Wednesday: The Weak and Strong
The last stars of night glittered overhead in the gray haze of an approaching dawn. Lying on a lone cloud, Rainbow Dash curled from head to tail, her wings tightly coiled by her side. A brisk wind blew, rustling her disheveled mane. Her muzzle twitched, slowly forming a grimace as her hooves kicked at the misty bed beneath her.
"Mmmm... mmmmmff... n-no... no, get back... don't... don't go there..." Her brow furrowed. Another gust of air hit, and she began shivering. "Guys... I mean it... it's d-dangerous... don't... don't..."
Her tail twitched and her wings unfolded. A sharp spasm ran from her eyelids to her muzzle and back.
"Please... I-I got you! Stop fr-freaking out! Come on, guys! I got you—No... No!"
With a sudden jerk, Rainbow shot up, tossing her head and mane.
"Gaaaugh! Twilight! Applejack! Pinkie—!" Her ruby eyes flashed open with shrunken pupils quivering in cold pools. Her mouth hung open as she stared in confusion at the sky around her. Several seconds passed by, during which Rainbow Dash panted like a marathon runner. At last, the shivers in her body turned to an angry rumble. She gnashed her teeth and kicked the cloud bed beneath her. "Grrgggh!"
When the mists around her had been smashed to bits, she hovered in the clear space leftover, fuming. Bringing a pair of hooves up to her muzzle, she buried her face with shaking shoulders. At last, her body calmed, hanging slack from her flapping wings. When she finally lowered her hooves, the mother of all glares was brandished across her features. With a suppressed growl, Rainbow twirled about and flew like a missile towards the northeast. The distant clouds were abysmally gray, and they rumbled with thunder and lightning, challenging the golden glow of the rising sun to Rainbow's right.
WEDNESDAY MORNING
Applejack stared at her bowl of porridge. She sat on her stool in a tired slump, holding a spoon limply in the crook of her hoof.
Across the breakfast table from her, the rest of the Apple Family dug at their bowls, filling the air with clinks and clatters.
"I'm about halfway through fixin' up the new balcony to the clubhouse!" Apple Bloom said between scarfing muzzle-fulls. "Mmmmf... While I was hammerin' the planks together, I realized that the north edge was the perfect place to put a snazzy tire swing! There's this thick branch of the tree that hangs over the new balcony's edge, and it'd make for a purdy swell drop off point!"
"Now where in tarnation are ya gonna fetch yerself a tire, lil' darlin'?" Granny Smith smiled over her newspaper. "This ain't Manehattan, ya know."
"Well, the way I figure it, I could get Babs Seed to bring one in the next time she visits!"
"Now that's thinkin' with yer noggin! I'll never fancy myself visitin' that big ol' city again in my lifetime, but I sure don't mind gettin' souvenirs from time to time. You'd better tell Babs Seed to bring one of them cute little replicas of the Stirrup of Liberty while she's at it!"
"Heheh. Sure thang, Granny. I'll see what I can muster up."
Applejack's green eyes darted calmly between the other three ponies.
"Big Macintosh?" Granny spoke.
"Eeyup...?"
"While we're on the topic of wheels, didja fix the squeaky front end of the cross-country wagon?"
"Eeeyup."
"Good, cuz Filthy Rich is thinkin' that we might be able to expand the business to Trottingham soon. He's pretty clever with all his businessin' and all, so I figured we might spend a week carryin’ a few bushels of golden delicious to that city and see if all the high pollutin' ponies around them parts take a likin' to something on the kitchen table that doesn't taste like tea."
Big Macintosh chuckled at that before taking another bite of oatmeal.
"Say, that reminds me!" Apple Bloom spoke up. "Aren't we lookin' to have a surplus for cider season this year?"
"Considerin' all the extra apples we've grown, I'd say we just might have a couple more barrels to spare!"
"Well, Granny, maybe we could try combinin' tea and cider! Y'know..." Apple Bloom waved a hoof. "Somethin' that might attract the super rich crowd. Y'all know how finicky they can get."
"Why, that's not half a bad idea, ya clever lil' sprout!" Granny smirked. "Apple Flavored Tea... it could just possibly take off!"
"Eeyup."
"I'll try and send a letter to our distant cousins who live in Canterlot. Well, once the post office is open again."
"Yeah." Apple Bloom nodded. "Reckon you'll have to wait until all the formalities in town blow over."
"Sounds like a mighty good plan to me."
"Nnnngh!" Applejack slammed her spoon down and shot up. "So, is this it, then?!" she snapped.
Startled, all three family members blinked up at her. "Is what it, sis?" Apple Bloom asked.
"This is all we're itchin' to talk about?!" Applejack frowned venomously. "Tire swings and apple tea and vacations to Trottingham?!"
"The work here on the farm never changes, Applejack," Granny Smith said, her wrinkled face vexed with confusion. "You know that, sweet pea. What else you reckon we should talk about?"
"A pony died in town this week!" Applejack shouted. "A pony we all loved and cared about! Or—at least I thought we all loved and cared about her!"
Big Mac's brow furrowed. Apple Bloom leaned in and said, "Yerrrrr... talkin' about Dinky's mom, r-right?"
"Derpy!" Applejack yelled. "Derpy Hooves! Our mailpony?! We only saw her every weekday mornin'! She was even there everytime we trotted into town to sell our produce!"
"Applejack..." Apple Bloom smiled nervously. "Ain't ya overreactin' just a tad? I mean, sure we saw her a lot, but it's not like we all knew the mare."
"Eenope."
"Didn't we?!" Applejack frowned, her teeth showing. "Weren't we supposed to?! Somepony here tell me who is the oldest, strongest, and most dependable family in this here town! Huh?! Who's the gul-durn backbone of Ponyville?!"
"Why..." Granny Smith squinted, shivering slightly from Applejack's outburst. "We are, darlin'—"
"Then why are we just sittin' here on our flanks?!" Applejack pointed. "Readin' the paper?! Stuffin' our faces with oatmeal like we don't have to share in anypony else's business?! Well, t'ain't proper! T'ain't proper in the least!"
"Well, jeez, Applejack..." Apple Bloom held her hooves up like a criminal in the spotlight. "What do you reckon we should be doin'?"
Applejack pointed viciously out the sunlit kitchen window. "There are ponies in that town who are bawlin' their eyes out! They're feelin' hurt, painful, and downright devastated! They need ponies whom they can lean on! They need ponies who can share their feelings! Ponies who can feel what they're feelin' and show 'em how to move on!"
"Applejack, what yer sayin' is downright noble," Granny Smith said. She gulped and added, "But... we can't rightly be expected to drop what we're doin' and abandon this here farm!"
Big Mac nodded with a shuddering "Eenope..."
"We've got livestock to feed. Apples to buck. Produce to deliver—"
Applejack's hoof banged against the edge of the table once again. "Darn it! This farm ain't everythang!" That summoned a gasp from the rest of the table, but the mare nevertheless continued. "We have a family! And it's not just here, but it's out there in that town! They're our family too! Why do we gotta treat 'em all like they're strangers?!"
"Applejack, who said we were?!" Apple Bloom gawked.
