Our Mutual Epiphany

by Grisaille987

Everything Is Fine, Everything Is Always Fine

“Why did you come?”

Although nothing more than a whisper inaudible to Applejack, Twilight could hear the bitterness within Apple Bloom's tone. Although only four words were spoken, it was enough to rattle her mental foundation. She was only a filly, a young mare that was still fresh within the world. There shouldn't have been a reason for her to talk like she had seen the end of the world. When Applejack had spoken of Apple Bloom's deteriorating mood, Twilight would've never allowed herself to think that it had become so severe. What could've possibly triggered this? What could've injected the needle of demoralization that would've caused her to go to such lengths? Was it just a case of runaway?

Or was Apple Bloom attempting to take her own life?

That was something she should've brought up with Applejack when they had gotten back to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom possibly developing suicidal tendencies was a secret that absolutely could not be kept to one's self. But no, she had simply been far too shell-shocked by Apple Bloom's reaction to them finding her. Even now, as she walked back to her house, she was still trying to figure out the justification for this turn of behavior. It baffled, amazed, and scared her that a young filly would reach such a level of despair at such a low age. A part of her was desperately trying to convince her that what she heard was nothing more than a figment of her imagination, something created by a stressed mind. Acknowledgment would have meant that she would have to accept one of her friends going into madness.

That was the last thing she wanted to do.

So, with the strong desire for rest and relief, she made her way back to her home. When she came close enough for a visual, she noticed that one of the lights had been switched on. More importantly, it was coming from her kitchen. She could easily guess the culprit to be Spike, who was either getting something for himself or Pinkie. If she was in a better mood, she would chide him for being so late for the former case. But all she felt like doing right now was going to bed and hopefully sleep these feelings off. She knew that Applejack and the rest of the family would take care of it. There was no reason to worry herself to death.

When she opened the door to step inside, she turned the light back on in order to see where she was going. But when she closed the door behind her and turned forward, she accidentally caught the deer in her headlights. Once again, her expectations had been defied.

“Pinkie?”

The mare in question had frozen in her tracks once she had been called out by the other. It was almost a comical sight to see; she had halted all movement as if that questioning call was a hidden command. Her eyes had dilated to dot level in comparison to her irises, staring at Twilight with shock. Had it not been for her current state of mind, Twilight would have laughed. But as it was, she simply gave the pink mare an exhausted and chiding stare.

“Pinkie, you know you should be in bed.”

As Twilight walked to stand in front of her, Pinkie scratched the back of her head in a guilty manner. She too had a weary look in her eye, with bangs underneath her lids and her schlera slightly red. “I'm sorry, Twi...” She muttered, her voice a bit hoarse. “I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake up Spike. I mean, with all that I've been asking Spike to do, I don't think he'd like me waking him in the middle of a good sleep. Besides, all I wanted was a glass of water...” She trailed off when she saw Twilight approach her, placing a purple hoof on her chest and closing her eyes for a moment.

“Your breathing's still below average...” The unicorn said firmly. “And you still have symptoms of uncontrollable shivering. Even if it was just for something like a glass of water, you should've called Spike to get it.” Her slightly stern look softened after the sentence was spoken, and a reassuring smile formed. “I'm sure he wouldn't have minded. He's not really the cranky type, and I'm sure he would have pulled himself out of whatever dreams he's having about Rarity if it meant checking up on you.”

The two of them shared a brief laugh at that, and when the moment passed, Twilight was quick to point a hoof towards the stairs. “Now go on. Shoo! Don't let me see you down here again!” She scolded, although smiling all the while. She was purposefully invoking a mother's chiding tone for effect. It gave reason for Pinkie to giggle, even as she began to move towards the stairs.

“Yes, mo--”

The playfully sarcastic remark would be cut off by a slight yelp of her own accord. It had only taken a few steps before she started to wobble and stumble. Twilight's eyes widened in alarm, and within an instant, she was by Pinkie's side. She leaned herself up against the mare to act as a crutch, wrapping a foreleg around Pinkie in order to steady her. “Easy! One of the symptoms of hypothermia is partial loss of motor control. You have to give your body a rest if you don't want to end up stumbling all over the place...”

