Courage Knows no Weakness

“Spi-ike!” called Twilight as she led Comet Dust down the winding staircase into her lab.

Comet heard a thud as Spike rolled out of his bed lazily. Moments later, she heard his claws scraping against the wooden floors as he ran to catch up with Twilight. “Yes,... Twilight?” he said, slightly out of breath.

“Fetch me that golden box over there, the one with the ruby on top.”

“Sure, thing Twilight.”

Comet heard Spike retreat towards the wall where she knew the small bookshelf was. “Got it!” he called triumphantly after a few moments of stretching to reach it in its obvious perch on the top shelf.

The sounds of scraping claws grew louder as Spike ran back with the box in his, well, claws. “Thanks, Spike.”

Comet could sense her mother’s magic as she placed the box on the floor and opened it, causing an even stronger concentration of magic to fill the room. “What is it?” asked Comet hesitantly.

“This is a bracelet made from the purest of gold and the core of an extremely special fire ruby.” answered Twilight.

“What does it do?”

“Remember the spell I’ve been making you practice?”

“Of course, mom. I only have to practice it every day.”

“Then try on the bracelet and find out.”

Comet gasped as the cold metal wrapped itself around her hoof, clasping at the back to fit her perfectly. She closed her eyes and concentrated, quietly reciting the words to the spell. “From blackest night, to day’s sweet light, may this gem hear my plea, and allow me to finally see.”

After a few seconds, she slowly opened one eye, then the other. She could not only register color and light, but she finally got to see her mother! “It... works.” she said in awe.

“Well, not permanently. After the spell wears off this time, it will only work when it is absolutely necessary. You see, the fire ruby can only hold magic for so long and has to recharge before it can hold a full-strength spell ag- “ Twilight stopped.

“Oh, Comet! It works!” she said, giving her daughter a hug that would rival any given by a bear.

“Can we go find the others, mom? I want to see them before I... y’know.”

“Sure. They’re all at Fluttershy’s. C’mon Spike.”

“C-Can he ride on my back this time?” asked Comet shyly.

“You bet!” cried Spike, jumping onto the unicorn happily.

The young purple and green dragon sat atop the unicorn he had helped to see. The fire ruby used for her bracelet was probably one of the finest he had made yet. But he would never let Comet know he had helped; it would make her feel bad if she knew he had used some of his special magic to help her. As they passed her cloak on the way out, Spike reached over and grabbed it. “Wouldn’t want to forget this.” he said quietly, knowing Comet would need it later.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Applejack peered into the cottage, seeing as the door was left ajar. Rainbow had gone to get Rarity and Angel had come back with the orange mare, finished with his mission. All he had wanted to do was get Fluttershy’s friends over here to talk to her, and now that was done. He hopped off of AJ’s back and towards Fluttershy, stroking her mane once more.

Taking a few quiet steps into the cottage, Applejack cringed slightly when a board creaked under her hoof. Pinkie Pie looked up at her with tear-filled eyes turning red from crying. Her mane was as flat as AJ had ever seen it. “What’d I miss?” she asked quietly, going over and laying on the floor near her friends.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rarity looked up from her sewing as Rainbow Dash rapped on the window of her boutique. “What is it now, Rainbow? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” asked the white unicorn as she opened the window.

A flash of colors later, Rainbow Dash was standing beside Rarity’s sewing table. “So, what’cha workin on?”

“Just the most amazing dress ever for Twilight. She said she wanted something that looked spectacular for her daughter’s upcoming birthday. I couldn’t understand why for the life of me, but I still accepted the challenge. So, what brings you here?”

“Oh, uh, Angel came and found me at Sweet Apple Acres. You know that bunny doesn’t exactly like me, so I figured something had to be wrong with Fluttershy. AJ and Angel are probably there by now, but I thought I should come get you, just in case.”

Rarity looked at Rainbow and sighed. Normally the cyan pegasus just wanted to annoy her with tricks. She glanced at the dress she had yet to finish. “Well, I guess I could take a... short break. Let’s go.” she said, already trotting down the stairs.

“I’ll see you there. But Rarity,”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Just, hurry. Okay?”

“You’ve got it, Rainbow Dash. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Rarity bolted out the door, her hooves carrying her as fast as they could. She saw a rainbow streak in the air as the blue pegasus flew towards the opposite side of town. Twilight had tried to show her a teleportation spell once. Maybe she could use that to get to Fluttershy’s faster!

She concentrated on her destination. It lay on the outskirts of town somewhat close to the Everfree Forest. As she ran, her horn started to glow the color of sapphires. She shut her eyes and pushed forward through the crowds of ponies that were in the streets. Then suddenly, she was gone.

She felt something pluck her from the streets and disappear with her. Her stomach tightened and her knees buckled under the force of the pull. She tried to relax and focused solely on Fluttershy’s cottage. When the rushing wind around her died down, she slowly opened her eyes. Everypony had turned to stare as she appeared in Fluttershy’s living room.

Rainbow Dash flew through the door a few seconds later, a rainbow trail following her through the door as she crashed into a birdhouse that hung from the ceiling. “Stupid animals.” she mumbled, trying to pull her muzzle from the entrance to the tiny structure.

“Here, let me help you darling.” said Rarity, pulling the pegasus free with a simple levitation spell.

Rainbow looked up, slightly dazed. “H-how did you get here before me?”

“Just a simple teleportation spell, something I’ll probably never try again.”

Rarity couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of teleporting again. The way her stomach had tightened left her feeling a little sick. She looked over at her other friends and gasped. Pinkie’s mane was flat and lifeless, Fluttershy had tears streaming down her face and Applejack’s emerald eyes were red from crying. She had never seen anything like this among her friends.

“What’s going o-”

She stopped short as Twilight and Comet Dust raced in through the open door. “Twilight, what’s happening?” asked Rainbow, now recovered from her crash.

“I think I should let Comet explain.”