evanescence

The day was bright and sunny in Ponyville. To most visitors, the atmosphere would seem fair and happy. The residents were out and about enjoying their day, and everything was good; or so it was for most of the rural town’s mobile residents. For a certain lavender alicorn, however, the day was just a tiny bit more stressful, for you see, she’d been out and about all day, going to and fro, helping to organize the town’s efforts in preparation of the event scheduled for tomorrow, in addition to the already hectic repair efforts during the aftermath of a certain recent attack that had left Equestria scarred.

Normally this wouldn’t be an issue for the studious pony, but Twilight hadn’t been feeling 100% for almost two whole weeks now. True, the doctor had told her to take it easy, but this event was very important to her, and she just had to ensure everything went perfect. This, then was the reason she was, at this point, very much looking forward to a hot bath, followed by a calming reading session with a cup of tea, before finally ending the day.

Such was her destination now, as she casually strode, her slight limp aside, toward where her castle was. Although several of the ponies she passed were in a good enough mood to wave to their resident princess, some even going so far as to call out a kind greeting, the most of them were more weary of possibly getting onto her bad side accidentally, and so simply pretended not to notice the slightly frazzled alicorn trotting by. Several were also so busy in their work they simply didn’t notice her.

Along the way she knew she would be passing by several of her friends, which was fine by her, as she could use a nice dose of normalcy after all chaos between the repairs, and getting ready for the ceremony tomorrow.

She had started out at the parade grounds, where public events and stage plays often took place, but now she was much closer to her home. Just ahead, was the town hall, where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were coordinating repair efforts. Luckily, Applejack quickly noticed Twilight’s approach and waved her over.

Applejack greeted her jovially, saying, “Well howdy Twilight! Fancy see ’in ya here. I would ‘a thought you’d already be heading home for the day.” Though her greeting was pleasant, Applejack clearly wasn’t enjoying having to rely on other’s labors, what with here two broken ribs and a fracture on her left foreleg. One could see how frazzled she was at the relative incompetence of the work force by looking to her frazzled mane, her shadowed, slightly bloodshot eyes, and the dirt on her Stenson, having been soiled after being thrown to the ground too many times, and her normally braided ponytail was frayed at several points. It surprisingly looked as though the pale orange mare had merely spent another long day working at her farm, minus the bloodshot eyes and the soiled white bandages.

Twilight couldn’t help break a small smile at how well AJ was hiding her frustrations at being lame, temporary or not. It was nice to see once again that she was never alone in her troubles, and while she didn’t exactly enjoy such trials, Applejack was like a pillar of strength and normality, while Rainbow Dash acted as a source of ambition, and determination. Twilight knew well she hadn’t been alone since she’d first come to Ponyville.

Twilight replied kindly, “Well, I was heading home, Applejack, but I thought I’d just see how everything is coming along on this end.” She glanced around the work area shortly, the amount of activity more than a little dizzying.

Applejack broke into her own trademark smirk before replying, “Well, as you can see, everythin’‘s just dandy. It’s a little slow goin’, but with all that’s happen’d, what’re ya gonna do.”

Rainbow Dash chose that moment to step into the conversation, saying, “Yeah, Twi. Everything’s going according to plan alright, but there’s only so much we can do right now, I mean with half of Ponyville’s workforce still hospitalized, or out of town, we’re kind ‘a at our ropes end here.” Of course they were short on workers. So many had been injured in a recent attack throughout Equestria, and many who weren’t were still away with family, having nowhere else to go anymore.

Twilight listened intently, though she couldn’t help stare at Rainbow’s own scars and eye bandage. The black eye patch blended well with the polychromatic, wind-blown mane style, and the small scars on her face and shoulders only barely showed up against her bright cyan coat. She seemed to be flaunting her injuries, at least a little bit, and Twilight happened to know Dash’s eye wasn’t permanently injured. Still, she found herself envying Rainbow Dash’s energy in light of the situation.

Applejack started speaking again. “Yeah, that’s true. Still, we’re all doin’ what we can over here Twi. But what about you, how’s them ceremony preparations comin’ along?” She asked, genuinely curious.

Twilight let out a tired sigh at this, with more than a little sadness added in. It was also obvious to her friends just how she felt about this. She then replied, “Oh it’s, uh… it’s coming along. I mean without my magic, things are going slower for me too, but everypony has been very understanding, and they’ve certainly gone out of their way to help me set everything up.” She paused to take a shaky breath, a small amount of moisture gathering at the corners of her eyes, before continuing. “I… I think he would’ve been happy to know how much everypony cared about him, and appreciated what he did for us all.” A single tear managed to slip over the rim of her lid.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a concerned glance, before AJ replied with a reassuring smile, “Sure Twi, I’m sure he’d be mighty proud of y’all.” She lightly reached up and wiped away the single tear.

