Previous Chapters Next
Close
1: Terminal Velocity2,540 words
2: Rude Awakenings3,203 words
3: What Happens in Hospital, Stays in Hospital!5,834 words
4: To Be, Or Not To Be4,878 words
5: A Pound of Flesh5,275 words
6: In the Mind's Eye5,515 words
7: The Calm Before the Storm8,120 words
8: On the Wings of Awkwardness5,297 words
9: Politics, History and Bubble Baths6,590 words
10: The Not-So-Final Flight of Icarus8,509 words
11: Re-Awakening7,762 words
12: My Little Experiment5,378 words
13: A Thief in the Dawn6,203 words

11: Re-Awakening

Re-Awakening

The feeling was indescribable. He could smell a pleasant scent, one he could not identify, nor did he care to try. He could feel her heart beating against his chest, its nervous patter seemingly vying for first place in a race against his. Every bit of it, from the moment he had wrapped Twilight in his forelegs without any hesitation that time, was pure bliss. The awe-inspiring force of tidal waves, the incredible fury of erupting volcanoes, the unimaginably destructive power of a super nova; all of it paled in comparison to the feeling radiating through Alpha right at that very moment. Even the rush of wind whipping through his mane and the piercing screaming that filled his ears- 'wait ...'

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" a voice yelled, swiftly followed by a stinging sensation in his cheek. He tried to reach up to rub it but found his legs tangled up in something. Something warm and soft and-

"Sunspots!" he exclaimed, eyes snapping open as he regained his senses.

Twilight had pulled away a few seconds ago and had been trying desperately to get his attention, "WHAT?!" she yelled over the whistling wind. Her eyes might have been wide open as well if not for the wind threatening to speed-dry anything not already so, as Alpha soon found out.

'It burns,' he groaned mentally, slamming his eyelids shut again; now he understood what the hood of the suit was for, but it was flapping uselessly behind his head. That could wait; Twilight was not much better off. Squinting this time he was able to make out their exact predicament. They were holding fore-legs, bodies parallel to the ground far, far below and ... they were in free fall!

It might have been some sort of thrill-seeking adventure, if only there were some guarantee that they would not end up as pony pancakes in about sixty seconds. Concentrating he focused on reforming a bubble. His shoes glowed faintly but quickly fizzled and faded out. No bubble. 'Sunspots indeed.'

Twilight had been watching him intently despite her growing fear. What she saw only made it worse. "YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?" she yelled. Alpha shook his head with a worried expression building on his face. Panic, accelerated breathing, the cold, the fear; all of these things were distracting her. 'Come on Twi, THINK! It's what you're good at, remember?' she mentally chided herself. Nothing to use telekinesis on, there was no way she would be able to summon enough magic to slow their descent at their ever-increasing speed. Teleporting would not work; though they would change location, their momentum would remain the same, only hastening an ugly end.

' ... maybe stacking clouds beneath them- ugh, if this is the best I can come up with we may as well give up now, only Pegasi can stand on clouds. A wing spell? No, those fragile butterfly wings would be torn off in a second at this speed - even if I could manage it more than once.' She looked at Alpha's wings, "CAN YOU FLY WITH THOSE?" she asked, nodding toward them. He looked back for a moment and tried to extend them but the pain was still too intense to get them to budge even an inch. Just as well, at that speed they would have been broken all over again, as stiff as they were, like an umbrella in a storm. He looked back at Twilight and shook his head.

Her eyes went wide for a split second before narrowing again. 'I've got it! I'll use that. Don't fail me now!' Her horn began to glow and brightened quickly with building intensity. Alpha had to turn his head or risk being blinded at such close proximity, even through his tightly shut eyes.

The spell discharge in a wash of pink light and instantly the wind was still. Taking a quick look around she realized what had happened. They had been reverted back to the state just before they started falling; same position, momentum, everything. But then the wind began to pick up again. Unfortunately there still was no bubble. 'Note to self, fail-safe spell failed. Again!'. She started to groan but it quickly turned into more yelling, the speeding air flow constantly stealing much of her voice, "TRY AGAIN!"

Alpha complied. The result was the same. He looked away, unable to meet her expectant gaze, feeling horrible. Not because death was merely a minute away, that could never evoke the intense emotion he was experiencing at that moment. It had been roughly an hour ago; he had reassured Twilight that he would keep her safe. '... as long as I live,' the words were burned into his memory, but the idea that he might hit the ground first did little to alleviate the agonizing pain building in his chest.

