Shadows of the Past

Twilight’s ears were ringing from the force of the explosion—she could hear nothing else.  She smelled smoke and felt hot blasts of air all around her.  As she tried to move, her head and sides screamed in pain. Her left eye was swollen shut and dried blood was caked around her nose.

…how long was I out? She thought to herself.

As she struggled to open her right eye she saw the nightmarish landscape around her, and the reality of her situation became very clear.

The orchards of Sweet Apple Acres were on fire.

And Twilight Sparkle was surrounded on all sides by the inferno.

“What…what happened…?’’ she said weakly, coughing as she struggled to her hooves.

She remembered the explosion.  She remembered the sensation of falling off…something.  Or was she thrown by the blast?  She remembered sailing through the air towards the trees below the ridge, and then she remembered no more.

“APPLEJACK!?  RARITY!?  PINKIE!?”  She cried out desperately—each cry causing sharp pains in her sides. She began to realize that if she couldn’t even hear her own voice how would she hear her friends?  “ANYPONY!!! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!”  It appeared to be no use.  She was trapped in a small gap between the trees with a wall of fire surrounding her just beyond the trees that were nearest her.

She tried to conjure up a water spell and a shield spell, but it was no use.  Teleporting herself and her three friends, the adrenaline of trying to escape the explosion, and the actual force of the blast had taken their toll on Twilight—she was spent.  She needed time to regain some of her magical strength, but time was a luxury she did not have at the moment.

The fire was raging in the trees around her, casting a sickening orange glow to the world around her.  The heat was making her weak and the smoke was filling her lungs.  She could hear trees falling in the distance and constant roar of flames was all around her.

“I think I’ve got just enough left for…”

She closed her eyes and concentrated.  Her horn began to glow a soft violet hue.  The light grew and grew and then shot upward into the air and exploded like purple fireworks in the shape of her cutie mark over her location.

“If this doesn’t work…” she said out loud.  The world was beginning to spin around her as the flames were drawing closer.  A branch that was engulfed in flames fell—missing her by mere feet.  It was getting harder to breathe.  She crouched down to get to where the oxygen was.  Her lungs felt as if the fire was entering them and burning right through them.

Just as she felt as if her consciousness was slipping away from her, she could see the blurry image of three Pegasus ponies swooping down toward her from the sky.  Two were wearing paramedic uniforms.  The one in the lead was a familiar pony with a yellow coat and pink mane acting in a very unfamiliar way.

“…Flutter…?”

Fluttershy was shouting something she couldn’t make out at her.  It looked as if she was mouthing Twilight’s name, but Twilight still couldn’t hear.  She tried to reply but couldn’t.  A grave look fell over Fluttershy’s face as she began yelling something to the other two ponies.  Then she felt the sensation of being lifted by the shoulders up, out of the fire…above the trees. She could see the clearing below her that had been her brief refuge become engulfed with flames.  As they breached the glowing treetops, the cool air filled her lungs like refreshing water on a scorching hot day.  In a moment of clarity she looked around her at the scene below and gasped.

A huge portion of Sweet Apple Acres was now ablaze.

The trees...the drying fall leaves…the bomb must have ignited them like a book of matches…she thought.  She coughed violently as the paramedics carried her to a carriage in the sky being pulled by two more Pegasus paramedics.  As they opened the back doors to the carriage, Twilight noticed approximately forty to fifty fire-carriages being pulled by volunteer Pegasus’ filling the air with lights flashing and sirens blaring, spraying their chemical retardant foam over the trees in an attempt to control the blaze.  Another team of Pegasus ponies was barely visible, bringing rain clouds from the north.

As the paramedics put her in the ambulance carriage, Twilight’s body went limp from exhaustion.  The last thing she remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was thinking “…my friends…please Celestia, let them be okay…”

....................

Twilight awoke the next morning at the Ponyville Medical Center.  The dim lights cast a dull glow onto the drab greenish-grey walls of the room.  Muted mechanical whirring and pumping and steady beeping sounds were coming from behind her bed.  An oxygen mask covered her face and an I.V. line was inserted into her left fore-leg.   Nurse Redheart was reading over her chart while Doctor Gray Mare—a tall, thin unicorn with a grey coat, dark yellow mane, and a scalpel for a cutie mark—was standing over Twilight’s bed.  Dr. Gray’s horn was glowing bright pink as she was concentrating.  The glow was duplicated over Twilight’s torso.

“Good morning, Miss Sparkle,” Dr. Gray said, “you took quite a fall last night.  I have to admit, you have some pretty brave friends.  They were searching for you for hours.”

