• Published 31st Jul 2012
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I Would Give to You - Jet Howitzer



You move to Ponyville, and a certain mare catches your eye, but are you right for her?

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Chapter VIII: The Last Performance

(Well, three versions of this chapter later, and I'm still not totally happy with it. Ahh, well. It'll do. Rate, comment, and enjoy.)

As the two of you left the café, you turned Twilight towards the small hill where you got your first kiss. It only took a few minutes to get there, and soon the two of you were simply enjoying the view afforded to you. Twilight leaned into you slightly, and you let her, enjoying the comforting presence she offered. Your mind began to wander, though, and you lost focus on where you were.

You needed to get something for Twilight so you could show her what she meant to you. You weren’t going to go back to Fillydelphia to get any of your belongings, but that didn’t mean that you couldn’t ask someone to send you something. Surely one of your friends would be willing to make the trip to your house to get you something. And if they weren’t willing to do that, well then you’d just have to try to find a new copy of the book.

Or, maybe, if she could get your wings working, you could fall back on traditional pegasi displays of affection. But that just seemed so clichéd. That’s how all pegasi made their affection known. You wanted to do something better than that. Something truly memorable, something that would show just how much you really cared. Your thoughts were interrupted, though, when you heard the Twilight’s name being called.

You looked around to try and find the source of the voice, and you knew you found it when you saw Spike running towards the two of you, a piece of parchment grasped firmly in one of his claws. His face gave you pause, though, as it was one of fright. When he finally got close to the two of you he was too exhausted to speak, so he simply held the letter out towards Twilight. Her horn glowed softly, and the letter floated nearer to her. Her eyes widened as she read, and soon her face was nearly as bad as Spike’s.

“Twilight, what’s the problem?” The mare didn’t respond at first, her eyes racing the length of the parchment once more, as if to confirm what she had just read. When she finished, the parchment just dropped to the ground, the magic Twilight had been using to keep it aloft simply cutting out.

“Taupe and Applejack were in an accident just a few miles from Canterlot. Applejack is fine, for the most part, but Taupe is in pretty bad shape. Princess Celestia has dispatched a carriage to come here to pick us up to take us to Canterlot.” You took a moment to process what Twilight had said. You didn’t really know who Taupe was, but the name Applejack was incredibly familiar to you, given that she was one of Fluttershy’s close friends. And given Twilight’s reaction, you were certain that things were probably more serious than you thought.

Without waiting a moment longer than she needed to, Twilight began making her way down the hill, and towards the library. Both you and Spike followed in her wake, neither of you sure of what to say or do. Twilight entered her home without hesitation, and in a flash of light she vanished from where she was standing. You looked around for a moment, confused as to where she had gone, but before you could voice your confusion she reappeared in much the same way as she had left.

Several quills were suspended around her, along with an equal number of pieces of parchment. Twilight’s gaze flitted between the sheets quickly, and after a moment she rolled them all up. “Spike, send one of these to each of the other elements. We’re all going to Canterlot.” The dragon sent each scroll on its way, and soon the three of you were waiting for the others to arrive. Storm and Rainbow Dash were the first to arrive, and Pinkie arrived moments later. Rarity and Fluttershy both arrived near the same time, and so Twilight quickly explained to all of them what the issue was.

Just as Twilight finished, though, the carriage arrived. While you were expecting it to be empty, an oddly tall pegasus, clad in ornate armor, surprised you by emerging from it. His body was proportioned similarly to yours, save for the fact that he was taller than you were. Storm approached the pegasus with a grin on his face, and he held out a hoof towards the taller pegasus, and he held out his own. The hoofbump was small, but its significance was not lost on you. The other ponies all boarded the carriage quickly, and you followed.

The pegasus, who introduced himself as Knight Watch, quickly started explaining what they did, and didn’t know. “A few hours ago a train departed from Manehattan, nearly leveling a stallion’s club in the process. Between then, and an hour ago, we aren’t sure what happened. All we know is that the engine of the train exploded, killing two passengers, and injuring Applejack, and the earth pony with her, whom she identified as Taupe. The first responders who made it to the scene before myself claimed that they found the wreckage, but no survivors.” The stallion glanced at the faces in the carriage, judging the reactions of the ponies present.

“Further investigation revealed that both Applejack and Taupe were still alive, but that soon changed for Taupe. As soon as I got to the scene of the accident I sent you the letter, Twilight. Now we are heading to the hospital, where not even I know what awaits us.” The stallion descended into silence, and nopony wanted to be the one to break that silence. Soon after, you glanced out the window to see Canterlot rapidly approaching.