“Yeah...sorry, Twilight...”

The slightly sullen and bitter tone Pinkie suddenly took made Twilight flinch a little. The last times she had heard the perky mare speak like that was when she had mistaken the preparation for her birthday party to be a celebration of her supposed expulsion from the group of friends. Even then, it had been nothing more than a sour attitude. This time, she was truly torn up about her issue. Although it had been made clear to them that she would explain when ready, it didn't ease the impatience. Seeing the mare act like this was frustrating her. But despite this, she said nothing. It was far too early to start probing and prodding.

So without further word spoken between them, the two made their way up the stairs. From time to time, Pinkie would buckle slightly and Twilight would find herself having to keep the mare from tumbling. She would make sure Pinkie didn't push herself, warning her with the occasional word of “Easy!” or “Careful!”. But other than that, there was no actual conversation between them. It made for a rather slow ascent. But in time, they made it back to Twilight's room without any problems. When she approached the door, Twilight wrapped her magic around the door knob and opened it slowly, making sure not to disturb Spike's slumber.

She guided Pinkie inside, shut the door behind her, and then continued to guide her until they approached the bedside. But before Pinkie could part ways with her...

“Oh, you guys are back already?”

Briefly, Twilight froze up at the sound of Spike's voice. She spun her head to see him sitting up within his basket, regarding both of them with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, I'm sorry, Spike!” She exclaimed, biting her lip. “Did we wake you? I was just taking Pinkie back to bed before--”

Spike raised a clawed hand in order to cut her off. “Hey, it's no problem! I didn't really think I was asleep anyway...” He turned away momentarily from them for a moment to let out a yawn, stretching out his arms. When he finished, his expression became more curious and concerned. “How did the thing with Apple Bloom go? You guys managed to find her, didn't you?”

Twilight gave a heavy sigh, sliding her foreleg off of Pinkie's shoulders as the Earth pony climbed back into the sheets. “Yeah. We found her.” She said. “Applejack's taking care of it right now. There's nothing to worry about on her end, though. She's fine, unharmed, and Applejack's taking care of her.”

Spike grinned. “Bet you got a front row seat when Applejack was handing it to the one that did it, huh?” He chuckled, looking at Twilight and expecting his mirth to be mutual. But when he saw Twilight's downhearted expression, he was quick to falter. He blinked in confusion. “What's wrong? They didn't escape or something, did they?”

“That's just it, Spike...” Twilight's expression was wistful as she looked at him. “There wasn't a kidnapper. Apple Bloom had attempted to run away on her own free will.”

“What?!” Both Pinkie and Spike shouted the word simultaneously, regarding Twilight with variants of a shocked gaze. All traces of sleep had been forced out of their bodies, which had been alerted and alarmed by the news. The sudden volume that they had used caused Twilight to flinch back slightly. But she was quick to recover, giving both of them a firm gaze.

“I don't know why... but I don't think it's a problem. Like I said, Applejack's taking care of it. After all, Apple Bloom is her sister and there's no reason to trust her judgment.” She turned herself around, walking away from them. “All we can do is go to sleep and wait until it blows over. We might have an early Winter Wrap-Up on our hands first thing tomorrow. So get all the rest you can, you two.” She stopped at the doorway, looking over her shoulder to give Pinkie a look. “Especially you, Pinkie.”

Her tone made the recipient flinch, her ears flopping back and her eyes cast downward. “Yes, ma'am...” She muttered quietly.

Inwardly, Twilight winced as she moved outside and shut the door behind her. She was only being stern because she wanted to reinforce the vitality of Pinkie's health. But in truth, she had expected a scratch of the head and a sheepish apology. She would have to remind herself that this wasn't something that would blow over. But she had faith that the future visits by her friends would help bring her out of her shell and open her problems up for them to see. Pinkie wouldn't keep secrets paining her all to herself, would she?