“My friends?... They’re okay?” She asked excitedly in a raspy voice.  She tried to sit up, but her sides exploded in sharp pain.  Nurse Redheart ran to her side and helped her lie back down as Twilight was reduced to a heavy fit of coughing.

“Easy Twilight…” Dr. Gray said, “You have some fractured ribs and your lungs are pretty badly damaged by the smoke inhalation.  The smoke gets into your bloodstream through your lungs and can cause oxygen starvation to your brain. I’m in the middle of prepping you now for a magical procedure that will actually remove the smoke out your bloodstream and to heal up those ribs of yours while also repairing the heat damage to your lungs.  You will need to be under general anesthesia as the procedure can be quite painful.”  She nodded to nurse Redheart, who turned a knob on a tank next to the oxygen canister.

“When the procedure is finished, you should be back to normal, but I would like to keep you here for a few days for general observation.  Do you understand?”

Twilight nodded.  She turned her head towards the window and closed her eyes…

...............……

When Twilight awoke, she was facing the same window.  It was night now, and a half-moon shone into the room.  Other than the light of the moon and the glow of the monitors behind her bed, the room was dark.  The oxygen mask was gone and she could breathe normally again.  She sat up in the bed and felt very little pain other than a general soreness around her ribcage.  As she looked to the other side of the room, she noticed four chairs had been drawn up to her bed.  In two of them, there were two ponies sleeping.

“Fluttershy?  Applejack?” she said quietly.

Applejack raised her eyes and closed them again.  Then, she did a double-take and excitedly said, “Twilight! You’re alright!”

She leapt out of the chair—waking up Fluttershy who groggily said “Wha…”

“We were so worried, Twi…” she said as she turned on the light and embraced her lavender friend, “We searched and searched for hours!  Even Winona couldn’t pick up your scent anymore.  If you hadn’t sent up that flare…we woulda’….never found ya’…” Applejack broke down to tears as she held onto Twilight.

“Ap…ple…jack…you’re…hurt…ing…me…” Twilight managed to squeak out from under the force of the bear hug her well intentioned friend had given her.

“OH!” Applejack said, letting go and letting Twilight drop back in the bed. “Ahm so sorry, sugarcube!  We’re just so happy to see you okay!”

“It’s okay…guess I’m not 100% yet…” Twilight said, coughing, “Thank you guys for getting me out of there.”

“Well, the pony y’all need ta’ thank is Fluttershy over here.  When your flare went off, none of the paramedics wanted ta’ go in.  Said it was too dangerous. Fluttershy took charge and told them she was going to go in after you and if they didn’t follow, they were gonna’ have two ponies’ lives to answer for.”

Twilight looked over at her normally reserved friend with a sense of astonishment, “Fluttershy…thank you so much…you saved my…”

“Oh…it was nothing…really.” Fluttershy interrupted as she blushed and hid her smile under her wing.

“Are you kiddin’ me?  Even Rainbow Dash would have ta’ admit that was pretty darn brave!”

“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yep, we all got out of the orchard…thought you were right behind us.  Other than some minor burns and scratches we’re okay.  Rarity was here with us earlier, but she had to take Sweetie Belle home.  Pinkie’s here—we told her to get something to eat at the cafeteria.”  As she said Pinkie’s name, a look of concern fell over Applejack’s face, “Twi—Pinkie’s really upset.  That letter really got to her.  She’s blaming herself for everything that happened and wants to leave Ponyville.  Maybe you can talk some sense into her and find out more about her sister, Inkie so we can stop her before anything else happens.”

“Alright,” said Twilight.  She looked at her friend and asked, “While we’re waiting for her, can you tell me how bad the damage is to the farm?”

Applejack’s countenance dropped and she began to tear up again, “Oh Twi,” she said, trying to choke back the sobs that were coming, “…the fires are still a’ragin’, but they’re gettin’ under control.  Right now, Big Mac is estimatin’ that we’ve lost about seventy acres.  That’s only the trees that have been burned—doesn’t count the smoke damage.  Since the crop is already harvested this year, it won’t hurt us too much, but next year…Twi…that’s about 20% of the farm…It ain’t gonna’ easy to get by…we were barely profitable as it was…” She began to break down. The weight of her responsibility was weighing down on her heavily. “If Pa was here, he’d know what ta’ do…” feeling powerless, she slid to the ground and began to weep.

“Don’t worry Applejack,” Fluttershy flew across the room to her side and put her wing around her, “We’ll all help and find a way, right Twilight?”

“Of course,” said Twilight, trying to think of a solution.   “Applejack, you have insurance on the farm, right?”

