Chapters It was a lovely, sunny, Monday morning. The lavender mare, Twilight Sparkle, was bustling hurriedly around her temporary home, the Golden Oaks Library. Her faithful assistant, Spike, stood in the middle of the main room, watching his mother-figure briskly trot about, the clip-clopping of her hooves background noise to her rambling.
“What’s so important about this…"get-together" anyway, Twilight?” Spike asked, interrupting her concentration.
Twilight took a moment to give a glance at her baby dragon, a hint of anger tinting her gaze. “This…is not a simple get-together, Spike! It’s a royal summons!” She cried, trying to swallow her temper.
“Okay, okay, a royal summons. What’s so special about it?” Her assistant asked, genuine curiosity lacing his voice.
“It’s so important because the Princess summoned me herself!” She shouted, her temper finally taking the best of her. “It might be something important and you’re saying that this isn't special?” She had walked over to Spike and had her muzzle very close to his face, her breath bellowing out of her nostrils.
A frightened expression painted itself into Spike's expression as he backed away slowly from the raging purple mare. The rage quickly drained from her purple eyes and her muscles relaxed back to their normal state. “I-I’m sorry…Spike…I didn't mean to snap at you like that...I-I'm just so nervous.” She apologized.
“Aww, it’s okay, Twilight.” Spike replied, walking towards a couple of books that had fallen from one of the bookcases.
“Thanks Spike. You're definitely my Number One Assistant.” She said. She continued her brisk trot around the library without another moment’s hesitation, gathering supplies for her journey to the grand city of Canterlot. After she’d stuffed her bags till they were bursting at the seams, she sighed deeply as she looked around the library one last time before she began her journey. “Well Spike…” She began, looking at Spike with tears in her eyes.
Spike caught this and said, “Don’t worry Twilight! You’ll be back soon! And I’ll be here waiting for you, just like always!” He reassured her.
Tears never leaving her eyes, Twilight leaned in for a quick embrace. When she pulled away, she nodded to Spike, gesturing that he was in charge until she got back.
He smiled like a dope as she pushed past him and towards the doorway. Spike rushed forward and opened the creaky oak door for her.
Twilight stepped into the doorway and looked out at the beautiful city of Canterlot, its marble finish shining in the growing rays of the bright morning sun as it sat on the mountain side. Twilight turned away from the glowing city to take a last look at her dragon assistant, his eyes shimmering like platinum. She patted his head as a last farewell and headed out the door, Spike closing it behind her.
She trotted happily through the streets of Ponyville, watching as everypony started their day; from elders to sitting on porches in the sunlight with cups of hot tea at hoof, to young fillies walking down the street towards the school house, where their beloved teacher, Ms.Cheerilee, was going to teach them about the world one little bit at a time.
By the time Twilight reached the edge of Ponyville, it was already noon. I’d better hurry or I’m going to worry the princess… As the thought raced through her mind, she quickened her pace towards the train station. When she arrived, she read on the bulletin board that the next train to Canterlot would be arriving at about 12:15 p.m. Twilight gave a great big sigh of relief. So I'm not late at all.
As she waited for the train to arrive, she tried to do as many things as she could to think of to occupy herself like; reading one of the books that she’d brought along or re-reading the letter that had arrived from Celestia about summoning her to the royal city. Sweat started to trickle down her face as she ran out of ideas to make time fly.
She worriedly looked at the train station clock as it struck the time of 12:14. Almost there…just one minute to go…she thought restlessly. She glared at the clock to try and make it tick faster, not succeeding after trying for a few seconds. She looked around and caught sight of their coffee booth. It was the only thing that she could think of to pass the time, so she walked over, grinding her teeth at the thought of their horrible coffee.
As she reached the window, she quickly poked her muzzle inside her bag to bring out two bits. She laid them on the counter and looked at the grumpy mare behind the glass as she spoke, “Can I have one cup of caffeinated coffee please?”
The mare grunted but gave her the cup of coffee she’d asked for, taking the bits off the counter before replacing the empty space with the cup.
“Thank you.” Twilight said, smiling at the pony before using her magic to lift the cup up from the counter.
She then turned around and walked back to where she was standing before, taking a sip from her cup. And just as she had predicted, the coffee quality tasted terrible, and she didn't take another sip until the train arrived. The screech of its brakes brought her from her thoughts and she smiled with relief. She quickly dropped the still full cup into a nearby trash can and trotted aboard the train, a train ticket held firmly in her mouth, which the conductor punched a hole in to grant her the wish of riding the train.
Twilight smiled at him and went into the next train car. It was completely empty. “Well…it sure will be quiet on the train ride this morning.” Twilight said to herself as she picked a random seat and looked out of the window at Ponyville. She could just make out the ponies in the small town, getting on with their days. Twilight smiled to herself and laid back in the seat she had chosen.
Something dark caught her eye and she looked across the aisle at a stallion covered with a brown cloak, the hood up and over his head. He was looking out of his window.
She never noticed him until now but she didn’t really need to pry into other’s lives. She shrugged, closed her eyes, and soon fell into a light nap.
Twilight woke up half an hour later to the sudden jolt of the car on the rails. She quickly jumped out of her seat and into the aisle. She glanced towards the stallion with the cloak to see if he was alright and saw that he hadn't moved from his seat. The only thing that was a sign of movement was the sparkling red aura around his horn.
Twilight looked out the window, only to whip her head around towards him again. Something about his unicorn horn looked very familiar; black with a red splatter at the tip of it.
Twilight thought to as far back as she could and looked throughout each day trying to remember if she’s seen him somewhere before. As she thought, she suddenly remembered when she and her friends had to save the Crystal Empire. “King Sombra?!” She gasped, the important summons suddenly forgotten.
He turned his head at the sound of his name to come face to face with the shocked mare. Twilight caught a glimpse of his gleaming white smile in the shadows. She heard a soft chuckle as Sombra slid off the seat.
He lifted a hoof to the top of his head to pull down the hood that had shielded his eyes and face.
Her eyes widened as she backed away from him. When she thought she was safe distance away, she stammered, “How…you…we…huh?!”
He chortled again and got close to Twilight, who kept backing away. “I-I thought that you were destroyed when the Crystal Empire was saved?” Twilight asked softly, still partly in shock.
“Ah, yes. The Crystal Empire. You see, my horn didn’t get ruined during the explosion that was supposedly supposed to "kill me." And if you didn't know; I can control my horn with or without it even it being attached to my body.”
Twilight gasped. “But…how can you…?”
“Now that, my dear, is a secret…” He said ominously.
A chill crept up into Twilight’s back.
“I had the power to rule over others…I liked that power.” He told her, crawling closer. “I liked it so much that I would have killed if it was taken away from me...” He snarled.
Twilight felt something flat behind her and looked back to see what it was. A table? A chair? Anything but the... Her eyes met the wall. …wall…
Twilight twisted back around and nervously smiled; trapped against the wall of the train car.
