One In One Hundred

by Dimondium

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Princess Celestia, Dark, Sad, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Scootaloo, Sex, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 36346

The 'E word' scares us all. Even Twilight.

Post Mortem Edit:thanks to King Coco for the cover!

TAGGED AS DARK JUST TO BE SAFE. I'd consider it more of [Light Dark] if I could. Same with the Teen. Just to be safe.

When Twilight sends yet another letter to her teacher, she finds it surprising that she receives a direct reply. When asked if she wished to continue her studies, or to return back to her protege, she finds a huge personal conflict can take place in spite of logic and reasoning. She eventually decides upon staying, but at great reluctance.

The unicorn will soon find out what it truly means to be a friend, and where that line between 'friends' and 'more than' lies. The real question is, how much can she take? Especially when her own best friend is in her hour of greatest need? And how will her decision change her life?

Told in charming letter format.

Tags and characters are for the final version, not current.

Published 2012-02-25 20:34:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-20 14:33:26 UTC

Two Turn Fever

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I can say that that was officially the third longest document I ever read, but unlike the top two, I read every word, and was engrossed by it.

Honestly, what I have to say about your confusion...Twilight, have you really stopped, and taken thought and consideration into your emotions? Take a little time to reflect in your thoughts, think outside the box. What you're believing now could be a lie to yourself.

I'm sorry to hear about Rainbow Dash's injury, and I certainly wish her the best luck in recovery. With you watching over her, she should be just fine, though.

I believe what Applejack could possibly have is something that dates all the way back to olden times, even before me and my sister reigned. The accounts are vague, but it seemed to be a magical mutation with the destruction of polio and the contagiousness of the common cold. It was believed to be eradicated, but apparently not. I'm afraid that means she likely doesn't have much time, if it is what I believe it to be.

The disease began similar to a fever, but that's only one of its first stages. For this reason, it got its charming nickname of 'Two Turn Fever'. Sadly, the name suits it in more ways than one. The pony who catches it has only about two weeks to live...

Before I come back to what actually happens next, I ask you if she's been near any area of the Everfree lately. Dormant spores of the virus still lurk in certain areas. Only civilized areas have eradicated it, and once it takes root, it can't be taken out. At least, not without dangerous procedures.

Regardless, the first stage begins with weakness, slight deliriousness, and exhaustion. Much like a fever. But stage 2 begins by slowly crippling the joints, beginning near the hind legs, and spreading forward until the victim is rendered effectively immobile. It then continues, slowly damaging nerves, and in doing so, travels up crucial pathways, in which it sometimes reaches the spine. Often, this leaves complete and certain immobilization, along with intense pain before entire loss of feeling. And that's 'turn two'.

Unfortunately, there's a third stage, despite that violating the name; it often stops at two. But it can travel up along the spinal column, and slowly make its way into the afflicted pony's brain.

I'm sorry to say this Twilight, but Applejack might possibly have Two Turn Fever. And if she does, and it reaches her brain...well, take comfort in the fact that the final stage is rather painless, compared to Stage 2.

Of course, it could just be a fever, but it's best to err on the safe side. If she's still only in stage 1, you can stop it. All that's needed is a simple mixture of Blue Porfisci, and a few tree bark scrubbings from Zebzonia. Quite simple, really.

In any case, I'm glad to see that you will be open soon. As you have learned yourself, taking care of somepony is a big deal, no matter how strong your bond is. It's a lot of work, like being a mother.

You know, each day, the similarities between you and Sapphire seem to become even more evident. Just like you were, she's a naturally, magically talented pony, though she doesn't quite know how to contain her abilities. She's eager, she enjoys books a lot...if I didn't know better, I'd say she were your sister!

I'm also a little intrigued at Spike's behavior-lovably quirky as he is, such staggered speech as that is certainly deviant from his typical 'normality'. I'd almost say he knows something that you don't...
Princess Celestia
11-15-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

Is...are you serious about Applejack? Is that a possible occurrence? I really don't want to watch that happen to one of my friends, is there any way to be completely sure?

You know, in a way, from what I hear, Sapphire sounds just like a faint, amiable memory. One that I can't remember, but still absently coming to it every now and then for a brief second, before drifting away. And she does sound like a nice little filly. It's nice to have somepony looking up to me, but I've already experienced that, and I still am. Spike is the best companion I could ask for, and he has so much to learn. But the best part is, he's willing to do it all with me.

You know, even after reading all these books, I still don't understand my empathetic attitude towards Dash, the willingness to cope with everything that she goes through. I mean, sure, I'd do the same for the other girls, Spike, heck, even any random pony who stumbled onto my doorstep who needed help. But I'd probably get fed up so quickly.

And that leads me to a reflection, which I can't fully understand myself, and I hope possibly you can shed some light on it.

I've been replaying each and every second from the incident up until now in my head over, and over, and over. The guilt still remains prominent, but now I can sort of recognize another feeling upon putting myself back into the moment. My impulse to embrace Rainbow so quickly was a key example of it, much more so than simple friendship. I'm sure it was a little mixture between 'emotionally overwhelmed', 'extremely happy', 'relieved', and a tiny bit of 'contentment', to name a few basic feelings.

You know, every second spent around her feels right, just...right. This is the thing that I can't explain, what I can't tell you full-on what I'm thinking. Because I don't know. It's, I suppose, not too unusual. I mean, one's got to cherish time with their friends after such an accident, right? That's what I'm asking here.

...something about those words above these seems so scripted, I honestly want to know why.

And Princess, I ignored it twice, but thrice is too much-why are you randomly emphasizing words? I don't see how any relation to the conversation is invoked by outlining the words that you did. Would you care to explain?

Your puzzled student,
Twilight Sparkle
11-15-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Twilight, I've seen the signs, and I'm trying to show you what you yourself refuse to believe. From how Spike is acting, I believe he knows, too, Twilight. Try re-reading those words. As many ponies say, "hint, hint".

There is one way to be completely sure. The only difference between a normal fever and Stage 1 is that Stage 1 elicits no temperature change, and the victim, as such, is seen as just 'not up to it' that day. So most certainly, Applejack has somehow caught it. I'd say you have about...1 day before Turn 2 comes around. Hurry yourself to Zecora's, she should have the ingredients that you need.

Unfortunately, things aren't going very well in Canterlot, either. I'm afraid that multiple cases of the fever have popped up in the area, too. Even my best investigators haven't a clue where it came from, though we did manage to contain it, and nopony was harmed. But any second, it could possibly revive itself. It's a tough strain, and one spore turns to two, two to four, until its replicated from near destruction all the way to thriving.

In any case, it should be safe for you to make the journey up here tomorrow. Any traces of it have disappeared, at least for now. But I'll keep a diligent eye out nonetheless, both for the virus, and your arrival.

Princess Celestia
11-16-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

Looking back on my visit, you were right! Looking at Sapphire pretty largely reminds me of myself, and the way she slightly trills her double r's is so exotic! I've only heard of ponies from Colta Rica or similar areas speaking like that, but not a little filly from Canterlot! It's also pretty amazing how much she knows already. But then I remember that she has the best teacher that anypony could have-you.

I have to admit, though, I was a little confused when you handed me that book before I left. Of course, I'd never seen anything like it, and that blank cover left me a little skeptical. What sort of pony would write a book with no title, nor an author listed? That's just a little odd. But when I opened it, I noticed it was some sort of journal! So, when I got home that night, I brought up a candle, and began to read. It began simple enough, with the pony merely sharing little events, and a few feelings.

When they began mentioning a secret admirer, I got a sense of deja vu. But nevertheless, I continued. Over time, the pony actually had to take care of their own best friend, and they frustrated them so much, but they put up with them, and-

Celestia, are you trying to get at something with that book? Because not only is it nearly parallel to the past few days I've had, but it ends right after the 20th page, right as the pony apparently sat down to speak with their friend. It was just blank pages from then on. Are you trying to make me fill in the blanks, learn something, or...? I just don't get it yet.

I did, in fact, read back over the words. It seems you're referencing some quite unrelated words. 'Soar', 'can't wait', and now 'how strong your bond is'? What does that have anything to do with? Soaring can refer to flying, inability to wait being a representation of impatience, and I assume the bond references friendship. So you're talking about somepony or something who's impatient, can fly, and...well, something about being friends, I guess?

I suppose this should be worth a mention. Ever since Dash lost her vision, the letters and everything stopped, as if they knew what I was going through.

And Rainbow is becoming incredibly introverted around me, and I'm sure it's just around me, and me only. I've overheard her talking, and even laughing with Spike, but when I walk in, she always becomes incredibly secretive as soon as she realizes that I'm there. I thought at first it could have been something I said, but I realize she wouldn't hold a grudge for too long. I've also taken it upon myself to ask Spike if he's noticed anything else, and he mentioned that he's seen her mumbling a few times to herself. All she apparently says is like responses to a question, like 'No, no, too much...' or 'Yeah, perfect!'. It's really odd, even considering that she does occasionally talk to herself, though that's normally in the form of a pep talk.

I mean, Dash is a great pony. She's confident, fearless, and physically capable. But it's as if all 3 of those traits have disappeared, even along with some of her typical characteristics, such as her general informality, and her complacent ego. Not that it's a bad thing, of course. It's actually kind of nice. She's more well-mannered, she's decently kind, and she even smiles without any arrogance about it. But couple that with the shyness, and you have a recipe for utterly conflicting traits. Another thing puzzling me is that she's complaining of wing pains a lot, despite not flying, and plenty of stretching. I suppose it's just like those days when your head hurts for no evident reason. But she uses it as an excuse, supposedly, to change the topic. I'll keep an eye on that one...

I also managed to get the ingredients from Zecora, and after a few questions, found out how to make the brew work. I swear, I've never worked faster in my life to hustle over to Sweet Apple Acres, and to get it there in time. I still have no idea if she's fine, because she was a sickly pale color when I saw her. I don't know if I was too late, but nevertheless, at least I tried.

Anyways, I got a letter from the hospital when I got back. They said that tomorrow, if all has gone well (which it more or less has. My books say that the wing pain is relatively unrelated.),the bandages can come off. That was considerably shorter than I thought it would be, but I'm also glad that she has recovered so quickly. I bet she's just itching to be able to race or fly, or anything. I wouldn't blame her.

Oh dear, another complicated, and convolutedly extended letter. I've really got to quit writing these...

Your slightly excited nonetheless student,
Twilight Sparkle
11-18-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

You know, I'd be looking out for tomorrow. It sounds to be an important one, but just call it a teacher's hunch.

I'm afraid I am completely unable to shed any light on personal matters, however. Different ponies have different minds, which have different attitudes, which cause certain emotions at different times, which can be interpreted very different from another's. What I interpret as, say, benevolence, you could interpret as dejectedness. It's an uncertain study, so I'm afraid I can't help there.

Considering that you got to Applejack before she began complaining of any pain, I'm sure she should be fine in just a little while. I must admit, it was quick traveling for you to be able to rush between Zecora's and Sweet Apple Acres. At least, taking into account that you didn't teleport, it really takes a lot of staying power to move between the two quickly.

I must cut this letter a little short today, because I have important business that requires me and my sister to attend. It's more or less confidential, so I'm afraid that I can't say anything at the moment. I'd be violating my own guidelines.

But I will tell you-you're very close to the mark on your guessing. And to help you-somepony, not something.

Princess Celestia
11-18-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

I figured it out. I finally figured it out.

...but not before I had a little help.

Now, I'm pretty taken aback for many reasons-one being that my heart knew I did, but my brain didn't. I suppose intelligence doesn't account for everything.

Right, let me tell you how I found out, before I sum up why. I apologize for my brevity, but I'm still a little surprised, and I'm trying to find the words to describe it.

Not to mention paper doesn't really capture emotions.

I woke up this morning, thinking it'd be like any other. The sun streamed through the windows beautifully, and I felt ready to tackle anything. It was late morning, and I looked to the side to check for Rainbow, since she probably would want to get moving by now.

She wasn't there.

Now was when I got worried. She definitely shouldn't be traversing the library without being able to watch her step, especially when we were on the second floor! I was rushing around trying to find her, worrying this way and that, when a voice drifted up from downstairs.

"Hey Twilight, you're up a little late, huh?"

I remember sighing in relief. She was fine, and that was her, all right. I'd headed downstairs, and sure enough, she was waiting in the den. Spike was there too, putting a few books back on the shelves. I supposed he might've read to her while I was asleep-she loves the Daring Doo series so much, and she was on book 3 in a matter of days after beginning.

"What I want to know, is why you were up so early," I stated.

"Oh, no reason," Dash said. But I could tell that there was a reason. As she said it, her tail swished nervously, and her cheeks colored.

Confrontation would solve nothing, however, so I moved on. "I see. Spike, out of curiosity, which books are those? I want to be sure you're putting them into the right places."

I thought he was hiding something, too, by the way that he responded. "Oh, get off my tail, will ya'? I can handle it!"

I tried to get a glance at the books, but all I saw was the word 'You' before Spike managed to push the last one in. It wasn't much of an indication of what lay within.

One way or the other, the rest of the morning turned out the same. I went to run a few errands, the usual, and it was some time in the early afternoon when Dash called me in, saying she wanted to talk. Something about the way she said it made my stomach flutter nervously, but I went anyways.

When it was only her asking when it was time to get the bandages off, I felt relieved. I explained the letter, and said that any time today would be fine, including now. I wasn't surprised when she opted for right then, and right there.

I remember that it was a little bit of a task, having to carefully do it strand by strand, in one direction to let it slowly unravel. But eventually, the last strand came undone, and I set the bandage aside.

I remember watching her blink and squint, trying to adjust to the light after about 10 full days of darkness. Eventually, she stopped, and it was pretty amusing. She turned side to side and all around, a smile on her face breaking out after a bit.

"Well, you're free to go," I said. "My job here is done."

And then I remember her turning back to me, the grin dropping from her face. "Twilight," she said. "Now is when I tell you the real reason that I called you in here for."

I became nervous again, but she continued as if oblivious. "Twilight, I'd like to say thanks for taking care of me for so long, and putting up with me. But I'd like to say something else."

She cleared her throat here, and seemed to avoid eye contact for a bit. "We've known each for a while, right?"

I nodded in response to this.

"Well, I can still remember that first day, and ever since, things have really taken off. Adventures, stuff like that everywhere. That's what I'm trying to say. I mean...urgh! It's just that, after all this time, I think that I..."

Rainbow trailed off there. I could tell she wanted to bolt and run, but was making a conscious effort not to. Her face was almost redder than an apple by now. What was making her so nervous?

"I mean, I just..." She looked around, as if checking for eavesdroppers. It was unlikely, as even Spike was already asleep, and unable to hear anything. That was when she beckoned me closer, as if wanting to tell me a secret. I obliged.

If slow motion could exist at any point in time, it would have been right about then. As I leaned closer, she did too, and she kissed me.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Those little foreign 'hello, goodbye' ones, on one cheek and then the other. No, this was a full blown, romantic, on the lips one. I even felt my own face reddening, yet I felt no need to pull away. Maybe I was just too shocked.

I hardly recall her pulling back when she did, because I was still standing, mouth agape. She did continue, though. "I love you, Twilight Sparkle.

...now that I got that off my chest, feel free to hate me now."

It was as if that one moment changed everything. Connections were made in my brain, connecting emotions to events, and those to conclusions.

I now knew that Rainbow had hugged me when she thought I was leaving, because she loved me. It was a final act of goodbye.

I now knew why she saved me, and took it upon herself to go through the crows. Because she loved me. She risked her own life for me.

I now knew why Rainbow had been acting so introverted. It was because she was trying to find a way to confess to me. Those books, Spike, they were all apparently part of a plan that largely failed.

And I now knew my own self. Why I'd ran to her, why I'd embraced her, why I'd put up with her. Why each moment felt 'right'.

And so, I said it. After a few interminable seconds' waiting.

"I love you too, Rainbow."

If there was ever a contest for 'biggest smile', I have a feeling that Pinkie would have a little competition at it. Especially with the smile that Dash pulled there. She opened her mouth to say something, but it was right then that Spike walked out.

"Mornin'," he yawned. "What'd I miss?"

I looked towards Dash. "Should we tell him?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "Nah, let the kid figure it out. He will soon enough. "

I have to tell you, when we both collapsed into laughter, Spike could have won 1st place for 'Most Quizzical Look'.

But Princess, that isn’t it. I feel that I’ve learned something today.

What I’ve learned, is that sometimes, your friends are more than friends, and it’s important to know when, and why. If you mix your friend up for something, or vice versa, the end results can be catastrophic. But it’s also OK to grow to a friend, and want to be more than that. After all, as friends, you two agreed to share things together, so how much more different can a relationship be?

Oh, and Rainbow has something to say, too.

Hey, Princess. The Rainbow Dash here, your one stop shop for awesome and cool! I actually have more of a question-are you freakin’ psychic or something? Twilight showed me your letters, and you seem like some sort of ultra overlord pony who knows everything. How do you do that?

How amusing, Dash. I suppose we’d better wrap this up, Spike’s starting to get a little impatient. I was supposed to take him to Rarity’s today, and we might be a little late.

Your faithful students,
Twilight Sparkle & Rainbow Dash.
11-19-1001

The Letter Never Sent

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

What did I say? Teacher's hunch. You're always wise to trust it. Especially if you are a teacher.

As the matter is officially closed, I can say some things, but not much of it, for the reason that all cases have to have a certain air of confidentiality. To keep it simple, there was a board meeting of a few certain ponies.

It's confirmed that the Two Turn Fever is back in full swing, and vaccinations must be properly distributed. Unfortunately, that's all that must be said.

I'm so proud of you, my faithful student. Now you've come so far, learned roughly one hundred and one lessons on friendship...

I suppose the one you learned yesterday was one in a hundred, hm? After all, what are the odds of both learning something and finding something? Especially if that one thing is a love only two ponies can share?

I'll release you momentarily from the obligation to write me back immediately, Twilight. I know that you feel like you have to, but honestly, it isn't necessary, not to mention I'll have my hooves entirely full the next few days, it's probably best for you to carry on.

I also haven't heard, nor seen a trace of Sapphire in a few days. Her parents haven't either, and they're worried sick. Would you mind keeping an eye out for her? I have a feeling that she's wandered somewhere in your general direction.

Princess Celestia

11-19-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

Hey, it's Spike here. This is my first letter actually to you, and not just technically from Twilight. I'm not sure what to write, really, so I'll just start with this.

I've seen a few things lately, and they just don't make sense. For example, the other day, I was just walking along, minding my own business, and POW! A watermelon splats right in front of me! I didn't catch any sight of who did it, but I did hear giggling. And maybe a surprised yelp or two, but that's not the point. Weird watermelons falling from the sky. That's just creepy. I wonder if the little blue filly who ran by has any idea who did. Probably not, though. She was wearing a bunch of stuff that said, "I'm too important to be pranking people with watermelons!"

And Princess, can you keep a secret?

Well, I may be a little wrong, but seeing as I know what it feels like...

I think Twilight totally has a crush on Dash! No, seriously! Don't laugh yet! It was like yesterday, right? So I'm walking in the door, and what do I see? Well, I see an empty library. So I go upstairs, and yeah, there's Twilight! Rainbow's there too, and it's only when I blink before figuring out what the heck was going on, even after I'd opened my mouth to say 'hi'. Twilight jerked her head up, and started acting all embarrassed and stuff. I was going to ask what she was doing, but then I noticed the books on the floor, and shook my head. No wonder she was so flustered-the place was a mess! If I was as OCD as her, I'd understand entirely, though.

So I begin picking up the books, and here's where it gets really weird. I always check the authors so that the books are organized correctly, but on this seemingly random one, the title caught my eye.

However, all I got to see was a few words before Twilight took it back, saying she could handle it. But I did see this- 'The Beginner's Guide To Ki-'. I know that she doesn't have many books like that in the library, so it must've been a fairly new one. Most 'ki-' words are just 'kid', 'kindred', and even 'kintomperous', or some big word like that or something.

It took me a whole day of 'ki-' words ('kill', 'kick', 'kiln', 'kind', 'kitchen'...it goes on and on), and none made sense. 'The Beginners Guide to Killing'-I would hope not! Anyways, it would be a while before I found one-'kiss'. It really meant nothing, like all the other words, but something about it just begged me to look at the scene from earlier again. So I did.

Twilight jerking up and being all embarrassed, her willingness to snatch the book away from me. Oh yeah, Dash was there. Now that I remember, she wasn't exactly the most confident pony in there, either. Well, if the piece fits, slam it down! They were totally reading books together! I think that's enough, huh? Though why it would embarrass anyone is beyond me.

In any case, I'm surprised she hasn't written you in a while. And she's out a lot more often, attending to a bunch of 'important matters'. So it makes sense.

Well, there's a letter, I guess. Just kind of wrote to explain a few things.

Spike
12-05-1001

Dear Spike,

A blue filly, you say? Have you any idea where she went?

And I wouldn't worry too much about the letter issue. Twilight's getting into the world on her own, and as such, my job is more or less finished. You do have to let go of some ponies after a while, let them move on. I've done it more times than I can count, and each time seems worse. But I'm fine as long as she is.

Princess Celestia
12-06-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

I thought it wouldn't come to this. I thought I'd done my best, and that my best was enough. I can hardly bring myself to even write this letter, but there is a reason...so I'll stick through it, no matter how much I want to cry.

It was only 3 days ago when I remembered to check on Applejack. I'd been so busy between maintaining the library, and what little order I could manage to keep in Ponyville, I'd forgotten to see if she was okay.

