The Bone Diaries(New)

Rainbow Dash wakes up a few hours later in a hospital bed. Groaning, she stretches out her wings, only to find a bandage around her right wing. Trying to figure out why she’s there, she suddenly remembers the conversation she had with the mysterious Asteroth. As she sits there with her thoughts, the door opens and one of the nurse ponies comes in and, upon seeing that she’s awake, says, “Ah, good morning Miss Rainbow Dash. How are you feeling?”

“Y-yeah, I’m good. What am I doing here, and why do I have a bandage on?”

“Your friends, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Applejack came rushing in last night, carrying you, said you girls were attacked by some creature. And as for the bandage, you had some green goop, for lack of a better word, on your wing that was almost impossible to come off until it just decided to fall off. Your wing was sprained from it so we put some salve on it and wrapped it up. Also, your friends are still in the waiting room right now. If you’d like, I can have them come in.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.”

The nurse pony smiles sweetly, “No problem at all.” And then leaves the room.

About a minute later, Twilight and Applejack come rushing in. Oh dear Celestia, are you okay Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asks worriedly.

“Ya, you weren’t lookin’ so good when we found ya. We almost assumed the worse. Thank Celestia you’re alright, Sugahcube.”

Rainbow Dash smiles at her friends concerns but playfully brushes it off. “Yeah, of course I’m alright. That creature didn’t stand a chance.”

“Uh, to be blunt Rainbow Dash, I doubt you could’ve defeated that creature by yourself.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“So,” Twilight begins. “What exactly happened? What happened to that strange creature?” Rainbow Dash remains quiet for a few seconds before explaining. After she tells her story, Twilight and Applejack stand there slack-jawed. “So, you’re telling us that you actually encountered the creature that killed that cragodile? And it saved you from that creature?”

“Yup.”

“And you talked it? And it talked back!?”

“Pretty much how it went down.”

“T-that-that’s simply amazing! What was it like? Was it aggressive? Did it threaten you?”

“He was a little aggressive at first, asking me why I was in ‘his’ forest. But he calmed down and seemed somewhat friendly, if somewhat aloof.”

“Well, did he tell you his name?”

“Yeah. I don’t remember the whole thing, some kind of grand title or something, but his first name is ‘Asteroth’.”

“’Asteroth’? What a peculiar name.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. And he said that his kind are called ‘Bone-Hounds’. I can tell he’s not from around here. Never heard an accent like his before.”

“What kind of accent?”

“Well, instead of saying ‘this’ and “that” he would say ‘zhis’ and ‘zhat’, which was kind of weird. Also, shouldn’t you be in the Crystal Empire by now?”

“Well, yes, but after what happened to you, I canceled the trip so I can make sure you’re alright. Shining understood and asked me to let him know if I need help with anything. But still, that was simply amazing! Oh, how I wished I could’ve met him. I have so many questions to ask him now.”

“You might get the chance one day.”

“Perhaps. Oh well, just focus on getting better, I’m going back to the library. How about you Applejack?”

“Nah,” she replies. “I think I’ll hang out with Rainbow Dash some more.”

“Alright, see ya girls later.”

Once Twilight leaves the room and closes the door, Applejack looks at Rainbow Dash and says, “I don’t think I can evah thank ya enough for saving mah flank back there. I owe ya one.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it. That’s what friends are for.”

“Well, how ‘bout this; once you get out of here, we can invite the others and I’ll crack open one of my apple ciders.”

Rainbow Dash instantly perks up at the mention of apple cider. “Well hay, I can get out now. No problamo.”

“Heh, I don’t think so Rainbow. You stay here until your wing’s all healed up.”

“Aww, but apple cider…”
Rainbow Dash tries to put on her best hurt puppy look but it doesn’t work. “Nice try Sugahcube, but I got a dog and a little sister that does the exact same thing back home.”

“Damn it.”

“Just get some rest. I’m sure you’ll be out of here tomorrah mornin’, maybe even later today.”

“Yeah yeah, see ya later.”

Back at the library, a dark blue male Pegasus with yellow eyes behind grey glasses with similar dark blue colored mane and tail, each with a black zigzag sign in both, standing in front of the door. He is wearing a light blue shirt with tattered sleeves and a similar colored bandanna around his neck. His cutie mark is an open book with a pen writing on it. He inhales, holds his breath for a few seconds, and then exhales. “Alright Shuffling Mist. Just knock on the door and hand the book to Spike. Twilight should be almost to the Crystal Empire by now. Yeah…” He raises his hoof and knocks on the door. Footsteps can be heard as the door opens up and the familiar purple dragon is seen. “Hey Spike, what’s up, little man?”

“Hey, Shuffling Mist, long time no see.” They both bump fists/hooves. “I’m doing good, just got done unpacking Twilight’s stuff.”

Shuffling Mist tilts his head at this. “Wait, Twilight’s still here? I thought she left.”

“Well, that was the plan but something turned up. Rainbow’s in the hospital.”

“What?! What happened?”

“I don’t exactly know myself. Just said something about being attacked. Come on in and ask her yourself.”

