I sit staring at Ash's face until Lyra trots back into the room, two teacups lifted with her magic and a generally happy face, if a bit shrouded in worry. It's always odd, looking at Ash. The more I see her, the more differences between us I can recognize. Her mane is looser, not tied up in a ponytail or shoved underneath a hat. It's pretty, the light grey of her mane runs through with her darker coat and it gives the impression of a thin slice through glass, visible but only enough to see it shine. Her eyes are another thing, mine are direct, piercing, but hers always seem to have something just behind them, an unseen joke. I almost laugh.
"Mane of glass, hiding eyes. You're starting to sound like one of the windows in Canterlot," I whisper to myself.
Light leaks into the room from half closed windows and lamps strewn about, casting shadows like streams running together into a creek.
"Where did you go?" I ask Ash, her smug smile still apparent in the half darkness. She sits with her head leaning against one hoof, on her side, the perfect picture of casual.
Lyra gives me a cup of tea, then sits down to my left, on the other side of Ash. "I was making tea, Applejack. You look like death; are you taking care of yourself?"
I take a long sip of the tea. It's black, bitter. Decidedly not like the fruit teas I'm familiar with.
Ash rolls her eyes. "She was talking to me, Heartstrings. Don't flatter yourself. I went out, just so you know. I needed to check on something. Though, while we're on the subject, you do look like death." She uses a hoof to sweep back her mane and a coy smile replaces her smug one. "I like it."
I watch the light from the windows move across the room. I've never really noticed it before. I always liked waiting for the sun to rise before apple bucking season but that was a flood of light washing over the darkness. Here' it's like the light is an intruder, breaking into Lyra's house, unwanted, discarded.
Lyra hesitates, as if she's trying to say something but thinks better of it. A silence follows, with Lyra and I drinking our tea and Ash looking mainly bored, making little circles in her mane with a hoof. After a few minutes I set my teacup down and stand up, turning to Lyra. "Thank you for the tea, Lyra, I just need to see Twilight. Do you have any way to contact her?"
Lyra nods, her eyes examining my features. I can't remember the last time I've looked into a mirror so I'm sure I do look like death. "Actually, Twilight is supposed to come here later so we can discuss our findings more. You can wait here until she comes, would that be okay?"
Ash nods, emphatically and claps her hooves together, an excited grin coating her face like jelly. "Great idea. We could cuddle around the fire, drink tea, talk about our troubles, kiss, all that fun stuff."
For a moment, I consider what Ash says, but I shake my head. "No. Thank ya kindly, I really appreciate it. But I think the sooner I find Twilight, the better."
Ash frowns and folds her arms together. "Party pooper."
Lyra helps me up. "Okay. I hope you find her. Let me know if you need anything else."
I dip my stetson and make a half bow. "Thank ya, Lyra. I do appreciate it."
Ash stands in the doorway while I trot outside. The sun beats down on me and I grow more tired with every step. I start to collapse but Lyra appears beside me and helps me up, half carrying me all the way to Twilight's library. After a few minutes, every step feels like fire in my legs. My vision becomes blurry and it feels like every sound is as far away as Sweet Apple Acres.
I can feel my eyes being forced shut, the fire traveling up to my face and attaching itself there, a permanent fixture. Before my eyes swell shut, I look around me for Ash but see nopony but Lyra. I smile at Lyra and I can see her manage a smile as she struggles carrying me before my eyes close completely and I'm engulfed in darkness.
I can't see. I can't hear. I can only feel pain. I can only feel the sun pick me up, a burning form, and devour me.
Then I can't feel anything.
When I wake again, I'm in the basement of Twilight's library. The room's lighting is extremely comfortable and even though for some reason I get the impression it's dark, I can see perfectly. I'm lying on an assortment of pillows that seems to have been hastily put together just when I got here. Looking to my right, I can see Ash examining a machine of some sort, inactive at the moment.
When I stir, she turns around. "You're looking much better. Pity. I'm sure we could have convinced Lyra to let us stay the night."
I roll my eyes. "You seem to be feeling better."
She laughs. "Never felt better or worse, what's it to you? I'm an imaginary friend, not an extension of your pain. Maybe if I was, you wouldn't have passed out like a wimp."
I roll over and stand up, shakily, on the uneven pillows. "Where's Twilight?"
Ash looks at the stairs. "Upstairs with Lyra, but you can already hear them."
As she says, I focus my attention upstairs and hear Lyra and Twilight talking as though they were right next to me. They're whispering, but it's as loud as just talking is to me.
I hear Twilight speak first. "So she asked if I was there and then collapsed?"
I hear a shift and hooves hit the floor, as if Lyra were standing up. "It wasn't just that, though. She seemed shaky and her voice sounded a bit high. Besides that, when Rainbow Dash came to help me carry her, she said she was talking about some kind of storm, happening before the shower last night and she seemed distracted. Do you think the cut she got last night has something to do with this?"
I hear another shift and then a steady clip clop noise going back and forth, as Twilight paces. "But how can that be? There's no infection. Hay, when you brought her in there was no cut. I scanned her eight times for magical influence and it all came up negative. Does that mean she's clear or does that mean she's somehow deflecting the scan? Can she even do that?"
Ash moves next to me and puts a foreleg around me. "Don't you think you should tell them you're awake? It seems downright dishonest to be eavesdropping on them like this."
I bite my lip. "I'm just trying to find out what happened."
Ash shrugs. "If you want to find out what happened, why don't you ask them yourself?"
I open my mouth to respond but I snap my mouth shut. I sigh. "You're right."
I trot up the stairs, hearing a click when Twilight and Lyra turn their heads to the door.
Twilight trots over and opens the door. "Applejack, how are you feeling?"
I wince and the sound washes through me, shaking me to the core. I clutch my ears and retreat further down the stairs.
Ash guides me over to a shelf in the basement with a thick strip of cloth on it, most likely for use cleaning the helmet attached to the large machine Ash examined.
Still shaking and ignoring Twilight's concerned questions, I manage to tie the cloth around my ears, wrapping it twice over.
The cloth muffles the sound of Twilight's voice somewhat that I can whisper a reply. "To be perfectly honest, Twi, I'm not feeling too good at all."
Twilight squints toward my general direction but doesn't look directly at me. "What's wrong?"
I bite my lip again, hard enough to draw blood.
Do I tell her?
I haven't gotten all the way here just to lie to Twilight.
I clear my throat. "Well, for starters, I have a pony nopony else can see or hear who looks just like me."
Ash grins at Twilight.
Twilight swallows and pauses. "Oh."