King Sombra stopped as he neared and looked down into her frightened eyes.
“And since it was taken from me, I’m going to get it back…” He paused. “But for me to win it back...” He leaned down and whispered into Twilight’s ear. “I must dispose of the little fillies getting in my way and ruining my opportunities for world power .”
His horn flashed a brilliant red just as the train started to bump along the track again, making Twilight shake. Sombra hadn't finished though. “It’s you first…then the others…” And with that, he disappeared into a puff of black smoke, his evil smile still visible for a moment before it vanished completely.
Twilight felt the train jolt, and she stumbled over to the window to investigate. As she peered out, she saw that the train had run off its tracks. The train flipped over almost as soon as she discovered that and it kept flipping over and over again. It seemed as an eternity had passed before the train finally stopped.
Debris spewed everywhere as the locomotive halted its flipping descent. Twilight bumped her head as the train abruptly landed. She rubbed it sorely and cracked open her eyes to look at the ruins around her. Her eyes showed her; the windows of the car were all broken and cracked, the lights and light bulbs had shattered, and the seat cushions had rips and tears cut into them from the glass flying around.
Glass shards were scattered around the bottom of the train, which Twilight realizes is really the ceiling because the carpet from the aisle is up above. She gingerly stands up and slowly walks to the upside down doorway. The door was nowhere to be seen, so Twilight just struggled through.
When she arrived at the next train car, there was a large opening in the wall that led to the outside. She walked past more debris and squeezed through. When she was finally outside, she shook the remaining debris from her coat and decided the best thing to do was try and find the staff of the locomotive. She walked around to the engine and looks inside cautiously, afraid of what might be inside waiting for her.
She peeked in, expecting to find the worst done to the engineer, but there wasn’t a single trace that anyone had been there at all. She climbed in, and looked around; the seat wasn’t warm, and the levers controlling the train were bent, and some weren’t even there. Countless wires flowed everywhere; the floor, the ceiling, and everywhere in between. Twilight struggled to try and not get herself tangled in the jungle of red, white, blue, green, and yellow.
She safely climbed out, and walked to a spot where she could gaze at the train fully. Twilight Sparkle looked over the locomotive for a few minutes, not spotting anything that would suggest there was life still on it. She stood there, staring at the train, processing the event that had just occurred and looking to see if anyone was still left on it.
She searched for a little less than an hour, her hope too great for her actual confidence. She finally broke down when her hope shattered inside of her heart, and Twilight collapsed on the ground, exhausted and sore. She took one last look at the devastating scene before her before she closed her eyelids and fell into a light sleep.
Her mind took her into a dream where she was standing alone in a dark room. The words King Sombra had whispered to her echoed around and never seized to stop. I must dispose of the little fillies getting in my way and ruining my opportunities for world power…it’s you first, then the others… A picture of her friends and Spike revealed itself like it was on a screen in a movie theater. Twilight stood up, and slowly walked towards it, finding a smile poking at the corners of her mouth.
But then...the picture changed.
It changed to something dreadful. Twilight gasped, and tried to look away, but she didn’t seem to have any control over her hooves or head. Pinkie Pie was lying on the ground her legs sprawled in the same direction and arrows were planted in her flank and neck. Blood was trickling out of her open mouth and onto the ground in a tiny stream, and her unseeing eyes were staring at nothing.
Rarity was pinned up against a torn up house by what seemed like hundreds of arrows. There was one arrow that had been shot straight into her forehead. It was made out of metal, so it could crack the skull and pierce her brain. Parts of her skin had been torn off by the dodged arrows grazing her flank. Applejack was lying on the ground nearby Rarity, a long javelin sticking out of the place where her heart would be. Her eyes were closed and so was her mouth, but Twilight could just make out the thinnest trickle of blood pulsing from it.
Twilight gasped; terrified. By the way things looked; it had looked as if Spike had been trying to protect Applejack from the hit. Rainbow Dash was hanging upside down off of a building, arrows pinning her legs and chest to the house. Her mouth and eyelids was closed due to gravity. But something about them didn’t seem right.
Grinding her teeth, Twilight looked closer, realizing that only one of her eyes had been closed. Twilight flinched when she looked at the other side; Rainbow Dash’s right eye was missing from its socket. The dark shadow of the empty pocket seemed so…wrong …
Fluttershy’s death seemed the most frightening; a javelin had been stabbed in through her back, the non-bladed side planted into the soil, leaving Fluttershy stuck in mid air, her sightless, terrified expression looking up towards the sky for eternity.
Twilight’s expression was growing more and more frightened the longer she looked at that picture. But what really frightened her, was when the bodies in the picture started to stir. Each of her friends started to rise up on their hooves, one after another. Twilight stared, suddenly realizing they were coming towards her. She backed away as the zombie Pinkie slowly crawled out of the picture, followed by the others.
When they were all back together, their blank eyes shifted to look at Twilight. They limped towards her, their faces contorted with anger and pain as they advanced. Suddenly, Twilight couldn’t move anymore, she had been frozen to her spot. She looked down at her hooves, but saw nothing holding them down. She looked back up to see the corpses of her friends had come closer.
She gulped nervously and stared at them.
“Frightening…isn’t it ?” A familiar voice asked behind her.
Twilight whipped around, only to find herself lying on the ground back in the forest with the train wreck. She opened her eyes the rest of the way and slowly got to her hooves. She stretched her aching muscles for a few moments before she began walking around the train once more.
Then she started to wonder what time it was. Her horn started to emit a purple glow along with some leaves on a tree. Twilight pushed the leaves apart with her magic and looked up at the sky. Twilight eyes widened; there was no sky. It was a big black blanket of nothing. The canopy seemed to be enchanted, though, because it was stronger than Twilight’s magic, and closed almost as soon as it had been pushed apart.
Twilight stood, frozen, to her spot, as she stood staring at the sky that wasn’t there anymore. Sweat started to trickle down her forehead and into her eyes, making them burn and blur her vision. She finally awoke from her trance at the first sting of salt. She shut her eyes tight, and kept them closed, until she was sure the feeling was gone.
She reopened them slowly and looked around at the surrounding trees around her, making sure that she kept a close eye on the shadows of them. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so she started forward and into the unknown. As she walked down the aisle of trees, she looked from side to side, searching for signs of light. Once, she didn’t pay attention to where she was going, and she bumped into one of the trees muzzle first.
She got bumped back onto her haunches. She started to rub her sore nose with a hoof, until she realized that something weird was with the tree she bumped into. She looked at it and saw that the bark was wavering and water-like. She got up casually and walked over. She gingerly touched the bark with a hoof, which the response was like touching the surface of water.
A part of the bark disappeared for a moment where she touched it, replaced by a simple grey color. She backed up as it switched back to the rough tree bark and looked around at the trees again, wondering where she really was. She thought of something, and then shut her eyes tight. This isn’t a forest…there was no train wreck… Twilight thought repeatedly. She opened her eyes a sliver and looked at her surroundings.