By the time I had this notion, it was already near sunset. But regardless, I set out for Sweet Apple Acres at a brisk pace, hoping for the best. Maybe everything's OK, I was thinking. She's probably fine.

I arrived at the exact time that the last vestiges of light were sinking from the horizon. I didn't want to be out too late, so I attempted to hurry. I walked up to the small homely shed, and knocked. The wait seemed like hours, but the door opened soon enough, but not to the face I'd wanted to see so desperately. Instead, Big Macintosh stood, peering at me inquisitively, as if asking me to go on. Applebloom stood behind him, curious as to why I was there.

I then asked if Applejack was okay.

The transformation was nearly instant. Big Mac made a few 'ix-nay on the estion-quay' gestures, but the question had been asked. It was then that I saw tears begin to well up in the little filly's eyes...

I had to bite my own tongue to keep myself from straight-out sobbing, as my question was answered by Applebloom doing the very thing I was trying to avoid. I felt incredibly awkward, and I just had to stand there, as the full realization repeatedly smacked me in the face with each slowly passing second. Macintosh reassured me that it wasn't my fault for Applebloom's behavior, since I hadn't known. But by now, I was only half-listening to anything at all. My knees were trembling, and I feared that if I spoke, my voice would creak uncontrollably.

Nevertheless, I stayed only as long as necessary to be polite, and to offer my condolences in as few words as possible. I made the journey out of the farm without a single tear, and I made it to Ponyville perfectly fine, too. By now, it was night time, and I just trekked on...numb.

The second that I shut the door behind me, is when it really began. I can't remember whether it began with a single tear or not, but soon enough, I was pretty much wailing. I sank to the ground, trying to stop the sorrowful noises coming from me, but I just couldn't. I hardly even remember the half of it.

I do remember Dash coming rushing down from upstairs, asking if I was all right. I tried to find the strength to tell her that I was, but I just couldn't. And that didn't feel right, either. Lying.

A few minutes of her asking what had gone wrong, and why I was up passed quickly. I still had yet to let up. I'd never sobbed so hard in my life.

The next few hours were a hazy blur. I don't know how long I wept, while trying to gain control of myself. I don't know how long I sought shelter underneath the gentle wing of a friend, or how long I clung to her for dear life, crying into her shoulder. I don't even have an estimate of how many gentle reassurances were muttered in an attempt to keep me calm.

I hardly remember falling asleep, nor Spike walking down the stairs in the mid-morning. I hardly found the strength to keep my eyes half open. But Dash was still next to me, gently stroking my hair. And when he got a glimpse at the scene in front of him, before raising an eyebrow at me, Rainbow told him "Leave the poor pony alone. She's had a rough night."

The look she shot to send him running...if looks could kill...

I feel horrible, Princess. Applejack...she's gone. And all because of me. One of my own friends, vanished, because of my own failure to act with enough haste. My heart's already cleaved itself into pieces, and I'm finding more reasons to blame myself with each second. If I'd just taken an extra second to look in that book...if only I'd erred on the side of caution...

Maybe Applejack would still be with us. Applejack, the most reliable and dependable of ponies, the hard-working, honest mare role-model that everypony reveres and looks up to...

Gone. Because of me.

And in the scope of things, it's worse. I've lost more than the life of another pony, more than an innocent young soul.

I've lost one of my own friends. And it's my fault.

I wrote this letter to ask you-How can I move on? The problem is, I don't want to. It feels like I'm abandoning her, in a sense. I'm sure she hated me in her last moments anyways, though, so what does it matter?

I...I can't even keep my composure. I have to stop, before I flood the library with my tears.

Your interminably distraught, but ever faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
12-11-1001

"Twilight..."

The unicorn slumped in front of Rainbow made no response. Her head rested gloomily on a letter that sat in front of her, as if she’d fallen asleep while writing it. The feathered quill she used so often rested off to the side, as neat as anything in the library would be found.

“Come on, Twilight...” urged the pegasus gently. “You gotta’ move on. It’s been a few days.”

Twilight Sparkle slowly raised her head, turning to face the mare behind her. The unicorn’s eyes shone with unspoken tears. Great, thought Dash. We have to do the ‘emotions’ stuff again...I can never tell if I get it right...

“Move on...?” Twilight’s voice was strangely quiet, though it wavered slightly nonetheless. “Move on?”

Here we go...

“Applejack was one of my best friends, Dash! Not only is she gone, not only did she depend on me, but I failed! And I’m supposed to just...move on?!”

“Twi’, can you just listen to me he-” the pegasus soon found her sentence abruptly cut off as the lavender mare lunged into her vision.

“NO!” Twilight exclaimed. “I will not just move on! How should I, how could I, and why should I? I failed her once, next thing you know I’ll be failing to remember her!”

If I could just get her to quit interrupting me...

“Twilight, just let me say somethin’, OK? Then you can ignore me all you want, and live in that stand-still world of yours.”

A look of uncertainty came over the unicorn’s face, before she grumbled, and flopped to the floor. “Fine. Just make it quick.”

“Right,” confirmed Dash. “Let me tell you a little story, then.”

I know what it’s like to lose friends, too.

I was nothing more than that little filly you’ve heard about-still in Flight School, dealing with bullies and having loads of fun goofing off.

But there was this one pony I knew. Her name was Sparkling Sunset. She had a mane and a disposition to match perfectly. She was always bright, and in turn, even knew how to brighten my day on those horrible ones, where I’d landed myself in a particularly bad spot of trouble. In a way, she was like Pinkie.

One day, she came to me, sniffling and red-eyed. She had a bruise under her left eye. I was young at the time, and didn’t understand the severity of what had happened. But anyways, I asked, and she told me that...

Her father had struck her.

She said it’d happened suddenly, she somehow made him angry, and WHAM! Whack in the face. I tried to get her to perk up, and tell her to stand up to him, but day after day, it would happen again and again. Even in my ignorant state, I was a little worried.

The day came when our instructor took us for a field trip down to Ghastly Gorge. It was his job to chaperone us through, and make sure none of us got hurt. Naturally, working with 20 something kids was enough. So we’re flying over the gorge, and everyone’s laughing and having a great time.

Except for Sunset.

She was lagging towards the back of the group, and she just looked positively...glum. I backed up and asked what was wrong with her. She was being even more upset than usual, and her name no longer seemed to match her attitude.

She smiled at me, and spoke.

“Dash. You’re a good friend. You probably know that.”

By now, I was a little busy swelling my chest in pride.

“You comfort me in times of pain, you make me feel better. But it’s getting to be a little much to me.”

By now, I was scratching my head.

“I can’t take this anymore. I hate being scared of my own house, and I hate taking this pain every other day. I’m leaving, Rainbow. But thank you for being there for me.”
It was only when she began to drop that I realized what the hay she was fixing to do.

The instructor noticed immediately, and corralled all of the fillies and colts to the safety of the side, including me. I yelled at him, telling him to save her, to do something. But the punk had enough courage to say this to me-”Safety of the group is more important than one pony! I can’t be in 2 places at once, anyways!”

I had enough. I flew as fast as I could past him, and towards Sunset. She was falling fast, but I was flying faster. Maybe I would make it.

I got close enough for her to speak to me, I was reaching out to grab her, when she said it.

“Don’t. I want this.”

It surprised me enough to miss the crucial grab, and I had to watch, tears in my eyes, as she plummeted down far too fast for me to catch up.

The splat that she made never quite registered with me, and I never saw it. I didn’t want to. I was crying too hard to even see, nor hear anything important. All the kids up on the side were quiet. Hoops didn’t even dare to crack a joke. I was crying for hours, and hours. I still don’t know why she did what she did, instead of, I dunno’, GETTING HELP.

But I realized something. Friends come, and friends go. They pass away. And as a friend, your duty is to be there for them when you can, and remember them with passing. You don’t need to spend half your life mourning over them. The times you spend together are all they need, and all you need. You owe it to them to move on. It’s what they would want.

Twilight just stared at Dash, mouth slightly open. Oh crud, too much?

“I...” the unicorn sniffled, averting her gaze. “I suppose you’re right...”

Thank Celestia...

“You know, I still remember her...” mumbled Dash.

The lavender mare looked up. “Who, Sparkling Sunset?”

The pegasus shuffled her hooves awkwardly. “Her too...you know, you can still remember Applejack, too. I still do. And you know what?”

“...what?”

“I think you were one of the best friends that she had.”

Dash soon found herself tackled by one of the biggest hugs she’d ever had. As the vague scent of lavender entrenched itself in her nose, she heard 9 words whispered back to her.

“And you’re the best friend that I can have.”

Aaaand cut and scene, it worked! Chalk one up for the Dash! Victory is-

Something caught her attention. “Twilight? What’s with that letter?”

The letter glowed almost instantly, and as quickly as it’d come, the aura vanished. The scroll was now blank.

“Nothing, sweetheart.”

“Twilight, don’t call me that! You know what it does!”

Rainbow felt the unicorn burrow further into her shoulder. “I know.”

“...aw, c’mere.”

In the night that now loomed over the library, the clouds slowly drifted by, on their slow lope onwards, casting shadows. An errant shadow could only be passed off as the wind, but it was so much more so.

But as the two ponies embraced, they saw no clouds, no shadows, no strange figure. How important were those things right now anyways?

For the large figure above, they mattered not, either. But a smile came to its face.

“It still warms my heart to see moments like this...I bet it’ll warm big sister’s heart, too.”

What Comes Up...

I apologize if this is not up to your expectations. I hope it is at least close. Nevertheless, I guarantee that next chapter is going to blow you the buck away.

Just remember. True friends never go away.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I think I learned something yesterday...but I don't necessarily like it, either.

It was a fun day that day. Me and Rainbow had gone out for lunch, and it was absolutely wonderful. I can't even remember the last time I had such a disaster-free outing! On our way back, Rarity stopped us, and she seemed excited.

She said she was glad to see us again, and that she was sorry she hadn't been out in a while. But apparently, she'd been busy with a new dress line, in hopes that somepony would take her up. She actually wanted us to model. It was a fun thing most of the time, so I agreed eagerly, while Dash rolled her eyes-but nevertheless, accepted.

We got to the boutique, and it appeared that we weren't the only ones who were to be there. Pinkie was bouncing around, talking the ear off of a slightly subdued Fluttershy. Without Applejack, though, it seemed...empty.

I have to tell you, it was really something when Rarity came out with the dresses. They all appeared to be a set, complimenting each other with different hues and styles this way and that. Pinkie got an easily recognizable cyan color, fringed with tiny hems of light green. It matched her surprisingly well for the colors. Not to mention it was flexible enough to withstand her excited bouncing and extremely fast running.

Fluttershy received a gentle pink dress, which elegantly flowed with every single inch that it covered. The fringes of cyan seemed to be just a little afterthought, but it still looked great. The tiny little hairpin that held her hair into a bun was a nice touch, and it gave a whole 'refined' feeling, while still being every ounce of 'beautiful and innocent' that it could be. Even Fluttershy herself found enough courage to compliment it.

Rainbow, frankly...I don't think she liked hers, even if I kind of did. It was a rather unique hue-lavender. The fringes of red, as with Fluttershy's, seemed to be an afterthought, but it worked perfectly fine. I didn't really get the color choice, until Rarity explained that it 'brought out the contours of the wearer, all while still keeping decency and beauty intact'.

It finally came time for my dress. It was a simple, understated white hue. It came down only across maybe halfway down my lower back, while still reaching enough to be considered acceptable for a dress. I asked Rarity about it, and she explained why-'Elegance is the picture of simplicity, and if you wish to be elegant, believe it or not, you actually have to tone it down. You have to bring out who the pony really is, and allowing them to see more of you than your dress does just that.'

As she finished, Rainbow smiled at me. "I still like it all the same," she said, and gave me a little peck on the cheek.

Oh boy. I suppose that the slight blush afterwards should have been the worst of it, but Rarity had to bring it up...

"Ahem, Twilight, darling...do you happen to be one of...'those' ponies that I read about in 'Ponies' magazine...?"

It took me a while before I realized what she meant. The others watched us expectantly, and I knew I really had no choice here. So I explained the whole relationship thing, starting all the way from the crows.

It was intimidating, very much so. I was worried about what my friends would think about me. I just wanted to bolt and run at some points. But Dash held my hoof the entire way through, and I found enough courage to finish.

Pinkie was the first to break out in a grin, and to speak. "This calls for a party!"

...I suppose I should have expected that from Pinkie. Almost everything calls for a party in her world. Perhaps one day I'll take a page from her book.

Fluttershy didn't have much to say, but she still awkwardly smiled and made a few compliments and well-wishes.

I couldn't help but think how empty the room was without Applejack. Again.

And then Rarity finally...well, tried to make a comment. She just stared at me, eye twitching as if I were the most vulgar thing to ever be witnessed by her vision. All she said was, "Um...I...think...".

The speed at which she exited the room shouldn't even have been possible, but nonetheless, it was quick. Done in a flash and a snort.

I...took that as a cue to leave along with Dash.

Today, there was no word from Rarity at all. Not a word. Not even to reclaim the dress. And I [saw] her walking by me, but it was as if she was taking special care to avoid me. Not so much as if she were my enemy, but as if she just wanted nothing to do with me at all.

And that brings me to my, frankly, disgusted lesson.

Some ponies don't accept you for who you are. They let a small, trivial tic get in the way of any possible amiability. Sometimes, those ponies can be your own friends. But you have to ignore them, and move on. True friends wouldn't let such a small issue get in the way of a friendship.

I also realize how much it hurts to lose a friend this way...even as I write this letter under the shroud of night, curled up to the one pony that I love...

There's still a hole in my heart.

Your slightly upset, but faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
12-13-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I think my heart hurts just a little, too. When you're sad, I'm sad too, if only just a little bit. But Twilight, you have to remember this, too.

Life has its ups and downs. The downs are there for you to be strong, and overcome them, becoming the pony who you really can be. And if you have somepony with you every step of the way, you have to enjoy that fact, and let them know that you appreciate them. Because they have their downs, too. And part of life is helping others out of their low points. Stick through the bad, and the good shines through.

Speaking of good shining through, much diligent work up in Canterlot has finally paid off. We've found a vaccine for the Fever with a 99.9% success rate, or as good as scientifically possible.

We did notice one rather odd side effect. When given to members of an aviary species, a statistical one in ten thousand (obviously, we don't have that many samples) contracted a nasty case of Wing Rot, and it was surprisingly incurable. Statistical predictions show that they only lived for about 2 more painful weeks unless amputation was performed, and even then, life in the wild would be physically impossible. The disease would just keep spreading anyways, albeit at a much slower pace.

Oddly enough, it took a full week to be establish, right when we assumed that it was fine. So it seems to be a slow-spread dormant variation mutation of it.

The vaccination should soon reach Ponyville's hospital. I advise you to get as many ponies as possible there on the 'morrow, so that nopony else has to suffer the same as poor Applejack did...

Princess Celestia
12-14-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Your ecstatic & faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
12-14-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Don't thank me. Thank the hard-working ponies who were behind it all. I just orchestrated the research, they did the rest.

Princess Celestia
12-14-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

In that case, I thank them.

I have no idea why I waited until today to send that thanks. But I suppose it wastes less scrolls. Because I think I learned another small thing today.

...funny. Now I cover my lessons in depth. I wonder why I do that.

Anyways, we got as many ponies as was safely possible into the hospital. Oddly enough, they had no clue about the fever, but after hearing that it was what took Applejack, everypony rushed towards the doors without a second thought.

The line was so long, I swore I'd be 42 by the time I reached the end. It was also no small feat to keep Dash in the line, too. She insisted for a while that she could handle anything, until I pointed out that Applejack always thought so too. That made her a lot quieter.

We were literally the last 2 ponies to receive the vaccine, and Dash was ahead of me. I was sitting in the waiting room, reading a few of those magazines that they always keep-they always seem to be outdated.

Then they called for me.

I was slightly confused. All the ponies left the same way that they entered, and I hadn't seen Dash exit. I looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Regardless, I walked in. It was probably just a misunderstanding.

Thankfully, she was there, albeit looking at the floor, as if embarrassed. The doctor told me that she kept shying away from the needle, and refused completely to let anypony hold her still, or even just calm her down.

My first thought was, she's scared of needles? It isn't that uncommon, naturally, but of all ponies...her?

The doctor continued, asking if I would be kind enough to help. That was when Dash looked up, smiling weakly, before the grin faded from her face at a quick glance back to the doctor.

I knew a little about this, and the best technique is distraction. So I told her to look at me, but she wouldn't. Her eyes were riveted on the needle, and I swear she was sweating. I had to take her hoof before she even so much as looked at me.

It took a few tries. I began by trying to talk about what had happened lately, but she whipped her head around at the last second, nearly knocking the doctor over. That one was a bust.

We tried again by talking about books, but again, the last few inches were interrupted by her tossing her head to the side to find the needle poised to possibly save her life. It was as if she had such a bad feeling about it, that she knew exactly when it was coming.

It was only when I decided to talk about the Wonderbolts did she give me her full attention. She rambled on about how 'awesome' they were, and she didn't even notice when she was done until the doctor said so.

I remember her blinking, turning to him, and to me. "You sneaky, sneaky pony..." she'd giggled. It was actually kind of funny, and I was laughing a bit too.

What did I learn? Sometimes, fears can nearly get the best of you, no matter how small. But sometimes, all you really need is for a friend to be there to help you through it. Because friends help each other, and little things are no exception.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
12-15-1001

The late sunset threw its light over the peaceful town of Ponyville. It lended to the slow, sleepy feeling as everypony finished their day, and prepared to go to bed.

Except for two ponies.

These two ponies sat on a high balcony belong to the Ponyville Library. They each watched the sun go down in silence, neither saying a word. Each merely snuggled up to the other, enjoying each other's company.

That is, until one spoke, hardly even above a whisper. "Rainbow?"

It was a few seconds before Rainbow replied. "Yeah, Twilight?"

Twilight frowned. "I...I didn't say anything."

"Really? Then who did...?"

The unicorn rolled her eyes slightly. Obviously, if I knew, I'd tell you...

"Oh, um...I'm sorry, is this a bad time? I guess I should just...go now. I mean, if...if that's OK with you..."

It was only when the two ponies looked up that they noticed a yellow pegasus nervously hovering above them, looking for all the world like they wanted to run.

"Fluttershy!" cried Dash. "How's it hangin'? I haven't seen you since that meetup at the boutique last week!"

The shy mare looked around, as if trying to keep an eye out for a sudden attacker. "Yes, um...I was a little busy with...things...certain things..."

Twilight frowned. "And what sort of 'things' are we discussing?"

Fluttershy gently alighted on the balcony, only to give ground before the lavender unicorn's inquisitive stare. "Oh, um...well, I figured I'd ask you two, since you're...you know..."

Twilight looked at Dash, arching an eyebrow, to find her staring right back, a similar expression on her face. Wow. Different minds think alike, apparently.

"Riiight..." said Dash, before rolling her eyes, and turning her gaze back to the yellow pegasus. "Did you come to ask us, or to tell us that you wanted to ask us, but you aren't actually going to?"

"Well, um..." The pegasus kicked at the wooden floor gently, cheeks coloring slightly. "Yesterday, me and Pinkie went to a restaurant together...it was nice...but...I don't think she gets it..."

A silence hung in the air. I guess I might as well ask, thought the purple unicorn. "Gets what?"

As the same question came from her partner in perfect synchronization, Twilight couldn't help but to giggle. Even Fluttershy joined in before sighing.

"Well, I was dropping hints the whole time that I l...r."

The unicorn cocked an ear towards the nervous pegasus. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said I...Pinkie Pie...but she doesn't really get it, I think."

Dash nudged Twilight. "Now's a good time for a hearing spell, eh?"

"Enough!" shrieked Fluttershy, before covering her mouth with a hoof, embarrassedly shying away. "Oh, um, I'm sorry. But I'm saying it, loud and proud!"

The timid mare drew in a large breath, and rambled so quickly that Pinkie Pie herself would be proud at the speed of execution.

Apparently, one of them understood, though, and it wasn't Twilight, she was sure of that. The blue pegasus jumped up, grinning like a loon. "No way! That's awesome! I always thought you were the sort of pony to go for somepony more quiet, but good for you! Going for the ball of energy! I think you may wanna ask Twi' on this one, though."

The purple furred unicorn coughed. "Yes, now if you could just repeat that back to me, preferably slower..."

"I got this," claimed Rainbow. She bent down until her mouth was just inches from Twilight's ear.

The unicorn vaguely heard her whisper at the smallest volume possible, but it still carried the level of emotion that her excited outburst had carried. "Fluttershy said that during dinner, she was dropping these big ol' bombshells to Pinkie that she loved her, but each and every one went over her head. She wants to know how to tell Pinkie so that she actually understands. Obviously, I have no clue at how to do that. That pony is so completely random, yet kind of clueless."

Twilight didn't know whether to be happy or confused. What? When did this happen? Moreover, how does it make sense?!

Oh, right. Just like me and Dash 'make sense'. But Fluttershy...that's just...unexpected.

However, she forced a smile so that things wouldn't seem awkward. "That's great! Honestly, I think the way to get her attention, is to throw her a party."

"I-what?" Fluttershy's expression conveyed pure confusion by now.

"Well," the unicorn began. "The gesture should be enough, but if that doesn't work, what signifies a party's purpose? A banner! So just put your thoughts there! I'm sure Rari-...oh, right..." she trailed off as she remembered Rarity's reaction. "In any case, just ask her if she feels the same. And if she isn't taking it seriously, which I know she won't, just explain to her the whole concept. If she still doesn't get it..."

