//------------------------------//
// The Rumor Weed 
// Story: The Last Pegasus 
// by Tealove 
//------------------------------//

	Now that the rain had passed and Celestia's sun shone down in glorious rays, Moonflower allowed herself the luxury of some time alone in her garden. The jasmine colored unicorn moved carefully through the rows of gem colored flowers, icy blue mane piled high on her head to keep her long locks out of her face while she worked. This was where she felt most like herself, where she enjoyed the most freedom. In her garden there was no one else around to scrutinize or judge, to whisper when they thought she wasn't looking or to compare herself to. Here she was just a pony, a <i>happy</i> pony with a passion.
Rose hued eyes closed as she paused to take in the scent of an orange hibiscus, the very same flower that was her cutie mark. Staying there all day among the bright colors and floral scents would have been perfect, but fate had something else in mind for her today.
There was a commotion outside, one she couldn't quite see through the cloudy windows of her small greenhouse, but inescapably loud. Moonflower lowered her head, ears flat, and sighed in annoyance. Was there ever a day in Ponyville where nothing extraordinary or exciting happened? Was that too much to hope for? As hooves rushed past her home, Moonflower headed back inside to ready herself for the world outside her own four walls. She pulled the tie from her mane and let it fall gloriously down her withers. She hadn't had much time in the garden so she wasn't very dirty, but gave her hooves a careful scrubbing just to be safe. One more fluff of her tail, a coat of mascara, and she was ready for the day. At least until she opened her door.
It always felt like another world when she was away from home. There were all these walls she'd built around herself for protection, ones most ponies looked upon and formed quick opinions. Moonflower was the pretty pony who worked at the jewelry store. She was the cool pony, the snooty, the selfish pony who cared for nothing and no one but herself. And she didn't mind being seen that way. Somehow, letting anyone see her true timid, self-conscious, vulnerable self was much more intimidating than driving off anyone who might care about her if she let them.
Standing on her doorstoop, she looked left and right to try and get a hint about what was going on. As indifferent as she tried to remain, action was action and she liked to know what was happening. Whoever had rushed by earlier was nowhere to be seen and most ponies were on about their usual business. Some, however, stood together talking quietly and glancing off in the direction of the road to the ocean. Moonflower took a breath in, lifted her nose to the air, and trotted out to join the ever-moving crowd of ponies in the center of town. Two mares speaking in low tones stood just to the side of a fruit stand and this was where Moonflower headed.
“Come on, Bon Bon, you always know what's going on.”
“Keep your voice down, Lyra!” Bon Bon glanced suspiciously at the pale unicorn at the fruit stand. “All I know is that Pinwheel raced into town just moments ago and then hurried back out of town with Nurse Redheart fast on her hooves.”
“That can't be good,” murmured the aquamarine unicorn. 
Moonflower levitated a peach to her snout to give it a convincing sniff, then paid for the fruit before tucking it carefully into her saddlebags. As she passed the two friends she gave them a cordial nod and nothing more. Pinwheel was a familiar name indeed. The silly pegasus and her two friends were always around town causing some sort of trouble. And they were always together. The very idea of always having one pony around her, let alone two ponies, was somewhat revolting. Moonflower very much enjoyed her alone time. Yet there was also a quiet jealousy of the close relationships around her that the unicorn felt late at night when she had no one to talk to.
She'd just gotten to the front door of the jewelry store when the sounds of running hooves caught her ear. Turning, she first saw Pinwheel and Thunder Clap come up over the hill on the ocean road, then Nurse Redheart trotting below them pulling a cot with a minty green mass atop it, and Candy Pop right behind. Other ponies heard the group coming as well and stopped to watch the odd procession. None of them gave Moonflower a single glance as they passed, but she watched them. More accurately, she watched the cot being pulled and was startled to see the green mass was another pony.
“What happened?” someone asked.
“Who is it?” asked someone else.
“Are they okay?”
“Is that pony alive?”
