//------------------------------// // Awake and Alive // Story: The Last Pegasus // by Tealove //------------------------------// Black. Everything was black. Everything he touched died and shriveled away. Green grass, thick and full of life shrank to nothing under his hoof. Everything was black. There were screams, cries for help echoing off the walls of her memories. They grew louder instead of fading away, growing distorted and warping into dark laughter and thick, liquid songs of destruction, pain, and dominance. Everything was black. Everything but the red of his eyes and the white of his teeth as he opened his mouth and lunged with terrible, blood curdling laughter. She screamed, screamed until it felt like every last molecule of oxygen was dispelled from her body. Light invaded her senses as she fought to get away and there were ponies, ponies she'd never seen before, standing over her with expressions of worry and fear on their faces. They were trying to calm her down but she couldn't stop screaming. She had to get away. Then something sharp pricked her neck and she jerked her head to the side. Another pony dressed in a white coat with glasses on the bridge of his nose looked down at her. The room grew fuzzy, faces blurred into shapeless hazes and soon, the blackness returned. “What did you do to her?” the doctor demanded. “It wasn't us!” Pinwheel insisted, looking like she was about to cry. “We were just standing here talking and she started screaming!” The nurse beside the doctor said, “There was another pony in here before. She said she knew this pony.” “Moonflower knows her?” Thunder Clap was incredulous. “I'm going to go find her.” “Wait!” Candy Pop blocked Thunder Clap's way, lips pursed. “I know you, Clap. You'll accuse first and ask questions later. We'll go with you.” Pinwheel edged closer to the bed with a wrinkled brow. “I want to stay here. You know, in case she wakes up again.” Thunder Clap snorted. “What you think you can keep her from flipping out again?” “No,” Pinwheel retorted, an edge of irritation in her usually cheerful tone, “but I don't want to leave her here alone, okay? Just go without me.” Decisively, she looked down at the medicated pegasus and sat on her haunches. “Come on.” Candy Pop urged Thunder Clap. “We won't find Moonflower just standing around here.” She nudged the red pegasus with a hoof and the two of them ran from the room, leaving Pinwheel alone with the stranger and the medical staff. “Is she going to be okay?” Pinwheel asked in a tremulous voice. “I've never dealt with a case like this,” answered the doctor. He looked up at the monitor above the bed and began scribbling on his clipboard. “Her vitals are all perfectly fine; O2 levels are good, BP had a high spike when she came around but that's leveling off now. We're still waiting on some bloodwork to come back and unless there's something in there, she may just be a victim of the storm and nothing more.” “But why would she wake up screaming like that?” The doctor finally looked at Pinwheel and took in a thoughtful breath. “It's possible she was reliving her last conscious moments before she woke up, maybe waking up in an unrecognizable place scared her, maybe the three of you scared her.” Pinwheel frowned. “But we're not scary.” “You're unfamiliar and sometimes what is unfamiliar can feel threatening to a pony, especially as disoriented as she must be.” The pegasus looked down at the stranger with pity on her face. “We're not threatening, I promise. We're really nice. Well, Candy Pop and I are really nice. Clap has her moments but she's not scary.” “Listen,” said the doctor, “I've known your family for a long time, Pinwheel, and I'd like to let you stay here...” “Oh, please!” Pinwheel begged. “I promise I won't touch anything or do anything. I won't even move if you won't want me to!” “We don't know if this pony is dangerous or not, and until we can get a better reading on her-” “Dangerous?” All worry left Pinwheel's expression as she giggled. “Just look at her face, Doctor. Does that look like the face of a dangerous pony to you? She's not Slendermane or anything.” The doctor chuckled and shook his head. “All right, stay if you want. But this door stays open. If she wakes up and starts acting funny you yell. Understand?” “Yes, sir!” She saluted and grinned, watching the two medical ponies leave the room. Only when they were gone did she drop her hoof and turn back to the sleeping pegasus. “You're not going to act funny, are