay is that supposed to mean?!”

Thunderlane sighed. “Nothing, Rainbow. Just… maybe you should take the rest of the day off. If you don’t mind me saying so, you’ve seemed a bit distracted this morning.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I do mind.”

Wind Whistler spoke up from the sidelines. “I’ve, um, noticed it too.”

Rainbow ground her teeth, staring at them both. “So, what am I supposed to do, huh? Just sit around, being useless, while you guys do all the work?”

“No one’s accusing you of being useless, Rainbow,” Thunderlane said. “Heck, you do as much work around here as the rest of us put together! But with how slow it is around here today, you’d be more useful somewhere else. Go out, do some of that stunt flying you love so much. Or maybe spend some time with your friends. We’ll take it from here, alright?”

She glared at him. “I don’t take orders from you, you know?”

“No. You don’t. And woe betide anyone who tries to boss you around.” He put a hoof on her shoulder. “Just think of this as a suggestion from a friend, and professional advice from your vice captain.”

Rainbow stared at him for a small moment, then turned away with a sigh. “Fine. I’ll get out of your manes. See you guys tomorrow.”

She made her way outside, barely hearing Wind Whistler say, “What’s up with her?” before the doors swung closed. With a snort, she walked to the edge of the cloud and looked out at Ponyville. A whole day at her disposal. She never thought such a prospect would make her so uncomfortable. She turned away from the almost unrecognizable town and looked to the skies. Maybe Thunderlane was right. Maybe some stunt flying would clear her head.

She extended her wings, bent her knees, took a deep, deep breath, and launched herself into the air with a mighty flap.

She flew straight upwards like a rocket, then banked sharply backward, the centrifugal force pulling her hooves to the heavens as the world wheeled behind her back. The sun shone through a patch of cirrus high above, the color like amplified moonlight. Still in her upside-down position, she went into a series of barrel rolls before pulling out as sharply as she could, the moisture in the air shepherded into long contrails by her wingtips. She spun and dipped and twisted and zip-zoomed through the sky, all her years of training willing the laws of physics themselves into a tame, whimpering beast, like a river channeled into rapids by the unyielding earth.

It took her five whole minutes before she got bored of it. By then, she wasn’t even smiling anymore. She spotted a lone cloud and made for it, setting her hooves onto the cloud with uncharacteristic gentleness. She sat on her haunches, looking upwards as she reined in her breathing. The sky, always the color of her coat, like she was made for it, had never seemed so empty to her before. Almost like a corpse.

She lay down, folding her legs beneath her and resting her chin on her forehooves. Unable to bear looking at that sky anymore, she lowered her gaze to the earth. It was just as colorless, of course, but at least it had form and shape. It had something to fill it.

Her attention was drawn by a familiar expanse of fruit trees off to the west of town. A memory of the scent of apples filled her mind, and the ghost of a smile graced her lips.

* * * *

Twilight drained the last of her coffee and set the mug on the edge of her reading desk, never taking her eyes off the book in front of her. The library was silent but for the rustle of paper and ticking of a clock and the distant rummagings of Spike in the kitchen. Twilight turned the page and continued to read:

“Although accounts of spectacular meteor showers date back several thousand years, and have been preserved in histories and mythologies around the globe, the first formal study of the meteor shower we know today was performed by the Saddle Arabian astronomers, Haizum and Shabdiz (after whom it was later named), more than a hundred years before the rebellion of Nightmare Moon. Speculation that the meteor shower contributed to Princess Luna’s descent remain unconfirmed.”

Twilight felt a chill run up her spine.

“As Saddle Arabians do not possess horns, Haizum and Shabdiz made no mention of a magical surge during the shower. They did refer, however, in one of the footnotes to their study, to various testimonials made by their fellow Saddle Arabians. These included strange dreams and vivid hallucinations.

“Similar incidents were recorded during the second scientifically documented occurrence of the shower more than five hundred years ago. The most notable case was that of the painter, Crooked Hoof, whose triptych, Starsong Across the Winter Seas, purportedly inspired by his hallucinations during the shower, is regarded as a precursor to surrealist art.

“Also worthy of mention is a study performed at that time by Setting Carol—a professor at Princess Celestia’s school—whose very large array of crystal arconometers detected during the shower not only unusual magical frequencies, but apparent patterns in those frequencies. Due to the fleeting nature of the shower, his findings could not be verified by his peers.

