Chapter 26
Applejack just finished a discussion with two other officers, in which they came to an agreement as to their course of action.
“Chow time, everypony gather round!” Pinkie Pie called out.
“What do you mean, we’re each carrying our own rations,” Applejack objected as she followed the sound—and the lights. She stared at the incongruous scene behind her smiling comrade with disbelief. “What the…”
“Oh, I gathered stuff from everyone, but I didn’t want to bother you. I’m throwing a party!”
“Now?!” the major protested. “How does that make sense?”
“Well, I was so happy to have my friends back, I couldn’t help myself!” Private Pinkie bubbled. “We’ll have to eat before we go anyway. And the troops could use a morale boost.”
“Well that’s true, but I’m not sure it would work,” Applejack expressed, and gave a critical eye to the bright party pavilion that had somehow appeared. Tarps had been strung up between trees and glow sticks were suspended on strings. A disco ball hung in the middle of the enclosure and radiated little beams of the light that struck it. What could be putting off that ridiculous light? Fumblemore was a unicorn, but his lack of talent prevented him from qualifying as a combat magician; he had joined as regular infantry. Now he sat with his horn pulsing brightly in many colors. He was wearing a vacuous smile as if entranced with his own display. “Private, this is dangerous. We’re kinda hiding!” Applejack reacted with disbelief.
“Oh, that’s what Big Mac said, that’s why we put the tarps up. I’ve got two pegasi who say it doesn’t really stick out from the air,” the party planner reported proudly.
“Hm, well, if Big Mac is satisfied,” Applejack conceded. Pinkie nodded to somepony behind her.
The red stallion gave a reserved “Eeyup.”
They went in together and found Applejack’s famous friends eating… something. Pinkie Pie served out a moist, soft substance she didn’t recognize. “What in Equestria is this?”
“Cake!” Pinkie claimed. “I made it from MREs and some stuff, Sugarcube Corner style.”
The major took a cautious bite. “Hm. It’s the strangest cake I’ve ever tasted, but it still beats the usual grub.”
As confused but hungry soldiers gathered to the site, Fluttershy put a wing over Dusk and cooed, “It’s alright. I know all these ponies are probably making you nervous, but it’s okay.” The wild pegasus was transferring her own flighty feelings, and using her caretaker instincts to calm herself down, treating the odd little pony like one of her critters.
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity stared and their jaws dropped. Celestia remained quiet and did not protest the ridiculous treatment. She had endured almost as much from Derpy, and Fluttershy could be even sweeter.
“I’m here, so you don’t have to be afraid of anything,” she continued. “Here, you should have some cake.” Dusk accepted it with a timid smile. Fluttershy looked up at the shocked Solars and scolded, “Don’t stare, you’ll scare her.” Celestia winked.
Rarity’s face twitched. Dash looked to Twilight, who said, “I… uhm…” as she had no professional response for this situation.
“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked. “NOTHING!” the three of them blurted, which earned them a suspicious squint.
“Dinner and a show, that’s what’s going on!” Pinkie Pie announced, pulling a record player out of somewhere.
“Where did that come from? How is that ‘emergency supplies’?!” the major griped.
Pinkie took the cord and looped it over Fumblemore’s horn. He had to exert himself to power it and continue the technicolor flashes, but now that his magic was on display he was committed. She set Vinyl Scratch spinning, as she headed for the middle of the party, everyone automatically cleared a space for her.
Her hooves moved like she was the living embodiment of the music as she began to dance. Just how high that tune went, how fast it beat, and how crazy it spun was just what she was there to be. And it went dirty.
“Wait, Pinkie!” Applejack called out helplessly. “Aw no,” she facehoofed.
“Well I think it’s cute,” Rarity chuckled at first. “Oh!” She put her hoof to her mouth.
