Burning Dreams

Twilight drew a sharp breath as the ball of cotton swiped across her gaping wound.

"Hm," Doctor Stable said as he wiped around the wound. "This is quite deep. I think we'll need a few stitches." He paused for a moment as his magic meticulously swiped the drenched ball of cotton around the wound for one last time. He nodded. "One or two stitches and you'll be good to go."

Twilight shifted nervously. "I… I really should go…"

Doctor Stable shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Twilight. You should not go anywhere with a hoof like this."

"Can't-can't you just bandage it?"

"No, the cut is too deep. A bandage on its own won't do much…"

Twilight hung her head. She was already mentally reprimanding herself for allowing Spike to convince her to wait for the doctor instead of looking for Dash. The last thing she needed was even more delays.

Regardless of how many books she had read about pony psychology, she needed exactly none to know Dash was in distress, but as eager as she was, she was now aware she was getting nowhere with that hoof. She had no choice other than to wait a bit longer.

She felt a sting as the needle of a syringe punctured the skin on her lower leg, but she didn't even flinch.

"Funny," Doctor Stable said. "When Spike sent me a note, he only said to get here as soon as possible. I expected Rainbow to… Hold on…" His horn flared again, a floating thread meticulously passing through the ear of a curved needle. "The lower part of your hoof is now paralyzed, so you shouldn't feel a thing." He looked up at the nervous Twilight and smiled. "Don't worry, Twilight. I've patched Rainbow so many times, I've lost count. At one point, I was certain she was deliberately getting injured just to see my daughter." He smirked. "It turned out I was right."

The sewing needle pierced the flesh of Twilight's wound, but Twilight felt nothing more than she would have if she stepped on a pebble.

"Speaking of which, where is she? She sent me a letter, telling me that she'll be in Ponyville for a few days, and—"

"Gone."

Doctor Stable tilted his head. "Gone?" He paused for a moment. "There. We're done."

"She… we… I…" Twilight bit her lip as she noticed her voice trailing off. She sniffled and hung her head.

More alcohol-drenched gauze was applied to the now-stitched wound, and the hoof started to get wrapped with a thin, self-sticking bandage, gluing itself to the fur. "You two fought, huh? Don't worry, Twilight, just give her some time. She and Morning Star—"

But Twilight didn't let Doctor Staple finish his sentence. As soon as the bandage had been fully applied, she removed her hoof and said, "Thank you."

She wasn't sure if this was something she picked up from Dash or if it was something else, but she felt impatient. She had to get moving. Now.

It was the very same drive that helped save her mare’s life once before was now even stronger. She had no reason to ignore it. Her majestic wings spread, and her horn lit up.

"Twilight, you—"

A bright light, flooded the library, and a split second later, Twilight disappeared with the unmistakable bang of a teleportation spell.

"—Should… wait…" Doctor Stable sighed. "Well, that was unexpected." He scratched his mane and looked at Spike.

"Don't look at me," Spike replied. "Twilight said that she'll tell me everything when she gets back, but…" He sighed. "I found her talking to herself in front of a broken mirror." He nervously shifted his legs. "I think something happened to Rainbow Dash, but Twilight didn't tell me what…"

Doctor Stable ruffled Spike's head scales. "In all the time I've known Twilight, I've never seen her so nervous, but… I know both of them quite well. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." I hope.

Spike groaned. "I hope you're right, Doc." He scratched the back of his head. "I've seen her acting like this only a few times, and in all cases, Celestia needed to… umm… calm her down. Once, she was so nervous, she made a mistake in her spell and made a book so big that it ruined half of the Canterlot Library when it tipped over." He paused for a moment. "Maybe we should—"

A nervous knock on the library door interrupted the conversation.

"Tw-Twilight?" a precautious voice behind them asked. "Are-are you home? Rainbow Dash visited me and—"

Spike swiftly opened the door. “Fluttershy?”

"Spike, quick, can you please get Twilight? I need to talk to her. I think that Rainbow Dash might be in trouble."

"Trouble?" Spike lifted his eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Spike, but I can't really explain… It's really important I talk to Twilight."