They were gradually changing, changing to simple grey walls and no sky. This isn’t a forest… She heard a sudden whooshing sound and quickly opened her eyes. The whole forest, top to bottom, had been changed completely to…a maze. Twilight glanced around, and widened her eyes. She quickly inched forward and looked around the nearest bend, only to see yet another grey hall.
She began to walk around aimlessy, until she thought, what is this place?
“This…” A sudden voice began, booming around throughout the maze.
Twilight hit her back against the wall when the voice startled her. She listened to it though. She didn’t really have that much of a choice. If she wanted to learn where she was, it had to be now.
“…is the inner core of your complicated mind. If you hadn’t done so much studying and cramming so much knowledge in here, you wouldn't have the maze problem, now would you?” The voice asked Twilight.
She didn't answer the question, though. She was still trying to process what he had just informed her about where she is. In my mind? That’s not even scientifically possible!
“Wrong you are, Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia herself, and the leader of The Elements of Harmony.” The voice said mockingly. “You see, you are not physically trapped here. It’s all an illusion in your perspective.” He explained. “Your real self, is under my total control, though. "So in the real world, you’re going to do whatever I ask you, whenever I ask you.”
“Y...you…you jerk!!” Twilight screamed. “Why are you doing this to ponies like myself and the others?! What have we ever done to you?!” A long pause in the vocals told Twilight she had hit a soft spot in the conversation.
“What you…what you did to me…” His voice shivered angrily. “What you all did to me was unspeakable and cruel!!” He shouted; a familiar black puff of smoke appearing in front of her. King Sombra stepped out, his eyes burning like a thousand suns. “You…took away everything I had to live for...” He took a menacing step toward her as he went on with his rage. “…family…friends…my beloved teacher…my home…my.." He paused.
"My...love for..you..."
Sombra spoke softly for the last part and looked away for a moment, for he got flustered for a second before he regained his menacing figure once more. “I got cast away from everypony…I had nothing to live for anymore…” He voice grew very grim as he continued to stare into Twilight’s eyes. “After my home, family, and friends got taken away from me…I thought you would be the one to stay with me…”
His stare hardened as he remembered something painful. “But no…when I told you how I felt, you rejected me…dammit, I was so stupid then…” Twilight’s purple gaze widened in shock and misunderstanding. “W-wait!! When did I even do that?! I never even met you before the Crystal Empire!” She interrupted in rage.
“So I see…” Sombra said; a painful, distant look in his eyes. “You don’t even remember your early days in Canterlot then…” He said, turning around.
“What do you mean?” She asked, a snarl tinting her voice.
Sombra sighed sorrowfully. He turned around to face her and closed his eyes slowly. He reopened them and began to gather energy into his horn.
Twilight looks suspiciously at it and backs away a few paces.
He leans towards her and lets his curved horn touch her forehead before Twilight could move back any further. Instantly, before Twilight eyes, the images and small videos of Canterlot flash through her mind like a movie. Sombra stands a little ways away from her, but keeps his eyes on her.
Twilight steps forward slowly as she watches. She sits down when a short video of her and her childhood best friend appears on the screen.
They were just fillies then, so that meant neither of them had gotten their cutie marks yet. Her friend was just like her; he studied a lot and he was very smart. He mostly studied the night though; he felt the night had more character than the day. He was also the apprentice of Princess Luna.
Twilight’s eyes started to tear up as she looked over her shoulder towards Sombra. His eyes had never left her, so her eyes met his. They stared at each other for a long time, neither of them moving. “Long Shadow…I’m sorry…” She apologized.
King Sombra smiled wearily at his beloved.
“…but I have to stop you…for the sake of my teacher, friends and family…so they don’t get hurt…” She said, sadness lacing her voice.
She galloped away, leaving the dumbfounded and broken-hearted Sombra long behind her as she quickly meandered her way through the twists and turns of the maze. She heard a loud explosion crack from somewhere behind her, though, she never quit galloping.
She heard a terribly loud scream from the King, making Twilight’s back shudder.
A large shadow crossed over her as she ran on, never looking back to see what it was. Suddenly, a thick black mist formed in the maze’s halls. Twilight froze, unsure of where to go. A light bulb went over her head as she realized something; she could just use her magic as a light and find a way out of this frightening place.
She felt the usual energy flow up to her horn as it started to emit an unnatural light. But, then, the light went out, leaving Twilight in the suffocating mist. Sparkle looked up at her horn, but saw nothing. She then heard a loud thump not too far behind her. She flinched and blindly tried to find the wall. After a few moments of struggle, though, she finally succeeded. She brushed up against it and walked forwards; keeping her tail on it so it could tell her when there was a turn or stop.
She followed the wall for what seemed like an eternity, the twists and turns starting to make her mind go crazy, until she finally saw something ahead. It was a small dot of pure white light. Assuming it was the exit, Twilight Sparkle pushed away from the wall, now able to see where she was putting her hooves. She galloped quickly towards it, a relieved smile gathering itself on her face.
But as she grew closer, something suddenly started to block the light. Twilight stopped in her tracks when she realized who it was.
“S-stop, please.” Sombra voice pleaded sadly.
“No…I’m not going to let your trickery fool me…I have to sto—” Twilight’s voice was cut off as a pair of lips pressed against her own. “Mmhph!” Twilight stood there for a moment, dumbfounded and dazed, until she finally realized what was happening. She pushed Sombra away roughly, not looking him in the eye.
Though, as she stood in front of the exit, Twilight gazed at him for a moment over her shoulder, seeing that he was staring back. The King suddenly leaned forward, his eyes wide and his hoof outstretched towards her, as if trying to reach her.
“N-no. Don’t leave me…” He stammered as she pushed her way into the light. His eyes welled up as he began to transform into shadow. “…I..I love you…” Tears finally broke free from his eyes as Twilight was engulfed in the Light.
The light was blinding as Twilight pushed her way into it. She kept her eyes closed as she made her descent back to the real world. Then she started to think about Sombra. She blushed slightly. Long Shadow… As she was lost in thought, she didn't realize that her descent was finished, and she was back on the train to Canterlot.
She looked around at the inside of the train and it was the way it had been before Sombra had taken over, though nopony except her was on the train this time so she was alone. She looked at her seat, seeing her belongings still sitting there on the cushion. She trotted over and sat down silently, trying to calm her nerves.
It was just an illusion, Twilight…only a hallucination… She thought. She looked out the train window and saw endless rolling hills go by in a blur. She then saw the beginnings of the shimmering marble buildings go by. She sat in silence for a short while, watching the scenery as she waited for the train to give the usual screech of its brakes to tell her it was time to get off.
When she finally heard it, she gathered up her stuff and put it on her back. She started to walk towards the doorway as one of the conductors walked through. When he spotted her, he seemed surprised to find Twilight standing there. Sparkle didn’t know why, because she had seen him when she got on earlier. “What’s so surprising, sir?” She asked, unable to keep the question from escaping her mouth.