“Private Pie, don’t do that with that tree, you don’t even know what that means!” the major shouted more insistently, so the Pinkie show moved on without skipping a beat. “Dadgum it, that’s not any better,” Applejack winced. She turned to the rest of her friends, and with a look of exhaustion, apologized, “She doesn’t mean nothin’ by it, she just saw it somewhere and thought it was cool. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep her grounded by myself? This is what happens when y’all leave.”
Fluttershy didn’t know what was going on. Her only complaint was that it was too loud.
Applejack and Rarity surveyed the onlookers. Some of the Rough Riders had moved away or turned the brims of their hats to the unseemly spectacle, but most of the soldiers took it in greedily. The major lamented, “The principles… the discipline…”
Then they saw a similar sly smile on Dash’s face. Rarity was taken aback, and gave a look of dismay that Applejack took to mean, “Even I have standards.”
“You are NOT thinking what it looks like you’re thinking!” Applejack challenged, defensive of her naïve pink comrade.
“Actually I was thinking if you let me loose I could take this up a notch—and bail you out before you shoot that record player,” Dash bargained.
“You think you can top Pinkie? You’d lose a dance war,” the major warned. Dash kept up a smug confidence. “I guess I’ve gotta see this,” Applejack decided, and started to untie the pegasus.
Captain Dash shook off the ropes and boasted, “A Solar Scout doesn’t lose.”
The freed captive was met with distrust from the other soldiers, who made as though they would drop their cake to take out their weapons and keep vigilant guard. Applejack rolled her eyes and ordered, “At ease, I’ll handle it,” pulling out her revolver.
The colorful pegasus stretched her wings a few times to restore circulation and sauntered over to the turntable. She gave it a calculated kick that shifted the speed of the record. The new sound fit less with the sexy city swing and called for a more athletic routine which would favor the stunt flyer. She started to take in the movement of the music. Once she got the beat, she headed for her exuberant friend.
Dash took off and gave a flip, and everyone did a double-take to make sure they were seeing what they thought they were seeing. She was dancing upside down, using the top of the makeshift pavilion as a floor. She joined Pinkie in busting a sick groove, matching the party pony step for step. Together they made a bizarre, mirrored duet that amplified the rhythm like a music video.
Twilight had been deep in thought, but the spectacle caught her attention and made her smile.
The Pinkie Pie didn’t worry for a moment that she had been upstaged—anything that took the party higher only added to her excitement. She raved harder, leaving Dash struggling to keep up. Going vertical looked like so much fun, and gravity could only hold her back so long. Rainbow freestyled her own jig while Pinkie Pie folded out a small trampoline. Then they were both airborne, as the energetic earth pony lobbed herself up around Dash repeatedly. Despite the new dynamic, they both kept rhythm. Dash lost her cool expression to a huge grin. They “danced” around each other for a while before learning to dance with each other in an unprecedented new style. Dash moved in a smooth, continuous electro-waltz with a partner who only existed beside her half the time, and in a new orientation at each bounce.
Everyone was entranced by the freak phenomenon. Twilight burst out laughing at her friends’ theatrical antics.
As the song built up into a crescendo, Pinkie Pie launched herself on top of the disco ball. Before she reached it, Dash was flying towards the bottom of the shimmering orb to meet her. They struck a pose mirroring each other for one mind-blowing moment, and then the cord holding them up snapped. They crashed to the ground in front of Applejack and shattered the disco ball to pieces.
As the music ran out, Pinkie Pie laughed, “That has got to be more than 20% cooler!”
Dash, still pinned under her, agreed, “So—*hurk*—awesome!” They gave each other a weak hoof-pound.
Applejack chuckled. Then she sighed, and remarked, “Well, that went just about like the real war.”
Pinkie Pie cleared the stars from her head. Then she bounced up and announced, “Time for presents!” Everypony stared at her.
The major cuffed Dash’s wings again and remarked, “Ya know, Pinks, there ain’t a present you could give these troops that they’d want right now.”
Pinkie Pie cocked her eyebrow and shot Applejack a look that said, “Challenge Accepted,” before her expression reverted to its usual plain smile. “Guess who found the mail that came in hours before the battle!” she exclaimed as she produced a sack of correspondence.