Looking back at her he yelled, "I COULD NOT KEEP MY PROMISE FOR EVEN A FEW HOURS. DO YOU STILL THINK I AM NOT WORTHLESS?" Twilight's hoof struck again, much harder that time. 'Fffffffffffflare, that one hurt!' he thought.

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! WE ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS!" she yelled. He tried again. The yellow glow was just a little brighter, but still nothing. "AGAIN!" he heard her yell, even as he shut his eyes and concentrated harder. Nothing. "AGAIN!" Nothing. "Again!" her voice wavered. The glow would not even appear now. It had become clear that nothing was as much as they were going to get.

Alpha pulled her in close and, leaning slightly to capitalize on the speeding air currents, pivoted around to hold her from behind; his head directly behind her head and his fore-legs wrapped just below hers. "What are you doing?" she asked shakily.

"Maybe ... if I wait until the last second ... maybe I can cushion you from the-"

"But even if that were possible ..." she quickly calculated the odds in her head, even if she conjured a giant pillow beneath them, the best case scenario was ... "you'd die!" she cried in horror. She would be lucky not to break every bone in her body. Even with such a miracle, she knew it would still feel as if she did; living on knowing it cost another pony his life.

He could feel his eyes starting to moisten. This was new. Though his memory was still aggravatingly lacking he felt like it had been forever since he had cried. He shifted his head to whisper directly into her ear. "I know."

"..." Her mouth was open in shock as she stared blankly up at the sky.

The ground was beginning to fill their view faster now. They only had twenty seconds left at best. Twilight gasped a few breaths and tore herself from his grip, spinning around to face him. Their fore-legs groped wildly for a moment as they tried to regain a hold on each other. Her right hoof connected with his side but slipped off, only managing to push him away. Her horned glowed as she used her magic to pull him back in closer and she grabbed his neck, bringing his face in close to hers. He was now falling beg-legs first while she went head first.

Twilight had a resigned look on her face, but there was also a hint of something else. "I'm just as responsible for this as you are, I was the one that urged you further upward. If we are going to face this, we'll face it together Alpha Centauri!" she said sternly. But before he could get in a single word she kissed him hard.

Plummeting to one's doom never felt so good. Neither pony heard the clicking sound when their horns connected.

The music was in full swing. There were many fillies going all-out on the dance floor at that point, inspired by a certain purple baby dragon and maybe just one too many cups of punch. Still, none of them missed the cues when ponies started rushing outside. Even Vinyl left her turn-tables unattended and stepped into the street to see what was going on.

An off-balance farm filly, with her brown cowboy hat hanging below her neck, stumbled around on three legs while pointing up at the something. High above them a bright point of light could be seen. It would have understandably been mistaken for a shooting star if not for the fact that it was getting closer by the second.

"But I didn't set up fireworks this time," Pinkie mused out loud.

"Whathuh hay ishat?" Applejack slurred at no one in particular, squinting at what now appeared to be a glowing ball of light with a tail, while Fluttershy crouched behind her, shaking.

"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out!" promised an unusually tense Rainbow Dash. She actually had a pretty good idea what it was. But falling that fast ... she did not want to be right this time. Off like a shot, she flew toward her best guess of at an interception point. The nearer she got with each second the more detail she could make out.

Streaking behind it was a disconnected double helix, one strand glowing yellow, the other glowing purple. Closer still she was able to discern two pony shapes in the midst of the light. Their bodies were wrapped together in the same helical fashion, facing outward, heads tilted backward and ... touching horns? She was not quite sure. If that pair was the same she knew had to be up there, then it did not make sense since Alpha did not have a horn. 'Did he?' Dash wondered. Also adding to the confusion was the fact that it was so much shorter than Twilight's.

Rainbow Dash was pretty surprised when she first saw Alpha use magic behind the bakery, but when he and Twilight took off it fully confirmed what she had suspected all along; a trick with that fancy foot-wear of his. Any other pony might have been excited at the prospect of a non-unicorn using magic but she did not spare an extra thought on it. Her pride had always been in her wings, and always would be.

She pushed herself harder. There were only a few precious seconds left before they hit. She had to adjust here angle until she was flying almost parallel to the ground. She had no idea what they had been doing up there, but somehow they were falling towards the Everfree forest, instead of back into Ponyville. But the despair started to set in. She had crashed too many times not to know when it was hopeless. This was nothing like that time when she saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts. Flying in the same direction as your target was one thing, but at her angle of approach, even if she made it in time to intersect their descent, the most she would do is tear them in half with the sonic rainboom she would have to pull off to do it.

