//------------------------------// // Book I: Twilight Sparkle: Chapter Two // Story: Stand By Me // by Fifth Element //------------------------------// Book I: Twilight Sparkle: Chapter Two         “You teleported your entire house to Canterlot?!” exclaimed Princess Celestia, eyes wide with shock.         Twilight took a step backwards, shaking her head back and forth. “What? I...no...there's no way...”         She took another step back, bumping up against somepony. She jumped away in surprise, twisting around to see who it was. A warm feeling of relief seeped through her when she saw that she had bumped into Applejack, who was standing in between the rest of her friends.         “Oh thank goodness you girls are here. Will you please tell the Princess there's no way...that...I...”         Her sentences fell away into nothingness when she noticed the glowering looks on her friend's faces.         Brow furrowed in annoyance, Applejack turned her head away from Twilight. “Would ya look at this here pony, teleporting her whole house to Canterlot,” pointing at something to her left.         Eyes widened in utter confusion, Twilight warily tore her gaze from her friend's, and looked up to where Applejack was pointing. In the distance, she saw a distinctive tree, dotted with various windows and balconies, and a wooden door at the base of the trunk. A telescope stuck out of the open window near the top of the tree, looking up and away. She was unmistakably looking at the library that she called home.         Snorting with contempt, Rainbow Dash glared at her. “You think you're SO special, don't you, just because you can teleport your house around like it's nopony's business.”         Twilight's heart froze.         “The nerve that some ponies have,” added Rarity. “Just because they can produce a few fancy tricks they automatically think they're better than the rest of us.”         The purple pony slowly turned back to face her friends, fearful of what she was to find. Etched upon their faces, the scowls that the five ponies adorned had deepened into angry glares, each filled not only with scorn, but unmistakable hatred.                  Droplets of tears forming on her eyes, Twilight stammered,“Girls, I...that's not what-”         “Save it, Twilight. We don't need to hear it,” interrupted Pinkie Pie, throwing a hoof up to silence her.         Tears now streaming down her face, Twilight fell back onto her haunches. The other ponies crowded around her, their hatred for her so immense she could almost feel it.         “Please...just let me explain...” began the crying pony feebly.         “We told you once, we won't tell you again, shut up Twilight!” barked Fluttershy, giving the unicorn her darkest glare.         Twilight cowered underneath the ponies, and ducked her head down, throwing her hooves over her head. Though she hid her face, she could feel the fiery glares burn her back. Softly, she cried “No...no...this can't be happening...” as her hot tears fell to the ground.         “No...no....NO!” yelled Twilight. Suddenly, as if a warm, humid cloud had descended upon her, Twilight found herself unable to breathe. Grabbing her neck, she gasped for air as the world around her blurred. She tossed and turned, feeling the world around her seep into darkness, when suddenly the ground gave way beneath her. Twilight tumbled down, only to land on a lumpy object that produced a loud “OUCH!” upon contact.         Twilight's eyes shot open. They were met with complete darkness, save for a small lopsided circle of light about three noses from her face. Wriggling her hoof free from underneath her, Twilight poked it through the opening, widening it so that her head could pop through. She gulped in breaths of cool air until her heaving chest slowed. The purple unicorn's bloodshot eyes adjusted to the newfound light, and she took note of her surroundings. She was on the ledge of her room, where her bed was located. To her right, she saw a staircase leading down towards the lower level of the room. She peered down over the edge to find, much to her bewilderment, sheets and pillows that formed the impression of makeshift beds. The sheets were ruffled and unkempt, one of which was littered with bits of candy, chocolate, and cupcake wrappers. To her left was her sun-splayed bed, missing its own coverings. Abruptly, she felt the lumps beneath her move. Having completely forgotten about landing on something, she looked down, only for her face to met with a fuzzy rainbow. She pushed the tail aside and saw Rainbow Dash squirming underneath her.         Groaning, the blue pegasus grumbled, “Well, there are definitely nicer ways to be woken up.”         Grinning sheepishly, the unicorn untangled herself from her covers, which allowed Dash to spring up, throwing them off in the process.         The pegasus strained her neck and twisted her head from side to side, a sharp crack emanating from it each twist. She extended her wings to their full length, flapping them a few times. The small gust produced by them blew away any grogginess Twilight had left.         “Well, it's nice to see you're finally up, sleepyhead,” said Rainbow Dash, folding her wings back and patting her ruffled mane down with no effect. Stopping mid-pat, she jerked her head up at Twilight, struck by a sudden realization. “Twilight! You're awake!” She took off from where she stood, racing down the stairs to the lower landing. She threw open the door near the bottom of the stairs. “Hey everypony, Twilight's awake!” yelled the blue pony, which was met with a rushed scurrying and scuffling from the floor below.         