White flower petals littered the dirt path, scattered and blown aside by a rush of air as Applebloom zoomed over them.
The filly picked up a tremendous burst of speed as she reached the steep hill heading down to the schoolhouse. She could feel gravity threatening to pull her down and send her head over heels down the hill, but she did not dare slow down. The wind fought her progress, blowing directly in her face and forcing her to squint, but she only exerted herself more, cutting through the air like a scythe as she made it to the edge of town.
She dodged around the other ponies on the road, not having the breath to mutter apologies as she brushed and bumped into some of them. The hospital was all the way on the other side of Ponyville, but the town was small, and it did not take long for the hospital to come into view. The sight of her destination forced her flagging limbs onto one last effort. She galloped for all she was worth, charging toward the front entrance. The automatic door of the hospital slid open, and the filly darted through, screeching to a halt on the hard tile floor of the waiting room. Applebloom gasped out, her lungs begging for oxygen, "Help! Nurse! Help!"
One of the nurses, a mare named Nurse Redheart, darted up to the front desk. Her heart quickened at the sight of the filly sprawled out on the floor, her mouth open and panting out an incoherent mess of words between breaths. She left the front office out the side door, darting over to Applebloom.
"What is it? What's the matter? Are you hurt?" Nurse Redheart rolled Applebloom over, placing a hoof under her head like a pillow. Applebloom shook her head violently from side to side.
"No! No, my friend… she's coming… r-r-rattlesnake bit her…" she managed to say. "She's comin' here… rattlesnake bit her leg…"
Upon hearing the word "rattlesnake" uttered from the girl's mouth, Nurse Redheart felt her throat run dry. Had she really heard correctly?
"You said your friend was bitten by… a rattlesnake?"
"Yes!" Applebloom removed all of the nurse's doubts. "Mah sister's coming. She's… she's bringing her here…"
The filly rolled herself out of Redheart's grasp, standing up on her shaking legs and coughing into her foreleg. The nurse felt a twinge of cold fear run down her spine. She had never dealt with something like this before, but as an educated pony, she knew what rattlesnake venom was capable of…
"You just stay right here, okay?" She told Applebloom, cantering away toward the back of the hospital. "Nurse Coldheart!"
Another mare's voice sounded from the back. "What is it, Redheart?"
"Do we still have that shipment of antivenom from Appleoosa? The one we got the end of last summer?"
The rest of their conversation became incoherent as she moved further away. It was only a minute before she and all the rest of the hospital staff returned with a stretcher. Applebloom lifted her head to see Nurse Redheart standing beside her.
"We're going to help your friend, don't you worry." She ruffled the filly's mane with her hoof. "We have it all together. Everything's going to be fine."
…
The veins on Applejack's neck bulged, her legs pounding the ground like four pistons. Sweat poured down her entire body, the droplets falling down her face and stinging her eyes, but she kept them open, not bothering to stop for even a second and wipe her brow.
Scootaloo felt almost weightless as they careened down the hill, her body feeling like it was going to lift off the wagon and fly out into space. She gritted her teeth together, tensing her hold on Sweetie Belle and shutting her eyes tight, preventing a scream of terror from escaping her throat. Sweetie's body was limp, but her chest shuddered with every one of her attempts to get a breath of air, fighting the overwhelming urge to just shut her eyes.
"Can't breathe!" She croaked, her voice barely audible over the roar of the wagon. Scootaloo wanted to do something, anything to help her, but she felt powerless. All she could do was try to comfort Sweetie as best as she could until they made it to the hospital.
"It's okay, it'll be okay, Sweetie Belle! Just keep trying! You're gonna make it, okay?" Scootaloo leaned forward, shouting words of encouragement in her ear. "Don't give up! You're gonna make it!"
But Sweetie Belle didn't seem to hear her. Her eyelids flickered open and closed, and then drooped shut. Scootaloo stared at her, waiting for her eyes to open again.
They stayed closed. Scootaloo remembered what Applejack said, and lightly slapped at Sweetie Belle's cheek and gave her a little shake.
"Come on, Sweetie Belle, stay awake, okay? Stay awake…" She stopped, looking intently at Sweetie Belle's eyes. They fluttered open for a moment, only to close again. She shook the unicorn filly more roughly.
No response. Scootaloo's heart skipped a beat.
