Twilight had planned everything for months! Today was the day she would confess her love to Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria, but also the mare that stole her heart. Twilight had realised her feelings for the rainbow-maned mare several months ago when they started hanging out more often. Twilight had always put all her efforts in giving Rainbow a hoof when she needed help; constantly doing her best to satisfy her. Of course, she would do the same for her other friends, but it would be in a lesser extent. She felt a special connection to the pegasus.
They both liked Daring Do, for a start. They were both the best in their own fields. Moreover, they had personalities that completed each other, making them undeniably compatible. According to her calculations, they were perfect together!
Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t stressed out to confess her feelings. She was confident but still nervous with the fear of rejecting hovering over her. Now was not the time to be scared! She had a speech and a place to meet Rainbow Dash prepared! She looked into the mirror of her bedroom and brushed her mane and tail. Preened her wings and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Finally, she put on a perfume. She almost felt like Rarity, not that it was a bad thing in this case.
She looked out the window and saw the moon slowly rising in the sky; it was time to go. She trotted happily towards the castle’s door, passing Spike and Starlight.
“You look excited, Twilight! Where are you going?” Starlight asked, surprised to see the lavender alicorn so happy and going out at such an hour.
“That’s a surprise, but I’m sure you’ll know about it tomorrow! And believe me, you will be overjoyed for me!” She answered before closing the door behind her.
“Did she create a new spell or something?” Spike asked while rubbing his chin. Starlight only replied with a shrug. Sometimes, it was hard to tell what was going through Twilight’s head, but if she was as excited as Pinkie after eating sugar, then that can only mean she was waiting for something great.
Twilight trotted until she got out of ponyville and arrived on a small hill. She took out a list she prepared for the occasion and looked around. A lone tree with a pic-nic nap under it: check. Beautiful sky filled with stars: check. She had to thank Princess Luna for this one, she made that night beautiful on her request! Red flowers: check. No ponies around: check.
Twilight continued to check the numerous items she wrote for the next five minutes, then finally breathed out when everything was in place. She would go to practice her speech if it wasn’t for the sound of wings getting closer to her. Twilight jerked up in surprise and saw Rainbow landing in front of her.
“Hey, egghead! Wow, looks like you’ve outdone yourself for this!” Rainbow complimented as she looked around, and while Twilight blushed. However, she noticed there were only two baskets of food on the nap, nap that looked too small to fit six ponies. “Where are the others?”
“Well… About that… There’s only the two of us, but I’ll explain it to you later! Let’s eat now; I promise you won’t regret this night!” Twilight answered hesitantly as she sat down on the nap and motioned to Rainbow to do the same.
The alicorn lifted her horn and made the sandwiches levitate in front of them. She had carefully analysed Rainbow Dash’s tastes to make her the sandwich she’d see as perfect! And it looked like it was working since the pegasus drooled at the first bite. Their night continued smoothly as Twilight kept the conversation around what they liked the most. She had to be sure Rainbow would love their date! Even though, she was the only one thinking it was a date, but that’s beside the point!
She felt like in a dream: being alone with Rainbow Dash and enjoying themselves. Soon, she’ll make her big confession, then they’ll embrace each other to protect themselves from the cold of night while they admire the stars that filled the sky. She wanted it to be perfect, and the best part about it was that she didn’t feel obsessive for once!
Finally, after what felt like an eternity; Rainbow Dash stood up, ready to call it a night. However, she asked her the question first. The one that would bring Twilight to what she has waited for so long:
“So… why weren’t the others here?” She asked with curiosity and a bit of worry. She must have been worried for her friends, and Twilight could only admire that. Rainbow was so loyal, and it was one of the first things that Twilight loved about her.
“Well, I didn’t invite them,” The princess started as the pegasus stared at her confused, “This is something I’ve set up for only the both of us, alone. I wanted to tell you something that clouded my mind for so long. Rainbow Dash, you are without a doubt one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. I love spending time with you, even more so when we’re reading together. You can’t imagine how overjoyed I am of sharing my passion with you, and I’m sure this is how you felt when you taught me how to fly properly,” She continued while Rainbow tilted her head, unsure of what the alicorn was trying to say, “You’ve showed me a new world in which I’ve never taken interest before. You only made it better by being by my side; something you’ve always done for me. Before I met you or the girls, I hadn't had anypony and I honestly didn’t care until I realised what I missed! I was an outcast, I couldn’t talk to anypony without stuttering or getting annoyed by the mere thought of interacting! However, you made me braver and less socially awkward. I feel like with you, nothing could stop us. Finally, the desire to be together forever was too much to handle; will you be my special somepony?”
