Chapter 1: Fluttershy

Fluorescence of a Tide
By: Johnjohns2

Chapter 2: Fluttershy

Fluttershy stood in a long, dimly-lit hallway. The black-speckled white marble floor was cold, and each tile was polished so well, that Fluttershy could almost make out the individual hairs of her mane inside the reflection. Looking in both directions, she noticed that the hallway seemed to stretch on forever in opposite directions. She was alone, and not a single other pony was in sight. Fluttershy thought that she was inside a hospital, judging by the appearance of her surroundings. Dimly-lit fluorescent lights ran down the ceiling in both directions. Doors were spaced evenly about every fifteen feet. There were tags on each door, however no numbers or letters decorated they’re shiny silver surfaces. Next to each room, there was a black file box. If this was a normal hospital, they would be filled with medical documents on the corresponding patients inside the rooms, however these boxes were empty. Fluttershy tried one of the doors closest to her. Locked. She tried the next door over to the right. Also locked. Fluttershy stood there, staring at the locked doors with a puzzled look upon her face. Suddenly she heard a tapping sound down the hallway to her right. The young mare turned to face the sound. She saw the question mark cutie mark of a tall earth-stallion with a light-brown tail and mane trotting rather quickly off into the distance.

“Hello?” Fluttershy shouted quietly, “Hey... excuse me.”

The stallion continued to walk away, slowly becoming a silhouette as he trotted into the darkness in the distance. Fluttershy hadn’t noticed previously that the hallway got darker the further she peered.

“Hey, wait up!” Fluttershy said, starting after him at a light gallop.

The hallway illuminated the darkness around her, while at all times she could only see about seven doors down before the hallway got too dark. The yellow mare quickened her pace as she hurried down the hallway after the grey pony. She could not see the stallion ahead of her, and was about to speed up to a full gallop, when she was forced to stop suddenly.

The hallway had stopped at a wall, and divided into a t-intersection. She looked to the right...nothing. Fluttershy looked to her left and saw the grey pony trotting away at the same pace he was before.

“Hey!” said Fluttershy, raising her voice slightly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. My name is... hey come back!” She started after the stallion once again when he failed to stop and acknowledge the pegasus's presence. She galloped after him once again, still not able to see that far ahead of herself. She began to use her wings to help her gallop faster, until the hallway was rushing past her in a blur of whites, blacks and grays. She knew that Rainbow Dash would be proud of her if she saw her run like this. In a gust of wind, Fluttershy flew down the hallway in pursuit of the mysterious grey stallion.

Fluttershy was once again forced to put on the brakes and slow down to a trot. The hallway had ended once again, however this time it did not branch in two different directions. Instead the hallway ended at a single, open hospital door. She quietly and cautiously approached the door. There was a faint blue light illuminating the interior. The blue light stood out against the white walls of the hallway, because the fluorescent light panel in front of the door was not giving off any light. Fluttershy stepped through the doorstep. There was a thin wall jutting out from the main wall on the left. This thin wall was about three feet long, and the yellow pony was forced to walk around it. She silently slinked around the corner, expecting to find the light-grey stallion, but what she found surprised her. Lying in a hospital bed in front of her was Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes were closed, and she had a slight smile on her face. She was tucked under the sheets, with three white pillows supporting her head. The light-blue glow that illuminated the room originated at no point in particular, and it really added to the strange feeling that Fluttershy was experiencing. The mare stepped up to the bed. She wanted to wake up the sleeping violet unicorn, but something stopped her. Instead she just looked down upon her dear friend, unmoving.

“She had mentioned you,” said a voice from behind the pegasus.

Fluttershy’s heart jumped into her throat, as she sprung into the air. She slowly turned around to face the voice. It was the grey stallion with the light-brown mane.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” he said with cold smirk on his face.

His cold grey eyes seemed to penetrate Fluttershy’s soul. His mane was well kept, and fell loosely around his neck. Fluttershy could not deny that he was handsome. She stared back into his eyes, with an equally powerful stare. The two looked at each other for only a few seconds, and then she broke the silence.

“Um...hi,” she whispered.

He continued to look at Fluttershy, his eyes not once breaking away from hers. He had a patient smile.

“You said that Twilight had mentioned me?” she asked unsurely.

“Yes she did...well, not you in particular. She talked about all of you,” he said, still smiling. Fluttershy wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by this. Did he mean her friends?

“What did she say about us?” she asked nervously. Fluttershy was still uneasy about this strange pony, but she was beginning to calm down. His words had a soothing effect on her.

“Oh you know, stuff like talking about how great her friends were, and how much of an honor it was to be friends with them, and if she didn't make it, that it was ok, and to tell all of you not to worry about her, you know...the usual stuff,” he said with complete indifference.

Fluttershy turned to look down at Twilight Sparkle. The violet mare hadn’t stirred at all. She was breathing lightly. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked.

“I can’t say I know for certain,” he said. “She seemed to know what was wrong with her, because she was completely accepting of her condition.”

“How long has she been like this?” she questioned in a caring, yet frustrated voice. This pony was starting to annoy Fluttershy. She did not like the way he talked about her friend, and the soothing effect of his voice was rapidly departing. It was as if he didn't care at all.

“A long time.”

“How long has it been since you spoke with her?”

“Even longer,” he said.

Fluttershy was slowly starting to tear up. She didn’t know what to do.

“What else did she say?” she wondered from the grey earth-pony, a slight quiver in her voice.

“Only that you are the only pony who knows what is wrong with her,” he said, the smile slowly fading from his face. “Only you know how to save her.”

“But I... I don't know anything. I don’t know how to help,” she said, starting to panic.

“Twilight said that you would say that, she also said not to worry about it. She wanted me to tell you, that all of the questions you have would be answered in due time.”

Fluttershy wondered about this for a moment, her eyes fixed upon Twilight’s face. What was wrong with her friend? Who was this mysterious stallion? Why hadn't Twilight had him tell her what was wrong? Nothing was making sense to the yellow pegasus. Suddenly, she came up with a question to ask him.

“Hey!” she said. “You never told me your name.”

Fluttershy waited for a response...nothing. She turned around, but when she brought her eyes away from Twilight and around behind her, she was stunned. The grey earth-pony had disappeared.

“Hey!” Fluttershy shouted. “I wasn't done talking to you!”

Fluttershy started for the door, but when she failed to feel the floor beneath her hooves, she stopped. Fluttershy looked down. Darkness. Fluttershy looked up, and saw the hospital room rapidly decreasing in size above her. She had fallen straight through the floor, and was falling into the never-ending darkness. She tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. She tried to spread her wings, in an attempt to stop her descent, but had no luck. No matter how much she tried to flap her feathered wings, they refused to cooperate. She gave one last pleading look in the direction she had fallen from, before the darkness consumed her completely.

Fluttershy awoke suddenly. For a moment she was not sure where she was, but then she realized that she was lying in her bed. She sat up, feeling damp as she did. The pink-maned pegasus put a hoof against her head, and realized that she had been sweating profusely. She looked into her bedside mirror. She had tear stains running down her face.

“Wow,” she said to herself. “That was a terrible dream.” This was true. Her nightmare had shaken her to the bone. She looked down at her right fore-hoof and realized that she was shaking. It was then that she noticed the small, out-of-focus, white figure sitting at the foot of the bed. Fluttershy moved her hoof away from her face, and the figure came into focus. It was Angle. The small, white bunny had a worried look on its face.

“Oh Angle!” said Fluttershy. “It's ok. I just had a bad dream, no need to worry about me. Come here.”

Angle simple sat there, staring at Fluttershy. He made no attempt to come to Fluttershy’s side. Fluttershy was confused by his behavior.

“Now what’s gotten into you?" she asked, at the same time glancing to her right at the clock on the nightstand. It read 10:01 AM. She stared at the clock for a few seconds before it hit her.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy said out loud, hopping out of bed and down the stairs. “I slept late! Twilight was going to stop by at...” Fluttershy stopped at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the floor. She was remembering the dream from last night.

“Twilight...” she whispered to herself, staring off into space. Angle watched her curiously from the top of the stairs. She stared for a few seconds before shaking herself out of the daze. Fluttershy began to call out.

“Alright everyone!” she shouted inside the house, and out the kitchen window. “Time for breakfast!” All at once, animals of all kinds began to crawl out of their little homes inside the house. Some lived in holes in the walls, some came out of birdhouses, some simply stretched and climbed out of little plush beds scattered around the house, others came in through the front door. Fluttershy began to pour different kinds food into bowls of different sizes. The various animals under Fluttershy’s care happily moved to the bowls, and gobbled up their breakfasts. Over one hundred happy little birds, cats, dogs, insects, and small rodents gathered around the house to eat their morning meals. Fluttershy hurriedly walked outside of her tree-cottage to feed the larger farm animals outside in the pens and stables. She was in a rush, because Twilight was supposed to stop by at 10:30 to meet up with Fluttershy, about half an hour away. Twilight said that was going to drop off some supplies for Fluttershy’s animals as a thank you for watching over Spike four days ago. Twilight had business with Princess Celestia, and had been away in Canterlot for the day. Fluttershy hoped that Twilight was only kidding, because she didn’t want to inconvenience her. After they would meet up, the yellow pegasus and the violet unicorn had planned to go for a walk in the park, and afterwards get some lunch at a cafe. It was going to be a nice, easy simple day.

After feeding the pigs, cows, and other large animals, Fluttershy walked back into the house and looked at the kitchen clock. The clock was not ticking. The hands were stuck on 12:01. Fluttershy frowned, the batteries must be dead. She walked into the living room. The wall clock read 10:32. Fluttershy frowned again. Twilight was never late; she was the most organized pony Fluttershy had ever known. Something must be keeping her. She found herself thinking about the nightmare again, but forced herself to shake away the slightly worried feeling that she felt creeping up on her. Fluttershy decided to take advantage of Twilight’s lateness, and take a quick shower. However a knocking at the door prevented her from doing so. Fluttershy trotted over to the door and opened it.

“Oh there you are Twilight!” exclaimed Fluttershy, relieved that she was alright.

“Sorry about being late Fluttershy,” she apologized. “I had just stopped over at Zecora’s place, to pick up some herbal medicine.”

“Oh, what for?” Fluttershy asked, her sense of worry coming back.

“Oh its nothing,” Twilight said. “I just had some sniffles and coughs last night, and I thought that I might be catching a cold, so I bought some black tea from Zecora, that will help me feel better. It’s probably just allergies.”

“Oh... well I hope you feel better,” said the pegasus, still worried.

“Thanks Fluttershy," said Twilight Sparkle. She smiled. "Although like I said, I'm sure it's nothing but allergies.”

“Alright, well come in,” ushered Fluttershy.

Twilight Sparkle walked through the doorway with two large saddle-bags on her back. She was also using her magic to suspend many other bags, cans, and other items, which floated into the cottage behind Twilight. Fluttershy had completely forgotten about the supplies that Twilight said she was bringing. Twilight set the bags down on the kitchen floor.

“Now, I wasn’t sure whether or you wanted whole grain, or oat rabbit food, so I got both...” Twilight began.

“Oh Twilight, you didn’t have t...”

“I also bought twenty cans of tuna cat food, two bags of kitty litter, four bags of feed for the cows, a bag of feed for the chickens...”

The items began to magically stack up neatly on the kitchen floor and counter. Items upon items flowed through the door, piling up in the tree cottage. Fluttershy was overwhelmed.

“...and lastly a box of chocolates, you know... just as a thank you for watching Spike.”

“Twilight, it was nothing really. Please, you didn’t need to buy all of this for me, I am perfectly fine with...”

“Fluttershy, I didn't buy this for you, I bought it for the animals. The chocolates are for you. Isn’t that right Angle?” Twilight asked, looking at the bunny. Angel stared greedily at the mountain of food and treats from the bottom of the stairs and nodded.

“See,” Twilight said, turning her attention back to Fluttershy. “Angel approves.”

“Well when you put it that way...” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Exactly,” said Twilight with a grin on her face. She sniffled. “Now, were we going to go on a walk or not?” She started for the door, but something stopped her. The unicorn crumpled to her knees. Fluttershy rushed to the purple mare’s side.

“Twilight!” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“Yes... just a little lightheaded is all.” she tried to get up, but she wobbled on her hooves, and fell back down. “Whoa.”

“Here, maybe you should take a seat,” Fluttershy said, while leading Twilight to the couch in the living room, and sitting her down. “Now just stay there, and I will go get you a drink, what would you like?” she asked, ready to fetch whatever her friend needed.

“Just some water please,” Twilight whispered, unable to put strength behind her voice.

The yellow mare rushed into the kitchen, and back into the room, a large glass of water and ice balanced on top of her outstretched right wing. Twilight used her magic to levitate the glass to her lips, and she took a sip. Fluttershy watched her friend anxiously.

“Thank you Fluttershy,” she said with a small smile.

“You’re welcome. Let’s put off the walk for now, and just stay here for a bit until you feel better,” she said, the concern evident in her voice.

“That sounds good,” replied the purple unicorn.

Fluttershy and Twilight spoke for about ten minutes, talking about nothing in particular. Twilight said that she was beginning to feel a little bit better. Angel was lying at the head of the couch watching the two have their conversation.

“So, I went to the bookstore the other day, and the stallion behind the counter said that that they had misplaced my copy of Daring Doo: And the Quest for the flaming Silver Scroll that I had pre-ordered, so I said what about one of the copies that were behind the counter, and he said that those copies were reserved for other customers, so I said well what about this customer right here, and he said I’m sorry ma'am but we have a new shipment arriving in a couple days, you can get your copy then, so I said thank you very much, and then I left.”

“Wow, to think that he could just deny you a copy like that,” Fluttershy said. They were just talking gossip.

“I know right!” Twilight exclaimed. “I was about to file a complaint, but instead I took a deep breath, and I let it go.”

“That’s what I always do,” said Fluttershy with a giggle.

“That’s what I’ve always liked about you Fluttershy, you never let anypony or anything bother you for too long, you just let it go.” Twilight giggled as well.

Fluttershy said nothing, but just looked at Twilight and smiled. Yeah, she thought to herself... almost anything. They sat there silently for another minute before Twilight Sparkle spoke up.

“Well, I’m feeling a little bit better, perhaps we can go for a short walk to a place to eat, perhaps Sugarcube Corner?” she asked Fluttershy.

“Only if you feel up to it, I don't want something to happen to you,” she said in a quiet tone.

“Oh, I’ll be fine, we will grab something to eat, maybe we will see Pinkie Pie there, and we will have a good time,” Twilight said.

“Well...alright.”

“Great, let’s go!” Twilight said as she started to get up. Suddenly she closed her eyes and the muscles in her face tensed up. It appeared as though she were in pain.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

Twilight Sparkle stood there for a few seconds not moving. She then let out a faint moan before collapsing to the floor. Fluttershy hopped off the couch to the side of her friend.

“Twilight!” she yelled.

Fluttershy quickly examined the violet pony. Twilight was breathing, however she was unconscious. Fluttershy opened Twilight’s eyelids, and found that her eyes were rolled up into her head. She started to panic with tears running down her face.

“Oh no no no no no no no,” Fluttershy wept. “Twilight!”

Fluttershy shook the violet unicorn, but she did not wake up.

“Oh, what do I do, what do I do?” she asked out loud. Suddenly all of the knowledge she had gained over the years of taking care of animals kicked into motion.

“The vet! The hospital!” she said to herself, her light bulb shining brilliantly.

Fluttershy delicately, but quickly slid Twilight’s limp body onto her back. Twilight was heavy, but Fluttershy could manage.

“Alright everyone, listen up!” Fluttershy shouted. “I’m taking Twilight to the hospital, and I want you all to behave while I am gone. Am I clear?” she said this with an unnatural power behind her voice as she gave them all a quick but powerful stare. They all nodded, especially Angel.

She walked out of the front door, spread her wings and took off into the sky. The animals all watched as Fluttershy disappeared into the clouds.

Fluttershy was not an aggressive flyer. She didn’t fly that much to begin with, but with Twilight’s life in her hands, her wings had a strength that she hadn’t felt since she had helped Rainbow Dash make that waterspout. That was Fluttershy’s proudest moment. Fluttershy flew through the clouds in the direction of Ponyville’s hospital. The moisture from the clouds covered her body, and the water vapor condensed on her face. The coolness made her focus even more, and she flew faster.

Suddenly something caught her eye in the left side of her peripheral vision. She turned her head to see a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, rapidly closing the distance between the two.

“Fluttershy!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “Where are you taking Twilight?”

“No time to talk Rainbow, I’m taking her to the hospital, I need you to gather up the others and meet me there,” she said firmly.

“But, what’s wrong with...”

“No time!” ordered Fluttershy. “Go now!”

Rainbow Dash nodded, reversed in mid-air, and rocketed in the opposite direction.

The clouds parted in front of Fluttershy, and she saw her destination. Ponyville’s hospital was a large beige building with golden-brown and dark-brown trim. The windows had a pinkish-hue to them. The building was H-shaped, and a large sign on the front lawn displayed the symbol of a red cross, with pink hearts decorating the corners.

Fluttershy was glad to see the building, mainly for Twilight's sake, but also because she was starting to get tired. She was carrying double her normal weight.

The yellow pegasus circled around the back of the hospital, landed roughly, and galloped across the dirt to the emergency room entrance. Medical ponies were already rushing out with a stretcher to meet her.

“Get her on the stretcher, and get some oxygen!” ordered a white coated earth-pony with a pink mane. Her cutie mark was the same as the hospital’s sign.

A unicorn levitated Twilight Sparkle onto the stretcher, placing an oxygen mask on her snout, and the two ponies carrying it, hurried into the hospital.

“What happened to her?” asked the nurse.

“I’m not sure,” stated the pegasus. “She had come over to the house, and we were about to...”

“Cut to the chase!” ordered the nurse.

“Oh, well she got dizzy when she stood up, and then about ten minutes later she collapsed, and I brought her here,” Fluttershy said, struggling to keep herself from crying.

“Alright, well you brought her to the right place,” said the mare. “Your friend will be alright.”

“Oh that’s good,” said Fluttershy.

“Let’s go inside, and I will go check on her,” she said. “My name is nurse Redheart by the way.”

“Fluttershy,” said the pegasus. The two shook hooves.

