Oh, the Humanity 2
Twilight's eyes flew open as she sprung to a sitting position. She clutched her blanket tightly as her breaths came out in a harsh, forceful manner in an alarmingly rapid rate. She shuddered and wrapped her blanket closer. With the back of her hand, she wiped her brow.
"You alright?"
Twilight almost jumped at the sound of Ash's voice. He laid some distance away and while the library was still dark, it was apparent the Ash was a Human once more.
"Y-yeah, I'm...fine," Twilight said shakily. "Did I wake you?"
"No. Funny thing, really: first thing I saw was you jolting awake." Ash was silent for a moment before adding, "It's like we woke up at the same time. Curious..."
"Do you think it has to do with my transformation?"
"Probably." Ash slowly got his feet and made his way to Twilight's side, taking great care not to upset the stacks of notes laying about. Despite not being able to read and having to deal with both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie around, the Mage had gotten a significant amount of research done in a single evening. "At any rate, it's a clue."
He sat down and draped his blanket over Twilight's shoulders. "Breath in for four seconds, then out for another four," he instructed. "Yes, like that. Now repeat..."
Slowly, Twilight gained control over herself and her breathing slowed to a normal pace. Color returned to her face and the library didn't seem so cold.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
In silence, the two Humans sat, listening to the rhythmic snoring of a baby dragon.
"It was a dream, wasn't it?" Ash finally asked.
"Yeah," said Twilight quietly. She turned to face him. Even in the darkness Twilight could make out Ash's features. "How do you deal with them?"
"Well, normally I try to ignore them and avoid discussing them and we can see that was not the best idea I've had." He chuckled humorlessly. "But, of course, I didn't want to scare you with my nightmares. If it makes you feel better you're welcomed to tell me what you saw."
And so Twilight did. It was the same vision she saw in Ash's mind that night, only this time, the corpses were far more recognizable. The Human arm had become a Pegasus wing, a blue one.
Her voice broke at certain points. When she had finished, Twilight began to shiver. She missed her purple hide; Human skin was poor protection against the cold.
"What's wrong with me?" Twilight cried. "Why do I see these things? How are we going to fix this?"
"I...I've got theories. Nothing concrete," Ash admitted. "But don't worry. You've got some of the greatest friends I've ever seen. Resourceful, determined, loyal. We'll find a way. We'll figure this out." Taking her hands, Ash looked straight into Twilight's eyes. "I promise."
A smile lit across her face. "Thank," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm normally more composed."
"I think you're taking this pretty well."
"Please."
"No, really. Remember, I've seen those visions too. I know what it's like. Feels so vivid, so real, so..." Ash trailed off into silence.
"Like a dream or a memory?"
"Yes, like a bad memory." Ash turned away and slipped his hands out of Twilight's. "A memory..."
*****
"Hurry up!" Sethiop bellowed over the sound of crackling wood and agonized screaming. He and Dorian stood at the burning doorway, waiting for an opportunity. "While there still survivors to save!"
"It's not working!" Ash roared back, his arm stretched toward the burning house. What moisture he could magically muster into a missile evaporated before even touching the flames.
His eyes blurred in the arid air. With the back of his hand, Ash wiped soot from his face and fought for concentration in the midst of the dry, burning wind, the blistering heat, and the surrounding symphony of chaos. Gritting his teeth, the Mage raised his arm...
*****
"Ash?"
"It's nothing, nothing," the Mage quickly assured. "I'm going to, uh, clean up around here before Rarity arrives with your clothes."
"It's not even seven yet," Twilight pointed out.
"Well, I'd better clean while I still have these." Ash wiggled his fingers. "Easier for me anyways."
Before Twilight could object, Ash got to his feet and made his way to the clutter of parchments and books. As he gathered the papers and organized them into piles, Ash was thinking. He looked back over the notes before remembering that Spike had written them in Equestrian. The Mage fought the urge to sigh; with patience, he told himself, he would learn to read the language of the equines and be no longer dependent on Twilight or at the mercy of Spike, at least in this regard.
Instead, he quickly jotted down a few notes of his own and stuck the paper in the middle of a spell book, the same, in which Twilight had discovered the oneirological monitorization and astro-self interjection spell. Ash placed the book on top of the stack of parchments and mentally prepared himself for another day of rigorous studying.