“Much remains to be discovered about the Haizum-Shabdiz meteor shower, but already scientists are anticipating its next occurrence, which is projected to take place during the one-thousandth and third year of Princess Celestia’s reign.”

Having finished the entry on the shower, Twilight closed the book and stretched her limbs. Memories of her dream the night before flashed through her mind, all the pieces wanting so badly to click together. Still, something didn’t quite add up. She was missing something, she just knew it.

“Find anything useful?” Spike asked as he exited the kitchen.

“Well… yes and no. There’s certainly a lot of precedent for strange and mysterious events being tied to the shower, but nothing definite.”

“And nothing about it making everything black and white?”

“Not a word.” She stood up and returned the book to its proper place. “For all I know, it could have nothing at all to do with the shower.”

“Really? Huh…” He ran his eyes over the rows and rows of books, then sighed. “Too bad there aren’t more records from that time. It’d be great to have a first-hand account.”

Twilight pondered his words, and perked her ears. She turned to Spike with a wide smile. “Spike, you’re a genius!”

“I-I am?”

“There may not be much in the way of records, but we have the best resource of all right at the ends of our hooves! Er… and claws, too.”

“What’s that?”

“Princess Celestia!”

“I—… What?”

“Well, think about it! She and Luna were both alive back then. Maybe one of them remembers something weird from previous showers. One of the books I just read even mentioned there being rumors about Luna having some connection to the shower.”

She galloped to her writing desk and began scribbling a letter with her magic.

“Well, that does seem like a pretty good idea, but… don’t you think Princess Celestia would’ve remembered something already, if anything like this had happened before?”

“Well, that’s the thing! It might not have been something exactly like this. The shower might not even have the same effects every time. I’m sure anything the Princess can tell us would be—… Oh, darn it!”

“What? What is it?”

Twilight lifted her ink well and peered into it with one eye. “Just ran out of ink. Could you fetch me another, please?”

With a nod, he ran over to the ink cubby, threw open the doors, then froze. “Um…”

“Wait,” Twilight droned. “Don’t tell me. We’re out of ink.”

Spike looked at her, biting his lip, and gave her a second, feebler nod.

Twilight simply massaged her temple with a hoof, sighing through her nostrils.

“You want me to go get some more?”

“I'd appreciate it,” she said with a smile. “I guess I can use this time to make another pass through the astronomy section—make sure I didn’t miss anything. Thanks, Spike.”

“Sure thing, Twi.” He took a moment to look her over with a worried expression, then turned and stepped out into the dreary brightness of Ponyville.

As the door clicked shut, Twilight trotted back to her writing desk, eyeing her unfinished letter with furrowing eyebrows. Her wings ruffled at her sides.

* * * *

A hoof raised an apple into the path of a sunbeam, but even then it appeared dark and dull. A pair of eyes scrutinized the fruit from under the brim of a stetson. Its wearer grunted, then brought the apple to her mouth and gave it a bite. The satisfying crunch, the smell, the juicy texture—all of them familiar, comforting. However…

“It just ain’t the same, somehow,” Applejack muttered, leaning against a tree trunk.

“Hmm?” came a reply from the other side of the tree. Rainbow’s head poked around, watching as Applejack chewed the bite slowly, critically, and finally swallowed. “What’s not the same?” Rainbow asked.

“The apple. It just don’t taste right.”

“Is something wrong with it?”

“Well, no… Not really, leastwise.” With a sigh, Applejack rolled the fruit away, watching as it came to a stop with the white gash in its dark skin facing her like the photo-negative of an eyeball. “It’s silly. I know it’s the same as always, except for the color. I reckon it’s all in my head.”

She slouched more deeply against the tree and tilted her hat back, allowing her an unimpeded view of the orchards as they stretched, row after row, into the colorless distance.

“The whole farm just seems… wrong, like this,” she continued. “This was the first mornin’ in as long as I can remember that I actually dreaded gettin’ to work. Dreaded it, Rainbow! I know it’s just one little thing that’s different, but… I guess I never really considered how much I counted on the green of the leaves and the blue of the sky and the red of the apples.

“I was born on this here land—grew up on it. My whole family’s worked it for generations. It’s where… where Ma and Pa started their own little family. And they entrusted it to me. Everything they worked for, loved for, depends on me keepin’ it goin’. But now? Lookin’ at it like this?” She sniffled quietly and pulled her hat down over her eyes. “It barely even feels like my home anymore. And all because of some hoodoo with the colors! Oh, what would my folks think of me now, seein’ me like this? They’d be so disappointed in me…”

Rainbow fidgeted slightly. “You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, AJ. I’m sure they’d understand. I think this Graying thing has been messing with all of our heads.”

