K I N D N E S S
There were only two ponies left whom she knew well enough to help her. She didn't trust either. She needed to get out of town as quickly as possible, head up to Canterlot and reverse this if it was even possible.
She travelled down the empty, dark streets of Ponyville, not a single soul out that night. She didn't know if they were simply just in due to the rain, or in due to other more nefarious reasons. She didn't care to find out.
But first she had to do something about her horn. It was useless as it looked, and she now realised what a boon it was just to simply have magic. It would be about this time when she would decide to launch a research paper into how Earth ponies get by without, but really, now simply wasn't the right situation.
With no means of defence, heading to Zecora's was out of the question. She needed to find someone who knew the cure.
And there was only one doctor in Ponyville.
Twilight skidded to a stop in front of the gate that opened into the Chicken patch that bordered Fluttershy's house. Behind her was the Everfree Forest, groaning and quaking, beckoning all to enter and be consumed.
She had a hard time deciding which one would be the worst of two evils.
But...
It was Fluttershy.
How could she possibly...
Twilight steeled herself, and pushed the gate open with her rump. It squeaked. Rusty.
The lights inside Fluttershy's cottage flickered.
She was in.
Twilight trod up to the door, and she couldn't even keep her hoof steady and she banged on the knocker, once... twice... three times.
A nervous voice came from behind the door after a tense few seconds.
"Who... who is it?"
"It's Twilight," she said weakly. "Can I please come in?"
The door burst open suddenly, and Twilight felt herself being yanked in, out of the rain, into a warm, fire-lit cabin room.
"Oh, oh oh, Twilight!" meeped Fluttershy. "Oh I was so... so worried! I couldn't... even think!"
She flustered around the room, knocking over knick-knacks and bottles as she gathered bandages, salves and other sorts of various items without even thinking about it.
Twilight never managed to catch a look at herself in a mirror, but by Fluttershy's reaction, she must have been through hell and back. She certainly felt like it.
But it was a breath of relief that Fluttershy actually seemed to be acting normal, as far as normal went for a pony of her timid nature.
The medicatives were strewn across the floor in front of Twilight, who started to dry herself off in front of the fire. She lay, face on her side, sprawled out on the wooden floor of the cottage, just thinking of everything that she had gone through so far.
And even now, she still cried weakly through bloodshot, pain-stricken eyes. She hadn't the strength to muster up a good strong tearful bawling, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. It wasn't just sadness that caused it, but a lot of everything else as well. She thought about the corruption that took place in the hearts of her best friends, and started to wonder if they were like that all long or some evil force had changed reality as she knew it.
But at this point, did it even matter anymore?
Applejack was... oh... Applejack... how could this have happened... Rainbow Dash, with her carefree and fun loving nature, now a sick dredge of society, Rarity and that thing... and now...
Fluttershy hummed to herself, and smiled as she cleaned Twilight off, and dabbed her chin with a little bit of medicine, putting a little sticky bandage over it to finish. The bandage had yellow smiley faces on it. It was very apt.
Twilight just said nothing. It was fine. She had enough of talking for the time being, and it was just good to be able to breathe regularly.
Fluttershy finished off by dabbing at the edges of Twilight's eyes with cotton balls.
"Phew, all done!" said Fluttershy, keeping her things away and setting items back up where they had fallen. "You must take care of yourself better, Twilight."
"Oh, you have no idea what I've just been through, Fluttershy."
"I'm... sorry." Fluttershy mumbled, looking down as if she had somehow failed Twilight. "I... wish I was there for you."
A chill ran down Twilight's spine at those words.
"Everyone can use a friend in times of trouble!" she continued.
Oh, thank goodness. Just... a little overreaction there. But you couldn't blame her, could you? No, now's not really the time to take anything for granted.
"So... what happened?" Fluttershy came by with a bottle of fresh carrot juice for her friend, which she took with grace, and settled down next to the fire alongside Twilight. "And your horn! Oh, did that nasty old Poison Joke get you again?"
"Yeah... long, horrible story, Fluttershy."
"Well don't you worry! Because you're safe with me now. I triple bolted all the windows, and the door is really sturdy!"
"Errhh... I don't think that's really necessary, Fluttershy..."
"Oh, no worries, you can open it at any time," Fluttershy assured. "It's not like I'm trying to trap you in here or anything."
Phew.