*****
Rarity left her store, tired but triumphant. Normally, the Unicorn avoided all possible contact with the outside world if she missed enough beauty sleep. And it was apparent by the bags beneath her eyes, despite her attempts to hide them, that last night had been a restless one for this Unicorn. Of course, there were special exceptions and the prospect of seeing Twilight's face light up at the sight of her new clothes was enough that she ventured out, making sure that at least her mane was somewhat presentable.
A large bundle sat on the Unicorn's back. In it sat the fruits of the seamstress's laboring. The minute Rarity had gathered the necessary measurements, she promised Twilight that by tomorrow morning, she would have the greatest piece of clothing ever seen by ponykind, or rather more appropriately, Humankind. And over Twilight's protests, that's what she planned and what she did.
It wasn't until Rarity returned to her private workspace when she realized just how difficult her job was. Her first clue should have been how much trouble she had while finding Twilight's measurements. Even with Ash's somewhat reluctant help, it took Rarity a large chunk of the afternoon to determine the Unicorn-now-Human's sizes. It didn't help that the strange shape of Twilight's chest added another factoring size to the equation.
A promise was a promise, however, no matter how ill-conceived, and so Rarity spent the rest of that day and all that night working (her neighbors did their best to sleep and ignore the musical number next door). When she finally took a step back, blinked the tiredness from her blurry eyes, and examined her work, the Unicorn found herself surprisingly satisfied with the final product. More than satisfied, really; one could argue that this project rivaled her Gala project, in both beauty and difficulty.
Still, Rarity couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Twilight's tastes in dress were, well, for a lack of a better word, simple, which probably did not change after her transformation. For her birthday, the purple Unicorn was ecstatic over a little dress that Rarity made with minimal effort, praising it for it's simplicity and practicality. Rarity, on the other hand, had a much larger vision that went beyond the realm of practicality and into the world of fashion. Finding a balance between the two had not been easy but Rarity thought she had been successful. Hopefully, Twilight would too. As she trotted toward the library, the seamstress tried not to visualize Twilight's unhappy and disappointed face.
*****
Twilight Sparkle's disappointed face looked up toward Rarity, along with Twilight's happy face, Twilight's bewildered face, and many others. The ground was littered with photos of a purple-haired Human making different facial expressions with a simple description scribbled at the edge. In the center was a tripod. The camera sat on the table, opened up. A familiar grey Unicorn sat in front of it, lifting a piece every now and then for a better look.
"Sorry 'bout the mess," Spike said as he guided Rarity through the library. "Want some tea while we wait for Twilight?"
"Spike, have I every told you what a gentlecolt you are?" Under the Unicorn's beaming grin, Spike grew hotter and blushed beneath his scales. "And where is Twilight?" Rarity asked, levitating her bundle off her back and into Spike's arms.
"Out," Ash responded, his eyes still trained on the camera. "Something about needing more film."
"Twilight used up the entire stock we got for Hearts Warming Eve." The dragon rolled his eyes. "And you'd better fix that camera before Twilight gets back," he directed at Ash. "It was a gift from her BBBFF. Big brother best friend forever," Spike added quickly, noticing the stallion's blank look.
Rarity stared at the sea of photographs on the ground. Carefully, she lifted one to eye level. Twilight was crossed eyed and had her tongue sticking out in this one. Raising an eyebrow, she set it down and asked, "And why is Twilight taking so many pictures of herself?"
"Research," Spike and Ash answered in unison.
"Research?"
"Yup," Spike said. "Twilight's been recording all her facial expressions as a Human and comparing them to her facial expressions as a pony." The dragon picked up one of the pictures. "See? This is a happy Human Twilight."
Rarity stared at the photo. The Human in the picture had her mouth curled into a grin with her eyes wide open. "I don't understand. What's so fascinating about that?"
"She's grinning, like a pony," Ash said. "Or from my point of view, you grin like Humans. There." The grey Unicorn placed the last screw into place and cautiously hit the camera's trigger. Nothing happened.
"Strange...what did I do wrong?"
"Our camera doesn't flash unless there's film inside," Spike explained.
"Ah." He turned his attention to the alabaster Unicorn. "Anyways, what's fascinating is that Humans and ponies, and dragons I suppose, share facial expressions, meaning we may have similar muscular and skeletal structures. Which reminds me, Spike?" Ash turned to Twilight's scaly assistant. "Call Rainbow Dash and Applejack over if they're not busy. I might need some help convincing Twilight not to extract her own skeleton for, what's the word, science."