"Uhhh… She isn't here anymore. You just missed her by a minute or so, and… Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy nervously looked at Spike. "Do you maybe know where she went? Please, Spike. It's really important…"

Spike scratched his head. "Dunno. She was really nervous… I think she took off to look for Rainbow. I… I really don't know where… She just teleported and…"

"Um… Oh," Fluttershy said, disappointed. "Thank you, Spike." She opened her wings and flew up into the air. She went in one direction, only to turn around and head in another. This repeated several times before she let out a sigh and flew towards Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.

~*~*~

With an explosion of light, Twilight appeared just inches in front of the cloud door. It was something she had done countless of times, in an attempt to sneak in on the unsuspecting mare. She had often failed, since the noise of her teleport would reveal her position, but the times in which she succeeded was definitely worth it.

Either Twilight sang a cheerful, but very loud, "Good morning, Rainbow!" to the sleeping mare, resulting in a Dash grunting over the entire morning and complaining it was too early, or Twilight would kiss her mare behind the ear and lightly ruffle her wings, just before slipping under the warm covers, eager to soak in the warmth emitted by Dash.

With a bittersweet smile, soaked with warm memories, Twilight pushed open the familiar cloud door.

Instead of the brightly lit interior Dash kept most of the time, the entire apartment was shrouded in a thick veil of darkness, enough to make even Nightmare Moon smirk. The air was stale and saturated with the smell of alcohol, almost causing Twilight to gag.

She carefully took a step forward, but regretted her decision almost immediately. The anaesthetic for her stitches was still in full effect, and she almost tripped on her numb hoof. She mentally reprimanded herself to be more careful, lest she tear up her stitches and open up the wound again, hampering her search for Dash even more.

"Dash?" she whispered, seemingly afraid to disturb the unmoving shadows. She perked her ears, but aside from the gust of wind ruffling her mane and wings, there was only silence.

Twilight's horn lit up and bathed the apartment in an ethereal violet light, revealing the chaos that was splayed before her. She took a deep breath and limped a little further. "Rainbow Dash?" she repeated herself. "Are you here?"

Again, there was no reply.

She looked around the littered ground. It seemed to be in the same state like the last time, but a small cleaned path told a revealing tale: Dash had been back home at one point in time, and Twilight was certain she was on the right track.

Another closer inspection of the surrounding area revealed the pacing of a nervous mare from the living room, into the kitchen, and back again.

She felt a sting in her heart. The path to the upper chambers, consisting of nothing more than a shower and a large, queen-sized cloud bed, seemed undisturbed, and a quick peek revealed nothing but the empty bed with its sheets intact.

Twilight hung her head and sighed. She wasn't any closer to knowing where Dash was now or how long it was since she had visited her cloud home. At least one of those clues would give her an idea what to do or where to go next.

She look around one last time, and the corner of her eye caught a glimpse of a familiar golden frame. Unlike everything else that had been ferociously thrown to the ground, the frame and the picture itself still hung perfectly leveled, placed like that not by Twilight, but Rainbow Dash herself.

It was a picture taken long before Dash's departure months ago, with Dash wearing Twilight's crown, while Twilight adorned Dash's cheek with a kiss. On the bottom it was scribbled "For my beautiful princess. Twi."

She smiled.

The picture bore no hint of awkwardness or embarrassment, but sheer joy and happiness from both ponies, unlike the time when they shared their first kiss.

~*~*~

With her eyes still closed, Dash indulged the warm and welcoming lips that leaned against hers; it had been far too long since she had tasted the lips of another mare and much longer since she had tasted those of a stallion.

It didn't matter. An unintentional brush of the tail against her nethers was enough for her hooves to switch to autopilot and pull the mare closer. As their kiss deepened, Dash ruffled the mare's mane.

Seconds later, something unnerving popped up in her mind.

Her eyes shot open, confirming her suspicion: Her lips were conjoined with her friend's purple counterpart. She couldn't believe she momentarily forgot she was sharing the kiss with Twilight.

Princess Twilight.

Even though she was pinned under Twilight, she broke the kiss and awkwardly snaked out from under Twilight's hooves.

Surprised, Twilight asked, "Rainbow? Is there something wrong?"

