> Life is Beautiful
>  by Ahikam
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch 1: Golden Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the ponies gathered; the thunderous roar that followed a few moments later drowned out the words being spoken, though the downpour soaking those gathered already made them difficult to pick out.  

Twilight Sparkle glanced to her left as she heard a little squeak, Princess Cadance was standing there, her face drawn, and pale, her hide soaked, water running own her face like tears, though her wings were slightly spread, and it was from beneath these that the sound came.  A tiny little unicorn filly, barely more than a yearling stood shakily beneath her mother’s wings, her coat white, and her mane and tail a lush, blood red, with a streak of gentle sky blue running down the middle, surrounded by a beautiful shade of pink, her damp curls hanging damply.  The little filly was standing close besides her mother, half pressed against the alicorn’s gravid belly, and sheltered from the rain beneath her wing

This is no place for a filly, Twilight thought to herself, but turned her gaze back to what lay before her, her eyes catching on what any other day would have filled her with joy to see, her mentor and friend, Princess Celestia was standing across the small clearing of the other ponies gathered, and besides her, Princess Luna, both soaked in the rain.  But not even the presence of both of the princesses could lift the mood this day, as her eyes were drawn back inevitably to the reason they were here.

Set on a pyre of logs, decorated in the garb of a captain of the royal guard, polished till it shone like a mirror whenever the lightning flickered across the sky, decorated in badges and medals of honor, lay a still form.  The stallion’s coat shone white, and his two colored blue mane and tail were arrayed beautifully around him, but with the care taken to present him… that was still Shining Armor laying there, and Twilight had trouble choking back a strangled sob as she lowered her head.

The words of the priest fell silent, the only noise the distant rumbling of thunder, and the pouring rain, when a soft voice, melodically beautiful, but tiny rose besides Twilight, drawing the attention of those gathered, “M-mommy? When is daddy going to get up? He’s been laying there a long time.” The little white unicorn besides Twilight asked, causing Twilight’s throat to tighten.

“Hush little Heart-“ Princess Cadance began, only to be cut off by the filly again.

“No mommy! Stop telling me to be quiet,” with all the impudence of youth, and it struck Twilight Sparkle that her niece was too young to even understand, the filly continuing, “Daddy is getting all wet! I want to go home and get warm by the fire with him!”

“Heart Song…” Princess Cadance began softly, but she didn’t know how to continue, her voice catching in her throat, looking to Twilight for help.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but even she was at a loss, how do you explain to a filly so young, that her father would never be coming home?  An older, wiser, and gentler voice answered, “Your father won’t be able to come home today little one,” Princess Celestia said, stepping closer to the trio, her approach unheard.  “Sometimes something bad happens… and the spark that makes us who we are is taken away… you’ll understand in time.”

“I don’t want to understand!” retorted the young filly, “make them give it back! I just want my daddy!” starting to move forwards, trying to head for the pyre, only to be caught by Princess Cadance’s hoof.  Heart Song struggled, and slipped free, only to be caught in the purple glow of Twilight Sparkle’s magic as the unicorn slowly pulled her niece back.  This only set the young unicorn to struggling and fighting, calling for her daddy to wake up, and to come home, her voice rising to cries, her untamed power breaking the hearts of every pony in the gathering as her wails rose.

Even Princess Celestia was affected by the foal’s cries, the tears of the most powerful unicorn in the world falling to hear the heartbreaking cries of a child who lose her father.  Slowly the princess of the sun turned back to the pyre, lifting her head as her horn lit up, radiating power and light to break the gloom and rain that pervaded the day.

The sky lit up as the princess called on the sun, the clouds splitting open as a pillar of light fell from the heavens into the pyre, consuming it in light as the gathered ponies shielded their eyes from the sudden light as the pyre hissed, and burst into flame a few moments later, before the light faded. 

All around silence reigned for a few blessed moments, before the heartrending cries of Heart Song rose again, fighting to get free, to run to the pyre, only to be held back by her mother, and Twilight Sparkle as they both sobbed in grief.  

The keening wail of the child only rose, Heart Song’s horn glowing as her cries sang a symphony of pain and loss no pony that young should even be able to understand.  The song ripped into the hearts of everyone present as the fires rose, gripping them and clawing at them with grief.  It was the two closest to Shining Armor in life that felt it the deepest however, the power of the grief ripping deeply into the hearts of the two mares.  

Twilight’s eyes closed as a shudder of anguish ripped through her, all the preparation, all the time she had had to try and deal with this before the funeral was ripped away.  Like a wound freshly opened, memories came pouring forth, the way they played together as children, the way they shared, the way they worked together for their goals, the pride they felt for eachother when they achieved them, the good times, the little times, the bad times when they had cried together, the time when Shining Armor protected her from bullies, earning his cutie mark, the elation when she received hers, the sadness of being apart for so long, and the horrific grief when she had learned of his fall in battle, playing the hero.  It was too much for Twilight, like the claws of a griffon were ripping into her chest, she collapsed to her knees as her own wail of pain joined that of Heart Song’s, even as Cadance’s voice rose in a wail besides her.

Princess Celestia could do nothing as she watched both of the mares, and the power of the child’s song as it swept over those gathered.  Everyone knew the proud knight, everyone was touched by his loss, but none more than Cadance and Twilight Sparkle.  As Princess Luna managed to gather herself, her wings flared as an indigo aura surrounded her horn, an all at once, the crying of the little filly fell silent as she fell asleep beneath the princess of the moon’s spell, leaving only the sobbing of the two to fill the air.

The others gathered were in stunned silence, drowning beneath the thunderous downpour, and finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, as the sobbing of Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Cadance began to die down, they slowly started to depart, until it was just the three, silent beneath the storm’s fury as the pyre burned on, until it too fell silent, and the pyre burned out.

Twilight looked up from her stupor as the pyre was reduced to glowing embers and melted metal, her voice weak and shaky, “goodbye Big brother best friend… Forever.”


*   *   *


Hours later saw the two back at the palace, lying on a number of large pillows in front of a large, ornately decorated fireplace.  Little Heart Song was still asleep, wrapped up in towels, and curled up at her mother’s side, while a number of other towels lay strewn about haphazardly.

The storm had died down finally, and a silver ghost of a moon was rising over the departing storm front as Cadance used a brush to work through her drying mane, out of something to do more than anything.  Besides her sat Twilight Sparkle, still having much of her mane and tail wrapped in towels, melancholy and quiet, staring into the fire that didn’t seem to give her any warmth.

Princess Cadance had insisted Twilight stay with her, and Twilight had understood the reasons.  The sheer stress of losing Shining Armor had made both of them a wreck, and with Heart Song needing looking after, Twilight had understood that the company of family would make the process easier.

Now if I only had someone to make the process easier for me, Twilight thought to herself, but their parents had passed away a few years before, and her friends in Ponyville were busy with their own lives, and Twilight felt she didn’t have anyone she could turn to right then, a huge whole resting in her chest where her heart should be.

The purple glow of magic surrounded the towels covering Twilight’s mane and tail, pulling those away as she shook her mane out, levitating the brush besides her that had gone neglected, and working on her own mane and tail quietly, hardly noticing as Princess Cadance finally fell asleep besides her, her mind still lost in the memories of her far too brief childhood, regret filling her heart for all the years she could have… just spent time with her brother, and his family… time that felt wasted now, time that would never come again.

It was approaching near midnight as this fire too burned down, as Twilight stirred from her reverie, dim moonlight filtering in through the window.  Twilight looked to the sleeping forms of Cadance, pregnant with her nephew, and little Heart Song, whose powerful voice had caused so much pain.  Shared, not caused, Twilight reminded herself, trying not to blame the child who she knew was suffering as well.

Twilight laid her head down, and closed her eyes, but memories of her brother hovered before her eyes, haunting her, taunting her, and threatening to bring her to tears once again.  After a half hour of futile attempts to clear her mind, Twilight slowly rose, carefully stepping off of the pillow, and doing her best to muffle her hoofsteps as she made her way to the door, not wanting to wake either Cadance or Heart Song, her telekinesis carefully turning the doorknob, and slowly opening it, before slipping outside, and closing it just as quietly behind her.

“is there something I can help you with, Miss Sparkle?” the sudden voice, soft as it was made Twilight jump a good three feet straight up, and spin about, power lighting her horn, and casting a lavender glow about the corridor, her eyes wide for a moment until they alit of the form of a night guard standing down the hallway.

“My apologies Miss Sparkle, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the stallion said softly.

“I-its alright,” Twilight muttered sheepishly, her cheeks a bit red with embarrassment.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” The stallion repeated softly.

Twilight shook her head, “n-No, thank you, I just felt the need for… for some fresh air.”

“Would you like an escort Miss?” the stallion asked helpfully.

Twilight shook her head after a moment, “no thank you sir, I have been roaming these halls since I was a little filly myself,”

The stallion nodded, “very well, and you have my deepest sympathies, he was the best of us.”

Though the guard did not mean it, it felt like a twist of the knife in Twilight’s heart, and she nodded glumly, her voice weak as she murmured, “thank you,” in response, turning and walking her way down the hall, an out of the guest wing.


*   *   *


Walking did little to brighten Twilight’s mood, but the cool air, and silent streets helped to soothe her a bit.  The lavender mare wandered aimlessly for what seemed hours, lost in thought and remorse, not even noticing where she was, or where she had wandered to, her hooves softly clopping on the cobble stones.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” Came a heavy, deep sounding voice, that finally made Twilight stop, her head jerking up as a strange edge to the voice made her blood freeze in her veins, spinning to find a large pegasus stepping from the shadows of an alleyway, the colors of the form washed out in the dim moonlight, so it was hard to pick out what color he really was.

Twilight started to back up, uncertainly, her ears flicked back, “l-look, I don’t want any-“

“Any what? Trouble?” a voice asked behind Twilight, “ya should have thought of that before ya came down here in the middle of the night.” A dark coated unicorn sneered as he stepped out of the shadows behind Twilight, causing her to spin again, backing away from him to the middle of the street, her purple eyes flickering this way and that, picking out other shapes emerging into the ghostly light of the moon.

“It’s one of those nobles from the upper city! I bet her fur tastes like grapes,” came a slightly cackling voice from Twilight’s left, causing her eyes to widen in fear, turning and bolting down a side street that looked like it offered a good escape route.

Much to Twilight’s dismay however, the street narrowed, and looked like it came to a dead end, though she noticed a smaller opening off to the side, that she sprinted through as she heard hoofbeats behind her, the voice of the large pegasus calling, “we’ve got a runner boys! Cut her off Shadow!”

Twilight Sparkle didn’t know this section of town, and the other ponies had the home turf advantage, as Twilight burst out of the narrow ally into a small sides street, just to see the dark coated unicorn step out around the end of the ally.  Twilight’s horn began to glow with magic as she charged towards the unicorn, purple light flooding the area for a moment as the stallion’s eyes widened in surprise, lowering his horn to meet the charge, his own beginning to glow a greenish black.

At the last moment, just before hitting the stallion, there was a burst of magic, and Twilight teleported behind the stallion, out into a more open street, turning and bolting, looking back as she heard shouts, “She teleported past me! She went that way!” 

Seeing that glow of greenish black behind her, she threw herself to the side just before a bolt of power raced past her, thudding into the cobbles and sending a few up.  But Twilight was so involved in running, and trying to dodge any more attacks coming her way that she failed to see the one standing in her way.

With a thud and a yelp of pain, Twilight ran neck first into a well built pegasus stallion in front of her, falling back as she whipped her head around to focus on him, her wide eyes meeting the shocked, golden gaze of the pegasus before her, before whipping her head around to the sound of hooves thundering closer.

To Twilight’s surprise, instead of attacking her, the stallion she had run into frowned, and after glancing over the filly for a moment, he moved to step around her, wings flaring.

The small herd, five or six ponies came to a stop, starting to circle, “Hey! What gives man, get out of our way or we’ll mess you up too!” the large offending pegasus, who seemed to be the leader of the gang growled.

“I hate to spoil your… fun, but I thought it fair to warn you, this isn’t just some lost filly that’s stumbled down here, this is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight who?” asked one of the stallions.

“Twilight Sparkle! One of the most powerful ponies in Equestria?!”

“That is right,” said the golden eyed stallion, “you were about to assault a national hero, and a pony that could have pulled you limb from limb if she so wished.”

Twilight was shaking, still half laying where she had fallen, though even she blanched at the suggestion that she would have pulled them apart by the limbs.  But the golden eyed stallion wasn’t done talking, “Now you should apologize to the lady, and get lost before the guards find out what you almost did,” The stallion taking a firm, aggressive stance in front of Twilight.

The large pegasus in the lead took a step back, nervously, “we… we are sorry, we didn’t mean… anything by it… Miss Sparkle… come on guys,” turning tail and cantering off quickly.

The golden eyed stallion stood there for a few moments, watching, before turning back to Twilight Sparkle, offering her a hoof up, “I am so sorry about that Miss Sparkle, the name is Hot Shot, are you alright?”

“no…  I mean yes… please, call me Twilight,” the lavender mare said softly as she reached up and took the hoof, which pulled her to her feet, “thank you, I don’t know what they would have done if…” her voice trailing off fearfully.

“Think nothing of it.  It is the least I could do, your brother was a hero to us… all…” the stallion trailing off as he saw the look of pain and anguish slide across Twilight Sparkle’s face, the mare lowering her head as her lip trembled.

Hot Shot didn’t know what to do for a moment, looking down at the filly as she looked like she was about to burst into tears, “I’m… I’m sorry.  What are you doing out here? This is a dangerous part of town.”

It took Twilight a moment to regain her composure, slowly lifting her head again, “I… couldn’t sleep, I needed some air… I guess I didn’t pay attention to where I was wandering.”

“I’ll say.  I can take you back to the castle… but can I offer you some tea first? You just had an awful scare… on top of… what happened at the funeral…” Hot Shot offered.

Twilight blinked, not expecting such hospitality in this section of town, though her eyes lowered again at the mention of the funeral, “you heard what happened?”

“I think almost everypony in Canterlot has heard.  You know, if you are having trouble sleeping, I’ve got something that might… take the edge off of things, and let you rest.”

“That… that sounds wonderful actually, and the tea as well,” Twilight responded, trying to manage a weak half smile, as the stallion smiled wider back down at her, nodding his head, and turning to trot slowly off back towards his house, Twilight turning to keep up.


Author’s Notes
This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic, an my ideas for this one are… downright frightening.  I am not sure how this story will be received in the end, but while this chapter seems a bit light… my plan is for this story to touch on some of the crueler and more graphic nature of the world.  The inspiration for this is from the Heroine Diaries by Nikki Sixx.  This story will possibly border on clopfic within the next few chapters, or likely blow right past that into some horrible, twisted place.  I do not feel that I am writing this just for ‘shock value,’ as I feel the line ‘write the story you want to read’ going through my head when I write.  This is a story I want to tell, one that explores the horrors of the world.  I have no personal experience with many of the things I will write about, I’m just sayin’.  Please feel free to leave feedback, but if you are going to criticize, please do so constructively.  I have been roleplaying for the past 15 years, but I rarely write stories on my own, this is one of my first adventures into writing stories on my own.  I hope that you enjoy what I write, but also I cannot guarantee any haste to my writing, I usually need some level of inspiration to write, such does not always come quickly.
	
> Ch. 2: Give me some sugar!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight stared at herself in the mirror, frowning at the dark bags under her eyes, before she sighed, lowering her gaze as she returned to running the brush through her hair, her eyes drifting to the empty pouch lying besides the vanity mirror.  It had been a week since the contents had run out… a pinch of dried leaves, and that was all she needed.

But it hadn’t been going so far lately.  Another heavy sigh slipped from her lips as she set the brush down again, turning and heading for the bed, looking at the empty basket  at the foot of her bed with a heavy heart.  Spike had moved out a few months ago, not long after… After my brother’s funeral, Twilight made herself finish.  He had been outgrowing the little basket anyways, now he was staying with Rarity… it seemed like everyone was moving on with their life but her.

Twilight climbed into her bed, a violet glow pulling the blankets up over herself for a moment as she looked out the window at Luna’s moon, another waning crescent, a ghost of light hanging above the clouds over the Everfree Forest… just like…

Twilight closed her eyes and turned away, a tear of pain sliding down her muzzle, and laid her head down on her pillow.  She knew that she wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, but she needed to try, she could catch the early train to Canterlot in the morning… it was a pretense to go there to visit Cadance and her daughter, and their new foal, but Twilight had other plans.


	***


The sun wasn’t even rising yet, the glow just beginning to color the horizon when Twilight let out a low groan, her eyes red as she lifted her head from her pillow, and shook the blankets off.  Slipping out of bed, Twilight went to the mirror, a glow from her horn illimunating her face as she used her magic to pick up her brush again, and returned to brushing her hair.

It wasn’t twenty minutes later when Twilight was trotting out of the house, having neglected breakfast, and with a pair of saddlebags draped over her flank as she headed through the slowly awakening town of Ponyville.  The train wasn’t due for another half hour, but the lavender unicorn was anxious to be off.

Finding herself a few minutes later at an empty train station, Twilight frowned around, her ears laid back a bit in annoyance, glaring at the sun and trying through force of will to make it rise faster, before she sighed, and looked back to her bags, her magic opening one of the flaps, and starting to withdraw a book-

“TWILIGHT!”

Twilight let out a yelp and leapt into the air, the contents of the pack flying out into the air, and clattering down around Twilight, the book she had been trying to retrieve landing open on her head, a bookmark fluttering out and to the ground.

“Oops, sorry Twilight,” came a softer voice as Spike walked towards the lavender unicorn, who was shaking for a moment before a purple glow surrounded her horn and the book on her head, giving Spike a bit of a glare.

“What are you doing up this early?” Twilight asked, glancing around at the mess before sighing, and frowning at the bookmark on the ground… her attention turning to the book as she started to flip through the book to find her place.

“Pinkie Pie said that she saw you heading for the train station while I was picking up breakfast for Rarity, that’s your forth visit in the past two months Twilight, even for you that’s a lot.”

“I’m going to go see Cadance,” Twilight lied… she had gotten good at it in the past months, finding her place, and putting the bookmark in  her book again, “how are things with Rarity?”

“its fine, its more you that I am worried about Twilight… have you been sleeping?” Spike asked as he started picking up some of the other items that had fallen out of the unicorn’s bag.

Twilight sighed, and lowered her head, her magic slipping the book back into the bag again, and starting to gather up some of the other items, grabbing what Spike had and stuffing it into her bag, which surprised Spike, “no Spike, I’m not.”

“is it still..?”

“Yes it’s still Spike!” Twilight snapped in irritation, as she glared at spike, then immediately regretted it, wincing as she looked away.  

Spike was more than a little taken aback by that, blinking, before his brow furrowing, “it’s been four months since…”

“I know how long it’s been Spike,” Twilight replied, her voice softer, tinged with sadness.

“Don’t you think that it’s been a bit too long to still be mourning him? I know you-“

“Spike! Have you ever lost someone like that?” Twilight’s head swinging back towards the young dragon, her eyes narrowed, “how do you know how long it takes to get over something like that?”

“I’m… I’m sorry Twilight, maybe you should talk with someone about it? You just always seem to bottle everything up, we are really worried about you,” Spike said with a lot of concern for his oldest friend.

“I’m fine Spike… you worry too much, I just have trouble sleeping sometimes, it comes and goes, I’ll be fine… I just really want to see Cadance and the foals again,” Twilight lied again, looking away, and down the tracks.

“Well… alright, if you say so Twilight,” he said a little doubtfully, “have you eaten? You look like you’ve lost a bit of-“

“Spike! I’m fine! I’ll get something on the train… won’t Rarity be wanting her breakfast sometime soon Spike?”  

“Oh! Right! I almost forgot! You have a safe trip Twilight, I’ll see you when you get back, and I’ll keep an eye on the library while you are gone.”

Twilight gave Spike a genuine smile, “Thanks Spike, you’ve always been my best…” her smiled faltered for a moment, my best friend? No… hes… gone. “My best little helper, thank you Spike, I’ll see you in a few days.”

Spike noticed the haunted look, and was really rather worried, but he let it go this time, knowing Twilight really wasn’t ready to talk about it yet, so he offered her an encouraging, if a bit toothy smile, and turned, heading back to Sugarcube Corner.


	***


Twilight found Twilight Sparkle making her way through the city, saddlebags draped across her back, empty right then except for her coin pouch, her mind wandering back to the day, half of it spent on the train ride, and the rest of it in the apartments at the palace where Cadance and her foals were staying.

A smile slipped across Twilight’s lips, remembering the sound of Heart Song’s voice singing, and of watching her play with her little brother, a golden furred pegasus foal that Cadance had named Gleaming Shield.  The mischief those two got into only brought back memories however… so close, like two peas in a pod, they did everything together.  The memory clouded Twilight’s smile, which slipped off of her face, the hole in her heart throbbing and sending a wave of agony through her body that made her stop and shiver, a tear tracing down her cheek before Twilight shook her head, and ran the back of her arm over her face to brush it away, sniffling a moment before trotting on.

Cadance had fussed over Twilight’s condition for the better part of the day, and had a big lunch and an even larger dinner delivered from the palace kitchens for them, leaving Twilight feeling stuffed all day.  Twilight had finally had to beg off that she was growing tired as the sun began to set, anxious to get out and visit Hot Shot.

The moon was slowly peeking over the horizon, but its light was hidden by the deep shadows cast by the tall buildings as Twilight trotted down the road, turning off on a side street which led to a darker part of the city when a swirl of shadows in front of Twilight seemed to slip across the street, causing her to pause, ears back for a moment, before rising, “Hello Shadow,” she said conversationally.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you back in the city this soon, come to visit your coltfriend again?” the black unicorn stallion asked in an almost hissing, teasing voice.

Twilight colored a bit at that, and glared In annoyance at the stallion, before lifting her nose and moving to trot on, “he is -not- my Coltfriend,” she declared, “I just have some business to take care of.”

Shadow chuckled, raising a hoof as if to ward off the glare, “alright alright, just stay away from Dozer, he is still a bit pissed over your last encounter,” turning to start trotting away himself.

Twilight paused at that, “is Bull alright? He had it coming, but I didn’t really want to hurt him,” a little concern in her voice.

“Bull Dozer is fine, you only hurt his pride, being tossed around like a little filly like you… but you are right, he did ask for it, just give him some more time to cool off,” came the reply from the shadows as the black unicorn about vanished again.

Twilight nodded and sighed, you can’t make friends with -all- ponies, despite what Pinkie thinks, she thought to herself, before she turned and trotted off again.


	***


A few minutes later found Twilight climbing the stairs of a fairly run down looking apartment complex until she was standing in front of apartment 306, looking at the plain brown door and faded gold painted letters for a moment, before she lifted a hoof and knocked on the door.

“One moment!” came the muffled voice of the stallion inside, and Twilight could hear the sounds of hooves on the other side for a moment, waiting, before there was the sound of numerous locks sliding open before the door opened, and the smiling stallion looked down at Twilight as he stepped back.

The first thing that caught Twilight’s attention, like always, were those gorgeous golden eyes, before she took in the rest of him, the golden mane, and the strong muscles of his wings, and legs, and white fur, his voice strong, “please, come in, I wasn’t expecting you back for another few weeks, was there something wrong with what I gave you?”

Twilight snapped back to reality at the sound of his voice, coloring a little, though she tried to hide it as she ducked her head a little, “No… I mean yes!” a little flustered as she stepped past the stallion into his apartment, glancing around at what looked like a meeting room, a couch, table, everything fairly simple and ordinary looking, though the smell of herbs and incense hung fairly heavily in the air.

Hot Shot closed the door behind Twilight, doing up a number of the locks again before turning around to frown at Twilight, “oh? And what was wrong with it? Do I need to have a word with my supplier?”

Twilight shrugged, “I… I’m not sure, it just didn’t seem as… potent as it normally was; I had to use more to get to sleep.”

Those golden eyes considered Twilight a moment, “have you been using it… every night to sleep? I have heard some complaints about over use can lead to becoming resistant to its effects.”

Twilight’s ears laid back at that, looking away, “I haven’t been able to sleep without it,” she looked back to the stallion, “is… is there something else I could buy? Something stronger?”

Hot Shot was silent for a moment as he considered, and turned, moving to another room, “I’m not sure… you know, not everything I sell is as innocuous as some ground sleeping roots… I do have something, but it’s more expensive… and I’m afraid to say there are some side effects, it’s not exactly… approved medicine.”

Twilight slowly stepped after the stallion, her ears perked, “I haven’t slept in days! I’m willing to try anything, how bad could it be?”

“Well… I don’t know…”

“Please! How much is it? I’ll pay it, I brought the bits.”

Hot Shot sighed, “very well, this is hard to acquire, so it’ll be about three hundred bits for enough to last another month,” taking a pouch out of the cabinet he had been rooting through, and turned, heading back to the front room, making Twilight have to backpedal to get out of his way.

“three… three hundred?” Twilight asked, as that was most of her stipend.

“well, you can make it last longer if you use it sparingly,” Hot Shot said, placing the pouch down on the table, and looking to Twilight, “it’s called Moon Sugar, it’s said to be the stuff dreams are made of… just a few grains underneath the tongue before you go to sleep, and you’ll have the sweetest dreams…”

Twilight’s looked to the pouch curiously, ears perked as she stepped closer to the table, “I’ve read about it,” good old Super Naturals, she thought to herself, “said to grow where the tears of the Mare in the Moon fell when she was first imprisoned, it can only be harvested under the light of a full moon.”

Hot Shot nodded and flashed Twilight a grin that almost made her knees go week, “you are rather well read, not many know about it, I’m impressed.”

Twilight blushed a little at that, “I like to know as much as I can about everything,” scuffing her foot on the ground a bit, Maybe Shadow was right, she thought to herself, but turned her head to her saddle bags, opening a flap with her magic, and levitating out a few pouches of bits, “I had been hoping to buy a few months supply of sleeping root, but this should cover the Moon Sugar,” as she set them down on the table.

Hot Shot nodded, trusting Twilight to not short change him, as they had a very amiable relationship since their first encounter, “then it’s all yours Twilight Sparkle, though it Is getting late, it wouldn’t be seemly for a young mare like yourself to be seen leaving the home of an apartment like me any later, hmm?”

Color flashed across Twilight’s cheeks again as she studiously focused on the pouch of Moon Sugar for a moment, levitating it and stuffing it into her saddle bag, “I… guess not, thank you.”

“It was a pleasure doing business with you, and I’ll try to make sure I have something for you when you visit next month.  Remember, this stuff is considered a little illegal to possess, so just… keep it under wraps, mmm? And you didn’t get it from me.”

Twilight giggled softly, “ofcourse, just like the sleeping root, mmm?” she nodded as Hot Shot escorted her to the door, opening it for her as she stepped out, “I’ll see you in a month.”

Hot Shot flashed her another smile before closing the door, the sounds of locks clicking as the stallion locked up for the night dimly heard as Twilight started to head back down to the street so she could head back to the castle.


	***


It was close to midnight when Twilight finally made it back to her guest room at the palace, the one she had used when she was just a filly… it still looked just the same as always.  Twilight’s magic lifted the saddle bags and put them near the vanity, opening a pouch and taking out the pouch of Moon Sugar as she sat on the chair.  Setting the pouch down on the counter, she lifted the brush, and worked it through her mane for a bit, her thoughts drifting to that golden eyed stallion.

Twilight lost track of time for a bit, her eyes slowly sliding closed, and the brush slipping from her grip, dropping with a soft thud to the carpeted floor.

“Little sister, what are you doing?” Shining Armor asked, causing Twilight to look up from her books with a perplexed look.

“I’m reading Big Brother, what does it look like?” Twilight asked.

“No you aren’t, look!”

Twilight blinked at the book she had been reading, glimmering grains of Moon Sugar scattered across the pages that were turning black, golden eyes staring back at her from the starlit depths as hooves reached up to grab her hooves, and started pulling her into the book, as Shining Armor tried to grab her, calling after her as she fell into the glittering void, “Twiliiiiii!”

“Shining!” Twilight yelled with a start as she jerked awake, yelping and falling backwards off of her stool with a thud.  She slowly rolled to her side with a groan, shaking her head to try and push away the dream, “I’m sorry Big Brother, you aren’t here to save me anymore…”

She looked to the pouch of Moon Sugar… she knew more about the dangerous effects of it than she had let on… her analytical mind weighing the risks, the costs, hallucinations, addiction, altered brain function, personality shifts, heavy withdrawl symptoms after prolonged use… but I’ll be able to sleep.  And she needed sleep… sleep without remembering her brother…

Twilight used her magic to open the pouch, and floated a few grains of the glittering Moon Sugar into her open mouth, placing them beneath her tongue and closing her mouth, before closing the pouch, and hiding it away in her saddle bags.

The rush of euphoria was almost instant, staggering the weary pony as her eyes rolled in her head, a shiver of pleasure washing over her as she staggered over to her bed, slowly climbing into it as the euphoria washed away the pain and heartache, her eyes sliding closed as she laid her head down, surrendering to the feelings of peace and harmony that flowed over her.




Authors Notes:
I suck at titles, I've got titles i can use for other chapters, but i couldn't think of a good one for this chapter... its a lame title... sigh

I'm not sure how many chapters this while thing is going to be, but i'm trying to take it slow, rather than just... dive in to the meat of things... stories need a build up, slow steps as we travel down.  We might start seeing some of the bad stuff late next chapter, but by chapter 4 at the latest if things go according to the nonexistent plan in my head.

I should be focusing on studying, i've got finals this week, and between writing, and diablo 3, i'm not studying enough... I have a VERY bad tendency to become obsessive about some things, especially when it comes to writing... i can't write without inspiration, but when i suddenly find that inspiration... i can't stop until i'm done.  

I already know how this story will end, and i'm hoping to make it last 6 chapters, maybe 7 or 8 depending, and i hope it turns out as well as i want it to.
> Ch. 3: Do you like what you see?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Forwarning: this chapter does contain explicit adult material, read at your own discretion. 

Twilight Sparkle stared out the window as the landscape whipped by, the car shaking as it raced along the tracks towards Canterlot, her mind playing over the events of the past few weeks.  She let out a sigh as it played over almost vividly infront of her eyes.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I just can’t,” came Rarity’s melodic voice.

“But Rarity, I’ll pay you back with my next stipend, I promise!”

“You promised that to Applejack, and Pinkie Pie too, I think you have a problem… I think we should sit down-“ 

Twilight cut Rarity off sharply, “I DO NOT have a problem! I thought you were the element of generosity! I only need a few bits!”

“Twilight, darling, please ca-“

“No! I will not ‘calm down,’” Twilight snapped before Rarity could even finish, mockingly mimicking the white pony’s voice, as she turned, and started to storm out of the boutique.

“Twilight wa-!” 

SLAM!

Twilight sighed, and shook the vision from her eyes, she wasn’t sure if Rarity would ever forgive her… what was coming over her? 

Darkness overtook the car suddenly, plunging things into a dimly lit blackness, and suddenly Twilight found herself staring at a reflection of herself.  It was a bit startling, Twilight realized how poorly she was sleeping, and eating for that matter; lines creased the corners of her eyes, which themselves were a bit sunken, she had lost maybe twenty pounds in the past six months, and her mane, which she had forgotten to brush this morning looked bedraggled and limp.  

Twilight clicked her tongue at herself in frustration, where was her organization? She was forgetting even the basic things lately.  She turned to the saddle bags draped across her back, her magic lifting a flap as she rooted around inside, looking for her brush, and finding that she had forgotten it, she stomped her hoof in frustration, and mentally kicked herself.

Letting out a sigh of annoyance, she closed the flap again, her last few bits in there, as well as the last of her Moon Sugar, she was almost out again.  The thought of the few bits she had made Twilight’s head sag in depression… she was about five thousand bits in debt at the bank, and another three thousand with her friends all together… she had every intention of paying them back! She just… couldn’t find any side jobs that would pay anything, and she had to have her moon sugar.

The trail rattled around Twilight as they burst back into the sunlight again, causing Twilight to wince at the brightness and shield her eyes, derailing her train of thought.  Twilight slowly peeked out from behind her hoof as her eyes adjusted to the light, seeing Canterlot starting to come into view, and a little smile slipped onto her face.

Twilight hadn’t made any plans to visit the palace this visit, she hoped to be on the train home that evening, all of her thoughts going to seeing that golden eyed stallion again, with a little flutter of anticipation, and strangely fear… hoping that he would be willing to give her an advance on her Moon Sugar, despite how low she was on bits.

A few minutes later the horn let out a blast as they pulled up into the station, and Twilight’s ears perked as she turned to trot out of the passenger car, and onto the platform.


***


Twenty minutes later found Twilight Sparkle trotting down the dark street in the poor section of the city once again, a mix of trepidation and anxiety causing Twilight’s heart to flutter in her chest, just giving Shadow a smile and a bob of her head on her way past, not sparing any time even for her friends here, and Shadow had become a friend to her after a few visits, and helping to keep her away from Bull Dozer and the rest of the gang that controlled the block.

Twilight found the old apartment building, and opened the door, heading up to the third floor again, looking at the door 306 for a few moments, trying to steady her breathing as she lifted a hoof to knock on the door. 

“Just a moment!” came the usual reply, and the sound of hooves inside the apartment, an eye looking through the peep hole at Twilight’s smiling face, before the locks started to open, and then the door opened, revealing the smiling face and those golden eyes, “Aah Twilight, time for your monthly supply already?”

“Yes! Ah well… about that…” Twilight started nervously.

“Wait, come in, we don’t do business in the halls, mmm?”

“Oh right!” Twilight exclaimed, looking a little sheepish as she stepped into the stallion’s apartment, and let him close the door behind her, her tail swishing nervously, and her ears flicking up and down.

“So what’s the problem Twilight? You come here every month like clockwork, I could almost run a calendar on you,” Hot Shot said as he turned, stepping away and into the room further, heading off to stick his head into another room to retrieve the pouch of Moon Sugar.

“well uh… I’m a little short on bits this month… money has been getting tight, and I uh… I was…”

Hot Shot frowned, glancing to Twilight as he trotted to the table in the room, setting down the pouch of moon sugar; it was rude to talk with your mouth full after all.  “Aaannnd?” he prodded gently as Twilight started to stumble over her words, his brow furrowed, though he knew what was coming.

“I was hoping you would be willing to forward me a little supply on credit this month!” Twilight said all at once, “I’ll get you paid back in full next month, I promise!”

Hot Shot sighed, “Now Twilight, as much as I like you… I am running a business here, I cannot just… give away my merchandise on credit, I have my own expenses, and I need to eat after all…”

Twilight started to wilt visibly, her ears drooping, her tail sagging as her head started to go down, “is there… anything I can do to work for it?” she asked with a trembling voice, terrified of having to go again without the Moon Sugar, of the dreams that came when she tried sleeping without it, of the sadness that just drowned her and made her cry for days…

“well… there is one thing that maybe you could do…” Hot Shot began, smirking to himself as Twilight visibly perked up.

“Yes! Anything! What is it?”

A devious expression slid across Hot Shot’s face as he started to walk slowly towards the lavender unicorn, his golden eyes sliding across her body in a way that made her suddenly shiver, and blush, “you are a beautiful mare,” he murmured as he came in closer, his muzzle slipping under Twilight’s chin, and giving her a nip to her chin, which only drew a shiver and a deeper blush from the mare.

“What do you-“

“I think you know Twilight Sparkle,” came the reply as he stepped forwards, nipping at her shoulder hard, drawing a squeak of pain from her, surprising her with the roughness, “you are a smart filly.”