"Just what do you want from us, honey?" Granny Smith asked.
"I want us to... to..." Applejack seethed. "To feel! To mourn! To maybe even cry a little! Is that too hard to bend our noggin's around?"
"What?" Apple Bloom blinked. "You mean at the funeral tomorrow evening? Cuz you can bet we'll be there—"
"No, I mean here!" Applejack was stammering at this point. "In our home! At our table!" She gestured around the kitchen. "Because this is just... just... plum stupid! Have we gotten so cold that when a mare dies, we shrug it off and continue buckin' apples like the rest of the world don't mean a pile of fertilizer to us?!"
The room was silent for a dead, dull minute.
"Applejack..." Granny slowly shook her head. "Bein' cold has nothin' to do with it, sugarcube."
"Yeah, AJ." Apple Bloom stared at her with a frightened expression. "We were just... y'know..."
"What?!"
The filly gulped. "You've always been an example for us to follow. We admire yer strength... and how faithful and dependable you always are. Yer always tellin' us to go the extra mile to get the job done, to weather the storm, and it helps. It really does." She fidgeted with her red mane. "I mean, ever since Ma and Pa died—"
"But they wouldn't have wanted this!" Applejack exclaimed.
"Ya sure about that?"
"Yes, I am sure, Apple Bloom! I'm sorry, but yer a tad bit too young to remember the way they were! How they talked to their neighbors like they were all siblings! How they visited old stallions and mares at their death beds! How they would h-hold me and yer older brother at night and... and..." Applejack stumbled back, holding a hoof over her muzzle as her eyes watered.
The other three stared back at her.
Applejack gulped hard and spoke in a wavering tone. "I'm sorry, y'all. I'm so sorry... but bein' strong ain't everythang. We've got the b-best farm in town, the m-most delicious apples in all of Equestria. But th-there's so few of us, and even fewer with each passin' year. And it's just... it's just so..." She quivered, slumping down on her haunches as she bowed her head. "It's... it's my fault. Ma and Pa wanted me to look after the family, and I failed. I-I failed them and I failed you, because this sure as heck ain't what th-they would have wanted!" She turned around.
"Applejack..." Granny Smith stood up.
Hissing through clenched teeth, Applejack stormed out of the kitchen, kicked the screen door open, and bolted for the distant orchards.
"Applejack!" Granny Smith limped forward, only to be caught in Big Mac's strong forelimbs. She panted a few times, then hung her head with a sigh. Apple Bloom stared at her porridge while Big Mac fidgeted in place.
The house remained dead silent.
With a clatter of her fast-action sewing machine, Rarity finished attaching a sleeve to the body of a plain black blouse. She switched the machine off and telekinetically lifted the fabric up before her. The unicorn's tired eyes narrowed in the morning light, studying every stitch and fold. There was no pride in her expression; only professional contemplation and study. It was very mechanical, like the devices that had put the dress of mourning together—that had put everything in her Boutique together.
Rarity sighed.
She stood up, trotting over to the edge of the fitting room where one of several ponyquins waited in the shadows. She slipped the dress over it and examined the gown from all sides, marking places to be adjusted with pins of all shapes.
Minutes later, she was trotting across the Boutique in order to fetch some more black fabric. As she did so, she glanced through a parlor door halfway down the central hall. A typewriter stood before the window, alone and silent in the dust-laden beams of a morning spotlight.
Rarity wrenched her gaze away and continued trotting towards the far end of the building. She fetched the fabric from her closet and slowly returned the way she came. Once she passed the parlor door, she paused again, coming to a complete stop this time.
A sheet of paper lay in the typewriter, its surface glinting with a pale sheen.
Rarity's jaws went tight. She pivoted towards the far end of the hallway, levitated the fabric before her, and resumed her canter.
More minutes past.
With softly clopping hooves, Rarity limply returned to the parlor. Like a leaf surrendering to gravity, she drifted towards the typewriter until she stood before it with dull eyes. Several cold breaths funneled through the mare, causing the edges of the paper sheet to flutter.
At last, with an inward sigh, Rarity levitated a stool over and sat before the typewriter. She folded her limbs delicately beneath her and sent an enchanted beam of magic through her horn. With surprising ease, she began plodding away at the keys to the instruments. Her lips moved, pronouncing the words of the page aloud while they manifested before her.
"'Silk is the most delicate and precious of fabrics, capable of making supremely exquisite gowns that even a princess would envy. As Ponyville's resident expert on fashion, I've have the pleasure of working with the material all of my life, and even to this day I am alarmed to find an endless catalogue of creative and fabulous ensembles to make with it. But, for all its scarcity, silk isn't nearly as precious as something that has surrounded me in great abundance everyday, something that I now realize I have sorely taken for granted...
In a playground on the edge of town, several foals skipped from one place to another, playing games of tag and tossing their laughter into the sunny sky. Along the edge of the park, parents watched their children from a distance. They sat, bunched together on benches, sharing intimate and melancholic conversations. From far away, Sweetie Belle squatted beneath the shade of a tree in the morning hours. As dozens of fillies and colts laughed and played before her, she simply lay there, resting her chin on her forelimbs, choosing to stare at the dull and occasionally tearful faces of the adults as they continued discussing the upcoming funeral. With a sigh, Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and fought a shudder or two as they ripped through her tiny figure.
"'Friends and family: they are just as exquisite, if not more so, and yet they are infinitely more delicate. There is nothing more fragile than lives that are lived together, that are required to bond together. It makes for an existence that is downright abrasive at times, but the cost is more than affordable, for the rewards are too delightful to ever bother giving up...
Immersed in the dimness of her bedroom, Twilight sat before an array of books spread across her mattress. She wasn't reading a single one of them. Instead, her dull eyes stared out the nearest window, her horn drifting amidst the dust of the gray shadows all around. A deep breath poured out of her, and her ears drooped as moisture lined the edges of her eyes. To her side, a plastic box lay with a chocolate tiara contained within. The princess didn't bother looking at it; she couldn’t even smile.
"'You can live your life alone, just like you can make a dress without silk. But how plain and unfabulous that sort of an existence would be, devoid of the warmth that makes us who we are. After all, we are more than the sum of our own lonely selves. Together, we multiply our strengths and our aspirations, and we produce beautiful poetry...
Behind the cottage, Fluttershy hoofed Dinky some lettuce. Under the pegasus' guidance, the filly trotted nervously towards the edge of a stream. Her face scrunched up as the first of several turtles bobbed to the surface. Dinky glanced back with a quivering lip, but Fluttershy urged her along. Gulping, the filly trotted forward... then extended the lettuce at forelimb's length. The turtle eyed her, then opened its mouth, chomping onto the lettuce and yanking it from Dinky's grip. The filly yelped slightly, but immediately broke into breathy giggles as she proudly pointed at the feat. Fluttershy clapped and lent her more lettuce. She watched silently as Dinky continued the caretaking, although a nervous sigh escaped the mare's lips.
"'Ponies are social creatures. We love life... and we love loving life. But this is best experienced when we are together, when we have a chance to commune with both our hopes and our fears combined so that we can find meaning—a catharsis, if you will—that may bring comfort where it cannot bring contemplation. By these means do we survive in a turbulent world that requires our commitment to maintain harmony...
