12
Twilight peeked into the main hall through the heavy curtains of the stage. Over the last hour, ponies had slowly trickled in. At this rate, perhaps even half of town would show up by the time the meeting started. However, that was as far as her optimism took her.
Some of the ponies who had come were visibly uncomfortable as they tried to keep their distance from everypony else. Twilight wondered just how common the sentiment amongst the rest of the crowd was, and how it would affect the meeting itself… as well as what would it take for things to take a turn for the worse.
“How are you holding up?”
Twilight threw Applejack a sidelong glance. The earth pony eyed her with warranted concern. The day had started in a less than stellar way but, Celestia willing, they may pull through.
“I’m okay, Applejack. I think we can do this.” She exhaled. “I know we can.”
Applejack smiled. “That’s the attitude.” With a sharp breath, she took a step back and turned around. “I’ll leave this to you, Twi. I’m gonna check on Pinkie Pie. She was pulling two carts full of pastries into the backroom and I don’t want no accidents.”
Twilight’s lips twitched for a moment, but returned to normal before a smile could appear. Her friend’s nod of reassurance before she walked away helped further Twilight’s resolve. She could do this. They could do this.
“Ah, Miss Sparkle. I’m glad you could arrive on time.”
Twilight turned to see Mayor Mare walking towards her followed by a few of Town Hall’s workers. The older mare smiled despite the noticeable dark spots under her eyes.
“Nothing could’ve stopped me from coming,” Twilight said. The firm tone of her words felt invigorating. Soothing, even.
With a pleased smile, the Mayor walked up to Twilight and looked at the gathering ponies. “I hope you had no problems this morning.”
A low groan escaped Twilight before she could suppress it. She had to get her mind in order. What good would it be for everypony if she let her thoughts take on a pessimistic edge?
Mayor Mare turned to face her with a serene façade, betraying no hint of worry while making it clear she wanted more information. Twilight wondered if every politician eventually developed such a face. Either way, she ought to inform the Mayor about what had happened earlier at the barrier.
"One of the guards lost his cutie mark."
Twilight felt the Mayor's sharp inhale. The air stood still as the seconds of silence stretched, uncertainty hanging around her as the Mayor took her time to reply.
“Is the situation under control?”
“The sergeant and everypony else on the other side… they seemed to have contingencies ready for this,” Twilight said, her tone matter of factly. “I… I trust they’ll handle things on their end.”
Silence. A nod. A sigh. “Then let’s make sure things are handled on our end.”
With that, they both looked back at the stage.
“How’s attendance?” the Mayor asked.
“It’s about what we expected, but I hope more ponies will arrive soon,” Twilight replied.
“Even if they don’t, all will proceed as planned.” With that, the Mayor turned and motioned to one of her aides. “Don’t worry too much, Miss Sparkle. We need our heads clear for this.”
The pony standing next to her gave her a clipboard with a few papers that the Mayor started reading. “After last night’s meeting ended sooner than expected, we kept working on today’s schedule.”
“Schedule?” Twilight asked, more than a little confused.
“See for yourself. I hope you don’t think I was too presumptuous.”
Arching an eyebrow, Twilight took the clipboard from Mayor Mare’s extended hoof. Looking over it, it appeared to be a pretty simple list of points to address.
Greetings, then a general rundown of everything that had happened over the past few days, the details discussed in last night's meeting regarding food and water… It appeared Doctor Horse was going to address the crowd as well. There were little details regarding what he was going to say. As obvious as it must’ve been by then, Twilight wondered if he’d break the news about the likelihood of everypony being infected. After that it seemed the only—”Wait, what!?”
“I was hoping you could deliver the closing words for the meeting,” Mayor Mare said in a soft yet firm tone.
Twilight couldn’t reply. Her eyes lingered over the “Closing statements by Twilight Sparkle” at the end of the list. Her mind was thinking back to that ill-fated meeting before the quarantine started, reminding her how poor of a job she had done at the start… But… That was then. She’d made mistakes and worked to rectify them. Perhaps this could be a way to make up for that blunder. Could that be why Mayor Mare wanted her to speak?
