Disappear

by ShimmeringStallion

Seeking to Obtain

Seeking to Obtain

Twilight was happy to let Spitfire into her library, considering how much she knew about her. Truth be told, The Wonderbolts performed plenty of times for the ponies of Canterlot, both for charity and for social gatherings. They even performed at the Grand Galloping Gala annually. However, Twilight didn’t have much interest in them until she met Rainbow Dash. Rainbow idolized the Wonderbolts: When she wasn’t napping, performing her duties for weather control around Ponyville, showing off, or reading, she was often trying to learn as much as possible about them. She admired what they did and how they did it: Daredevil flyers who performed in sequence, for admiration of massive crowds of ponies.

Twilight could understand Rainbow’s fascination with them: Despite being laid back, Rainbow had always been an attention seeker and a show-off for as long as they were friends, and probably well before then. Rainbow had wanted to be a member of the Wonderbolts for a long time, but never really had a chance to truly make an impact on them, or so the blue mare had come to believe. Spitfire turned her head to her left side, calling out to someone in the darkness. “Soarin’, if you need help, I’ll come over there an-” “No way, Spitfire, I’ve got this!”

Twilight Sparkle reacted to the unfamiliar voice by leaning her head outside the entrance to the library, and noticed two other ponies walking on the dirt path through Ponyville, towards her home. From what she gathered, one was Soarin’. His goggles were reflecting the light of the moon, but they were on his head, not over his eyes, and she couldn’t see more than a vague silhouette. The second pony was still highly shrouded in the dark of the night, but Twilight had a feeling that the second pony wasn’t a member of the Wonderbolts.

“I’m sorry about this. I could have just flown straight here, but I didn’t want to leave Soarin’ to walk the whole way here, having to carry her back to the library by himself; he’s not the best at directions.” The Pegasus pony in the dark was walking faster now. “Hey, I heard that, Spitfire! I’m walking as fast as I can! You just wanted to make an introduction like you always do!” The unknown pony seemed to be relying on Soarin’ to help carry them to the library. Twilight Sparkle squinted her eyes in the hopes of seeing the unknown pony. “Could it be… IT IS!!!”

Twilight shouted the name of the third pony, as the other ponies rushed to the doorway as soon as they heard their friend shout her name, which came instinctively upon seeing the light from the library shine upon the pony, as did their own shouts follow in its wake: “DERPY!!!” Much to the surprise of everypony in the library, Derpy Hooves was being escorted by Soarin’ to the library, with bandages around her torso and head, as Twilight considered the sight before her. “Did they walk the entire way from the hospital, to here?” Spitfire felt the need to ask a favor. “Listen, we appreciate the attention, but would you mind helping us get her inside? All things considered, it’s not safe out here for Pegasi, if I’ve been told the right message by the princess.” The other ponies took Derpy off Soarin’s hooves, allowing him to walk around a bit and stretch his back, free of the burden. The ponies all crowded into the lobby, including Soarin’ and Spitfire; they weren’t formally invited, but they knew that they were allowed in.

Twilight knew that Rainbow Dash would never forgive her for turning down a friend in need, let alone members of the greatest aerial daredevil team in Equestria. Having cleared a spot off to the side, Twilight used her magic to bring a spare bed from the storage room, while her friends held Derpy up. They placed her on it, taking into account the bandages that the doctors had placed, but to Twilight, something didn’t seem right; something was inconsistent with what the doctors had told them previously, but she couldn't figure out exact what felt unusual about Derpy's appearance.

Twilight spoke, knowing Derpy just hadn’t been given a chance to talk yet, but that she was still capable of it (more or less, given how she was now on a comfortable bed, and almost seemed to be falling asleep). “Derpy, what happened? Why aren’t you in the hospital!?” The gray mare sat up, opening her eyes and smiling weakly as she glanced at the bandages the doctors had placed on her torso, and feeling the ones on her head as she asked her own question in response: “Is Rainbow Dash okay?”

Twilight was shocked that the former Pegasus pony would ask about such a thing. “Derpy, you just got out of the hospital! Why would you ask about Rainbow Dash so soon?” Contrary to what ponies thought of her, Derpy wasn’t dumb. She could tell that the purple unicorn was dodging the question, but answered anyway. “I had a bad dream.” She closed her eyes as she recalled it. “There was nothing in it, just a sound.” Twilight paid full attention to what Derpy was saying. “I heard Rainbow Dash; she screamed in fear or pain or… something. It woke me up.”