Dash shifted nervously, her cheeks burning red. "I… I need to go. Um… Bye!"

"Huh? What? Hey, Rainbow, wait!" Twilight yelled behind her, waving her hoof in hopes that it would attract her friend's attention.

But it was already too late. Once again, Rainbow Dash lived up to her name, lighting the sky with an explosion of her colors, and Twilight could do nothing more than watch. A small part of her was half-expecting for Dash to return and explain herself, but after a few minutes, she knew that wouldn’t happen.

Her mind was lost in a blurry haze as she tried to comprehend what happened. If she was asked how she managed to get back to the library, she couldn't tell. It was all a jumble of incoherent mess, not something she was used to.

Spike's overly enthusiastic chatter roused her out of her reverie, "And when I showed Rarity the villain costume I made for myself, she was very impressed. And then… she… Twilight? Are you even listening?"

"You were very impressed by Rarity's villain outfit," Twilight absent-mindedly muttered as a response.

"You weren't listening at all," Spike replied with a grunt.

"Sorry, Spike," Twilight breathed. "I… uh… Something happened."

Spike groaned. "Again? Okay, what is it this time, and how much cleaning up will we have to do? Do you know how long it took to remove—"

"Why do you always have to assume there's always cleaning up to do?" Twilight asked in a deadpan voice.

"Right. There were a couple of your spells gone wrong in Canterlot, which took ages to clean up, then I had to clean up after who knows how many mishaps in your lab, and there was also that—"

"I get it, I get it." Twilight sighed. "I promise it's nothing like that." She paused for a moment, her head turning in the direction of Dash's cloud home before turning it back to Spike. "Spike?"

"What is it?"

Twilight took a deep breath, but the abrupt opening of the front door made her forget what she was trying to say, or rather, it made her forget that she was trying to say something at all.

They both watched Pinkie Pie waltz in, and seconds later, stopped only inches away from Twilight.

"Whatcha doin'?" Pinkie Pie sang.

"I'm trying to tell Spike—"

Pinkie leaned her head even closer, seemingly eager to catch every word that wasn't even directed to her.

Twilight groaned. "Pinkie Pie…"

"What?" Pinkie replied in the most innocent voice she could muster.

Twilight shook her head. "Never mind. What brings you around?"

"Party!"

"Party?"

"Of course, you silly! It's the Princess's coronation afterparty afterparty… um… afterparty?" She stopped for a while and waved her hoof around as if in deep thought. "Yes! It's the Princess's coronation afterparty afterparty afterparty! And guess who's the pony of honor?" she added with a big grin, lightly nudging Twilight.

Twilight groaned. "Pinkie, can't you postpone this party? I really don't feel like attending."

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "Aw, come on, you have to loosen up once in a while. Besides, all the invitations are already sent out!"

Twilight lifted her hoof and opened her mouth.

"Great!" Pinkie Pie said without waiting for Twilight. "Eight o'clock!" She spun on her hoof and cartwheeled out of the still-opened door.

"This is going to be a very long night," Twilight muttered to herself.

~ ~

As much as she enjoyed Pinkie Pie's parties, this one felt like nothing but a chore. She was tired of the reminder that she became a princess. She was tired from standing absolutely still for Rarity to make her dress absolutely perfect, meticulously ironing out every single wrinkle from it. She was tired and exhausted from the early-morning practice she had with Dash and the mishap after it.

And on top of that, Dash had avoided her throughout the entire night.

Even though she was the guest of honor, she wanted nothing more than to sneak away from the party, flop into her cozy bed, and forget the entirety of the day.

When the party grew louder and wilder, Twilight couldn't stand it anymore. More than anything, she needed a breath of fresh air, and maybe lay down for a minute or two.

With her mind full, her hooves switched to autopilot, eventually leading her through the center of Ponyville. Her mind was unfocused, and her destination was unclear. But it felt so good, and she hardly ever had the chance to see Ponyville basking in the glow of the full moon.

She sat on a bench, yawned, and closed her eyes for what she was certain was no more than a few minutes.

As the time passed, she felt a gust of cold air ruffling her mane, and her body shivered in response. Regardless, she felt warm, like she was lying on a soft pillow and covered with a warm bedding.