But she was the element of loyalty, and if there was even the smallest chance she could make it work ... she just had to give it a shot. Her life would never be the same if she gave up on one of her best friends without even trying! She just hoped Twilight had something left in her bag of tricks ...

She usually started the maneuver flying downward, and for good reason. This time it took her more than she had ever given to reach the required speed in time, without the assistance of gravity. The muscles in her wings felt like they were going to explode. She bit back the scream that threatened to escape her, along with precious energy that she could not afford to lose. The corners of her eyes began to sting as the tears seeped from them; a little more than usual. The air hammered at her face, warping and stretching it back over her skull.

And then, just when she felt like there was nothing left, that familiar liberating sensation washed over her, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders, and the prismatic shockwave filled her peripheral vision.

'Is this what it's like to die? It feels so ... warm ... I really wish I'd brought my notes,' Twilight cogitated. It was bright. But it did not seem to hurt the- 'eyes?' They were closed. 'Why is it so bright?' Her eyes reflexively fluttered as they open. There was still no pain from the intense light, which she found to be no brighter than before. Eventually they adjusted and she realized she was looking up through a glowing yellow and purple spiral of light, and the world seemed to be spinning at an easy pace.

She became aware of something solid behind her, touching in many places; along her back, from flank to the back of her head, her back-legs intertwined and her front-hooves felt like they were touching another pair- 'who-'

"Alpha?" she asked out loud.

"Mmmpretty," she heard a dazed voice respond. It seemed to emanate from inside her head more-so than from behind her. "T-Twilight? How did you get in my dream? Mmmnever mind, did you bring cupcakes?" There was no doubt in her mind now and a smile slowly made its way across her face. She wanted to look around, but being in that position felt so ... right. Then their entire view shifted. Neither of them moved an inch relative to each other yet, as one, their intertwined bodies re-oriented upside-down to allow them the view that was most relevant; a thick tree line slowly coming up to meet them.

'But trees don't- oooohhhh, we're falling. Hah, is that all? No big deal,' Twilight thought to herself through the fuzzy warmth that permeated her entire being, including her mind. 'No wait, that is a big deal isn't it? Oh but what's that?' she became distracted by a flurry of color from her peripheral vision. Her view shifted slightly and she was able to make out a streak of rainbow, slowly making its way toward them; ever so slowly, just like the trees. It was intoxicating. Most of her did not want to stop. She just wanted to keep feeling that way, 'foreeeeeeveeeeer,' Pinkie Pie's voice reverberated in her head.

"Alpha?" she called again, realizing how sleepy her own voice sounded.

"Hmmmm?" came his similarly drowsy response.

"Try again."

"... do I have to?"

"No ..." she half-chuckled the word with a silly grin on her face, "I mean ... yes. Yes please try again?"

"But this feels so-"

"I know, but ... I forgot the cupcakes," she added with a knowing smile.

Momentarily their whole world turned yellow. It was like a bolt lightning had lit up the sky. One made of cheese. 'Mmmmm cheeeeeeeese.'

"I think ... it worked," she heard his more coherent, but less confident voice clearly reply. They were still falling, slowly, so very slowly, but when she squinted she was pretty sure the trees had taken on a pearlescent yellowish-purple tinge. The whole forest, the landscape around it - everything had. If Alpha had made a bubble, it was huge. But she felt like she was forgetting something. A memory of her tapping a translucent gray surface stole its way into her awareness. It was a very solid surface. 'Oh how quaint, that old small bubble is nothing compared to-' Her eyes went wide as she finally managed to put some of the pieces together.

'That colorful streak, it can only be ... Rainbow Dash! She must have seen us falling and- and the bubble is solid! If she collides with it- Ah, phew, no worries. She's already inside,' Twilight sighed in relief, noticing Dash's pale blue coat was untouched by the bubble's tint.

"Ooo, is that what it looks like up close? It seems like fun!" came Alpha's voice. They had turned a bit while she was thinking and he was staring at Dash in her best flying pose with the whole visible spectrum chasing her. And only a few meters away on a collision course. "Can I catch her?" he asked. Twilight could not tell if he was still mostly oblivious to their situation or if he was just being himself again.

"Aaaaaaai don't think that's a good idea," Twilight said.