The soldiers took real interest and crowded around her for the chance to receive precious word from their family and friends. Of course, there were only a few letters addressed to those who happened to be there, but each one was a treasure. Some received them with excitement, others with tears. Some read aloud with their combat buddies.
The bringer of tidings finally came around to Applejack and hoofed her an irregular scrap of paper with a few words scrawled on it.
“Woof woof, lick. Winona,” Applejack read doubtfully.
“Yeah, okay, I wrote that one, I just felt bad I didn’t have anything for you,” Pinkie admitted lamely.
A worried expression came over Applejack’s face and she suddenly seemed ill. “I’d do anything to hear from the folks. I don’t even know if they’re alive. I think I saw fire comin’ up from Ponyville, and what I heard ain’t good. By Harmony, they better be alright.”
“I heard everyone was evacuated,” Dusk informed.
AJ’s countenance brightened, but she guarded her feelings somewhat to examine the strange pony she had almost forgotten. “Oh yeah?”
For her own amusement, Dusk added, “Yeah, and do you know who helped everypony out? Trixie Trotter.”
The major drew a blank for a good minute. “Oh yeah?!” She shook her head with wonder. “I’ll be… That’s enough to confuse a girl from pen to pasture.” She squinted knowingly at the odd pegasus and said, “And she’s a Solar spy to boot. She was with you, after all. Damn, everything’s backwards.” Speaking of which, she turned to her Best Frenemy Forever, Captain Rainbow Dash. “Hey you.”
Pinkie Pie watched them with hushed expectation as her brilliant master plan was coming to fruition.
“As long as we’re here I guess we’re supposed to be catchin’ up and bondin’,” Applejack conceded, “but I won’t do it like a pussy.” Though it was an invitation, she took a grim demeanor. “You know we’ve changed, and I know where the real stuff is. We’ve gone through shit, so much it’s fubar, so if we’re really supposed to be friends, we’re gonna bring it out. What’s your worst op? What messed you up?”
Dash was silent a moment. Still resenting the wing restraints, she was reluctant to give in any further.
Applejack knew she would not back down from any kind of competition. “Tell ya what, I’ll go first, but you better not give me something weak.” Imperceptible to the others, Dash agreed.
“I haven’t told this to anyone, though I think Big Mac figured it out.” She had a pretense for bringing it up, but she was actually glad to get it off her chest.
Rarity listened with concern. Despite her real feelings, she could not help but project an air of confirmed suspicion, as though she were wise for avoiding the conflict.
Applejack began her narrative. “I knew a colt, a good colt, somebody I respected… but he lost somebody and started to go downhill. We were infiltrating through the White Tail Woods, moving cautiously. We knew the enemy was out there somewhere, but we were days in without contact. We all took shifts scouting ahead while the main group laid low, and moved when it was clear. We both got sent to clear different areas. I saw nothin’ till I came back—and found him sitting just a little ways from the others doing some kind of drug he’d picked up from another company. I pick him up, wipe him off, and start giving him a piece of my mind, but I laid off when the lieutenant trotted up. He said there was a hunter-killer team to the north so we needed to move fast, and asked if the valley was clear. ‘Yes sir,’ that wasted colt told him. I meant to deal with the fella in private, and things were urgent, and—“ Applejack looked down. “I guess I didn’t say anything. We all rushed into that valley right on top of a platoon of Solars. They were just as surprised, and we routed ‘em, but their backup tore us up good and chased us till nightfall. Afterwards I asked him in front of the lieutenant, ‘Did you check that valley?’ and I looked him straight in the eye as he said ‘yes’. That’s where I learned what a lie looks like—that nasty mix of fear and audacity. I guess I’m to blame, damnit, how could I not stand up for the truth?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy offered, but it seemed painfully empty coming from someone who hadn’t been in the war. Celestia cowered away from the tales of woe that she had caused.
