Bittersweet Trails

The sensation of me returning to consciousness was very confusing in itself.

My mind immediately slingshotted into action, frantically seeking answers to one question: Was Pinkie okay? I'd been as sure as I could have been, but there was always the chance...

The first that I noticed was just a gentle pressure on my left hoof. It felt a lot like somepony was holding it with two of their own.

Beyond that, I heard speech. Very dim speech, but I still heard it.

"...and then, we...we could be so happy together, Twily. Just please...wake up..."

My heart raced a million miles a minute. I knew that voice anywhere. But...why was I hearing it? Was I dead...?

I slowly wrenched my eyes upwards, with the most immense effort I'd ever given. My vision refused to clear, but a gasp soon filled my hearing. "TWILY!"

I grunted as a wall of force slammed into me, nearly knocking all the air out of my lungs. But I still couldn't help but to smile, as the ramblings confirmed my suspicions. "Oh my gosh, Twilight! You're back and I missed you so, so much, and-"

"Pinkie..." That was all I could get out. But it spoke words enough, it said everything. It conveyed all of my pure joy, all of my...I...everything.

The feeling was plain amazing. I didn't know what to feel. Affection wrestled with confusion, which took a left hook to a strange sense of grief, which gave a full buck to the face of the emotion 'relief'. My vision, luckily, had had time to sharpen during all of it. It was an emotions jamboree, but my brain had none of it. Instead, my mouth moved slower than I thought, forming words that would finally give me some answers: "How...long...?"

Pinkie was incredibly eager to speak, and so she let fly a torrent of words that I hardly caught. "Oh my gosh it was like eight days and we were so worried and I stayed with you as much as I could and I was scared you wouldn't wake up and I missed you and I LOVE YOU!"

Somewhere around the word 'wake', I heard just the smallest change in her voice. It was just the tiniest dip, but next thing I know, a pair of pink arms were thrown around my neck, drawing me once more into a tight hug, punctuated by loud, gasping...sobs.

Pinkie was crying. A sound I almost never heard, and hated to hear. But why? Was there some sort of follow up to what I had done?

Evidently, she felt me tense up, and began to shakily stroke my mane the best she could. "N-no, Twily..." she managed. "I...it's just me. I don't know what to...you're back, that's all that matters. Please, don't worry."

Resisting the instinctual urge to ask how she knew-Pinkie, duh-I instead laid back weakly as she released me, smiling widely, and wiping at the few tears on her face.

She spoke again, her voice unusually soft and tender. "Twilight, please." I could swear she stared into my soul with that gaze. "Don't leave me like that. Like..." she punctuated the sentence with a sniffle. "...ever again. No matter what. OK?"

Pinkie, no. Not the-puppy eyes, darnit!

With that, my heart fluttered up, down, left, and right, before settling, allowing me to manage a weak nod. I didn't feel much energy present, though being in a rather catatonic stage for at least a week, it seemed acceptable.

"Good." Pinkie smiled a little, wiping at her eyes with a lone forehoof before continuing. "So how'd you do it?"

Oh Celestia. This. Regardless, she had the right to know...

With quite a bit of effort, I told her. About how I'd dug in my spell-books, even into the darkest recesses, which revealed the only solution: to switch the illness with another pony of target. About how ponies back in olden times had thought it one of the few 'cures', and that if anypony nowadays had known, they might have freaked, as it was that controversial.

What I didn't tell her was what I saw...

White. All around.

I felt weightless, and I heard a voice. Familiar, but distorted.

"You've done well for pony kind, Twilight. Your life may be scrambled through and through with bad...nightmares as you call them, but it was only me. Lul-"

"Hey! Don't say my name!" Another voice quickly interrupted, darker, but still...feminine, as the first seemed to be. "You know the rules!"

"Oh, all right." I heard what sounded like a sigh. "I suppose protocol is protocol. Onto another track, then...you and Ms. Pinkamena have been seen through trials of true adversity and difficulty by nopony but yourselves. This is greatly admirable."

"Indeed I would agree." Come on, where had I heard these voices? "I don't think I've ever seen a pony as diligent and true to her relationship as my-"

"Ahem."

"Sorry." For odd voices, they sure did argue a lot.

"Regardless. We did space these tests rather unevenly, though it was rather a tiny tweak. Should we have not interfered, not much would be different."

"But you did go so far as to almost give your own life to your love, and you won the fight as well. As such, I feel we can step back. Our work is done."

The white slowly began to fade through, until it reached a color of...

"Pink. Yes, I know what you're thinking. But pink is the color of love. Should it not make sense that you and Pinkie Pie happened upon each other?"

I could swear the silence was for a death stare, if it existed.

"...fine. You always had the worst sense of humor... Twilight Sparkle, you're an exemplar on friendship, but you have truly written the books on both love, and overcoming adversity. I think our little stress-tests are finished, yes, Mo-"

"Sister, stop it. You'll-oopsies! I seemed to have dropped the ball myself. Away you go, Twilight Sparkle, and enjoy your life!"