She trotted downstairs to her makeshift bed that was the couch. It was time for her to catch some Z's of her own.

~Grisaille~

“You nearly gave all of us a heart attack, you know that?”

As Applejack gave a final tug on the bandages around Apple Bloom's ankle, she gave the filly a stern look before reaching over to grab an icepack sitting on the drawer nearby. “If you didn't get this injury on you, I would've tanned your hide 'til you couldn't sit down for two weeks. Matter of fact, I should just get to it right after you heal up from this little disaster you caused yourself.” It might have been a little too much to say, considering what the younger sister had just went through. But Applejack was very angry at the moment for that very reason. It had been bad enough that they had nearly lost Pinkie Pie to the storm. But losing Apple Bloom would've driven her and possibly the rest of her family off of the edge. It was all because the young pony had run away, and even now, they didn't know why. For the moment, though, she had pushed that question aside. She pressed the icepack to the afflicted area, ignoring the slight flinch. “Now hold this while I find another set of bandages.”

Apple Bloom didn't lift a hoof, continuing to lie in motionlessness. It didn't take long for a scowl to cross Applejack's face and her tone to become more cross.

“I said,” She growled, having reached the end of her patience. “Hold it. Now--”

But instead of obeying, Apple Bloom swung out with her unaffected hind leg in a swift kick, knocking the ice-pack to the floor. The individual pieces of the frozen liquid clattered against the wooden floor, the bag sliding to the wall. In that very moment, Applejack had been shocked completely, barely comprehending what her sister had just done. But that surprise lasted only for a brief instant before her anger reigned her back in. She gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes in a fierce glare.

“Now, see here, you little--”

“Little, am I?!”

Apple Bloom had abruptly swung herself around, nearly nose-to-nose with her infuriated-turned-shocked sibling. A snarl had donned her face, and she was glaring daggers straight into those green eyes. “I know I'm little! I'm very little, the runt of our family! I'm nothing but the filly who only gets noticed whenever she gets in the way, a newborn puppy who's always running into walls and stuff! But apparently, I wasn't little enough for you to leave me, was I?!”

“You have no right to take that kind of tone with me, young lady!” Applejack shot back. “Especially now, of all times, with that kind of nonsense--”

“Nonsense?!” Apple Bloom shrieked. “I should've known you wouldn't take me seriously! I should've guessed that you'd just come and drag me back, kicking and screaming, even if I was doing perfectly fine! Everything would've been fine if you hadn't come!”

“Fine?!” Applejack shouted indignantly. “For Celestia's sake, Apple Bloom, you could've died out there!”

“Exactly! I wanted to!”

That one line caused everything to come to a stand-still.

Applejack's angry look immediately faltered and was slowly replaced by shock and horror as she comprehended those words. She blinked a few times, staring into the angry hazel eyes as if trying to look for any sign of deception. She was hoping that the last line had been misheard, or that Apple Bloom was playing some sort of cruel joke on her. But she couldn't find any trace of a liar behind that gaze. It didn't stop her from verbally questioning its honesty.

“Apple Bloom, you don't mean that--”

“Yes, I do! If you hadn't stopped me, I could've been far away from here!” As Apple Bloom continued to yell at Applejack, tears began to spill out from her eyes and stream down her face. “And if I couldn't run away, I could've just died in the cold! We wouldn't have had to see each other again! You just had to ruin it, didn't you?! I hate the tar out of you!”

“...that's how you really feel, huh?” Applejack's voice had lowered to a whisper. She had lowered her head, averting her expression from Apple Bloom's line of sight. “You didn't want me to find you?”

Apple Bloom sneered. “Oh, now the dumb redneck gets it.”

The next instant, the chair Applejack was sitting in had been smashed against the wall, courtesy of a powerful throw from the farmer. As the fragments of wood collapse onto the floor, she could hear a heavy set of hooves coming up. But that was far past her mind at the moment. The fury within her face had come back in full force, with a glare that would've put Apple Bloom six feet under if looks were capable of killing.