you? You're just scared. I understand that. But we're all really nice ponies. Ponyville is filled with nice ponies! Sure there are a hooffull of ones who can be hard to take sometimes but what town doesn't have ponies like that?” Very slowly and very gently, Pinwheel reached out to brush the stranger's forelock from her face. “You're going to be just fine. And don't worry, we won't leave you alone again.” “Will you slow down?” Candy Pop huffed, racing over the ground directly under Thunder Clap. “I can't run as fast as you can fly! Do you even know where you're going?” Halting in mid-air, Thunder Clap hovered with a frown, hardly noticing when Candy Pop zoomed past her, then had to double back. “Where do you think she'd go?' the pegasus asked. “I don't even know where she lives or anything. How in the hay are we going to find her?” “She lives that way, toward the bakery,” said Candy Pop, pointing and trying to catch her breath. “But she works at the jewelry store which is that way, toward the market.” Thunder Clap looked down at the unicorn in surprise. “How do you know all that?” With a shrug, Candy Pop said, “When she orders books from the bookstore she has to leave her address. When we ran by earlier with Nurse Redheart we passed her and Emerald outside the jewelry shop, so I don't know for sure but it's an educated guess.” “So you think she'd be back at the jewelry store now?” Candy Pop shrugged once more. “I don't know. Let's try there first since it's closest.” Needing no further prompting, Thunder Clap took off again. Candy Pop groaned and ran after her. By the time Moonflower returned to the store Bon Bon had gone and Emerald was busy with a customer. Several pieces lay on the counter, resting atop a swatch of black velvet. Emerald glanced Moonflower's way and the unicorn gave a her a fleeting apologetic smile before ducking behind the counter. “This particular shade of amethyst looks best in the white gold setting,” said Emerald, returning her attention to her customer. Moonflower let out a mental sigh of relief and thanked Celestia that she'd come back at just the right time. Using her magic, she grabbed a wash towel and a cleaning solution and decided to make herself busy at the other counters, cleaning off impressions left from noses pressed to the glass or hoofprints that left half-moon shapes everywhere. As she cleaned her mind wandered back to the hospital room and the three ponies who'd come in and startled her in the middle of a spell. It was foolish to try, really. The pony was unfamiliar to everyone in Ponyville and nothing was known about her, so why bother helping her? Moonflower couldn't really pinpoint what it was that made her do what she'd done – or attempted to do – only that she wished she hadn't been found doing it. The door opened and closed as the customer left, and she was alone once more with Emerald. With the wash towel suspended magically in the air, the unicorn turned to the green earth pony in full expectation of getting a scolding. Emerald, however, looked as though she couldn't care less about Moonflower. When she looked up from her ledger there was a huge smile on her face. “That was a 250 bit sale!” Moonflower's eyes widened considerably. “Wow! That'll be a nice commission.” “Too bad you weren't here when she came in. It could have been yours.” Recognizing the backhanded statement for what it was, Moonflower turned back to her work. “You have a family to feed, I don't.” “Where did you disappear to, anyway?” The unicorn glanced over her shoulder. “I told you, I went out to get lunch.” “You never take that long at lunch.” Emerald was suddenly on the other side of the counter Moonflower was cleaning, eyes narrowed slightly. “You weren't...meeting somepony, were you?” The very idea that she had a secret special somepony made Moonflower laugh out loud. “No.” “Maybe you lingered to talk to the cute cafe stallion?” “No.” “A new waiter?” “No.” “Delivery pony?” “That's it.” Moonflower looked up, an almost pained looking smile on her face. “I knew the delivery stallion was coming by today so I stayed a little longer in hopes of seeing him.” Clearly satisfied with the answer, Emerald smirked self-righteously. “I knew it.” The bell rang again as the front door opened and both ponies turned to see two mares entering, one looking positively irritated and the other looking determined. “What did you do to her?” demanded the irritated looking pegasus. Moonflower glanced at Emerald. “I'll be right