Twilight glanced at Rainbow. Almost knowingly, the pegasus nodded, and leaned over to whisper in the bubble gum pink-maned pony's ear. Almost immediately, she shrunk back. "I-really? Isn't that a little much? It seems a little too p-"

"Fluttershy. This is Pinkie. Nothing is too much."

Fluttershy smiled in response. "Oh, I suppose you're right. I guess I'd better get to bed. The sun's setting."

Almost as if taking infinite care as to not disturb the air itself, the pegasus timidly lifted into the air.

"Bye Twilight, bye Rainbow. Thanks for everything!" she called softly, before turning to fly gently away.

"Cya', Fluttershy!" Dash said, watching as the figure flew away, as if to make sure she was out of ear shot.

"Nice pony," she said eventually.

Twilight smiled. "Not as nice as you are. Well, at least to me."

Rainbow Dash smiled abashedly. "Aw, geez. Quit it. Don't make me milk it!"

"I know you won't."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"I don't even know what you'd do without me." remarked the unicorn smugly.

"Same with you."

"Touché."

Without another word, the pegasus lay back down upon the floor, and offered the shelter of a wing to the unicorn next to her. Twilight gladly accepted, burrowing into the source of warmth that was emanating from her. It was especially cozy on this cold winter night.

Wait. What...what's that?

As soon as they'd closed, Twilight's eyes flung open faster than a cricket with a sugar rush.

With growing urgency, her eyes sought out the one spot that had felt just wrong. Oh please, out of all the ponies, don't let it be her-

Her panicked thinking nearly ceased as her eyes came to rest on a small patch of feathers on the pegasus' wing. They looked perfectly normal, of course. But a closer glance revealed that the skin underneath was covered by a large, red, and apparently...damp lesion.

"No," she whispered. "No...No..."

It was as if it were the only word she could say, as if her mind was a record with a huge scratch. The world slowly faded from her view, as her peripheral vision shrunk and she vaguely registered the tears brimming up in her eyes. Her hearing slowly dulled until all she heard was her heartbeat rapidly thumping away.

Her teacher's words echoed in her head-

"When given to members of an aviary species, a statistical one in ten thousand contracted a nasty case of Wing Rot...surprisingly incurable..."

It was the last thing on her mind before the world went blank.

"Twilight! Twilight!! Are you okay?"

The unicorn slowly cracked open her eyes. Rainbow Dash peered down at her, a concerned look on her face. It was only a few seconds before the memories came flooding back, and the tears sprang back to Twilight's eyes.

"No," she whispered. "I'm not. You..."

She sniffed, took a deep breath, and explained the letter to Dash that she'd received only a week or so ago. About the wing rot, its usual mortality rate, even about how the vaccine had it as a side effect.

"...and what's that have to do with anything?"

" Dash..."

She could no longer hide the tears, and she felt the heat of one coursing down her cheek as she continued, voice cracking with sadness.

"I'm afraid you're that you're the 'one' of the ten thousand..."

It took a few seconds. The pegasus even had to check her wings by herself, and check again, and again, and again. But Twilight Sparkle eventually saw the news dawn on the young flier's face. Many emotions passed by at once. Confusion. Anger. Bewilderment. And finally...

The one that she saw most was sadness. A sadness that had crushed the young pegasus' heart.

It was silent for a few seconds, as the pegasus trembled, attempting to hold back the tears that lurked within her eyes. But it was about as much use as trying to stop a river's flow with a spoon.

It was now the pegasus' turn to be upset, but this time, much more so than Twilight. Already, a few tears were gently creeping their way out of the corners of her eyes.

"Wh...what? W-why?! Why freakin' me?! I-I didn't d-do anything! All I d-did do was exist! And t-this is what I g-get in return?!"

"Rainbow, the important-"

"Now I'll never get into the Wonderbolts! N-NEVER!"

"Dash, please, you're going to make me-"

Twilight was taken aback as the young flier suddenly sprang on top of her, bawling her eyes out, squeezing her harder than a hungry pony would squeeze the last bit of food in Equestria. "And most of all, I...I..."

It seemed to be too much an effort for Rainbow, as she just buried her head into the surprised unicorn's shoulder, shuddering with pure sorrow.

"I d-don't wanna die!" she eventually cried. "Especially not this young! I wanna live! I w-wanna live with you! I d-don't want this! I don't wanna up and l-leave you alone, especially not t-this way! I love you t-too much!"

By now, it was hard to tell whether the pegasus was beyond hope or not, but despite that, she continued. "And I h-have dreams, y'know? Stuff I wanted to do! I mean...is it t-too much to ask that I g-get to spend time with somepony else, finally take that walk in the park, or that I g-get to break the air speed record set by m-myself? Is it?!"

Twilight finally realized that Dash was beyond comfort. She was sure she would be too, if she'd been told she only had 2 or so weeks to live.

So instead of offering pointless, false reassurances, she simply wrapped her hooves around the stricken pegasus, and pulled Dash tighter as she sobbed for dear life.

"Never let go..." she whispered.

"N-never, Twilight...N-never, e-ever..."

"I'll always love you."
It was about twenty interminable seconds before the distraught pegasus choked out a mournful question.

"F-forever, and a-always, Twilight?"

Twilight felt her heart breaking in two. But she had to tell the truth-

"Forever and always, Rainbow...I promise..."

Each second is a gift from now on. Each and every second with her.

...oh who the buck am I kidding, how can I live with what I've done? Not only did I make her get the vaccine, knowing the risks, but I just told her she was going to die, essentially! Poor Rainbow...

The moon had finally made its gradual ascent above the horizon, and now it hung curiously just above it. The gentle shafts of moonlight were enough to illuminate the trail of tears cascading down Twilight's face.

As she squeezed the crestfallen pegasus even tighter, her brain shut out all thoughts.

Except for one. And as the two despondent lovers embraced, the thought could have been thought to be shared in perfect harmony.

...why?

That awkward moment when this isn't even the saddest part...
Stay tuned!

Somewhere Over A Rainbow

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Rainbow Dash sighed heavily as the ever present ticking of the clock echoed slightly throughout the hospital room.

The room was empty, save for her. It was strange, really. There'd been a shortage of diseased ponies lately, and as a result, nearly nopony to keep her company. Only the daily visits of the nurses did anything to make her recognize that she wasn't completely alone. Hardly anypony was coming to see her, anyways. The hospital did allow visitors, since she wasn't contagious, nor could her condition worsen from stress...but all she ever got to witness was a friendly hello from one of the nurses, whose names she still didn't know.

That, and Twilight.

She sighed longingly. Twilight was the only pony that she actually looked forward to in the drab area. Each and every time, despite the circumstances, she was left with a smile. And that was nice. It was pretty nice to have the most awesome...well, second most awesome pony in Ponyville drop by.

She slowly turned onto her side, groaning at the pain that it brought from her midsection. But the goal had been achieved-she could now see the calendar that sat seemingly arbitrarily off to the side.

A small circle looped around the number '30'. It was now December 30th, 1001. And what a great place to be 2 days before a new year. Stuck in a freakin' bed, unable to move, and about to bucking die.

Lovely.

It had been getting worse and worse, lately. The rot had already progressed to the bases of her wings, leaving nasty dead skin, shattered nerves and ravaged muscles behind. Now all that they did was hang out limp to either side of her, cruelly mocking her of once she what once was. What she could have been. To make things worse, she was even unable to fold them in. It was just another thing to momentarily live with...

And by a doctor's estimation, she only had 6 days to go.

In a way, I guess it isn't that bad... the flier mused. I mean, I'm kinda, y'know, bucking dying...but I guess trading one life for the other doesn't suck that bad...maybe I can finally see Applejack again.

...Applejack. I was supposed to do something involving he-

She froze. There was a knock at the door. Who could it be?

"Rainbow Dash! You have two visitors here to see you! Is it OK if they come in?"

The pegasus frowned. Is it OK? I swear, all of these freakin' nurses should know that I'm dying for some fresh company. 'specially after a whole darned week.

But nevertheless, she composed herself, drawing in a deep breath. "Yeah, it's fine. Send 'em in."

There was a momentary delay, before the door at the far end of the room swung open. It may have only been about 40 feet from her bed, but it seemed like it was miles away. In any case, she could still identify the pony who stepped in, smiling. Purple coat, dark hair...

"Hey, Twilight," croaked Dash, before jerking a hoof to her throat. It normally wasn't that sore...great, another 'benefit'... "Long time no see! Or to be exact, a day."

The purple unicorn's smile remained, but her expression turned tender as she trotted closer to the bed. "How are you feeling, Dash?"

"Eh...more or less."

"Oh." Her grin faded. "Well, I have somepony who wants to see you! I think you might remember her, though that's a little of an understatement."

I was wondering when I'd see that second pony, Rainbow thought in a flippant manner. 'bout time.

"You can come in now!" called Twilight, beckoning to an unseen figure beyond the door.

Shortly afterwards, there came the sound of footsteps, and then the mare appeared at the door. A fiery yellowed orange mane (carefully brushed) framed a mature, wizened face. A yellow coat complemented this arrangement, and as she trotted closer, Dash made out her cutie mark. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt, and only upon closer inspection did she notice that it, too, looked to be made of fire.

Her eyes widened, and an involuntary hoof shot up to her mouth to prevent the small squeak of pure fan-based delight that nearly escaped her lips. The realization came only a picosecond later-

"...Spitfire?!"

Twilight was grinning hugely by now, as if her smiles could confirm everything for her. When the mare spoke, however, it was confirmed for real.

"Well hello there, Rainbow Dash. Long time no see."

"Long time no-" the pegasus had to stop before her excitement overcame her, and she began yammering. One of the Wonderbolts here? To see ME? What's the occasion?!

"Well of course, long time no see! Last time we met was, what, the Gala?"

The stunt pony nodded, smiling. "And what an interesting night that was, huh?"

But then her expression softened, and she stepped closer to the pegasus. "Listen, kid. I know you don't really wanna hear it, but...you won't believe how many cases I've heard of."

Rainbow frowned. Right to business, I guess.

"I've seen many professional fliers' careers ended by too much time spent high up in the damp altitudes. But a pony as young as you..." she shook her head, as if scolding nature for its cruelty. "That just sort of breaks my heart, you know. You got your whole life ahead of you, and...this." the mare finished, gesturing vaguely at the limp excuses for wings.

"Anyways, I heard that after a while, you began toughing it out." A smile slowly made its way back onto Spitfire's face. "And I was like, 'That's the Rainbow that I saw that night. The one who's fearless, and isn't afraid of anything. The one who saved my flank, and two others', too'. So I just have this for you. For toughing it out."

It was only now that Dash noticed that the middle-aged mare had carried in a saddlebag with her, that blended in so perfectly with her coat, as if to be invisible. Twilight still watched eagerly from the side, and now she even wiped a fake tear from her eye. Wonder what that's about...or if it's even fake...

But soon enough, the stunts-pony withdrew her head from the bag, and in one fluid motion, tossed something towards the cyan pegasus.

As Dash got a look at it, she realized that it was a picture frame. Inside lay a picture of a beaming green earth pony. His smile wasn't the feature of the photo, though, nor was his tumbling blue mane. No, what the feature appeared to be were a series of bandages around his midsection. Regardless of those, he seems fine.

"So, what's this all about?" asked Dash, arching an eyebrow in bemused contempt.

"It's a small repayment. I figure that if you saved me, I should save you."

The words had an immediate effect on Dash, as she bolted up, and even though she cried out in pain, she continued. "What the hay-are you..."

"The colt used to be just like you. He only had a day left to go. But he found a way. He now runs a small bakery down in Manehatten. You still have a chance."

Twilight was grinning hugely, and now there was a tear running down her cheeks. But there, she jumped in.

"It's lucky we found somepony who it'd worked on soon enough. Y'see, you remember how you didn't want the amputation, but thought you might change your mind?"

Uncertainly, Dash nodded.

"Well, let me double check..." reconsidered the unicorn. She peered closely at Dash's wings, as the pegasus shifted nervously at the anticipation. The scholar came up frowning slightly.

"It...could work...I suppose..." she mumbled. "Anyhow, upon reconsideration, I found something. There is, in fact, a way to do it so late! I've been looking everywhere, and studies show-"

Dash sighed, placing a hoof to her forehead. "Twilight, you don't get it."

"What don't I get? You can be just fine!"

Oh, that buckin' tears it.

"Just fine...?" the pegasus growled quietly. "Twilight, who am I?"

"Why, you're Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Twilight, her grin fading slightly.

"Exactly. I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria. Tell me, what happens when you take out my ability to fly?"

Silence befell the room as the unicorn came to a conclusion. "...oh." she meekly mumbled, sitting on her haunches. "...oh..."

Spitfire looked towards the other pegasus. "I'll tell you what you have," said the yellow pegasus. "You've got an earth pony with a hella' lot of spunk, that's what."

"BZZZZT! Wrong!" cried Dash. "What you've got is a nopony, all right? Flying's my game, and it's how people remember me! I mean, sure, I can be good at other stuff, but let's face it! I ain't good for much else!"

She scoffed. "I mean, c'mon! Everything I do involves flight. Clearing the weather, Sonic Rainbooms, Fantastic Filly Flashes, the list goes on and on..."

Something made the cyan pegasus stop in the middle of her tirade, though. Twilight had long since fallen silent, and begun staring at the floor. Unheard sobs gently shook her body, and the tears dripping onto the floor were no longer of happiness.

Aaand now look what you've done...
"Twilight..." began Rainbow. "Come on, I...I didn't mean to snap out like that, OK?"

The unicorn sniffled, holding back a few strangled cries. "No, it's...it's okay. It's just...you're...you're more or less right, and...that's all the worse."

Dash sighed. "Twilight. Look at me."

Twilight Sparkle did not look up.

"Come on. Please."

The purple unicorn slowly raised her gaze, until it met the pegasus' own.

Rainbow Dash held the stare for an indeterminable amount of time. It felt like years to her. While her unfaltering, rosy-pink eyes stared steadily towards her partner's, the violet eyes that gazed back at her were not so steady. They brimmed with unspoken sadness and regret, and it served only to make her feel more guilty. It only reinforced in her mind what she was about to do.

"Twilight." she began, pausing to make sure she had her full attention. "I trust you. I'd trust you both to go get me a glass of cider, or to invade dangerous enemy territory, where ponies attack you on sight, and come back with that cider."

The silence hanging in the air seemed to get louder as the pegasus swore that the other two could hear her heartbeat.

"And Twilight, you always know best. I always act on what you call 'impulse'-I don't think as much. I care about 'now', not 'later'. It's just sorta' my thing. Which is why..."

Oh Celestia, what am I doing...

"...I'm giving this choice to you."

The reaction was almost immediate. The young pegasus could almost see the transformation in her eyes-but it wasn't to happiness. The only guess she had at all was 'distrust'. Nasty, festering, self-distrust.

It was, however, a good few seconds before the unicorn's stammerings marshaled themselves into words. "Rainbow, you can't honestly...this goes against...what about your-"

"Shhh," cooed Dash, placing a hoof to Twilight's lips. "I know, I may end up regretting this myself. But overall, it feels right. I both love and trust you enough for this, Twilight."

"But Rainbow-!" Celestia's student protested. Her voice was slowly becoming more frustrated and distressed. It was as if she might begin screaming any second.

"But nothing, egghead," the pegasus replied, smiling slightly. "I think I've done my part in the sky, anyways. Set records, kept weather away for a near decade...it was a fun ride."

"But what about-"

"I honestly don't care which you choose, Twi'." The rainbow maned flier insisted. "I mean, I suppose I'm still useful on the ground, but..."

She stopped. It was only now that her glance darted to the side, to meet with the figure that'd walked in with Twilight not minutes ago.

I can't believe I'm saying this one... "Uh, Spitfire, can we have the room to ourselves? Little bit of a private moment here."

The yellow pegasus smiled. "Sure thing. I was starting to feel a little imposed, anyways."

Rainbow hardly even looked at the figure as she left. Instead, her gaze turned back to her companion, and she didn't speak a word until the door a while off gently closed.

"Like I was saying..." she continued. "I could be your number two assistant in the library, I could help Pinkie with parties, I could help Fluttershy with those censuses she does. But the only way I can do any of that..."

A hoof slowly, and painfully raised itself towards the unicorn, until it pointed, unfaltering, deep into her soul. "...is if you want it to happen."

By now, all attempts to speak by Twilight had been ceased. The only thing that Dash saw was conflicting emotions, and then-

The pegasus felt her face burning as a pair of soft lavender lips pushed up against hers. She momentarily fought it out of surprise, but soon after melted into the kiss, the world around her becoming nothing. It was the first kiss where both of them actually took initiative, whereas in the past it had been majorly Dash. It wasn't necessarily an unwelcome change for her. In fact, she liked it. She loved it.

As she broke the kiss, Twilight smiled weakly. "I guess I'll have to make the right choice, huh?"

Rainbow couldn't be sure, but she felt that a mutual agreement had passed in that moment. That both would not care which she chose, and that they would be with each other forever, no matter what happened.

Well, at least, that's how I want it to be.

"Yeah," the cyan pegasus agreed. "But whatever you choose is the right choice."

The only response made by Twilight was to rest her head across her friend's chest, and sigh. Dash gently wrapped her hooves around the unicorn's neck, and slowly stroked her flowing hair. She knew how much she liked it when she did that.

And then a few inaudible words drifted from the unicorn's mouth-
"Somewhere over the rainbow...
Way up high...
There's a land that I heard of...
Once in a lullaby..."

It was the lullaby that all earth ponies heard at some time or other. But why here, why now?

And why do I feel so sad?

Unaware of the pegasus' thoughts, Twilight continued gently crooning the soft lullaby.

"Somewhere over the rainbow...
Skies are blue...
And the dreams that you dare to dream...
Really do come true..."

Ehhh, what the hay...
Rainbow cleared her throat, and as Twilight began the next verse, instead she sang, high above the unicorn's voice. She was surprised at her own voice-it was high and sweet, unlike it normally was when she sang. Nevertheless, she continued the song.

"Someday I'll wish upon a star...
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me...
Where troubles melt like lemon drops...
Away above the chimney tops-
that's where you'll find me..."

Twilight didn't look up, but she continued, voice wavering more and more with each extra word that she sung.

"Somewhere over the rainbow...
bluebirds fly...
Birds fly over the rainbow...
Why then, oh why can't I?"

By the time the final verse came around, Dash even found herself singing along with Twilight, and her voice was beginning to waver, too. Sometimes, I hate emotions...

"If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow...
Why, oh why can't I?"

It was now that the unicorn allowed her sobs to escape, and her body shook gently with each passing second. Rainbow was aware of every bit of it, because even she had begun to tremble. No tears, damnit, no tears, you featherbrain...

Crud.

"T-Twilight..."

"Hmm?"

Dash smiled weakly. "I suppose n-now isn't the time to p-point out the irony in this-"

"Haha..."

The moment of sardonic demeanor soon passed, and the pegasus resumed stroking the unicorn's hair.

All fell quiet within minutes. At least, as quiet as a hospital could get.

It would be nightfall by the time the two were separated.
There was one thing on each pony's mind.

Rainbow Dash wondered if Twilight had already chosen, and hence she sang the lullaby, as if lulling an injured animal to sleep.

But she preferred to shove that thought out of her mind. Way out.

And Twilight Sparkle thought, and thought, and thought, but she didn't come up with a definite answer for her question that night;

Which is the right choice?

Author's note:
Great news, everypony!

/Farnsworth

I think I finally found a way to satisfy all audiences alike, including both myself and thyself. This method can get me all the way to chapter 8 or 9, whereas my previous plot only allowed up to 6.

That being said, this story may no longer be called 'letter format'. Any forward chapters-beginning now- are written without letters. Earlier chapters are currently being re-written. Events shall be retold with no use of letters. I realized that I lack the ability to properly deploy 'anti clinical detachment' in these letters. So it's gotta go.

Re-writing may result in adding of chapters. Mmk?

Choices

The darkness surrounded everything. It was everything.

But the pegasus encompassed by it didn't care. In a way, it felt nice. It was warm, it was welcoming...opening her eyes wasn't necessary. She had all she needed right there.

She was curled around something. It was soft, yet tangled. What was it? Was it the gentle, frisky texture of cotton candy that she knew of? Was it simply a bunch of errant string?

No. It was soft. It was soft, and yet ragged...but it felt nice and smooth. Rainbow smiled-at least, she thought she did-hugging it tighter, and stroking its varied surface. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't unwelcome.

There was a voice. It was faint, and it spoke few words. But the sentiment seemed clear-it was a calm voice. There was an undertone of worry, but nonetheless, it was as if it were absently trying to calm her. It seemed to be working, though she'd really not been distressed since she noticed the darkness.

The voice continued speaking, becoming more worried. Dash became worried, too. What was wrong? What was wrong outside of her little bubble? Was it worth opening her eyes to see? Could she open her eyes?

Ignoring these horrible questions, the pony squeezed that soft object that she curled around ever the harder. It gave a small modicum of comfort, but after the worried voice, serenity seemed to be hard to find.

Her worry shrank as a gentle pressure made itself known on her forehead. A soft, tender touch. A loving one. It was soothing, and she smiled again. It felt like one she knew, but hadn't yet experienced. But it was nice. Unexpectedly, her mouth flopped open, and she drawled a few words. She didn't know what she said, but something worked, apparently. The pegasus felt something else encircle her, and briefly squeeze her tight. It was then that the smell of gentle lavender and lilies filled her nose, bringing back nostalgia and amiability.