Rainbow Dash jumped in, saying, “Yeah, and I’m sure he’d be happy to know his efforts weren’t wasted or anything. I mean, why else would he have done it if he wasn’t willing to go that far unless he loved you just that much.” She sounded genuine, and Twilight felt a little warmth at her friends’ comments.

Twilight, who was looking sadly to the ground with her ears seemingly hanging limply, now looked up, a glint of happiness finally showing for just a moment as she allowed the tiniest smile to grace her face, along with ears which also perked up, though only just. “I hope so girls; I can only hope he knew how much I loved him too.”

Applejack put on a calm, reassuring smile as she embraced Twilight lightly, which she returned gratefully, while being careful of her own, and AJ’s injuries. “Now, now sugar cube. Y’all got ‘a know he did.” Twilight released her friend.

Twilight sniffed a few times, before breaking off the embrace. “Thanks Applejack. I really needed that.” Twilight now had a much surer smile upon her face, as she looked between her two friends.

Applejack only nodded, and Rainbow Dash landed beside her and gave Twilight her own light hearted hug, which lasted only a brief moment, before she said, “Now go on home Twilight; Celestia knows you’ve more than earned a break. So go relax, read a book, or do… whatever eggheads do to relax,” she joked, shrugging a little at the end, and smiled good naturedly.

Twilight’s smile grew slightly at the light hearted jibe. “Alright girls, you win. I’ll go take a bath, and get some dinner ready. You’re welcome to join Spike and I if you’d like.”

Applejack sighed as her smile fell just slightly. “Sorry Twi, but Big Macintosh’ll need me at the farm later tonight,”-she rolled her eyes slightly-“for what I can still do, and Granny Smith is already workin’ on dinner fer us. But you and Rainbow are welcome to it if’n ya’d like to come.”

Rainbow Dash declined this also. “No thanks AJ. I’ve got some stuff to do later after I finish helping Pinkie Pie later today.”

Twilight couldn’t help but feel disappointed as her ears once again drooped slightly. Still, the smile remained, as she knew her friends were always there for her, even if they weren’t always immediately present, and it was good enough for her. She nodded in understanding, and the three mares exchanged goodbyes.

Now, Twilight continued her journey toward her home; and now she passed by the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity was helping care for some of the overflow of small injuries which couldn’t be fit into Ponyville’s hospital, in addition to housing several newly homeless ponies. She wasn’t the only mare to volunteer her home in such a way either. The recent attack had devastated much of Equestria, and in the aftermath, Pony kind felt a force of unity which hadn’t been present since the time of the great unification.

Twilight felt she ought to pay a visit to her two overworked friends. Not to mention, for many of the injured and homeless being housed here; it would lift their spirits to know their rulers were still strong enough and willing to visit everypony they could. And so, with a moment to collect herself, she opened the door and entered into what had been chaos during her last visit.

She was quite surprised by what she saw now. Everypony who was bed ridden were neatly organized in well placed bunk beds. Clean was a word to describe what she saw. And not the oppressively sterile kind of clean of regular hospitals either. Here were soft colors, clean floors and sheets, and sunlight streamed through the windows, and those who were able to leave their bed were walking around, tending to those who weren’t. There was no loud moaning of pain, or sorrowful weeping of loved ones lost. Apparently, Rarity had even removed the bell above her door, so as to prevent waking anypony who was asleep.

Regardless, her entrance did not go unnoticed. She waited beside the door as a certain walleyed grey mare approached her. Twilight noticed a tired, reserved smile upon her face. Ditzy had always been a giver, and thank Celestia, that hadn’t seemed to have changed during this crisis. Seeing this, Twilight couldn’t help but mirror the smile upon her own face.

Now that she was close enough to speak quietly, Ditzy spoke. “Hiya Princess Twilight. What brings you here?” The question was clearly rhetorical; anypony could know Twilight felt partially responsible for the attacks, and now she was trying to be there for her ponies.

Twilight responded happily. “Hello Ditzy Doo. I’m just here to see how things are going here.” She looked around momentarily, before locking eyes with the grey mare again, and continuing. “I can see that everypony is much better off than last time. It’s nice to see everpony helping one another in such a hard time.” Twilight paused, and looked around thoughtfully. “Say, where is Dinky?” she asked, then looked back to Ditzy. “I don’t think school’s back in progress yet, and she wasn’t with Applebloom, Scootaloo, or Sweetiebelle yesterday.”

