Pony no Uta

"Anyone home?"
The girl's voice was chipper, like a bright chime in the middle of the night. The vibrant sounds bounced off the walls of the house, echoing faintly as the noise of the door closing followed.

"I'm here."

The pegasus in the door way beamed. She leaned forward, sloughing off the saddlebag she had been carrying over her shoulder. She picked up with a flap of her wings and dashed down the hall, leaving the bag of goods on the floor by house's entrance.

There was no light in the house. As the pegasus soared down the hallway, her wings left the faintest vapour trail, a sprinkle of light that illuminated the walls before vanishing. The sparkles burned brightly, casting shadows from the furniture into the dark corners of the library. The walls were almost completely devoid of colour - they were scribbled over with black paint and ink, the compressed fragments of hundreds of equations and missives using the house's construction as parchment. The words and figures danced under the miniature fire of the sparks as they passed, before twisting and fading away into nothingness again.

The sparks settled as the pegasus touched down, her hooves landing on the worn floorboards of the room at the end of the hallway. The door was open a crack, and she nudged it further with a tap from her foreleg. The glistening trail of star fragments had ceased, but her body still shone brightly, like a candle surrounded by mirrors, as though her inner light was in a constant struggle to keep from escaping her body. Her coat was a stark, brilliant white, purer than anything, and her wings were the same. A length of flowing green hair sprinkled with prism-y highlights was the only speck of colour, save for her cutie mark, at the moment covered by her wings. She smiled cheerfully as she walked into the small room. The glow from her body would have been strong enough to illuminate the walls ever so slightly, but the room was larger than it looked. All she could see in front of her were the floorboards, covered in black and red ink the same as the hallway.

"Twilight?"

Her voice was high-pitched, and soft. Small enough to match her frame, which put her appearance somewhere around a school-aged filly's. She stepped cautiously into the room, the floor creaking underneath her diminutive weight. A sigh came from the darkness in response, from the center of the room.

"Twilight? Is that you?"

The pegasus shut her eyes tight for a moment, and flapped her wings in place, hard. The glow emanating from her body magnified, and began to grow, beaming until it reached the farthest corners of the room. The size was unbelievable from the unassuming entrance - the walls were at least twenty five feet out from the center, and they were high. Very high. Every inch was covered in black and red letters, only the tiniest specks of the brown wood peeking out from the occasional gap in equations being jammed together.

Twilight was there at the center, huddled into herself on her hind legs. she looked up, startled, when the flow of light began, and shielded her eyes from it immediately.

"Please, don't. Turn it off!"

The glow vanished immediately, and the pegasus followed the source of the exclamation to the room's center. She was still smiling, though now with an apologetic glimmer to her eyes as she batted them. She kneeled next to Twilight and nuzzled her face into the unicorn's fur, sighing softly.

"I'm sorry Twilight... I just couldn't wait any longer to see you."

Twilight managed a half-hearted smile, turning to face the pony pressed against her skin. The glow made her blink furiously, but she managed to adjust her eyes, and returned the gesture, rubbing the side of her face against the pegasus. The white pony giggled in delight, pressing back. The pegasus was almost half Twilight's size.

The two of them stayed like that for a moment, rubbing against each other, and sighing softly. Most of the volume belonged to the pegasus. Eventually, at Twilight's behest, the gesture stopped, Twilight pulling herself away with a grim look of apology.

"Are you ready for dinner? I'm trying something different tonight."

Twilight opened her mouth, as though about to speak, but stopped after a second, closing it abruptly. She sighed loudly before opening it again.

"Yes, okay. Just give me a minute?"

"Nuh-uh! If I let you, you'll just spend all day in here."

"Yes, and you know why-"

"Come on! The room will still be here when we get back."

Twilight sat in silence for a moment before slowly nodding her head, her eyes glazed with resignation. "Keep the light down," she asked, her voice sounding drained. The pegasus nodded cheerfully, and without further questioning, her body's glow dulled instantly, now just a gentle brightness instead of an invasive beam of light. She extended her hoof, and pulled Twilight up from the ink-covered floor. Together, the two of them walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them before heading down the hallway.