She looked up at the older mare, who still had a calm expression on her face.
After a few seconds of silence, Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. “You can count on me.”
Mayor Mare smiled. “I know I can, and I hope you remember that everypony still holds you in high regard, despite a few hiccups.”
Twilight felt something inside her swell at those small words of encouragement. It was funny, in a way. How just those few words were enough to reassure her. It was much the same way when she was a filly, how Princess Celestia telling her she’d done a good job was enough to make a week filled with all nighters feel worth it.
Princess Celestia… Although it was likely Spike’s dragonfire would get rid of anything malicious, she still didn’t want to risk it. She just wished the Princess would contact her. She’d give anything for some guidance.
And she supposed everypony who’d come felt the same way.
With a sense of determination that had eluded her for the past day, Twilight looked back at Mayor Mare and levitated the clipboard back to her. “Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
The older mare smiled at her. “I’d expect nothing less.” And with that, she walked away, towards the back of the room, as she started talking with her aides once more.
Alone once more, Twilight’s eyes wandered back to the stage and her thoughts went to the ponies beyond the curtains. Just a moment ago, they seemed keen on keeping their distance from one another. She wondered if, once more ponies came, those who still kept their cutie marks would stay away from those who had lost them.
She was suddenly pulled from those thoughts when she felt a prodding on her side.
“Hey, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said. “Spike said you were in such a hurry you didn’t get to have breakfast, so I brought you this!”
Pinkie held out a generously sized muffin. It seemed rather fluffy with a crumbly top.
“It has oats in it. And blueberries.” Pinkie looked down at the muffin before looking back at Twilight. “It was the breakfastiest one I had, so I thought you’d like it.”
Twilight stared at her for a moment. “I guess this morning was a bit of a frenzy. I really shouldn’t make a habit of skipping meals.” With that, she took the muffin from Pinkie and took a bite. It was still warm, and delicious as always. Perhaps it was the sugary treat satisfying the hunger she'd been ignoring since her abrupt awakening, but Twilight felt a small rush of happiness coursing through her.
As if sensing her joy, Pinkie started to lightly bounce in place.
“I’m glad you like it, Twilight.”
“It’s delicious, Pinkie,” she replied before taking another bite.
“Good!” Pinkie then leaned forward and gave her a light poke on her cheek. “It feels like an eternity since I last saw you smile.”
After that, Pinkie Pie smiled and walked away, leaving Twilight deep in thought.
Had it really been that long? Of course, this entire situation was nothing to smile about, but… She supposed she’d lost sight of herself the more wrapped up she got in trying to figure out what was going on. Other than a passing thought, she didn’t really dwell on how this was affecting her on a personal level.
She looked down at the remaining bits of her muffin.
As terrible as this situation was, if she just let herself get further into sorrow, then she couldn’t be of help to anypony.
On the other end of the room, Applejack and Spike talked as they organised the rest of the pastries on a small table while Pinkie talked with the Town Hall workers and offered them some.
If she’d managed to keep going for this long, it was due to the support of her friends. This disease may have made the ponies of Ponyville forget they were all in this together. That they had friends and families who shouldered the burden with them.
Discord’s words came to her mind. While they certainly had never even imagined something like this could happen, Ponyville had gone through weird and rough situations before and probably would in the future. Whichever way things developed from here, she knew they could pull through. Despite how bad things may seem now, she believed in the ponies of Ponyville.
She could feel the smile still tugging at her lips. In spite of it all, Twilight felt a sense of calmness wash over her. She’d have to thank Pinkie Pie later.
With one last bite, Twilight ate the rest of her muffin. She then turned around, her smile just a bit wider than before, and looked around for anypony who needed help before the meeting started.
The sound of a gavel hitting wood cut through the murmurs of the crowd. All in all, the attendance had surpassed Twilight’s initial prospects. While she had hoped Town Hall would be more full, the truth was seeing as many ponies as there were was already invigorating.
A bit near the front, she saw Rarity and Fluttershy sitting together. The moment Twilight met her eyes, both her friends gave her a small smile, and she found herself reciprocating it.