Twilight took a hesitant step back, turning her head to look at him, her tail lifting slowly for a moment, before lowering again, “are you… asking me to be your marefriend?”

Hot Shot took a step back as he laughed, a bit of a tinge to it, almost mocking, “Marefriend? No no, nothing that formal, I’m not looking for a… relationship sweetheart,” a grin sliding onto his features as he stepped forwards again, nipping at Twilight’s flank, “just some fun.”

Twilight let out a little yelp as she danced away, her ears laid back, “if… if… if there’s no relationship, then why would you…? How could you…? What would be the point?!” she asked in disbelief.

“Fun for me, little filly, don’t tell me… oh this is good, you haven’t?” his grin just spread wider, “no… no I guess you haven’t… it’ll be fun for me, for you it’ll be payment for another month,” as he turned, starting to approach her again.

“No, no! You can’t be serious! I would never!” Twilight gasped, backing off from the stallion, and starting to skirt around him, only to have Hot Shot step in her way.

“I am very serious my little Twilight Sparkle, I’ve had my eye on you for a while, I’ve seen how you look at me, don’t think you can hide it.”

It was all turning upside down, this just didn’t make any sense to Twilight, “not like this! I wanted it to mean something!” as tears started to run down Twilight’s face

“It will mean you won’t have to go the next month without any Moon Sugar,” moving closer, trying to pin the filly against the wall.

Magic enveloped Twilight’s horn as she started to panic, heavily shoving Hot Shot aside, making him stumble and hit the wall heavily with a grunt.  Twilight started bolting for the door immediately, pausing only once she was there to look at the pouch of Moon Sugar, before shaking her head, yanking the door open and dashing out into the hall, clattering down the stairs as Hot Shot rushed after her, looking over the railing at the fleeing pony, “You’ll be back,” he growled, his tail lashing, before he turned and walked back inside his apartment, closing and locking the door behind himself.

Twilight ran, full gallop out of the apartment building, skidding and stumbling on the streets, and causing Shadow to look up from where he had been talking with some of his fellow gang members on the corner, looking after the lavender filly as she took off down the street.

Twilight was almost blind with tears, but she knew the way as she galloped back to the train station.  There wasn’t going to be another train back to Ponyville for hours, but she didn’t care, she found a bench and collapsed on it, burying her face in her hooves as she cried to herself, her body shaking as she tried to figure out what to do.


	***


A half rotten corpse of a white unicorn with a two colored blue mane and tail groaned, wearing a red vested uniform, an eye hanging loosely from the optical cord from its socket as it groaned, its grating voice some crude mockery of a once proud pony, as it called her name, “Twiiiiiliiight,” shambling towards her, pieces of flesh hanging off of its bones as it continued to decay right in front of her wide, terrified eyes, having been chasing her through twists and turns of a maze like palace for what felt like hours.

“No! No! leave me alone!” Twilight shrieked at it, backed into a dead end as the thing came closer, too paralyzed with fear to move, unable to use her magic as the abomination swelled to fill the hallway, hooves half falling away from the bone as its armed reached out to try and embrace her.

“You have to let me go, you have to…Hello? Is anyone there?” the voice changing and warping pitch, the creature looking confused as it fell apart in a mass of gore and wriggling intestines on Twilight.

“Hello? Twilight, are you home?”

Twilight bolted upright with a shriek, falling out of bed, panting heavily and groaning, her whole body shaking, as pain laced right through her heart and chest, causing her to clutch it and groan in agony. 

“Are you alright up there Twilight? Ah’m coming up!” that sounded like Applejack!

“NO! No! I’m fine! Stay down there! I’ll be down in a minute!” Twilight yelled back, a bit more harshly than she intended to as she slowly picked herself up, and staggered to the bathroom, taking a minute to splash water over her face, and quickly running her brush through her mane a few times, trying to rub the sleep and nightmares from her face, and make herself look presentable… it was only the second night since her supply of Moon Sugar had gone utterly dry, and flashes of the nightmares ripped through her vision, causing her to sag for a moment, before remembering that someone was downstairs.

Twilight picked herself up and shook herself off again, grimacing at her reflection in the mirror, she hardly looked better than her brother had in that dream, and she felt as bad inside, but she put on a pleasant face with some practice, and walked towards the door to her bedroom, opening it, and heading down into the library.

“There you are sugar! Ah was worried somethin’ fierce about ya, are you ahright?” she asked in her heavy accent, “ah didn’t wake ya up did ah? Its almost noon.”

Twilight shook her head, “no, no I’m fine, I was just… working on an experiment, you caught me at a bad time,” she lied, it came so smoothly these days, like one of Rarity’s finest silks.

Applejack rubbed the back of her head, “Ah’m mighty sorry about that sugar, did ah mess something up on ya?” looking real apologetic, if a but overworked herself.

Twilight shook her head, “nothing that I can’t do again,” she said, “now what can I do for you today Applejack?”

Applejack put her hoof down, “some of the trees are coming down with a disease, ah’m not sure if it’s a parasite, or a fungus, ah was hoping that you’d be able to give me some books ah could look at, and try ta find a cure fer it.”

“Oh! Is that all! Give me a minute and I’ll see if I can find some guides on local pest and fungus problems,” she said, feigning cheerfulness, before she turned and trotted over to the shelves, frowning as she started looking for the books she wanted.

Applejack nodded, “Ah’d much appreciate it sugar.”

Twilight nodded absent mindedly to the comment, frowning as the books weren’t where she thought they should be, her tail flicking in annoyance as she trotted over to another shelf, “what are these doing here?” she muttered to herself, her magic enveloping a few books, and pulling them out, trotting over to another shelf, and frowning at that one.

“Now these shouldn’t be here either,” pulling out a few more books, and shoving the first set in, looking at the second set of books, and turning to trot over to find a place for them.

Applejack looked on in growing concern as Twilight pulled book after book off of the shelf, having to duck as some when flying past her head, while Twilight started to reorganize the library right on the spot, books that had already been moved were moved again, and a few more times, until the lavender unicorn just started to leave piles of them on the floor in growing piles of disarray.

“no this isn’t right, arg! That goes… no wait these go… where is that… Nrrgh!” Twilight stomped her hoof in frustration, having completely forgotten about what Applejack was looking for.

Applejack watched for almost fifteen minutes before speaking up again after having to dodge a few more books, “maybe ah should just… y’know, come back later? Are you sure you are alright sugarcube? You seem a bit upset.”

Twilight looked up from what she was doing, anger and annoyance on her face, “oh! Applejack!” she looked flustered, her cheeks coloring, “I’m fine, really, I just haven’t… been sleeping well… now what did… oh right, I saw those over here,” she said, seeming a bit scatter brained, pulling a couple of books off the shelves, and floating them over to Applejack with a bright smile on her face.

Astrologers guide to dancing rainbows and Dragon migrations and you? Applejack thought to herself, “this wasn’t… what ah was lookin’ fer sugar… ah was lookin’ fer something on tree pests and fungus.”

“Wait… what? You were? I could have…” Twilight shook her head, and brought the books back, seeming frustrated with herself now, “of course, of course, what was I thinking,” dropping the books on a pile, an trotting over to another shelf, and double checking the titles before she pulled two more books off the shelf, and carrying them over to Applejack with her magic.

Strange pests of the Everfree Forest, a reference guide, and Fungus Among us, a guide to fungology for the lay pony, Applejack nodded, “those look right, thanks sugar… maybe we should get together some time, ah’m real worried about ya, perhaps the girls should all get together and we should come over?”

Twilight’s ears laid back, shaking her head quickly, “no no, I’m fine Applejack, I promise, I just need to… to have some breakfast, my research and all, got me all caught up in it… and I need to get these books put away right…”

Applejack didn’t look convinced, but took the books with her teeth and put them in the saddle bags she was carrying, “If ya say so sugar… ah gotta get back to the farm, but ah’ll come check on you later, alright?”

Twilight shook her head with a reassuring smile plastered on her face, “please Applejack, you’ve got the farm to run, I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Applejack nodded, her concerned look not leaving… she had never known Twilight to just boldface lie to her, but somewhere in the heart of the element of honesty, she just knew there was something… wrong, but she wasn’t going to get answers from pressing the issue right then.  “Alright sugarcube, you take it easy now, if you need any help with them books, just ask,” as she trotted to the door, opening it and stepping outside.

“I will Applejack, thank you,” closing the door after the pony, and waiting a few seconds before sighing, and sagging heavily.  As she turned around, thoughts of breakfast were entirely forgotten, looking around the half torn apart library, and letting out a low groan, “ooooooh what am I going to do?!”


	***


The sun was only a little ways over the horizon when a group of ponies, and a dragon approached the library again, this time it was a group of Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, an Spike; Rainbow dash had been out of town, training with the Wonderbolts for the past several months, a rising star in their squad.

Rarity moved to knock on the door to the library, “Twilight darling, are you awake?” opening the door, and stepping inside, where she froze with a gasp of shock.

“ooo what is it what is it?” Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced, pushing a bit to get in, and after a moment of stunned silence, Rarity complied, moving further in to reveal the central room of the library, where she stopped dead as well, her jaw veritably dropping to the floor.

The place was an absolute disaster, most of the books were off the shelves, scattered across the floor, some were even ripped and torn, the shelves only had a few books left on them.

Spike pushed his way through, looking at the mess, “oh no! this isn’t good! Something must have happened to Twilight! Twilight!” he called, dashing further into the library and heading up the stairs, when there was a loud crash from the bedroom, followed by a groan that made every pony, and Spike, freeze.

“Oh no, that doesn’t sound good at all,” Fluttershy said, worriedly looking up the stairs as she stepped past rarity to start heading for them, however before Fluttershy reached the stairs, the door slammed open, revealing a bedraggled Twilight standing the top, looking like she hadn’t slept at all.

Trying to calm her voice, Twilight spoke up, “girl, what a surprise, what are you all doing here?” shooting a glare at Applejack, knowing who was responsible, as she tried in vain to straighten her hair, and make herself look presentable.

“Oh um…” Fluttershy started when Applejack stepped forwards to speak up.

“We were… ah mean Ah was worried sick about you last night Twilight! Ah had a talk with the girls, and we figured something was wrong, really wrong.”

“You what?!” Twilight asked in disbelief, “I told you I was fine Applejack, I was just… working on a project!”

“And what do you call this -mess- darling?” Rarity asked, looking aghast at all the books all over the place, “I haven’t seen you in such disarray since that incident with the doll!”

“I’ve never seen your library looking like this Twilight,” Spike said with deep concern, climbing the stairs slowly towards Twilight.

“I’m perfectly fine, as I’ve said,” Twilight emphasized, though she was starting to panic, taking a step back from Spike, “I just got sidetracked with… with my project! I was going to get this room put back together today.” Twilight’s façade of lies starting to slip while she was faced with so many of her friends, looking between their faces for some sign of belief.

“Ah don’t buy it sugar,” Applejack said after a moment, “something more is going on, say… what project are you working on anyways?”

“It’s… it’s something you wouldn’t understand!” Twilight snapped curtly and derisively, “now if you would excuse me, I would like to-“

“Now hold on one dang minute Twilight, that’s a load of hogwash and you know it! Come on, we are your friends, you can tell us what’s wrong,” Applejack cut in, making Twilight take another step back.

“It’s none of your business!” Twilight snapped, looking around wildly, starting to panic now.

“Now don’t try running away Twilight, we are your friends!”

“M-m-maybe we shouldn’t…”

“And we want you to talk to us! We are worried! And we are going to make you talk whether you like it or-“

SLAM! Twilight vanished into her room as the sound of the door slamming shut reverberated through the tree.

“Shouldn’t… force it…” Fluttershy finished softly as she cringed, her ears laid back.

“Oh what in tarnation is in that girl? I swear!”

Spike moved up and tried to open the door, only to find it locked rather securely, though he started throwing his shoulder into it heavily, and after three attempts, the lock shattered, sending the young dragon sprawling into the room just in time to see Twilight leaping out the window with a saddlebag, “Guys! Shes going out the window!”

“Oh this is bad, very bad,” Fluttershy worried, “she could get hurt!” darting past the other ponies and outside, heading around the tree to try and find their friend, with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity not far behind.

Twilight was picking herself up from a rough landing, limping a bit as she saw Fluttershy coming around the tree for her, “Leave me alone!” she yelled, a flash of magic flaring from her horn and striking a surprised Fluttershy solidly, sending her careening violently up into the branches of the tree.

Rarity and Applejack skidded to a stop in disbelief, “now Twilight… we are just worried for you, why’d you go and do a thing like that?” Applejack asked.

Twilight stared up into the tree with horror, her friend’s yellow body clinging to the edge of a branch, one of her wings damaged fairly badly, “I’m… I’m… I’m sorry!” she yelled, magic enveloping her from her horn as she teleported away.

Rarity looked up worriedly at Fluttershy, “Just you hold on sweetie, Applejack, you and Pinkie Pie go after Twilight, I’ll see if I can get Fluttershy down and to the hospital.”

Applejack looked up and nodded as a blue glow surrounded Rarity’s horn, and slowly enveloped Fluttershy, “where’d she go?” turning to look around, before taking off towards the town, quickly followed by a worried looking Pinkie Pie.

Spike turned to leap after Applejack and Pinkie Pie, “I’ll help!” worry and panic in his voice as he took off.

Rarity slowly coaxed Fluttershy to let go of the branch once she had a gentle grip on her friend, Fluttershy’s battered form falling a few feet before Rarity managed to control the fall, and slowly set the pegasus on the ground, “can you walk?”

“I… I think so, I don’t know…” Fluttershy sniffled, looking at her wing dangling at her side, “why… why did she do that?” she almost sobbed out, tears of pain and deeper hurt running down her face

“I don’t know darling… I wish I did, there is something… really wrong with her, come on, let’s get you to the hospital,” turning and moving to Fluttershy’s side to help her along to the clinic, deeply troubled and upset by what happened.

A train whistle blasted in the distance, the early morning train to Canterlot was leaving, and that made Spike shout out, “Applejack! Pinkie Pie! The train!” and both pony and dragon galloped off for the train station as fast as they could.

However, that was on the other side of town, and Twilight had a long head start, by the time they reached the train station, they could only stumble onto the platform panting heavily as they watched the train heading away.

“Twilight…” Spike lamented as he watched the train.

“Something’s wrong sugar, we should write a letter to Princess Celestia, and hop a ride to Canterlot ourselves… after we see how Fluttershy is doing,” Applejack suggested.

Spike nodded, “alright…” a bit forlornly, Twilight had always been like a big sister to him, he wasn’t sure where things went wrong… then it hit him, he did know, it started when Shining Armor died.


***


It was near noon when Twilight Sparkle knocked again on the door to apartment 306, and the familiar voice answered, “one moment!” before the locks unlocked, and opened up, the smiling, golden eyed face of Hot Shot standing there, “so, you’ve reconsidered my offer?”

Twilight looked a mess, teary eyed, and shaking, nodding her head, “please, I need more… I just want to sleep without… please… can… can I stay the night?” she asked, almost begging.

Hot Shot considered her, a bit coldly for a moment, before a sly grin slipped across his face, “trouble at home? You can stay as long as you like… though… that will cost you extra,” he said, his voice teasing, full of promises of unpleasant things, a side that Twilight had never noticed before, but right then, she didn’t care.

“Anything…” she pleaded, and stepped inside as Hot Shot stepped side.

“go wash up an relax for a bit, everything will be okay, everything will be alright, now that you are here,” as his eyes flicked over Twilight’s body as she slowly made her way to the bathroom, calming down slowly.


	***


About twenty minutes later, Twilight slipped out of the bathroom, looking a bit refreshed, her hair brushed as she looked around.

“In here,” came Hot Shot’s voice from the bedroom, which made Twilight’s ears lay back, but she followed, looking around as she slowly nosed the door open.  Unlike the rest of the house, the bedroom was rather lavishly appointed.  The bed was large, covered in silk sheets, and a number of nicknacks and other frivolities and luxuries lying around, as well as some items that made Twilight’s eyes widen, and a deep blush bloom over her cheeks as she looked away.

Hot shot chuckled as he saw her reaction, licking his lips as he strode over to her, pushing the door closed behind her, before turning back to Twilight, “I want my payment before I give you anything, then I’ll let you sleep.”

Twilight shuddered a moment, her ears laid back, uncertain of what she just got herself into, but she nodded, “what… what do you want me to do?”

“right now sweetheart, you relax, and I’ll take care of the rest…” as he stepped towards Twilight, his nose moving to nuzzle her neck, drawing a shiver from the mare, before he nipped her roughly, biting down her neck, just shy of drawing blood, but drawing a whinny of pain from Twilight as she tried to pull her head away.

Hot Shot was having none of that now, biting the back of her neck firmly to hold her in place, before he worked down her body, nipping at her shoulders, her chest, down under her belly where he bit hard on something that made Twilight squeal in pain, and buck her back legs, only serving to draw a chuckle from Hot Shot.

The stallion didn’t stop there, his hot breath giving her a warning before a hard nip came at the base of her tail, making her kick a back leg as her tail lifted from the pain, and a mix of arousal that Twilight was suddenly feeling.  Nopony had ever touched her like this before, and she really didn’t know what to expect.

Hot Shot’s muzzle slipped under her tail, his broad tongue running up her labia, which drew a sudden and sharp gasp from Twilight, who stomped one of her front hooves.  This only made the stallion grin more, repeating the action, and earning himself an arched back, and a little whinny.

Hot Shot finally slipped around behind the mare, which was almost a filly besides his muscled body, rearing up and bringing his weight down on Twilight’s back.  Twilight grunted loudly as she spread her legs to take his weight, her ears plastered back in gear, telling herself this would all be worth it once she could sleep again.

What she wasn’t prepared for however was what came next, the thick flared tip of the stallion’s shaft jabbing up underneath her tail into the lips of her untouched sex, drawing a squeal of surprise from her as she tried to step forwards, only to find Hot Shot’s legs wrapped around her flank, holding her in place.

The second thrust found its mark, drawing a cry of pain from Twilight as Hot Shot sank the head of his shaft between her lips.  It was the third thrust that drew a scream of pain from her, as he rammed himself all the way to the balls inside of the small filly, making Twilight feel like she was being impaled by a tree trunk.

Twilight’s legs almost gave out beneath her as Hot Shot pulled himself back, and rammed himself forwards again, slamming into her like a battering ram as tears started flowing down Twilight’s cheeks, hoping it would stop soon.

It didn’t.  Hot Shot pounded himself into the young mare for nearly twenty minutes as Twilight’s strength waned, and her body gave into the abuse.  The stallion’s teeth flashed down at Twilight’s neck, eliciting a scream of pain from her as they tore skin this time in his lust, taking several more bites from her neck before finally he slammed himself to the hilt one final time, the head of his shaft flaring deep inside the filly as his burning hot seed felt like it was searing its way deep into Twilight’s womb, sitting there like a lump of molten lava.

Twilight cried out in pain at the last thrust, feeling something break inside her, preceding the flow of fire into her belly that made her whimper and sob in pain.  Twilight’s strength finally giving out, dragging both ponies down to the ground with a heavy thud, where Twilight lay sobbing as Hot Shot nipped at her neck again and again.

Hot Shot finally pulled his softening shaft from the gripping folds of his newest conquest, one he knew he was going to have a LOT of fun with, as a smirk played across his features, “there, that wasn’t so bad, was it sweetheart? Now you can sleep,” he said as he stepped away, taking a pouch off of the nightstand with his teeth, and dropping it in front of Twilight.

Twilight’s ears perked up slowly as she sniffled in humiliation and pain, focusing on the pouch as Hot Shot walked out of the bedroom.  It was all worth it, she thought to herself, right? I have what I wanted… yet somehow she couldn’t quite convince herself.  It felt like she just lost something, something she couldn’t get back, and it made her sob all the harder, because she couldn’t figure out what it was.

Her magic was a bit shaky as it opened up the pouch, and drew out a small pinch of moon sugar, opening her mouth and placing it beneath her tongue, waiting for the euphoria to take her, which it did a few moments later, washing away the pain and the doubt.  It was all worth it, she finally agreed to herself without any doubt as she drifted off into the drug induced haze.

A smile on her lips.




Author's Notes

I am spending too much time on this, stupid driving forces.  This is the first time the sex has been brought into this, but my intention is that this story to be far more than just a clopfic.  However, that said, i refuse to neuter my stories to not contain any sex in it at all, especially when it is such a part of the plot.  This was psuedo rape, i am intending real rape, and worse in the coming chapters.  Life is not pretty, some times that darkness gets the better of us.  

on another note, one final exam down, one more tomorrow, and i spent all day writing you Chapter Three.  I hope you enjoy it! i may get out a new chapter every day or two, this one turned out longer than i expected... chances are i'll be motivated enough to do a chapter a day until its done... but we'll see.
> Ch. 4: What waits tomorrow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of hooves overtook the normal chatter and bustle of the busy throne as open court was in session, causing Princess Celestia to lift her head, her attention drawn from the noble speaking with her about weather conditions out near Appleoosa.  Seeing four ponies she recognized made the princess’s heart sink; under any other circumstances, she would be overjoyed to see them, but today, after the worrying letter she had received the previous day, something akin to dread seeped into her heart, “thank you my good pony, but I have some urgent business I need to see to,” Princess Celestia said, cutting off the noblepony suddenly.

The pony blinked, frowning, “But what about-“

“Yes, yes, go talk to the steward, and he’ll arrange things with the weather pegasus, good day.”  She looked to the steward besides her, “clear the nobles out, court is over for the day.”

The steward nodded, rather surprised, as court never let out till well after noon, but he didn’t question, stepping forwards and motioning guards as he moved to start clearing the room.  It took only a few minutes, and since it was such an unusual action, it drew both the curiosity, annoyance, and at the same time, a troubled acceptance from the gathered court, as they knew something must be happening.

Soon it was only a small contingent of guards remaining, and four ponies, and a dragon that approached the throne together.  The condition of one of them, a soft yellow pony with a lovely pink mane troubled Celestia greatly, only adding to her worry as all four bowed to her.  “Please rise, Fluttershy, what happened to your wing?”

Fluttershy lifted her head with wide eyes for a moment as she looked to the princess, before looking back to her good wing as she stretched it, then remembering and looking to the wing that was bandaged to her side, in a heavy cast that weighed her down now that she was reminded of it, “Oh um… it was an accident Your Majesty,” she said softly.

“Like hell it was!” Rarity said, startling herself and the others gathered as she rose, before offering a sheepish smile, “my apologies your Majesty… it’s just…” she looked nervously to the others.

“Go on, what happened,” Celestia encouraged.

“The way ah figure it, something is wrong, really, really wrong with Twilight.  We tried ta confront her, and talk ta her about it, but she took off, and not before she launched poor Fluttershy here into the tree after she jumped out a window,” Applejack explained, “Now ah’m sure Twilight didn’t -intend- to hurt Fluttershy, but she did!”

“I was still in shock over her the state of her library! It was like Rainbow Dash crashed in there and then into every shelf at once!” Pinkie Pie chipped in, looking unusually frazzled and worried, “But then there Twilight was, and she wouldn’t talk to us! She hasn’t been acting quite herself lately and… well…”

“We thought it would pass in time,” Spike said, putting a paw on Pinkie’s shoulder as the pink pony’s head drooped, upset with everything, “I’ve never seen Twilight like this.  We think she came here to Canterlot, we searched all over Ponyville, but she was gone.”

Princess Celestia looked gravely troubled as she listened to the story from the ponies, though her eyes settled on Spike after a moment, “Did you find anything in her rooms, after I asked you to search them?”

Spike blinked a moment, “Oh yeah! I found a mess of pouches in a drawer in her room, I had never seen them before, and something didn’t feel right about them, but there wasn’t anything in any of them, but I brought the whole lot… it should be in the luggage.”

Celestia looked up, “Steward, find the box and bring it here, and send a message to Rainbow Dash, she should be performing in Baltimare with the Wonderbolts this weekend, she should be here to help in the search.”

The steward nodded from the doorway, “Right away your Majesty,” as he cantered off.

It was only a couple of minutes later when the steward returned with the box, carrying it wrapped in a soft green glow of power from his horn, bringing it to the throne and placing it before Celestia as she motioned.

Celestia used her own magic to open the box, looking down at all of the soft cloth pouches.  She used her magic to start lifting them up, investigating them, turning them inside out and carefully sniffing them, before laying them aside, each and everyone seemed perfectly clean until out of one, a single glittering grain fell as she turned it inside out, and was immediately caught in the swell of Celestia’s magic, the bag discarded.

“That is beautiful your Majesty, what is it?” Rarity asked, stepping forwards, curiosity in her gaze as she studied the tiny glittering grain, her mind immediately working on how she could use something like that in her store.

“It is beautiful, and extremely dangerous,” Celestia said as she closely studied the gem, “It’s called Moon Sugar, it’s a rare, and exceptionally potent drug, used to induce sleeping and euphoria.  It has some other uses as well, most don’t know about.  It is produced from a plant called Moonlit Glory, and it can only be harvested under the full moon.  The plant has been eradicated from most of Equestria, the only places I know that it grows is in Luna’s private garden, and a few places within the Everfree Forest.  Where someone managed to get this much of it, I am not sure.”

“So that’s why she was borrowin’ so much money!” Applejack exclaimed, “She was buying this… stuff! Why would she need it though Your Majesty? Twilight knows better than that.”

Spike spoke up before Celestia could respond, “Twilight started having trouble sleeping a few times before I moved in with Rarity, I didn’t think anything of it at the time…”

“When did this all start?” Celestia asked.

“I think the first time she had trouble sleeping was a few weeks after… after Shining Armor’s funeral,” Spike said softly, his brow furrowing, “She came to Canterlot to visit Princess Cadance a few days later, and things seemed better by then.”

“You wouldn’t suppose that… she was on this even then? Where did she find it?” Rarity asked.

“That is a very good question, my little pony, if we can find that out, maybe we can find out where Twilight Sparkle is.  Will you all stay and help in the search?”

All four nodded rapidly, voicing their own forms of agreement.


***


Twilight groaned as she slowly woke up, still laying on the floor of the bedroom, slowly looking around as she sat up, expecting to see Hot Shot on the bed, but he was gone.  Twilight took stock of herself, and after a moment rose, slipping out of the bedroom, and looking around more of the small apartment.  There wasn’t much to it, a single bedroom, a kitchen, a dining room, and the living room that the door opened up into, as well as a single full bathroom.

After not seeing Hot Shot around anywhere, Twilight slipped into the bathroom, looking at her bedraggled self in the mirror for a moment before sighing.  A nice bath would feel good, she decided, her brain not taking her much further than that.  She used her magic to start the water going in the tub, getting it nice and hot, before she climbed in, and sank down, letting the water slowly fill up over her withers, soaking in the heat a bit before looking for some shampoo.  Finding some, she finally got down to washing herself clean, not realizing how dirty she felt until she started to get into washing.  

The sense if filth only intensified as she  got to cleaning her tail, remembering suddenly and vividly what Hot Shot had done to her, her ears plastering back as she shivered, shaking her head as she suddenly found herself crying.  Doing her best to suppress the sob, Twilight used her magic to clean beneath her tail, but no matter how hard she scrubbed, that pervading sense of filth plagued her.  After it got too red and sore to keep washing there, she finally quit, letting the cloth go, and worked on rinsing herself off.

As she stepped out of the bath tub, the front door opened, and then closed with the sound of hooves moving around the living room, “Twilight, are you awake?” came Hot Shot’s voice, almost making Twilight wince.

Twilight started draining the tub, and stepped out of it, grabbing a towel off the rack and starting to wrap it around herself, “I’m in here,” she said, her voice sounding strained even to her ears.

Hot Shot opened up the door and looked over Twilight a moment, a bit of a self satisfied smirk playing over his lips as he eyed the dripping mare, a look that made Twilight’s cheeks color and turn away her head.  Hot Shot cleared his throat after a moment as he put on a much more serious expression.  “There are dozens, if not hundreds of guard ponies searching the city, they are… looking for a fugitive from Ponyville, she was apparently involved in some sort of… assault? You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, fear taking over her expression as her ears plastered back against her head, “F-f-fugitive? Oh Celestia! That can’t be!” she said, trotting out of the bathroom and moving towards the door a moment, before she stopped, her body shaking with indecision and fear, “How badly did I hurt Fluttershy?!” spinning back towards Hot Shot, her eyes wide with fear.

Hot Shot watched Twilight, moving out of her way, and following her to the living room, keeping his smirk off his features; even under the effects of Moon Sugar, Twilight still managed to talk too much in her sleep.  “I’m not sure, it must have been rather badly, I heard she was hospitalized in grave condition.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in fear and shock, and she started to sink down to her hooves, sobbing, “Oh no! What did I do? Fluttershy… I’m so sorry, I… I didn’t…”

“You are a powerful unicorn, Twilight, do you know what they do to powerful unicorns who go crazy? And start hurting innocent ponies for no reason?” Hot Shot asked, milking this out as he kept a concerned expression on his face, brow furrowed.

Twilight looked up at Hot Shot in shock, shaking her head, “N-no, what?”

“I have heard they cut off their horns, and lock them away forever.  Now you are a lovely little filly… before you get your head all bent out of shape… if you want, I can hide you here, and they’ll stop looking eventually.”

Twilight’s eyes almost popped out of her head at that, terror lacing through her as she shook her head, “No, no they… they would! Oh Celestia I’m sorry! I never meant to!” she sobbed into her hooves.

Hot Shot moved forwards, bringing a hoof to rub over the miserable filly’s back, moving to settle besides her, and draping a wing over her, “There there… I’ll hide you here, they’ll never find you, I’ll let you stay as long as you like.  I’m sure that your friend will recover from her injuries, so there is nothing to worry about…”

Twilight sniffled heavily, lifting her head from her hooves, “You… you will? I… I couldn’t, I’d put you in so much danger…”

“Nonsense, my line of work is dangerous, but I’m very, very good at hiding things…”

Twilight buried her head into Hot Shot’s side, hiding beneath his wing it felt as she sobbed, her whole body shaking like a leaf, “Thank you, thank you so much!”  

“Not a problem my dear,” Hot Shot replied softly, holding the mare close, a wicked smirk playing over his lips.


***


Like so many things that become lost, Twilight Sparkle remained that way.  Weeks went by as searches scoured the city.  Those weeks turned into a month, and Princess Celestia was forced to call off the search.  Five ponies and a dragon continued the search for several weeks more, before duties in their own life long neglected forced them to abandon the hunt for their friend.  Every once in a while, a small group of them would travel back to Canterlot, searching the streets with volunteer escorts from the Royal Guard, but as months approached a year, even those ceased, leaving Twilight Sparkle to her fate, as the months became a year.


***


Twilight gagged hard as the long, thick shaft of Hot Shot slammed down her throat repeatedly, forcing the mare to swallow all of it.  She couldn’t breathe, her lungs were burning as she took what gasps for breath that she could when he pulled far enough out, only to have the massive shaft force its way down her throat again.

Twilight was used to this, one of Hot Shot’s favorite tortures.  She had continued to lose weight, for a while, but now she was putting on weight, and lots of it.  Twilight Sparkle laid on her belly on the floor of the stallion’s bedroom as she was forced to deep throat the stallion, the sickening scent of his musk cloying in her nostrils as it was pressed into his groin, but she didn’t fight, she was past that.

Twilight’s stomach was swelling, round and heavy, and exceedingly pregnant, not that Hot Shot seemed to care.

Twilight gagged again as one hard thrust sent the stallion’s shaft down her throat again, filling it up as she felt the head flare and swell deep within her, letting out a little gurgling sound as it twitched and throbbed, spilling its burning hot load right into her belly; at least she wouldn’t have to taste it this time.

Hot Shot wickered in pleasure as he stayed like that for almost a minute as he emptied his load, before he finally pulled back, drawing his deflating stallionhood from Twilight’s throat and muzzle.  Twilight almost collapsed on her side, coughing and gasping for breath, her vision swimming from lack of oxygen.

Hot Shot turned away, leaving Twilight to recover on his own, heading for the living room, and settling down with a pleased smirk on his face.

Twilight finally managed to catch her breath and sat up, rubbing her throat, and taking a bit longer before she rose unsteadily; she needed some fresh air to rid herself of the stallion’s scent.  Twilight made her way slowly to the living room, and pulled a heavy cloak on, throwing it over her shoulders, and making sure her cutiemark was covered, an pulling the hood over her head as she unlocked and opened the door, slipping outside and using her magic to lock all of the locks again.

Twilight didn’t say a word, lost in a haze of regret, depression, self loathing, and the remnants of several different drugs that were floating in her system.  She slowly made her way down the stairs, her gravid belly slowing her down noticeably as she made her way outside.  Once there, she lifted her head, glancing around the growing dusk, her thoughts traveling to one stallion, the only one she could call friend around here, and turned, starting off towards where she knew he would be hanging out.

Shadow was where Twilight expected, standing outside an old abandoned factory down near the edge of the district, only once she was there did she push her hood back with a hoof, and smile, a genuine smile.

Shadow looked up as Twilight approached, turning from two other members of his gang that he had been talking with, “Hey there Twilight, I wish I could stay and keep you company for a bit, but there’s an operation going down tonight.”

Twilight looked disappointed, her ears splaying as she lowered her head, “Oh… what operation is this?” she asked, sounding far more disappointed than she looked.

Shadow walked over to Twilight, lowering his head to nudge up her chin, “Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about, I’ll be here tomorrow and we can go talk.  Why don’t you just head on home and get some sleep? You look worn out.”

Twilight nodded a little numbly, bumping her nose against Shaow’s a moment, “alright, I don’t want to be in the way,” she said, and turned to make her slow way back up the street towards her ‘home’ with Hot Shot.

Shadow looked worriedly after Twilight… she was a sweet mare, and she had been so beautiful when he had first met her… now she was slowly wasting away beneath that bastard of a pegasus.  Shadow was not one to question why others were in hiding, he had his own reasons why he was in the place he was.  After a minute Shadow realized that his gang mates were trying to get his attention again, and he turned back to them, picking up his place in the conversation.

Twilight stumbled a bit on her way back, but she made it without falling, her heavy belly throwing off a damaged sense of balance, but with four hooves she managed to make it back to apartment 306.  She drew her magic, unlocking the many locks on the door, before opening the door, and about fell over.

Hot Shot was looking a bit surprised to see Twilight back, as was a younger, and frankly very pretty filly under him, one that appeared to be very deeply impaled by the pegasus’ shaft.

Hot Shot drew his hips back, and slammed them forwards again, dropping the filly beneath him to her front knees in surprise, “Twilight, I wasn’t expecting you home this early.”

Twilight took a stumbling step back, “What are you… who is… don’t I…?” so many questions rolling off of her tongue and through her mind that she couldn’t order them.

Hot Shot let out a mocking laugh as he shuddered, emptying his seed into the filly beneath him, “What does it look like? This is one of my clients, and no, I don’t care for you.  What, did you think because I took you in and have fed you, and medicated you that I loved you or something?”

Twilight took another step back, horror dawning on her face and twisting it, “But I’m carrying…”

“My child? What do I care about the bastard whelp of some strung out whore?”  Hot Shot pulled his shaft from the filly with a grunt, the poor girl letting out a yelp as she fell, scurrying to the side as she found herself in the middle of this.

Twilight shook her head in disbelief as betrayal and pain ran through her, but when Hot Shot was right in front of her, her expression twisted into rage, and she reared up, lashing out with her hooves, “You bastard! You lying two bit dirty wrench of a-“

One of Twilight’s hooves connected solidly with the larger stallion’s face, leaving a gash.  The attack surprised Hot Shot, but he retaliated quickly, a hoof coming up and smashing into the shoulder of the unicorn, sending her careening into the wall at the end of the hall, where she landed with a pained yelp.