“That’s pretty fubar,” Captain Dash validated. “Geez, my worst op?” She winced and grimaced. She weighed her options to see if there was something she could tell that would be both sufficiently screwed up and winsome to Lunar ears. “I could tell you about a mission that went sideways, but that’s not it.”
She took a breath and began ruefully. “Cloudsdale. Nothing makes you feel like shit like shooting up your hometown. Reclaiming… liberating… that’s what we called it. But more pegasi than we thought had gone over, and we pegasi were always warriors—what we had to do to take the city…” she explained, shaking her head.
“I couldn’t believe it. There wasn’t much left when we were done. I was proud of that place more than Canterlot, but if I ever see another red cloud… To be a part of something like that, to break your own race and kill your own dreams… You know I’d always wanted to perform with the Wonderbolts in the big stadium. When I flew through the ruins, Zeze applauded and laughed. I didn’t let on, but I just fucking died inside.”
“Yeah, that’s fubar alright,” Applejack agreed, respecting her old enemy’s regrets. “Pinkie Pie knows what we’re talking about. She got through the first war pretty clean—sorta—but she joined the club yesterday.”
Pinkie Pie had listened in sympathetic silence. “What’s fubar?” she asked innocently. Applejack gave a sour, restrained expression.
Rainbow Dash gladly spelled out the meaning of the acronym. “Fucked Up Beyond All Repair. Or Recognition, I’ve heard both.” She was afraid to ask, but did anyway, “What’s your story.”
Pinkie Pie bit her lip and looked away. Applejack steadied her friend with a hoof. “I know you don’t wanna talk about it, but it helps. I can say it for ya.”
“I wasn’t with her some of the time, but she had her first real combat in the trenches yesterday. She probably came down especially hard after it got her up so high,” the major said, shying away from “it” with a measure of regret for having brought up the topic.
Captain Dash whispered, “Sonic Rainboom.”
“Yeah, that. Put her back in that innocent, joyful place, ya know. Like we all were when we got our cutie marks. And then it was killin’ time.” Dash hung her head and stretched her wing back slightly as if she would cover up her personal emblem.
Applejack recovered, “I ain’t hatin’, except maybe on the war. I guess that’s part of all our fubar stories. None of us thought we’d end up using our special talents that way.”
“Anyway, it didn’t help Pinks that she’s friends with everypony. One of our own, someone she knew, attacked us. His mind was all screwed up with dark magic shit.” Applejack couldn’t help but cut her eyes at Doctor Sparkle, but she looked away before Twilight saw. “Almost killed her, but Big Mac dropped him. You’ll never hear my brother cryin’ about it,” she diverged, turning to him. The stallion had been right there, but had been almost invisible from his sheer silence. She locked eyes with him for a moment in a sympathetic gaze. “I know you’re gonna carry that weight.”
Pinkie Pie stood sobbing softly with tightly closed eyes. “I’m sorry I’m part of your fubar story,” Dash apologized solemnly.
On behalf of all of them, Applejack reasoned, “It’s alright. I mean, it’s all messed up shit. But we’re not that different. We never wanted to let each other down and fight each other, but that’s how it happened. If you think about it, we soldiers aren’t fighting each other as much as the war. I reckon we’re all survivors, but none of us get away without losing a part of ourselves.” Pinkie Pie looked up at Rainbow Dash and nodded.
Twilight finally approached the group, and confessed, “Pinkie Pie was right earlier. It’s also my fault, but that’s my fubar story too.”
Before she could say what she meant, Applejack shot back, “You don’t know the pain we’re talkin’ about. It’s a soldier thing.”
Twilight was taken aback. She was about to share her private death, hoping for some kind of solace, but all the acceptance seemed to have run out just as she arrived. She took a backward step and a gasping breath as something more than insecurity began to surface. “I held it down until now, why can’t I hold—this can’t happen,” she muttered under her breath.
Dusk pushed out from under Fluttershy’s wing and warned, “Wait, don’t—“
Captain Dash joined in with annoyance, “Yeah, you’ve never seen the front lines, just stayed walled off from everything behind your books.”
