Internal Changeling Affairs

Chapter Two:

Breaking The News

“pull!” Twilight sparkle yells, causing a large hoop to be shot up for her to fly through with master precision and her newly developed alicorn wings.

“not half bad, Twi!” said Rainbow Dash who was on the ground pulling the lever on the hoop launcher.

Since Twilight had grown these wings the day she mastered her studies in the magic of friendship, Rainbow Dash had very enthusiastically convinced her to start training for flight.  Dash was especially thrilled by her new set of feathers once mentioning how awesome it would be to have yet another “flying buddy”.  All the days after that event, Twilight could not have possibly been more happy and optimistic and felt like everyday yet to come for the rest of her life, nothing could ever go wrong again.

“Twilight!” shouts a familiar voice from the ground that of which was not Rainbow Dash.  “You need to come down and read this now!”  said the voice getting higher pitched and squeakier with every word.

Twilight could tell that the source of the voice was in a state of sadness and it sounded like it was not something that could wait as she swooped back down to talk to a concerned Spike clutching a letter from Princess Celestia in his claw.

“what’s wrong, Spike?  Why are you crying so much?”  Twilight asked her assistant, trying very hard to be as calm as she could as to help Spike do the same.

“This letter!”  spike said with tears streaming down his face.  “it’s just”…”it’s horrible news!”  The young Dragon’s stuttering was no longer audible as he fell to his knees and tried to hand the letter to the now extremely concerned Twilight with Rainbow Dash stepping closer to the two now becoming worried herself.

Twilight Sparkle used her magic to lift the letter out of Spike’s claw.  She knew that it was not like him to read letters from the Princess before she was able to do so, but upon levitating it in front of her she could understand why he did this time.  The rolled up scroll had “Urgent.  Open Immediately!” written on the outside.  Twilight, sympathizing with Spike’s curiosity getting the best of him began to unroll the letter and started to read it.

“My most faithful student Twilight Sparkle:

I am writing to you today to inform you of an event that occurred yesterday evening here in Canterlot.  It was a difficult decision for me to make weather I tell you upon arrival or not but I felt that the suspense of not knowing would be too much.  Your Brother, Shining Armor was gravely wounded in the line of duty while trying to arrest a criminal.  He is currently being treated in the Star Swirl Memorial Hospital.  Please make your way to Canterlot as soon as you receive this.  Be brave, Twilight Sparkle.

Your’s Truly:  Princess Celestia”

“what’s all the hubbub about?” asked Rainbow Dash to her newly winged friend.  Twilight did not respond and was still holding the letter in front of her face, her pupils beginning to fill up her eyes causing them to twitch uncontrollably.

“Twilight, say something!  Please just tell me what happened!” The usually tomboyish Pegasus said in a squeaky voice, now starting to show signs of tears in the corners of her eyes.

Twilight had begun to bleed slightly from biting her lower lip with the uncontrollable river of tears flowing down her face.  She had then started to hyperventilate, causing Rainbow Dash to become even more concerned.  As the rainbow maned Pegasus reached over to place her hoof on her mortified friend’s shoulder to show support though she still didn't know what the problem was, Twilight Sparkle perked up her ears and teleported.  She disappeared in a bright purple colored burst of light that startled Rainbow Dash and left the letter to slowly float down to the ground right in front of her.  Finally, Rainbow knew what was bothering Twilight and what she had to do to support her friend who has always been there for her.

Twilight’s destination of choice to teleport to was the Ponyville Train Station.  Upon arrival to the depot, she hastily purchased a ticket and hopped on the one-way express to Canterlot without going back to the library to pack anything or tell anypony.  All she could think of was her brother.  Her big brother best friend forever, who was at risk of making his untimely departure to the afterlife and she needed to be by his side to say goodbye if she needed to.  The very thought made the frantic alicorn sick to her stomach as she rushed to the on-board rest room where she could not stop herself from vomiting into the toilet.  When she had finally passed up the entire lunch she had eaten just an hour before she had gotten the letter, she had another thought, although not as important, cross her mind.  The though that everypony else who was on the train, was seeing everything from her crying, hyperventilating and vomiting.  Coupled with the more important issue and the fact that Twilight Sparkle was actually the only one on the train during the slow time of day however, this thought was very brief and did not last very long.

The usually quick ride to Canterlot on the train seemed to take days for the distraught Twilight Sparkle.  If the train had not recently received and engine overhaul thus increasing it’s power and speed, the ride may have seemed almost never-ending.  Finally the train had gotten through a tunnel that Twilight knew was close to the next station that was in Canterlot, meaning that they would be arriving momentarily.  Twilight was at long last beginning to take long, deep breaths and eventually started to calm down.  As the train came to a halt and the exit door slid open, the loving sister of Shining Armor frantically burst out.  Though she was still thinking of the possibility of her saying goodbye to her brother, or worse yet, his passing before she could get to the hospital to do so, she knew she had to slow down and gather herself.