Hot Shot stride towards the downed unicorn, snarling in anger, “NEVER raise your hoof to me again!” he roared as he lashed out, his hoof striking across Twilight’s muzzle, dislocating it, and several times more over her head and shoulders, leaving gashes, and deep bruises, and Twilight screaming out in pain, “I protected you! I gave you food and drugs! If you think you can do better without me than you can just-“ he cut off, holding a hoof up as a gush of sweet smelling fluid sprayed out from behind Twilight.

A sudden surge of pain ran through Twilight’s entire body as the let out a cry, her horn flaring to life for a moment, and releasing an uncontrolled burst of magic, one that sent Hot Shot careening across the floor to slam into the other wall, where he slumped down, dazed.

Twilight lifted her head, shuddering and shivering in pain and fear as blood ran down her muzzle and shoulder, pulling herself to her feet as she turned, sliding and skidding down the stairs as she made a run for it, leaving a trail of amniotic fluid behind her.  The filly from the room peeked out after the fleeing unicorn, and rushed to Hot Shot’s side, trying to help him up, but she was only pushed rudely aside as the stallion picked himself up, glaring after the lavender unicorn with contempt, before stalking back into his apartment, slamming the door and leaving the bewildered filly outside.

Twilight ran, or more hobbled and tried to canter back towards the abandoned factory as another wave of pain crashed over her, sending her down to her knees.  It took a moment for Twilight to regain her feet, but she did, continuing on, part from blind panic, part from fear and desperation, heading for the only one she knew might help her.

It took nearly ten minutes for her to get back to the factory, Shadow rushing out to meet her as he noticed her from his position, “Twilight! What happened?”

“He… he!” she tried to start, before letting out a groan of anguish as her body tensed up, nearly falling again, only to be cause by Shadow as she dissolved into sobs.

Shadow frowned, and looked around a moment, before his horn glowed black, gently enveloping Twilight in its power, and lifting her up, “Come on, Bull isn’t going to be happy about this, but I’ll make it even with him, we need to get you inside,” he said as he turned, carrying Twilight into the factory.

There was a lot of floor space in the factory, most of the machinery had been cleared out, but there was still some heavy equipment, and a lot of boxes laying around.  A stallion looked over, “Whats going on Shadow? Whos that?”

“A friend of mine, shes hurt, I need to take care of her.”

“But we are leaving in ten minutes!”

“You can go without me, you don’t need me on this.”

“Dozer isn’t going to be happy about this you know.”

“I’ll make it up to him, shes in labor for Celestia’s sake!” Shadow snapped.

That left the other stallion to stop following as Shadow trotted by, finding an unused store room, and carrying Twilight inside, laying her down in the middle of the room.

It wasn’t more than a minute before the door slammed open, and the large form of Bull Dozer stood there, looking annoyed, “What the hell is going on here?”

Shadow straightened up, turning towards the pegasus stallion, and moving towards the door, “Look, Dozer, I never ask for anything, but this is a friend of mine, just give me this, and tonight off, shes in labor, and shes been beaten up.  You owe me this much.”

The intimidatingly large stallion growled, but he backed off, “This isn’t over,” he glanced past Shadow, and stopped, “Hey I recognize that nag, shes mine when this is over, you hear? I have a score to settle with her.”

“Come off it Dozer, that was-“

A large hoof caught Shadow across the head, sending him sprawling, “Shes mine, you hear?” Dozer growled as he moved to stand over the black unicorn, “you try and sneak her back out of here I’ll cut your horn off and throw you to the guards.  I’ll let you keep the foal if that’s what you really want, but that whore nag is mine.”  

Dozer turned and stormed out of the small room, yelling out orders here and there, and assigning two guards to the store room to make sure that Twilight didn’t leave.

If any of this registered with Twilight, it didn’t show, she was in agony as more contractions hit, getting closer together.

Shadow slowly picked himself up, his head was ringing as he staggered to his feet.  He looked to Twilight, his ears laid back and tears stinging in his eyes.  He had done some horrid things in his life, he had killed, he had murdered, he had raped… but he had never regretted anything like this, “What have I done…” he said to nopony in particular, but after a moment, he turned, cantering quickly off, he needed to get some water, and some blankets for the lavender unicorn, and her coming foal.



Author's Notes
Chapter 4! i have a headache, i wasn't sure i'd be able to get this done today, but once I get typing, it doesn't stop!  This isn't the darkest this story will get, Twilight still has yet to hit rock bottom.

Finals are over! i should be able to get chapter 5 cranked out tomorrow.  I'm not... writing this too fast, am I? is this coming out as rushed or something?

as for Celestia, she found out, but she always has that demenour of calm this going on, i didn't see a pressing reason to have it crack here.  It will, not even gods can hold their temper once they find out whats been done to their once faithful students.

Oh i remember something i wanted to say.  I remember i once read a series called the Anita Blake series.  I stopped reading around book 13-14 because the plot was becoming incredibly difficult to pull out of all the bad porn written in it.  That is one if my fears in writing this story.  It is a story that HAS to have sex in it, because of the path it is taking, however i don't want to even approach the line where the story i want to tell is difficult to extract from the sex.  

I do hope i am not rushing the pace of this story either, i am skipping large chunks of time so i can focus on specific events.  This story doesn't happen all over a weekend, it is likely going to span around 2-3 years, or more in all.  One of my problems is i keep forgetting how long its been since the story started, thats what i get for not keeping an outline, mmm?

Events happen in these large chunks of time, but i decide that they don't have the greatest meaning to the plot as a whole, so they tend to be glossed over, or vaugely mentioned.  If i went into each of the stories, i could make this take several times longer, but thats not my intention, nor do i think i am capable of the thought required to go into those plots and side plots.  I'll leave that for professionals.
> Ch. 5: Dead Mare's Ballad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Days blended into weeks as Twilight Sparkle suffered in her own personal hell, the only thing that was missing was the fire and brimstone, and even some days, it was only the brimstone that was missing.  Twilight had become a toy of the gang, chained in that store room, day in and day out, a heavy chain tied around her neck, barely letting her stand at her full height, and a ring of cold iron wrapped around the base of her horn, deadening her magic.

Twilight lost track of who was above her, they all tasted the same, they all felt the same; this time there was a shaft ramming down her throat again, forcing her to swallow every drop of his foul seed.  The stallion above her whickered in pleasure as he drew his dripping shaft out of Twilight’s throat, one last twitch sending a splatter into her mouth, making Twilight gag in disgust, but obediently she closed her muzzle, and swallowed.  She knew the consequences of doing otherwise, as were told by the scars dotting her face, and the black eye that she was sporting.

The rest of Twilight’s body was in worse shape, though less scarred.  Her ribs were showing, her mane ragged and unkempt, her hide missing fur in patches, but even that was better than how she felt inside.  Every attack, every assault, a bit more of her sanity chipped away, a bit more of her heart died, sometimes she wished they would just kill her… but there was one thing that kept her alive.

And there was one thing that brought living terror to her.  A harsh laugh sounded from outside her small cell, jerking Twilight rudely from her depression into pure fear, and a moment later, her worst fears were answered as the monstrous form of Bull Dozer opened the door, staring at Twilight with what seemed to be the most twisted, malevolent grin of anypony in the world.  Twilight started to her feet with a whinny of fear, pulling back and jerking on the chain that held her head, choking herself in the process.

Dozer let out a harsh laugh, “Your eyes say ‘no no,’ but we both know your body begs for it,” he taunted as he stepped towards her, a hoof kicking the door closed behind him.  Twilight froze stock still as he came within touching distance, Dozer’s muzzle slipping down and nipping hard at Twilight’s lips, drawing blood and a whimper of pain and fear from the lavender mare.

“Oh come now, where’s your fight? Don’t tell me it’s all beaten out of you,” he taunted as he walked around Twilight, a hoof slamming into her shoulder and causing her to stumble with a help of pain.  “Maybe I should just kill you, and give all my attention to your lovely little daughter.”

That got Twilight’s attention.  Shaking the drugged haze from her she whinnied, lifting her head and trying to draw her magic in vain, a back hoof lashing out to glance over the stallion’s ribs, “You leave her alone!”

Dozer laughed, “That’s the spirit,” his teeth roughly biting at the base of Twilight’s tail, ripping out a chunk of fur, and drawing a shriek of pain from her, Twilight’s hooves kicking out again reflexively, but too weak to do any damage, the mare stumbling and almost falling.  Dozer hardly wasted any more time however, leaping up against the broken mare’s back, his heavy weight landing solidly between her shoulders, and knocking the air from her lungs as Twilight tensed in terror.

Dozer was larger than any of the other stallions, a giant.  All the way from the sleeping bull on his flanks, his brown fur and mane, to his broad, muscled chest, and thick legs, he was a giant, making even the ruling alicorns seem like foals besides him.  And the massive shaft that now came up behind Twilight, and suddenly slammed in her sex was no exception.  The feel of that massive shaft splitting Twilight nearly in half drew a pained scream from her, one that only rose in pitch as Dozer slammed himself into her battered body.

Twilight’s screams of pain continued for the better part of a half hour as she was brutally taken, and then tortured, until they finally die away, too hoarse to make another sound as the torture continued.  

Dusk finally began to settle on the city when Dozer stepped out of the room, splattered in blood, glancing back to the silently sobbing form of the unicorn, “I’ve got big plans for you sweetheart, rest well, you’ll need your strength.”  He looked to the single stallion that was assigned to watch the room, “No one else is allowed to use her until I say otherwise.”

The guard nodded as Dozer turned and trotted off.


	***


Twilight lay sobbing there until her tears dried up, feeling broken and dead.  It only a little while later however when the door opened again, causing the lavender mare to jerk her head up in fear, and stare through teary eyes at the shape in the doorway.

“It’s only me Twilight,” Came the softer voice of a stallion, one that Twilight recognized, and she immediately sagged in relief, her head dropping back to the hard ground that she laid on.  Shadow stepped into the room, a bucket of soapy water, a bucket of clean water, and a pail of oats and wheat floating behind him, as well as a brush.

Twilight opened her mouth, trying to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse cough, and she gave up as Shadow moved around besides her, setting the buckets down, placing the one with clean water and the pain of grain before her.  Twilight lifted her head shakily, and lowered it into the bucket of water, starting to drink deeply, easing her sore throat.

“I’m sorry I was gone the past few days… I think Dozer is keeping me away, errands and all.  Let me get you cleaned up, and I’ll bring in Dawn,” Shadow said, telekinetically taking a cloth from the bucket of soapy water, and starting to gingerly wipe Twilight down.  Twilight was covered in small wounds and burns this time, Dozer having taken a sadistic glee in torturing the lavender pony for hours.  Shadow gently cleaned them, and wiped down the rest of her hide, before using the brush to start brushing out her mane and tail.

Twilight lifted her head from the pail of water, her voice weak, and cracking as she spoke, “Why do you do this for me Shadow?” as she had asked dozens of times, never seeming to remember the answer, or maybe just needing a reminder.

“You are a good pony, I hate seeing you here like this… I want to help you, I wish I could… do more,” came the soft reply.

“Why don’t you then?”

“I can’t, Dozer has a hold over me, I… I’m not a good pony,” Shadow replied.

“So why don’t you leave?” Twilight asked.

“I’m a murderer Twilight, you know this.  I’m a murderer and a deserter, where would I go?  If anypony found out who I was, I would be hung for treason.  A pony doesn’t get away with murdering a superior officer, even if he deserved it,” Shadow said softly.

Twlight nodded with a sigh, falling quiet, but turning her attention to the pail of food, eating some.  She knew she had to, or Shadow would force feed her, he had done it before when she had tried to starve herself to death.

After a few minutes more of silence, Shadow set the cloth aside in the pail of now bloody, soapy water, and rose, taking it with him as he moved to the door, knocking.  The door opened and Shadow stepped out, only to be replaced a moment later with a tiny little filly that came galloping into the room, wrapping her arms around Twilght’s neck.

Twilight grunted and smiled as she was attacked, a hoof coming to wrap around the child, and nuzzling into her back, before drawing her head back to look at the little filly.  Nearly a year old, and she was already so beautiful.  Glorious Dawn’s coat was a soft shade of pink, hinting at the first blush of sunlight on the horizon, and her mane and tail several shades of red shifting into a broad, brilliantly golden band, and her wings both that beautifully golden color.  She had her mother’s deep purple eyes however, ones that looked up at her mother, full of love, without understanding the pain and the suffering of the place; all of Dawn’s life, Twilight had been chained there.

Dawn pranced around her mother a bit, her golden wings flapping excitedly, having not seen her mother for a few days.  Shadow returned a few minutes later, moving to lie besides Twilight as Dawn chatted on happily, rambling and talking about what she had been doing the past few days.

Most of the chatter didn’t register with Twilight, her mind slow and hardly working these days, still kept drugged on various things most of the time.  It had only taken two nights of Twilight’s screaming through the entire night, disturbing the guard and anyone else in the complex so badly that they had finally pooled some money together to feed Twilight’s addiction to Moon Sugar.

It was a while before Glorious Dawn finally settled down, curling up between her mother’s hooves, where Twilight started nuzzling and fussing over her daughter, much to some dwindling and sleepy protests from Dawn.  Dawn was the one light in Twilight’s life, the only thing that kept her alive.

Dawn fell asleep with her head on Twilight’s hoof, her energy giving out quickly.  Dawn was small, tiny, a runt, due to a mixture of Twilight’s drug abuse, and malnutrition, but she was doing better, and growing stronger, all thanks to Shadow.  

Twilight was growing tired as well, and growing sleepy herself, but she moved her head to nudge Shadow’s side gently.  Shadow stirred from wherever his thoughts had been, and nodded to Twilight, producing a pouch from beneath his mane, and levitating out a small pinch of Moon Sugar.  Twilight obediently opened her mouth, and the sugar was placed beneath her tongue.

Euphoria soon washed over Twilight, and she laid her head down overtop Glorious Dawn, soon falling asleep herself.


***


Two weeks passed quickly, and it was strange, no ponies other than Shadow came to visit Twilight Sparkle.  Twilight spent most of it resting, or reading a book after she begged Shadow to bring her one, not caring what it was on.  Twilight got to spend some quiet evenings then as she recovered reading to her daughter, and telling her stories.  Twilight’s wounds slowly healed, and fur started growing in again, but Shadow was worried, he knew something was wrong.

One morning, Shadow stirred, and rose, little Dawn shaking herself off as she looked to her sleeping mother, knowing it was time to go home.  Dawn hated going home, she liked staying with her mother, but she gave her mother’s head a big hug, and a kiss, before she turned to trot over to Shadow, her wings fluttering a little.

Just then the door opened, Dozer standing there with a smirk on his face as he looked to Shadow and Dawn.  Shadow quickly moved himself in front of Dawn, shielding her, “We were just heading home Dozer.”

“Why don’t you let the little filly stay the day today? She does so love her mother after all…” Dozer replied, but Shadow felt the cruel twist in those words, despite Dawn’s overjoyed hopping behind him.  Shadow knew that Dozer was up to something.

“Why don’t you go settle down with your mother for a little, alright little Dawnie?” Shadow said without glancing behind him, “I need to have a word with Dozer.”

Dawn happily complied, prancing back to her mother, and wiggling her way back under Twilight’s head.  Shadow stepped forwards as Dozer backed out of the room, closing the door behind them.

“Alright Dozer, what’s going on? I know you are up to something,” Shadow demanded to know, frowning at the smirking pegasus.

“Oh nothing all that big, I’ve got a little business arrangement I’m taking care of.”

“What -kind- of business?” Shadow demanded to know, “and you leave Dawn out of this.”

“Oh what, are you soft on that little filly? Well it’s too bad, she is part of the package,” Dozer grinned.

“Package? What package?”

“That washed out old nag, and her filly.  I’ve got some gryphon who is going to buy them both off of us.  That old whore was fun to break, but shes useless now, but the filly had to be part of the deal, I’m sorry if you liked her.”

Shadow blinked, taking a step back, before narrowing his gaze dangerously, “What the hell gryphon are you going to sell a pony to?”

“Oh I think his name was Ambassador Grasson Razorbeak, and he’s bringing his son, something about teaching his son to be a real gryphon,” Dozer chuckled, “He’s paying fifty thousand bits for this, and you aren’t going to buck this up for me, or the gang.”

Shadow’s eyes widened, “That bird is a monster!  How he became ambassador I’ll never understand, you… you can’t be serious about actually -selling- the mare to him?!” Disbelief was evident in Shadow’s voice, slowly turning to outrage.

“Oh yes I can, now get out of the way, he is going to be here any minute,” Dozer said, “I have to get them prepared, he is going to be here in half an hour.”

Shadow set his hooves on the floor firmly, widening his stance, “I can’t let you do that!”

“What, are you going to stop me?” Dozer asked.  “You are dead meat if you think you can turn against me.”

A black glow took over Shadow’s horn, but before he could let out a blast, another one caught him from the side, knocking the black unicorn sprawling, though he quickly recovered his feet.  Shadow spun, only to see a number of other ponies, unicorns and earth pony thugs alike closing in, other members of the gang that were more loyal, or more controlled by Dozer than he was.  

Shadow bared his teeth as another blast came at him, and he leapt to the side, looking for an opening as he spun away.  Power flared from Dozer’s horn as he managed to get a spell off, vanishing as blackness swept over the area for a moment.  

When the darkness cleared, Shadow was no longer there, and it took the ponies a few moments to hear the thundering of hooves and the smash of a door as Shadow burst outside into the light.  A number of ponies shouted, and turned to give chase, but Dozer’s voice roared above the others, “Forget him! Let him go, what the hell is he going to do? Get in there and secure the mare and the filly, and get them out to the center of the factory, and chained down right, I don’t want any mistakes in this!”

Ponies skidded to a stop at his voice, and obeyed, turning to head into the room, where screams of a terrified, tiny little filly suddenly rose, followed quickly by shouts of protest from Twilight.


	***


Glorious Dawn was terrified, her body flatted to the ground as she watched, peeking from behind wings that she held over her head, her body shaking.  There was a rope tied around her neck, and around her hooves, attached to the floor and keeping her from running, or flying, and all the little unicorn could do was watch as her mother was half led, half dragged out. 

Twilight had barely walked in a year, she was weak and unstable, stumbling often as the other ponies forced her into the middle of the cleared area, before tying her hooves down to the floor.  The little cries of fear from Dawn drew the lavender unicorn’s attention, her eyes wide with shock and fear to see her precious child there as well.

“What are you-“ Twilight began before a hoof struck her across the face.

“Shut up you old nag,” Dozer growled.  He looked over, “Just in time too,” he smirked, stepping back, “she’s all yours Ambassador Razorbeak.”

Twilight jerked her head around to the sound of the next voice, her eyes widening in fear as she saw the powerfully built gryphon stride down the walkway into the cleared floor of the factory, “Excellent, well done.  Your payment as promised,” he said, pulling the saddle bags off his flank with his claws, and tossing it at Dozer, “You can stay and watch… if you want.”

Dozer quickly picked up the bags, opening them up to see the piles of bits inside, “It has been an absolute pleasure doing business with you Ambassador,” the pegasus retreating a bit of a distance to give them room, the other ponies dispersing, except for a few that Twilight recognized from their many… visits, but she didn’t see Shadow anywhere.

“Come along Gerald,” the older gryphon said, glancing behind him, and slowly, a young gryphon walked out from behind the boxes as well, looking nervous, and only around five years old, if Twilight has to guess.  “Now pay close attention my son, because today you are going to become an adult gryphon, and take your place in the family.

The young gryphon looked like he could hardly believe what he was seeing, a look of horror on his face as he shook his head slowly.  The elder gryphon walked up to the smaller one, and cuffed him on the head, “Wipe that look off your face! Ponies don’t deserve any remorse! They are inferior, now pay attention!”

The smaller one let out a little squawk, and nodded, trying to school his face as he moved to sit, and watch his father.

Grasson turned his attention back to the captive pony, and stalked forwards, moving around her slowly, a predatory look on his beaked face as his gaze looked over the entire pony, “A poor specimen, hardly worthy to wet my claws with her blood,” he mused, a paw coming up to slide a claw under Twilight’s chin.

Twilight cringed under the touch, her ears flattened back to her head, “P-please!” she begged, her eyes wide with fear, panting with it already.

“Please what my dear? Oh I don’t think you even have a choice in the matter.  Mmm, I thought you looked familiar, you must be Twilight Sparkle, I know so much about you.  So this is where you ended up, a whore for a group of common thugs,” the gryphon taunted, “it’s a shame what happened to your… brother.”

Grasson brought his claws his to Twilight’s shoulder, stroking once through the fur along her side before suddenly driving them into her shoulder, eliciting a shriek of pain from the pony as he dragged his claws back down along her side, drawing a torrent of blood to pour from her side.  

Twilight’s breath quickened in fear and pain as she tried to shy away, but she was too firmly tied, tears sliding down her cheeks as Grasson licked the blood casually from his claws, before moving along behind the mare.

Grasson was quick to move, pulling himself up onto the smaller pony’s back with his claws, sinking them into her flank as he gripped her, in a position that Twilight knew very well.  Powerful arms pulled the large gryphon into position, and it wasn’t more than a moment before Twilight felt the tapered tip of the gryphon’s malehood pressing into the folds of her sex.  A Moment later, a powerful beak bite the back of Twilight’s neck, drawing a shriek of pain from her as it bit into the flesh deeply, just as Grasson slammed his hips forwards, driving his strange feeling shaft deep into the pony’s vulnerable body.

The reason the shaft felt so strange became evident a moment later as the gryphon drew his hips back, barbs flaring deep inside the lavender unicorn’s body, and dragging brutally along the tender walls of Twilight’s passage, forcing torturous pain and pleasure into the mare’s body, her entire body convulsing and clenching around it as she let out a whinny of distress.  

Grasson released his bite on the mare’s neck as he thrust in once more, starting a hard, and brutally torturous pace into the filly’s body, “I knew your brother, briefly, I saw when he died… it was glorious.”

Twilight’s body shook as she sobbed, the mention of her brother just ripping apart any dignity and self control she might have had, “what do you know… of my brother?!” she demanded.

Another hard thrust came, knocking the wind out of Twilight’s lungs as Grasson laughed, hissing in pleasure, “Oh I’m the one that killed him! Who do you think stirred that Ursa Major up, and led him to that village?  Oh I was hoping to see a lot more ponies die, believe me.”

Twilight gasped in shock, her body clenching as an uncontrolled wave of pleasure was forced through her by those barbs raking deep inside her, “I don’t… you couldn’t have…” she started trying to say.

“Oh yes, yes it was me, he fought to defend for hours,” Grasson taunted, “He might have survived too, if not for that sudden squall that blew the reinforcements that were inbound off course,” he grinned as he continued raping the lavender pony’s body.  “What, did you think that only ponies could control the weather? I pulled together that storm… they arrived just too late to save your brother, he as good as died by my claws…”

Twilight shook her head as she sobbed, all of her pain and loss rushing up to drown her, “You… you bastard! How could you?” anger and hatred and all sorts of emotions surging up within her.

“Very easily my dear,” Grasson taunted, his thrusts becoming harder and faster as he let out a low growl of pleasure, “And now… now I am going to wipe your pathetic family off the face of Equestria.  First I am going to kill you, then my son is going to kill your precious little baby.”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide as this, all of the emotions solidifying inside of her suddenly into one single feeling.  Love. Love for her daughter, and the need to protect her.  Her head suddenly shot up even as she felt Grasson’s shaft bury itself deep into her one finally time, a squawk of pleasure coming from behind her as she felt a hot gush of seed deep inside her, the heat and flaring of barbs sending her over the edge into a brutally forced orgasm as she lifted her head and screamed.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” the power rocked the building as Twilight’s horn suddenly took light, the ring of cold iron shattering and cracking as the unicorn’s power was suddenly unleashed.  A shockwave of power erupted from the unicorn’s horn, shattering her restraints, knocking over most of the boxes and machinery still left in the factory, and flooring all of the other ponies, though washing over the two smallest occupants of the warehouse.

Twilight’s eyes glowed vividly white as boxes, machines and full grown ponies alike started to rise into the air, but Grasson somehow managed to cling desperately to Twilight’s back, his barbs locking them into place as the mare’s body rippled around him, catching him between fear and ecstasy,  power rushing through him. 

All of the drugs in Twilight’s system burned away beneath the power she drew, and her head twitched as she cried out in rage and pain.  Boxes and machines began flying, one catching Dozer right in the chest like a ballistic missile, smashing him through a wall, and out of the factory.  Several other ponies were caught as debris started to swirl around in the air, crushing some, shattering bones in others, and ripping others to pieces.

A suddenly flash of pain shot across Twilight’s neck, making her twitch hard as everything seemed to come to a sudden standstill.  Twilight looked confused, and startled for a moment as she looked down, and while she couldn’t see anything, she felt a sudden heat pouring down her chest.  Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but the only thing that came up was the gurgling sound of blood and air as it poured out her mouth as well.

Grasson Razorbeak pulled himself off of the pony, his claws covered in blood as Twilight Sparkle dropped to the ground, her lifeblood spilling out on the ground as Glorious Dawn screamed.



Author's Notes
PLEASE! before you start yelling at me for killing Twilight, she is NOT DEAD! I have plans, she will be saved, just please bear with it.

That said, tomorrow is the weekend, I might not get any writing done over the weekend, you might need to wait until Monday to see the next chapter.  Then again, it is a proven fact that I get obsessive, this will likely see chapter updates every day until I am done with the story, but you will need to wait until tomorrow for the next chapter.  

We are getting towards the end now, and it is running fairly much just as I expected it to.  I do hope you enjoy this.  I have said before that some works of art are people's hearts and souls made bare.  I am not sure this is one of those works, but it does lay out the darkness in my heart, and the darkness that I know must exist in the hearts of many.  It is not that we have this darkness, it is what we do with this darkness that matters.  Do we let this darkness consume us? or do we channel it?

Alright, enough metaphysical philosophy for a day, I hope you have enjoyed my story thus far, and I hope that this was Twilight being badass enough for you!
> Ch. 6: Kickstart My Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hooves thundered on the cobble paving stones of Canterlot’s main street as a black streak shot past ponies going about their daily life and business, weaving around the larger obstructions, and causing other ponies to dive out of his way.  Black coated ponies were not a common sight, most of them belonged to Luna’s Night Guard, so it was a startling sight to see to see a unicorn charging so recklessly towards the palace.

A pair of guards on patrol were almost bowled over as Shadow dashed past them, causing one of them to stumble, and the other one to start giving chase, “HALT! IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA STOP!”  Shadow just ignored them, panting hard as lather flecked his coat, charging head long towards the palace.  

The guard that stumbled spread his wings and took flight, a pegasus, winging after the sprinting black unicorn, diving down in an attempt to take him down.  Shadow heard the noise at the last moment and turned his head to fire a blast of telekinetic power, sending the guard flying through the air before he caught himself again.

Approaching the gates of the palace with an earth pony on foot chasing, and the pegasus catching his breath, and dashing after the unicorn, the pegasus darted ahead, calling, “CLOSE AND LOCK THE GATES!”  Shadow just put on another burst of speed, easily in competition for the fastest pony runner in Equestria right then.

The massive double doors of the palace entry started to slowly swing close, but they were too slow.  Spear wielding guards took position right inside the door, bracing the spears on the ground to catch the charging unicorn as he closed in, while civilian and noble ponies scrambled and scattered in the panic, trying to get out of the way.

Just as Shadow was about to hit the wall of spears he took a powerful flying leap without breaking stride, launching himself up and over the squad just a bare moment before the doors slammed closed, but he did not get past unscathed; one enterprising guard in front jabbed his spear up, catching the unprotected chest of the black unicorn, and deflecting to slice out along his side.

Shadow landed, stumbling hard, but he picked himself up as the guards wheeled, and took after him.  The hallway before him was lined with guards however, who closed into his path quickly, a number of pegasus taking to the air to create a wall as Shadow charged into them, fighting to try and get past them, yelling, “I HAVE TO SEE THE PRINCESS!”

***

Celestia was sitting in her throne room, handling affairs as usual, though there seemed to be a bit of sadness about her.  As long as she lived, there were many she had cared for, seen grow, rise in power, prestige, and eventually pass, but as long lived as she was, she mourned slowly, and a bit of light seemed to have faded with her with the loss of Twilight.

Luna had been supportive, and had been just as upset, Twilight Sparkle had been important to both of them, having saved Luna from the grip of the Nightmare Moon years before, and having proven to be one of Luna’s first, and truest friends.  Despite the searches, no sign of their beloved niece-in-law, student, and friend had been found.  Even Cadance had been deeply affected, losing her sister-in-law so soon after losing her husband.  Things in the castle were only slowly starting to get back to normal, but Celestia had been slower than the others to recover.

Celestia was only paying partial attention to what the noble before her was speaking of when a disturbance in the vestibule caught her attention.  All of the guards in the room were suddenly at attention, weapons drawn as they turned towards the entrance, and a wall of guards were forming before them.  Through the doors she spotted a mass of her royal guards swarming around a black pony that she couldn’t see, though it did not take them long before they had the pony in question down, and restrained with the magic of several unicorns.

“What is the meaning of this?” Celestia asked, her voice rising loudly over the murmurings sweeping the crowd, “Bring the intruder here.”  At Celestia’s command, the crowd parted, and a dozen armored earth ponies started marching through the doors, followed by two dozen armored unicorns, with even more pegasus hovering in the air above.  In the middle of this ground was a single wounded black unicorn, restraints of multicolored magic, maintained by the unicorns bound him, pulling him through the air as he struggled.

“What is the meaning of this intrusion? State your purpose!” Celestia demanded as she lifted her head, reclining on her throne.

“I recognize this pony,” spoke up the captain of the guard as he stepped forwards from Celsetia’s side, “He’s a traitorous worm, wanted for assassination, mutiny, treason, and deserting his post!  He cannot be here for anything less than trying to kill you! Allow me to-“

“Wait! Please!” Shadow began, struggling against his bonds, before looking up to Celestia with fear and hope in his gaze, “I bring word of Twilight Sparkle, she is in danger!”  

Silence had been reigning throughout the chamber as this spectacle took place, but it broke at the metion of Twlight Sparkle, rising into a roar as noble ponies started talking amongst each other.  Celestia sat on her throne, her eyes widening in shock, before she rose sharply from her throne, her voice booming out, “SILENCE!  Release the prisoner immediately!”

The entire room dropped to a deathly silence as Shadow was placed down, where he rose slowly, speaking up before waiting, “Please there is no time! She is going to be killed!”

A dark frowned tainted Celestia’s lips, “How do you-“ but she was cut off suddenly.

“There is no time your majesty! You must hurry! She is in the abandoned factory at the outskirts of the city near the western edge of the city! You must hurry or she and her daughter will die!”  Desperation dripped from Shadow’s voice, trying to make her understand, “I’ve been running for half an hour! There is no time left!”

The captain of the guard stepped forwards, “Please your Majesty, a cur like thi-“

“ENOUGH!  Call the pegasus guard! We fly now! Get all the squadrons that you can get air born in the next thirty seconds!” Celestia shouted, fixing the unicorn with a deadly glare, “If you are lying to me... Captain, get that unicorn treated and then take him to the dungeon.”  Celestia stretched her wings, spreading them as the pegasus scattered from the air as the captain of the guard, and earth pony, shouted orders.  Celestia leapt over the crowed, eliciting a collective gasp as her wings carried her across the hall, hitting the ground running.

***

Shadow’s body sagged as he saw Celestia heading out of the castle, panting heavily, and gasping for breath as he finally let the effects of the run catch up to him.  Earth ponies and unicorns closed in around the black unicorn, moving to pull him to his feet.  

It took a few moments for Shadow to get his breath back, looking around at the grim faces of the guards around him.  A grin started to slide onto Shadow’s face as he realized exactly what he had done, turning into a giggle, and then finally a full out laugh, almost collapsing as he laughed madly.

The earth ponies and unicorns drew back, uncertain while the captain of the guard stepped forwards, “Is something funny, cur? You know that you are going to hang for your crimes against the crown.”

Shadow managed to control his laughter for a moment, and nodded, “Yes, I know, I just threw my life away for a strung out, broken mare and a runt of a filly that no one even cares about,” flashing white teeth as he grinned at the captain.  “And you know something? I think I would do it again,” he laughed, before he staggered, coughing heavily.

The captain frowned a moment, before he slowly smiled, “I knew Twilight Sparkle as a filly, and I served under her brother before he died.  They were two of the most spectacular and wonderful ponies to walk the palace, besides the princesses.  If what you told is the truth, you may be able to avoid the hangponies noose.”

Shadow nodded, straightening again, “It’s the truth… I just hope that I was fast enough…” his smile fading as he started to walk, the ring of guards moving with him.  He knew the way to the infirmary, and started making his way slowly there.

***

Celestia’s wings beat powerfully, leading five squads of ten pegasus each as they winged at breakneck speeds towards the factory.  It was only a few minutes flight for the princess and the pegasus, but fear clutched at Celestia’s heart.  Her beloved student had been in the city the whole time? And she couldn’t find her?  Oh how she had failed her student… no, her niece, Twilight Sparkle was family now.

The flight was closing in on the building, only a few hundred yards away when a massive surge of pink and magenta power erupted from the building, blowing out the windows and rippling outwards, blowing even Celestia back, causing them to pause.  Celestia’s heart skipped a beat as she recognized the taste of Twilight’s magic, a smile slipping to her face.

“Move move!” Celestia yelled, “Squads one and two and three, ring the building, let no one escape! Squads four and five with me!” as the princess began to wing towards the building.

The power began to twist, and several heavy pieces of machinery crashed through the walls, leaving bloody smears on the nearby buildings and streets as they impacted, but suddenly the power paused, and flickered out just as suddenly as it had come.  Celestia’s heart skipped another beat, filling with dread as it felt like it stopped in her chest, but she dove quickly for one of the holes that had been smashed out by flying machinery.

Celestia could feel where the dying wisps of magic came from, speeding towards the center of the complex, trailed by two squads of pegasus fanning out behind her.  What waited for Celestia in the center was a thing out of her nightmares.  Standing there was the figure of a powerful, older gryphon, his claws bloody as Twilight slipped out from beneath him, the barbed and blood covered shaft dragging slowly from beneath the lavender male’s tail, a victorious smirk upon his lips as Twilight’s lifeblood sprayed in the air, and a keening wail filled Celestia’s senses.

A roar of raged filled Celestia as she dived into the gryphon, who looked up with startled and shocked fear for a moment just before Celestia’s gold clad hooves slammed into his side, throwing him hard to the ground where he slid, with the sound of breaking bones and a squawk of pain.  Celestia landed nimbly where she was as the guards with her dove after the gryphon, slamming into him and pinning him.  

Two more pegasus leapt onto the back of a much smaller gryphon, eliciting a high pitched squeak and squeal, though they were far more gentle with him than they were with the older gryphon.  The elder gryphon roared in pain and anger, “Let go of me! Unhand me you filthy curs! I have diplomatic immunity! You cannot touch me without starting a war with the mighty Gryphon Kingdom!”

Celestia pointedly ignored him, all of her attention on Twlight as she moved around before the bleeding pony.  She lowered her head, tears dripping down her muzzle, “Mother help me…” she prayed, her horn lighting with brilliant white light as she drew and gathered her power.  White light started to swirl around Celestia, and all of those gathered had to avert their eyes, lest they be struck blind on the spot.

Celestia lowered her horn to Twilight’s throat, and suddenly that light flowed into the wound, lighting it with the sun’s glorious power of life, slowly starting to heal it, the wound beginning to close as the bleeding stopped.  But Twilight’s body was weakened, nearly dead, drained of resources, and the process was slow, painstakingly slow.