"Awww."

They moved slightly off to the side and watched as she moved past them in slow motion. Twilight's pupils shrank as realization dawned. 'Ponyfeathers! She's going to hit the other side-' before she could finish the thought there were multiple flashes of purple and a long line of clouds had materialized between Dash and ... well as far as they could see. 'Whoa!' She now had a clear idea of how big the bubble was as there was a point at which the clouds went from their normal white color to the purple-yellow that the rest of the world was shaded in. It must have been at least a quarter the size of Ponyville!

Dash was so close now that they could see clearly her eyes opening very slowly, becoming wider and wider. She was also shifting her forelegs as if to reach for them. After what seemed to Twilight like a few more seconds, she was completely facing backwards as she hit the first cloud, easily dissipating it, the momentum she had built up still carrying her at full speed, which really did not seem like much with the taxingly slow passage of time. Twilight could only imagine what Star Swirl the Bearded would have said about the effect, but that would have to wait; there was a much more pressing issue here.

In an instant she worked out the math and realized that Dash would not have enough room, as large as this bubble was, to bleed off her excess speed, even with the clouds. Unless they did something soon, all Dash's efforts would earn her is the most intense speed burn she hit the inner wall; if she pulled up in time. Twilight was not about to let her friend lose most of her fur and skin - or worse.

"We seem to be able to move," she began.

"It appears so," replied Alpha.

"I'm trying to right now but it doesn't seem to be working ... how-"

"As one," he cut her off with his mysterious reply, and she realized they were indeed moving.

"Okay then," she mumbled, concentrating on the task at hand. She could swear his voice sounded ... different ... 'bah, not now'. In a few more 'seconds' they managed to get closer to, and match speed with, Rainbow Dash, but not much else was happening. "I want to reach out and-" their fore-hooves extended, her left and his right, to Dash's outstretched pair simultaneously. They connected and held on as Twilight realized time seemed to be returning to its normal pace. The euphoric feeling fading fast.

"Alpha take it down!" she said quickly. Without hesitation he let go of her right hoof and with his left made a dismissive motion in the air. Suddenly the world returned to its normal colors and a previously unnoticed lack of sound was replaced by a flood of low frequency vibrations, like the bass on Vinyl's largest setup, that were starting to speed up.

The light that they had been wrapped in before, helical strands and included, had all but faded by then, replaced by a rainbow-colored contrail as Dash dragged them along behind her. And before they knew it, time had returned to normal. Dash was screaming.

Soarin yawned loudly, deliberately so, "Captaaaaain," he whined.

Spitfire groaned. "What?" She knew what he was going to ask, but she was banking on him getting tired of doing so if he kept having to repeat the whole question.

"Why are we still out here, I can barely see anythiiiiiiiiing," Soarin droned.

"Not yet!" Spitfire was not in a good mood. An entire day of training had gone down the drain when they were asked to go on this ridiculous treasure hunt. She had no aversion to serving Equestria, nothing could be further from the truth. She was happy to do so whenever called upon. But this time it reeked of politics. That meant, in actuality, someone other than the Princess was responsible for this farce. The thought of her beloved leader having to oblige the other nations' petty requests just rubbed her the wrong way.

Celestia was insanely powerful, everyone knew it. If she had so desired, she could have conquered the other races several times over, even the dragons. She still could not understand how that wretched changeling queen had overpower the Goddess of the Sun! 'Some sort of underhanded tactic most likely.' That was all she could come up with and it did no favors for her mood thinking about it. Nightmare Moon and Discord she could understand. Discord was some sort of God of Chaos or ... something - she did not really understand the explanation she had been given. Luna, on the other hoof, was Celestia's sister, it would was not inconceivable that her abilities could be at least equal to her sister's. Well at least they might have been before the elements of harmony 'fixed' her back to normal.

She sighed heavily. At the end of the day, Princess Celestia knew best. That was self evident. There had been lasting peace between Equestria and the other nations for as long as Spitfire could remember. That was not saying very much as she kept falling asleep in history class when she was younger. 'Two thousand years? Wait no that was her age ... I think. Bah whatever!' She dismissed the thought. All that mattered was that whatever their Princes was doing, it was one heck of a job! And Spitfire could find no better reason to pledge her service and loyalty to the legendary 'Princess of Peace' as Celestia was called in some nations; even if it meant losing her day off.