“Course Ah do…but Ah don’t have time ta’ deal with that now.  Besides, Ah don’t know how ta’ deal with all that.” Applejack replied through teary eyes.

“Where’s the insurance office?”

“It’s not too far from the Mayors office near the town square.”

“You know, once I’m discharged from the hospital, I’d be more than happy to go with you to the office and help you take care of the insurance claim.  And, in return, you could go with me to Canterlot to help me find a new airship.”

“You’ll do that?  Twilight…you’re the best!” She jumped up to hug her again, but Twilight put out her hoof to stop her.

“Ah…still recovering…remember?”

“Right…” Applejack said, a bit embarrassed.

“Anyway, you’ll actually be helping me a lot.  They way you negotiate for all that farm equipment could really help me with those used airship sales ponies. And, I think I’ll need someone to back me up when I have to explain to my Mom and Dad how I completely totaled the balloon they gave me as an early graduation present.”

As Applejack chuckled at Twilight’s comment, the door opened and a dark pink silhouette stood in the doorway.

“Pinkie?” Twilight said, a bit unsure of herself, “…is that you?”

“…yeah…” came a flat, monotone voice.  As she walked into the light, Twilight was taken aback by the dramatic change in her dear friend.  Her mane and tail were flat and straight.  Her coat was…darker, somehow.  Her face…her eyes were so…sad.  Bags lined her sorrowful eyes.  Twilight remembered Pinkie’s birthday party the previous year and how she looked like this…and how she acted…

“Is she going to be alright?” Twilight whispered to Applejack and Fluttershy—who both shrugged.  “Pinkie…you want to tell me what’s going on?” Especially the part about your sister being a psycho? She thought.

“I…I…” She bit her lip as hot tears began to roll down her cheeks.  “I’m so sorry, Twilight…” she moved to Twilight and buried her head in the mattress as she began to cry.  Applejack and Fluttershy moved to her side and hugged her while consoling her.  Fluttershy stroked Pinkie’s flat pink mane and kept saying, “...it’s alright…there, there…shhh, it’s going to be okay…” as a mother would her child.

As the tears and sobs subsided, Pinkie began, “I’ve told you some things about my family…but not a lot.  You know how I got my cutie mark, but I’ve kept the rest to myself.”  She paused to breathe.  She hadn’t spoken of her family in such a long time; she didn’t really know what to say. “My life on the rock farm was harsh and dull.  My parents worked hard everyday to put food on the table.  I didn’t have many friends—mostly due to the fact that my family was ‘different’ because of their beliefs. In spite of the hardships we faced, we were very close.  My parents were strict ponies, but they loved us very much. “

“But then, one day, something happened to my sister, Isabelle—Inkie.  She…changed.  We don’t really know what it was, but for some reason, she just became angry with the world.  She started bullying people around and looking for ways to hurt others.  But, she was sneaky about it, ya’know?  Somehow, the blame always fell on my other sister, Bellamina—Blinkie, or me.”

“One day…, when my Father and I were going over to the Water’s livestock ranch, we found her there…in their barn.  I still remember the horrible sight we walked in on.  She had…she had…” Pinkie began to sob again.  The strain of reliving this memory was taking its toll.

Fluttershy kept stroking Pinkie’s mane saying it was alright.  Twilight nodded her head motioning for Pinkie to continue.  She composed herself, “…she had…she did…horrible, terrible and cruel things to those animals…”

“Like…what?” Applejack asked.

“You don’t want to know…” Pinkie burst into fresh sobs and tears.

“…my…Celestia…” Twilight said with her mouth agape.  She knew that it took a lot to push Pinkie to this level of despair.

She couldn’t begin to fathom how much of a burden this had been on her dear friend’s heart for all these years.

Pinkie continued, “After that, Dad had to pay a lot of money to Mr. Waters—mostly to keep him quiet.  We weren’t allowed to go there anymore.  Mom and Dad forced Isabelle to stay home while Blinkie and I went to school—but sometimes she got out and terrorized other farms or school-foals.  Every night when we came home, Inkie and I would get into a fight.  It was like living in a nightmare.  Finally, one night, my friend Blue said his dad forbid him to see me anymore.  He was going to run away to Ponyville to catch a train to…somewhere.  He mentioned Seaddle.  He begged me to come, but I didn’t.  I didn’t want to leave my family behind.”

“So, what changed your mind?” Fluttershy asked

“Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom.  Of course, at the time, I didn’t know that’s what it was.  But it led me to pursue laughter and happiness and fun and to leave home for Ponyville.  I decided I was done living in the nightmare and I needed a fresh start.  A few days later, I got on the first train to Ponyville.”  As she spoke, she became more composed and the straight hair in her mane and tail began to develop a bit of a wave.  Her fur color began to lighten as well.  "I haven’t spoken with my parents or my sisters since I left the community.”