Pinkie trotted slowly, lonesomely through the hallways of Sugarcube Corner. The shop was closed for the week, and most of the bright lamps that typically illuminated the place were switched off. She fumbled about in the shadows, ultimately slumping down the stairs and making her way into the kitchen. There, she paused, blinking as she saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake in the corner, finishing up the last of some much-needed cleanup. As Mrs. Cake paused to look at the sparkly clean counters, Mr. Cake placed a hoof on her shoulder. Something inside the aged mare collapsed, and she started to shake uncontrollably. Carrot drew Cup Cake into a dear hug, and she sobbed quietly into her husband's embrace while the two drifted together. From afar, Pinkie leaned against the hallway doorframe, her blank face attempting to process the moment, but failing.
"'How incredibly devastating it is, then, when death strikes at the core of what we are, when it rips holes in the fabric of our communion like a foolish customer might tear a fine sheet of silk. Death consumes us regularly, and oftentimes at random, but must we define ourselves by death? Nay, I would argue that death only solidifies the way in which life categorizes us—as creatures of incredibly good fortune, capable of experiencing warmth... and feeling...
Applejack galloped breathlessly towards the top of a steep hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres. She stumbled a few times, but picked herself back up—something she was incredibly good at. When she approached a lone apple tree at the top of the hill, however, her hooves lurched into a slow trot. Soon, she stood beside the tree, gazing down at the rows upon rows of orchards. In the pale morning light, they almost resembled headstones. At last, Applejack slumped down, gazing at the ample harvest her family had prepared all around her. It was a sea of deliciousness, and yet staring at it made her shatter from the inside out. The first of many starved tears ran down her freckled face, and with a sniffling sound Applejack collapsed on all fours, hiding her quietly sobbing muzzle into her forelimbs.
"'We do not feel only to experience pain. There is joy, as well, sandwiched between the mountains of darkness, but it is most palpable there, there where it is hidden, where only creatures as delightfully unique and complicated as us can relish the flavors of emotion prepared for our hearts and our hearts alone. And with such an immense feast set for such an infinitesimal period of time, I no longer shall allow myself to skim the table like a finicky critic. I shall devour that which is on my plate, and share wholeheartedly with those around me...
Rarity slowly plodded away at the typewriter, her eyes warm and vibrant for the first time in days. Her voice had taken a honeyed tone by this time, almost like the lyrics to a song as she melodically canceled out the noise of the machine translating the words before her.
"'I shall share truth and beauty and love, for generosity is the one quality that makes us greater than death, that allows us to outshine its dark, selfish vacuum. And even if tomorrow my name is to vanish in the cold breath of that harrowing night, somepony out there will have known—and will know forever—that I reached out and touched you, that I cherished you, and I have and shall always... love you forevermore...
"For in life or in death, we are both the same, and nothing will ever... ever change that.'"
A thick, rumbling thundercloud loomed high above Rainbow Dash's mane. She sat on the edge of a stony cliff, hugging herself. After a shuddering breath, she lifted her head towards the landscape below... and she lifted it with a steely frown.
Ghastly Gorge stretched out before her like a geological scab wound. The briar patch in the middle of it blended with the shadows of the passing storm overhead. None of the noonday light pierced the viscous haze.
But that was alright; Rainbow Dash didn't need a spotlight.
Thunder boomed. As if that was her cue, the pegasus stood up, stretching and flexing her legs. She stared at Ghastly Gorge and Ghastly Gorge stared back. Channeling her breath through a sneer, the fast flier darted forward, galloped, and plunged clear off the edge of the cliff.
Her wings spread, and she soared so swiftly towards the heart of the abyss that her ears rang from the whistling winds. Layers of sundered landscape blurred past her, piling the shadows on thick and thicker as she plummeted, threaded her way effortlessly through the briarpatch, and sailed on to a steep ravine filled with holes on either side.
A patch of red-stained stone littered the ground beneath her, flanked by splintery pieces of a smashed cargo container. But Rainbow Dash flew past this, hurdling her blue body towards the mess of tiny caves in the rock beyond.
"You think you're tough?!" Rainbow Dash hissed into the darkness. "You think you like eating pegasi for breakfast?"
Lightning flickered high above. From where Rainbow Dash flew, a savage slit of exposed sky turned hot silver and disappeared. The holes to her left and right strobed in and out of existence, but she knew that they were still there, surrounding her, watching her.
"Where are ya?! Huh?!" Rainbow's voice cracked through the growl she had been mustering since she first took off. "Show your ugly faces! You're not so strong! Let's have it out! Right here! Right now!"
Again, lightning flickered. Again, there was nothing but darkness in the holes.
Rainbow Dash's fury reached its peak. "I'm not some weak, bumbling idiot!" Rainbow howled against the cascading throes of thunder. "You wanna take on a pony?! Then take me! I'm the best there is, and I'll make this your worst day ever!"
Despite all her fuming, nothing happened.
So, with an agonized shout, Rainbow Dash pulled up, backflipped, came about, and twirled like a living drill through one of the many holes, diving straight in. The wind died completely as she barreled down a deep, deep tunnel that reeked of slime, stench, and humidity.
"Here I am!" she shouted, flying dead-straight into the nothingness. Somepony was panting, and she pushed it all away with her loudest voice. "What are you afraid of?! Huh?! Come out and face me!"
Darkness and darkness. Her ears stopped ringing, and she could now hear her flapping wings like an infant's heartbeat all around her.
"I said..." Rainbow spat. "What are you afraid of?!"
Something flew back at Rainbow, numbing her. It was an echo, deep and haunting, and it carried with it the same question. Only this time it resonated with the magnitude of five voices, and Rainbow gasped, for she knew each one of them.
She came to a stop, hyperventilating. A cold sweat ran down her body. She tried speaking, but all that came out now were errant squeaks. It wasn't terror, but something far more devastating. As a result, she was almost blind to the harrowing sight of multiple pairs of slitted eyes opening up in the darkness and suddenly thrusting at her.
"Guhh!" Rainbow spun about, kicked off the walls, and soared straight back the way which she came. She bumped and ricocheted stupidly off the slimy walls. Far ahead, flashes of lightning announced her exit, but she was too busy trembling from the loud claps of iron jaws snapping just behind her flailing tail hairs.
At last, the pegasus burst out of the tunnel, and the tangled snouts of four Quarry Eels surged after her. They hissed and snarled, taking savage bites of the air.
Rainbow grunted, twisting and turning in mid-air. Several pairs of jaws snapped just inches from her scalp. A few threads of her mane were even ripped out. With a shout, she kicked off the nose of one eel, spun through a strobe of lightning, and shot skyward into the thunder. She panted, glancing behind her as the gigantic serpents angrily hissed into the air before slowly, darkly slinking back into their abysmal habitats.
A cold shudder ran through Rainbow, and it grounded her. She came to a clumsy, stumbling stop along the edge of a mountain. There, she curled into a ball, hugging herself tightly as her lips quivered.