Another pass of the gentle breeze reminded her that she wasn't in her bed. She shifted her head ever so slightly to see what was going on, just to stumble on a featherly cage smelling faintly of alcohol.

"Good morning, Princess," sounded a familiar voice.

"R-Rainbow Dash?"

"The one and only!" Dash sang in response.

Twilight was confused. The pony that had been actively avoiding her at the party was now acting both as her pillow and a warm blanket. "I thought you were still at the party…"

Dash smiled. "You have been sleeping for a while, haven’t you? The party ended hours ago."

"Oh. Sorry."

Awkward silence fell between the two ponies. Even with a decent amount of alcohol within her, Dash was still struggling with herself to gather the courage for an apology. After what seemed to feel like an eternity, Dash took a deep breath. "Twilight, I—"

"It's really cold, Rainbow," Twilight said, shuddering again. "I really should go home."

"Y-yeah. Can I… can I come along?"

Twilight nodded.

On the way to the library, Dash did most of the talking. She tried to briefly recap most of what Twilight had missed at the party, but failed miserably because she managed to entangle herself in describing Pinkie's stunts, which included her flailing her hooves like a madpony.

And before they knew it, they found themselves in front of the Golden Oaks Library.

With one last giggle at Dash's failure at mimicking Pinkie Pie's performance, Twilight bid Dash goodbye.

"Twilight, wait," Dash breathed in response.

"Hm?"

"I-" Dash paused for a moment before continuing. "S-sorry."

"For what?"

"For… you know… Practice… running away and stuff…"

Twilight smiled. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're not angry because I kissed you."

"But it wasn't cool, Twi. I shouldn't have run like that." Dash sighed. "Look… I… um… panicked. It's been a long time since I kissed somepony like that. It was nice and all, but when I realized I was kissing a princess… Dunno… my mind just went blank, and I freaked out instead of saying something."

"Oh." Twilight slightly hung her head. "I… I understand. You don't like me like that because I'm a princess."

"No, no, no. I mean yes. I mean—" Dash smacked her hoof against her face. "Great. I'm not making any sense anymore." She sighed again. "All I wanted to say is… Know what? Screw it." She pushed her muzzle against Twilight's, both allowing the gesture to dissolve into a short kiss.

"Goodnight, Twi," Dash said when their muzzles parted. She spread her wings and took flight.

Twilight brushed where Dash placed her kiss and smiled. She felt like she had just woke up from a wonderful dream, fully energized and ready to take on new challenges.

She opened the library door and was startled by the dimly-lit silhouette of Spike.

"You scared me," Twilight said.

"I heard something in front of the door, and I went to check it out. Where have you been? The party ended ages ago."

"I fell asleep in the park, and Rainbow Dash escorted me home," Twilight answered cheerfully. She smiled and rubbed her muzzle again.

"You're awfully cheerful for this time of night. Are you coming down with something?"

"No, silly." She paused for a moment, her cheeks starting to bathe in a red tint. "Rainbow Dash kissed me. I think she likes me."

Spike groaned. "Whatever. Just don't sneeze in my direction. It could be contagious."

Twilight laughed softly and entered the library, knowing full well her attempts to sleep will be fruitless, or at least, troublesome.

But for once in her life, she didn't care.

~*~*~

Twilight smiled at the memories that the picture provoked but shook her head a moment later. As much as she'd like to dwell on those kind of memories, she realized she had no time to waste. She turned around, and a piece of white paper not far from the door caught her attention.

The scribbled piece of paper was engulfed in the ethereal glow of her magic and pulled towards her. Upon seeing the horrible scribbles, she mentally reprimanded herself for not allocating some of her time to help Dash improve her writing.

But it mattered not. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to read. "Aol… Aul… Appleloosa?" She scratched her head. "Manehattan? Vi… Vl… V… Vanhoover?" She fell silent for a moment, her voice dimming down to nothing more than a mutter. "B-but…" She hung her head. "Looking in only one of these places… That could take weeks, if not longer." She could feel moisture condensing in her eyes and sniffled. "Dash…"

"Twilight!" Fluttershy huffed and whispered in excitement as she spotted the unmistakable glow of Twilight's magic. "At-at least I'm not too late this time!" Just as she set down on the cloud and folded her wings, the unmistakable bang of a teleport caught her attention.