“ok Twilight” she said to herself.  “you can do this.  You’ll be wasting more time running around in circles if you don’t stop and think of where I need to go”.

Twilight Sparkle didn’t know where the hospital was but a stroke of good luck had come her way.  Since she had just exited the train station, she remembered that there are almost always yellow checkered taxi coaches driving nearby looking for fares in need of a ride.  After looking around for a moment, it didn’t take her long to find one and flag the driver down.  As she entered the backseat the friendly driver began to say “where can I take you young la-”  Twilight cut him off in mid sentence.

“Star Swirl Memorial Hospital and step on it!”  she said with urgency.

The green stallion behind the wheel obliged to her request.  It did not take a genius to figure out that if someone needs to get to a hospital, the ride there needs to be cut as short as possible.  As the yellow cab wove in and out of traffic and the driver seeming to be quite the professional, the young unicorn stallion glanced at his distressed passenger through the rear view mirror.  He was not much older if not almost the same age as Twilight.  He had a light colored mint green coat and a black mane with a thin white stripe and wore thick framed “Clark Kent” glasses.  While he was passing other drivers at full speed glancing at his mirror, he finally had worked up the courage to ask her what was wrong.  Even though he had never seen Twilight before in his life nor did he have a clue what was bothering her, he could not help but be concerned.

“miss, if you don’t mind me asking…why do you need to go to the hospital?” the driver asked.  “Are you hurt?  If you are, it would be faster and safer if I called an ambulance for you.”

Having lived in Canterlot herself, Twilight knew that it was not an every day occurrence for a complete stranger to show such sympathy and concern for somepony, especially to a customer in the backseat of a taxicab.  She felt a sudden feeling of comfort begin to set in.  After the seemingly never ending ride on the train it was a breath of fresh air to be able to talk to somepony about her troubles and to top it all off, she could tell that the somepony she was talking to actually cared.

“oh I’m not the one who is hurt”  said Twilight.  “it’s my brother.  You see, he’s the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and he was wounded on the job”.

“oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that”  said the driver, still trying his best to concentrate on the road and his passenger’s woes at the same time.  “I hope he’s ok.  What kind of condition is he in?”

Twilight Sparkle began to well up with tears again as she recalled what the letter from the princess had said.

“I…I’m sorry, miss.  I didn't mean to bring up a soar subject.  I’m truly sorry if I upset you” the driver said feeling guilty for what he now thought may have been a poorly timed question to ask.

“no it’s…it wasn’t you.” Twilight replied to the driver, trying to reassure him that she was not upset by his comment.  “it’s just that…his condition is grave and there’s a chance I may lose him.”

No sooner did Twilight finish her sentence, did the sensitive stallion in the driver’s seat begin to shed tears of his own.  It had never happened to this stallion before and he had noticed it.  The sight of this young mare who he had never met before sitting in the backseat going through what she had been was deeply troubling to him.  It was almost as if he was feeling her pain just as she was.

At last, the cab was now pulling up to the entrance to the hospital.  Before the cab had even come to a complete stop, Twilight bolted out without thinking.  Before she was about to open the door to enter the building however, she realized that she had forgotten something.

“oh my gosh!”  Twilight gasped.  “I forgot to pay him!”

She quickly spun around to make her way back to the taxi where the driver was sitting just about to shift into gear and leave.  After this stranger had been so kind to her on their way to the hospital, she felt she would never have been able to forgive herself had she stiffed him.

“wait!  Twilight yelled.  “I forgot to pay you for the ride!  How much do I owe you, sir?”

The stallion looked back at Twilight, revealing his now tear soaked eyes.  “this ride is on me, miss” the driver replied.  “I won’t accept any payment for emergency transport”.

Twilight Sparkle could not believe what she had heard him say.  This wonderful, and not to mention handsome stallion had listened to her sad story about her brother, drove her to the hospital to see him as quickly as he could and then waived the bill for his services.

“Thank you!” Twilight replied with tears streaming down her face at full force.  “thank you so much!  I can’t thank you enough for how kind you have been to me!”

“no worries!” replied the stallion.  “by the way, I’m working a late shift tonight.  If you need a ride somewhere to stay the night after you’re done here, feel free to call the cab depot and ask for me.  My name is Steel Piston”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle” she replied.  “I will definitely keep that in mind.  Thanks again!”

Twilight’s new friend shifted the steam powered yellow coach into gear, pulled out of the cobblestone parking lot and drove down the road out of sight.  After she could no longer see the coach, Twilight made here way back to the entrance to the Star Swirl Memorial Hospital.  Looking up at the massive skyscraper that was the medical facility where her big brother best friend forever was being cared for, she took one deep breath and entered the building in search of her injured loved one. End Chapter Two