“Uhh…nothing...” He replied, his cheeks flustering. “I didn't know you had been riding the train…” Twilight looked at him when he said this. That’s when she saw the “conductor in training” badge on his uniform. “I’m sorry, ma’am…” He apologized, stepping aside to let her through. Twilight nodded as she walked by him, accepting the apology. Newbie’s… She thought as she escaped the train and walked into the marvelous city.
She looked around in amazement, her eyes widening with admiration. She trotted away from the train station and headed towards the Canterlot castle in search of the princess. But as she arrived at the doors, the two ponies guarding it swiftly put their spears into a cross shape, and preventing Twilight from going any further.
“Who goes there?” The pegasus guard asked.
“Twilight Sparkle, the princess’s personal apprentice.” She said, bowing to them.
The guards looked at one another and then back to Twilight. “We have never seen nor heard of such a pony.”
“What? ”
“Now, since we’ve gotten that straightened out, I suggest you leave.” The pegasus said, pointing his hoof in the direction she had come from.
“But…”
“Now! ” They demanded in unison, both pointing their spears at her.
Twilight gasped and backed away. She turned around and muttered to herself, “Wait until the princess hears about this…” She walked back to the train station fuming. She calmed herself down and began to think about where she could go while she was there. She then smiled. I’ll go visit mom! I haven’t seen here since the funeral for dad, so it’ll be a nice surprise for her.
After a long travel to the other side of the city, Twilight finally arrived at her parents’ house. She rapped lightly on the door and waited for a few moments before the door handle turned and the door opened to show an elderly mare.
“…Twilight?” She rasped.
“Hi, mom.” Twilight said to her mother, overjoyed about seeing her again. Her mother’s eyes lit up as she looked at her grown up daughter. “Come in, come in, dear.” She said gesturing for her to come inside. “Thank you.” She said gratefully.
As she stepped inside the warm, inviting house, memories of her childhood came flooding back to her. She walked to the kitchen, her mom close behind. “So…” Twilight Velvet began as her daughter sat down at the dinner table. “What brings you here today, deary?” She asked, bringing out some strawberries from the refrigerator and setting them down on the table. Twilight dug into them gratefully. She was starving.
“I can here for the princess actually…” She replied, swallowing a mouth full of fruit. Velvet’s face dropped a bit at that, but she quickly smiled to hide it. “Well…I’m glad you thought of me and decided to stop by…it’s gotten quiet lonely here without anypony to talk to…especially since the day after your father’s funeral…”
Twilight Velvet sighed sorrowfully and sat down. Twilight caught it, and swallowed again, looking at her mother with sympathy. “What’s wrong, mom? You seem a bit down right now. Did I come at a bad time?” Twilight asked, beginning to stand up from the chair to leave.
“No! No, you didn’t come at a bad time at all!” Twilight nodded and sat back down, her mother’s muscles relaxing.
“Then what’s wrong? Is it about Dad, isn’t it?” She asked. Her mother looked away. “It is…isn’t it?” Velvet nodded. “Aw, it’s okay mom! You’ll always have me and Shining Armor to be here for you!” She reassured softly, standing up and going to her mother’s side to hug her. Twilight Velvet returned the embrace and pulled away after a few moments.
They stayed silent until Twilight Sparkle broke the it with a question. “Do you want me to stay here with you tonight, mom? So you’re not so lonely this evening?”
Her mother thought about it for a while. “I wouldn’t mind if you said yes or no, really, it doesn’t matter.”
“Sure honey, if you’re sure you want to.”
Twilight couldn’t help but notice the first gleam of happiness in her mother’s eyes she hadn’t seen for a very long time. Twilight smiled, unable to not be happy about seeing part of her family. Twilight Velvet looked out the window and saw how late it was in the evening. She told her daughter to make herself at home while she cooked dinner, and Twilight took that as an excuse to put her stuff away, and get used to the house again.
She still remembered where the rooms were, so she excused herself from the kitchen, and went up the winding stairs. She opened the door to her old room and found that it was the same way she had left it before she left Canterlot for Ponyville; clean, neat, and organized. Twilight smiled to herself. They’re the best parents in the world! She lifted her bags off of her back and onto her old desk; where her papers and pencils organized neatly.
She never wiped the smile off her face, for she felt very content here back in her old home. She felt the bed and saw that a pair of new covers had been spread across it, since she took her covers that she had gotten for her 8th birthday to Ponyville with her. She lay back onto the soft sheets and sighed contentfully. Not long after, though, her mother called up to her and said; “Twilight dear! It’s time for dinner! Go wash up please!”
Twilight silently slipped down the hall to the bathroom to wash her hooves. After she had dried them on a nearby towel, she walked downstairs to see her mother already sitting at the table.
“Well, come on dear! I know you’re hungry.” Twilight Velvet insisted, watching as her daughter finally walked over after a long pause at the foot of the stairs and sat down.
Twilight looked at her mother when she sat, and saw a relieved smile sitting her face. Twilight smiled back and looked to see what dinner was going to be. It was one of Twilight’s favorites: Spaghetti and meatballs with lots of tomato sauce. Sparkle licked her lips hungrily as she picked up the silver fork lying neatly next to the plate. She used her magic to dig the fork in and swirl it around.
She picked it back up when she thought she had a sufficient amount, and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed for a while and then swallowed.
“This is really good, mom!” Twilight complimented her mother’s cooking. She only smiled and started to eat from her own plate. They both ate in silence for the rest of the meal, neither one asked how her life’s been. When they finished, Twilight felt stuffed and comfortable. “Thank you mom!” She said, giving her mother a hug. She pulled away and saw her mother’s eyes welling up as she looked away.
“Mom?” Sparkle asked.
“Well, I know I’m not too good at hiding my emotions from anyone, so I may as well just tell you…” Her mother confessed, still not meeting her daughter’s eyes.
“Tell me what?” Twilight asked, suspicion rising inside of her.
“I...I…” Her mother stammered.
“Tell me!” Twilight urged.
“I...just wish that I wasn’t so lonely here!!” Her mother cried out. “Everyone in my life has gone. Either dead or too busy, no one takes time out of their day to come and see old family like me…”
Twilight stayed standing, but she soon moved to her mother’s side. “Not everypony in your life has gone, mom. Just look at me and Shining Armor. We’re still here…” She said with more confidence than she felt inside.
“But you never take time to come and see me, and you still never did when your father was alive.” She retorted softly. “I’ve been thinking about moving out of this house and going to live in a smaller house in the country. It’s too hard to take care of this house now without help from others, and living by myself will ease my stress.” She continued, finally looking at Twilight.
“But mom! This is the house that we have so many memories stored in…and moving out will mean you’ll leave those behind.”
