Gray

by Mayclore

In Case Of Apocalypse, Start Worrying

Fuyu had just completed – or perhaps endured – a grand tour of her new home. Twilight had shown her seemingly every nook and cranny of the tree's interior, save for some parts of the living quarters. They found themselves now at a green door, upon which the librarian gently knocked.

“Spike?” she said. “Hey, Spike? Are you awake in there?”

“Yeah,” a groggy voice droned in reply. Soft footsteps approached, and the door swung open into the room as the teenager answered. “What's up?” When he glanced at Fuyu, his eyes stuck to her form, and he seemed to shrink a little. “Oh. Uh...you're here.”

“Yes,” was her reply. Twilight wore a faintly awkward smile as she watched them, but didn't say a word. “You know now?”

“Yeah, Twilight told me.” Spike shifted uncertainly on the balls of his socked feet. “And she made me promise about a million times not to say a word to anyone.”

Fuyu glanced over at the other woman and shrugged. She intended to also remain quiet, but her mind gently prodded at her to say something reassuring to him. “I will not hurt her. Or you. If I can't find anything to eat, I will just run away.”

“Right. I guess that's good to know,” he sighed, shuffling out of his room and passing between them. “Man, I don't know what to think.”

“Join the club,” Twilight sighed, falling in behind him. Fuyu waited for just a moment before taking up the rear. The silent train ended up in the cozy kitchen, where Spike rummaged in the fridge for a while. “I'm sorry to drop all of this on you.”

“It is what it is, I guess,” he replied, emerging with a can of soda. “It's gonna take some getting used to, though.”

The awkwardness was strong enough to permeate even Fuyu's thick skin, and it made her uncomfortable. Twilight detected this and came over, nodding up the stairs that lead to her bedroom loft. “Come on, let me show you something. Spike, we'll be right back.”

“Fine,” he waved, back turned to them as he drank.

The two women ascended the stairs. When they reached the top, Twilight stood in a space at the foot of her bed and swept out her arms with a flourish. “Here's where your bed will go! Want to help me set it up?”

“Very well.” Fuyu watched her go to a closet nearby, open the door, and vanish inside. A series of noises emanated from it, some of which made the woman in black flinch a bit. She appeared again carrying what seemed to be some sort of wooden crate. “What is that?”

Twilight smiled widely. “You'll see. Stand over there next to my dresser for a moment.”

Fuyu did as told, and gazed on as the librarian pushed a button on the side of the strange box. It suddenly folded out of her grasp and into a rectangular-shaped construction that landed with a light thunk on the wooden floor. From where Fuyu stood, it looked like a solid plank of wood, except much larger.

“Ta da! It's an instant bedframe!” she said, looking over for some sort of reaction. When she didn't see any, it caused her to blink. “Rainbow wasn't kidding. You are hard to impress.”

“Sorry.” She moved over to look at it more closely. Tilting her head, she stared at the flat top of it and abruptly laid down on it. “It's not very soft, but I don't mind.”

“Um, I'm going to set an air mattress on that.” Twilight shook her head and offered a jeweled hand to help Fuyu up. “That would kill your back, even if you did only need an hour's sleep.” The blank look she received in reply was enough to correct that assumption. “Or not. That reminds me, we really need to talk about what you need and what you don't.”

“Right.” Fuyu waited for her to vanish into the closet and return with a cardboard box before beginning to speak. “I need water. I need a little sleep. I need...” she hesitated, sighing lightly, “Food. Everything else is optional.” She frowned at those last words, knowing they weren't at all true. “No, that's not right. I need friends, too.”

“Covered,” Twilight said with a smile, unfolding a forest green chunk of plastic from the box. After that, she drew a pump out and looked around for the nearest electrical outlet. “You need water? I figured you'd get that from your...meals.”

“Most of it, yes,” Fuyu replied, now having to raise her voice over the din of the pump. “Sometimes I need more.”

They waited for the mattress to finish inflating before trying to continue their conversation. Once it was full, they moved it onto the frame. “Do you ever get sick?” Twilight asked, continually eying and adjusting the mattress until she was satisfied it was in the center.

“No. I don't get very hot or cold, either,” she said, blinking at the amount of effort the librarian was putting into that task.

“Okay. Just a second.” Twilight again departed into the closet, returning with a blue, star-studded blanket and a pair of white pillows. She made the bed with gusto, again putting in a lot of work to ensure it looked as neat and tidy as her own, purple-clad bed. Fuyu watched her with something that approached stunned silence, only snapping out of it when the librarian spoke again. “All done! How does it look?”

