Intermission - The Toll
Carousel Boutique
As the gallant cries and joyful whoops of too many ponies all celebrating in one too small town filled the outside air, there was one building amidst the many decorated affairs around it that sat silent.
It was decorated as well- very beautifully- but its doors were shut, and the sign in the dark window promptly read 'closed.' What welcoming atmosphere it normally enjoyed was instead barred from the air of festivity that surrounded it.
Inside, behind the lovely purple veneer, the firm tack tack tack of a needle puncturing thread filled what little air it could in the darkened building. If one were to trace the sound to its origin as a precocious little filly might, they would find themselves hopping up the flight of stairs hidden behind a meticulously threaded silk curtain, and towards an open door spilling shallow light into the end of the shadowed hallway.
Within that room, that same little precocious filly, also being possessed of the most pernicious quality, would find a veritable fashion showroom of fabulous fabrics strung together over posed ponnequins looming from every dark, crowded corner. Materials and tools alike scattered about the floor in some seeming resemblance of a tornado in a dressmaker's shop. Patterns and plans hung from the rafters by twine in obvious, eye-catching places, as though an overly fashionable spider had crawled through.
At the opposite end of the dimly lit room, a white unicorn sat before a sewing machine in the light of a window, half-drawn by a color-complimentary curtain. Said mare didn't move at the small creaking of the door being pushed aside, nor had she seemingly reacted at all to the jingle bell on the front door, or to the squeaky shout that had accompanied it.
"Um, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle, standing uncertainly in the darkened frame of the door, tried for the third time since she'd run through the door. "I'm home from school."
At that, the mare finally raised her head. Her inattention seemed immediately odd to Sweetie, most especially because her sister had never failed to welcome her home from school. Even when she was exhausted or had genuinely passed out from overwork, she'd always managed a yell or groan of some sort when the excitable filly came running through the boutique.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle. I hadn't realized it was that time. Welcome home," her sister responded distractedly, which wasn't all that out of the norm. Rarity would often become distracted when she was working.
What was troubling was how her sister didn't turn to actually welcome her even then, simply continuing to run her busy hooves across the surface of her working desk, which very nearly seemed like her.
But Rarity would never let Sweetie just stand around in her work room, the increasingly worried filly thought. Usually, she would've turned to shoo her out the moment she stepped in. After all the times Sweetie had come in without her sister's knowing and dropped something or knocked a ponnequin over or accidentally set fire to a dress, Rarity had instated a very strict 'no sisters' policy when it came to the room.
While the possibility of rifling through her sister's things while she was distracted was appealing enough on its own, it was the Summer Sun Celebration, and her sister had said ahead of time that the shop would be closed for the day so they could spend time together. She'd been looking forward to it all week, even more so after hearing about last night.
The filly had slept through the night and missed some big disaster that everypony at school was talking about, and had repeatedly heard all about how Princess Celestia had a Sister and that the world had been in danger. That and the fact that she didn't get the day off school because of it was already disappointing, but now?
Seeing her sister alone in the dark, clearly hard at work despite her promise of free time, was cause for worry.
So, despite the many warnings she'd received in the past, the small white filly pushed the rest of the way into the room and towards her sister. "I thought you said you weren't going to work, today," she said as she crossed the room, eventually making it to her sister's side. The mare not glancing her way even as she reared up onto the counter, only continuing to scrutinize the sheets of fabric before her through a small pair of red half-glasses.
A few seconds passed, and though Sweetie tried to peer around the counter to see what must have been so important to her sister, she couldn't find anything except the usual scattered sewing necessities and a shiny golden necklace that she didn't recognize. "Rarity?" she tried again, turning to her sister who finally gave a small start at hearing her voice so close.
"Hm? What?" The creative-focused mare paused in her work to glance in a few wrong directions, before finally landing on Sweetie Belle. It was only then, as her sister was facing her in the shallow light of the window, that Sweetie could see the faint red bags under her eyes.
As they locked eyes, the surprised expression Rarity had adopted faded away to a tired frown. "What is it, Sweetie, dear? I'm very busy," she murmured raggedly as she turned her attention to pulling the ends of her fabric back into position.
Feeling a growing amount of snub and worry, Sweetie Belle frowned. "But sis, you'd said you were going to take a break today." As Sweetie Belle continued, Rarity took a sharp breath in, seeming to sag a small bit. As the seamstress pulled the already messily-seamed fabric out of the needle's path for a moment, Sweetie Belle reared higher onto the counter to stare pleadingly at her sister. "Aren't you done yet? You've been busy all week, and you spent all day yesterday decorating Town Hall!"
Her sister was already nodding, sighing as the machine in front of her rumbled hungrily for the folded fabric she held away from it. "Yes... yes, Sweetie, I know." To the young filly's disappointment, instead of standing up and upholding her promise, Rarity only began to feed the unfinished edge back into the machine again. "I'm sorry, dear, but I don't think I have the energy to play with you right now."
All at once, Sweetie Belle's heart dropped into her chest. Her sister was already intently returned to her work, intent on salvaging something workable from the couture she had at this point horribly mangled and paying little mind to the filly. Fearing the possibility of an entire afternoon with her sister to be lost, Sweetie tried to stand taller onto the desk to catch the working mare's eye.
"Is... this about whatever happened last night?" The filly's insistently worried question drew a choked gasp from the mare, who once again let uncrossed stitches run wild across her fabric as she flicked a wide eye to her sister, then strangely to her side. Sweetie tried to look, but again didn't see anything odd but the necklace and a pattern her sister wasn't really following.
After a moment of the fashionista seeming overly shocked at something innocuous, the expression of tired resignation returned to her as she turned back to her work. "...No, Sweetie Belle," she answered with a shuddering sigh. "-your big sister is just... very tired right now. I'm sorry."
That was the last word, Sweetie knew. It held a very familiar tone of finality, and as she knew from experience, pushing any further past this point was only going to end in a fight. As much as she wanted to argue for her sister's time, she knew there probably wasn't much point, and so she dropped down from the counter.
With her head hanging low, she marched sadly to the door with the intent of watching the festivities from the window in her room. Except, before she'd even made it halfway to the exit, she was stopped by her sister's voice.
"Sweetie Belle?" The named filly halted in her tracks as her ear perked, and she turned curiously to her sister. Though she hadn't turned to address her, she continued anyway: her voice faltering for a moment before it rose with oddly fake cheer. "Would you... like to come and sit with me awhile?"
A flash of memory crossed the filly's mind of the last time they'd sat together, and she hesitated. As she remained silent, Rarity spoke again, softer than before. "I would... really enjoy it if you... spent this time with me."
She only needed to hear the gentlest edge of pleading in her sister's voice to begin walking back to her. As she cautiously approached the seamstress' side, her horn lit to grasp something before her, and her hoof rose from her side to gesture the filly closer. Though it all seemed a little out of character for the high-strung mare she knew to be her sister, Sweetie wasn't about to relinquish this chance for a rare hug.
She crept forward quickly, lowering her head and minding her horn as she ducked beneath her sister's outstretched hoof, coming up between it and the desk and shuffling back until she felt her sister's back legs on either side of hers. Then, before she could react, her sister's still hoof swept her gently closer until her other hoof snugly wrapped around her midsection. Just as the disgruntled filly thought she couldn't feel any more suffocated, the soft weight of her sister's chin pressed onto the top of her head, shifting down to press a loving little kiss into her mane.
"Ugh- Rarity, you're squishing me!" the off-white filly squealed, attempting to shimmy into a more comfortable position that didn't have both of her sister's hooves crushing her sides. It was, unfortunately, for naught, as her sister only hummed busily while beginning to gently rock Sweetie Belle from side to side: seemingly able to continue feeding and tugging and turning with her magic.