“Oh, I’ll still have the pictures memories, but with everypony’s lives being so busy now, I think it’s time for me to start making some new ones for myself.” She finished; her head down.
Twilight stayed silent as she processed what she had just heard. “Well, mom…” She finally broke the silence between them. “If that’s what you need to do, then I’m not going to be the pony to step in your way of doing it.” She pushed her chair in and clip-clopped her way up the stairs. “Where are you going?” Twilight Velvet asked her.
“I’m going to bed. Today was a long day, and I’m worn out. You should probably go to bed too, mom. You look a little fatigued yourself.” And with those words, her tail disappeared up the steps.
Twilight Velvet smiled weakly to herself and sighed.
Twilight opened the door to her old room and walked inside. She closed the door behind her and trotted over to her desk. She opened up her saddle bags and brought out the three books she had brought along for entertainment. She read the titles of each one; Tales of Equestria’s History , How to Cook a Good Meal , and Journal of StarSwirl the Bearded . Twilight picked her favorite one, Journal of StarSwirl the Bearded , and brought it over with her to the bed.
She climbed under the covers and opened up the old book. As she flipped through the well-worn pages, she started to think about her day, and how it had gone. She then thought of Sombra and the old pictures he had shown her of them as fillies. She shivered despite how warm she was.
As she reflected throughout the rest of her day, though, it seemed that she had a good one. She suddenly felt her eyelids grow heavy as she thought about the events of her day, so she closed the book, placed it upon the nightstand beside her, and snuggled up under the sheets. She sighed happily as she closed her eyes, and fell into a restful night’s sleep without a single disturbing dream to occupy her thoughts.
* * *
When she opened her eyes the next morning, sun was streaming onto her cream-colored carpet in small beams through a window that she had forgotten to close the blinds for. She lay on her soft mattress and looked up at her ceiling; something that she had done very often when she was younger. She traced all the bumps and ridges in the paint pattern until she decided it was time for her to get up and moving.
An idea suddenly formed in her head as she kicked off her covers and slid off the bed. She made the bed as neatly as she could with her magic while she snooped through her saddle bags. Where is that book… Twilight wondered as she searched. As you know; books are almost very easy to find by their shape and size, but the book Twilight wanted to find was small and it looked like a recipe booklet.
Ah! There it is! Twilight thought triumphantly as she brought out the item she had been searching for. How to Cook a Good Meal was the title of the book, and Twilight thought that it would help her greatly in trying to make breakfast in bed for her mother. It’ll be a nice for her to be treated instead of her treating others.
Sparkle trotted quietly out of her room and crept to her mom’s. She peeked in to find her mother thankfully still asleep. Twilight smiled and poked her head back out. She walked as quietly as she could down the spiral stairs and into the kitchen. She used her pink-purple aura to float a few pans to the stove while she flipped the pages of the book she was holding.
She read through the recipes it had in there, and finally settled on a simple omelet with a side of buttered toast and orange juice. Twilight got the ingredients needed for the food, and read on how to make it.
“Step 1: Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk them for about 1 minute until egg whites had completely gone……that sounds easy enough!” Twilight said, doing what the book instructed.
She did it perfectly and read the next step. “Step 2: Get a medium sized frying pan and place it on the stove (place a pat of butter in the middle if you want the egg to not stick). Then turn on the burner to about an 8 and wait for it to heat up (the butter will melt in the pan while heating up and should be liquid by the time you’re ready to pour your egg in.)"
Twilight did as she was instructed and waited for about 3 minutes. When it was ready, she had read a few steps ahead, so she knew what to do. She poured the egg in and swirled a spatula over to where she was standing. She held it at the ready until about one and a half minutes had pasted. Then she slid the spatula under and flipped the whole thing to the other side.
It was ready before she knew it after that, and she soon placed the egg onto one of her mother’s prized dishes. She popped toast into the toaster as she worked with orange juice. She’d squeezed just enough for a full glass before the toast had popped up saying it was done. She quickly put down the orange she was squeezing and whisked the toast onto the plate with the egg before buttering it thoroughly with margarine.
She placed the glass that was filled with juice on top of an elegant tray, which she also placed the plate of food along with silverware onto a few moments later.
She used her aura to keep the tray floating in front of her as she made her way slowly up the stairs. When she finally reached the top, she heard a slight groan from her mother’s room, telling her that her mother was waking up. She made it into the room just as her mom opened her eyes. Twilight whispered, “Good morning, mom! I brought you something I made for you…”
She stopped as Twilight Velvet slowly looked at the tray and smiled at her daughter. “Is this…for me?” She asked softly. Twilight nodded as her mother sat up in her bed and watched the tray come floating down to rest on her lap. Her eyes widened as she stared at the well-prepared meal. “Wow…Twilight, this looks amazing! Did you cook this yourself?” She complimented, looking at Twilight with pure gratitude shimmering in her eyes.
Twilight nodded yet again, watching as her mother picked up the toast and nibbled at the corner. Her eyes widened and she repeated, “This is amazing, Twilight!” Her daughter beamed as her Velvet ate the meal gratefully, as if she had suddenly realized how hungry she was. When she finished, she wiped the corners of her mouth delicately and smiled. “Thank you for the treat, Twilight!” Twilight smiled back.
She opened her mouth to reply to her mother’s compliment only to get interrupted by her own stomach growling loudly. She looked down towards it and looked back up at her mother’s amused expression.
“Well…it looks like I’ll have to get started on breakfast for somepony else!” She said gleefully, jumping out of bed, walking out of the room and down the stairs.
Twilight stared at the spot where her mother disappeared from the room, a smile still spread across her face. She then walked out of her mom’s room and down the hall back to her own, hearing her mother making Twilight some breakfast. She walked in and used her magic to gather her things she had brought with her and stuffed them back into her saddle bags.
After my breakfast, I’ll get out of mom’s mane and on my way back to Ponyville… Twilight thought to herself determinedly.
As Twilight stuffed the last of her things into her bags, she heard a loud crash from the kitchen below. She never hesitated a moment as she stumbled down the spiral staircase in a blur of purple. She swiftly galloped through the kitchen doorway after her slight struggle with the staircase to find her mother lying on the floor sprawled in the middle of what was going to be Twilight’s breakfast.
Sparkle was almost immediately by her mother’s side, asking in a frantic fashion of why she had fallen and if she was alright. “Mom!! Are you hurt?!” She cried, lifting up her mother’s head gently with her hoof and looking into her eyes. Her mother had a calm smile spread across her face as she replied, “I’m alright dear…just a small heart attack….” She sturggled saying.
“Just a small heart attack!?” Twilight screamed, floating the phone off its receiver towards her hoof. She quickly dialed the number of the Canterlot Hospital as her mother protested weakly in the background. “How can you be so calm about a freakin’ heart attack?!” Twilight screamed at her mother as she waited impatiently for the front desk to pick up their receiver.
Pick up the damn phone! “Hello, this is the Canterlot Hospital. How may we he—”
“Get an ambulance right now! My mothers’ having a heart attack!”