Ditzy’s mood fell with her drooping ears. She looked away sadly, melancholy dripping from her voice, as she answered, “Dinky has been having a hard time ever since the attack.” Ditzy locked eyes with Twilight again, and it was clear there was great pain within her. “Ever since Princess Luna cleared her for being free of the miasma, and the doctors said that she didn’t have any permanent injuries, she hasn’t really left her room for anything aside from her meals and to go to the bathroom. She hasn’t spoken hardly at all since that day.” She sighed sadly, looking even more downtrodden, “It really wasn’t her fault…”, she paused, as if in thought about something; Twilight watched silently, waiting patiently for Ditzy Doo to continue; “…yet she feels responsible for everything.” Her eyes fell to the floor again.

Ditzy’s mood seemed contagious as Twilight’s own mood began to fall with her own set of memories; however, there was something she knew that could be done for both her own sake, as well as Dinky’s.

She cleared her throat briefly to catch Ditzy’s attention, which seemed to work, as she perked up slightly. Twilight began, “Well, I don’t know what good it would do…”-she paused, seeming thoughtful- “but, I think I would like to pay her a visit. After all, it’s been nearly a year since we’ve spoken, barring the battle itself, of course.” Her eyes went wide with an internal cringe at bringing up the terrible memory-“Do you think it would be helpful to her as well?” Twilight was looking slightly hopeful, as it really had been a long while, and what with the bond the two mares had shared with her son, they had been close friends once upon a time. Now, it seemed the opportunity to repair that kinship had arose once again.

At Twilight’s question, Dinky’s mood immediately brightened, though she looked thoughtful rather than happy. After a few moments, she answered the princess. “Well, I suppose with how close you both were to your colt, you’d at least have common ground to start on. I don’t think it’ll hurt anything if you were to at least try to get through to her.” Now Ditzy was smiling genuinely. “Thanks Princess!” She leaped forward and embraced Twilight light heartedly, which the lavender alicorn was happy to return.

Still in the embrace, Twilight let out a mock sigh of exasperation before saying, “Oh Ditzy, you’re my friend, there’s no need for you to address me by my title.” She broke off the hug, and the two mares smiled at one another.

“Well, if you insist…”-she looked nervous momentarily before continuing-“Twilight!” She held her own smile now.

Twilight nodded her assent, before asking, “Alright, I’ll go visit your daughter.”-She paused, looking around, searching for something-“but first, have you seen Rarity or Fluttershy?” she continued her search. “I’ve been meaning to speak with them.”

She looked to Ditzy once again, and noticed the sly smirk upon her face. She couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous what the wall-eyed mare was thinking, as she spoke her question. “What?”

Ditzy rolled her eyes lightly, smiling the whole time, before pointing and replying, “Look behind you prin- uh, Twilight.” Twilight did just that, and immediately saw Rarity trotting between several bed ridden ponies, carrying several towels. Fluttershy wasn’t too much farther away, giving a sponge bath to a mare wrapped like a mummy around every limb, and her barrel. Both mares were looking understandably exhausted, yet wore bright smiles, and spoke with high spirits to every pony they met with.

After spending a moment, watching how dedicated her friends were to helping complete strangers, causing a feeling of intense pride to bloom within her, she and Ditzy bade one another goodbye, and she walked over to intercept Rarity.

Rarity was facing away from Twilight, and was speaking with yet another injured individual, this one with a sprained ankle, if the small bandage was any indication. Still, Twilight waited her turn to speak. When it came, she cleared her throat to make herself known, making Rarity jump slightly, before she turned to see who was speaking. Her ears perked up, and her eyes filled with happiness at seeing another of her friends. Truth be told, it had been a very trying day Twilight as well, so she could only imagine it was no different for the, oddly, still pristine mare before her, minus the carefully hidden nick in her right ear, and a few stray hairs of her mane, of course.

The marshmallow mare began speaking with her staple refined Canterlonian accent, clearly happy to see Twilight, as shown by her light hearted toss of her mauve colored mane. “Twilight! Darling! It’s simply been too long dear. It is so very nice to see you.” She reached forward and gave Twilight a light hearted hug.

Twilight replied apologetically, “Sorry Rarity. You know how busy it’s been these past few days.” She smiled sheepishly.