"Sweetie Belle? Come on, you can't sleep, you gotta stay awake!" She shuffled her hind legs out from under Sweetie, rolling her onto her back. She offered no response other than the slight flutter of her eyelashes.
"Wake up, Sweetie!" She slapped at both cheeks, but Sweetie's head rolled limply from side to side, showing no signs of consciousness. Panic gripped her like a vice, and in a last ditch effort, Scootaloo raised her hoof up high, all the way behind her head.
"Wake. UP!" She brought her hoof down, smacking Sweetie Belle hard on the cheek. The unicorn filly's eyes flew open, and a strangled sob escaped from her throat. Scootaloo was so relieved she began to cry.
"Sweetie! Oh, thank Celestia! Sweetie! Listen to me!" Scootaloo pressed both hooves on her friend's cheeks and leaned in until she could feel Sweetie's hot, ragged gasps on her face. "You gotta stay with me, you gotta! You hear me?"
Sweetie Belle was staring back up at Scootaloo, but her gaze was distant, as if she was looking through her and up at the sky. Scootaloo nuzzled the other filly's cheek, wiping her tears on Sweetie's own face in the process.
"Can you hear me?" She tilted Sweetie Belle's head up, off of the floor of the wagon. "Say yes if you can hear me! Say yes!"
Sweetie Belle wheezed, the rattlesnake venom attacking her diaphragm. She sucked in air as deep as she could go, head shaking back and forth with the effort to get a deep breath, and coughed out, "Yes!"
That was all Scootaloo needed to hear. She embraced Sweetie Belle's head in both forelegs, overjoyed that her friend could still hear her. "Okay, listen to me, okay? You can't fall asleep, no matter what, you can't fall asleep, okay? Don't quit! Promise me you won't quit!" She pleaded.
"Promise… Promise!" Sweetie Belle choked, feebly using her good foreleg to return the hug, holding onto Scootaloo for dear life. The other leg lied off to the side, the necrosis worsening to the point where the muscle tissue was visible underneath.
Suddenly, Applejack dug her hooves into the ground. Scootaloo yelled out in surprise as the inertia sent the two fillies sliding toward the front of the wagon.
"We're here!" Applejack's voice called back. She was huffing and puffing, and her mane stuck to her neck from sweat and grime. Scootaloo looked up, and sure enough, they were stopped right in front of the hospital. She got off of Sweetie Belle, nudging her excitedly with her hoof.
"Sweetie Belle, we're here!"
…
The roar of the wagon could be heard inside the waiting room. Applebloom turned around, and shouted with anxious excitement and pointed her hoof, "They're coming! I see 'em comin' down the road!"
The other nurses all ran to the front of the room, peering out the window. Nurse Redheart saw the wagon fast approaching, pulled by a single mare at the front. She immediately went into action.
"Hurry, get the stretcher!" She urged the other three. They scrambled to do her bidding, nearly tripping over one another in the process, and wheeled the stretcher out the front door. Applejack pulled out of the harness, turning around and leaping into the wagon bed. Scootaloo was still standing over Sweetie Belle, tapping her friend's face with a hoof to keep her awake. Applejack stooped down and slid her hooves under Sweetie's back, lifting her off the wood.
"Help her…on my back, Scoot!" ordered Applejack, breathless. Scootaloo obeyed and got underneath Sweetie Belle with her head, pushing up on her body until she was lying limp over the apple farmer's back. Once Sweetie Belle was secure, Applejack leaped out of the wagon, landing on all fours and bending her legs at the knees to try and soften the impact. The landing still jarred Sweetie Belle's body, but she could only groan weakly in response.
The nurses were not far away. Applejack trotted over to them with Sweetie in tow and Scootaloo following closely behind.
"Don't give up!" Scootaloo said to her. Sweetie Belle lifted her head up from Applejack's back, looking Scootaloo dead in the eye one last time.
"Promise!" she croaked before the nurses surrounded Applejack, blocking her from sight.
Nurse Redheart stopped Applejack mid-step. "We can take her from here! Doctor Scopes has got everything set up for her, thanks to this filly right here," she looked over to Applebloom, who was standing a few steps away, watching as the other nurses placed Sweetie Belle onto the stretcher. Applejack smiled.
"Good job, AB," she said weakly, reaching out and ruffling the filly's mane with her hoof. Applebloom's cheeks flushed red, but she had no desire to bask in her sister's praise, trying to see Sweetie Belle on the stretcher through the jumble of ponies around it, but her view was very limited as they wheeled her toward the front door. Nurse Redheart addressed Applejack once more.