“Nice,” was all Fuyu had to reply with. She got on the bed and laid back, placing her head on the pillow nearest the window. She could feel the difference between the air mattress and Rainbow's bumpy mass of blue sofa, allowing herself to sink into the new sensation. It allowed her body to stretch out more, and a content sigh escaped her lips. “Very nice.”

“I know, right? I love those mattresses.” Twilight perched herself on the opposite side and sat down, her back to Fuyu. “All right. Here's how it works. I don't really have any kind of set sleep schedule, except whenever I have to run the library. I guess you don't mind that, since you hardly sleep. Everything else we can feel out if you agree to hang around here.”

“Very well.” Her blue eyes were still glued to the grain in the wood above her. This was the most relaxed she could ever remember feeling; it was a further evolution of the sensation she had experienced at the farmhouse. That version of it was still tinged with anxiety – she didn't know how long she'd be staying, or who would end up dying. At Rainbow's apartment, it was something uncertain and fluid. Now that was replaced by a strange kind of certainty, like she had been meant to come here all along. Not only did it relax her body, it also loosened her mind – and her lips, a little. “What sort of things do you plan to do to me?”

Twilight jumped a little at the question, looking back over her shoulder at the woman in black. “Um, nothing you object to, of course. There are a few basic things I'd like to record, like your height and weight, and some of your vital signs.”

“I see.” The image of that medical equipment in the basement perched itself in her brain, and it made her vaguely uncomfortable. “When?”

The librarian glanced down at the watch on her right wrist and blinked. “It's only eleven. How about now?”

Fuyu's lips twisted into something close to a frown, but she sat up and pulled herself to the edge of the bed. After standing, she paused to stretch her arms over her head. “If you want.”

Down the stairs they went, into the kitchen and out into the public space. Spike was tending to two women Fuyu didn't recognize as they browsed the shelves, but he spared a moment to fire an awkward look. She returned it with an equally awkward glance as they vanished into the basement. Once they were at the bottom of the spiraling staircase, she watched as Twilight wrangled with one of the devices and brought it forward. It was a metal stick with a thin silver wedge at the top, whose spine looked like a ruler. She stared at it briefly, looking at the highest number, which was a seven.

“Stand under this,” Twilight directed, nodding up at the wedge. Fuyu did as told, and the librarian used her magic to make it descend until it pressed firmly against her scalp. “Five feet, eight and...” she hesitated, trying to see over the black locks, “three-quarters inches. Wow, you're taller than Pinkie.” She raised it and pointed over to a flat black box on the floor, which had a white half-circle something at one edge. “Stand on that, please.”

Fuyu again did as told without a word, looking down at the white thing and realizing it was a dial of some sort. It moved quickly as her weight settled on the scale, finally settling on 166 pounds. Twilight came over and blinked at it, scratching her head.

“That can't be right. You're way too lean to weigh that much. Hold on, let me test it.” She stepped off and away so Twilight could hop on. “116. That's about right.” Her eyes suddenly lit up. “It must be the sludge! If my memory serves, someone your height should be about 126 pounds...are you carrying 40 pounds of that gunk?!”

Fuyu drew back slightly from Twilight's amazed stare and shrugged. “I...suppose?”

She stepped off the scale, jaw dropped open. “Where the heck do you keep it all?!”

This was something she had never contemplated before, and it took her several seconds of inquiring internally to even begin formulating an answer. She felt it everywhere all at once, flowing through her veins and wrapping her internal organs in a comfortable embrace. “It's not in one spot. It moves through me.”

“Like blood?” Twilight shook off her shock and assumed a studious air. “May I...may I have sample from your bloodstream to look at? Just a vial. There's not a lot I can do with it here on my own anyway, and I'm certainly not going to take it to a doctor, but there are a few things I'd like to try.”

It took much longer for Fuyu to reply to this particular request, and the frown on her face made Twilight uncomfortable the longer she looked at it. “Very well,” she replied at last, looking off to the side with disquieted eyes. “How?”

The librarian was already looking through the clutter for a container, and after a minute turned back around with a vial in hand. “Um, well. Just cut yourself and drip it into this, I suppose.” She emitted a squeak as Fuyu loosed a blade of ebony and slashed her left wrist, stepping over and allowing the resultant crimson and black leak to trickle into the vial. It filled quickly, and Twilight gulped at the wound. “That wasn't really necessary.”