Realizing her sister wasn't likely to let her go, the coddled filly huffed, and crossed her hooves over the ones over her stomach. It was nice, at least. Rarity was her favorite, most warm and comforting pony to hug, and there weren't many ways to be closer to her.
And since she was so close to her sister, Sweetie was able to clearly feel as something began to softly shake against her back. Her every attempt to escape ceased as she gasped quietly and tried to crane her head up to see her sister's face, though she wasn't able to see anything past her own curly, pink mane.
Feeling her sister continue to silently shiver, Sweetie hugged the hooves around her waist closer. "Are... you okay, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked quietly, and at that, her sister only tittered. Her thick voice seeming a contrast to the busy speed of her work that, even then, didn't slow in the slightest from its frantic pace.
"Oh, Sweetie. I'm always okay."
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Ponyville Proper
Ponyville was home to quite a few strange occurrences.
For one, it was a farming town with a small hoofful of actual working farmers. Not only that, they still celebrated the Running of the Leaves, despite it having been antiquated for well over a century. It wasn't even for fertilizer; they simply did it as tradition.
It was at the edge of the Everfree Forest, a place well known as the most dangerous woods in Equestria. It had a reservoir and a high-class boutique, yet only a meagre one-room schoolhouse.
Worst of all, the practical joke shop was right next to the spa.
Though, maybe that wasn't the strangest thing.
That would probably be Pinkie Pie.
The Summer Sun Celebration may well have been the largest sanctioned party of the year, excluding the ultra-rarified Grand Galloping Gala, so it was no surprise that during such an event wherein every other conscious pony was engaged in enjoying themselves in whatever way they saw fit, the mare who everypony knew loved to party more than anything else was present and then some.
Nopony ever really saw Pinkie Pie coming, though one pair certainly saw her leaving. The two pegasi she'd accompanied into town from its fringes could only look after her retreating tail- "Hey! Pinkie Pie?! What gives?!" -and shout their grievances after their friend as she disappeared into the crowd with so little as a parting gasp of excitement.
It wasn't out of malice. It wasn't because she didn't want to party with them. She loved her friends.
Yet all the same, Pinkie ran from them.
From one end of the square to the other as though the soiree were a race and she the frontrunner, Pinkie took in every spectacle all at once. Every face to see, she saw. Every friend, recognized. Every stranger, greeted. With no seeming pause, she dove headfirst into the festivities as only she could.
With an ever-present smile on her cheery pink face, she left more ponies than not looking after her fondly as they committed the oddly excitable mare with the shiny blue necklace to memory. Those who already knew her shaking their heads with resigned indulgence, while the former strangers often held somewhat bemused grins of their own.
She never stopped.
She came up in the middle of a circle of conversation- "Hiya! Betcha haven't heard this one!" -and before any of them could blink, they were laughing. An inside joke like she'd been there all along dropped like a dangerous comedy bomb, and then she was gone. Giggles in her wake and smiles trailing after her.
She didn't stay to chat.
A filly trotted after her mother with a plate balanced precariously between their teeth, stumbling with every step. The poor thing barely even able to see past her small mound of treats, and so liable to trip, as she soon did. An awful, world-ending moment of her hooves falling under her as her plate tipped past its edge, eyes barely able to trail after her bounty as it heartbreakingly fell to its end.
Except Pinkie Pie was suddenly there. The plate slid soundly onto her outstretched hoof and caught on its rim, without a single speck of food falling from it. The filly looking up at the shining smile the mare wore, sparkling with humor- "You don't have to feed the pigeons, silly!" -as a joke slipped from her lip, that drew the sniffling filly's frown up with a snrk.
The plate was set down in front of her as she stood, and before she could look up again to thank the mare, she was gone.
A smile on her face all the way.
A balloon slipped from a pegasus colt's hoof. Pinkie Pie was there to catch it- "Don't go floating after it!" -and it was in his hoof again before he could even turn to look.
Always smiling.
A tipsy mare already laughing way too much let her drink slip just that bit too far. Before it could splash onto her friend's chest, Pinkie was there with a rag- "Party emergency!" -to catch the liquid before it had even begun to fall. The mare was left with a cloth stuffed in her cup and a confused stare after a pink blur too fast to see.
The vague shape of a smile on her face.
A tourist hailed a passerby for directions. "Down the street, take two lefts and a right!"
A stallion looked up, realizing his friend had walked away. "He's over there, by the fountain!"
A mare walking with her coltfriend by the stream began to teeter. "Whoopsie-daisie! I've got you!"
There was a sudden commotion at Town Hall, and everypony turned to look as the new relative of Princess Celestia made an uproarious show of rearing onto the table. Plates and cakes went flying across the gravel as She fanned Her wings and shouted out.
And Pinkie Pie only stared from halfway across the plaza.
Still smiling.
Her gaze fixed unflinchingly on the Lunar Princess.
Her smile began to waver.
Seeing it all play out again behind her eyes.
One corner fell.
The cliff. The Timberwolf. The river, the bridge and the castle.
It was gone.
In that moment, the voice whispered in. Low and mocking and devious beyond any expression heard by mortals.
Aw, what's the matter, Pinkie Pie? Not feeling like laughing anymore?
It was back.
Her smile rose again as though it had never been gone, and she turned away from the table at the stoop of Town Hall.
For the rest of the day, she was at the corner of everypony's moment, smiling for their benefit. She was at the edge of every group as somepony cracked a joke, laughing right along with the rest. She was there for every slip and dizzy stumble with a helping hoof or a convenient napkin. She was the comforting presence for every foal who had lost their parent or couldn't find the bathroom.
When the sun began to wane and the air began to chill, she looked to the sky along with everypony else. The first resounding rumble of static charge as streaks of smoke and fire cut through the sky brought a deafening cheer that she uproariously led alongside a prismatic pegasus.
For every trick the Wonderbolts performed, she was the voice at the corner of a stranger's ear that voiced their amazement. She peeked over a new shoulder for every dive, uttering murmurs of awe alongside their own. At every death-defying swoop, she was the excited laugh beside a group of foals.
Pinkie Pie introduced herself into the margins of everypony's story that day, keeping to the sides of friends and strangers alike for the briefest of seconds each. Though the accounts could never feasibly be compiled, a hundred ponies and then some would go to bed that night with a story of the pink mare who had poked her head in.
How she never stopped smiling.
Except for a single second to herself.
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A Short Distance From Ponyville
It was always such a comfort, coming home after such a long day.
It had been a harsh day. A difficult, tense day like she scarcely had to endure.
A day full of so much fear. So much danger. Afterwards... so many eyes.
But a day to cherish, regardless. As every one was.
And she considered herself lucky to have gained so much.
It was only a short walk from Ponyville- a path she'd tread for only a few short years, but never had she felt more fulfilled. To feel her hooves on the ground- an escape from the pressure above her. There was never any pressure; if she didn't want to, she never had to fly.
She often didn't. It made the walk longer, but what was an hour spent in nature? There wasn't a need to hurry.
Dusk was drawing slowly across the sky as she neared her home, such a familiar relief that warmed her weary bones, just to see it. To hear the quiet scritching of her many friends in the hills around her. Listening to the greeting call of flapping wings fluttering to fill the trees as she approached.
As she crossed the bridge over the splashing stream that cordoned her home, a scurry of squirrels rose from their own homes to peer at her. A multitude of furry tails hopping from their trees and their burrows to crowd the path and trail at her hooves as she began to ascend the hill, skittering and squeaking in pitches that lifted her heart with their loving messages.
A scarce flock of birds abandoned any number of the swaying houses hanging from the trees in the scant surrounding grove to swoop past where she'd been and where she was going, calling out in solitary songs and choral movements in such melodious harmony that she only barely stopped herself from joining in.