It’s a funny thing, but nopony ever hears the ticking of a clock, unless they listen for it. This thought had popped into Fluttershy’s head as she sat at Twilight’s bedside, listening to the timekeeping device. The ticks were evenly spaced between the beeps of the heart monitor. Tick beep tock beep tick beep tock beep. A vase filled with purple flowers sat on the nightstand.

It was 4:23 in the afternoon, and Twilight hadn’t woken up at all since she passed out. The nurse had the violet unicorn placed in room 377 on the third floor. Twilight had an IV filled with a saline solution plugged into her right foreleg. Redheart originally thought that Twilight was simply dehydrated, but that turned out not to be the case. Then the nurse thought that she had low blood-sugar. This also proved to be false. She came in to take a blood sample about an hour ago, but she said that the results wouldn’t come in until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

The other medical pony had gone out into the hallway to talk, and grab snacks. Only Fluttershy remained at Twilight Sparkle’s side the whole time. Fluttershy looked out of the window. It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun shone brightly in the sky, a monument to princess Celestia’s immense power and glory. Fluttershy was saddened that she wasn’t able to enjoy this splendid day outside. Instead one of her best friends was unconscious with a condition that went above the heads of all the doctors.

Fluttershy was about to get up, and walk out into the hallway, when Twilight suddenly groaned. Fluttershy sprung up, as the purple unicorn mare opened her eyes.

“Uh...what, where am I?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight!” exclaimed Fluttershy. ”I am so glad that you are alright!”

“What...oh hi Fluttershy,” she said as she turned her head to face the yellow pegasus.

“Twilight, when you were at my house, you passed out, and I didn’t know what to do, so I brought you here,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight continued to look at Fluttershy, she didn’t speak.

“How are you feeling?” asked Fluttershy.

“Oh... I feel really weird, it’s just that... I had a strange dream, and you were in it,” Twilight continued to look at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was about to ask what her dream was about, when the door opened loudly.

“Twilight!” yelled a happy blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane. Rainbow Dash flew over to the purple unicorn and gave her a hug. Walking into the room behind her were the rest of the Elements of Harmony.

“Well I'll be! Ms. Twilight Sparkle has finally woken up to spend time with her friends. Isn’t that nice?” laughed an orange earth-pony as she walked into the room.

“Hi Applejack.” smiled Twilight Sparkle, trying to give all of her friends some attention.

“Twilight! Hi hi hi hi hi, over here, over here, over here, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Twilight!"

"Yes Pinkie!" shouted Twilight, finally turning her attention away from Applejack, and to the pink earth-pony who was bouncing up and down.

"Twilight, I just wanted to say that I am glad you are awake. Did you see the flowers that I got you?" Pinkie asked, obviously wondering whether or not Twilight had seen her gift.

The unicorn turned to look at the flowers in the vase beside her. She leaned over and gave the flowers a sniff.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie!" thanked Twilight. "They smell wonderful, how thoughtful of you!"

Pinkie Pie ran over to Twilight, and gave her a hug, as a white unicorn with a purple mane walked into the room. A small purple dragon, with green spikes sat on her back.

"Why hello Twilight!" said the unicorn. “I am very pleased to see that you are feeling better."

"Thank you Rarity," she said with a smile, turning her attention to the dragon.

"Spike!" exclaimed the bed-stuck pony. "How is my number-one assistant doing today?"

"Oh I'm alright," said Spike, "I'm just glad to know that you are alright. I thought you were going to die or something."

"Oh Spike, you are so silly, I'm not going to die," said Twilight playfully.

"Well that's good to hear; it's just that somepony made it seem that you were dying," Spike shot a glance at Pinkie Pie, who looked away.

“Well then Twilight,” began Rarity. “We all wish you well, and we hope that you get out of here soon, so that we can get out, and do things together again.”

“Thank you all very much. You have no idea how much that means to me,” thanked Twilight.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could stay and chat for a while, but I have a client who ordered a dress, and I need to have it ready for tomorrow. I better get going,” said Rarity.

“Ya, and I still got some trees to harvest before sundown, or else Granny Smith will have my flank,” explained Applejack.

“I need to go too. There are some loose ends that need tying up,” Pinkie said this with a sinister voice. “Plus, I need to plan your Welcome- Home-Twilight-Sparkle-Party. I already have the date chosen, can you guess when?”

“Um, when I get back home?” Twilight asked.

“Yes! Wow, you are really good at this game, we should play more often, some other time though, I need to get going.” said Pinkie.

“Alright everypony, have a good night!” said Twilight, as Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie walked out of the room. Spike, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash remained.

“Hey Twilight?” said the blue pegasus.

“Yes Rainbow Dash?” asked the violet unicorn eagerly.

“I, uh... I got you something, wait here,” said Rainbow as she flew out of the room, regardless of the fact that Twilight wasn’t going anywhere.

Spike and Fluttershy watched as she flew out of the room and came back, clutching a book against her chest with her forelegs.

“I picked this up for you,” Rainbow held the book out to Twilight.

The title of the book was; Daring Doo: And the Quest for the flaming Silver Scroll.

“Oh Rainbow, you didn't have to give me this, I bought one already,” said Twilight, attempting to give the book back.

“Oh, well then, did you read it yet?” asked the pegasus.

“No, I went to pick it up the other day, but they had lost my copy,” explained the unicorn. “They were going to give me my book, when a new shipment comes in.”

“Oh, well then you can have this one, and then you can give me yours when you get out of here,” said Rainbow, giving the book back.

“But don’t you want to read it?” asked Twilight.

“Ya, but I think you should read it first, let me know if it’s any good,” said Rainbow with a smile.

“Oh, well that is very thoughtful of you,” smiled Twilight.

“Anyway, I'll leave you with the book, I better get going,” said the pegasus. “I’ll try and stop by tomorrow, so you can tell me how the book is.”

“Alright Rainbow, have a good night.”

“Thanks, you too!”

As Rainbow Dash left the room, Fluttershy and Spike remained seated next to the bed. Nurse Redheart walked into the room.

“Twilight Sparkle, good to see that you are awake. How do you feel?” asked the nurse.

“I just feel weird, like something just isn’t right, like something bad is going to happen,” explained the purple mare.

“But physically, do you feel fine physically?” asked Redheart. “Any aches or pains?”

“No, I feel fine,” said Twilight.

“Alright, but I think we should keep you here a little longer, until the blood work comes back, and we are sure that nothing is wrong with you.” explained the nurse.

“Whatever you say.”

“Alright, well if you need anything just push that red button next to you,” said Redheart.

“This button?”

“Yes, that one. By the way dinner will be ready in an hour, if you are hungry.”

“Ok, thank you nurse.” smiled the unicorn.

Nurse Redheart walked out of the room.

“Is there anything that I can do for you, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy.

“No Fluttershy, you’ve done enough for me already today. Go on home, I know you need to take care of your animals,” said the unicorn.

“Really, are you sure?” asked Fluttershy. “Because I can easily just have...”

“Fluttershy. It’s alright, go on home, I’ll be fine,” said Twilight.

“Well, ok, but I will come over first thing in the morning to check on you, ok?” asked Fluttershy.

“Alright, and could you do me a favor and take Spike home as well?” asked the violet mare.

“Sure.”

“Alright Spike, you get the house to yourself tonight. No parties, and no mares over please. Ok?” asked Twilight with a nervous stare.

“Ya ya ya, I know,” Spike blushed. “I’ll probably just organize the science-fiction books into alphabetical order, or something.”

“Alright, goodnight you two, and Spike?” said Twilight, calling Spike’s attention once more.

“Can you send Princess Celestia a letter explaining all of this, and tell her that I will get out of here soon, in case she asks?” asked Twilight with a pleading smile.

“Sure thing Twilight, have a good night,” Spike waved as he and Fluttershy left the room.

“You too.”

Spike sat on top of Fluttershy’s back as they walked down the hallway to the elevator. The hallway was busy with activity, but not to an overwhelming extent. Nurses occasionally walked in and out of rooms, and behind the main desk was nurse Redheart. Fluttershy drew her attention.

“Where are you two going?” asked the nurse.

“Oh, I’m just taking Spike home, and then going home myself,” said Fluttershy.

“Oh, ok, was Twilight ok in there?” she asked.

“Yes, she’s fine.”

“Ok, you two have a good night!” said nurse Redheart.

Fluttershy said nothing, but smiled at the nurse, before walking to the elevator. Fluttershy pushed the button on the wall, and the elevator doors slid open. Dull elevator music was playing inside. She then pressed the button which would bring the metal box down to the lobby. Neither of them said anything at first.

“Long day huh, Spike?” said Fluttershy, attempting to break the awkward silence.

“Ya, I just want to go home and get some dinner, I am starving,” said Spike.

“Me too,” said Fluttershy, suddenly remembering that she hadn't eaten anything all day. Her stomach grumbled.

The elevator doors opened once again, and the two walked through the main lobby, and out the front door.

“Hold on, Spike,” commanded the pink-maned pegasus.

Spike wrapped his arms around Fluttershy, as she spread her wings. The pegasus got a galloping start, before taking off into the sky. Spike looked back one last time at the hospital, before it disappeared behind the clouds.

After dropping Spike off at the library, Fluttershy drifted through the rest of her evening. She went home, fed the animals, fed herself, cleaned around the house, and took that shower which she desperately needed. The whole time however, her body went and did all of these actions, while her mind was constantly on Twilight. By the time she got into the shower, and the warm water impacted her yellow coat, she had no idea of how, or when she had gotten there.

The shower had a relaxing effect on the yellow pegasus mare. Almost all of the worries, sorrows, and stresses were washed down the drain with the water. She felt a whole lot better.

Fluttershy stepped out of the shower, and dried herself off. She wrapped the towel around her mane, and open up the bathroom door. Fluttershy walked into the kitchen and looked at the clock. It still read 12:01.

“Oh right,” Fluttershy said to nopony in particular. “Batteries.”

Fluttershy opened up the drawer on the right side of the sink. She took out two batteries from a box, and then took the clock off of the wall. She opened up the battery compartment on the rear side, took out the old batteries, and replaced them with new ones.

“There we go,” the pegasus said to herself. “Now I just have to reset this thing again and...”

Fluttershy stopped, when she saw the face of the clock. The seconds hand had not begun to tick. Fluttershy tried to turn the little knobs on the back, which set the time, but they did not move the hands either.

“Must be broken,” she said out loud. “That's a shame, I liked this clock.”

The pegasus walked out into the living room, and looked at the clock. It also read 12:01. It was then that Fluttershy began to think about the dream from last night. Something wasn’t right.

‘Only you can save her’, is what the mysterious stallion from the dream had said. Fluttershy wondered how she could possibly save Twilight from something she didn’t understand. She found herself locked in thought once again, when a letter popped into existence in front of her in a cloud of pink smoke. Fluttershy was startled, but she read the letter.

Dear Fluttershy,

Something has happened to Twilight Sparkle, down at the hospital. We are not exactly sure what’s going on, but something strange happened after she fell asleep. I need you down here right away.

Sincerely,

Nurse Redheart

Without a moment’s hesitation, Fluttershy got up, opened the door, and flew out into the night sky. She didn’t even bother to tell the animals’ good-night.

Twilight Sparkle was lying in her hospital bed in room 317 on the third floor of Ponyville's hospital asleep. She was tucked under the covers, and had three pillows supporting her head. The continuous beep of her heart monitor filled the room with an ominous echo. An IV filled with a clear liquid was connected to her by a clear plastic tube to a receptacle in her right foreleg, and an oxygen mask covered her face. The clock on the wall read 11:41 PM, and the blinds on the windows were closed. Sitting on the table was a vase, filled with various types of flowers; which provided the room with a sweet fragrance. The newest book in the Daring Do series sat next to the vase, a bookmark dwelling only a few pages from the book's end. Kneeling at the side of the bed, resting her head on her forelegs was a butter yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane. The look on her face was that of a mix of confusion, and sadness. She had tear-stains running from her eyes to her chin. Her gaze was fixed upon the violet unicorn’s face, whose expression was one of ease and content. The image of Twilight’s peaceful smile had burned itself into the mind of Fluttershy. She wasn't absolutely sure, but she felt as though her friend had accepted her condition, and did not fear the dire situation that she was currently encapsulated in. This brought a slight ease to Fluttershy’s warring emotions, but not completely so.

The door to the room opened quietly. “Excuse me, Fluttershy, but may I speak with you for a minute?”

Fluttershy nodded and leaned over to give Twilight a kiss on the forehead, before turning to walk out of the room. She closed the door behind her as silently as it had opened.

Inside the hallway it was quiet. The normal hustle and bustle of the hospital was completely absent. There were only a few medical ponies behind the main desk sorting out paperwork. Occasionally a medical assistant would enter or leave one of the rooms in the hallway to check in on the patients. A grey-coated stallion with a light-brown mane and tail exited the elevator at the end of the hall and walked over to a janitor’s closet, opened the door, and disappeared inside. One of the fluorescent lights in the panel above Fluttershy's head flickered, its days of giving off light soon coming to a close, at which it would be replaced by another brand-new gas-filled tube.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked in a quiet tone, her sense of worry increasing.

“Well... it’s about Twilight,” started the nurse. “We went through all of her medical records. She has had no health problems in the past. We have... well... we still have no idea of what’s wrong with her. I feel that all we can do is wait for the blood results to get here tomorrow, so we can get a better idea of what’s going on inside her.”

Fluttershy felt a wave of agony course through her veins. “Oh no,” she whimpered. “Have we heard anything from... from the others?” she asked while choking back a tear.

“Yes,” said the nurse. “We contacted each of them, and they each said that they are on their way.”

“Oh, well I hope that they come. I feel that we should all be by Twilight’s side, so that we can help her... help her get through this,” Fluttershy suddenly unable to will back the tears, began to cry.

The nurse hugged Fluttershy tightly.

“Fluttershy, listen to me. We are doing everything we can to help her. Twilight is going to be alright,” said the nurse, trying to comfort the yellow pegasus.

“But what if she’s not going to be alright. I never even got to say goodbye and...” wept Fluttershy.

“Hey! Don’t start thinking like that. You have to be strong, for your friend, and for yourself. Do you understand me?” the nurse asked in a powerful voice.

“Yes,” Fluttershy was slowly starting to stop crying. “I understand. Thank you for...”

Fluttershy was suddenly cut off by an alarm coming from a speaker next to an illuminated red light on the wall above Twilight’s door.

The nurse hesitated for only a fraction of a second before galloping over to the door and slamming it open, along with two medical assistants. The nurse began to shout out orders.

“She has gone into cardiac arrest,” stated the nurse. “Somepony get me a syringe of epinephrine now!”

The medical assistants got busy, and listened to the pink-maned nurse in charge. Her cutie mark was the same as the hospital's logo.

“The defibrillator is charged, Nurse Redheart,” stated the medical assistant.

“Alright,” said nurse Redheart as she stuck the syringe into the same vein in Twilight’s right foreleg as the IV tube, and then withdrew, at the same time removing the sheets covering Twilight Sparkle. “Ok, give her a charge at fifty percent.”

The first assistant brought over the two paddles, while the second assistant stuffed a wad of gauze into the unicorn's mouth.

The nurse took the two paddles from the assistant, touched them together, and then placed the paddles of life against Twilight’s violet chest. “Clear!”

Twilight Sparkle’s body lurched upwards, as all of the muscles in her body clenched up. After a second her body fell back onto the bed, the alarm from her heart monitor still wailing.

“Get me another shot, and get ready to give her another jolt!” ordered the nurse.

Meanwhile during all of this Fluttershy was watching from the doorway of the room, tears of sadness running down her face. Here she was; watching her friend die, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Where were the others? What was taking them so long? Is Twilight going to be alright? All of these questions swarmed throughout the matrix of thought that was Fluttershy’s mind; all the while she was watching nurse Redheart desperately try to save Twilight from this immediate threat to her life.

“Hold on Twilight,” wept Fluttershy.

“Just hold on.”

Nurse Redheart injected Twilight with another syringe of epinephrine.

“Alright,” ordered the nurse. “Shock her again.”

The nurse took the paddles once again from the medical assistant, and placed them against Twilight’s chest. “Clear!”

The unicorn’s body, lurched up once again, and then fell. This time however, the wailing heart monitor ceased to wail, and returned to a rhythmic beeping.

“Alright,” said Redheart. “She is stabilized, somepony give her some anti-arrhythmic drugs.”

Nurse Redheart walked out of the room to Fluttershy.

“Is she alright?” asked the pegasus, through tears.

“Yes, she is alright now, but there is something very wrong with her. I just don’t know what,” said the nurse while walking back to her desk.

The medical assistants cleared out of the room as well, and Fluttershy walked back into the room, and sat next to Twilight.

“Twilight?” began the crying pegasus. “I don’t know whether you can hear me or not, but I need you to wake up. Your friends need you.”

Fluttershy began running her hoof through Twilight’s hair, crying while doing so.

“We are all so worried about you,” she continued. “If you would just wake up and tell me what’s wrong, and then I could help you. Please. Just wake up. I need you to wake up...”

The clock on the wall suddenly struck 12:01, and something happened which Fluttershy did not expect.

A small white glow began to shine forth from the unicorn’s horn. It grew brighter and brighter, until Fluttershy had to look away, but it grew brighter still. The light grew and grew, until it enveloped the whole room and Fluttershy in the light. She looked into the light one more time, and she thought she could see a faint silhouette walking towards her. As the figure got closer, Fluttershy’s vision began to blur, until the light had fully consumed her. Fluttershy thought about Twilight one last time, before all thought slipped from her mind and she fell into the light.

Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash

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Fluorescence of a Tide
By: Johnjohns2

Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash was the greatest flyer in all of Equestria, and she knew it. Every second she spent flying through the sky, and weaving in and out between the clouds, brought a special joy to the cyan flyer. Whenever she felt stressed, angry, or upset, soaring through the air always seemed to have a soothing effect on the rainbow-maned pegasus. She always found herself, pushing forwards to new limits. As her wings grew stronger, and her technique improving. She began accomplishing feats, that before had seemed almost impossible. Whenever she successfully completed one of her goals, a new task would take the latter’s place, giving Rainbow Dash a seemingly unlimited supply of challenges and rewards. The ultimate reward, being invited to join the Wonder Bolts. Being able to soar through the sky with the proclaimed best flyers in Equestria was her goal ever since she had earned her cutie mark. In order to reach that ultimate goal, she had to train daily. Today was no different.