“Fine by me!” She bellowed, stomping one of her hooves for emphasis. “The next time you run away, don't expect me to even bat an eyelash! Matter of fact, don't even expect me to think you exist! As far as I'm concerned, you're a dead little sister to me!”

“Fine!”

“FINE!”

With that, Applejack stormed off, slamming the door open and unknowingly hitting an approaching Big Macintosh in the face. He fell back on his haunches, his eyes swirling around in his head as he tried to recover himself. The furious mare didn't bother to pay any heed towards him, stomping to her room and slamming the door behind her once she was inside. But once she had reached her bed, she plopped face down on her bed and allowed her own dam to break. Her tears stained the sheets as she sobbed, her shoulders heaving with each and every shuddering breath that she took. She had never taken herself for the crying type of mare, and had never allowed herself to shed tears after the passing of their parents. But Apple Bloom's words had tore her up, having possibly been the worst that could've been said to her. That lone argument had most likely destroyed the sisterly bond that had taken all their lives to form, and as far as anyone was concerned, there would be no repair.

Even as Big Macintosh recovered himself and looked into the room to see a now-sobbing filly on her bed, he only gave a heavy sigh and a shake of the head. Slowly, he reached in to grasp the knob and pull the door shut.

~Grisaille~

In the midst of Twilight's home, Spike would wake up to the sounds of Pinkie's relentless shuffling in her sheets.

He let out a groan of irritation as he awoke, as the feeling of grogginess wasn't very merciful on him. It never was, to be honest. Even in the morning, he always had to fight just to get his mind in the right place. He would've given anything for an alarm clock, but considering Twilight was easily startled, she had prohibited them. It was a shame she was an early bird, otherwise she'd know how he felt when trying to stir out of a good night's sleep.

As he pulled himself out of his blanket, he turned a sleepy yet concerned eye towards the bed beside him. He hopped down onto the wooden floor and approached the bedside, pulling himself up in order to see if the mare was still awake. “Pinkie?” He whispered, trying to make his voice audible enough for her to her but quiet enough for. “Pinkie, are you awake?”

No response. The mare continued thrashing about, obviously still in slumber despite her movements. This rendered Spike confused for a moment. There were plenty who tumbled and moved anxiously within their sleep. So it wasn't a sign of danger. It just meant that she probably wasn't used to her sleeping arrangements or was having a bad dream. After regarding her for a few more moments, the dragon shrugged and turned away from her in order to jump back down to his own bed.

Then it happened.

Pinkie let out a loud and terrified scream, causing Spike to instantly snap his attention back to her. He raced to her side, trying to reach out and grab her shoulder in order to shake her awake. But she was thrashing around much too violently now, flailing wildly and throwing off the covers. In turn, this caused Spike to be hurled off of the bed. He emitted a grunt as he landed on his back, banging his head against the floor. Fortunately, his scales prevented him from actually getting hurt. He quickly sat up, his face full of alarm and panic as Pinkie continued to scream her lungs out.

“Pinkie!” He tried to shout over her voice, slapping his hands onto his head. “Wake up! You're seriously gonna bust my eardrums if you keep it up!”

Thankfully, he was saved from such a fate when the door slammed open and Twilight leaped into the room. She dived to Pinkie's bedside, quickly moving to restrain Pinkie's hooves. Then, she lowered her head so that her horn would be near Pinkie's forehead. The tip glowed with a violet color, maintaining a bright light over Pinkie's face. At first, it didn't seem to be working. But it was only a matter of seconds before the screaming regressed to moans and the thrashing lessened. Soon enough, Pinkie had been pacified once more, although she was still shaking violently.

After a tense moment, Twilight released her grip and breathed out a heavy sigh, leaning on the bed for support. “Now I know at least a little of what Nurse Redheart feels like...” She breathed, trying to regain herself.

“What spell was that, Twi?” Spike asked, running over to her side out of amazement and curiosity.