The landing came soon after you looked out the window, and when the carriage door opened you saw that you were directly in front of the hospital. Knight was the first to exit, followed by all the mares, and you were the last to exit, looking up at the hospital with a grim expression on your face. You remembered this hospital. They’d told you the same thing as every other hospital. You dutifully followed the mares through the hospital, and soon you found your group stopped at a door. You looked past the group to see an uncertain looking nurse fumbling with her nametag with one hoof. Clearly she wasn’t quite certain how to react to a fully armored guardspony approaching.

“I’m sorry, but nopony is allowed past this point. The ICU can’t have this many visitors all at once. Short of a direct order from one of the Princesses, that is.” The tall stallion pulled out a small badge from his armor, and the nurse at the door visibly paled. “Oh. Sorry to hold you up, Captain.” As the door opened up, you saw that it opened to a long hallway.

The group began making its way down the hall, and as you rounded a corner you saw a bandaged mare rush into a room. The others rushed down the hall, clearly recognizing the mare. You followed at a more sedate pace, though. You just didn’t feel comfortable in hospitals, and so you saw no reason to rush to go further in. By the time you made it to the room you saw the whole group of mares surrounding the pony who was reclining on the bed. Most of his belly was wrapped in gauze, and he had a large amount of bandages wrapped around his head as well.

As you entered the stallion on the bed raised a hoof in greeting, but he didn’t seem coherent enough to really react to your presence. You stayed for a few hours, and in that time several unicorn doctors came and went, each one working some magic to help heal the wounds that they could. However, after just a few hours of watching, you left, unwilling to wait for the doctors to finish. You were certain that at least Twilight noticed your disappearance, but she didn’t say anything to you as you left.

After several minutes you finally managed to escape the sterile facility. The sun had set only recently, as evidenced by the color of the sky. You looked up and down the street, marveling at just how empty it had become. When you had arrived the streets had been filled to the brink with ponies going about their business, but now the streets had less than a dozen ponies within sight. You turned to your left, and you began walking down the streets, following directions you could only half remember. The turns you took began to blur together, forming an incomprehensible smudge in your memory. Before long you found yourself standing outside the stadium.

With nopony around, you quickly climbed over the fence, making your way towards the service entrance. The door was unlocked, thankfully, and you quickly entered, making sure to leave the door open a crack. Without the lights on you had to rely on your memory, but that proved to be enough, as soon you found the hall that led to the stadium floor. Flashbacks of your training days here came unbidden to your mind. You’d only been here a few times, but each of those times had been a milestone in your training regiment.

You stopped when you reached the end of the tunnel, and the stadium stretched out before you, its every facet identical to the last time you looked at it. You heaved a sigh as you began walking towards the center of the arena. Your mind painted in the crowds of ponies that had been present for the displays of aerial acrobatics, and with those memories came the faint sound of cheers. You raised a hoof at the imagined crowds, and the cheers grew in intensity, brining a sad smile to your face. You soon found yourself standing just a few steps away from the center, and you stopped. With exaggerated slowness you turned a full circle, basking in the immensity of the arena.

When you finally stopped you rotation you could just make out the small stand where the Wonderbolts had been seated for your performances. While it hadn’t been just you, you had been the star of the show. None of the other pegasi in your class were as good as you, and they all knew it too. A good number of them had been jealous, and some were even spiteful. But most of them were happy for you, glad to see you succeed, and excel at flight. The last performance you had done here had been the biggest one of them all, drawing in enough ponies to fill nearly the entire first tier of seats.

You felt a tingle in the back of your mind, and you shook your head in response, hoping to dislodge the feeling. No amount of shaking rid the tingle, though, and after a moment it seemed to vanish of its own accord. You dropped into a sitting position as you continued to reminisce about the glory days of your time in training. It led back to that particular flight, though, and you forced the train of thought to stop before you recounted the events that led to the storm.

A faint popping sound echoed through the stadium, and you looked over your shoulder to see a lavender unicorn making her way over to you, a look of worry painted on her face. When she saw you looking at her, she relaxed some, but the worry remained. You resumed looking ahead as the mare grew closer, and soon enough you felt her presence by your side. You could feel her gaze upon you, but you stared ahead resolutely, not willing to face the mare. After a moment, she took a seat next to you, and then she leaned into you slightly. Not as much as you would’ve liked, but it was better than nothing.

“What happened here?” He question came suddenly, and the words were nearly swallowed by the immensity of the stadium, the echo only barely returning to you.