“Good morning, everypony.” Mayor Mare spoke with a strong yet calm tone. “We greatly appreciate your willingness to attend today’s meeting in spite of the circumstances.”
It appears Mayor Mare and her team must have finished punching up the speech to give it that concerned politician edge. Perhaps in doing so they hoped to show some semblance of normalcy. That they could deal with this just as they had dealt with different issues beforehand. That they had somepony who they could trust.
“As you all know, we are dealing with a situation of emergency. Going forward, we must work together to ensure the wellbeing of every pony in Ponyville. Today, we are going to share with you what we know so far, as well as the preliminary decisions made…”
The mayor kept talking, but Twilight was more focused on gauging the reactions of the audience. Her eyes swept across the hall, looking at the variety of expressions, gauging their reactions.
Was it doubt she saw? Fear? There was an obvious sense of unease amongst everypony, but the fact that they keenly followed Mayor Mare’s words had to mean they wanted to believe things weren’t so bad. That they left their homes and came here showed that, perhaps, they thought it was possible to pull through. To make the best out of a bad situation. That they weren’t alone, and they didn’t want to be.
Perhaps, she thought, there was a glint of hope in everypony's eyes.
As the topic moved on to food supplies, Mayor Mare was quick to assuage any possible worries.
“Last night we talked with Mister Rich. This morning, he confirmed his intent of making the stocks of Barnyard Bargains available to the ponies of Ponyville as the need arises. In the same vein, some of our local farmers have agreed to share their produce with everypony who will take them.”
The murmurs returned, though they were noticeably less anxious this time around. Amidst the crowd, Twilight could see Filthy Rich. He looked calm, but even at that distance, she noticed the resolve in him. There had been pressing matters last night, but she still regretted not taking the time to ask him about his daughter. Perhaps once the meeting was over, she could go look for him.
Not far away from him, a group of farmers were sitting together. Amongst them, Golden Harvest sat next to Big Macintosh. It was reinvigorating, in a way, to see the mare who a mere few days ago had been shaken to her core turn around and offer to help her friends with her head held high.
Was it wrong to feel proud of her? Inspired? If Golden Harvest could have lost so much and still fight back, then she was sure everypony else could.
The sound of a clearing throat caught her attention. Turning to face Mayor Mare, Twilight noticed she seemed to be finishing her part of the speech. “With that, I would like to go ahead and let the esteemed Doctor Horse take it from here.”
A few scattered hoof stomps were heard, probably more out of politeness than anything. As Doctor Horse walked up to the podium, the murmuring slowly faded until only the creaking wood was heard.
“Good morning,” Doctor Horse started, his semblance serious, but not downtrodden, showing no emotion other than his concern for the ponies. “I’m sure you’re all looking for answers, so I’ll do as much as I can. At this time, our knowledge is limited. The Canterlot medical team is working hard on determining the exact cause of this condition, as well as information regarding its spread. We can expect the tests to take anywhere between a few days to a few weeks, and the analysis of those results could take just as long.”
She had to give credit to the doctor for making such a succinct summary of the situation. Everypony’s reaction, however, was mixed at best. Eyes tinted with confusion and worry looked back at the doctor.
Twilight wondered how she should address everypony at the end of the meeting. Last time… That evening she hadn’t known how to bring up the news of the lost cutie marks and the ensuing silence led to everypony panicking and besieging her with questions that only served to make her panic. This time around, she had to be firm. Direct. She didn’t want to cause any further sorrow to anypony, if she could avoid it.
“As a result, the quarantine and monitoring will continue for the foreseeable future, pending on the results of the tests.” Once the doctor stopped, faint murmuring began once more. Hearing this probably wasn’t easy. To know that they would be stuck here and would remain here, with no idea of what may be going on beyond the barrier. “What this means going forward is—”
Before Doctor Horse could continue speaking, amidst the crowd, a hoof shot upwards.