Rainbow Dash weaved in and out, between the clouds she had set up in a line. Rocketing at an incredible speed, she moved back and forth between the clouds, which were spaced about ten feet apart. Not that much space, going at a speed of twelve wing power. Her muscles strained to their maximum output, as she barely managed to pass through each gap. Occasionally her wing would clip the edge of a cloud. Rainbow Dash would acknowledge this error, accept it, and do everything she possibly could to improve her performance. Failure was not an option, it never was, and it never will be. The cyan pegasus would always come out on top, and if she didn’t, she would practice nonstop until she overpassed the competition. She had promised herself this when she was a filly, and was not about to break that promise.

Rainbow Dash passed through the last gap in the cloud line, and began to rapidly ascend into the sky. She climbed higher and higher, far above the clouds, until she got to the point where it was difficult to breathe, due to the lack of oxygen. When the pegasus reached this point, she stopped flapping her wings, and rolled over so that her back faced the ground. She stretched her hooves out towards the sun, brought her wings in close to her sides, and let herself fall.

The cyan-colored mare plummeted towards the earth. She straightened herself out, so that she faced the ground. After that, she stretched her forelegs forwards, and her rear legs behind her, super-colt style. By doing this, her speed increased exponentially. The ground drew closer and closer, and she fell faster and faster, until a ripple began to form in front of her. As the pegasus's speed increased the ripple increased in size and strength, until all of that energy would be released in a magical blast of multi-colored sound and light. However, the sonic-rainboom never came. Something was wrong, the ground was getting dangerously close, and Rainbow Dash had not broken the sound barrier. The ripple in front of the cyan pegasus diminished, and disappeared as she flapped her wings furiously to stop her descend only twenty feet above the ground. She hovered in place, lost in thought.

“Am I losing my stuff?” she asked out loud.

Rainbow Dash had performed a vertical sonic rainboom at the royal wedding, and she had performed it with ease. Why was a normal, gravity-assisted sonic rainboom suddenly so difficult? The pegasus wondered about this for a moment, before deciding to attempt it once more.

“Well,” she said aloud. “Let’s try this again.”

The flyer turned back to face the sky, and began to climb once again. As she increased her attitude, she saw a figure moving away from her in the distance. It was too far to tell, but Rainbow Dash judged that it was most likely another pegasus.

Curiosity took over, and the sky-blue pegasus sped off in pursuit. As she grew nearer to the figure, she realized it was too big to be a single pegasus, and she could now see the colors of both ponies. There was a violet pony lying on the back of a yellow pegasus. Rainbow Dash then realized who she approaching.

“Fluttershy!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “Where are you taking Twilight?”

Fluttershy was quick with her response.

“No time to talk Rainbow, I’m taking her to the hospital, I need you to gather up the others and meet me there,” said the yellow flyer firmly.

“But, what’s wrong with...”

“No time!” ordered Fluttershy. “Go now!”

Rainbow Dash had never heard Fluttershy take charge like this before, and it caught her off guard. However, she could tell that something was very wrong with Twilight, in order to cause Fluttershy to be this commanding. Rainbow Dash spent no time questioning the order, and immediately reversed in mid-air and rocketed away from Fluttershy.

Her friend needed her, and she was not going to let Fluttershy down. The pegasus immediately decided to stop by Sweet Apple Acres first and round-up Applejack. It was the closest stop; she was practically right above the farm.

Rainbow Dash swooped down from the sky, and headed towards the Apple Family’s farmhouse, expecting to find Applejack inside, when she saw a familiar orange earth-pony staring at a lone apple-bearing tree in a field of apple-barren trees out in the northern-side of the orchard. The cyan-pegasus redirected herself, made her approach, and landed right next to the orange-mare, causing her to jump. The force of her landing sent a vibration throughout the ground.

“Whoa!” said Applejack. “Careful there Rainbow Dash, y’all gonna give somepony a heart-attack one er’ these days if y’all keep...”

“No time to talk, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash shut the earth pony up. “Twilight is in trouble, and Fluttershy is taking her to the hospital. I need you to go there, and meet up with her, while I go and get the others. Understood?”

“Uh ya,” began Applejack. “But what’s wrong with Twi...”

Suddenly a loud, barking noise interrupted her from the left. Rainbow Dash only had enough time to turn around, and see a brown and white blur, before she was knocked to the ground. The thing began to lick the pegasus’s face. She then realized who this was. It was Applejack’s dog, Winona.

“Winona, no!” commanded the earth-pony. “Get off of her, bad dog, bad!”

Winona obeyed, and instantly climbed off of Rainbow Dash’s chest. She was no longer wagging, instead her tail was between her legs, and her head faced the ground.

“You do not jump on ponies, understood?” she scolded. Winona continued to look away.

“Sorry about that, Rainbow,” Applejack apologized. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

“It’s fine,” replied the cyan pony. “I probably just started her, with the rough landing and all.”

“Still, that’s no excuse on her part,” Applejack gave the dog another stare. “Anyway, what did you say was wrong with Twilight?”

“Fluttershy didn’t tell me anything,” said Rainbow, feeling rushed once again. “Just go to the hospital, and she will explain everything to you. I need to go round up the others. See you there!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t wait for a reply; instead she turned around, and took off back into the sky, and away from Sweet Apple Acres. She turned her head behind herself to see Applejack set down her apple basket, and gallop away in the opposite direction, with Winona following close behind.

The rainbow-maned pegasus’s next stop was Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie-Pie worked. The bakery was right in the center of town, and town was about a minute’s flight from the farm, going at Rainbow Dash’s normal speed. Rainbow Dash felt lucky, that Ponyville was such a small town, and that everypony lived so close to one another. She didn’t even have enough time to contemplate on Twilight’s situation, before she was outside the door to the bakery.

Rainbow Dash opened the door, and found Pinkamena Diane Pie behind the counter, right where Dash had expected her to be.

“Dashie!” exclaimed the pink pony. “How are you today. I’m very well today. But what about you? It’s nice outside right? How is...”

“Pinkie!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry. I really wish I could talk right now, but I still have to go get Rarity, so I need...”

“Why?” asked the Pinkie Pie. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s about Twilight,” explained Rainbow. “Something has happened to her, and she’s in the hospital. I don’t know all of the details. I need you to go there, and meet up with Fluttershy, and Applejack. They will tell you what’s going on, but right now I gotta fetch Rarity.”

Without another word, Rainbow Dash turned around, and flew out the door. Upon exiting the building, she turned down the street, and flew to the Carousel Boutique. Rarity’s shop was only a block away, and Rainbow Dash got there rather quickly. Upon arriving, she slammed the door open, and began calling out.

“Rarity!” shouted Dash. “Are you in here?”

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” said a voice to Dash’s right.

Rainbow Dash was surprised to see Spike sitting in a chair, at a table. He was busy sorting different colored gems into bins, based on color.

“Oh hello Spike,” said a startled Rainbow Dash. “Is Rarity here?”

“Yes,” said the purple dragon. “She’s in her office with a client, but she should be done in a few minutes if you...”

“No, it’s okay,” said the pegasus.

She didn’t know how to explain the situation to Spike. How would the young dragon react to such news? She tried to say it as best as she could.

“Spike, um, well... Twilight is in the hospital,” Rainbow said nervously.

“What... What?” asked Spike. He looked as though he would fall off the chair. “What do you mean she’s in the hospital?”

“Well, I’m not sure on the details...”

“Is she going to be alright?”

Rainbow Dash hesitated. “Yes,” she lied. Dash hoped the best for her friend, but she honestly didn’t know anything. She figured that saying yes or no, were both lies, and that ‘yes’ was the best option. At least it would calm Spike down...

“How do you know she’ll be alright?” questioned the purple dragon. You just said that you were not sure on the details.”

Well that didn’t work, she thought.

“Well, I just thought that by telling you that...” Dash tried to explain. “You know what, never mind. Just tell Rarity what I told you, and then head on over to the hospital.”

Rainbow turned around to leave, but Spike stopped her.

“Wait!” commanded Spike. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll meet up with you and the others at the hospital,” Dash walked to the door. “There’s just something I have to do first.”

Without another word, she ran out the door, and down the street. It was almost noon, and ponies all over the main street were busy shopping. They were all minding their own business, however all turned to watch the cyan pegasus bullet down the grassy road.

Her destination was a moderately-sized two-story building on the corner of the next street. The store was of the same design as most of the buildings in Ponyville. Beige walls, mahogany trim, pink door, and a thatched roof. In addition, this store also had a display window next to the front door, and a sign above it that had the appearance of a large, brown book. Behind the glass, were many newly-published books on display , however only one of them interested Rainbow Dash.

Before reaching the door, she stopped running and collected herself. Have to stay cool. She brushed herself off, and walked into the store with confidence.

Inside, the store appeared to be empty. There were no other customers looking at the books, and there wasn’t anypony behind the counter. Being in a hurry, Rainbow stepped up to the counter and rung the bell. There was a side door behind the counter, which Dash assumed led to an office, but nopony came out of the door. She rang the bell once more. After waiting another minute, she was about to leave, when a sudden bright flash of light occurred behind the counter. Startled, Rainbow backed up instinctively, but quickly regained her composure when she looked upon the colt that had appeared behind the register.

He was a tall, grey coated stallion with a light-brown mane. For a few seconds after the flash, Dash thought he looked slightly disoriented, but he shook himself out of it. Exiting through the office door, came another stallion. He had a dark blue coat, a grey mane, and was a little heavy. He looked at the grey pony, and began to speak.

“Hey!” he said to the grey earth-pony. “Are you helping this young mare?”

“What... oh, yes I was about to...” the grey stallion began.

“Why were you not assisting her?”

“I just came out from the back room, I was busy...uh... taking inventory.”

“Humph... well may I remind you, that our customers are our number one priority. The needs of the customers come before everything else. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir,” he looked down at the floor, clearly embarrassed.

“Alright then, get to it!” the boss walked back into the office.

“Sorry about that ma'am,” he apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” said the pegasus. She was still wondering how the earth-pony had teleported behind the counter. She was going to ask him, but thought better of it. “Is today your first day on the job?”

“Yeah, it’s my first day,” he said. “I apologize if I am a bit slow, I’m still getting used to things.”

“Not a problem. My name is Rainbow Dash, by the way.”

She extended her hoof over the counter to the colt, and waited for his name, but he never said it.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Dash.”

He shook her hoof.

“So, what can I do for you?”

“I’m here to um, you know, to pick up the newest Daring Doo book that I pre-ordered,” she said this quietly, and looked around to make sure nopony had overheard. She had to maintain that only her close-circle of friends knew she read books. She must remain the super-tough, super-cool, super-fast pegasus that everypony knew here to be. Not an egghead.

“Did you order it under your name?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Ok, now give me a minute while I search... Rainbow Dash, rainbow dash, rainbow da... aha!” The pony seemed very proud of himself. “Now you ordered one copy of Daring Doo: And the Quest for the Silver Scroll correct?”

“Yes.”

Rainbow Dash was very eager to leave the store as soon as possible. Although she displayed no sign of it, she was in fact, very worried about Twilight.

“It says here that you purchased it completely when you ordered it, so here you go,” He handed her the book. “Would you like a bag for that?”

“No no, I can carry it. Have a nice day!” She bolted out the door.

“You too.”

Chapter 3: Applejack

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Fluorescence of a Tide
By: Johnjohns2

Chapter 3: Applejack

Applejack’s day began like any other day. Her alarm sounded at 6:45 AM, and at the same time Big Macintosh's alarm went off. The two of them woke early every morning so they could get some work done, before the rest of the house awoke.

She got out of bed, stretched, and walked downstairs after going to the bathroom. Big Mac was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Apple-pancakes, cinnamon-apple toast, brown-sugar and apple cereal, and apple juice. The two of them ate as much food as they possibly could each morning, in order to consume as many calories as possible. All those calories would give them the energy needed for a hard day’s work, and they would almost certainly burn it all off by the day's end.

“Good mornin big brother,” she sat down at the table.

“Good mornin sis,” he said.

“Did ya’ll sleep well?” asked Applejack.

“Eeyup,” he replied, while bringing more food to the table.

The two of them ate quickly, rapidly polishing off all the plates of food. Applejack was once again impressed by her big brother’s cooking. He was shy, worked hard, didn’t leave home much, and cooked like a chef in a five-star restaurant. Granny Smith had long ago stopped cooking meals for the family, when she first learned of Big Mac’s culinary talents.

“Mighty fine breakfast you done cooked as always,” said the mare.

“Thanks, AJ.” he smiled.

She helped her brother wash the dishes, and clean the table. After that she got out some apple cider, put it in a saucepan, and set in on the stove. Granny Smith would be up in a few minutes, and she would be expecting her warm apple-cider with a cinnamon stick to be ready. That was once of the few things that Granny expected of her. Do your chores, behave yourself, assist the apple-family when assistance is needed, and have Granny Smith’s cider ready when she needed it.

Macintosh finished cleaning the dishes.

“Alright sis, I’m goin out to start workin,” he said. “I think I’ll go harvest the apples on the north-east corner today.”

“Alright, big brother. I’ll be out to help yall once I’ve got Apple Bloom off to school,” she said.

“Alright, sounds good, sis,” he opened the screen door, and walked outside.

AJ walked over to the range, and killed the flame. As if on cue, Granny Smith appeared in the kitchen doorway. Applejack hadn’t even heard her come down the stairs.

“Well good mornin, Applejack!” she said loudly. “Do you have my cider ready for me?”

“Of course,” she poured the hot cider into a mug. “Did you sleep well, Granny?”

“Did I ever!” she exclaimed. “That new pillow-thingy y’all got for me truly works wonders. I haven't slept this well in ages!”

“I’m glad you like it, Granny.” AJ smiled. “Would you like me to get anything else for you?”

“No no, I’ll just have the cider.”

The orange earth-pony opened a cupboard, retrieved a fresh cinnamon stick, and placed it in the mug. She then carefully carried it over to the table, and set it down. Granny Smith sat down, took a sip, and smiled.

“Perfect,” she said.

“I’ll go wake up Apple Bloom,” said Applejack. “She won’t ever get up otherwise.”

Applejack turned around, and to her surprise, Apple Bloom was just walking down the stairs. She had her school saddle bag strapped onto her back.

“Good mornin sis!” said the filly with a big smile.

“Well I’ll be!” exclaimed Applejack. “Since when have you decided to start getting up on your accord?”

“I dunno,” replied Apple Bloom. “I just decided that I might make your life a bit easier for a change, sis.”

“Well ain't that mighty thoughtful of you,” said the mare.

The filly looked past Applejack. “Oh, and good mornin to you too, Granny Smith. I didn’t see y’all sitting there.”

“Good mornin dearie. You seem rather exuberant today,” said the grand-mare.

“Uh, exuber-what?” asked the filly.

“Exuberant. It means happy,” replied Granny.

“Oh, well that's because today in school is show-and-tell day!” exclaimed Apple Bloom.

“Well then, what are you bringing to school?” asked Applejack.

“This,” the filly opened up her bag, took out, and held up a photograph. It was a snapshot of the entire Apple family. Apple Bloom was centered in the group. Big Macintosh, Applejack, and Granny Smith were standing around the filly, and the rest of the family stood behind them.

Applejack remembered that day. It was the group picture from the family reunion a few years ago. That was the same day Twilight first showed up in town.

“I figured that by bringing in any old thing to school, I would have only one thing to show the class. But then I thought, if I brought in a family picture, I would have a whole bunch of people to talk about,” she said.

“I’m happy to hear that you put your family before anything else. You don’t know much that means to me. Come here, give your ol’ granny a hug,” said granny.

Apple Bloom walked over to the elderly mare and gave her a hug.

“Aww, group hug everypony!” said Applejack, holding back a tear. She joined in on the embrace.

After a moment, AJ broke away, and the hug fell apart. Apple bloom looked down and noticed Granny Smith’s beverage.

“Whatcha drinkin there, Granny?” asked the curious filly.

“Oh, just some warm apple cider that your sister made for me,” she replied.

“What?” began the young pony. “Warm apple cider! Applejack, why didn’t you make me some?”

“Well sis, if you would have gotten up on your own these past few years, you would know that I make this for Granny every morning,” replied Applejack with a smile.

“Really?”

“It’s true. There ain't nothing like a cup of warm cider in the morning,” said Granny.

“Maybe tomorrow mornin I’ll make you some, if yall get up on time. But right now, you gotta get yourself off to school. Go get yourself all ready, and don’t forget your lunch,” instructed the orange pony.

“I know, I know,” the filly rolled her eyes.

“Alright, then get to it!” commanded the mare. “I’m heading out to work, Granny. Just yell if you need me.”

“Alright, be careful,” wished Granny Smith.

“I will, bye Granny!”

“Bye bye now.”

Applejack snatched up her hat, on the rack next to the door, then proceeded to step out into the sunny day. She inhaled deeply, and caught the scent of morning dew on the grass, and wildflowers slowly opening their petals to face the rising sun in the distance. The distinct sound of a morning dove reverberated through the air, as well as the sound of the wind rustling against the leaves of the trees.

Applejack’s favorite thing about living on a farm, was being around nature. She could listen to the peaceful sounds of Equestria, without being disturbed. Living on a farm, in a small town was far different than living in a city. No skyscrapers, no large businesses, and the population was a few hundred, rather than a few million. It is going to be a nice day, she thought.

As much as the mare wanted to stand there, and admire the beauty of the land, she had no time to do so. There was work to be done, and trees to be bucked.

Applejack approached a shed outside the house, and opened up the door. Once inside she retrieved a special saddle, with a stack of baskets fitting neatly inside one another mounted on each side. She would use those baskets to catch, and store the apples, once fallen from the trees. Once a basket had been filled to the brim with fruit, she would lift it out, and set it on the ground. Later on, she and her brother would come by in a wagon, and retrieve all of the baskets.