"What... what... wh-what am I d-doing...?" She foalishly whimpered. But then the same growl as before caught up with her, and she was banging her forehead multiple times with an angry hoof. "Idiot! Stupid, mule-headed, worthless idiot!" She sat up, still hyperventilating as she gazed in disbelief at the Gorge below. "What the h-hay was I thinking?!"
It only took a few seconds of meditating on it, and Rainbow didn't like the answer. Her face hung in a painful lurch between confusion and shame. At last, she hugged herself, rocking back and forth as the storm boiled overhead. She silently wished that the noise would drown out her aching thoughts. She would be disappointed.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
Spike looked up from the library's first floor room. He immediately slapped a book shut and hid it behind his back. "Th-there you are! Finally! Did you... did you get all the preparations done?"
Twilight nodded as she slowly trotted down the stairs. "They are all in order, Spike." She paused just a few steps above the bottom floor. "I just need to pay the Mayor at least one more visit and then I'll have you send a final message to Canterlot just like I had you send the casket order."
"Oh, uh, I got a response to that, by the way," he said, waddling across the room and picking up a note from a table. "Looks like they'll be making a speedy delivery by this afternoon! That's certainly ahead of schedule, isn't it?"
"Who's 'they,' Spike?"
Spike turned the scroll sideways, squinting at it. "It says here... 'the Capital Air Mail Service.'"
"Aren't they privately operated?" Twilight asked. "Usually a company like that takes at least two days to deliver."
"I bet that all changed when they saw the official seal of the Princess on the request I sent them." Spike smiled with wagging eyecrests. "Eh? Ehh?"
Twilight's nostrils flared. Emotionlessly, she trotted down the last few steps until she was at even level with the whelp. "Spike, you know I didn't ask you to use my official seal for this request."
"Perhaps not." He pointed. "But you gotta admit, it certainly made sure we got the casket in time for the funeral, huh?"
"Yes..." She slowly nodded. "Still, I'm... not that sure I'm ready to be given the royal treatment for just about everything. It all seems so... unfair."
"You know, Twilight, I can think of at least two dozen ponies who would die for a chance to sport a tiara like yours." He winced. "Okay... uh... bad choice of words."
"I get it, Spike," she droned as she trotted towards a bookcase and started straightening a few uneven tomes. "I'm just not in a joking mood, I guess."
"But it wasn't a joke." He gulped and held a hand up. "Honest."
"If you say so."
Spike fidgeted, his eyes sweeping across the floor as he rocked on the heels of his scaled feet. At last, he blurted, "I read it, y'know."
"Hmmm? Read what?"
"That book on Starswirl the Bearded that you kept around for the last two days and pretended not to be reading along with all the funeral stuff."
Twilight froze. Quietly, unblinking, she swiveled about to face him. Her face was neither sad nor angry.
Spike took that as an opportunity to continue. "You know, I always wondered why he never became an alicorn," he said. "I always thought... heheh..." He smirked. "That it's because a burly unicorn with a thick beard wouldn't have wanted to be called a 'princess.' Heheh... get it? See, this time it was a joke."
"Princess Celestia told me that Starswirl the Bearded could never invent magic," Twilight remarked. She stared at the book in Spike's grip. "He was always enhancing spells, transfiguring and empowering them, but he could never invent magic. He was always lacking something."
Spike tilted his head aside. "Friends?"
Twilight fidgeted. "I was going to say 'creativity.' But... well... we all know how I became an alicorn."
Spike pointed at the book. "It says here that at some point in his life, Starswirl just... disappeared."
"Well, he died, Spike."
"No, I mean before that. He just left all his servants, hoofed Clover the Clever all his materials, and took off like a hermit for the mountains. He didn't even say goodbye to his family!"
"He was always concentrated on his work, first and foremost."
"Yeah, but how would living the rest of his years alone accomplish anything for the school of magic, huh?" Spike shrugged. "The book has accounts of ponies who knew him at the time. They say that he... just got really sullen and quiet all the time. It's like... it's like he just gave up."
Twilight shook her head. "Starswirl's legacy is not about his end days, Spike. Throughout his service to the three nations of Proto-Equestria, he practiced a philosophical ambition that to this day has not been matched. If it weren't for his dedicated works, magic today would be weak and useless, because he bridged the gap through the dark ages of our history."
"Yeah, but even after all of that..." Spike rubbed the spines along his head. "He gave it all up to live in seclusion and misery?"
"We don't know that he was miserable, Spike."
"But he gave up on having friends and family around! I mean... th-that sounds pretty miserable..." Spike leaned forward. "Don't you think?"
Twilight sighed. She turned and resumed setting books in place. "I really don't know what you're getting at, Spike. As much as I'd love to speculate on history, I have things to do, and I really can't afford to—" Her body jostled from a tiny weight. With blinking eyes, she glanced down.
Spike had dropped the book and was presently hugging her side. "Please, Twilight..." He spoke in a shaky voice. "Don't ever give up. You've done amazing things, but that doesn't mean you have to be super serious or alone for the rest of your life."
"Spike?! I'm..." She shook her head. "Who said I was g-going to be alone? I just... I-I just have some serious work to do, okay?"
"I know. I always know that." He looked up at her with glossy eyes, nevertheless smiling. "I will always be there for you, You know that, r-right?"
Twilight sighed. "Oh, Spike..." She brought a hoof down and caressed his chin while nuzzling the top of his head. "Of c-course I do."
"I just... I just want to make sure..." He gulped and murmured, "Before anything that m-might happen... does happen..."
To that, Twilight said nothing. She merely stared into the distance as she slowly caressed the little whelp’s shoulder.
Rarity sat on a park bench, a scarf hanging tightly around her delicate neck. Her hooves were daintily folded beneath her, and she spent the lonely minutes staring into the clearing haze of a distant thunderstorm to the northeast.
For all the thunder and rumbling in the distance, it was the quietest of sounds—or more appropriately the author of the quietest of sounds—that startled her.
"Uhm... Rarity?"
The unicorn jumped in place, then glanced aside. "Pinkie! I didn't expect you to be here so far away from Sugarcube Corner—" She looked forward again, froze in place, and flashed the mare a shocked expression. "Pinkie Pie? Are... are you feeling alright, darling?"
Pinkie Pie didn't immediately answer. She hardly even moved. As the seconds ticked by after Rarity's question, she simply kneaded the dirt road with the tips of her hooves and murmured, "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know if I'm allowed to say anymore."
"What do you mean 'allowed to say?'" Rarity smirked helplessly. "You are yourself, are you not?"
Pinkie simply bit her lip.
Rarity blinked at that. Clearing her throat, she patted the bench beside her with a polite smile. "Perhaps you would like to sit still by my side?"
Pinkie nodded, lethargically climbing onto the bench and squatting on folded limbs besides Rarity.
The fashionista gawked at that. "Oh my, you do wish to 'sit still.'" She gulped and stared back towards the stormy horizon. "Well, this most certainly is distressing."
"If I'm bothering you, it's okay." Pinkie made to climb back down. "I'll leave ahead of time."