Slowly, all heads turned towards the cream coloured mare near the back of the hall. At the newfound attention, the mare seemed to shiver. Perhaps she was holding back a recoil, fighting the urge to put down her hoof and sit back. Though fearful, Twilight could see the energy in the mare’s eyes.
Doctor Horse looked back at the Mayor, who nodded before her eyes moved towards the mare in the audience.
“Ahem, yes. Is there anything you’d like to say?”
Putting her hoof down, the mare cleared her throat and spoke.
“Yes… I… I know this is a serious matter. I get it. All these measures are necessary, but—”she pointed at Mayor Mare”—all that talk about food distribution and greenhouses just makes it sound like it’s a given we’ll be stuck in here for months!” At this, the whispering started anew. Hushed murmurs that quickly morphed into agitated mutters swept across the hall.
Twilight felt her insides twist themselves. As much as she wanted to step up and assuage their worries, she knew she couldn’t. After all, she shared the same worries. She had very limited knowledge regarding epidemiology, or biology at a microscopic level. She could only make limited guesses regarding what the medical team would have to do, but she knew that even if everything went well, it could still be weeks before there were results, much less a solution…
“Everypony, please. Nobody is happy with these circumstances, but they are necessary,” Doctor Horse said, a pleading edge cracking through his professional tone, but even if he was right, his words did little to calm the crowd.
“Necessary?” the mare shot back, with new vigour in her words. “How so? You seem to have taken all these decisions, but I’ve yet to hear any concrete answer about anything. Honestly, you appear to be just as lost as the rest of us!”
Twilight saw it. The result of all those pent up emotions reaching their boiling point. The uncertainty, the powerlessness, the confusion, the anger… and the fear. If left unchecked, it could easily get out of hoof. This needed to be addressed and deflated now. Doctor Horse seemed overwhelmed. He could explain things over and over, but that would do little to calm a scared crowd. Would Mayor Mare have a better shot with a diplomatic approach? Would they be willing to listen, anyway?
Making an effort, she swallowed the knot in her throat. Perhaps… Considering the current state of everypony in the audience, a more emotional appeal was needed. She knew that if she thought about it for too long, she may get cold hooves. Besides, nopony seemed to be in the mood to wait.
Looking to her side, she made eye contact with Mayor Mare. Though the older mare stared at her for just a second, Twilight could feel a silent reassurance in her gaze as her earlier words came back.
I hope you remember that everypony still holds you in high regard.
Without wasting another moment, Twilight stood up and walked towards the crowd. She quickly lit up her horn and cast a spell on herself.
"Everypony, please listen to me!"
Her magically amplified voice washed over Town Hall, smothering the murmuring. At once, everypony turned to face her. Though the fearfulness seemed to be momentarily dissipated, dozens of ponies still stared at her in agitation. Twilight felt her jaw tremble, but bit down immediately. Would they remember the fiasco of a few days back? It mattered little. Right then, they needed hope. And she was going to do her best in giving it to them. She undid the spell on her voice and talked normally, hoping her voice was steady enough.
“I understand you’re afraid… Truth is… I’m a bit scared, too…” Twilight started. The crowd’s attention was firmly on her, intently listening to her every word. She only had a vague idea of what she should say, but at this point, she had to trust her instincts and hope for the best. “I know how it feels to be afraid. Not knowing if things will be alright. A long time ago, I was like that.”
A vision of her foalhood days flashed across Twilight’s mind. Days spent in isolation, with nopony to trust outside her family. That may have been a decision she made herself, but she knew quite well the consequences it carried.
“I understand that fear, that sense of being lost. But that’s not the pony I am anymore… And it’s all thanks to you.” Twilight took a deep breath as she looked at the crowd. Her eyes never settled on anypony, rather, they swept across all the ponies gathered, trying to make sure they knew she was speaking directly to them. “Ponyville gave me friends. Ponies who cared for me, and for whom I cared…”
The ponies in the audience were silent. Other than an occasional glance to the ponies around them, they were focused entirely on Twilight’s words.