"So... I just want to... well... this is going to sound pret-ty weird, but... are you feeling alright, Fluttershy?" Twilight took the path of caution, as she weakly asked.
"Me?" gasped Fluttershy. "Of... of course... is... do I look wrong? Is there something on my face...?" she shot up, looking worried as ever.
"No! No! Not at all. Settle down, Fluttershy," It was Twilight's turn to reassure. "Just... checking, that's all. See... things have been... really terrible since two days ago.
"I feel just awful," she understated, surprised at her own clarity despite all that occured. "It all started back when I made that announcement to everypony."
"The one where you said you were in love with Princess Celestia?"
"... yeah..."
If only taking words back were that simple.
And the words to come were not going to be any easier.
-- <3 --
By the time Twilight had finished accounting all the details from start to end, from her night in Applejack's barn until the time they ended up there in Fluttershy's house, Fluttershy was just as destroyed as Twilight was.
She openly cried over Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash; her face looked so distraught, with quaking jaw and twitching eyes, that even Twilight felt guilty for telling the entire story to her.
"S... so... e...ever...y... pon....y.... is...." she barely made it through the sentence, quivering in her horseshoes.
She sputtered, coughing out flecks of spittle, and squeezed her eyes shut tight.
"W... why... Twilight... why..."
"I don't know," Twilight said. It was the truth. She didn't know. "I just don't know wh..."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" belted out Fluttershy.
"... wha?"
"Those stories... they were so... so good," heaved Fluttershy, through short tight breaths.
Oh... Oh colt.
Twilight stood up in an instant. She was exhausted. What now? What could it be now?
"Twilight..." Fluttershy giggled, through her tears and coughing. "That was wonderful. I especially loved it how you described Applejack."
"Please... please don't hurt me," meeped Twilight, moving backwards.
"Hurt you? Why... why Twilight, I could never..." Fluttershy looked down at her front hooves again, scratching them back and forth over the puddle of tears that she left.
"Look, Fluttershy, I hate to have to run, but I really just need something from you, ok?" Twilight quickly took initiative. She had to get it, and get it now. "Do you still have that cure for Poison Joke that Zecora left us?"
"Oh, yes," Fluttershy nodded.
Oh thank goodness.
"But... I... I want you to do something for me first..." the timid yellow Pegasus continued.
Oh holy hells.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy said softly, drawing up, dragging her heels behind her in a seductive, bashful way. "I would never hurt you... but... I... I want you to hurt me..."
"No... that's insane... no... you're not right, Fluttershy. Something's happened and you're not acting normal," Twilight tried to reason.
"Oh no, I've... I've always been this way!" Fluttershy insisted.
Something inside Twilight's head clicked.
Living on the edge of the Everfree Forest.
Always taking care of Rarity's late cat.
How she's such a good doctor.
Angel Bunny.
Oh.
My.
"Twilight, just... hit me. Just hit me right here," Fluttershy closed her eyes and nervously tilted her head back and away, exposing her right cheek to the stunned pony standing in front of her.
"No!" Twilight shouted.
"Please, Twilight! Please!" the meek yellow pony begged, wings tipping. "It has to be you... I love you so much, I made my choice... back then... I wanted to end it with the one I love..."
"I thought you said you didn't love me!" Twilight complained.
"I never said thaaaat," Fluttershy smiled, bashfully. "You just asked me if I was feeling alright, and... well... I am!"
"Oh no. No no no." Twlight backed up a little more.
"Please?" asked Fluttershy.
"No! It's sick!"
"Pretty please?"
"No!"
"With sugar?"
"No!"
"With a black eye?"
"NO!"
Fluttershy clicked her tongue, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Alright," a snide tone had taken over her voice. "I guess it can't be helped."
"Listen, Fluttershy, I just really, really need that Poison Joke cure..."
Twilight couldn't even finish what she wanted to say. A strange sensation took over her as her muscles contracted in her right foreleg, and without thinking, her arm flailed out and slapped Fluttershy right across the face.
"Oh my gosh, Fluttershy!" Twilight yelled, looking at her leg in staunch disbelief. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me!"
Fluttershy's head had been snapped back with the force of the impact, although it was only a slight hit. She remained in that position for a while, the point of attack starting to blossom in red already. She brought her own hoof up to her cheek, gently prodding it and wincing from the pain.