As she asked that, Twilight closed her eyes. If she studied correctly, this would be the moment; after the great speech, the two characters would kiss passionately each other while the beautiful moonlight would illuminate them. She brought her head closer to Dash’s, ready to taste heaven; however, she didn’t feel the soft lips of the most beautiful mare in Equestria. Instead, it was something hard and dirty; Twilight opened her eyes only to see Rainbow’s hoof pushing her mouth back while she was looking away. Twilight stepped back, her lips trembling; had she done something wrong?
“I-I-I’m flattered… really, but… I’m sorry; I gotta go!” The rainbow-maned mare replied before flying away as fast as she could.
Twilight fell flat on her flank, her eyes getting watery while her brain still had problems to figure what happened exactly. Was she rejected? Did Rainbow just flat out refuse to even look at her? Her world suddenly felt like crumbling before her very eyes. She could almost hear Chrysalis’ voice happily singing that she’d feed off her love.
“Psst… Twilight! Do I have to get the moonlight, now?” The whispering voice of Princess Luna asked from the tree.
Twilight didn’t reply and disappeared in a flash of light. The next thing she knew was that she locked herself away in her room, burying her face in her pillow. Crying all the tears of her body and slightly hoping it would be enough to dehydrate and kill her. She just made a fool of herself! What was she thinking? Rainbow would only like ponies as brave and endearing as her! Not bookworms and eggheads! Her boring and stupid speech didn’t help in the slightest! It would have been better if she spent more time on it, but it wouldn’t have changed the outcome, would it have?
Just from the look in Rainbow’s eyes; she could see that she disgusted her. She would tell their friends and they’ll send her pitying looks saying one thing “poor dear, maybe we should have told her she wasn’t a pony one would want as a marefriend.” What could she do now? As far as she knew, her friends very rarely had romantic feelings towards another pony. Rarity did a few times, but she got over it quickly; like a strong mare would. Twilight wasn’t like that… So could they understand what she was going through? She doubted it.
***
“Come on, Twilight! Let me in, please!” Spike shouted as he knocked on the door multiple times; however, his only reply was Twilight’s crying. He hated her seeing her like this; or more like hearing her in this case? Anyway, he couldn’t help her if he didn’t even what was going on with her, “Yeah, she’s been like this the whole night,” He said to the mane 6; who were sitting together with Starlight in front of Twilight’s bedroom.
They gasped at the dragon’s words; obviously worried for their friend since Twilight didn’t cry for no reason, and surely not an entire night!
“Why didn’t you call us sooner?” Rarity asked, slightly wincing when she heard Twilight’s cries getting louder.
“I didn’t want to wake you up! Besides, at first I thought she was just Twilighting or something!” He replied in defense.
Applejack rubbed her chin in thought, trying to remember if Twilight gave them a helpful information the day before, so they could understand what led her to this. However, her search was in vain as she didn’t see much of Twilight that day; she decided to look at Starlight, hoping to have some kind of answer, “What did she do yesterday, the last time you saw her?” She asked.
“Well… She was going out; she didn’t tell us the reason. But I could tell she was very excited, like I’ve never seen her before,” Starlight explained.
“How much are we talking about?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
“As much as Pinkie,” That reply was enough make them all -except Pinkie- step back a little. If she really felt like this, then what she was doing had to be something.
“But poor Twilight looks so broken, now…” Fluttershy whimpered in sadness.
“What could be so horrible to make her like that?” Pinkie asked, mostly to herself as she took a sip of apple juice.
Beside her, Rainbow Dash winced while trying to hide her growing worry. She was pretty sure it was her fault. She didn’t mean to reject her like that! She panicked and felt at loss! She didn’t know how to react to something like a friend confessing its love for her! Especially coming from Twilight! She’s never thought of anyone like that! How could she tell the others it was her fault that Twilight was locked in her room, crying to death?
