Doomsday

by SilentWanderer

A Day In Ponyville

It was a beautiful morning at Ponyville. The sun shined with a warm light.

“Good morning, Spike.”

“Good morning, Twilight.”

“Did you get all the books on my checklist?”

“Are you sure you are going to read this many today?”

“Oh, Spike, it's no problem! I am going to finish them in no time at all.”

The precariously balanced pile of books ended next to the ceiling.

“Well, I am going to Rarity's while you study. She promised me a sapphire if I help her clean her house.”

“Sure, go ahead! Bye, Spike!”

“Bye, Twilight!”

While Spike left, Twilight opened the first book of the pile, humming contently.

“Hi Spike!”

“Oh, hi Pinkie Pie!”

“Have you seen Rainbow Dash? I have this super duper idea for a prank, but I have not seen her anywhere!”

“I don't know, have you tried asking the other weather ponies?”

“That's a great idea! One of them must have seen her! See you later, Spike!”

“Bye, Pinkie!”

Spike arrived at the Carousel Boutique.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Spike, I am glad you arrived. There are so many things to organize, that I do not even know where to begin!”

“No problem! It is always a pleasure helping you.”

Spike helped Rarity move several full boxes.

“How's Twilight?”

“Oh, she's fine, for now at least.”

“For now?”

“You know that she reads a lot, right?”

“Yes, and?”

“Well, I think she is overdoing it this time.”

“How much is... overdoing?”

“Take a look at the list of books that she said she will read today.”

Spike unfolded a scroll. The scroll kept unfolding until it hit a wall.

-*-*-*-

“Come back here, you two!”

“Come on, Applejack! Can't stand a little joke?”

“Yeah, very funny. And it will be even funnier when I catch you both!”

Pinkie giggled and bounced slightly faster.

“Oh, hey Fluttershy!”

“Hi! What are you three...”

Both pranksters passed by her in a blur.

“...doing?”

Applejack gave up and stopped beside Fluttershy.

“These two simply do not learn. Do you know what they did to my barn this time?”

-*-*-*-

“Hey, Rarity, what's this?” asked Spike, holding a piece of white fabric.

“Oh, that fabric. To be frank, I have no idea.”

“It smells funny.”

Rarity came closer and sniffed.

“I do not notice any smell, Spike.”

“Well, it is very weak, and, I don't know how to describe... funny?”

Rarity poked at the fabric.

“You know, Spike, that fabric appeared here at the Carousel Boutique a few months ago. I was working on a dress, and I slept! Can you imagine it? I wasn't even tired! And the dress had to be ready that same day!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Anyway, when I woke up, I had to hurry! I finished the dress in time, but the room was in such a big mess! So I had to clean it up, of course, and in the middle of the rubble, I found that thing. I have seen a lot of different kinds of fabric, but I never found anything similar to that one. Such a pity it is only such a small piece, or else I would have already found a way to turn it into a dress. For some reason, I know it would be gorgeous!”

“Have you tried asking Twilight? Perhaps she could find something about it on some book.”

Rarity thought for a bit.

“That is not such a bad idea. I did put that fabric on a drawer, and for some reason I completely forgot about it. But now that you reminded me of it, I want to know more about it. If only I could find out where to get more of it.”

-*-*-*-

That had been a mistake.

There were only a couple of books left on the pile. “I am so close!”

Twilight struggled to concentrate on the opened book in front of her. Her head throbbed with pain. It felt as if it had been run over by a horde of stampeding pegasi, followed by a fall from a cliff, and topped by hitting her head on a rock, straight at the tip of her horn.

She stumbled backwards, almost tripping on her own hoof. “There has to be a way out of this pain!” She almost called for Spike, before remembering that he was out for the day.

There had to be a way out of this pain. Twilight remembered a simple potion she learned from Zecora. “Perhaps if I combine it with a simple memory-fixing spell...” Her head hurt. “Can't think straight... getting dizzy...”

Walking groggily towards her lab, she started collecting the ingredients, while the pain only got worse.

-*-*-*-

The potion was ready.

In the back of her mind, Twilight hoped that she did not get any ingredient wrong. It was hard to think, even tough she tried to check and double-check and triple-check. “It hurts... the pain...”

She downed the potion in a single gulp, and started the memory-fixing spell.

The room started to spin. Did she do anything wrong? As her mind cleared a bit, she quickly mind-checked again the list of ingredients and spell components, and them all seemed correct. But there was something more... As if there was a resonance with some left-over spell. It only made her head hurt even more.

Twilight fell to the floor and closed her eyes, wondering if that was what death felt like. Perhaps death would be better—at least it would not hurt as much.

After a few minutes, which seemed more like hours, the pain started to clear. She opened her eyes, and the room slowly went back into focus. Her head felt clear—clearer than it had been in months.

Feeling relieved, Twilight went back to where she had been studying. The room was now a complete mess, books scattered everywhere. She must have toppled the carefully made pile of finished books while in her dizzy state. Other than that, everything was fine. Forcing herself to ignore the confusion, she slowly went towards the final three books of the day. On her way there, she looked at her reflection on a mirror.

Her reflection had wings.