Her door came before her, as it always did, and as they always did, her friends came to greet her. Filling the windows with curious black eyes peering to see who had come. The smaller creatures trailing from the carved holes in the bottom to inspect the scents she carried on her fur. Like clockwork, a white bun of fluff filled the glass porthole in the door as it was raised on its hinge, and eyed her cautiously from its narrow rim.
With the quiet cacophony of chirps and squeaks and whines that filled her dreams at night around her, she gave the eye-level rabbit her kindest smile.
The rabbit, in return, crossed its arms over the fluff of its chest. A single ear perked with its eyebrow, as if to say: 'It's about time.'
For the walk up the hill, she'd actually felt the suffocating wear begin to fade, and though she loved each and every one of her friends without end, the silent expression from the rabbit introduced a long-suffering fatigue in her.
With a tired sigh and making sure to watch her hooves carefully, she pushed the door- rabbit and all- open. "Oh, Angel bunny... this isn't a great time, sweetheart," she murmured softly as she took her first step into her home, while behind her, the so-named rabbit curiously poked his head from the front of the open door's porthole.
The lovely noise of her faunal congregation quieted as the door swung gently closed on its cushioned hinge, while any animal that could made their way in through any entrance available. Only a few steps in, and there was already a mischief of mice running about her slow hooves. A small business of ferrets slunk down the steps from upstairs to watch her as she stopped in the middle of the room, taking a deep breath. A family gaze of raccoons tramped in from the kitchen as her shoulders sagged.
What was first?
It only took her a moment to remember; after so long, it was a familiar routine. The hens were first to feed, and while she was in the backyard she needed to refill the bird feeders for some of her more domesticated friends. Then she could check on the many groups of mammals, run through the various types of care for her more unique friends, and by the time she made sure the reptiles were keeping warm, she might finally be able to rest.
It was only a single sigh. That was all she allowed herself before she began to make her way to the kitchen.
She was already thinking about the step after the hens, even before she'd left the room. She would need to shoo the self-sufficient animals out first, and of course then she would also have to contend with Angel's wildly unpredictable tastes, and whenever she'd finished with that she would need to-
She was so used to shrugging off dizziness- and so unused to actually facing it, that when the world began to spin just that little bit more than it usually did, it came as a total shock to feel her hooves slip out from under her. The instinct to catch herself on her wings wasn't there, and in the span of a single blink, she'd toppled onto the floor halfway between rooms.
With a cheek pressed to the floor and one spinning eye half-open, she took deep, panting breaths from her suddenly tight chest as she tried to work her hooves under her. With every half-inch she raised, her vision began to fade, and she found herself pressed painfully back to the floor. No matter how she kicked her back legs out or flapped her useless wings for desperate lift, the vertigo overwhelmed her over and over again.
In the back of her worsening, feverish mind, she registered the drawing presence of wet, sniffing noses- and all she could do was go still. For fear of accidentally hurting somecreature, she only laid sprawled over the floor as innumerable little searching paws began to climb up and over her. Their intent so obviously concerned, that she found it all the sadder they were searching for injuries that just weren't there.
The effort to even slowly push herself onto her back seemed agonizing, and she had to wonder just when it had become so bad. The ceiling as it came into view spun without any motion from her; her forehead felt hot and clammy at the same time; for each moment that she thought of standing up, her stomach furiously rebelled.
With her back beginning to ache because she'd forgotten to tuck her wings in, all she could do was lay there with her many friends, all trying in their own precious ways to figure out what was wrong, as she feverishly hoped that it would just end soon. She had so much to do... she couldn't lay around like this...
A loud, high squeaking began to ring in her ringing ears, and like somepony had shouted owl, the warm, squirming bodies all over her began to scurry off. A single, familiar weight climbed up onto her thigh in their absence, and before she could even try to blink to process that he was there, Angel was there.
She tried to close her eyes again and focus on her breathing long enough to not hyperventilate. "Angel... bunny... mama's not feeling... so good right now..." she whispered out in a thin breath. She tried to raise her hoof to lay on Angel's head- to pet him or maybe to push him away- but found the limb falling on air.
She peeked an eye open as the weight shifted forward, then shut it as a terrible wave of nausea swept over her. Immaculate softness wiggled into the cleft of her neck, and a faint smile came to her face as she let out a faint, unsteady coo.
Two deft little paws slid around the back of her neck before she could realize the bunny wasn't coming in for snuggles, and by the time the uncomfortable metal she'd forgotten was there was sliding off, she could only suck in a slightly more panicked gasp.
She tried to force her eyes open- then quickly gave up. Instead, she tried to voice her fear. "Angel, no! That's very-" She broke off in a ragged, thin cough that wracked her body in burning shivers, laying back with a gasp and the deepest breath she could handle. "...important... that's... important..." she managed, barely.
But then the weight on her chest lifted. Angel was gone, along with her Element.
In the back of her burning mind, the vague hope that he hadn't been trying to sell her things again flashed by.
For what felt like the next few minutes, she took shallow breaths, trying to conserve what little oxygen was still captured in her lungs. She'd be able to get up soon, just as soon as she'd recovered from the dizzy spell, she'd get up soon. She had so much to do... so many to take care of... she needed... she had to take care of them... get her Element back...
Faintly, though her mind was growing ever dimmer, she felt a tremble under her hooves. A subtle shake. The quiet rattle of furniture being slightly displaced. A very heavy presence growing ever closer.
A wet, sniffing nose shuffled through her mane, then roved over her face. A quiet huff filled her panting mouth with a familiar scent, and she gradually forced herself to peel her eyes open against the vertigo.
A rough, brown face with a big black nose and curious black eyes greeted her, and she managed a faint, delirious smile. "Harry, honey bear..." she murmured, weakly levering her hoof up to stroke along the leaning bear's proud snout, barely above her face. "I'm so sorry... I can't stand to greet you..."
The bear, so much larger than her, gave a very huffy huff at that, and the upside-down face in her vision crept out of sight. She shut her eyes again, mostly content to lie as she was and that her friend had gone away, only moments before something slid under her side and she was jerked upwards.
She coughed out a startled gasp with air she didn't have, the pent-up adrenaline forcing her eyes open as the ceiling grew closer, and the soft warmth of a fuzzy pelt enveloped the left half of her body. Her head lolled to stare at the wall as it suddenly inched closer, then blearily back to the presence holding her up.
A rough, brown face with a big black nose, and unconcerned black eyes staring forward as they advanced another step. Careful claws grasped around her flank and gently cradling her neck, letting her gradually pan her view around to see how high she was. Her back legs and her wings swaying bonelessly out under her as she vainly tried to curl them in and away from smacking into things.
With another step on his upright paws, Harry ferried her towards the stairs just ahead- directly away from the kitchen she needed to go to. "No... Harry bear, I need to..." Her weak mumbles certainly conveyed as she weakly hoofed at the large animal's chest, yet all the same her big brown friend only continued towards the stairs. Their pace surprisingly quick, as in only a few steps they were at the stairwell's foot, and began to climb one by one.
She sucked in another dizzy breath of the bear's wild scent, clutching at him for how little she could as they ascended the stairs. "Please, Harry, I need to... I still have to..." She trailed off on a pant as her energy vanished in a wave of nausea, and it was all she could do to roll her head over to try to convey her message in her eyes.
Except, as Harry focused on the delicate work of going up stairs that were much smaller than he was, she didn't happen to catch his eye. Instead, a shock of white fluff peeked out over his shoulder to meet her gaze. A hard frown on the soft face that, after so long of seeing it, really did fit him.
She sighed, because she understood. Angel's doing. She only wondered how he'd gotten the comparatively massive animal to do what he wanted so quickly.
She allowed herself- though she really couldn't have possibly stopped what was happening- to be carried up the stairs. Into and under the awning that her friend had to bend down to fit into, then through the hall made noisy by the inquisitive scurrying of her menagerie and the huffing of her considerate honey bear.