However, nobody ever asked anything more, nor did they speak as Twilight’s crying suddenly stopped and her room felt silent. Spike ran to the door again and knocked, hoping to receive some kind of answer.
“Twilight?! Twilight!” The only reply Spike got was utter silence. He knocked again, harder. No response again; he placed his ear on the door to try to hear what could she be doing, now. To his horror; the only noises that came out of Twilight’s bedroom were moans of pain! “Twilight! What’s happening?!” He shouted in a panicked tone.
“Out of the way, Spike! I’ll break that door down!” Applejack yelled when she noticed Spike’s concerned look. She quickly understood something was wrong; even if Twilight wasn’t physically hurt; they couldn’t let her cry all day! Applejack positioned herself with her back facing the princess’ bedroom’s door, then kicked it down with her powerful legs. The mane 5 could finally enter inside to see how their friend was doing, only to see the lavender alicron laying on the bed.
Her body was shaking and covered in sweat while Twilight had her eyes closed and moaned in suffering. Her mane and tail had become grayer while her coat got darker. Her friends yelled her name before inspecting her. They weren’t doctors, but they’ve seen their fair share of diseases and medical conditions before; however, this was like nothing they’ve ever seen! They grabbed Twilight’s body, in panic and started running/flying as fast as they could to the hospital. Fortunately, the doctors were quick to react and prepared a room right away. The ponies and the dragon felt relieved that their friend would get treated; however, that relief quickly came to an end when the doctors came back and announced it’s an infection they’ve never seen before and that they couldn’t cure it. All they could do was hope Twilight would get better over time.
“I hope she’ll get better…” Applejack mumbled while looking at Twilight’s shaken form in the hospital bed.
“The egghead’s just sick; I’m sure she’ll fight it off!” Rainbow added in a hesitant voice, still worried about the night before.
“Or maybe she’s just pranking us! She’s been weird! I bet if I give her a few cupcakes, she’ll wake up!”
“I don’t think this is how it works, darling,”
Fluttershy stared at her sick and in pain friend covered with a blanket. She hated seeing ponies close to her suffer in such a way. She really wished she had the power to heal anything right now, or at least know enough about giving treatment. Maybe she would have been able to help Twilight. Suddenly, she remembered someone knowing a lot about potions and medicine! “Maybe Zecora would have something that could help us…” She started, only to be interrupted by a new voice.
“I doubt it, Fluttershy,” The voice disagreed. They all turned around and stared in shock as Princess Celestia went inside the room, her face filled with worry.
“Princess!” The ponies in the room yelled in surprise to see her come; especially that quickly.
“What are you doing here?” Spike asked. He knew it must have been for Twilight, but how did Celestia already knew she was sick?
“I called her,” A new voice said. The ponies widened their eyes as Luna came through the door and stood beside Celestia. Before any of the mane 5 could ask a question, Luna continued, “I was there when young Twilight Sparkle got in such a state. I witnessed everything that made her contract this illness,” She explained while Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in embarrassment. Especially when Luna brought her eyes on her face full of guilt.
“So what happened to her?” Spike asked hurriedly.
“We would like to know too,” Applejack added as Luna sighed and motioned to Celestia to go see the alicorn in bed.
“I will tell you, but first I’ll let Tia explain what is going on with Twilight Sparkle,” Luna answered while the princess of the sun inspected Twilight’s state.
“Just as I feared…” She mumbled before turning around to look at Twilight’s friends. “I regret to inform you that Twilight has caught a very dangerous disease that only infects alicorns…” She started, already making the mane 5, Spike and Starlight gasp in shock. Regular diseases were already dangerous, so one that only alicorns caught was sure to be dangerous, wasn’t it? “It’s nothing new, but it already killed a few princesses before, including my predecessor…”
“Killed?!” Surprisingly, the one to shout was Fluttershy, that couldn’t stop herself from flying in the air, then gently landing back, flustered.
“What is that disease, Princess? And please, tell me we can cure it now!” Applejack asked with pleading eyes.
“If she’s just sick, then you can heal her with magic, right? That shouldn’t be hard!” Pinkie Pie added while smiling.
“Unfortunately, no healing spell was ever able to get rid of it. That infection is… the Love Sickness,” Celestia announced. However, the looks she received told her they weren’t as shocked or scared as they should have been.
