Chapter 4:
Twilight’s heart raced as she followed her nose to the source of the odor. It led her over to the kitchen where she was hit with Déjà-vu. The purple pony found herself face to face with fire once again. As she stood there in the doorway, a small crowd gathered behind her, many others having noticed the smell of smoke as well. From her vantage point Twilight could see that the source of the fire appeared to be the oven.
“Oh no, the cookies!” Pinkie Pie yelled from behind Twilight, obviously having come to the same conclusion as to the fire’s source. With all that had transpired after Pinkie had placed the cookies in the oven, both ponies had completely forgotten about them. Now the fire had spread out of the oven’s confines. The wooden cupboards above the oven had caught fire and the fire was growing larger with each passing second.
Twilight closed her eyes, thinking hard. After a second or two she opened them, a plan formulated in her mind. Using her organizational skills, she began to direct her friends.
“Applejack, start leading everypony outside in an orderly fashion,” Twilight said to the orange pony on her right. Applejack nodded and began directing the crowd outside. “Rainbow Dash, take Fluttershy and any other pegasus that are around and try to round up some storm clouds again.”
“You got it!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Come on Futtershy!” Dash moved toward the door, Fluttershy close behind her. Twilight turned to her remaining two friends.
“Rarity, take Pinkie Pie and gather up anything that could hold some water and start bringing them to the river. I’ll stay here to help Applejack make sure everypony gets outside. We’ll send anyone willing to help your way.” The unicorn nodded and started heading for the door as well, taking Pinkie Pie with her.
Thanks to Applejack, all the ponies that had been inside left the premises in a calm manner. Once they were all outside, Twilight stood on the top doorstep and looked out at all the ponies gathered outside.
“Everyone,” Twilight called out from her elevated position, “I would like anypony who is willing to help to listen to me. I need you all to form a line from here,” she indicated a position near the outside kitchen wall, “to the river. There Rarity and Pinkie Pie will start handing you containers of water. I want you to pass those down the line till they get to this end where we will toss the water on the fire. Anypony who isn’t part of the line should carry the empty containers back to the river to be refilled. Any questions? No? Good. Let’s get to it!” They all moved and started forming the line, everypony willing to help. It wasn’t long before water was being passed down the line.
“Where’s Apple Bloom!” Twilight heard somepony scream. It was Sweetie Bell. She and Scootaloo were searching desperately for their friend. Twilight ran over to the two fillies.
“Didn’t she come out with you?” Twilight asked. She had been pretty sure everypony had been evacuated.
“Yeah she did,” Scootaloo told Twilight, “but then she disappeared and we’re not sure where she went.”
“Well what happened right before you noticed she was gone?” Twilight asked frantically.
“I think it was right after we saw Dinky Doo crying about a doll she dropped,” piped in Sweetie Bell. “Oh no! You don’t think…” She seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Twilight.
“You girls stay here!” Twilight ordered of the two young ponies. “I’m going in after her.” Apple Bloom must have been determined to retrieve the doll from inside the bakery. Twilight reared and galloped off in the direction of the doorway. Twilight coughed as she entered the smoke filled room. In all the time it had taken to organize everypony outside, the fire had spread far through the building.
“Apple Bloom! Are you in here?” Twilight croaked. She turned her head as a noise came in response to her call. The sound had come from behind some flaming debris that had fallen down from the ceiling. Twilight ran over to investigate the source of the noise. “Apple Bloom, is that you?!” she called.
“Twilight I’m here,” Apple Bloom answered from behind the burning wreckage.
“Apple Bloom!” Twilight cried. “Hang on in there, I’m going to try and move some of this.” Looking at what was containing Apple Bloom, Twilight saw that one of the ceiling struts had fallen, and that was what had the filly trapped. “Ok, here we go. As soon as you can, I want you to run out from there and head out the door. Understand?”