"Is it good?"

The pegasus lowered her cup after a short sip of her drink, and looked up towards Twilight, leaning over the table slightly to do so. She had to prop herself up a little on the chair to look above the table in the first place, and was now practically standing upright.

Twilight finished chewing a mouthful of food, swallowing loudly before pausing a moment in contemplation.

"It's..."

The pegasus's eyes beamed with expectation.

"...still terrible."

The twinkle in the small pony's eyes flickered, but only for a moment before returning. She smiled at Twilight from across the table.

"I'm sorry. I really did think I had found something that might be better."

"It's fine."

"No, I know it's not. I'm really sorry."

Twilight chewed another mouthful in silence, grimacing.

"Is it really that terrible?" The pegasus asked, her eyes wide.

Twilight took a long swig of her drink, lowering the cup to the table empty as she swallowed and grimaced.

"It... it tastes... like it looks. Like everything looks."

"I-"

"It tastes like something dying in my mouth. Like a cockroach burrowing through a vial of intestines and making its way on to my tongue."

Twilight's voice was cold, and bitter. The two ponies sat in silence for a moment. The only sound was the tiniest, almost imperceptible hum, like a radio left on far, far in the background.

"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap-"

Twilight's sentence cut off with a gasp. The pegasus had jumped up and now had her forelegs wrapped around the unicorn's body, hugging her tightly. Twilight's took a second to catch her breath, and then returned the embrace. Her hold was timid at first, but after a few seconds she matched the pegasus's strength, and the two of them squeezed each other tightly, supported by Twilight's chair.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I did try really hard to find something that wouldn't... really, I'm sorry. I know I can find something better... please don't hate me-"

Twilight grabbed the pegasus's face between her hooves and tilted it up. Her eyes were a brilliant green, like a light refracted through the purest emerald, immeasurably deep and brimming with brightness. She stared into those eyes for a moment, almost lost in their beauty, the entire world melting away as the green light washed away her thoughts, but for one. Wordlessly, Twilight leaned towards the pegasus, and kissed her.

The hum grew ever so slightly louder as Twilight pressed her lips against the other pony's mouth. Her kiss was so soft and gentle, exactly what you might expect from her size - but the touch of her lips sizzled, like an electric spark, sending tingles through Twilight's body. The pegasus let out a soft sight as Twilight's tongue tapped against her mouth playfully. Her wings flared out from her back and flapped distractedly, sending a tiny breeze across the unlit kitchen. She gasped as Twilight broke the kiss, and blinked several times before her eyes returned to coherence.

"Nothing could make me hate you."

The two of them embraced, closing their eyes and rubbing their faces together side by side. the pegasus's breath was warm, and it tickled against Twilight's fur.

"Let's just have neither of us be sorry, for now."

The pegasus nodded, and the two of them sat holding each other, neither of them speaking a word.

There was another room, painted the same as the others but for one small difference. Instead of the incomprehensible scribblings and runes covering every inch of the walls and floor, there was a very large and purposeful pattern in the room's center: a circle, woven through with grids and arcane tracings, writing in languages that looked like nothing in proper Equestrian vocabulary. Beside the circular rune, there was a small bed in the form of a mattress on the floor. Twilight and the pegasus were on top of it, the blankets shuffled to the end. Just a foot past the mattress, further down the room, a small terracotta pot was barely visible in the faint glow of the pegasus's body. She was nestled in Twilight's embrace, lying on top of her and sighing softly with every other breath.

She opened her eyes suddenly, looking as though she'd left the stove on earlier that morning.

"Oh oh, Twilight, we haven't-"

"Shhh." Twilight pressed her hoof to the filly's mouth and closed her eyes again, leaning back onto the pillow at the head of the bed.

"But Twilight..." the pegasus pleaded, poking at Twilight's chest with her nose. Twilight sighed, and opened her eyes again.