“I’m sorry, Princess, but I don’t think it is the time for jokes right now,” Rarity replied while glaring at the ruler of Equestria.
“It’s not even funny…” Pinkie muttered under her breath as she crossed her legs.
“I know Twilight can get obsessive and she would be for a crush, but that right here is pushing it far,” Spike added bitterly, unhappy at Celestia’s antics. The princess shook her head.
“I am not joking. It’s named like this because it is born from a broken love. Alicorn magic is powerful, even to ourselves. Our emotions impact it greatly, a broken heart creates an infection made of our own magic. It slowly eats us away until only despair remains. Our body dies with our mind,” Celestia explained as a few tears rolled down her face.
“Does that mean Twilight loved somepony, but the feeling wasn’t mutual?” Rarity asked, knowing what a heartbreak was like. Although hers didn’t kill her.
“Not necessarily, she might have been rejected, or her lover went missing. Worse, they may have died,” Celestia replied sorrowfully before glancing at Fluttershy, “Like I said, Zecora won’t be able to help. It’s a sickness to which we know no cure… I know it’ll hurt you all, but… Twilight will die of a broken heart… I can’t do anything about it, I’m sorry,” She finally said as her subjects took some time to register what she just said.
Suddenly, they broke down crying and ran to Twilight’s bed. How could they accept something so cruel? Their friend didn’t deserve to lose their life, and surely not this way! Rainbow Dash remained a few feet away from Twilight’s bed, her mind shut off at the thought of her friend’s death. The rainbow-maned pegasus’ stopped beating as she felt a sense of dread invade her, slowing crushing her insides with guilt. Did she kill, Twilight?!
“Now, calm yourselves,” Luna interrupted everyone’s thoughts. “I might have found a “cure”, but it still won’t be easy to heal,”
“Really?!” All the ponies yelled except for Celestia who stepped forward.
“A cure? How? And when?”
“When Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn, Cadence feared she’d get the disease. She called me to help her create a spell that would be used in these situations,” Luna started as everyone carefully listened to her. “When an alicorn is in such a state, we can’t talk to her and I can’t enter her dreams since she’s never asleep during this illness. So we created a spell that’ll allow us to enter the mind of a fellow princess and comfort her. Not only that, but we can destroy the infection, too,” She explained as Celestia nodded; it didn’t sound too far fetched.
“That’s great! That means, Twilight is saved!” Spike shouted in excitement.
“Hoof bump, everypony!” Pinkie Pie added while hugging anyone close to her.
“Hold on,” Celestia simply said, calming everyone down with one lift of her hoof, “Am I right to presume it’s dangerous?”
“Unfortunately, it is very risky,” Luna started, “Alicorns are very sensitive to this illness, so I’ll have to send the six of you, but even if you’re not alicorns; it’s still very dangerous. Love Sickness takes over your mind and crush your souls. That’s why, if it tries to, you’ll have to think of the happiest memories of your life or else you’ll drown in sadness and despair,” She explained as they all nodded.
“What do you mean, six? We’re seven!” Spike said as he counted everyone going into Twilight’s mind, including himself.
“I am sorry, but it might be a little bit too dangerous for you. Moreover, transporting six ponies would already be hard enough, so one dragon in addition would be the opposite of good,”
“Don’t worry, Spike! We’ll get her safe!” Pinkie assured him with determination.
“It should be even more efficient since the pony that “caused” this is willing to be with you,” Luna said while the others raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean? The one that broke Twilight’s heart is among us?” Starlight asked in disbelief. She wasn’t expecting Twilight to fall in love with one of them, after all.
“Oh, the drama!” Rarity exclaimed as she brought a hoof to her forehead.
Rainbow Dash embarrassingly cleared her throat, making everyone look at her. “I might have something to do with this…”
“Wait… Twilight fell in love with you?!” Applejack asked, greatly surprised since she had never seen how the two of them could be in a relationship.
“What did you say to her, Rainbow?!” Spike growled, growing protective of the one she saw as a sister. “If Twilight dies, I promise you’ll pay for it!” He threatened while pointing a claw at her.