She felt tired, oh so tired. Something felt wrong with her wings-there was virtually no feeling at all over there, and something just felt wrong with everything. Now, hardly a thought could be put together. It was a struggle to even guess where the smell had come from. She knew that she knew, but the real task was concentrating.

But why concentrate? The warmth was returning, almost like a big blanket. The voice spoke now, and she could hear every single word that it said. Even if she couldn't respond, or make sense of them herself at the moment.

The words bounced around in her head, filling her mind, resting on top of her own thoughts. They carried promise of a new world. But also of sorrowful self-pity.

"Good night, my little earth pony. Sleep well...because I don't think I will unless you do."

Earth pony?...

It must be talkin' 'bout that pink one that I know...

Or that...oh right. Orangey's gone. That's too bad.

Huh. I feel like I know that voice...

It was beyond her now, however. The darkness slowly once more became everything. The voice faded away. The only trace of the outside world that remained was that strange object in her hooves.

All that was left to do was to fall back into blissful, dark oblivion.

"Is she gonna' wake up any time soon? This is kinda' bo-ring!"

"Oh be quiet, Pinkie Pie. You had your share of fun in the waiting room. Even though we only passed through it..."

"Well, it isn't my fault that they were seriously fun-deprived! I had to fix it!"

Voices. I think I recognize them. Maybe I should check.

Unfortunately, that was the only thought that Rainbow actually got to think. She tried to open her eyes, but it felt like somepony had attached a whole bunch of bowling balls to them. The pegasus only got her eyes open for about one brief second before snapping them shut, exhausted.

Too tired. Later.

It was all a blur by now. She woke to darkness, and on most occasions, heard voices. But she never quite managed to open her eyes. How much time had passed was a mystery. A week? A year? An hour? It was really hard to tell, considering how she had no relation of time whatsoever.

It was on one fateful awakening that she finally opened her eyes.

There were watery specks in her eyes, and she blinked as fast as she dared, attempting to dislodge them. It took quite a bit of time, but Dash eventually managed to clear her vision.

The first thing called to attention was some sort of soft object in her hooves. Puzzled, she looked down. It appeared to be a rather haphazard representation of a pony, or a donkey, or...[something]. It had a bedraggled mane, and it seemed familiar.

"I see that you like Mr. Smarty Pants."

That voice...am I hearing correctly? Am I even awake?
Turning her head as quickly as she could, the pegasus sought out the source of the voice. It only took a second, because soon enough, she found herself staring at a pony who was pretty much ingrained in her memory. Lavender coat, very dark purple mane with color streaks...

The two ponies locked gazes, and it was possibly even a whole minute before Rainbow Dash found the effort to speak.

"...Twilight..." The simple name carried a meaning that even she didn't know what it could be. But the intent was clear to both. It meant, "I'm glad to see you."

The unicorn smiled briefly, but the smile soon dropped as she looked away. "I'm...I'm sorry."

The cyan pegasus frowned. "Sorry? Why? What's wrong?"

Then her senses took over, and she remembered the events of...well, Celestia knew how long ago.

Eyes filling with watery specks again, but this time of a different variety, Dash glanced at herself.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It really shouldn't have surprised her, since she'd heard herself about the choices. But instead of a pair of wings nestled comfortably into her body, instead of her being perfectly fine...

There was nothing. The places where each wing used to be were nothing but bandaged, ugly nubs.

Trembling, the blue pony poked at the tiny bumps, hoping that it was a dream, that suddenly she'd awaken to a huge Pinkie Pie Party celebrating her recovery.

But nothing came.

"I'm...sorry," repeated Twilight, her gaze remaining pointed towards the floor.

"No." said Rainbow. "It isn't your fault. It isn't anypony's fault." But even as she said it, she only half believed it herself.

"I..." the lavender coated mare's voice faltered before she finished the sentence. She looked even further away, and Dash noticed the reddening of her cheeks. Whether she was angry or embarrassed, or both, it was hard to tell.

"So..." began Rainbow. "Uh...how long was I out?"

Not looking back, Twilight tersely answered, as if a subject change only made it worse. "Only about a full day. You weren't really 'out', just sleeping. The procedure involved use of anesthetics, and apparently those make you pretty tired."

"Oh."

The room fell silent. The unicorn continued gazing towards the floor, not once looking up. It was hard to tell whether she was in thought, or just trying to avoid the "pegasus'" gaze.

"I told the weather team about what happened." said the lavender mare, breaking the seemingly eternal silence.

"...and?" encouraged Rainbow.

"They told me to give you this." An object slowly floated out from under the bed with the aid of magic, to come to rest next to her.

She squinted. What is it? It looks almost like a mini solid rainbow...
Dash gingerly poked it, and had her answer. Holy crud, it is. How do you even...

"The captain told me that you were one of the best pegasi they'd had in years. Almost never did the weather go wrong, because you virtually controlled the skies single hoofedly. So, I suppose, fittingly, you have a little bit of the sky to keep with you."

Rainbow frowned. I'm one of the best? Hay, from the way I'm yelled at, you'd think I was the worst pony to ever grace Equestria...

"And then I told the girls..." continued Twilight. "Pinkie was one of the worst, actually. She seemed to take it well enough when I told her. But she's refused to throw a party ever since."

"Pinkie? Not having a party?" asked Dash.

"Yeah. That's what I said," answered the unicorn. "But she absolutely refuses to until she sees you up and out of here. Which should be by next week, seeing as there are no complications, aside from the obvious..."

The cyan earth pony snorted, but she didn’t really seem into it. "Well, that's Pinkie for ya'..."

"I haven't seen hoof or hide of Fluttershy, either." continued Twilight. "And when I asked Pinkie about anything out of the ordinary, she shrugged, as if to say 'not really'. So Fluttershy hasn't really seen anypony at all, I guess."

"What about Rarity?" asked Rainbow. "She still not talkin' to you?"

The scholar sighed. "I'm afraid so."

"I think I know why. And how I can help."

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes skeptically. "I doubt that."

"No, really. Y'see, about a week before...'that' day, with Applejack, when I dropped in to see her, I didn't know what was wrong. But she said she had messages for each of you, in the case that anything ever went wrong, or if she didn't make it."

"What?!" The unicorn's voice brimmed with utter frustration. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Like, way earlier?"

"I kinda'...forgot..." mumbled Dash. Sheesh, not everypony's perfect. "Anyways, I memorized one of them, or the last one I was told."

She cleared her throat. Ugh, I hate accents...

Author’s note-please. Don’t spoil the whole surprise with the languages. If you use Google Translate, the rough translation says NOTHING like what it’s supposed to. It gets the dialect and context entirely wrong. It gets translated next chapter, ‘k? Just leave it as is right now.

If you want to skip it, just control-f “lemon”. Though you really don’t miss anything.

AUTHOR'S DOUBLE NOTE: As the story finished without resolve, I over-ride my previous note. In fact, it's crucial that you do so. SO GO DO EET.

"' Rareté ,il suffit de savoir que je t'aimerai toujours.'"

"Wait, what? French? Or whatever it is? I think it's French. Maybe a dialect of-"

"Just let me finish, Twi'."

"Fine."

"'Tu es mon amie, et la prunelle de mes yeux. Tu as toujours été là pour moi, et même si les autres ne savais pas à propos de nous deux, je ne m'inquiète pas. Si par hasard que l'un de nos amis arrive d'avoir similaire ... l'orientation, s'il vous plaît juste l'accepter. Je sais combien c'est difficile pour vous sentir à accepter la vôtre, et moi pour le mien. Il suffit de considérer ce qu'ils ressentent, et avoir un peu d'empathie, OK?
Je me sens horrible, et je suis dans la douleur constante. C'est seulement maintenant que Dash décide d'arrêter par, et traduire cela pour moi. Je ne sais pas si je vais le faire. Mais n'importe comment, s'il vous plaît ne me rate pas. Ce sera pour l'ensemble de nos produits. Amoureusement vôtre, Calvados.'"

lemon

A silence passed as Rainbow stumbled through the last of the foreign language. "Uh. I'm done."

"So, would you mind translating for me...?" asked Twilight. "I didn't quite catch all of that..."

Jeez, do I have to do everything? "I can't. She just told me that-I never knew she spoke it, either. I guess she learned, though Celestia knows why. Just get Rarity's attention, and repeat it back to her. She'll tell you what it means, I guess. She is the expert on foreign and fancy things, anyways."

"So..." Twilight's gaze began to rise, but she sounded no less depressed. "Is that it? Is that all we have to go on?"

"Not necessarily." replied Dash. Wow, I'm sounding more like her each day... "Just...we'll figure it out when I get out of here."

"What I'm worried about..." said the unicorn. "...is what you're going to do."

She was right. What would Dash do? "I...don't know, Twi'." mumbled the technical earth pony. "I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'll never fly again..."

The room seemed to fall silent once more as Twilight spoke two words yet again, as if she couldn't say them enough.

"I'm sorry."

Rainbow looked up, meeting the unicorn's wavering gaze. And then she, in turn, spoke.

"No. I'm sorry. For everything. For putting you through all of this. You don't deserve it. You saved my damn life, and I'm the one who's sorry. Because I made you do it."

"I think that you two shouldn't take all of the blame, necessarily. It was mostly me."

Both of the ponies' heads turned at once towards the door, and Dash heard a gasp fling itself out of Twilight's mouth faster than she could stop it.

At, or rather already past, the door, stood a large, distinguished figure. A tri-colored, elegantly flowing mane gently hung from a head adorned with a large horn. A pair of wings stayed folded in to the figure's side, ready to elegantly spread at any second. A golden necklace hung gently from its neck, and a matching crown rested upon its head.

"P-Princess Celestia! How-why are you here?" cried the unicorn, hurriedly moving to kneel reverently. But the princess stopped her.

"That won't be necessary, Twilight." she said. "None of this is, either."

"Princess, I appreciate the gesture, but come on..." said Twilight. "This one's kind of obvious. Who made the choice? And I ask again, why are you here?"

"I am here, Twilight, because young Rainbow right there is making headlines." The excited look on the rainbow maned pony's face only lasted a brief second, but for a second it did appear. Fifteen seconds of fame, huh? "If you have one pony in thousands who runs into a particularly bad spot of luck that nopony else has, you...kind of tend to hear about it."

"So, then why are you like, here here, like, in Ponyville?" asked Dash.

"I'm here because this whole disaster..." the alicorn paused, looking at the two ponies across from her. The two who each eagerly waited for a response, and who even held hooves without actively noticing. "...OK, maybe it all wasn't a disaster. But more or less, indirectly or not, this all involved me. Let me tell you why..."

It was literally only a day ago when I received news of this incident. It was deeply concerning, but then I thought:this seems pretty connected, and a little too coincidental.

So I went all the way back to Ponyville's great 'crow incident', and in fact, when I requested the migratory patterns of the crows, something was wrong. The crows, yes, were in Ponyville, but they shouldn't have been at the time. It was in the middle of winter-why would they be there? They must have been fleeing something...

Shortly after the crows, there came the first case of Two Turn Fever. This seemed even stranger, as if on a perfect timeline. I looked closely at where they had come from, and sure enough, they came all the way from the less developed country of Colta Rica. Which is exactly where the fever still ran wild in the weather conditions-hot, and dry.

When the crows migrated, they brought along the virus, and though it's cold in Ponyville, there is one thing that it is at this time of year-dry.

This seemed to be the end of the string of coincidences. But it was not.

When developing the vaccine, I also noticed the small detail of avian species contracting the disease of wing rot. When testing the samples for any evidence of any foreign contaminant, we found none. And then we realized.

Not only was there no contaminant, but all in all, it seemed to be an incurable case, as noted. It took a while, but one pony finally figured it out. It was so, because it was bred stronger by the natural inoculations required to fight back the fever-also gathered from the scrubby area near Colta Rica. The only choices we had were to either call off the vaccine, and start anew, or simply send it off, and let side effects be side effects.

Obviously, the second one was widely opted for.

“...and here we are,” Princess Celestia finished. “Up to this very second, in a way, I’m afraid it was my fault. I failed to keep an eye on matters far off, and to think of how they would affect my subjects back here. I now realize the cost of such actions.”

“...wow. I...never thought of it that way. You know, in the whole scheme of things...” managed Twilight. “Though you still haven't answered my question-why? It's a little unusual for the princess presiding over all of Equestria to just show up..."

The princess smiled. "Can't a teacher check in on her student personally once and a while?"

The unicorn chuckled, blushing slightly. “I suppose I’m just plucking at straws. In any case, it was nice to see you again.”

“The pleasure was mine, Twilight.”

There came a moment when it seemed to be completely silent, if only for a second.

And then Pinkie Pie flew into the room, laughing like crazy and trailing large amounts of streamers. “I told you I’d get ya’, Glenda!” she shouted to a nurse who looked in, trying to look angry, but even she was smiling a little. Turning her head, the pink pony noticed the scene before here. “Hiya’ princess!” she chirped. “Hiya’ Twilight! Hiya’ Rainbow!”

Her cheerful demeanor quickly disappeared, and was replaced by something resembling both concern and curiousness. “What happened here? Is Dashie OK?”

Twilight looked at Dash, and the cyan pony returned the stare all the same. She felt her hoof being squeezed by the unicorn as she turned her gaze to Pinkie, who waited, eyes wide with anticipation. Her attention went to the small plush effigy in her other hoof, as she gripped it tightly. The words she spoke were not to Pinkie in specificness, but rather to everypony, and even herself.

“I...I don’t know...”

Author again:

You may be happy for this, you may be sad, but I don't care. I'm gonna keep going until that [Tragedy] tag is fulfilled.

...ok, technically it has been, but WHATEVER! Stay tuned for more.

Cakes And Cracked Hearts

Author's note-THIS IS THE MOST CRUEL CLIFFHANGER IN ALL OF MY FANFICTION WRITING HISTORY. IF YOU WISH NOT TO BE LEFT HANGING, NOR WITH THE WEIRDEST UNEXPLAINED HAPPENING TO HAPPEN SINCE EQUESTRIA WAS 'MADE', DO NOT READ ON. WAIT UNTIL I RELEASE CHAPTER 8. IF I RECEIVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT OOC VIOLATION, I WILL IGNORE THEM, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT CHAPTER 8 DEALS WITH. DITTO WILL BE MADE WITH ANY TRANSITION COMMENTS. I AM WELL AWARE OF THOSE, AND WHEN I FINISH THE STORY, THOSE WILL BE TOUCHED ON WITH EDITS.

However, any other mistakes or problems you find may be pointed out, and I'll try to fix them later.

Thank you. Now read on to my other notes.

In case we aren't clear, Dashie is now an earth pony, mmk? No wings on a pegasus means that you're an earth pony. She is now referred to as such.

...I know. This chapter is largely scattered. It simply lacks a few bridges. It’ll go right back up in quality next chapter, Pinkie Pie Swear.

I also apologize if the focus is a little quick. But as of now, I’m trying to highlight normal life without being as boring as possible. Just tell me if I need to slow it down or something, and I’ll fix it. That’s what comments are for after all, right?

‘sides, the ending should be enough for you...

...and sorry. Holding off on the language thing. It’s a little out of sequence in comparison.

Back to your FFFP-your Feature Fan Fiction Presentation.

"Rainbow? Are you okay? You haven't even touched your salad..."

The cyan pony looked up at Twilight, taking in the concerned look and the slight tilt of her head. She'd learned to read the unicorn's emotions over time, and she knew what this look meant. It meant nearly exactly what anypony thought it would, but Dash knew the other, unspoken meaning of it-"I'm not going to stop without an answer".

"Been thinkin'," she mumbled, going back to picking at the sparse greenery that sat in front of her.

"About what?" asked Twilight, moving closer to her and frowning slightly.

Rainbow sighed. Yup, I was right... "Well, you know...I've been feeling kind of..." She placed a hoof on her temples, as if massaging away an invisible headache. "...just sort of...useless lately. I've sat around the library for like 4 days now, and...it doesn't feel right..."

Almost instantly, the lavender mare was upon her with quick reassurances. "Oh, don't be silly! We both know that you-"

"Twilight." interjected the rainbow maned pony, without looking up. "You can cut out the fake stuff. It doesn't make me feel any better. I haven't done anything useful lately. That’s probably the worst of it right now."

Rejected, Twilight sighed, and began pacing around the table, before stopping almost as soon as she began. "I know!" she proclaimed, a smile lighting up her face. "Come on, follow me! I know just what to do!"

The blue earth pony sighed, getting up to follow the excited Twilight. "And what exactly would that be?"

As the door closed behind her, the next words out of the unicorn's mouth made her halt mid-gloomy step.

"We're going to find you a new job!"

"Woah, woah, woah." blurted the earth pony. "You can't just find a job, y'know. It's a complicated process, and it took me weeks to even get in an application to the-"

"I'm aware of that," said Twilight. “Come on, just follow me. I have an idea.”

Groaning, Rainbow Dash reluctantly trotted after the purple mare. “So where are we headed, then?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Riiiight...”

After a few seconds’ awkward trotting, the earth pony spoke up. “Twilight...I don’t really feel comfortable here.”

“Why, nonsense!” exclaimed the unicorn. “We’re going to find you one, don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll find something else better suited to your interests!”

“No, no, not that...” Dash said, glancing uneasily around. “I mean, I suppose this should be a little ironic, but...everypony’s kinda’ staring at me, and I don’t like it...”

Twilight Sparkle turned around, and the cyan mare could see the words “That’s ridiculous” form on her lips, before she stopped, a nonchalant hoof frozen in midair. And then the look of confusion on her face as she took in the small crowd that had more or less gathered around them. Almost all of them were fixated on the small bumps that used to be her wings.

Never in her life had Dash wanted to run so badly.

None of the stares were malicious, necessarily, but the result was the same as if any harmful intent was actually present. And as the two watched, a burnt orange filly was occupied with shoving her way to the front of the crowd, as she shouted, “Excuse me! Coming through! Attempting to speak to the coolest pony in Equestria!”

“Twilight,” choked Dash. “Let’s get out of here. Like, now.”

Crucial seconds ticked away before the realization dawned on Twilight’s face. “Oh...yeah, let’s go. Quickly.”

But as the two mares quickly began taking strides away from the small semi-circle, an excited voice confirmed that it was too late. “Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash!” it called. “I haven’t seen you in like-”

Rainbow froze, her heart pounding as Scootaloo halted her excited greeting. “...a few...weeks...” she finished, voice trailing off as she noticed where all the ponies around her were staring. Damnit kid, don’t look, don’t look... thought the cyan earth pony, grimacing. But the pegasus filly’s gaze slowly drifted upwards...

If confusion and heartbreak were stirred together in a pot, then the result would look very similar to the expression that the purple maned filly wore now. “R-Rainbow...?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Are you...okay? You’re fine...right? Like, what...what happened? Please, tell me this is a joke...”

The earth pony’s gentle rose eyes met Scootaloo’s one purple ones, but no words could seem to leave the ex-flier’s mind. All she could do was stare back, as a small figure had the realization that her own idol was possibly injured, and horribly, too.

“It...isn’t, is it?” said the filly quietly.

Rainbow sighed, hanging her head down before turning her back to the filly. Her voice rang out clear against the hushed square, now deepened in shame and pain.

“I really wish I could tell you that it was, kid. I really wish...”

A low mumble broke out from the crowd as the ponies began expressing sympathy towards the stricken Dash, but it soon stopped when Scootaloo stood straight up, her upper lip stiff...

...and simply stalked out of the crowd stiffly. A few mutterings from the crowd, and after a few more curious (and sympathetic) glances, both towards the departing Scootaloo and towards Rainbow, they dispersed.

None of them saw the tears silently sliding down the orange filly’s cheeks, because by the time they began, she was long out of sight.

“That...was one of the most soul-crushing moments of my life.” admitted Dash, walking slowly towards the stunned Twilight who stood off to the side. “I’d really hate to have to see something like that myself...”

“Come on.” said Twilight, tersely turning and beckoning her mare-friend forward. “I just want to leave this behind us.”

Without another word, the two ponies set off across Ponyville, and as if by silent agreement, they tried their hardest to not think about the incident.

But both failed miserably.

Knock, knock, knock.

No reply came from inside the large building, except for the very subtle squeaking of something inside. “You sure that this isn’t just a little joke?” asked Dash, beckoning to the door marked with a small, professionally printed sign that read:

‘Pinkamena Diane Pie
Professional Party Planner Pony of Ponyville
Knock, please!’

“Honestly, Rainbow...” muttered Twilight. “I’m...not sure.”

The conversation was interrupted by a small, but serious voice from within. “Send her in, madam Twilight.”

The cyan pony looked to the unicorn, arching an eyebrow, but Twilight merely shrugged, and pointed to the door. Sighing, the earth pony opened the door.

She was greeted by a sight like no other she had seen before. The interior of Sugarcube corner had almost all of the lights turned off. The only light that was provided, in fact, came from a few small candles placed on a mahogany desk in the middle of the building. The desk appeared to be painted a solid black. Near said desk sat 2 chairs, one on each side on the desk. Pinkie Pie sat on one side of the desk, a very serious expression on her face, as if disapproving of the scenery around her. “Come,” she said quietly. “Have a seat.”

It was only when Rainbow trotted closer when she realized what Pinkie was wearing. The dim light had made it difficult to see such details, but upon closer inspection, the pink mare wore a wide-brim top hat, complete with white stripe. To complement this odd choice of head wear, she’d also apparently chosen to wear a tuxedo that covered only her upper body. Knowing her, she probably went all the way. I bet there’s a bow-tie somewhere in there... thought Dash.

“So...” muttered the ‘professional’ mare, leaning over the desk as the rainbow maned pony took her seat. “What makes you think that you’re a pony who’s good enough to work at Sugarcube Corner Incorporated? We want only the best parties for our customers, so we need the best ponies, too.”