"How long since she was bitten?" She asked, their whole group walking briskly alongside the stretcher. Applejack was about to reply when Scootaloo piped up from behind.
"An hour. About." She cantered up beside Applejack. Her face was somber and pale as she exchanged looks with the nurse. The nurse's pupils dilated widened for a brief moment, but only Scootaloo noticed.
"That's… she was bitten in the leg, yes?" She looked over to Sweetie Belle on the stretcher, taking notice of the damaged tissue on the filly's leg. "The front leg?" Her voice became apprehensive.
"Yes, ma'am." affirmed Applejack, coughing into her shoulder, her lungs starving for air. The nurse said nothing until they had all come through the entrance. A moan came from the stretcher, spurring them on to move even faster than before.
"The room is down there and to the left. Doctor Scopes is preparing to administer antivenom. We'll have to take it from here while you girls wait outside. We can't have anybody else in the way while we work." Nurse Redheart held up her hoof to stop them. "I'm sorry."
"But… but…" Scootaloo began, but Applejack took a firm hold of the two fillies before they could do anything foolish. She looked down at them, pressing them tightly against her sides.
"Ah know it's hard to leave her here, but you gotta do what the nice nurse says, okay? We can't get in the way," she said, the two girls staring back up at her with teary eyes. The squeaking of the stretcher wheels faded around the corner ahead. "Got it?"
They nodded, sniffling. Applejack smiled. "Good. Now both of you just go back and sit tight in the waiting room for now, okay? I gotta talk to the nurse for a minute."
"Okay," they said in unison. With one last forlorn look behind them, they sauntered away, walking side by side.
Applebloom walked up beside Scootaloo. The pegasus filly acknowledged her with a sideways glance.
"Is she doing alright?" Applebloom asked. Scootaloo bit her lip. She didn't want Applebloom to worry if she told her the truth…
"Yeah…" She lied. The word seemed so hollow, so meaningless. If anything, it told her that Sweetie Belle was far from okay.
"Is she… Ah mean, is her leg still all…"
"Did you see the nurse?" Scootaloo blurted out, cutting Applebloom off. The other filly shook her head.
"What do you mean?"
"She looked… scared. When I told her about Sweetie Belle. Her eyes got all big for a second," she said, taking a seat on one of the cushions in the waiting room. Applebloom took a seat next to her.
"I'm sure she was just… Scoot, you okay?" Applebloom asked. Scootaloo turned her head away, clenching her eyes shut. "Scoot? The nurse said everything was-"
"I lied."
Scootaloo stared at the floor, tears dripping down her chin and plopping onto the tiles. Applebloom raised her brow quizzically. "Lied? About what?"
"She's not okay. Her leg's worse than before, she couldn't breathe, she…She's not okay, Applebloom." She wiped her eyes, but new tears soon came in. "She fell asleep on the wagon, and I tried to wake her up, but… I shook her and shook her and yelled at her to wake up, but… I thought she was dead."
More tears hit the floor. Applebloom felt it was her duty to comfort her, but she had no idea what to say. Still, she made and effort to comfort the distraught pegasus with a hoof around her shoulders. Scootaloo didn't even seem to feel it. After a long pause, Applebloom spoke.
"She's here now, Scoot. The nurse said they were gonna take care of it. Sweetie Belle… The nurse said-"
"I don't care what the nurse said, damn it!" Scootaloo snapped her voice raising an octave. Applebloom recoiled in fright, taking her hoof off of her friend's shoulders like she had just touched a hot stovetop. "That's exactly what they told me when…"
Scootaloo trailed off, falling suddenly silent. Applebloom sat back a little bit, shocked by her friend's use of language. Finally, she gathered the courage to speak again.
"When…?" asked Applebloom, her voice low, wary of another sudden outburst from her friend.
"Nothing. Nevermind." Scootaloo's tone went back to normal. Her eyes were wet, but the tears had stopped flowing. She avoided eye contact with Applebloom, seemingly ashamed of her outburst. The farm filly wanted to give into her curiosity, to probe her friend for answers, but she thought better of it.
"Sorry, Scoot. Ah didn't mean to… sorry." She said, trying to make amends. Scootaloo shook her head, drying her eyes before turning her head to look at Applebloom.