"Huh? What? No!" Rarity held the mare's shoulder still. "Perish the thought! Why, you are one of my best friends, and I wouldn't wish to pass up an opportunity to chew the fat, as t'were."
"You sure about that?" Pinkie's ears folded on either side of her head. "None of my friends seem to want me around them, even if there is some fat that's worth chewing!"
"Now, you know that certainly isn't true, Pinkie." Rarity patted one of her hooves. "This has... simply been a harrowing week, all in all. I dare say we haven't exactly been our normal selves."
"But why is that, you think?" Pinkie murmured with a foalish, pouting expression. "None of this is like any of the other crazy stuff you and me and the girls go through!"
"Oh?"
"We've kicked the holey butts of changelings and stared down angry dragons and reformed a giant living serpent goat thing with the voice of that one guy who once played a letter of the alphabet—"
"I get your point, darling." Rarity fidgeted. "Or... at least I-I think I do."
Pinkie sighed, slumping her chin down onto her forelimbs. "All of the zany adventures and scary stuff we've been through have somehow gotten us close together! But this week—one really sweet and adorable pony dies—and suddenly none of my friends want anything to do with me!"
"It's not nearly as simple as that, Pinkie Pie," Rarity said, adjusting the length of her scarf. "We all need our space because... because..." She shifted in her seat. "Well, to be perfectly frank, a death among friends or family isn't quite the same as battling some horrible miscreant with the Elements of Harmony. It's so... tragic, and yet it's so commonplace. It's a pivotal piece of our existence as ponies that we cannot defeat, nor can we deny. When one faces death in the face, it... well... it has an impact on all of us, and it affects us all differently. Sometimes that's not so easy to weather together as a group. We function together as a unit, yes, but more often than not we feel the need to process the information separately, so that we can know how to present it to an open forum when necessary time permits."
Pinkie's face scrunched up. "You make preparing a funeral sound like going to court."
Rarity chuckled slightly. "Yes, I do believe I tend to stretch the issue out into far too many words." She chuckled again.
Pinkie's face lit up briefly. "I... I-I made you laugh?"
Rarity cleared her throat. "Now, there's the rub, dear. You seem rather desperate to console somepony you care about. You have to realize, though, that the solution isn't always through laughter."
"I guess..." Pinkie sighed as she slumped back down again. "But it's my only solution."
Rarity glanced at her, tapped her chin in thought, and ultimately said, "Personally, I would beg to differ."
"Huh?"
"You're not a pony defined by simply one thing, Pinkie Pie," Rarity said. "It's not so much laughter or jocularity that embodies you. You are—beyond the shadow of a doubt—the very pinnacle of optimism. It is as though every fiber of your being is wired to seek that which is good, rosy, and warm about life. I imagine all of that must be terribly hard to do when so many ponies around you are determined to be miserable."
"I know, r-right?" Pinkie gulped, staring at the grass beneath the spaces of the bench's wooden beams. "When I tried cheering up Mrs. Cake, she got outright angry with me. Twilight started acting all weird when I dropped in on her and the Mayor. And... and..." She fumbled. "Well, even you wanted to bite my head off, Rarity, and not because my mane is so cotton candy delicious!"
Rarity winced. "You're... you're right, Pinkie, and I am terribly sorry. Truly, I am. It's just that..." She blinked, then sighed. "No. There is no need for excusing things anymore. I was wrong, Pinkie. I was wrong to have been so short with you the other night in front of Dinky's house. I am sorry for that. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize."
"I totally forgive you! But, still, I don't get it!" Pinkie stared at her. "Just what do you have a glittery bag of sorries for?"
"Because I haven't been up front with you, Pinkie," Rarity said. "I haven't been frankly honest with anypony. And if you ask me, I do believe that is the problem with all of us right now." She gulped before clarifying, "What's happened is so tragic and unexpected that it's thrown us all into our separate little corners, afraid to bridge the gap of this... this abyss that has formed beneath us. I know I can't speak for the others, but I know that I can speak for myself."
Pinkie's eyes darted left and right. She sat up straight beside Rarity and said, "Well, maybe it would help you to tell me about it! If I can't make you laugh, at least maybe I could... uh... help you get back in contact with the warm fuzzies of life?" She grinned hopefully with soft eyes. "Okie dokie lokie?"
Rarity looked at her, misty-eyed. She gave a tiny nod. "I... I-I do believe I would appreciate that, Pinkie."
Pinkie smiled back. She took the opportunity to gently clasp onto Rarity's hooves.
The fashionista sighed, gazing painfully into the windswept park grass as she said, "When I found out about Derpy passing away, I instantly thought about her child. I was simply, absolutely compelled to go visit her. And when I saw the foal with my own eyes—so blissfully happy in spite of what had happened to her mother—well, I suppose it opened up an old wound from a time long passed, a dark secret that I've kept along with my family. It is something that—in a new and reinvigorated light—I now regret ever casting into darkness to begin with, for it has done so much to dirty my soul, and to stifle the love I could have had to share with ponies so close to me." She gulped. "Namely, Sweetie Belle."
"Your lil' sister?" Pinkie Pie asked in a breathless tone. "But... what could possibly be so terrible a secret that it'd hurt you and her?"
Rarity inhaled sharply, fighting back tears. "You must promise me, Pinkie. You must promise not to tell until I have finally mustered up the courage to share it whom I care about myself."
"Oh, you know it!" Pinkie then blushed. "I... uh... would Pinkie Pie swear, but I'm kinda sorta holding hoofsies with you at the moment. Eheheh..."
Rarity cracked a grin. "I trust you, darling. I trust you." She then grimaced. "I just... h-hope that you still think of me in the same way after today..."
"Well, who wouldn't, ya big perfumed marshmallow?! Now spill it, gurrrl!"
"Did you see how easily those blue jays trusted me?!" Dinky hopped in a cute little circle around the center of Fluttershy's cottage. "It's like they were willing to eat right out of my hoof! I've never gotten so close to little birdies before!"
Fluttershy chuckled breathily as she packed a bag of feed back into a wooden cabinet. "You're a natural, Dinky. I bet you could run your own aviary at a zoo if you wanted to!"
"You think I'll get to feed a lot of birds once I grow up to be a firefighter?!"
"I... uh..." Fluttershy winced slightly. "I don't know." She gave a hopeful smile. "Unless, perhaps, you ran into a phoenix or two."
"What do phoenixes eat?"
"Um... sm-smaller... phoenixes...?" Fluttershy shrugged. Just then, there was a knock on her door. "Oh! Uhm... would you look at that! Company!"
"Maybe somepony else wants to feed the birds."
"Who knows. Maybe?" Fluttershy hummed as she made her way towards the front door. "I sure hope you don't mind."
Dinky shrugged with a smile. "It's your dreamy cottage paradise, Miss Fluttershy. Not mine."
Fluttershy smiled nervously as she undid the multiple locks along the doorframe. When she finally swung the entrance open, her eyes opened with surprise. "R-Rainbow Dash! What... how..." Her brow furrowed. "Why are you so wet?"
Rainbow Dash stood on the stoop, fidgeting. The pegasus' body was soaked through to her mane and feathers. "Uh... hi."
"Erm... hello?"