"I'm really not sure if I'm feeling up to it..."

The pegasus batted her eyelashes imploringly and nuzzled herself into Twilight's chest, rubbing her wings against the lilac fur. She bit her lower lip, looking the perfect picture of a filly begging for candy.

"Pleeeeaase?" she begged, drawing out the plea as long as possible. Twilight simply sighed, and turned her head. The pegasus stopped her rubbing.

"Is it me?" she asked, turning herself up right and letting herself fall off Twilight's body onto the side of the flimsy mattress that Twilight was facing. Twilight turned her head to the other side of the room. The tiniest sparkle of moisture in her eyes glimmered in the light before she faced the darkness.

"No, it's not you."

Neither of them spoke for a moment. The pegasus rubbed her hoof along Twilight's side gently. Her eyes turned, and she bit her lip again, this time in contemplation.

"Is it getting worse?"

"Yes. Or at least, it feels like it is." Twilight's voice was brimming with sorrow. Only controlled restraint was holding the tears back properly.

More silence.

"Have you... do you think you're any closer to-"

"No."

The tears were starting. Twilight was still facing the wall, sniffling in her best attempt to keep herself from crying in earnest. The hoof running up and down her back was doing the opposite of its intent - the supposedly reassuring caress just made her ache to burst out, while there was somepony there to listen. The only pony who was ever there.

"Twilight..." The pegasus pony wrapped her forelegs around Twilight, pulling her close as the sniffles broke into full on sobbing.

"I can't! I can't, I can't... I can't take this anymore..."

"It's okay..." the pegasus whispered into Twilight's ear, the only words that seemed even remotely worthwhile. A universal reassurance, meaningful despite the inherent lack of value.

"It's too much! Every day I have to wake up, and look at... at everything! I can't sleep because I can feel it, creeping into my head when I close my eyes... and when I open them, it's even worse! The words aren't enough... it's still terrible, every inch of it, every second of every breath that I have to spend surrounded by this! And I can't... I can't figure it out, no matter how hard I try. I can feel my thoughts slipping away, and soon it'll just be me alone in a private hell waiting for death..."

"Twilight, its okay, shush..."

"How can I be quiet?! I can't take this anymore..." Twilight turned sharply, her voice rising in pitch as she lifted herself from the bed, shoving the pegasus back into the mattress with the force of her movement. Twilight snapped her head from side to side, her eyes wide with fear and panic. Her horn flared with magic, glowing a crimson tinted purple as it began to collect energy. The pegasus noticed the glow immediately, and pulled herself upright.

"Twilight," she called out, reaching one hoof tentatively forward towards the unicorn. Twilight shook her head and turned, stepping further away in the process.

"I should have just ended everything in the first place! Then I wouldn't have had to spend so long waiting here like a fool, searching for some answer that was never going to come..."

"Twilight," the pegasus said more insistently, stepping forward. Twilight's eyes were closed, and her horn was beaming a bright purple energy around the room, flaring at the tip as it coalesced.

"No more... Just one spell and it will all be over, everything will be peaceful and safe and happy again-"

"Twilight!"

Twilight's eyes snapped open just in time to see the white and green blur racing towards her. Her magic spiked for a moment, swirling in a spherical energy before the form of the pearlescent pegasus collided with her. The energy in her horn vanished at the moment of impact, and she let out a small grunt as her body collided with the floor. She felt the sensation of wind around her body. Everything in her vision was white, a sudden sphere of brilliant white feathers and green glow surrounding her. She blinked in disbelief.

"Twilight... you can't do something like that."

"Why shouldn't I? I don't have anything left here... I can't stand to even look at anyone I loved, and every day I wake up with another piece of the world looking even worse..."

"Because I know you. I know you're smart, so smart. If anyone can figure out how to make this better, it's you."

"But I haven't! I've been thinking and researching and calculating for weeks, and I haven't even gotten close."

"Then you keep trying. But I'm not about to let you give up. Besides... if you leave... what will happen to me?"