“It'll be fine.” In fact, it had already stopped bleeding. She stared at the cut, watching it heal, and soon realized she wasn't the only one watching the process. Her eyes moved up and rested on Twilight's fascinated face. “What?”

“This is amazing,” she breathed. “If I can figure out what this stuff is, maybe it could be synthesized and used to treat injuries.” When Fuyu didn't add anything to that idea, she glanced up and saw an unhappy look on the pale woman's face. “After we figure out some way to get around the...thing, of course!” she added hastily, hands raised. After taking a few steps away, she found a lid for the vial and dropped it into the pocket of her white blouse. “Right. I'll work on this sometime tonight. Now then, let's get back upstairs and help you settle in.”

“Yes,” Fuyu sighed, relieved to be on some other topic. She dismissed her black weapon and followed the librarian up the staircase.

---

Evening came, and with the public part of the library closed, Twilight and Fuyu were quietly reading, seated in two chairs opposite each other around one of the little wooden tables. The librarian noticed it first; Spike was some distance away, also in a chair, but his eyes were locked onto the two of them. She looked back at him, blinked at the look on his face, and set her book down. “What?”

“It's like there are two of you,” he replied, pointing at Fuyu. She hadn't stopped reading, and Twilight glanced over to see that she was in the same reading posture – book in one hand, one arm on the armrest – that she'd been in seconds before.

Finally, their gazes were detected by Fuyu, and she looked at both of them in turn with questioning eyes. “What?”

“She even reacts like you,” Spike pointed out with a vague smirk.

“Oh, quit being ridiculous.” Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to her book. A few minutes later, her phone rang, and she had to squirm around in her chair to retrieve it from the pocket of her skirt. She glanced down at the screen, tilted her head, and placed it to her ear. “Hey, Applejack.”

“Try again,” Rainbow Dash said. Her grin was almost audible, but the tone of her voice changed when she spoke again. “Have you seen Fu?”

Twilight winced and sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. “I knew I forgot something. She's staying with me, at least for the weekend. Wait. I thought you were at the farm?”

“I was, but I forgot my books.” There was a lengthy silence, interrupted only by the muffled noises of Rainbow rummaging through something. “Damn it, where are they...”

The librarian rolled her eyes and smiled again. “Is that the only reason you called?”

Fuyu ignored their small talk, focused again on her book. This was another novel, science fiction, and the general overtone of it bothered her. It was a dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting; the world had been devastated by some sort of alien attack, and the plot followed a group of survivors the were resisting the invaders from an underground sanctuary under what had once been the city of Trottingham. Like the other novels she had read, the narrative stretched her mind, but this one did it in a bad way. Even though she was almost halfway through the book, her brain couldn't get over the first three chapters, in which the aliens staged their invasion and cut through the planet's armed forces like – in the words of the book – magic. The picture of it disquieted her immensely, and she used all her effort to keep the feeling internal and secret.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Rainbow bantered back and forth, and a bored Spike departed for the living quarters. After he had gone, Fuyu looked out the window at the falling night and sighed loud enough for the librarian to hear it. She glanced over and caught Fuyu's worried eyes. She moved thus to end the conversation with her friend. “I should go, Applejack's going to yell at me for keeping you.”

“Wow, I think you might have a point, it's been fifteen minutes. Later,” Rainbow said, hanging up.

Once the call was over, Twilight set her phone on the table. “You okay? You don't look so well over there.”

Fuyu's lips curled down, and she set the book on her lap and tried to look as composed as possible. “I'm fine.”

“No you aren't,” she countered, leaning forward and peering at the woman in black. “You look worried. I can tell; if anyone knows what worried looks like, it's me. What's bothering you?”

Fuyu wanted desperately to bristle, as she had whenever Applejack asked her the same question in those early days. However, Twilight's tone was so gentle, it made any such attempt impossible. Instead, she leaned back in the chair and looked down at the novel. “This book. I didn't like the first chapters.”

“Which book?” Twilight raised a hand and floated it over with her magic. “Oh, I don't like this guy. The Princess would never let something like this happen.” she chastized, skimming through some of the pages. “Why does it bother you?”

Fuyu opened her mouth and blinked when nothing came out. It was a worry she wasn't accustomed to, something akin to the feeling she got from considering what would happen if her friends found out about the black goo. This, however, was even worse. It unsettled her to her core, in the same way her stomach would roar whenever she had been denied food for too long. It was a base fear, and the more she pictured it the worse she felt. “I can't explain. It makes me very unhappy.”