"I was wondering if... if..." Rainbow Dash blinked, then craned her neck to squint over the caretaker's shoulder. "Ah jeez. You have her here?"
"Hiya, Miss Rainbow Dash!" Dinky waved a gray hoof while smiling. "Miss Fluttershy gave me the bird! Actually, many of them!"
"I'm sure she did."
"Eheheh..." Fluttershy blushed. "She means that figuratively. Such a witty child."
"Yeah. Uh huh. Say Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash looked fixedly at her. "Could we chat for a moment?"
"Chat?"
"A quick gab. I promise I won't take too much of your 'lying-to-the-cute-and-innocent-time.'"
"Oh. But of course." Fluttershy gulped and turned back towards Dinky. "I need to have a word with Rainbow Dash for a moment, Dinky. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
"I won't move an inch from this cottage, Miss Fluttershy!" Dinky saluted as little rodents and critters scurried behind her.
"Hmmmm..." Fluttershy trotted out the door with her prismatic friend. "Such a polite, obedient child." She closed the door softly behind her.
Dinky stood alone, rocking back and forth on her hooves as she hummed to herself. She smiled at the creatures scampering past her in opposite directions. Just then, she heard something—like a tiny chirping noise from above. Her head tilted up in time to see the blue shard atop its high shelf flashing.
"Huh?"
The sound stone strobed on and off, producing a familiar voice with an otherworldly echo.
"Crkkk! Muffin? My muffin? Are you there?"
Dinky hopped in place. "M-Mommy?!" She grinned wide. "Mommy, is that you?"
"Whew! You're rather quiet today! Heheheh. You didn't stay up late, did you?"
"I'm right here Mommy!" Dinky hopped in place, waving emphatically. "Down here!"
"Whoops! I know—You're probably asleep. Well, I'm your Mommy, not an alarm clock! I should try another time. Besides, I've got some busy-busy things to do at the moment."
"Wait! No! Mommy, wait!" Dinky panicked, running up to the wall and hopping in futility. The stone was so high up, the filly couldn't even bother with tossing something at it to knock the thing down. Breathless, she looked around, then saw a pile of boxes containing animal grooming products. Desperate, she dashed over and grabbed one. Rushing back to the wall in quick bursts, Dinky started constructing an elaborate tower of containers, boxes, and furniture pieces. "Just hold up, Mommy! I'm coming!"
"In case you hear this in your dreams, you take care of yourself, okay...?"
“Mommy loves you and is going to cook you a super scrumptious dinner when she gets home, okay?!” Derpy smiled into her blue necklace. She blinked a few times into perpetual starlight. “Muffin?” Silence. “Oh well. Sleep tight, darling! Mommy’s gotta go!”
As she slid the pendant back down the neck of her jacket, a voice above her spoke in a gravelly tone, “Is there something amiss, brave one?”
“Noperooni!” Derpy cleared her throat, slid a bronze helmet over her head, and narrowed her googly eyes with menace. “Alright, Mister Broken One! Let’s do this!”
“Absolutely!” A cloaked biped with gnarled flesh waved a sickle high in the air above where he straddled the armored pegasus. “Brothers! Sisters! Tonight, we and the Harbinger of Bubbles fight for the remnants of our sacred homeland!”
Flanking Derpy on either side were similar creatures riding giant elephants, clad in azure armor and studded with glimmering jewels. These enraged spearmen lined up along the edge of a craggy mountain cliff, overlooking a valley of dark slade and burning obsidian. Plumes of scarlet flame spat up into the cosmos as the creature riding Derpy shouted into the bleak, bleak heavens.
“We shall take back what is rightfully ours, and drive the fel orcs into the abyss! For the Harbinger of Bubbles is a sign! A sign of change! A sign of great glory in the everlasting Light!”
Ten thousand voices roared, shaking the very foundation of the floating landscape. Just then, the flames parted, exposing a steep slope of unimpeded tramping grounds.
“Now! My brothers and sisters!” The rider swung his glinting sickle forward, shouting with righteous bloodlust. “Down with the infernal reaver! Tear the murderous golem’s metal limbs apart!”
“It’s a bad day to be you, you naughty naughty robot!” Derpy reared her hooves with rattling armor, then gave a long squealing death shout as she plunged first down the mountainside.
A veritable earthquake boiled on either side of her as the alien cavalry rode down behind the mare. The elephants’ stampeding hooves split the ground in many places, stamping the flames before they had a chance to burst out of their hellish fissures. Surging as one mighty mass, the riding army descended onto a five-story tall and unsuspecting automaton made out of unpolished green armor as it lurched in the middle of the burning plain. It scrambled to swing its massive limbs at the attackers, but was soon overwhelmed.
“For the Ashtongue Deathsworn!” a thousand angry voices roared at once.
“For glory, for harmony, and for muffins!” Derpy shouted as she dove victoriously into the melee of clanging swords and clashing steel. “But mostly for the muffins!” She smiled in opposite directions as the overwhelmed robot cracked apart before her.
"So, uhm, were you skinny dipping?" Fluttershy asked. "Fluffing up rain clouds? Diving for pearls?"
"None of those things," Rainbow muttered, her hooves making slick little puddles as she paced up and down the path before her friend's cottage.
"It wasn't... Gilda, was it?" Fluttershy's ears folded as she trembled in place. "Please say this isn't the revenge of a jilted griffon!"
"No! No war with griffons or tsunamis or monsoons or whatcrap!" Rainbow Dash snapped. At the sight of Fluttershy flinching, she sighed and sat down with a calm breath. "Look, I just... I just wanted to ask you a question."
"Okay..."
"It's kind of a stupid question."
Fluttershy smiled warmly, trembling less. "There's no such thing as a stupid question, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow fidgeted, her mane hanging over her worried face like seven colored washcloths. "What's it like to feel weak and helpless?" she ultimately blurted.
Fluttershy grimaced. "That is... is..." She gulped and smiled awkwardly. "An interesting question."
"Ungh!" Rainbow rolled her eyes and stretched her wings out. "I knew this was stupid."
"No! Rainbow, wait!" Fluttershy placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder before she could even flap her feathers. "I'm very curious why you would ask such a thing."
"Are you?" Rainbow squinted at her. "Really?"
"Well, I guess it's not really a surprise that you would ask me. I'm just curious as to why."
"Does that mean you don't have an answer?" Rainbow tapped her hoof.
Fluttershy shrugged before breathily replying, "I guess it feels... scary at times to be 'weak and helpless.'"
"So..." Rainbow leaned forward. "You mean that you're scared all the time?"
"Yes! I mean no! I mean..." Fluttershy dug at the ground as her face dulled. "I used to. All the time, that is. I used to feel very, very, very scared. But that is behind me now."
Rainbow Dash looked at the front to Fluttershy's cottage, then back at her. "So what's with all the locks on your door, huh?"
"Erm..."
"And all the leashes you put on your ferrets and the cages you build for the rabbits—?"
"I still exercise a lot of caution in my life, yes, but I'm a lot better, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy insisted. "I am... very much healthier than I used to be."
"Healthier?"