Wiping her eyes dry, Applejack asked, “You really think so, Dash?”

“I know so! I’ve been going through the same sort of thing. You know how much I love flying, right?”

Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, I reckon I do.”

“Well, this morning I just couldn’t get into it for the life of me. The sky was so empty. Lifeless. That thrill I feel whenever I’m soaring through the sky just… wasn’t there.”

“Aw shoot, darlin’.” Applejack winced. “I’ve been so busy feelin’ sorry for myself that I didn’t even think other ponies might be goin’ through the same sorta thing. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Don’t be sorry, AJ,” Rainbow replied.

“And I can see how a colorful pony like you might take it especially hard.”

“It’s been weird, alright…”

“Heck, I barely recognized ya when you flew up to me earlier.”

Rainbow’s shoulders sagged. A silence draped itself over the orchard, broken only by the wind in the leaves. Rainbow looked up to the branches overhead, her gaze searching.

“Hey AJ? Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course you can, sugarcube.”

Rainbow took a deep breath, crossing her forehooves over her chest in a foalish gesture. “Do you think I’m a bad friend?”

Applejack sat up now, taking her turn to lean around the tree trunk. “Now, what in the world makes you ask a dumb question like that all th’ sudden?”

“I dunno.” Rainbow picked up an apple of her own and took a bite. It tasted fine to her. “I was just thinking about Twilight.”

Applejack nodded, returning to her position on the other side of the tree. “About missin’ the meteor shower, y’mean?”

“Y-yeah.” Rainbow set the apple down, not having much of an appetite. “Loyalty’s supposed to be my thing, you know? I always talk big about how I ‘never leave my friends hanging’, but… then I did.”

“Well, Rainbow, to be fair, none of us showed up.”

“But at least the rest of you had a reason not to show up! I was just out getting hammered with some mare from work. And the thing is, I’d have rather spent the night with a friend like Twilight. How could I have just forgotten like that? It’s so lame…”

Applejack folded her forelegs behind her head as she considered Rainbow’s words. Finally: “But… that don’t make you a bad friend, does it? Even best friends make mistakes sometimes. And while Twilight might have her feelin’s hurt, it’s not like she’s gonna stop bein’ your friend over all this. She’ll forgive an honest mistake like this.”

Rainbow listened to her as she gazed into the nearby trees. Then, she froze. For the briefest instant, she could have sworn that a griffon-like face stepped into view between two trees, meeting Rainbow’s eyes across the distance with what might have been a smile, and then disappeared from view again. Rainbow swallowed deeply, trying not to tremble. “Well…” she whispered. “Maybe I don’t deserve to be forgiven.”

“What was that, Rainbow?”

Rainbow stood suddenly. “You know, I ought to get going,” she said, stretching her wings out. “I know you’ve got a lot of work to do around here, and I’ve taken up enough of you time.”

Applejack stood as well, walking around to look at Rainbow’s face. However, Rainbow wouldn’t meet her eyes.

With a sigh, Applejack turned and panned her vision across the orchard. “Yeah, I reckon I should get a few more rows done before day’s end, even if my heart ain’t exactly in it.” She gave Rainbow one last sullen look over her shoulder. “Sorry I couldn’t be o’ more help…”

“It’s fine, AJ. It’s not you. I’ve just gotten myself in a funk, is all. It’ll pass, I’m sure of it.” She looked at the sky. “It’ll all pass.”

“I sure hope so. For the sake of all our sanity.”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah. I’ll catch you around.”

“Take it easy, RD.”

Rainbow coiled her legs and launched into the air, headed towards Ponyville. Applejack watched her until she disappeared from view, then turned toward the orchards with a sullen breath and dragged her hooves to the next row.

* * * *

The streets of Ponyville were a theater of unease. Spike wandered through the midst of it, taking in his surroundings as he made his way to the ink shop. Where once ponies would stand and chat under the awnings of town hall, now ponies walked meekly, barely meeting each other’s eyes, their smiles cautious. Where once the flower stands stood in bursts of color and fragrance, there now stood empty stalls and signs reading ‘closed’. No laugher, no singing, no cheer at all in the heart of the village.

Spike observed all this dejectedly, kicking a pebble along the cobblestones as he walked. At one point, he passed an outdoor café where two familiar mares sat in heated discussion.