Minutes slowly crawled by like eons before Celestia’s eyes as she watched the wound close, and the glow fade from the wound at long last, but still the fallen pony did not stir.  “Breathe,” Celestia said, whispered, pleaded of Twilight, touching her horn to the mare’s chest, and releasing a shockwave of power into her, one that rippled the mare’s body in convulsions before it laid still again.

Tears started to cascade down Celestia’s muzzle, dropping onto the fallen pony, as she drew power again, “Please, breathe, my beautiful little pony…” touching her horn to Twilight’s chest again, over her heart, and releasing the energy shockwave to pulse into her.  The convulsion caused blood to spray from Twilight’s mouth, and her body to rock before falling still again.

A pink and golden streak suddenly broke free of a knot of pegasus, freed from the ropes that had bound her, she ran right to her mother, and wrapping her hooves around the lavender mare’s neck, crying and wailing, “Mommymommymommy! Wake up Mommy! Get up mommy! Please mommy! Please please! Get up!” she begged, tears rolling down her cheeks in great big sobs of fear.

Celestia could only lift her head to stare at the child, and marvel at her beauty for a moment, before her attention turned back to Twlight, “If not for me, my beloved student… then for her,” power focusing into the tip of her horn again, “please…”

Celestia touched her horn again to Twilight’s breast, over her heart, focusing and releasing the pulse of magic into her again.  Twilight’s body arched again, rippling as the magic pulsed through her, taking a sudden gasp, before coughing heavily, coughing up blood, before she lay still again, still but for the gurgling sound of breath as she slowly breathed.

Celestia let out a sigh of relief, before she brought her muzzle to touch the sobbing little filly, “She’s alive little one… your mother is going to live, calm yourself… this is all over now, be brave, be strong, your mother will need you soon, more than ever.”

The little pegasus looked up at Celestia with wide, fearful eyes, her mother’s blood staining her coat a deep burgundy as she clutched her mother’s neck, but she sniffled, scrubbing the back of a hoof across her face to wipe away her tears, but that only succeeded in smearing blood across her face.  Nodding with a brave little smile as she sniffled, the little filly hugged Twlight’s head and muzzle.

Celestia was lying in a pool of Twilight’s blood she realized, and she slowly picked herself up from it, looking to a nearby pegasus. “Fly to the castle, swift as you can, alert medical teams, bring back a stretcher and prepare Twilight for transport back to the castle,” her voice shaking, unsteady, but she schooled herself, stabilizing it.

“UNHAND me you wretch!” roared a voice nearby her, towards which Celestia spun quickly, fury in her eyes.

“SILENCE!” she roared, in a voice dwarfing even the gryphon’s voice, “I am more than aware of the privileges of diplomatic immunity, but you are now accused of rape and attempted murder!” Celestia snarled as she closed in on the gryphon, power swirling around her, her entire form gleaming with brilliant light.

The male gryphon cringed back, looking terrified of the avatar of the sun, “if… if you harm me! It will start a war! You will lose many more of your precious little ponies! I promise you!”

Celestia stepped back, “This transgression will not go unpunished,” she looked to her guard, “Take this miserable drake and his whelp of a son, bind them, and take them to the castle dungeon until a day I am less likely to turn both of them into a pile of ash.”

A number of guards nodded and saluted smartly, before producing the required rope, binding the two captives quickly and efficiently, and started dragging them away to the continued threats of violence from the elder drake.

Celestia stood still a moment, slowly rebuilding her calm, her attention turning worriedly to the fallen body of her student… her niece, moving to her, and lowering her head as she waited.

It only took ten minutes for the pegasus she had sent to return with a handful of other pegasus from the castle infirmiry, carrying a stretcher between them.  Normally they had a unicorn to help them move bodies, but they laid down the stretcher besides Twilight, moving around the lavender mare, preparing to move her.  

Celestia held up a hoof though, motioning for them to wait, drawing her own power, and wrapping it gently around Twilight, slowly and very gingerly lifting her up, and placing her on the stretcher.  The team nodded, moving carefully to lift the stretcher up, and hooking it into the harness, while another started taking vitals from the mare.

Little Glorious Dawn looked on with a trembling lip, looking like she was about to burst into tears again as her mother was slowly taken away, scrambling to her little hooves to chase after when she suddenly found a bit white muzzle in her way.

Celestia spoke in a soft, gentle voice, “Come little one, why don’t you come with me? I am an old friend of your mother’s, how about I take you to the palace, and introduce you to the rest of your family? Would you like that?”

Dawn’s big purple eyes looked up at Celestia with a mix of wonder and fear, her mouth opened a bit, but she couldn’t find words, overwhelmed by everything, so she just nodded dumbly.  Celestia smiled, slipping her nose beneath the foal’s belly, and turning and placing the tiny filly on her back, between her wings.  Shifting her wings a bit, Celestia settled them gently around the foal, before turning, and trotting after the medical team transporting Twilight.

The tiny foal didn’t even make it outside before she was sleeping, very cutely curled up between Celsetia’s great wings.  Celestia smiled sadly back towards the tiny filly, before looking around.  

Only about a quarter of the squads she had sent to ring the building were in the air, the rest on the ground wrestling with, and securing the gang members who had tried to flee the abandoned factory.  The thunder of hooves trotting down the street announced that a battalion of earth ponies and unicorns were approaching to help wrap things up, and secure the factory.

A pegasus swooped down to land near the princess, “Your Majesty, would you like me to summon a chariot to take you back to the castle?”

Celestia considered the stallion, before shaking her head, “I will walk today, return to securing everything here.”  Princess Celestia, her pristine white fur drenched in the blood of Twilight Sparkle, turned and moved to walk after the stretcher carrying Twilight Sparkle again, catching up quickly, and joining it in a small procession that wound its way through the city, keeping a careful eye on the condition of the lavender pony, and of the tiny package sleeping nestled between her wings.

***

Two days passed, leaving Grasson and Gerald to stew in the dungeon cells before Celestia called to have them brought.  The two gryphons were escorted by eight well armed unicorn guards into the throne room where Celestia sat on her throne, a grim expression on her face.

To Celestia’s right sat Luna, looking just as majestic and beautiful as her elder sister, but just as grim of an expression on her face.  The princess of the moon gave a worried glance to her sister of the sun, having never seen Celestia’s cool demeanor crack, not in all the years since she had returned, and she was here partly at Celestia’s request to keep her from doing something she might regret.

The Front of the square of unicorns parted and Grasson strode forwards, managing all the haughty airs and pure arrogance that he could muster while he had one paw bound to his chest, and his wings wrapped in bandages bound to his ribs.  

Behind Grasson came Gerald, hanging back, trying to hide behind one of the unicorns before he was pushed rudely forwards where he tumbled to graceless sit, looking up at the two sisters with absolute terror on his young face.

“THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!” Grasson squawked as he hobbled forwards, “When my liege hears of how I have been treated this will mean-“

“SILENCE!” Celestia roared, her voice booming thunderously, and echoing off the walls, making even the arrogant ambassador cringe.  Rising slowly from her throne, Celestia spread her wings slowly, striking an intimidating figure as she glared down at the wounded drake, “You stand accused of violating our most sacred laws.  You were witnessed by me, in the very act of raping a member of the royal family, and attempted murder of said member! You also stand accused of conspiring to commit rape and murder of a yearling foal, also of the royal family!”

Grasson blanched, color draining from his white feathered face, “That… that mare was… She was just a whore in the-“

Celestia stomped a hoof, threatening to shatter the marble steps as the sound reverberated throughout the room. “Choose your words -very carefully- ambassador, that is my niece you speak of,” though Celestia didn’t raise her voice, the anger in it was enough to melt bones.

Grasson swallowed, but slowly rebuilt his confidence, “You can do nothing to me, I have diplomatic protection under the treaty YOU signed with the Gryphon Kingdom! Breaking that treaty would mean war! Are you willing to throw away the lives of your precious ponies over one filly?”

A deep frown crossed Celestia’s visage as the considered the drake, before she turned her head to the steward standing beside her, “Steward, pen a letter to the Gryphon King, explaining to him in detail the charges Grasson Razorbeak stands accused of.  Tell him I have no wish for this transgression to disturb the peace between our people, and we do not hold the gryphon people responsible.  We would however take it as a show of favor for him to make a gift to us the punishment of this wayward drake who tried to incite a war between us.”  Diplomacy had always been one of Celestia’s strong points, so she left the punishment to the gryphons in hopes of furthering relationships.

“Then I want this miserable drake and his whelp caged, and transported to the gryphon capital city, and have our ambassador there hand deli-“ Celestia was suddenly cut off by a high pitched squeak, turning her head sharply towards the audience chamber.

The little gryphon, maybe only five years old was on his feet, looking terrified between the sisters on the throne, and the larger gryphon besides him, trying to rush forwards suddenly towards the throne, only to be stopped in the teal grip of one of the unicorn guard’s telekinesis, “Please! Please your majesty have mercy!”

Celestia was about to open her mouth and strike down the whelp verbally, but what he said next stunned her into silence.

“I don’t want to go back with him! He wants me to hurt ponies and be like him! Please! I don’t care if you lock me up forever! Just don’t make me-“  The words were cut off in a pained screech suddenly as claws slashed across the whelp’s head.

Gerald fall over, screeching in pain and desperately trying to crawl away as Grasson stood over him, “INSOLENT LITTLE WRETCH! How dare you turn your back on-“  A blast of searing light cut the elder drake off suddenly, catching him in the chest and searing off the feathers, sending him flying back a good ten feet where he landed hard, rolling in agony, smoke pouring off the wound on his chest.

Celestia stood halfway down the stairs, her horn glowing brilliantly.  Luna moved quickly down the steps, touching her sister’s shoulder and speaking softly as she shook her head, “Sister…”

Celestia looked to her sister, her body shaking, but slowly the light died from her horn as she turned her attention back to the elder drake, “How DARE you spill the blood of an innocent in my throne room!  Guards, take him away, in chains, have him tended in the infirmary before carrying out my instructions!”

The guards nodded her heads and saluted smartly, grabbing the injured drake in their magic, and lifting him up, turning as one as they closed around him, and trotting off in lockstep towards the infirmary once more.

Celestia’s expression softened as she looked to the wounded fledgling, stepping down from the dais as she approached, Luna staying at her sisters side.  Celestia lowered her head to the sobbing gryphon, “What is your name little one?”

“G-Gerald, Gerald Razorbeak,” he sniffled, looking up in fear at the two princesses standing over him, his paws clutching the wide of his face where he had been injured.

“And you don’t want to return home?”

“No… No your majesty, please, throw me in the dungeon! Anything so I don’t need to go home! I don’t want to hurt ponies! He’ll make me hurt others, I just know it,” the little gryphon begged, groveling on the floor before the two princesses.

Celestia smiled gently, trying to ease the child’s heart, “I do not think a dungeon cell is the proper place for a good, young gryphon like yourself.  Steward, have this child taken to the infirmary and have his injuries cleaned, stitched, and bandaged, then see him to a guest room, and make sure his needs are taken care of.  We will have you looked after until we can find a family that will be willing to take you in.  Oh, and steward, keep his father away from him.”

The little fledgling’s eyes widened a bit as all of that registered, “Oooh thank you thank you your Majesty!”

Celestia smiled, before turning away, climbing the stairs to her throne again an retaking her seat as two servants came to help the gryphon to his feet, and start escorting him from the hall.  “Oh, and Gerald,” Celestia started, “please don’t wander around the palace, stay in your room for a few days until things have calmed down.”

***

After a brief recess after the stressful meeting, giving servants time to clean the blood off the marble, and pegasus to blow the stench of burned feathers and seared flesh from the room, and after some tea for Luna and Celestia, it was time to deal with the other matter at hand.  “Captain, bring out the other prisoner.”

The guard captain saluted smartly to the princess, “Yes Your Majesty!” he said, before he turned and trotted off, returning a minute later with a black unicorn whose hooves were chained in hobbles, and he had a heavy metal collar around his neck, as well as a sheath of cold iron around his horn.

Shadow did not fight those leading him, and strangely enough, held his head up, though with a concerned look on his face, stopping and kneeling down at the foot of the dais.

“Shadow Hoof, former sergeant of the eleventh division, sixth tactical recon and strike squad,” the captain read off of a scroll, “You stand accused of committing an act of mutiny, murder of a superior officer, high treason, and deserting your post, how do you plead?”

Shadow glanced to the captain a moment, before he looked to the seated sisters on their throne, “Please, your Majesties, before all of this, I beg you, did Twilight Sparkle make it? Is she alive?”

Celestia blinked, considering the stallion, which was facing a quick execution for these charges, and he was more concerned about Twilight Sparkle.  After a moment’s pose, she responded softly, “Twilight Sparkle is alive, as is her daughter, all thanks to you.  How do you plead sergeant?”

Tears sprang suddenly to Shadow’s eyes at the news, and a smile spread over his features, “Guilty… guilty, every word of it… at least I didn’t throw my life away for nothing,” he said as he lowered his head, relief washing over him, relief and acceptance.

The guard captain frowned, “The penalty for such crimes is death, you are aware of this?”

Shadow nodded, “yes, I am well aware.”

Celestia looked between the two for a moment, before focusing on Shadow again, “all of this, would you do it again?” she asked softly.

Shadow blinked away tears, looking up at Celestia with some confusion as he considered the answer, before he finally replied, “Yes, in a heartbeat.”

“Why?” Celestia asked.

Shadow lowered his head, “Because Twilight is a special sort of pony, she knew what I was, she knew what I had done, and even then she accepted me, she was my friend.  She is my friend.  All I regret is that I waited so long before getting her help… I could have saved her so much pain and suffering.”  Tears fell from the stallion’s muzzle as he spoke.

“Justify your actions for murdering your superior officer and abandoning your post, you do not strike me as the sort to just commit an act of cold blooded murder,” Celestia asked of the stallion.

Shadow looked up, a bit surprised, before his expression darkened, “The bastard got my squad killed.  We got some intel that there was going to be a gryphon force moving through an area, we were sent to investigate, report back numbers, movement, organization… but the intel was bad, we stumbled into an ursa den.  My squad was wiped out trying to escape; I was the only one who made it out alive.”

“I found out later that he knew, no one could screw up intel that bad anyways.  Those were my friends, my brothers in arms.  They were my responsibility.  Other squads were getting wiped out because of that bastard; I had to take him out.”

The guard captain frowned at all of this, “If you had any proof, you should have reported it.”

“I didn’t have any proof, he hid it well, and that’s why he was able to get away with it for so long.  But I knew, I paid attention after that.”

The guard captain mused, “Squads did stop going missing after that, but who can say as to the truth?”  The captain looked to Celestia for guidance on this.

Celestia frowned as she considered the stallion, silent for a few minutes while she weighed the arguments and facts.  Finally she spoke, “Very well, I will give you one chance.  For now, I am giving you to the custody of the guard captain.”

Celestia looked to the guard captain, “release him from his chains, get him some armor, and get him to work.  I want him training all day, put him through his paces, put him through the exercises, put him through everything.  Put him through hell, and then return him to his cell at night.  I will call on him when I am ready, make sure he is ready for anything I may ask of him.

The guard captain saluted smartly, motioning the unicorns to unchain him, “right away Your Majesty.”

As Shadow started shaking off his chains, he rose, but before he turned, something occurred to him, and he turned back to the dais, “Your Majesty, may I ask how Twilight’s daughter is doing?”

Celestia frowned a moment, “She is… understandably upset.  Everything has changed for her, and very quickly, she is adapting, but she misses her mother.”

Shadow nodded, “I… I spent a great deal of time with her, I was practically her…” he paused, and shook his head a moment, “Her babysitter.  May I be allowed to visit her?”

Celestia blinked again, but a slow smile slipped onto her face, and she nodded after a moment, “Yes, you may, one hour a night before her bed time, I think she would like that.”

Shadow bowed his head, “You are most beneficent Your Majesty, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”  He lifted his head after a moment, drawing back and turning, trotting away under escort, almost prancing, his head held high.



Author’s Notes

I really feel like I am hitting WAY too many clichés in this chapter.  What do I have going? Diplomatic immunity, check.  Tear jerking death scene with emotional barely reviving after several attempts to save her life, check.  The bad black guy is really an outstanding hero, he just has a shady past, check.  The power of love/friendship drives someone to a stupid, selfless act that should cost them their own life, check.  Said act DOESN’T cost them their life, check!  I’m not sure what else I’m doing that’s cliché… but I’m sure its something!

I’m sure I might have more to say, but I’m hungry right now.  I might go back in and twiddle with the death scene of Twilight, but normally after I write something I leave stuff alone for the most part. 

I think there is only one more chapter left, and then the epilogue, I hope that is not cutting it too short… but we will see.

Also, i hope everyone is noticing the music references in the titles!
	
> Ch. 7: A story told by many voices
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight sat alone in her room, her eye pressed to the eyepiece of an old telescope, watching the horizon as the first stars came out.  She was fascinated by the stars around this time of night most of all, she had always felt a connection with them, perhaps because of her namesake.  Twilight looked away from the telescope for a moment, a magically held quill quickly scribbling notes and marking some positions of stars as she worked on her research.  It wasn’t very interesting to most people, but Twilight Sparkle liked to have things categorized, all nice and tidy, and she had made it a hobby to catalogue the first stars to appear as twilight set across the land, before it gave way to Luna’s glorious night.

Twilight pressed her eye back to the eyepiece of the telescope, carefully judging a few more stars when an object suddenly flew across her field of vision.  Twilight blinked, and lifted her head to peer out of her window.  Right there, by Canterlot on the distant mountain she saw it, a chariot.  No that wasn’t right, she couldn’t see it from that far away… 

The longer Twilight peered, the larger the spec grew, and it made Twilight realize, that was the Princess’s royal chariot, and it was headed right for Ponyville!  And it was only a few miles out!  This fact confused Twilight; she always had a message when one of the princesses was coming to town for an occasion, or even a visit.  She even got messages when her brother and his wife wanted to stop over for a visit!

Twilight took a quick moment to organize her notes, and galloped out of her bedroom, and into the main room of the library, looking around at the mess.  “Oh noo oh noo! This won’t do at all!” Twilight wailed to herself, her magic starting to envelope books, and stuffing them into empty places on the walls.  Twilight was just putting the last book on the shelf when there was a heavy thud from outside the tree.  Twilight rushed to the door, taking a quick moment to put her mane back in order before she opened it and stepped outside to see who was there.

Princess Celestia had stepped down from the chariot, and was walking towards the tree without any escort.  Twilight Sparkle’s ears lifted, almost joyful to see her long time mentor, and now technically aunt-in-law, “Princess Celestia! This is a surprise! What are you doing…”  The words dried up on Twilight’s tongue as she saw something she had never seen on the princess’s face before, a grim, sad determination.

“Please Twilight, my faithful student… can we step inside?  I bring news that should not be shared in public,” came the princess’s voice, managing to keep it even and calm.

Twilight blinked, her happy mood evaporating, but she nodded, “Of course Princess,” stepping backwards inside, and holding the door open.  Princess Celestia followed, ducking her head down low to fit inside, looking around the place before moving to a pile of cushions that Twilight often relaxed on.

“Please, sit Twilight…” compassion and sadness in that wise voice as Princess Celestia looked back to Twilight.

Twilight trotted after Celestia, frowning, but moved to sit on the cushions, looking up at her old mentor with worry spreading across her face, “Princess?”

Princess Celestia bowed her head, “I come bearing terrible news, news that I felt I had to deliver in person.  Two nights ago there was an… accident, an attack… an Ursa Major assaulted a small town.  Your brother was stationed there on training maneuvers.  He defended the town bravely while the rest of the guard was decimated.  He prevented any civilian or guard casualties… but… Twilight, I’m sorry.  Your brother was killed… he was… oh I’m so sorry Twilight,” the words catching in Princess Celestia’s throat.

Twilight Sparkle looked up at Celestia with wide eyes, the horrible truth almost refusing to break through.  This had to be a trick, some bad joke, “This is… you can’t be…” she started, but she saw the horrible truth and pain written across Celestia’s face.  “He can’t be… he can’t be!” Twilight wailed in defiance, trying to push the truth away, but tears started to run down her cheeks, her voice fading, “he just can’t be gone…”

Princess Celestia didn’t know what to say, there was nothing she could say to her young student, her friend, her niece in law.  Instead she moved slowly to lay besides Twilight, a soft white wing stretching over the young lavender mare, “I’m so sorry Twilight.”  She felt she had done a terrible wrong to the two of them, she had separated the two years before, and they had never been as close as they once had been, she had denied Twilight Sparkle years of living near her brother, years of memories and love that would never be.

Twilight buried her face into Celestia’s shoulders as she wailed in pain and loss, crying her heart out as she remembered and clung to the memories of her brother, trying to will them up and call them to her mind.  Her whole world dissolved around her, fading into the blackness of loss as she remembered her big brother, her best friend.


***


A shape stepped out of the blackness, startling Twilight who took a step back.  She was back on the street where she had first met Hot Shot.  Darkness had fallen and Twilight was nervous as she returned to the poor, run down section of Canterlot so she could see if she could acquire another supply of those sleeping herbs, hers having run out a few nights prior and leaving her tossing and turning to some rather disturbing nightmares about her brother’s death.

“Who are you? I’m not here for trouble!” Twilight said, setting her stance as she made herself stop backing up.

A deep chuckle came from the black unicorn, one who seemed to almost be a part of the shadows themselves, “Me? Oh I’m nobody, but you can call me Shadow.  I remember who you are Twilight Sparkle, what brings you back to our lovely little neighborhood?”

Twilight frowned, “I remember you too, Shadow.  I’m here to visit Hot Shot again.”  She turned and moved to trot around Shadow, heading down the street.

Shadow watched the little mare with an amused expression, but turned to trot along with her, “Ah, a second date is it? I can’t blame you, he is a lady killer.”

Twilight colored and stopped, turning to the larger black stallion with an indignant glare, “This is not a date!” she declared, “And what do you want anyways?”

Shadow blinked and stepped back, “Whoa whoa there little lady, I was just teasing!  Sheesh, lighten up a little,” holding up a hoof a little defensively.

Twilight blinked, and let out a sheepish chuckle after a moment, “Sorry… I guess I am just on edge about being around here.”

“That is understandable,” Shadow said.  “Look, I’ll make sure the gang leaves you alone, and give a little company on the way there.  I was just trying to be friendly, and I wanted to say I was sorry for… well the whole fiasco of last time.  No hard feeling?” he asked, holding out his hoof to the lavender mare.

Twilight blinked at Shadow, a bit surprised, looking at the hoof a little dubiously a moment, before she smiled brightly, reaching her hoof to shake his, “No hard feelings.  And thank you. For the escort I mean.  I am a little out of my depths in this area.”

Shadow grinned at Twilight’s smile, dropping his hoof down after a moment, and turning to lead the way, “I am not surprised.  You might not be nobility, but you rub flanks with them, and I bet you always had a privileged upbringing.”

“Well, a bit of one I guess,” Twilight said sheepishly as she turned to trot besides the black stallion.  “I do try not to let it go to my head or anything, I’m not one of those stuck-up ponies like Prince Blueblood or anything.

The two chatted a bit as they walked, but Shadow left Twilight at the door to Hot Shot’s apartment complex, trotting off to his own business.


***


Shadow stepped from the darkness of the allyway as Twilight trotted by.  The lavender mare looked over with a smile, “Hello again Shadow,” not even breaking stride as the stallion settled in to trot besides her.

“Hello yourself Miss Sparkle,” Shadow teased in a playfully formal tone.

“You always seem to be there when I show up.”

“I am something of a lookout for the gang, besides, you come around on a regular enough schedule.”

Twilight nodded sheepishly, biting her lip, “I guess I do.  So is that all you do?”

Shadow shrugged, “I’ve got a number of talents.  I didn’t always run with this gang, I used to be in the military, once upon a time.”

“Oh? What happened? How did you end up down here?”

That seemed to be a bit of a sensitive subject, Shadow glancing away for a moment, before finally responding, “We had a… bit of a misunderstanding.  I was part a recon and strike squad, most of my squad was wiped out in a botched mission and… things just weren’t the same, so I left.”

Twlight frowned, and touched the stallion’s shoulder with her nose, her voice soft, “I’m sorry to hear that…”

Shadow shook his head, “It was a long time ago.  So how about those Wonderbolts? I hear you have a friend that flies for them?” changing the subject abruptly.

Twilight caught the change of subject, but let it slide, telling that Shadow wasn’t comfortable with the subject, so she laughed softly and nodded, “Yeah, Rainbow Dash.  Everypony knows her signature move.”

“Yeah, that Sonic Rainboom thing, it’s rather spectacular…”

The conversation moved to other things as the two trotted along, until Shadow left Twilight at the apartment complex again.


***


Twilight Sparkle was early this month, she had gone through her supply too quickly and needed more.  She was looking forwards to seeing Shadow again, everything with Hot Shot was just business, but she was developing a friendship with Shadow.  He didn’t always stay the whole walk, but he always stopped by to have a word with her on her way.

Today however she didn’t see the black stallion; turning her head this way and that as she looked for him, she wasn’t paying enough attention, and ran right into a large pegasus just as he stepped out of a building.  Twilight let out a startled oof as she fell back to a sit suddenly, looking up and blinking in confusion a moment at the pegasus.

“Hey! Look where the hoof you are going.  Bucking tourists,” came the gruff reply, the voice belonging to Bull Dozer, who Twilight recognized almost immediately.  

Twilight scrambled to her feet and backed off a few steps, “E-excuse me…”

“Hey! I recognize you! You are that little… what was her name, Toilet Spankies that was supposed to be so tough, wasn’t it?”  Dozer asked in a mocking tone as he turned and stepped towards the lavender mare.

Twlight’s back stiffened with indignation at that.  “That’s Twilight Sparkle to you!” she declared, planting her hooves against the approach of the stallion.

Dozer laughed, “Oh that’s right, excuse me if that name fails to drive here into my heart.”  He stepped forwards, “You aren’t so tough, come on you little filly, get over yourself,” bringing a hoof up to Twilight’s chest and giving a hard shove.

Twlight let out a yelp as she reared up and stumbled backwards, falling to her side with a thump before she scrambled to her feet, “Hey! What gives! I didn’t do anything to you!”

Dozer smirked as he moved after the lavender mare, bringing up a hoof to give her another hard shove, “Maybe you have money, this isn’t a very safe neighborhood, maybe I want to take that money!”

Twilight yelped again, managing to twist to land on her feet, and galloping a few paces away before turning to focus on the stallion, “Stop it! I’m warning you!”

A grin spread over Dozer’s face as he continued towards the pony, “And what are you going to do about it little filly? Go running home to your mommy?” he taunted, bringing a hoof up and slamming it hard into Twilight’s face.

The change from pushing to a hard blow caught Twilight by surprise, letting out a cry of pain as she fell over, bringing a hoof up to gingerly touch her face where she had been struck, and seeing blood on her hoof as she pulled it away from her cut lip.  Twilight looked at it in horror, her ears laying back as she looked up, just in time to see another hoof descending on her, smashing into the other side of her face and sending her sprawling.

“Now pay up nag! I know you have bits on you! Spit them out! I can keep this up all day!” Dozer bellowed, standing overtop Twilight as she shook her head clear from the punch.

Twlight groaned, and rubbed her face, wincing in pain, before looking up at the stallion above her, first in fear, then in anger.  Suddenly her horn lit, and a blast of power from it struck Dozer in the chest, throwing him back a few feet.

Dozer was taken by surprise, his wings flaring and flapping a moment to catch himself, hovering off the ground a few feet before he dropped back down, striding forwards as he lifted another hoof to strike at the filly again, “Why you little…”

“Stop it!” Twilight shouted as a sudden glimmering shield popped up around her, Dozer’s off just bouncing off of it.  Twlight pulled herself to her feet, her legs trembling a bit.

Dozer snorted in annoyance at the shield, bringing his hooves up to smash repeatedly into the shield, trying to crack it.  Twilight grunted with each slam, knowing that Dozer wasn’t going to give up.  The shield held for a moment, but she couldn’t move while she was still maintaining it, and eventually Dozer’s strength would cause her to falter, she couldn’t stay there forever.

More power poured from Twilight’s horn, “I said STOP IT!”  And suddenly the shield exploded forwards, the powerful force catching the pegasus solidly and flinging him away.  Twilight watched in horror however as Dozer shot through the air and slammed hard into a brick building, the sharp sounds of bones breaking heard as Dozer slumped to the ground.

Twilight’s eyes widened with fear as she dashed forwards, “Oh my gosh I am so sorry!” her magic reaching to wrap around Dozer, slowly and very gently picking him up and looking to see how badly she had hurt him.

Dozer had a broken wing, though that was about it, letting out a groan as he came to again.  Realizing he was being held by a concerned looking lavender unicorn’s magic, his rage skyrocketed, “Put me down you filthy nag!”

Twilight blinked and complied, putting Dozer back on his feet, “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“I don’t want your sympathy! Get out of here you runt before I call my boys to smash your face in!” Dozer bellowed, stomping a hoof before wincing.

Twilight’s lip trembled, she had never hurt a pony like that before!  But as Dozer took an aggressive step forwards, she turned and bolted into the darkness of the night.


***


Flashes of conversation played in that darkness as time marched forwards.

“Please AppleJack, I promise I’ll pay you back!”

“Ahright Sugar, but that’s a lot of bits… If you don’t get us paid back, we might be a bit short on seed come winter wrap-up.”

“Trust me Applejack, I’ve got you covered.”



“You seem depressed Twilight, is something troubling you?

“No… yes, alright something is Shadow.  I’m having a rough time of things.”

“Would you like to talk about it? I know a nice little tea shop around the corner.”

“Thanks Shadow, but really I’m just tired right now, I just need to get some Moon Sugar and sleep, I will be fine.”

“I think you should stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop the Moon Sugar…”

“You don’t understand Shadow…”

“Then Explain it to me.”

“Look just... leave it alone, I will see you next time.”





“I’m Sorry Pinkie, I don’t have the bits yet… I’ll have them soon though! I promise!”

“Oki Doki Loki!”



“You don’t look very good Twilight, maybe you should talk to somepony.”

“Like who Shadow?”

“Like a councilor, don’t they have ponies who specialize in that stuff?”

“I’m not crazy Shadow.”

“No but you do have a problem.”

“Look can you just drop it?”

“Twilight I’m worried about you.”

“I’ll be fine, just drop it.  You are my friend, but I’m gonna buck you in the head if you bring this up again.”

“Alright alright…”



“Fluttershy, I know you need those bits for some special medicine… but I really need just a few extra bits.  Please? I will pay you back I swear!”

“Oh um, I guess so Twilight, I can go help around town a little bit and earn a few extra bits I suppose…”

“You won’t regret it Fluttershy! Thank you so much!”

“What do you need it for?”

“Oh I’m um… just a few bits shy for some research I am working on, I gotta run!”

There was noise, pain, fear, and everything faded to black again.


***


Twilight woke at a nudge, opening her eyes to see Hot Shot standing over her, color rising to her cheeks as she noticed what was hanging beneath him, but she shifted, rolling to her belly and rising.  Hot Shot leapt onto Twilight’s back, as he had done so many times.  This time however, Twilight let out a yelp as she felt the broad head of his shaft hit higher than before, right against her untouched pucker.

“Hot Shot, wait you are-“ Hot Shot thrust suddenly, slamming himself into her ass as Twilight let out a shocked scream of pain at the dry, and brutal penetration, her hooves scrabbling at the floor before giving way, carrying both of them down to the ground while Twilight tried to pull away.

“Hush now sweetheart, just relax, it’ll be easier for you, and it’ll all be over soon,” Hot Shot said, not exactly soothingly however, as he drew his hips back, eliciting a groan of relief from Twilight.  The relief was short lived however as Hot Shot slammed himself in deeper, Twilight’s neck arching as she groaned, whimpering at the unfamiliar intrusion.

Hot Shot continued, thrusting in deeper until he had managed to hilt himself inside a groaning Twilight Sparkle.  Twilight Sparkle felt sick to her stomach as the shaft started pistoning roughly inside her, her body shaking in pain as a few tears fell down her muzzle.  

She wanted to tell him to stop, she wanted to beg him to finish… but the last time she had done that, it had been over taking him in her muzzle, and he had cut off her supply of Moon Sugar for three days until she came crawling back to him, begging to please him for some Moon Sugar.

Hot Shot finally hilted himself one last time inside Twilight, whickering as he released his load deep inside her.  Twilight grimaced at the feeling of his burning hot seed in such a place, filling her in such a way, but she lowered her head, panting, just glad it was over.

Hot Shot finally withdrew, and without a seeming care for Twilight, he trotted off, leaving the apartment to tend to some business without so much as a thank you.  Twilight laid there sniffling for a bit, but finally roused herself, and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

It was around an  hour later before Twilight finally emerged from the bathroom, coat brushed, hooves polished, may brushed… trying to hide the humiliation she felt at letting Hot Shot do that to her.  Twilight threw an old cloak over her shoulders, settling it so it covered her cutie mark, and much of her main, and trotted for the apartment door and opened it, closing it behind her as she trotted out, and locking the doors.

It was after nightfall, sadly Twilight had missed the setting sun, but she pushed that away as she trotted outside, carefully looking around.  Finally Twilight grew the courage to trot outside, and down the street.  Shadow emerged from a side street just as he always did, settling in besides Twilight.

A genuine smile blossomed across Twilight’s features as she looked up at him, “Hello Shadow!”

“Hello yourself Sparky,” he said, calling her that since she was apparently on the Equestria’s Most Wanted list, at least that’s what she insisted when she had first seen him after giving herself to Hot Shot.  “It’s a lovely night, how are you doing?”

Twilight looked away a moment, “I’ve been… better I guess.”

“Oh? What happened?” Shadow asked with some concern.

Twilight shook her head, “It’s nothing really.”

“It is Hot Shot again? Isn’t it? He hurt you again?  Just say the word and I’ll knock his block clean off,” Shadow growled while they trotted into a tea shop.  Shadow paid for two cups of herbal tea, and they settled at a table while Twilight shook her head.

“No! Please don’t! It’s alright, really,” Twilight said hastily, trying to soothe the stallion’s anger.

“No its not Twil.. Sparky, you deserve better than him.  Why are you still down here? I wish you would go back to Ponyville and your friends, this isn’t a good place.”

Twilight looked away, and shook her head sadly, “No, no I don’t deserve better… not after what I’ve done.”

Shadow sighed, “I think you are just blowing things out of proportion.  I at least deserve to be down here in a place like this.”

Twilight looked to Shadow, looking for a change of subject, “What makes you say that?”

Shadow looked down, studying his cup of tea for a moment before sipping from it, and setting it back down after a moment.  “You remember that squad I was in that I told you about? Back when there were hostilities with the gryphons?  That was my squad, I was leading it… those men were my responsibility, and my friends.  We were supposed to just be monitoring some troop movements, nothing too dangerous, just some recon… but our intel was bad and we walked right into an Ursa Major den.  It was a bloody massacre, I only barely escaped with my life.”

“I was in the hospital for a month before returning to duty, I was stripped of my command for the debacle… I ended up back in the same area, and late one night I was on patrol, and I heard something, I saw something… The same officer who had given us our directions was talking with a gryphon of all things,” he growled, “I heard… I heard him planning on sending another squad to their deaths.  My squad.  I waited until the gryphon had left, then I ambushed the officer on the way back to his tent and killed him.  A patrol happened upon me before I could do anything, and I had to run.”