The blue earth pony simply stared, trying to decide whether or not she was serious. Eventually, she decided to play along. Pinkie’s gonna be Pinkie... “Well, I have a lot of experience with parties, and I pretty much know what they want.”

Nodding, the pink mare jotted something down onto a notepad, muttering “I see...”. Rainbow tried to take a look at the notepad, but Pinkie slammed a quick hoof down on top of it, and glared for a full five seconds before giggling. “No peeksies!” she said, before clearing her throat and resuming her professional manner.

“All right, we have that covered. Now, what would you consider your public relation skills to be? Like...your ability at being nice to ponies, and not all grumpy?” asked the pink pony.

Dash shrugged. “Good, I guess.”

“How many parties have you been to, then?”

How the hay am I supposed to know that? Counting? “Uh...five hundred and thirty four?”

“Wrong!” shouted Pinkie Pie triumphantly. “It’s five hundred and thirty five! But...you underestimated yourself. That’s good, in a way.”

“Riiiiggghtt...”

The pink earth pony shuffled through a stack of papers, nodding and giving the occasional ‘Mmhmm...’. Eventually she set down the papers, and asked yet another question. “So, from these records, I can tell that your on-time-ness is pretty out of whack. How are you going to be able to be running a party if you aren’t on time?”

“Oh please, Pinkie,” grumbled Dash. “Can we just cut the interview and get right to the point? I can tell that even you’re faking it.”

“Answer the question, missy.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine. I-”

“Ha! Gotcha’!” cried Pinkie. “That was a rheat....reetaw...question you weren’t supposed to answer! ‘cause you can’t run a party without bein’ there to plan it! You’re gonna have to fix that.”

The cyan earth pony drew breath to reply, when there came the sound of scuffling, and the faint voice of Twilight could be heard. “Fluttershy! There you are! Where have you been? And...are you okay?"

The scuffling stopped, and both of the ponies strained to hear her reply. “Not now, Twilight, please. We’ll talk later, all right? I have some business to take care of...”

Shortly after, the door flew open to reveal the yellow pegasus who had spoke earlier.

But something seemed wrong.

The usually timid mare's pink, flowing mane was no longer quietly hanging down in gentle curls. Instead, it was frayed and frizzy, and it stuck out wildly in all directions. Even a closer glance revealed tiny sticks and twigs carefully nestled between the frays.
Fluttershy's coat was dotted and speckled with many cuts, all of which seemed superficial, but were still just as concerning. She seemed slightly out of breath, as if she'd ran a whole mile before arriving at Sugarcube Corner. Her eyes burned with a fierce light as she marched straight up to Pinkie, who got up and stepped back.

"Hey Fluttershy! Ditcha' fall out of a tree?" the pink pony bubbled.

The yellow pegasus held her gaze. "At one stage or another, actually, yes."

"Wow! Sounds like fun!"

Fluttershy made a sound suspiciously like a low grumble, and Pinkie immediately stopped talking. Taking a deep breath, the pegasus continued. "You have no idea, Pinkie. What I've had to even do to pluck up enough courage to tell you this. But, spending three whole weeks out in nature, isolated from pony civilization, and trying to find inner peace is a start. And because I spent 3 whole weeks, I’m absolutely sure of this."

Pinkie, to everlasting credit of her 'stay positive' motto, still smiled. "That's great! Maybe I should try it sometime!"

"Pinkie." said the yellow mare. "Listen to me, and listen good, because I'm saying it now, before I can't say it at all."

"Ooh!" squealed the pink pony. "Are you here to tell me about a surprise party? Wait, don't tell me! I want it to be a surprise!"

Ignoring the excited mare's interjections as they continued, Fluttershy closed her eyes, and took a few deep, shaking breaths.

"...and maybe with pink balloons instead of those p-"

"Pinkie, I'm just trying to tell you that I love you!"

Pinkie stopped, and smiled. “OK!” she chirped, before continuing. “...those purple ones, and maybe with a double-decker huge cake with some-”

“Did you even hear me?” said the pegasus, her cheeks turning a bright red in indignant frustration. “Or do you just not understand?”

The pink pony stopped again. “I get it all right, you’re saying that you love me as a family, and I think that’s super duper sweet! I love ya’ too, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy blinked once, twice, and then once more, as if she had no idea that Pinkie would react that way. But then a knowing, yet reluctant expression crept onto her face, and she turned towards Rainbow, who’d sat there the entire time, astonished. Partly because the pegasus had burst in after looking like she’d decided to crash through a produce cart, and partly because Pinkie was being so...Pinkie.

In an instant, Dash knew exactly what the yellow mare was thinking. Memories of the night on the balcony-not all of them good-flashed back.

“And if she still doesn’t get it...”

She smiled slightly, and nodded towards the confused pegasus. In response, Fluttershy turned, and gently removed the top hat from Pinkie’s head as she rambled on. “Hey!” protested the party pony. “I was wearing that! You ruined my image! I was all fancy, and then you-”

The stream of words from Pinkie, if it could be believed, stopped, as the yellow pegasus finally leaned in towards the rambling mare mid-sentence, and firmly planted her lips onto Pinkie’s.

The change in Pinkie Pie was immediately evident. The pink earth pony immediately threw caution to the wind, closed her eyes tight, and returned the kiss with as much fervor as Fluttershy had begun it with. But something about it told Dash that Pinkie had no idea whatsoever as to what the heck she was doing. This was confirmed as the two mares stepped back, and Fluttershy gently handed the hat back to the pink party pony.

“I’m...guessing you feel the same?” she asked.

“I...honestly don’t know,” mumbled Pinkie Pie. “I’ve never felt this way before, really. It’s all squirmy-wormy...I mean, not in a bad way, but not exactly good, either.”

“So...you mean...” The light in the mare’s eyes had died down, and now a gentle shading of wonder had replaced it.

"Yes, 'Shysie...I've never been in love with anypony...let alone kissed them. I just never really knew what it could feel like, and it's only now that I do know what it feels like. I guess I was, but I just didn't know.”

The timid mare smiled, regaining her regular demeanor as her cheeks tinted a slight shade of red. "I guess that it makes this so much more special, huh?"

Smiling widely once again, Pinkie placed the hat onto Fluttershy's head, and giggled. "It's as sure as how silly you look in that hat!"

A quiet whisper from a sudden voice near Rainbow caused her to jump. "Reminds you of a certain two ponies, doesn't it?"

Dash looked towards the unicorn, who'd snuck in nearly unnoticed. She couldn't help but to smile in remembrance, at how much she'd beaten around the bush before going straight for the prize. Especially taking home the prize like a freakin' boss!

"Yeah, Twilight. It kinda' does."

"So, what now, Twilight?" asked Rainbow, pacing around the small entrance den of the library. "Finding a job at Pinkie's was a bust...this whole day is just weird, anyways."

The unicorn took on a thinking expression, tapping a hoof to her chin. "Hmmm...well, I do have a number of ideas. Given the scenarios from a book I read, we have about 200 choices!"

Dash coughed. "A book? That's great, Twi', but I think we need something a little more practical here."

"What's more practical than a book?"

"Uh, anything." remarked the cyan earth pony, rolling her eyes angrily. "Come on, try actually coming up with an idea."

Twilight frowned. "But...isn't a book good enough? I mean, they helped me discover the choice that helped me save your life!"

"Are you kidding me?!" shouted Dash, her voice contrasting its previous quietness. "Books are good if you want something fun to read, but not if you have something important to decide!"

"Rainbow, please watch your tone. And books are chalk full of informat-"

The cyan earth pony suddenly lunged into the unicorn's face. "That's bisonshit!" she cried.
"Books are 'helpful', and chalked full of 'information'? Well, woopdey bucking doo! Then how come they couldn't save Applejack?"

"I-"

The rainbow maned pony's face now darkened, her expression growing increasingly sour. "Oh wait, that was you. I'm sorry that your precious little books couldn't help you."

By now, tears were forming in Twilight's eyes. "Dash, why in Celestia's name are you-"

"Oh, why in her name am I doing this? Right, the princess will always protect you if you just ask."

"I won't have that tone in this library, Rainbow Alicia Dash! Just please calm down, and tell me why you're acting like this!"

That only earned the unicorn a glare, as the earth pony took a big breath.

"Why am I acting like this? I'll tell you.

I'm Rainbow Dash. I like flying extremely fast, and doing amazing stunts. I like showing off my talent. I want to be in the awesome Wonderbolts Stuntspony group. But wait. I can’t fly? Now who the buck am I? I’m just Rainbow. I can’t Dash across the sky anymore.

Until now, I tried to hide it from you, Twilight. How much it really hurt to not be able to fly. It hurts something awful. I want to soar across the sky, wind blowing in my face. I want to be truly at peace, and I want the choice to relax in a nice, soft cloud at the end of a hard day’s work. Perhaps one day, I'd even possibly take it upon myself to let you experience it yourself, let us do it together.

With that taken away from me, I honestly don’t think life is worth the trip anymore. So why am I still here?

I’m still here because of you, Twilight. You are the pony who managed to make my mind switch from ultimate despair, to ‘OK, I’ll give it a shot.’.

But now I’m starting to regret that. Not only am I permanently stuck on the ground, but I’m stuck with a pony who thinks books can solve everything, and that she can run to her teacher for comfort and protection.

First of all, comfort’s my job, or at least it should be. But Twilight, the point is, books can’t solve everything. If you’re getting faced down by a lion, you can’t open a book and quickly digest on how to scare it or something. You gotta act right then and there.

The fact that you think that you can whip out a book and turn my life around just disgusts me, Twilight. You’re just a little sheltered pony, who thinks she can get any bucking thing she wants with knowledge. Or that she can help anyone else with magical knowledge. I got news for ya’, Twi’. It isn’t that easy. But, if I were to become the nosy, detached, overly optimistic bitch that you’re being right now, I could see where the hay you’re coming from.

I can handle my own life, you little misfit of a pony. The fact that you feel the need to jump in when you’re not needed sickens me even more. I, of course, would have actually taken it upon myself to get myself some work. In fact, tomorrow, I was going to suggest that I just work as your assistant here. But you know what?”

The cyan pegasus’ eyes shone with an anger fiercer than Fluttershy’s Stare, if possible.

“I don’t think I need you anymore, Twilight. You don’t need me. This is just a little game that’s only going to end with two losers.

Goodbye.”

It was over in less than a minute. The cyan earth pony had ranted herself out, and already slammed the door by the time Twilight even managed to get up the motivation to say something.

The only thing she actually expressed, vocally, however, was a low moan. One of sorrow. The very instant it began, she rushed outside, pushing the door open so quickly that it smashed into the tree, the wood becoming stuck upon impact. “Dash! COME BACK!” she cried, vainly searching for any sign of the suddenly furious pony. But she was nowhere to be seen.

Sniffling, she sat down, and stared at the ground. Was it something I said, or did? Why in the world would she just snap at me like that, and leave? Was it all just one big game? I don’t think she’s joking, because she would have popped out and yelled so by now. Even if it is, it isn’t funny...

I don’t care. I’m going to find her, and get my answers. One way or another...

A/N:I know, I’m probably losing some trackers.

Y’see, those are the ones who are going to miss out. The ones who stay will realize that I’m actually going somewhere with this, and that there’s a purpose. Dash does not ever turn into a psycho bitch without reason, that’s all I’ll say.

Stick around. If you don’t, however, it’s your loss.

Also, hooray. Viewpoint change next chapter.

Clear Skies

A/N:This chapter is a little shorter than most others. But I think you'll like it the best... ;)

The sky had already begun to darken over Ponyville, as a bank of dark storm clouds had drifted in during the past hour.

And still, Twilight Sparkle searched.

She was prowling every single corner, every single cranny, and every single extremely annoyed stand owner. But as of yet, there was no sign of the rainbow maned pony.

I have to admit, she is remarkably well at hiding... she thought. Hey, there's Rarity-oh come on, she's doing that 'look away calmly' thing. I don't have time for this, I have to find Dash! What if she's lost?

Her own thoughts driving her more and more worried, the purple mare's pace quickened as she set out for a certain cottage near the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.

Arriving in minutes, Twilight knocked on the door as hard as she could. "Fluttershy!" she shouted. "Are you there? I need your help, and quick!"

No response came from inside the small hut, and the unicorn knocked again, before pacing impatiently. "Come on, come ON!" she cried. "Please!"

It became apparent, soon, that the yellow pegasus was not at home. Sighing, the purple mare fell to the ground. Oh, it's hopeless...I've searched everywhere...Pinkie's busy...I'm tired...and Fluttershy's not home...and I just...don't know why she did it. Can it get any worse?

As if in reply, a growl of thunder came from the skies above, as the rain began to pour down almost perfectly in synchronization with the first tear that leaked from Twilight's eye.

...I really have to quit asking that.

As the rain poured on, soaking into the unicorn's mane, Twilight rested her head upon her hooves, throat tightening.

What went wrong? she thought. I mean, all I've done is try to help...but I guess some ponies don't like that...

Suddenly, her head lifted up. But maybe she was right? A pony's personal life isn't something you should intrude into, whether you love them or not. I guess...I already did that a little too much...

"We're going to find you a new job!"

"Woah, woah, woah. You can't just find a job, y'know."

"I guess I'll have to make the right choice then, huh?"

"Whatever choice you make is the right choice..."

She trusted me. She trusted me, but not in the way that I thought she was.
She trusted me to let her make her own decision, and to let her run her own life.

And I failed. I was selfish. I was only thinking of myself. I had no clue that she felt this way...

I messed up. And there's only one thing I wish I could say to her...

"I'm sorry..." whispered the unicorn. "I'm sorry, OK?"

Taking a deep breath, Twilight Sparkle stood up, and yelled out, voice cracking with emotion:

"I'm sorry, Dash, OK? I don't care if you can't hear me, I just want to apologize! I'm sorry! Please...come back!"

Spent, the purple unicorn collapsed back onto the soft, muddy ground, not even bothering to wince at the mud that splattered onto her coat. Her hooves went over her head, trying to offer minimal shelter against the torrent of rain. Her cries were drowned out by the low booming of thunder.

The sound of squelching came from a distance, nearly inaudible, growing in volume until it reached a position next to her, and stopped. The rain stopped hitting her relentlessly, but it still poured all the same outside. I'm...not getting hit anymore?

"That's all I wanted to hear, Twilight. You passed."

Sniffing, the unicorn lifted her head, seeking out the voice. Her neck brushed against what felt to be a sodden mane, and she craned her neck to look up, and try to see what was there.

"R-Rainbow!" she cried.

Sure enough, it was Rainbow Dash. She was standing over the unicorn, sheltering her with her own body. Though her mane and tail hung down with the weight of thousands of water droplets, a gentle smile still lit up her face.

"Wh-what did I pass?" asked Twilight. "Where were you?!"

"Well, Twi'..." muttered the earth pony. "I gotta' tell you something...as a filly, I don't know why, but everypony seemed to like me. I never realized that they were just joking. They lead me on, and when we got to that moment...they laughed, and called it a joke."

"So, what are you-"

Dash sighed, shaking her head. "I've had my heart broken too many times. This may sound stupid, but...I thought you would leave me if I wasn't the same pony that you always knew. I was scared, I was frightened to death. So I had to be sure."

The low grumble of rolling thunder echoed through the air, before Rainbow continued.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. But I had to be sure that you loved me, no matter what I said. Because most often, when I said things like that to those prissy little stuck up girls, they made fun of me, called me names, and left. But you..."

Rainbow Dash smiled slightly again, her cheeks turning a gentle shade of rose. "...you, Twilight. You passed, you tried to stay with me, you looked for me despite all of that, and that's true love. Not the type that those shallow fillies wrote off as 'love'. I'm glad what I thought was true."

Twilight couldn't decide whether to smile, or to frown because she'd been deceived. "So...you're not leaving?"

At this, the cyan earth pony let out a burst of laughter. "After what you just showed me? Your willingness to return the loyalty that I give you myself? Hay no, Twi'! I'm staying right here!"

"But...those..horrible things you said...?" asked the purple mare, trailing off as she didn't know how to finish the question.

"Twilight, again, I'm sorry." repeated Dash. "In fact, those things are true. You...kind of do think those things a lot. Knowledge and all." She leaned down to plant a quick kiss on the scholar's forehead. "But that's what I like about you so much. It's not what I 'hate', if there's anything that I do hate. You're that bookworm, that one who needs to be sheltered. And..." she gestured to the sky. "...I'm more than glad to be that shelter."

A smile broke out on Twilight's face, and she, too, blushed. But then it faded as she asked another question.
"But...what you said about not being able to fly...how you didn't even want to live...what about that?"

The ex-pegasus sighed. "That...was actually telling the truth. It's just absolutely horrible as of lately...I miss being able to zip like lightning from place to place, and to stun everypony with epic tricks."

"So..." tried Twilight. "The only reason you're still hanging on-"

"-is because of you, Twi'." finished the pegasus. "Of course, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and even the memory of Applejack are things that make me like life. Along with flying. But you're the one who tipped me over."

"I...guess I can live with that," said the unicorn.

"C'mon," said Dash. "Let's get home before I catch a cold or something...I've been out here for like, two hours."

As the earth pony stepped away from the unicorn, allowing her to get up, she became quickly enveloped by a large, tight hug. Twilight gripped the rainbow maned pony tight, leaning into her neck as a foal would to its mother.

"Don't you ever do that again," she whispered, eyes shut tight. "I don't know how I'd deal with it."

Rainbow smiled, gently draping a leg around Celestia's student.

"You won't have to, Twilight. Not any more."

“I knew we should’ve gotten back so-ah...ah...Achoo!”

Twilight Sparkle smiled, if only a little bemusedly. “I suppose that’s nature’s way of telling you not to play little love games with me, Dash.”

The cyan pony rolled her eyes, leaning further back into her bed, shivering. “Whatever. Just get me that soup already.”

As the unicorn walked out of the bedroom, she bumped into Spike, who snorted. “Twilight.” he said tersely.

“Spike?” asked the purple mare. “Are you all right?”

The dragon grumbled. “I just still can’t believe you, Twilight. Thanks to you, I’ll never be able to talk to Rarity again.”

Twilight sighed. “Spike, would you please let that go? It’s been a few weeks, at estimate. It isn’t exactly my fault, and I’ll get around to trying to patch things up soon! Just give me a chance.”

Spike sighed. “All right. I’m just saying...smooth move, Twi’.” Without another word, the young dragon sulked off, grumbling something about “lost love...except for her”.

That was really odd of Spike... thought the unicorn, as she carefully picked up a waiting saucer of deep red liquid with a quick violet glow. I guess he’ll get over it soon. The poor guy just needs a little time...

Trotting back into the bedroom, Twilight was greeted by a shivering earth pony, who shook even more tremulously than she had been just seconds ago. Her rose colored eyes seemed distant, as her eyes were only half-lidded, and staring straight ahead. The cyan pony's breathing seemed shallow, and rapid, as if each breath were a painful effort.

"Rainbow...?" said the unicorn. "Are you all right? Just seconds ago, you were..."

Still trembling, Rainbow spoke up. "No, no, I'm...f-fine..."

Creasing her brow in worry, Twilight walked closer to Dash. "You don't look like it..." she muttered. Was she just holding it together for my sake? Carefully, the unicorn lay a forehoof across the stricken pony's forehead, checking for any temperature abnormalities. Please, don't let it be the Fever again...we just tried to prevent that not long ago...

Her hoof, however, encountered a very, very hot forehead, instead of a normal one. She knew from this that it wasn't the Fever, but rather a fever. "You're burning up..." she muttered.

"Yeah," croaked the cyan pony. "Tell me another one..."

Shaking her head slightly, the unicorn gently tapped Dash on the shoulder. "Sit up please," she said. "Just a little. You know that you have to feed a fever, and starve a cold. Because this is no measly cold."

Groaning, Rainbow hauled herself up enough so that she wasn't laying at a perfectly horizontal angle anymore. The pillows were now beneath her lower back, and while it helped to keep her upright, it looked to Twilight like it hurt a bit.

Putting the thought of pillows aside, Twilight began gently spoon-feeding the shivering Dash. At first, the earth pony refused outright, sealing her lips tight, and turning away. After a few attempts, however, her resolve seemed to weaken, upon which she simply gave in, and allowed the unicorn to spoon the dark, tomato flavored liquid into her mouth.

By the time it was all said and done, Rainbow Dash had collapsed back onto the pillows, groaning in what seemed to be pain. "Hang on," said Twilight. "I'll see if I can get a cool cloth or something. Would that help?"

The rainbow maned earth pony nodded, shrinking back further under the dark purple sheets. She wouldn't have to wait long, though. In just a few mere seconds, Twilight Sparkle returned with a damp cloth, and gently positioned it across Rainbow's forehead. The cyan mare sighed, shuddering slightly. "Much...better..." she mumbled.

"If there's anything else you need, just-"

The unicorn's sentence was interrupted when Dash cut her off. "I'm tired," she said, wriggling further back into the sheets.

"Well then...what can I do about that?" asked the unicorn. "Just go to-"

"Tell me a story...or something," continued Rainbow. "It'll give me something else...to focus on."

Twilight smiled slightly at the thought of it. “All right,” she agreed. “I’ll tell you a story.”

The purple mare climbed onto the foot of the bed, took a breath, and began with the ever cliched ‘Once upon a time...’

“Once upon a time”, she began. “There lived a pegasus by the name of Clear Skies, in the village of Ponytown. She loved to fly, and she did it all the time! After all, her job was to clear the skies, and that was how she got her name.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “I like it already,” she whispered, as though she were a small foal struck by wonder.

