En Fuego

by Mayclore

Part 2: The Pond Shall Not Have Her

Twilight found herself trotting around the main floor of the library, but it was dark outside; so dark, in fact, she couldn't see anything through the windows. While that worried her a little, nothing inside the library itself seemed to be out of place. Confidently, she trotted over to a bookshelf and prepared to retrieve something to read, but a green filament of light traced a winding path across her vision and stopped her.

“What was that?” After several bouts of blinking and looking over her shoulders with no further sight of it, she shrugged and proceeded back to the shelf. Another green dot crossed her sight and caused her to gasp. “Again?” This time she looked around harder, walking about until she stumbled upon a sleeping Spike, nestled in his bed. He was snoring, and each time he exhaled, a green ember escaped his nose and wandered around through the air for a brief time. “Oh. It's just you,” the unicorn sighed with relief. She turned her back on him and walked away, hardly paying any attention to the ember that followed.

At least, until she noticed it wouldn't disappear. With wide eyes, she followed the persistent spark all over the main room, tracing a large, ambling circle for several minutes. She was wont to try and put it out herself at first, but after tailing it she began to grow uncertain and annoyed.

“Go out already,” she grumbled, swatting at it with a foreleg. It defied her attempt to quash it, swirling away in random arcs as the air moved around it. Grumbling, she gave up her attempts and glared at the emerald glow, watching as it floated around behind her and landed gently on her tail. The act caused her to roll her eyes and sigh. “Get off my tail, you.”

Not only did it not move, it started to glow brighter. Anxiously, Twilight began blowing on her tail and swishing it about, gasping as the glow only got brighter. Just as she was about to beat the ember out with a nearby book, her entire tail burst into a brilliant plume of orange flame. Screaming, she galloped at full speed toward the stairs in an attempt to reach the bathroom, but the fire got to her before she could even hit the bottom step. She was entirely aflame now, her vision warped with heat haze as she glanced about fearfully. After a second, though, her brain told her that it didn't hurt; she even raised her forelegs in turn to stare at them. Like the rest of her, they were burning rods of light, but shed no smoke. It was like she had become a phoenix. Confused, she took uneasy steps around the main room, casting an odd sort of red and orange glow as she went. Some time passed before she laid eyes on the slumbering dragon once again.

“Spike, wake up!” she begged from a distance, unwilling to touch his bed to rouse him. “Spike! I'm on fire!” The oddness of that statement stung her just long enough for her to notice the gentle wisps of smoke passing in front of her. “Wait a second. Smoke?” Turning around, she saw that one of the wooden supports was now consumed. “No! Spike! Get up, we have to go! Spike!” When she turned back, his bed was gone, replaced by a growing flame that leaped around and clung to the shelves. In an instant, everything around her was burning; the smoke became so thick, she could only see her hooves in front of her face due to the fact that they shone. Seized by panic, she threw herself into the center of the conflagration, searching for Spike. The smoke was too thick for her to see anything more distinct than a wall of smeared light, and soon the smoke forced her to withdraw up the stairs. The fire chased her all the way, until everything in her view was now laced with tongues of flame. Coughing and crying, she collapsed onto the floor and hid her eyes, heart racing so fast she thought it might explode. The heat increased around her until the very act of breathing scorched her mouth. With one last ragged breath, she steeled herself for the end...

...and immediately shot up in bed, panting for air and drenched in cold sweat. While her eyes adjusted to the dark, she heard Spike snore – apparently, she hadn't screamed in her terror – and her eyes bulged at the sight of a green ember that escaped from his nose. It vanished quickly, but that didn't help the nervous unicorn feel better. She slid out of bed and crept quietly into the bathroom, lighting the lantern with her magic and staring into the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her coat was shining with sweat.

“Just a dream,” she muttered to herself repeatedly, turning on the water in the sink and allowing it to fill. After it had, she dunked her face in it, generating a loud sploosh. “Just a dream!” She watched herself drip in the mirror. “Calm down. Calm down.”

Anywhere she looked, however, all she saw was flammable material. A tidal wave of dread slammed into her. “It's not safe for me here! It's not safe for Spike...I thought Pinkie was the fire hazard. It's not her, it's me!” When she looked at the bathtub, an idea struck her. Quietly, she trotted back out into her loft and opened her closet door, illuminating the space with her horn. An object on the shelf above caught her attention – a snorkel, something she'd picked up as a present from Pinkie Pie. She floated it down and attached it to her face before returning to the bathroom, shutting the door, and turning on the water for the tub. Once it was half full, she got in and laid down in it, frowning at the chill.