She growled in frustration. "How the hay can we not find a stinkin' hole in the ground for the entire day?!" The rest of the Wonderbolts had left at their usual cut off time that day, but Spitfire refused to give. 'Just a little more,' she had told herself, 'find it today, freedom tomorrow!' She did not normally care so much for off days. Most of the time she spent them training by herself. But this time was different. She had made plans with a certain potential 'special somepony', plans she was desperate to keep. Soarin, well, he was nice and everything, staying behind to search with her despite being dismissed, even with the whining, but ... he just was not her type. In any case, she was pretty sure he would end up marrying a pastry of some sort.

"What if the hole is smaller than they said?" he asked, "Like a pie hole- mmmm pie. Hey do you remember the name of that pretty blonde at the Gala last year? You know the one that wheeled in that-" he was drooling, "dreamy cake?"

"You better shut your pie hole if you don't want me to shove my hoof in it," she warned between grit teeth while squinting at the ground through a tree line. Soarin was a bit too dense to understand the peril of discussing another mare's good looks around one. But Spitfire was taking out her frustration, at everything, on him, and she knew it. Sometimes he deserved it but this was not one of those times. She closed her eyes and came to a stop, hovering above a ridiculously huge apple orchard. Massaging the bridge of her nose, she sighed heavily. "Sorry, I'm just ... tired. Maybe you're right. We could do much better in the morning with the improved visibility."

Soarin pumped a fore-leg in victory. "So ... food time?" he asked hopefully. Before Spitfire could answer however, a bright light flared up high above them. His head snapped up to take a look, quick reflexes were essential in his line of work, "Whoa!" he exclaimed in awe.

"Wha-" as Spitfire had only just opened her eyes she missed the initial burst of light, but followed his gaze and noticed the bright point in the sky. 'Another meteorite? What the heck is going on!'

They were only staring for a few more moments before a brilliant shockwave burst forth in air between Ponyville and the Everfree forest, shortly followed by the delayed thundering noise of the broken sound barrier, with a rainbow colored contrail bee-lining straight for the forest. Spitfire knew exactly what it was, or who it was rather. She was still not quite sure how that mare, 'Rainbow Dash was it?' could pull off such a legendary move. She had only heard second hand accounts of what it looked like from her other teammates on the day of ... her greatest embarrassment. The last thing she wanted right now was to think about that. She had thought they were all exaggerating, but this was the first time she was actually witnessing it for herself and yet she knew that is exactly what it had to be. The stuff of old mare's tales; right before her eyes!

"What do you think they're doing over there?" Soarin asked, still captivated by the spectacle of a light show. Spitfire watched in silence as a 'funny colored sphere' tinted the space around the original light and Rainbow Dash, and for a second they could only see the moonlight reflected off of the whole thing, but just as quickly it was gone and they could only see the rainbow contrail, snake its way up above the trees and back toward Ponyville.

"You know I'm pretty sure our disclaimer says, 'do not try this at home'. Feh, I swear those ponies are all crazy. Did you know they managed to get the water from their reservoir up to Cloudsdale even with some of their Pegasi out sick? I mean barely, but still! Crazy I tell you."

"That Rainbow Dash is pretty good, why haven't we recruited her yet?" Soarin asked.

"Yeah she's good alright, but too headstrong. If anything, she should be leading her own team." The trail slowly faded away, the blue wonder having landed a few moments ago. With the lightshow over and tiredness setting in again, Spitfire finally let out her own loud yawn. "Come on let's hit Joe's, I'm buyin'."

"Yeah!" Soarin cheered. If nothing else, he was easy to please. But if she did not known better, she would have suspected that he stayed out here just for that.

And with that the two Pegasi flew off, back toward Canterlot, not realizing just how close they had been to finding what they were looking for.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash's voice tore through the night sky all the way back to Ponyville. She probably would not be able to fly straight, if at all, the next day but the immense feeling of elation did a good job masking that fact; the flood of endorphins blocking most of the pain that would normally have accompanied ripping up her muscles so badly.

"Did you see that!" she asked excitedly between breaths, setting the two ponies down on the bridge leading into town and landed beside them, though not able to remain still. "For a second there I really thought I'd missed you!" she went on, hopping around giddily. But she suddenly stopped and stared at them critically, "Omigosh, are you guys okay? I totally thought you would have gotten hurt when I grabbed you! Does anything hurt? Are your legs bending in the right direction? This one time, mine was going in the wrong direction when I landed too hard, and the doctor told me-"

"Dash!" Twilight shouted on her third attempt at getting her attention. The last thing she needed just then was another Pinkie Pie. "We're fine Rainbow Dash, really!" she explained with a smile, although she felt pretty shaken up on the inside. She looked over at Alpha wondering how he was holding up, but his face was turned away, looking over the edge of the bridge into the stream flowing beneath it.