The unicorn laughed a little, before continuing. “One day, right around Hearth’s Warming Eve, Clear Skies was flying above Ponytown, when suddenly she noticed something! Her best friend, Literature Pony, was in trouble! It looked like a bunch of sparrows had gotten angry, and were starting to attack all the frightened ponies!

So Clear Skies swooped down, and grabbed Literature Pony as quickly as she could. She knew she had to get out of there, before the mean old birds hurt her friend!”

I wonder if she’s going to notice the relation any time soon...

“Unfortunately, while she was being the hero, one of the birds scratched her eyes, and it hurt a lot! She couldn’t see a thing, but she managed to get her friend out of there. They got to the hospital as soon as they could.

All of her other friends were there, too. Even Prancing Fuschia, Farmertree, Animal Tender, and Fashina! They were all so worried about her, and she knew that. But when she got out there, she felt Literature Pony give her a hug so hard, that she could hardly breathe.

She knew then that her friends were so glad that she was OK, and she was happy, too. But she was a little nervous, because she had something to tell her best friend. But she didn’t know if she could.

Literature Pony offered her somewhere to stay while her eyes got better, and she accepted the offer. It took a while to get home, because it was so hard to see without her vision. But they eventually made it.

Over the next two weeks, Literature Pony took care of Clear Skies. Clear Skies kept wanting to tell her friend what she felt, but she just couldn’t work up the courage. She even talked it over with her best friend’s assistant, Stalacite.

Eventually, the day came when the bandages came off her eyes, and she could see! It was wonderful! The first thing she saw was her special friend, Literature Pony.

She decided that she’d had enough running, so right then and there, she kissed Literature Pony, and told her that she loved her. Clear Skies felt so nervous, and thought that now her friend would hate her forever. But then Literature Pony said that she loved her too!”

The unicorn smiled. “And do you know what happened next?”

Blankly, Rainbow shook her head.

“They lived happily ever after,” finished Twilight Sparkle.

Dash smiled. “Nice story,” she said, yawning. “I think I can go to sleep now.”

“That’s good then,” said Twilight. “Good night.”

“Night, Twilight.”

As the unicorn reached the hallway, and began gently closing the door, the earth pony called out. “Wait.”

“Yes?”

The cyan mare smiled. “I love you, Literature Pony.”

The purple unicorn smiled back.

“I love you too, Clear Skies.”

A/N-You guys earned it. If you stuck through it, you deserve this severe dosage of d’awww. I hope it’s ‘k if I stopped writing sad for this chapter...it should be more than OK, right? :)

Also, if there's any artists, please PM me. I'd like to make a cover for this story.

Epilogue

A/N:
A little early, huh? Sorry, guys. I figure it’s best to just skip to the epilogue, instead of virtually forcing another chapter. It’s bad for the story.

But, but, but.

Do you like this story? Do you hate to see it go? Well, good news, everypony!

I am immediately beginning a new fiction. If you watch me, or just keep an eye on my page, you should see it very soon.

I hope you enjoyed this ride. But it’s slowly chugging to a stop...

Ponyville had long since flourished under the direction of one Twilight Sparkle-a legendary unicorn heard about across Equestria. She, unfortunately, was no longer with them.

However, in a way, she was. In the center of the town square, there stands a statue of Princess Celestia- Grand Princess of Equestria. Now, there stands a smaller statue next to it, depicting two ponies.

One of them was a smiling unicorn, a pair of glasses resting upon the nip of her nose. She was holding a clipboard in one hoof, and looking up towards the sky, smiling a wizened smile.
What she was looking at, was another pony.

The other pony was smiling, too. She looked confident, a renewed vigor of youth in her eyes. She was on a cushion resembling something close to a cloud, reaching down to the mare with glasses. Her wings were extended, as if in preparation to leap off the cloud and hug the other pony.

At the base of the intricate statue, there lay a plaque with an inscription that read words which echoed a lifetime's worth. It was wide, taking up almost the entire base, even wrapping around the sides, but it meant no less:

'In dedication to Twilight Sparkle,
The unicorn who invented many life changing cures and amenities.

She is the pony who found a cure for the dreaded wing rot, and a side-effect free cure to Two Turn Fever.

Twilight Sparkle was also the discoverer of the ever important 'wing transplant' method, allowing many previous pegasi grounded, to once more take flight. The first successful patient was Rainbow Alicia Dash, her faithful assistant and partner from years past. Miss Rainbow Dash is also worth dedicating this statue to, because not only is she the first pegasus who was willing to take the risk of transplant, she was the pony who drove Twilight to discover these cures.
May Ponyville, and all of Equestria remember these two as long as this town stands.'

The great library where she once took residence, still stood. Ponies flocked in and out at all hours-it never was a dull day for the two ponies who still lived within.

It was now that one of them-a small, yet not so small green pegasus filly-hesitated at a large oaken door. She knew that it was her mother's room, but was it OK to enter?

Eventually, she knocked. A cracking, raspy voice issue from within. "Come in."

The small pony hesitantly stepped into the room, taking in the familiar surroundings. A few framed pictures of a smiling lavender mare hung around the room, along with some posters, mainly of the 'Wonderbolts'. Then the cyan face that she knew as 'mom' addressed her, and she smiled.

"Still got that cold?" asked the green pegasus.

Her mother forced a smile onto her face. "Afraid so, Emerald." she stated. "Nothing keeps 'the Dash' down for too long, though, and you know that."

Emerald couldn't help but to chuckle. "I guess...anyways, I..." She trailed off, before taking a breath and continuing. "...I came to ask about who she is."

The pegasus in front of her sighed, dropping her head down. "I knew this day would come..." she muttered. "But...I think you're old enough. You're almost ready to move into the world. Come on," she said. "Take a seat. I have a long story to tell."

Who is that mare? Who could she be?

That mare, sweetie, is, and always has been, the love of my life. We've been through some crazy times, and you're gonna hear most of them. Let's begin at the start, though.

I remember that day only about a decade ago, when I was barely a young adult, excited to get out in the world. I was doing my job as a weather patrol pony, and then she walked right in.

Right then, as soon as I heard her sweet voice, my heart lept for joy. I thought I'd finally found her.

But I had to keep quiet-she was a relatively gentle soul, and I didn't want to scare her. I didn't even know if...ahem...her barn door even swung that way.

I sat there for a whole year and a half, of simply biting my lip and pretending that we were just really great friends. It was horrible, and I even found myself occasionally whispering her name in my sleep as I awoke.

The day came when a flock of crows decided to drop into Ponyville. Long story short, she was in trouble, and I saved her. I got my eyes scratched something bad, and I couldn't see a thing. I was blinded.

I had to get them bandaged, and then she took me in, with the kindness of her heart. It was only worse, keeping that secret from her, especially when I was living in her house, as we do now. I had to stay for two weeks.

She cared for me during that entire time, and I had to fight the impulse to just blurt it out. If any time was to admit it, it certainly wasn't then.

It finally came time to take the bandages off, and I was overjoyed! I could see again! But...

The first thing that I saw was her. And I couldn't help it-my heart did a big scadoompaloomp, and I just leaned forward, and kissed her with all of my heart. I couldn't even find the words to express how much I loved her.

I thought for sure that she would despise me from then on. I was ready to take flight out of there, when she looked me straight in the eyes-my legs were jelly by then-and told me that she loved me, too.

And then began the journey of my life.

When one of my best friends perished due to a dastardly disease, she was upset, and so was I. But being the emotionally vulnerable pony she was, I had to comfort her. And the hours I spent, simply holding her while she cried...

I'd never felt more starstruck, and concerned than ever before.
However, I was wrong there.

A while later, the disease was to be vanquished-a cure had been found, and we both rushed down there, wishing to avoid being the target of another's mourning.

I was scared of needles, very much so. But she held my hoof, and talked me through it. After that, I'd never felt closer to her than before.

I was still wrong.

One of the side effects was Wing Rot. Of the 1 in 10,000 odds...

I was the one.

I didn't know for a while. In fact it was one night gazing at the sunset when it happened. I was sheltering her with my wings, holding her close, stroking her hair...when suddenly, she looks up, begins whispering a prayer to Celestia, and...faints.

I asked her, and when she told me, I was confused. I had no idea what it was, until she explained.

The muscles, skin, and nerves in my wings were slowly being eaten away by some sort of bacterial parasite. I would not fly again, if I was lucky.

...best case scenario, I was gonna' die. It was going to spread to the rest of me, and I was going to die.

I'll be honest. I cried, OK? No wait, I sobbed. I was 23, and I was already destined to die? I just...my dreams were crushed instantaneously.

That night on the balcony, we each cried each other to sleep. I didn't want to leave her, and she didn't want to be left without me. It was a mutual, sad feeling.

It was a while later, and I'm in the hospital, glumly awaiting my fate. Who else to walk in but her?

...oh yeah, and my freakin' lifelong idol.

Together, they eventually explain that there is a way to keep me alive-amputation. But...

Then I wouldn't fly again.

Flying was my whole life! Taking that away would be like taking her magic! I explained that, and...she just broke down.

I had snapped a little, and so I apologized for that. But then she said what we were both thinking...

I was right. And that was what made it all the worse.

So I get her to look at me, and I look deep, deep into her eyes. The tears that were leaking out just broke my heart, and it only made me want to do it more.

I gave her the choice of life, or death.

She didn't trust herself, I could tell that. She kept objecting, but I told her that I both loved and trusted her enough for the choice.

She stopped, and then she just...

Let's just say that was the saddest kiss ever. She said afterwards, that she guessed she'd have to make the 'right choice'.

I woke up about a day later. As in, woke up. I knew then what choice she'd made. I hoped it was a dream, that I still had my wings, that we were still together...

But I remained wingless.

She kept apologizing, she kept saying it was her fault. But it was mine. I was the one who'd made her choose, and I was the one who was sorry.

Because she saved my life.

We're in the middle of arguing, and who else to show up but the princess herself?

I'm going to skip over this one. But everything was just a little tragedy caused by lack of attention.

After all of this, I was still unsure if she was still devoted to me. I mean, she fell in love with me-the pegasus! Now, without my flight...what would she see in me?

So I did possibly the stupidest thing I could:

I spouted lies at her, insulted her, and ran out.

I waited for two whole hours, waiting for her to look for me, to see if she still loved me no matter what. I even waited through the rain. I was just about to give up, when I heard her.

I knew then, that she did.

I walked over, and covered her from the rain before filling her in on the whole thing.

...I don't know if she hated me or not. But I got a nice hug, so I suppose it worked.

We, of course, had our crazy share of adventures from then on. But we also had our own romantic nights out, too.

Finally, my birthday rolled around-I was turning 25 that year. I'll, uh...skip the first half of that day. But we got back to the library.

Another long, story within a story short, she...

She asked me to marry her.

I think you know what I said, after I regained the ability to speak.

That day finally rolled around a month later. I couldn't have been happier. That is, until our honeymoon began...

But hey, you're too young to hear about that stuff.

So we finally get back to the library, and she turns to me.

She says she had three things to tell me.

When we weren't...doing things...on our honeymoon, she'd apparently been researching. And she knew 3 things.

She'd discovered a side effect free cure to the very disease that took my friend. All that was missing was a 'Phoenix's feather to counteract the damp-dwelling organism'.

She'd discovered a cure to Wing Rot-'The secret is a mix of saltpeter, crushed sunflower petals, and a tiny additive of Trifiscus Blue Posy Nectar'.

And...she didn't tell me the last one. Instead, she just led me to the hospital. Apparently, they were expecting me. I was given a room, and it was there that she told me.

She could give me my wings back.

I thought she was joking, but she wasn't. After a 'risky' operation, I did have my wings back. I was so overjoyed.

But there was an exception.

They were still unusually sensitive, and thus flying wasn't an option. The nerves and muscles lost needed time to regenerate...and they still have been. Anything beyond three seconds' flight hurts like hay to this day. I am pretty optimistic, though. She said that it would only be so long...

About that sensitive thing...I swear to this day, I can sense danger with them. They just pop open even before I know anything's wrong. Also, the things that she d-...

I really gotta quit rambling like that.

But where has she gone?

I...I don't know...Twilight-that's her-left for a business trip years ago...and she still hasn't come back...right before she left, though...

"...her and I adopted you, Emerald. Twilight Sparkle is your long lost...well, other mother."

The filly blinked, mouth agape. Ask a simple question, get a life story... "I, uh...ponies can like each other that way?" she asked, voice brimming with bewilderment. "Like...two mares?"

Her rainbow maned mother figure laughed. "Oh, silly little Emerald Twide..." she managed. "I think you'll find that love holds no barriers soon enough..."

The filly sighed. "Rrriiiggghhhtt..."

The cyan figure arose, brushing past the stunned green pegasus. "If you'll excuse me..." she said. "I'm going to..." she sniffed. "...mourn by her g-er, ‘statue’..."

Rainbow stared at the ground in front of her, looking at the simple plaque commemorating the love of her life.

Gone.

A tear slowly made its way to the corners of her eyes.

She’s been gone...

The pegasus sighed, placing the single rose she’d brought with her onto the simple mound of dirt.

...for 10 years.

The chirping of birds did nothing to break Rainbow Dash from her grief, rather it only cruelly reminded her of what Twilight was not.

Alive.

I...she never got to watch her...our child grow up. Become her own pony.

The sky was bright, but bright described anything but the pegasus’ demeanor.

She never got to finish that book series she started.

Tears now freely flowed onto the ground.

And she never got to see the legacy that she left behind...

I can almost hear her voice now...

Sighing, the pegasus dwelt on the fragment of voice that she ever so wished that she could hear. “Rainbow, I’m back!”

A small, strangled sob escaped her throat. Too bad she’ll never say anything like it...

Closing her eyes tight to the world, the cyan mare lay down next to the simple gray headstone stating the years that the unicorn had lived, and-

“Rainbow, what are you doing? I’m kind of up here...”

The pegasus’ eyes shot open as she looked up. Could it be true? Or was it yet another grief induced hallucination?

Through the speckles of water that clouded her vision, the broken Dash made out a mess of a pony. Her hair hung in tattered, frayed ends, and glasses-which were missing a lense-teetered dangerously on her nose, threatening to fall off. The pony who stood in front of her only stood on 3 legs, her weight shifted mostly to her front-right forehoof. Her rear left hind leg was wrapped in bandages, and the mysterious unicorn seemed to be taking scrupulous care not to put any weight on it.

Most strange of all, there was a deep scar on the pony’s right cheek, contrasting against the lavender coat that she adorned. But she knew that she knew this pony...

“...Twilight...” said Rainbow, absently reaching a hoof out, as if to touch the figure, verifying that it wasn’t a hallucination.

“...Dash...” whispered the unicorn, before flinging herself at the pegasus, knocking her to the ground with a hug beyond any other.

Surprisingly enough, the pegasus’ shoulders began shaking, until she began crying. In seconds, however, she managed to compose herself. She had questions to ask.

“Twilight, I...I have so much to...just...where were you?”

The unicorn frowned. “Not in a good place. The relations between the Zebras and the Griffins had apparently broken down. I was...caught in the crossfire, and taken prisoner.

I worked as a slave for years in the griffon camp, and it was only a whole year ago that I managed to escape. But I was without direction...it was horrible, Rainbow, just...horrible...”

Dash gently brushed the unicorn’s hair aside, catching the tear that had leaked out of her eyes. “I...I can’t even tell you how much I missed you...”

Twilight picked herself up off from the pegasus, wincing as her rear leg was forced to take weight to hoist herself aloft. “That’s going to smart for a few weeks...” she muttered. “Darn guard caught me with a stone as I was just about out of range...”

Rainbow looked the unicorn in the eyes as she stood up. “But you’re OK,” she whispered. “And you’re back. That’s all that matters now.”

The purple mare smiled, but as soon as she did, the weary grin faded from her face. “How is she...?”

“She’s fine, Twilight...the only thing missing from her life is you.”

“I-”

The pegasus silenced Twilight Sparkle with a hoof to her muzzle. “The only thing that’s been missing here in my life, is you too. And I’m not losing you again. Ever. Especially not for 10 years. You scared us all, Twi’, all right? You gotta’ be more careful! As you can see, I was worrying my damn-”

The cyan pegasus’ frantic, worried chidings quickly became a series of distorted muffles as the purple unicorn brushed aside the hoof that kept her silent, and instead of halting the stream of words with a forehoof, halted the worried ramblings with the soft touch of her lips.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, taking in the blissful feeling that now surrounded her. No longer was there a hole in her heart, she felt complete. I have a family, I have a job, I still have a dream...

But I have her.

She was called back to simpler times-when she was a younger pony, frolicking around in Ponyville, when her spirit was free and her heart longed for the free range, the adventure. The moment when she had first met the purple mare was called to attention. She had been so young, so naive, going to juvenile tactics to impress her. But, it was herself. And being herself had worked.

As she reminisced, grasping Twilight close to her in what had now turned into a hug, she noticed the weightless feeling that she felt as the burden of worry was finally freed from her shoulders. As she held the mare who was one in one hundred-no, in one thousand-no, in one billion-in her hooves as she clung tight in return.

What she didn’t notice was how the ground slowly receded from below her, becoming 10 feet below her, then 40, then 100, then more, or how her wings absently beat. Her eyes were closed in pure nirvana.

Rainbow Dash had taken flight for the first time in 12 years.

But as for her heart, it had already taken flight 15 years ago. And in the presence of the stunning purple mare, it was always flying.

She smiled. She’d finally discovered it, after over a decade’s worth of searching.

She’d discovered that there was more than one way to fly...

The End...

Twilight Writes A Really Long Letter

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I learned that true friends will like you for who you are, not for who you make yourself appear to be. You shouldn't have to change yourself for your friends, because the reason that you're friends is because you're yourself. Besides, if you weren't you, who would they like?

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
11-1-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I'm glad to see that you've reached this milestone, and I'm so proud of you! You've officially learned your 100th lesson about friendship! That's quite a number, isn't it? There is still a lot to learn, though!

Since this seems to be the end of your mandatory course, I'll give you a choice, Twilight. You can either choose to continue your studies, in the way that you can 'major' in friendship, and remain in Ponyville. If you choose this option, I will make arrangements to dictate you Official Chief Librarian, and the library can re-open to the general public during normal hours. You'll be free to remain with your friends, and continue having fun.

Or you can return to Canterlot, and reside as a student teacher of magical abilities at Canterlot's Magic School for Gifted Unicorns. You will be provided with your own apartment, and as a student teacher, you'll be able to help me with classes, or appearances I can't quite make it to.

The choice is entirely yours, my faithful student. And no matter what you choose, I support you fully. After all, you've gotten this far, haven't you? You have your own stalwart decision making process, and I trust it entirely.

Princess Celestia
11-1-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

Wow, um...this is all a little...sudden, isn't it? This is really going to take a lot of consideration. If I leave, I may feel like I'm abandoning them, and possibly when they need it most. But I've always wanted to be a teacher. This is just a huge decision. I'm afraid I may need some time to decide. I mean, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and even Applejack...we've all been through so much together, it feels wrong to just...leave.

Plus, I really need to figure out who the heck is sending me these letters and gifts and things, such as roses or poems. It's been happening since maybe a week ago. It kind of irks me to not know who they come from. Each one is signed somewhere, with the apparent alias 'That one pony you know'. That really isn't much to go off of. Not that I don't feel flattered, though. And anyways, part of the mystery is in discovery, right?

Oh dear, I'm rambling. I suppose I do that when I'm nervous. Let's just say I need time, OK?

Your slightly embarrassed student,
Twilight Sparkle.
11-2-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Of course. Let me know when you've made a decision. No pressure, of course!

Also, it seems like you have that secret admirer chasing after you. I wouldn't be surprised if it's somepony you already know, considering their charming alias. Regardless, I wish you luck finding out who it is, and best wishes that all goes well!

...oh dear, I'm afraid I sounded a little old there. How brash of me. Next I suppose I'll be reminiscing about young love, huh?

Until next time, Twilight. I look forward to your next letter.

Princess Celestia
11-2-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

I think I've come to a decision. I discussed this with each of my friends, and the conflicting opinions nearly drove me crazy.

Rarity said that this was my 'big shot', and that I shouldn't miss it. She said that with luck, she'd be seeing me in Canterlot soon enough, if she premiered well enough one day or the other.

Fluttershy said I should just go, but something about the way she said it made me think she was just too shy to admit that she wanted me to stay.

Applejack told me that I should keep up with my responsibilities, and that Canterlot was 'the best long-term choice, come hail or snowstorm early on'. While I do trust her opinion, something in her speech sounded like she was wounded by the fact that I was even conflicted about this.

Rainbow Dash said that it was 'awesome', but that if I left, it would be boring again. She says that 'every time you're around, everything seems to get more exciting. I hadn't known anything beyond the weather and the Wonderbolts until you showed up. Then everything just became about 20 times cooler, with action just around the corner.'

Strangely, Rainbow just ended with "I'll miss you, Twilight," and a hug. It seemed she'd already decided that I was leaving, and she couldn't do anything. I really expected something else from her. Especially something other than the way she awkwardly flew away afterwards. I think she was upset, but was just trying to hide it. After all, she isn't really one to admit her feelings...

And lastly, Pinkie Pie told me I should just go with whichever had more parties. It's admirable, how she absolutely never looks on the dark side of anything. I don't think she fully realizes the implications of this situation, which is fine. All the better for her, I guess.

