We hadn’t managed to find our way straight back to Fluttershy’s cottage, but we were at least at the edge of Ponyville. The rain poured from the rooftops and into the street in a thousand little waterfalls, and together they turned the sides of the roads into rivers. Between the torrents of water that framed the streets, a thin layer of mud glowed with an iridescent sheen.
The streets were, understandably, empty.
Applejack caught my eye and started to talk. “What do we d—”
The rest of her sentence was rendered inaudible as the wind picked up. A screaming howl seemed to rend the air, and the trees behind us creaked with such fervor that I started to worry about one falling on us.
I put a hoof to my ear. “What?” I had to yell, and even then I had trouble hearing myself over the wind.
“I said, what do we do now?” Applejack yelled back. “I don’t think she should be alone.”
Lightning flashed somewhere over the Everfree, close enough that the boom had no delay at all, and a moment later I heard the distinct sound of a massive tree toppling over.
I nodded in agreement. “None of us should be. We should round up the others and go back to the castle to wait out the storm.”
“I can go gather ‘em up,” Applejack said. She gestured back at Fluttershy. “You take her back with you. You can at least try to keep her dry.”
I nodded and floated Fluttershy over onto my back. She was a lot lighter than I expected her to be, and she didn’t stir at all as she was moved. I was starting to really worry, and shifted the magic barrier I’d been using to keep us dry so that it surrounded her, even though doing so got me hit with a wall of water that plastered my mane to my head and obscured my vision. Without thinking, I reached up to brush the locks away from my face and wound up drawing a line on my forehead in mud.
I nodded to Applejack.
She nodded back.
Then we broke apart. Neither of us wanted to be out in the storm any longer than necessary. Applejack sprinted in the direction of the Carousel Boutique, running far faster than I would have dared in the mud, and disappeared quickly into the depths of Ponyville.
I started moving. Trotting briskly. The storm was only going to get worse around me as I walked, I knew as much, but with Fluttershy on my back I couldn’t go very fast. I couldn’t risk slipping in the mud and dropping her to the ground. I couldn’t be that much of a failure.
A bolt of lightning struck the top of the town hall and made me jump. I couldn’t believe Fluttershy wasn’t woken up by the booming thunder all around. Was she okay?
No, of course she wasn’t. I knew what Fluttershy was like before I came back. Distant. Withdrawn. Pain in everything she did. And I’d gone and made it even worse.
Of course she wasn’t okay.
Plus, now there was whatever had happened in the castle. Whatever had made Fluttershy scream. Did whoever is causing this go after her? Did they threaten her to stay quiet, or was she trying, somehow, to protect us? There were too many questions. Too many variables.
Too much rain.
I redoubled my pace. I couldn’t think straight in the storm. Even still, it took me several minutes to reach the heavy crystal doors that led into my home.
I pushed them open. Practically ran inside. Made no attempt to stop them from slamming shut after I let go. The sudden hushing of the outside world, which turned the howling wind and pounding rain into no more than a pervasive white noise, was the most relief I’d felt in years.
I stood there a moment, dripping muddy water onto the clean floors, and took a deep breath. I let go of the magic barrier I’d been keeping over Fluttershy, and let the breath out. A shiver ran down my spine.
Plodding steps started approaching from somewhere deeper in the castle. I braced myself.
Spike walked around the corner, holding a mug of cocoa that he just about dropped when he saw me and Fluttershy. His eyes went wide. “Holy smokes, Twilight, you look awful.”
“Uh-huh,” I grunted. Now that he’d broken the stillness, my legs started moving. I stepped to the side of the hallway and dropped the book on a little shelf that held a flower pot before continuing on my way towards him.
“Where’s, uh…” He clearly didn’t want to ask the question I knew he was asking.
I stopped in front of him and looked down into his eyes. I was trying to give him a caring look, but I think I came off as cold more than anything else.
“I’m sorry, Spike. I failed. Twilight and Starlight aren’t coming back.”
He staggered back. Something caught in his throat. “B-But—”
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure what else I could say to him.
I kept walking.
He followed along, as I knew he would. The quiet plods of his steps came rapidly to keep up with my long, squelching strides. I was tracking mud all through the house. I didn’t care.