Spike steps to the side and bows his head, which earns an amused snort from Mist. Mist steps inside and as Spike closes the door, he takes a quick look around and chuckles to himself. “Same old Twilight,” He thinks to himself, “Always have to have everything in a certain order. Glad to see that she’s still keeping those books I gave her.” Over on one of the shelves, are 4 books in a series called “The Adventures of Shadow Wing” by the ghost author, “Rainy Tales”. “It’s amazing how popular those books are.”
He looks over towards Twilight’s desk and spots his target. He sports a cheeky grin as he tiptoes up behind her. He then puts his hooves over her eyes, causing her to shriek a little bit. “Guess who?”

Slightly annoyed and mostly amused, Twilight answers, “Very funny Shuffling Mist.”

Mist laughs as he removes his hooves and steps back. “So, my main man Spike told me that you canceled the trip to the Crystal Empire. Something about Rainbow Dash being in the hospital. What happened exactly?”

Before Twilight answers, she first asks, “Well, you have nothing to do, right?”

“Nope, free as a bird tonight.”

“Good, cause I have quite the story for you. Spike, can you get us something to drink and eat?”

“Right away Twilight.” Spike then rushes into the kitchen area as Twilight begins to tell Mist about what happened in the Everfree Forest.

After almost an hour of explaining, Mist is finishing up his tea when Twilight describes what Rainbow Dash told them in the hospital. “And then she says it spoke to her and then left. Can you imagine?”

“No, that honestly sounds very hard to believe. I mean, I just can’t wrap my head around the creature that first attacked you. Sounds like a raptor but that’s impossible. And you don’t think that’s what killed that Cragodile, do you?”

“Doubt it. It wasn’t too much bigger than any of us, so, it was very unlikely.”

“Hmm, strange.”

“Yeah, and when you came in, I was trying to draw out what the creature might look like based on Rainbow Dash’s description. I got a number of sketches and when she gets out, I’ll ask her to look over them and possibly describe it again.”

Shuffling Mist looks over Twilight’s sketches. One looks like a giant dog with a cartoonish head while another looks like some sort of demon from Tartarus. “Interesting. Ya know, that creature sounds like something Rainy Tales would love to put in one of his books.”

Twilight sports a big grin at the mention of one of her favorite authors. “Yes, it would be. Just imagine Shadow Wing and the other Night Guards trying to track it down while it’s chasing Rose Petal. I can imagine it now.” Twilight sets down her tea cup and flies up onto the railing. “It was a stormy night and the young unicorn mare Rose Petal is being chased by the Bone-Hound. She’s running across a thin fallen tree over a ravine, calling out for Shadow Wing to save her. Her hoof slips and…”

Right as she says the last few words, her hoof loses its footing and she falls, only to be caught by Shuffling Mist. “As she falls, Shadow Wing swoops in and catches her, just in the nick of time, as the storm begins to part. The creature roars in anger as the moon highlights their silhouettes. They stare into each other’s eyes, slowly closing the distance between them until…”

“Uh, what are you guys doing?” Spike asks coyly.

Shuffling Mist and Twilight both snap out of their fantasies and realize their lips were only a few inches apart. Mist’s wings automatically stop flapping and they both fall to the ground in a jumbled heap. Both blushing heavily, they begin apologizing towards each other at the same time, trying to let the other finish before growing silent again and looking away. Mist is the first to break the silence as he says, “Oh, hey, speaking of Rainy Tales, I got this for you.” Mist pulls a book out of his saddlebags and gives it to
Twilight. “Rainy Tales latest book. Hasn’t even been released yet. It’s…”

Mist couldn’t finish what he was going to say thanks to Twilight glomping him, and nuzzling his neck, saying, “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! This is so amazing! I don’t know how you always get the books before everypony else but thank you!” Mist smiles sheepishly until Twilight gives him a peck on the cheek. “This is a great gift Mist. Once again, thank you so much. I’m going to start reading it now.” She stares at her book hungrily but then remembers, “Oh, right, you’re still here, heheh, I should…”

But before she could continue, Mist holds up a hoof and says, “Nah, it’s alright Twilight. I actually gotta get going anyways. Forgot I had an errand to run.”

Twilight makes a somewhat sad smile as she says, “Alright Mist, I guess I’ll, you know, see you later.”

“Heh, yeah, see ya later. And tell Rainbow Dash I hope she gets better if you see her before I do. And try not to let her know you have that book, she may try to steal it.”

Mist sticks his tongue out and Twilight giggles. She then responds, “Will do. Let me get the door.”

“Thanks. See ya.”

“Bye.” Twilight waves as Shuffling Mist spreads out his wings and takes off. She then leans against the door frame and watches the sunset before sighing and closing the door. When she turns around, she sees Spike smiling smugly at her with his arms crossed. “What?”

“Oh, nothing, nothing.” Spikes then snickers as he adds on, “Just thinking how cute you two looked acting out a romantic scene. Especially when you two were about to kiss. Ha ha, that was…” He looks back at Twilight and his smile disappears as he sees her have an incredibly annoyed look on her face, cheeks red, and her horn is glowing. “Oh crap…” The door then opens and Spike is gently tossed out. When he lands on the ground, the door slams shut. He then begins pounding on the door, crying out, “Oh, c’mon Twilight, I was only joking!” The door locks. “I know you’re not going to leave me out here.” Lights turn off. “Uh, Twilight?”