Rainbow stepped aside as her friends raced through the doorway, eager to see their awakened friend. “Twilight!” they exclaimed in unison. Pinkie Pie, caught at the back of the little cluster, began to grumble and push her head between the door frame and Applejack.         Slightly taken aback by her friends' affection, Twilight could only muster a simple “Hi,” before she was tackled to the ground by an overzealous pink form.         “Oh my gosh Twilight we were so worried about you when you didn't wake up for days and days and days and just slept and didn't eat or anything!” Pinkie Pie paused only to inhale a sharp gasp, accompanied by a terrified look on her face. “I just realized you haven't had a cupcake in days! You need a cupcake right now! I'll go get some from Sug-”         Suddenly, Pinkie yelped as she was yanked back by the scruff of her neck. An apple was promptly shoved in her mouth by a bright-orange coated earth pony. Applejack looked at the pink pony disapprovingly. “Pinkie Pie! What did Ah tell ya about jumpin' on Twilight like that?” Pinkie shook her hooves at Applejack, flailing them back and forth. She tried to speak, though this resulted only in her spraying the orange pony with apple bits. The orange earth pony raised her hoof to wipe the chunks off of her face. Giving Pinkie a sidelong glance of annoyance, Applejack turned her attention to Twilight. “You ahlright there sugarcube?” she asked.         The earth pony extended a hoof towards Twilight, which she gratefully accepted. Applejack pulled her up onto all four hooves. “Yeah, I'm fine, just a little surprised to see you all so excited that I woke up from a nap,” she replied with a faint smile, brushing herself off.         Her friends exchanged worried glances. “It was...a bit more than what you would call a nap dear,” explained Rarity with a delicate cough.         Twilight's ears twitched. “What do you mean? How long was I asleep for?”         Fluttershy averted her eyes, pawing at the ground nervously. “Three days,” she murmured almost inaudibly.         “What?! I've been asleep for three days?” exclaimed Twilight.         The yellow pegasus seemed to shrink in size, partially hiding herself behind Rarity. She managed to get out a whispered reply. “Y-yes. After you collapsed that night, we all stayed here. When you didn't wake up the next day, we got worried, and decided to stay for a few days, at least until you woke up. But at least you're awake now.”         “Yeah, after that rough dream too,” mentioned Rainbow Dash.         Twilight's cheeks reddened. “How'd you know?” She felt her heart beat faster as she remembered: You think you're SO special! She shook her head slightly, and looked again to see Rainbow Dash grinning at her, chucking a hoof under Twilight's chin.         “Well, either you have a really funny way of getting out of bed, or you had a nightmare,” replied the pegasus with a friendly smirk.         “Well, what matters is that I'm okay now, right?” Twilight reassured them.         Her friends nodded in agreement, each smiling with relief that their friend had returned to them.        “Oh that reminds me! I've got to go pick something up from downtown!” burst out Spike. “I'll see you guys later!” Without another word, Spike tore himself away from the group, rushing down the stairs. The six ponies heard the front door open, and slam shut abruptly afterward. They exchanged looks of bewilderment, unsure of why the purple dragon suddenly excused himself.         “Come on now, ya haven't eaten in days!” proclaimed Applejack. “Let's go rustle up some breakfast for ya.”         Food coming to thought for the first time, Twilight found herself to be startlingly hungry. Despite her ensuing protests that they had done more than enough for her already, her friends insisted on making a huge breakfast. * * *         Their bellies bulging and their plates cleansed of food, the six friends sat around the table, smiling contently. Twilight struck up the conversation once more, prodding them as to whether or not she had received a letter from either of the Princesses yet. Much to her discontent, there had been no letter. “You know, I wonder how the actual lessons will proceed,” Rarity thought aloud. “Ah don't suppose Twilight would go to Canterlot and just practice spells an whatnot?” suggested Applejack. “Or maybe she'd get sent out on an awesome adventure!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, throwing her hooves on to the table, scenes of titanic battles playing out before her glowing eyes.         Twilight giggled. “As long as there are plenty of books for me to read!”         As the six of them traded ideas that grew more and more fantastic, the front door of the library burst open, revealing a small purple-and-green scaled dragon, hidden behind a mound of bundles of scrolls, along with inkwells and quills. “Spike. You're back!” called out Twilight. “Hey Twilight! How are you-woah!” blurted Spike, tripping over himself. The scholarly supplies scattered everywhere. “Spike!” she yelled, running up to him. “Are you alright?”         He grumbled over his clumsiness, pushing himself back up onto his feet. “Yeah, I'm okay. How are you doing?” “Great! The girls and I just finished a big breakfast. We still have some hay left over if you wanted some.” she said, glancing over at the mess around him. “What's all this for?”         