"No. I'm sorry. For, you know, yelling at you and stuff. And cussing." She winced, looking away again. "Sorry."
"That's okay," said Applebloom. "But darn, if Applejack ever heard me say something like that…whoa nelly."
She laughed grimly. Scootaloo felt a smile creep up on her lips, but it did not take long to fade away.
It was a few minutes before they could hear the sound of hoofsteps coming down the hallway. Applejack came around the corner, and walked over to the two fillies.
"How's Sweetie Belle? Did the nurse say?" Scootaloo asked anxiously. Applejack took a seat beside them.
"They're just starting to give her antivenom. That should help her counteract all the bad stuff she's got flowing through her veins." She suppressed a shudder, a tingle traveling up her spine like a trail of ants creeping up her back. "How're you girls holdin' up?"
"Fine," they said in unison. Their faces said otherwise, however, the two of them sullen and downcast. Applejack sighed.
"Yeah, Ah know this ain't easy," she said, leaning in close. Her voice was gentle, almost a whisper, "But I just want to let you girls know you did great back there, and that I'm real proud of you." She nuzzled Applebloom affectionately. "Sweetie Belle's lucky she has friends like you."
Neither filly said anything, but judging from the smiles which flashed across their lips, Applejack could tell her compliment had been taken to heart. However, they were still far from consoled.
"So do they think she'll be fine? Do they?"Applebloom asked, Her question dripped with worry and anxiety. Applejack nodded, but it was hardly noticeable.
"The doctor's doing all he can. Sweetie Belle's in the best possible place right now. Ain't nothin' we can do anymore."
"So they didn't say?" Scootaloo asked, revealing her deep seeded doubts to the apple farmer. A bead of nervous sweat blended in with the rest of Applejack's glistening coat. She nodded, more emphatically this time.
"Nurse said she should be fine before too long. Don't worry your little heads. She'll be alright," she said. "Okay?"
Scootaloo stared back at the other mare with undisguised skepticism. Nonetheless, she replied in the affirmative.
"Okay."
"Okay. Good." Applejack exhaled with relief, glad that Scootaloo's eyes were no longer fixed on her. She got up from her seat, leaving the two fillies sitting there together. Applebloom watched her with a perplexed expression.
"What're you doing?"
"Do you guys know where Sweetie Belle lives? I gotta go tell her parents what happened." Applejack exhaled deeply, talking to herself, "Goodness gracious, how'm Ah gonna tell them? Oh nelly…"
"Her parents aren't here. They went on a trip to Fillydelphia for the weekend, so she's staying at Rarity's," said Scootaloo, very matter-of-factly. The apple farmer took note of what Scootaloo had said, and inhaled sharply.
"Rarity? Oh my gosh, I forgot." She made a motion toward the door. "Okay. Applebloom, I'm gonna need you two to stay put while I find Rarity, got it? And if the nurse comes in and asks you any questions, you answer them as best you can, understood?" She told her sister, inching away. Applebloom nodded obediently.
"Got it."
"Alright, good. Be back in a bit, okay?" She left through the automatic doors, trotting off to the Carousel Boutique. She wiped a hoof over her greasy forehead, breathing a sigh of relief.
Lying wasn't easy for the Element of Honesty.
…
Rain was scheduled for the evening. Pegasi were moving rainclouds into position, forming a dense cinereal canopy over Ponyville and stopping the warmth of the sun from fending away the chill of the early spring breeze. Once everything was in position, the all clear was given, and the first drop fell from the sky. It was soon followed by thousands more, soaking the town in a frigid rain.
It fell unhindered through the shattered window. A small puddle was already forming on the linoleum floor, and growing ever larger. As the wind blew, some of the rain fell through sideways, landing on the tattered remains of a dress which lay in a heap on the floor.
Rarity had not moved since Sweetie Belle had left. It felt as though lead weights had been shackled to her legs. Her head rested on the floor, face partially hidden by her unkempt mane, the cacophonic pitter patter of rain serving only to lull her deeper into a feverish sleep.
She was almost unconscious when, from the depths of her despair, she heard the jingle of a bell. Her eyes snapped open. It was coming from downstairs…
Somepony came into her shop. She immediately became alert; The Carousel Boutique was closed for the day, which meant…
"Sweetie Belle? Is that you?" She raised her head off of the floor, waiting for a reply with baited breath.