“Calm down, Spike! Don’t blame, Rainbow Dash. It’s normal for two ponies to not share the same feelings; it happens. I’m sure she was gentle when she rejected her. We can’t blame Twilight either for reacting this way; it’s normal to be hurt,” Rarity explained, calming the dragon down.
“Well… if by gentle, you mean “fly away in fear when she confessed”, then yeah that’s what I did,” Rainbow replied while scratching the back of her head in nervousness. Applejack facehoofed behind her.
“WHAT!” The white unicorn shouted outraged.
“I didn’t know how to react, okay?! I panicked! I’ve never thought of love or anything like that before! I don’t even know what it feels like!” Rainbow Dash defended herself with her front legs crossed.
“Enough, we don’t have any time to lose! Every second is precious,” Celestia calmed them down, then turned towards her sister. “Do your spell, sister,”
Luna nodded and lit her horn as a dark aura surrounded the mane 6 and Starlight. The pony still in bed fidgeted in pain as the others slowly fell on the ground, falling asleep. Luna kept her spell up while several white transparent matters escaped the ponies’ mouths and entered Twilight’s body.
***
The mane 5 and Starlight opened their eyes. The first things they saw were… books! Books everywhere! It was, without a doubt, the largest library they have ever seen.
“I should have figured her mind would be a library,” Rainbow Dash mumbled while looking around.
“Alright, we have to find Twilight as fast as we can! We split up, so we cover more ground,” Applejack said while Pinkie Pie made a salute. “Since we have Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, we’d be able to cover more ground thanks to their wings. So if one of us finds her, they call the others, alright?” Applejack asked; everyone but Fluttershy simply nodded while the poor pegasus shook in her boots.
However, no matter how long it seemed to take; they didn’t even see a strand of her mane. The library’s size was incalculable, and they soon started getting lost while chasing for their friend. As far the eye could see, they saw only books, but no alicorn.
Applejack glanced around, trying to find a way or a path that could lead to Twilight; however, no matter where she looked at, everything was the same!
"I hope somepony else gets luckier than me, 'cause if we don't find Twilight..." She didn't even to think about it.
Suddenly, she heard something unusual, well... unusual in a giant and seemingly limitless library: footsteps! She was alone though since everyone split up to look for the princess of friendship. Applejack stopped in mid track while the footsteps were slowly getting closer. Could it be the monster Princess Luna was talking about? She prepared herself mentally to face it, then turned around with a war cry!
"Wait!" Fluttershy screamed as she jumped back in fear, bumping into bookshelves and knocking down several books.
"Fluttershy?" Applejack asked, surprised to see her here. "Were you following me? We were supposed to split up and cover more ground!" She scolded the shy pegasus.
"I know, I'm sorry. I was looking for Twilight alone like we said we would but then... I heard weird screaming," Fluttershy replied in fear.
"Weird screaming? Maybe it was Twilight!"
"I don't think so... it was very unnatural and sounded like some sort of demon..." Fluttershy said with teary eyes.
Applejack sighed and gave her a quick hug to try and calm her down. "It'll be fine. I promise you, everypony will get out of here safely. We just have one thing to do and that's it," She assured the animal lover.
Fluttershy blinked a few times, then smiled. It seemed Applejack's words were enough to reassure her. However, as they were about to start looking again, they heard growling. When they turned around, they saw two weird looking creatures, purple and hairy. They also had two horns and strong claws. At the moment, they were clinging on the bookshelves.
"W-What are those?" Fluttershy asked as Applejack stepped protectively in front of her. The monsters didn't even glance at them as they simply stared at the fallen books. The jumped down on the floor before gently placing the books in their right places.
"Looks like they're some sort of librarians? Guardians of books? I don't even know," Applejack answered, and as she did so, the monsters looked at them. The bent on four legs and growled. "Stay behind me, it doesn't look like they're friendly!" She yelled as one of them jumped towards them.
Applejack turned her back on it, then kicked it right in the jaw, blowing it away onto the floor. Its ally howled in anger before running to its preys. The farm pony narrowed her eyes and ran to fight it head on. Just as it was about to hit her, she dodged under its attack and kicked it in the stomach. However, she didn't have much time to appreciate her victory. She realized it when she heard more growling. Fluttershy squeaked while looking around, seeing the enemies everywhere. There was a dozen of librarians coming to them while climbing on the bookshelves.