Moonflower wondered the same thing. She didn't exactly know every single pony in Ponyville but the injured pegasus was not bringing any familiar faces to mind. She turned her gaze to Bon Bon and Lyra as the cot was pulled passed them, knowing Bon Bon's expression would tell her all she needed to know. The cream colored pony made it her business to be familiar with everyone and be up on the latest gossip. So when her face registered confused surprise and she looked at Lyra with a shrug of her withers it became clear that the injured pegasus was not one who frequented Ponyville.
The jewelry store door opened with the delicate ring of a bell and a pretty green earth pony with a turquoise mane and tail stepped outside, two diamonds for a cutie mark on her flank. She smiled politely at Moonflower before looking after the retreating group of ponies. “What was that?”
“I don't know,” Moonflower answered honestly. “Emerald, how long have you lived in Ponyville?”
“My whole life. Why?”
The unicorn shook her head. “I've lived in a few different places and in all the cities I've been to I have never seen a bi-colored pony before.”
Emerald blinked, confused. “Bi-colored as in her mane? Because we have lots of ponies here with two or more colors to them.”
“No, her coat.” Moonflower looked at her employer. “She was green and white.”
The earth pony frowned slightly. “It's not something I've ever seen here but that doesn't mean much, really. You know how fashion changes so quickly. Getting a coat dye isn't so uncommon anymore and, who knows? Maybe the new thing is having a multi-colored coat. Which means ponies are becoming flashier, which means we'll start to sell flashier pieces.”
“So good news for us.”
“Good news for us,” Emerald agreed with a grin. “Come on, we've got work to do.”


Inside the hospital Candy Pop, Thunder Clap, and Pinwheel watched anxiously as Nurse Redheart stopped briefly to chat with a doctor. The stallion gave the strange pegasus a cursory glance before telling the nurse pony which room to head to and that he'd be right in. As she hurried off with the cot the doctor turned to the three waiting friends. “Where did you find her?” he asked, a clipboard and quill floating before him held up by the purple glow of his unicorn magic.
“On the beach,” Pinwheel answered. “We were looking for stuff that might have washed up on shore after the storm last night. I thought she was just more seaweed at first.”
“Was she conscious?”
“No.” The pegasus shifted her hooves with worry. “Is she going to be okay?”
The stallion smiled but his eyes remained carefully blank. “Of course she is. Now, do any of you know her? Can you tell me her name?”
“We've never seen here before,” Candy Pop answered. 
“No offense, Doc,” said Thunder Clap, “but shouldn't you be in there making sure she doesn't die or something?”
“If you'll just wait here I will send a nurse out as soon as we know anything.”
As the doctor turned to hurry down the hallway, Candy Pop looked at her friends with her brows drawn together. “I hope she'll be all right.”
“It's a good thing you dragged us down there,” said Thunder Clap, leading the other two toward the waiting room. As she found a seat, she frowned thoughtfully. “That storm last night was crazy. If she got caught up in it, she could be from just about anywhere.”
“I can't imagine how scared she must have been,” Pinwheel whispered sadly. “How scared she's going to be when she wakes up.”
“If she wakes up.” Candy Pop nudged Thunder Clap in the ribs and glanced at her with a scowl. The pegasus batted the unicorn's hoof away. “”She was barely breathing. I'm just saying...”
“She'll be fine,” Candy Pop insisted. “Ponyville has some of the best doctors this side of Canterlot.” She touched a hoof to Pinwheel's withers, watching the pegasus worry her bottom lip. “She'll be fine, Pinwheel. You've already saved her just by finding her on the beach.”
“But what if we were too late?”
“Have a little faith.”
Thunder Clap, unable to sit still for long, left her seat to pace to the window and look outside. She made a face and snorted. “Don't look now, girls, but here comes good old loose lips herself.”
“Bon Bon,” Candy Pop muttered. She went to the window as well to see the cream colored pony heading in the direction of the hospital. “She has her moments of being okay but most of the time she's just...”