Pinkie could tell I was holding back a little, and she squinted, staring me in the eyes. I might have told her, but I still had no idea what it even meant. I'd woken up shortly after. Or...had I experienced it and then woken up, or had I had it directly after I slipped into my dormant state? And two beings who happened to be sis-

Realizing Pinkie was still staring at me, I stopped thinking, half-afraid that she might read my thoughts.

Eventually, she nodded. "Oki Dokey Lokey," she said, with just a tinge of reluctance. "I trust you, Twilight-and boy, fancy magic, huh?"

"Yeah...I guess..." I couldn't help but to shy just a little at the unexpected compliment.

"I'm gonna' go get a doctor, so we can see when you're allowed out, all right?" Without waiting for a response, she leaned over the bed once more, placing her lips to my forehead with a light touch, leaving just a peck behind. "Just sleep tight while I'm gone."

Sleep? No problem. As I turned in the sheets, making myself as comfortable as possible, the slight blush in my cheeks hardly bothered me.

And why would it?

"Twily. Twiiiily. Wake up."

The gentle whispering of my own nickname brought me halfway into the world, but it wasn't enough. I weakly implored with a hoof, reaching for the sound of the voice. Sure enough, I made contact with somepony, but I didn't feel quite up to looking. I knew who it was, though. "Pinkie...?"

There was a short silence, followed by a giggling that came from further away than I thought. And then the whisper became a low-spoken, deep, baritone voice. "I'm afraid I'm not Pinkie, LSBFF."

My eyes flung open as fast as I thought possible, and then some. 'LSBFF'? That was an acronym that only one pony knew besides me, standing for...

'Little Sister Best Friend Forever'...

As my eyes flung open to reveal the world around me, I was forced to squint, suddenly disoriented. It was still bright, but it only appeared to be so because of the hospital lights that blazed above me. It was dark outside, however, leading me to believe I'd slept longer than I intended to.

Despite all of this, I could see my BBBFF's face clearly. The grin that followed was inevitable, as was the hug that I hauled myself up for. "Shiny!"

...alright, so I had a nickname for him too. I just didn't use it as much. I mean...even I thought it was childish. He hugged me back anyways, though. "Twily! I'm so glad you're alright!"

As I dropped back down, I couldn't help but to frown just a little. "You're...still wearing your uniform. Did you sneak away just to..."

"What?" Shining looked half-mortified at my suggestion, and I almost instantly regretted even mentioning such a possibility. "You know I'd never abandon Canterlot, even if it's to check on my little sister."

I sighed, managing to raise a hoof to my forehead. "Sorry, but...how did you get to travel all the way down here?"

"Well...I heard that somepony had the sense to tell Celestia that her most faithful student...was, well...they described it as just 'mortally infected'. She told me, and..." He stopped, shaking his head and frowning. "...I feared for your life, kiddo. I was just about to start begging Celestia to let me see you, but then she said she had already appointed the Second Lieutenant to take over until I got back. And so...well, that's not important. How've you been?"

I shifted uncomfortably. Not that I wasn't glad that my brother was willing to drop everything to check that I was alright, but...where could I even start?

My gaze wandered unconsciously around the room, to which I found Pinkie just a little further back. She giggled silently, but she managed a nod.

I'd be darned if I knew what that nod meant, but I think I knew where to start.

"Well..." I began, trying to keep as level a voice as possible. "While you were gone, I did find my special somepony..."

That certainly lit his eyes up. He grinned in conjunction, and spoke. "Really? That's great! Do you mind telling me who's special enough for my little sister? What's his name?"

Whether the 'special enough' comment was meant to be a compliment or not, I wasn't sure. But the tiniest grin appeared on my face against my will, despite my words otherwise not matching whatsoever. "Well, they are a she..."

I couldn't help but to inwardly smile at Pinkie's expression, which appeared to be 'faked interest', when the huge smile in her eyes was evident. She'd slowly made her way next to my brother as he spoke, and he didn't really seem to particularly care.

Shining Armor was nearly completely unfazed, however, as the slightest pause only was allowed to have him digest the meaning of this statement. "Well, then who is she? Anything or anypony that makes my sister happy is alright with me."

With the biggest grin I could muster, I nodded just slightly, and Pinkie nodded in return. She stepped forwards, burying the top of her head under the crook of my neck and wrapping her hooves around me. I returned the rather unique 'nuzzle-hug', and grinned even wider, bringing just the tiniest coloring to my cheeks. "She's right here."

I have to say, that might have taken him by surprise, even if only by a little amount, because he blinked twice. "Pinkie Pie? That energetic little fluff-ball?" He then chuckled, a rich sound that could be the very definition of 'smooth'. "I'm sure you two make quite the couple."