Sometime around passing the bathroom door on their left, her eyes drifted slowly closed, and she must have blacked out. Her next memory was being gently laid onto her bed; her head hit the pillow as she took a shallow breath of relief, only luxuriating in the comfort for a moment before she glanced over to her bear friend standing at her bedside.
Cautious, concerned eyes. He was worried he might've hurt her.
She breathed out a sigh that took most of her breath, only managing the thinnest of whispers. "I'm okay, honey bear... Thank you... for bringing me to bed..."
She let her eyes drift shut with a sigh, and with a faint huff, the presence gradually stomped away. She was content for the moment to just lay sprawled out over her bed, just until she recovered her strength. Just until she was ready... to get up... and take care of her friends...
She still had so much to do... feed the hens... count heads... put the mammals to bed...
Her nose twitched. A scent, distinct from what lingered of Harry. Not any of her friends and certainly not a playful ferret.
What was it? It was... familiar. Intoxicating?
Something crept up her bed past her hindleg towards her head, while the scent in the air grew thicker and thicker. So... mesmerizing... maybe the most tantalizing scent she'd ever smelled...
Something round and hard rolled up against her prone chin, and as though a light had flourished to life in her brain, her eyes flew open.
Angel to the side, with his little bunny paws on his little bunny hips- but there. In front of him, that he'd rolled across the bed towards her.
An apple.
Her next breath was deeper- her nose flared to take in the scent. So unmistakable as fruit now that she knew, and so familiarly exhilarating!
Her breaths turned to pants, desperate and needy. Her hooves, moments before void of any marked energy at all, slowly began to shift up from her sides. Her head tilted to lay her chin flat as her ears strained to a painful degree. Every sensation sharpening to a jagged point as her entire focus became her prey.
Fruit... so...
Delicious.
In a flash, her hooves whipped up to take fevered hold of the apple at the exact same moment she tensed her jaw to jerk forward. She stuffed the unassuming apple into her mouth nearly faster than she could open it, and it caught halfway onto her front teeth.
She let out a relieved hiss of breath as her teeth punctured its supple flesh, and she began to drink.
From the rafters, floorboards, windows, and her bedside, dozens of animals of all kinds stood careful vigil over the resting mare as she fed on the offered fruit. Every animal that was large enough clutching another of a variety of fruits, just waiting for the moment she finished so they could present her with another.
Protectively watching over her delicate form with loving warmth.
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The Skies Above Ponyville
The summer sun was setting, and there was a bit of a bracing chill in the air. That made sense, since warmer temperatures usually brought colder ones, too. It had to balance out somehow.
Nice night for a flight.
Rainbow Dash kicked her hooves into the breeze falling past her, because it was fun to mess with the pressure on her body. It was still fun, even after she'd been flying for a while and her back began to burn with that great sense of activity.
She rolled her head against the back of her neck, fading for a few hoof-lengths while she fought back a yawn before pushing herself back into the stream with a flap into a sharp descent. Pitching her wings between every flap and narrowing her eyes against the sudden wind as she trailed the edge of a hill, taking what speed she could keep as she angled up and began to ascend.
Ponyville was just about a smear on the horizon under the half-circle sun ahead of her, funnily enough. Wasn't everyday she lost track of time or where she was going. Er- maybe not time, but it was definitely weird that she'd flown out so far. Almost far west enough to see the train tracks where they disappeared into a tunnel in the mountain. Out towards... crap, she couldn't remember.
She was feeling kinda... all over the place today.
Letting loose a hum she couldn't hear through the wind, Rainbow fought her hooves into a point in front of her as she corrected her course. Accounting for the wind and weather to take her just northwest of Ponyville, instead of flying right into it. She almost felt bad for denying anypony still partying a chance to see her whiz by, but whatever. If they were really dying for front row seats, then they could line up and buy tickets.
Maybe she just felt weird from seeing the Wonderbolts earlier. Oh, that'd been so freakin' cool. It was practically the best day ever!
Pinkie had been acting a little weird, even for her, but at least Fluttershy had watched with her the whole time. Really, if she didn't have somepony to blabber to during the routine, she'd have probably just jumped up and tried to upstage them. That wouldn't have been very cool. Pretty much the opposite of cool.
Gosh, she was still feeling giddy. It was bad form to smile while she flew because of, like, bugs and stuff, but she couldn't help it! Getting the chance to see the members that had come for the show in pony- Captain Spitfire, Lieutenant Soarin, Officers Fleetfoot, Misty Fly and Fire Streak- and seeing them perform the Icaranian Sun Salutation of all things was practically a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! They pretty much only did that stunt for the Princess!
Rainbow sighed dreamily, taking in a whole lungful of the cooling dusk air as she fanned her wings forward for the briefest second to bounce her up in a prance. Yeah, it sure had been a great day. Partying with her friends, seeing the Wonderbolts, getting the day off work...
As her wings shifted to ride the breeze, something brushed against her chest, and she tried to swipe it off. Only, it didn't come off, because it was attached to her neck. Her frog touched against the unexpectedly cold curve of a gem, and she shivered in the chilly air.
Oh yeah, saving Equestria. That had happened too.
She frowned as she let her exploring hoof come back up, and decided that she'd had enough of sightseeing. It was time to go home.
It was kind of a tough mental adjustment to stop letting the wind carry her and actually start flying, but it was no biggie; she couldn't really focus on it, anyway. She knew she'd just do it and she'd get home eventually, which really helped take the pressure off. Thank Celestia for how awesome she was.
No, it wasn't like she'd forgotten about last night, it was- she'd just had so much fun today that it hadn't really stuck in her mind. Distractions and stuff. It wasn't on purpose or anything; she wasn't avoiding thinking about it.
She could think all about it if she wanted to. It was just about doing it, and it wasn't like there was anything stopping her. Last night had been a blast. Kicking evil Moon Goddess butt and saving the world. She'd made a cool new friend- and hey, she thought it was awesome to be the Element of Loyalty. That was the best one. That meant she was a great, dependable friend.
So yeah, she was smiling as her home came up on the horizon, because she was thinking about it just fine. She wasn't avoiding it.
Rainbow Dash stalled in the air for a moment as she braced herself, then dipped into the air as she threw herself forward. A nervous rush of power rose in her core as the distance closed in a blink and a surge of mana that made her hooves tingle, and finally, she was home.
Her hooves came down onto the thin, bubbly surface of her cloud lawn, and she took a moment to just stare at her incredible house. It wasn't as big as she wanted it, and she couldn't really afford the materials for the waterfalls she wanted right now, but it was still really cool. For real, though- what was cooler than a tower? It was, like, the most imposing structure. What burglar would mosey on up to a fortress like hers?
She was glad she'd set up above a lake, too. One of her better decisions. Since it was a fair bit out from Ponyville and everypony who really wanted to go to a lake just went to Marigold lake, it was pretty much off the map entirely, and nopony really bothered her. Didn't even have a name before she came along. Now, it was Rainbow's Oasis.
She cast a glance behind her, off the edge.
...In name. She couldn't buy the land under her house yet. Definitely once she was a Wonderbolt, though.
She made a note to make a physical note about renaming the pond once she could buy it as she trotted up the loose path to her door, because she kept forgetting to actually write it down. She eyed the darker cloud handle as she stepped up and halted for a moment, then shrugged and forced herself through the door, shaking cloud and mist off her pelt as it reformed behind her.
It was pretty much just for decoration. Not like she'd ever had any non-pegasi up here.
With the sun so low, it was pretty much completely dark inside, but it wasn't much to adjust to. A couple blinks and she could see again- she was just that good. Her cool posters and trophies on the first floor probably warranted gloating over like she did most nights, but tonight...