“Mmph,” she tried to talk to herself again, only to find the snorkel prevented her. “Hmph.” Frowning, she tried several times to find a comfortable position in the tub. Eventually, she ended up on her back, legs pointed at the ceiling. After several minutes her fatigue finally defeated her anxiety, and her eyes slid closed.

Three hours later, the encroaching sunlight caused Spike to stir, and grudgingly he slid out of his bed. He noted that Twilight's was empty – not unusual, as the pony had a hilariously random sleep schedule – and wandered down the stairs to go about fixing himself breakfast. When he didn't find her downstairs, however, his curiosity was piqued. After not finding her in the library's public space, nor in the cavernous basement, he began to worry.

“She usually leaves notes,” he muttered to himself, climbing the stairs with his arms crossed. Still feeling groggy, he wandered into the bathroom to splash his face. After hefting himself up to the sink, he glanced to the side and found his guardian. “There you are, Twilight.”

“Mmma?” she mumbled, shifting around in the tub before falling still again.

“Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you.” He ran some water and ducked his head under the faucet, emitting a surprised noise as the liquid struck his scales. “Brrrr! That's better!” he exclaimed. After hopping down and toweling off, he wandered out and shut the door behind him. Thirty seconds later, that door flew open again. “What are you doing sleeping in the bathtub?” he asked, walking over and hauling himself up the side.

“Mmmpahph.” Twilight responded, her eyes fluttering open. It took her a moment to realize she had to remove the snorkel to speak, and decided to set the thing on her stomach. “I'm sleeping in here so I don't catch the library on fire.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense.” Spike nodded his approval and dropped to the floor, once again departing the bathroom and shutting the door. Ten seconds passed before it flew open yet again. “Why in the world would you catch the library on fire?”

“Because I have a tendency to burst into flames at random times.” The unicorn sat up in the tub and yawned, using a hoof to move her dripping mane away from her eyes. “It's safest if I sleep in the bathtub until I can figure out how to prevent that from happening.”

The dumbfounded dragon blinked several times before sitting down by the side of the tub. “Geez, Twilight. What kind of magic have you been studying?”

“It's not magic, it just happens.” Twilight let out a long sigh and pawed at the water. “Apparently it happens if I become too stressed out, or if I eat hot sauce.”

“Hot sauce?” Spike cocked an eyebrow. “Is that why you hate spicy stuff?”

“This is serious!” she scolded him, standing up in the tub and levitating a towel over. “I cannot, under any circumstances, get anxious, upset, perturbed, put off, annoyed, flabbergasted, exasperated, or displeased! Who knows what could happen!” She dried off her head and threw the towel aside, looking down at the dragon. “What if I hurt you?”

Spike frowned hard at the tone in her voice and glanced up. “Twilight, I'm a dragon. I'm fireproof, remember?”

“Well, this is obviously magical fire!” she huffed. “I mean, ponies don't just spontaneously burst into flames like I have!”

“I don't even remember when this happened.” He stood up and turned to face her, scratching his head. “And seriously, hot sauce?”

“Yes, Spike! Hot sauce! Remember the first time Pinkie threw me a party and I drank that hot sauce by accident? There was fire!” Twilight was pacing now, causing the water in the tub to slosh gently.

“Oh, yeah! That was hilarious,” he snickered. “You even left a trail of smoke.”

“Not funny!” she growled, stomping her hoof and causing a noisy splash. “Do you realize what could happen? All the books in the library...the library itself! I've been entrusted with very rare texts for safekeeping! Not to mention what could happen if the fire spreads,” she shuddered bitterly. “No. I'm sleeping in the tub until further notice.”

“This is kinda ridiculous,” Spike pointed out. “And by the way, you're getting upset.”

“Shoot!” she spat, laying down in the water again. “I can't panic! Not in here! Everything is wood!”

Groaning, he hauled himself up the side of the tub a second time and watched her tremble for a moment. “Are you panicking about being panicky? Calm down. Hey, why don't I make us breakfast? You should eat, it'll help you think a little clearer.”

“F-fine, but I'm not getting out of this tub,” she replied, cutting her eyes up at him. “It's not safe.”

“Ugh, if you insist,” he moaned, throwing his hands up and allowing himself to drop down. He shuffled out a third time, allowing the door to remain open. Not long after, he returned with a glass of orange juice. “Here. Drink this. I'm going to go fry something. What do you want?”

“Eggs and toast, please.” She was lost in thought, trying to figure out why she had been able to combust without actually burning. She took the glass from him and floated it to her mouth. “That's nice...maybe you're right. I do need to eat something.”

“That's the spirit!” he smiled. “I'll be right back.”