“Ma’am, calm down. Tell us where you live and we’ll get there as soon as poss—”
“We live on Huckleberry Street, the big house on the end! Now get over here quickly!” And she slammed the phone back down onto its receiver, rushing back into the kitchen to start helping her mother onto a chair to wait for the ambulance to arrive.
“Twilight…you didn’t have to do this. I’m fine. It’s just—” She quickly clutched her chest in pain, resuming with her sentence a few moments later. “It’s just something minor…no big deal…” She forced a smile at her worried daughter.
Twilight didn’t respond. She craned her neck to look out the kitchen window above the sink. It had a clear view of the road leading to the hospital, so Twilight knew the rescuers would come from that way.
She stole glances back at her mother, who was just sitting in the chair silently, all chances of getting her daughter to calm down lost. Twilight finally caught the familiar flash of red from the sirens of the carriage ambulance. They stopped on the side of the street, their carraige ready for a quick getaway to the hospital.
Three ponies dressed in white quickly piled out of the back of the vehicle, one pushing a gurney, and rushed up to the door. But before they could knock, Twilight opened the door for them and they pushed past her when she told them where her mother was. They lifted her up and placed her gently on the gurney. They pushed her out through the door and collapsed it so it could fit into the back.
They helped Sparkle get in as well and let her sit in the back with them while they kept an eye on Twilight Velvet. Twilight looked over her mother with worry. Twilight glanced around at the other ponies dressed in white, seeing that they wore a calm expression. Twilight looked down at her hooves folded neatly in her lap angrily as she thought, how can they be so calm!? My mother’s having a heart attack!
Twilight quickly knelt down next to the gurney, suddenly realizing about how tired and lonely her mother looked. Twilight thought back to how her mother had opened the door when she arrived. She then looked closer at her mom. She then noticed the bags under her eyes and the sorrow as she peeked around the door. Twilight came back to the present moment and continued looking at her mother. “I’m sorry…I had no idea…” Twilight whispered under her breath.
Her mother had kept her eyes on the doors the whole ride so far.
Twilight felt the vehicle halt softly to a stop, making her body lean to one side. The helper ponies opened the doors of the back and hopped out quickly. One of them pushed the gurney out, letting the others re-shape it before he pushed it out completely. They quickly hurried into the hospital, Twilight following hurriedly behind them. One of them turned around and stopped her, though, at a door that led to the testing rooms.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. But you’re going to have to wait until we say you can see her.” He informed calmly.
Twilight was furious at him for stopping her from following her mother, but she was so worried that she couldn’t keep the words from staying in her mind. “Are you serious?! You’re holding me back? That might be my mother’s death bed…and you’re holding me back?!”
“I’m truly sorry ma’am, but rules are rules…”
He disappeared behind the double doors before Twilight could respond. Sparkle stood there; brooding and pouting. Then she started to pace in front of the doors titled, Testing and Occupant Area , only stopping to let other patients and doctors pass through them. Twilight paced around for about 15 minutes before she stopped. She looked at the doors with a blank expression as a plan formed into her mind.
She then looked behind her to make sure no one was watching her, and slipped through the doors as casually and secretively as she could muster. She crouched down when she passed to the other side of the doors and moved her head to look in a three direction before moving along slowly: right, left, and forward. Twilight stopped every time she thought she heard something.
Well of course I’ll hear things here! This is a hospital after all! The sound of the door she had entered through came to her ears, and she quickly hid behind a nearby trash can. She peeked around the corner to see an unknown doctor walking by. He never noticed her, so when he passed, Twilight came out from her hiding place. She started to creep along again when he disappeared around a nearby corner.
Twilight passed many rooms on her journey through the hospital maze, countless rooms of patients, doctors, and medical machines. After searching for many minutes, Twilight came to a room labeled Locker Room and another branch of her idea grew. She stood up cautiously and peeked through the window. Just as she had expected, lab coats, stethoscopes, and other doctor necessities were either piled, hanging up, or folded in the room.
Twilight glanced around the hallway she was in, and pushed into the room. She looked around, and soon found a lab coat her size. She put it on along with the stethoscope and looked into a nearby mirror. She turned around in a circle to look at herself fully. Twilight frowned. This is missing something… Sparkle then spotted a pair of glasses in the corner of her eye.
She put them on and returned to the mirror. She smiled in a doctorish way and was surprised to find herself a spitting image of one. She backed up from the mirror and headed towards the door, confident enough that she will be mistaken for a doctor. She casually walked out and closed the door behind her. She walked through the deserted hallway until the doctor she had hidden from earlier walked around the corner and nearly bumped into her.
“S-sorry miss……” He stammered, looking at the coat without a name tag on it. “Hmm…never seen you here before…what’s your name?” He asked, suspicion quickly rising in his tone.
Twilight glanced down at where he had been looking and didn’t see a name tag. She rested her eyes back on him and adjusted her glasses as she said calmly, “I’m Miss Sparkle. A trainee.”
The suspicion deflated as quickly as it had come. “Sorry…Miss Sparkle.” He corrected. “Hmm…are you lost?”
Twilight didn’t respond. “…because all of the trainees are in a different part of the building doing medical training.” Twilight shrugged and moved to pass him, only to get stopped by a hoof cutting off her path. “Like I said before, Miss Sparkle, training is in the other section of the hospital…” He said coldly; squinting his eyes at her.
Twilight nodded knowingly, not flinching at his gaze. “I know. But the head director told me to come over here to watch a real surgery. I am one of his favorite students.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, looking at her thoroughly. He nodded slowly as she began passed him, but then stopped. “Hey wait one second…” He said suddenly, making Twilight stop in her tracks. “What is the proper way to use an X-ray machine?” He tested her.
Twilight quickly thought back to when she had gotten herself hooked on medical journals and books. She tried to remember when she read about X-ray machines. She finally found it and read from the pages in her mind. “Well, as everyone knows the first step is to have it plugged in.” She said, trying to make a joke. The doctor didn't he smile. Twilight frowned in concentration and irritation as she “read” on.
She explained the rest of the steps to him in perfect detail. As she went on, his expression grew more and more surprised and intrigued. When Twilight finished, he wore a look of admiration.
“Well, Miss Sparkle, I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” He said, walking past her. Twilight pressed her lips into a thin line as she thought, that’s a really lame excuse…but it’ll have to do for now. Sparkle then resumed her search for her mother’s room number after the long hesitation.
Twi then realized that she’s dressed as a doctor, and if one doctor could be fooled, so could many others. She walked around with more confidence and finally found the desk that marked the beginning of the patient/occupant area. Twilight walked up and spotted the operator, who was shuffling papers around on her desk. As Twilight came up, the nurse noticed her and turned to greet her with a warm smile, forgetting the papers for a moment.
“How may I help you…” She began, trying to find the name tag also.
