"And then I says to the guy; That's not a watermelon!" Immediately after this most recent vocal breakthrough, the hyperactive pink mare could no longer hold in her laughter and she fell to the ground, somehow finding places to breathe within her hysteria.
"Pinkie! that still doesn't explain how you managed to solve the Hoofman Hypothesis of the infinite pattern of prime numbers! A hypothesis that many ponies have gone mad trying to solve, or have simply grown old and DIED because of how complicated it is!" Came a response from a now very annoyed Alicorn princess.
"Well they obviously didn't carry the two then!" Pinkie snapped playfully.
"Darling, even after your incredibly *cough* interesting lecture, I still haven't the slightest clue as to what you are talking about." Interjected Rarity sympathetically.
"Meh, just sounds like a bunch of egghead stuff to me." Came the nonchalant insult of Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow! Just because ya don't understand it, doesn't mean ya get tah go around and make funna her! Came an equally hurtful statement from the farm-pony, Applejack. Rainbow was thereby silenced by sticking her tongue out at the farm-pony.
"Um, girls,,," Came the voice of Fluttershy, barely audible over the arguing ponies. "Don't you think we should be congratulating Twilight, as this is our first quality time together since the coronation? Uh, if that's okay with all of you..." All the ponies suddenly stopped talking, followed by mixed apologies from all parties. "So, Twilight, what are you planning to do, now that you are a princess, not that I'm prying or anything."
"Well honestly, I don't know. my first plans revolve around further study of Starswirl's spells..." Twilight trailed off, remembering what Celestia had told her.
*Flashback*
"Remember Twilight, an Alicorn can never die. I regret to be the one to tell you this, but all your friends, family, and loved ones will grow old and die around you. Furthermore, as one of the element bearers, you will witness generations of other carriers that you have befriended in order to maintain harmony, die. So is the curse that is eternal life. However, you will not be completely alone. You will always have Cadence, Luna, and myself." With that, Celestia left the room; as the door closed behind her, Twilight fell to the ground, and cried...
*End Flashback*
"Twilight?..."Twilight heard faintly
"You okay sugarcube?" the second calling of reality snapped Twilight awake.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't worry Applejack. "Stated Twilight dejectedly.
"Twi, we both know that ah know that's a lie-" Applejack argued
"If you'll excuse me girls, I have some work to get back to." Twilight interrupted. Then, got up, and left. She turned the closet corner. Once around said turn, she ran as fast as she could in the direction of the Everfree Forest. All the while the words of her former mentor ringing through her mind, haunting her as she ran. With tears now freely flowing, Twilight was almost in the forest when she plowed head-first into somepony. As she started to lose consciousness, her eyes opened a crack to see the shape of a pony bending over her trying to say something
"Princess Twilight Sparkle please... me... you... ran..." Unable to hear anymor, Twilight's eyes shut to the world.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle please forgive me! You ran into me as I was walking down the road!" A dark blue unicorn spoke frantically. "Great! Now I'll be wanted in two countries! Unless... This may be salvageable..." With that the Stallion lifted the princess as best as he could and started slowly trudging back in the direction of Ponyville. "If someone believes that she just ran into me, maybe I'll be okay. Just hang in there princess!
* * * *
"Twilight...you.. ran into me... hang in there..."
"...Okay...I will..."
* * * *
As the stallion approached the town, he was screaming for help. The princess now limp in his arms.
* * * *
"Twilight..." a distant voice cooed
"Ugh... mom, it's too early to go to school, five more minutes." Twilight's eyes shot open as a spear of pain was rammed into her skull. The purple Alicorn sat bolt upright clenching her skull in between her hooves.
"Twilight! not so fast!" said the same voice. When Twilight was once again able to open her eyes from the blinding wave of agony an unfamiliar face came into focus... Two actually: one of a doctor and the other of a stallion both looking like they'd seen the gates of Tartarus. "Twilight, do you know where you are?" the doctor asked.
"In Ponyville?" the injured alicorn responded.
"Good. My name is Doctor Pure Mind. You are in Ponyville Hospital. You ran into that stallion over there and fainted."
The midnight unicorn was watching her with a worried look in his eyes. After a couple of seconds he put on a more calm facade and said: "Hey, i'm Cobalt Aegis. I'd tell you the story of my name, but I think your immortal skull figured that one out fairly quickly.
"Don't remind me..." Twilight said grinding her teeth at both her immortality and her incredible pain. With that remark the world around her began to get darker.
"She's slipping again!" The doctor shouted.
"It's going to be okay Twilight... I'll still be here when you wake up..."
* * * *
Why can't I just stay like this, I mean, if this is what being dead feels like I'd much prefer this than going back out there...
* * * *
Twilight's eyes snapped open again, but this time there was no pain. She slowly sat up and looked around. The room was dark but not so much she couldn't see. She scanned the room. There in the same chair sat the sleeping figure of Cobalt Aegis. "Cobalt?" she whispered... She tried again, "Cobalt Aegis?". The stallion shot up nearly instantly into a standing position.
"Twilight...?" He slowly approached her bedside. "Do you know how long it's been?"
"By the smell of your breath... 45.843 hours exactly..." The alicorn retorted.
"Almost 48- hey!" The unicorn took a step back aghast at her comment. "Oh, so that's the first thing you say after you went into a 2 day coma, you insult the guy who saved your royal flank! And then waited for you to wake up..." Cobalt turned away and stormed out of the room. From down the hallway Twilight heard the voice of Cobalt Aegis: "Her royal ungratefulness is awake now if you saps want to go see her."
"I'm sorry..." Twilight said softly to herself. "Thank you..." She shed a single tear.