The filly nodded. At this Twilight moved forward and began lifting the burning ceiling strut. She ignored the pain that she felt as her neck was burned by the fire as she continued to lift. Adrenaline surging through her body, Twilight strained all her muscles as she lifted the beam. Apple Bloom darted out from her fiery prison and headed for the door, a doll in her mouth. Twilight threw down the beam and turned for the door. She had done it, even though she didn’t have her magic. Twilight felt great despite the severe burn on her neck, she would worry about that later. She looked to the doorway were Apple Bloom wore a smile of relief on her face. Twilight smiled back and headed for the door.
Wham!
The air in Twilight’s lungs was knocked out as something heavy fell onto her back. Pain shot through the pony’s body, as stars filled her vision.
“Twilight!” Apple Bloom yelled from the door. Twilight tried to stand, but she was pinned to the ground but what she assumed was another ceiling strut. Now she was the one trapped. “I’m gonna run for help” Apple Bloom cried out.
Twilight was having a hard time breathing, the smoke was filling the room and her lungs were compressed by the weight on top of her. She had broken a couple ribs making every breath painful. Twilight closed her eyes taking it all in. She didn’t cry. In fact, at that moment she had never felt more peaceful. She thought about everything that she had done up to that point. She had no regrets. She had lived a great life, had enjoyed so many things; but none more so than the friendships she had shared in Ponyville. Twilight smiled to herself as, above her, the weakened ceiling gave out and collapsed completely.
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Twilight kept her eyes closed. She felt grass underneath her as she continued to lie on the ground. It was a comforting feeling, cool against her warm body. Taking in a breath, Twilight winced. If she was dead, why did her whole body ache with pain? Still keeping her eyes closed, Twilight listened to the sounds that reached her ears.
“No, not Twilight!” Twilight recognized the voice, it was Applejack. She sounded close to tears. Twilight opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was lying on the ground across the street from Sugarcube Corner. In front of her stood all the ponies that had been fighting the fire, they all stood still as they looked at the partially collapsed building. Nopony had noticed Twilight on the grass behind them. She saw Applejack standing at the front of the crowd with Apple Bloom, staring into the fire.
Twilight tried to call out to her friend, but she was breathless and just couldn’t get the words out. Yet, she had to let her friend know that, somehow, she was ok. Pain shot through the pony’s body as she stood up. She began limping toward the crowd of ponies. Twilight’s head was aching with pain, and she put a hoof to her head in an attempt to massage the pain away. Rubbing her head, something poked her hoof. Twilight heart skipped a beat. Her horn, it was back! Her miraculous escape now made sense; she must have gotten her magic back and teleported herself out of the building without even thinking about it. With newfound happiness flooding her entire body, Twilight managed to speak.
“Applejack, over here! I’m ok.” The orange pony turned her head. A look of disbelief spread over her tear streaked face. Applejack stood like that for a moment. Then she smiled in relief as she ran over to hug her friend.
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Twilight lay in one of the hospital’s soft beds. The fire had been the day before, and she was covered in bandages from all her burns, but those would heal. Rainbow Dash had returned with storm clouds to put out the rest of the fire. The fire had damaged the building pretty good, but it could still be salvaged. Twilight looked to her left at Spike, who sat in a chair next to her bed. Moments before he had read the full translation that had been interrupted earlier.
-For those who enter filled with greed, the tomb will remove what you most need. But if without it you learn to live, then back what you lost the tomb will give-
Spike had explained that Zecora had deciphered the meaning. Anypony who entered tomb would be cursed and loss their most precious attribute. But those who could learn to live without that piece of themselves, would have it returned to them. It was an ancient spell to protect against thieves. Anypony with a greedy heart would never be able to live without their most important characteristic. It was a way of teaching anypony who trespassed, a lesson.
It now all made sense to Twilight. Her magic had been taken away when she touched the idol, but she had proved herself worthy of having it returned to her when she saved Apple Bloom without her magic.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Over this past week I learned a very important lesson about friendship. I learned that even if you’re feeling down, your friends will always be there for you. I learned that even if I stop believing in myself, they will still always have faith in me. We each have our own special talents that we all hold dear, and we’re not jealous of each other’s talents, and as friends we remind each other that we are all still capable of so much more.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle