Featherfall

In a purple glow, Featherfall was lifted up and gently put onto an improvised bed next to the fireplace. It had not taken long after the incident for her to fall asleep in Twilight’s arms, exhausted by what, for her, must have been an onslaught of new and strange sensations, underlined by an emotional breakdown.

Gesturing for the others to be silent, Twilight moved the bed even closer to the stones, providing the poor soul with as much warmth as possible, before she cast what looked like a purple bubble around her sleeping figure.

“That’s for absorbing noise,” she said. Then, rubbing her brow, she let out a long breath. “Wow...”

“I feel terrible for not having noticed any of this earlier,” Rarity murmured, her voice still quiet.

“How often did you see her?” Fluttershy asked.

“Very rarely. A total of five times to this day, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Who are her parents? Where does she even live?”

“In Cloudsdale. I have only seen her parents twice in my life, once when I was very young, and once when we accompanied Rainbow Dash, on the day after the competition. They... seemed normal to me, at the time.”

“If they showed their bad side in public,” Twilight murmured, “somepony would have done something by now. But what about Featherfall? What did you do when she visited? Or did you visit her?”

“Never. She always came to me. She... always bored me.” Rarity bit her lip, staring unhappily at her sleeping cousin. “She never talked about herself, and the few times I asked, I barely got any response. Mostly we’d talk about me, about my family, about my business. But...” Now Rarity closed her eyes, fighting with her own words. “She... she was so naive. It was like talking to a child. Worse than talking to Sweetie Belle. She didn’t know the last thing about fashion, or... or anything. It was exasperating.” She let out a sob. “Oh Celestia, what have I done...”

“She’s hollow,” Twilight murmured. “And it couldn’t possibly be different. From what I understand, she’s probably a strong pony, just going by the fact that she hasn’t killed herself yet, or...” She broke up. “I don’t know how exactly one could... which cause of death ponies with her condition fall victim to. Maybe they just starve, or freeze to death, or maybe it is always suicide. But I know that most ponies who live without an inner fire do not make it into adulthood.”

Fluttershy had taken it onto her to comfort Rarity, seeing as Twilight was too focused on her cousin. “When you say inner fire,” she now asked. “Do you mean...”

“It’s part of our genetics,” Twilight murmured. “This isn’t something to teach to foals, and neither of you has a higher education, so it’s not surprising that you’ve never heard of it. And... it’s extremely rare in Equestria that a child isn’t properly taken care of. A mother’s bond is so strong that it almost never happens, and if it does, it’s usually noticed at some point. I only remember a single case where it made the news, a few years ago. I still lived in Canterlot at the time, and Celestia told me about it. A young stallion was found dead... I think... but I don’t remember how he died.”

Her mind drifted back to what Featherfall had told them. “She said she has a brother... maybe that helped her.”

“I should have been the one helping her,” Rarity murmured. “I could see that she was sad. I should have been more determined to find out why.”

“She did say that you’re the only pony who’s ever been kind to her,” Twilight remarked. “Even if you didn’t do as much as you could have, you’re probably one of the reasons why she’s still alive.”

“And now? What will happen to her?”

“I think she has the potential to recover. But... she will need us. Us, and...” Her voice trailed off. “Us... and...”

“You think Rainbow Dash and Pinkie would be too much for her?” Fluttershy looked up from caressing Rarity, once again guessing what had been on Twilight’s mind.

“I’m not sure. Laughter is not really what she needs. Even happiness isn’t really what she needs. She needs to be loved, and she needs to know she’s being loved. Maybe Pinkie can do it, she can control herself if she really wants to. But, for the most part, I think it should be us three. I probably don’t have to tell you two this...” Twilight gave a smile to Fluttershy. “... but be gentle with her. She’s probably been pushed around her whole life; if we’re being rude to her, even if it’s just once, that could shatter her trust in us.”

Twilight made a pause, ordering her thoughts.

“Everything that requires... an understanding of how the world works could be a problem for her. Don’t be impatient. Don’t make any jokes, she might not get them, and again, she doesn’t need laughter to be cured. Always be as kind to her as you can. And make lots of physical contact.” Twilight paused, only to then repeat her last point. “Make a lot of physical contact. Every time you give her a hug, that will show to her that she’s being loved, and she probably can’t get enough of them; she has a lot to catch up on. I don’t think you can go wrong there.”

“If we do all that,” Fluttershy asked, “how long will it take for her to heal?”

“I... don’t know.” Twilight tried to remember what Celestia had told her. “I don’t think it’ll be long. Maybe a month? Do you think you can do it?”

“I have an order due in two weeks,” Rarity murmured, “but I will cancel it. Yes, I will do everything I can to make up for what I owe her.”

“I love helping small creatures,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Uhm. I guess she’s not really small, but... yes.”

“Good.” Twilight sighed, feeling a bit of her worry disappear. “Sorry I’ve been so focused on her, Rarity.”

“Nonsense. Twilight, please. You’ve been doing what’s most important. I am the one who’s sorry.”

“You did great earlier. It takes a lot of trust to allow me what you did.”

Rarity’s lips twitched. “Thank you.”

A pause. A silence formed that seemed too imposing to break, and Twilight had already said everything she needed to. What had to follow now was nothing complicated – it was merely a matter of persistence... and kindness.

“You know...” Twilight said after a while. “This was supposed to be a slumber party.” Her gaze was fixated on the window. They had missed the sunset. “... but I don’t really feel like telling ghost stories anymore.”

“I think what happened here was scary enough,” Fluttershy said in agreement.

“But...” Rarity lifted her head, and Twilight could see that the change of topic had a last made her forget about her guilt. “The night has only just begun. And I had such a nice story prepared.”

Twilight blinked. “Really? You want to go back to telling ghost stories after all that?”

“It would hardly be going back, now would it? We never even started.”

Twilight laughed. “Okay. Well, what about you, Fluttershy?”

“Uhm... if they aren’t too scary...”

“Oh, but they are, dear. That’s their whole point.”

Abiding to a part of herself that felt intrigued, Twilight slid closer to Fluttershy, putting a hoof around her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I’ll protect you from the ghosts of Rarity’s story.”

“Oh, heh...” Fluttershy gave a snicker at that. “Okay then.”

“Alright...” A smirk made its way onto Rarity’s lips as she moved a little towards her cousin, so that she was sitting opposite to both Fluttershy and Twilight. “Can you be a dear and shut the lights, please?”

Twilight nodded, flipping the switch with her telekinesis. At once, the library turned dark, the only remaining source of light being the softly glowing shell around Featherfall and what little came in through the windows.