“Twilight was supposed to be immune.”
I didn’t know why I said that. Was I trying to offer some excuse for my failure? Some justification for taking away his closest friend? Or did I just want him to understand? I told myself it was the latter, but I didn’t believe it.
“But she wasn’t?”
I shook my head.
“And Starlight?”
I nodded.
He stayed silent after that, lost in his thoughts. I let him. I didn’t know how to talk to Spike anymore.
When I first heard Ponyville had been hit, so long ago now, Spike was who I went to first. I had to know if he’d been infected already. I didn’t even know if he could be infected.
He hadn’t been. He’d been holed up in the library reading comics all day. My relief was palpable, but I knew it wouldn’t last. Ponyville was going to be quarantined. It didn’t matter who was and wasn’t infected. It was Honesty. Somepony could just lie about not having been affected.
We couldn’t take chances. Anypony in town that day never left again.
I didn’t want that to happen to Spike. It was selfish of me, it was wrong, I knew I shouldn’t play favorites, but I had to do something.
So, I got him out.
He didn’t really understand. “Twilight, why can’t I stay?” “Twilight, we don’t even know if I’m in danger.” “Twilight, can’t I at least go stay in Canterlot?” “Twilight—”
I blinked. My thoughts dissolved away as I was snapped back to reality.
“Twilight?” Spike was trying to get my attention. “Are you okay? You stopped walking.”
I glanced around. I had stopped, but not because I was distracted. I pushed open the door to Twilight’s bedroom, my bedroom, and stepped inside. Spike followed.
Gently, I picked up Fluttershy with my magic and floated her over to the bed. She was damp and muddy, but I didn’t care. I pulled back the covers and put her under them, trying to make her as comfortable as possible.
“Spike, can you keep an eye on her? I need a shower.”
Spike nodded. “Yeah, of course. Should I do anything if she wakes up?”
“Tell her everypony’s coming over to wait out the storm,” I told him, “and to make herself at home. Show her to a shower if she wants. Let her know where the clean sheets are.” I paused and thought for a moment. “Just try to make her comfortable. She’s not in a good place.”
“Got it,” Spike said, and he walked over and sat heavily in a desk chair. I nodded to him and walked towards Twilight’s bathroom.
I shut the door a bit too hard and walked over to the tub, doing everything in my power to avoid looking at my reflection on the way. Turned on the hot water, let it get steamy, and stepped in.
After the deluge I’d just escaped, you wouldn’t think a shower would be the biggest relief, but it was. I finally let my guard down, let myself notice my exhaustion and anxiety, and the sat down in the tub when the overwhelming sensations made my legs weak.
The water streamed through my mane and down my back in thick rivulets. I tilted my head down and closed my eyes to let it wash over me. It was too hot, felt every second like it was searing away a bit, but I didn’t turn it down. The twinge of pain helped to clear my head so I could work through the day’s thoughts.
I worked backward. “Twilight,” Spike’s voice continued in my head, “will I ever see you again?”
Of course, I had told him. Of course, I had believed. The Dragonlands were far away, sure, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t visit.
Then word got out about the situation in Equestria. The pandemic. The end of the world. And that was it. The Dragonlands closed their borders, and I never saw him again. He might’ve been a fully-grown dragon by the time I came back, and I had no idea. I’d missed it all.
I let out a sigh and laid down, letting the stream of water fall onto my back. Water still rolled down my cheeks. I pretended it was from my soggy mane.
Back. Back to the castle. Back to Fluttershy.
Could it have been her nerves? She’d been through so much, but she was hardly hysterical. The rest of the conversation was fine, it was just that single discrepancy. Somepony wasn’t telling the truth, and it couldn’t be—
Could it?
She’d been so calm. She hadn’t heard my calls. She had a lantern, something the shadow pony had also seemed to be carrying. She’d been alone with Fluttershy when she passed out. Maybe—
It couldn’t be. She was a terrible liar. And she was our friend.
And the cottage. I saw the shadow pony in the woods. That couldn’t have been Applejack.
The water was starting to burn the part of my back it was hitting. I sighed heavily and pushed myself up so it hit my chest instead.
Fluttershy…
What did you see?