“I’ve been through some rough times ever since I came here…” Twilight noticed her voice was getting lower as the many memories of her times in Ponyville came to her mind. Swallowing, she steeled herself and kept talking. “And if I managed to overcome them, it was because I had friends by my side who supported me. Ponyville isn’t foreign to troubles and catastrophes. We survived parasprite infestations, natural disasters, even Discord and Nightmare Moon’s return! No matter what’s thrown at us, we’ve managed to pull through every time—”Twilight gave a sharp inhale after she finished her sentence”—Even when things look bleak.… Even when we don’t handle the situation in the best way possible… We’ve faced it all and come out stronger than before. And this is no different. Now, I know that this seems worse. There’s still a lot we don’t know, but there are ponies out there who are working hard to ensure our well-being. And just as they are doing their best, I know that we—that all of Ponyville can do this if we work together."
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She said what she had to say. All that she felt she could say. She spared a last glance at the crowd before speaking a few words of reassurance. "You've had my back before, and you can be sure I'll have yours."
Everypony was silent. The gathered audience exchanged doubtful looks, but at least the murmuring had stopped. Doctor Horse—whose grimace and flattened ears showed quite clearly how he felt about having lost control of the situation—simply gave her a nod while mouthing a silent “Thank you”.
Mayor Mare walked up to her and laid a hoof on her shoulder. “You did as well as I hoped, Miss Sparkle.” The smile on the older mare was reassuring. It reminded Twilight of Princess Celestia, in a way. How she’d congratulate Twilight after finishing a task or learning a new spell. It was… nice.
One final glance at the ponies in the crowd showed them to be… Of a mixed reaction. Although some looked just as afraid, the majority appeared less restless than they’d been before. Perhaps, even a bit calmer than they were when she had seen them when they’d entered the main hall. Twilight supposed only time would tell if her words had a positive impact on them.
After that, Twilight stepped back, letting Mayor Mare take the podium. The older mare started speaking, but Twilight wasn't listening anymore.
Once again, she let that early sensation of calm wash over her. She believed every word she had said, she believed in the ponies of Ponyville… And she believed in herself.
They could do this.
"And this is for you," Pinkie Pie said, holding out the little pastry to the pony coming out of Town Hall. Though a bit shocked at the sudden offering, the pony managed a smile before grabbing the treat, muttering a thanks, and going their way.
"Thanks for coming to the meeting~!" Pinkie sang while pulling the next baked good out of her cart just as the next pony came out.
Twilight looked at her friend with mild amusement. After Mayor Mare brought the meeting to a close, ponies slowly started making their way out. Doctor Horse was quick to thank her again, as was everypony else. However, as much as Twilight would’ve wanted to stay and talk about the meeting, she really needed some fresh air. Besides, she wanted to lend a hoof to Pinkie Pie in thanking everypony who came.
Lighting up her horn, Twilight floated an eclair towards the next pony coming through the door. "Here you go, sir!" she said, putting as much cheer into those words as she could. The stallion looked startled, but he managed to accept the pastry and mutter a thanks before walking away.
“Everypony seems to be in higher spirits now,” Spike said as he munched on a cupcake with crushed gems in it.
“Thank Celestia for that…” Twilight said under her breath. “I hope I wasn’t too overbearing at the end there.”
“Oh, you did wonderfully, darling.”
Twilight turned just in time to see the rest of her friends walk out of the building, all sporting smiles of varying intensity, with Rarity’s being by far the brightest. “Truly, I expected no less from you.”
Fluttershy nodded. “To be honest… I started getting nervous halfway through. Everypony was starting to get anxious, and I didn’t know what was going to happen…” The more she spoke, the more Fluttershy got agitated. Her features twisted in a clear show of anxiety before she let out a soft squeak and said no more.
Before Twilight could even think of comforting her friend, an arm wrapped around her neck and she was suddenly assaulted by the intense scent of sugar.
“Good thing we had Twilight to keep things in check, huh?” Pinkie Pie said as she strengthened her hold on the unicorn. “I don’t even want to think what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been here and everypony got more and more upset, and everything they were told just made them angrier and angrier, until they couldn't stand it anymore…” Suddenly, Pinkie Pie squeezed Twilight as she let out a faint whimper. “Thank you, Twilight!”