Twilight's brain caught up with her actions in that instant. She hadn't thought, even for a second, about how selfish she had been.

"Oh... I didn't even think... I'm so sorry..."

The pegasus shook her head with a light smile. Her wings were still encircling both her and Twilight, wrapping them away from the world in a circle of shimmering feathers.

"You don't need to be sorry. If you really don't think there's any way to make things better... then I'll let you go. But I think there is a way... and until we find out what it is, you've got me."

"I don't know what I'd do without-"

The pegasus interrupted Twilight with a peck on her lips, and then backed her face away with a girlish giggle.

"I know how you feel, Twilight. I know part of you must resent me, for being part of all this."

"No, no no, I don't... I know it's not your fault. I just-"

"It's okay. I understand, really I do. That's why I'm here though... to make things better. Even if takes me forever, I'll find a way to make everything brighter."

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but the pegasus interrupted her again with a quick peck on the cheeks. She pulled back slower this time, pausing to wipe an errant tear away from Twilight's cheek. She wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's body, and her wings followed suit, pulling in the bright encircling sphere and wrapping the feathers around both their bodies. Everything was white, and Twilight's body was warm, pressed against hers. After a minute in the shrouded embraced, she opened her eyes, and felt a softness against her cheek as Twilight kissed the side of her face.

"I... forget, sometimes. How much you've been here for me." Twilight's voice was still quivering from the aftermath of her tears, but she was smiling. The pegasus smiled back.

"I knew I had to remind you when you said you weren't in the mood... you're always in the mood."

Twilight blushed and turned away, and the pegasus giggled and gave her a playful nudge with her snout. Seeing Twilight's face free of misery at last was enough reassurance, and she withdrew her wings, taking away the dome of feathers and replacing it with the ink-covered walls of the darkened room. The pegasus was glowing brighter now, casting her white shimmer several feet away, almost all the way to the circle in the center of the room. The two ponies sat up, and Twilight sniffled, wiping away the last of the moisture gathered in her eyes.

"I am not always in the mood... I just... you're really beautiful, you know."

The pegasus giggled, and planted another kiss on Twilight's closed lips.

"The feeling is mutual. Besides... there aren't many better distractions. If you're feeling blue... I guess that just means I need to spend more time cheering you up."

Twilight blushed again, but she turned her back shortly after a bashful glance in the other direction. It was definitely easier to blur out the rest of the world with that voice in her ear.

"Come here... let me make you feel better." The pegasus scooted back onto the mattress and patted it with her hoof, smiling and looking to Twilight with bright, wide eyes. Twilight picked herself up and walked over to the bed, lying onto her back with the pegasus at her feet.

"The world doesn't have to be bad, when you've got me around."

Twilight drew a deep intake of breath as the pegasus scurried up the bed and leaned toward Twilight's face. Twilight's eyes fell shut of their own accord, and the darkness behind her eyelids was followed quickly by the sensation of soft, nubile lips pressed against her own. She kept them closed only for a moment before parting her mouth eagerly. The kiss sent shivers along her back again, and the electric sensation doubled as the pegasus slid her small tongue into Twilight's mouth. The sensation was sudden bliss, gentle tracing and prodding that Twilight tried to match. No matter how she moved her tongue, though, she couldn't recreate the effect the pegasus had on her. Just a second of the gentle electric kiss got her to sigh involuntarily, and losing herself in the sensation followed with a soft moan, drowned in the inviting warmth of the pegasus's mouth. The feeling of soft supple bliss ceased as the pegasus pulled her mouth back, leaving Twilight flushed and panting. The pegasus giggled.

"It always feels so... amazing. Even just your kisses... how do you..."

"It's just one of my special talents." The pegasus smirked slyly as she pushed herself up off the mattress and lowered herself down Twilight's body, tracing her hooves in the lilac fur as she drifted.

"I never thought I'd..."

"Never thought you'd what?" The pegasus asked, her voice brimming with mischief. She was between Twilight's hind legs now, her small frame resting on top of Twilight's body. Twilight was squirming slightly, shifting from side to side at the pressure on her most sensitive area.