“A lot.” Your answer was brief, and even you felt it was unsatisfactory. “The training program occasionally took us on trips so that we could display our abilities for wider audiences. We came here a few times, and when we did come here we were always watched by the Wonderbolts. They’d judge our every move, and a good number of the other trainees would buckle under the scrutiny. I always did spectacularly, though. Not because I was so great, but because I simply took away the crowds in my mind. When I flew here, it was amazing.” You pointed up towards the upper level of the stadium, where a large overhand sheltered the upper level from the sun. “Beneath that canopy they suspended massive rings that we had to navigate. It wasn’t really that hard to do, but it took a measure of concentration to pull off the tight turns.”

You let your gaze wander once again, looking nearly straight up, you find smile has come to your face. “But the best part of any performance was the finale.” Silence fell upon the two of you, and you let it linger.

“Rainbow Dash always goes on about the Wonderbolts, and their amazing finales. I imagine yours was much the same?”

“Not quite. The Wonderbolts never have as many pegasi as we did. We decided to use our numbers to our advantage. The starburst is what we called it. We’d cluster together, with a single pegasus flying well above the formation. When that pegasus reached the cluster, it’d break into several groups, and each of those would splinter moments later. The display of our trails is what gave the performance its appeal. It also displayed our group talents, rather than putting one trainee over the others.” The unicorn beside you leaned into you a bit more, and you wrapped a hoof around her.

“But why did you come here, and leave the hospital? Taupe would’ve liked to meet you. And Applejack too.”

You let out a rueful chuckle as you start to respond. “Can’t stand hospitals, really. Spending so much time in them, with nothing positive ever being said, I grew to associate them with my flightlessness. I had assumed that my acceptance of my inability to fly would set me at ease with the setting, but I suppose that some things take more time. I’m sorry for leaving, though. I just didn’t want to force myself to stay, since I wouldn’t make for good company.”

“Well, it’s okay. If you’re really so uncomfortable I’m certain the others will understand.” The mare pauses, for a moment, before she lets out a small gasp. “When was your last performance here?”

“It was a month before my accident. It was the last qualifying performance for advancing to the next level of training. So, that makes it about seven months ago. Eight, tops.”

“I saw you perform.” You turned to look at the mare beside you, and she smiled. “I was here to visit Princess Celestia about some new books she had gotten, limited edition spell books, and so she invited me to come watch this with her. I remember your performance, it was expertly done.”

Your mouth worked for several moments before you could actually start speaking. “Wait, you, and the Princess watched us? As in, Princess Celestia?”

“Well, yes. They didn’t tell you?”

“They told us that we’d have some special observers, but we just figured that it was some silly nobles, or something like that. None of us even speculated that it could be the princess.”

“Well, we were both there, and we both enjoyed it.” The mare suddenly fell quiet, and her expression grew more somber. “That was your last show. That was your last performance. I remember watching you fly. You came so close to the stands at one point that I could’ve reached out and touched you.” The mare paused for a moment, and then a sad smile appeared on her face. “You had a look of such confidence on your face. It was as if the whole world couldn’t work to stop you.”

You stand and walk away from the mare. You don’t go far, but your separation from her speaks volumes. “When I flew I felt so right. I…” You stop and shake your head. “No, I can’t talk about it. I don’t want to talk about it.” You look back at the mare with sadness written in your face. “If I fly again, Twilight, I’ll take you with me. But until that happens, if that happens, I don’t want to talk about flying.” The mare stood up and approached you.

“I understand. And I promise that I’ll get you flying again. Even if I have to make the spell myself, I’ll see you airborne again.” The unicorn darted in quickly, planting a kiss, and then pulling back before you could reciprocate. You felt your cheeks flush with heat as you watched the mare turn and begin trotting away, her tail swaying just a bit more than usual. “Now come on, the others will be leaving soon, and we wouldn’t want to be left behind.”

You follow the mare, your cheeks still burning from the kiss, and then from the way Twilight had departed. You needed to find a way to show her what she meant to you, but you still couldn’t think of something that would work. It was all either too corny, or too overdone to really have any significance. Still, the goggles kept coming to mind. Even if they weren’t useful to her, their significance to you wouldn’t be lost on her. You’d have to talk with Rarity, to see if she could aid you in adding an inscription. As you reached the tunnel you noticed that Twilight had stopped and that she was watching you approach. She had a smile on her face, and her cheeks were flushed nearly as much as yours were.

“Come on, Twi. Let’s go home.”

(Yep, not much about Taupe. This isn't his story, so what did you expect?)