He was gone again, and Twilight decided to sip from her juice and let her mind empty out. The smell of food wafted up the stairs in into her nostrils some time before the dragon actually arrived, carrying two plates. “May as well eat in here with you.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, lifting hers over into the tub and taking a bite of toast. They ate quietly – besides Spike's usual loud gulping – and when she was finished she noticed that her head was a little more lucid. “I really do feel better.”

“See? Never helps to think on an empty stomach,” he affirmed, his mouth still full of hay fries.”

She nodded once, setting her empty plate aside and draining her glass of juice. “Mhm. And now I realize how dumb it was for me to sleep in a bathtub.”

Spike frowned down at his own empty plate, but immediately smiled up at the unicorn afterward. “Great!”

Twilight's eyes were hard and determined, however. “I obviously need a bigger body of water.”

---

A whistling Applejack made her way through the streets of Ponyville, squinting up occasionally at the noon sun as it poked through the white puffs of cloud. On her back were her saddlebags, and in those were several books she was returning to the library. As she neared the door, a white leaf of something affixed to it caught her eye; when she got there and found it to be a note, she ceased whistling and raised an eyebrow.

“Ta whom it may concern,” she began, leaning forward and peering at the words, “The library is closed today until Twilight comes to her senses. Hoo boy, what'd she do now?” Applejack tipped her hat up and kept reading. “If y'all have any books ta return, please leave 'em inside the front door. Well, okay then.” Before the earth pony could, however, a line at the bottom of the paper caught her attention. “P.S., if one of Twilight's friends is readin' this, please come to the big pond north of town before she drives me crazy.” Those words caused her to tilt her head and blink. “I wonder what's goin' on?”

Concern was creeping onto her face as she poked open the door, then traveled inside just far enough to shed her bags and extract the books. She left them in a haphazard pile and wandered back outside, glancing at the note again. “I'd better see ta this,” she sighed, turning her gaze north and cantering off.

There was only one large pond north of Ponyville, and it was within the expanse of land owned by Filthy Rich and his family. When Applejack arrived, she found an exasperated Spike pacing around the bank, yelling intermittently at the water. The earth pony couldn't figure out to whom he was addressing his words; the pond appeared to be empty, save for a brightly-colored stick poking out from the center. Only when she reached the shore herself could she see through the reflection of the cloudy sky.

“What in tarnation?!” she exclaimed loudly. Perched on the bottom of the pond, eyes closed and a snorkel on her face, was Twilight. A school of small fish swam circles around her, scattering whenever she made any movement. She looked up and saw Spike, who had heard her outburst, running around the lake to greet her. “Um?” she asked when he ran up, pointing a hoof at the submerged unicorn.

“Just a second,” he panted, hunched over to catch his breath. “Thank goodness one of you saw it.”

Applejack sat down on her haunches and peered into the pond again. “I'm guessin' y'all left the note on the door?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, standing up straight and wiping his brow. “I don't even know where to start. I guess the short version is that she's hiding in there to stop herself from catching on fire.”

Applejack doffed her hat in amazement and blinked. “Where in the world did she get that notion from?”

“I dunno, she didn't tell me.” Spike also sat down and sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “I've been trying all morning to convince her to get out, but she won't listen. I couldn't go and get any of you guys, 'cause I was afraid she would fall asleep and drown.”

Tail swishing, Applejack looked around for some means to get the unicorn's attention. Beside her flank, she found a gray pebble. She scooped it up in a forehoof and flung it at the snorkel tube, bouncing it right off and causing Twilight to stir and rise to the surface of the water with an unhappy look on her face. She had to spit out the snorkel before speaking.

“Spike, I told you to stop skipping rocks, you might hurt the fi—oh, hi Applejack. What are you doing here?” she waved, generating a few splashes as her leg swayed.

“I could ask ya the same thing,” the earth pony replied, standing and walking to the edge of the water. “Where'd ya get the idea about you bein' kindlin'?”

“Fluttershy reminded me! Oh, I'm sure glad she did. It could have been a disaster!” Twilight nodded. “A pony that bursts into flames and lives in a tree? Scary,” she shivered. “It's okay now, though. I'm going to live in this pond until I can make sure the town is safe!”

“Ugh,” Spike groaned, slapping his forehead. “For the ninety-fifth time, you're making a mountain out of a molehill. You can't live in a pond! You're not a fish!”

“Hold on,” Applejack interjected, raising a foreleg in surprise. “Y'all got this from Fluttershy? The heck did she say?”