But before Twilight could say anything Rainbow Dash erupted again, "Phew! I was so worried that I'd snap you like a carrot stick! I guess you did some magic thing, is that what those weird flashes were?" Twilight grinned sheepishly and nodded furiously. Not entirely a lie. Magic was involved, but she had no idea how or why any of it happened. And she could not even begin to speculate as to how it might have contributed to their safety from a super-sonic pegasus grabbing them out of mid-air at what was, essentially, a perfect right-angle.

They heard retching sounds and faint splashes. Looking at Alpha they both smirked. "Well, maybe not entirely okay," Twilight chuckled lightly.

"What were you guys doing up there anyway?!" Dash asked.

"Uhhh-" Twilight started in an elevated voice, "nothing! I mean obviously we were doing something but-"

Dash deadpanned. "I mean after the fooling around, obviously." One might have said she was blunt, but that would have been an understatement.

Twilight's face lit up neon crimson, "Hah, hee, ahem! Yes, the uh- well we were uh ... talking and then ..." Twilight's eyes were darting around looking at everything but the sky-blue Pegasus. 'Think filly, THINK!' she squirmed in her embarrassment.

"Twilight was showing me what lo-" Alpha was suddenly silenced when Twilight almost instantly appeared beside him by the edge of the bridge and shoved a hoof into his mouth, another rubbing his back.

"Now now, you shouldn't talk so soon after throwing up like that," she could not decide which was worse, the fact that he almost let the cat out of the bag, or the fact that her hoof was covered in what was once food. "What Alpha is trying to say," she started, pulling away her hoof and looking at the slimy aftermath in disgust, "Is that I was going to show him how to put on the light-show we had planned for the party! Yeah ..." It was a good thing she was not the element of honesty. It might have shattered just then with the magnitude of the lie she had just told.

"That's not-" in went the other hoof, cutting off Alpha once more.

"Yes! That's not how it turned out ... obviously," Twilight's face was a hideous combination of disgust and a grin as she waved the first hoof over the side of the bridge, desperately trying to rid herself of the pungent mess clinging to it. "But luckily you came along and saved the day- err, night. Thanks ... for that, eheh." Dash cocked her head, clearly not buying it. She was about to open her mouth when Twilight began to trot toward her, "Yes, thank you sooooooooooooo much. In fact, I just have to shake your hoof, it's the least I can do!" she gushed with, what she was not aware was, a sadistic grin on her face, holding up the second tragedy that was her right hoof, slick and glistening in the moonlight.

Rainbow Dash backed up in a hurry, the smell reaching her even from the ten odd feet that separated them. "Uh, yeah, that's okay Twilight, I'll let you two ... clean up," she began, scratching the back of her neck while still in retreat. "I-I should go let the others know you're okay, heh- later!" She flew off hurriedly.

Twilight hated having to do that, but she was still too emotionally shaken from the whole ordeal they just went through, to deal with that level of embarrassment. She stared down at her hooves in thought, but the first one that came to mind went something like, 'Yuck!' She almost full-on galloped over to the edge of the stream, upstream from the bridge of course, and began to wash the offending appendages.

"Alpha get over here," she called. His head poked over the side of the bridged. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Unless you're going to try to convince me that you could ever like the taste of it coming back out, you might want to get down here and wash up," she said matter-of-factly. He made is way over to stand beside her.

"Why did-"

"Uh-uh! Wash first. Your breath could defeat Nightmare Moon all on its own!" Twilight stated in a funny voice with her leg draped over her nose. Despite looking confused Alpha complied. 'Nightmare Night, Nightmare Moon ... what was with these ponies and nightmares?' he wondered, catching a mouthful of the cool water flowing briskly past them.

A few minutes, and much gargling, later they sat beside the stream staring in opposite directions. Finally Alpha decided to give it a second try, "Why did you lie to her?" he asked without turning his head. He was met with silence. He started to wonder if she had heard him. Then he wondered if she was even still there and cocked his head to look at her. She was staring off into the distance, a light breeze playing 'patty cake' with her a few loose strands in her mane.