Rainbow stopped in the middle of the room with a conflicted frown.
No, she wasn't really feeling it. She kicked off the floor, being careful not to push too hard as she half-jumped, half-flew to the ceiling. Pressing one hoof to it to test its surface, then fully climbing through and forcing the floor to solidity with a gentle press of mana as she found hoofing on the other side.
She spared a glance for her kitchen, and kicked off again. As she made contact with the second ceiling, she thought again about whether she should ever install stairs. It wasn't like it would jack up her rent as long as she didn't move the walls, and it wouldn't take up that much space. Maybe when she had a day off and nothing better to do.
She breached the third floor, shaking cloudstuff off her mane as she pulled her hindlegs out of the floor. The bathroom... nah, she didn't have to go. She jumped up, and dove through the floor of the fourth floor in a single flap.
Blinking as she passed through the floor and into the air, she wondered if she had flapped too hard and knocked some stuff in the bathroom over. She flicked glances over the boxes of random stuff in her spare room, before deciding it was probably for tomorrow morning Dash to worry about.
When she finally pulled herself out into the sixth floor, she'd begun to wonder why she hadn't just flown up to a window as she finally staggered over to her bed. She stared resignedly down at the bed-shaped cloud with the not-cloud blankets, and as she did every time she saw them, let out a groan.
Because she was pretty tired and she did have work in the morning, Rainbow Dash flopped face first into her bed with its magical blankets that had cost her a hindleg and an arm, wiggling forward and soundly curling up in the middle of it. No, there was no time to actually tuck herself in; it was sleepy time.
She laid there, eyes closed and nose tucked into the crook of her hoof, for what felt like a few minutes. Practically counting the seconds until she arched her back with a growl and flipped over onto her other side.
Where she laid for another few minutes before she repeated herself.
The third time, she decided it was time to actually get into bed. That was probably what was keeping her awake.
By the fifth time her blankets were already on the floor, and Dash was trying to see if resting with her head laying over the hoof of the bed would help her sleep.
It helped the blood rush to her head, anyway.
When she got out of bed for the eighth failure and the second time she'd gotten up, she tried to pace. She paced and she paced and paced until she wasn't even sure what paced really even meant. It was easier to just say she trotted. Paced was a stupid word.
Trotting was just about as stupid as pacing, she found. So she sat her butt down at a window, laid her head on the sill, and watched the sun. It still hadn't gone down, which meant it hadn't been the hour it felt like, which was just so aggravating. She felt like screaming.
For the first time since she'd failed to sleep, Rainbow thought to ask herself what was wrong. Because, obviously, something was wrong, and she actually had a pretty good idea what it was.
Yeah, she felt uneasy. She had all day, and now it was getting in the way of her sleeping. So what if last night had sucked? Most nights do suck when you're a member of the weather team. Nights meant night flying, and doing stuff like stuffing clouds full of condensation for a planned precipitation in the morning. Boring. She wished she could be a worse captain and just throw jobs like that on ponies like Thunderlane and Blossomforth.
But no, she was a really good captain. She prided herself on working harder than anypony under her and keeping delegation spread out, because really, what kind of captain would she be if she left anypony hanging?
Twilight's hooves clutching hers so tight as her legs kicked out under her. So much heavier than she'd looked.
Rainbow sucked in a breath and quickly covered her eyes with a hoof, gritting her teeth and forcing the memory away. It was fine, because everypony was fine. They were all still trotting around and having a good time on the big day that Princess Luna came back, because they were fine.
The scream from down the hall, and Rainbow was the first one flying towards it.
"No, no, no, no- shut up, shut up," she muttered, sitting up and shaking her head to try to dislodge the sound. Gah- she could still hear it. It wasn't like anypony was hurt, and Twilight had walked away perfectly fine both times. Everything was just fine.
The haunted look on Applejack's face as they stared up at the castle, and something inside of Rainbow felt sick.
She brought her hoof down hard on the edge of her window, and loudly cursed as a bit of cloud was knocked out of it. She reached out towards it before it floated away, and held onto the rippling sensation in her chest as she smoothed it back into the frame. Buck, she must've accidentally let her mana flare up without realizing.
The danger in the air as they stood Nightmare Moon down. The snarl on Her face as Her horn lit.
She smacked her hoof- because there was cloudstuff smeared on her fetlock, was all. Not because it was shaking. She wasn't letting it get to her. She was fine. She could deal with it. It wasn't a problem.
Gathering up in Town Hall and feeling her heart drop while Princess Celestia told them that they had to play dumb.
Frustrating- it was so stupid! She still couldn't believe they couldn't tell anypony they'd stopped Nightmare Moon! Her hoof found the gem around her neck again, but this time she cupped it in indignant anger. It was hers to fondle however she wanted, and she should've been able to tell ponies about it! She didn't care how dangerous it was! Maybe she wanted to have the whole world knocking at her door for an autograph, or to murder her or whatever!
Meeting those red eyes, and remembering every reason why she didn't trust him.
Rainbow blew out a short breath, kneeling forward with her forehead pressed onto her windowsill, glaring down at the fluffy white floor. Because white was white, and it didn't change colors for no reason.
No- she knew what was getting her so riled up. Everything was fine with her and her friends and being a big hero- though she wished she could brag about it- but there was still something wrong.
Light Flow. That... stuck-up jerk who had left Applejack behind and gone off who knew where, leaving her a sorry mess for the entire night and making it so hard to focus. There was something wrong with him- she knew it. She'd known it the entire night and she just hadn't had the guts to tell Applejack.
She was angry at him. Yeah, Light was really pissing her off. She was sure of it. His eye color changed, and he'd made Applejack all mopey. He was... always making Applejack act all weird. It bit! It freakin' sucked that her friend was still palling around with someone like- like him!
Rainbow gradually lifted her head from her window, and let out a quiet seethe at the sun that still hadn't gone down. Feeling the cloud under her hoof crumble as she- ugh, she couldn't stop herself from just- she wanted to just squeeze something! Or kick something! Or just- to not sit there and do nothing!
She wouldn't. Rainbow Dash was not the kind of mare to just sit around.
She let go of the windowsill, and pushed herself over it on a wave of furious adrenaline. Perching for a moment as she dipped forward before she kicked off its surface with her hindlegs hard enough that she knew it scattered into clumps of mist, but she'd fix it when she got home.
She had to go set somepony straight. Somepony who'd been telling lies to her friend, and who'd hurt her.
The knot in her chest would go away. If she just confronted him, she'd get better.
Applejack's sigh. Applejack's face. Leaving Applejack alone when she should've-
Rainbow Dash grit her teeth into the wind, and pushed. Mana from her core surged through her veins in a mighty flap that pulled the air in behind her in a tight vortex. The mind-numbing sensation of speed hit her all at once as her own tailwind formed and threw her forward.
The faint sound of sparkling power trailing through the roar in her ears as her narrowed eyes began to water, the reflection of a starry rainbow flashing by in the dusking sky as she passed a lake and a river in a literal blink.
Nopony hurt her friends. Not without getting a hoof in the teeth.
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The Golden Oaks Library
It was quiet. Well into the dead of night. The sort of silence that could only really exist at night, when so little as crickets and cicadas dared to make themselves known. After such a day that had transpired, it only seemed natural that even the bugs feared to break that silence.
Yet, for every other pony who had long since curled into their beds in a drunken stupor, perhaps clutching their dismayed loved ones close, there was yet one pony who found herself very awake. One mare who, if she were even to try, would find herself soundly unable to sleep.
Alone in a darkened library only barely lit by the flickering wick of a candle, that mare sat tall before a desk. It was not her usual desk, nor was it much of a desk at all; it was simply what she found to use as one. Rather, it was more of a lectern. She would call it a podium, but that may have been a misnomer.