"Mmmmhmmm." Fluttershy bequeathed her a fragile smile. "My fear used to be so thick that—well—you could cut it with a knife!" She shuddered. "And, ohhhhhhhh, how I h-hate knives!"
Rainbow Dash stared at her with a bored expression.
"Don't look at me like that! I mean it!" Fluttershy exclaimed, then went on in a softer tone. "When I was a little filly, I... uhm... I-I was exposed to death pretty early."
Rainbow Dash's eyes rounded slightly. "Your two oldest brothers, right?"
Fluttershy did a double-take. "Oh. Oh dear, I forgot. I told you, didn't I?"
"You've told me a lot of things, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash murmured. "They gave their lives defending a bigshot pony from Manehattan, isn't that right?"
"It wasn't just any 'bigshot pony,' Rainbow Dash. It was Prince Firefeathers of the Northern Province, and the hydras that attacked his caravan almost attacked Princess Celestia at their meeting place as well."
"Right." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I totally wasn't trying to downplay the whole thing."
"And I know that, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said with a nod. "And, honestly, the whole family was more or less prepared for something like this. Ever since Swifttail and Cloud Break joined the Royal Guard, we knew that they were setting themselves up for a very... d-dangerous lifestyle." She hung her head. "But still, when it happened—when they passed away—I was very young, and I didn't quite understand things like my parents and older siblings did. The family has always been very large. My mother gave me all the attention she could manage, but still..."
Rainbow Dash listened silently.
With a sigh, Fluttershy raised her head again with misty eyes. "I was devastated, but only for selfish reasons. I hadn't gotten to know Swiftail and Cloud Break. They were my very own brothers, but I didn't see them around all the time. In my mind, they were like strangers. Honestly, I got to know them more in death than when they were actually alive. And that... struck me as strange. In my young mind, I figured that death was something that me and the rest of my siblings had to face sooner than later. It was a major part of living, and I saw it in every shadow and sunset and dark corner of the house." She began shivering as she continued. "I still remember the panic attacks I would have vividly. My blood would turn to ice and my whole body would go cold. I would spend entire afternoons lying in bed, afraid to step out the door... and th-this was before grade school!" She gulped. "I was such an anxious, nervous wreck."
"I knew you were skittish when I first met you at Flight School," Rainbow Dash said. "But jeez, Fluttershy. That's hardcore."
"I suppose it was," she replied with a dainty exhale. "Truth is, I'm not sure how I made it through my young years without becoming completely paralyzed by fear." She paused, blinked, then smiled rosily. "No. I'm wrong. Of course I know." She stifled a chuckle and gazed lovingly at her friend. "It's because of you, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow only winced at that.
"I mean it, Rainbow Dash. You came into my life at such a fragile time and showed me true, true strength."
"I got into a dumb race and knocked you off a friggin' cloud."
"Yes, well, I consider it like a leap of faith in hindsight." Fluttershy's tail flicked. "Heehee... It got me my cutie mark, didn't it?"
"Still, it's not like you got over your fears overnight," Rainbow grumbled.
"No, but you were there to protect me in those days, Rainbow," Fluttershy said. She kicked at the earth with a demure hoof. "You've always been around to protect me. It's so sweet of you."
Rainbow Dash sighed, turning away with a lethargic expression.
Fluttershy blinked at her. "Rainbow Dash? What's wrong?"
Rainbow's feathers flexed and unflexed. She muttered, "But you're still 'weak and helpless.' Even to this day."
Fluttershy bit her lip.
"What's up with that, huh?" Rainbow's voice cracked. "Aren't I good enough... awesome enough to keep you safe?"
"Uhhh..."
"To keep all you guys safe?"
Fluttershy's brow furrowed at that. "Rainbow Dash, we all know how loyal you are! I'm a much better pony today, and I owe a great deal of that to you! I mean... knowing that you're around to look after me—after all of us—is what's helped me take extra steps in my life!"
"But it's all horseapples! Don't you get it?!" Rainbow Dash spun around. "You need to look after yourself more! You! Twilight! Rarity! Even Applejack and Pinkie Pie!"
"Huh...?!"
"Just... st-stop depending so much on me, alright?!" Rainbow Dash grunted, avoiding Fluttershy's eyes. "It's not cool! You and the other gals deserve better!"
"But... I don't understand." Fluttershy's jaw fell. "Why—?!"
"Because I'm only gonna let you down!" Rainbow snapped. "Okay?! You happy now?"
Fluttershy slowly shook her head. "No. No, Rainbow, I'm not happy. I-I'm confused! What do you mean?"
"Unnngh..." Rainbow Dash ran a shaky hoof over her face. "I dunno, okay?"
"You don't want to protect us anymore?"
"No!" Rainbow lowered her hoof and frowned. "Heck, no!"
"Then what is it? What's making you so upset?"
"I'm not upset! Just... just fr-frustrated..."
"Aren't those the same things?"
"No! Maybe? Guhhh..."
"Rainbow—"
"Look, there's nothing in life that's so stupid that I can't fix!" Rainbow said, but then sighed with drooping ears. "At least I used to think so."
Fluttershy looked at her expression, then at her limp wingfeathers. She trotted closer. "Rainbow, I think you've let the weight of the last few days bear down on you a bit too much. You just need to relax, allow your thoughts and feelings to make sense to you."
"Everything makes enough sense as it is," Rainbow Dash muttered. "That's not the issue."
"Then what is? You came here to talk to me for a reason, didn't you?"
Rainbow merely bit her lip.
Fluttershy took a deep breath, then caressed the mare's shoulder while smiling. "Maybe tomorrow, hmmmm? When you come to the funeral, you can bear your soul then. I bet it would make you feel better, and I'm absolutely sure it's what Miss Hooves would have wanted."
Rainbow Dash shuddered for a moment, then said, "That's not going to fix anything."
"Why not? I'm sure there'll be others there at the memorial who would gladly—"
"I mean I won't be there, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash swiveled until she was giving Fluttershy a blank expression. "I'm not going to Derpy's funeral."
Fluttershy leaned back as if dealt a gale force wind. "But... but wh-why not?"
"Just because..."
"You were her friend! Her co-worker! You... you were the one who went above and beyond to save her—"
"Yeah, and I screwed it up, okay?!" Rainbow Dash blurted. "Don't you get that?! I'm a total loser, and Derpy d-died because of it!"
Fluttershy stammered. "Rainbow..."
"And nopony would want a loser like me at the funeral of a pony who died because of my own screw-ups!" Rainbow Dash grunted. She nodded her head towards the cottage. "Especially Miss Adorable Innocence Pants in there. If I showed up at her mom's ceremony..." Rainbow Dash grimaced. "Face it, I'd just be dishonoring her. I'd be dishonoring everything."
Fluttershy slowly shook her head. "How could you p-possibly believe that?"
"How can't I?" Rainbow Dash shrugged. "It's true. Now, if you'll excuse me." She flapped her wings. "I gotta dry off and work on important things. After all, every other pony is treating this week like a friggin' holiday."
"Rainbow Dash, please! Don't fly away—"
It was too late. She was gone in a blue streak, leaving Fluttershy alone with her sighs. The mare slowly trotted around, sniffling as she made her way limply towards the cottage.
