//------------------------------//
// Short Circuit 
// Story: It's Like a Cake... 
// by SaliantSunbreeze 
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Scene 03: Short Circuit

There was a great pop and everything flooded back into focus.  Twilight’s body hit the ground with a dull thump, which was followed a moment later by several more somewhere nearby.  The world spun, around and around and around…  The light came back first.  The black and white outlines of the countryside seeping out onto the world around her as her vision began to return.  The colors swirled about, a dull buzzing scratching around the inside of her brain as the life bled slowly back into the countryside.  Ever so slowly, things began to settle.

It took a few moments, but eventually everything righted itself and she was able to slowly, if shakily, make her way to her hooves.  Slinking to the side of the road, Twilight was finally able to steady herself against a tree.  She turned her head slowly back towards where her friends lay, everything snapping into place when she terminated the motion.  It dropped a sickness down her gullet and she shut her eyes, calling out to the others weakly.  

“Is everypony okay?”

They all groaned in response, strewn about the road like the contents of an overturned apple-cart.  The next one to make it to her feet was Rainbow Dash, wobbling a bit as she staggered across the road.  Everything was humming, her eyes and ears aching horribly as she tried to gather her bearings.

“I think… I’m gonna hurl,” she gurgled before falling forward and burying her face into the grass on the side of the road.  Applejack was the next to her feet, creeping up into a standing position and methodically picking through the row of bushes that she had landed in to recover her hat and saddlebags. 

“Land sakes, Twilight!” the roughed up apple-farmer exclaimed, “That was ‘bout the third most puke inducin’ thing Ah’ve ever had t’go through.”

“WoooooOOOooo…” Pinkie Pie was sitting in place, slowly rolling her neck around in a circle as she attempted to keep track of all the little stars that she saw whirling around her head.  Falling onto her back with a thump, she broke out into a slurred fit of giggles, lying betwixt Fluttershy and Rarity who were both sprawled out in the middle of the road, their eyes cocked out of focus as the world continue to whirl all around them.

“Ah’priciate the gesture an’all,” the disheveled farm-girl said, exhaling with a huff as she approached Twilight.  She set a hoof on the magician’s shoulder, and faced her with a bleary gaze.  “But next time, sugarcube… Ah think ah’ll walk.”  And with that, Applejack strode on past Twilight and began down the road towards town.  The lavender pony gave a heavy sigh of extreme disappointment.  Everything seemed to go off without hitch, but she should have known that if normal teleportation was unpleasant, then attempting something so inherently difficult would end up being downright painful.

“Well… at least we landed on the road,” she murmured to herself.  Her strength was slowly returning, so with no desire to wait for Dash or Fluttershy to recover enough to fly, she began to climb to the top of a nearby ridge to see just how far they still had to go.  With any luck, maybe she had cut a couple of hours off their trip.  That is, if she hadn’t totally exhausted everyone else with her stunt.  

Stumbling through a row of low shrubbery, Twilight emerged into a little clearing at the highest point of the little mount overlooking the road back to Ponyville.  The sun was fairly bright and in the clear weather it wouldn’t be a problem to get a good view of the-

Twilight’s heart jumped a little and a great big smile swept across her face.

“Yes!  Yes yes yes yes!!”  She chanted, hopping up and down in place.  From the top of the ridge, shrouded ever so slightly by the morning haze was the outline of Ponyville!  They weren’t but a stone’s throw away!  Her spirits were lifted and after a small celebratory romp, she began to make her way down the ridge with confidence, back to the road and the remainder of her friends who were finally beginning to recover from their magically induced stupor.  

Sure, they hadn’t gotten all the way there, but they had come really close! With a little more practice and refinement, who knew what could be possible?  Nobody had gotten hurt, and they’d definitely shaved the lion’s share off of their travel time.  That was definitely a victory in her mind, even if the others didn’t quite appreciate it yet…