She closed the door to the shed, and began to trot away from the farmhouse, and as she did so, she whistled. Appearing out of a dog house next to the farmhouse, came a small brown, and white figure. It turned, saw Applejack, and bounced up to her, wagging its tail rapidly. The small Border Collie jumped up, and began to lick Applejack’s face.

“Yes, yes,” giggled the pony. “Yes, good mornin Winona, stay down now.”

Winona obeyed, and jumped down from the pony’s front, still wagging her tail.

“Are you ready to help out ol’ Applejack, do some work today?” asked the earth-pony.

Winona barked happily.

“That’s what I like to hear,” said the pony.

Applejack continued to walk along her path through the trees. Today she was planning to harvest the apples on the northernmost side of the farm. The trees she passed by had already been harvested. Only a few sections of the orchard still needed harvesting, and Applejack figured that Big Macintosh, and herself could get it done by the end of the week. After that, the season would be over, and preparations would be made for the following year.

As the pony walked down the path, Winona would occasionally dart away to chase a bird, or a squirrel, but would return soon after, every time. Winona was a good dog, Applejack had trained her well. She always did exactly as instructed, and came running the second she was called.

After a few more minutes of walking, she reached the first of the apple trees that needed harvesting. Beyond them, to the right and the left, stretched out acres and acres of ripe apples. Their red color stood out against the dark green leaves, like an ornament on a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree. In the distance, Applejack could hear the distinct *thwack* of her big brother bucking his own trees. The sound occurred every minute, or so, and soon the mare would join in on the beat.

Applejack stretched out her legs, and her neck, and then approached the first tree. She looked at it closely, turned around, and prepared herself. Over the years, she he acquired a natural sense for the trees. Applejack, by simply judging the height, and size of a tree, could accurately estimate where the center of gravity was located, and deliver a blow to the spot that produced the best results.

The orange pony looked back once at the tree, then closed her eyes. Without looking, she kicked the tree with tremendous force, causing it to shake, and a loud sound to echo out into the distance. All at once, the apples fell, and the pony was ready to catch them. Those which she failed to catch in the basket, she picked up off the ground, and placed them in the baskets herself.

The next tree that Applejack bucked was even easier to do, and the same followed for every other tree as she got warmed up. She kicked, and the apples fell, an ancient ritual her family had been performing for generations. As she filled the baskets, she set them down, along the main path. Apples fell by the hundreds, and if she sold them for one, or two bits each, then she would be bringing in a nice profit to the family. Ponies were always buying apples this time of year, and not all the apples that she harvested would be sold. Many apples from other parts of the orchard, would be made into pies, and other such pastries.

Applejack continued to buck for a few hours, until she could no longer see any apple-bearing trees in her vicinity. The northern orchard was not completely harvested yet, but it was getting there. The mare turned in the direction of the house, with the intent of getting herself a glass of water, when she noticed one last apple tree.

Huh?” she said to herself. “Guess ah missed that one.”

The pony walked up to the tree, turned around, and bucked. The tree shook, and Applejack ran underneath it, but the familiar sound of the red fruit impacting the basket was entirely absent. The mare looked up.

“What in tar nation?” she said aloud.

Not a single apple had fallen from the tree. Applejack knew she had kicked the tree correctly, she always did. Not once had she ever failed to harvest an apple tree on her first kick. Ever since she had first perfected the technique, when she was a filly, she had never made a mistake.

She prepared herself, and gave the tree another kick. Once again, no fruit fell. Applejack stepped back, and stared at the tree. She was getting very frustrated, and confused. Why was this tree so different from the rest? Why wasn’t she able to...

Her thoughts were suddenly stopped short, by a loud sound right next to her. Applejack jumped, and whirled around, to find a cyan-colored pegasus standing next to her.

“Whoa!” said Applejack. “Careful there Rainbow Dash, y’all gonna give somepony a heart-attack one er’ these days if y’all keep...”

“Uh ya,” began Applejack. “But what’s wrong with Twi...”

She was caught off by the sudden barking of Winona. Applejack’s dog ran up to Rainbow Dash, and jumped on her, knocking her to the ground. Rainbow Dash had no time to react, and Applejack was stunned. Winona had never behaved like this before.

“Winona, no!” commanded the earth-pony. “Get off of her, bad dog, bad!”

Winona obeyed, and instantly climbed off of Rainbow Dash’s chest. She was no longer wagging, instead her tail was between her legs, and her head faced the ground.

“You do not jump on ponies, understood?” she scolded. Winona continued to look away.

“Sorry about that, Rainbow,” Applejack apologized. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

“It’s fine,” replied the cyan pony. “I probably just started her, with the rough landing and all.”

“Still, that’s no excuse on her part,” Applejack gave the dog another stare. “Anyway, what did you say was wrong with Twilight?”

“Fluttershy didn’t tell me anything,” said Rainbow. “Just go to the hospital, and she will explain everything to you. I need to go round up the others. See you there!”

The pegasus turned around, spread her wings, and took off back into the sky. Applejack watched her fly away, then turned around to give the tree a final stare.

“I’ll deal with you later,” she said to the tree.

The tree failed to reply, and remained emotionless.

“Come on Winona!” she called. “I need to go tell Big Mac, why I’m leaving.”

Applejack broke into a run, in Big Macintosh’s direction. Twilight Sparkle was in trouble and no amount of apples in the world could compare to the wellbeing of her friend.

Chapter 4: Pinkie Pie

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Fluorescence of a Tide
By: Johnjohns2

Chapter 3: Pinkie Pie

The pink earth pony expertly funneled the cake batter into each of the individual cupcake molds, on the cast-iron tray. This batch of cupcakes was lemon flavored. Once each of the molds was filled, she placed the tray on a cart, above ten other trays. When the cart reached its maximum capacity, she would wheel it into the back, and place the trays into the ovens.

It was about six-thirty in the morning, and Pinkie Pie was the only pony awake in the bakery. Ever since the owners; Mr. and Mrs. Cake, hired Pinkie, they were able to get an extra hour, or two of sleep, while she worked downstairs. It was still dark outside, and the sun wasn’t due to rise for about another half-hour. Most of Sugarcube Corner was dark as well, besides the back of the bakery, where Pinkie Pie was baking.

Pinkie finished filling the final cupcake tray with the sweet, and tangy batter. She slid the tray onto the rack, and pushed the cart over to the set of double ovens. She had already preheated the ovens to three-hundred and seventy-five degrees, the perfect temperature for baking cupcakes. After opening the heavy, metal doors, she slid five trays into the first oven, and the other five into the second. Once all of the cupcakes were inside, baking, she pressed a button on the ovens, and started the half-hour timer. She moved the empty cart over to the side, and wheeled out the cart next to it.

On these racks, were numerous varieties of cakes that had been cooling overnight. Chocolate sponge cake, vanilla sponge cake, carrot cake, cheesecake, red velvet cake, and a few others. The earth pony brought these cakes out to the front desk, and began to place the baked goods, neatly into the display case. When she could fit no more cakes behind the glass, she put the remaining into the refrigeration room for later.

Pinkie Pie spent the remaining ten minutes on the timer, washing dishes. One by one, she cleaned each of the dirty dishes, that made up the massive mountain of stainless-steel baking utensils. The oven timer buzzed, which was her cue to inspect the cupcakes.

After drying off her hooves, she trotted over to the ovens, put on her oven mitts, and opened the doors. She was met with the delightful smell of sweet citrus. The tops of the cupcakes were of a beautiful golden brown color. She carefully removed each tray from the ovens, setting them down on the steel table behind her. Using a metal rod, she prodded one of the cupcakes, puncturing the smooth surface, and then she withdrew. No batter stuck to the rod. These cupcakes were fully baked, and ready to be frosted.

“Perfect,” she said to herself.

At that very moment, a yellow stallion with an orange mane came down from upstairs. He wore an apron, as well as a baker’s cap, and an orange and white striped bowtie. Upon seeing him, a huge smile spread across Pinkie Pie’s face.

“Good morning, Mr. Cake!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“Shhh.” he frowned at pinkie. “The little ones are still asleep.”

Pinkie Pie instinctively shoved a hoof into her mouth in order to prevent the outburst, but it was far too late.

“Sorry Mr. Cake,” she apologised.

“It’s alright,” he said. “We should try to let my wife, and kids get some more sleep, so that they’re not in a grumpy mood today.”

“Okay,” she whispered in agreement.

“Very good,” he responded. “Did you get the tasks I gave you, done?”

“Oh yes!” she stopped and took a deep breath, in order to calm herself. “The cakes are ready to be sold, the dishes are mostly done, and the lemon cupcakes are ready to be frosted.”

“Thank you very much, Pinkie,” he said, quietly. “I’ll take care of this for now. I need you to open up the shop, and work the register, for the time-being.”

“You’ve got it, Mr. Cake!” said the excited pony. Mr. Cake cringed at the outburst.

“And try to stay quiet for now, ok?” he asked.

“Okey-dokey-lokey,” she said, pushing the swinging doors open, and walking into the store room.

The store itself was heavily decorated. The walls and ceiling themselves were a normal cream-color, but the wooden trimming, all around the room, had various images of candies, and sweets painted onto the natural surfaces. The pillars which supported the ceiling, were all carved, and painted like candy canes. The design, as well as the numerous actual treats for sale in the bakery, made the building look like a gingerbread house inside, and outside.

Pinkie Pie grabbed a set of keys that was hanging on the wall, behind the counter. She used one of these keys, specifically the key to the bakery itself, to unlock the front door. Upon opening the door, she was surprised to find an unfamiliar pony waiting outside.

He was tall, grey, and had a short brown mane that was cut just above the forehead. He wore a brown saddle bag, which matched the color of his mane. What Pinkie couldn’t understand, was how she had never seen him before. He must be new in town, right?

“Hi there!” she said, with a heartful of joy.

“Hello,” he said. “Is the bakery open?”

“It is now,” she squeaked. “Come on in!”

“Oh, well thank you,” he said, following the pink pony inside.

She happily skipped over, behind the counter. He took his time, taking in the colorful surroundings as he walked across the room. She was very eager to make his acquaintance.

“Is there anything you were looking for in particular, or may I make a suggestion?” she asked.

“I actually am looking for something in particular,” he said. “Would you happen to have cannolis?”

“Why of course!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We make the best cannolis out of every bakery west of Canterlot!”

“Wonderful!” he said with joy. “Cannolis are my favorite kind of pastry, and I haven't had one in quite a while. I’ll take a dozen.”

“Twelve cannolis?” she asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yup.”

“Alright,” she said. “I just need to go into the back for a minute, and fill up the shells. I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time,” he said, and began walking around the store, looking at things.

Pinkie pie passed through the swinging, half-doors and into the back room. On a table to the left of the door, was a large glass jar, filled with cannoli shells. She removed the lid, and used a pair of clear, plastic tongs to pick out twelve, perfectly made, crunchy shells. Next to the table, was a small refrigerator. Inside the refrigerator, were a few pastry bags, and Pinkie picked up the one that had ‘cannoli filling’ printed on it.

Resting the bag over her back, using her right hoof to guide the nozzle, and her left to hold each cannoli shell, she quickly filled each shell with the sweet, creamy filling. She neatly placed each cannoli into a white box, and tied it up with some string, then carried the box into the store.

“Alright,” said Pinkie. “One dozen cannolis, ready to go.”

“Great!” his face bore a huge smile. “How much do I own you?”

“Twenty-four bits,” replied the pink pony.

He fished around inside of his bag, and one by one, counted out each of the twenty-four gold coins, placing them onto the countertop. She handed the box to him in exchange.

“Thank you so much!” exclaimed pinkie. “Hey, you never told me your name.”

“Uh... huh?” he seemed confused.

“Your name?” she asked. “What’s your name?”

“I... uh... I’m just visiting,” he replied. Sweat was starting to form on his brow, and his face was turning red. “I... I don’t live here.”

Pinkie Pie was beginning to grow impatient with the stranger. He wasn’t getting out of this one, she wouldn’t allow it. Pinkie Pie knew every single pony in town, and a whole lot of ponies outside of town, and she wasn't about to let that change.

“Listen, Mister,” she leaned across the display case, and looked him right in the eye. “I know everpony that has ever set foot in Ponyville, and those who I don’t know, I find out. So, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way.”

She wrapped her right fore hoof around his neck, in a kind of choke-hold. He gulped. Fear. Perfect. Soon he would have no choice but to introduce himself.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie!” shouted a stallion’s voice from behind. “Release the customer this instant!”

She immediately withdrew her hoof, and whirled around. Mr. Cake was standing in the doorway. He did not seem pleased at what he saw. He rushed over to the counter and pushed Pinkie Pie aside.

“I am so sorry sir!” he apologized for the pink pony’s actions. “I can assure you that she is not usually like this.”

“That is quite alright,” his voice quivered. “I need to be going.”

Without another word, her picked up his box of baked goods, in his mouth, and ran out the door, closing it loudly. Pinkie Pie looked down at the floor, and Mr. Cake turned to face her. He took off his cap.

“Pinkie Pie,” he said calmly. “You are a wonderful help around the bakery. We’ve been selling more goods than ever, these past few years.”

She continued to stare at the floor, not wanting to meet the stern eye of Mr.Cake.

“Your exuberant attitude towards life is really inspirational,” he continued. “You are friends with everypony around town, and that is truly wonderful. However, you sometimes get a little carried away. You just have to accept the fact that some ponies just aren’t in the mood to make your acquaintance. Perhaps they had a bad day, or maybe they just don’t feel comfortable...”

“I just wanted to know his name,” she said suddenly, the sadness evident in her eyes.

“I know, I know,” he said. “But you just have to accept the fact that not everypony may want to be friends. It is painful, I know, but that is no excuse to make somepony nervous.”

“But... but,” she began.

“No buts!” he said sternly. “I can’t have you working the register, if you are going to frighten away the customers!”

“I... I understand,” she said. “I'm sorry. It will not happen again.”

“Thanks for understanding, Pinkie Pie.” he smiled.

“No problem.”

He walked back through the doorway. She watched him leave the room, and then turned to look across the room, and out the window, in the direction the stranger had left. Mr. Cake may have control of what happens inside Sugarcube Corner, but anyplace outside was fair game.

“This isn’t over,” she said to herself.

The morning continued on without any more incidents. She already knew everypony who stopped by. No more strangers. Ditzy Doo stopped by to get a chocolate-chip muffin, Lyra bought a red-velvet cake, and even Mayor Mare, the mayor of ponyville stopped by to buy some cupcakes.

At around eleven o'clock, Pinkie Pie’s good friend; Rainbow Dash came flying in the door. Pinkie Pie was immediately and completely filled with glee.

“Dashie!” exclaimed the pink pony. “How are you today, I’m very well today, but what about you, It’s nice outside right, how is...”

“Pinkie!” interrupted Rainbow dash. “I’m sorry. I really wish I could talk right now, but I still have to go get Rarity, so I need...”

“Why?” asked Pinkie Pie. “What’s wrong?”

Pinkie Pie had so many more questions to ask, all of which factored into Twilight’s ‘welcome home’ party, but Rainbow didn’t seemed to be interested in the subject of parties. The pegasus left as quickly as she had arrived.

Pinkie Pie hastily walked into the back room, where Mr. Cake was busy icing a cake. He looked up to see a very distraught employee.

“Mr. Cake!” cried Pinkie.

“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s about my friend, Twilight Sparkle,” she blurted out. “Something just happened to her, and she is in the hospital. Can I go see her, please?”

“What?” he asked, in shock. “Is she ok?”

“I’m not sure,” she panted. “Rainbow Dash just stopped by, but she didn’t tell me anything except...”

“Ok ok, just go,” he commanded. “Let me know what happened, later, ok?”

“Yes, Mr. Cake!” she acknowledged.

With incredible speed, she galloped out of the bakery, and into the summer air. She was about to head straight to the hospital, but then she remembered that she didn’t have a get-well gift for Twilight. What was the perfect gift to give somepony, who isn’t well? Then it hit her.

“I should buy some flowers for Twilight,” she said to nopony in particular.

She hurried down the street, to the florist, to browse through the assortment of mixed floral bouquets. The shop was only a block away, so it took no time at all for the earth pony to arrive. The door was held open with a brick, so Pinkie trotted right on in. Thankfully, there were no other ponies waiting to buy flowers at the moment, so Pinkie Pie was able to get right down to business.

“Good morning, Rose,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Good morning to you, Pinkie Pie,” greeted the white earth pony. “How may I help you?”

“Well, I’m in a bit of a situation,” she shrugged.

“Uh... oh,” Rose widened her eyes. “What happened this time Pinkie?”

“Oh, it’s nothing I did,” explained Pinkie Pie. “It’s just that, my friend Twilight Sparkle was just admitted to the hospital, and I wanted to buy some flowers for her but unfortunately, I didn’t bring any bits with me.”

“Oh my goodness!” Rose brought her hoof up to cover her mouth. “What happened? Is she alright?”

“I’m not exactly sure on any of that right now. I just found out about this.” explained Pinkie.

“Oh, well, don’t worry about the bits,” she said, picking up a purple vase of flowers. “Here we have a nice selection of lilies, carnations, and daffodils. This is perfect for a get-well gift!”

Rose put the flowers into a bag, and passed it to Pinkie Pie.

“Thanks!” said the party pony. “Tell you what, stop by Sugarcube Corner sometime, and I’ll make a free cake for you!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Rose.

“I won’t, because I already have the perfect cake in mind!” said the overjoyed pony, while walking out the door.

“Do tell me how she is doing, later!” called Rose.

“I will!” Pinkie Pie yelled back.

Carrying the flowers in her mouth, she began to gallop in the hospital’s direction. She was busy mentally preparing herself for whatever condition her friend could be in.

“Whatever happens, just make the most out of it,” she told herself, and continued on her way.

Chapter 5: Rarity

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Fluorescence of a Tide
By: Johnjohns2

Chapter 5: Rarity

“Sweetie Belle!” called Rarity. “Sweetie Belle, please, your alarm went off ten minutes ago. You are going to be late for school!”

“I know!” the little filly yelled back through the door. “I’m looking for something!”

The ivory-colored unicorn stood outside of her sister’s bedroom. The upstairs hallway was lit up by ornate lights, fashioned ever five feet or so, along the opposite wall. The walls were painted a lavender color, and were garnished with a magenta trim.