“Insufferable?” Thunder Clap supplied.
Candy Pop nodded with a half-smile. “Exactly.”
The hospital doors opened and the pale earth pony trotted in, looking around to try and catch the eye of anypony who might spare her a moment. She appeared uninjured herself and it was probably for this reason alone that all hospital staff were suddenly very busy with paperwork and patients. Exasperation clearly on her face, Bon Bon turned her attention to the waiting room. Her expression lit up when she saw the three friends. As she totted in she had the decency to try and look a little more worried than excited. “Is everything all right?” she asked, breathless for no apparent reason. “I saw the three of you rush by with Nurse Redheart and I just thought the worst!”
Thunder Clap quirked a brow. “Well it looks like you came all the way over here for nothing, then. As you can see we're all just fine.”
“You can't imagine my relief, truly. But what about that pony you all were surrounding? That wasn't Apply Tarty, was it?”
In all honesty it was a very good cover for Bon Bon; the earth pony she mentioned had a blonde mane and tail like the strange pegasus and her coat color was somewhat similar, but Candy Pop knew better and wasn't afraid to call Bon Bon out on it. “You know very well it wasn't Apple Tarty. She's an earth pony and the pony we found was clearly a pegasus.”
“You found her?” Bon Bon's brows shot up. “Really?”
“Not that it's any of your business,” injected Thunder Clap. 
“Isn't that strange?”
“What?” asked Pinwheel. “What's strange?”
Bon Bon gave a careless little shrug. “Well it's just that all these pegasus ponies seem to be disappearing from all over Equestria. And here you three stumble upon one nopony around here has ever seen before. She's clearly not from here or from Cloudsdale; her coat is unlike any other any of us has seen, I'm sure.”
“What are you getting at?” Candy Pop asked. 
“Just that Ponyville and Canterlot haven't lost any pegesai thus far.” The niceness dropped from Bon Bon's voice and when she smiled it was false and saccharine. “It will just be very interesting to see if it remains that way now.”
Thunder Clap stepped in front of her friends standing so close to Bon Bon their noses were almost touching. “If I didn't know any better I'd say that almost sounded like a threat.”
“But you do know better,” Bon Bon whispered in return. Taking a step back she gave a sweet little laugh. “Besides, it's not like I had anything to do with the disappearances. I'm just a little old earth pony from Ponyville. If you're looking for a threat from anypony I'd suggest you keep your eyes on the pegasus you found.”
Pinwheel blinked, her brow furrowing. “Why would a pegasus pony be responsible for the disappearance of others her own kind? That doesn't make any sense.”
“If you ask me, none of it makes sense,” replied Bon Bon.
“We didn't ask you,” Candy Pop muttered, making Pinwheel lift a hoof to hide a giggle. The unicorn looked at Bon Bon and tried to give a polite smile. “Princess Celestia will get to the bottom of it, I'm sure. Something tells me if this pegasus has anything to do with the other missing pegasai it's that maybe she's one of them.”
Thunder Clap looked at her friend, confused. “Then how would she end up on our beach?”
“I don't know,” Candy Pop admitted, “but I'm not willing to condemn her just because she's a stranger. Besides, all of this is just speculation. We won't really know anything until she wakes up. What's the point in sitting here making up stories and snap judgments? It's not really very fair.”
Bon Bon sighed. “Whichever way you look at it, her appearance is still suspicious. I have things to do but I'll be sure to stop in later and see how she's doing.”
“I'm sure she'll be thrilled,” said Thunder Clap sarcastically.
With a narrow-eyed glance at the pegasus, Bon Bon turned and left the waiting room.
“Insufferable!” Thunder Clap grunted when the door swung shut.
“Come on.” Pinwheel headed for the doors now as well. “I want to get her some flowers.”
“Bon Bon?” asked the other two in confused unison.
