Something

by Silver Cloud


How Do You Feel?


*BOUNCE* *CLATTER* *BOUNCE* *CRASH*

"Uhh..." Scootaloo could hear a lot of noise coming from inside the shop, and began to wonder if this was really the best, no, safest pony to ask. However, after hesitating a moment, she tried to think of what Rainbow Dash would do, and stepped up to the front door and knocked twice.

From inside came the sounds of humming. "Hmhmhmhmhmmhmhmhmmhmmhmmhmmm add it to the mix!"

Scootaloo swallowed, but she steeled her nerves and knocked again, louder this time.

Without warning, the door flew open, knocking and ringing the little bell that hung over it, and Scootaloo was suddenly face to face (literally noses touching) with one of the scariest ponies in all of Ponyville: Pinkie Pie.

"Oh hi there you silly filly! You know you don't have to knock because this is a cake shop and you don't normally knock on shop doors or at least I don't I just walk in and start looking around the shop or talking to the owner which actually now that I think about it is kinda rude and I don't want to be a rudey mcrude pony so maybe I should knock on the doors..."

"Uhh... Pinkie Pie?"

"...but I said to her, 'This is my most favouritest door I've ever seen ever!' and it was the best door ever, except maybe for that one I saw at that party in Canterlot when I was like 'AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!' and that was a really great party because the cake was so amazing..."

"Pinkie Pie!" Scootaloo shouted in an effort to stem the endless tide of words crashing into her.

She suddenly noticed the silence as the party pony sat back and looked at her with huge eyes and a matching smile.

"Yes?"

"Um, I just came to see if you know where Rainbow Dash is? She's not at home and she's not clearing the sky, and I was hoping to watch her practise her routine today..." Her voice trailing off a bit lamely, she looked up hopefully.

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't know where she is, but I do know how we can find her!"

"Really?" The small orange pegasus perked up. "How? How?"

"By throwing a PARTY! Then when Dashie gets the invite she'll show up at the party because she never misses my parties, she's like my best friend, well one of them anyway, the others are Rarity, Applejack, oh and Fluttershy, and..."

"Ugh! No, Pinkie Pie, that won't work! And I know your friends too! Sheesh, you are so random!" Scootaloo turned to leave, obviously not going to make any progress there. Hey, maybe Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom would be able to help her!

"Hey!"

She stopped.

"Don't you want to try my super duper special sweet sugary shortbread? I made it fresh." Pinkie grinned at the filly.

"Uhh... Maybe next time Pinkie. I got, um, stuff to do, so... see ya!"

Scootaloo galloped for her scooter, jumped on and began to zip away as fast as she could in the direction of Sweetie Belle's home, eager to at the very least go on a Cutie Mark Crusade, even if she couldn't find the most awesome pegasus in Equestria.

"Okie dokie pony pokey!" Pinkie Pie called after her with a wave, giggling.

Turning, she bounced back to the kitchen and decided to make another batch of those yummy shortbreads so that if Twilight was really hungry when she got there, there would be plenty enough to eat. "I'd better hurry though because Twilight is never late thanks to her being so smarty smart smart and always knowing where to be."

With this in mind Pinkie began to hum again. "Hmmmhmhmhmm the ghostly..."

***

"Aw, horse-feathers! Where could that pony be?"

Applejack was galloping towards the library at full tilt, as she was afraid to leave the farm for very long with all the work that needed doing. Of course, there was even more than normal now, since she had spent the morning relaxing at the spa. "Not that I'm not grateful to Rarity," she reminded herself. "I really did enjoy myself, but I gotta lot of catchin' up to do now, and where the hay is Twilight?"

The purple unicorn had promised that she would help AJ out with organising a big order that was to go to Canterlot, but she hadn't shown up, and the farm pony was beginning to get worried. "Course, I could handle that order on my own, but Twilight said she'd be there and she ain't, so somethin' musta happened to her. She ain't the type to just go messin' with a pony like that. And - woaah... Hey there Spike."

As she skidded to a halt outside the library, she noticed the baby dragon pacing about in front of the door, looking quite anxious.

"Applejack! Have you seen Twilight?"

"What? No, I came to try and find out where she's at, 'cause she was s'posed to be helpin' me out right about now. Why? Is she missin'?"

Suddenly twice as alert, the orange mare swung her head from side to side, looking around, just in case the unicorn was hiding behind a bush somewhere.

Spike stopped pacing and looked at the pony. He would have laughed at her expression if he wasn't so worried.

"Well, you see, Twilight had a pretty busy schedule today, and she wasn't here when I woke up so I have no idea where she is. She was supposed to go and help Fluttershy really early, so I thought maybe she'd just left a bit earlier than she said she was going to, but one of the animals came over a while ago with a note from Fluttershy to Twilight and he started jumping up and down and pointing at Twilight's name on the note, like he was looking for her."

"Who?"

"I think his name is Angel Bunny, bu-"

"Who."

"The little white rabbit, you know the one-"

"That ain't me sugarcube." Applejack pointed. "Look there."