“For the last time, Lyra, it didn’t mean anything! It was an honest mistake! You have to admit that, colors aside, she does look a lot like you!”

Her unicorn companion merely levitated another forkful of salad into her mouth and chewed, eyes closed, nose tilted upwards in indignation.

“So, what? You just aren’t going to speak to me?” Bon Bon asked, incredulous.

Lyra washed the bite down with a sip of hay smoothie.

“You know what? Fine! I’ll just go! But know this: If I do kiss somepony else later on, this time in might not be an accident!”

Lyra’s eyes opened, followed by her mouth, watching her marefriend storm off and around a corner. She bit her lip briefly, face tinged with uncertainly. Then, indignation renewed, she gave a snort and returned to her lunch.

Spike tried not to watch the scene, hurrying his pace to put it behind him. “Sheesh,” she said under his breath. “What’s with everypony today? Who’d have thought that turning everything gray would get under our skin so much? If Twilight doesn’t find a way to fix it, the whole town might just grump itself to death.”

“Hey, Spike!”

He turned his head at the call, finding two fillies galloping in his direction across the square. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came to a stop with smiles.

“Hey, you two!” Spike asked, then raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you in school?”

“Miss Cheerilee sent everypony home early,” Scootaloo explained.

“Yeah, none of us could stay focused on our studies anyway. Includin’ Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said with a giggle.

“Oh. Well, I guess I can see that. Like a snow day, or something.” He looked back and forth between them. “And what about Sweetie Belle?”

“She’s been sick,” answered Scootaloo with a frown. “We just went by Carousel Boutique to see her, but Rarity was afraid we might catch her bug, so…”

“What about you, Spike?” Apple Bloom asked. “What’re you up to?”

“Just making an ink run. Speaking of which, I’d better get a move on. Just between the three of us, Twilight may be on the verge of a breakthrough.”

“Really? That’s awesome!” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed happily.

“You wanna meet up later, maybe?”

“I don’t know,” Spike said. “I’d like to, especially since you’re down one crusader. But Twilight might need me. It just depends on how things go.”

“Well, alright. Good luck with that, Spike!”

“Yeah, this whole day has been just… weird,” Scootaloo said, as if she had a funny taste in her mouth. “And I think it’s getting weirder by the minute.”

“We’ll do what we can.”

They departed with a wave, and Spike continued on his way.

He soon came to his destination, a small shop with a sign over the door bearing the likeness of an octopus watering a flowerbed. He entered the shop, then reemerged some minutes later carrying a sack filled with several fresh ink wells.

He was nearly half-way back to the library when he spotted a commotion down the street. Several ponies, seemingly startled, were moving to the side, as if clearing the way for a parade. Soon enough, Spike saw why. There, rounding a corner, was a pony seemingly untouched by the lack of color. Or, perhaps ‘pony’ wasn’t the proper term, considering all the stripes.

Zecora, clearly winded, limped into view as if she had come a great distance at a great speed. With a grin, Spike ran up to her.

“Hey there, Zecora!” he said. Now that he was closer, he saw that she wasn’t as unaffected by the Graying as he’d thought; her normally blue, cheerful eyes were only cheerful now, and barely that.

“Ah, just the dragon I’d hope to see!” she said, her sweat-covered face lighting up. “Tell me: Is Princess Twilight at her tree?”

“Yeah, she’s at the library trying to figure out the Graying. Is that why you’re here? Because… no offense, but she’s pretty busy with that at the moment.”

“Oh, I assure you, this is no social call. I bear news that’s relevant to all. Whatever it is, this mysterious force, I do believe I’ve found its source!”

“Really?! Well, come on then!” He turned and started running toward the library. “Twilight always puts a lot of stock in what you have to say. And the sooner we can fix this,” gesturing to the subdued ponies around them, “the better.”

Zecora ran up behind Spike and, using her nose, flipped him up and onto her back. He held on for dear life as she darted down the gray streets of Ponyville.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Why aren't there any genre tags?

[Lurks-no-More]

4663298
They've been grayed out?

[Grollo]

Well, at least everpony will still recognise Zecora.

[6-D Pegasus]

“Thanks, Spike.” She smiled at him warmly. “I know I can always count on you.”

He sensed a second part to that sentence hanging somewhere in the air, but let it slide, watching as Twilight began poring through the astronomy texts.

I'm guessing it was "[...] at least..."