“No!” said the pegasus with a laugh. “Our new friend. If I were to wake up in some strange place with strange ponies around me, I know flowers would help make me feel a little less scared.”
Candy Pop smiled at her. “That's a really good idea, Pinwheel. Come on, Clap. Maybe we can find some candy to share, too.”


The jewelry store had been fairly slow all day. This was one of their down times in between holidays and the months ponies seemed to favor for engagements, which left a lot of time on the hooves of the jewelers. Moonflower was behind one of the glass counters that contained pendants and rings of glittering red gems, her attention on a magazine she was flipping through. Emerald was sitting on a stool, back against the wall as she leaned against it for support while she filed her hooves. Neither said much to each other but it was the norm for their relationship. Moonflower made it very clear by her lack of sharing that she wasn't there to gain a friend but to earn a paycheck, and Emerald was fairly tolerant of the wall the unicorn always had up.
“More flowers?” asked the earth pony casually, setting her hoof file aside and examining her work.
Moonflower nodded, magically turning a page in her magazine. “There are a few that bloom better in the late spring that I think will be a nice addition to my garden.”
It was a simple exchange that was followed once more by silence. Every now and then the scratch of Moonflower's quill against the order sheet broke the monotony of the afternoon, but little else gave either pony cause for much excitement. Until Emerald walked to the front door and peered outside. She pulled open the door just as a cream colored earth pony was trotting by. “Did you find anything out?” asked Emerald with carefully contained excitement.
Bon Bon grimaced. “Not much of anything, really.” She looked in past Emerald at Moonflower, who only glanced up in mild interest. “I was at the hospital for a few minutes but you know how terrible they are about answering questions there.”
“Especially to ponies who aren't family to the patients,” said Moonflower to herself.
“Candy Pop and her tag-a-longs were there and they gave me the cold shoulder so I left and did some asking around town. Lyra and I went down to the beach and we didn't see anything unusual.” Bon Bon gave a dramatic sigh. “I guess we'll just have to wait until she wakes up.” Her expression quickly changed from downcast to solicitous. “But don't worry. As soon as there's anything to know, I'll know it.”
“And pass it on to the rest of us,” Emerald giggled.
Moonflower rolled her eyes and looked helplessly at the ceiling. Realizing the two were only starting to launch into a rousing gossip session, Moonflower tucked her magazine away and grabbed her saddlebags. “I'm going to run to the cafe to get lunch.” Neither pony seemed to hear her, or if they did simply chose to ignore her. So it was with a sigh of relief that the unicorn slipped out of the store by the back entrance and trotted toward The Four Leaf Clover Cafe. The tall gray stallion who ran the place was always nice to her and had her usual ready at the same time of day, and it made for a quick trip away from the store. Today, however, Moonflower wasn't as anxious to get back as usual. Gossip wasn't her thing and with Bon Bon there, peaceful silence would be a long-forgotten luxury.
She took her time eating her bean sprout salad, then window shopped as she slowly made her way back to the jewelry store. As the front entrance came into view she could still see Bon Bon and Emerald standing there. Clearly, business was not booming today. The pale unicorn stood there a moment, trying to think of something to do. Emerald wouldn't even realize she was gone at this rate, leaving Moonflower a bit more time to roam free. Her gaze swept the busy market, pausing only when she saw the hospital farther down. Just because she was quiet and anti-social didn't mean she wasn't curious about this pegasus as well. With a quick glance at her employer, she started for the hospital.
She must have come at the right time; the nurses station was abandoned and she could hear carts of food rattling along down the hallways as lunch was handed out to patients. Moonflower glanced into the waiting room as she passed, walking slowly and quietly. It wasn't as though she was trying to be sneaky or anything, but the last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. All she wanted to do was get a glimpse of the stranger, that was all. It would certainly give her one up on Bon Bon and for some reason, that was quite an alluring thought.