Spike turned, and sure enough, an extremely tired-looking owl sat perched on a branch beside them, clutching something in his claw.

"Oh, hey Owlowiscious. What are you doing up? Do you know what happened to Twilight?"

The bird tilted his head. He had obviously been woken up by the commotion, and now seemed determined to deliver his message before returning to sleep. He fluttered over to the pair, dropped the piece of paper he was carrying on top of Spike, and flapped away again, flying out of sight.

Confused, the baby dragon pulled the note off his head and looked at it as if it were some rare gem to be examined (or eaten). Suddenly, he looked up at Applejack.

"What? What does it say?" She wasn't a pony known for her patience.

"It's a letter from Zecora, asking Twilight to meet her right away, 'while the morning is still dark'. She must have gone there before Fluttershy's! Which means..."

"She must've gotten lost in the Everfree Forest!" AJ exclaimed. "She wouldn't let her meetin' with Zecora make her late for helpin' Fluttershy, unless... unless somethin' bad happened to her... Aw shoot! We gotta go find her!"

"Find who? Is it Twilight?" A new voice piped up.

"Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?"

The pink earth pony had bounced up to the spot where they were standing without either of them noticing.

"The same as you - duh!" She stopped bouncing for a moment and frowned, a sign she truly was concerned.

"Twilight Sparkle said she would taste my super sweet shortbread, she even made a Pinkie Pie promise, but she still hasn't arrived, so I thought something bad must have happened to her and I thought 'hmm, if something bad happened to me, what would I want?' So I decided if she couldn't come to me to try my sweets, I could bring the sweets to her! See?" Opening her saddlebag, she removed a small box filled with delicious looking treats. "But I guess she's not here either..."

Applejack saw the disappointment in her friend's eyes.

"No, she ain't, but we think we might know where she is: the Everfree Forest!"

"WHAT?!" Pinkie Pie jumped clear off the ground with shock. "Well, what are we still doing here? We have to go find her!"

Without waiting for Applejack's reaction she sprinted away in the direction of the forest.

"Pinkie Pie, wait! ... Shoot, she's gone. Spike, you better stay here in case Twilight finds her way back on her own."

Spike snapped his best salute. "Can do, ma'am"

Satisfied, Applejack turned and raced after her crazy pink friend.

***

The purple unicorn shrieked, leaping into the air. Landing on her hind legs, she began immediately gibbering from the shock.

"I'm sorry... I don't know why... I mean... I heard you... But..."

"Be at peace, Twilight Sparkle. You have nothing to fear from me."

"I know Princess, I just didn't expect anypony else to be here."

The glow from the few candles dotted about the hut caught the alicorn's midnight-blue coat and made it glisten eerily. Her starry mane and tail waved gently by themselves, despite there not being a breeze inside. Eyes flashing brightly, Princess Luna smiled widely at Celestia's student.

"What about anyzebra?"

Twilight swallowed and allowed her front hooves to drop to the floor as an intense frown creased her forehead.

"Well... yes, actually. This is Zecora's home, and she sent me a note saying to meet her urgently, so I sort of thought she would be here."

"A reasonable assumption, yet apparently an incorrect one."

"But why are you here Princess? Do you know what happened to her? Look, I found her earring - I think something bad must have happened to her!"

The taller pony lost her grin, replacing it with a scowl as Twilight nervously floated the golden object between their faces. Shadows flickered around her body while the light from the candles threw strange shapes on the walls. She took the ring in her own magic and placed it back down on the ground.

"Twilight Sparkle, I need your help."

The request surprised Twilight, her mind kicking up all sorts of questions, none of which made it out of her mouth. Why me? What about Zecora? How did she even know I'd be here this morning?!

"Umm, well, I'm a bit busy toda- wait, what am I saying? Of course, Princess. What do you need me to do?"

Rather than answer her, Luna trotted to the entrance of the hut, looked out, then pulled the door closed with her mouth. She turned and looked Twilight dead in the eye before speaking.

"Do you remember when you banished the darkness from my soul, removing the shadow and separating Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna?"

Twilight was once again shocked by the alicorn's question.

"O-of course I do, Your Highness. It wasn't something that's easy to forget."

"And do you remember before that, when Nightmare Moon ruled for a short time?"

"Uh, yes?" Twilight hoped she was answering correctly.

"Most importantly, can you remember how Equestria felt then?"

For the third time in the few short minutes since she had entered the small hut in the Everfree Forest, Twilight Sparkle was thrown by the taller pony's question. She couldn't understand what Luna was asking her at all. How had Equestria felt? What sort of question was that? She must have misheard her. How could a pony feel Equestria?

"Wh-what?"

"How did the air feel? The ground? The water? What were the sounds like, and the smells?"

"Well... They felt... Equestrian. I mean, it was kinda dark, and a bit cold, what with the whole 'Eternal Night' thing going on, but apart from that I can't recall anything unusual."

"So nothing felt... wrong to you at all?"

Twilight stared at the Princess, casting her mind back and trying to figure out what Luna was talking about.