“I’ve been on the run ever since, there is a warrant out for my arrest.  I committed high treason and whatnot, I’m looking at the noose if I’m ever caught.  I could have done something else, I should have, but I murdered a pony.”

Twilight frowned, “It sounds like you did the right thing to me… all things considered.”

Shadow shrugged, “And it sounds to me like you are blowing things out of proportion, I have a feeling you do that a lot.”

Twilight looked a bit embarrassed, offering Shadow a sheepish grin, “I’ll make you a deal, the day you go back to the military, I’ll go face the music at the palace.”

Shadow blinked, and chuckled, “I guess fair is fair.  You’ve got a deal.”

Twilight giggled softly, though her expression turned a little more somber, “Besides… I think I’m pregnant…”


***


A scream broke the silence, and Twilight panted, laying her head down slowly.  Shadow stood behind the prone lavender pony, wrapping something up in a blanket, before levitating it to lay between Twilight’s hooves.  The small pink coated pony cried in protest at everything as Twilight lowered her muzzle, cooing and trying to calm the tiny child, while Shadow spoke softly, “Congratulations Twilight, it’s a girl.”

Twlight smiled broadly, though her look became more concerned as the child didn’t stop crying.  “Are they supposed to cry that much?” Twilight asked with some concern, “I never knew they were so little…”

“She is too small, she is also premature by a few weeks… what you were taking may have… harmed her, and you haven’t been taking the best care of yourself you know.”

Twlight looked up at Shadow in shock and fear, “You are… You are saying this is my fault? Is she going to be alright?” There was panic in that voice, and it struck the both of them clearly.

Shadow shook his head, “I do not know… but I will take care of her, you cannot… not from here.  It is the least I can do after I got you into this mess.”

Twilight nodded, her ears back as she looked down, and started to cry, sobbing as she nuzzled her screaming daughter, “She… she cannot have my milk… its… its said that some drugs can be passed in a mare’s milk, I… she cannot…”

Shadow nodded, “I know, I should take her home so I can get some artificial milk for her, or some cows milk.  Twilight I’m… I’m so sorry if I…”

Twilight lifted a hoof and placed it to Shadow’s lips, shaking her head, “No, no this isn’t your fault, this is my fault.  All of it, please, don’t blame yourself Shadow… you’ve done so much for me… and I’m asking a lot more from you…”

Shadow smiled sadly at the bound lavender unicorn, and lowered his head to rub his nose against hers, before his black magic wrapped around the pink baby pegasus and her swaddling, and rose, carrying the child close to his chest as he turned and rushed off with her.

Twilight looked after Shadow, before she broke down sobbing, broken hearted and absolutely destroyed.


***


The next few weeks were rough for Shadow, bringing a colicky filly  by to the factory to see Twilight every evening, and staying through the night with the mother and her child.  

Twilight herself spent the first few nights attempting to sleep screaming from horrible nightmares, and then wracking pains and shakes that assaulted her during the daylight hours.  Shadow finally managed to buy some Moon Sugar for Twilight, and calm her down, letting her sleep.  From then, he managed to get a few bits from the other ponies every few days to manage to secure a supply from Hot Shot, easing the spirits of those forced to guard her, and of Twilight herself. 

The tiny pink filly slowly grew stronger, and better tempered, tottering around and playing with her mother.  It quickly became some of the happiest times for the three of them.



But all of that was soon to change.  Two weeks after her arrival, Dozer decided he had given Twilight enough time to recover from her ordeal.  In the middle of the afternoon, while Twilight was napping, the door suddenly burst open, and in strode Dozer.  He had some wicked looking tools with him, items that Twilight’s mind refused to fully comprehend, as well as items she couldn’t figure out a use for, but terror slowly filled Twilight as her eyes settled on his twisted grin.

“It’s time to play my little pony,” Dozer said in an almost singsong voice.  Twilight started to struggle against the chains, but to no avail.

“L-Look! I’m sorry! I never meant to-!” Twilight started before one of Dozer’s hoof smashed across her face, making her see stars.

“Shut up you stupid nag! You uptight little whore! I know what you pretended to be! But you are just a slut like so many others.  You sold your body out just for a fix.  Well I’ve got your fix right here,” he grinned as Twilight started to sob in fear, taking a wicked looking knife from the stuff he had brought with him.

What came next, Twilight’s mind couldn’t even remember properly, all she remembered was how much she hurt, and how terrified she was.  The things Dozer did to her left her a bloody mess, day after day.  Shadow had to spend hours every evening washing the blood from her hide, and tending her injuries before he could bring Dawn in to see Twilight.  Twilight insisted every night that Dawn come, and Shadow quickly saw that Dawn was the only thing that kept Twilight going.

After weeks of dedicated torture, things took another twisted turn for the poor filly.  After finishing with her early one afternoon, Dozer left, and other ponies, stallions stated coming in, she became free game for the entire gang.  The ways they used her, and raped her made her wish she was still beneath Hot Shot.  The stallions took turns using and humiliating her, leaving her covered in filth, spunk, and blood most evenings.

The sight was enough to break Shadow’s heart every night, but Twilight begged him to come back every time, and he could not refuse her.  He brought little Dawn every night after he gently bathed her, and gave her all the comfort he could… but he knew in his heart he should stop this.

Twilight’s suffering became something she could tolerate in time, used to being the toy, the whore, the thing… she had her time with Shadow, time she came to cherish just as much as her time with Dawn… but in time that too would end.


***


The darkness closed in around Twilight, and she floated there in the pain and suffering, and the perfect stillness of everything, an eternity passing her by in the blink of an eye.

The sound of hoofbeats finally stirred Twilight, her head lifting as she looked around.  In the distance she saw a shining white light coming closer.  Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to make out what it was, and determined it was a pony.  The light came closer and closer until it slowed a few dozen yards away, approaching at a steady walk.

“Hello Twili,” came the voice, making Twilight’s heart leap with glee, and fear, the light dimming a bit as Shining Armor stood there.

Twilight gasped, and leapt to her feet, rushing to the shining stallion and wrapping her hooves around his neck, “Big Brother!” she cried, burying her face in his gleaming white neck, starting to sob uncontrollably.

Shining Armor put a hoof slowly around his little sister, hugging and holding her, “You’ve been through a lot Twili, I’m so sorry… I wish I had been there for you.”

“It’s so wonderful to see you brother!  I’ve missed you… so… so badly…” Twilight sobbed, rubbing her face into his shoulder.

“I know Twili, I was watching… I was always watching.  You need to let go Twilight, you need to let go of me.”

Twilight drew her head back with wide eyed eyes, “I can’t brother! I need you! I’ve always needed you!”

“No you don’t little Twili, you never have.  I love you sis, more than anything… well, anything but Cadance…  But you need to let go of me, you have your own life, your own friends…”

Twilight lowered her head as she stepped away, “No I don’t brother… not anymore.”

Shining Armor smiled, “Ofcourse you do, do you think any of them love you any less? And that Shadow is a good pony, he looked after you like I would have… maybe better.”

“Shining… please! You have to stay!” Twilight wailed, sinking own, “I can’t do this without you.”

“I can’t Twili,” Shining said, lowering his muzzle to nuzzle away her tears, “You have everything you need.  I can’t do this for you… you’ve been holding on to me for too long, and it’s been destroying your life.  Let me go, accept those around you… and Twilight, I need to ask you to do something.  The hardest thing you’ve ever done.”

Twilight sniffled, looking up at her brother, “Anything Shining.”

Shining smiled at Twilight, “Forgive yourself.  I love you Twilight, I will see you again, one day… fare well.”  Shining Armor turned and started trotting away into the blackness, his coat returning to that shining glow that it had taken before.  That shining glow started to spread, enveloping everything.

Twilight watched her brother go, sniffling, sad… but realizing he was right… calling after him, “Farewell Brother!”

The light became blinding, and Twilight had to shield her eyes from the brightness, squeezing them tight.


***


When the light faded, Twilight slowly opened her eyes with a groan, not recognizing where she was for a minute.  Rolling slowly over in a bed, she saw all sorts of medical equipment.  As she ended up on her side, she suddenly ended up face to face with a gryphon beak.

Twilight stared in raw fear for a moment as the eyes above that beak slowly opened, giving a little squeak as it yawned, almost cutely.  Twilight however panicked, letting out a shrill scream of fear, which was quickly returned as the gryphon infront of her woke up.  Twilight’s power wrapped around the gryphon in her fear, suddenly throwing him away and into a wall hard as Twilight tried to scramble to her feet, only to find bands of fabric over her chest and haunches holding her down.



Author's Notes

This may seem like a compliation of short stories from missing gaps throughout the story, and it is in a way, but it is also the steps on the path that Twilight walked.  The sections were too inconsequential to mention then, but they are the places Twilight's mind traveled in her coma, thats how i am intending this peice to play.  It is something of a filler story i guess, so i am sorry for that and the lack of any real plot for most of it, but it was what i wanted to write, between a suggestion from a reader, and a suggestion from my one friend who was willing to read this.  

I don't have much else to say, except that d3 inferno diffiulty is tuned really high, i can't even get started there.
> Ch. 8: Permission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The young gryphon paced the length of his room.  It was a nice room, which was certain, it had a large bed, it had an attached bedroom, he could get anything he wanted from the kitchen, it even had a gorgeous view out the window from the balcony, overlooking half of Canterlot, and then the sheer drop below of almost half a mile down the sheer cliff sides!  But he was a child, and he was growing bored!

It had been three days since he had arrived at the palace, he still remembered the first day, the beautiful and frightening princesses, the fight with his father, then being taken to the infirmiry and seeing her there.  Even for one so young, seeing that lavender mare laying there as doctors busied themselves around her lifeless looking body was frightening.  He had tried to go look, but his escort had quickly stopped him.

He thought about her as he walked to the window doors, opening them up with a claw and stepping out.  Thinking about her made her sad, made something inside his chest hurt.  He remembered seeing his father doing that… terrible thing to her, it still made him wake up in cold sweats at night hearing those screams.

And to top it off, he had wanted to make him do that to that pretty little filly!  It made Gerald’s blood run cold, a cold little hatred for his father, and he pawed at the railing, leaning up to look over the edge.  Gerald had heard that little filly outside his door the prior day, and had gone to investigate, he had wanted to tell her how sorry he was, his mind playing over what had happened.

Gerald opened the door slowly as he heard the little tittering voice of the filly, and the sound of hooves of several more ponies.  A guard stood outside his door, glancing down with a frown at the gryphon, but Gerald ignored him for a moment, stepping forwards, looking to see who was coming.  Coming down the hallway was an adult alicorn, her pink coat and magenta, purple, and pale yellow mane, she almost could have been the mother of the tiny little pegasus prancing between an older unicorn filly, and a pegasus colt that looked to be about a year younger than that.

The guard cleared his throat, “You should go back inside your room, mister Razorbeak,” his voice sounding gruff.

Gerald looked up a bit surprised, “I just wanted to say hi to…” his voice trailed off, looking down the hallway as the four ponies approaching all stopped.  Three of them were glancing at him curiously, while the one that Gerald knew was named Glorious Dawn stared at him with wide eyes filled with terror.  

Gerald took a slow step towards them, “I’m…” he started to say when the little filly let out a scream that made the gryphon cringe, before she turned and bolted the other way down the hallway, her little wings flapping wildly as she sprinted for all she was worth, startling the three other ponies that had been with her.

The alicorn gave Gerald a bit of a concerned frown, but Gerald barely noticed, shrinking back, before he bolted back into his room crying, the door slamming behind him.

Gerald sighed to himself, That was a swell way to make friends, he muttered to himself, looking down the long drop to the ground below.  He had heard the alicorn and the children making their way back down the hall again later that night, gently coaxing the timid filly along, and he had heard them a few times today, but he hadn’t even thought about going to see her again, just that look of fear, and the memory of the scream making sure he gave them their space.

But that still didn’t fix the problem that Gerald was bored out of his mind!  He looked off to the setting sun, and thought for a bit.  He wanted to explore, but he was told to stay in the room, but he just couldn’t take it anymore!  

Gerald huffed a moment, before he pulled himself up onto the railing, perching carefully as he spread his wings, then took a leap off, flapping his wings as he turned around, scanning the building and everything, noting which perch was his room, as there were quite a few balconies around, before he flapped off.

Gerald wasn’t sure where he was going to go then, he just didn’t want to get caught my guards and dragged off somewhere, so he kept close to the building.  He landed on another balcony carefully, and peeked in, before hopping off again.

After peeking in a number of windows, Gerald got bored with that, and spotted a garden below, a rather large and sprawling one.  Gerald swooped down, and landed lightly by a statue.  Looking up, Gerald recognized the statue as one depicting Celestia herself besides her little sister Luna.  Gerald smiled a bit, before looking around, trotting off as he started exploring, pausing here and there to sniff a flower, and hopping up with a flap of wings to snag a fruit from an apple tree.

Munching on the fruit, Gerald rounded a corner and froze a moment, spotting a small group of ponies rounding a corner ahead.  Panicking a moment, Gerald darted the other way, diving behind a bush to hide.

It wasn’t more than a minute more before a group of five ponies, an alicorn, and a dragon came trotting by, “Ah don’t understand princess, what is all this secrecy about? Yah haven’t called us all together in years, not since…” the southern accent of the orange coated earth pony trailing off and hanging in the air.

Princess Celestia spoke softly, “This isn’t about secrecy so much… I wanted to discuss this with you in private, and the gardens are rather comfortable and serene at this time of year, please, relax, and sit, this looks like a good place.”

Gerald slowly peeked out from behind the bush, standing stock still for the most part, seeing the gathered ponies of all colors, an orange coat with a long yellow mane and a hat, a cyan pony with a rainbow colored mane and tail, a pretty white pony with a purple mane standing besides a purple dragon with a green underbelly that was just a hair bigger than her, a pink pony with a fluffy looking mane, and a yellow pony with a pink mane that looked heavily pregnant.

The yellow pony slowly settled to a lay beneath the willow tree they had settled under, huffing a little, “Princess,” she started, her voice delicate and soft, “I think we all want to know why we are here.”

Celestia looked to her, and nodded, “Of course Fluttershy, I realize that this was a difficult journey for you in particular, how is Big Macintosh and-“

“Princess please,” spoke the white pony in a very proper sounding voice, “I don’t mean to be rude, we can talk about the pleasantries later, what was so important you called us all here?”

Princess Celestia looked to the white pony with a bit of shock, but she nodded, “Very well.  Something happened a few days ago, something that you should all be made aware of.  Twilight Sparkle was found.”

A collective gasp ran through all the ponies gathered and they all started asking questions at once.

“Where is she? I’m gonna kick her tail for-“

“You found her?! Is she alive?!”

“How is she doing? What happened to her?”

“This! This! This will be the biggest party ever! A welcome back Twilight party like the world has never seen! And never will see!”

“I’ve missed Twilight so much! I have so much to tell her!”

The yellow one, Fluttershy was silent, looking with big eyes, and she just started to cry, pulling herself to her feet, and almost lunged at Celsetia, wrapping her hooves around the princess’s neck, hugging her and breaking down sobbing as the questions and comments of the others broke off rather quickly.

Celestia was a bit surprised, falling back a step to sit, before she lowered her head to touch the soft spoke mare’s back, nuzzling into Fluttershy’s back, “She is alive, my little ponies, though she is badly hurt.”

The pink earth pony moved forwards, wrapping her arms around the pregnant Fluttershy’s back, hugging her, “It’ll be alright Fluttershy, won’t it princess?” behaving oddly serious for her, though Fluttershy continued to cry, just shaking.

Celestia nodded, “Physically, she will, but I feel she is going to need you, all of you very soon.  I have never seen a pony survive what she has gone through… things I have tried and failed to protect all of my little ponies from.  Those who hurt her will be punished, many of them already have been.”

The rainbow maned pegasus snorted, pawing at the ground before she started hopping around, rearing up, and shadowboxing her hooves in the air, “What did they do to her? I’m going to clean the clock of anypony that hurt Twilight! Anypony and everypony!” stomping her hooves back down on the ground for emphisis, her wings flaring and flapping.

The orange colored earth pony snorted and rolled her eyes, “that’s not helping Rainbow Dash,” she looked to Celestia, “what was done to her?”

Celestia shook her head, “I don’t think it is my place to say quite yet, I think Twilight will tell you when she is ready to talk about it.  It might take time, but if you are there for her, you will be able to help her through this.”

The pink pony started to sniffle as well, “I don’t understand why she ran away, why she left us, or why anypony would hurt her.  Did we do something wrong? Did we mess up and make her run away?”

Watching all of this was starting to make even Gerald upset, though with all of the ponies so focused on Celestia and the one they called Fluttershy, he took a chance, turning and slipping away around a hedge, hearing Celestia speaking, “She was going through a rough time I think, and things just… got out of hand, and she got herself into a bad place.  Ask her about it, talk to her about it, she…” the princess’s voice fading away as Gerald made a break for the edge of the garden.

Gerald found himself closer to the castle after a few minutes of running, and moved to climb into a little tree, sniffling a bit.  He couldn’t help but think about that purple unicorn he saw, he knew that she was the one those ponies were all there for.  With a bit of thought, Gerald remembered where the infirmary was, and tried to picture where in the palace it was from the outside.  

Slipping out of the tree, night was quickly coming down, and the moon was rising over the horizon.  Gerald took a little run to get some momentum, and hopped into the air, flapping his wings to get into the air, and winging off.  

It took the young gryphon a few minutes, and checking a few windows, but finally he found a window that led to the infirmiry.  Hovering outside one, he peeked in, before he moved to another and another until he saw the one that had the purple unicorn in it.  Pushing at the windows a moment, he saw them held closed from the inside with a latch.  With a little push, he slipped a claw through, and slipped it up, successfully unhooking the windows.

Once Gerald pushed it open, he slipped in, pulling his wings against his back, and kicking his back paws at the wall outside until he flopped over the edge and tumbled into the room with an oof.  Quickly covering his beak, Gerald looked around a moment, before he climbed to his feet.  The room was simple, some medical equipment and monitoring equipment set up, hooked to the lavender unicorn that laid in the only bed in the room.

Gerald slowly approached the unicorn, who suddenly whimpered and twitched, causing Gerald to cringe back.  When no yelling at him, or further retreats came from the unicorn, he looked again, and realized she was asleep.  

The unicorn suddenly screeched out in her sleep, writhing in pain, before settling down a moment later, panting.  Gerald slowly approached, but noticed a chart on a clipboard, so he skirted to that, and after glancing around, he started reading it.  It was difficult for the young gryphon to decipher some of the things written, but what he saw in the condition notes did interest him.

Condition: guarded, physical injuries appear to be deep, but not lifethreatening, change bandages daily.  The serious injury to the throat was healed, no lasting damage.  Bloodloss was severe, patient in coma, though in distress.  Distress determined to be withdrawl symptoms from Moon Sugar addiction.  Severe level of muscle atrophy found.

Prognosis: 

What did prognosis mean again?  And for that matter, what did atrophy mean?  Gerald couldn’t remember, and shook his head, reading on.

Prognosis: Chances for recovery seem good, however she will need extensive physical therapy.  It is suggested that counseling be provided when patient regains consciousness.

Gerald shook his head as another set of seizures seemed to grip the lavender pony, and Gerald dropped the clipboard back where it had been.  Gerald moved to half climb up onto the bed, leaning over to reach to touch the unicorn, and that seemed to calm her a moment as she let out a deep sigh, falling still again.

“I know you can’t hear me, Miss Sparkle is it?  My name is Gerald, I just saw all your friends, one named Rainbow Dash, one named Fluttershy, and a white unicorn, and a pink earth pony, and an orange earth pony, and a purple dragon.  They are all your friends… I wish I had friends like that.  I am sorry for what my dad did to you, I never wanted that… and I never wanted to hurt your little daughter.  She is pretty, but I think she hates me.”

With the young gryphon’s words, and the light touch on the mare’s shoulder, Twilight Sparkle seemed to calm some.  After a minute, Gerald yawned and smiled, “I hope maybe I could be your friend too, I know, you probably hate me, I am just so bored here.  Princess Celestia said she would try to find me a home to stay, I don’t know what a pony home is going to be like…”

Gerald sighed after a moment, “I know, you likely don’t care… I just hope… I hope your daughter is alright, and I hope you are alright,” he murmured, laying his head down, realizing how tired and worn out he was.  He closed his eyes a moment, the bed felt comfortable, and he could take a short little nap there…


***


Voices outside the door woke Gerald up suddenly, and he jerked awake, his eyes wide in panic, realizing the sun was out.  He saw shadows on the fogged glass window on the door leading out of the room, and he scrambled off of his bed, leaping out the window just as the door opened.  Landing just outside the window, he pressed himself to the wall, they were on the ground floor after all, and the voices in the room sounded familiar.  

Gerald very slowly peeked over the edge of the windowsill into the room, though he was not surprised to see all of the ponies, and the dragon from the previous day filing into the room, led by a unicorn doctor.

The doctor was speaking softly as she led the ponies in, “She is in rough shape, she is suffering from withdrawl symptoms from the Moon Sugar she was taking, its worse at night… but she is still in a coma from the blood loss.  It is unlikely she will awaken for a few days, but we are optimistic for a good recovery.”

The dragon was first into the room, almost shouting, “Twilight!” taking a leap across the room for the bed before he was caught in mid air by the doctor’s magic.

“Please be careful, she is injured, and she is very weak,” the doctor chided, “Or I will have to ask all of you to leave.”

The dragon gave a weak, sheepish grin, and scratched at the spines on the back of his head as he was put down, “Sorry, I forget how big I am sometimes.”  He turned to the bed, walking towards it and sitting beside it, reaching to take one of Twilight’s hooves gently in his paw.

The other ponies started spreading out around the bed, but the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy if Gerald remembered right, moved in close to the bed, sniffling as she tried not to cry.  She gingerly touched a side of the unicorn’s shoulder that was covered in heavy bandages, “what… what happened to her?” her voice came softly, the other ponies almost straining to hear.

“She was clawed rather deeply by a gryphon there, it is likely going to leave a rather spectacular scar.  As for the rest… she shows signs of prolonged torture and sexual abuse, as well as suffering from withdrawal symptoms from Moon Sugar.  If she makes any noise of pain, it is likely the withdrawal that is causing it.”

Fluttershy looked up at the mention of prolonged torture and sexual abuse, her lip quivering before she burst out sobbing, a hoof gingerly touching Twilight’s chest, before slipping it around her to hug the unconscious unicorn gently, “how could anypony do this to another?”

The other ponies started murmuring to each other at the words as well, looking between each other with horror and anger on their faces, while the doctor softly excused himself and slipped out of the room.

The rainbow maned pony stomped her hooves lightly, her wings flapping and lifting her off of the ground a bit, “I’m gonna smash some pony’s face in when I find out who did this!” dropping back down to all fours, her teeth bared.

“That’s not helping Dash,” the orange pony said.

“I know AJ, it’s just… ugh! I hate seeing Twilight like this!”  She shook her head, and walked to the bedside, trying to keep her bravado up, but it was cracking, tears hanging in her eyes.  “Why did you have to leave Twilight? I wish I had been there, I would have dragged you back…” she started breaking down, folding her arms on the edge of the bed and burying her head in them, “nothing has been the same without you, you stupid egghead.”

The orange pony, AJ, moved up behind the rainbow maned pony, Dash, and put a hoof on her shoulder, before giving her a bit of a hug from behind, “We all missed her, we are all glad she’s back… we’ll be here for her, even if she doesn’t want us, or is afraid, we’ll make it alright again, we promise Twilight,” her voice thick with emotion, having a hard time seeing her friend like this.

The pink pony had moved up besides Fluttershy, and had slipped a hoof around her shoulders, hugging and trying to soothe Fluttershy, “I don’t understand it either Fluttershy… I am so used to being friends with everypony… I think I would give some pony’s a good one two in the face if I ever found out who did this to Twilight.  Or a three four.  Maybe even up to a nine ten, I think they deserve that, maybe more. Definitely more.”

The white unicorn had moved up next to Spike, leaning her head on his shoulder, and rubbing against it, silent tears falling down her cheeks onto his scales, though finally she spike, “The Princess said that those responsible were going to be punished, if they hadn’t been already.  Come back to us Twilight… we’ll be here.”

Gerald was well into tears as he listened to all of this, but with the ponies there, he couldn’t close the window, so he started to sneak away.

“Hey everypony, remember the princess said that we could go see Princess Cadance when we were done visiting Twilight today,” the pink pony’s voice came, with some excitement.

“Yeah, Twilight’s daughter is supposed to be staying with her, Glorious Dawn, wasn’t it?”  the white pony’s voice sounded.

“I still can’t believe Twilight had a daughter,” came the dragon’s voice, “But I want to stay with Twilight a little longer, I’ve missed her so much…”

“We all have… she’ll be back on her hooves in no time, she is a strong pony, one of the strongest, you’ll see,” came the orange earth pony’s voice, the sound of other voices agreeing with her fading away as Gerald took flight.


***


Gerald could hardly see where he was going through his tears, ending up back in the garden, almost crashing into a statue, which clipped his wing, and sent him spinning out of control, crashing into something dark navy blue that let out a cry of surprise as he let out a yelp.

A midnight light surrounded Gerald and lifted him up while he started struggling and flapping his wings in protest, wincing in pain at his bruised wing, but panicking.  A sweet, strong voice sounded from the navy blue form, an Gerald rubbed his eyes to clear the tears.

“My my, what do we have here?” Luna asked, “What is so wrong that you are off flying around in such tears little Gerald? Are you not supposed to be confined to your chambers?”

Gerald blinked in fear as he realized that he was actually being held by a princess, his legs tucking in to his chest however as he was being held up, “I… yeah I am, I’m sorry, I got bored, and I went out my window.”

An amused look crossed Luna’s face, and she slowly lowered as she chuckled, “Of course you went out the window, perhaps we should have had you staying in an interior room, but I thought you would like the view.  That however does not tell me why you are crying, you are too young to have such reasons to cry,” she lifted a hoof to the young drake’s cheek, who cringed slightly for a moment, but all she did was wipe away a tear, and he relaxed.

“I um… I overheard Miss Sparkle’s friends in the infirmary, they were so upset, they love her so much, it just… it hurt, listening… to what had happened to her, and how upset they were over it,” the young gryphon lowering his head and closing his eyes, his wings fluttering a moment before they settled on his back.

Luna’s expression turned far more serious, lowering her head to touch the back of the gryphon’s neck, trying to offer some comfort, “those are things one your age should not have to worry about, but your father plunged you into that world far too young, not that anypony, or any gryphon for that matter, should ever have to deal with some of these issues.  What were you doing at the infirmary?”

Gerald dragged a claw along the ground, “I uh… I wanted to see her, I wanted to just talk to her for a few minutes, so I went there last night… She was having a nightmare I think, so I talked to her a bit, and she calmed down.  I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was, and I fell asleep as well, I woke up just before they came in.”

Luna nodded, considering, “Why were you tired? Are you not sleeping well?”

Gerald looked up, and shook his head a little, “no… not really, not since that night.”

Luna nodded, “But you slept soundly enough last night to not wake up till just as they were arriving?”

Gerald nodded, his brow furrowed, “Yeah, I guess I did… I guess… I like Miss Sparkle, she is a nice pony, and she has nice friends, I wish I had friends like that…”

Luna frowned a bit at that, “Don’t you have friends like that? That is why I was surprised you asked to stay, do you not have gryphon friends back at your home?”

Gerald shook his head, “Not really, a few I sometimes play with, but… they weren’t friends.  As the son of an ambassador, I was moving a lot, I spent a lot of time here, I didn’t have the time to make so many friends… except for those that my father wanted me to be friends with, those like him… but I didn’t want to be like him, or them… I like ponies, they are nice, but my father didn’t like that I liked ponies… so I never got to make friends with them either,” he sighed, shaking his head.

Luna frowned, “Every young creature, pony or gryphon should have friends… what did you do instead?”

“I spent a lot of time reading, I got to read books while we were traveling, and I could bring them with me where I went.  Father didn’t like that so much either, but I was able to hide them and read them sometimes… can I borrow some books from the castle? I am really bored during the day…” Gerald complained softly.

Luna smiled at the young gryphon, “You know, I think that Twilight Sparkle would like you a lot, she used to live in a library in Ponyville, all the books you could ever read.”

Gerald perked up at that, “IN a library? All the books? But… no, no I don’t think she would like me, not after…” he trailed off.

“Nonsense.  Look, lots of ponies make bad mistakes, Twilight has made some, some serious ones I feel.  But forgiveness is important sometimes, I believe her friends will forgive her for running away, and I think she will forgive you, because you have done nothing wrong.  You are an innocent in this, the mistakes were your father’s.  And I know for a fact that Twilight will like you when she gets a chance to meet you.”

“Really? You think so?” asked Gerald, “but… Princess Celestia is going to lock me up, she told me I was supposed to stay in my room.”  The young gryphon looked down, growing upset again, “she is going to have me locked up in the dungeon when you tell her…”

Luna let out a soft laugh, shaking her head, “Princess Celestia is far kinder and understanding than most give her credit for.  I was going to head in soon, for breakfast.  Why don’t you join me little Gerald? Then I will see you back to your room.  And I won’t tell Celestia if you don’t, mmm?”

Gerald brightened up again, “Really?  You won’t? Thank you princess! I would love to have breakfast with you!”

Luna smiled, “Good, now come along, and wipe your tears away; you are going to be fine.”  The princess turned and started to trot away through the gardens to the castle, and Gerald turned to move after her.


***


After a breakfast of blueberry waffles and scrambled eggs, Luna took Gerald to the library where he had a blast, and ended up taking out a number of books.  Most of the books were story books, rather easy reading for the young gryphon, with a few Daring Do books that he had not gotten a chance to read before.  

Gerald returned to his own little apartment after that, much happier about things, and with books to keep him company, though his thoughts did return to Twilight Sparkle in the infirmary, thinking of all her friends, and her daughter.  As night fell, he had a hard time sleeping, troubling dreams disturbing him.  Eventually he snuck out again, taking a book with him, and sneaking into Twilight’s chamber again.

Gerald spent a few hours there reading after that, reading a Daring Do book to Twilight, before he fell asleep, his beak resting on the book which was laid on the side of the bed.  He managed to wake up as the sun rose however, and beat a hasty retreat out of there before any of the doctors came to check on her.

This pattern continued for a over a week, and Gerald started enjoying spending the night near Twilight.  The young gryphon saw a good bit of the rest of Twilight’s friends, but he kept his distance, watching them from a perch in the gardens some days when he snuck out to read in the sunlight.

One morning, Gerald slept a little later than he intended, sunlight pouring into the room when a groan nearby woke him.  Gerald’s eyes flickered open and he yawned, letting out a little squeak as he realize the pony in front of him was moving.  His eyes met hers for a moment, startled.  

Then the lavender pony started screaming, and Gerald panicked, screaming in fear as well, his wings flapping as he started to backpedal away from the bed.  It all happened so fast then as a crushing purple glow wrapped around his body, and he found himself hurtling through the air before he hit a wall, letting out a squawk of pain as all he saw were stars.



Author's Notes

I was not anticipating this chapter.  Not at all.  I had envisioned Gerald's part in this chapter being a small little bit leading up to Twilight awakening, but then I realized that such a thing was not doing justice, Gerald had a LOT more to do and see in this chapter, and I had a lot more i could tell from his eyes.  

I didn't get started on this chapter until really late in the day, I can blame my girlfriend for that.  I recently started up in an old RP that I have played with her for a long time in, it had been on haitus for a few weeks.  I have a terrible drive when I lack mental stimulation via Role Play of some kind, to write, and the RP that i was doing with her kind of wiped out my drive for a large portion of the day, until she went to bed and abandoned me with a burning desire to play.  So here i am, finishing up chapter 8.  Go Figure.

Anyways, i hope you like this chapter! it was more concrete than the last one, which was kinda designed to be rather fragmented, as it was going on in Twilight's head, something of a near death experience, or her mind keeping her entertained while she was in a coma, or something like that.

The story is almost over! maybe one more chapter? I know I said that last time, but this chapter just got away from me.

I think of myself something like Michelangelo right now after looking at this chapter.  I had my own plans for this space of text, but once I got my fingers into working on it, I realized that that was not the way the chapter wanted to be written, there was a far better way for things to be written, and the chapter wrote itself, all I had to do was uncover what the chapter was supposed to be.

Also, arg! i didn't get an update in on the 28th! i'm so sad! i missed a day in my update scheule! i didn't manage to get 1 out every day! nooo! oh well.
> Ch. 9: Life After Death
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight slowly opened her eyes with a groan, not recognizing where she was for a minute.  Rolling slowly over in a bed, she saw all sorts of medical equipment.  As she ended up on her side, she suddenly ended up face to face with a gryphon beak.


Twilight stared in raw fear for a moment as the eyes above that beak slowly opened, giving a little squeak as it yawned, almost cutely.  Twilight however panicked, letting out a shrill scream of fear, which was quickly returned as the gryphon infront of her woke up.  Twilight’s power wrapped around the gryphon in her fear, suddenly throwing him away and into a wall hard as Twilight tried to scramble to her feet, only to find bands of fabric over her chest and haunches holding her down.

The small gryphon smashed into a wall with a shrill cry of pain, crumpling down to the floor, knocked absolutely silly.  The sound of screaming had alerted the nurses on duty, and there was a commotion outside the door, hooves thundering down the hallway as the door suddenly burst open, two nurses and two orderlies quickly entering the room.

Twilight was still panicking, screeching in feat as she fought to get out of her restraints, her magic flaring and bursting at it.  The two nurses quickly moved in on Twilight from either side, one of them speaking up over the shrieking, trying to calm the freaking lavender mare down, “Twilight! Twilight Sparkle! Calm down! You are safe, it was just a nightmare! Calm down, you are in the hospital.”

Twilight shrieked, thrashing against the two nurse mares as she tried to get up, “Let me up! Let me up! There’s a gryphon! Its gonna kill me! Don’t let it kill me!”

“There are no gryphons, you are suffering from withdrawal from Moon Sugar, please, calm down! Nothing is going to hurt you here.”

“Then what is that?!” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof as she squirmed, trying to hide between the two nurses.

“There’s nothing there, it’s just a…”  The nurse paused, blinking as she looked at the gryphon who was holding his paws to his head, crying and shaking. “It’s a gryphon,” she deadpanned, a bit startled.

“See! I told you! I wasn’t imagining things! Get it away!” Twilight screeched.

One of the nurses patted the mare’s shoulder, “It’s just a baby one, please, calm down, it won’t hurt you, it looks hurt.”  She motioned the orderlies over to the panicking Twilight, who started to calm down slowly, though she still breathed heavily.  Once the orderlies were besides Twilight, gently holding her down, and trying to keep her from hurting herself.  “Are you hurt little one? What are you doing here?”

Gerald let out a pained squawk, holding his head as he looked up through teary eyes at the nurse, “My wing hurts, and my head hurts, and my back hurts.  I had trouble sleeping, I have been visiting Miss Sparkle at night to read to her.  I didn’t mean to scare her, I’m sorry,” his beak quivering as he started to cry.

Twilight was calming down, breathing heavily still, but a glow surrounded her horn, and she undid the straps holding her down now that she was thinking more clearly, slowly sitting up.  She noticed something on the bed, her magic picking it up as she looked at it with a confused frown.

“Alright little one, why don’t we take you to another room an get you checked out,” the nurse said softly, “can you walk?”

Gerald slowly wobbled to his feet, his wings stretching out to help him keep balance, and he nodded his head, though that was a bad idea, and he fell over with a squeak, quickly righting himself again, “I think so.”  He took a few unsteady steps forwards, before looking to the bed, “I’m real sorry Miss Sparkle, I didn’t mean to scare you or upset you, and I am real sorry for what my dad did to you… you are nice and you have nice friends.”