Spike scuffed his foot on the ground and glanced down, clasping his claws behind his back. “Well, I thought that you might insist on preparing yourself before your actual lessons with the Princesses began, so I went into town today to pick up some extra quills and scrolls for you to use.” Twilight's eyes brightened at the prospect of pre-studying. “What a fantastic idea, Spike! Let's not waste any more time and get right to it! Here, let me get those for you.”         Twilight summoned forth energy from within her, and brought it to the surface of her consciousness. She channeled it through her horn, which began to glow a familiar vibrant pink. Glancing down at the various objects strewn around Spike, she released the magic, intending to levitate all of them around her.         The scrolls and ink wells were bathed in the pink hue, and were slowly lifted off the ground. Suddenly, as if the items had been possessed by demons, they raced towards Twilight uncontrolled. She managed to duck her head down just in time for the sharp points of the quills to whizz above her harmlessly. The objects raced around the room, thudding and banging in a dreadful din. Rarity shrieked, diving under the table, followed by the other four ponies and Spike. Twilight struggled to stem the flow of her magic, but her attempts failed. “Twilight! Stop doing that!” yelled Applejack over the racket. “I'm trying! I can't control it!” the unicorn shouted back.         The objects spun around the room, crashing into cookware, books, and furniture. Twilight helplessly kept her head ducked under her hooves, watching as the objects spun dangerously overhead. “I think I can catch them and bring them down!” bellowed Rainbow Dash, jumping onto the table, preparing to pounce. “Rainbow, no! Don't do it!” screamed Twilight. But she couldn't stop the blue pegasus, who leaped into the air in front of the mass of objects, intending to intercept them. Before she could do anything, the objects came at her, pummeling her with an unexpected force. She was hurled against the wall of the library, where she slumped to the floor, dazed.         Twilight acted quickly. She jumped up, and with a small gasp, grabbed a hold of her magic. Just as the objects looped around the room once more, she directed them at the window across the room, towards which they sped. The objects crashed through the window, sending a cascade of sparkling glass to the ground below. With a great effort, Twilight forced her flow of magic to cease, causing the items outside to succumb to the pull of gravity, landing on the ground with a clatter.         The unicorn moved towards her window cautiously, and poked her head out to take a look at the damage. On the ground, scrolls drenched in ink of varying shades were mixed with quills, whose tips were broken, the feathers bent and crumpled. Underneath, shards of glass of various shapes and sizes glittered threateningly in the late morning sun. In the distance stood Rose, Daisy and Lily, staring at Twilight, their mouths agape. “Sorry about that!” called out the purple pony. “Small accident in here!” She ducked her head back inside before they could pester her with any questions.         Twilight took a step back and swiveled around to survey the damage caused by the objects. She guessed that the stopper on one of the inkwells had come loose, for there was a large blot of black ink on her wall. Books and plates were scattered around the room. A pitcher of apple juice had been knocked over, its contents spilling off of the table onto the floor. The other ponies were crawling out from underneath, save Fluttershy, whose tail, peeking out from below the table, was shaking violently with fright. “What the hay was that all about Twilight?” demanded Applejack, pulling Fluttershy out from beneath the table. “That was a close one!” “I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean for that to happen,” she replied. “I let out more magic than I had intended to, and lost control of it.”         Fixing her mane, Rarity chimed in, “Well I suppose that is what those lessons are going to be for, right? To better control your magic.” “Yeah, that's what I hope to learn from the Princesses,” affirmed Twilight. Shaken by the ordeal, she shuddered, as if a cold blast of wind had blown through the room. She glanced back out the window. “I suppose somepony is going to have to clean that up. Let me just get the dust pan and-” “NO!” her friends shouted in unison. Twilight jumped, startled by her friend's reactions.         “Uh, maybe it would be better for Rarity to clean up the mess outside,” prompted Rainbow Dash. “You know, so that we don't have another disaster like this,” pointing to the walls. Suddenly, she let an an involuntary gasp, and clenched her foreleg to her side, wincing in pain. “Rainbow! Are you alright?” cried out Rarity. “Yeah, it's nothing... just a small scrape after I got knocked down,” she replied, edging her shoulder away from the view of the others.         Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock. “Rainbow, your shoulder!” [b “I said it was nothing Fluttershy! I'm fine!” barked the blue pegasus. She tried leaning against the wall, hoping to hide her shoulder from the prying eyes of her friends. Determined, Fluttershy pulled Rainbow Dash away from the wall and turned her around to face the other ponies. The five ponies and Spike drew sharp breaths.         