For whatever semantics she would rather not quarrel with herself over, it was what held a small sheaf of paper before her. Slanted and hewn from the very wood of the tree, protruding from the floor itself. Thankfully, its top corner was level in a small, flat square, or else she would have to hold the candle and inkwell herself.
What she did hold was a quill. Her favorite writing utensil, even despite the far more applicable appliances she had ready access to. If necessary, she even knew a way in which to funnel ink in the correct volume at appropriate times through a duct of mana, though that entirely eliminated the tactile pleasure present in writing with a quill. For all intents, the quill was the most refined and aesthetically pleasing writing tool.
Yet tonight, holding a quill aloft did not fill her with as much pleasure as it normally did.
Twilight Sparkle, for the first time in a long time, let her quill lay in the cleft of the lectern under her blank paper. The quill still dry; the paper lacking even her name.
And she sighed. Closing her eyes against the warm light of the everlit candle, oddly wishing that the enchantment upon it would fail and the fire would go out, leaving her in the utter darkness of the late night.
Then she could pretend like she was home.
But that wasn't apropos.
Her eye gradually drifted half open as she raised her hoof to the stand's edge, and traced the small protrusion there. The writing stand she'd had in her old tower had been carved from pure, polished onyx; a beautiful swirl of white cut through the firm, unyielding black. A gift from her mentor for her success in completing her dissertation on the geothermal consequences of leylines and their significance in Equus' seismic stability.
It wasn't about the beauty of the construction or its priceless materials. That didn't matter to her. It was simply an object of sentiment that she currently lacked. It was like a reminder. When she'd used to write on it... she'd felt competent.
She let her hoof fall from the plain, wooden edge, and cast her gaze up. To the stairs she sat under, to the dark recesses of the rest of her home.
Her new home.
She rose from her seat, the creak of the wooden stool she'd rested upon her only companion as she walked around to the hoof of the stairs. Staring up into its darkness as a deeply conflicted expression of perturbation worked across her face.
Spike was up there. But Spike was sleeping, she reminded herself. She'd seen that he went to bed with great care, and the promise that she'd not be long after him. Waking him would be selfish. He'd complain, but of course he'd talk with her about whatever she pleased.
She stared up into the dark for a few moments more before turning and making her way back to her seat. Welcoming the creak of the stool like an old friend as she lit her horn and raised her quill with a thought. She squinted at the floating tool for a moment before relaxing, and letting it float down to the paper.
She took a deep breath, and pushed in. The small scritch the dry point made onto the paper did little to assuage her stress.
Still, she kept it on the paper. Motionless and benign, as she only stared at it in the low light. Silently.
At its stark impression.
She still wondered whether Applejack had known about Rainbow Dash. Had it been blind faith that compelled her to let go, or had she truly trusted the mare? So soon after they'd met? With so little penance on her part? Even after she'd been so awful to the farm mare, she still dove down that slope to catch her.
Her throat was dry. Twilight swallowed, and glanced up for the glass of water she kept stool-side. But then, as the quill in her grasp wavered, she remembered. Of course. She wasn't at home, and she didn't have a glass of water nearby.
She was home, though. Thinking in permanency was useless; this was as much her home as her tower in Canterlot had been. She'd settle in. This was only the perfunctory period of restlessness. It would pass soon enough.
Twilight let out a quiet, murmuring sigh as she raised her quill, letting it hang in the air as she cast her gaze to her side.
There were more books of more subjects than she'd expected for a library of this size in a town of this size. As it stood, the many smatterings of colorful spines were rather disquietingly disparate. After waking up, taking stock, and adjusting her morning routine, a cursory reorganization of the library's shelves was in order for the morning.
She was surprised the morning was still coming. A dull, barely-felt surprise, but she still felt slightly shocked. For a while, she'd been readily unsure whether literal mornings or any real denomination of time at all would still even exist. If nighttime were to last forever, how quickly would ponies adapt? The circadian rhythm was at least partly linked to sunlight, so it was possible ponies would have to evolve to monitor their internal clocks by different standards.
She gave a small hum as she turned to inspect the closest window just beyond the hoof of the stairs. She'd closed the shutters for privacy, but maybe it wouldn't be all that invalidating to just open one up.
There would be moonlight, even through the bushes. Thinking of its new, pale face, she wondered how her father would react.
Twilight stared at the dark, lacquered blinders for a moment before she turned back to her paper. With her quill still deftly kept in the hold of her levitation, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She did not raise her hoof to her chest, though its absence meant little. It was only a mnemonic. She could calm herself without it.
She could do this. She was Twilight Sparkle. She was intelligent and wise. She was desired for her genius. She was very capable of plying her genius. Her genius was not at stake, nor was her pretense of capability. Nopony was around. Nopony could see her. She was not in the public's eye. She was not in Canterlot.
Twilight opened her eyes, and raised her quill to the uncorked inkwell at the lectern's top. She dipped it in once, then tapped the point against its edge. She flicked her eye down to her paper as her quill followed suit, hovering at the ready at the page's corner.
She remained that way for a few seconds of silent staring. Then, she began to write.
Dear Princess Celestia
Last night was the most terrifying night of my life. More than the night before my evaluation to earn a place at your school, and even more than the night my big brother was late coming home from his deployment near the border of the Dragon Lands.
Those nights that I spent curled in my sheets with a sick feeling in my stomach and a persisting headache that kept me from sleeping scarcely compare. I have never been in true danger before last night, and now that I have, I find myself plagued by doubts and insecurity that seem not to fade at my harshest insistence. They simply persist beyond all reason, and I can do little but ponder these whims while they are still benign.
Why did Applejack let herself fall from safety to save my life? I haven't known her for more than a day, and yet she still threw herself into the open mouth of danger to rescue me. When she told me to let go and that I would be safe in Rainbow Dash's hooves, I believed her without a thought. I cannot understand why, and though I can conceptualize why she was gifted with the Element of Honesty, I cannot fathom how it relates. I do not understand Applejack, and that frightens me.
Her quill ran dry, and she raised it to dip for more ink. A tink against its side, and she lowered it again.
I thought of you in the moments I spent falling before Rainbow Dash caught me. I thought of you, Spike, my brother and Cadence, but I did not think of my parents. I still don't miss them, even when I go to see them. When I receive their letters filled with heartfelt professions of their love, I do not feel anything.
Except then, I feel guilt. Even now I feel guilty, because I did not say goodbye to them before I left Canterlot. I will write to them soon, but I don't know if I will tell them about what happened last night. It makes me feel hollow inside.
Why did I laugh when Pinkie Pie sang? I was frightened and confused, and I still wasn't happy when I laughed, but it came regardless. It is possible I was in shock and the laughter was the product of delirium, but my mental acuity was not compromised and I recovered quickly. I understand why Pinkie was gifted with the Element of Laughter, but the bounds of such a title seem improbable. I do not understand Pinkie Pie, and that frightens me.
Her quill dried; she wet it.
When I look at Princess Luna, I still see Nightmare Moon's snarling face. I remember how She swept into the Town Hall with scornful professions of your fall, and how afraid I was. How vindicated I felt, and how horrible that made me feel. I remember when She attacked at the castle, and how my hope fled when She separated me from my friends. I can still taste the burn of static in the air around Her horn as She flew at me faster than I could process.
It was the second time I have ever teleported, and I still do not understand how it happened. I still do not have a proper grasp on the spell theory, and I am unable to replicate the occurrence. I cannot even remember much of my thought process or how I felt. I know I was afraid. I thought I was going to die.
What did Fluttershy do to that Timberwolf? I was ready to flee from the mere sight of the unconscious Manticore, yet she held its head in her hooves with tears in her eyes. She faced the Timberwolf that stalked from the undergrowth as though the fallen beast were her child and she a vengeful mother. She only stared at it, and I felt a magical imbalance in the air. It ran away whining in terror.