She was stressing over her little sister’s tardiness. Far too many times had Sweetie Belle come close to being late to school. It was seven o'clock in the morning, school started at seven-thirty.

“What are you looking for?” asked Rarity. Instead of receiving a reply, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Rarity stepped back, to allow her little sister to come into the hallway.

Sweetie belle held up a yellow ribbon, with a large, blue number two printed on the face.

“What?” asked a confused Rarity. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t you remember, Rarity?” asked the filly. “It’s our second-place ribbon from the Sisterhooves Social competition.”

Memories of that day seemed to flood into Rarity’s mind. It was the day where they both truly worked together for the first time. It was the day that the two sisters had reconciled their differences, and agreed to never fight again. Rarity did her best to keep that promise, however it wasn’t always easy.

“Yes,” said Rarity. “I know what it is. Why were you looking for it?”

“Because today is show-and-tell day!” exclaimed Sweetie Bell. The little unicorn jumped into the air with excitement.

“Ok,” said Rarity, things beginning to make sense to her. “But what is so significant about coming in second place?”

“Oh, Rarity,” the filly calmed down, but was still beaming with happiness towards her sister. “It’s not about coming in second place. This ribbon symbolized the day that we became sisters again.”

Rarity’s heart skipped a beat. Of course! How could she have been so ignorant? Of course that’s why Sweetie Belle was bringing the ribbon to show-and-tell. Why else would she? She suddenly felt very guilty about nagging her little sister to get ready, just a moment ago. Then again, Sweetie bell had spent all of this time searching for that ribbon, which meant that she still didn’t hate Rarity’s guts. She felt her guilt quickly fade away.

Sweetie Belle jumped up, and wrapped her forelegs around Rarity’s neck.

“We are still sisters, right?” asked the filly, burying her face into Rarity’s purple mane.

“Forever, and always,” replied Rarity.

She felt a tear form in her eye, but she couldn’t allow herself to break down in front of her sister. That would be downright embarrassing. She suddenly snapped out of their happy little moment, and the reality of the real world hit her like an impossible deadline for a dress.

“Alright then,” said Rarity. “We will have time to be sisters later, but right now I need to get ready for work, and so do you. Your job right now is to do well in school, and you can’t do your job well if you don’t show up. Now, let’s get moving!”

“Alright, sis!” shouted the filly, quickly running down the stairs ahead of Rarity.

“What’s for breakfast, sis?” asked Sweetie belle from the kitchen, when Rarity reached the ground floor of the Carousel Boutique.

“Sorry, Sweetie,” apologized Rarity. “I have a client coming over this morning, so I need to get this place in ship-shape for his arrival. I didn’t have time to cook breakfast, sorry.”

“Ugh,” Sweetie Belle groaned from the kitchen. “What am I supposed to eat then?”

“There's some Aunt Faffy’s toaster waffles in the freezer,” replied the seamstress. “Just put them in the toaster oven. You can handle that, can’t you?”

Instead of hearing a distinct reply, Rarity just heard a barely-audible garble of sounds, in which she assumed, was partnered with a roll of Sweetie Belle’s eyes.

The unicorn hurried into her ‘inspiration’ room. While it was not extremely messy, it still needed to be tidy for when her guest arrived. There were scraps of fabric on the floor, and all kinds of items sat on her desk, including a sewing machine, and many spools of thread. There was a mannequin wearing a half-finished, turquoise dress in the middle of the office, much of which was being held together by pins. The windows allowed a huge bath of sunlight to illuminate the room. The golden rays reflected off of loose gems scattered throughout the room, refracting, and casting thousands of multicolored beams onto every surface in the room. As beautiful as it was, it wouldn’t be allowed to last, and Rarity began to clean up her mess. Scraps of fabric, if large enough, were saved for later use, while smaller pieces were thrown away behind her , and unused gems went into a large plastic bin, which she would sort out later. She cleared her desk of everything. The sewing machine was put away, the spools of thread went onto a rack, and the various diagrams, ideas, and designs were stored away in a filing cabinet.

After about fifteen minutes, Sweetie Belle appeared in the doorway, wearing her school saddlebag.

“Alright, I’m leaving now, sis,” she said.

Rarity stopped what she was doing, and turned around.

“Do you have everything that you need?” Rarity questioned in a motherly tone. “You’re not forgetting anything, are you?”

“Nope,” said the filly, patting her saddlebag. “I’ve got everything I need, right here.”

“Alright,” said the adult unicorn. “You have a good day at school then. Learn something new, ok?”

“Don’t worry, I will!” shouted the filly, as she walked to the front door. “You have a good day sis!”

“Thanks!” Rarity called in return. “You too!” She listened, and heard the door softly open, and then close, slightly louder.

The unicorn finished cleaning her office about a half hour after her sister’s departure. Once this task was completed, she moved on to the main room. It was admittedly cleaner than the side room, but work still had to be done. Rarity put materials away into a storage closet, and moved all of her mannequins to the sides of the room. Once the floor space was cleared, she took her vacuum cleaner, and vacuumed the carpet. After about another hour, Carousel Boutique was in pristine condition, practically sparkling with cleanliness.

With the boutique ready for her customer, Rarity had time to kill. It was only nine o'clock, and her client wasn’t supposed to arrive until around quarter to eleven. This meant that she had time to tinker around with fresh ideas in her mind. She used her magic to move different types of fabric onto a mannequin, forming a rough base for a new dress design. However, she discovered that she didn’t like the design, and quickly took it apart, scrapping the idea. She performed this operation countless times, seeing what worked, and what didn’t. What was practical, and what wasn’t. Which was fashionable, and what was not.

Before she knew it, an hour and a half went by, along with all of her scrapped ideas. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. She looked at the clock, it was ten-thirty.

“He is quite early,” she said to herself. Many of her customers were usually late for appointments.

Rarity strolled over to the front door, and opened it for her customer. Except it wasn't her customer. Instead of a pony, there was a small purple dragon on her doorstep. His hands were hidden behind his back, and Rarity knew that he had something for her.

“Spike?” Rarity was quite surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi, Rarity!” Spike exclaimed with a huge smile. “I just stopped by, to see if you needed help with anything.”

“Oh no, I’m perfectly... Oh where are my manners? Please come in!” she ushered.

The little dragon walked into the main room, and Rarity closed the door. He quickly revealed what was hidden behind his back.

“I...uh... I got these for you,” he said, his cheeks turning a slight red, barely visible through his purple scales.

“Violets!” gasped Rarity. “I love violets. Thank you so much, Spikey-Wikey!” She planted a big kiss on his forehead.

Spike suddenly looked very ill, and he staggered at little bit.

“Spike?” asked the worried unicorn. “Are you alright?”

“What?” asked Spike. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. So, did you need any help with anything?”

“Well,” began Rarity. “I have a client who is supposed to be her in about ten minutes, or so. We will be discussing business in my office. If you want, you can help by sorting out this bin of gems into color-coordinated containers.”

“Gems?” asked Spike. “Gladly!”

“Just don’t eat all of them, I need some for my dresses, you know,” said Rarity, eyeing Spike nervously.

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” said Spike. “I’m not going to eat any of your gems.”

“Alright, would you like a drink or anything?” she asked.

“No thank you,” replied Spike.

When the clock struck 11:50, there was a second knock upon the front door.

“He’s here!” called the dragon

“Thanks, Spike,” said Rarity as she rushed over to the door. “Just keep working on that. I promise I won’t be too long.”

“By all means, take your time,” said Spike, as he diligently sorted through the rainbow of gems.

Rarity opened the door. Outside was a grey stallion, with a light-brown mane. He smiled upon seeing the white unicorn.

“Hi, Ms. Rarity?” he said. “We’ve been exchanging letters in the mail, and you said that I should stop by today and...”

“Yes, yes, of course!” exclaimed Rarity. “Please, please, come in!”

“Oh, well thank you!” he said, stepping into the boutique.

“This here is my assistant, Spike,” Rarity introduced the dragon.

“Hello,” said Spike.

“Please to meet you, Spike,” greeted the stallion.

“May I get you a glass of water, or something?” asked Rarity.

“No no, I really can’t stay that long,” he explained. “I’m supposed to be somewhere in a few minutes.”

“Oh, ok,” said Rarity. “Well, let’s get right down to business then. Follow me.”

She led the stallion into her office. He followed quickly behind her, and she closed the door, separating themselves from the rest of the building.

“I apologize that I must be very brief,” he said.

“Not at all,” she said, pushing away his apology. “There comes a time when all of us need to step up and get things done. Some of us more than others.”

He laughed, and so did she, however she wasn’t sure what was funny.

“So,” began the seamstress. “You said you needed a dress. Is she a special somepony, may I ask?”

“Something like that,” he said. “It needs to be elegant.”

“Oh, well,” she gave him an arrogant look. “Trust me, I can do elegant.”

“And pink,” he continued. “She likes... it needs to be pink, it just... it needs to have some pink on it. You know, because she is a nurse and all”

“Okay...” she started. “Do you know her size, perhaps?”

“No, not really... no,” he said. “She is about the same size as you.”

“So she’s thin?” asked Rarity.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes of course.”

“Alright,” she continued. This was by far the strangest meeting that had ever taken place in her boutique. “Did she say anything else?”

“No,” he explained. “She didn’t really say anything at all. This is kind of a surprise gift.”

There was suddenly a loud sound that came from the main room. It sounded as if someone had thrown the front door open. She could her Spike talking to someone in the other room, however she couldn’t tell who it was. The stallion had glanced towards the door, looking slightly worried.

“Don’t worry about that,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Is there anything else that you needed to tell me?”

“Uh, no,” he replied. “That’s it.”

“When will you need the dress by?”

“Uh,” he muttered, nervously kicking the floor. “I kind of need it by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” she asked, dumbstruck. “As in the day after today?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Well actually I need it by around seven at night, tomorrow. Can it be done?”

“Uh, yes... yes of course it can be done,” she said. She felt like she was going to pass out. “It’s no problem; I totally understand the last minute thing.”

“You do?” he asked. “Great, because I actually have to go, like right now.”

“Oh, ok,” she said. Her mind felt like it was floating. “I’m sorry, did I hold you up too long?”

“No,” he said. “It’s just that... ok… I’ll explain.” He took a deep breath.

“You see, I'm actually supposed to be at work right now. I work down at the bookstore, and I kind of snuck out the back, while I was taking inventory. It’s my first day, and I’m not sure what the boss would do if he found out.”

“Oh my goodness,” she said. “Ok... ok... I can fix this. You work at the bookstore by Quills and Sofas, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” he said. “But, how can you help me?”

“You see,” she began. “My friend, Twilight sparkle has been pushing me to learn more ‘practical spells’. So, recently I have been practicing translocation spells, and...”

“Wait a second,” he said. “Are you saying that you can teleport me back to work?”

“I... I,” she took another deep breath. “Yes, I can.”

“Alright,” he said. His face shone with pure joy. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Here goes,” she said. She concentrated hard on the bookstore. The image of its interior suddenly came into focus in her mind. She could see it clearly. She could see... Rainbow Dash? It was unmistakable; in her mind she could clearly see the cyan pegasus standing awkwardly in front of the register. Rarity decided that she should probably put the stallion right behind the counter. The thought of startling the athletic pegasus made her smile.

“Thanks again,” the stallion said suddenly. “Oh and by the way, I believe that your friend Spike out there has something to tell you.”

“Wait what?” she asked. But it was too late. The stallion suddenly disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. All traces of him ever being in the room, were gone.

She stood there for a moment, not sure what had just happened, but she shook herself out of it, and opened up the door.

“Rarity!” Spike shouted when he saw her. “Rainbow Dash just stopped by and... wait. What happened to the guy?”

“He... uh... he went out another way,” she tried to explain. “Wait, what did you just say?”

Chapter 6: Twilight Sparkle

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Fluorescence of a Tide
By: Johnjohns2

Chapter 6: Twilight Sparkle

“Spike,” the violet unicorn nudged the purple dragon. “Spike, wakey wakey.”

The baby dragon rolled over in his basket, grabbed his pillow, and covered his head with it.

“Twilight,” grumbled Spike. “What’s a dragon got to do, to get some sleep around here?”

“Don’t worry, Spike,” she replied. “You don’t have to get up just yet, just listen to me for a second, ok?”

The dragon did not reply.

“Spike?”

“I’m listening Twilight,” he said with an annoyed tone of voice.

“Ok then,” she giggled. “When you get up, I need you to do some things. There is a list of chores, sitting on the kitchen table that must be done. When you are done, you are free for the day. I am going out to spend the afternoon with a friend, so I probably won’t be back until around four, or so.”

“Ok,” spike grumbled.

“Just don’t sleep too late, ok?” she asked.

“Ok, Twilight.”

The unicorn stepped away, and walked across the wood floor to the stairs. She could hear Spike start to snore again. Carefully, and quietly, the mare walked down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she stopped, and sneezed.

"I really hope that I'm not getting sick," Twilight groaned.

Today, Twilight Sparkle had plans to have lunch with Fluttershy, and getting sick would surely take the fun out of it. After the mishap at the bookstore, yesterday, all she wanted was a peaceful afternoon.

“That’s what I’ll do,” she said to herself. “I'll go get some medicine from Zecora.”

The pony walked into the kitchen, and got ready to go out for the day. She had already eaten her breakfast. Buckwheat toast and coffee, the best start to any day. Looking out the window, she could see the sun steadily rising into the sky. By using her extensive knowledge of the celestial object, she could accurately estimate the time, based on the sun’s orientation.

“The current time should be about a quarter to ten,” she said to herself, then looking at the wall clock for confirmation. The clock read 9:46.

“Close enough,” she grumbled.

On the kitchen table was the list of Spike’s chores. While the paper itself was not large, Twilight could write very small, as to fit the massive amount of writing, efficiently on a small note. She knew that, the list would keep him busy for quite some time. The less time Spike had to decide on something himself, the lesser the chances of him doing something stupid.

The unicorn walked out of the kitchen, and to the front door. Hanging next to the entrance on the left, was a saddle bag. Twilight retrieve the bag, and strapped it onto herself. She shook it first, to check if she had enough bits to pay Zecora, and sure enough her ears heard the metallic jingle of coins. Fortunately for her, Princess Celestia did not require Twilight to pay taxes, nor did the law require it from the other Elements.

On the right side of the doorway, was a large pile of supplies. Just a few days ago, Twilight had urgent business to attend to with Princess Celestia, and she was forced to spend the night in Canterlot. Fluttershy had been kind enough to take care of Spike, and Owloysius. To return the favor, Twilight had decided to take care of Fluttershy’s pets, by buying about a week’s supply of food, and other necessities. She knew that she didn't have to buy this much as a return favor, but she knew how difficult it was for Fluttershy to take care of all her animals, and care for herself, so if she could assist her friend in any way, then she was happy to do so.

Using her magic, she levitated all of the items into the air, an easy feat, considering her vast knowledge of spells. Giving a quick glance into the mirror next to the rack, she checked to see how she looked. Not noticing any flaws, she simultaneously used her magic to open the door. She stepped out, and the levitating supplies followed closely. A wave of fresh air reached the smiling unicorn. The scent of summer wildflowers, mixed with that of freshly baked apple pie invaded her nostrils. She forcefully inhaled a few times, to savor the smell, before her senses adjusted, and became acquainted with the aroma. Other ponies walked by, unicorns, earth-ponies, and even a few pegasi walked along the road. Some happily walked and talked with friends, others simply walked on their own, smiling. Everypony seemed to be happy, why wouldn’t they be? Today was going to be a fantastic one.

Normally Twilight would simply walk over to Fluttershy’s house, but since she was running low on time, and still needed to visit Zecora, she decided to teleport herself, and the supplies to the enchantress.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated on the image of Zecora’s home, out in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Inside herself, she felt a familiar ‘tingle’ coarse throughout her nerves. This happened every time she prepared to teleport. Suddenly, her vision flashed a bright white, and then as quickly as it had come, the light faded away. When her vision cleared, she could see that she was no longer in Ponyville. She was surrounded by tall trees, and directly in front of her, was Zecora’s hut. Inside the Everfree, it was much darker. The forest canopy blocked out most of the sun, and only a few strands of faint light managed to pierce the thick, natural ceiling. Almost all of the light surrounding the unicorn came from the torches outside of the hut, as well as the windows. Upon arrival, she startled a flock of crows, and they dispersed throughout the darkness, rustling the leaves as they flew away.

Not wishing to remain exposed in the dangerous woods, Twilight quickly stepped up to the door, and knocked a hoof against it. While she waited, she set down the supplies in an organized pile, at the doorstep. The door opened slowly, and a familiar black and white striped head peeked its way around the corner.

“Twilight Sparkle, my dear,” rhymed Zecora. “Please come in, the Timberwolves draw near.”

“Thank you,” Twilight smiled and stepped into the hut. In the forest, behind her, came a howl.

Once inside, the unicorn caught whiff of a wonderful smell, originating from a boiling liquid, inside of a cauldron, in the center of the room. She had smelled this before, but could not remember when, or what it was. The home was well lit by candles, which cast a flickering yellow glow on everything in the room, which in turn, then produced many flickering shadows. Lining the walls, were many shelves, on which sat all kinds of glass bottles, and jars. Some were filled with liquid, others filled with powders, leaves, herbs, or other solid objects, such as mushrooms. Other bottles hung from the ceiling, by string. A small bookshelf was set against a wall, a miniscule amount of books compared to the librarian's massive collection. Decorating the upper wall, were several large, painted, wooden masks. In her culture, these were worn during large events, such as the Summer Sun Celebration. Of to the side, behind a curtain was Zecora’s bedroom.

Twilight walked over to the cauldron, as Zecora closed the door.

“What’s cooking, Zecora?” asked the purple pony.

“Mushroom stew, a hearty and delicious brew,” replied the zebra.

This jogged Twilight Sparkle’s memory.