Twilight sighed internally and said, “My name’s Miss Sparkle, and I’m here to get the room number of a mare named Twilight Velvet.”
The operator didn’t hesitate in pulling up the file name and handed over the folder. “Here, Miss Sparkle. This may help you with what you seek. Have a nice day.”
She waved as Twilight walked down one of the hallways after taking a quick peek into her mother’s folder. The top sheet was the one which had her mother’s name, address, phone number, and other personal information. She then looked at the bottom of the page and found the room number. Room 204…I’m looking for Room 204…
Twilight concentrated on finding what she had been searching for what about 45 minutes now. Twilight wandered the halls and finally found what she was looking for: Room 204. Twilight peeked through the window to make sure there weren’t any doctors in there already, and pushed into the room when she saw none. Her mother was hooked up the medical machines around her bed against the wall.
Twilight thought she was asleep but as she walked up to the bed, she saw that her mother’s eye were opened only a crack. Twilight walked slowly as her mother opened her eyes wider.
“I’m sorry doctor, but I know how to drink juice without anyone’s help. I’m not that old!” Twilight Velvet finished with mock indignation. Twilight’s mother sat up and picked up the open juice carton. Then she stopped.
Velvet looked back at “Doctor Twilight” with confusion. “You know, doctor, you have a very similar resemblance to my daughter, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Do I now?” Twilight said, taking off the doctor necessities and going to stand beside her mother’s bed.
“Twilight?” Velvet asked in shock.
Sparkle nodded and nuzzled her mother’s side.
Velvet smiled but then looked confused again.
“Why are you dressed as a doctor, Twilight?” She asked gazing at the clothes her daughter had just pushed aside. “Well…I really wanted to see you, mom. But the doctors wouldn’t let me inside of this area……so I—”
“So you disguised yourself as a doctor and snuck your way over here to see me?” Velvet finished. Twilight nodded. She smiled at the thought and leaned in to give her a hug. Twilight was exhausted about wandering the halls, but she returned the embrace.
She then plopped down into a cushioned chair sitting close by and gave a big sigh of relief. Her mother chuckled a little and lay back down. “If you don’t mind, dear, I think I’m going to take a quick nap.” Her mother said, wrapping the hospital blanket around her and making sure that she didn’t mess up the tubes taped to her arms.
“You don’t have to tell me.” Twilight said, nodding her head. Her mother didn’t say anything else for she had already fallen asleep. Twilight smiled and closed her own eyelids.
Twilight woke with a start when she felt the chair she was sleeping in shake. Twilight sat up quickly and looked over at her mother to find her sitting up and her hooves shaking uncontrollably. Sparkle jumped up immediately and looked around at the medical equipment frantically, her mind going blank. An idea then came to her. Twilight ran out of the door and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Help! My mother’s having a seizure! Get help quickly!”
About three doctors from nearby rooms busted out and hurried over to the room Sparkle was pointing at. Twilight hurried in after them.
Twilight saw that her mother's whole body was shaking now and that all of the doctors were trying to strap her mother down while they got some more medical equipment. They seemed to be calm for the first 2 minutes, but that soon changed to worry and desperation when the situation didn't change.
Twilight then noticed that they started to fumble the machines in their hooves. Countless noises went on in that room for 15 minutes, drowning out the sound of Twilight’s heartbeat.
Sparkle paced around the room the entire time, constantly racing over to check on her mother’s progress. It was getting worse by every few seconds. Twilight felt sweat start to sting her eyes as she raced over once again. Twilight blinked to make them go away.
She then returned to the situation to find her mother starting to recover…or so she thought. The beeping sound of the heart rate monitor reached Twilight’s ears for the first time since she arrived in the room.
She looked over at the screen and saw the continually jumping lines flash across, getting slower and slower as time went on.
*beep*….*beep*…...*beep.........*
Then, she finally realized what was going to happen to her mother. She rushed to her mother and knocked the other doctors out of the way in the process. She pressed her face into her mother’s side as she heard the sound grow slower and finally come to a stop on a never ending note.
The doctors, finally able to hear the sound without all the racket going on, walked over slowly and bowed their heads in unison. After a few minutes, one of them lifted their head and walked over to a telephone to call the front desk and tell them the news. Twilight didn't move a muscle when four ponies came in with a medical stretcher.
They lay it down on the floor and moved towards Twilight, who still had her face pressed into the spot where it was now soaking wet. They then grabbed her gently by the arms and pulled her back slowly so they could get her mother and put her on the stretcher.
When Twilight felt them touch her, she immediately tried to break away by kicking and struggling. She bruised several doctors, but they still held onto her with iron grips. Sparkle watched through blurry eyes as the remaining doctors picked up her mother’s limp body gently and lay it on the stretcher.
They picked it up and walked out of the room silently, their faces wore a look of despair and sympathy.
The doctor holding Twilight let go of the struggling mare and let her follow the ponies. They made up the tail of the group as they made their way to the front of the building.
The group passed many patients, doctors, and nurses on their way there. Twilight’s tears had never stopped since she and the others had left the room. After a while, Twilight finally cracked.
She couldn't take the pressure of the death and the ponies staring at her about a quarter of the way through their trek, so she leaned towards the nearest doctor and sobbed into his lab coat.
He patted her comfortingly; obvious that he had dealt with this sort of thing before. Twilight didn't care what the other ponies thought; she just needed a shoulder to cry on for the time being.
Sparkle didn't notice how much time had passed since her mother had had the heart attack, but it was about late afternoon when Twilight finally stepped outside again, the sun blinding her temporarily. When she could see once more, Twilight saw a familiar carriage come rolling up the road and park a little ways away from were Twilight stood herself.
The doors opened to let out a very sorrowful Shining Armor, who rushed up to Twilight immediately and wrapped his forearms around her comfortingly. Twilight burst out sobbing once again at his comforting hug, making the fur around Shining Armor’s neck become matted and wet.
Her brother just stood there, trying his best to comfort his little sister, not having much success either.
Then, Twilight heard the sound of another pair of hooves coming towards them. Sparkle looked up to find her favorite foal-sitter, Cadance, standing there with sorrow and sympathy in the welled up tears she was about to shed.
Twilight pulled away from her brother almost instantly to rush over to Cadance to hug her too. Cadance returned the embrace as her tears finally burst out. The two mares stayed there, embraced together in a bawling wet mass of sobs.
A sympathetic expression made its way onto her brother’s face as he gazed at his two girls. After a while, Cadance recovered mostly and kissed the top of Twilight’s head in a comforting fashion, which made Twilight sob even more.
Her tears never seemed to stop flowing, even if her brain demanded them to.
The remaining family members stayed in that condition until about early twilight.
The dried tears stains left in Twilight’s fur were very obvious, so Shining Armor tried his best to wipe them away with a spare tissue, but nothing seemed to work. After a few tries, Shining gave up, and he gently guided her into the carriage that was supposed to take her back to the Canterlot Train Station.