"Ah... yeah..." she turned her head back, slowly, deliberately, and faced Twilight again, eye to eye. "See? That... wasn't so hard, was it?"
And again. That feeling. That strange odd feeling of irresistible beckoning shot through Twilight's head. The second time it happened, she managed to grasp a bit more of what it meant. The first time had taken her by surprise, but this time she caught a small glimpse of a flash of some kind... the image of herself... as if looking at the scene through a telescopic lens; of herself punching Fluttershy in the lower chest.
Twilight Sparkle blinked.
She slowly withdrew her hoof from the keeled-over form of Fluttershy, who was groaning in pain, punctuated with sporadic coughing.
The dizziness was returning to Twilight's head. Split images of things in her vision once again overlapped each other as things started to fade in and out of reality. She stared at her hoof. She stared at the floor. She stared at Fluttershy as small flecks of blood started to dot the sides of her mouth, staining her pretty yellow skin.
"Fluttershy..." Twilight whispered, shaking her head ever so slightly. "I didn't mean to..."
"Un...ng...hh..." was the only reply. Slow groaning; a futile argument against the discomfort that she so desperately wanted, and received.
The third time, and Twilight caught it all.
It happened as if falling through treacle. It was laboured, and slow, and exhaustive, but no amount of struggle could remove the thick, dense shroud she was in.
Fluttershy turned her head to look up at Twilight.
And stared.
Her eyes, so full of love, kindness and peace. Those eyes, slanted at the sides to make her look as if she was feeling guilty about everything. Those eyes that only saw the good in everything around her and brought out the best in everyone.
Those eyes that bore deep into Twilight's mind. Those eyes that screwed further and further into Twilight's brain with a drill. Those eyes that drank Twilight in, and sucked her into a place where there was nothing else but those eyes.
And again, Twilight felt that floaty feeling of separation. She pushed off the floor, where everything was a monotone of grey, and she was the only one conscious of the surroundings.
She watched as she, herself, walked in half time to stand over Fluttershy where she lay on the floor.
And she watched, as she raised her leg high... high in to the air, above the face of the whimpering, bloody pony.
And she watched as the whimpering, bloody pony gave the biggest smile she had ever seen.
It felt now like she was being pushed down a long corridor. Stars and twinkles of light zipped past at ludicrous speed as she flew back into the recesses of her own consciousness.
And as the colour returned, she knew she had committed what Fluttershy commanded her to do with that horrible stare.
She didn't want to look down. She knew what would happen if she did. Twilight just shut her eyes, as hard as she could, and lifted her leg off the mass of wet, bulging flesh that twitched and pulsated under her hoof.
The only thing that let her know that Fluttershy was still alive was the scant giggling that haunted the cabin, and heavy breathing that sounded like it was being done through a plastic straw.
She stepped backward, eyes still closed, with her head unequivocally focused on one single thought. Just keep your eyes shut, and get out.
Get out.
She backed up, step by step, slowly, shuffling so as not to trip, and tried to use her memory to reach the front door.
"Twiliiiighhhtt... where aree..... you.... going....?" a voice gurgled, "I'm... still... here..."
It was dark through shut eyes. Twilight had no sense of her surroundings, and as hard as she tried, she could not help but use the pathetic sounds of Fluttershy as a point of reference to where she should be headed. All there was in her head were those sounds of breathing. Those small wet giggles. At one point, those groans of pain intermixed with the sighs of pleasure, and Twilight couldn't tell which was which any longer.
But still she crept backward, in the darkness of her own head.
One thing that she knew for sure was that, at the very least, Fluttershy was in no position to chase after her.
It was a few more steps, and she felt the door behind her. Quickly, she turned, opened her eyes only just for this last point - which was to yank the door open - and throw herself outside.
She ran. Again. Running from everything and everypony. Running from her life, and for her life. And she did not stop. Through the wind and the rain, she did not stop. She had given up. She should have had a long time ago.
She didn't even want to consider any other avenues.
She went back to the library.
"Spike! Spike!" She screamed, bursting through the door.
The library was silent. No Spike was there to greet her with a friendly hug and a 'hey, Twilight!' The books felt cold and chilly. Remote and grotesque. Even to her.
All the candles were out, and on the floor next to the small stepladder lay Spike's duster.
Twilight bit her lip nervously in the same groove that she caused by biting it so many times before. Ok. Nothing to worry about.
Nothing at all.