“Do you see anything good?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight scanned the menu of L'étalon Errant: Ponyville’s newest eastern-style restaurant. The food all sounded wonderful, and she was having a hard time making a decision. The restaurant was filled with ponies, all sitting at tables, or booths, in conversation. Fluttershy, and herself were lucky to have made a reservation in advance, and were able to get in, without a wait. The establishment had earned its popularity virtually overnight, and news of its success was spreading all throughout Equestria. Ponies from Canterlot, and cities even further away such as Manehatten had been flocking to Ponyville, ever since the grand opening, two months ago. The surge of tourism had been great for the town, and local businesses had been flourishing ever since. For quite some time however, it was almost impossible for local townsfolk to eat at the restaurant, it was far too busy. But now, although still packed twenty-four-seven, it was at least possible to place a reservation.

“Everything looks delicious, I just can’t decide,” replied Twilight.

“May I make a recommendation?” asked the timid pegaus.

“Most certainly.”

“Try the mushroom stew, it is wonderful,” replied Fluttershy.

Twilight looked up at her friend. “Really?”

“Oh yes, mushroom stew is one of my favorite meals, and theirs is superb,” said the yellow pony.

Twilight wasn’t sure about this. She had an extensive knowledge of varying types of fungus. She knew what the fungus in nature were and what they did, and it was this knowledge that made mushrooms seem unappetizing to her.

“I don’t know,” replied the unicorn. “I've never tried a mushroom before, will I like it?”

“Really?” asked an amazed Fluttershy. “You've never eaten a mushroom before?”

The unicorn shook her head.

“Well then, I don’t know,” responded the pegaus. “I really like them, but I’m not sure if you will. Do you want to try some of mine, if I get some?”

“Oh no,” refused Twilight. “You don't have to do that.”

“Oh, but it would make things easier for you to decide, it’s really no big deal,” insisted Fluttershy.

“Well, alright,” Twilight gave in. “Thanks again Fluttershy.”

“Oh, it’s no problem...” began the pegasus.

“I’m not talking about the stew. Thank you, for what you did before,” Twilight gave Fluttershy a very warm smile.

Fluttershy blushed. “It was only a natural instinct, but you're welcome,” she smiled back.

It was then that the waiter trotted over to their table. He was a tall, handsome grey stallion, wearing a suit, and held a pad of paper in his mouth.

“Good afternoon, mademoiselles,” he greeted. “Are you ready to order?”

“Yes,” replied Fluttershy. “I would like the ragoût de champignons, and my friend here is going to try some, to see if she likes it. Is that ok?”

“Of course, Mademoiselle. Is that all for now?” he asked.

“Yes,” replied the pegasus.

“Alright, I will be back in a few minutes,” he bowed and quickly walked away.

The two friends talked for a couple of minutes, until the waiter returned with a steaming bowl of stew, balanced on a tray, on his back. With one hoof, he picked up the bowl by sliding it off his back and set it down on the table.

“Careful, it’s hot,” he told them.

“Twilight, please try some,” Fluttershy invited.

The unicorn picked up her spoon, and scooped up some of the stew. It was dark brown in color, and smelled good. Twilight could not deny that the stew smelled wonderful, and this made her want to try it much more, than before. Carefully, she blew across the spoon, cooling the liquid. After a few seconds, she took a sip. The stew tasted wonderful. Who knew she would like mushrooms? Twilight was unable to hold back her smile. This made Fluttershy smile herself.

“Do you like it?” asked the waiter.

“I love it!” she declared.

“Would you like some, yourself?” he asked.

“Yes please!” she replied, eager to indulge in more of the heavenly soup.

“Are you a mare, who likes what I prepare?” asked Zecora.

“Wha... oh, yes, I love mushroom stew,” answered Twilight, her mind suddenly coming back to the present.

“Would you like some, yourself, or do you seek something else?” inquired Zecora.

“I would love some, but I am running on a timetable, so I’m afraid I must go straight to business,” answered Twilight. She didn’t want to be late for Fluttershy.

“Then I must inquire, what is it you require?” asked Zecora.

“Do you have any allergy medicines?” responded Twilight.

“Let me see. Might I interest you in some black tea?” asked the Zebra.

“Black Tea?” asked the unicorn. “Do you have some? I ran out a while ago.”

“Indeed I keep the tea you seek,” said Zecora.

“I’ll take a box then,” said the grateful pony. “How much do I owe you?”

“Five bits,” Zecora walked over to a shelf on the wall, and retrieved a small box.

Twilight opened up her saddle bag, and rummaged around for five coins, and after finding them, exchanged them for the box of tea, which she neatly stored inside the bag.

“Thank you, Zecora,” said Twilight. “I really wish that I could stay longer, but I really should be going.”

The Zebra walked over to the door, and opened it for the mare. “Farewell, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Goodbye Zecora,” the pony stepped out of the hut and the door closed behind her.

Twilight hoped that she hadn’t been rude, but she had a commitment to make, and she wasn’t going to be late.

She turned to face the pile of supplies outside the hut. A single, brown squirrel was getting a little curious, and was slowly inching its way to a bag of food.

“Hey! Shew!” Twilight charged the small rodent, which promptly scurried off into the bushes.

In the distance, a Timber Wolf howled, causing a chill to creep up the unicorn’s spine. A light breeze rustled the tree canopy above, causing shadows to dance all around the forest floor. Along the ground, a mist had begun to form, ever increasing in density, swallowing the dirt, and roots below it.

Twilight, not wishing to stay any longer, used her magic to levitate the items, and then concentrated on Fluttershy’s cottage. She felt the unique, magical tickle course through her nerves once more, and then she suddenly vanished.

The mare opened her eyes, to a newfound brightness that the forest lacked. After a few moments, her eyes adjusted, and directly in front of her, was Fluttershy’s home. A few of the farm animals outside looked up in surprise, to find a purple unicorn, which had seemingly materialized from thin air.

The mare quickly walked up to the wooden entrance, and knocked her hoof against the door. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal the yellow pegasus. She had a slightly confused look upon her face, but Twilight thought nothing of it.

“Oh there you are Twilight!” said Fluttershy with a big smile.

“Sorry about being late Fluttershy,” Twilight apologized. “I had just stopped over at Zecora’s place, to pick up some herbal medicine.”

“Oh, what for?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh... well I hope you feel better,” said the pegasus, she had a worried look on her face.

“Thanks Fluttershy," said Twilight Sparkle. "Although like I said, I'm sure it's nothing but allergies.”

“Alright, well come in,” ushered Fluttershy.

Twilight Sparkle walked through the doorway, and using her magic, Fluttershy’s supplies floated in behind her. Then she neatly began to arrange the items onto the counter, and the kitchen floor. As each item passed by, she read them out loud.

“Now, I wasn’t sure whether or you wanted whole grain, or oat rabbit food, so I got both...” Twilight began.

“Oh Twilight, you didn’t have t...” said Fluttershy, but was quickly interrupted.

“I also bought twenty cans of tuna cat food, two bags of kitty litter, four bags of feed for the cows, a bag of feed for the chickens...” Twilight announced item, after item, as she stacked them onto the pile. She thought that Fluttershy looked amazed, and nervous at the same time.

“...and lastly a box of chocolates, you know... just as a thank you for watching Spike.”

“Twilight, it was nothing really. Please, you didn’t need to buy all of this for me, I am perfectly fine with...” the pegasus began.

“Fluttershy, I didn't buy this for you, I bought it for the animals. The chocolates are for you. Isn’t that right Angel?” Twilight asked, looking at the bunny, who sat upon the staircase. He stared greedily upon the pile, and then nodded his head.

“See,” Twilight said, turning her attention back to Fluttershy. “Angel approves.”

“Well when you put it that way...” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Exactly,” said Twilight with a grin on her face. She sniffled. “Now, were we going to go on a walk or not?” The unicorn started for the door, but quickly stopped, and fell to the floor. A massive wave of nausea, and dizziness impacted her like a freight train.

“Twilight!” yelled Fluttershy. “Are you alright?”

“Yes... just a little lightheaded is all,” Twilight tried to get up, but she wobbled on her hooves, and fell back down. “Whoa.”

“Just some water please,” Twilight whispered, unable to put strength behind her voice.

“Thank you Fluttershy,” she said with a small smile.

“You're welcome. Let’s put off the walk for now, and just stay here for a bit until you feel better,” said the pegasus, the concern evident in her voice.

“That sounds good,” replied the purple unicorn.

Twilight was feeling much better, and she was regaining her energy.

“Wow, to think that he could just deny you a copy like that,” Fluttershy said. They were just talking gossip.

“I know right!” Twilight exclaimed. “I was about to file a complaint, but instead I took a deep breath, and I let it go.” she said.

“That’s what I always do,” said Fluttershy with a giggle.

“That’s what I’ve always liked about you Fluttershy, you never let anypony or anything bother you for too long, you just let it go,” Twilight giggled as well.

Fluttershy said nothing, but just looked at Twilight and smiled. The living room clock ticked in the background. They sat there silently for another minute before Twilight Sparkle spoke up.

“Well, I’m feeling a little bit better, perhaps we can go for a short walk to a place to eat, perhaps Sugarcube Corner?” she asked Fluttershy.

“Only if you feel up to it, I don't want something to happen to you,” she said in a quiet tone.

“Oh, I’ll be fine, we will grab something to eat, maybe we will see Pinkie Pie there, and we will have a good time,” Twilight said, eager to get out of the house.

“Well...alright,” Fluttershy gave in.

“Great, let’s go!” Twilight said as she started to get up. Suddenly she closed her eyes and the muscles in her face tensed up. A second wave of dizziness and pain struck her like the tail of a manticore. She tried to open her eyes, but they failed to comply, and all she could see was darkness. Soon her mind grew weak, struggling to function, but it was a losing fight, and then the darkness took her.

The sun radiated it’s light and heat onto the waking Equestrian landscape. All around the two mares were wildflowers opening their petals to face the never-ending light source. Birds nestled amongst the trees, sang a beautiful harmony, which when combined with the sweet scent of the flowers, produced an incredibly, immersive pleasure to one’s senses. Over the past few days, it had rained almost nonstop, and the grass was still damp underneath Twilight Sparkle’s hooves. Today was the first break in the chaotic weather pattern.

The purple mare walked alongside a muddy path that cut through the park. The brown scar which cut through the grassy earth, would soon end at the peaceful town of Ponyville. To Twilight’s left, walked Fluttershy.

“It’s nice to finally see a break in the weather,” said Twilight.

“Tell me about it, the animals hate being stuck inside for days,” said Fluttershy.

“I bet. Being trapped in a house for an elongated period of time can drive anypony crazy. Spike was bored out of his mind,” said the unicorn.

“Speaking of Spike,” said Fluttershy. “How’s he doing?”

“Oh, he’s been well,” replied Twilight. “He’s just growing up so fast. He won’t be a baby dragon for much longer.”

“That must be hard to deal with,” said the pegasus.

“It is,” answered the unicorn. “However, he is growing up to be a very mature dragon, and he knows that I will always be there to help him as he grows up. He is going to long outlive me, anyway.”

“That’s right,” replied Fluttershy. “Dragons live a long time don’t they?”

“They do indeed,” answered Twilight. She felt her eyes water up a little at the thought of that.

There was a long silence between the two mares before Fluttershy spoke up.

“Do you think...” began Fluttershy. “Do you think that in a few hundred years from now, Spike will remember ponies like us?”

“He had better remember us,” replied the purple pony. “After all the trouble I got him out of, he better remember.”

The two ponies burst into laughter, as they continued to walk towards Ponyville. Columns of steam rose in the town ahead. The sun continued to rise in the sky, and the warm morning air was becoming hot afternoon air. The path they walked upon had been drying in the sun, and only small patches of mud remained, where the earth was covered in the shadows of a trees. Twilight could smell sweet, baked goods in the air. This activated her sweet tooth.

“Hey Fluttershy,” asked Twilight. “After lunch, do you want to stop by Sugarcube Corner, and get some dessert?”

“You smell pastries, don’t you? asked Fluttershy.

“Yeah.”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” giggled the pegasus.

“Then it’s decided,” stated the unicorn.

“Sounds good to me,” said Fluttershy.

“Anyway,” said Twilight. “So, Fluttershy. This new restaurant we are eating at, is it really that good? I mean, I've heard good things about it but...”

Twilight was stopped by a loud cracking sound to her right. Before she could turn around, Fluttershy shouted.

“Twilight! Watch out!”

A yellow mass tackled Twilight to the ground at the few feet from where she stood. Right after she hit the ground, an even louder crack sounded, followed by a forceful impact that came from behind her, and then it was quiet. Fluttershy, who had tackled Twilight, rolled off of the mare, and stood up, and looked behind. Twilight did the same. Lying across the ground, in which they formerly stood upon, was a very large oak tree. Only moments ago, the tree stood alongside the path, now it was uprooted, and broken. Had it not been for Fluttershy’s quick reflexes, they would likely have been crushed. The two mares stared at the tree, the adrenaline rushing through their bodies, caused by the near-death experience.

“Thanks Fluttershy,” said a shocked Twilight.

“Don’t mention it,” whispered Fluttershy.

Bright light began to filter through Twilight Sparkle’s eyelids, as she slowly awoke. Her head felt heavy, and numb. She let out an unpleasant groan, before forcing her eyes completely open.

She was lying in a bed, donned with white bed sheets. Twilight was clothed in a mint-green hospital gown, and a needle in her foreleg was connected to a drip. The windows on the wall were cracked slightly open, which allowed a small breeze to flow throughout the room, along with the overpowering light from the sun.

Using simple logic, Twilight was able to determine, that she was indeed, in a hospital. However, regardless of this fact, she spoke.

“Uh...what, where am I?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight!” exclaimed Fluttershy. ”I am so glad that you are alright!”

“What...oh hi Fluttershy,” she said as she turned her head to face the yellow pegasus. The expression on her face seemed to be literally dripping with joy.

“Twilight, when you were at my house, you passed out, and I didn’t know what to do, so I brought you here,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight thought about her dream, as she looked at Fluttershy. She had read a few studies on how actions in real life, can influence dreams. Was it possible, since Fluttershy had saved her in real life, that her dream was influenced by the pegasus’s actions? The unicorn always found this field of study interesting, and she made a mental note to herself, to re-read some of her books.

“How are you feeling?” asked Fluttershy.

“Oh... I feel really weird, it’s just that... I had a strange dream, and you were in it,” Twilight continued to look at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy opened her mouth, like she was going to speak, but stopped abruptly when the door opened.

“Well I'll be! Ms. Twilight Sparkle has finally woken up to spend time with her friends. Isn’t that nice,” joked an orange earth-pony as she walked into the room.

“Hi Applejack,” smiled Twilight Sparkle, trying to give all of her friends some attention.

Twilight was still very weak, and although she could not express her gratitude through over-excitement, she was very happy to see her friends.

“Twilight hi hi hi hi hi, over here, over here, over here, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Twilight!"

"Yes Pinkie!" shouted Twilight, finally turning her attention away from Applejack, and to the pink earth-pony who was bouncing up and down.

"Twilight, I just wanted to say that I am glad you are awake. Did you see the flowers that I got you?" Pinkie asked, obviously wondering whether or not Twilight had seen her gift.

The unicorn turned to look at the flowers in the vase beside her. She leaned over and gave the flowers a sniff.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie!" thanked Twilight. "They smell wonderful, how thoughtful of you!"

Pinkie Pie ran over to Twilight, and gave her a hug, as a white unicorn with a purple mane walked into the room. A small purple dragon, with green spikes sat on her back.

"Why hello Twilight!" said the unicorn. “I am very pleased to see that you are feeling better."

"Thank you Rarity," she said with a smile. turning her attention to the dragon.

"Spike!" exclaimed the bed-stuck pony. "How is my number-one assistant doing today?"

"Oh I'm alright," said Spike. "I'm just glad to know that you are alright. I thought you were going to die or something."

Twilight thought that she saw him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh Spike, you are so silly, I'm not going to die," said Twilight playfully.

"Well that's good to hear, it's just that somepony made it seem that you were dying," Spike shot a glance at Pinkie Pie, who looked away.

“Well then Twilight,” began Rarity. “We all wish you well, and we hope that you get out of here soon, so that we can get out, and do things together again.”

“Thank you all very much. You have no idea how much that means to me,” thanked Twilight.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could stay and chat for a while, but I have a client who ordered a dress, and I need to have it ready for tomorrow. I better get going,” said Rarity.

“Ya, and I still got some trees to harvest before sundown, or else Granny Smith will have my flank,” explained Applejack.

“I need to go too. There are some loose ends that need tying up,” Pinkie said this with a sinister voice. Twilight could have sworn that the room grew dark for second. “Plus, I need to plan your Welcome-Home-Twilight-Sparkle-Party. I already have the date chosen, can you guess when?”

“Um, when I get back home?” Twilight asked.

“Yes! Wow, you are really good at this game, we should play more often, some other time though, I need to get going,” said Pinkie.

“Alright everypony, have a good night!” said Twilight, as Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie walked out of the room. Spike, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash remained.

“Hey Twilight?” said the blue pegasus.

“Yes Rainbow Dash?” asked the violet unicorn eagerly.

“I, uh... I got you something, wait here,” said Rainbow as she flew out of the room, regardless of the fact that Twilight wasn’t going anywhere.

After a few moments, she flew back into the room with a book.

“I picked this up for you,” Rainbow held the book out to Twilight.

The title of the book was; Daring Doo: And the Quest for the Silver Scroll.

“Oh Rainbow, you didn’t have to give me this, I bought one already,” said Twilight, attempting to give the book back.

“Oh, well then, did you read it yet?” asked the pegasus.

“No, I went to pick it up the other day, but they had lost my copy,” explained the unicorn. “They were going to give me my book, when a new shipment comes in.”

“Oh, well then you can have this one, and then you can give me yours when you get out of here,” said Rainbow, giving the book back.

“But don’t you want to read it?” asked Twilight.

“Ya, but I think you should read it first, let me know if it’s any good,” said Rainbow with a smile.

“Oh, well that is very thoughtful of you.” smiled Twilight.

“Anyway, I'll leave you with the book, I better get going,” said the pegasus. “I’ll try and stop by tomorrow, so you can tell me how the book is.”

“Alright Rainbow, have a good night.”

“Thanks, you too!”

As Rainbow Dash left the room, Fluttershy and Spike remained seated next to the bed. nurse Redheart walked into the room.

“Twilight Sparkle, good to see that you are awake. How do you feel?” asked the nurse.

“I just feel weird, like something just isn’t right, like something bad is going to happen,” explained the purple mare.