A worried Twilight frowned and looked down at the text again, more closely this time. She read through the chapters at breakneck speed, stopping halfway through the second when she reached the line about the city of Manehattan being leveled. “Wow. Hey...maybe it bothers you because you lived in one of these places?”

She hadn't considered that, but now that it was out there she tried to make it fit with her unhappy feeling. “Perhaps. I'm not sure.”

“Well, there's no need to worry. Like I said, the Princess would never let any of this happen.” She snapped the book closed with a crisp thwack and laid it dismissively on the table. “I never liked science fiction, anyway. I like my science to be real!” She laughed lightly, but fell quiet when she saw the frown still etched on Fuyu's lips. “Is something else wrong? You still look upset.”

The topic had come up, and only now did Fuyu remember keeping the secret at all. She felt obligated to divulge it, for some reason she couldn't exactly place. “Princess Celestia. I knew her name too.” She blinked with confusion when the librarian smiled.

“Of course you did. Everyone knows her, she runs the country.”

“No,” she shook her head, picking the book up and setting it aside to get a little more comfortable in her chair. “I had never heard the name before. I still knew it, like yours.”

Twilight frankly didn't know what to be more amazed with, the fact that someone could not know Princess Celestia, the most powerful woman on face of the planet, or that it was one of the details Fuyu seemed to recall. “You really didn't know who she was?” Again the woman shook her head. “Wow. I guess you never got much news before recently, huh.”

“You could say that.” Fuyu crossed her legs and sighed. “I do not know why I knew either of your names.” She watched as Twilight picked up her phone, and assuming she was about to make a call, picked up another book from the table to read. She never put it to her ear, however, instead running her thumb along the screen as she looked for something. “What are you doing?”

“I'm guessing you've never seen her, right? She only gives that one public speech every year at the opening of Parliament, and that was four months ago. I'm just thinking...” she paused, her eyes lighting up, “Here's one. I'm just thinking, if you know her name, maybe this will jog a memory?” She punctuated her question by handing the phone over across the table.

Fuyu leaned forward and took it, gazing down at the screen as she brought it closer. On it was a picture of Twilight with Celestia. They appeared to be standing in a garden of some sort, and the Princess was wearing a strapless white dress. Her skin was very fair, and her magenta eyes shone with amusement at something off camera. She towered over the librarian – Fuyu estimated she had to be as tall as Applejack, although not quite as muscular – and her striped, pastel hair flowed as if in a breeze, even though Twilight's own was still. She bore a gold crown on her head, studded with a large, purple gem.

“Anything?” the librarian asked politely, hands on her knees. Fuyu didn't answer, and she didn't push, allowing her to stare at the picture.

“Where was this taken?” she finally asked, looking up.

“Canterlot Castle, in the garden. Why do you ask?” Fuyu suddenly handed the phone back, and she took it while shooting the woman a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

“It seems...familiar,” she breathed, frowning when she realized she had vocalized her thought. She wanted to clarify, but didn't know how to explain that she didn't know any other word for her feeling besides the one she uttered. Instead, she let it go and sat there. Twilight didn't say anything at first, and the silence caused her to become even more uncomfortable.

“Maybe you lived in Canterlot!” Twilight exclaimed, standing up and putting her phone away. “The Castle lets in tourists to see the gardens, but usually they're only open to residents of the city. If you've been there, maybe you were a resident?”

“I...” She slumped over, racking her brain for additional details about the gardens. She found something, but it was flat and colorless and bland, more akin to a blueprint drawn by a child than a full, three dimensional memory. “...am not sure.”

“Don't worry. I'm going to find out.” Twilight strode away with a determination that surprised Fuyu, but she didn't get far before turning around and coming back. “After dinner. Are you thirsty?”

Her mind was a jumbled mess of alien apocalypses and castle gardens, but she stood up and nodded, thankful for something to take her thoughts away from the images. “Yes. I think I want to try that soda thing Bon Bon mentioned yesterday.”

---

It was a little past midnight when the two of them retired to Twilight's loft. The librarian was exhausted, but as she got ready for bed she wouldn't stop talking about how she was going to find out if Fuyu had ever lived in the mountain capital, no matter what it took. She even placed extra emphasis on the latter idea, expounding on it by saying she'd go there herself to find answers, if necessary. She only stopped when she saw the frown on Fuyu's lips, and gave her a hug before bidding her good night and sliding under her purple blanket.