Just as he was about to ask again, she finally spoke up, "Would you really have done it?" she asked. Her voice was low and featureless.

"Done what?"

She turned around entirely and sat back on her haunches staring intently at him. "Would you really have thrown your life away ... just to save me?" It was his turn to stare at the trees beyond Ponyville's border. It was a rare moment; Alpha actually taking the time to think before speaking. But this time he felt confident about what he wanted to say and made sure to forge his reply carefully.

He looked back at her with a smile, "I do not make promises lightly, Twilight Sparkle. A life gladly given to save yours, is a life well spent." They continued to stare at each other in silence, long after the smile faded while he stared at her emotionless face.

"I don't like it," she said in a flat voice, getting up and starting to walk back into the village.

"Wh- what?" Alpha's eyes bulged slightly at the unexpected response. He wracked his brain trying to figure out if he had said something stupid again, stumbling a bit as he whirled around to catch up with her. "What do you mean?" he asked when he pulled up just behind her, matching the slow pace she had set.

"I don't like the idea of you looking for opportunities to just throw yourself into harm's way whenever you feel like it!" Twilight huffed. "I didn't pull you out of that hole just so you could dig yourself a new one!"

"I am not going to-"

"This self-pity of yours is really starting to get on my nerves, just how long are you going to keep feeling sorry for yourself before you get back to living a normal life?"

"I do not-"

"And another thing!" she exclaimed, whirling around and bearing down on him. "Stop trying to do things for me out of that misguided sense of indebtedness!" He cringed. She looked angry. He had never seen this side of her before and he found it quite ... intimidating. "Just ..." her voice and expression softened as she sighed, realizing he was all but quivering in fear, "just be yourself ... for yourself."

"..."

Their eyes remained locked onto each other for a while longer before Twilight turned back around and continued walking. "Come on," she called, "let's go make up for lost cupcakes."

Alpha grinned as he bolted upright and joined her, already forgetting most of what she had said.

For the rest of the night, Sugarcube Corner and the surrounding area were alive with the sounds one might expect of a wild party. Twilight masterfully avoided answering her other friends' concerned questions about the incident, changing the subject quickly or pretending to be distracted by something. It was not too difficult with all that was going on, both inside and out of the highly decorated bakery. Everyone had a good laugh as the six best friends tried to teach Alpha to dance. Something they eventually declared hopeless before moving on to other activities.

Twilight used a much weaker version of another simple spell, one she had employed on herself many times before (nothing beat a good night's sleep in perfect silence), to dampen the sound reaching Alpha's ears, enabling him to enjoy the entire experience without the previous discomfort. Rainbow Dash introduced him to the concept of being 'pranked'. Pinkie Pie introduced him to fudge, with almost disastrous consequences when he tried to eat the entire platter-full after his first bite. Applejack showed him the game of one-on-one tug-of-war, though he could not even come close to beating her or Dash at it. Before any of that, of course, Rarity insisted that Alpha remove her beloved creation, almost causing a scene before Fluttershy suggested they go up to Pinky's room to change. She nearly fainted when she found the insides drenched in sweat.

Rainbow Dash, as it turned out, was the first to bid the others a goodnight; the rush finally worn off and her aching body begging her for reprieve. Usually it was Twilight that left first, partly because Spike tended to fall asleep (somehow) long before any other pony, and partly because she was eager to get back into a good book. That night, however, she and Alpha were some of the last ponies to leave.

Fluttershy had thankfully carried the snoring baby dragon to the library for Twilight, and she and Alpha enjoyed a slow walk back. They were still giggling as they traded various stories back and forth about their experiences at the party by the time they reach the door to Golden Oaks Library.

Twilight sighed contentedly after one last laugh and leaned against the door frame. Her eyes met Alphas for a few moments of silence before she spoke again, "I ... had a great time tonight Alpha. Even if we nearly ... you know."

He smiled serenely, looking down at his hooves for a moment before raising his head and replying simply, "I am glad."

"Do you think we could ... try that again tomorrow- you know ... with Rainbow Dash there to-"

"No," he began with a hoof held up for emphasis. Twilight's expression saddened a bit, but he was undeterred. "Until I can use these again," he nodded toward his wings, "I will not endanger anyone with my carelessness."

"Ohhh, but I was really looking forward to trying out my new catadioptric telescope at high altitude," she pouted, not entirely unaffected by the weakly spiked punch she had ingested a few hours ago.

"Nope," he reiterated.