Rarity tossed her mane dismissively. “Oh think nothing of it darling. I know how it is, having so many ponies depending on you ensure things go just perfectly.” She winked at Twilight knowingly, before continuing, “but enough of such a dreary topic. Whatever have you come here for? Hmm? I would have expected to have retired to the ministrations of our little Spikey-wikey by now,” she paused, her upbeat disposition being slightly displaced by a forced smile, hiding an underlying sadness before she continued, “after all; we both know perfectly well just how taxing tomorrow’s funeral is going to be.” She laid a hoof lightly upon Twilight’s cheek at this.

Twilight’s response caught momentarily, as fresh tears began to well up. She quickly blinked them away and inhaled bracingly, before answering. “Yeah, I know I’ll be needing the rest Rarity. I just wanted to visit all of my friends once more before tomorrow. If nothing else, just to see if all of you have been doing alright.” Twilight reached up and cupped Rarity’s hoof with her own, leaning into it slightly.

Rarity gave a wan smile, and gently nuzzled under Twilight’s chin. “There, there darling. If anypony needs a little company during this hard time, it is you.” She backed up to look Twilight in the eyes, and presented a determined glare to her friend. “Just know that we are here for you.”

“All of us.”

The two mares parted, and now Twilight smiled back at not only Rarity, but also Fluttershy, who had come over to join them in their chat. As Twilight looked to Fluttershy, she noticed the look of exhaustion that adorned the faces of almost everypony lately, including herself, was also upon Fluttershy’s own; but beneath that, Fluttershy had upon her face a look of determined strength too; it was the look of somepony who was willing to endure anything for the sake of something, or someone else. Twilight could only assume this too was the result of having survived the recent hardships of the battles in the past month, in that it had changed the timid mare. It had changed almost everypony.

“Oh, Fluttershy, darling, there you are. I was just about to retrieve you,” Rarity tittered, before turning to Twilight and continuing, “Twilight here was just checking in on us, just the same as she’s done to Applejack and Rainbow Dash,” Twilight noticed a look of worry crossed Fluttershy’s face.

“Oh, dear. Twilight, you shouldn’t be so worried about us; We should be the ones looking after you-”.

Twilight interrupted her friend mid-sentence, with a look of crassness, saying, “please don’t Fluttershy,” she noticed surprised shock on her friends’ faces, and reigned in her volume, her face returning to a calmer disposition, “it does hurt that he’s gone, but, that doesn’t mean I get to neglect all of you.” She walked forward and wrapped both friends in a wing hug before continuing. “And, I know that Aura meant a lot to all of you as well. You were all his friends.” Twilight felt her left shoulder grow a little damp, as Fluttershy began silently weeping into it; she had grown much during the attack, but she was still the same demure Pegasus she always was.

Twilight heard a low gasping sob, before Fluttershy spoke. “I… I’m sorry; I do miss him,” she sniffled.

Twilight was able to hold back her own tears for now. “I know Fluttershy. I know.”

“Yes, darling. We’re here for you too,” Rarity consoled.

After a few moments, Fluttershy broke off, her tears slowing to a stop, as she wiped them away. She smiled gratefully to her two friends. “Thankyou. I guess I was just holding that in a little bit.”

Twilight returned her small smile, and said, “Don’t worry Fluttershy,” she exchanged a glance with Rarity, “We know.”

After Fluttershy’s little outburst, the three mares lightly chatted back and forth about smaller issues for a few more minutes, until it was high time Twilight headed home, as she and Spike were going to have to clear out Aura’s room, so his most important belongings could be relocated to the memorial which was scheduled to be built in Ponyville a month from the present. Well, that, and she wanted to get back before she worried Spike too much. It was bad enough how she’d treated him for the last month, but now she’d noticed he couldn’t help but worry about every little issue she had.

With that in mind, Twilight eventually bade her two companions goodbye, and trotted her way toward her home and palace.

After about ten minutes, Twilight was on the verge of her door, but now she hesitated. This was her home, but it was also the home of her late son, Thaumic Aura; now deceased.

After taking a moment to steel her nerves, she entered the premise, lightly shutting the door behind her with her hoof. The inconvenience of doing so without magic once again was noticed, though she tried to ignore the rising aggravation. The situation was not helped in the slightest as she passed by several hanging pictures displaying some of the happier memories she had of her child.

Regardless, she continued on her way to her chambers. When she reached her doors, she entered with a little less finesse than she’d had earlier. She almost missed the jovial “Hoo,” which Owliscious greeted her with, though the two had an understanding over her current mental state, so she hoped Owliscious took no offense.