She said there was nothing to do for the Manticore, and we left it to die. She did not cry again. I understand why Fluttershy was gifted with the Element of Kindness, but I do not understand her abilities or her countenance. I do not know if I will be able to meet her eyes the next time I see her.
With a few lines before the edge of the paper, Twilight leaned back with her quill. She shuffled the finished page aside as she wet her implement, then leaned in and placed it to the fresh sheet of paper.
I am afraid for Spike. I fear that he will still not find anypony to make friends with here in Ponyville, or that whomever he chooses will be as objectionable as Light Flow. I am afraid he will have a hard time adjusting to life here, and I am worried that he may not speak to me about what troubles him. It festers in my mind. I struggle to conceive of how I could impress upon him his importance to me.
I cannot imagine somepony as ill-fit for Spike as Light Flow. Special Agent Bon Bon told me that Nightmare Moon had been using him as a puppet until my friends and I defeated her, and that causes me no small amount of unease. I am as yet unassured of his veracity when it comes to his condition, and I am lastingly perturbed that his proximity to Spike yesterday endangered him from Nightmare Moon. I am still unnerved by how he looked at me when we met. I wish I had told Spike not to bother with him.
What compelled Rarity to reason with that water serpent? Upon his entrance from the river, I was immediately disconcerted by his size and appearance, and I am still ashamed of how I reacted. Even though I backed away, Rarity only swaggered forward, showering him with compliments and causing him to become bashful. In the end, he was upstanding, yet I find it improbable that Rarity could judge that at a glance. I have met ponies as charismatic as her, but I don't know how that correlates to her Element of Generosity. My dearth of understanding unnerves me.
She took a breath as she raised her quill to wet it. Her chest hurt. Her throat itched. She kept writing.
Something heavily compelled me when my friends and I discovered our Elements, and I still do not understand what it was. Every word of what I spoke came to my mind alone, yet they still seem rehearsed in retrospect. You spoke to us of Harmony, yet I still cannot fully grasp its concept. Was Harmony speaking through me? The thought of it makes me feel oddly, and I am lastingly perturbed by the implication that my mind may be coerced without my realizing it.
What did Rainbow Dash experience on the other side of the bridge? The fog was a magically inert area, yet she pushed through it with little issue, to my amazement. Voices and shouts echoed from the other side, and when she returned with the bridge's rope, her expression was grim. She would not speak of the events, and in the time that I spent with her after, they did not seem to trouble her. If she went through some great trial out of sight, then I understand why she was gifted with the Element of Loyalty, yet her mind remains a mystery. I find myself unable to guess her intentions, and that sits strangely in my stomach.
For what little time I have known her, however, she has been fascinating. The uneasiness I feel compels a deep desire to learn more about her and what drives her. She and I are at intellectual odds, yet she is an undeniable savant when it comes to pegasus magic. Her ego may be great, though it is readily backed by her ability. The notion that I could somehow learn from her is scintillating, and the disparity between her mind and her talent is endlessly curious. I hope that she holds to her Element, and that she may be open to speaking of herself to the extent that I wish.
There was only a little big of page left, she mused as she dipped her quill for the fifth time.
Why was I gifted with the Element of Magic?
I know that it means something more than my arcane aptitude, yet my mind boggles at the implications.
I do not understand what destiny lies ahead of me. I cannot even conceive of it.
I am afraid. I do not feel competent. I do not feel strong, and I do not feel smart. When I think of my new friends and my new responsibilities away from the only home I have ever known, I become overwhelmingly nauseous. I am gripped with a desire to run away. I feel like a coward. I do not know how to proceed. I feel unworthy of what I am allowed. When I looked into the mirror of my new bathroom, I wondered if something that I could not see had changed. I cannot bear the burden of all that has happened. I do not know how I will face my friends. I feel trapped. I feel as though I have made the wrong choices, and I cannot think of what the right ones were. I feel awful. I feel guilty. I feel worthless. I feel-
Her quill scratched onto wood, and Twilight realized that she had run out of space.
She lifted the implement from the page in a trembling haze of mana as she struggled to keep her horn lit, breathing heavily in time with its pulse around her heart as her unfocused eyes roved over the messy bottom of the page. It was nearly illegible.
For a few minutes, Twilight simply read over what she had written. Over and over again, committing the words to memory. Thinking of their impact. How her mentor would react at reading them. The pity and the consideration.
Long after she had stopped reading and even after she regained control of her breath and her mana, Twilight still stared at the long list of fears she had penned. Until, in a smooth, unfaltering motion, she promptly set her quill to the bottom of the lectern. She shifted the first page of what she had written over onto the second, pressing their edges straight as she lifted the note to study closer.
She read through it once more.
Then she began to pull mana from her fount. Measuring the quantity based on her draw speed over her draw strength, and guiding its fascinating warmth higher into her chest. She kept her breath to perfect time as she pulled her carefully measured arcane mana through the proper valves of her system, making cautious note to keep breathing.
The mana warmed; it began to smolder. The noxious heat beginning to undulate in the space around her lungs as the purple light around her horn flickered against the air and hued violently red. The mana churning through the veins around her aching lungs roaring as her focus zeroed onto the paper, and from there, it only required a mere thought.
Burn.
The top corner of the paper suddenly sparked and burst with furious, burning flames. Twilight watching and guiding with careful prejudice as the fire further crept down the face of the page, while she internally prepared for another spell. Keeping the first spell in precise check as she funneled mana down the small of her back. Arcanic valves itching and hastily filling with flowing mana as she diverted her entire attention between two spells.
As the floating page completely engulfed with flames, Twilight sucked in a harsh breath, and pushed her second spell into existence. The mana she loosely held around the burning pages wavered, then smoothed as it bubbled into itself in a perfect sphere of defunct air. She purposefully allowed the blaze to run wild as it suddenly combusted, engulfing the entire space within the vacuum in raging flames and the smoke of burning parchment.
Slowly, calmly, Twilight let the mana of her first spell fade on a painfully heated breath, ensuring the fire wouldn't persist on its own, and just as quickly forcing mana into firmly pressing down on everything in a short distance that was liable to fly away. Then, with another sharp inhale, she pushed once more, and the bubble of air shivered and imploded.
She held her breath and quickly covered her nose with a hoof as her mane blew in towards the depressurized sphere of displaced air. Everything within was crushed in a matter of seconds, and with a loud pop and the release of the distinct scent of char, the atmosphere filled back into the empty space. No fire to speak of, and the dust of the incriminating paper scattered so finely that it would likely require Chronomancy to piece back together.
She'd always liked Pyromancy. Given her ancestry, abilities and company, it only seemed natural. She knew the school had been developed in reverence of dragons, though it shared little in common with their odd means of combustion. She had yet to properly look into whether the Kirin were at all connected. She'd never found any serious materials on the subject.
She watched the fuzzy air in front of her for a moment as physics reasserted itself, then closed her eyes. She let her hoof rise to her chest as she took a deep breath, raising her chin on the impulse.
She was Twilight Sparkle. She was a genius. She was talented and desired. She had a family who loved her and five new friends with whom she shared a great destiny.
Twilight turned and rose from her seat, creaking gently at her egress. The cork set itself back into the inkwell as the quill straightened along the lectern's bottom, while she skirted the edge of the stairs and turned onto their first step.
Without so much as a second glance to the neatly arranged stand, she ascended the stairs to her bedroom.
Here it is! The previously-alluded to 'something'! A conglomerate chapter of the five perspectives sort of from the rest of the Mane 5 following the day's events!
With this completed, the preamble for writing the rest of the story is all tidied up! It's more or less everything about the supporting cast that I had wanted to address that I otherwise never found a way to, all wrapped up in one tragically fun package!