Twilight was trembling and stammering, “I’m—no!” Then she snapped.
“I don’t know pain?! I’LL TEACH YOU PAIN!” she yelled in a deep, unnatural voice. Her eyes filled with bright, polluted energy and as she sprang forward, black lightning snaked out towards her friends. Streams of cold ether whipped about as the hostile magic spread from Twilight through the whole company. It coursed into them with an icy tearing sensation and afflicted their hearts. All cried out with agony as the shadow that gripped them rallied every evil within them to torture their minds. They were all transfixed and helpless for what seemed an eternity, though it was not long.
Then the dark magic dropped them to the ground and returned, still hungry, to Doctor Sparkle. She screamed and convulsed as the shadow sprites bit through her and wormed around her skin. Fighting half-frozen joints, she staggered out of the tent, gritting her teeth, growling, and screaming again.
A terrified, enraged soldier picked up a gun and chased her out. With sheer desperation to stop the act, Rainbow Dash broke free of the influence first and jumped to intervene. The soldier gnashed his teeth and aimed his weapon, but Dash dropped into his sights. “Don’t shoot!” Dash barked. “Are you going to kill me?!” The gun shook in the other warrior’s hooves. “Are you going to kill me?!” Dash repeated, exasperated.
The selfless act stunned the mad colt. He blinked and coughed as the effect of the possession waned. He dropped his gun and began to vomit on the ground.
Twilight fled to the edge of the camp, where she collapsed as the evil constricted around her.
The other friends joined Rainbow Dash outside. “What did she do? Where’d she go?” Applejack asked.
Dash pointed and urgently informed, “I don’t know, but it’s hurting her too. She doesn’t look good.”
“Damnit, she’s the one who knows magic! What are we supposed to do?” Applejack said with anxious frustration.
“Celestia only knows,” Dash replied automatically. Dash and Rarity exchanged a glance and ran back in to pick Dusk up to her hooves.
“What do we do? You have to know!” Celestia’s protector demanded.
The troubled soul had more to endure from the attack, but this was not her first time and she recovered herself to give answer. “It’s dark magic; there isn’t a spell to counter it, only Harmony.”
The two assisted her out to the others and towards Twilight as Dash inquired further, “How does that help? The Elements are back in Canterlot!”
“No, it’s you,” Dusk claimed. “‘Friendship is magic.’ You’re all linked, remember?” She quickly analyzed the facts. “It’s something that’s been inhabiting her. I think the only thing that kept it from appearing earlier was your loyalty. When that slipped, even for a moment, she was vulnerable. Now she needs all five of you together.”
The six of them approached the spot where the magician had fallen. She flailed about, writhing on the ground in uncontrollable spasms and hyperventilating. As they approached, she gave a threatening, unpony yowl—then screamed in pain again. They gathered around her, but at a safe distance.
“Do your thing—quickly,” Dusk urged.
“I don’t know what to do, I’ve been tellin’ nothin’ but the truth all night,” Applejack puzzled.
“How could I be any more loyal?” Dash asked, and called out, “Come on, Twilight, I believe in you!”
“That’s good, I think you covered it when you defended her,” Dusk reasoned.
Pinkie Pie tried a weak, “Ha…” but couldn’t really laugh at this terrible time. “But I have to, for Twilight!” she thought. In denial of the situation, she twisted her face until it formed her familiar Pinkie-grin and she dug deep for a hearty guffaw.
“No, wait, don’t laugh at her now!” Celestia scolded. “I don’t think that’s how it works. I know you made her laugh earlier, hopefully it’s a residual effect.”
Pinkamena lapsed into helpless uncertainty.
Rarity observed aloud, “It felt so cold—she must be cold.” She hastily inspected a nearby tent and returned with a blanket. She levitated it over the suffering unicorn and dropped it onto her gently, *giving* it to her. Twilight’s thrashing quickly pushed the blanket off of her; it would have provided little warmth to one cold from the inside anyway. “I feel so weak,” Rarity lamented.