back.” Emerald simply watched, confusion on her face, as Moonflower headed toward the other two and practically pushed them outside. Once the door was closed the unicorn rounded on Thunder Clap and Candy Pop, angry. “This is my place of employment! How dare you come barging in and speaking to me that way!” “How dare you go into somepony's hospital room and...and...do something that makes them wake up screaming!” Candy Pop put a hoof to Thunder Clap's withers but looked at Moonflower. “When we walked in we saw your horn glowing.” Her tone was slightly tamer than that of the pegasus but there was deep suspicion in her gaze. “What were you doing?” With a paranoid glance around, Moonflower spoke in a quieter tone. “I was just trying to help.” “Trying to help, how?” barked Thunder Clap. “What did you do to her?” “Keep your voice down,” Moonflower hissed. “I didn't do anything to her. I was trying...” She trailed off with a frown. “The nurse said she wouldn't wake up and they couldn't figure out why.” Thunder Clap's eyes narrowed to slits. “So what, you were trying to wake her up?” When Moonflower said nothing, Thunder Clap raised a brow. “Seriously?” “Seriously. Look, I'm sorry I even went in there, okay? Obviously it didn't work so if you don't mind I'd like to get back to my job before I lose it.” She turned to head back inside but Candy Pop spoke. “But it did work.” Moonflower froze, back to the two, when the dark pink unicorn spoke again. “Whatever you did, it made her wake up. At least I think it did.” “Screaming,” added Thunder Clap. “Don't forget she woke up screaming.” Moonflower turned around, expression unreadable. “She woke up?” “What did you do?” Candy Pop asked, gentler than the pegasus beside her had. “I...nothing, really. I wanted to help so I tried a healing spell I learned awhile ago. Then you three surprised me in the middle of it and I didn't get to finish.” Candy Pop and Thunder Clap looked at one another. “Maybe that's what went wrong. We interrupted the spell before it was finished and it had an adverse reaction.” Before Thunder Clap could reply, Candy Pop looked at Moonflower. “Would you consider trying again?” “What?” both Moonflower and Thunder Clap asked at the same time. “Candy,” said Thunder Clap tersely, “what are you doing?” “Think about it, Clap. The doctor doesn't know what to do, Moonflower more than likely was the one to wake her up. If she tries again with a completed spell, maybe the end results will be better.” “And if they're not?” the pegasus asked. The two unicorns looked at one another and Candy Pop grimaced. “They'll have to knock her out again.” Thunder Clap groaned and turned away from the two, beginning a slow walk back to the hospital. Candy Pop took a step closer to Moonflower. “So will you do it? Will you try again?” “I don't know. I really should stay here.” “Because you're so busy and everything,” called Thunder Clap. With a sigh through her nose, Moonflower glared at the back of Thunder Clap's head. “Okay. Just...give me a minute to let my boss know.” Pinwheel hummed quietly to herself as she arranged the flowers in the vase for the third time, a contented smile on her face. “And then one time we went to Canterlot on vacation. You would not believe how many bits it costs for a simple salad and a glass of water. Oh, but my little sister, Sunny Flight, got this amazing crème de pirouline dessert after that was probably the most wonderful thing I have ever tasted. Have you been to Canterlot before?” She looked at the sleeping pegasus and paused, then smiled again. “Isn't it the most amazing place in all of Equestria? What was your favorite thing to see there?” Pinwheel paused again, then laughed as though the sleeping pony had just said the most charming thing. “Me, too!” “Pinwheel, what are you doing?” Thunder Clap walked into the room with Candy Pop and Moonflower, and Pinwheel eyed them curiously. “Talking to Spearmint – that's what I'm calling her.” Now she looked pointedly at Moonflower. “Why did you bring here here?” “She tried a spell earlier,” said Candy Pop, “but we interrupted her. She's going to try again.” Pinwheel moved protectively beside the bed, brow furrowed. “I don't know if that's such a good idea. What if she's upset again?” With a smug “told ya so” expression, Thunder Clap sat and crossed her forelegs over her chest. Candy Pop ignored her. “Has the doctor found anything out yet?” “No,” said Pinwheel tentatively, still glancing now and then at Moonstone. “He