"It might be harder than I thought," Applejack mumbled nervously. "Don't panic, Fluttershy... I'll think of something..." She reassured her friend.
Fluttershy stared at Applejack's back, then at the creatures. She couldn't let her friend do everything alone and put her life in danger, could she? She breathed in and out, trying to muster the courage to fight. It was like the big dragon back in the day. The librarians howled as they surrounded the two ponies, ready to slaughter them.
"STOP!" Fluttershy shouted, surprising everyone including Applejack. Fluttershy looked at the monsters in front of her, with determination. "What you are doing is very bad! I can understand you wish to protect the books in this library, but this is no reason to attack innocent ponies! Please, don't do this anymore, and be kind," She argued as the librarians looked at each other, then glared at the pegasus. They started walking towards her again; however, she stood her ground and glared back, deciding to finally use the stare. "Don't make me repeat myself!" She threatened while staring down at the monsters.
The librarians finally broke the stare and whimpered, before bowing to Fluttershy, then running away.
"You did it! That was impressive, Fluttershy!" Applejack congratulated her with pride.
"Hm... Thank you," She replied with a small blush.
Farther away from them, Staright was walking in a dark corridor, surrounded by books about magic. She thought she'd find Twilight here since the young princess always loved studying magic. However, as far as Starlight knew, there was no trace of life where she was. The only company she had was the dreadful and lifeless silence.
"I'm not sure why, but I feel like Twilight would love that atmosphere..." Starlight muttered as she glanced around, checking the numerous books surrounding her. "Now that I think about it, Twilight knows a lot of spells. She sure seems to know more than me..." She thought aloud. Every book contained a certain amount of spells, and every one of them was thoroughly explained as clearly as possible. "Looks like she's not here though,"
As Starlight couldn't help but check the spell books, at the opposite side of her location, Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down while screaming Twilight's name... very loudly.
Rarity, on the other hand, was carefully inspecting the bookshelves of the library, trying to find some sort of clue to find her dear friend. However, she didn't even know what to look for! She wasn't as talented in magic as Twilight and Starlight, and she sure wasn't as smart as the lavender alicorn. She'd knew what to do in her situation. Even more so after what felt like hours of searching.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash grumbled as she started throwing books out of their shelves, in frustration. She didn’t know for how long she was in there, but she has seen too many books! Moreover, no matter how long she flew, there was no trace of Twilight!
“Stupid books! Stupid library! Stupid sickness! And stupid feelings!” She screamed before stomping on several books out of anger. If Twilight wasn’t saved; she didn’t know if she ever could forgive herself… “Come on, can’t it be like in movies? A secret passageway appears when you move a book or something!” She grunted as she threw another one on the ground.
However, as she did this, something new appeared in place of bookshelves: a door. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the white glowing door; she glanced above it and saw “DREAMS” inscribed in gold. She looked around, then flew to another bookshelf and started throwing the books away; another door, this time purple, appeared. Above it, she could read “MEMORY LANE”, wrote in white. She smirked, then started throwing all the books she could see onto the ground as multiple doors appeared one by one: “FEARS”, “HOPES”, “DISILLUSIONS.”
Rainbow Dash stopped herself when a duplicate of the “DREAMS” door appeared again; she supposed it meant that was all of them.
“Alright… Twilight must be in one of them! I… um… hope so,” She thought aloud hesitantly while scratching her ear. But which door could be the right one? “Okay, come one, Dash! Think! How would Twilight think about all of this?” She asked herself while looking at the doors.
Princess Luna said the sickness would make her depressed, so that crossed out hopes and dreams. She didn’t think it’d be fears since Twilight was sad, not scared, right? That left disillusions and memory lane… Wouldn’t the disease make her relive the worst moments of her life? Including when her heart was broken… That would explain why Luna told them to think of all their happy memories if attacked by whatever is hurting Twilight. Rainbow Dash breathed out, then placed her hoof on the purple door. Now that she thought about it, wasn’t this an invasion of privacy? She shrugged it off quickly when she remembered Twilight was going to lose her soul. She opened the door and had to quickly protect her eyes from the blinding light inside the new realm.