Fluttershy told herself, “Um, kindness. Kindness.” She approached Doctor Sparkle to find some way of showing the compassion that was already welling up inside her. The body before her, however, was turning a darker color than Twilight beneath its abusive covering of shadows. The thing lunged at her, swiping a hoof at her and stretching its neck to snap its long black teeth at her. Fluttershy dodged backwards and flew behind Rainbow Dash, and it collapsed again.
“We can’t get any closer without honesty,” Dash alerted.
“But—I—“ Applejack stammered.
Celestia could only barely grasp what was required, but she did know—she had a dim understanding of Harmony from the time she had spent fighting it. “Applejack, the truth doesn’t always have to hurt,” she claimed. “How do you really feel about her? And Pinkie—I don’t think crying with your friend who’s hurting is a bad thing; it’s not the opposite of laughter.”
Pinkamena finally gave herself permission to bawl and weep.
Applejack stepped forward and said loudly, “Alright, listen here, Twilight. I, uh… I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was wrong. The war’s hurt you just as much as the rest of us, maybe more. I know you probably blame yourself, like I do, and of course you’re responsible for what you’ve done. I just don’t want you to punish yourself for it, not because that wouldn’t be fair, but ‘cause…” Applejack paused a moment and realized the truth she hadn’t admitted, “’Cause I care about you, Twilight. I got real angry. I tried not to miss you, not to care about you, but I still do.”
Celestia’s eyes widened, and she took a step back. “That’s good, you all keep it up,” she encouraged weakly. With their focus on Twilight, the old, twisted alicorn snuck away slowly. Then she turned and retreated headlong into the woods.
The Twilight thing pawed sideways at the ground, pushing itself back from the threat. Fluttershy approached gingerly from the side, and it growled menacingly. The shy one stopped but stood her ground. “Oh, Twilight, I’m your friend. We love you, remember?” she pleaded in her sweet and soothing voice.
Rarity came right in front of the tormented magician to look her in her terrifying eyes. “I don’t have any things to give you that will help you,” she admitted. “Perhaps I can give you a reprieve,” she suggested, taking a resolute stance. “If you can, send it back into me so I can hold the hurt for a little while.”
The thing grinned savagely and jumped off at her. It would make her regret the offer. It impacted Rarity, flipping her backwards and sideways to dash her head against the ground. With her mental defenses down, she was vulnerable to its equally damaging spiritual attacks.
Twilight gasped and stared stunned at her friend’s sacrifice. In an instant Fluttershy was pressed against her, nuzzling her neck and spreading a wing over her.
The thing burst out of Rarity with a scream. It was appalled to discover that it was wrong about the mortal, and understood that something quite impossible was happening. It filled Twilight again and growled at Fluttershy. The supposedly fearful pony still embraced the dangerous being, softly insisting, “We forgive you for those things you did. I’m your friend, and you can’t make me not love you.” The thing was too weak to strike back.
Rarity lifted herself partially off the ground and she raised her bruised head with the same resolution as before. It could not make her regret her choice. “Do you need to do it again?” she offered through the pain.
Twilight was gaining control, and she remembered instinctively what she must do. Only the smallest spark of her magic would be needed. She could feel the thing’s cold grip all over her, but it stopped moving—frozen in fear!
Thoughts came to her. If she did this, she would completely cut herself off from dark magic. The magical knowledge and prowess that she had acquired over two years of demanding research would be lost. Currently she was powerful, so powerful she could take out an entire company of soldiers despite the inhibitor on her horn. Now that it faced a lethal threat for trying to take over, she could perhaps turn it to her will more easily.
She didn’t know whether the thoughts were hers, but it didn’t matter. This was never the kind of magician she had wanted to be. She didn’t want power like this that hurt her and her friends. She would be much weaker on her own, but not with her friends. Why would she preserve this awful thing when Harmony was right there? She closed her eyes.