The other ponies who had been in the lobby, save for Spitfire, Soarin', and the fillies, glanced nervously at one another as Derpy continued. “I wanted to make sure Rainbow Dash was okay. The doctors told me to watch out for my head, and allowed The Wonderbolts to walk me here.” Twilight heard that statement, and pinpointed the inconsistency. “Wait, Derpy, why your head? Wasn’t it your wings and back that got hurt?” Derpy gave a sweet smile. “Yeah, but the doctors said that I was knocked unconscious after taking a ‘hard blow to the back of the head’, as well as to my forehead, but I still don’t know why he did that…” Twilight was about to ask about what Derpy had meant by that last statement, but saw Derpy attempting to glare at her; not an easy feat, nor very intimidating given her ‘natural state’. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight didn’t want to say anything, but then Spitfire chimed in. “Actually, me and Soarin’ came to see Rainbow Dash, too. Given how she helped us, we felt it’s about time to see what she can do as we try to take back Cloudsdale. So, where is she?” Soarin’ cut in. “Also, do you have any snacks?” Spitfire nudged him, with a stern glare in her eyes, which Soarin’ responded to objectively. “Hey, YOU didn’t have to carry her from Ponyville Hospital to here!” Pinkie Pie trotted up to the hungry stallion. “Me n’ Applejack will take you to Sugarcube Corner in a little while; we’ll bake you some delicious apple pie for your hard work!” His mouth watered at the promise of the delicious-sounding dessert, nodding his head and focusing his attention on Spitfire again, who rolled her eyes in disbelief at how easy it was to win her friend’s attention and loyalty.

Twilight lowered her head in dismay as she began explaining the situation. “Erm… The thing about Rainbow Dash, is… umm…” A filly’s voice chirped up from the stairs. “Twilight, I think Rainbow needs a softer pillo-! Oh! When did you get here?” Twilight had forgotten about Scootaloo, but the filly had been with Rainbow Dash the whole time. Scootaloo seemed like her old, tough self, but the telltale signs of fallen tears on the coat under her eyes showed that she was still in an emotionally delicate state. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to her as she began taking a role as a ‘leader’ of sorts. “C’mon, Crusaders! Let’s let Twilight and the others help Rainbow Dash. Maybe we can reshelf some books.” They ran into the side room to the Library, but Scootaloo gave a very expressive look to Twilight. ‘Please help Rainbow.’

Twilight lowered her head in regret before turning in the direction of the visitors. “Why are you two here? Princess Celestia never said anything about getting a visit from THE Wonderbolts, or at least…” Spitfire interrupted her. “The other members of the Wonderbolts are getting some rest. As for me and Soarin’, we were asked to go check on Derpy by the order of Princess Celestia, and we were hoping to recruit Rainbow Dash, if possible. According to the princess, there was ‘A problem threatening the Pegasi of Ponyville and Cloudsdale’, but she didn’t mention anything else.” Twilight was surprised her mentor could be so vague to the ones she was sending on a mission, but when the first message was sent, Spike only mentioned Derpy and the ‘mysterious stallion’, because that was all he knew about at the time when he sent the first message. “Besides, we took naps in the afternoon and evening, so we felt restless anyways.”

“Napping idols?” Twilight giggled to herself, considering how Rainbow Dash was normally very lax in her official duties, until she had to get serious. Vanish had been both right and wrong in that regard; it’s true that, when it came to labor, Rainbow Dash was far from an ideal pony to go to when it was tedious, but she always did her best when it came down to helping to her friends. That’s what made her loyalty truly shine. She put her friends above herself at all times, and right now these ‘friends’ of hers needed to see what happened; they deserved to know the truth. Maybe then, a plan could be formed.

“Come with me, everypony. Pinkie, Applejack, help Derpy up the stairs; she should see this, too.” Spitfire was a bit confused about why they were being directed up the library stairwell, but saw that Twilight was looking directly at her, so she paid attention. “Rainbow Dash… is in a bad state. Please follow me.” Spitfire and Soarin’ looked at each other with concern, before following the purple-maned unicorn up the stairs, with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Derpy, and Fluttershy following close behind them.

---

None of them noticed how, just at the door, a single hoof stuck into the Ponyville Library doorway to prevent the door from closing, as an unexpected guest with a book in tow, having seen the ponies ascend the stairwell, slid the book next to the door just inside the library, before going about their own business, with a low-toned chuckle.