For once, she didn’t fly. She put her hoof down when her eyes got used to the light, then walked forward, passing by numerous screens each displaying one of Twilight’s memories. Rainbow avoided at all costs to look at them; however, for some reason, every feeling Twilight had felt in her memory; Rainbow felt it too as she passed beside it! Happiness, shock, betrayal, sadness, etc.
Rainbow intended to ignore them until she suddenly felt a warm feeling go through her. It was a warmth she didn’t remember feeling since she entered Twilight’s memories. For the first time since coming here, she looked at the screens. It showed herself… The memories displayed on the screen were about her and Twilight. Moreover, each one of them filled her with happiness and warmth. Her heart started beating faster as she felt a feeling of fulfilment, peacefulness and sadness. Multiple feelings combining into a new one! Was this really how Twilight felt towards her?
Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a silent cry. Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up to listen once more. It was hard to hear, and she barely noticed it at first, but she could hear a weak cry at the end of the lane. It felt different than those memories… It had to be Twilight! Rainbow Dash spread her wings and flew the fastest she ever did. After a few seconds of flying, something suddenly caught her eye. It was a large mass of black goo, having the form of a large monster, clawing and torturing a ball of purplish light. Rainbow narrowed her eyes to see what was inside, then widened them when she recognized Twilight’s form. The lavender alicorn had her head down, crying while the goo attached to her body, tearing her apart bit by bit. However, there was no blood coming from her… only dust; mere remains of her partially shredded soul.
The sickness attacking her had large claws and fangs capable of tearing even iron to pieces. Its eyes were white and empty of any life as its touch drained one’s very existence. It smiled devishly, enjoying the princess' suffering and despair.
“She hates me,” Twilight cried as the monster pushed his aura deeper inside her body, turning her coat to white. “She’d never love somepony like me… nopony would,” She continued sorrowfully while her mane and tail lost their colors.
“Twilight! Fight it! We came to save you!” Rainbow Dash shouted; however, it was as if Twilight didn’t even hear. Unfortunately, someone else did; the disease turned around and saw the young pegasus yelling to her friend to get free. The disease smirked, then lunged at its new victim. “TWILIGHT!” Rainbow Dash screamed to make Twilight aware of her surroundings, but to no avail. She successfully dodged one of the disease’s hit; however, a black tendril formed out of its back and grabbed the pegasus’ leg, bringing the mare on the floor.
The pegasus struggled as mush as she could, successfuly freeing herself from the creature's hold. The monster created multiple black tendrils, which went after the flier's wings. However, Rainbow Dash, using her speed and agility, dodged them easily, then flew towards the disease's face. She let out a war cry and punched it with all her might; however, it didn't even buldged. The shadow smirked in enjoyment and mockery, then hit her on the head before throwing her around. Finally, Rainbow Dash was breathless, crawling to Twilight and away from the creature. The shadow jumped on the defenseless pegasus, ready to finish her off.
Rainbow Dash screamed for help one last time before the disease completely surrounded her, drowning her in darkness. All she could see was a black matter as if she was blind. She tried to fly away, but everything proved to be useless against Love Sickness. Soon, she started feeling cold and lonely. Why? What was happening to her? She wondered as tears rolled down her face.
That’s right! Luna mentioned something like this!
“Come on. Think of a happy memory!” She yelled to herself while emptying her mind to think of the best moment of her life. It took her only a few seconds to remember it: the first time she did a sonic rainboom. It was also the day she got her cutie mark. She visualized in her mind, grasping the same feelings that went through her body at that time. Finally, the black goo was pushed back as happiness slowly came back to her. However, it disappeared as fast it came back while the disease surrounded her again, only slightly weakened by her memory. “WHAT?! But that was without a doubt the happiest memory of my life!” She screamed while drowning in darkness.
Her coat turned gray, and her mane and tail started losing their colors. She couldn’t do anything. Despair began breaking her mind piece by piece while her heart was being stolen of all its feelings. Suddenly, there was only cold darkness mixed with an unimaginable loneliness. There was nobody to help her, nobody to trust. She felt hopeless…
You are, and will remain, forever alone, Rainbow Dash.
Nopony loves you.
You are weak.
You are a disappointment.
She will never return your feelings.
Die.