Her hooves echoed only slightly as she walked down the long sterile halls. Each room she passed she peeked into. Most of the ponies kept within were awake and didn't even spare her a quick look. Some were asleep or so sick that they couldn't move even if they wanted to. It was these that began to make her feel claustrophobic, like sickness was closing in around her. She was just about to abandon her mission when she peeked into one last room and saw a soft green pegasus with white hooves, a white snout and white plumage on her wings laying prone in a hospital bed. Moonflower glanced about nervously. Then, seeing no one, slipped into the room.
The stranger's blonde mane was a mess of tangles and had debris in it from the ocean waves. There was still sand behind her ears and her right foreleg was bandaged when she'd been hurt. Her breathing was slow and heavy, like that of a pony in a deep and peaceful sleep. Moonflower tilted her head, curious. 
A nurse passed by, then backpedaled seeing the unicorn inside the room. “May I help you?”
Moonflower jumped, eyes going wide as she turned. “Oh! No, I was just...um...”
“Do you know her?”
As the nurse came into the room, Moonflower's brows lifted and she looked at the pegasus once more. “I...maybe.” It wasn't a total lie; she'd lived in a few other places before Ponyville and there was a possibility that she'd met this pegasus before, unlikely as it was. “What's wrong with her?” she ventured.
“We're not sure,” admitted the nurse, shaking her head. “Can't seem to get her to wake up.”
“What tests have you done?”
The nurse now eyed her. “The usual. We're still waiting on the results of a couple more.”
Moonflower nodded thoughtfully, then gave the nurse as innocent a smile as she could muster. “Is it all right if I sit here with her for a few minutes?”
“I suppose so. Just don't touch anything.”
With a nod of acquiesce, the unicorn wore her smile until the nurse had gone, then dropped it as soon as she was alone with the stranger once more. Moonflower moved to the side of the hospital bed to get a closer look at the pegasus. “Why won't you wake up?” she muttered in question. For a few minutes she didn't move, simply stood there watching the pegasus breathe in and out. Every once in awhile an ear would twitch or a hoof would move. Her brow would wrinkle as if whatever she was seeing behind her closed eyes was unpleasant. For some reason, it struck a sympathetic cord in Moonflower.
She cast a quick look to the empty doorway, then took a breath.  A pale blue aura surrounded her horn as she summoned an inner magic and screwed her eyes shut. She leaned forward, bowing her head to touch her horn gingerly to the side of the stranger's face. 
“What are you doing?”
The sharp question startled Moonflower and she gasped, taking a step back and opening her eyes. Thunder Clap stood in the doorway flanked by a skeptical looking Candy Pop and a concerned looking Pinwheel, a vase of brightly colored flowers on her back. Thunder Clap took another step into the room, her expression a cross between anger and surprise.
“I wasn't...” At a loss for words, Moonflower simply ran past them out of the room, leaving the three friends to watch after her.
“What in the hay was that all about?” Candy Pop asked.
“She's so weird,” Thunder Clap hissed, plopping down into a chair beside the bed.
Pinwheel let Candy Pop levitate the flowers from her back and watched as they were set down on the bedside table. “She's not weird,” the pegasus defended. “She just doesn't have many friends.”
“Because she's weird,” insisted Thunder Clap.
“You're weird,” said Pinwheel, smiling innocently, “but we still like you.”
“Come on, guys,” said Candy Pop gently. 
Thunder Clap yawned. “I wonder how long she'll be out of it for.”
Candy Pop shrugged. “It was a big storm. If she was tossed around in it I doubt she'll wake up for awhile. I know I wouldn't.”
“I wonder what her name is,” said Pinwheel loftily.
“Shhh,” Candy Pop said quietly. “Look, I think she's dreaming.”
As she was before, the pegasus moved slightly in her sleep, ears and hooves twitching. Her brow furrowed deeper this time and her head moved to the side, then quickly back again. Her breathing was rapidly accelerating and becoming more shallow. Then, before any of them knew what was going on, she opened her eyes and screamed.