"You know... It's just... the way you look..."

"You mean how I look like a little innocent filly?" The pegasus added an extra high pitch wobble to her voice, sounding no older than a year. Twilight beamed bright red and turned her head to the side - and quickly followed with a gasp. She turned back to find the pegasus grinning up at her, her tiny hoof pressed between Twilight's thighs. It was soaked almost instantly. "I think you kind of like it... it's lucky for me... though, I could try to look older if you want." The pegasus rubbed her hoof up and down gently, sliding it along Twilight's wetness, prompting a twisting of her hips and another gasp.

"N-no..." Twilight mumbled, drawing a hiss of breath through her clenched teeth.

"Was that a 'No, I don't like the look of little fillies', or a 'No, I don't want you to look older?' The pegasus teased, tending between Twilight's legs affectionately. She rubbed her hoof up and down almost gingerly at the soft folds and tracing over Twilight’s hole.

"S-second one..."

The pegasus grinned brightly, and withdrew her hoof. Twilight raised her head, eyes wide as she prepared herself to beg - but the sensation of something else pressed against her sex. The pegasus grinned as the very top of her head poked up over Twilight's stomach. She gave a playful lick to Twilight's slit, prompting a shiver and a soft moan.

"Just relax, let me make everything better..." The pegasus instructed before diving back between Twilight's legs. Her tongue started gently at first, lapping softly at Twilight's skin, and pressing between her folds and up and down the outside of her entrance. Twilight's eyes were shut as the feeling overtook her, sending a version of the kiss from earlier running through her entire body, magnified a thousand times. She'd felt herself getting wet the moment those youthful lips were pressed against hers, and now they were somewhere else, and every bit of misery was being pushed away.

As she licked, the pegasus ran her hooves along the inside of Twilight's legs. Her touch was so gentle, due in good part to the size of her body; her tiny hooves couldn't have seemed threatening if they had wanted to. Twilight loved the combination of soothing and arousal as they ran along her skin, playing in concert with the symphony that was the pleasure of the tongue between her legs. Twilight gasped loudly again, almost jumping up from the bed as the pegasus's tongue darted up her skin, pressing against her clit.

"Ohhh," she moaned, raising a hoof to her mouth. She always felt inclined to restrain herself, even if nopony in the world could hear her. Even if nopony else in the world was real... she couldn't help it. She felt a terribly intoxicating mix of pleasure and guilt, having what looked like a tiny filly lapping at her sex. Especially one so talented.

She was right. Twilight couldn't help herself. The tiny, perfect young body was the best distraction from the world, from everything. If she had wanted to, she could lose herself in this feeling, in any feeling as long as they were together. It couldn't be wrong, if no one else in the world ever knew.

Twilight drew a sharp intake of breath as she felt a stronger pressure on her button. The pegasus was pressing her tongue against Twilight's sensitive skin, hard, and the touch felt like a tiny patch of electric current, buzzing and stimulating and burning away every thought, it felt so good. The pegasus moaned, and the sound of her youthful voice in such a debased tone made Twilight buck her hindquarters upwards, pressing her body harder into the pegasus's attentive mouth.

"So, good..." she stammered, now rocking her hips back and forth. The pegasus lapped at Twilight's clit eagerly, detouring every now and then to run her tongue along the length of Twilight's dripping slit, drinking in every drop of the unicorn's arousal. Every time she did so, she moaned, hard, and Twilight responded in turn, echoing the sound and thrashing her body up. She wasn't going to last long, she never could - but it didn't matter. There was nothing else. Only the world, and them, and as long as they needed.

"Close," Twilight moaned, grinding her hooves into the mattress and throwing her head back onto the pillow. The pegasus nodded and moaned an 'Mmm-hmm' into Twilight's skin, locking her mouth around Twilight's clit and humming as she licked.