said her blood work is normal.” “Then we have to try. Don't you see that? This could be our only way of finding out who she is and where she came from. Maybe it's just Bon Bon getting to me, but maybe she knows something about the missing pegasai.” Looking at Thunder Clap, Pinwheel seemed to almost be asking for permission. The dark red pegasus just shrugged noncommittally. “Okay,” said Pinwheel after a moment of consideration. Her green eyes went to the unicorn lurking in the doorway, expression growing serious. “But if you hurt her...” Candy Pop moved aside to let Moonstone pass. As Moonstone stepped to the side of the bed she cast a cautious glance at Pinwheel, then lowered her gaze to the sleeping pegasus. Swallowing, she took a calming breath in, closed her eyes, and lowered her head. Her horn glowed with a pale blue aura of magic. Moonflower touched her horn gently to the side of the pegasus' head and squeezed her eyes shut. The clock on the wall ticked the secondly by noisily, and nothing happened. Even when Moonstone exhaled and straightened, nothing happened. Tick, tick, tick. The three mares looked at each other in disappointment, then there was a gasp. It was Pinwheel, whose eyes had gone wide. The others followed her gaze and saw the minty green pegasus no longer lay with her eyes closed, but was blinking slowly, heavily as she came around. Pinwheel gasped a second time but they all understood why. As the pegasus crawled through her haze to wakefulness and her eyes opened more they could all see rather plainly that the blue of her eyes not only colored her iris, but a deeper shade of blue colored her pupils. She didn't scream and she didn't flail about, but she was clearly exhausted and confused. “Is she blind?' Thunder Clap asked. “I don't know,” replied Candy Pop in a harsh whisper. “Even if she was, that doesn't make her deaf.” “Where...where am I?” “You're in Ponyville,” offered Moonstone calmly, still beside her bed, “in the hospital.” “Hospital?” “We found you washed up on the beach this morning,” added Candy Pop. The pony ran her forehooves over her face, scrubbing them over her eyes. “I don't understand.” “What's your name?” asked Thunder Clap. “My name?” She lowered her hooves and looked at the dark pegasus. “Skies. Sugarmint Skies.” “Where are you from?” Moonstone asked. “I don't...I don't remember.” Candy Pop headed for the door. “I'm going to get the doctor.” “You have amnesia?” asked Moonstone dryly. “Isn't that terribly convenient?” “She can't have amnesia,” countered Thunder Clap. “She knows her own name. Amnesiacs don't know their names.” “They do if they only have retrograde amnesia,” Moonstone argued. “Only,” scoffed Thunder Clap. As the two bickered back and forth, Pinwheel finally took a step closer to the bed. “Are you okay?? she asked, her voice quiet. Skies looked at the pegasus, her expression a mix of confusion and fear. “I don't know.” Her gaze fell as if she was searching for something more to say, but stopped when she saw the bell necklace around Pinwheel's neck. “Where did you get that?” Pinwheel glanced down and gave a small smile. “I found it one the beach. Not far from where I found you, actually.” She tilted her head. “Do you...does it look familiar?” Skies stared at it, something in her eyes changing. The fear she had seemed to grow but she gave Pinwheel a small smile anyway. “No. No, not at all.” The doctor came in then, followed by the nurse, and asked the other three to leave the room so they could examine Skies. The pegasus watched them all go, her gaze lingering mostly on Pinwheel until the door closed behind them. “Okay, that was weird,” said Thunder Clap. “This whole thing is really weird. Her eyes? The way she was watching Pinwheel?” “Maybe she's looking for her next victim,” said Moonstone flatly. “Not funny,” returned Thunder Clap. “Besides, I'm a pegasus, too. Why didn't she look at me?” “Maybe you're just not her type.” “Girls,” interrupted Candy Pop. “Can we not? Moonstone, thank you for your help.” “But I'm free to go?” When no one said anything the unicorn rolled her eyes and muttered, “Whatever,” before turning down the long hallway. Pinwheel glanced at the closed door. “She's scared. And she recognized my necklace, I know she did.” “We're going to have to find out more,” said Candy Pop. “That's all there is to it.” She looked at the closed door as well, a frown pulling down the edges of her lips. “We're just going to have to hope she's willing to open up to us.”