“Heh… Thanks, girls. Honestly, I was kind of figuring out what to say as I spoke,” Twilight said as she pulled away from Pinkie’s hug. Truth be told, she still felt a bit self-conscious. She hadn’t expected to talk at the meeting, much less having to salvage it at the last second. Be that as it may, she had to admit she felt better now. Certainly a step up from how she’d felt yesterday. “I just hope everypony took it to heart.”
“I’m sure they will, Twi.” Applejack walked up to them with a smile on her face. “Things sure got rattled, but I don’t think nothing bad was going to happen. Everypony was just in need of a bit of reassurance, is all.” Those words were punctuated by a light hoof bump on her shoulder.
Fluttershy stepped forward and crossed necks with her. The warmth of the other mare was comforting, and greatly appreciated. “You’ve worked so hard for everypony's sake. Thank you, Twilight.”
Although a dismissal started to form right in her mind, Twilight’s throat was suddenly dry and no sound would come out. It was curious how she hadn’t paid much attention to how the stress of the past week had been weighing down on her until it started to slowly fade away. “You’re… You’re welcome.”
“I better go, now.” Fluttershy said as she stepped back. Looking straight into Twilight’s eyes, she spoke once again. “Um… Remember to visit again, will you Twilight? As soon as you find out more about Rainbow Dash, or even if you just want to talk. You’re always welcome to drop by, okay?”
Fluttershy’s eyes were sparkly, clearly threatening to let out a tear or two.
“Of course I will. Thank you,” Twilight replied, her voice small, and nobody had anything else to say. They all smiled at her, and even though Twilight wished their small group could be complete, her friend’s company soothed the weariness she felt deep inside.
After a few seconds, Applejack tipped her hat and took a step back. “Whelp, much as I’d love to stay and do some small talk, I gotta run back to the farm. Take care, Twilight, and don’t think twice about dropping by if you need anything.”
“Likewise, dear,” Rarity said. “I’ve got to pick up Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo from Sweet Apple Acres. I’m sure you have to attend to your own matters.”
With a few small nods and smiles, her friends turned around and walked away. For a moment, Twilight just stared at them while Pinkie Pie and Spike continued giving away treats to the last few ponies coming out of Town Hall. Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to feel optimistic.
“Twilight.”
She turned around and saw Golden Harvest standing close to her, the mare’s lips upturned in a subtle smile.
“Golden!” Twilight said, closing the distance between them and crossing necks with her. Perhaps the girls had left her in a huggy mood. Stepping back and reciprocating the farmer’s smile, she spoke again. “It’s good to see you here.”
“I’m glad I could make it… Honestly, when I woke up this morning, I almost got cold hooves.” She took a deep breath and steeled her gaze, looking at the buildings around her. “But I had to come. I couldn’t let myself not come. The Apples didn’t give up on me and neither did you. I couldn’t give up on Ponyville.”
The sight of a downtrodden Golden Harvest, shaking on Applejack’s couch, early on a stormy morning came to the forefront of her mind. It was almost surreal to think the mare in front of her had managed to bounce back in such a short amount of time. However, it was just as Golden had said. She didn’t do it alone.
It was quite reassuring. In spite of having lost something so precious to her, she kept moving forward. If she could do it, so could everypony else.
“I’ll go back to my farm now. I’ve imposed on the Apples long enough, and I've got to get things running soon if I want to get my carrots ready for everypony.”
“Thanks for your support, Golden,” Twilight whispered, but it was still loud enough for Golden to hear.
“Oh, let’s not get caught in a cycle of thanking each other. We’re all doing what we can,” Golden Harvest replied with a chuckle. A few moments later, however, she took a deep breath and turned to look at Twilight with a serious expression. “I can tell the coming days are going to be rough, but I trust we can manage. We’ve got some good ponies holding the reins. Good evening, Twilight.”
With that, she smiled and turned around.
Twilight looked at Golden Harvest walking away with her head held high. As the farmer walked, the morning sunlight made her coat shine a bit brighter than it had the last few days.