Now, I want to address some things really quick, just so nobody's confused. What this chapter is meant to represent is a showcase of the five different ways the Bearers coped with the danger of the previous night. I think it's pretty obvious, but if you have an idea of their individual methods, go ahead and leave a comment about it! comment baiting.
Each character was written in a specific style to match their general archetype, as well. To that end, I want to particularly emphasize that I wrote Pinkie and Twilight with extra-definite purpose. Their sections are meant to be read as they are, so if you find the narrative shift jarring, then know that it's intentional. Especially Twilight.
Pinkie's was... out of necessity, to be honest. I don't think there's a proper way to really show her perspective with clarity.
We already saw how Applejack coped, by the way. She broke down sobbing on Light's shoulder, because she wanted to be directly comforted. Alone by a stream in the woods, where nopony could see her besides her best friend, coltfriend she let herself go. She cried on the outside.
Some small things. School in Ponyville is indeed an all-year event. The voice in Pinkie's head is up for interpretation; think it through critically. Angel is probably not going to pawn the Element of Kindness. Twilight has a few disorders you can probably identify. And, most importantly, I have previously foreshadowed every revelation you are probably focusing on, pretty much... all in one place, actually.
Okay... I think that might be it. Honestly, I'm exhausted after all the work on the last two chapters. Sorry to say, but you shouldn't expect the next chapter out too soon. 
I mean, I'll try; I'm gonna put work into it, but I haven't actually started it yet. Just... hang out, alright? You got 28k words in a few days, so let that sustain you for a while. 
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Wow! This is spicy! I
'm curious...how hard are you rocking canon, because some of that stuff is...jank.I just realized you kind of already answered my question the other day...
aka there will be consequences...duh? I silly.
light flow presence has had a effect on all the mane six, it be really interesting to see how that develops, at the very least him becoming applejack boyfriend gonna cause drama
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that checks out lol
More questions every chapter...
It's not an addiction, it's a commitment, I swear!
All that sustenance, downed in a measly two days.
But hey, it was a great two days.
I can see how Rarity's coping mechanism is just like Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They don't desire to tell anypony. The difference is that AJ now has somepony to confide in. I believe Rarity's dream to be a high figure plays a big role in how she copes.
I almost forgot that they've gone through a much rougher version of their trials, so I'll take this chapter as a big refresher. I got to say this too, this chapter is quite depressive.
Pinkie's action seems logical; she wants to be drowning with happy ponies, else she becomes her old self.
I... kinda forgot what Rainbow went through that is not just the Shadow Bolts. Well, in any case, I am waiting on that cliffhanger between Applejack and Light Flow when Rainbow eventually finds them.
Fluttershy, though... I had assumed that she is pretty used to the circle of life by now. Maybe the wild animals don't have much predators to worry about or are simply long lived. Heck, eventually Harry needs to eat meat.
Maybe, it is a flurry of danger, adrenaline, mercy, death, magic stare, and her friends that finally settled in.
I think I know what disorder that Twilight has, other than the usual fandom canon. But I am not good with describing medical stuff but it has something to do with empathy. Despite still not liking her, I hope somepony, or drake, helps her through this funk. The worst case scenario I can see happening is her transitioning from sociopath to a real psychopath.
Especially if her trigger is Spike plus Light Flow.
Also, I hope Berry Punch finally got that blessing.
Now that the season opener is done, we've arrived to the hardest part of the journey: which episodes came first?
As much as I love Winter Wrap up, it is stupid to think it happens before the Gala. Applebucking season sounds like it is in between summer and autumn, which is a logical time when the Gala would be held since it would have a large feast.
And here I am just happy to see more batty side of Fluttershy. And concerned too. Passing out from the stress is not a good thing by any measure.
Just wondering, I swear I remember Zecora’s body being somewhere in Light Flow’s home? Like Nightmare Moon stuffed her into a barrel or something after murdering her? Am I right or just misremembering
This chapter is interesting, very interesting. Let's go from the top.
Rarity has lock herself up in her workplace and is focusing exclusively on creating, using it as her own form of distraction. Only breaking down when Sweetie Belle shows up. However, not once does she ever mention that she's not fine, in fact she mentions that she's always fine.
Pinkie is running around, after all there is still a party going on and someone needs to make sure that everyone is going to have a good time, smiling all the while. Yet she doesn't talk to anypony more than for a few seconds, and for a brief point of time even she loses her smile.
Fluttershy went home, she's not one to party and she's got animals to take care of. Yet her utter focus on the animals to distract herself means she doesn't notice how bad she is physically. Having to be carried to be and fed fruit, Oh, hello Flutterbat.
Rainbow is okay, she good after all they saved the day, what's is there to worry about. It's not like the memories are bothering her and causing her to lose all slept she wanted. It's not like she's harboring a grudge against someone who probably only mildly deserves it and for the wrong reasons.
Then Twilight, poor poor Twilight who's having a very bad night. She writes a letter she never intends to send and list of every question, observation and deep seated anxiety and fear she has. For now their a lot of things in her life she doesn't understand and if she doesn't understand what worth dos she have.
From what I see of these events, it's almost like these events are examples of when their Elements do them more harm than good, to contrast with Applejack whose Element has arguably helped her cope with the situation.
Rarity is fine, always fine, that's who she is. After all who would expect such a Generous soul to need help, to need someone else to comfort and assure her, that's what she does. That is what she gives to others and not what she expects.
Pinkie needs to make sure that others are happy, smiling, having a good time. It doesn't matter that she doesn't want to smile right now, what kind of Laughter is doing everything she can to make others smile.
Fluttershy is Kind, so Kind that she neglects her own needs to look after others and it seems that this isn't the first time this has happen. She may overwork herself more than any of the others combined.
Rainbow is Loyal to her friends, it feels her head with doubt and fear over what could of been. And it leads her to make assumptions about the relationships her friends have, especially when there's a lot of context that she's missing from the situation. May end of making a big mistake soon.
For Twilight, Magic is her life. From a young age it's been the one thing she's understood and placed the entirety of her self worth around. If she doesn't have Magic, then she's nothing as far as she's concern. But know, there's a new form of Magic she has encounter and she has no ideal about any way it works. And that, that is starting to make the chips in her identity start to form.
This all contrast Applejack, who sought after the one person she knows she can be completely Honest with, and have an Honest conversation with. Telling all the fears and doubts she holds from the nights events. And it helps Light Flow be Honest with her, thus solidifying and strengthen their identities and relationship.
Applejack has someone she can go to, the others don't. And that may make for some interesting events in the future. Can't wait to see what happens!
(Also sorry for the long post, I've literally been writing this out in my head since the chapter posted. I just got the opportunity to write it all out now.)
Nice! Loved this, was very fun. I like to see the narrative differences between characters. When done well it's very cool.
I have never thought in this way before. Now it seems strange to me how the main 6 could trust each other. Of about their experiences and fears
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Yeah he had the nightmare put her body in a freezer in his house, so there's a chance she might get revived someday. Here's hoping.
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Alternatively someone comes across a mares corpse in his freezer
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I've been trying to think of something to say about this comment for a long time, now. Something... incisive, or perhaps marginally witty. Something to accurately summarize what I felt as I read it, that I still feel traces of two weeks later. Some way to voice my gratitude.
I failed, and that's after my failure to thank you when you left this.
So, thank you. I've been writing for two years, and this is one of my favorite comments that was somehow dropped completely out of the blue. You've shown an enlightened grasp of nearly every theme present in the chapter to a startling degree. Beyond that, I can't think of anything else to say.
You left me without words.
Ohhh, that's the route you're going. Now it makes sense.
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Zebra Spotted
Never have I ever saw someone explore emotions of the six after their first fight.
You, my dude, is a talent.