"Ohhh, I'm-" Twilight's cry cut off suddenly, the electricity racing through her body robbing her momentarily of her ability to speak. Her words fell apart into a loud moan, which she muffled by pressing her hoof into her mouth, biting down hard on her own fur as she came. The pegasus didn't stop for a second, her tongue moving in a blur on Twilight's clit as the unicorn rode out her orgasm. The climax was strong, and Twilight gushed as she came, coating the pegasus's face in her juice, which she lapped up eagerly as well. As the final throes of the orgasm subsided, Twilight collapsed onto the bed, her hips falling from their position elevated by her thrusting onto the mattress. The pegasus grinned. She turned away from Twilight for a moment, hovering her face over the pot at the end of the bed, opened her mouth, dribbling the aftermath of Twilight's arousal into the contents, which her glow revealed. A deposit of soil - a potted plant. The pegasus wiped the rest of the juice off her face into the dirt, and then pushed the plant away, flapping her wings once lightly to lift off and landing next to Twilight on the bed.

"Was that good?" she asked, smiling as she nuzzled into Twilight's side. Twilight nodded her head, eyes closed. Her breath was still coming heavily in the aftermath of her climax.

"You know you don't need to ask," she finally managed, opening her eyes and turning to face the small pony nestled next to her.

"I'm glad I can make things better, even if it’s only for a little bit."

"You do make things better... not just like this."

The pegasus let out her tiny giggle as Twilight kissed her on the forehead.

"You're... all I have here. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll be here as long as you need me."

Twilight sighed softly as the pegasus draped her hooves over Twilight's body as she nuzzled her face into Twilight's neck, cooing against the lilac fur. The sound of Twilight's breathing was the only sound in the room, save the gentle ambient hum ever present in the background. The two ponies basked in the tranquility of the relative silence, until the pegasus raised her head, looking towards Twilight.

"Twilight?"

"Hmm?" Twilight turned her head groggily. She could feel herself getting tired, her body properly exhausted from its earlier activity.

"I don't mean to ruin... this. This moment, I mean. If you just wanna go to sleep, I'll understand. But I wanted to ask... I still don't think I see, properly. I... need you to explain it to me again."

Instead of a sigh, Twilight simply gave a long, cool breath, closing her eyes, looking as though she was concentrating intently. The pegasus balked almost immediately.

"I'm sorry. I know, you don't want to think about it. I just thought that, I could maybe help more, if you told me again properly-"

"No, it's okay. I know why you asked... it's okay. I'll be alright for a little while longer still."

The pegasus pulled herself up on Twilight's body, laying her head on the unicorn's chest, sighing as it fell up and down with every intake of breath. Twilight took a long deep breath, and opened her eyes.

"So, you don't remember anything about... before? Or what happened when you came here?" The pegasus simply shook her head, staring at Twilight with her bright green eyes. "Okay. This is what happened... as far as I can remember."

Twilight gestured to the circle on the floor of the room with one of her hooves, and the pegasus turned her head. She knew this part at least... but she wanted it fresh in her mind. To help remember. To help Twilight, if she could.

"That, is the circle I made before all of this. It was... I used it for a spell I'd never done before. A spell nopony had done before, probably, or that nopony should have done." The pegasus lowered her head again, still staring up at Twilight in rapt attention. "That day... I think it was months ago now. Time is hard to keep track of... but I cast a spell. It was a... summoning, sort of, you might call it. It's what brought you here, from... somewhere. But it also changed things." Twilight sighed, and shifted her gaze around the room, to the walls she could see barely illuminated in the pegasus pony's natural light.

"I thought I was crazy at first. I woke up after the spell and everything was... horrible. The walls... before the writing, they were like..." Twilight was struggling for words. The pegasus ran one of her hooves along Twilight's fur, stroking her gently in an attempt to make the retelling easier. Twilight exhaled sharply, and tried to pick up the thread again.

"They look like... the inside, of somepony. When I studied anatomy, in Canterlot... it looks like that. From the inside. Everything does."

"You mean like somepony's-"

"Their veins. Their organs. The inside of their skin and intestines, every part of them warped and twisted inside out, and wrapped around every bit of the world."