“…and that’s how Equestria was made?” asked Twilight, trying to lighten the mood.

Pinkie allowed a laugh, “Yeah…”

“But what I don’t understand,” Twilight continued, “is how come you never told us any of this before?”

“…I thought,” Pinkie stammered, “…th-that you wouldn’t want to be my friends anymore…” she looked down at the floor, ashamed of her past and fearful of her future.

“Pinkie,” Twilight reached over the bed and held Pinkie’s face in her hooves, looking straight into her eyes, “you are one of my very best friends.  Nothing will change that.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned while being here in Ponyville, is that true friendship never fails.  No matter what shadows are in your past, we can overcome them together.”  She embraced her pink friend even though it hurt her sides to do so.  All four of them started to cry, then looking at each other they started to giggle. With a popping sound, Pinkie’s hair and mane returned to their normal wild and curly state.

“Ya’ know,” Applejack said, wiping a tear from her eye, “Ah think Pinkie should help us with this claim and your airship once you get out of here, Twi.  Matter of fact, Ah think Pinkie should stay close by us until we can find Inkie and stop her…hopefully before she hurts anypony else.”

“That’s a great idea.” Twilight added.  She looked at her pink friend, “Pinkie, why don’t you stay here tonight with us, just to be safe, okay?”

“I’d really like that.” She said with a smile. “Thanks guys, for understanding.”

“Fluttershy, would you like to stay too?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy, who still was trying to regain her composure, said “I’m sorry, but I really have to tend to my animal friends.  I’ve been gone a while and they’ll need me back soon.  But please, everypony, be safe.”  With that she left the three friends in the hospital room.

Twilight looked to Pinkie, thinking back on all the love and laughter she had brought to so many ponies throughout Ponyville.  She was reminded of all the times when things seemed so dark…and Pinkie would be the one to bring the hopeful light of friendship and joy.  Now, even though her hair was normal, Twilight could see the fear and sorrow in Pinkie’s eyes.  “Pinkie,” she said with new determination, “I promise you, we will help you put an end to this nightmare.”

“Ahm gonna’ second that.” Applejack said, putting a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Ah know that Rarity and Fluttershy would say the same.  So would Rainbow Dash if she knew what was going on.”

“Thanks, girls…” Pinkie said with a sigh of relief.

Twilight thought she sensed some of the fear dissipating. “A.J., why don’t we get Derpy to take a letter to Rainbow?  She should really know…”

“NO!” Pinkie cut her off, “…no, don’t bother Rainbow Dash with this.  She’s fulfilling her dream as a Wonderbolt.  She needs to focus on her tryouts so she can get in.  If she lost that because of me…I couldn’t bear it…” she whimpered.

Twilight looked at Applejack who shrugged and back at Pinkie who was beginning to tear up again. She thought about Pinkie’s words and said, “Okay, but just promise me that if things start to get out of hand, that you’ll let me send that message…deal?”

“Deal.” Pinkie replied.  She was about to say something else when Nurse Redheart came into the room with a confused look on her face.

“Nurse Redheart, are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“Fine, dear, except…well this is a bit unusual, but I found this envelope at the nurses station…addressed to Pinkamena Diane Pie.”  She gave the envelope to Pinkie who nervously opened it.

She began to read:

“My Dearest Pinkamena,

Well done on escaping my first little game.  I do hope your friends saw how you cowardly ran from your injured friend in the orchard.  It was quite thrilling to watch the trees burn so brightly in the cool dark night.  And it was so exciting to see your abandoned friend rescued at the eleventh hour.  This is the drama that I live for.

Please don’t think that was the grand finale, it was merely the opening act!  I cannot wait to share what I have in store for you and your friends.

All my love,

Isabelle.”

Pinkie dropped the letter on the floor, her hair falling flat again.  It was then that Applejack grabbed her shoulders and looked her square in the eye and said, “NO!  Don’t let her get in your head!  She’s just playin’ mind games with you, that’s all.  If you go to pieces now, she’s already won.  You need to beat her at this!”

Pinkie shook her head to clear her mind.  “You’re right, A.J. I’m not going to let her beat me.  With my friends at my side, I’ll put an end to this once and for all!”

The three friends spent the rest of the night encouraging each other until they all fell asleep.  Before Twilight nodded off, she thought to herself I’ve got to at least let Spike know what’s going on.  I’ll get Derpy to take him a letter tomorrow…

…and with that thought she faded into sweet, dreamless sleep.