“But physically, do you feel fine physically?” asked Redheart. “Any aches or pains?”

“No, I feel fine,” said Twilight.

“Alright, but I think we should keep you here a little longer, until the blood work comes back, and we are sure that nothing is wrong with you,” explained the nurse.

“Whatever you say.”

“Alright, well if you need anything just push that red button next to you,” said Redheart.

“This button?”

“Yes, that one. By the way dinner will be ready in an hour, if you are hungry.”

“Ok, thank you nurse.” smiled the unicorn.

Nurse Redheart walked out of the room.

“Is there anything that I can do for you, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy.

“No Fluttershy, you’ve done enough for me already today. Go on home, I know you need to take care of your animals,” said the unicorn.

“Really, are you sure?” asked Fluttershy. “Because I can easily just have...”

“Fluttershy. It’s alright, go on home, I'll be fine,” said Twilight.

“Well, ok, but I will come over first thing in the morning to check on you, ok?” asked Fluttershy.

“Alright, and could you do me a favor and take Spike home at well?” asked the violet mare.

“Sure.”

“Alright Spike, you get the house to yourself tonight. No parties, and no mares over please. Ok?” asked Twilight, with a nervous stare.

“Ya ya ya, I know,” Spike blushed. “I’ll probably just organize the science-fiction books into alphabetical order, or something.”

“Alright, goodnight you two, and Spike?” said Twilight, calling Spike’s attention once more.

“Can you send Princess Celestia a letter explaining all of this, and tell her that I will get out of here soon?” asked Twilight with a pleading smile.

“Sure thing Twilight, have a good night,” Spike waved as he and Fluttershy left the room.

“You too.”

After the two left the room, Twilight simply stared off into space for a few minutes, thinking. She thought about the day, her friends, and her new health issue. Thinking back, she attempted to remember any event that could have caused her to fall unconscious. She hadn't been injured, she was most certain that she didn't eat any tainted food, and she definitely didn't have any health problems, in which she knew about.

Deciding to drop the chain of thought as to not work herself up, Twilight picked up the novel, gifted to her by Rainbow dash. The book was a hardcover, and covered in green velvet. The book itself was covered with a jacket, colored the same as the book. On the front cover, was a picture of the protagonist, Daring Do, galloping down a temple corridor, while clutching a silver scroll in one hoof. Pursuing Do, were three pony-shaped silhouettes, wielding curved blades.

“Daring Do: And the Quest for the Silver Scroll,” Twilight read aloud. “This is going to be good.”

She opened the novel to the first page, and began to read.

Daring Do opened her eyes, to find herself in a dark chamber. The cobblestone floor was mossy, and moist, and black mold grew on the walls. The only source of light, illuminating her surroundings was a small, oil lamp, sitting upon a wooden table, behind the rusty bars. The bars. Suddenly remembering the events of the previous day, Doo rapidly scrambled to get off of the floor, but fell when her right, rear leg was yanked from underneath her. Groaning from the hard impact, the mare looked down to find that her leg had been chained to the wall. She grabbed the chain, and gave it a strong pull, but it didn’t budge. She stood up, and attempted to stretch out her wings, but her body screamed in protest. A jolt of agonizing pain shot from her right wing, and down her spine. She collapsed to the ground from the pain, unable to move. Suddenly she heard the sound of hooves on stone. The steps grew louder, and closer to Do’s cell. Desperately, she scanned the floor of the cell for something to help her escape, but there was nothing, not even a loose stone to throw. She checked the walls. Nothing. She glanced at the ceiling. Nothing. Realizing escape was impossible, she backed herself, as far as the chain would allow, into a dark corner. Whatever pony was approaching, whatever their intentions were, Daring Do was about to find out.

The hours flew by, as Twilight Sparkle read. As she did so, the sun grew lower in the sky, and the light outside slowly faded away. The overhead fluorescent lights soon began the dominant light source in her hospital room. As the time passed, so did the chapters. Twilight was a very fast reader, and at the same time was absorbing every single word. She could probably recite the book every single day, for a week, before needing a refresher.

The lion charged across the sandstone floor, barreling straight for Daring Do. The pegasus took her stance, Her face unflinching. Her eyes unmoving. The ferocious beast closed the distance between itself and the pony within seconds, opened its maw and lunged at its prey. The lion was fast, but she was faster. Waiting until the last possible moment, Daring Do sidestepped out of the beast’s trajectory. In an act of desperation, the lion swung a paw at do, but the pegasus ducked underneath the claw. The large cat attempted to stop itself, but only stumbled, as its own momentum carried it into a steel support girder. The cheering audience suddenly quieted as a section of the overhanging seats shook violently. The audience began to panic as the beam broke free, and fell to the ground. The loss of the support caused the overhanging concrete to crack. The remaining girders groaned under the newfound weight. Cracks spread from the weakened bleachers, to the other sections of seating in the pentagon-shaped arena. The lion climbed to its feet, only to suddenly be crushed by falling concrete. The audience screamed as an entire section of seats collapsed, burying one of the arena entrance tunnels. The onlookers were all screaming, as they rushed for the exits, all trying to escape at once. With the room collapsing around her, Daring Do looked for her own escape route, out of the arena. The only way out, in which she could see, was the tunnel on the opposite side of the arena. The tunnel that lead to the animal cages. Without wasting any more time, Do rushed into the mouth of the tunnel, just as the arena ceiling collapsed, burying the chamber.

Dinner was served about halfway through the novel. Mashed potatoes, and green beans. The unicorn tasted the potatoes, and then decided that she wasn’t hungry. Text-on-paper was all she needed for sustenance. The tray of food sat abandoned on the bed-side table.

Soon the sun was completely absent from the world, and the moon took its rightful place against the speckled void. House lights in Ponyville slowly started to disappear, as the inhabitants went to sleep. At some point, nurse Redheart came into the room, and closed the blinds on the window, but Twilight was too engrossed in her book to notice.

“Are you done with this?” asked a voice.

Twilight nodded. The tray of food disappeared. She continued reading.

Around seven o’clock, the nurse came into the room and turned on the bedside reading lamp, then shut off the overhead lights. The reading light was decently bright, and covered the room in a warm, orange glow.

Twilight adjusted herself underneath the bed sheets, to a more comfortable position. Her lavender eyes flowed amongst the text. Two flowers in a sea of light and dark shades.

“Are you seeing this?” asked professor Slate.

Daring Do trotted over to where the professor stood. Aided by the light from his torch, she was able to see what he was so interested in. The symbols on the wall before him all looked the same to Do. The flickering flame cast dancing shadows all over the underground corridor.

“What?” asked Do. “What do you see?”

“Do you see these symbols here?” called the professor. Do could have sworn that she heard a crack in his voice. “These two symbols are the same as the ones back in the temple.”

He pointed to a curved line, bisecting an upside down V.

“Great,” said Do. “Isn’t that what we have been looking for? What’s the problem?”

The educated stallion had grown pale, and he had begun to shake. He was breathing heavy, and had a fine layer of sweat on his coat.

“Hey,” Do turned his head to face her own. “What’s wrong.”

He gulped. “These two symbols are indeed the same, yes. But this one...” he trailed off.

“What, what is it?”

“The symbol back in the temple looked like this,” He held up a notebook, with a sketch of a complex pictogram. “I had believed that this was the complete symbol, but now...”

He ripped the page out of the notebook, and pressed it up against the wall. The diagram covered up most of the stone-etched symbol.

“Now I know that the image in the temple was incomplete,” he whispered. “It is not a symbol of light. The symbol represents darkness.”

Daring Do’s eyes widened with horror. Her heart rate increased exponentially. She was now just as panicked as the professor.

“We were wrong the whole time,” he said.

“Oh no,” she said. “Lemongrass, she’s out there by herself!”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned around, and sprinted down the cobblestone corridor.

“Wait, Do!” the professor called.

She paid him no heed, and only ran faster.

“Wait!”

The end of the book drew close now. Twilight was impressed; this was probably the most suspenseful novels in the series, yet. She breezed quickly through the final few chapters, until only one remained. She couldn't wait to find out the story would end. She was about to turn the page to start the next chapter, but she stopped. Looking up at the clock, she realized that she had been reading for hours, and it was now nine-thirty at night.

She yawned, and realized that she was indeed, quite tired. She saved her place with a bookmark, and closed the book. She decided to get a good night’s sleep, and finish the book tomorrow. Save the best part for another day.

She set the hardcover down on the table, and turned off the lamp. The room was dark now, and only a small amount of light came through the square window, into her room. She adjusted herself under the covers, and rolled over onto her side.

She stared at the wall for a few minutes, just thinking about the story, and what its outcome could be. She thought, but her fatigue was stronger than her brain. Soon enough, Twilight closed her eyes and fell asleep.

A warm current of air blew through Twilights mane, moving it so that it covered her eyes. She flicked her head to the side, setting her hair back into its place. She was standing in a field of wildflowers. Countless stalks of greens, yellows, purples, reds, and blue consumed the earth with a flowing, growing, living wave of color. She stood upon a tall rise in the landscape, surrounded by rolling hills, as far as she could see. The scent of the wildflowers was overpowering, invading the unicorn’s nostrils with the many sweet fragrances, the strongest being lavender. The perfectly blue sky was dotted with a few fluffy clouds, and directly overhead was the sun. It illuminated the multicolored land, and the land gave a silent “thank you”.

The exact same scenery surrounded Twilight Sparkle. In all directions, there was no hint of civilization, or anything else, save the natural, untainted expanse of nothing. Without any destination in mind, without using any particular landmark as a guide, the unicorn began to walk. It was as if she had been possessed by a mysterious force. She didn’t know why she was walking, there was nowhere to walk to, but she was indeed moving forward. Forwards to an unknown destination. Forwards to an unknown goal. Forward.

The tall grass and flowers in which she had trod upon flattened underneath her, and brushed against her belly. She was carving a path through the wildlife, as far back as she came from, and as far forward as she needed to go. The only sounds around her, were those of insects. Butterflies gracefully danced between colorful petals, while honey bees buzzed from flower to flower, collecting ingredients to form their unique, sweet, golden substance.

The terrain rose and fell as she crested one hill after another. She had been travelling for quite some time now, and she hadn’t seen anything new appear on the horizon. Just the same colorfully engulfed mounds of earth over, and over again. The sun hadn’t seemed to move from its position in the sky. Yet, the mare kept walking, as if guided by an unseen hand, or an invisible light.

Another hill stood before her, and she began the climb up the sloped side. It wasn’t very steep, but climbing uphill did slow her down from her normal pace on flat land. Upon reaching the summit, she gazed down upon the next dip in the land. Halfway between herself and the next hill, was the first new thing she had seen on her travels. Something she hadn’t seen before. Somepony, she had never expected.

He stood there, facing away from Twilight, unmoving. He was tall, and grey, and his brown mane blew around in the breeze. Twilight blinked. He was gone. Her surroundings had changed entirely. The rolling hills, and breathtaking natural scenery, was now replaced by dull, artificial structure.

Twilight stood in a long dimly-lit hallway. No. She wasn’t standing. Looking down, she realized that her hooves did not touch the floor. She didn’t have hooves at all, she didn’t have a body. Her mind was present, but her physical being was non-existent. From her perspective, she was floating only a few feet above the speckled tile flooring. Doors ran along both sides of the corridor, and faintly glowing fluorescent lights ran down the length of the ceiling. Directly in front of Twilight, about thirty feet away, was the end of the hallway.

She began moving towards the open door at the end of the hall. The sound of her hooves against the polished tile being absent was strange to the unicorn. As she approached the opening, she noticed a pale blue light being emitted from inside the room.

The entrance came closer and closer. Twenty feet. Fifteen feet. Ten. Five. Twilight was extremely anxious to know what the room contained. Pausing in front of the doorway, she prepared herself for what might be inside, and then she stepped across the threshold. Slowly and deliberately, she rounded the privacy wall. What she saw on the other said, made her freeze.

Lying in the bed in front of her, was herself. The body of Twilight Sparkle was unconscious, and softly breathing. She was tucked under the covers, and had three pillows supporting her head.

Twilight found herself in complete shock. Here she was, her conscience existing without a physical tether, looking down upon her own body. Her body. Twilight moved closer to the bed and positioned herself above herself. Twilight used to wonder whether or not out-of-body experiences were possible, and now she knew. Not only did she know that it was possibly, she didn’t like it one bit. She wanted to be back inside of her skin, her fur. She wanted to look out of her eyes, not her mind’s eye.

Suddenly, Twilight could hear the unmistakable sound of hoofsteps approaching from the hallway. Her essence turned to face the doorway. The sound of hooves-on-ceramic echoed throughout the room, getting louder with each step. Twilight looked around for a place to hide, but then realized that since she was present without a body, she was most likely invisible to everypony else.

The approaching pony rounded the corner, and into view. Her pink mane hung gracefully from her head. Her wings were tucked tightly against her yellow coat. Her blue-green eyes shone with moisture in the light, as she looked upon her unconscious friend. Fluttershy slowly walked up to Twilight’s bedside, and leaned up against the head of the bed. The pegasus took the unicorn’s right hoof, into her own, and bowed her head. From Twilight’s view position above, she could tell that Fluttershy was softly crying.

“Hi there Twilight,” Fluttershy spoke through her tears. “I uh... mmm... I just wanted to tell you that... that we all still miss you very much.”

Twilight could tell that Fluttershy was trying to maintain a smile as she spoke.

“Things aren’t... they just aren't the same without you... around,” Fluttershy was obviously trying her best not to fall apart.

“And I... I just... If you could just give me a sign that you can hear me...” she burst into tears.

Twilight wanted to call out, wanted to speak, wanted to simply give Fluttershy a sign, but it was impossible, she could not interact with the world from her state of existence. She wanted to open her lips, but she had no lips to open. She wanted to place her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, but she had no arm to extend. It was the worst feeling Twilight had ever experienced. All she wanted to do was to help her friend in her time of need, but all she could do was watch as the pegasus shed tears of misery.

Twilight was screaming inside, as she watched the most kind pony she had ever known break down before her. It was worse than any kind of physical torture in which the librarian could think of.

Fluttershy suddenly stopped herself from crying. “I know, I know, I'll stop,” she told Twilight. “Just... just know that... that if there’s anything you need, I won’t be far away.”

Fluttershy stood up, looked at twilight’s body one last time, and then abruptly left the room.

Twilight followed Fluttershy out of the room, she didn’t want her friend to leave. She tried to call out to the pegasus, but her efforts were in vain. Fluttershy walked further, and further down the impossibly long hallway.

Twilight began to encounter resistance about 20 feet from the doorway. She slowed down to an agonizingly slow pace. Twilight thought that it felt like she was swimming through clay, the solid mass of moist earth slowing her down incredibly, but being just malleable enough to allow for a slow passage. All the while, Fluttershy was growing further, and further distant.

The force moving against Twilight grew stronger, and suddenly she was being forced backwards, back towards the hospital room. It was almost as if the same unseen force that had brought her here, was now fighting against her will. She tried to fight the invisible entity, but it proved to be far stronger than herself.

No no no no no, Twilight thought. Fluttershy was fading away into the darkness of the hallway, now. She had to fight this. She couldn’t let fluttershy get away. In an act of desperation, she focused as hard as she could on moving forward. For a moment she stopped moving backwards, and crept forward just a hair, but the force counteracted with a far greater push, and she was forced through the doorway, and around the corner. Fluttershy slipped away from her view.

“No!” she cried out in her mind. She was swiftly moving across the room in the direction of her body.

She turned around to face herself, and saw that her horn had begun to glow a faint white light. The light grew brighter and brighter, and she moved closer and closer to it. It blinded her, enveloped her, consumed her. She felt the rays penetrate her soul. It was warming, soothing. She embraced the comfort of the light, and it embraced her. Her thoughts were no longer of Fluttershy, but the joyous, surreal, perfect sensation she was currently experiencing. It reminded her of a beach. Lying down, and letting the warm sun warm her front, while the warm sand warmed her back.

Her mind began to blur, and she was having trouble focusing. All that she could see was light. Soon all thought completely slipped away, and the light took her.

Twilight could vaguely feel a distant sensation of warmth. However this was only for a brief period of time, and soon she lost the feeling.

At a later time, she felt the warmth again; however this time is was far more pronounced, far stronger. She found it, and put a firm grasp around the feeling, she didn’t want to let it go. Not this time. This sensation was the only thing she had.

The warmth grew even stronger, and so did she. She increased her grip of the warmth, it was not getting away.

Suddenly, she felt a pulsing sensation. A rhythm. An increasingly loud rhythm of two thumps, then a pause. Two thumps, and a pause. A beat. A heartbeat. Her heartbeat. She knew what it was, it was her heartbeat. It grew louder, and as it did, she became even warmer.

She began to see faint hints of light. Little specks of white against the black backdrop of her mind. They were small at first, only the size of pinholes, but they grew larger. Larger and brighter. The dots turned into small circles, and those circles let in streams of pure, white light, which flushed away the darkness. Suddenly, she let all of the light in. She opened her eyes.

The light was blinding at first, and Twilight found herself unable to see. When her vision cleared, everything appeared slightly blurry, but even that slowly began to pass.

She felt disoriented at first, she wasn’t in her bed at home. She was lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. No, not unfamiliar. She knew where she was. She was in the hospital. Suddenly she remembered all of the events from the previous day. She also remembered the dream. She struggled to sit up. For some reason, she was extremely weak, and everything else felt... off.

The door to the room was open, and she could hear the sound of a busy hospital outside. The blinds on the windows were open, and the world outside was sunny. The clock on the wall was ticking. Ten thirty in the morning. Twilight looked over at the nightstand. The Daring Do book was gone. The vase of flowers that Pinkie had bought her, had been replaced with a larger vase, filled with even more flowers. A balloon that read: ‘Get well soon, Twilight’ floated, attached by a strand of string to the vase. Twilight was confused, what had happened to her book, she wasn’t finished with it.

Her chain of thought dissipated, when a pony walked into the room. She was wearing medical garb. Twilight assumed that she was a medical assistant. The mare stood next to the door, and looked over a clipboard attached to the wall. She didn’t even notice Twilight sitting up in the bed. When she was done with the clipboard, she gave a glance over at Twilight. She staggered back, when she saw Twilight awake in bed.