After much consideration, I think I'll stay in Ponyville. It's obvious that my friends would miss me a lot, and I would miss them. I don't even know how I could concentrate on teaching with phantom memories of them crossing my mind every few minutes. I'd end up sidetracking the whole class.

Also, another interesting package came by earlier today. It was a large, prismatic blanket that seemed to shift colors each time it moved, catching the sunlight or something. I'm pretty sure it was light refraction. I suspected Rarity had something to do with it, but then I saw the note attached below, which was signed in a rather unique way.

'Love, R___________. Each time you get a gift, I'll be kind enough to fill in another letter for you.

Anyways, a pony like you deserves the best warmth that anything can offer, to guard you from cold while you sleep. This is more designed for the higher altitudes, but seeing as you live in a giant tree, I figure you could use it. Think of it as a little piece of me to be with you when I'm not, when you're up in Canterlot.'

That one 'R' immediately made me think Rarity, but the handwriting was not elegant and swooping cursive. Now of course, I know lots of ponies whose names begin with 'R', and who don't write in cursive. Rainy Day, Rasky September, Roy Bean, heck; I suppose Rarity and Rainbow Dash count too. There's just too many to count, and I can't quite root anypony out yet. Not until I'm sure. This is still a little confusing, especially considering that I don't even think I've ever had a secret admirer...

Quite obviously, though, they don't know that I'm staying. Then again, I haven't told anypony that yet.

I think I should finish this up soon enough. Spike's complaining of a hand cramp. It's been a while since I wrote a letter this personal to you, and evidently I have a LOT to say...

Your faithful student, regardless of her choice,
Twilight Sparkle.
11-6-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I think you've learned the first lesson of life, then. Sometimes, you're forced to choose between either your friends, or your fortune, and there is no right answer. You just choose whatever seems more 'right' for your happiness and well-being.

And it certainly seems like your friends would miss you a great deal, and I wouldn't blame them. If you get attached to somepony, and they leave, it's hard to take. The millennium that Luna had to spend banished to the moon were absolute agony for me, even though I knew it was necessary. But there comes a time where you must let go. There might come a day when you meet again. But until then, it's best to grab on as tight as you can.

Your admirer certainly seems to be trying to give you a few clues, as if they can't wait for you to notice. I'm sure that the pony that makes their heart soar is pretty important to them, and they feel like they should know that.

I'll get right around to the arrangements I mentioned earlier. Though perhaps we can arrange an appearance at Magic School, just once? I have a student who has your near exact attitude about learning. I told her about you, and she's all hyped up to meet you. It's cute, really, and I'm sure it'd make her life.

Princess Celestia
11-6-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

That sounds lovely.

Twilight Sparkle.
11-13-1001

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Is there any particular reason for the delay, or your brevity? I find it a little odd that you would be writing me multiple letters a day, long and insightful, and then you just write 3 words that don't seem to match up with your tone. Are you all right?

In any case, when I told little Sapphire that you were coming, she hopped around in such glee, that I swear she hardly ever touched the ground, as if she were flying. That little filly looks up to you in a way, as her idol, and the possibility of meeting you is probably the best thing to happen to her since...well, that's a little personal. I shan't say anything.

Princess Celestia
11-14-1001

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm so sorry. But you see, I've been a little busy. And Spike's a little tuckered out, too. So I'll be dictating these letters from now on. Especially this one, it's going to be be pretty long...let me just tell it from my perspective. That should be a lot easier.

Just 3 days ago, everything seemed to be against me. And when I say that, I mean 'more so than usual'.

Firstly, Applejack was coughing and hacking up something horrible when I went to see her. She was hardly even in shape to buck a tree, and though she put it down to a fever, I somehow doubt that. She wasn't showing the typical signs of deliriousness, or even temperature. But she seemed so...frail. I made it a mental note to research it that evening, while she rested.

Upon getting home, I went straight to the 'C' section, to grab the 'Common(and not so) Illnesses, And Their Cures' from its place, when it was shunted from its place by an inexplicable thudding. I picked it up, and another book fell. And another. And another. Each one preceded by a thud, too.

Soon enough, a whole waterfall of books were cascading off of the shelves. I took it upon myself to go outside to check for any external stimuli, and then I saw it.

Well, more of 'them'.

It was a whole gaggle of crows, and they'd descended upon Ponyville, stealing every bit of edible food and clawing at what wasn't. All the pegasi were trying everything from herding(which was largely ineffective), and false displays of dominance. The second only worked on possibly one crow, if I possibly could've counted at all. This was something entirely new. What could cause the normally pacific crows in the area to become suddenly aggressive?

Anyways, the birds immediately noticed me walking out, and a whole flock of them flew towards me full speed, talons extended. I was so scared, I couldn't think straight, and tried to run, and tripped over my own hooves. On reflection, I probably should have used magic, but often your first instinct should be to break and run. I thought I was done for right then.

That's when somepony breezed by, and picked me up without bothering to check their speed. I thought it might be a panic-driven accident, but then I heard them speak. "Hang on, Twilight! We gotta' go right through the center before we can get outta' here!"

And right as I identified the voice as Rainbow, the birds were already upon us. They were shrieking, and crowing, and it was terrible, even for the brief, misguided 10 seconds that it lasted, though it felt much longer. I heard Rainbow grunt a few times in pain as they scratched her(I suppose they don't take kindly to ponies pushing through their flock), but because the way she'd grabbed me sheltered me so much; I didn't suffer much more than a scratch or two. But as we were coming out of the dense center thicket, she actually shrieked. But she kept flying, so I assumed she was fine. By now, my eyes were squeezed tight as I waited for it to be over.

Eventually, the squawking and screeching came to an end as we became distanced, until the clamor was just an echo on the breeze.

And that wasn't even the worst part of it.

As I heard the screeching slowly end, perhaps because Fluttershy had arrived to calm them, I went to finally open my eyes. And that's when Rainbow advised me directly against it. She sounded as if she was still tensed for action, but holding back pain. I asked if it was because there were more crows nearby, but it seemed unlikely. They weren't the most stealthy birds, even when they tried to be. And then, almost as if on cue, something dripped onto my face. I went to wipe it off, thinking it was, in fact, that the birds still remained, when I ignored Dash's warning and opened my eyes to look at the mystery substance.

I...I hardly want to talk about it. But...it was red. And when I looked up at Dash, I just squeezed my eyes shut as quickly as possible, and clung to her. I didn't want to remind myself of the crows, I wanted to believe that it was over. To ignore her injury.

But it wasn't. The birds had won; and somepony had been pretty deeply injured. That wasn't a good day, and it was just beginning.

After a while, me and the girls managed to get Rainbow down to the hospital. She seemed somewhat fine, except it seemed that her sense of direction had completely vanished, as if she'd lost all awareness of the world around her. And we all sat in the waiting room, silent, as we waited for the diagnosis.

I think I felt the worst of all the ponies in there. Dash had risked her own safety for me, and as a result, now...well, I really don't want to go into details here, again. It still makes me queasy.

After what seemed like centuries, the doctor came into the waiting room, and I was one of the first ones to jump up, and ask if she was okay. If she wasn't...I didn't know how to respond to that, how I would live with the guilt. But then my heart brightened, at least somewhat, at the diagnosis.

"Oh, she'll be fine," he'd assured us. "At least, with a lot of time. She does have deeply scratched corneas, and a completely distorted vision-she can't even tell an apple from a ball-these are all things that can be fixed with time. Technically, there's not much we can do here except to protect the wound. The only cure available beyond what we've done already is plenty of rest, or at the least, minimal exertion. She can't be flying, or racing, or running, or even anything beyond a jog."

I felt so relieved, and the others looked so, too. She was fine, and she would be fine. But then the doctor continued.

"Considering that she's extremely vision impaired, and all of the spare helpers that we have here are taken, would any of you care to volunteer? She's cleared for release, as long as somepony fully physically capable is willing to house her."

Perhaps it was the guilt, or maybe the compelling need to be a good friend, but I was the first to jump right up, and say that I would. Even ahead of Pinkie Pie, who'd only raised her hoof in the air before she even got to speak.

Almost as if some poltergeist was in the room, the girls and the doctor looked towards me. I guess they expected that sort of speed from Pinkie, but me? I'm pretty sure that was a new world record. I suppose that's why they looked at me funny for a bit. Something had to be up. Regardless, I had to stand there for about 3 seconds, a blush developing on my face, before the doctor cleared his throat, and continued.

"Ahem, right. I suppose we do have one unusually eager volunteer, so I'll go inform Ms. Rainbow. I'm sure she'll be excited to be able to leave. She's been fidgeting, mumbling that she has something to do."

As he left the room, I had to once again face the stares of my friends. Well, except for Pinkie. She went back to excitedly bouncing, proclaiming, "Dashie's okay, yay! Ooh, that rhymes!"

And then somepony finally took it upon themselves to break the silence, and it was none other than Applejack.

"Twi'," she'd begun, sniffling. "I may be sick, and I might be a li'l crazy at the moment, but did I really see what I thought I'd seen?"

I hadn't the faintest idea of what she was talking about, so I explained that, and she narrowed her eyes before continuing. "That way ya'll sprung up instantly when the doctor asked for volunteers. Ya' even beat both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to the punch. I ask you again, Twilight, did I see what I thought I saw? T'aint nothing to be afraid of admittin'."

Whether luckily or unluckily, the doctor decided to return that moment, with Rainbow in tow.

I would likely disagree with the doctor's diagnosis that she was okay, if he hadn't told me first. Because Rainbow did look pretty normal, but instead of being unscathed, there was this large, linen bandage wound across her eyes, erasing any trace of them from her face. I could still see a little tiny splotch of dark red stained into the bandage.

But regardless, she looked okay otherwise. I rushed right up to her, and hugged her on an impulse. Sometimes, when you feel horrible, and things get better, you just feel like doing that. But only now did I actually do it. I hardly even remember the joyful "You're okay!" that escaped my lips.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so, Twilight..." she'd mumbled. I didn't quite have her look at the moment, but it sounded almost...shy. Perhaps she was just uneasy. "Are the others here? Do they know what happened? How'd the entire thing end?"

They all assured her that they were there, and Fluttershy commented that she'd managed to calm the crows, and ask what had caused the attack. One of them had apologized, stating that there'd been an unusual shortage of some young crow's favorite meal, and that he became a little rambunctious. And with the crows' 'flock mind', it was only natural to follow suit. But she managed to persuade him to stop another crow if they began to get riled up again.

After much talking, it began time to get Rainbow back home. The journey took quite a while, considering how half of it was spent by trying out various ways of direction, since she was more or less blind. We went from her leaning on me for support (I fell over about 6 times), to trying it 'Blind McGee' style, where I called out directions, (she smashed into about 2 ponies before we called it quits) to magic (she hated that one, because she wasn't actually walking by herself), and eventually opted that I would just have to carry her. The other half took quite a while too, as she fell off quite a few times before she became smart enough to grab hold of my neck to retain her balance.

By the time we got back to the library, Spike was already eagerly awaiting me at the door. So much, that as soon as I knocked once, it was flung open nearly instantly. I had to leap back, and Dash commented, saying that I need to 'quit playing hopscotch'. But regardless, Spike hardly batted an eye when he saw Dash. Perhaps he'd seen something like it before, but his only response to it was a wink and a nudge, before his face straightened, and he finally spoke.

"Finally, Twilight! I've been waiting forever! Where've you been? You're nearly never late..."

I arched an eyebrow, and gently motioned backwards to where Rainbow absentmindedly tossed her head around, trying to take in her surroundings, but in vain. Spike's only response was to shrug. "Obviously there's a little something more there, but whatever." he remarked.

I’ve never seen Spike speak so strangely. Then again, with recent occurrences, I shouldn’t be surprised.

More or less, the rest of the day was normal. The only things even worth mentioning is that I find it pretty hard to take care of a friend and Spike at the same time. Dash can't even feed herself, so not only do I have to feed Spike his usual rubies, and my own dinner, but I have to feed her, too. I would allow her to do it herself, but after her knocking over about 3 dishes(and an equal amount of apologies from her), I just gave in.

You know, I wonder why I even volunteered to take her in. I still can't fathom it, but something about it makes it worth it. Maybe if only to repay the debt, maybe to be there for her as a friend...

The way Dash has been acting is completely anomalous, however. Considering I actually got a few apologies, it must be something new. About a week ago, the hug when she'd already decided I was gone...the timid response...it seems all more or less different.

So my hooves are more or less full taking care of a baby dragon, and a physically incapable pony, though the 2nd can sometimes prove to be a handful. I have to guide her literally everywhere. Even in the middle of the night, I've been awakened by her calling for me, and I have to get whatever it is she needs. Not that I mind, but it's become so common during the past few days that we just sleep in the same room, so she can just more or less nudge me awake for convenience.

And now comes that time when I ask myself, 'Why am I doing so much?'. Rainbow Dash, I suppose, is different. All 6 of us share a special bond, but ever since that crow thing, I feel like me and Rainbow's is just...stronger. It explains why I don't mind caring for her, and why I haven't scolded her twenty times over for knocking something over the same amount of times.

So, I am very, very tired from writing this letter. Not to mention from helping Rainbow. But if you still really want me to show up, I think I'm free on the 17th. That's when Spike is actually going to be up and about for once, and perhaps he can look out for Rainbow. Let's see what we can do.
Your faithfully tired, and slightly befuddled student,
Twilight Sparkle
11-14-1001

There's More Than One Way To Fly

A/N:I received a complaint that Dashie being referred to as an earth pony is offensive. While I would ordinarily ignore this, I will actually pay heed for two reasons. One-since she still has wing nubs, she still has parts of a wing, thus she is still, by blood, and scientific technicality laws, a pegasus. Two-it's getting really confusing to have to refer to Dash as an earth pony, whereas Pinkie is too. Scenes with the two together could get confusing.

So take note of this.

The entirety of the first scene, at minimum, is rated Teen for light, hard as hay-but still visible-sexual euphisms, and for-you know what, because of that thing halfway through, it’s Mature if you read that part.

Do not worry, if you wish not to read such things. I will provide a warning, and an easy way to skip to the bottom.

I highly advise you to read the author’s note at the bottom before raging about anything. It, however, contains spoilers. So please read as normal, and then read the note.

So. Rated in between Teen & Mature for highly suggestive content. GO.

The sun spiraled down gently from the skies above, alighting gently on Twilight Sparkle's face. Her mouth tightened slightly in a smile as it warmed her body. So nice, she thought. It's days like these that make me not want to ever move from bed.

...but, schedules await.

With that final thought, the unicorn's eyes fluttered open. She yawned, sleepily attempting to bat away the haze of sleep.

That was the moment when she realized where she was.

Above her, gentle blue skies heralded the early morning. The sun cast its light down from a position just out of her eyesight, but it was clear that it was well up. Only a few sparse clouds were there to contrast against the great white blue.

That's funny... she mused. I don't remember my bed being this...soft...or the sky being visible from it...

Sitting up, batting at her unusually disheveled mane, Twilight prepared to hop out of bed.

That was when she got a glance at the ground waiting below her.

When she got a glance at the ground below her, she literally got a glance at the ground below her. Far below her.

Jumping back in surprise, holding back a yelp, the purple mare, sprang to her feet, backing up quickly to escape the dizzying heights below. It was now that she noticed that she was standing upon the soft, pliant surface of a fluffy white cloud. It appeared to be more or less fashioned in the shape of a bed, complete with cloud blankets, cloud pillows, and even a cloudy headboard. How the heck did I get up here...? she wondered. I don't remember much, except-

A stirring was heard from behind her as a foreign figure shifted around. "Mornin', Twilight." it said.

Twilight turned, to be greeted by a grinning cyan face. Rainbow Dash, too, was up and rubbing her eyes, but that didn't stop her from poking gently at Twilight's hair. "You enjoyed last night, didn't you?" she asked mischievously.

The unicorn's eyes widened. "Oh Celestia, did we..."

The pegasus laughed heartily. "As much I wish so, no, Twilight. It wasn't anything that serious."

Why can't I remember a thing? "So...then what did happen?" she asked, also taking note of Rainbow's own disheveled mane.

"Well..." began the cyan pony. "We were at another one of Pinkie's parties. I persuaded you to try a little bit of the champagne, and it...well, Twi', let's just say you can't handle alcohol that well."

The unicorn smacked her forehead with a hoof. "Oh dear..."

"Calm down, it isn't that bad," said Dash. "I dunno' what you were thinking, though. You suggested that we go for a hot air balloon ride..." the pegasus rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I had the brilliant idea of spending the night in a cloud bed by the time we got up in the sky. Being...'tipsy' you, you agreed so quickly, you'd think that I'd offered to take you to some sort of Poetry Slam..."

Twilight sighed. "Is that it? I got drunk and spent a night in the sky?"

The rainbow maned pony shook her head. "First of all, not drunk. Just not perfectly fine, either. You weren't as strict, but you were still thinking. So your wits were actually intact. Anyways, it's what happened next that lead to this whole thing," said Dash, gesturing to both of their messy mane-styles.

"Which is...?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Anyways, continuing on. It fell night soon, so I made up this cloud bed the best that I could. Then we started talking a bit about stuff. You said something about Fluttershy-oops. Probably shouldn't say that one again."

The unicorn frowned. "O-K..."

"Anyways, I said good night, and rolled over to sleep." continued the pegasus. "I was enjoying the nice feeling of a cloud, the warmth, you curled around me...and then you told me to roll back over. "

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Even I thought that was an odd request, but I did it. And that's when, through the moonlight, I saw a look in your eyes. Unlike any other. We just stared for a few seconds, and I couldn't look away. It just made me so..." she paused, trying to find the correct words.

"...I dunno'...excited." she breathed. "I'd just opened my mouth to ask you what was up, and..." The pegasus chuckled. "I guess I'm not the only one who can take advantage. You sprung forward, and that's when our lips met."

By now, the memories of the night came rushing back. The soft moonlight, the gentle feeling of the cloud blanket...the passionate make-out session... "Th-that's it, right?" asked the unicorn. Oh Celestia, if I went against my oath-

"Pretty much," confirmed the pegasus. "Though it went on for like a whole hour. I gotta' say, Twi'..." Dash snickered, before continuing. "...you're kinda' fierce. It's just kinda' hilarious, how long you can keep it up without slowing down. Like a machine!" The cyan mare then mimicked the motions of a robotic pony, complete with whirring machinery, before collapsing into a fit of giggles.

Twilight sighed. "Whew..." she muttered.

Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "'Whew'? C'mon, you know you find me irresistible! It was bound to happen sometimes..." The pegasus then began making exaggerated 'kissy-face' motions towards the purple furred mare. She was understandably surprised when Twilight pulled her in for a real kiss, interrupting her before she could poke any more fun at the scholar.

The unicorn fell backwards into the cloud bed, bringing the pegasus down with her with a surprised "woah!".

Twilight pulled back from Dash, smiling at her still bug-eyed reaction that she gave off as she lay on top of the unicorn. "Hey, I have surprises of my own!" she exclaimed, before it was her turn to widen her eyes in surprise.

The rainbow maned earth pony gently brushed a strand of hair to the side of the unicorn mare's face, before closing her eyes and lunging in to yet another serving of smooching. The fervor with which she did it was nearly admirable to Twilight, and all thoughts aside, she couldn't help but to ponder why it seemed like she did it for her life.

The breeze that swept through the air right around that moment felt more electric than it should have, at least according to the unicorn's intuition. But she couldn't help it. A warm, yet blazing feeling had ignited deep in her chest, a faintly familiar one, and it left her wanting more, left her half breathless. She could feel it slowly spreading throughout her legs, and all the way up to her head as her tongue gently danced with her partner's own agile tongue.

But she was not to receive any more. The pegasus soon managed to gently worm her way from the unicorn's impassioned grip, and a small whimper of what she assumed to be disappointment sprung from Twilight Sparkle's lips.

Rainbow chuckled. "So, you like that, huh?"

The purple mare shrugged, her cheeks turning red in contrast to her lavender coat as she recapped the moment. "I...guess. I think 'like' is a little weak of a word, though..."

A silence followed before the unicorn spoke up. "Dash, do you realize what day it is today?"

"Hmmm...Sunday?"

The purple pony chuckled. "Well, yes, that, but what else?"

“...a month before Hearth’s Warming Eve or so?”

Twilight frowned. “Well yes, also that, but come on. Think a little more outside the box.”

“...yeah, I honestly got nothin’.”

Ha, I can’t believe she didn’t remember. “Rainbow, it’s your birthday!”

The pegasus burst out into laughter. “Oh come on, Twi’!” she shouted, before doubling over into another fit of laughter. “I thought that was common knowledge! I was just waitin’ for you to remember! That’s priceless!”

“You do realize that I-”

“Hey wait, hang on a sec.” said the pegasus. “I know what you’re gonna say-’Oh, I knew the whole time, I just wanted to see if she remembered!’”. Dash snorted. “Obviously, I did.”

“There’s one thing that I did forget, though...” said Twilight, inching closer to the pegasus as she spoke.

“What’s that?”

“Well, I actually have 2 gifts for you today,” explained the unicorn. “One, I’ll give to you once we get back down to the library.”

A silence ensued as the pegasus stared back at Twilight Sparkle, unblinking rose eyes boring into her own violet ones. “And?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

Smiling, the unicorn rose from her position once more, stretching as she now stood fully up. “That’s for me to know, and you to find out. Come on, let’s get back to the ground. I’m scared I might fall off any second...”