Twilight stared in shock at the little gryphon, trying to shift a bit on the bed, “W-w-w-wait!” she said, struggling to move, but she had a hard time even without the straps holding her, panting a bit in frustration.  She opted instead to bring the book that she had been holding around, “You were… were reading this to me?”

Gerald looked up, focusing better as his head stopped spinning, “Yeah! Its Daring Do! I love her stories, I hoped you would too.”

A weak, slow smile started to spread on Twilight’s face, “I do, I am sorry for throwing you into the wall so hard…”

“It’s alright Miss Sparkle, I guess I can understand why you don’t like gryphons,” the little drake lowering his head with a bit of a sniffle, “I shouldn’t have been here, I just seemed to sleep a little better here for some reason…”

Twilight looked to the nurse, “Can… can you check him out here? Please? Can he stay for a little?”

Gerald looked surprised, his ears perking up as he lifted his head too quickly, before he fell over again.  The nurse looked just as surprised, but nodded, “I could, if that is alright with you little one?”

Gerald held his head with a bit of a groan, “Yeah, I would like to, thank you Miss Sparkle.”

“Please, call me Twilight,” the lavender mare said, focusing, and reaching her magic to gently scoop up the small gryphon, “I don’t not like gryphons, you just… startled me, I’m sorry that I freaked out.”

Gerald let out a little squeak as he was picked up with magic, flapping his wings a bit unsteadily as he flew without flying, but once he was on the bed he settled down, “I think I understand Miss… Twilight.”

Twilight smiled, and started trying to rise herself, sit up more, but her hooves kept slipping out from underneath her, and she fell back to a lay with a grunt finally, panting from the exertion.

The two orderlies took their leave as things seemed calm, while one of the nurses started taking a closer look at Gerald, making him stick out his tongue, and looking in his eyes, and checking his reflexes.  Twilight giggled to herself as she watched, before looking to the nurse, “What… hospital am I in?”

“You are in the infirmary of the Canterlot Castle actually, Princess Celestia insisted that you were brought here, and got the best care, you have been sleeping for around a week,” the other nurse responded, moving to the lavender unicorn, and started checking her over in a fashion similar to how Gerald was being checked out.

Twilight cringed at learning she was in the castle; her ears flattening back as she looked away, “I… I guess my next stop is going to be the prisons, isn’t it?” she asked, fear and depression creeping into her voice.

The nurse frowned at her, “What in the world would make you think that?  As far as I am aware, you are scheduled to start rehabilitation and physical therapy as soon as you are able to, which means later today, now that you are awake.  You are lucky, you slept through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms of the Moon Sugar.  That is why we had you strapped down, you almost thrashed yourself off of the bed in some of your fits.”

Twilight blinked, her ears lifting slowly, “But I… I hurt Fluttershy, and I stole money from my friends, and… I used Moon Sugar, shouldn’t I be sent to prison?”

The nurse shrugged and offered her a smile, “I don’t know about all of that, but you have been through enough I think.  Anyways, you are looking like you are in good condition.  Your muscles are severely atrophied, that is why you need physical therapy, your neck wound was healed by Princess Celestia, however your shoulder wounds have had to heal on their own, they are coming along well, but they look like they are going to leave some bad scars.”

Twilight frowned, and looked over to the bandages layered on her shoulder and down her side, “i… guess if that is the worst I come out with…” she shuddered a bit.

The nurse gave Twilight a light pat on the other shoulder, “Your friends should be here in about an hour, they have visited every day, we can have you two brought breakfast in the meantime.”

Twilight looked startled, her eyes widening, “My… my friends? What friends?  My only friend is Shadow...”

The nurse hmmed, “I am not sure I got all of their names, but there is a pink earth pony, an orange earth pony, a white unicorn, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, on and Spike, I remember Spike from when he was here as a hatching,” the nurse smiled.

Twilight’s jaw dropped, “They… they are here?!” she started shaking all over again, a look of panic on her face as she started shaking her head, trying to rise again and struggle away, but she kept slipping weakly back down, “I can’t… they…”

“They care for you Miss Twilight,” Gerald said, looking up with some tears in his eyes, “I heard them a few times as they talked, they missed you… they… I wish I had friends like that, that loved me so much… you have to see them,” he looked over, away from the nurse, looking like he was about to cry.

Twilight had trailed off, and looked to the little gryphon, her voice catching in her throat as she let out a little squeak, but then used her magic to pull Gerald to her, placing him between her hooves and nuzzling him, starting to cry.

The nurse blinked, stepping back at the display, the two nurses giving concerned looks, but left them together, “Miss Sparkle, Gerald has a minor concussion, he should stay here till this evening for observation.  If you are alright, we will let him stay here with you.”

Twilight looked up, sniffling and nodding, “t-Thank you.”

“Breakfast will be brought in around twenty minutes.”

Twilight nodded, and nuzzled her nose into Gerald’s fuzzy feathered head, but looked up as the nurse began to leave, “Nurse, what about my daughter? Where is she?”

“She will be by later, she is staying with Princess Cadance right now, she is doing and adjusting well from what I can tell.”

Twilight nodded, biting her lip, “And what about Shadow? Where is he?”

The nurse frowned at that one a bit, “He was wanted on charges of high treason and murder.  From what I am aware however, Princess Celestia has placed him on special punishment until she decides what to do with him.”

Twilight nodded slowly, looking worried, “Shadow was my only friend…”

“He saved your life as well, from what I hear; it may earn him a pardon from the Princess.”

Twilight perked up a bit, and nodded, “Thank you,” lowering her head again to comfort herself with her new little friend.


***


Twilight was slowly brushing her hair, using a brush borrowed from a nurse, and a little hand mirror.  Twilight winced as she caught a snag with the brush, shaking her head out and working it over a bit before getting through it.  Her mane an tail were a mess really, they hadn’t been brushed right since… she couldn’t remember.  

Gerald was curled up on a nearby chair, with his book underneath his paws, having fallen asleep.  His head hurt, and he was rather sleepy.  The nurses had told him he should stay awake, but he had finally fallen asleep after breakfast.

Suddenly the door burst inwards in a rush of air, and Twilight barely had a chance to look up as a cyan streak leaving a rainbow colored trail plowed into her and knocked her over as she let out a yelp, cringing.  When Twilight opened up her eye to look around, she saw Rainbow Dash standing over her, and her eyes widened, with a mixture of surprise and fear.

“If you EVER do something like that again! I swear I am going to buck you so hard that Luna is gonna have to drag you back from the moon!” Rainbow Dash roared at Twilight, blowing her hair back and messing it up all over again. 

“Dash I…” Twilight tried to begin when she suddenly found Rainbow Dash’s hooves and wings around her, squeezing her so tightly she let out a squeak as air rushed out of her lungs.

“I missed you so much! I wasn’t even there!  Nothing has been right since you left, NOTHING!” Rainbow cried out as she hugged her friend ferociously.

“Ah think yah should let her go sugar, she might pop,” came Applejack’s voice.

Rainbow Dash blinked, and then looked down at Twilight before letting her go, hopping up as her wings fluttered, keeping her in the air, “I er… sorry Twilight.  I just missed you.”

The rest of the ponies had filed in and stood ringing the bed while Rainbow Dash was busy assaulting Twilight.  Twilight rolled to her belly, lifting her head to look around at all the ponies, and a dragon around her, her eyes slowly shifting between them, her lips moving for a minute before she finally managed to start saying something, “I… I’m so-“

“Ah don’t think we need or want to hear that Twilight,” Applejack said, cutting Twilight off.  “We know you are sorry, ah am not sure sorry cuts it for runnin’ off an’ just abandoning all of yer friends like that.  You had us worried sick for what, two years?  We all thought you were dead!”  She was trying very hard to be angry at Twilight, as were a number of the ponies.

Twilight wilted beneath the tone of Applejack’s voice, bringing her hooves up to cover her face as she started to sob, great wracking sobs starting to take her body.  

Fluttershy was standing there, upset and nervous and very pregnant, but she looked on in horror as Twilight started to cry, and before she knew it, she was moving forwards, her wings fluttering a little as she half leaped up, wrapping her hooves around Twilight, wailing softly, “Oh Twilight! I missed you so much!” as she started to sob as well, burying her face into the side of Twilight’s neck, and hugging her.  “I was always so worried about you, I knew you were out there! I just! I just!” she couldn’t finished as she broke down crying, finally managing again, “I’m just so glad you are back!”

Pinkie Pie’s waterworks were soon to follow as she threw herself halfway across Twilight’s back, “I never want to lose another friend again! It was the worst thing ever! We searched and we searched and we kept searching and looking for you!  I turned over every pebble in Canterlot looking for you!  I started turning over every pebble in Equestria looking for you!” her words tumbling over eachother in as big of a cascade as her tears.  “I am just so happy you are back! I am going to throw the biggest party ever when you come back to Ponyville! No, not party, it’s going to be a parade! And a party! And a celebration! All at once! Now that we have our Twilight Sparkle back!”

“Come on dears, we simply must give Twilight some room! I am not sure she can breathe under there!” Rarity said, standing at the foot of the bed with Spike, but she too rounded the side of the bed, standing besides Fluttershy, and reaching out to give Twilight’s muzzle a nuzzle.  “Twilight, I am so glad you are back, though I might help Dash if you ever do something so foolish again.  Come on, give her some room Pinkie Pie… oh alright you can stay Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy gave Rarity a smile, her wings flapping as she lifted up, and settled herself on the bed besides Twilight.   Applejack move forwards, not so good with all of this stuff, but tears were leaking down her cheeks as well, “We all missed you Twilight, things just haven’t been right without you,” as she reached out a hoof to rub Twilight’s shoulder

Twilight slowly lifted her head as Pinkie Pie got off her, and giving her a bit more room.  She looked through her tears to all of her friends, her ears splayed, until her gaze finally came to rest on one who had been rather silent, her eyes settling on the purple dragon standing at the end of the bed, “Spike…” her voice came, thick with emotion.

Spike slowly looked up, tears running down his muzzle, “I’m so sorry Twilight… this is my fault, if I hadn’t-”

“No Spike, this isn’t your fault.  I made the bad choices, I chose to run away… I should have known better than to get involved with Moon Sugar… I should have known I could turn to all of you when I was having problems, or getting so worked up… I made a mountain out of my problem, one that hurt all of you… and most of all nearly killed me…   Please, don’t blame yourself, you were right to move in with Rarity, I wanted you to,” as Twilight spoke, her voice slowly gained some strength.

Spike sniffled and started to cry harder, half crawling up onto the bed to butt his head underneath Twilight’s chin like he was still a little hatchling, “I love you Twilight.”

“When are you coming home Twilight?” Pinkie asked, “I need to know when to plan the party!Festival!Parade!Celebration!”

“Do… I even have a home to go home to?” Twilight asked, looking around at her friends.

“Ofcourse you do darling,” Rarity said, using her telekinesis to pick up the brush, and starting to brush out Twilight’s mane with it for her, starting to style it with her magic some too, getting it back into a better looking shape, “Oh darn it, I need some scissors! I left them back in the room.  Oh, yes, we made sure the library is still there for you, we wouldn’t let Celestia hire anyone else to take over there, we each took turns during our spare time, and taking days off to take care of the library, keep the books in order, check them in and out… your room is just as you left it, and all of your equipment in the basement too, though it might be a little dusty.”

Twilight looked flabberghasted, blinking through her tears at Rarity, “You… you all did all of that? For me?”

Spike nodded, “You betcha Twilight!  It was our way of… keeping a vigil for you, we knew you would come back to us one day.”

Twilight sniffled heavily, wrapping her hooves around Spike and hugging him.

Rainbow Dash who had been rather quiet after her initial outburst, spoke up from behind Pinkie Pie, “Hey! Whos this pipsqueak!” nudging the sleeping Gerald on the chair.

Gerald yawned and let out a little squawk of protest as he was woken up, having somehow managing to sleep through all of the other ponies yelling.  Rainbow hopped back, “It’s a gryphon! Wasn’t it a gryphon that attacked you?”

“Yeah Rainbow,” Twilight started, “That is-”

“What is a gryphon doing here then? Who are ya kid?” Rainbow asked, a little confrontationally as she eyed the gryphon up and down.

“That’s Gerald, he’s the son of the one who-“ Twilight winced as she was cut off by Rainbow Dash, realizing she shouldn’t have put it that way

“He is the SON of one who attacked you Twilight?! Why I oughta, I have a big problem to pick with your dad kiddo! I’m gonna kick his-“

“Dash! Stop it!” Twilight yelled, and a purple glow of magic wrapped around Gerald, picking him up and carrying him over as he squawked and flapped his wings, looking at Rainbow Dash with wide, terrified eyed.  Twilight placed Gerald at her side, bringing her head to nuzzle and try to comfort him, “He is a nice young gryphon whose father tried to make him do some horrible things, I asked him to stay.  I um… accidentally threw him into a wall when I woke up,” she said, looking sheepish.

Gerald let out a little shy chirp, peeking around at all the faces around, his wings giving a bit of a sleepy stretch, “Um… hello… everypony…  I um…”

“Awww he is so precious!” Fluttershy spoke up, “A baby gryphon! Dashie be nice to him,” Fluttershy stuck her nose near the gryphon, “How are you feeling little one? Gerald was it? How is your head?”

Gerald blinked at Fluttershy and blushed a little in embarrassment, “I’m not a baby!” he said a little indignantly, “I’m five years old!  And my head hurts still, I was a bit sleepy.”

Just then the door opened again, and Princess Cadance walked in, with Heart Song and Gleaming Shield, and a tiny little Glorious Dawn following her in.  

Dawn gasped as she saw the crowd around her mother, and that she was actually awake! Letting out a scream of joy, Dawn scampered across the room, her wings buzzing like a bees so much that she went flying into the air and crashed into the side of the bed, just barely high enough that her front legs were over the edge, and she pulled herself up, “Mommy mommy mommy mommy!” pouncing over the purple dragon’s head to butt her head into Twilight’s chest, whinnying happily an hugging her.

Twilight looked over at the entrance, and smiled brightly, her ears lifting up as she saw her daughter, cooing happily to Dawn as she ended up so quickly between her hooves, nuzzling Dawn and hugging her to her chest, “Oh I’m so sorry to scare you like that sweetheart, have you met all my friends?”

Dawn nodded happily, “I did I did! I met Auntie Cadance who is superswell! And Heart Song and Shieldy are a lot of fun to play with! And I met your friends, Miss Fluttershy and Miss Applejack and Miss Rarity and Miss Pinkie Pie and Miss Applejack and Miss Rainbow Dash, and Miss Fluttershy, and Miss… er, Mister Spike!  They are all a lot of fun! They kept me from getting too sad that you were sleeping so long.  I’m so glad you are awake now though!”

Gerald looked over, smiling, but he remembered the last encounter with the little pegasus, and started to try to sneak away, though as soon as he started to pull away too much, he heard a screech, and cringed down to the bed, he just couldn’t catch a break!

Little Glorious Dawn was starting to back away from Twilight and Gerald, shaking, “Itsa, itsa Gryphon! What is! What is! It’s the same one! That! He was!”  Dawn looked like she was about to panic and run away screaming when Twilight reached a hoof out to pull Dawn to her chest, hugging her.

“Shhh, it’s alright sweetheart, he’s not going to hurt you, calm down, please sweetheart?” Twilight asked, though her magic gently grabbed Gerald too when he tried to make a break for it, drawing a plaintive squeak from the gryphon, “You stay too Gerald, please?”

Gerald squawked in protest, his wings fluttering, but he gave up with a pout after a moment, his ears laid back, settling back on the bed and curling close to Twilight’s side, looking worried, and a bit upset.

“But mommy! He was going to do bad things! His daddy hurt you! I saw it! He! He almost!” the little pegasus’s lip quivered as tears started to go down her face.

Twilight shook her head, and nuzzled Dawn’s chin, “No, he wasn’t going to do bad things, it was all his father, Gerald is a nice gryphon, he won’t hurt you, I promise.  Look at him, he is upset, he thinks you hate him, but he didn’t do anything to you, I think he would like to be your friend really, if you let him”

Dawn looked really uncertain, but she trusted her mother as only a child could, looking up at Twilight a bit, before moving to slowly peek around Twilight’s side, and giving Gerald a dubious look.

Gerald looked worriedly at Dawn, his own ears back, and he let out a soft little chirp.  Dawn cringed back immediately, before she peeked out again, looking at the sad looking Gerald, “You… you really won’t hurt me or mommy?”

“What? No of course not! I like your mommy! She is nice! Really nice! And she has the nicest friends!  I’m… I’m sorry about what my dad did… he was a bad gryphon, I never wanted to hurt anypony, that’s why I stayed here when Princess Celestia sent him away,” Gerald explained.

“He… he got sent away? And you stayed here? Why would you leave your daddy?” Dawn asked, a little confused.

“He… it’s a lot of reasons, he wanted me to be like him, and I never wanted to be, I just want to play with friends, but I never had any really…”

Dawn frowned, “You didn’t?” She seemed to be warming up to the gryphon while the others watched, slowly losing her fear as she crept around her mother’s chest, “Would you… like to be friends with me and Heart Song and Shieldy?”

Gerald’s ears perked up, and he nodded, “I do! If that’s alright with…” he glanced nervously to Twilight, and to the princess and her children.  

Cadance’s children were playing a bit with themselves around the hooves of the other ponies, though Cadance smiled to Gerald, “It is alright with me little one, I think you could use more friends.”

Gerald brightened up, scrubbing a paw across his face for a moment as he hopped up, though he got up too fast, and wobbled, oofing as he fell over.  Twilight clicked her tongue in concern, “Gerald bumped his head earlier… well… I threw him… accidentally,” she said sheepishly, “You still need to take things a bit easily Gerald, why don’t you read to us some Daring Do instead?”  Off of the chair where Gerald had been sleeping earlier, a book floated off, opening to the front page as she brought it to lay down infront of the young gryphon.

Gerald looked up, and nodded, looking to the book, “if… that’s alright? I mean, I wouldn’t want to be boring everyone here or…”  Gerald trailed off as all of the adult ponies started settling down and pulling up seats, voicing their collective agreement to let Gerald read.  Gerald brightened up a bit more, and looked to the book, “It all started one dark and dreary night, with the rain thundering down over the jungles of the zebra homeland…”

Dawn perked up, she loved hearing those stories too, and slowly crept forwards, settling down a little timidly next to Gerald to peek over his shoulder, and look at the pictures while he read.

Twilight smiled, sniffling, turning to touch Fluttershy’s cheek on one side, and then Dawn’s back, and Gerald’s back on the other, her heart bursting with the love she felt in the room.  She felt alive again; alive in a way she had never felt before, even when she was with her friends before Shining Armor died.  All of the suffering she felt, it made the good times sharper, and she cherished what she had right then, it made everything worth it.  Even as she just listened to Gerald reading, she couldn’t help but cry softly, not tears of sadness this time, but tears of joy to just be with her family.  

There was only one pony missing from there.



Author's Notes

I keep never getting quite as far in the story with these chapters as i originally intended.  I could have carried another section or two in this chapter, but it was the right length already, and it just -fits- better in my mind that everything that happens in this chapter happens in just that one room while Twilight lays in her bed.  This story, this stage of the story at any rate, its taking much longer than i anticipated, i expected to be done writing this 2 days ago.  I am not sure if the fact that it is continuing is due to my want to not see it end, or due to me becoming more prolific than what i had started, or just that there is much more that needs to be told in these sections than i can realize with just a cursory glance at its contents within my own mind.

Most times that i see writers start off with small chapters, and grow into much larger, and much better done chapters, there is a sizable gap between chapters, but i am working on plugging out a chapter a day.  Right now they are getting out late because i don't start writing till late at night, so they are off by a day, i might get caught up at some point.

I hope this chapter and the last one have developed Gerald as a character pretty well, most of the other characters that are important are the Mane Six, and Twilight, and they have defined characteristics i can play off of, but for Gerald, i need to write him more because he is a character, like Shadow, that is being built just for this story.

I debated if this was the right time to use this title, but as i got to the last bit, i realized that this was when Twilight started to live again.  This is the first chapter that has Twilight living and laughing and feeling after her brother's death, so i decided that this was indeed the right time.  

I've been at 2 chapters and an epilogue left to write for 4 chapters now, /facepaw, I am not sure when i will get this story finished, hopefully sometime this week, but i have really enjoyed writing this.

And look, even in my notes i'm starting to get wordy, see!
> Ch. 10: Accidents Can Happen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A blade whistled just past Shadow’s cheek, and he ducked under it as it cut across just over his head, though it ended up taking a bit of his mane with it.  I am going to need a buzz cut on my mane after all of this, he muttered to himself bringing a wooden stave to cross the sword, before bringing the end of the stave up to slam into the other stallion’s chest.

Shadow had to throw up heavy shield to deflect an axe coming down for his side, spinning to retaliate with a kick to the other pony’s head, though the other pony managed to dodge to the side, swinging the axe heavily again.

This dance was familiar, Shadow was the only one that didn’t have a dangerous weapon, and he was trying to fend off three other ponies with a combination of a magically wielded stave, his magic, and his own body.  The other soldiers refused to spar with him after a few injuries had resulted unless Shadow was restricted to a staff, and even so, it took promises of a few extra days of leave, and a bonus in their salary in order to get enough volunteers every day to keep up with the ebon stallion.

The training exercises took up almost all of Shadow’s day, he was being pushed hard, brutally hard, so hard that he had trouble just limping back to his room in the evening, but even so, after he had a chance to wash up, he limped his way to Princess Cadance’s apartment to see Glorious Dawn.  A smile slipped onto Shadow’s face as he remembered the previous night.

Shadow knocked on the door to the Princess’s apartment, washed up and well groomed, looking almost like any other guard, except he was out of uniform.  A moment later, the door opened, and Princess Cadance stood there, smiling, “Welcome Shadow, Dawn is waiting for you,” as the door swung open further.

Shadow bowed his head respectfully to the princess, and stepped into the room, only to be hit in the chest by a brightly colored speeding bullet about the size of a yearly pony.  Shadow sat back with a thud and an oof and a laugh as he had Glorious Dawn hanging from his neck, bringing a hoof up to wrap around her, “Hello little one, how was your day?”

“Uncle Shadow! ImadeanewfriendwhoisnamedGeraldthegryphon and and and Mommywokeup! Shesawakeandshesokay!” came the high pitched squeal so fast that Shadow had to take a moment to piece together what she said.  When he realized it, it hit him like a piercing pain right in his shoulder, striking bone.

Shadow cried out as he stumbled aside, blood gushing from a deep gash in his right shoulder, his stave coming up to bash away the weapon.  The sergeant nearby bellowed out, “Where the hoof is your head Shadow! Pay attention!  Your head is in the clouds, stop daydreaming of that filly’s flank and get your act back together!  Let’s take a break, boys.  Hammer, go get the medic!”

One of the ponies nodded, dropping his hammer, and turned to canter off.  Shadow sat back, looking a bit embarrassed as he looked to the bleeding wound on his shoulder.  It wasn’t the only wound he had, but it might be the deepest.  The sergeant stomped up to Shadow, standing in front of him, “So what is your malfunction solider? What had you distracted?”

Shadow cleared his throat, looking embarrassed, “Sir, I was thinking about Glorious Dawn, her mother woke up yesterday.  I was hoping to get to visit her soon, sir.”

“That isn’t in the cards son, your orders haven’t changed, and you are not getting any time off for getting yourself hurt.  You get lunch, and then you are giving me three hundred laps of the training grounds before dinner.”

Shadow stifled an internal groan, but he nodded, “Sir yes sir!”  He saluted the sergeant, who nodded sharply in return, and turned to trot off as two medical ponies trotted over, and started cleaning, dressing, and stitching Shadow’s shoulder injury.  Shadow thought about lunch, and wrinkled his nose in pain and distaste, looking forwards to the same lean rations he had been kept on for the past several weeks, bread and water.  He was getting sick to his stomach of bread and water. Ugh. Ow.


***


The wheelchair rolled into the physical therapist’s office, Twilight riding along in the seat, looking around nervously.  Glorious Dawn was trotting along besides her, her little wings fluttering every few steps, giving a bit of bounce to her.  Applejack was behind the wheelchair, pushing it, “Relax Sugarcube, you’ll do fine.  Big Mac had to do this a few years back after he hurt his neck and broke his leg when that tree came down wrong, ya remember?  Just do what the doctor tells ya, and ya’ll be walking around again in no time.  If ya need us, the girls and Spike and I will be waiting outside for ya.”

Twilight offered Rainbow a weak smile, but nodded, “I’ll do my best, thank you AJ.”  Twilight locked over the side of the chair at Dawn, “You should go with her Dawn, this is going to be boring.”

“Awww, but Mooooom!” Dawn whined, “I wanted to help!”

“Yer momma is right little one, come on and maybe Spike can go take you for some icecream.  Ah think there’s one just down the block.”

Dawn perked up a little at that, but she shifted from hoof to hoof, looking worriedly to her mother, “You’ll be right here when I come back, won’t you mommy?”

Twilight nodded to Dawn, “Of course sweetheart, I’ll be fine, go on, have some fun.”

Dawn nodded reluctantly, her wings tucking in against her side as she turned to walk out with AppleJack.

Twilight looked after her daughter and sighed, but shook her head after a moment, it was only for a little while after all.  She went back to looking around the office for a bit, taking notes of the weights, the rails, and the treadmill, and the other tools of the trade around.  She also noticed the desk, and the nameplate of it.  Doctor Hard.  That was a funny name.  Twilight shrugged after a moment to wait.

A couple of minutes later, a donkey walked into the room, carrying a file in his teeth which he set on the desk, opening it open to look through it a moment, before looking over to Twilight.  “Miss Sparkle I presume?” trotting over to her.

Twilight nodded, “Yes, that’s me.”

“Hmm, your file said that you have severely atrophied muscles, can you walk at all?  When was the last time you walked?”

Twilight bit her lip, “um… nearly a year ago,” she said, a little timidly as she glanced over the heavily built donkey.  “I have not had a lot of a chance to try, I had to be helped into the wheelchair however.  I… I tried to stand up when I woke up the first time yesterday, the best I could do was push myself around a bit…”

The doctor nodded, “I should check your range of motion, and I will give you some excersizes to do.  If you stick to the excersizes, we should be able to see some improvement within a week, but if you are this badly off, it could be a month or more before you can get around on your own, and three to five months before you are back to full strength.  Recover is not always a quick process.”

Twilight nodded with a furrowed brow, and biting her lower lip while the doctor moved behind the Wheelchair and pushed her over to a low examination table.  Once there, Twilight reached her hooves out to the table while the doctor locked the wheels of the chair.  Twilight started slowly struggling to pull herself onto the table.

The doctor just watched for a few moments, judging, before he moved to the side of the chair, and moved his hooves under Twilight’s shoulders, lifting her up almost like she weighed nothing, and moving her onto the table, “alright, onto your back,” he said, helping Twilight get there.

Once the doctor had Twilight on her back, he took a hoof, slowly stretching it out full length, “Let me know when it hurts,” he said.  He got the hoof almost fully extended before Twilight whimpered a little, so the doctor moved it in another direction, checking out how limber Twilight was.  After each hoof and leg, the Doctor took some notes, feeling the muscle tone.

When the doctor was done he stepped away, and Twilight rolled to her side with a little wince.  “You are in just as bad shape as you said, you have a low range of mobility, and very low muscle tone.  I am afraid you might be in for a rough time ahead of you, but we will get you back on your feet soon.  Now, I am going to show you a series of excersizes, and give you a few two pound weights that I want you to do them with.  I want you to try and do them every hour or two the very least.”

Twilight let out a little whine, but nodded, tucking her hooves closer in, and rubbing her shoulders where muscles were feeling a bit stretched.

The doctor came back over, “Alright, from your side here, and you need to do this on both sides, is take your left hooves, and bring them slowly up into the air like this, take them as far as you can, an hold them there for a count of then, then slowly bring them back down.  Do this three times, and then roll to your other side, and do the same thing.  While you are on your back, I want you to stretch your front legs up towards your head, and your back legs down towards your tail like you were running, hold there for a ten count, and bring them the other way, stretch your front hooves back, and your back hooves forwards, and do this three times.”

“After you have done all that, you can rest, after the third day, you should do it with these weights,” he said, carrying over a set of small bands with weights in them, “and I will see you again in a week to check your progress, and give you some more exercises to do.”

“’All That’ Doctor? That hardly seems like anything at all!” Twilight said, slowly rolling back to her front, and struggling to move into a sitting position.

The doctor smiled a little condescendingly, “Of course not, for a pony in good health.  I am sure you remember doing all that easily.  I would recommend some pain killers for you… but after reading your file… it would be unethical for me to prescribe anything that would really help.  The best I can tell you is that if you are having a lot of trouble, have some willow bark tea, but only a glass or two a day, any more than that and I will have the palace kitchens cut you off, and you will have to go without,” he said sternly.

Twilight cringed under those words, looking down, her ears lying back in a bit of distress, “yes Doctor.”

The doctor frowned, and sighed, “I’m sorry, but the patients wellbeing comes first, you will be fine, but it is going to be rough to get there.  Let’s get you back into the wheelchair, and you can head back to the castle, you should stay in the infirmary until you are able to make it around on your own, and take care of your own… needs.”

Twilight blushed a bit, embarrassed by being reminded of those unavoidable biological needs, but she nodded, starting to work on pulling herself back into the wheelchair, though the doctor walked up besides her and helped her into it, before unlocking the wheels, and rolling Twilight to the door.  Twilight opened the door with her magic, and the wheelchair rolled out into the waiting room.

True to their word, all of Twilight’s friends were waiting in the waiting room, and Twilight smiled brightly as the doctor rolled her out.  Dawn was getting her face cleaned by a damp cloth by Rarity, who was fussing over her, but Dawn looked up as Twilight came out, and scampered over, leaping up to give Twilight a big sticky hug, “Momma!”

Twilight laughed, hugging Dawn, “You look like you got more on you than in you,” taking a lick at some icecream on Dawn’s nose, “Mmmm, mint! That’s a good kind!”

Dawn wrinkled her nose and whined, “Mommmyyyy!”

That drew a big round of laughter from all the adults present.


***


There was a scream of fury from Twilight’s room as Fluttershy and Rarity walked in to visit, followed by the sound of glass shattering, and one of the nurses came running out of the room, ducking as a hairbrush came flying low over her head, “NO! I don’t want any more tea! It doesn’t help!  You know what I need and you won’t give it to me! Why won’t you let me have any more?”  The sound of sobbing broke through the air as Fluttershy and Rarity exchanged looks, and hurried past the nurse who tried to stop them with a warning.

It had been two days since Twilight had started her physical therapy, and when Rarity and Fluttershy entered the room, they saw the place looked like a disaster area.  There was a cart that had previously held food and tea toppled over, shattering the teacups all over the floor, and all the chairs had been knocked over from a burst of magical energy in Twilight’s tantrum.  Twilight herself was lying on her side in her bed, her body shivering in sobs as she looked up, first with a deadly glare, expecting the nurse had come back, but then with horror as she saw Rarity and Fluttershy standing there, both of whom looked a little shell-shocked.

“Go away! I don’t want to see anypony right now! I don’t feel good!” Twilight said, starting off yelling, but her voice dropping into sobs as she turned away, burying her face in her pillow.

Fluttershy slowly made her way to the bed, stepping carefully around the broken glass and steaming liquid, “Oh… oh my, I, I think that now might be the time you really do need to see somepony, Twilight, what’s wrong?”

Twilight started sobbing into the pillow, “I’m tired, and I can’t sleep!  I just hurt so badly, and that… STUPID tea doesn’t help! And it tastes bad!” she lifted her head to glare at Fluttershy with red rimmed and bloodshot eyes.  “They won’t give me anything to help me sleep! Or Moon Sugar! That would… that would…” Twilights voice started trailing off, before she shook herself and buried her face again into her pillow, breaking down into sobs again.

Fluttershy didn’t back down under the glare, though her ears flattened back worriedly.  The words of the Moon Sugar struck her pretty hard however, and she looked about ready to start crying, “Oh nonono, you don’t need that hun, just lay your head down… and take a little rest from the exercises.”

Rarity had retrieved the hairbrush and moved around to the other side of the bed, putting her hooves on the side of the bed, “Fluttershy is right darling, you don’t need any of that stuff, just breathe, and try to relax. “  She used her magic to start moving the brush through Twilight’s mane, starting to brush it out gently.

Twilight sobbed into her pillow for a few minutes more, her body shaking in pain and tiredness, but the brushing of her mane started to slowly soothe her.  After a few minutes she slowly peeked out, looking to Fluttershy, “I’m… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… I know better… I…”

Fluttershy smiled, and reached over to hug Twilight’s neck gingerly, “I know Twilight, we all do… we understand what you are going through, please… just close your eyes and relax for a bit.”

Twilight whimpered softly, but she did as Fluttershy told her, slowly relaxing there on the bed, her body trembling and shaking from soft sobs.  Fluttershy slowly stroked Twilight’s neck, and down her shoulder, soothing the lavender mare with soft sounds.

After about twenty minutes, Twilight slowly opened her eyes again, still red from crying, but her shaking had gotten under control.  “What are you two doing here this early?” she asked in a bit of a shaky voice.

Fluttershy sighed, “I need to go back to Ponyville.  This um… my baby is due in a few days, and as much as I love Canterlot, and I want to stay with you to help you through this, I need to be home to have my baby, I am leaving on the noon train to go home.”

Twilight nodded, sniffling a bit, her ears laid back, “I understand… Hopefully I will be there too in a little while.  Who is the father anyways? You never said.”

Fluttershy blushed a bit, and lowered her head a bit, her wings giving an uncertain flap, before she lifted her head again, “Its um, Big Mac.  He is just the sweetest stallion around, so kind and gentle… we were married a little over a year ago.  It was a hard time, you know…” Fluttershy said softly, her voice dipping.  “I so much wanted you to be there, you were… in everything Twilight, I wanted you to be my mare of honor but…” Fluttershy’s voice started getting thick, an she wrapped her hooves around Twilight’s neck, “We missed you so much Twilight.”

Twilight started to cry again too, pressing her head into Fluttershy’s neck, her horn laying against the back of her neck as she slowly reached a quavering hoof up to rest on Fluttershy’s back, the action excruciatingly painful from how sore her muscles were, but she got over that as she hugged Fluttershy, “I’m so sorry Fluttershy… I wish I was there, I bet it was the most beautiful little ceremony ever.”

“Oh it was, it was absolutely gorgeous… there are a few pictures, when you get home, come by, I’ll show you everything.”

All too soon, the other ponies, and dragon, and gryphon were walking in, looking around at the mess in shock.  Rarity looked over, and then at the time, “That’s our queue darling, we should be on our way.”

Fluttershy nodded, “Oh alright…  You take things easy Twilight, just close your eyes and breathe if you start getting worked up.”

Twilight nodded, “I will, thank you Fluttershy, and congratulations on everything.

Little Dawn had gotten over the shock of the mess, and started galloping across the floor when Rarity picked her up just before she hit a puddle of spilled tea, “Watch your hooves dear, tea stains don’t come out of sheets very well,” playing the little filly on the bed, “And be gentle with your mother, she is having a rough morning.”

Dawn looked over, and nodded, “Okie Dokie Lokie!” mimicking Pinkie’s like, as Pinkie beamed a moment.  Dawn however promptly forgot, and pounced her mother, hugging her head, and drawing a bit of a groan of pain from Twilight, though Twilight just hugged the little filly with her head, settling her head down to rest while she talked with her friends.  Applejack snuck off, and returned with some stuff to start cleaning the mess up, much to the relief of the nurses.


