Even in darkness, all is crimson cloud banks kissing my insides. I crawl through the deep trench, searching, wincing.
From across the rippling space, three bodies shuffle to a stop, and voices ripple my way on predominantly golden waves.
"Con sarn it! Now look what you done did, Scootaloo!"
"Like I said—I had no idea that the metal would weigh so much, Apple Bloom!"
"Well you shoulda thought harder!"
"If my wagon's busted, I swear to Goddes..."
"I dun think the wagon is what we should be worryin' about right now."
"Apple Bloom's right!" This voice—an electric blue—wafts closer, startling me and soothing me all at once. I pause in my fumblings, shivering slightly. "Ma'am? Are you right? I am so... sooooo sorry that we hit you out of nowhere! We were trying to steer clear of you and your stuff! Honest!"
I sit in place, eyes clenched, panting. I imagine that I must look like a complete wreck, but I don't care.
There's something about that voice. Something pristine, melodic, tranquil. I've heard it before... haven't I? I just can't tell right now...
One of the other two butts in, her breaths a hard amber. "What the hay is her problem anyway?"
"Scoots! That's no way to talk?"
"Ah jeez... we didn't hit her so hard she went blind, do you think?!"
"Calm down, Scootaloo..."
"Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh! My parents are gonna kill me!"
"Your parents?! Once Applejack finds out that we yanked all of these here metal thingamajiggers from the scrapyard—"
"Will you both calm down?" The cold blue returns. "I think she just needs her shades. See? They're over there by the bushes."
Soft hooves pad through the grass in tiny red bursts. They come nearer, and I feel a pair of familiar lenses placed in my grasp by tiny limbs.
"There ya go, Ma'am," chirps a golden voice. "We dun blame ya if yer mad at us."
I place the shades back on, take a deep breath, and open my eyes.
A filly with a red bow stands before me. I instantly recognize her as one of Applejack's kids. Or... wait... are they sisters? I've never quite figured that out...
"Can... can you see better?" the child asks, smiling nervously. Her eyes are the color of innocence and joy. I find it impossible to be mad. Besides, I hate being mad.
"I... uh..." Another shape shuffles in, bearing tiny wings trailing with amber hues. "I don't think she can talk either, Apple Bloom."
"Well, not like she's blind after all, Scoots!" Apple Bloom points at me. "Reckon she can... uhm... half-see."
"You suppose she can half-talk too?" "Scoots" asks, blinking. She grins, bright and hopeful. "Because I'd really like to know how a pony who half-sees and half-talks gets a cutie mark as awesome as hers!"
I smirk, but my eyes are still searching... searching.
Thankfully, my ears feel it—the voice—like blue ocean surf crashing over my flank and shoulders. "Looks like your stuff is in one piece, Miss."
I turn around, following the sapphire streams until I find her muzzle, her face, and her two-toned mane. She squirms slightly, overwhelmed by a pensive cloud the moment she senses my gaze upon her.
"I bet it's super important, isn't it?" She gulps, creating a slight fissure between the cyan plateaus of her voice. I wonder if she has any idea. Any clue. "Please, don't be mad at us for hitting you," she whimpers. "We can take you to Nurse Redheart if you like! Scootaloo, is the wagon still in one piece?"
"I don't think she can fit, Sweetie Belle."
"Scoots!"
"What?! I mean cuz of all the metal!"
"Well we'll dump the metal first, ya dodo!"
I'm waving my hooves emphatically by this point, combined with a shaking head. I stand up and gesture towards myself with a gentle smile.
"Are... are you sure, ma'am?" utters this "Sweetie Belle," like dewdrops in dawnlight. I'm almost blinded again.
I nod and wave towards the wagon before trotting back to my stuff. I sense the three fillies standing there, merely gawking at me. So I roll my shaded eyes and wave at them again.
"I... I-I think she's giving us a free pass," Scootaloo stammers.
"Well, let's not waste it!" Apple Bloom hops first into the wagon. "Come on, Crusaders!"
"You're... you're sure you're alright?" Sweetie Belle asks. Her concern for me is sweet. Her voice is intoxicating.
It's a full twenty seconds before I realize I haven't responded.
"Come on, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo's voice shatters the moment with grating amber. "It'll be getting dark soon! Are we gonna do some welding or not?"
"Oh... uhm... I guess..." Sweetie Belle crawls into the wagon behind her friend's scooter. She turns and waves back at me. "So long, ma'am! I... uh... I like the shades! Very chic!"
I wave back as the fillies roll across the village in a pastel trail.
"Chic..."
There's only one other pony in town who likes to use that word. And she's considerably older with the same colored coat...
Nahhhh...
My limbs ache slightly. I don't think there'll be any bruises, but I'll undoubtedly be feeling it tonight as I try to go to sleep.
But I can't dwell on that now.
That voice...
There's so much potential in it, locked away...
Like a pearl at the bottom of the ocean... just waiting to be plucked...
My mind is already reeling, imagining melodies, harmonies, instrumentals all woven around such succulent strings.
I don't even notice that I'm at our apartment door until I nearly bump into it. When I wake to the rippling world yet again, I fumble for the keys to open the threshhold. That's when I notice several an envelope half-embedded into the mail slot. I think of Miss Hooves, and I smile in mirth.
Pulling the envelope out for a better look, I freeze in place.
It's emblazoned with the Royal Seal... Princess Twilight Sparkle's Royal Seal.
An even dumber smile spreads across my pale muzzle.
Oh Tavi...
You'll want to break out the red wine for this one...