"Mnnnnghhh!" Dinky licked the edges of her muzzle, inching forward atop a tall and precariously leaning tower of randomly snatched household items. The column of containers, bags, and pet toys wobbled left and right with the fragile little foal positioned at the top, reaching for the dim blue shard positioned on the high shelf. "Come on, Mommy! I'm almost there! Just h-hang on!"
Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage. She looked up. Her eyes widened as a heavy gasp flew out of her mouth. "Dinky!"
"Gaaah!" Dinky flew forward, both hooves grasping the stone. "Got it!" Suddenly, the filly shrieked , for the tower gave way beneath her. "Whoahhhh!" She slipped and fell.
Fluttershy kicked at the doorframe, ignoring the multiple locks. She propelled herself in a yellow blur across the room, grabbing Dinky just inches before she could collide with the floorboards.
"Ooof!" Dinky jolted from the impact. The blue stone flew from her grasp.
The cottage rang with thunder. Dozens of mice and rodents scurried in opposite directions as the hulking tower of miscellaneous objects clattered to the floor. And among them was—
"No!" Dinky stammered from where she and Fluttershy landed. Her amber eyes reflected the sight of a blue sound stone shattering to hundreds of dusty fragments. "Oh no no no no no!"
"D-Dinky!" Fluttershy panted for breath. "What in Equestria were you doing?! You almost hurt yourself and—"
"Nnngh!" Frenzied, Dinky wormed out of Fluttershy's grasp and galloped across the room. She slid on her knees, coming to a stop before the pile of brittle blue stone fragments. "No... it's shattered... shattered to bits!" She choked on a sob. "Mommy!"
Fluttershy stood up. With heavy breaths, she glanced up at the high shelf which was now empty. Her pupils shrank. "Oh goodness..."
"Please..." Dinky's hooves clumsily swept the blue piles of dust together, fumbling in vain to make a solid object out of the irrecoverable sediment. "Oh please oh please oh please! There has to be a way to fix it!"
Fluttershy gulped and trotted softly towards her side. "Dinky..."
"She was just calling m-me!" Dinky's eyes sprang tears. "Just now! And I-I didn't get to answer her!"
"Dinky, please—"
"She's going to think I'm disobedient!" Dinky hiccuped. "She's g-going to think I'm the worst d-daughter in Equestria—!"
"Dinky, stop!" Fluttershy squatted on the other side of the dust, gripping the foal's hooves. "You cannot reach her anymore!"
"I know! The stone br-broke!" Dinky stammered between sobs. "Please! We g-got to fix it! Maybe Zecora will have another one! I h-have to know that Mommy is okay!"
"You have... You have..." Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut, seething into the darkness like a trembling foal on a bed somewhere. "You have to let her go, Dinky." She reopened her eyes with a misty gaze. "For your sake, you have to move on."
"But... But why...?"
"Because she is gone, Dinky," Fluttershy said in as firm a voice as she could manage. "Your mother has passed away. There's nothing you can do about it, but she loved you until the day she died. She loved you until the very end, and there's nothing for you to feel ashamed of."
"Stop it!" Dinky wrenched her hooves away from Fluttershy, frowning for the first time before the flabbergasted mare. "Stop saying that she's dead! Why is everypony saying that?!"
"Because it's true, Dinky. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry, but it's true. Rainbow Dash watched it happen. The pegasi guards who investigated Ghastly Gorge found nothing but blood and feathers. It was a terrible accident, a horrible... horrible tragedy, but she is no longer in our lives now! But we are alive! We have to honor her memory and move on!"
"But... I-I was just talking to her!" Dinky sniffed. "Yesterday and the day before! She c-can't be dead!"
"I know that you might think that, or perhaps even imagine that, but you have to stop pretending, Dinky," Fluttershy said. "Or else you may suffer from it for many years. You are strong, you are precious, and you are virtuous. You will endure!"
"I... I-I just don't understand..." Dinky wiped her cheek, shuddering. "This d-doesn't make any sense!" She sobbed and gazed at Fluttershy with sparkling eyes. "Did I do s-something wrong? Am I being punished? If so, I'm sorry. Please... I'm so very sorry..."
Fluttershy bit her lip. With an inner squeaking noise, she swept Dinky into a fierce hug, nuzzling her dearly. "Nothing of the s-sort, precious! Nopony would ever, ever punish you like that!"
"I'm so c-confused..." Dinky sobbed into Fluttershy's shoulder.
"I know, darling. But we're going to get through this, okay? Together, I promise you, we're not going to be sad forever."
"I don't want to be h-happy..." Dinky wheezed. "I-I just want my Mommy back!"
Fluttershy sucked in her breath while stroking the foal's mane. "I know, Dinky. And for what it's worth, I-I want her back too..."
Dinky had nothing to say—simply a series of indecipherable cries as she huddled in Fluttershy's soft embrace. Sunlight poured in through the open door, bringing a shine to the brittle shard fragments that briefly shimmered... and then was gone.
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Two things:
1. Is Derpy battling the Fel Reaver as a mount, leading the Dranei in an epic battle in the Outlands??
2. This chapter is easily the best so far. Rarity's wise words and her talk with Pinkie Pie were so, so excellent.
Did you just wedge a WoW an Avatar reference in this one?
Pinkie Pie and Rarity... They have their shit together. Pinkie moreso than the rest.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I'm betting Sweetie Belle is Rarity's daughter (hope I'm wrong).
The Mood Whiplash in this fic is intense. I love it.
...no.
...No way.
The feels... I can't escape!!
What the hell is Derpy doing?
Um... yeah...
Wow... This is one of the best fics on the site.
Wait Whinnepeg...do you mean Winnipeg oh sweet!
But yes honestly I am really enjoying the story the slow build you've got going
it's just killer.
3404486 From the look of it, serving as a prophetic hero/mount to the Ashtongue Deathsworn, a group of Broken Draenei, in Shadowmoon Valley and they are fighting Fel Orcs and a Fel Reaver. Nothing out of the ordinary for Derpy.
I am enjoying this story very much.
It is interesting to see how the mane six are handling death. It is very well done and I have been enjoying the ride so far. I think the characterization and the character reactions are great as well. Each character has their own way of responding to and dealing with the situation and it all seems very realistic. This story would be heart-wrenching if it weren't obvious that Derpy is actually OK and will eventually make it back. That last scene with Dinky brought a tear to my eye.
At times though I believe this story deserves the [comedy] tag because of Derpy (every thing she does and says is comical and/or smile-inducing) and then there are moments like this:
And Rarity has a secret? My thoughts are it involves Sweetie Belle in some way... (GASP>
What if:
This chapter made me feel nostalgic...
My parents are very old, and I'm going to miss them when they... go lead armies in epic battles at some point... I wish I had arrived earlier into the family
But such is life.
Thanks for this story Mr. Skirts, I'm loving it so far.
Go see Zecora!! Right now!
Epic battle was epic.
Oh dear...
NOOO!!! IT BROKE!!! FIX IT FIX IT FIX IIIIIIIITT!!!!