“Goddess Celestia!” she exclaimed, and ran out of the room shouting. “Nurse! Nurse! She’s awake!”

Before Twilight had a chance to react, the pony returned, along with nurse Redheart.

“Oh my goddess!” the nurse exclaimed. “She is!” Redheart rushed over to Twilight’s side.

She raise a hoof and waved it in front of the librarian’s face. Twilight looked at the hoof, and then at the nurse. She was starting to feel nervous. Had something happened last night? Was there something wrong with her?

“Twilight, can you hear me?” asked nurse Redheart.

“Yeah,” replied Twilight. “What's going on?”

“Thank Celestia,” said the nurse. “She’s responsive. Twilight, how are you feeling?”

“Fine, I guess. I just feel a little weird, that's all.”

“How many hooves am I holding up?”

“One.”

“Good, now just stay there for one second,” instructed the nurse.

She took a light, and shone it in Twilight’s left eye, and then moved over to the right eye.

“Alright, good,” said Redheart. “Now can you sit on the side of the bed please?”

Twilight adjusted herself so that her rear legs were hanging off the bed. Redheart took a small, hammer, and lightly tapped the sensitive area of Twilight’s right knee. Twilight kicked instantaneously. The nurse did her other knee, and received the same result.

“Very good,” the nurse seemed happy. “All of your senses are responding naturally, so it appears that no long-term damage has been done.”

“Long-term damage? What happened to me?” asked Twilight. She was getting very nervous.

“Now, Twilight,” began the nurse. “This may be difficult for you, but...”

“But, what?” demanded the unicorn.

“You’ve... you have been in a coma for the past two months.”

“What?” Twilight asked in confusion. “You mean to tell me that I've been unconscious for two months?”

Nurse Redheart bowed her head. “Yes.”

“But... but... but what about?”

“Twilight,” Redheart looked directly into the unicorn’s eyes. “What exactly do you remember?”

“I...I...I don’t know,” Twilight was starting to get nervous. “I don’t know what I remember. I don’t remember when real life ended, and my dreams began. I think that I remember, but I can’t be sure. You see! I don’t know what’s real, and what’s a dream! This might not be real! This might be a dream too!”

“Twilight, please calm down,” requested the nurse. “I can assure you that this is not a dream.”

“How?” asked the librarian. “How can you prove that!”

“I...” started Redheart. “I could tell you what happened, but... but I feel that it should be your friends, who do so.”

“My... my friends?” Twilight was starting to tear up. “Are they here?”

“No, but they will be shortly. I had them contacted as soon as we found out that you were conscious. They will answer your questions. If you need anything just shout, but for now, I need to do some work.”

Twilight Sparkle watched the nurse turn around, with her head held low, and somberly walk out of the room, and close the door. She was worried, did something terrible happen? Part of her wanted to find out, but the other didn’t. Fear of the unknown.

Time seemed to slow as Twilight waited in her room. In a way, she was quite anxious to see her friends. If what the nurse had said was indeed true, and she had been in a coma for a couple months, then her friends would surely be glad to see her. Wouldn’t they? After what seemed like hours, there was a knocking upon the door.

“Come in!” called Twilight.

The wooden door swung open quietly. Twilight held her breath. Rarity was the first to enter. Her violet mane was well groomed, as always, and when she saw Twilight, her face was covered in an expression of pure amazement. Her eyes were glistening with happy tears.

“Twilight Sparkle!” she exclaimed. “Oh thank Celestia, you are alright! You’ve been gone so long!”

Rarity wasn’t usually one for hugs, but this occasion seemed to be an exception, and the white unicorn ran over to Twilight, and wrapped a foreleg around her. Twilight hugged Rarity back. Things were still very strange to Twilight, and she didn't know how to react. After a few seconds, Rarity broke away, and regained her composure.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash entered the room a few moments later. The orange earth pony was holding her hat to her chest, and she was crying. Her mane was slightly unkempt, and she had dirt in her coat. Twilight assumed that she had been working.

“Goodness gracious!” said Applejack. “Twilight, is that really you?”

Twilight nodded her head, tears forming in her eyes as well. The earth pony calmly walked straight up to Twilight, looked her in the eye, and grabbed her. Applejack was crying uncontrollably into Twilight’s shoulder. In all the years in which she had known Applejack, Twilight had hardly ever seen her cry, and never before to this extent.

“I...we... we all missed you so much,” Applejack managed to stammer in between her tears.

Twilight was at a loss for words, so she simply hugged her friend as closely as her weak body would allow. Applejack broke away.

“It’s good to have y'all back, Sugarcube,” said the farm pony.

“It’s good to be back,” the unicorn replied.

Pinkie Pie was separated from the rest of them, mainly because she was the only one not tearing up. In fact, she was practically bouncing off of the walls with excitement. Twilight could tell that the pink pony was doing her best to be patient and wait her turn, but that effort completely fell apart when Twilight turned her attention to her. The grin that she was desperately trying to hide exploded into an ear-to-ear smile in an instant.

“Twilight Twilight Twilight!” Pinkie pie was almost shouting. “You’re awake, you’re finally awake!”

“Yes, Pinkie, I am awake,” Twilight replied calmly, desperate to keep her friend from going off on a...

“Oh my goodness, yes!” she cried. Too late.

“It’s been no fun at all these past couple months! Nopony ever wants to have parties with Pinkie any more, but now you’re awake, so we can have parties again! As soon as you get out of bed, I’m going to throw you a surprise party! Oh wait. Well I guess it’s not a surprise anymore, but who cares! I wanted to bring my party cannon in here, so I could shoot you in the face with confetti, but the boring nurse said it was ‘not a good idea’. What does she know about parties! Anyway, after your part we will all go out and...”

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight shouted. “I really appreciate your enthusiasm, but I’m starting to get a headache. You wouldn't want me to end up in a coma again, would you?”

The pink pony calmed down. “No. That wouldn’t be good.”

Twilight looked past Pinkie Pie, and at Rainbow Dash, who was awkwardly studying the painting on the wall.

“Hello Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight.

The cyan pegasus turned around to face the group. She cleared her throat.

“Oh, hey Twilight,” her voice cracked. “How...uh...how are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m alright. Just feeling a little off, that’s all. How are you?” asked Twilight.

“Oh, I’m alright, it’s just... it’s good to have you back,” Rainbow Dash looked away to hide the redness in her cheeks.

Twilight pretended that she didn’t notice Rainbow’s embarrassment; she didn’t want to ruin her dignity.

There was a long pause, and silence filled the room. Twilight looked around, somepony was missing from the group.

“Hey,” Twilight began. “Where’s Fluttershy?”

All three ponies immediately looked away from the floor, the look of happiness had vanished from each of them. They all exchanged nervous glances.

“You... you mean you don’t...”

“Remember?”

Twilight stared at them blankly. Applejack stepped forward, and held the unicorn’s hoof in her own.

“Twilight,” tears were forming in Applejack’s eyes once more, only these were not happy tears.

“Fluttershy passed away two months ago.”

“What?” began Twilight. “What do mean?”

“Twilight,” said Applejack. “Fluttershy is gone.”

Everything around the unicorn seemed to stop, nopony moved a muscle. Twilight’s mind was spinning around, and around in circles. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to pretend that she didn’t hear Applejack. She wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. She wanted the element of honesty to lie to her.

“But she... she was...” Twilight stammered. “How... how did she die?”

Both Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were looking away, their head held low, their faces somber. It seemed that they didn’t wish to speak, so Applejack cleared her throat, and began.

“It happened exactly two months ago. The same day that you fell into your coma.”

The sun radiated it’s light, and heat onto the waking Equestrian landscape. All around the two mares, wildflowers opened their petals to face the never-ending light source. Birds nestled amongst the trees, sang a beautiful harmony, which when combined with sweet scent of the flowers, produced an incredibly, immersive pleasure to one’s senses. Over the past few days, it had rained almost nonstop, and the grass was still damp underneath Twilight Sparkle’s hooves. Today was the first break in the chaotic weather pattern.

“It’s nice to finally see a break in the weather,” said Twilight.

“Tell me about it, the animals hate being stuck inside for days,” said Fluttershy.

“I bet, being trapped in a house for an elongated period of time, can drive anypony crazy. Spike was bored out of his mind,” said the unicorn.

“Speaking of Spike,” said Fluttershy. “How’s he doing?”

“Oh, he’s been well,” replied Twilight. “He’s just growing up so fast. He won’t be a baby dragon for much longer.”

“That must be hard to deal with,” said the pegasus.

“That’s right,” replied Fluttershy. “Dragons live a long time don’t they?”

“They do indeed,” answered Twilight. She felt her eyes water up a little.

There was a long silence between the two mares, before Fluttershy spoke up.

“Do you think...” began Fluttershy. “Do you think that in a few hundred years from now, Spike will remember ponies like us?”

“He had better remember us,” replied the purple pony. “After all the trouble I got him out of, he better remember.”

The two ponies burst into laughter, as they continued to walk towards Ponyville. Columns of steam rose in the town ahead. The sun continued to rise in the sky, and the warm morning air was becoming hot afternoon air. The path they walked upon had been drying in the sun, and only small patches of mud remained, where the earth was covered in the shadows of trees. Twilight could smell sweet, baked goods in the air. This activated her sweet tooth.

“Hey Fluttershy,” asked Twilight. “After lunch, do you want to stop by Sugarcube Corner, and get some dessert?”

“You smell pastries, don’t you? asked Fluttershy.

“Yeah.”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” giggled the pegasus.

“Then its decided,” stated the unicorn.

“Sounds good to me,” said Fluttershy.

“Anyway,” said Twilight. “So Fluttershy. This new restaurant we are eating at, is it really that good? I mean, I've heard good things about it but...”

Twilight was stopped by a loud cracking sound to her right. Before she could turn around, Fluttershy shouted.

“Twilight! Watch out!”

The unicorn was forcefully shoved from behind. She was knocked about two feet forward before she hit the ground. Milliseconds later there was a loud crash, originating from where she previously stood. She had landed in a mud pile, but she paid the grimy substance no mind, and she turned around. A very large tree, an oak tree, which stood tall only seconds earlier, had been uprooted, and now lay broken across the path. Twilight saw none of this.

Instead, Twilight saw Fluttershy. Saw a very heavy object that had collapsed upon her friend. Fluttershy cried out in pain. The tree had landed right on her lower back, and her legs were splayed out around her.

Without thinking, Twilight used her magic to levitate the log off of her friend. The unicorn’s blood had been instantly replaced with pure adrenaline. She let the log fall off to the side of the path. She could tell that Fluttershy was hurt bad, her left rear leg was bent at an odd angle, and her lower back, and pelvis were...no. Twilight didn’t want to think about her friend’s injuries right now. She had to get Fluttershy to the hospital

Twilight’s was crying, as she used her magic to put a purple telekinetic field around her friend. This was the only way to keep Fluttershy in a stable position, and move her at the same time. Twilight gently lifted the whimpering Fluttershy off of the ground, turned around, and started for the hospital at a full gallop.

“Don’t worry twilight,” whispered Fluttershy. She was having difficulty holding her eyes open. “I’ll be alright...”

“I know you will,” gasped Twilight. She was running faster than she ever thought she could. “I just need you to stay awake for now ok? You can rest later, but right now you need to stay awake.”

Fluttershy nodded, but she closed her eyes anyway. The world flew past Twilight at an alarming rate. She began to see in tunnel vision, only able to see her destination in the distance. Everything else flew past in a blur of color. Colors that dulled down to shades of grey the faster she ran. Twilight could feel Fluttershy growing weaker and weaker inside the bubble of magic. Twilight’s legs were burning, but the pain only made her run faster. At that moment, nothing was more important than the life of her friend.

“Hold on Fluttershy,” wept Twilight.

“Just hold on.”

“You carried her all the way to the hospital,” Rarity continued where Applejack left off. “At that point, she was unconscious and the doctors said that she was far too weak for surgery.”

Twilight could tell how difficult it was for her friends to be telling her this. It was difficult enough simply listening to the story. Twilight’s memory of the event was slowly coming back to her, little fragments at a time. She was reliving every word that poured from Rarity’s mouth. Applejack placed a hoof on rarity’s shoulder. Rainbow Dash simply stared out the window.

“They actually managed to keep her stabilized on life support for a few hours, but she was in really bad shape. We... we lost her around noon that day. She died from severe internal bleeding, and spinal injuries.”

“We were all mourning at that point, but the grief took its toll on y'all the worst,” Applejack relived the white unicorn. “Soon after the doctors told us the bad news, y'all just... just went crazy. Ya’ll started running around yelling at everypony, and talkin nonsense. We tried to get you to calm down, but y’all just weren't yourself. After about ten minutes you just... passed out. Y’all never woke up.”

“We lost two of our friends that day,” Rarity stammered through her tears. “You and Fluttershy, just gone. Do you have any idea of what that’s like?”

Twilight could only begin to imagine what her friends had been through. Learning of Fluttershy’s passing was difficult enough to deal with, but losing two friends? How could one possibly cope with that? From six to four, in only a day.

“It’s all my fault,” Twilight mumbled.

“No,” came a powerful voice from the doorway.

Twilight and her friends all turned at once to face the speaker. Before them stood a tall, pearly-white alicorn. Her majestic, colorful mane flowed with an eternal grace, it’s elegance requiring no wind to manipulate its form. The golden sun that was her cutie mark seemed to shine with light. She stepped completely into the room, and focused her attention on the purple unicorn.

“It was not your fault,” said the sun-goddess. “You mustn't blame yourself for what happened that day.”

Upon seeing her princess, her teacher, her friend standing in the room, she became filled with a previously nonexistent strength. Throwing her bed sheets to the side, the unicorn jumped down from the mattress, ran over to, and buried her head into Celstia’s mane, sobbing.

“Oh, princess!” Twilight wept. “I’m so sorry!”

“There there, my little pony,” Celestia nuzzled Twilight. “We all miss Fluttershy. Equestria has lost a great pony, and a great friend, but you must listen to me. You cannot beat yourself up over this. It was not your fault.”

“But... but it was my idea to take a walk through the park,” Twilight stammered. “If I had just decided not to go that way, none of this would have happened!”

“I know, I know,” the princess said. “It all doesn’t seem fair, but think about how Fluttershy would feel right now. She wouldn't want you to be grieving over her, she would want you to be happy. Instead of focusing on the bad, think of the great life that she lived, and all of the wonderful memories she shared with all of you. It is important that we do not dwell on the past, but instead move on with our futures.”

Twilight sniffled, and nodded her head in agreement

“Hey Spike!” called Twilight sparkle.

The violet unicorn stood upon the second-to-top rung of a tall wooden ladder. The ladder was leaning up against one of the cut-out bookshelves in her library. On the solid-wood floor, countless books stood in messy, yet organized towers. Many of the shelves were barren, however the one directly in front of Twilight, as well as a few others, still held books. Twilight was organizing her literature, again.

“What is it Twilight?” Spike came walking up the stairs from the kitchen.

“I wanted to show you this,” she said.

The librarian climbed down from the ladder, while simultaneously using her magic to carry a thick book, with a purple velvet cover. The pages themselves were also thick.

“What’s that?” asked the purple dragon.

“Over here,” Twilight walked over to her desk.

She cleared away the items dwelling on the wooden desk surface, and placed the large book down.

“What is it?” Spike asked again.

“My photo album,” she replied, and turned the cover to the first page.

On the first page, was a large photograph of two adult unicorns, a mare, and a stallion. The stallion was wearing a tuxedo, and the mare wore a flowing white gown. They both were leaning their heads into each other, and smiling.

“This was taken on my parent’s wedding day,” she said with a smile.

“Those are your parents?” asked Spike in disbelief. Twilight nodded.

“Wow, they look really young!” he said, Twilight looked at him.

“Well, not that they look old, they just are a lot younger in the picture,” Spike attempted to save himself.

“Don’t worry Spike, I know what you mean,” she winked, and turned the page a few times.

“Oh, Spike, look!” Twilight got excited. “There’s you when you were just an egg.”

“No way,” he said. “That can’t be me.”

“Yes it is!” Twilight explained. “This picture was taken just before I hatched you.”

“It was?” he asked. “Wait, didn’t you have to hatch me as part of a test?”

“Yes, I did,” she explained. “The instructors took this picture before I hatched you because they were planning to make one of those before-and-after photos, but in the end they decided against it, so they let me keep the photo.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” he rolled his eyes.

She giggled, and continued flipping through the pages. Countless photos of Twilight studying magic, in Canterlot flew past. Eventually, newer pictures of Twilight living in Ponyville dominated the remaining pages of the scrapbook. There were pictures from the Nightmare Night festival, Hearth’s Warming Day, The Grand Galloping Gala, and the royal wedding. Spike seemed to get bored and walked away to look out of the nearby window. Twilight couldn’t tell what he was looking at.

On the very last pages, there was a page-sized portrait of each of her best friends. There was Applejack, and Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, and...

She paused upon seeing the portrait of Fluttershy. It had been nearly two months since Twilight had awoken from her coma, and nearly four months since Fluttershy had passed away.

Twilight ran her hoof down the length of the photograph. The bad memories still lingered with the portrait, but Twilight remembered what Princess Celestia had told her. She pushed the bad memories out of her mind, and smiled.

“She saved my life, Spike,” Twilight said. “And then gave me the strength to live it again.”

The young dragon turned away from the window.

“What was that, Twilight?” he asked.

The unicorn looked one last time at Fluttershy.

“Nothing,” she said, and closed the book. “I’m feeling rather hungry. How about we go out, and get ourselves some lunch?”

“I thought you would never ask!” he exclaimed. “What restaurant do you have in mind?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “But I’m in the mood for some mushroom stew.”

“Mushroom stew?” he seemed puzzled. “Twilight, have you ever even had mushroom stew?”

“No,” she replied. “But I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Twilight and Spike both walked downstairs, and she put on her saddlebag. Spike opened up the front door, and they both stepped outside into the warm, afternoon air.

Fluorescence of a Tide

by Johnjohns

Prologue

Chapter 1: Fluttershy

Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash

Chapter 3: Applejack

Chapter 4: Pinkie Pie

Chapter 5: Rarity

Chapter 6: Twilight Sparkle

Epilogue