***


Twilight lay awake in the middle of the night in her own bed, in her own chambers at the castle.  It was about a week and a half after she had started her rehabilitation, and she could just start to make her way around, and take care of herself again.  Dawn was still staying with Cadance, despite begging and pleading to stay with her mother, but it was decided that Twilight needed a few nights alone to worry about herself.

Twilight couldn’t sleep though, she was wide awake after a nightmare had set her screaming awake.  Her eyes closed, and a violent shudder slipped through her as she remembered, as she felt those barbs raking inside her, forcing spasms of pleasure and pain to shoot up her spine, she felt the hot breath on her ear, and that claw slicing across her…

Twilight opened her eyes again, gasping for breath.  She couldn’t breathe.  As hard as she tried, she couldn’t breathe, all that came out was a gurgling sound, and bubbles, bubbles that tasted coppery.  Her hooves went to her throat, and her body twitched in agony, her hooves coming away soaked in blood…

Twilight’s eyes shot open as she sat up with a scream again, gasping and panting for breath that blessedly came.  She touched her hooves to her throat, and looked… they were dry.  She breathed a sigh of relief, and slowly slid out of the bed.

Landing on her hooves, they almost gave out beneath her, wobbling unsteadily for a moment, before she managed to stabilize herself.  Very slowly, Twilight made her way to the door, her magic opening it up, and she slipped outside.


“is there something I can help you with, Miss Sparkle?” the sudden voice, soft as it was made Twilight jump, though she didn’t make three feet this time, only an inch before she went crashing down to the floor, letting out a soft groan.

“My apologies Miss Sparkle, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the stallion replied, a guard that had been down the hallway.

“I-it’s alright,” Twilight replied sheepishly, though she was having the weirdest sense of déjà-vu.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” the stallion repeated softly.

Twilight shook her head, “n-No, thank you, I just felt the need for… for some fresh air.”

“Would you like an escort Miss Sparkle?” the stallion asked helpfully.

Twilight shook her head after a moment, “No thank you sir, I have been roaming these halls since I was a little filly myself.”

The guard frowned after a moment, “I must insist, Miss Sparkle.  I remember very well what happened after the last time I let you roam free.”

Twilight gaped at the guard for a moment, “I remember you! You are the same guard that was here after the…  After my brother’s funeral.”

The stallion nodded, “You still have my condolences, but I must escort you Miss Sparkle,” he offered her a smile however.

Twilight nodded, “Very well, maybe you will get to carry me back to my room after I slip somewhere and I can’t get up.”  She slowly got her hooves underneath herself, and very slowly pushed herself to a stand, 

“If you are wanting some fresh air, might I suggest Luna’s gardens?  They are rather spectacular at this hour of the night,” the guard suggested, “And they are not that far.”

Twilight smiled and nodded, “that sounds wonderful, thank you.”

“My pleasure Miss Sparkle, you can lean on me if you would like.”

Twilight smiled, and as the stallion moved up besides her, she shifted to lean against him, and he slowly helped her down the hallway.

“Just don’t tell Shadow that I am doing this, he might buck me clear out of Canterlot,” he said with a chuckle.

That caught Twilight a bit off guard, “Shadow?  I haven’t seen him since I got here, where is he?” a little concerned.

“Down in the dungeon for the night I imagine.  He is on a rather harsh punishment.  Hard cot down in the dungeon, and the most brutal training regimen I have ever seen.  If I didn’t know better, and I hadn’t seen how he fought, I would dare say that the captain was trying to work him to death.”

Twilight’s ears laid back as her eyes widened, getting a bit freaked out over that, her voice strained, “is... is he alright?  I want to go see him.”

“He’s fine, don’t worry your pretty little horn, um… ahem, Miss Sparkle,” the guard cleared his throat as he tried to put back on his professional demeanor, though the slip made Twilight blush, and snicker a bit.  “He is handling the training like a real fighter, but unless I am mistaken, he is forbidden on penalty of death from seeing you, or that might just be a rumor.”

Twilight paled at that, her eyes widened as she missed a step and stumbled, falling down towards the floor as the guard shifted suddenly, reaching a hoof to help catch her, “Careful there Miss Sparkle.”

“s-Sorry, I am just worried about Shadow, he is my friend and I miss seeing him,” Twilight replied, using the guard’s leg and strength to get back to her feet.

The guard nodded, “He is a decent pony from what I have seen, a bit rough around the edges, but a good guy.”

They finally reached the arched doorways that led out into Luna’s gardens, and the guard opened the door for Twilight, and Twilight stepped through, letting out a soft gasp of wonder.

The gardens were gorgeous, little fireflies flittering through the air, winking on and off in unison, trees dotted with them.  Twilight looked to the plants themselves, trying to name them, there were so many rare and exotic species, many of them glowing and shimmering in the moonlight, or from their own inner bioluminescence.  There was the towering tree of twinkling tulips, the Moonblossoms of the endless plains, the Wind Chimes of the Crescent Moon, which were said to tinkle softly underneath the light of the slimmest crescent moon of the month, though they were silent as a huge full moon hung in the sky.  There was the creeping Jupiter moss, glowing a fiery red beneath the pale glittering of the Starstruck Spruce.  And that was just what Twilight could name!  

Twilight started to slowly make her way through the gardens in absolute awe of them, naming what plants and flowers and even the moths and other insects flying around.  A Lunar Moth landed on Twilight Sparkle’s nose for a moment, causing her to go stock still as she looked at it cross-eyed as its wings slowly beat for a moment, before it fluttered off, and she let out a breathless, “Wow…”

The guard stayed back a little bit, watching the lavender male with an amused little smile, though he did take in the beauty of the place himself.  This was supposed to be Luna’s private gardens, but he did not think that the princess would mind allowing a friend of the family such as Twilight Sparkle have a short midnight walk through it.

He was mistaken however, as a few minutes later, the sound of wing beats and heavy hooves sounded sharply behind the stallion, “Guardspony, what are you doing here?”

The guard looked to Princess Luna startled, his ears laid back, realizing that she MIGHT actually mind, “I um, Miss Twilight Sparkle was restless, I thought I would escort her on a walk through your garden.  I did not think you would mind, as it was close to the guest wing, and it is beautiful out here.”

“Normally I would not, but tonight…” Luna’s head shot up, “Oh no…” Twilight was out of sight… and heading right for the…

“Moonlight Glory!” Twilight murmured to herself, smelling the beautiful flowers, broad five petal flowers that glowed iridescently beneath the shimmering full moon, but suddenly something caught her attention about the scent, and Twilight leaned closer, taking a deep sniff of the flowers, even as the sound of hooves started to thunder over the cobblestone walk a distance behind her.

A dim voice called out over the quiet night, desperate, “Twilight!” but the lavender unicorn was enthralled, enraptured by the scent of the flowers, something that drew up a desire that she new so well, a desire she couldn’t fight… she had to have more!  Just before a navy blue glow wrapped around Twilight, she plunged her muzzle down around the flower, biting it off, and swallowing it before she could think about it.

Princess Luna rushed towards the lavender mare, her power wrapping around her and pulling her away just as she saw Twilight swallow something.  Luna cringed as she came to a stop, her eyes wide as she watched Twilight.  Twilight just smiled sleepily, held there in the embrace of Luna’s magic, as her eyes started to close. “That plant is toxic to ponies, especially to ones who have suffered the addiction! I have to get her to the infirmary!”  Luna placed Twilight on her back, holding her there with magic as she leapt away, just as Twilight Sparkle started going into convulsions on the moon princess’s back.


***


Twilight drifted slowly in a peaceful calm, though suddenly it was jarred apart as something jabbed itself down her throat, and her eyes fluttered open, her back arching as she lost her dinner, before everything faded again.


***


It felt like an eternity was swallowing her whole as she slipped deeper into the blackness, it felt so welcoming… power shocked through Twilight suddenly, ripping away the void of blackness beneath her as she screamed.


***


Her body ached, she felt sore, but her eyes couldn’t open.  She slept restlessly, drifting in a cloud of indecision and doubt that seemed to stretch on for miles and seconds around her.  She couldn’t make out the sounds whistling around her, but they seemed familiar… one voice came through finally, a high pitched, childish one… it was her daughter! “Please come back to us mommy!”


***


Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, and she let out a low groan, her body shaking a bit as she lifted her head.  The world swam around her, and she laid it back down, though there were voices around her.  Finally she managed to make sense of them, her eyes opening to focus on Spike’s face in front of her, “Look, she’s coming around again!”

“Shh Spike! Dawnie is sleeping!” Pinkie Pie hissed, sitting in a chair, rocking the tired child in her arms.

“Oops, sorry…” Spike whispered softly, glancing back, before looking back to Twilight, “How are you feeling Twilight?”

Twilight groaned, “Like I got hit by a carriage… what happened?”

“You ate a Moonlit Glory, at least that is what Princess Luna said.  She said it is the kind of plant used to produce Moon Sugar, and you um, she thinks your addiction took control of you when you smelled it under the full moon.”

Twilight groaned, and covered her face with her hooves, “The Moonlit Glory… it smelled so good! I… I can’t believe I ate one, those things are poisonous! How could I be so stupid?” she groaned, bopping herself in the head repeatedly until Spike grabbed her hoof.

“Look, don’t blame yourself, accidents happen, right?  You weren’t expecting that to happen, you didn’t even go looking for it, you just… stumbled into it, it’ll be alright Twilight.”

“It will! You are alright!  It was close for a while… I was reeeaallly scared and worried,” Pinkie said, though she kept her voice soft, “But you made it! That’s what matters!”

Twilight laid her head back down to rest.  “I guess so…” she sounded a bit unconvinced.  “How long have I been asleep?”

“About three days.  Princess Celestia wants to have a private audience with you as soon as you can walk again.”

Twilight groaned, and pulled a pillow over her head at that, “Princess Celestia is going to be furious with me…”

“I’d be more worried about Princess Luna if I were you, you did eat one of her flowers after all… I’m just kidding! Lighten up!  She was more worried about you,” Pinkie Pie Whispered.

Twilight groaned again, and hid her head under the pillow for a minute, before peeking out, and looking to Pinkie Pie and Dawn.  After a minute, she drew her magic around Dawn, and gently picked her up, carrying her over to the infirmary bed, wrapping her hooves gently around her, snuggling into her tiny daughter, “I’m sorry Dawn…”

“I love you too mommy,” came the sleepy response as Dawn shifted a moment, her wings wrapping around Twilight’s head a bit, but she was back asleep again quickly, and Twilight decided that looked like a good idea.


***


Twilight rested, doing some of her exercises for most of the rest of the day.  As night started to fall though, a tremor started in Twilight’s legs, and it started getting worse the lower the sun sank.  Twilight made Spike take Dawn back to Princess Cadance.  Things just got worst from there.

Within an hour after sunset, Twilight’s whole body was shaking, and now that she was conscious, she started begging for Moon Sugar, just a taste.  When no one brought her anything, she started getting angry, and throwing things and ponies around, and the doctors were forced to bring in a magic suppression band, fixing it down to the base of Twilight’s horn.

This just made things worse, and Twilight dissolved into screaming fits pierced by moments of clarity where she broke down sobbing and apologizing for everything under the sun, and sometimes for the sun itself.  Twilight’s friend stayed up with her, one or two at a time throughout the night, keeping her company, and being there for her when she woke up from short naps, screaming and sobbing.

Nopony got much sleep that night.

The next day was just as bad, the nightmares and screaming stopped, but Twilight laid there listlessly for most of it, except for the few times when she was trying to fight and kick her way out of the bed.  The only real peace was the few hours that Dawn and Gerald visited, though by the end of that, Twilight had started to shake again, and begged her friends to take the two back home so they wouldn’t see her in worse shape than she already was.

That night was the worst night of all.  As the sun started to fall, Twilight started to tense up, dissolving into seizures as waking nightmares flashed before her eyes, sending her screaming, and shaking her head.  Nightmares of the rapes she had suffered seemed most prevalent, her body arching as her friends tried to hold her down.  Twilight begged and pleaded for release, for death, for someone just to finish her off, but there was no relief through the whole long night.

When morning came, there was finally some peace.   As the first rays of the sun brightened the horizon, Twilight’s body finally fell still, falling into a deep dreamless slumber.  The nurses moved Twilight into a wheelchair, and took the bed away, changing sheets that were soaked in sexual juices and some flecks of blood from Twilight’s struggles.  All of Twilight’s friends were laying on various pieces of furniture as they watched their friend worriedly.

After a while, the two nurses returned, and took Twilight off to bathe her while she slept, returning her a while later washed and damp, and with fresh bandages over her shoulder, and urged the other ponies to find their own beds.  Most of them argued among themselves over not going, but finally Rarity insisted that they do, and that she would take first watch over Twilight.

The others reluctantly left for the day, while Rarity settled on a chair besides Twilight’s bed, singing a soft, soothing lullaby to the lavender mare while she ran a brush through Twilight’s damp mane, bringing some blessed comfort to the worn out mare.

Shifts changed every few hours, granting Twilight some peace and company when she finally woke near late afternoon

Twilight let out a low groan, her eyes flickering open slowly, “Ugh… what time is it? Is it morning yet?”

Rainbow Dash looked up, and grinned, “Hey there tough stuff, you missed morning by a long shot, but I am not surprised,” her grin fading, and giving Twilight a worried look, “You had a rough night.”

Twilight groaned, her body aching from the activities, and she nodded, though she started trying to sit up, and found she couldn’t, straps holding her down.  She tried using her magic, only to find that she couldn’t, and her eyes widened with fear, starting to struggle, “Help! Let me up!”

“Whoa whoa Twilight, calm down,” Rainbow Dash said, putting a hoof on the mare’s shoulder, “You had to be tied down, you were gonna hurt yourself.”

“It’s not just that! It’s my magic!” Twilight said in a panic, realizing her voice sounded quite hoarse and rough.

“That too, you were starting to throw some spells yesterday, calm down, and let me go get a nurse, I’ll be back before you can say Princess Celestia’s Purple Horseshoe!”  Rainbow boasted, before zipping out with a flutter of wings.

Twilight blinked after Rainbow Dash, “Princess Celestia’s Purple Horse-“

Rainbow Dash cut off Twilight’s question as she zipped back into the room, “told ya!”  A nurse mare walking in after Rainbow Dash.

“Really Miss Dash, you should go slower in the halls,” the mare said, chiding the cyan pegasus.
“Pfft, slower’s for… well everyone else!  Twilight looks a lot better; can you take off her horn ring and her straps?”

The nurse looked over the lavender mare as she walked over, while Twilight followed her with her eyes.  The nurse pulled out a little light, shining it in Twilight’s eyes, who complied with only a little wincing, before she nodded, “She seems over the worst of it, though I suspect tonight might be a little rough.  If you want to have some visitors, the next few hours before moonrise are the best bet.”  The mare moved to the side of the bed, starting to loosen the straps.

“Alright! Applejack should be here in like ten minutes, but I’ll go get Princess Cadance and let her know! And she can bring by the kids!” Rainbow Dash said, her wings buzzing as she took into the air, before they slowed, looking at Twilight, “If… If you want me to that is? Are you up for it?” a bit of concern showing through.

Twilight smiled as she slowly sat up, “I would love that Dash, and the rest of the girls?”  She lowered her head to the nurse, and the nurse slipped off the magic inhibiting ring, setting it aside on the table.

“Gotcha!  This might take me a few minutes longer,” Rainbow Dash said, before zipping out of the room.

The nurse looked over and yelled after her, “Slow down in the infirmary at least!  Blasted speed demons,” she muttered, before looking to Twilight, “I will bring you some dinner, I might as well have some brought up for all of your friends as well.”

Twilight smiled a bit shakily, “Thank you, thank you very much.”

The nurse smiled at Twilight, and slipped out.


***


They had a rather nice little quiet dinner party of sorts, though Pinkie Pie was rather reluctant to call it a party without any streamers or fireworks or even cake, but Twilight liked it, resting curled up on the bed for the most part with Gerald and Dawn.

As night began to fall however, Twilight started to feel the familiar itching clawing at her, though it was not as bad as the prior night.  She finally asked that Dawn and Gerald get taken home, as she settled in to rest.  The night was rough, that was for certain, but she managed to make it through with only waking up screaming a few times, and without restraints or a magic restrictor, instead just falling into the arms of whoever was with her at the time, sobbing.

The next morning had Twilight heading back to her own quarters, over the worst of the withdrawal, and she managed to make it through a few more nights without going crazy, though the guards wouldn’t let her out of her room after night.


***


The morning of the fifth day saw Twilight Sparkle making her way to the royal apartments by herself, about half an hour after breakfast.  Twilight’s legs hurt from the prior days exercises, but they were growing steadier.  Two guards escorted Twilight, standing a bit behind her, though as she reached the doorway to the royal apartment complex, they moved past her, and opened them up.

Twilight stepped nervously through the doors, and glanced around, her ears back a bit.  She did not expect to see two guards standing on either side of the door, dressed in full royal guard regalia, and holding spears besides themselves, but her gaze quickly found its way to the two princesses, Luna and Celestia, sitting around a cleared breakfast table, talking about affairs of the country.

The conversation ceased as the two noticed Twilight Sparkle had entered, and Celestia smiled, motioning her over, “Come join us Twilight Sparkle, how have you been?”

Twilight looked a bit nervous, but made her way to the table, climbing a bit laboriously into a chair to sit, and face the two alicorns, “I have been better Princess Celestia, but I have also been much worse.”

Celestia smiled a bit sadly at that, an nodded, “It is a shame about that.  Do you know why you are here today?”

Twilight swallowed back a nervous lump in her throat, glancing back to the two guards, before looking back to Celestia, “Because you are going to have me thrown in the dungeon for assaulting Fluttershy, and for using Moon Sugar, and for stealing from my friends and for… I am sure I am forgetting something.”

Luna chuckled softly, a bit of amusement on her lips, “Perhaps for eating a flower from my garden?”

Twilight blanched a bit, and scuffed her hoof on the edge of the chair she was on a little, “Yeah, for that too.  Can I get to see Glorious Dawn at least while I am in there?”

Celestia looked between the two, and then shook her head with a soft laugh, “Sister, please, you mustn’t be so cruel.  Twilight, we are not going to lock you up, if you have committed any crimes of consequence, they are forgiven; you have suffered enough through your own actions, and the actions of others.

Twilight slowly lifted her head, “Really?  I don’t have to go to prison?  So you aren’t mad at me?”

“Mad?  No my dear student.  Disappointed… yes, I am.  I had hoped you would have known enough to turn to your friends in your time of need, instead of running away from your problems.  You hurt a great many friends with your absence, do you realize this?”

Twilight’s expression wilted again, and she looked down, deeply upsetting her that she had disappointed Celestia so much, but she nodded, “Yes Princess, and I have a lot more to think about now than just my friends, I have Dawn to think about.  That is why I am so mad at myself for… eating one of those flowers.  I could have died, I wanted to die for a bit there, these past few days.  After all of this however… I have Dawn… beautiful little Glorious Dawn… and every time I see her,” she lifted her head, looking at Celestia, some tears in her eyes, “I don’t regret anything, she is the most wonderful thing in my life, and I am looking forwards to being the mother she deserves.”

The two princesses exchanged a bit of a look, nodding knowingly as Celestia turned back to Twilight, “We have met Dawn, she is a beautiful little filly, and we know you will do your best to be the best mother she can be.  However, it has come to our attention that you are still having a great deal of trouble in some areas.  Ponyville is near the edge of Everfree Forest, and you are intending to return there soon, correct?”

Twilight nodded, her ears splayed, not sure she liked where this was going, “yes Princess.”

Luna nodded, continuing, “The Moonlit Glory grows within the Everfree Forest, even though it is rare, it presents a danger to you if you let yourself slip again.  We have a proposal, but first, we have some things we would like to know about your last few years.  To start off with, can you tell us who supplied you with the Moon Sugar?”

Twlight’s ears laid back, and she looked away, biting her lip, but she answered, “Dawn’s father, a pegasus by the name of Hot Shot.”

Luna frowned a bit, but she nodded, “Good, he has been in custody for several weeks, he will be punished accordingly.  Next, do you know the fate of one… Bull Dozer?  He was alleged to have run the gang that controlled that factory in which you were found, no sign has been found of him however.”

Twilight paled at that name, her head lowering as she let out a little squeak, trying to answer.  Princess Celestia looked over worried, “Breathe Twilight, take your time, he hurt you?”

Twilight nodded, and swallowed, and took a slow, shaky breath, before she finally managed to answer, “Yes Your Majesty.  I think I um… squished him with something… when… just before I…”

“I understand Twilight,” Celestia said, “I saw the power of magic, you were not fully in control, nothing will be done to you because of it.”

Twilight let out a soft breath, and nodded, “Thank you Princess.”

Luna spoke up then, “That leaves one more issue, are you familiar with one former sergeant Shadow Hoof?”

Twilight looked up at Luna, her ears perking up, before laying back, worry on her face, “Yes, I know him.”

Luna nodded, her voice coming out cold and hard, “Are you aware that he is a wanted fugitive, and he is facing charges of high treason, mutiny, and murder of a superior officer?”

Twilight cringed at that, her ears plastering against her head, as she nodded, “He’s not like that! He’s a-“

“Answer the question Twilight, are you aware of these charges?” Princess Luna asked pointedly.

Twilight cringed as she was cut off, lowering her head, but nodded, “I am aware Princess.”

“And what do you think of the former sergeant? You have had a great deal of interaction with him, have you not?”

Twilight nodded in response, looking up, “I did… We became friends after a few of my visits there, he would always step out and say hi to me.  After I… ran away, we saw a lot more of eachother, we had tea together a lot, and he told me what really happened.  His squad was set up!  The officer he killed had dealings with the gryphon army, and was sending squads out to die.  Maybe what Shadow did wasn’t right, but what he did saved the lives of a lot of soldiers!  You can’t hang him Princesses, please!”

The two princesses exchanged another look, before Luna looked back to Twilight, “We are aware of his excuses, but let me ask you, do you trust him?  Would you trust him with your life?”

Twilight’s ears lifted a little at the question, and she nodded without hesitation, “In a moment Princess.  I know he did not intend for me to get captured by the gang like I was, and he was there for me, he protected my daughter, and he looked after me.  He saved my life in the end, didn’t he?  He was my only real friend while I was there, the only one that I felt I had at any rate…”

Princess Luna nodded, a smile slipping onto her features as she looked over Twilight Sparkle, judging her sincerity, “He did save your life, and he risked his for it.  It was a brave and noble act if there ever was one, and he will not be punished for it.”  Luna moved to rise from her chair, stepping away, her voice bellowing strongly, “PRIVATE SHADOW HOOF, present yourself!”

Twilight looked up surprised, then looked over as one of the guards at the door marched forwards.  The solider removed his helm with a fluid motion of his hoof, and dropped into a low kneeling bow before the princess.  Beneath the helm was none other than Shadow, his mane trimmed neatly, and his eyes forwards.  Twilight could only stare on disbelief for a moment, her muscles frozen in shock to see him there.

“Private, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Special Operative, with the salary and benefits of that rank.  Your assignment is as follows, to begin immediately.  You are assigned as Twilight’s personal bodyguard and assistant.  You are to safeguard her life at all costs, even your own, you are to accompany her, and follow her directions should she require aid, and above all, you are to keep her safe.  You will be expected to make reports to us once a month, or immediately if there are any problems of consequence.  Do you understand your orders?”

Shadow’s gruff voice sounded quite formal as he nodded his head, “Yes Your Majesty, I will do my best.”

“Good Special Operative Shadow, At ease,” Luna barked, before she relaxed, glancing towards Twilight with a smile.

Twilight just stared at Shadow as he stood up, and the moment he looked at Twilight, he suddenly found himself with a lavender torpedo taking him in the chest, causing him to fall back to a sit with a heavy grunt, his helmet that he had been picking up clattering down on the floor.

“Well hello to you too Miss Sparkle,” Shadow said, looking down a little awkwardly at the filly clinging to his chest.

Twilight thumped Shadow in the chest plate with a hoof, “Don’t you ‘Miss Sparkle’ me!” she almost yelled at him, pulling her head back, and Shadow was shocked to see tears in her eyes, “I missed you! I was worried sick about you!  I thought they were going to execute you!”

Shadow slowly moved a hoof around Twilight, before he started hugging her against him, lowering his head down against hers, “I missed you too Twilight, I wanted to see you every day, but I was under strict orders.  You have no idea how much I was worried about you, and how eagerly I awaited news of your recovery.  I am so glad you are alright.”

Twilight shook her head, shaking as she pressed her head back into the armored unicorn’s shoulder, “I’m not alright, I’m not sure I will ever be alright, but maybe with you… maybe I will be.”

Shadow ran a hoof down Twilight’s back a little, trying to comfort the lavender mare, “You will be fine, I will make sure of it, I think the princesses might have me executed anyways if I failed to do that.”

Princess Celestia let out a soft chuckle and shook her head; however Princess Luna looked to Celestia, “He’s right, I would!  What, don’t look at me like that.”

Princess Celestia shook her head again, and looked to Twilight, “I have spoken with the doctors, and the physical therapist, after your therapy appointment tomorrow, you should be ready to return to Ponyville.  I think we can all agree that as much as we love you here, you have spent too much time in Canterlot, and you need to go home.”

Twilight slowly let go of Shadow’s neck, and got her hooves underneath herself again, looking back to Celestia, “So soon Princess?”

“Yes my niece, you need to get on with your own life.  I will try to visit you, and you can always come back to visit us here, but you have your own life to lead, you haven’t been living much at all these past years.”

Twilight nodded, her ears splayed worriedly.  Shadow noticed the worry, and touched Twilight’s shoulder gently, “You will be fine, I will be there to make sure of it.”

Twilight looked up, and nodded, smiling weakly to the princesses as Celestia rose from her chair, “Thank you princesses, thank you for everything.”

Princess Celestia smiled, and nodded, “You are welcome Twilight.  Now I need to get ready for a day in court, and I believe my sister is heading for bed, so we must bid you good day for now, we will see you before you leave.”

Twilight nodded, turning a little, before she paused, "Oh! I have one more thing, if I could princesses," she said as she turned back towards them, bowing her head.

Princess Celestia looked up, her brow quirked curiously, "Of course Twilight, what is it?"

Twilight looked up, "I um.  Gerald, what is going to happen to him?"

Princess Celestia smiled a bit, "We have begun interviews in pegasus families to see if we can find a proper home that is willing to take him in and adopt him, or foster him.  His father was sadly... executed by the King of the Gryphons for high treason and sedition."  Celestia glanced to a decoration at the edge of the room that seemed to be made up of a headdress of gryphon feathers and bones, with a beak an claw talons decorating it.

Twilight glanced to it in horror as she noticed in, while Luna spoke up, "I believe they took your suggestion of making a gift out of his punishment... far too literally."

Princess Celestia nodded, "Sadly they did, but I am not surprised with the outcome."

Twilight paled a bit, but cleared her throat, yanking her eyes away from the gruesome trophy, and looking back to Celestia, "I was um.. I wanted to ask if I could adopt him.  He is a wonderful child, and he is getting along very well with my daughter, I would love to be able to give him a home."

Celestia smiled warmly as she considered Twilight, nodded, "Very well, I shall see about drawing up the adoption papers.  Are you sure you are willing to taken on this extra burden, Twilight?  One child is a handful, two can be downright draining."

Twilight nodded, "If I have trouble, I will be able to ask Shadow for help, or any of my other friends in Ponyville.  I will be fine."

Celestia nodded with a wide, warm smile as she looked over Twilight, "You make me proud still Twilight.  Just don't tell Gerald about... this.  I do not think he will handle it well."

Twilight nodded, glancing to the trophy again with a shudder, "I won't."  Twilight started turning for the door, “Thank you for everything, again.”  As she turned, she found Shadow was there, offering his strength that she took, leaning on him.  Noticing his helm on the floor, Twilight smiled, and picked it up with her magic, bringing it over and putting it on Shadow’s head with a smile as they started to walk out of the royal apartments, the guard remaining opening the door for them.

“They make such a cute couple,” Princess Luna said in a loud sort of whisper to her sister, “You think they will-“

“Luna! Leave them be!” Princess Celestia said, cuffing Luna in the shoulder, which only drew a light laugh from the dark princess.

Twilight’s cheeks burned as the doors closed behind them, but she looked up to Shadow… and she realizes that Luna was right, they did make a cute couple.



Author's Notes

Ugh! i always got the rest cranked out in one session! I just waited until too late last night to get started, and this ended up a day later than i expected!

I am not sure i have much to say about this chapter, however, one thing did cross my mind.

I believe I will dedicate the character Shadow to my fallen dog of the same name.  Shadow was a German Shepard, which is a common name for them i believe, but he was one of the best dogs i had ever had.  He was loyal, he was loving, and at times he was a frickin' moron.  Not the brightest dog in the world, but I loved him.  He died a few years ago over christmas, after i had broken up with my girlfriend, who kept him.  She ended up having to rehome him after we separated due to a degenerative spinal disorder whose name i've forgotten that can affect german shepards.  He lived a few years at the new home, getting the medical care he needed, running around with a doggy wheelchair and chasing tennis balls, until he peacefully died in his sleep.  I will miss you Shadow.  Good Boy.
> Ch. 11: Life is Beautiful
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight sat quietly in the window seat of a small, private passenger car, staring out the window as the countryside rolled by far below.  They were still high in the mountains, but they were on a clear stretch of track before the next tunnel.  It felt so long since she had ridden in a train car and seen this view; it just looked so perfect and beautiful from way up high, she had never taken the time to properly appreciate it before.

Pinkie Pie an Applejack were amusing themselves with playing cards, while Rarity and Spike were settled on another broad seat at the other end of the car, with Spike curled up around Rarity, an rarity resting her head on top of the purple dragon’s head, they made a cute couple.  Rainbow Dash was acting like a five year old foal for her part, chasing Gerald and Glorious Dawn up and down the aisle.  A little high pitched squeal came from Dawn as Rainbow Dash caught her, shouting out, “Gotcha!” when she did.  The sound of it brought a smile to Twilight’s face, and a soft contented sigh.

The sound of a door opening was followed by a startled, “Oops Hey watch it! Tea and Sandwiches coming through!” in a deeper voice, the sound of which made Twilight look over and smile even wider as she saw Shadow pushing a cart into the cabin.  Shadow had doffed his armor, was it was mostly for show, and he felt better without it.  Underneath that armor he was sporting quite a number of wounds in various stages of healing.  Twilight had fussed over those wounds when she had first seen them, wanting to complain about his punishment being too brutal, that was until he laughed it off, and reminded her he could have been hung instead.

Twilight looked to her own shoulder for a minute while Shadow was passing out some plates with sandwiches, and glasses of tea, as well as a few juice boxes to the kids.  The massive bandage that Twilight had worn down her shoulder and side were off, and the stitches removed, but it had scarred rather badly; there were four deep gouges that ran from her shoulder down to just below her ribs, starting to grow out with a deep purple fur that matched her mane and tail more than the rest of her coat.  Thankfully the rest of the injuries that Twilight had suffered had healed without any major scarring, or discoloration of her hide, just leaving her with that single distinctive reminder of the day she had nearly died.

“And for you miss?” Shadow asked, drawing Twilight’s attention towards him.

Twilight let out a soft giggle, drawing a grin from the ebon stallion, “Whatever everyone else is having, or whatever you are having.  Join me, please?  And just call me Twilight.”

Shadow chuckled, and nodded, “Very well,” his horn glowing black and carrying two plates off of the cart that held sandwiches, as well as two cups of tea, placing one set in front of Twilight, while he moved onto the window seat facing Twilight, “You look lost in thought,” he said softly.

Twilight nodded, “I am.  I was in that city for so long.  I used to love Canterlot when I was a child… but now it seems like it became a prison to me… or maybe my tomb.  I almost died there, several times.  Now I am going back to Ponyville… I just seem so… I’m excited, and I’m afraid.  Everything has to be different now.”

“Why does everything have to be different?  Not everything changes,” Shadow said, sipping at his tea a bit.

Twilight sighed, “I know… but it feels like it should be.  It’s my home, but I haven’t seen it for two years.  And everyone is going to be looking at me, wanting to know what happened… and I cannot hide this,” she said, looking to her shoulder, before she shook her head with an aggravated groan, looking away.  “Now I feel like I am being shallow, vain, and insecure.”

Shadow chuckled, and reached his head out, gently touching Twilight’s cheek with his nose, which made her start slightly, and blush in surprise as she looked back to Shadow.  Shadow lifted his head with a smile to her, “I know you are worried about how you look, and what they’ll know, and what they’ll think, but in the end, it only matters if they are your friend.  And if they are your friend, they will understand, and they will be there for you, just like the rest of your friends have.”

Twilight furrowed her brow as she considered Shadow’s words, before her ears lifted, and she smiled, nodding her head, “You are right!  If they are my friends, they will understand.  I just hope they are still my friends after all of this.”

“I am sure they will be.  And besides, I know how you got those scars, but really, I think they look spectacular on you, beautiful in fact, if I am allowed to say that,” Shadow said with a soft smile.

Twilight blinked in surprise, “R-really?  You think they look beautiful on me?” looking to Shadow to see if he was pulling her tail, before looking back to her shoulder and side again, and then back to Shadow.

Shadow chuckled softly, and nodded, his smile widening a bit as he laid on a little charm a bit thicker, “I would say its just as beautiful as the rest of you, and you are a beautiful mare.”

Twilight looked back at Shadow, her eyes widening as her cheeks started to color, looking a bit flustered for a moment as she lowered her head, scuffing her hoof on the seat as she studied her meal intently for a few moments.  After what felt like an eternity to her, she spoke awkwardly, “You… you are trying to flirt with me, aren’t you?  I’m not… sure what to say, flirting and um… courtship were never really part of my studies or um, research.”  Twilight shook her head a moment, Stupid stupid! Now I am sounding like Fluttershy!  Wait, she did get married, didn’t she? Oh Celestia what if he wants to..! No! No! Breathe Twilight, breathe!  Twilight finally remembered to breathe, taking a gasp suddenly of air, and then promptly ducking her head, embarrassed.

Shadow chuckled softly at Twilight’s reaction when she started to breathe again, having gotten worried there for a moment when she had stopped.  “You really have not had much… romantic interaction have you?  What did you used to do before everything happened?”

Twilight looked away sheepishly, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, “Well, honestly, I spent a lot of my free time in research.  I was one of the brightest up and coming magical unicorns in all of Equestria.  Princess Celestia had me doing research on the magic of friendship, but I did a lot of research into other kinds of magic, and I had written several research papers in both topics.  I was planning a master thesis on the interplay between the realms of traditional magic, and the magic of friendship in an attempt to explore the properties of the Elements of Harmony… but I never got around to it.”

Shadow blinked at all of that, watching as Twilight seemed to forget her embarrassment as she got involved about talking with her projects, and a smile slipped onto his face as he nodded, trying to grasp all of that, “You seem like you enjoyed your work.  I never had that powerful of an aptitude for magic beyond some invisibility and shadow melding spells, perhaps you could teach me?”

Twilight brightened up at that prospect, her ears lifting, “Oh I would love to!  Really!  I had always wanted to teach my own children in time,” her ears deflating a bit, “But… well…” she shook her head after a moment, “It doesn’t matter.  I love Dawn, I wouldn’t trade her for anything,” she said firmly.

Shadow nodded, glancing to where the children were settling on a seat with full stomachs, watching out the window, before he looked back to Twilight, “Maybe I could teach you some of my tricks, and sword play too, if you want to get into that.”