A large shadow filled the library, much too large for a pony. Slowly, everypony turned to the doorway.
"Ooh, what a great idea!"
*****
"No, listen, what if I--"
"No," Ash said with every air particle of finality. He let a stack of large books and papers fall with a thud. "No clones, no time traveling into the future, no teleporting out of your skin, no. You are not allowed to extract your own skeleton using any methods."
Twilight pursed her lips, wrapped her fingers around the sides of her hips, and began to explain the concept of a x-ray. Meanwhile, Rarity untied her bundle.
As Rarity unraveled her work, a wave of exhaustion rolled over her, as if to remind the Unicorn how much effort she had put in. Try as she might, Rarity could not contain her yawn. Her attempts to hide it behind her hoof failed as well.
"Oh my goodness," Twilight exclaimed, interrupting her little lesson. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I almost forgot about you, Rarity. Spike, please prepare some tea."
"Oh, please don't trouble yourself," said Rarity, stifling another yawn. "I'm just here to give you this..."
"Whoa..." Spike jumped back in awe, using his tail as a coiled spring to prop himself up. "It looks...amazing."
Like a typical Mage robe, the outfit was essentially a large coat, with a long trail from the back much like a cape. Unlike Ash's robe, which was plainly colored blue, however, Rarity's project was a beautiful shade of lavender. The hole where the neck presumably went through opened up at the front into a V, which extended down to the length of a Human's upper torso. At the bottom point of the V was a big, golden star. The star was cut in half as at that point, the robe split open. Aligning one of the edges (the wrong side, Ash later noticed), were bright red buttons. On the other side were more golden stars, each smaller than the one above it and alternating between the button holes.
Around the V and the neck hole was a collar, made of a lighter colored fabric. Around the neck it stood up while at the V, the collar was folded back. Sewn into and along the entire edge of the collar were tiny, silver stars. On the sides of the collar nearest to the neck, somewhat perpendicular to the shoulders, additional heavenly bodies formed constellations, the Big Dipper on her right, Orion on the left.
A silky red ribbon encircled the edge of each of the sleeve's cuffs. On one sleeve, the ribbon was shaped into the form of the sun, with additional strands acting as rays. The other sleeve held a crescent moon. Additional silver stars were sown beside the sister celestial beings.
With quivering hands, Twilight accepted the gift with uncertainty. It was soft as silk. "I...I..."
"Wow," Ash breathed. "That's...just wow."
"Do you, like it?" Rarity asked hesitantly. The Unicorn screamed as she was suddenly lifted into the air and and embraced.
"Like it? I love it! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Twilight cried as she spun with robe in one arm and Rarity in the other. "You even got all the details on Orion's belt right. This is amazing!"
"I'm glad you're so appreciative," Rarity struggled to say, "but could you set me down."
"Sorry." Carefully, Twilight set her friend back on the floor and helped her regain her balance. "I still can't believe you managed to do this in such short notice," Twilight continued, holding the robe out in front of her. "You must have spent all night work." She set the clothes down and turned to Rarity, who sat watching and wore a giant smile. Twilight's own face was more serious, almost solemn.
"You didn't have to do all this," Twilight said. "I never wanted to cause you so much trouble."
Rarity's smile grew larger as she waved away Twilight's concerns. "Don't tell me what I don't have to do. I know I didn't have to but I wanted to and I did." The Unicorn placed a hoof on her friend's knee. "You're my friend, Twilight, and I want the best for my friends. Even if you only get to wear this for a few days, if you like it, I'm happy."
Twilight crouched down and gave Rarity a gentle hug, which the Unicorn gladly returned. "Thanks, Rarity," she said, emotions leaking from her voice and her eyes. "You're a great friend."
Spike nudged Ash's side and rolled his eyes. The stallion suddenly felt intrusive. He quickly averted his gaze and set his attentions to the ground. One of the books he dropped had opened and caught his eye. It was Twilight's spell book, the one that had caused so much trouble as well as this emotional scene. Ash's note stuck out, beckoning him to investigate and find the connection between it and the diagram on the adjust page.
The grey Unicorn looked back to Rarity and Twilight and shook his head. There would be time later, he decided. Tomorrow, or maybe another day...
Ash tried to shut the book as quietly as he could but it still closed with a loud, wince-worthy thump. At this, the purple haired Human and the alabaster Unicorn broke their touching embrace.
"Now," Rarity said, dabbing her eyes. "let's see how this looks on you, shall we?"