"Yep! We do!" Pinkie spoke for the first time since I'd woken up, and she spoke a lot. "Since she's all cute and huggable, while being smart and excellent at kissy-time, she's just the best pony ever! I mean, sometimes I think about what it'd be like without her, but then I'm like, 'silly Pinkie! We'll always be together!' Oh, did I mention that she likes her ea-"

Luckily for me, my BBBFF noticed that my cheeks were growing redder and redder by the second, and cut Pinkie off before she could finish her sentence. "I'm...sure you do love her like she does you, then." After he did so, he leaned down next to her, and smiled gently.

The difference between this smile, and a normal gentle smile, however, was enormous. This one was one that only I could see in his expression. And it said about twice as many words as he ever could, with less as well. And this one said 'I'm being completely honest'.

He spoke directly to her this time. I had to strain just to hear him, because he lowered his voice as well. "Listen, I know you mean well and all, but just take care of her, all right?"

I began to protest. "Big brother-"

He pressed on, however, completely oblivious to me. "Because she's never really been all that steady on the whole 'relationship' thing-"

I snorted as the heat of indignity began to rise in me, but he pressed on still. "-but I trust you. Just make sure she's treated right."

Obviously, I wasn't going to get in a word edgewise while he was like this, so I just laid back with a groan that seemed to go unheard as Pinkie finally spoke back. "Oh, don't worry! I'd never do anything to make her upset, and I definitely won't let any hurty things come her way!"

"I'm sure you won't."

"Ahem." I cleared my throat, and the two ponies turned to me almost simultaneously. Funny. They completely ignored me before.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot, Twilight!" Shining said, slapping at his forehead in a 'stupid me' manner. "Princess Celestia also gave me a couple of days to stay, so we can spend a bit of time together after you get out! Isn't that great?"

Great? That didn't do it enough justice. A smile finally crossed my annoyed features as I drew him into a hug that, perhaps had he not been wearing his chestplate, might have crushed a rib or two. Borrowing a word from Rainbow's usual vocabulary, I spoke: "That's awesome!"

He patted my back. "I couldn't agree more. I mean, I hardly get to see you. But maybe you could show me around Ponyville a bit, huh?"

I chuckled. "If I can walk. Being entirely inactive for eight days-"

"Eight days?!" Shining Armor pulled back, his eyes now full of urgency. "You...I..." he sighed, placing a hoof on the railing to my bedside, only taking deep breaths for a few seconds. My brow lowered in concern at this sudden outburst, while Pinkie just looked confused.

"...big brother?" I ventured.

He looked back up, managing a weak grin. "Yeah, I'm fine." he said. "You...you nearly gave me another heart attack there! I had no idea it was that bad!"

"I did!"

He looked over to Pinkie, who had suddenly chirped into our conversation, with a glance that said, 'please explain before I make the wrong assumptions'.

Lucky for all of us, Pinkie Pie was a master of expressions. "Well, the thing is this!" she took a deep breath, and cleared her throat. "From the start!"

"Pinkie, wa-" I began, but it was too late. She was already rambling, and it was all I could do but to listen.

"When I was a filly, I remember my parents took me to the doctor once for my first checkup! I had no idea what he was saying, because I was a really, itty bitty twinkie Pinkie at the time. But later, when I grew up, my parents came up all sad, and said that I was sick, and I was like, 'But I'm not sneezing!'. They just shook their heads and walked away, and I think I heard my mom cry.

"When I was just a normal Pinkie, my sister came up and told me what they actually meant, something about not having much time. She said I did have a few years, so I was like, 'yay! More years to party!'. But eventually it sunk in, and I got all sad. But I knew what I had to do.

"So as me Pinkie, I went around as much as I could, making all the friends I could so that we could party while I could! And boy, that was fun!

"Then that chariot came from the sky, and I was like, "Ooh, a ride!". So I started walking up, but a pony jumped out and the chariot flew away, so I was like 'awwww'.

"And that's when I noticed the pony. She was beautiful, with her mane just the right way and her eyes sparkling. Heehee, get it? No? Oh, right! It was Twily! Get it now? Twilight SPARKLE?

"And so all the stuff that you probably heard of happened. And then this and that and...bleh, I'll tell you later, let's get to the good part!

"I finally have just a few days left, and I'm trying to hold it in, but I eventually tell her, and she like...falls over like Rarity. And she was all sad.

"So then I wake up one time in the hospital, and I feel fine! And then she's laying there, and I'm like, why is she asleep? But then...

"...I got it.

"Twily used a spell to take my sickness and give it to herself. She did it because she loved me that much, and she survived, as you see! Twily survived because she loved me, and I did too! So I...I owe her my life! And it's only all I can do but to spend the rest of my life with her!"

Well, if he hadn't been put off by Pinkie before, he certainly was now. "I'm sorry, but could you start like...way back over, like, how you two even got to this stage? Because I don't think I've heard 'all that stuff that happened'..."

Pinkie once more opened her mouth to interject, but I stopped her, and turned to my brother.

I smiled. "Let me tell you, and my way too. I have a feeling that Pinkie isn't the best choice."

He nodded, and I began the tale that had changed my life, for both better and worse:

"It was just a perfectly normal Falling Snowflake Festival..."