"No? Let me try to refresh your memory." The alicorn stepped to the door once again, then looked back at Twilight, who hadn't moved. "Come," she said, pulling the door open wide and striding out.

Twilight looked about herself at the mess that was left inside Zecora's hut. It really was pretty torn apart. Her eyes caught on a darker stain she hadn't noticed earlier, right in the corner of the room, and she quickly looked away. She didn't want to know what that was. Taking a deep breath to calm the bubble of fear she felt rising inside of herself, she carefully trotted around the debris to join the Princess outside the hut.

Luna stood a little to the right as she exited, waiting patiently for her. The alicorn motioned for Twilight to stand beside her, before pointing with a hoof to something between the trees. Twilight peered into the dense tangle of trees but could see nothing other than... more trees. Dawn was only just breaking over Equestria (not that it made much difference in the Everfree Forest), and the darkness that surrounded them wan't helping her at all. She wondered whether this was some sort of test of her magical abilities. If so, she was failing, because she had no idea what she was meant to be doing.

"In this direction," Luna announced, "lies the castle where you fought the dark creature known as Nightmare Moon, using the Elements of Harmony."

Twilight nodded, not entirely sure as to what exactly she was supposed to do with that information.

"Now tell me," the Princess said with a voice like silk, "what do you feel?"

***

"...amazing, wasn't it Fluttershy?"

"Huh, what?"

The yellow pegasus pulled herself out of her daydream, realising simultaneously that the show was over and that they were the last ones left in the arena. She really had zoned out, and had missed most of the show. She didn't mind too much though - as long as Rainbow Dash had enjoyed herself, then she would be happy too. Hopefully she hadn't seemed too distant while her mind was on... other topics.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy! Do you read me?" Rainbow grinned at her friend. She knew the timid pegasus wasn't really that interested in the flying show, and she appreciated her agreeing to come along. Dash hated doing things alone. Except being awesome, she could do that all by herself. Grateful as she was though, she was still going to have to tease the poor pegasus mercilessly for not paying attention.

"Repeat, this is Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy, Cloudsdale calling! Nope, sorry Sarge - doesn't look like there's anypony there. Guess she fell asleep."

Fluttershy blushed a bright pink and tried to hide behind her mane, mumbling an embarrassed apology as she edged out of her seat and began trotting towards the exit.

"Nope! Still not picking up any readings, Sarge. I guess I'm just going to have to go in and look for her myself."

With that, Rainbow took off and flew up high, before turning and swooping down to (gently) tackle Fluttershy to the cloud-ground.

"Caught her Sarge! She was trying to sneak away!"

Fluttershy found her voice a she picked herself up. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash..."

"Aw, it's okay 'Shy. I know you didn't really want to be here, I'm just glad you were able to come with me."

"Oh, but I did want to be here!" the yellow pegasus protested. "Well, maybe not so much for the actual show, but I really enjoyed spending some time with you."

Rainbow tilted her head and gave her a strange look.

"Well, you know... We always do things as a big group with all six of us, not that that's a bad thing, I mean I love all our friends, but I just think it'd be nice if we could spend some more time alone together..."

Fluttershy trailed off, blushing furiously and staring at the ground as she realised how bold she was being. You're being too obvious! I can't let her know yet - I'm not ready. What if she's not like that? What if she laughs? What if she hates me?!

Dash didn't seem to notice her internal predicament though. Instead, she wrapped a wing around her friend (causing Fluttershy to nearly suffer a mild heart attack), and pulled her towards the exit again.

"Well why didn't you say you wanted to hang out with me more often? I am pretty cool after all, and it's only natural that you'd want to..." She lost track of her thoughts and stopped as they entered the corridor that led out of the arena and spotted Princess Luna chatting to Spitfire and Soarin at the other end. To leave, they would need to pass the alicorn and two of Rainbow's heroes. A starry look came into her eyes at the chance to talk to them. Fluttershy saw it and sighed a little before putting on a happy smile.

"You go talk to them," she murmured kindly. "I'll see you back in Ponyville."

"Really? That would be awe-" She stopped as she caught her friend's expression. A small twinge of guilt passed through her and she shook her head. "No, Fluttershy. I think we should hang out together, just you and me. Like you said, we never get to do that, and you're one of my oldest friends."

Fluttershy's head swung up to look at Rainbow as the blue pegasus began trotting forward again.

"Oh, thank you Dash!" she whispered not quite loudly enough to be audible, a smile lighting up her face. "You have no idea how much it means to me..."

Neither of the Wonderbolts looked up as the pair cantered past them, despite Rainbow's wistful glances in their direction. Luna, however, gave Fluttershy an unfathomable yet somehow knowing stare as they passed, that made the pegasus want to curl up in an embarrassed ball and hide for some reason.

As they made it outside, Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, putting the thoughts of her idols behind her.

"So, what do you wanna do Fluttershy?"

"Umm..." The yellow mare rubbed her leg with a hoof.

Dash facehoofed, but put on an encouraging smile for her friend.

"Come on, let's go have some fun around Cloudsdale!"