Embedded in the pegasus' shoulder was a ruffled quill, broken at the stem. A small droplet of blood had formed at the point which the quill stuck out. Rainbow held her foreleg up to avoid putting pressure on it. “Why would you try to hide something like this? This is serious!” beseeched Twilight. “I didn't want to worry you guys about this,” retorted the pegasus. “It's really no big deal. See? I'm fine,” she tried to put her hoof down, which cause a trickle of blood to seep from the wound. She yanked her foreleg back up, her face contorted in pain, eyes squeezed shut. “We have to get that quill out!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I said I'm fi-” “No, Rainbow Dash! We need to get this out of you now,” commanded Fluttershy. “The quill could have severed a muscle, or the wound could get infected.”         Not about to defy Fluttershy when she became authoritative, the blue pegasus relented, and let Fluttershy examine the wound. “Okay, I need somepony to bring me some bandages, and I need bowl of water with some clean rags,” ordered Fluttershy. When nopony moved, she added, “Come on now, go get them, please!”         Twilight bolted upstairs, while Spike ran over to the sink, picking up a clean bowl and filling it with water. Grabbing some clean towels from a cupboard, Spike brought over the requested items to Fluttershy, while Twilight galloped back down the stairs with fresh bandages in her mouth.         Fluttershy took one towel, and rolled it up. “Okay Rainbow, just lie down on your side. Here, bite down on this,” offering up the rolled up towel. She examined the wound closely. “The quill seems to be in pretty deep. This will hurt a teeny bit, but it will only be for a quick second.”         The blue pegasus clamped down on the towel between her teeth, nodding at Fluttershy to indicate she was ready. Fluttershy grabbed the quill with her month, and pulled slowly. A faint groan emanated from Rainbow Dash, muffled by the towel in her mouth. Her eyes were screwed tight, the pain on her face palpable. Finally, the yellow pegasus removed the whole writing implement, and spit the bloodied bits out on to the ground. She took the towel and soaked it in the bowl of water, then pressed it against Rainbow's shoulder. “Applejack, can you unwrap the bandages for me?” asked Fluttershy.         Without a word, Applejack took up the bandages, unfurling them and unwrapping them. She handed them to the yellow pony, who lifted the wet towel off of Dash's shoulder. Once the blood ceased escaping the blue pegasus' body, Fluttershy eyed the wound intently, before wrapping the bandages around the wounded shoulder tightly. Satisfied that she wrapped the bandage around enough, she bit off the rest, tying off the portion on Dash's shoulder.         Fluttershy sat back with a sigh of relief. “Well, I don't think the wound was too severe. It didn’t seem to tear a muscle. Just be sure to put on new bandages every day for the next few days.”         Rainbow Dash spit the towel out of her mouth. She stood up, leaning her weight on her stronger hoof. She tried to put injured hoof down, but winced with a sharp jolt of pain. “I guess I get to stay off my hooves for a bit, heh,” said Rainbow Dash, spreading her wings and flapping them, lifting herself up about a foot from the ground. “Thanks Fluttershy.” “No problem. Feel free to come visit my house if you feel it gets any worse, and I can take a look at it again,” she replied. “At least it wasn't any worse,” commented Applejack. “Ah mean, it could have been more than one quill that hit you!”         Twilight's cheeks reddened. She looked down, her ears drooping. “I'm sorry again, everypony. I guess I just don't know how powerful I am.”         “I...it's not a problem, darling,” stammered Rarity. “Everypony makes mistakes!”         The white unicorn looked about the room. “Now, let’s see about cleaning this place up,” she remarked slowly. “Spike dear, would you mind grabbing the bucket and mop?”         The seven friends worked tirelessly; picking up scrolls, re-shelving books, and scrubbing the walls and floor of ink and bits of breakfast. Dropping a load of plates into the sink, Twilight turned to survey their work. "That's that!" she breathed, wiping her brow. "Yeah, an' we worked off that big breakfast tah boot!" added Applejack with a tired smile.         The five ponies left to meet Rarity outside, where they stopped to say their goodbyes. “Thanks again, everypony. For everything,” she said, nodding toward each of them with a quivering smile. “You girls are the best friends a pony could ask for.” Tears began to well in her eyes. “Awh c’mon now sugarcube, don’t go gettin’ all sad! T’ain't nothin'! Remember, if ya need anything, don't hesitate to ask!” smiled Applejack warmly, giving Twilight a goodbye hug.         As they parted, Twilight watched Rainbow Dash as she flew away through the sky, holding her injured foreleg close to her side. The unicorn felt a pang of shame in the pit of her stomach as she watched her friend go.         She turned back and entered her house, closing the door behind her. She looked at the broken window regretfully. Just then, Spike came bouncing down the stairs, looking excited. “Twilight, look what I just got!” he exclaimed. He held forth a rolled up scroll, tied with a red ribbon, and a wax seal. The seal was the letter C emblazoned on a sun. “It's a letter from Princess Celestia!”