“It came up in our conversation yesterday about me seeming stressed out!” Twilight swam over and set her front half on the shore. “I had totally forgotten about it until then. Good thing she reminded me, I'm a fire hazard!”

“Y'all said the same thing about Pinkie, and that weren't true either,” Applejack chided her. “Now get outta there and dry off, ya look ridiculous.”

“I can't! I am a severe danger to everything!” The unicorn turned her back and swam away, dipping below the water once she reached the center.

“See what I've been dealing with?” Spike muttered, looking over at the earth pony.

“If this don't beat all,” she replied, rubbing her mane down and putting her hat back on. “Y'all hang tight. I'm gonna go get some help.”

---

Fluttershy hovered in front of a small maple tree, whose branches were filled with colorful songbirds. She listened to them sing until a particular cardinal on the fourth branch up emitted a harsh, shrill chirp that made the pegasus cringe. “Oh my. Um...we should try again.” Before she was able to direct the birds to start over, a team of ponies flew overhead, lead by Rainbow Dash. “Never mind. It's supposed to rain soon, you all should get home and get ready.” The birds scattered with happy cheeps and flew away, leaving Fluttershy to contemplate their chorus. “Perhaps I should have written something with fewer high notes.” As she turned in midair to fly home, her ears pricked at an echoing noise. Looking that way, she noticed an encroaching cloud of dust and blinked. The cloud soon became an orange earth pony.

“Fluttershy, we need ta have a talk!” Applejack said, sliding to a stop on the path and glancing up at her.

The pegasus was taken aback by her tone and squeaked loudly. “Is something wrong?”

Applejack moved the brim of her hat to fully regard her friend. “Dang right something is wrong. Twilight's at the bottom of Filthy Rich's pond, and she says you're the one that started it!”

“Wh-what? I don't understand,” Fluttershy replied, landing gently on the ground. “I only talked to her about being so high strung.”

The earth pony watched her descend, swishing her tail. “Did her catchin' on fire come up?”

Fluttershy stared off for some time as the wheels turned in her head. When the memory arrived, she squeaked loudly again and dropped her ears. “Oh, um...yes. It did.” She wilted under Applejack's stare and squeaked a third time. “I was only trying to point out how she overreacts sometimes.”

“Like now?” the earth pony groaned. “Come help me get her out before she hurts herself, please.”

“Right...” The pegasus took flight again, floating after her friend as they went down the path.

It took fifteen minutes to reach the pond. Twilight was in much the same position as when Applejack had first seen her – eyes closed, on the bottom, with a school of fish orbiting her. The fish swam over to Fluttershy when they saw the pegasus arrive, but the unicorn remained where she was.

“Applejack, I don't think Fluttershy is strong enough to pull her out of the pond.” He waved to them both as he came over, adding an apologetic look for the floating pony. “No offense.”

“None taken,” she smiled back, then looked into the pond. “Um, how am I supposed to get her attention?” She jerked back with fright as Applejack threw a rock at the snorkel tube again, causing Twilight to rise to the surface and glare around. “Oh my. Hello, Twilight.”

The unicorn waved with a pruney hoof and smiled before remembering to spit out the mouthpiece. “Hi! Welcome to my new house!”

“Um...new house?” Dumbfounded, the pegasus glanced at Spike and Applejack, each of whom shrugged helplessly in turn. “Twilight, why are you in the pond?”

“It's all thanks to you, really. I'm too dangerous to be wandering about town,” she replied, swimming over. The fish darted away from her and to the other side of the pond when she got close. “It was awful. I had a dream about burning down the library and everything!”

Fluttershy landed and sat down in front of her. “I'm sure that wouldn't happen again unless you got anxious...like now...” she whispered, but the earth pony heard it and gave her a sour look. “Sorry! I mean, you can't stay in the pond. I don't think the fish like it very much. And ponies aren't really built to live in water, anyway.”

“I've got plenty of spells to fix that,” Twilight replied with a smile. “I know how to give myself fins. Gills, even.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy glanced at the other two, who urged her on with hand and hoof motions. “Well, that's nice, but there's really no need to be afraid. I'm sorry I brought it up.”

Twilight shook her head and refused to yield. “Don't be sorry, who knows how much damage you've prevented. Besides, I can't take any chances, not until I figure out how it happened.”

Applejack was beginning to get frustrated. She trotted over and sat down on Fluttershy's left side. “Oh come on, Twi. Y'all are the best spell-weavin' pony I ever knew. It's not like ya can't prevent yourself from doin' it again, right?”

“I don't even know what to prevent!” the unicorn shot back. “Which reminds me. Spike! Go back to the library and bring me all the books so I can start waterproofing and sorting them, please.”