Dash chuckled. “Afraid of heights, huh? I feel sorry for ya’...by the way, balloon’s over here.” The cyan mare said, as she pointed off in a westerly direction. A small cloud connected to a larger one, in a sort of bridge formation. Waiting on the large cloud was, indeed, a large hot air balloon, its canopy colored a bold lavender. It looked like the exact same balloon that Twilight had used to fly all of her friends to Cloudsdale on the day of the Best Young Fliers’ Competition, though in reality, it wasn't. Without any hesitation, the pegasus trotted towards it, hopping quickly into the basket. Twilight followed, and with the expertise of her knowledge of aviated forms of transport, they were off in no time.

As soon as the unicorn was free to gaze at the scenery, or to do whatever any pony would do, she turned to the pegasus. “You like being in hot air balloons?” she asked, eyes sparkling in a way that the pegasus did not seem to particularly dislike.

Dash nodded. “Closest I can get to flying nowadays,” she explained. “It feels nice, being able to be this high up.”

“And do you like being with me?” asked Twilight, shifting around in the interior as much as she could. It was not the most spacey of balloons, seeing as her and Spike already took up at least half of the basket, and she found herself half squashed up against the pegasus one way or the other. She half found herself wishing that her old one had not crashed in a freak tomato accident-she still wondered how the heck a tomato could get so hard, and why it was even flying through the air-, and that she'd not been forced to buy a smaller one.

“Of course, Twi’. Why else would I be here?”

“How about being with me in a balloon?”

Dash frowned. “Uh, I guess...where exactly are you going with this?”

The unicorn shifted the pegasus’ chin up with a gentle hoof, and leaned closer, until her eyes were just inches from the rainbow maned pony’s own. She was so close, that she could feel her friend’s breathing, through both the close contact that the balloon forced upon them, and the fact that she could literally feel it on her face. Though Dash kept her face completely reserved, to her credit, the unicorn could tell that she was making a futile effort to control her breathing, which was slowly quickening in excitement by the second. Almost as if she knew what was about to happen...

“Well, I figure that it’s time enough that you answer me this...” continued Twilight, tossing her mane back in preparation. “There are some things that books just can't teach you...so how do you think I learned how to do this?”

A/N-Ohoho, boy. Little warning here. Ever hear the phrase ‘lemon’? It’s a circle among FF.net writers, and it’s a fancy little slang word for the pony version of ‘clop’. I won’t say that it’s pure ‘lemon’ here, but I will say that it gets a little beyond where it has before here. It’s more borderline, if anything. In fact, I have no discernation of what’s clop, and what’s not. This could be 100% of it. Please tell me if this is true, and I will stick the necessary ‘mature’ rating on. I don’t want to scare anypony too much by thinking this is just a nice Teen story.

But if you really want to skip ahead, just control f “avocado”, hit enter once, and you should zip straight past it. You will not miss anything too significant...

...OK, who am I kidding, this is your choice. Read on, or don't. But if you say 'OMG WHY YOU WRITE THAT', I'll just remind you that you were given a choice.

The unicorn leaned toward the pegasus, but not in the direction that she'd likely expected. Instead of meeting her lips with Dash's own, Twilight veered off at the last second, instead making contact with the cyan mare's neck. This elicited a shudder from Rainbow, and a lone nickname slipped out from her mouth-"T-Twi'..."

The purple mare made no response, but to continue planting a gentle trail of tender kisses across the pegasus' neck. Twilight could feel Dash's breathing begin to come even harder, as she even began to moan slightly in ecstasy.

The unicorn shifted around slightly in the basket before beginning her descent. Her tangent was followed by a gentle plant of the lips on some the pegasus' most sensitive spots, some lingered on slightly more than others, which in turn, often drew out another low moan from Dash, who eventually found herself panting in the heat of the moment.

Twilight Sparkle was not, however, heading for the place that any pony with some sort of a brain would likely guess. Instead, she began slowly veering to the side, keeping up the string of smooches.

As she reached the technical 'hip' of the pegasus, Twilight instead sat up, causing Rainbow to groan momentarily as she tried to catch her breath. "Oh, I'm not done..." said the unicorn, fluttering her eyelids slightly. "I'm just barely getting started."

Twilight then leaned back towards her mare-friend, but managed to get in another surprise by actually meeting Rainbow Dash with a kiss, which seemed to have been sufficiently unexpected. The pegasus responded enthusiastically enough, by wrapping a leg around the unicorn's head, another around her waist, and pulling her even more forcibly into the heated smooch that she returned with equal fervor.

Twilight Sparkle could tell that she had Dash exactly where she wanted her-it was about time to finish it up, because the unicorn could tell that the balloon was losing altitude, and had been for the past few minutes. While the cyan mare's eyes were still closed tightly, she used a quick burst of magic to stoke the flame, and the balloon began ascending slowly again. There. Now we have plenty of time.

Turning back to 'business', the purple furred mare prepared to slip out of the pegasus' tight grip, but found that she couldn't, for two reasons. One, because it was a little more difficult than one would imagine it to be. Rainbow Dash had a reputation for not giving up what she wanted, and right now, she wanted Twilight.
The second being that she didn't want to break away. She could once more feel that warm blazing feeling within her, and now even she was becoming hard of breath, having to resort to deep ones through her nose, inwards and out.

Come on Twilight, control yourself! she berated herself. You're supposed to get the drop on her, not the other way around!

However, the moment got the best of her, and she returned the eager approach of Rainbow, only going as far as to shift her hind legs around as one of them began to tap around slightly in excitement, as would a dog's tail. It wouldn't be long for her now, and she realized it. While the blazing had moved up into her head before, this time, it had been allowed to progress even further. It had already reached throughout the rest of her body, and now slowly climbed into the one spot that was unoccupied by the feeling.

Which just so happened to be her horn.

Each second became a moment of pure suspense, as it slowly climbed her magical appendage. Everything became so much more noticeable-her breathing quickly becoming a series of loud, longing moans; the breeze blowing through the air ever so slightly, the way that Dash brushed against her. The unicorn tried to hold it in, but now it was her who was crying Rainbow's name in between breaks.

In all of this, with her eyes closed for dear life, what the unicorn didn't notice was a gentle shining. It came not from the sun, but rather from her own horn. If Twilight could have taken the magical energy that was now building up within her, and used it to take one look at the pegasus' thoughts, she would see only one word.

Perfect.

The purple mare could feel herself working into a frenzy-by now, her tail swished around quickly, entirely unchecked. Now the embrace of the cyan pegasus no longer held her in place-instead, it only aided her in the process of, as imprudent colts and fillies called it, 'sucking face'. Finally, the moment of no return had arrived. Twilight instinctively attempted to curl into the fetal position, clenching her legs closer together, but due to her position, it only drew the pegasus closer into the embrace of the lavender unicorn.

Tension slowly built up in the air, and all Twilight Sparkle could think was how astonishing it was, how it seemed that time had nearly come to a stop. But it was in that moment that the huge climb was finally over. She began shuddering as the suspense grew too great, and finally, she relaxed her death-grip of control. Almost immediately after, a shower of glowing purple sparks released themselves from her horn, flying out into the sky in a way that would make a firework manufacturer become jealous, before slowly fizzing out as soon as they’d appeared. The unicorn held in the scream that seemed to be some sort of impulse that wanted out now, and managed to break away from the pegasus, before blushing fiercely. The stream had halted, but she was no less embarrassed for it.

Avocado.

The pegasus was still panting, trying to recover her composure, by the time she spoke up. “Hehe...I always knew...that you had that side of you...I just never thought that you...would be the one to bring it out...”

Twilight managed a bashful smile. “Well then, how was that for a birthday present?”

Rainbow Dash slowly raised a hoof in the air, until it pointed straight up. The scholar looked at it quizzically, until the cyan mare brought it down in a triumphant motion, and simply whispered “Yes.”

Perhaps it was from the slight moment of embarrassment, but that simple motion set Twilight Sparkle laughing harder than a hyena, before she managed to corral her laughter. “I take it that you liked it.”

The pegasus looked at her mane, which now hung directly in front of her eyes, frayed hairs sticking out all over the place. No longer did it represent a perfect rainbow, as it had upon awakening. Rather, it now appeared to be more of one of the rainbows that sat in cesspools around the weather factory.

Rainbow then looked at Twilight’s mane. It no longer curved back around to come up gently against her neck. Instead, it hung nearly straight down, brushing against her shoulder as she drew in deep breaths. Interestingly enough, not a hair seemed out of place, except for the part that flopped over her eyes, as though it had lost its spring. Even more hilarious to the pegasus, was her expression. It resembled something between a giggling school filly, and a sultry temptress. The contrast was amazing.

“Hehe, you could say that...” she muttered. “Hey, wait. Who’s flying the balloon again? Like, how are we even-”

The unicorn froze. “Oh crud.” As if struck by lightning, she hopped up(eliciting an “OW!” from Dash as her hind leg was stepped on) , and looked over the edge of the basket, just in time to be met with an image of the ground drifting slowly up beneath them. We’re only 20 feet from the ground! Hurriedly, the purple mare turned to the flame, preparing to stoke it, but froze again.

She blinked. Did I see that correctly? From her point of vision, it looked like the flame had just stoked itself, as if attempting to slow the descent. Whatever the case, it was only a few seconds later that a gentle breeze blew, slowing the balloon’s horizontal descent. The flame did not, however, stoke itself again, and the basket soon touched on the ground with a gentle thump!

Stunned, she turned towards Dash, who shrugged. “I dunno’.” she said, before groaning, and hopping up. “Come on, Ponyville’s right over there.” she said. “I wanna stretch, like, now. I really don’t like being crammed in a hot air balloon, awesome present or not.”

Obliging to the pegasus’ request, the unicorn stepped to the side to allow her to hop out. She, too followed, and noticed that when Rainbow had said that Ponyville was “right over there”, it was quite literally, “right over there”.

As in, they were about 2 feet from crashing into a small building.

The unicorn sighed. Close call... she thought to herself. Taking care to extinguish the flame, Twilight led the way to the library.

“Right then,” said Rainbow Dash. “So what’s the other thing? I hope it’s another one of those whatchamacallits!”

Twilight laughed. “No, no. Not again, Dash, or at least not today...” Still smiling, the unicorn began trotting upstairs. “Wait here,” she commanded. The pegasus obliged, sitting on her haunches.

She looked around. The library looked...different. It was as if somepony had taken over half of the books from one side of the room, and put them all in the other. As a result, over half the shelves were empty. She wondered if it was for any particular purpose, as she also took in a few objects. None of them really seemed important-a book titled “Everything You Need To Know About Botany” with a bookmark stuck in it, a quill, a large, empty parchment, a shimmering, almost translucent, also iridescent blanket-folded neatly, of course, a small piece of paper on top of it, a small-

Rainbow blinked. She...kept that thing this whole time? I've...never seen it in a while...And what does the paper say? The pegasus walked over to the item, picking up the small parchment. The words that she read made her smile slightly, and blush in pure, unadulterated affection.

'The first thing that I received from my secret admirer. I still don't know who they were, or why they sent it. But they must be a very sweet pony, because they seem to care about me. This is just a reminder to keep looking, even if you are already faithful to another mare. After all, you can't have too many friends...'

The cyan pony sighed, setting the paper back down onto the blanket. I'm surprised that she keeps such things in high reverence...

Her thoughts were interrupted as the unicorn peeked her head down from upstairs. "Hey, Rainbow?" she asked, not continuing out from behind the stairwell. "Do you remember that day long ago? When we first met?"

Well, now that she brings it up... "Actually, Twilight..." Rainbow said. "I wanna talk a little about that. C'mon, take a spot next to me."

Frowning slightly, the unicorn said "Hang on...", and her horn glowed quickly. Rainbow Dash saw a quick, black flash behind Twilight. It looked like a tiny box to her. She ignored it, however, as the purple mare trotted forwards, calling "coming!".

As the unicorn reached the spot where the pegasus sat, Rainbow gently knocked on the ground beside her, and Twilight smiled at that. She nodded, before laying down next to the cyan mare, almost like a small dog. Dash lay a hoof around her shoulders, before speaking. "So, Twilight...when I crashed into you...why do you think I did that?"

A small 'Hmmm...' could be heard from the unicorn. "Because you messed up a trick?"

Dash laughed gently. "It would seem that way... Twilight, do you really wanna know why? I don't really want to offend anypony here...for once."

The purple mare frowned. "Offend me? I don't see how you could...go ahead."

"Well, to tell the truth..." began the pegasus, hesitating slightly. “I did it because...well...let’s just be honest. My exact thoughts at the moment were, and don’t get offended here-”

“Just tell me!” urged Twilight.

“All right, you asked for it...” said Rainbow. “As I was saying, my exact thoughts were... ‘Let’s see how quickly I can get this gullible broad into bed’.”

“Well, I’m no-”

“Hey, I warned you. Anyways,” continued the cyan mare. “That was before you spoke to me. As soon as your mouth opened, my view changed itself inside out. Suddenly, you were just plain...stunning. You were a mare who was confident, and actually had the smarts to back it up. So naturally, I began throwing out what I had, trying to impress you.”

She paused to chuckle. “I think it worked. The look on your face...still priceless! Anyways, when I got back home...” Rainbow Dash stopped, attempting to find the correct words. “I was just doing my usual routine, training for the Wonderbolts....” she trailed off there, looking longingly at the place where her wings used to be. “...and I couldn’t help but start letting my mind wander. It eventually drifted to you. And I couldn’t’ve been more confused at my reaction to that. I was telling myself, ‘Dash, y’know that you don’t have a chance with her.’ And I kept arguing back-”

Twilight cleared her throat. “I, um, appreciate this little insight, but could you, you know, get more to the point?”

Dash smiled, tossing her mane back. It still needs a good fixin’... “Oh yeah, sure thing.” she agreed. “Long story short, I’d say love at first sight, but not really. I think it’s more of ‘love at first word’. But Twi’, my actual point here-I still don’t know how you feel, quite yet. I mean, I’ve poured half my soul out to you, and I barely know more than the time when we were just hanging out.”

The pegasus could feel the lavender mare shifting under her grip. “You really want to know how I feel?” Twilight asked. “Are you sure? Are you ready for this? Honest and true?”

Rainbow shrugged. “As long as it isn’t anything bad, sure. I’m ready. Shoot.”

A short silence occurred as Dash could feel the unicorn gathering her thoughts, before she spoke.

“My life felt complete,
But how was I to know that,
There was one thing left?

On a trip to a town,
Under the name of Ponyville,
That’s when I found it.

I did not know it yet,
I was so oblivious.
But that thing was ‘Us’.

Throughout slapdash days,
We each bonded our own way.
It came time for change.

One ordinary day,
Aviary monsters came,
And set it ablaze.

From that evening on,
I cared for you the best way,
In the way of love.

I said not a word,
I felt too jumpy, and scared.
I wished that I could speak.

The day came for change,
And those linen strips came off,
To change my whole life.

Glittering rose eyes,
Those were what prompted me then.
Right as I began...

I felt a pressure,
A warm touch upon my lips.
Fireworks went off.

It felt amazing,
It was beyond my visions,
My dreams of that time.

When my lover shied,
Expecting a livid snap,
I set to disprove.

I opened my mouth,
And I whispered the sweetest,
Most joyful words I could.

I hardly believed,
I couldn’t believe it was,
But I said those words.

I looked into those eyes,
Those glittering rose-ned eyes,
And said those four words.

What are these four words?
Why, you silly filly, they’re:
‘I love you, Rainbow.’

I love you Rainbow,
And I always will, it’s true.
Nothing will be more true.

Through all of the times,
Good, bad, or just plain ugly,
I’ll still love you.

Whether you hate me,
Because I made a wrong choice,
I’ll still love you.

I still wonder now,
If you’re happy enough now,
Because I do care.

If you’re still upset,
If you still hate me for one,
Simple, yet painful choice.

Then you may do so.
But my love for you is long-
No, it’s without end.

I look at you now,
And I see what once was,
What is no longer.

I see a sad pony,
One who longs to take to the skies,
Leaving the ground behind.

It breaks my heart so,
To know that I deprived her it,
It’s so explicit.

If that pony still,
With all of her broken heart,
Loves this pony too.

If she just returns,
A simple, caring smile,
I just smile too.

If this ‘awesome’ pony,
Loves this poor old unicorn,
Then I love her too.

If she can truncate,
The differences beheld,
Then I can follow.

If this cyan mare,
Can repair my broken heart,
Then I can fix hers.

If this rainbowed flier,
Can make my heart soar from joy,
Then I can do the same.

If she can uncover,
That there’s more than one way to fly,
Then I can give her a push.

If she can hold me,
Into the last hours of my life,
Then I can smile.

Then I can stare,
At those beautiful rose eyes,
And whisper to her:

“My sweet, loyal wife,
I thank you for enduring all the strife.
I will see you...in the next life.”

She’ll smile at me,
And I’ll smile back to her.
And then she will speak, too:

“I was glad to, Twi’,
It was the least I could do.
I’ll miss you, Twilight.”

I’ll smile, and close my eyes.
I’ll discover, only then,
That my life’s complete.

All I needed was one word,
All I needed was a simple,
Truthful rebuttal.

All I needed was it,
And all it was, was true love.
It’s now that the time’s come.”

The unicorn got up from the pegasus’s embrace, which was now full of slack. Dash stared at Twilight, the poetic haikus of the unicorn making her smile, with tears in her eyes. A quick glow of Twilight Sparkle’s horn, and the box that she’d caught a glimpse of earlier came popping into existence in front of her.
The unicorn took a knee, gently opening the box, before continuing with a few more stanzas of haikus:

“It is my time now,
It’s my turn to take the wheel.
And I have this to ask you...

This I ask only,
That you give me clearance,
For a happy life.

Rainbow Alicia Dash,
From my own heart, I am asking...

...Will you marry me?”

If there ever was a moment when Rainbow's speech failed her, completely and utterly, that moment would be the perfect example. The world around her slowly faded as her peripheral vision diminished, as the only thing remaining that was recognizable was Twilight. The unicorn still wore a hopeful, expectant grin as the pegasus' mouth hung agape.

And then she felt it.

She felt herself being born aloft, almost as if flying. It was so real, that Dash knew not whether it was her dreaming. But that was not where her thoughts lay.

She...after these months, she...I...my... By now, a coherent thought couldn't even be put together by Rainbow, no matter how desperately she tried. But then the cyan mare slowly dragged a hoof up from the ground, and managed to bring it up to her heart. Feel. Don't think.

What Rainbow Dash did feel was the hot burning that slid down her cheek, as the moment sunk in to its entirety. Wiping gently at her eyes, not even taking notice of the deep scarlet blush that fully covered her cheeks as her gaze dropped momentarily, she tried once more to put a thought together.

After all that we've been through...Applejack...that injection...losing my flight...the big moment...I...I just can't...but...

She looked up, and finally spoke. She was beyond caring that her voice cracked with pure, unbridled joy. She was beyond anything less. Her words echoed throughout her diminished hearing as she spoke:

"You've...possibly just made me...the happiest mare in Equestria, Twilight. And there's only one thing I can say to that..."

Smiling as the tears now ran freely down her cheeks, the pegasus moved to embrace the unicorn, burying her face in the gentle scent of lavender and lillies that always accompanied her mane. A phantom, instinctive reflex gave her the urge to cushion the unicorn with her own wings, before she recalled the absence of said wings.

And then she whispered one final word, squeezing Twilight ever the harder instead-

"...Yes..."

A/N:
I did not. I didn’t, right? NO, I did. I did.

Some people might already be saying-OH MY GAWD, YOU JUST ENDED THE STORY.
Uhm, do you see a complete tag? I think not. I still have to wrap some things up, after all...;)

I mean, even if a pony agrees to marry another, what do you call the period while you wait for the actual marriage to come around? That’s right-engagement. The story has not been killed by the proposal, it’s still as live and kicking as ever in my head.

I apologize if this seems like I’m rushing it. But, look carefully at the dates in earlier chapters. I put dates for a while for a reason.

Dash was(still) layed up in the hospital around the 29th, I believe. A few days after Hearth’s Warming. If it’s a month before Hearth’s Warming Eve, then it must be November the 24th. Twilight, thus, from the second measure of date-her last letter with a date, the date upon which they both finally admitted that they love each other.

That date...is November 19th...

If you still haven’t pulled a conclusion yet, it’s been over a year since Twi’ and Dash connected. One year and five days, to be exact. Though it is not mentioned, they already had their anniversary, at least in essentiality.
And if that’s too fast for ya’...

Well then, I’m surprised the rest wasn’t too fast.

Now, I’ll answer another question(or two):
“Dimondium, ‘bout that clop...why? Also, compared to other cloppy scenes, this wasn’t too good. Could you do (blank)?”
Two, and possibly three reasons, for the first question, depending on the last one’s validity.

One:Any good relationship builds up over time. This was the buildup, and it’s been over a year. They went that long without doing anything, so I think I had to do something a little more...serious.
Two:Characters can bond in two ways-emotionally, and physically. It’s only now that I discover that, if written correctly-which I probably failed to live up to-it can actually fulfill both traits.
Three:I was writing at 2:30 AM when the idea for it popped into my head. I woke up, and just continued what I had. Without it, sadly, there was a humongous hole in the story.

And numero two.

...anypony who knows my age here? No? Seriously? Well, eat this, trouser-boy. I’m 14, and you’re asking me to write better clopfiction.

Not on my life. I’m not corrupting myself by adding more detail, fixing the ‘emotions’, etc...

Just be glad I didn’t write your typical, emotional, pointless, ‘for the sake of clop’ , illiterate, grammar-mistake ridden, entirely incorrect with terminology clop-fiction.

I already feel sickened for having touched the stuff. Now leave me alone, at least I gave you a HUGE chapter this time around. Sheesh.

Alright then. Comment or review about anything that I didn’t address already!