Fuyu simply laid there on her own bed and stared up through the darkness, only halfway listening to the soundtrack provided by Twilight's dainty snoring. Her mind was a cluttered mess of thought, and she didn't bother trying to catch a catnap. Instead, she started asking questions.

“Why did that bother me so much?” No reply came, which managed to actually make her more concerned. It was beginning to approach the threshold of stress that would cause her to get hungry faster, but she couldn't let it go. No other book had made her feel this way, and she wanted answers. “Tell me. Why?”

When the time comes...you will do what needs to be done.

“What ti--” A connection formed itself in her brain, and it so agitated her she sat up and stared wide-eyed across the loft. “No...I don't understand...” She placed her hands on her head and felt tears coming on. “Twilight says that can't happen.” The phrase repeated itself again, and Fuyu could no longer hold back the panic. Outwardly, she showed very little sign of it, but on the inside her emotions were a whirling storm of anxiety. It chewed at her for many minutes, until finally she spoke to herself in an attempt to calm down. “I'm sorry for asking, please stop,” she offered weakly, lying down as she tried to find that relaxing position from her first time on the mattress. The sensation wouldn't come. She tried to reason with herself, and realized her worry wasn't coming from the connection of the phrase with the imagery evoked in the novel.

It was stuck to the picture of the Princess.

“No...why?” she breathed unhappily. “What does she have to do with...I don't even know her!” Her voice was louder than she intended, and she froze when the dainty snoring stopped. She could hear Twilight shifting in bed, but a few moments later the sleepy sound came back. “I don't understand,” she scolded her brain, just as soon as the snoring was going strong.

Nothing helped, and the uncertainty gnawed at her without cease as the hours ticked by. Fuyu sat up again and glanced at Twilight's digital clock across the way. It was now just after four in the morning, and she had a problem. Her stomach was grumbling with hunger as it reacted to her stress response. She also didn't want to wake anyone up, but her stomach's prodding grew more forceful as the seconds ticked by. Almost sheepishly, she loosed a black tentacle from her left hand and sent it writhing through the air over to Twilight. She used it to tap the librarian on the nose, and it worked to perfection. She gasped forcefully at the sight of the ebony rope, hugging the blanket to her chest for a moment before she realized what it was.

“Fuyu?” she asked, sitting up as she watched the thing withdraw. “What was that for?”

Her blue eyes were hollow as she spoke. “Hungry.”

“It's only been two days, I thought you said you could--” She turned on the lamp and had her train of thought derailed by Fuyu's worried look. “Wh-what's wrong now?”

“Don't feel well,” she replied, hugging herself. “Need food.”

“You're sick?” Twilight slid out of bed and walked over to get a better look at her. “You don't look sick...”

Fuyu wouldn't look at her; she was too busy trying to assure her stomach that everything was okay. It wouldn't listen. “No time to explain, please, I'm hungry.”

“Right. Um, well,” Twilight looked back at her nightstand and sighed. “There's only one person that could possibly be awake at this time of morning.” She walked over and snatched her phone from the charger on the nightstand and dialed a number with her thumb. She paced around as it rung, stopping when a voice came through. “Big Macintosh! Is your sister awake?” She sighed with relief at his reply. “Great. Can I speak with her?”

“Hey, Twilight,” the blonde greeted, her words tainted with confusion. “Y'all are awake early. Been studyin' all night again?”

The librarian swept aside her chuckling and got straight to the point. “It's Fuyu. I need you to take her up.”

Applejack's voice suddenly got a lot lower, and based on the rustling noise she was now cupping her hand around her phone. “Twilight, I can't. We gotta get the plantin' done today. 'Sides, ain't she just...ya know...two days ago?”

Twilight sighed and placed a hand on her hip. “Yes, but something's wrong and she needs to now. I'm begging you, Applejack. She doesn't seem well at all.”

The blonde was still adamant, however. “I can't just make up an excuse and ditch my family...”

Fuyu reached out her hand as Twilight opened her mouth to insist again, and she handed over the phone. “Applejack.”

“Hey, Fu. Ya all right?”

“No, and I need you to help. Please help me,” she asked, her voice cracking toward the end. She still had one arm around her stomach, and tears now flowed down her cheeks. “Please.” It was a long time before she got a reply.

“All right. I'm comin'.”