“All of them?!” he exclaimed with shock, eyes bulging.

She nodded to him as she treaded water. “Yes. Every single one. I hope the pond is big enough to fit them all.”

“But...I...” He melted under her stern look and began to shuffle away, defeated and mumbling.

Applejack stood up and stomped the grass, causing Fluttershy to shrink away and whimper. “Now wait just a second! Y'all can't be settin' up shop in ponds!”

Twilight aimed the same withering look at her that Spike had just received. “I am, and that's that. If you would be so kind as to inform the rest of our friends as to my change of residence, I have to practice my underwater napping.” She turned her back on them and started swimming away.

“Twilight, stop!” Fluttershy called. “You can't do this!” The pegasus also got that look from her friend, but took to the air and floated overhead. “You're very strong. You should...um...you should be confident about your ability to not catch on fire,” she added, her face twisting with the oddness of her statement. “Besides, you have us. We can help you! Somehow. I think?”

Twilight contemplated her words for a long while, and finally spun in the water to look up at the pegasus. “Maybe that's true...”

Fluttershy tapped her front hooves together and nodded. “It is! We're always here for you. That's what I wanted to say yesterday, but, um, you seemed to be in a hurry.”

The unicorn frowned and swam to the bank again. This time, however, she pulled herself out of the water and magically detached the snorkel. “I guess living in a pond is rather silly, isn't it?”

“Dang right,” Applejack agreed, rising and walking over. “Y'all just gotta relax. Ain't nothin' gonna happen.”

“And if it does, we're here to help,” Fluttershy added, flying over and landing. “Don't ever forget that.”

“You're right. I'd better get back to the library and stop Spike before he undoes all the reshelving work,” she laughed, shaking her head to rid her mane of the water. Her friends were dripping when she next looked at them. “Oops. Sorry.”

“Heh, don't worry none,” Applejack grinned. “Welp. I better get back. Gotta get the rest of them apples down.” She departed with a friendly wave.

Twilight waved back before glancing over at the pegasus. “Fluttershy, could you go stop Spike? You'll probably catch up to him faster than I will. Besides, I need to dry off or I'll make the path muddy.”

“Sure,” she smiled, taking flight and fluttering away.

The unicorn watched her go until she disappeared over a hill. Once she had vanished, she turned and looked at the pond. “You're both right. I might be the strongest pony of all. And I already know you'd all do anything to help me, even if you can't. That's why I have to do this.” She raised a foreleg in surprise as the fish started jumping out of the water. “Then again, you're right about the pond, too. That wasn't a very good idea.”

The sunlight broke through the clouds again, and glinted off something that caught the unicorn's attention. It was one of the new electric street lights that lined the road, and she followed the chain of them off into the far distance and up the mountain. When her eyes settled on the hydroelectric dam at the end, a twisted smile spread across her lips.

“This pond doesn't have nearly enough water to quench my power. I need something much bigger.”

Comments

[Firedon]

Oh boy, here we go.

[Majk]

Ahahaha, whatever happens next is going be awesome.
I adored the scene with the pond and the fish swimming around Twi, couldn't stop grinning while reading.

[Chadbane]

Logged in just to favorite this story!

[Mayclore]

2571115

And I live in the south, where I hear the contraction used exactly as I've written it here every single day.

[ForSpite]

Huh, I remember this story. It was amusing. I'm not sure how you'd adapt it to a multi-chapter work but I look forward to finding out.

[Frazzled Pony]

This is a great read and very close to the feel of the actual episodes. It reads precisely like the other "Twilight overreacts"-episodes, so well done, it's rare that people get that close to the feel of the show.

It's funny, I had the exact same thought as Starborn Shield about "y'all", but decided that I might just be mistaken. It's not like accents and slang are always logical anyway. Double negatives and "ain't" are great examples of that.

[Fanskapet]

lol this is awsome

[Mayclore]

2575865

This is a rewrite, so the older comments were referencing things that are no longer there. I deleted them all so people wouldn't backread and get confused.

[FredFredNineNine]

This is pretty amusing, even though I am not the biggest fan of "Twilight overreacts" plots

[TheGreatEater]

I love how Twilight goes for tub, to pond, to a freaking lake. Next step is the ocean ... where she sets the whole thing on fire. If Sweetie Belle has the power to burn drinks. Than Twilight should be able to turn an ocean to ash.

Anywho. Funny story, I can't wait to see what happens next.

[JentleJeniusKat]

2578063

She could start a protection racket. "That's a very nice ocean you have there. It would be a real shame if that ocean were to-- BURN DOWN!"

[spagooleynoodley]

2584197