"Awww," she tried again, attempting one of Rarity's tactics of persuasion. One involving large, pleading eyes and a puffed out lower lip.

"Goodnight Twilight," Alpha said resolutely, still smiling as he turned to leave.

"Wait-" she called, remembering a very important line in the book she had been reading just before going to the party. Quickly drawing up beside him, she pecked him on the cheek, "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, blushing heavily, before hastily running inside and closing the door. Alpha remained still in the same spot for a little longer before lifting a hoof to his cheek. He grinned in the midst of a thoughtful expression and walked off.

Twilight had been leaning against the door the entire time, listening to the dull clop of his hooves against the grass , fading away as he left. She now stared at her own hooves, reminiscing in memories of the night's activities. She heard Spike snoring quietly in the perfect silence common to that late hour. With one last giggle she quietly skipped up the stairs to prepare for bed.

He was running through a field full of colorful vegetation. A taller mare galloped ahead of him, laughing happily. The sun was shining and the sky was a clear blue. His chest was tight, but he realized it was because he too was laughing as he ran.

He caught up to her easily, but just as he was about to nip her in the ear she spread her magnificent wings and flew up, out of his reach. "No fair!" he chuckled happily. She laughed even more. It was music to his ears.

There were no wings to unfold on his own jet black form, but his long horn lit up with a bright red glow as he sought to even the odds. The world became tinted in that same red color as a large, transparent dome manifested around them. He crouched slightly then jumped, pushing himself off of the ground with ease and floating straight toward her.

Her wings flapped uselessly even as her laughter began to take on an urgent tone. She knew what was coming next. They both did.

He wrapped his forelegs around her torso and made a 'burring' noise with his mouth pressed to her vulnerable underbelly. Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as uncontained laughter turned into hysterical squealing. He knew her weakness all too well.

"Stop, stop! Oh by the suns!" she gasped in between high-pitched screams, "I GIVE UP!" she managed to yell out. He stopped abruptly and looked up at her with a giddy grin on his face.

When she had finally caught her breath once more, he pulled himself up to eye level and kissed her. He extended one of his legs to cushion the impact when they came into contact with the inner wall of the dome, then used it to gently push them back toward its center, never looking up or breaking the kiss.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a flash of yellow but promptly ignored it. But then he heard a new voice. A young voice. "Where did mommy go?" it asked. A feeling of emptiness manifested inside of him as the warm sensation of the mare's form disappeared in an instant. When he opened his eyes he was floating above an endless expanse of sand and rock, two harsh solar bodies beating down on him from different points in a yellow sky.

His bottom lip began to quiver as an immense sorrow threatened to overtake him. "To a better place," he replied, looking down at the little white colt staring back up at him. He closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tide of tears but, when he opened them again, he was falling.

Panic replaced sorrow in a heartbeat and he flailed wildly.

"Again!" he heard a familiar voice call. He concentrated and released the spell, but the only thing that happened was a brief flash of yellow in the pitch black void around him. "Again." It was barely a whisper that time and he looked around erratically, desperate to find its source.

His vision filled with more flashes of yellow. But this time they seemed to have a clear source. He brought his fore-hooves up to his face and saw a pair ornate shoes upon them, glowing fiercely, with a very slowly dancing ethereal corona around them.

"Where did mommy go?" The question echoed in his mind. But something else was rising from amidst that loud, reverberating question.

"You will ..." It was barely a whisper at first.

"You will for- ..." It was still too hard to make out anything more with the other words drowning most of it out.

"You will- REMEMBER!" The last word ripped through him like a bolt of lightning. His vision erupted as the shoes flared up, becoming brighter and brighter until all he could see was white.

He was blind.

Alpha woke with a start. His heart was hammering in his chest, breathing hard and ... sweating? 'I hardly ever sweat, what-' his train of thought was interrupted by a flood of memories, seemingly foreign to his mind ... at first. But then it all fell into place. About as 'into-place' as a slightly oversized peg being jammed into its hole, getting stuck half-way and having to be hammered, painfully, the rest of the way in.

The sky was a deep purple signifying the early dawn. A concept lost on him. He massaged his forehead, trying to rub away the growing headache. 'A minor set-back,' he thought to himself, referring to the last few days, 'perhaps even ... worth it.' But everything was different now. Because now ... he remembered!

614 views

Previous Chapters Next

My Own Flesh and Blood - NioFox

Stats

FIMFiction

Follow & Support Us