Those voices were right; she shouldn’t even be alive. The darkness started piercing her body with no restrictions; her body slowly crumbling to dust. She was going to die and didn’t even feel fear or regret; only relief that she’d be free. To think Twilight went through this the entire time… Now that she thought about it, that weird goo talked about returning feelings… This idiot must have thought it was still attacking Twilight. Now that she thought about it; Twilight was always there for her.
Rainbow! Are you alright?! You scared me; please pay attention next time, I’d hate to see you hurt.
She could hear her sweet voice as if she was right beside her. She was always caring for her friends, too caring sometimes. But that’s one of the things Rainbow loved about her; she also valued loyalty. Twilight would never let a friend down.
I promise you, Rainbow; I’ll do everything I can to help you pass this test!
She even tried to help her study! The amazing Rainbow Dash, studying?! She never thought it would happen one day, but it did and it was thanks to the one who always believed in her.
Rainbow Dash! I got the new Daring Do! Do you want to come at home and read it with me?
That’s right, Twilight showed her the Daring Do books! It was thanks to her that she could discover something as great as that! They even had a time they could spend together! As those thoughts came into Rainbow Dash’s mind, her fur took its colors back at a slow pace.
I’ve always known you could do it! Congratulations, Rainbow!
I’m sorry, I know how much this meant for you.
Release my friends! All of them!
You really want to teach me how to fly? Thank you! I just hope I won’t be too bad.
She remembered. Twilight had been so important since she came to Ponyville; she changed everyone’s lives. And now, she was going to die alone and in despair because of a stupid monster disease! She couldn’t let that happen!
“NO!” Rainbow Dash screamed with all her might as the disease was pushed back several feet away from her. Her body regained its regular color, then the rainbow-maned pegasus flew to the lavender alicorn, “Twilight!” She shouted as she tackled her friend onto the ground.
“R-Rainbow?” Twilight asked, finally regaining her senses. Her voice was weak and nearly emotionless; however, her coat started turning lavender, back to its regular color. “Where are…?”
The disease growled before lunging at the two mares, ready to shred them to pieces and reduce their remains to dust. However, just as he was about to devour their bodies, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and kissed Twilight. The alicorn widened her eyes in surprise and shock, before closing them, enjoying the moment. From the very moment when their lips met; a blinding light exploded out of their bodies and bathed the dark monster, vaporizing it in mere seconds.
It was completely gone, and that meant the fight was over. However, the two friends didn’t celebrate or cheer; they just stayed in each other’s embrace and cried.
***
The ponies woke up while grunting holding their heads in pain. It seemed like going inside someone’s mind hurt more than it looked. Luna, breathless, could finally rest. She sat on the floor, not caring of her status and reputation at the moment.
“Princess! Did we do it?!” Pinkie Pie asked in panic, not remembering encountering any monster.
“Look,” Celestia answered with teary eyes as she pointed at the bed behind them.
They turned around and saw that not only Twilight’s colors were back, but she was also hugging Spike and Rainbow Dash, all three of them crying.
“Twilight!” They yelled, running to embrace their friend.
“How did you make it out?” Starlight asked.
Twilight smiled as she brushed off the tears on her face, then she nodded at Rainbow.
“It was thanks to Rainbow Dash. She saved my life,” She answered with a grateful smile.
Rainbow shook her head, then walked closer to Twilight’s bed. “It wasn’t just me. You helped a lot, too,” Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion, then motionned her to continue. “My heart was gold and ready to go. Then, my memories of you came to my mind… I was ready to die, but I realized something… The memories I had with you were the happiest of my life!” Rainbow explained while everyone listened to her, some understanding where she was going. Twilight held back new tears at the rainbow-maned pegasus’ words. “So yes,”
“Hn…?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, still not getting what she meant.
“Yes, I want to be your special somepony. And I wish to be by your side forever, too!” Rainbow Dash replied with determination as she hugged Twilight with her hooves and wings.
Twilight didn’t return the hug right away, her mind still hadn’t registered what the mare had said, but when it did, she brought her hooves around Rainbow’s body. She openly cried; however, this time the tears she shed were of happiness.
“It looks like everything ended well,” Luna muttered weakly.
It wasn’t how she wanted or expected it to be, but in the end, Twilight’s deepest wish was realized. It was going to be a memory she’d cherish forever.