"Rarity! Where are you?"
The voice had a distinct country twang behind it, and immediately she recognized who it was.
"Applejack? Hold on, I'm coming!"
She got up from the floor and took a running step, but stopped before she could get very far, holding a hoof to her head. All the time she had spent lying down on the floor had made the blood rush to her head, and getting up so suddenly made the world around her spin like a top. Fortunately, the sensation passed quickly, and she regained her footing, running down the stairs…
And straight into Applejack. They both gave a yip of surprise as they collided, sending them tumbling over one another until they came to an abrupt halt, with Applejack lying over her crossways. She rolled out from underneath her, fumbling awkwardly until she was sitting on the floor.
"Applejack, what are you doing here?" The unicorn asked, raising her voice. Applejack looked up, seeing Rarity for the first time that day.
She was momentarily at a loss for words; Rarity looked like she hadn't bathed in a few days, her hair and tail having a sheen of grease and sweat that caused them to reflect the light. Heavy bags held her eyes in place, and traces of mascara which had trickled down her face were a stark indicator that she had been crying recently. Applejack would have asked her if she was alright, but there were more pressing matters she needed to address.
"Rarity, I got some real bad news…"
…
Flashes of lightning were punctuated by booms of thunder, becoming more frequent as the storm picked up strength. Any flower petals that hadn't already fallen were unceremoniously torn off their branches by the heavy rain, blown diagonally by the wind.
Twilight sat safely inside her treehouse, an open book lying in front of her on her desk. Using her magic, she scribbled away at a sheet of paper with her quill, her workplace illuminated by a small candle at the corner of the desk. Her position by the window made it difficult to focus, and occasionally her eyes would stray from her newest project to watch the lightning streaking across the sky, but being the studious mare she was, she wouldn't stay distracted for very long.
Today's subject of study was on the social structure of the old Canterlot nobility and its influence on the Unicorn Renaissance. She occasionally glanced back to her book for a reference, and resumed scribbling on her paper with the quill. When it ran dry, she dipped it back into the inkwell, and brought it back out. When she attempted to write with it again, her quill only made light scratch marks on the paper. Her eyes darted from the tip of her quill, which was still dry, and then over to her inkwell, which she only just realized had run dry as well. She groaned.
"Spike," Twilight called over her shoulder, "Do you know if we have any more ink?"
Her faithful dragon assistant was lying on the bed behind her, playing idly with a ball, bouncing it off the wall and catching it as it came back. After hearing her request, he caught the ball and set it down on the covers, meandering around the bed and over to the cabinets. "I dunno. Lemme check."
Twilight reread what she had already wrote as Spike searched the cabinets. He moved things to the side and stuck his head into the space.
"Great, I don't see any ink here." Spike's voice was muffled by the cabinet, but Twilight could still hear him plainly. She dropped her page onto the desk, groaning even louder than before.
"None? Ugh!" She slapped her forehead with her hoof. "Well, this is just great. Now I'm going to have to wait yet another day to finish. I knew we should've gotten extra…"
"Hey, it'll be fine," said Spike, closing the cabinet doors. He jumped back onto the bed and started playing with his ball again. "You've been working on that thing for two straight days now. I think it's time you got a break from everything. After all, it's not like you have any real deadlines any more ever since you became 'Princess Twilight' and all that." He bounced the ball off the wall.
Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out. She exhaled.
"Yeah, I guess you're probably right." She gingerly pushed the paper off to the side, closing her book entitled "The History of Canterlot: Second Edition" and set it on the floor beside the cushion that served as her seat. "I do need a break. We'll just have to get more ink tomorrow when all this rain goes away."
Spike pouted, throwing the ball extra hard at the wall. "Yeah. Stupid rain. I'm so bored right now. I was planning on doing something outside once all my chores were done, but no. Pegasi had to schedule another stupid storm." He sulked. Twilight smirked, raising her brow quizzically.
"Oh really? And what were you 'planning' on doing outside?"
Spike shrugged. "Dunno. Just, you know, maybe going for a run or something."
Twilight scoffed. "Run? Since when did you want to get in shape?"
Spike caught the ball, but didn't throw it back. Instead, he set the ball back down and got up from the bed, pointing to his belly.