Twilight perked up a bit, and nodded, “I am… well I was always looking for new tricks and talents to learn, I would love to.  I’m not so sure about the sword play, but I could give it a try, if you go easy on me.”

Shadow chuckled softly, and nodded, “I will.  I guess I wanted to know more about what you did for fun as well.  I understand you enjoy your research, but you had to unwind some, right?”

Twilight considered and nodded, “Well, yes.  All the girls and I had a weekly get together to let our pets play…  I wonder if Owluicious is still there, I bet Spike took care of him.  And Rarity loved to invite me to go to the spa with her.  I often went to a poker game some weeknights between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, though I was never very good at it.”

Shadow chuckled at that in amusement, earning a bit of a frown from Twilight.  Shadow raised his hoof a bit defensively, “I just find it hard to believe you weren’t good at something, you seem to throw yourself into things.”

Twilight looked a bit sheepish, nodding as she looked down, “Well, yeah, why not?  If I was going to do something, why not try to be good at it?  I was never that good at bluffing however, it’s like they always knew what I had in my hand.” Twilight shrugged, “It’s not like we ever played for money, but it was fun.  There was always a lot to do around town.”

Shadow nodded, “So you’ve never been on a date or anything?” he asked, watching her reaction.

Twilight blinked, realizing they were back on that subject again, looking away a little embarrassed, “No… nopony ever asked me, and no colt ever really… y’know.”

Shadow grinned a bit, which just made Twilight’s cheeks coior more, “Good, so how about tonight, after we survive Pinkie Pie’s parade party?  You can show me around town some, and I can take you out to dinner?”

Twilight looked back at Shadow, suddenly nervous AND blushing, shuffling a little nervously in her seat as she tried to keep herself breathing again, “You… you are asking me out on a date? Like a date date?”

Shadow nodded, his expression more serious, “Like a date date.  You are a wonderful pony, Twilight, and I like you.  Heck, I put my life on the line for you.  You are one of the few ponies that has ever been my friend.  The Gang was just a place to hang out, and keep a low profile in… but it was you that made me realize I was throwing my life away there.”

“Even… even as I was throwing away my own life?” Twilight asked as her ears laid back.

“Even as you were… I saw so much good in you, and all I wish is that I had done something sooner, something, anything to let you know that you were a good pony, one of the best, but I didn’t know what to say to you.  It took me realizing you were about to die to do something.  I want to make that up to you, and I want to show you how special of a pony you are, and how special you are to me.”

Twilight just stared at Shadow for a minute, her ears shifting slowly up, before splaying, her lip starting to tremble, and Shadow wondered if he had said something wrong.  As a tear started to roll down Twilight’s cheeks, Shadow opened his mouth to say something, only to have utter darkness close in around them as they entered a tunnel. 

Before Shadow knew what happened, he suddenly had a pair of trembling lips pressed against his in the darkness as Twilight suddenly kissed him full on the lips, taking his breath away.  The kiss only lasted a moment, before Twilight broke it, and he felt the lavender mare start to draw back.  Shadow reached out a hoof to Twilight’s shoulder, gently stopping her, “Is… that a yes?” he asked softly in the darkness.

Twilight’s trembling, breathless voice came a few moments later, “That’s a yes.”

By the time the light came back as they left the tunnel, Twilight had slid in close to Shadow again, and was resting her head against his chest, overwhelmed, and Shadow was resting his head along the back of Twilight’s neck, a smile of happiness on his face.


***


The train pulled into the Ponyville central station as the horn let out a blast, announcing its arrival.  The passengers all disembarking while Twilight held back, nervously, her hooves shifting nervously as she looked at the door, panicking on the inside.  What if they hate me? What if nopony likes me? What if they start throwing things at me? I should just stay in here, maybe I can take a later train and sneak out in the middle of the night! Yeah, that’s a good idea! Twilight decided, nodding to herself as she took a step back.

Shadow looked back at Twilight with a bit of a concerned look, seeing the look of panic on her face.  He sighed, and walked over to her, “It’s going to be fine Twilight, you’ll see.  Dawn and Gerald are already out there, eveypony is waiting for you.  Besides, what are you going to do staying here? Ride the train for the rest of your life?”

Twilight looked up at Shadow with wide panicky eyes, and nodded, “y-Yeah, I was thinking about doing that,” looking for the door again, she fretted, scuffing her hoof on the ground, realizing she couldn’t just leave Dawn and Gerald out there, no matter how sound her plan was.

Shadow chuckled, and nudged her shoulder, “Look, I will be right there for you, and if things are as bad as you fear, I’ll kick everypony’s tail that looks at you funny.  These are your friends, it will be fine, trust me, I’ll be right besides you.”

Twilight let out a slow breath, and nodded, “Alright… let’s get this over with,” she said, finally starting to walk forwards on trembling hooves as Shadow moved to walk besides her.  Twilight took the opportunity to lean on the ebon stallion, steadying herself, and taking comfort in him being there.

As the two finally stepped off of the train, there was a loud yell, “There she is! Hit it!”  just before fireworks launched into the air at the ends of the train platform, exploding in the air and raining down glittering sparkles of flame that winked out right above the heads of the ponies there, and causing Twilight to cringe for a moment, before looking around rather bewildered.

Pinkie Pie had outdone herself this time, and Twilight tried to figure out just HOW she did it!  As she hadn’t seen the pink earth pony leave more than a few minutes before her off of the train.  There was a huge banner stretching over the exit to the train station that read ‘Welcome Home Twilight Sparkle!’ in big colorful letters, with Twilight’s cutie mark plastered on either end.  

There seemed to be a bit of a party started right there, an elaborate cake, and a big bowl of punch, and a wide variety of snacks and treats.  Dawn and Gerald were already there pigging out on some of the sweets, and making a mess.  It almost seemed like half of the ponies she knew from Ponyville were there in a semicircle, stomping their hooves and cheering as Twilight emerged.

Twilight blushed and stammered at all of the attention, shifting uncomfortably as Pinkie Pie trotted up to Twilight, and gave her a big hug, “I almost thought you were going to be late to your own party parade celebration!  Its Twilight Sparkle day in Ponyville!”

Twilight just stared at Pinkie Pie a moment, “Pinkie, how in Equestria did you manage to put together a party like this? Wait, you did say parade, didn’t you?” glancing out past the banner that welcomed her back, and her jaw just dropped.  There looked like there was a marching band, a few floats that looked to be ponydrawn, and one that looked like it was set up to have ponies ride on it.  And lining the streets looked like there was every pony that Twilight didn’t know from Ponyville, and the rest that she DID know, all laughing and having a good time even though the parade hadn’t even started yet.

“Silly, aren’t you paying attention? I did say parade!” Pinkie replied, beaming at Twilight.

Rainbow Dash laughed as she walked over, “You really think Pinkie Pie would leave this to chance?  By the time I got back to Ponyville after I left the Wonderbolts, Pinkie Pie was already starting to plan your party.  She has had plans in the work for this for -years- for you, I think it was the only way she kept sane.”

“She had everything written down in letters, she asked me to find and deliver them when I had time after coming home,” Fluttershy said as she stepped forwards, no longer pregnant.  Big Macintosh stepped up besides her, a new foal resting in a sling hanging from his broad neck.

Big Mac nodded with his traditional, “Eeyup,” that he added in.

Twilight let out a laugh, and trotted away from Shadow, wrapping a hoof around Fluttershy and giving her a hug, “I missed you Fluttershy, I really needed you there for a few days there, but I understand why you had to go.”

Fluttershy smiled and nuzzled into Twilight’s neck, returning the hug happily, “I heard what happened, I am so sorry I couldn’t be there for you, I’m glad you made it through.”

Twilight smiled, “I’m glad everything went alright with you,” releasing Fluttershy from the hug, and trotting over to see Big Mac, giving him a little kiss on the cheek which drew a blush from the large pony.

“Nice to see you too Twilight,” Big Mac drawled, “Come to see little Apple Seed?”

Twilight nodded with a smile, lowering her head, “Awww, he’s adorable! Apple Seed! Hes so cute!” Twilight fussed over the baby, making faces and drawing coos of delight from the little foal.

“Hey come on everypony! There’s food and cake! Come have some Twilight!” Pinkie Pie hollered from the tables.

Twilight looked over with a laugh, and turned to trot over for them, “Alright Pinkie, what have you got?”  She looked over the cake, which was an elaborate triple layer cake dressed up in purple icing, and white chocolate stars, and pink little candy stars, and a single purple candy horn topping the cake.  Taking it all in, Twilight just laughed, “It’s beautiful Pinkie.”

“Come on! Cut the cake! Cut the cake!” Pinkie chanted, and the chant was quickly taken up by the ponies gathered around.

Twilight just shook her head as she laughed, using her magic to pick up the cake knife, and started cutting the cake, serving out a few slices of it on large plates, taking one for herself, and giving the one with the candy horn to Shadow.

Shadow grinned as he was offered the plate, a bit of a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he took the plate in his own magic, and lifted up the candy horn from it, “Come Twilight, I can’t eat this all by myself, how about we share it, you take one half, and I’ll take the rest.”

Twilight was busy picking up other pieces of food to fill her plate with as she looked over to Shadow, curious, but she nodded after a moment, “Alright,” leaning over to take a bite of one half.  Shadow however leaned over to take the other half in his mouth, though he didn’t bite it, leaning forwards until he was kissing Twilight around the candy horn.

A loud collective “Ooooooo!!!!” rose up around them as Twilight blinked, a bit startled, before she started blushing hotly, but she returned the kiss for a few moments, relishing it for a few moments before they finally bit through the candy horn, Twilight lowering her head as she continued to blush.  

Shadow for his part just chuckled softly, and slipped forwards to nuzzle Twilight’s cheek gently, slowly munching on his own half of the horn.  Twilight nursed on hers for a moment, continuing to blush, before she reared up, her hoof hitting Shadow lightly in the shoulder, “Ass,” she accused with a teasing smile, drawing a collective laugh from the other ponies.

Shadow just grinned as he filled his plate, glancing to Pinkie, “This is a wonderful party, I’d say you outdid yourself, but I haven’t even seen the rest of it yet,” he chuckled.

Twlight looked up, still blushing, “Oh no, give Pinkie Pie a few years to plan the biggest party ever? This is about what I expected; you haven’t seen Pinkie’s usual parties.”

Pinkie Pie let out a laugh and smiled happily, “Thanks Twilight! And it is all for you.  If you have all the food you want, you can take it on the float with you.  You are the guest of honor to this, come on!”

Cheerilee stepped forwards, looking over the children, “If you want Twilight, I could take the kids off your hands for a bit, I’m not sure they would want to be part of a parade so much, but I can introduce them to the rest of the school kids, and let them make some new friends.  We haven’t had the privilege of having a griffon at our school yet.”

Twilight looked up, and smiled brightly, levitating her plate as she stepped over, “Cheerilee! That sounds great!” lifting a hoof to give the smiling mare a hug, “It’s great to see you.”

“We’ll have lots of time to talk, go enjoy yourself,” Cheerilee said, returning the hug.

Twilight nodded with a smile, and drew back, looking to Shadow, before turning to trot after Pinkie Pie, who started leading the way.  Cheerilee trotted over to introduce herself to the children, while Shadow turned to head after Twilight, bringing his plate of food, and after a moment’s thought, two glasses of punch.

Pinkie Pie led the way to the flat topped float, and up the ramp where there was a low table, and a number of pillows around it.  Twilight carried her plate up, and placed it on the table, settling down on a pile of pillows, looking around, while Shadow settled himself across the table from her, placing his plate down, and putting the glasses on the table, one in front of Twilight.  Twilight looked up at the glass, then smiled over to Shadow, “Oh thanks! I forgot all about the punch!”

Shadow was about to reply, when Pinkie Pie spoke up into a microphone, “Ladies and Gentlemen! I would like to introduce you to everypony’s favorite and returning librarian, Twilight Sparkle!  She has returned from a long vacation in Canterlot, and I for one would like everypony to show her how much we missed her!”  Pinkie Pie held the microphone up in the air as the ponies in range and view of the float started stomping their hooves and cheering, more than a few of them waving and shouting greetings to Twilight.

Twilight for her part looked around rather overwhelmed, and slowly picked herself up off of the pillows, standing as she looked around at all the ponies, tears shining in her eyes as she smiled, and started waving her hooves to those she recognized, calling out greetings in return, all of this a bit much for her, but it filled her with joy to see so many welcoming her so happily.

Shadow watched Twilight for a moment, and rose, walking over to her, standing by her and offering her some support, both physical and emotional.  As he stood up however, Pinkie Pie called into the microphone again, “And let us all give a big welcome to one of our newest residents in Ponyville, hailing from the special agents of the Equestrian Military, our brave and courageous friend of our librarian, Special Operative Shadow Hoof!”

The stomping of hooves was just as loud for Twilight Sparkle, as were the cheers and shouts of greeting, and Shadow just let out a laugh, and waved a hoof, yelling back some greetings of his own over all of the roaring of the crowd.  Pinkie glanced back, and grinned, before calling into the microphone again, “Alright everypony! Let’s get this parade started!”

With that, the band started up, as a number of ponies got themselves hooked into the harnesses to lead the floats, and before long, everything started moving.  As their float lurched to movement, Twilight stumbled, falling down to her belly with a bit of a yelp, frowning a little, but Shadow was there, putting a hoof around her gently, and helping her back to her feet.

Twilight smiled up at Shadow, and struggled a bit back to her feet, “I think I need to settle back down,” leaning heavily against the ebon stallion, though her voice was lost over the sound of the marching band’s blaring music.

Shadow tilted his head and frowned, yelling over the racket, “WHAT?”

Twilight frowned, and tried yelling a bit, but then gave up, and shook her head, motioning to the pillows, before turning and walking over to settle on them.

Shadow let out a soft ‘oh’ as she settled down, shaking his head before he followed, settling down across from her, drawing a bit of power into his horn, and a black dome flickered around them for a moment before seeming to face out, but the roar of the sound died down to a dull roar, “Are you alright Twilight?”

Twilight nodded, looking over to Shadow with a bit of a weak smile, “Yeah, I’m just a bit overwhelmed, this is a lot to take in and handle.  I spent so long hiding and running… now Pinkie has thrust me out in the front of everything… and everyone just seems so happy to see me.  I never realized how wrong I was in running away.  I want to say that everything I ever needed was right here… but it wasn’t.  I have you now, and I have Dawn and Gerald, I lost so much, but I gained so much more.  It is just… so strange to be back home.”

Shadow smiled at Twilight, and nodded, glancing around, “I am not sure I have seen such a welcoming town before.  It looks like everyone has turned out just to welcome you home.”

Twilight giggled, “That’s Pinkie Pie’s special talent at work, she is friends with everypony, she makes sure of it.  She greets every new pony to town, plays with the kids, throws parties, and everything, though she really outdid herself with this,” she said as she looked around at all the ponies as they rolled slowly past, waving a hoof to some she recognized.

“So how far is it to your house from here?”

“Oh, it’s about a mile, it’s that big tree there near the center of town,” Twilight said, pointing.

Shadow nodded, peering towards the tree curiously, “hmm, I don’t exactly have lodgings, do you have any inn that I could stay in until I figure something out?”

Twilight looked back to Shadow and blinked, “I never even thought about that… but I don’t think I’d feel right making you sleep in an inn.  Spike’s old basket should still be up in my room, the kids can share that until I can get something set up for them.  I should clean out the equipment in the basement, and I can decorate part of that as a room for them.  As for you, I could let you take my bed for the night, there should be a reading couch in the library somewhere that I could sleep on.”

Shadow shook his head, “I’m not taking your bed, it’s yours, I’ll take the couch until we figure out other arrangements,” he replied with a smile.

Twilight frowned a little, “Are you sure?  I guess if you are sure,” she said as Shadow nodded, “I’d really like having you staying close… I’ve got to reorganize everything!” she said, shaking her head, and looking around, “I wish I had my quills and ink to start making a list, but I am going to need to get some new of those too!”

Shadow smiled and chuckled softly, “We’ll get it all figured out Twilight, just relax, and have something to eat, we’ll be at your tree soon, and you can show me around.”

Twilight nodded, and looked around, realizing that they actually were almost all the way there, and took a minute to eat some of the cake, and other snacks on her plate, and sipping at her punch, hoping that Pinkie hadn’t spiked it.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes before their float arrived in front of Twilight’s tree.  Pinkie Pie was already hopping down, and the rest of their friends were apparently riding in a wagon behind, all transportation provided.  Twilight slowly rose, all of the excitement catching up to her, but the stress that had plagued her on the train was gone right out the window of the train when she had left it.  She slowly stepped down the ramp off of the float, with Shadow at her side giving her some support, and offering her a hoof down.  Twilight smiled at Shadow, and looked up to the tree with some nostalgia and trepidation on her face.

Pinkie Pie was already trotting to the door, opening it up, “Come on in Twilight!  We left it just the way you did.  Well, we picked up a little really.”

Twilight let out a bit of a chuckle, and walked to the door, stepping through slowly, and looking around.  Shadow waited right behind Twilight as she stepped in, following her in before moving to stand besides her again.  Twilight for her part seemed lost in the place, looking around at all the books, all of the furniture and knickknacks of the tables and shelves.  Everything had been perfectly maintained, all the books in order.

Twilight walked in, moving to the shelves, and started to look through them ticking off titles from memory, totally lost for a few minutes as the rest of her friends filed in, and stood around watching her.

Twilight finally remembered the others, and turned towards them, a smile slipping onto her face, an expression of happiness, and something of peace on her features, “It’s just perfect.  It’s just the way I remembered it, just the way I dreamed it would be.”

Rarity smiled, “We did the best to keep it just as it was, and keep it running.  This old place might have been under our care for so long, but this place is yours, you were always in everything here, it was one of our links to you, let us remember you while you were gone.”

Twilight sniffled, and took a few uneasy steps forwards before stumbling.  The other ponies rushed forwards to catch her before she fell to the ground all the way, supporting her and fussing over her.  Twilight just cried, hugging her friends.  Shadow stepped away, letting the girls have a bit of time together, though when he looked back, the sobbing had stopped, and Twilight’s eyes were closed, her head resting between Applejack and Fluttershy, sound asleep with a smile on her face.

Pinkie tilted her head at Twilight, looking a bit sheepish, “I guess I did go too overboard on all this for Twilight.”

The other ponies laughed and nodded, Applejack speaking up, “Let’s get her up to bed, she’s had a mighty big day.”

Together, the ponies picked Twilight up gently, and carried her up to her room.


***


Shadow was sitting on a couch in the main level of the library, it was a  few hours after sun set, and a few of the lamps around the room were lit, giving the place a soft, warm glow.  There was a lamp lit on the table besides the ebon stallion as he read a book, and there were a number of paper bags on the table, casting odd shaped shadows throughout the room.

The city bell was tolling nine o’clock when the sudden light clop of hooves on the stairs brought Shadow’s head up, smiling as he saw Twilight slowly making her way down the stairs.  Shadow spoke softly, “I was hoping you would be up soon, you slept through the rest of the day.”

Twilight let out a soft groan, nodding as she made her way down the stairs to the floor, “I feel like that cake of Pinkie’s fell on top of me and squished me.  Where are Dawn and Gerald?” she asked with some worry.

“Don’t worry yourself, Fluttershy and Big Mac offered to take them in for the night.  Dawn gave you a kiss goodnight a few hours ago, and I asked Pinkie Pie to bring us some dinner.  I was hoping you would wake up soon, so I waited for you.”

Twilight smiled as she made her way over to the table, sniffing at the bags a moment, before slipping to the side of the couch, “I guess this isn’t the date I promised to let you take me on, but thank you for waiting.”

Shadow smiled as he watched Twilight, seeming like a piece of the night even with the lamp flickering nearby, “You know, I think I prefer having dinner with you like this a great deal more, it is more personal, and it is in your home.”

Twilight smiled, and brought her nose to Shadow’s cheek, “You are really rather sweet, you know that?”

Shadow nodded, “Only with ponies that I like, and trust like I do you.”

“Oh? Have there been others?” Twilight teased, her magic wrapping around a nearby couch, and pulling it over, placing it close to Shadow’s, right in front of his actually, and climbed into it, settling down with a soft groan.

Shadow chuckled at that, but shook his head, “No, not that I can think of, now that I am thinking of it.”  Shadow used his magic to bring the table a bit closer, placing it down between them as he opened up the bags, and started dividing the food a bit.

Twilight giggled softly to herself, and nodded, picking out items she wanted from the bags, “good, now I won’t have to do research on how to be jealous properly.”

Shadow let a laugh at that, “You used to do research on everything, didn’t you?  I bet if things had turned out differently, you would have done research on how to date, or have a first kiss.”

Twilight blushed in the soft glow of the lantern, ducking her nose a bit, before clearing her throat, “I um… I was actually planning on trying to find some books on that before our date tonight, I just never had time, I was just too overwhelmed.”

Shadow let out a good laugh at that, shaking his head, “You have got to be the biggest bookworm I know.”

Twilight giggled sheepishly, “I used to be, I have so much more in my life now… and my friends… I don’t think I will be spending quite as much time on research or managing things here, though I will still do some, just because I like to.”

Shadow nodded, “I would be surprised if you did give up on it, I would like to see you getting into it, but don’t dive in too fast, take some time to relax, and get used to things.”

Twilight nodded, “I will,” she said softly.

Shadow glanced over Twilight in the dim, flickering light of the lantern, “How is it, to be back here after so long? To see your friends? Your home? The town again?”

Twilight looked down as she thought of that question, taking a few minutes before she replied, “It is… strange, I feel like I have know this place all my life, but it is brand new to me, and comfortingly familiar.  I think it will take me a few days to get used to everything, maybe longer.  I don’t feel like the same pony who trotted out those doors… er, well, jumped out the second story window all those years ago… I think that pony died somewhere…”

Twilight paused a moment, looking to Shadow, “I think… Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and the others… I think they felt it too.  The way they spoke, it was like I had died.  It was like this library was a monument to my life,” Twilight’s voice tightened, starting to get choked up.  “It was like they were maintaining it, keeping it just to remember me, the pony that was there friend.  I am still their friend… but I died there, in Canterlot,” her voice lowering to a whisper, a hoof rising to feel over where the hidden scar was on her neck, invisible, not even touchable, but she knew it was there.

Shadow frowned, but nodded slowly, “I think I understand what you mean, and you did die.  Dawn had a really hard time talking about it, but she did one night… she told me what Grasson did… she told me of the shining white angel of light who swooped down,” a sad smile on Shadow’s lips.  “From the way she described it, you did die for a few minutes there, until Celestia brought you back.”

Twilight lowered her head, studying the food and the table before her, silent for several minutes as she turned this over in her head.  She had died, and her friends had believed her to be dead, and she did not feel like the same pony, there was only one thing that felt right.

“I think we should have a funeral,” Twilight said finally, softly.

Shadow blinked, “A funeral?” the thought startling him.

“Not a real one, a symbolic one, one with my friends, you, and the children.  The pony I was didn’t come back from Canterlot.  I died there.  I think I need to have a funeral to bury that part of me, that innocence that died, that part of me that lays there, that needs to be put to rest.  I don’t want it to be just a sad affair… but I think I need to do this.”

Shadow nodded slowly as he considered what Twilight said, before he finally spoke, “If that is what you think you need to do.  I will help with it, and I am sure all your friends will too.  They seem quite devoted to you.”

Twilight nodded and smiled, “They are the best friends in the world.  And you are one of them now,” she smiled to Shadow, her mood brightening.

Shadow smiled in return, “I am looking forwards to getting a chance to work with them and get to know them better.  Come, eat, the food is going to wilt before you get to eat it.”

Twilight giggled and nodded, levitating up a fork, and taking some of the packaged salad to eat, thinking to herself, her mind already working over the details.

She had a funeral to plan. Her funeral.



Author's Notes

I am getting slower with updating this story.  I guess it is getting down near the end, and my drive for it is flagging.  But never fear, i am determined to finish this!  This is the final major chapter that i am planning, however i still have the epilogue to write, i have plans for that, though i do not anticipate it will add much to the story overall.

This is the story i wanted to tell.  It was a story of loss, of pain, and of how that pain can twist us, and make us forget ourselves, and lose ourselves.  This is also a story of what can come from the worst pain, how even in the darkest of nights, there is a shimmering that will become the most Glorious of Dawns.  

We each find and face our challenges in our own way, maybe none of us will ever face a night so black as this, or a dawn so bright, but we each face our nights that are darker than we are used to, and we will all find our dawns that are brighter than those before.

I think in the end, this is a story of hope.  Hope is that light inside all of us that helps us find that morning before us.  I hope that for all of my readers who like this story, that we can all take away some of that hope in our hearts, and remember that it has always been there, and it always will be.

I dedicate this story to those i love that have faced these most black of nights, when they were younger than they should have ever been to face such darkness in their lives.  All i can hope, is that for even one of them, i was the Glorious Dawn that pulled them from their darkness, and helped show them that there was still good in the world.

Thank you all for joining me in this incredible journey, and supporting me while i wrote this, and put my heart and soul into my work.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight leaned against the windowsill, watching as the clouds rolled by for a moment, her mind a bit troubled; tonight was the one year anniversary of the day she died, and she had a funeral to attend.  It seemed a good day to plan a symbolic funeral, it had given her a chance to settle in, a chance to recover, a chance for life to return to normal.  A smile slipped onto Twilight’s face, things weren’t just normal, it had been one of the best years in her life.

Not every day was perfect, there were troubles around town, and she had troubles in her daily life as her recovery progressed.  She had slip ups, bad days, days where her friends had nearly had to tie her down to keep her from running off and doing something stupid, but those were few and far between now.  

And Dawn was growing, she was growing into one of the most beautiful fillies in all of Ponyville, at least that was what Twilight thought.  Twilight’s eyes strayed from the stray fluffy clouds and the occasional zip of rainbow across the sky, looking to the playground where she saw Glorious Dawn and Gerald playing together with other foals.  No pony ever gave Dawn any trouble, Gerald was always there, and was a fierce defender of the tiny filly if anypony ever even looked at Dawn wrong.  Those two were always together, like two peas in a pod, they did everything together.  Except when Gerald was in school, then Dawn was waiting on the playgrounds most days, waiting for him to finish with the days lessons.

It warmed Twilight’s heart to see them together, and made her think fondly of her own brother.  As long gone as her brother was, she thought of him often in these days.  Twilight’s eyes drifted to the clouds again, almost picking out her brother’s face for a moment as two clouds came together, right before a rainbow streak smashed into them, and shattered them into a dozen little cloudlets.  Twilight blinked at that, and shook her head, laughing softly to herself.

Big Brother, I’m not alone any more.  I don’t feel that hole in my heart where you were any more.  I miss you, and I love you, but I will be alright now.  We’ll see each other again, one day, Twilight said in soft prayer.

There was a bit of a groan from behind Twilight, and a soft, masculine voice, “Come back to bed Twilight, you have a big night tonight, come get some rest.”

Twilight looked back to Shadow, and smiled softly as she watched him laying in the big bed she had purchased, “It’s almost lunch time, we should be getting started with the day.”

Shadow let out a soft pfft, “lunch smunch, come on, just give me another half hour, I’ll make it worth your while.”

Twilight blushed at that, and at the look in Shadow’s eyes.  She lowered her head a bit and slipped off of the window sill, trotting back to the bed and pulled the sheets up with her magic, slipping into bed.  Shadow hardly waited, a hoof slipping around Twilight, and bringing her broad tongue to run up along Twilight’s horn, drawing a gasp and a shudder from the lavender mare, before she just dissolved into the ebon stallion’s embrace.


***


The full moon was slowly rising over the horizon, filling the land with its unearthly light, bathing the landscape in a hazy glow.  The procession of nine ponies, a gryphon, and a dragon made its way from the library where it had gathered, the mood somber and reserved as they marched for the edge of the Everfree Forest, a long, simple wooden box held between them.

The procession wended its way over hills, and through small groups of trees, and over an old bridge in silence to where a pyre waited.  The wood was stacked as high as a full grown pony’s shoulder, with brush and twigs at the base, and logs stacked high.  The box was lifted with a combination of purple, light blue, and black colored magic, placing it on the pyre.

Twilight stepped forwards, a glow from her horn igniting six torches that ringed the small clearing, providing a flickering light that cast away the ghostly glow of the moon.  Her voice thick with emotion, Twilight spoke up, “I want to thank all of you, my best of friends, my children, and my guardian and lover for joining me here tonight.”  

Twilight’s voice wavered, a moment, before steadying, “As we all know, this started several years ago, I think it started with my brother’s funeral.  It was the hardest time in my life.  It was a time I should have turned to my friends to support me, but I did not.  Instead I tried to bury my problems, I tried to run away, and in the end, I did run away.  I ran away from the love, the kindness, the generosity, the honesty, the loyalty, and the joy of my best friends.  I ran to the darkest place in all of Equestria.  And it was there that I died.”

“As I died, I was given new life, a new hope,” Twilight looked down to Glorious Dawn, “You my lovely daughter.”  Dawn galloped over for her mother, and together the two embraced, holding each other for a moment as they cried softly, before Twilight lifted her head to continue, “I also found a renewed faith if my friendship, a faith you all placed in me, but I failed to uphold.  Shadow reminded me of the love and friendship I had shared with all of you.  He reminded me of the loyalty and bravery we all found with each other so many years ago.  He reminded me of the kindness in the simplest of things.  He reminded me of the honesty of a true and pure heart.  He reminded me that even in the darkest of places, there was still a way to laugh.  He reminded me of the incredible generosity of a true friend, willing to give even his life for a friend.”

Twilight looked to Shadow, and smiled, her voice shaking as she shifted her head to lean against him, “Thank you Shadow.”

After a moment of regaining her composure, Twilight stepped forwards, pulling an old raggedy doll off of her back, old Mr. Smart Pants.  “I want to fill this coffin with memories.  Memories that will always be in our heart, but things we do not need to hold on to.  Shining Armor made me this doll once, a long time ago, when I was having trouble with my new schooling under Princess Celestia.  It helped me so long ago, but Shining Armor will always be in my heart, I will be fine now without him by my side.”  Twilight lifted the doll up with her magic, and laid it in the coffin.

Rainbow Dash was surprisingly the next to step forwards, her wings fluttering to carry her up a moment, and she pulled a Wonderbolt’s uniform off of her back, laying it down in the coffin.  “This was my dream for so long.  It was a dream I achieved, but in the end I realized it didn’t matter.  All it was, was flying around, showing off, and performing.  I may be a natural athlete, but when Twilight vanished, I realized I wasn’t really doing anything.  There was nothing important out there, everything I needed was right here in Ponyville.  Maybe I will do another tour with them, but everything I need is right here.  Besides, if not for me, who would teach these two how to fly?” she asked, grinning at Glorious Dawn, and Gerald, before wiping the back of her hoof across her face as she flew back to a landing.

Pinkie Pie stepped forwards, and lifted a few rocks, tossing them up into the coffin, “I remember the old rock farm, how boring and dreary it was.  But I also remember my family, even though I moved away from there.  They are special to me, even if they still live on that rock farm, and that sad old place.  I know it’s not much, but I have to remember my roots.”

Fluttershy stepped forwards, an old faded picture held to her chest as she flew up, before she laid it down in the coffin, looking at it sadly, “Oh Angel… I know it has been years, but you were one of my dearest friends… I… oh…” Fluttershy darted back, wrapping her hooves around Bic Mac, who returned the hug, trying to comfort her.

Rarity looked to Spike, before leaning to kiss him on the muzzle, and taking a large ruby from her paws with her magic, and lifting it up to place in the coffin, “I remember the generosity Spike once gave me, so long ago, and the generosity I was able to return to him, and I have tried to give to all those in my life.  I don’t need to hold on to that anymore, because I have the most wonderful dragon with me.”

It was finally down to just Applejack, who stepped forwards with an old cane, which she lifted up in her teeth to place in the coffin, “Ah wanted to take my Granny’s cane.  It has been lying around the house for years, but Granny Smith is long gone.  Granny Smith raised both Big Mac, little Apple bloom, and mahself almost all by herself.  Thank you Granny, wherever you are, you did right by us, we’ll do right by your memory.”

Twilight smiled, looking around at all of her friends, speaking up again, “Thank you all for this.  This here I think ends a chapter in our lives, but we can always begin a new one, and we will.  It is time to let go of all the pain we have gone through, and remember that we are here for each other.  I love each and every pony here, and every gryphon, and dragon,” she added with a soft laugh.

Together, the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony moved behind a different torch, and as one, the torches were pushed inwards until they fell, landing against the pyre.  As the flames spread, they all drew back, standing by it as they watched the whole thing go up in flames, spreading warmth through the cool night air.

Twilight leaned against Shadow, nuzzling into his neck, just relaxing and basking in the warmth and love.  After a few minutes, as the pyre began burning high, Shadow stepped away from Twilight, causing Twilight to look at him with some surprise, “Shadow?”

Shadow only smiled at first, before moving around to stand before Twilight, and moved down to kneel on his knees.  Out from beneath Shadow’s mane floated a small box, a jewelry box, “Twilight, you mean the world to me.  This past year with you has been the happiest time of my life.  I love you, and I love Dawn, and I love Gerald, and I love your friends.  But most of all, I love you.  I want to be with you for the rest of our lives.  Twilight Sparkle, may I have your hoof in marriage?”

All the rest of the ponies turned to stare, looking with surprised expressions at Twilight for a response.

Twilight could only stare in shock at Shadow as the box opened, a bracelet of gold and silver resting there, a simple piece of jewelry, but it was beautiful.  Twilight’s jaws moved up and down as she tried to say something.  She had hoped he would propose, but even still, it caught her off guard, and left her stunned.

Finally the lavender mare managed to find words, breathlessly whispering, “Yes, by Celestia yes, a million times!”  Shadow smiled widely as the bracelet floated from the case, and Twilight held out her left hoof as the bracelet floated to it, and slipped around it to rest on her ankle.  Twilight threw herself forwards into Shadow, hugging him and kissing him deeply as the other ponies started cheering and offering their congratulations.

Twilight hardly heard anything, her mind spinning as she held and kissed Shadow, not caring about anything else right then, she was going to get married!

All of a sudden, off from deep in the Everfree Forest, there was a great roar, and the sound of trees smashing, heading for Ponyville.  Twilight broke the kiss as she looked up in surprise, blinking, it sounded like trouble!

Looking around a moment, Twilight saw all the other ponies staring too, but she couldn’t wipe that smile off of her face, “Spike! Big Mac! Get the children home safely, I know what that is.  We have work to do girls! Come on!”  Twilight reared and wheeled, galloping off in the direction of Ponyville as the other ponies turned and galloped after her, Shadow increasing his stride to catch up to Twilight and run besides her.

Rainbow Dash’s voice sounded from a bit above as she caught up, “Since when do we bring colts with us when we do these things?”  The sound of laughter rose in the air from the seven ponies as they galloped in towards danger.

This was the way things were supposed to be, Twilight couldn’t imagine them being any other way.


Author's Notes

I put the heavy duty notes in last night's chapter, chapter 11, so i'll try to keep this short.  

I had a INCREDIBLE time writing this, as much as i obsessed over it, i enjoyed it like nothing else in a long time.  I will admit, writing those notes for chapter 11 had me in tears last night.

I hope my work is enjoyed and appreciated, however i have no plans as of yet for another story.  If I come up with a decent story, i will absolutely let everypony know, and i will get it out as soon as i can, but good ideas like this are few and far between.  I do look forwards to the next chance i get to write like this, and i hope to make the next story even better.