A tremendous screech sounded and black lightning burst out of her, disintegrating in flashes of light. The invisible shockwave blasted the cold away from the camp, and warmth rose up from the ground. Twilight opened her eyes, which glowed pure and radiant. She returned Fluttershy’s affections for a moment and then stood up. She was overflowing with a power that was not her own, a good power. She looked at Rarity. The white unicorn’s face healed and the splitting ache in her head went away. More importantly, everything that was wrong inside was healed, and in every way that the darkness had violated her she felt complete and loved.
The NLR fighters had gathered to the site, and had been held back by Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Now Harmony burst out of Twilight in all directions, filling all nearby with peace and wholesome strength. All of the ill effects of the earlier attack were reversed and surpassed. “Hee hee, that tickles!” Pinkie Pie piped, and rolled about laughing.
Too soon the presence passed, and Twilight was her normal self again—her normal self from years ago, before she had given herself over to the night horrors. Her friends all hugged her and they broke down laughing and crying.
At last extricating herself from her friends, Twilight found Celestia at the edge of the camp where she was hiding. “What are you doing back here?” she asked.
Celestia stared at the ground and reminded, “I can’t take being around the Elements.” Even as she spoke she leaned away from her old student as if her presence was uncomfortable. “They were the only thing that could dispel the dark magic, but it feels like I would die if I got too close.”
Twilight kept her distance, but with a gentle magic touch signaled her helper to look up at her. They locked eyes for a moment and Twilight said, “Thank you.”
What did Celestia expect her to say? But gratitude seemed inappropriate. “Don’t thank me,” the ash one insisted. “I did this to you in the first place.”
Twilight’s temper rose as she remembered the years of manipulation and horrible “research”. “Fuck you,” she conceded.
“That’s more like it,” thought the duskling. That was reality: FUBAR.
The unicorn’s anger passed quickly. It fled from the feeling inside her; it was the warmth of her healing by the Elements. She reconsidered, and decided that she would not let Celestia make this choice for her. “No, actually, thank you,” Twilight said finally.
Celestia shook her head. Twilight turned and walked away, leaving her with that same sentiment, now more disconcerting for being so deliberate.
“Why did she have to do that?” she complained to no one. It shouldn’t have been troubling, but there was something about it. “She ought to hate me,” Celestia said, realizing what it was that bothered her. She did not deserve anyone’s thanks. Everyone should be trying to help her raise the sun, but no one should care about her. Looking back, she had received some of the actions of Derpy and Trixie with a vain sense of entitlement. Each time, they had worn her down to accept their kindness as such. (It was still kindness from Trixie, even though it was rough around the edges.) However, when they parted, she had tried to pay them back. Now that she had given up her internal charade and recognized herself as Celestia, she couldn’t stop thinking how they should have despised her. Their undeserving graces were wonderful but unnerved her somehow. Whatever it was, she hadn’t felt it for a couple thousand years.
The company had been on the move since the battle, and a few hours’ rest was deemed appropriate before they attempted to rejoin the main group. An extra tent was pitched for the newcomers—or did the occupants give it up for them?
Dusk had not paid enough attention to know, but she entered it and curled up on the blanket that had been provided. Thankfully the forest blocked the wind, but the night was still cold. The world was getting colder. Worries would be her bedfellows again, it seemed. Her health might not hold out. Could she see the doctor without giving away her identity? She couldn’t let any Lunar army ponies see her horn; she knew what they wanted to do to the Empress. If she wasn’t lynched by then, she would have to face Luna. And it was all an attempt to follow a picture she had seen in a psychotic book.
Something slid across her skin unexpectedly. She looked up as Fluttershy finished drawing another blanket over her. More unprovoked kindness. Celestia considered pushing the blanket back off of herself, but a glance in the yellow pony’s eyes stopped her. No pony could resist Fluttershy’s smile. All she could do was smile back.
Fluttershy moved on and bedded down nearby. Now that she was cozy, Celestia could only puzzle over that new feeling as she drifted to sleep.