"Since…" he lifted up on his bulging belly, "This." He let go, his belly bobbing up and down a few times before coming to rest. He stared at the floor. Twilight smiled, ruffling his head scales with her hoof.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Spike. A little pudge around the middle is normal for a dragon your age… I think." She cringed as soon as the last two words left her mouth. Spike sat down on edge of the bed, eyes not leaving the floor.
"Gee, thanks," he said. Twilight frowned. She would have been just fine if she'd kept her mouth shut, as usual, but instead, she just made everything worse. She had to make up for it somehow…
"Sorry, I didn't mean to say anything to make you feel bad." She took a seat beside him on the bed. She played his headscales like a fine-toothed comb "Why're you so interested in getting in shape all of a sudden?"
He shrugged. "Dunno."
"Come on, there's gotta be a reason!"
No answer. She thought for a minute, resting her chin on her hoof. Her mouth slowly widened into a grin.
"Does it have anything to do with-"
"Look, before you ask, the answer is no, okay? Sheesh," said Spike, standing up and walking over to the stairs. Twilight suppressed a giggle.
"Yeah, sorry. I couldn't help myself," she said mischievously. "And I really am sorry if I hurt your feelings a minute ago. Okay?"
"Yeah. yeah," he drawled, "It's no big deal. I know I'm fat," he said, smiling at her over his shoulder. Twilight cracked up.
"No you're not! You're just… you're not fat!"
"Yeah I am."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"I'm not."
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
He was already downstairs. She wasn't about to get into a bickering fest with her assistant, so she decided it would be best to let him have the last word. Twilight shook her head, chuckling.
"Oh, Spike. What am I going to do with you?" She went back to her desk, raising the quill with her magic when she remembered that it was dry. Her smile went away instantly.
"Oh yeah. Right." She set it back down, looking around the room for something else to do.
"Or maybe a better question would be… what am I going to do with all this free time?" She talked to herself, face-planting into the desk. She absolutely hated having long periods of unstructured time. She had planned on working all evening, but thanks to her failure to keep track of her supplies, that plan had gone by the wayside. "Darn it."
Without warning, an unusually loud boom of thunder shocked her from her bored stupor, rattling the treehouse. She yelped in surprise, taking her head off the desk and peering out the window, just in time to see a bright, gorgeous flash of lightning streak across the sky, jumping from one cloud to another. Another thunderclap followed.
It did not take long for the storm to captivate Twilight, and she gazed in awe at nature's mighty display of power. She had always liked watching storms, even as a little filly, although she counted her lucky stars there was a lightning rod installed at the top of her treehouse. Otherwise, she would be in a pretty bad place…
She detected a flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes peeled themselves away from the stormclouds, taking a closer look. A fuzzy outline of somepony could be seen out on the street, masked by the rain. No, there was not one, but two ponies out and about.
"Who would be out in this weather?" She wiped away some of the condensation on her window, pressing her face to the glass. "That's not very smart…"
As they got close enough to see more clearly, she could see both ponies were running at breakneck speed. The pony that was in the lead was white, and slightly trailing behind the other was an orange colored mare. But most strangely, her eyes centered in on the outline of a cowboy hat atop the orange pony's head.
"Applejack and Rarity? What in the…"
She pushed open the window and stuck her head out, drenching it in the rain. She hollered to get their attention, trying to make her voice louder than the roar of the storm. "Applejack! Rarity!"
But neither one heard her. As soon as she had seen them, they were gone, running toward the other side of town.
Twilight drew away from the window, contemplating. Both the Carousel Boutique and Sweet Apple Acres were in the other direction. If they were running for cover, they could have just come to her house; it's not like they'd never done it before. Whatever reason they had for running out in the middle of a storm like this, it probably wasn't good.
Spike had gotten to sorting out some books on one of the shelves when he heard Twilight's hooves clip-clopping down the stairs. He turned around, seeing Twilight making a beeline for the door.
"Wait, where are you going? It's still storming outside!"
"I'll be back in a little bit. Just stay put, Spike." She opened the door, turning her face away as wind whipped water onto her face.
"But…" he tried to protest, but Twilight cut him off.
"Stay here, okay?"
There was no time for Spike to retort. She slammed the door, leaving him there all alone.
Spike eyed the door. She had told him to stay there, but when he called to mind all of the other times she told him to do the same thing in the past and he hadn't listened, his not listening had ended up saving both of them. He made his decision.
It looked like he was going for a run after all.