"Twilight, wait!" she yelled, but her voice was lost in the emptiness of the cloud home. "Oh," she said disappointingly. For the first time, she wished she was a unicorn or alicorn instead of a pegasus.

After waiting a minute to recover, Fluttershy spread her wings again and started her descent back towards Ponyville.

~*~*~

Spike opened the library door, and in front of it, he could see Twilight. To say that she was exhausted would be a disservice to the term itself.

Not just from the worry and lack of sleep, the teleportations over great distances were taking their toll. Every action demanded equal and opposite reaction. That was the golden rule Twilight learned in school and learned it well. The more she used her magic, the more tired and exhausted she felt. She had learned that the hard way when she had managed to sleep through a couple of very important classes and exams.

"Twilight?" Spike asked.

Instead of a response, Twilight floated the parchment she found at the cloud home to Spike. "Could be weeks before we can find her… What if… something happens to her?"

"Twilight…"

"I don't know what I'd do without her…" she continued with no interruption, her voice starting to crack. "What if she…"

"Twilight!" Spike yelled, his yell kicking her out of the grim thoughts.

"Spike, do you have any idea how serious this is?" Twilight shot back.

"This? What’s this? Twilight, ever since you've left, you're done nothing but panic. You haven't told anypony anything!" He paused for a moment, his tone softening. "Twilight? What's going on? I have never seen you like this before, not even when you put a spell on Smarty Pants, and Celestia had to come and fix everything…"

Twilight stared at her number one assistant. She opened her mouth to speak, but a moment later, she changed her mind and closed it again. Silence fell between the pair for a few seconds before Twilight spoke. "Spike…"

"Yeah?"

"I… I wish I could tell you, but… I don't think you'd understand… you're still a…"

"Baby dragon?"

Twilight nodded.

Spike sighed. "I'm not a baby anymore, Twilight. I'm—"

"Twilight! Goodness gracious, you're here!" a quiet, but familiar voice called, interrupting their conversation.

Twilight turned her focus towards the landing yellow pegasus. "Fluttershy?"

"I… need… a… moment," Fluttershy said in a huff. "I… was trying… to catch you… I missed you only by a few seconds."

"Fluttershy… I'm sorry, but unless this is important—"

"It is," Fluttershy said in her usual soft tone. "Um… I think… Rainbow Dash… She came to see me a few hours ago, and…" She gulped. "She… told me what happened, and that you… laughed at her."

"Fluttershy, I—"

"How could you, Twilight? After all she had been through!"

Twilight closed her eyes, trying to stay calm. "Flu—"

"After all you've been through—"

"I didn't laugh!" Twilight yelled as she stomped her injured hoof, making her cringe. A moment later, she looked at her staring friends and realized what happened.

"S-sorry," she said in a raspy whisper as she hung her head. "I-I didn't mean to yell."

Grave silence filled the room.

"I… just want to find her before something happens to her," she said a few seconds later, the tone of her voice now even softer.

"Twilight…"

With her head still down and ears flat against her head, she unfurled her wings. "I have to find her…"

"Twilight, wait," Fluttershy interjected and waited for the alicorn to turn her head. "If it's any help… she was headed in the direction of the Everfree Forest."

"Everfree?" Twilight asked, her ears perking up. "You mean she was headed to Appleloosa?"

Fluttershy scratched her head. "I don't know. Rainbow Dash didn't say where was she going. She just came in, explained what happened, and left in the direction of the Everfree Forest." She paused for a moment, hoping to remember anything more, but to no avail. "She was really upset when I asked her not to fly in this kind of night."

"What do you mean?"

"Um… pegasi can't fly on a night like this… or rather shouldn't. Our eyes aren't adapted for a dark night like this, and often, young fliers tend to be a little too brave, and… they can get lost or… worse."

Worse. Twilight gulped. It was not a word she wanted to hear. Not tonight, or rather not ever. At least not in conjunction with her mare. Despite her exhaustion, she took a deep breath, spread her wings and once again disappeared into the silence of the moonless night.

Please, be safe.