The pegasus pressed her head to Twilight's chest, listening to her breathing. In, and out. In, and out. Her hoof continued to trace circles in Twilight’s fur.

"But... it's worse than that. Anatomy is clinical. I've studied it before; I know what it looks like. But this is... different. It's horrible. When I woke up, I was lying on a bed of... disgusting meat. It was wretched, and it smelled terrible, and when I moved it groaned at me like a dying animal, begging me to end its misery. There were twisted faces in the walls, and they laughed at me when I screamed."

"I didn't know what to do. I was in a pure panic. I ran out of the house, crying, and when I got outside... it was everything. The whole world had changed. So I went for help. I had to find somepony, anyone, to help me and make everything better. I went to Rarity's first, or what I thought was Rarity's. But when I got there... She was different too. I was sick when she opened the door, pulling at a grotesque handle of flesh and greeting me. I couldn't understand her. I didn't want to believe she was real. Her body, and face... it was the same as everything else. She was a monster, screeching at me, and I ran before she could stop me."

"I came back here and I didn't know what to do. The world had changed in one day, and I was alone. I ran back here, looking for anything that might help, searching for something I could do to reverse whatever had happened... and then I found you."

The pegasus nuzzled her snout into Twilight's fur.

"I... you know the rest, after that. I haven't seen them in weeks... if they're even still real. But I've heard their voices, through whatever horrible means they've tried talking to me. Somepony I think is the Princess has come by, and tried to help. But I can't speak to her. I can't have anything to do with her, or with any of them. Even if I could bear to be around them for even a minute, if they knew what I had done..."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Twilight!" the Pegasus shouted, raising herself up suddenly. "You were just doing magic; it's what you're good at."

Twilight shook her head. "Not this kind of magic. This was... I was an idiot. To try some spell in the most forbidden book in the Canterlot archives. I don't know what I was hoping to accomplish."

"Well, I know what you did accomplish - you brought me here!"

Twilight managed a grim smile. The look on her face was obvious evidence the contemplation had done nothing good for her psyche. It was easy to block out, sometimes, when she was distracted... but thinking about it only made it worse. Meaning... it was best to focus on the good. The only thing that could qualify.

"And you still don't know... why? Who you are or what you're doing here?"

The pegasus shook her head.

"Nope. But... well, I do know some things. Like, I know that the monsters... they run from me. And I know that I'm here for something. Oh!" The pegasus jolted upwards, suddenly stricken by remembrance. She darted to the end of the bed and pressed her hoof to the clay pot. "And, I know about my flower. It needs your help to grow!"

"That's something I still don't understand. Why would a flower need my..." Twilight faltered, blushing slightly as the mechanics of the bizarre watering ritual drifted into thought.

"I don't know either. But, I know that it does." The pegasus jumped back to Twilight with a flutter of her wings, nuzzling her face into Twilight's chest again. "It doesn't bother you, does it?"

"No, it just... it's strange, is all. Though... given everything else, I suppose it's no odder than anything else. And at least it... I mean..."

"You mean at least it's a good excuse for me to make you feel better?" the pegasus chirped, grinning?

"Not quite what I meant - ah!"

Twilight gasped as she felt a touch on the inside of her thighs, pressing between her legs. The pegasus smirked at her, one of her hind hooves just barely reaching its target.

"Thank you, Twilight. I need to know, to see if there's any way I can help. But, in the meantime," the pegasus said, snaking herself down Twilight's body with a flutter of her wings. "Let me see if I can make things better again, for right now."

The dim flicker of light burned a little brighter, illuminating the walls of the room at a distance. The pages and pages of scribbled calculations and formulas stretched under the light looked almost like a mural, caught in each other and spiralling about in defeated dance. As the light twinkled onto the writing, it shone bright enough to reveal the words that blurred into the equations, appearing every other word in a more frantic script.

'I'm sorry,' they said.

Twilight's moans were the only sound, save the gentle ambient hum, that always seemed to be there.