Now, she entered into her bathroom and started up a bath. Yes, a nice hot bath was exactly what she needed to calm her nerves after the trying day. She sat there watching as the tub filled until it was nearly full. It quickly finished filling, and Twilight turned off the water, just as a knock sounded on the door.

“Twilight? Is everything alright?” asked her number one assistant, Spike the dragon.

‘oh, pony-feathers!,’ she thought to herself. In her distracted state, she’d forgotten to let Spike know she was home.

She sighed to herself, before replying, “Yes Spike, everything is fine.” Her voice was dripping with melancholy, and even she realized how unconvincing she must have sounded.

Still, Spike clearly didn’t want to badger her too much, as he waited several seconds before answering, mirroring her saddened tone. “Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t bother you about it.” He waited a few more moments, giving Twilight time to think, “Just so you know, dinner will be ready pretty soon.” She listened as the sound of his footsteps receded.

Twilight berated herself briefly before barging through the door to intercept her friend. “Spike, wait!” His head shot around in surprise to face her. “I… I’m sorry about that.” Spike nodded lightly, still recovering from the shock, however, Twilight cut off whatever he was about to say with, “You…”-sigh- “you’re right Spike. I’m really not alright.” Spike now looked genuinely curious, intent to continue listening to his big sister. “But, I think I will be alright.” Twilight had looked a little uncertain before, but now she looked to Spike with a little more constitution than before, as she continued resolutely, “I just need to work through these problems.” She paused, thinking about her next words before saying, “and, I really do appreciate that you’re worried. Honest.” Spike looked less worried as Twilight moved forward to cuddle him light heartedly. “I think I’ll be just fine Spike. Thankyou.”

Spike chuckled lightly, a small blush showing up under his green scales as she shied away somewhat, saying, “Aww. Come on Twilight. You know that’s what I’m here for. After all, if somepony didn’t look out for you, you’d be a total wreck.” He elbowed her jokingly as he said this.

Twilight gasped in mock indignation. “I am not that bad… err, at least not anymore.” She giggled at the common knowledge turned joke. ‘After all, she had turned the inhabitants of Ponyville into combatants, all obsessed over her smarty pant…’ Twilight stopped this train of thought abruptly, as dwelling on the past did no good.

“Well, if you really will be ok now, then I’d better check on those steaming vegetables. We wouldn’t want them turning to mush now, would we,” Spike asked, rhetorically.

Twilight gave him a slight smile before they turned and went their separate ways.

Now that she was alone, as Owliscious had long since gone to accompany Spike, Twilight returned to the task she’d started… getting cleaned…. She gulped, thinking to herself, ‘without magic.’

Of course, this wasn’t that big of a deal. She hadn’t always had magic to help her clean herself, and she had on more than one occasion exhausted her Thaumic reserves for a day or so. Rather, the difficult part, she quickly discovered, was cleaning, and preening her own feathers. She found herself wondering how it was Pegasai were able to do this every single day.

Regardless, the whole process only took about five minutes, as she really wasn’t in the mood for an hour long bubble bath. Rather, she had a book calling her name down in the study.

As such, fully dried and, though with minimal grooming, she trotted on down to her favorite room in the palace, second to the throne room, namely, the library.

Spike had already started up a nice hot fire, and there was a steaming plate of grilled vegetables and a cup of chamomile tea. By Celestia, she loved that little dragon.

Twilight sat down in her cozy cushion, and picked up a random book from the pile beside her, her new books pile. When she looked at the title, she paid it little mind.

Minutes dragged on as she turned the pages, occasionally nibbling at her food, and sipping her tea. An hour later, Twilight had finished her book, and her meal, and set it aside, ready to start another. Just then, a book fell from a nearby shelf, the sound of its muffled impact still echoing through the castle. The sound had startled her of course, but gravity was a mischievous prankster, and fallen books were far from unheard of.

Sighing to herself, she relented, and walked over to inspect the fallen tome for damage. She didn’t recognize it, as it had no title, nor distinguishing characteristics. Still, it had no clear signs of damage, so she placed it on her pile of books to read, the next one up, after her most recent selection, of course.

Now a little more content, she lay down again, and began to read. However, something was wrong. She couldn’t make out the words on the page. She focused a little more on the book, and managed to read aloud the words, “and”, “he”, “torment”, “danger”. She gave up at this, roughly shutting the book with her magic. With a haughty snort, she made to pluck another from her pile with her magic, but didn’t find it. When she glanced over in confusion, she found herself not in her library.

In fact, she wasn’t even in Ponyville anymore.