“It was a meditation pulse.” Twilight explained, wearily turning her head towards him. “It's used to calm ponies under stress caused by tremendous physical pain or psychological trauma. Normally, only qualified doctors use it due to the amount of magic control the pulse requires. Anything short of what's required results in the user of the spell exhausting too much energy.” She waved a hoof dismissively when she saw Spike's pensive look. “Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just need to catch my--”

“T...Twilight...? Spike...?”

Pinkie's unsure and shaky voice cut her off, catching both of their attention right away. But what they saw would nothing short of heart-wrenching.

Her cotton candy-like mane had deflated to straight locks that hung around her shoulders. Her pink coat had seemed to turn a shade darker, making her a bit harder to make her sat-up form out within the darkness of the room. What had caught the majority of their attention were the eyes filled with confusion, fear and salt water. She looked like a lost child that had just came across her parents after escaping the Everfree Forest. So Twilight did the immediate and closest thing to her mind – confirm the hope.

“Yeah. It's us, Pinkie.”

“Was I having a nightmare...?”

“Yes, you were.”

Pinkie shut her eyes and let out a groan of frustration, slamming her hooves onto the bed. “I just want it to stop!” She moaned, a mixture of frustration and stress seeping into her tone. “This is why I couldn't go to sleep the first time! It's not my fault! No one came to tell me that Mom and Dad passed away! Neither one of them visited Ponyville to tell me when their funeral was! They had no reason to scream at me! They had no reason to keep me from visiting our parents! Why couldn't they--” But she would find herself unable to finish her sentence, as the dam had broken. She placed her hooves on her face and started to sob, shaking her head back and forth.

The display seemed to make even Spike want to start crying along with the pink pony. Twilight, on the other hand, held a look of solemn understanding. “Pinkie...” She said softly. “You went out into that storm to visit your parents' graves, didn't you? But something happened with your family, and they drove you off, right?”

A few meek nods from Pinkie, and Twilight let out another sigh of weariness.

“Come here...”

Bringing herself closer to the bed, the unicorn stretched out her forelegs in a welcoming gesture. Not a moment's hesitation was spared, and she wound find herself with the pink mare latched on to her chest. As Pinkie began sobbing into her coat, Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her back and began to gently pet her mane. It wasn't long before Spike decided to climb up the bed and give his own hug to Pinkie, wrapping his small arms as best as he could around her flanks. For the longest moment, there was silence broken only by Pinkie's crying. For the longest moment, they kept each other in a heartfelt embrace.

Then, Twilight spoke.

“Pinkie... you don't have to give me the details if you don't want to. Like Applejack said, you're free to talk about it when you're ready. We understand...” After a moment more, she moved her forelegs away when Pinkie pulled herself back. “You need anything else?”

As Spike pulled himself away, Pinkie gingerly shook her head. “I think I... just need some sleep... that's all...” She slid herself back into the covers, burying herself as far as possible into them. The dragon took that as his cue to hop off of the bed in order to make way towards his basket.

“All right...” With a nod of her own, Twilight turned and walked away from the two of them, stopping at the doorway to grasp the knob. “Good night, Pinkie...”

“Good night, Twilight and Spike...”

“Nighty night, Pinkie and Twi...”

The door was promptly shut, and the library fell into silence once more.

Comments

[Grisaille987]

Not going to lie. Writing this chapter tore me up. Fictional or not, I feel as though I've just put someone innocent through torture. Really hope that this chapter isn't too heartbreaking for you guys to read, and sorry for possible delay.

[Pyro The Reader]

That was pretty sad.

[Blue Streak]

The feel from this story are too amazing

[Grisaille987]

1740293 I try my best.

[Cheyenne]

This is certainly turning out to be a rather tragic tale. If you were intending for this latest chapter to cement fears, you may have just succeeded. I look forward to seeing more.

[Grisaille987]

1782901 Thank you very much!

[pinkiedash27]

Awwwwwww..I can't wait for the next chapter!

[Grisaille987]

1928283 Terribly sorry for the delay, my author's block has been acting up again. But not to worry, it's in progress!

[Grisaille987]

2058511 Glad you think so!