Twilight resisted her brother at first; trying to get back to Twilight Velvet, but after a few minutes of struggling against her strong kin, she sighed sorrowfully and gave up. As she was seated into the vehicle, she looked at Shining Armor.
“What will we do now?” She asked.
Shining hesitated, and then looked away. “…I…I don’t know, Twily…” He whispered hoarsely.
Sparkle looked down at her lap as he closed the door and the carriage began to descend the scene. Twilight looked out the window at the now dull city, it alleyways and streets now overflowing with darkness; it’s only hope of finding light again would be when the sun came up the next morning.
Twilight felt like the sunshine in her heart would never come to blow away the shadows of the night building up…
* * *
The next morning, Twilight awoke feeling absolutely awful. She looked awful, too. But aside from that she had a terrible headache, her hooves ached from all the traveling, she was tired, and her heart ached.
After thinking about what happened yesterday, it made her want to cry even more. But before her tears could escape, she tried to think about how her friends would be glad to see her and how Pinkie Pie would probably throw a big party welcoming her back.
She smiled weakly and laid back down in the bed she had slept in for the night on the train. She turned her head towards the window and looked at the bright sunny day that had unfolded.
I can’t wait to see everypony when I get back home..
She sighed happily and closed her eyes, only to hear the ear-busting screech of the brakes and to feel the train slowly shudder to a stop.
Twilight sighed.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, letting her magic gather up all of her belongings. When she was ready to depart off the vehicle, she stopped at the door and gave a thank you to the conductor. He simply nodded. As she exited, the familiar sense of happiness from Ponyville was overwhelming to Twilight, since her day yesterday was filled with confusion and tears.
She breathed in deeply and exhaled after a moment, before quickly trotting to The Golden Oaks Library.
As she walked in, she called out her usual greeting.
“Spiiike! I’m home!”
When she got no response, she checked upstairs in her bedroom. Only, it wasn't her bedroom.
She looked around at the neat room, the covers on it a plain white color. And no baby dragon bed laying at the foot of the bed. She jumped when an elderly mare’s voice spoke from behind her.
“You know you’re not supposed to be up here.” The elder said suspiciously.
“Wait…who are you?” Twilight asked the mare.
“Why, I’m Page Turner. The Golden Oaks librarian." She replied, still not so sure whether Twilight was a friend or a robber.
“Well, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight introduced herself. “D-do you live here?” She asked nervously.
“Well, yes.” Page Turner replied. “Why? Have you heard about me or something?”
“No…it’s just…” She paused, suddenly aware that if she told the mare, she probably wouldn’t believe her.
“What is it, dearie?”
“It’s…nothing. Never mind.”
Page Turner nodded and walked down the stairs. Twilight followed after and walked out the door, her ears flopped down and wearing a sorrowful expression. She walked on until she came to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. She was surprised to find how far she had walked, but she advantage of the tree shade and sat down under one.
After a while, a familiar orange mare trotted up from behind her and tipped her hat towards her.
“Howdy!” She said. She asked, sounding absolutely delighted.
“Huh? Oh, hey Applejack…”
Applejack looked confused. “How do ya know my name, sugar cube?”
Twilight looked up. “Huh? But I’ve always known you!” She said, surprised.
Applejack still looked confused.
“You’re one of the Elements of Harmony? "Honest Applejack"?” Her words didn’t seem to be getting through to her. “Oh, never mind!”
Twilight stomped off, but was still curious to why Applejack was acting so weird.
She decided she would visit Fluttershy and see if she could tell her why their friend was acting that way.
* * *
Twilight arrived a short while later and knocked lightly.
Fluttershy opened the door, but looked surprised to see Twilight standing there.
“Hey Fluttershy!” She said happily.
The Pegasus hid behind the door and peeked around it. “W-w-who are you….?” She asked shyly.
Twilight felt even more confused. “I-it’s me! Twilight Sparkle!” She said frantically.
Fluttershy stopped peeking from behind the door and spoke quietly. “I-I don’t..know a T-Twilight Sparkle…”
Twilight sighed; frustrated and left the cottage door to go find Rarity.
* * *
She found her where she always was: in her boutique making clothes.
The bell above the doorway rang out as Twilight entered.
“Coooomming!” She heard the fashoinista sing as she left her work to tend to the customer.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where everything is chic, unique, and magnific!” Rarity sang as she greeted Twilight. “Can I help you, madam?” She asked politely.
Twilight gave up.
“…no…” She said sadly and walked out of the store.
She continued to walk. She didn't care where her hooves took her; she just wanted to follow them.
They took her to a bar that looked recently built.
“Salt on the Rim?” Twilight said, looking at the bar. She shrugged and walked inside anyway.
To her surprise, though, the bar was packed full. It was very unusual since that night was a Wednesday night.
She picked her way carefully through the mingling crowd until she got to the bar. She sat down and looked at the menu. She got the one that sounded the best to her.
“Can I have some...Jack Daniel's, please?” Twilight asked the young mare behind the counter.
The bartender nodded and brought up a medium sized glass and filled it to the brim with Jack Daniel’s. Twilight took it gratefully and sipped it as she thought.
I wonder why everypony is acting so weird today....? .
She drank the rest of her drink without a problem, paid the mare, and trotted right back out.
Her thought never left her mind as she trotted back to the library.
Wait... She stopped.
I don’t live there anymore…where will I go?... She thought about it and came up with a solution.
Oh! I know! I’ll just take up a room at the local hotel tonight.
She briskly trotted towards the hotel that stood in the northern part of the city. She paid the ten bits for her room and received her key. When she unlocked her door, she immediately flopped onto her bed and tried to fall asleep.
She couldn’t.
One, because her thoughts were still bugging her and two, there was a couple below her room who were fighting and it was getting really loud.
She stomped on the ground to let them know and shouted, “Can you be quiet, please?!”
She heard silence, felt satisfied, and lay down again.
She fell into a troubled sleep with disturbing nightmares. She kept waking up constantly in a cold sweat. And on top of that, the couple below began to fight again, and their voice worked its way into her dreams.
The next morning, she looked and felt even worse than when she woke up the day before. She did her usual routine of gathering her stuff. She checked out and began to explore Ponyville again.
Then, she sprouted an idea.
She galloped until she reached the edge of town and trudged into the Everfree Forest. She galloped until she reached her destination: Zecora’s House. Twilight knocked and waited impatiently.
“Why, hello, new friend,” She greeted Twilight.
The words “new friend” caught Sparkle and she immediately stomped away and back to Ponyville.
She didn't know why she was going back to town, because it seemed that everyone except her own family had forgotten her.
She sighed and walked up the streets, lonely and confused.
When she didn't think that things couldn’t get any worse, a big shadow covered the sun. Twilight looked up, hoping the shadow would be just a lonesome cloud drifting by. But it certainly wasn’t. Twilight couldn't tell what it was so she squinted and tried to get a better view.
....Griffons?!