“It all went better than expected, huh?”
She turned around to see Spike smiling at her.
“I suppose it did,” Twilight replied and, despite herself, a chuckle escaped her.
“What’s so funny, Twi? Tell me! Tell me!” Pinkie Pie said, pulling her cart devoid of pastries behind her.
“Oh, it’s just that… It’s only been a few days since this whole thing started, but I feel my mind’s been flipping from optimism to pessimism so often, I think I’m going to give myself whiplash!” Pinkie gave a gigglesnort at that. “I feel… I feel I’ve done what I can. I have to believe everypony will do their part, and hope for the best.”
Twilight felt Pinkie Pie giving her a playful punch on her shoulder. "We'll be alright. If anything, we're going to have a lot of free time. I'm sure you'll be glad to go back to the library and catch up on your reading."
"Heh… I suppose that's true. I put a lot of things on hold over the past few days," Twilight said. The thought of an overdue letter to Princess Celestia circling her mind.
Pinkie smiled. "No time like the present, right? And speaking of which, I should get the cart back to Sugar Cube Corner and tell the Cakes about the meeting. Catch you later, guys!"
With a final wave, Pinkie Pie, too, walked away, leaving only Twilight and Spike standing outside of Town Hall. There was barely anypony else left. As the last few stragglers hurriedly made their way home, Twilight looked around the block. The streets were silent and empty, just as they had been the previous day. However, the dour atmosphere seemed to have dissipated, if only a little bit.
Finally, her eyes settled on something she’d never paid much mind before.
“I suppose we should get going,” Spike said. “The library is still a bit of a mess, but I’ll get it tidied up in no time, Twi. We can even cook lunch together. What would you like to…”
Spike kept talking, but she stopped listening at some point.
“Twilight?”
She blinked, broken from her trance. “Huh? Oh… Sorry, Spike. I was just… I never really paid attention to this statue.”
The fountain was just a little out of the way from Town Hall. The light purple stone shaped like a smiling mare with her front hooves in the air. She’d never spared it a second thought, but she vaguely remembered somepony mentioning it was made to honour a mare who lived in Ponyville a long time ago. Whoever it was, she must’ve been important for the town to want to remember her.
“She looks quite happy,” Spike said.
“She sure does,” Twilight replied as she looked at the smooth surface of her flank.
“Hey, maybe there’s something about it in the Library. Want to go check it?”
Twilight’s gaze lingered on the statue for a moment longer, a flurry of thoughts crossing her mind, before she turned around and looked at Spike.
“Sure,” she said, smiling. And as they walked back home, she found it to be genuine.
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Undead stories...
Ooooo...
Yeah, sorry about that. Let's pretend it's still 2019, shall we?
I kept this story on tracking for all these years and finally my patience is rewarded.
Nice chapter and welcome back.
Just found this in Popular and it's super interesting so far. Hope you'll continue updating this somewhat more frequently wink wink
I must confess, I found the latest six chapters to be mind-numbingly boring. There's only so many times one can read about characters stressing out about the same thing without any new developments before it starts to lose any entertainment value.
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I completely understand you. There's a marked difference in tone and style between the first half and the latter one.
If it's any consolation, this marks the end of the second act, and the final one will progress much more smoothly and will have--hopefully--less self-pitying.
11409407
I won't make any promises, but I think you will be pleased.
11409320
Thanks for keeping the hope alive. See you next time.
If I were in this situation, i woldnt care. So what if i lost my cutie mark? I can still do my special talent. So what if i no longer have a stupud picture saying what it is ? I still have a talent. I still know what it is. Who cares about the butt tattoo?
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I'm waiting for that one pony to do exactly that and spread positive energy to the town.
Update? Hell Yeah let's gooooo!
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Not only that. Answers will finally start coming with the next couple of chapters.
About time...
Ah, I'm caught up! I'm happy this story is still going. This chapter was excellent! I really felt the emotion here, the tension and the unease but also the relief and tentative optimism!
I really look forewords to the next update!