//------------------------------// // Realizations // Story: My Little Caboose: Blue is Magic! // by DarkWing //------------------------------// Two Weeks Later Church was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling when he heard a knock on the door. "It's your house, you don't have to knock." Church grunted, knowing it to be Twilight. Twilight walked in and closed the door behind her. "What can I do for you?" "I just wanted to let you know that the girls are going to be coming over soon." "Pinkie too?" Church asked with surprise. "No." Twilight sighed as she shook her head. "We haven't heard a word from her for the past two weeks. I think she may be cutting herself off from everyone." "Maybe she'll talk to me." Church suggested as he rolled off the bed. "Are you sure she'll talk to you?" "No, but I should at least try." "Thank you." Twilight smiled before making her way down the stairs. Church left the library and quickly found himself in front of Sugar Cube Corner. Church sighed and walked through the door to see Mrs. Cake placing some cupcakes on a counter, though her face looked worn. "Is Pinkie around?" Church asked after a few seconds. "Are you here to talk to her?" Mrs. Cake asked sadly. Church nodded. "Good. Poor dear needs a shoulder to lean on since Caboose passed... What happened?" Mrs. Cake asked before looking at the ground guiltily. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. Pinkie is in her room." "Thanks." Church said as he walked towards the stairs. "It's good to see friends looking after each other when they need it most." Mrs. Cakes said as Church reached the steps. "Yeah..." Church went up the stairs and found himself standing in front of a door, a dim light spilling from underneath. Church cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "Come in." Came the strained voice from inside. Church opened the door and paused when he saw Pinkie. She was sitting on her bed, staring at the wall without so much as batting an eye. But it wasn't what she was doing that was bothering him, it was her appearance. Her hair was no longer as bubbly as it used to be... it was completely straight. Her eyes were bloodshot, either from tears or lack of sleep. Church decided that it was probably both. "Hey Pinkie." Church muttered. "I'm not feeling a lot like Pinkie right now..." "I know that feeling." Church sighed, walking up next to her to sit on the bed. "How are you holding up?" "I don't know." Pinkie shrugged. The pair sat in silence, not quite sure what to say to each other as they both felt guilty over what had happened. "So why are you here?" Pinkie asked quietly after a few minutes of thinking. "I made a promise to Caboose that I would look after you. Figured it's the least I could do given what he did." "Oh." Pinkie said quietly. "I'm sorry Church." "For what? You didn't do anything to me." "When Caboose first arrived he seemed to be really sad when Twilight mentioned his friends. He made it seem like he had none, but when you guys arrived here, he seemed really happy to see you. He told me lots of things that you guys did and the things you said." Pinkie said, searching her thoughts. "The things you said to him made me think you were meany and he was just trying to be nice when he tried to be your friend. He kept telling me to give you a chance, but when I did you still seemed to be as mean as I first thought you were. But now I can see that he was right all along. You are a good friend." "I just wish I could have told him that before he died..." "You didn't have to, don't you see that?" "See what?" "He didn't need to hear you say it because he knew all along that you were his friend. He's a lot smarter than you think he is." "Yeah." Church sighed. "Think there's anything I can do to help you feel better?" "No, that's okay. Just having somepony to talk to is nice." Pinkie said, putting her head on his shoulder. "I miss him." "I know." Church said quietly. "So do I." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Where's Church?" Rainbow Dash asked as the girls sat around the table in the library. "He went to try and talk to Pinkie." Twilight said. "What have the others been like?" "Tucker has been a lot more quiet. He hasn't even made any inappropriate comments since... well, for the last two weeks." Rainbow Dash muttered. "To be honest, I'm kinda missing them." "Sarge hasn't changed much, though he is tellin' me abou’ th' good times he had with Caboose." Applejack said quietly. "The way he talked about him when he was here made me think that he didn't like him, but now he's makin' it seem like they were the best of friends." "Simmons has been very strong about this. He hasn't really said anything about the matter. It seems like he is simply trying to move on." "And what about Grif?" Twilight asked Fluttershy, who had remained silent since she arrived. "I don't know." Fluttershy said quietly. "You don't know?" "Well, I just mean that he doesn't look like he has been affected by this at all. I can tell that he feels off about something though, but he seems to be hiding something." "How has Church been doing?" Rarity asked. "It's hard to say. Too much has happened too fast and he seems to be having trouble with his emotions. But I'm trying to help where I can to make his life easier." The group fell into a silence and began to stare at Twilight. "So did you just tell us to come here to talk about the others?" Rainbow Dash asked suddenly, wanting to break the silence. "I'm glad you brought that up." Twilight said softly. "Girls I'm going to need your help." "Anything dear." Rarity said. "Yeah, what do you need us to do?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'm going to sneak into Canterlot's library." "Ah, are ya gunna use that time spell?" Applejack asked curiously. "Ah thought it didn't work out fer ya last time." "No." Twilight shook her head slowly. "After speaking to Church I learned that you can't change the past, no matter how much you try." "Then why are we goin' t' the library?" "To change the future." "Did Starswirl the Bearded discovered a spell to visit the future?" Rarity asked nervously. "No, he didn't." Twilight said before pausing for a brief moment to think. "Or at least not that I am aware of. I'm simply saying that we are going to change the outcome of the present." "Yer talkin' in circles here Twi..." Applejack grunted. "What I'm saying is we aren't going to sneak into the Starswirl the Bearded wing." "Then where are we going?" Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her head. Twilight looked off to Canterlot and thought for a moment before turning back to the girls and sighing. "We're going to go to the Forbidden Wing of Archaic Magic."